MommyCoddle

Woodlawn update // The key to unpacking after a move

It has been a crazy past few weeks. Friday marked our official one month anniversary of living in Woodlawn. And still there are boxes and bags and things we are tripping over. Corners are jammed with things that have not found their proper home.

Every time Dan ferries another box or tub down to the basement or up to the attic, I wince. I know those things are gone forever, or at least gone for a very long time. Out of sight, out of mind. I know myself well enough to know that it’s going to be quite awhile before I force myself to deal with those things we’re squirreling away. But sometimes sanity wins out over productivity and intentions.

In the meantime, I think we’ve found the key to forcing yourself to unpack and get organized after a move.

It has been a crazy past few weeks. Friday marked our official one month anniversary of moving to Woodlawn. And still there are boxes and bags and things we are tripping over. Corners are jammed with things that have not found their proper home.

In the meantime, I think we’ve found the key to forcing yourself to unpack and get organized after a move.

Ready for it? INVITE PEOPLE OVER TO YOUR HOUSE.

In the past four weeks at Woodlawn, we’ve entertained more guests than we did in the past 4 months at Thomas Run. Last night we had good friends over for dinner, including their five girls (yup, a major girl party) and while we were running around Sunday afternoon getting ready, I was asking myself why the heck did we decide to do this insane thing?! But Sunday night, after every one had left (and had a great time) and the house was quiet again (except for our exhausted whining children), we looked around and discovered all the progress we’d made that day.

A few more pictures hung. A few more boxes unpacked and put away. Clutter cleaned up. Vases uncovered and filled with daffodils from the back lawn. Spare glasses and dishes, washed and put up on the shelves.

Despite a bumpy start, lots of annoying setbacks and maybe a few teary conversations with my mother and the words, “Don’t ever let me do something like this again.” coming out of my mouth, we’re slowly starting to find our rhythm here.

And I look around and count my blessings and feel so thankful for this home.

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IN MY KITCHEN

Make this // Oven-puffed pancake with blueberries

Trust me, people. You’re going to want to make this.

For the record, I absolutely stink at breakfast. Ask anyone in my family and you’ll know that I’m kind of a “don’t talk to me I’m not awake yet” kind of person in the morning. Not such a convenient approach to mornings when you have four girls who hit the ground running.

So breakfast isn’t my strong suit. I can put a mean bowl of cereal on the table, let me tell you. But more often than not, these kids get their pancakes for dinner. On a good morning I’ll dole out the granola and yogurt and wash up some berries. But really, we’re cereal people. There’s nothing wrong with a solid bowl of cheerios.

This morning, my smallest sidekick went to bed way too late night, which equals waking up way too early this morning. So after wisking her downstairs so she wouldn’t wake her sisters and tossing a load of laundy in, I was suddenly struck by a wave of breakfast inspiration.

Oven puffed pancake. Swedish pancake. Dutch baby. Whatever you call it, trust me, people. You’re going to want to make this.

I found this recipe the night before and knew I had some blueberries languishing in my fridge that needed a purpose in life. This was it.

The recipe could not be any simpler. You’ll have all the ingredients on hand, I guarantee. You can even use frozen berries. So easy, people.

Oven puffed Pancake with Blueberries

3 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup berries, rinsed

Preheat your oven to 450. Place 3 tablespoons of butter in your oven-safe (preferrably cast iron) skillet and place in your oven. While you’re waiting for the butter to melt and get all nice and bubbly, whisk together the 3 eggs, milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix your dry ingredients. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, whisking as you go. Continue to stir until they are smooth and as lump-free as possible. Remove the hot skillet from the oven and pour in the mixture. Evenly sprinkle blueberries on top. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the pancake is nicely puffed and browned around the edges. Make sure that your oven is in perfect condition to get this recipe executed perfectly – pittsburghappliancerepairs.com can help you with your oven repairs at a very short duration. Once you know for sure that your oven is in perfect condition, you can have your perfect oven puffed pancakes. You can sprinkle with powdered sugar (or in my kids’ case, sprinkle with an ungodly amount of powdered sugar) and serve your puffed pancake warm. Yum and yum.