Mini Muffins with Baby Food

I wanted to use up ripe bananas - and I am not a huge Banana bread fan.... until I found this recipe. 

I totally forgot to pick up applesauce when I was getting groceries... so I improvised. 

I had baby food in the pantry - apples and carrots - how convenient.

What a great way to add the pureed fruits and veggies..... and the prep was non existent. 

Double Awesome.

Mini Banana Muffins - A Kid Favourite

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas
1 1/4 all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 sunflower oil
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup un-sweetened apple sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients.
In another bowl mash bananas until soft. Then add all other wet ingredients to bananas.
Add dry ingredients to wet - do not over mix.
Scoop batter into tins.
Bake for 50- 55 minutes.
Let cool.

The Original recipe is from "The Eat Clean Diet - For Family & Friends" cookbook. Find the Eat Clean site here.

Soup

This past weekend was productive -

Week night menu plan + groceries- check
Use up extremely ripe fruit - check
Use up fridge items that were taking up space - check
Laundry - check
Clean bathrooms - check
Finish up on Sons of Anarchy season 4 - check (yes I know we're behind!)
Spend time with the the kids and especially Mr. Mom - double check

This may not have been possible without gaining 1 hour sleep.....





Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut and Quinoa

2 Large Sweet Potatoes - peeled and cubed
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Instructions:

1) Steam your sweet potatoes - add 2 cups of water and prepped sweet potatoes to a pot with a lid. Steam potatoes by turing stove top to medium high. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until softened (poke with a fork).  Set aside. *Or steam/soften any way you prefer

2) Add the 2 tbsp of water to a pot - add onion and soften (3 minutes)

3) Add qunioa and broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low then simmer for 15 minutes.

4) Add drained sweet potatoes, and puree with a hand held blender.

5) Add coconut milk and spices, sir, and increase heat to medium. Warm it to your preferred temperature,


This would be tasty served with cilantro.

The Original recipe is from "Quinoa 365 - The Everyday Superfood". It recommends serving with yogurt as well.

Can you tell this is my favourite cook book?

Another October is Done

November blahs? Nah - Does November fly by for anyone else now?

As a kid - November seemed to drag on! - Christmas was such an anticipation! The first day to open your advent calendar seemed so far away on November 1st.

November for me is a great month - Remembrance day for one - and the cool crisp days - (hopefully not so wet as last month). And all the planning for the Christmas Season - yes I said Christmas Planning.

I totally saw a Pot of Gold Christmas (a.k.a 'Holiday') commercial on October 29th.

(We will never refer to it as the "Holiday Season" - It's Christmas - always has been and always will be. Period.)

Moving on....

We've survived Halloween - a better turnout of 'trick or treaters' than predicted that's for sure!

The Pumpkin carving was a success - however the attention span was minimal - and I was left to conquer it myself.... pretty sure I re-aggravated my 'tennis elbow symptoms'.

So Our little 'goblins' were Dressed as:

Raphael (TMNT)

Bumble Bee

Cute as a button! Mr. O was SO excited to have his face painted green. 

Missy Z was very warm and cosy in her bee costume - and LOVED standing at every door and meeting flirting (batting her eyes and giving the 'infectious' giggle/grin combo) with all the neighbours.

The bubble bath post 'trick or treating' was a welcomed event, let me tell you..... that's after we scraped them of the ceiling......

Is it bad that I loving taking the kids around - because I then reap the benefits of their 'Treats'?

I do try to buy candy that I wont necessarily enjoy (I try to pass along to others November 1st)-

But when the kids buckets are filled with crispy crunch, heresy, jersey milk, butter finger ....

mmmmmm....

SO GOOD.......

who says staring your day with a butter finger is bad?
They're SO tiny now!!.... (internal justification)


To pay homage to the Harvest Season that is wrapping up - I have a cookie recipe that was well received:

Pumpkin Ginger Quinoa Cookies

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup fancy molasses

1cup pumpkin puree

1 cup quinoa flour

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 c white sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. Fold in pumpkin puree. Set aside.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, spices in a bowl - blend well, set aside.

Add wet and dry ingredients together - mix until dough is smooth.

Roll dough in to 1 1/2" balls.

Put the white sugar into a small bowl - roll each dough ball in the sugar.

Place the balls 2" apart on a baking sheet. Bake on the center oven rack for 8-10* minutes.

*Cookies will be soft - but harden as they cool. If you want then a bit more crispy, bake a few minutes longer.

Let them cool for 1 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

This Recipe was modified slightly and the original one can be found in "Quinoa 365 - the Every Day Superfood" cookbook.

