Quick Banana Bread, But for Me, 3 Hours

Mother of an Infant, Recipe for banana bread:

I am at home more often now, and for some reason I think I have time for baking. It's chilly outside and I have a desire to bake and fill the house with a warm fragrance of baked bread. I have found it takes much longer than it should, but here’s a recipe for how to make Quick banana bread: in 3 hours:

1. Feed baby until she falls asleep. Good, she should sleep long enough so I can get some breakfast.

2. Find a good recipe while eating breakfast. I have a hankering for warm bread today, and I have overripe bananas to get rid of soon.

3. Enjoy breakfast and coffee, then I preheat the oven.

4. Baby is waking up. Change her diaper, give her a pacifier, cross my fingers and put her down.

5. Get out the flour and sugar. By the time they hit the counter, baby is screaming again.

6. Try the pacifier one more time.

7. Get out the measuring cup. Pacifier didn’t work, she’s crying again. Measure out the flour anyway.

8. Feed the baby. By now, the oven is preheated. Oh well, it will stay warm. I'm nursing.

9. Baby has fallen asleep after a bit. Try to put her down, and of course she wakes up again. Play with her, and give her the pacifier again. She may entertain herself for a couple of minutes.

10. Measure out sugar.

11. Get the new package of sugar from the pantry. At least I thought of this when I went grocery shopping 2 days ago (in one of her quiet moments). This infant is scheduling my life and has really helped me be more prepared! (Girl scouts aside ...)

12. She’s fussing again. Check diaper – has she pooped yet? I could tell she was working on it, and poor baby hasn’t pooped in 3 days.

13. Darn it. In the middle of baking, I'm disappointed baby doesn’t have a poopy diaper. How's that for new mommy thoughts, I'm thinking about poopy diapers, this is my life now?

14. Put baby down. Measure out salt and baking soda while I listen to her complain.

15. Put baby in sling. Turn off the music from her bouncy seat. Three months old and that music already driving me nuts, I realize one day she will be big enough to turn the music on herself.

16. Mash the bananas. I sure wish she were old enough for solids so I could give her some of these yummy mashed bananas. Fortunately she’s doing well with breastmilk (how did she suddenly get big enough for a 6-month outfit?)

17. Baby is squirming too much. Walk around for a few minutes.

18. Combine eggs and bananas.

19. Stir in dry ingredients.

20. Walk around for a while, baby is too squirmy in the sling. Try a pacifier.

21. Put the bread dough in the pan while singing the “pat it and roll it and mark it with a 'B' and put it in the oven for Baby and Me” song.

22. Put the baby down again. She’s quiet!

23. Put the bread in the oven, and bake for an hour.

24. Enjoy 15 minutes of silence while baby sleeps (and I start working on dinner).

Sleep when baby sleeps? How does that work?

Sleep, My Favorite Activity

Sleep is one of my favorite things to do. I really do miss it so much during the day. From the moment I wake up my mental clock starts to count down to the hour in which I can return to the full body sprawl in my soft comfy bed. All day I cannot wait to get back into the bed and sleep some more.

I love to sleep.

I miss sleep.

I crave sleep.

I have been sleeping for years, so why I can't I sleep anymore?

Have I just lost my touch?

I have now added the Tylenol PM Sleep Tracker iPhone APP to my life. I have also downloaded the "How to get ready for sleep" and "How to make an environment more inviting to sleep in" from that same website.

Sleep is what we do as humans, it's basic we eat, work, sleep, repeat.

One reason I want to get this lack of sleep under control is because I am 6 months pregnant with my third child, and I am quickly approaching the newborn boot camp survival training sleep depravation stage of parenthood.

(Nooooooooooo, I don't wanna.....)

I have been searching for a solution to cure my pre- slumber deprived days.

The following recipe was taken from Tylenol PM's advertisement to be added as a healthy sleep inducing snack. I'm gonna give it a try along with:

*buying a small fan to add white noise,

*buying a humidifier to add moisture, so I wake with no scratchy throat,

* turn or cover my clock,

* dim my lights a few hours before bed,

* take a warm bath,

* install dark curtains,

* buying an upgraded mattress,

* buying high thread count sheets,

* paint the wall soothing a color, (apparently, white noise is ok, but white walls are bad)

* buying upgraded pillows

and last but not least,

* birth this growing child who makes sleeping in any position a very hard thing to do.

I guess after taking all of their suggestions and things are still not working for me, or if it is just too much trouble to make all of those changes I can always just pop a pill... lol

First things first for a pregnant woman though, FOOD!

Lullaby Muffins

They claim that Between the honeyed touch of sweetness, these muffins are practically an edible lullaby. (I guess if the edible lullaby doesn't work then there is always their edible Tylenol PM pill right? hahaha)

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/3 cup applesauce

2 large, very ripe bananas

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup milk or soy milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour (make sure it’s whole-wheat "pastry" flour or you’ll produce golf balls, not muffins), salt, and

baking powder.

3. In a blender, puree the bananas; add the

applesauce, honey, and milk. Blend well.

4. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until

just moistened.

5. Line muffin tins with paper muffin cups, pour in batter, and bake 30 minutes or until tops are light brown and slightly springy.

Makes 12 low-fat muffins.