Thursday, December 29, 2011

Carrot Muffins

As a busy mom I love having food that's ready to go for my boys. I'm also a big believer in limiting the amount of sugar and extra junk that my kids intake. Yes, I got made fun of the other day for not giving my boys Christmas cookies...not that I never will, but I don't think they know what they're missing yet so what's the point this young? I also didn't mind when my mom and sister-in-law gave spoonfuls of ice cream to my boys. That's what grandmas and aunts are for right? It's the general idea and effort that matters. Anyways, I'm not usually prepared when it comes to snack time. Crackers are often the go-to although many are full of not so great things. (My favourite are Triscuits which have 2 ingredients: whole wheat and salt...we get the reduced sodium kind).

I found this carrot muffin recipe in this book that I borrowed from my library several months back. I love that they have no sugar, wholesome ingredients including a vegetable and are easy to freeze. I will warn you, they don't taste great to big people but for little ones who aren't yet addicted to sugar and salt, they do the trick. They at least get the passing grade with my boys. Since I know several readers have toddlers and young kids around I thought I'd share. Let me know if you make them!

Carrot Muffins

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Yields: 12 muffins

1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
½ cup whole milk
2 eggs
1 T maple syrup (I use PC organic 100% pure)
1 T canola oil
2 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
½ t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
3 medium carrots grated (about 1 cup)



1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray
2. Whisk together the yogurt, milk, eggs, syrup and oil until smooth
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the grated carrots and the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture and stir well.
5. Pour the mixture evenly into the muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. Cool and serve. (I always use an ice cream scoop with the spring handle...perfect for scooping batter into muffin tins!)

Monday, December 26, 2011

Home for the Holidays

One of the best parts of the Christmas holidays is having Joel home from work. He doesn't go back for another full week. We had one Christmas yesterday, another one tomorrow and one more two days after that, leaving some golden days in between with no plans. Our families live between one and fifteen minutes away so we don't have much travelling to do.

I've already enjoyed a few sleep-ins which is one of my absolute favourite things to do. Luckily, it's also one of my husband's least favourite things to do so it works out well. My little white noise machine has been key in giving me an extra hour or two while the boys play downstairs. We also want to do a few things around the house, things we've had on our mental to-do lists for awhile...organize the front hall closet, switch out clothes that don't fit the boys for the next size, purge more stuff from the basement. Perhaps we're getting a little boring in what excites us as we approach middle age but these kind of things feel good once accomplished and are somewhat of a necessity in having a home. Plus having an extra adult around to hang out with the boys while the other works is a bonus.

I also plan to tackle some big-batch cooking and restock the freezer with meals to make my life a little easier. I'm still not a huge fan of cooking during the crazy dinner hour but if I can make something while I don't have two toddlers tugging on me to be picked up, and have extra for bonus meals later, I actually find it quite enjoyable. On today's list: carrot muffins for the boys (I'll post the recipe later) and minestrone soup for the freezer.

One of my decisions for the holidays is to stay of Facebook until Joel is back at work at least. I've confessed in the past that I waste too much time on there. I don't really need to see the piles of presents people got, the Boxing day deals acquired, who ate how many turkey dinners etc. I don't actually care, I just use it to avoid other things. Facebook has its benefits but I can certainly live without them for awhile. If I have free time I want to spend it with my family, reading, playing games, going outside, having a conversation with a real person, drinking a glass of wine or doing anything remotely useful. Since I haven't been successful in setting limits I'm just going to stay away. And for those who I communicate with via FB messages, I've just had them sent to my regular email account. Brilliant!

I'm really looking forward to the next week. If you have holidays, what are you up to?

Thursday, December 15, 2011

What We've Been Up To

No deep thoughts the past week or so, at least no energy to articulate them. There's always something going on in my head. All four of us have been dealing with colds so we've been fairly low key, trying to stay home and rest while not infecting the rest of the world before the holidays. Last Christmas was pretty miserable with illness and hospital stays so we're hoping to get it all over with before then and take another shot at it.

It's pretty hard to do nothing while taking care of toddlers, but I've enjoyed the rare chance lately to just sit (or lie!) on the couch and observe them. They continue to amaze me. Their vocabulary is growing like crazy and they pick up on new words in no time. They are also continuing to grow in their interactions. They call each other brother (more like 'bradda'...so cute) and Caleb is always looking to see what Micah is up to. If Micah is crying he will often say "Bradda okay?" I love his sweet sensitive spirit and Micah's adventurous playful nature. They are so different. The other day I asked Micah to give Caleb his water. Micah took it from me, handed it to Caleb, said "There you go" or his version of it and Caleb said "Thank you." It was a simple interaction but one that made me very proud of my boys.

Last weekend we went to a Christmas party for families in our area with multiples. I have never seen so many sets of twins and a few triplets too. Although slightly chaotic we had a lot of fun and was nice to see other families who all share something the multiple thing in common. One family had two sets of twins...girls about 3 years old and girls about 4 months old. They put us all to shame! The boys had their first interaction with Santa and not surprisingly he was not a hit. Caleb was shaking in fear. Maybe next year or maybe not. Do those pictures ever turn out well?

We're looking forward to the holidays, Christmas with both sides of our family and time to relax away from the usual routines of life.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Living Simply Part 3 - Christmas

When you have no fireplace the stockings have to go somewhere!

