GUYYYYYS. Some sort of time warp happened because I was just pregnant and now I have a kid who wears button front shirts and high fives people.
Bobby is the sweetest child. He is full o’ joy 90% of the time, teething 10%. He sleeps about as soundly as I imagine a hummingbird would which may have contributed to the blurriness of this year flying by.
He eats anything that is put in front of him. I either got incredibly lucky to have great eaters or baby-led feeding really does result in minimal pickiness. Ask me again when they’re a little older and we’ll see. We've gone through all of the potentially allergenic foods without issue (YESSSS) and are still working our way through this list.
I’m a cosleeper to my very core. I wanted nothing more than to have Ruthie’s tiny 5 lb self right near me as she/I slept when she was born. But everyone from my OB/GYN to the entire internet told me this was the wrong thing to do so I spent about a month straight falling asleep in a rocking chair with her. My mom inadvertently got me an attachment parenting book from the library and it was basically all of my sleep related instincts written down (I totally get that Dr. Sears is not everyone's cup of tea - he has strong views on many topics. I also love Janet Lansbury and fully believe different methods of parenting can be successfully combined. If everyone parented the same way, we'd probably all be weirdos). I flipped open The Baby Book right to a chapter titled “can my baby sleep in bed with me?” To which Dr. Sears responded "YEAH DUH". Now our bed is crowded as hell but it makes my heart burst. I know it will be one of my fondest memories of parenting young babes.
The following are affiliate links for the books I mentioned - that means I would make a small profit on anything purchased through the links.
I made these quinoa brownies into a cake for Bobby to “smash”. He didn’t really smash it, more politely picked it apart. To make a mini cake out of the brownie recipe, use a sharp knife to cut two circles out of the rectangle, I used a teacup saucer as a stencil. Remove from parchment paper and freeze to firm up before frosting. For a lower sugar frosting, use 1/2 cup chocolate chips. I am all for a regular ole full sugar smash cake (I die over some of the beautiful fancy ones), I just felt like lowering the sugar a little because we have had SO many sweets around since Christmas. Not to mention it’s really really good (really).
Happy birthday sweet boy.
Main Ingredients - 12 servings
2 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled
1/3 cup milk
4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup sugar (i've also made with 1/2 cup sugar and the result was good!)
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can full fat coconut milk* or 2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups semi - sweet chocolate chips
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13" pan with parchment paper.
In a food processor, combine quinoa, milk, eggs, vanilla and butter and blend until very smooth. Add in cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Pulse until smooth.
Pour into parchment lined pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until a fork comes out clean.
For icing, combine chocolate chips with coconut milk or heavy cream in a saucepan and heat over low until melted, stirring frequently. Alternately, combine in a microwave safe bowl and heat until melted. Move to refrigerator and chill completely. Remove from fridge and beat with hand mixer or in stand mixer with whisk attachment until soft peaks form.
*If using coconut milk, make sure it is the full fat canned variety. Drain off most of the liquid and use only the solid portion, the cream. When buying coconut milk for this, shake the can. The less sloshing you hear, the more cream and the better for this recipe. Stick the can in the fridge for a while to help the cream separate more distinctly.