Mr. Mom Update

Mr. Mom is doing well.

Besides the busy days and nights, things are working out well. One of my worries returning to work was meals. Making nutritious meals that:

1) Mr. Mom approves of (tonnes of criteria - too extensive to list for you)
2) tasty
3) easy enough for Mr. Mom to tackle before I get home

You guessed it - Slow Cooker. We aren't 'saucy' people. We enjoy a glaze, but nothing too sweet and it's ingredient list must be low in fat, sugar and sodium - but high in protein and fibre .. and not full of pasta or rice (as per Mr. Mom).

This criteria is hard to find. This one is a winner!

Thank-you Pinterest!

Slow Cooker Chops

Ingredients

6 boneless butterflied Pork Chops (1-inch Thick is nice

2 Tablespoons EVOO

2 clove Garlic, Minced

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Red Wine

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

¼ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes

1 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch

1 1/2 Tablespoons Cold Water

2 cups Hot Cooked Basmatti Rice, For Serving

In a skillet, brown pork chops on both sides in oil; transfer to a slow cooker. Add garlic to the drippings in your skillet; cook and stir until aromatic or golden. Stir in soy sauce, wine, brown sugar and red pepper flakes; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over chops in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or until meat is tender. Remove chops – they will probably be falling apart by this time. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into slow cooker. Return chops to slow cooker. Cover and cook for at least 30 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Serve over rice.

** I did change the original recipe a bit so here is the link to the original one. I did use the exact instructions though :)

1st Birthday and the return to work

That's it - here and gone - SO quick.

Missy Lou  turned one and I have returned to full time work. Where does the time go?

Thank-you for all the Birthday wishes - and thank-you for a wonderful weekend filled with cake, laughter and love!

I was chatting with a girlfriend who's 1st born turned 1 this summer - she hit the nail on the head when explaining the size of the Birthday party- "it was pretty much a small wedding".

Yep - inevitable - 1st Born, 1st grandchild, 1st - 1st Birthday - it will be huge.

Mr. O's 1st Birthday took place over the course of 3 days - WAY too much! So we tried to scale back...

Missy Lou's Birthday was a two day event - 2 parties which co-incided with Thanksgiving.

Party #1 was a Dora theme - complete with A 'map' for a scavenger hunt, purple 'backpack' (or buckets) to hold all scavenger items, a Pinata (of Dora... slightly creepy - yet hilarious as the kids loved to smack the crap out of it), and of course the cake.

On the hunt....

Party #2 was what I'll call the PINTREST party - everything was inspired by Pintrest.

The Pintrest inspired decorations worked out really good!

embroidery hoop + fabric+ "1"+ ribbon

tissue paper + pipe-cleaner (click here for tutorial)

'clothes line' of pictures documenting each month

balloon weight - small glass jar +  4 boxes smarties + #1 candle

But I think my most TRIUMPHANT Pintrest inspired idea was the Zebra Cake....

she was Marvellous!
 SO Delicious too:

Piped with reverse shell technique - you tubed it that morning! (Icing took about 1/2 hour)

Now Missy Z - didn't want to get her hands dirty - and actually didn't eat/smear/wear her cake (which was too bad as that is probably the best part of the 1st Birthday) - However she did enjoy her cake the next day :)

Here is the Zebra Cake Tutorial. I did use the Betty crocker mixes - as they were on sale for 88 cents that week - The cake was moist and quite enjoyable!!

We all had a ball - and slept REALLY well that night.....

... and then bright and early the next morning - my alarm went off and that was it - Mat leave over - 1st Birthday came and went.... and I was off to the clinic.

The Return of Mr. Mom

Thanks Giving Weekend is here -

That means my Mat leave/Parental leave is officially over....
Missy Z. is turning 1
.....and Mr. Mom returns!

I'm extremely fortunate to have had a year off, and am even more fortunate to have a husband with flexible work hours that child care isn't an issue.

Not only that, he is the best person to step into the "Mom" role.

He's the best Mr. Mom I know.

As Mr. Mom settles in - I too have to adjust my new 'hat'. Organizing meals and cleaning schedules around a full time work schedule has me be a bit worried. I feel I've just found my routine - and now have to completely change it - sigh.

The thought of  the "back to work routine" is a bit daunting - I have to remember that I have done it before - and all the encouragement from friends (who have little ones) who returned to work sooner than me makes me feel better. Thank-you to all of you!