Living simply at Christmas can be hard but something it seems more people are getting on board with. We all know that our North American consumerism is at it's best (or worst) this time of year. People spend hundreds of dollars and get stressed out to the max buying more stuff that we don't need. Joel and I do stockings for each other but haven't bought gifts in awhile. Instead we choose an experience to share that we normally wouldn't do. My side of the family only buys gifts for kids and on Joel's side we draw names for one stocking and one gift, so gift-buying is fairly easy.

But as we've been getting closer to Christmas I've started to question why we even buy gifts at all. Then last night I read this post and the wheels started turning even more. For those of us who follow Jesus (I know not everyone reading this does) isn't it really him we are celebrating? Shouldn't we be giving gifts to him and isn't what he really wants is for us to give to those in need? Why do we give gifts to each other? Because it makes us feel good? Then it's still about us. Because we want to show people we love them? Why does it have to be with stuff? I know many people are changing the way they do Christmas, making handmade gifts, giving time instead of things or honouring people buy giving gifts that matter. So many great organizations have gift catalogues now, it's not hard to find one you align with.

I think over the next few years, while our kids are still young, will be the time to figure out our traditions and how we'll do Christmas. Will we give any gifts to each other? I don't know. I'm certainly not claiming that gift giving is evil. But I've just been challenged to think more about the "why" and how I can make Christmas more about what really matters. I want it to be less about us and more about others and while doing that, not unnecessarily contributing to the accumulation of stuff. What are your traditions at Christmas? Have you changed how your family does it over the years?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Follow Through.... or lack thereof

I've recently written about several different goals I have for myself and I have to confess they are not going well. I am good at making goals and plans but have never been awesome on the follow through, except for when I said at a young age I would get married and move with my husband to Africa. I checked that one off in the second year of marriage.

One of my goals was to practice gratitude and record one thousand gifts. Sadly, since I've started this in August I'm at a whopping 31. A bit pathetic. It's not that I haven't had anything to be grateful for, but my journal is usually under a pile of books and I honestly don't think of it. New goal? Put my journal in the kitchen and leave it OPEN. I'm really determined to make thankfulness central to my life and clearly have a long way to go.

I've wanted to become a morning person. Well, I've gotten out of bed early to workout a whole.... wait for it.... 2 times. Yikes! I love sleep and have not yet been able to force myself into bed early so if I don't HAVE to get up at 6am, it takes a lot for me to set the alarm. It's a choice that I've simply not made This morning I just happened to wake up at 6am and knew that I'd lie awake in bed until 7am thinking about how I should be working out, (plus I really had to pee!) so I dragged my butt out of bed for a date with Jillian. I still believe the morning is the best time to workout and want to be fit, so I'll keep working on it.

The third goal was to work on living more simply by buying less food. I'm doing okay on this one. There is definitely more space in the freezer and pantry but I've failed a few times buying things I don't need or haven't planned into a meal. Overall I'm feeling pretty good about this one and still working away.

I don't write this to make myself feel guilty. Moms don't need more of that. It's just a mental check-in of where I'm at and a declaration that I will continue to work on these things. Overall life is pretty great these days. We've successfully made it through the one nap transition and I'm happy about that. Life is all about choices and we make hundreds of them a day. Inevitably I will make several bad ones before the sun goes down. I'm the kind of person that once I have a decent string of failures in a certain area I am very tempted to throw in the towel and give up. But no! I will not give up (cue inspiration music!). I will become a grateful person, I will value a healthy lifestyle by actually doing something about it, and I will learn to live more simply. It just looks like I'll be on the long, slow track to getting there, but hopefully the one that results in true transformation. Now excuse me while I go motivate myself by watching the Biggest Loser with a bowl of ice cream.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Pizza Puffs


A friend posted a link to this recipe so I pinned it (Are you on Pinterest? Awesome!) and finally got to making it this week. I LOVE things I can freeze for my boys and be used for a snack or quick meal and these were perfect, not to mention very quick and easy to make. They were a hit with the boys, who currently love to say the word "pizza". You could also add super diced veggies to round out the food groups. They're great for adults too... I popped several back in a row...especially as a yummy appetizer at a party! I have a feeling I'll be making these on an almost weekly basis. I think I only got 19 out of my mini-muffin tins but depends on the size. Let me know if you try them!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (I didn't have this so used a pinch or two of oregano)
  • pinch of salt (optional)
  • pinch of red pepper flakes (optional, but I used them)
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup cubed pepperoni (I used cut up Natural Selections ham...healthier I think??? Will try pepperoni too.)
  • 1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce (didn't use this for the boys but would make them more delicious)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hope on World AIDS Day


Today is World AIDS day. I confess I had totally forgot it was coming. My thoughts are on our many friends infected or affected by AIDS. Above is my friend Rebecca who we met when we lived in Zimbabwe. She had been close to dying but was given the opportunity to go on ARVs and has responded well. She is still alive today and we're able to keep in touch occasionally via a friend with email or when friends go to visit. She is just one of the many brave people fighting this awful disease.

It is easy to get overwhelmed or just check out altogether. Many of us don't know people on this side of the world who are infected, but with 34 million people living with it worldwide it's a big deal. Today I have hope. Hope for a cure, hope for a better life for those infected through the help of medication. Hope of support for those caring for orphans or loved ones as they die. There is so much that can be done and I'm proud to be part of an awesome community who is making a difference. Is there more we can do? Absolutely. Are there many days it doesn't even come to mind? Yes! But it's too huge to ignore altogether and I want to do my part. So let's not think that it's too big that we can't do anything about it. Many people I know don't have a choice of whether or not they want to deal with AIDS. We do, and I hope that if you're not already, you'll choose to do something!