Yogurt Fruit Pops

It’s been way to long, again.  I’ve got a feeling I’m going to be saying that a lot.

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about that may help people to understand why I’ve not been overly up on everything.  When you have a second kid, you’d think you would only have twice as much laundry, that it would only take twice as long to get ready to go somewhere, there would only be twice as many tears.  However, I’ve come to discover that a second child means about 5 times more laundry, it takes about 15 minutes to get ready, as opposed to 2 minutes, and the tears tend to be innumerable and unstoppable at times.

 

{Isn’t he growing?!  Such a cute little guy, my handsome man.}

There is good news though, it also mean innumerable laughs, and smiles.  I get to spend more time with my boys getting them ready before we go somewhere.

… and there’s really nothing good about 5 times as much laundry.  Well, except that [maybe] when it’s sunny out, I have an excuse to stand outside – to hang up laundry.  That’s about it.

 

{My sick, sweet little boy.  Cutest.  Kid.  Ever.}

My son likes yogurt.  Of the frozen kind.  And I don’t mean frozen yogurt, I mean yogurt that’s been frozen.  We usually freeze yogurt tubes, and he has them for a healthy snack.  But the other day, I was inspired by this sweet blog.  But I made it even easier.  Just get a popsicle mold (mine is from Walmart, $3), some sliced fruit, and some yogurt.  Whatever kinds you want of everything!  It’s completely customizable.

Yogurt Fruit Pops (our version)

Slices strawberries and mandarins

Peach yogurt and vanilla yogurt.

Pour and plop into molds.  Freeze and enjoy!  Super yummy, and awesomely delicious.

 

{Poor guy spent the beginning of the week sick.  So he extra enjoyed the pops.}

(Especially on a nice sunny, warm day, if anyone is enjoying those right now…  it’s been raining here for over a week…)

If it’s raining there like it is here, why don’t you make some hot sweet milk to enjoy instead?

 

Fondant and a Wedding Cake

Spring is here (for today anyway)!  It’s sunny and a high of 12C.  Not warm to some of you, but it feels pretty great to me!

So this has been a long time coming.  I’ve been meaning to post it since early December, but of course, haven’t.  A friend of ours got married, just a small, very quaint wedding, and she asked me to make the cake.  Numero dos on the wedding cakes for me.  First one was for a friend in August, but that one was with buttercream.  This was my first attempt at fondant [EVER], and I made the fondant myself from scratch.  Which was pretty sweet, slightly nerve-wracking, and yummy!  I liked the taste quite a bit more than pre-made, bought fondant.

I used a pound cake recipe for the cake, and made 4 layers (2 bigger, 2 smaller).

Then I made a peanut butter cream filling for in between layers.  Coated it with buttercream, and then layered the fondant on top.

Then decorated with blue coloured buttercream.  It was quite the process, even for a small cake.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

You can find one very similar to the one I used at HowDoesShe.  Check it.

{Daddy and baby strutting their hats.}

Doily Table Runner

I’m back again.  And so soon!  (Not really, but sooner than I expected.)

With another non-food creation.  All thanks to Pinterest for the great idea (however, I only saw it, and didn’t pin it, so I have no sweet clue where it originally came from).  By the way – follow me on Pinterest!  It’s such a great place for ideas, a good place to waste spend time surfing cool things, and it’s just cool.  So there.  Do it.

 

Doily Runner

So, this is really quite ridiculous.  Easy peasy.  Just find some doilies.  Wait – do what I did.  Go to your mom (or grandmother), and ask them if they have any extra kicking around.  I discovered quickly that my mother might just have a fetish…  or maybe it’s my grandmother (I think that’s where they all came from).     Either way, find some doilies. Having a bunch of different ones looks pretty cool.  Then, find some thread and a needle.  Sew them together using small stitches (so they are unnoticeable).  Annnddd…  TAADAA!  C’est tout!  I think it looks really sweet too.  Adds a nice, feminine touch to my living room.

Hope you guys like the how to’s, instead of just food all the time.  What can I say?  I’m feeling crafty.  Not sure why.  Just am.   If you are hungry though check out this great recipe for Raspberry Scones.  Get a coffee, and eat one o’these yummy devils.  It’ll do you good on this snowy, not-so-springy weekend.  Enjoy!

 

{I just can’t leave you all without a pic of at least one of the boys.  Cael in Daddy’s hat and a friends shoes.  Great smile.}

Caramel Cream Cheese Torte with Chocolate Ganache

How was everybody’s Easter weekend?  Hope it was wonderful.  Ours was great.  Busy.  Crazy busy.  But great.

