Word up Wednesday! (Breastfeeding/Cup of Serenity)

I recently stumbled upon a newscast where a nursing mother was asked to "cover up" while nursing her 3 month old baby in a local coffee shop. I could smell the boycott and "Nurse-in" from a mile away. One thing if nothing else this coffee shop learned just how powerful Nursing mothers can be. My first impression was that it really was a shame because these types of situations could lead mothers away from nursing, make them feel ashamed, or make them feel bound to their homes while they have a nursing baby. I think that more people need to stand up for the rights of nursing mothers and nursing babies. I think society has over sexualized womens breasts when we should be focusing more on what breast are intended for. I for one go out of my way to tell a nursing mother she is doing a great thing when I see a mother nursing. Breastfeeding is a great gift to both you and your baby. While I do understand that some mothers can not nurse for a variety of reasons be it medical or production issues. The nutritional values alone are huge. Here is a little article I found on Breastfeeding and another one here on Breastfeeding in Public. Also did you know that breastfeeding is a great way to get out of Jury Duty lol. Did you also know that their are several recipes out their that can help you use up your extra milk. I will to take a moment to applaud Cup of Serenity for their attempt to remedy the situation by supporting a Nurse-in On Sept 13th naming Mondays "Mommy Mondays" Which could be a good thing for their already struggling coffee shop.

Of course I love to share recipes so because of todays topic what better then a recipe that is supposed to up a nursing mothers milk production!

Lactation Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 TBSP water
2 TBSP Flax seed meal
2 eggs
1 Tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp Salt
3 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips
2-4 TBSP Brewers yeast

Preheat over to 350
Mix flax seed meal and water and let stand for 5 min.
beat together butter and sugars well
add eggs & flax mixture, mix in well
sift together flour, yeast, baking soda & salt
add dry mixture to wet mixture
stir in oats & chocolate chips
place spoonfuls on greased cookie sheets, bake for 10-12 mins, allow to set for a few moments on the tray before removing. the whole family can enjoy these no worries that anyone will spring a leak it only helps production in a mother who is already producing :)
(this is not a Kitchen full of kids original recipe)

Waffles on Wednesday

Wednesdays are one of our busiest days of the week. The older girls have school then we have about 1.5 hours to change out of uniforms, do homework, eat dinner and go to church. By the time we get home it's time for a small snack, showers and off to bed. Trying to get so much accomplished in such a little amount of time makes me really glad that I always have tons of frozen waffles on hand. I think kids are drawn to breakfast for dinner because it almost feels like your doing something naughty (mind you I don't by into the concept that you should have pizza for breakfast either lol) I have a very yummy basic waffle recipe that you can add just about anything to it. Most popular in our home are Cinnamon, banana, peanut butter & blueberry waffles. I have even started making cheese waffles that are yummy for sandwiches. I have also discovered Organic batter blaster that I like to keep on hand for the rare times that we have no waffles. It's super easy and makes a really fluffy waffle. Making pancakes with it however was a bit tricky because its so light and fluffy then burn quickly. Waffles are great because they have no rules, they can be breakfast with some fresh berries, a sandwich for lunch, A comforting dinner or even desert with whip cream & honey. My 5 year old likes to eat them frozen right out of the freezer (I think that is crazy but she loves them that way lol)

Waffles (and yes works for pancakes too)
1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I use a fine grain sea salt)
4 Tbsp Raw organic sugar (or equivalent sweetener of your choice)
2 large eggs
3 cups milk (you can use any kind of milk I generally use 2% or homemade almond milk)
2/3 cup butter or oil
(add fresh berries, chocolate chips, mashed bananas, applesauce, peanut butter etc)
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl, Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients careful not to over mix them. Fold in any extras to your batter mix If you are adding fresh berries do not mix them in you will simply toss a few berries on top of the wet batter after your pour it into the waffle maker (trust me on this one)


you will want to take note of the cooking recommendations of your waffle maker. For mine I use 1/3 cup of batter and cook on medium heat for about 3.5 minutes each. You may need to butter your iron or use a cooking spray if your waffle maker requires you to do so. mine recommends it only with you are using fruits and sweet batter because the sugars/juices will make them stick.
This will make about 16-20 waffles

Now as a part 2 to this recipe a new waffle sandwich was born (due to low pantry supplies and over ripe bananas for lunch the other day. We call it the "WWED? Waffle Sammie" (wwed?=what would Elvis do)

WWED? Waffle Sammie
Using the above recipe mix in 1/2 cup of sun-butter or nut-butter of your choice (we used sun-butter) and 1 ripe banana mashed into your batter.
Take 2 cooked waffles and spread Sun-butter over it and top with thinly sliced bananas. And you have a nice healthy Waffle Sammie. We would like to think that if Elvis where alive today he would enjoy this lunch treat.
Enjoy!