Experiment

The country has been gripped by some seriously wintry weather. While we are not buried in snow, the cold in Colorado is quite oppressive. We're staying inside for now. To keep from getting too stir-crazy, I've been doing a bit of experimenting.

When Courtney and Whitney and I were kids, we used to make concoctions in the kitchen. We would experiment with different ingredients and see what happened when we combined them. Since Whitney was pretty young, her role would be to taste our sometimes hideous creations and she almost always did. She was very accommodating.

I was inspired by our childhood experiments in the kitchen, as well as an article my dad sent to me about recipes for whole grain pancakes. So, I decided to mess around with a couple pancake recipes. One of my favorites is at oat cake recipe from Happy Foody. I've replaced the butter with apple sauce and added cinnamon, which is quite tasty.

Another replacement I tried was a combination of whole wheat and white flour for the oats; the milk had to be reduced by a cup. Griffin has loved eating his pancakes with a little bit of almond butter and applesauce.

Griff often has a hot cereal made of ground quinoa, almonds, and oats for breakfast. I have also tried the oat cakes recipe with his hot cereal mixture instead of just oats. The consistency is a not as fine, but the nutty flavor is delicious.

Don't feel trapped in your home! Find a way to experiment. If you never have, try making bread from scratch. Rearrange your bedroom. Switch some furniture from one room to another. Make a collage or a painting.