Starting with Friday, we had a service at our church, and a potluck, followed by a small group gathering for me and the boys that evening while hubby went to a wedding rehearsal.  Saturday was weekly breakfast at my mom’s, the actual wedding (his aunt’s – congrats guys!), and a wonderful walk with a friend.  Sunday – Church and Easter dinner.  Monday – Another Easter dinner and movie night with my guy!  It really was great.  I probably ate myself into a food coma a few times, but it was wonderful.  Lots of family and friends involved.

{My grandmother holding Jude at Easter dinner.  My boys make her face light up – it’s so wonderful.}

We got some wonderful pictures of the boys too.  Cael did his first egg hunt on Sunday, and it was so fun to watch him!

Cael in his digs for the Sunday service.

As I said, lots of food was involved this weekend.  Both being made and consumed.  My job for the Sunday dinner, was dessert and corn.  Corn’s pretty easy, so I’ll spare those details.  But I thought you might want to know about the dessert.  I’ve been on a shortbread kick lately.  And I’m almost always on a chocolate kick.  Throw some caramel and cream cheese in there, and VOILA!  A great (calorie-free… ahem*) dessert!

Caramel Cream Cheese Torte with Chocolate Ganache

Shortbread Base

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix it all together until it’s nice and crumbly and pat into a 9-inch pie plate.  Bake for about 15 minutes at 350F.  The edges should be turning a lovely light brown colour.  Like the perfect marshmallow over a campfire…  (Can you tell I’m really wanting summer to get on with it?)  Let it cool!

Chocolate Ganache

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

2/3 cup cream (either 10% or 18% work)

1 tbsp margarine

Now, you can do this on a double boiler if that’s your cup of tea.  But mine tends to be the microwave.  Mostly because growing up we didn’t have a double boiler…  So!  Heat until the margarine is melted and it’s getting smooth.  Make sure not to burn the chocolate.  Just do it in intervals and stir in,between.  Let this cool.

Caramel Cream Cheese Layer

1 pkg cream cheese

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup caramel sauce (like Smuker’s or similar)

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, in the same bowl you made the ganache if you want…  a little extra chocolate never hurt anyone.  Like this:

Add sugar and sauce.  Spread over cooled shortbread layer.  Top with cooled ganache.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.  2 hours is better.  I only found this out because I was finishing it only minutes before going to dinner.  Thank goodness people take awhile to eat their main meal, and for room in an already stuffed fridge!

Hope you all enjoy!  It really was divine.  Lots of compliments at our dinner, anyhow.

Here’s a Jude moment to make your day better – doesn’t he have a great smile?  Infectious even!?

Part of the Tuesday Talent Show at Chef in Training, and Work it Wednesday at High Heels and Grills

Knit Headbands

I’m baaaaccckkkk.  And not pregnant anymore!

I’d like to have some sort of good, quirky, true excuse for not having posted since October.  But the truth is…  I just didn’t.  I wanted to, truly.  It just didn’t happen.  Perhaps it had something to do with being preggers, Christmas, a newborn.  Let’s say it did.  (But honestly, I had lots of time I could have spent doing this instead of the myriads of other things I did.)  I miss this.

So we’re going to try to get back into it.  I have to rely on hubby to remind me to do this.  He’s a pretty good nagger motivator.  Really though, he’s great at getting me into these things.

First off, let’s get an update.  A lot can happen in 5 months.  (Wow, has it really been that long?!)  And a lot DID happen.  Lots of cooking and baking happened.  Quite a bit of knitting, wrapping, eating, decorating…  doing wayy too much…  happened as well.  Oh, and I had a baby.  That was probably the biggest thing that happened.

{Say hey to my newest, cutest little guy}

January 16, Jude came into the world at a whopping 9lbs 2oz.  I have no idea how he was so big.  It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know how big he was going to be before I went into labour…  He was so worth it though.  Such a good, happy, handsome little man.  I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of him.  (Hope you don’t mind!)

{Cael likes his new brother…most of the time.  Typical siblings…}

I thought we’d start off the new year (a few months late) with something different.  Over Christmas, I got a pattern for some knit headbands, that I looooved.  Anyhow, I made three.  One for my friend’s birthday, one for my mom’s birthday, and one for me!  You see, I was out to make 2, but after my mom’s was done, and I had tried it on…  Well, let’s just say she didn’t get that one.  Never try on something you’re supposed to be giving away, if you like it at all, it might just have to stay with you.

