Mom-the-BOMB makes Homemade Peanut Butter!

Somedays I must admit I DO go to bed feeling rather MTB. (mom-the-bomb) These are the days when all 5 children have brushed their teeth, recited their memory verses, played a family game, and read stories together. Yes, rare but growing more and more familiar- these momentary MTB moments have ushered in a new era.

In honor of these MTB moments (dishes done, laundry folded, babies taking naps), I thought I would share with every MTB, MTB in training, or MTB hopefuls a recipe sure to portray to others your mad skills- Homemade Peanut Butter!

Hoody's 5 lb bag of peanuts from Costco

Having 7 people (husband and wife included) stare at 5lbs of peanuts, does not get them eaten. Fortunately however with a workforce of this magnitude, shelling the nuts is easy. It took us about 30 minutes to shell 2 1/2 cups of nuts. It was a great bonding time, even the 4 and 2 year olds helped.

[2-3 tsp] Salt, [2-3 tbs] Olive Oil and [2 1/2 cups] Nuts...

(peanuts-NOT the kiddos :-) )

Last week I splurged... I MUST admit it. A few months ago I spotted this Cuisinart Food Processing gem at Costco for 160$... it came complete with a 14 cup capacity, different attachments, and a nice powerful motor. I had some "want" money so I "wanted" it and I bought it! Not quite sure how you would make PB without it... a food mill, probably ?!

Run in the Processor for about 2 minutes, or until creamy

From here on out it gets pretty easy. Just turn the processor "on" and let it grind up those nuts, oil and salt. To each cup of nuts use 1 tbs oil, and 1 tsp salt (if you want it salted). If the mixture is "clumping" add more oil, one tbs at a time.

YUMM YUMM ! Bread, milk & homemade Peanut Butter!

After the PB is made, scrape the processor bowl clean into an airtight Tupperware or Rubbermaid container (something that seals shut) and refrigerate.. enjoy!

Some potential add-ins-

1. Honey
2. Cashew's or other nuts
3. Different types of oil
4. Oreo Cookie crumbs (for sweet teeth)
5. Vitamins, (protein powder/iron/calcium)

Get creative... your an MTB after all!!

A Little Ridiculous

I guess to most it would seem pretty ridiculous that I just spend 30 minutes scanning through Google images for Pixar photos to download to my iPhoto software. What kind of mom does that?! And WHY?

Well, here is my justification (in case you were wondering-seriously-), so we have the living room big screen TV wired in a way that we can plug in our laptops and watch/listen to music from them. (This is a way cool feature when you go to a Sunday morning on-line church service)

I was notice today however that when I was listening to music and cleaning the house some really boring pictures were coming up on my screen saver (in 50+inch big screen features none-the-less). I thought to myself "This simply can not do". So, when I had some free time I TOOK the time to input our families Pixar faves into a photo folder so that tomorrow when the screen saver comes on instead of a boring seascape (I might find pretty) a gigantic Sully, Buzz, or Remi the Rat will pop up on the screen! (Yes, this kid crazed mom is excited about it too, and lives for the screen saver picture shuffle on her laptop screen)

It is in these little moments of taking the time to think about my kids and go the extra mile for them, that I feel most like one WHOLE mom. Taking a moment to walk by the TV and noticing a boring picture, and thinking to myself "How fun would it be if the kids were mesmerized by... ohh ohh what could the next picture be!!?? Buzz? Woody?!!"

If God is in the details, than I would suggest to any parent to take the time to look over the details in your children's lives as well. Often, as a mother and wife, I put 120% detail into serving my husband and seemingly in comparison forget ENTIRELY about the minute details that my children ALSO crave.

I think that this Pixar project really opened my eyes and created in me more of a desire to be the best most whole mom possible through serving my kids-down to the tiniest detail. After all-these are the future lawyers, doctors, politicians, and business leaders f America... right?!