Some days are sink or swim. Or in this case, sink or float. This afternoon was clearly one of those days. You know, when you say “Yes of course you can make a huge mess in the kitchen instead of beating each other to a bloody pulp.” Sink. Swim. The game we chose was an old favorite. Sink or float.
Sometimes the simplest, least exciting (to adults) activity is the one that proves the most entertaining. These two sat for two hours trying out different objects, experimenting with buttons and caps from water bottles, lids from old spice jars, a ping-pong ball, and some pennies. They filled the caps with pennies until they sank. They made “rain” by filling an old cinnamon jar with water and sprinkling it upside down. Oliver showed tremendous gratitude, stating, “OH! Thank you for that rain, Milo!”
And then he proceeded to bob for pennies with a small pink cup.
With the baby asleep in the next room, we enjoyed each other. I whipped together a loaf of cinnamon swirl banana bread (recipe below) which I must warn you is more of a cake than a bread- not the healthy kind. I have a tremendously healthy (and tasty) recipe for banana bread that even incorporates chia powder (a great superfood) and whole wheat flour. But today was not a healthy banana bread kind of day. No, today was a cinnamon-swirl-banana-bread kind of day. Yesterday, a lock-the-keys-in-your-car-with-nothing-but-a-baby-strapped-to-your-chest kind of day. An oh-my-gosh-did-the-baby-seriously-just-poop kind of day. A holy-crap-locksmiths-are-expensive kind of day. But that was yesterday.
Awaiting the oven
And so there we were, three (well, four if you count a happily sleeping baby) happy people just listening to some folksy kids’ music and smelling the delicious cinnamon-y smells coming from our oven.
Great music for kids that won’t drive the adults crazy- buy here (we got ours used for dirt cheap)
Swim
Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
For the bread:
- 3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- dash of sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups flour (I used bread flour)
For the swirl:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbs cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a loaf pan.
- Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!
- In a small dish, mix together the 1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon.
- Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.
- Bake for 55 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before devouring, lest you burn your little tongue.
Good luck not eating the entire loaf by yourself.
*I regret that I cannot find the original source of this recipe, but I altered it enough to not feel like a complete thieving jerk. Enjoy!
Hi genius, it’s really great to read your blog and see your children. We will totes be playing “sink or swim” tomorrow. Thank you for solving the “wtf-to do-with-the-kids-on-a-non-school-day-when-I-have-piles-of-laundry-to-wash” and stuff. You’re the bestest!
WOW! Creepy, wonderful parallel universe!
We did this at my house THIS VERY WEEK. Also, listening to Elizabeth Mitchell. But I made a chocolate banana bread, also unhealthy and used the spilled water to mop the floor!
Its supposed to snow tomorrow, and we’ll be bringing snow into the house for a similar activity, maybe with scoops and food color.
Even if I didn’t have a similar afternoon this week, I would STILL really enjoy reading your blog. Your photos are great, and I think your house looks so comfortable to live life with small children in.
You’re such a good mama. Love you.
What’s your recipe for the healthy chia powder banana bread? I’m curious! I’ve used chia seeds in beverages, but never in baked goods. Do you smash up the seeds yourself, or do you buy the seeds pre-ground?
best line: “OH! Thank you for that rain, Milo!”
This bread looks incredible! And I love that it’s from scratch, but not super complicated. I like the all natural ingredients – I won’t even feel that guilty eating half the loaf 😉
p.s. I hope you don’t mind that you just got “pinned” – http://pinterest.com/pin/176062666652234001/
I forget if I told you about pinterest.. or maybe you already know.. if you don’t, I think you might really like it!
Annie, I totally don’t mind getting “pinned.” I am a BIG fan of Pinterest. So… thank you!
I made your awesome banana bread recipe. My family made it disappear the same day. Love it!!
Andrea, I used pre-ground chia seeds, but you can grind them yourself in a food processor or even a coffee grinder (cleaned, of course). When you grind chia seeds (or flax seeds), it enables your body to absorb the nutrients more efficiently. I have found that as a powder, chia seeds act a lot like flour. You can substitute in small amounts for flour, and get significant health benefits! Also, it is basically tasteless, so you can trick kids into eating healthy! I will post the healthy banana bread recipe soon!