{Mom ended up with this one.  I’ll have to get a picture of her wearing it – she looks super cute!  Most stylish Mom ever}

I got the pattern from a friend, it’s super easy, and mega versatile.  You can really make it with any kind of yard, any size needles, and any thickness.  But I’ll give you the standard to start with.  When it comes to making the flower, just go by the instructions.  It doesn’t sound right, but once you start to cast off, you’ll be amazed at what happens.  It’s really quite neat.

{This one was supposed to be for my mom.  She loves pink.  I abhor pink.  I tried it on.  I loved it.  Make sense?}

Knit Headband

Size 8 needles, thick fluffy yarn, tapestry needle

Cast on number of stitches based on thickness of yarn and width of headband you are looking for. **You must make sure to end each row on purl no matter how many stitches you choose or the ribbing will not work.**  (12 for the thinner version and 16 for the thicker version)

Row 1 till end: k2, p2 until desired length is achieved (test on head, should fit snug b/c will most likely stretch a bit)

Cast off and cut yarn leaving a few inches to sew seam.

Flower

Size 8 needles, any yarn (light weight is easier to use for these)

Cast on 10 stitches

Row 1:  Knit

Row 2 (and all even rows): Purl

Row 3: knit into the front and back of each stitch (20 st)

Row 5: knit into the front and back of each stitch (40 st)

Row 7: knit into the front and back of each stitch (80 st)

Row 8: Purl

Cast off, assemble flower, sewing with loose ends.  Attach to the seam of the headband.

Again, I kind of messed around with how many stitches to use for the different widths of headbands and sizes of flowers.  Shout out if you want to know exactly what I did.  They turned out super cute!

{My friend Sarah got this darling.  I’ve also got to get a picture of her with it on, because she looks gorgeous (WITH and without it on)}

Cael update anybody?  He’s getting big!  He says almost everything we say, and is starting to put words together.

{Funny, as soon as I told him to smile, he gave me the evil stare}

He is 100% boy.  Cars, trains, animals, guns, fighting noises, fighting, you name it.  If you associate it with the male species, he loves it.  Anyhow.  I hope you guys enjoy the headbands.  Food next time, I promise.  I won’t promise that it will be soon, but hopefully it’ll be before August.  No more 5 month intervals.  Okay?  Peace.

{Mommy and baby Jude}

Part of Made by you Mondays, and Craft-O-Maniac Monday Link Party

Hot Cross BISCUITS

Three months.  That’s all the time I have left before baby numero dos is due.  (Unless of course, he…  or she, comes early…)  It seems like a long time, but I know it will just fly by.  Especially with Christmas coming.  I know, I know – I shouldn’t even have mentioned the ‘C’ word, but it’s true.  It’s a’comin’.  And personally, I’m pumped for the shopping trips.  Buying things for people, baking = fun, fun, fun.  Busy, but fun.  And our little guy will actually be aware of everything this year.  I’m super excited to see how he reacts to all the hullabaloo.  And that means baby will be along shortly (and I can stop going to work! Not that I’m excited about that, or anything…).

Thanksgiving anybody?  It was great to have a turkey dinner.  I made my first ever yule log thingy (and it was awesome – and I’ll share it with you soon!).  Deep Chocolate Buche de Noel.   Yum.  It was the first dessert gone at our family gathering.

Anybody say cute?

Here he is:

 

{My cutest little boy ever…  I’ve got to say that as many times as I can in the next three months in case I have another boy!  Isn’t he just great though?}

So I’ve got three words for you.

Joy. the. Baker.

Check her out.  She is an inspirational food blogger.  Just your everyday Joe, but she’s amazing.  I love everything she writes, and cooks, and I don’t know the girl.  But I wish I did.  She recently came out with her first cookbook (SO awesome!). And here was the chain of events that followed:

Got her cookbook.

Loved it.

Wanted to bake everything in it.

So what did I do?  Went to her blog and made something from there instead.  Hot Cross Biscuits, to be exact.  But don’t worry, a few days later I made her Cinnamon Sugar Rice Pudding out of the cookbook.  It rocked world.  But not near as much as these biscuits.  They were awesome.  I would make them again, and again.  And eat them.  All.

Hot Cross Biscuits

These are just slightly adapted from Joy’s recipe:

**I used dried cranberries in half of the recipe, switched orange zest for lemon, and didn’t use icing

Makes 8 to 12 biscuits

Print this Recipe!

