My first "forever" summer...

Teachers all around town returned to work today. I did not. Yet, I woke up this morning with a funny feeling. It was an urgency to do something. Did I feel the need to prepare a lesson plan? No. Were there meetings that I needed to attend? No. Was I late for some sort of annual mandatory training? Absolutely not. I felt this intense desire to DO BACK-FLIPS ACROSS THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR!!!!! I get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be "Momma" for my girls all. day. long. And the excitement that is flowing through my veins is going to cause them to explode. In honor of, as Lana appropriately coined, my "first official day off", the girls and I went for frozen yogurt after lunch.

After that, we went to the park. And played. And played. And played. While we were there, I remembered that I'd done a "then" and "now" of pictures from this particular park the last two summers. I snapped a pic today with my phone (hence the poor quality), and after putting together this year's "then" and "now", it hit home even harder why my need to stay home with the girls has continued to grow: they are changing and growing so quickly and I cannot stand to miss a single second of it. At the end of the each day, I love knowing exactly what "characters" they pretended to be all day (today, I was "Ellen", the housekeeper from Mary Poppins while Abby was "Mary Poppins" and Elise was "Mrs. Banks"). I love seeing the pile of clothes on the floor and knowing exactly why each outfit change was necessary (Elise changed zero times today - shocking, however she was wearing a new shirt and new socks from Grammy - but Abby went through 3 skirts and 3 shirts until she found the one that was the most "cozy"). And I love when the girls are asked "What do you want to do tomorrow?" and they answer with: "Play with you, Momma!", that I can absolutely make that happen. All. day. long.

Muffin Mania

It's still hot here. We are still in "summer mode". Yet I still NEED to bake. :) I've spent a great deal of time channeling my inner-baking goddess into muffins. I love muffins for the following reasons: 

1. Delicious.
2. Nutritious.
3. Unlimited possibilities.
4. Quick to throw together.
5. Great for breakfast.
6. Great for lunch.
7. Great for snacks.
8. Easy to grab-n-go.
9. Freeze well (not that they typically make it to our freezer).
10. Delicious.

I've been making at least 2 batches per week of at least a dozen muffins. And regarding #9 above: we usually consume a dozen muffins in a day. I don't think twice about feeding them to the girls for breakfast and again for lunch - sugar-free, whole grain, and contain fruits and/or vegetables. Works for me! When the day comes that I start packing lunches for the girls, you better believe they'll be enjoying muffins instead of sandwiches at times! Here's what we've been devouring lately:

Banana Bread Muffins

courtesy of COOKIE+kate

• 1/3 C melted organic coconut oil
• 1/4 C local honey
• 1/4 C real maple syrup
• 2 local eggs
• 1 C mashed organic bananas
• 1 tsp organic vanilla
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 C organic whole wheat flour
• 1/2 C ground organic oats
• 1/4 C oat bran
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 C hot water
• Combine coconut oil and honey; add eggs, bananas, vanilla, sea salt, cinnamon
• Stir in flours (total flour is 1 3/4 C - I've made this by combining different amounts of whole wheat flour, ground oats, oat bran, flaxseed, and brown rice flour)
• Combine baking soda with hot water; add to batter
• Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes in greased muffin tin

Whole Wheat Carrot and Apple Muffins

courtesy of 100 Days of Real Food

• 3 C organic whole wheat flour (again, I typically use an assortment of flour and grains to total the amount needed)
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 sea salt
• 3 local eggs
• 3/4 C organic coconut oil
• 1/2 C honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 C grated organic carrots
• 1 C grated organic apples
• Combine dry ingredients
• Add wet ingredients
• Fold in carrots and apples
• Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes in greased muffin tin

Basic Muffin Recipe (without eggs)

courtesy of The Yummy Life

• 2 C organic flour (combination of ground oats, whole wheat flour, flaxseed)
• 2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 C buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk so I squeezed 1 T fresh lemon juice into measuring cup, filled it to 1 C with milk, and let sit for 10 minutes)
• 1/2 C water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 C local honey
• Combine dry ingredients
• Combine wet ingredients
• Add all together
• I made a batch of blueberry-pecan as well as a batch of peach-pecan. For both, fill greased muffin tin 1/3 with batter, sprinkle with fruit/nuts, fill another 1/3 with batter, top with fruit/nuts
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes 

Wordless Wednesday: Butterfly Wings and Glass Slippers

Wordless Wednesday: SIX YEARS (raise a glass to many more...)

Wee Fruit Pizzas

For the girls' birthday this year, we had a small gathering in the morning, the day of their birthday. Little did we know that it was going to be 110° that day, which made the morning celebration that much more pleasant. Adding extra bodies to the house does nothing for the coolness quotient. I am now a huge fan of the morning party! I loved that the girls were able to wake up and start celebrating rather than waiting all day, the summertime birthday fits well with an earlier start, and the snacks were fun and easy! I didn't want to load them up with a sugary cupcake before lunch and naps, so when I saw these Mini-Muffin Fruit Pizzas, I was sold. I used homemade dough but definitely stole the idea. And I frosted/fruited a tray of them ahead of time for the adults, leaving some un-decorated to entertain the smaller humans as they did their own.

Mini-Muffin Tin Fruit Pizzas, with Lemony Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
**I doubled the recipe for this occasion**

• 1/2 C organic unsalted butter
• 3/4 C organic sugar
• 1 local egg
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 2 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Zest of 1 organic lemon
• Juice of 1/2 organic lemon
• Mix dry ingredients
• Mix wet ingredients
• Combine all and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Butter a mini muffin tin
• Roll dough into small balls - do not squish into muffin tin; just drop a ball in each spot
• Bake for 4 minutes; remove from oven and press tops down with the back of a spoon
• Return to oven for 3-5 more minutes
• Topping: basic cream cheese frosting and organic fruit of your liking

Wordless Wednesday: "May I schwim to you?"

Smooth(ie) Moves

My blender is probably the most-used kitchen appliance that we own. It was my life-line when making baby food, it grinds grains for Super Porridge, and it is our smoothie machine. We eat smoothies at least 5 times a week - sometimes for breakfast, sometimes for a snack, sometimes we pour them into the Zoku popsicle maker, and sometimes they're dinner. You can seriously make a smoothie with almost any ingredients and I personally find them to be a dietary staple. Here are two of our current faves:

The Greener the Better

• Organic kale
• Organic Greek yogurt
• We've starting eating Wallaby Greek yogurt - The Merc recently starting carrying it and it's one of the few organic Greek yogurts that is actually strained instead of adding pectin to thicken it
• Organic frozen fruit
• I like to use any combination of bananas, pineapple, peaches, or mango because it allows the green color to remain vibrant. But that's just me!
• Organic juice
• Orange, peach, or apricot are nice
• Maybe a few ice cubes, if you want it colder

Figs are Fun

• Frozen organic banana
• 2 T (or so) organic almond butter
• Organic apricot juice
• Organic Greek yogurt
• 5-6 organic figs
• Maybe a few ice cubes, if you want it colder

As you can see, I don't ever measure - it's more of a chop, toss in, pour, blend, add, blend, drink. But the fig smoothie - yes, please! The girls and I devoured that one! It's only noon, and I've already used the blender twice today. Who knows what the afternoon will bring! :)