I remember being proficient in the kitchen and doing household tasks at a relatively young age. Being able to cook myself eggs (among other things), do my laundry, stay home alone. Leena is more than welcome to go to the kitchen and get herself some food throughout the day. I am a firm believer that we need to listen to our bodies and eat when we are hungry and not eat when we are not hungry. I mean, don't get me wrong, I will tell Leena to slow down on the food intake some days mainly because those are the days she is eating out of boredom. As long as I keep the fridge and pantry stocked with healthy items, I'm not really concerned about how much she eats since it tends to all mainly be fruits, veggies and nuts. As of lately though, I'd like her to start having some more knowledge about cooking or even assembling food, like a yummy, healthy sandwich. Yes, she is still 4 and I get that guilty feeling that maybe I've made her a bit too independent but that is silly momma guilt that we all seem to have over one thing or another. We've tried to include her in baking and helping get meals prepared but lately we are venturing into the scary world of using the stove. (Obviously she still needs to use the stove under our careful supervision at this point.) Joey started with having her help him make eggs. I followed suit and even letting her flip her egg. She did burn herself lightly but was her bubbly self and simply kept going. I rubbed it with lavender oil to help it not hurt but I digress. Yesterday for lunch we made pancakes. After a rough night we had a slow morning and then treated ourselves to "breakfast" for lunch. She did amazingly well. I flipped and poured the pancakes onto the griddle however because that sucker is much easier to burn yourself on than a pan. We made "low allergen" (at least I think) pancakes so that Penelope could have one, sans the carob chips!

Oat Banana Carob Chip Pancakes

2 cups gluten free* organic oat flour

1 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk

2 large free range eggs*

2 tbsp organic butter, melted*

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tsp aluminum free baking soda*

3 brown-ish bananas, smashed

Carob chips

Stir all ingredients together. Pour onto a hot griddle. I put some raw coconut oil on the griddle to help them not stick. Flip when bubbles form on the pancake batter. Cook till done! Banana pancakes are a bit harder to tell when they are actually done since the banana is so moist.

*Oats themselves are gluten free but usually are processed in factories that share equipment that gluten containing products touch. Egg whites are considered an allergen so you should proceed with caution when giving to a baby under 1 year old. Pancakes without eggs are just as yummy. I've had many a vegan pancake in my day and I'm a fan. You can also substitute the butter for coconut oil and meant to do that but then well, forgot. And please please please spend the little extra money to get aluminum free baking soda and baking powder. I don't think it's as common for baking soda to have it as much as baking powder but aluminum intake wreaks major havoc on your body. It may also be linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Leena asked me to make her a flower pancake, so I of course obliged.

And it's happy to see you!

(Topped with Omega Swirl Flax Oil by Barleans, in the orange flavor.)

Penelope loved her banana pancake.

Another household lesson that Leena got yesterday. Don't use dish soap in the dishwasher. I asked her to put the soap in so we could start it and she really likes doing it. Well luckily I caught that she had put the dish soap in so I was able to scoop out most of it. The real problem was though that she had closed the door of the dishwasher so the pre-wash cavity had dumped into the dishwasher already. I cleaned out as much as possible and emptied the main wash compartment. We turned it on and hoped for the best. Well when I walked back...

Leena helped me scoop soap into the sink and thought it was so much fun. And hey! My floors needed to be mopped anyways. She apologized for it and I had to tell her it was okay and that momma had done that before as a kid. (My dad did it a few times as well I remember from growing up.)

Laura did a photo shoot of me during a little down time we had when I visited to shoot the lookbook for The Bohemian Collective.

Go check out the photos!

Peace and Love!

Katelyn