Coconut Basmati Rice Pudding

Mmmmmm, just the thought of it makes my mouth water.  Anything with coconut is good, right? This is how I made it today:
2 1/4 c. coconut milk, 1 c. basmati rice, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 c. raisins
- Put everything in a saucepan,
- Turn on burner and go see what the kids are yelling about, remind them to share,
- Come back, stir pudding, enjoy coconutty aroma, imagine how tasty it will be,
- Fill the dog's water dish, pick up a few toys in the living room, wonder why there's a banana peel on the couch, put scissors and tape out of kids reach (how did they get to the living room in the first place?), lament that there's laundry waiting, watch a few minutes of 'Toopy and Binoo', realize the kids aren't even in the room, plug in the laptop because the battery is almost dead, log into Facebook, remind myself I should be doing homework instead, wonder why it sounds like water is running,
- Realize it's the forgotten pudding boiling over,
- Run to the kitchen, remove it from the burner,
- Curse and clean up the mess,
- Add a little water to make up for what ended up on the stove,
- Stir, cover and simmer for 40 minutes....Voila!

Smoothies! (prefaced by random ramblings)

Are blogs supposed to be funny?  Some of the ones I read are absolutely hilarious, some of them mirror incidents in my own life, some are informative.  I guess if something funny happens, I will write a funny post.  I really just like getting little anecdotes written down so I can let them out of my head.  You know, there's only so much room for information in there.  Research proves it.  Research also shows that the size of the Amygdala is proportional to a person's social contact needs.  Apparently Facebookers and Bloggers have larger amygdala, introverted loners have small ones.  Wow, what a surprise, our brain affects how we act. 

But I digress - back to the topic of this blog, Smoothies!  Here are few of our favorites, all made in the fabulous Magic Bullet. This works great because everyone can pick their own flavor, made right in the cup.

Base: 1 cup crushed ice, 1/4 to 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, 1-2 scoops vanilla cream meal replacement powder
Add flavors to base:
Creamsicle - 1 cup orange juice, 1/2 banana (optional)
Choco-Banana - 1 cup milk, 1/2 banana, 1 TB cocoa, 1 TB sugar
Very Berry - 1 1/2 cups milk, handful of frozen berries, 1/4 cup strawberry yogurt
Pina Colada - 1 cup pineapple juice, 2 TB coconut milk powder


* Please note: All quantities are estimated, I have never actually measured anything in a smoothie! 

Happy Balentime's Day

This year Carly made her own valentines!  We cut out heart shapes, and she wrote the names and drew on them.  I was amazed at her dedication, they all had to be the same, she took this very seriously.  Her class at school and all the kids at daycare will love them - according to her, because she is convinced they are 'the best balentime's ever'.  Love the confidence. Jack made his own too, I wrote on them and he colored on them and put stamps on them.  That's all you need, it's the thought that counts!  Personally, I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day - it puts pressure on relationships, some people are romantic and some are not, I guess I'm not.  But I'll take the flowers and chocolates if they happen to be offered...