Give This Divorced Dad Blogger Some Love

04/03/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

The blogging community as a whole is pretty tight-knit, but us dad bloggers take it up a notch and share the common bond for the love of our family and writing. This divorced dad and I have been reading, commenting, and sharing each others’ posts for a while now, and I’d even say we have become online friends.

Sounds corny, huh? Maybe he even thinks so and would quickly disagree. But just like he says about his blog, this is my blog, I own it, and I can say what I want. So there!

His name is Gary Mathews (yes, just one “t”….blame his mother), and he owns the blog Skipah’s Realm. He is as open as he can be about his feelings towards his ~~ex-wife~~ daughter’s egg donor and has an awesome sense of humor. All around great guy and wonderful father to a beautiful girl. Almost as beautiful as Avery, but obviously I’m allowed to be biased just like any parent. 😉

Guess I should explain the title to this post. When I say “love”, I don’t mean it in the sense that most of your dirty minds are probably thinking, I’m talking about NuttZo Love, or #NuttZoLove, just for the Twitter aficionados. Gary and I have been going back and forth about Girl Scout cookies and NuttZo for some time now. He’s all about the only packaged form of legal crack that’s sold by cute little girls just to make it even harder to refuse, and I’m all about NuttZo. Obviously, I’m a proud ambassador because I believe in it’s healthy goodness!

Like most people I know, he’s resistant to changing from his tried and true peanut butter (albeit hydrogenated), but I’m hoping he gets the chance to try and love NuttZo! As I told him before, if not for his own sake, for his precious daughter’s sake. Give her the healthy benefits without sacrificing taste so she has all the energy to ride bike and walk with her daddy for years and years to come.

Okay, I’m not trying to make a sales pitch here (I won’t earn anything from your purchase anyway), just wanting Gary to get some NuttZo (besides his ex) of his own to try and share with his little girl. I shared a few recipes he could try with NuttZo, and meant to give him the NuttZo Banana Bread Recipe I posted a couple weeks ago but forgot. So there it is now, Gary, put down those crack-infused cookies and make something for you and your beautiful blonde bomber!

Since your daughter is seven, I probably wouldn’t feed her like I do Avery though. Just a tip. 🙂

So, if you’re around the New Albany, Indiana area and happen to have or want to get an extra jar of NuttZo, please swing for Gary to try (I rhymed!!). Gary, hope you don’t mind me sharing your location, but I just figured it’s okay since it is on your Twitter page!

Or if you’re a lucky NuttZo employee who has the power to send this guy a jar, please do so! I know he won’t be disappointed and will “spread” the good word after trying and sharing with his daughter. It might even make her as excited about the set of cool cinnamon-scented socks from littlemissmatched.com he was able to let her have and write a review on. Notice I said “set”, they come in threes and not a pair. Genius!

Wow, I’ve gone on about this single dad for a while now, huh? Should Going Mom be worried? Ummmm, no, she’s beautiful enough to turn a gay guy straight! But I’m already straight, I wasn’t saying she turned me straight. Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay. Ahh, shut-up, R.C.!!

Anyway, if you don’t want to give him NuttZo Love, just go over to his blog and read about his adventures of being taken back to court by the crazy egg donor, spending time with his daughter’s Russian KGB spy, vodka-drinking hamster named “Hammy”, how he overcame the depression of divorce, and his blissful time with his daughter when she gets to stay with him.

Disclosure: All stories about Hammy are completely fictional, but he does house a Russian Hamster named Hammy for his daughter.

As he says, co-parenting sucks, and I’m forever grateful not to know about that firsthand. And never want to!! Hear that, Kelley? 🙂

Also, I’d like to thank Mr. Skipah for mentioning me several times (like here and here) on his blog and linking back to my blog. It’s all a part of the dad blogger (or all bloggers really) community just supporting one another.

Thank you, Gary, I enjoy reading your posts and the comments you leave on my posts. Wish you and your daughter the best, and it’s obvious you are the best dad/parent for her! Now go find some NuttZo!

Parenting

Jumping Dads and Beer With a Friend

04/02/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

April Fools’ Day was supposed to be a fun day at a nearby park with our Dallas Dads Group, but Nature wasted no time living up to the term “April Showers”. Just hours after midnight, it rained, and continued with storms all throughout the day.

Luckily, when scheduling this meet up, I had an indoor backup plan for the bounce house we went to for my first scheduled Dallas Dads Group event. I was looking forward to being outside with other dads and our kids since Avery and I had a good time when we went last week. Avery even ran sprints across the soccer field with me!

Soon, that awesome playground in the background will be more than just a giant mulch pit for her to throw wood pieces! The whole mulch thing is why I decided not to be too upset about our change of plans and figured some bouncing action would suit all of us just well.

Two other dads were able to attend, one with an almost 3 year old son, and the other with a 1 1/2 year old daughter. The father-son duo were making their way through all of the bounce houses like a tornado in a trailer park. Both were jumping and playing non-stop, and I’m not sure who had more fun; kid or adult.

Meanwhile, the other dad and I had to help our girls around, but they still had plenty of play time too. Well, after the initial shell-shock phase where the look on their face is saying “Where the hell am I?!”

That soon passed and Avery was in a basketball bounce house doing her best to keep on her feet. Poor girl kept tumbling as you would expect from an already unstable toddler in an inflatable house. Not that I helped by jumping all around her. Just helping to work on her stability is all!