The return to work date also co-incides with Mr. O taking the bus to and from school. We started him to school last week, but next week will be from school as well. The only reason he didn't do it right from the beginning was that we had the luxury of taking him - and I wanted to drive him.

Boy was he exited for the bus though!!

He was a bit shy - but the driver was so great. She had him sit right at the front the first ride - and the rest is history.

He got home from school and the first thing he said was - "Mom, when I ride the bus I DIDN'T have to wear a seat belt... or sit in a car seat!"

This was followed by - "...does the police man say I have to wear a seat belt and sit in a car seat on the bus?"

(my answers to many questions about safety is "... the policeman says you have to" or "...the policeman says you can't do that".)

So I said "no, just in the car".

Then I hear "..... I like the bus".

A boy who already knows when the rules can be bent - Oh dear.

I will definitely update about the Birthday Celebrations - but for now here is a recipe that I wanted to share that the whole family likes.

Roasted Kale (can you believe it!)

...actually - we like to call it  Kale Chips.

They're very yummy and if baked well - can be very crispy and salty - like chips.

KRU Kale Chips

1 bunch of Kale - cut out the main stem of each leaf as this is too firm to eat.

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt - to taste (I probably use 1 tsp...sometimes more)

Fresh ground pepper - to taste (I probably use 1 tsp... sometimes more)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425 

Wash/Rinse and dry the leaves once all the stems are removed

*feel free to rip the larger leaves smaller if you like

Arrange on a baking sheet (the leaves will be piled up)

Drizzle EVOO, sprinkle salt/pepper over top of the leaves.

Toss with your hands to coat all the leaves.

Bake for 13-15 minutes.

**While in the oven make sure to flip/toss with a flipper occasionally to reduce the chances of 'soggy' spots. The Kale will shrink so this makes it easier to move around.

The Kale should brown slightly - be careful not to "over crisp".

Enjoy!!

PJ party and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall arrived just before 11am today.

I have no idea where the time goes.

Today (as promised) we had a PJ party. Mr. O was SO excited he could stay in his PJs all morning.... and requested wearing them while he ate lunch. So we did.

Gotta love those lazy mornings.

His only other request this morning was that we make cookies... while still wearing our PJs.

Chocolate Chip Cookies a la Anna Olson

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks **We used mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.
3. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.
4. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.

For our 1st Anniversary I received the 'Sugar' cookbook by Anna Olson.

This is the most amazing cookbook for desserts. 

I would definitely recommend it!!

Mini Muffins

So we made it through the school week -

All except the 'hot beaver' day.

School pictures were taken, and Miss Z's 1st Birthday photo shoot was a success. Her birthday isn't for 2 weeks - but I thought I'd be prepared to hand out pictures for the birthday weekend.

Mr. O is quite excited to stay in his PJ's tomorrow. He wanted to stay in them today - "can I wear my balls today?" (his pj's are covered in sport balls - basket, tennis, baseball, volley balls)

Honestly where does this kid come up with these things?

I love that  he says exactly what he's thinking - no filter... but I'm sure in a few years that what I find 'cute' won't be so cute..... sigh.

For those who don't know we are amidst a 'Great Canadian Basement Reno'. {As it's been coined by our old neighbour who the building mastermind aka the 'old fart in the basement' (actual quote)}

Hubby is doing a great job and is loving all the teaching and correction advice along the way.

How can you not love power tools?
Or just the fact that you are the creator of such a structure?
Gotta love DIY.

The "Man Cave"

There is a timeline factor involved, and the reno may not be completed right away as I'm headed back to work very soon. Oh well we've lived in an on going reno before - it will be done... someday....

I wanted to share a recipe I found and made this past week called apple stuffin muffins. The whole family devoured them, so I know I'll have to double the recipe next time. I added a few extra ingredients to mine:

Apple and Carrot Stuffed Muffins

**makes 12 mini muffins or 6 regular muffins

Ingredients

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tbs vegan margarine (it's all I had - you can use butter though)

1/8 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup applesauce (I used 1 motts lunchsize apple sauce cup)

1 egg

1/8 tsp salt 

1/2 apple peeled and chopped very small

1/2 cup shredded carrot1/4 cup raisins

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl, set aside.

4. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the margarine on high for about 20 seconds; add sugar, applesauce, egg and salt to bowl. Mix well.

5. Pour the apple mixture over the flour mixture. Gently fold in the flour until mixed in, add carrots and raisins, make sure not to over mix.

6. Fill the muffin tins about half full with batter. Bake for 8-9 minutes for mini muffins. 

**Note: For 6 standard size muffins bake 15 minutes