A Pancake Recipe for Cold and Flu Season

We are not vaccinating. Yikes. Instead, we are opting for preventative measures. We swab her nose (and mine) once a day with saline and aloe solution. We also give her a children's formula sambucus (elderberry extract) which contains echinacea and astragulus. The sambucus is liquid, and tastes really good, but Isla won't take it in water as suggested. I had to get creative. I do things like pour it on her pancakes as syrup.

The pancakes are fantastic, and our whole family loves them:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

dollop (about 2 or 3 tablespoons?) molasses

enough milk, soy milk or water to make it the right consistency

Mix above ingredients. Cook on a hot skillet. Flip once. I eat mine with butter and sometimes syrup; Isla has hers with sambucus and kids liquid vitamin drizzled on top.

*Obviously check with your doctor before using any supplements.

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Kid Friendly Eats

Isla is now at the age (14 mos.) where she will not just hang out in my lap or a highchair while I eat. She runs laps around the legs of waiters and tries to find steps to leap off of, head first. Fortunately, we have a couple of great kid-friendly options on Santa Claus Lane: the Garden Market and Padaro Beach Grill.

Padaro opens at 11 and serves lunch and dinner outside on a huge lawn. They are totally kid-proof, with a fence around the property, and even have a huge sandbox with toys. The food is so-so at best, and expensive for what it is, but it is absolutely worth every penny to eat lunch or dinner in peace while your kid has the time of her life.

The Garden Market has incredible food. It's my favorite lunch spot, and although it does not offer a sand box or rolling hills of well-trimmed grass, there are fountains everywhere and shady outdoor seating, which was enough to entertain Isla for about an hour today when we met her godmother for lunch. If someone could combine the two it would be perfection.

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