Well, the kids had a blast yesterday. Last year, Zander didn’t know what was really going on- but this year he was all set and excited. The kids wanted to do both trick-or-treating and passing out of treats. So we settled that the first hour they would spend on the porch handing out treats, and the second hour Andy would take them around the neighborhood. Here they are in full costume, my unicorn and my spiderman.
And here they are on the porch, they were so excited, and most of the kids who stopped by were really nice and polite- the older kids would ask about the costumes, and when there wasn’t anyone in sight, both kids would run to the edge of the driveway and look to see if anyone else was coming, and then jump up and down when they saw someone and quickly run back to their post.
And apparently our neighborhood loves chocolate. I had decided to hand out non-chocolate this year, sweet-tarts, nerds, tootsie-pops, that kinds of thing. What the kids brought home was literally mountains of chocolate. Abigail immediately proceeded to sort her stash, and it quickly became all to clear that she is not planning on sharing much of this with Mommy. Zander then followed suit, although I had to help him with his sorting.
We kind of let them go to town last night- eating whatever candy they wanted. It was kind of fun to see the restraint, but then Zander tried Pixy-Stix for the first time. Abigail’s never wanted to try them, and they really just always got tossed or sent with Andy. Zander decided to try one, and boy did his face light up! He proceeded to polish off a few more sticks, and then Abigail decided she should try one too, and well, they both had a bit of “bounce off the wall sticks” as we like to call them. They did get inventive and pour some into a cup to dip in with a sucker, so at least they were being creative. But I don’t think they slept all that well…
Meanwhile. While they were out treating with Daddy, I put a bowl on the porch with a note to take a couple of pieces because I needed to get dinner going. I had originally been thinking an easy dinner of pancakes and bacon, because if Andy wasn’t home, I needed to take the kids out, so dinner needed to be quick and easy and not from the drive thru. But as I popped the bacon in the oven and got out the pancake griddle, the irony struck me that I was going to feed my sugar-buzzing children what is essentially a vehicle for syrup. All they needed was more sugar. I still wanted to do pancakes though, so I decided to do healthy pancakes. I found a recipe, tweaked it up a bit, and I daresay, we had some awesome pancakes last night. They were very hearty and substantial, the slight bit of banana was perfect and the kids never knew they were eating some very healthy pancakes. In fact, Abigail cleaned her plate, and Zander ate half of his. He’s usually all about the breakfast meat and only has a few bites of pancake. They loved them! Oatmeal-Banana Pancakes will sneak some whole grains and fiber into your family with no fighting necessary.
Oatmeal-Banana Pancakes
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs — beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 ripe banana — mashed with a fork
In bowl, pour milk over rolled oats; let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
In another bowl, stir together flours, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Beat eggs, oil, and bananal together; add to dry ingredients along with milk/oats mixture, stirring just until mixed (if batter is too thick, add a little more milk).
Heat a large greased skillet over medium to med-high heat or a griddle to 350ºF.
Pour in about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and cook for about 3 minutes or until bubbles on top break but do not fill in, and bottoms are golden and set.
Turn over and cook for about 30-60 seconds longer, or until nicely set and golden brown.
Hold pancakes in a 200ºF oven until ready to serve.