monkeys love bananas

might look a little crazy, but it's crazy good: grilled bananas, chocolate and coconut

we have a little monkey in our midst. she loves bananas. mama has been coming up with creative ways to use them. baby's new thing is "hot?" as she blows on every morsel we give her. mama's response, "no sweety fruit is not typically hot." which, up until saturday night, has been true. auntie anna was in town and in an effort to make dinner and dessert that aligned with auntie's rotating diet - we ended with grilled bananas. the "fruit isn't hot" phrase was tossed out the window as i encouraged e to blow on each bite. so here it is, so great for summer nights - perhaps those that are gluten free and can't join-in on the s'mores or if you're just in the mood for bananas, chocolate and a dash of coconut.

{grilled bananas}

run a slit down the banana (peel on)

stuff-in a piece of chocolate of your choice, inside the slit

sprinkle-in some dried coconut

throw it all on the grill

grab a fork and enjoy!

(for babies, just the banana [sans sweets] will do)

earlier that day, another banana treat was in the works. we have ancient harvest's organic quinoa flakes in the pantry. much like traditional baby hot cereal, but made of quinoa, this complete protein and gluten free choice, is a great base for muffins. we took this banana-quinoa recipe right off the box. they were super tasty and with no sugar included, were a great baked good to serve our little monkey!

strawberry pesto

another tasty salad from emily malone's website: dailygarnish.com. i cannot help myself, but to try her vegan recipes after reading the descriptions. this was another successful summer salad (or in this case dressing!) that you are definitely going to want to try. i think in the future i will follow her directions to a tee and use the brown rice fusilli, we instead used our strawberry pesto atop greens and it was a little too heavy for the lightness of an herb salad mix. diegas and i sat outside under the umbrella and feasted in between our (productive) backyard landscape projects. it was the perfect way to rejuvenate before we started the next task. enjoy!

eczema + jammies

tummy time in her under the nile sleepwear

what a ride the eczema was for our family. e started showing signs of the itchy-skin rash when she was 3 months old. i was a desperate first time mom trying to make my baby feel better, how ever i could. it increasingly got more severe as the weeks pressed on. when e was 4 months we saw the pediatrician and she immediately prescribed a heavy duty steroid to help get her glowing baby skin back on track. at that time it was only little rounds patches (wheels) on her cheeks. as many know, medicine and traditional western treatment are not my first go-tos when attempting to treat ailments. we tried alot of different suggestions, products, etc. to help, curbing my diet for nursing, seeing a homeopath, blood work for e (to easily rule out what she may be "allergic" to). ultimately, we discovered she did have a food intolerance (which was immediately removed from both our diets), but her eczema never cleared and nothing but topical steroid really worked. the rash continued down her neck to her shoulders. as every mama knows it is really difficult to see your child in discomfort. this was daily and constant. she was in mits until she was about 7 months! i was required to occasionally use over the counter hydro cortisone and when severe, benedryl to put my baby at ease.

luckily she is sooooo much better now. turns out, in a couple of different stages, one stopping nursing and then two, stopping formula, e's eczema improved drastically and has been on the mend since 12 months. we are constantly trying to figure out what causes the flare ups, but i hope we just continue to see her supple skin shine through. 

my whole reason for this post, is because i wanted to share three brands of pj's that i love to dress her in. nighttime was the worst for the eczema. her scratching would wake her up (eczema has been coined as "the itch-that rashes") and anything scratchy disturbed her sleep. skoon organics, magnolia baby and under the nile have some of the softest cotton fabric - of any of the sleepwear she has worn since birth. the seams are not rigid and don't seem to irritate her. i can't adequately express how wonderful it is to see your baby fresh out of the bath, clean and content. a deep breath of relief for mama. a few pics above and below of e, in her soft jammies...

reaching for a "manna" in skoon organics

sleepy one, wearing magnolia baby

10th generation native

fernado tico. image pulled from ojaivalleymuseum.org

i am a lover of history. mostly because i'm transported to another world, as i dream of the people who walked this world before me. imagining the homes they lived in, the resources they had and the simplicity of life. it's one of the reason's i'm so attracted to antiques, historic homes and vintage everything.

i'm so proud of my mother-in-law terri tico imwalle. this year, she's representing the native daughters, parlor 126, as our city's patron saint barbara. terri is a direct descendent of fernando tico. tico, was given a spanish land grant in ojai in 1837 and in 1855 was elected to the first santa barbara county board of supervisors. terri is an eighth generation native and d is 9th, making our precious baby e 10th! although i was born in california, i'm envious of the history the tico's are part of, here in santa barbara. i love to celebrate it.

this weekend was the reina del mar's annual fiesta tea. with terri as saint barbara, it was especially significant. this was little e's second tea (only a wee 3 months last year) and the thought of her growing up knowing the history her family has had in this community is exciting. this year my paternal side of the family celebrated it's 56th family reunion. i think knowing where you come from is important.

Gma T our very own Saint

"summer, summer, summer-time"

image from bigBANG studio blog (our purhcase would be on a much smaller scale)

lucky me, i've been spending one day of the work-week at home with little e. we've done fun playdates - with girlfriends, for beach walks and playing under shady trees, at parks. but, i also want to create a fun environment at home where e will be occupied, challenged and enjoy her home-time, inside and out. we've talked about doing a sand box, next to a raised garden bed, but since the backyard is one project after another, that happens to be a little lower on the list. the weather in sb has been gorgeous and we haven't been experiencing the foggy mornings that our summer's are usually made up of, so a pool sounds divine. being that we take environmentally friendly purchases pretty seriously, i would prefer to not buy a plastic pool, that's going to wind up at the dump (we were recently doing a greenwaste drop-off at the dump and saw 4 plastic house/car/castle toys...getting compacted by the tractor). we try to always go green, when possible...

so i saw this great idea for an outdoor pool using a galvanized trough. there is a chance the metal could get hot, but i thought maybe it gets placed partly in shade and when filled with water, what's the likelihood of it getting too hot? i think it will be fun and we can reuse it as a container for planting, to house outdoor items, or e's toys...something. i'll be sure to post photos in use!

perhaps a galvanized trough like this?

summer salad perfection

my cousin recently turned me onto a fun blog... full of delicious recipes vegetarian and vegan. i made one of them tonight, that i've been wanting to try for weeks. garbanzos with mint and raisins (even the wee one was a fan! "beans, beans, beans"). it was a perfect compliment to our 4th of july meal of grilled chicken and green salad. the plus it was full of protein and wonderful mix of flavors. check out emily malone's blog: dailygarnish.com and enjoy!

cinnamon chips + fruit salsa

4th of july weekend is here! the beach is buzzing, the neighborhoods have festivities at every corner - its the happy days of summer! to bring-in the weekend, we (meaning the hubby) fired up the new oak grill. having dear friends over was the perfect way to break in the grill, the new patio and the holiday weekend. i thought a new dish would be fun to share (appropriately red, white and blue - but you could use any fruit of choice), if your looking for something to bring to a gathering, it was well received and different...

{cinnamon chips with fruit salsa}

flour tortillas

spread with butter (olive oil would probably work too)

cut into wedges and lay on cookie sheet (see pic)

sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until crispy

cut fruit of your choice (small for easy scooping)

dip chips and enjoy!!

tortillas with butter and cinnamon/sugar before baking in oven

my little helper climbed on the cookie sheet

my favorites enjoying the gorgeous weather and firing up the oak grill