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I tried lifting her to the rim so she could make a slam dunk, but Avery refused to let the ball go. Guess we still have some work to do on teaching her the game of basketball. Not that I know much more than trying to get the ball in the other team’s hoop.

What I loved most about our dads group was that all three of us dads were getting in there and jumping around with our kids while the moms that brought their kids were either sitting on a bench or standing outside watching or on their phone. Okay, moms reading this, don’t blow up on me! I’m not saying all moms do this, I know that’s not true, just the ones that were there while we were.

We good, caring mothers? Good. 🙂

Before we parted ways, we had an employee snap a shot of us dads with our quickly expiring toddlers.

Good times for sure.

Avery and I stopped at Sprouts on the way home to pick up a few groceries. I found a new kimchi I’ve never seen before and can’t wait to try it. Fermented food is packed full of gut healing goodness and it’s great as a topping on a variety of things.

Once home, I knocked out a quick tabata kettlebell workout with Avery and went for a walk with her and Abby (our Golden). I fed Avery lunch while making dinner for Going Mom and trying to eat something for myself. Kelley had a dentist appointment and was coming home early right after.

My wife was nice enough to let me out of the house alone so I could meet an old friend at a local pub for a few beers. I didn’t want to appear too eager to get out, but I left before nap time was over with good beer on my mind.

Don’t worry, I didn’t have a lot, and made it back just in time to sit down for dinner at our usual time; late. It’s always nice to catch up with an old friend and to have good beer while doing so, hopefully we’ll meet again sooner rather than later.

It was a long but fun-filled day, and can’t wait to go to our next meet up with our Dallas Dads Group. Maybe next time the weather will hold up and we can make it to the park!

I'm waiting on you. — I’m waiting on you.

If you had to choose, would you pick being outside or an indoor venue like a bounce house to be with your kids?

Have any long time friends you like to meet with every now and then to play catch up?

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo, Soft Star Shoes, WIAW

The Frittata Recipe I Never Made + WIAW #6

04/01/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

Isn’t it funny how something with a unique sounding name has most people thinking it’s something hard to make or requires time they don’t have? The frittata being one of them, is really just a crustless quiche. Oops, another uncommon name!

Okay, instead of quiche, how about an open-faced omelette? I mean, c’mon, an omelette you don’t have to try and fold over? Score! The frittata is just that, and it can be as elaborate or simple as you want with 12 different mix-ins, or just a single ingredient.

That’s what I love about them, their versatility. Everything you like on a pizza can be used in a frittata. And, just like pizzas can be savory as you usually see, frittatas can also become a sweet treat for late-night snacking or tasty breakfast. Or hell, why not both?

I have yet to do it, but think taking a ripe banana, slicing it into quarter-inch circles and using them for a sweet frittata with nut butter would be nothing short of spectacular! Plus, I see kids easily asking to have more after devouring what you thought was your breakfast.

Here’s my (not) tried and true recipe for a banana bliss frittata..

Ingredients

1 medium ripe banana, sliced into quarter-inch circles
1 tsp coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp nut butter of choice; my go-to fav is NuttZo
Cinnamon to taste; I like A LOT
Optional: liquid or powder stevia or 1 tbsp honey for extra sweetness

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Whisk eggs with nut butter, cinnamon, and optional sweetener and set aside
Add coconut oil to skillet on med-high heat and tilt to coat
Saute banana slices for 2-3 minutes or until you see them caramelizing
Pour egg mixture over banana slices in skillet and let set, lifting the edges to allow egg on the top to run below.
After about 2 minutes, finish off by placing in the middle rack of your oven for 3 minutes.
Remove and let sit 10 minutes to cool and pull away from the sides.

Now, you either love me for the idea, or hate me for not actually creating this dish and taking pictures. Maybe both? I know, I’m sorry, and if you don’t do it soon, maybe I’ll have a real pic to share next week.

I do, however, have a savory frittata I recently made and can even share a pic or two. In the mix, I had a plethora of veggies including peas and carrots (ha ha, that’s for Jenn, the host of WIAW!), onions, green beans, swiss chard, corn, and canned diced tomatoes.

After sauteing everything and letting the excess liquid evaporate, I added 4 whisked eggs, let it sit, and then finished off in the oven. It was a hit for my mom, Avery’s G-Ma, and wife!

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If you’re wondering, the point of this post is simply to proclaim my love of frittatas. It has been waayyyyy too long since making them and hopefully the spell has been broken.

With that, let us move on to the main attraction, WIAW! Thanks to Jenn from Peas and Crayons, for creating this fun link-up for foodies everywhere!

The day started with my usual truckload of coffee. I picked up this cold brew at Trader Joe’s and it’s about the only thing I’m really liking from the place.

Then it was time for overnight oats with NuttZo and a smiling toddler!

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After working out, Avery and I tried my newest microwave omelette maker bread creations with NuttZo on top.

The verdict? They were all a hit with our little toddler as well as myself! Go me!

Lunch was spaghetti squash with grass-fed ground beef with lots of mushrooms and brussels sprouts. The picture sucks, the meal was wonderful!

Although I probably should have, I didn’t eat anything again until dinner. I was hungry, and that frittata hit the spot!

Do you love frittatas?

What other creations have an intimidating name that sound hard to make but are really simple?

Have you ever had a sweet frittata like the banana and nut butter one I mentioned?

Before I’m done, just want to mention I love NuttZo and you MUST try it at least ~~once~~ forever! Plus, if you go to their website and enter code liley15, you can save 15% off your order. 😉