Gingerbread Porridge

 

It's a bit embarrassing to call this a recipe - it's more like a good idea, or a template for wild experimentation. It's yum, whatever it is. Great for a cold; the molasses is loaded with minerals and the spices cut through congestion.

 

1 cup of jumbo rolled oats (look, steel cut are delicious, but ain't nobody got time for that.)

3 cups of water

1 tablespoon of Blackstrap Molasses

1 tablespoon Brown Rice Syrup

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

About a teaspoon of cinnamon

About half a teaspoon of ground ginger

A sprinkling of ground clove

A crack of black pepper (black pepper? YES.)

 

To serve:

Non-dairy milk

Vegan margarine

Seeds, nuts, etc.

 

You basically cook it all for 10 minutes, at a good simmer. The spices are to taste, this is just approximately what I end up with. You may like it spicier. I'd only venture that it ought to be cinnamon > ginger > clove > pepper. Nutmeg or Allspice could be fun too.

 

Variations:

Pumpkin Pie: Add leftover cooked squash, blended. Use a little less molasses.

Carrot Cake: Add grated carrot, raisins and walnuts.

 

We've had it twice this week. It's so comforting!

A Little Bit More

Way back in the early days of breastfeeding, when we were having a horrible time and I was worried about my milk supply, a community staff nurse said to me, "There's always more. They can always get a little bit more, even when you think they're empty". I've come to think of that as a metaphor for parenthood at large; there's always a little bit more - time, patience, love - more than you ever thought you had, and if they needed more still, you'd find it. 

She slept a glorious 8 hours last night, after what has been the hardest week in months. So glad to have my happy baby back. Here she is enjoying her porridge:

 

 

Like, really enjoying it.

 

 

A rare prone moment:

 

A Sweater is Just a Blanket You Can Wear

Oh my. The baby has a cold, the husband has food poisoning (WE HOPE), and the mom has to stay up and help everyone. Well, the baby anyway, the husband knows how to throw up. I was meaning for my first post on the new blog to be an introduction to our small but sweet life, but, to be honest, it isn't feeling particularly sweet today! But honesty is the best policy, and sometimes motherhood is hard. In fact, the only way I could coax myself out of bed this morning was by telling myself "a sweater is really just a blanket you can wear". Oof.

Getting through it with hemp lattes and homemade bread.

That is "Gingerbread" Porridge. Normally we just have grated apple or pear to sweeten our porridge, but we were out. So I used blackstrap molasses, dried ginger, cinnamon and a little brown rice syrup. It smelled wonderful, and I hope that it cut the through Frieda's congestion! She ate tons, at any rate. On top, we both had chia seeds and a little hemp milk, and I had walnuts as well. 

Homemade Rye bread. I'm a beginner.

My angel normally:

Today it's all snot and tears and lots and lots of yelling...