For the Biscuits:

3 cups  flour

2 Tbsp sugar

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into small cubes

1 large egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 tsp orange zest

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or grease with shortening, and set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in butter, until resembles flakes of oatmeal.

Add cranberries

Whisk together egg and buttermilk.

Slowly fold into butter/flour mixture, just until all the flour is wet.  Place on a floured surface and knead slightly.  Roll out until dough is 1 inch thick, and cut with a biscuit cutter (whatever size pleases you, really).

Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk, and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown on top and bottom.  Remove from oven and let cool.

These are amazing served with butter and jam.  I omitted the cranberries from half of my recipe, and I loved them both ways.

Bon appetit!

30 Day Challenge

Day 10 – Discuss your first love and first kiss

Well.  That’s [fairly] early.  My first love would be my hubby.  I’ve had a crush (and then wayyy more than a crush) on him since elementary school.  Sure, we’ve had ups and downs.  But I never ever gave a thought to us not being together.  There were scary times, when it came close, but we got through.  He’s handsome, in a rugged (which is my favourite!) way.  Funny, sarcastic, great hubby, wonderful Daddy – these are only a few of the things that I love about him.  I’ve got to mention his little crooked smile, and the mischievous look he gets too.  They’re just too good to pass up.  He is the only guy I’ve ever kissed (other than my daddy, of course).  The first time was, well, messy.  And I thought about it for months…  Okay, maybe years.  Because we really had two first kisses.  The second time was… not so messy.  It made my heart flutter (literally, I think I could have had a heart attack), and I was so nervous both times, I could’ve thrown up.  But it was great.  I’ve kissed him a million times since.  Gets better every time.  So there’s the juice.  Now you know.

(You guys do realize it’s taking me about 30+ weeks to do this challenge instead of 30 days, right?  I’m slower than a tortoise!)

Peace out.

Wedding baking

I just thought I’d do a little post on the baking I did for my friend, Ivy’s, wedding.  It was in August, so this post is a tad late in coming.  But better late than never!  …Right?

Warning – there are going to be many photos in this post!  :)  Enjoy!

She asked me to make her cake (I was honoured… and VERY nervous), and to make & decorate 50 cupcakes.  So I said sure!

It was a slightly crazy week.  We had decided to start ripping apart our bathroom, so all that was (… and still is) functional in our bathroom, was our toilet.  Bathtub gone, sink gone.  New drywall in, and floors and walls getting ripped up.  Window (which makes me cry to think about) ripped out (it was the only way to fit a shower in…).  And the groom stayed with us for the week before the wedding.  And then one of the groomsmen for a few nights.  On couches/the floor.  Poor guys.

Plus, of course, there were wedding preparations, rehearsals, spending time with the bride (as I hadn’t seen her for months!), and all the other routine things that happen everyday in my life.  Like, work, baby, family, cleaning, cooking, being preggo, etc, etc, etc.  It was actually a really great week.  I was exhausted by the end of the wedding, but it was definitely worth it.

So, here are a few pictures of the cake – it was based off of a cake we found on Pinterest (of course).  Ivy’s wedding colours were a mustardy-brown, seafoam green, and cream/white.  They turned out beautifully together, and the cake followed the theme.

It was a three-layered cake.  Two chocolate layers, sandwiching a vanilla layer.  With a mocha custard in between the bottom layers, and a deep, dark chocolate buttercream between the top two layers.

 

Then.

Buttercream frosting.  Seafoam, of course.  I got the perfect colour…  somehow.

Here is the imperfect crumb coat.  Good colour though, eh?

And now onto the details.  Also imperfect, but I wasn’t aiming on perfection.  So we’re all good.

Keep in mind – I was doing this the night before the wedding…. late.  And tired.  So.  I think it went fairly well considering.  I was almost expecting a breakdown and a spoon or two being launched across the kitchen, tears, screaming….  but I got it done.  First try.  And pretty happy with it too.

Just one more shot of the cake, I promise.  Then we’ll move onto cupcakes!

So, for cupcakes, we went with chocolate and white.  Simple.  50 of ‘em.

 

Frosted with chocolate, seafoam, and coral buttercream.  Except in this buttercream, I used half shortening, half margarine.

I didn’t get any awesome pictures of the decorated cupcakes.  This will just have to do.

 

Here’s a picture of the lovely bride and her new beau, with her family, on the wedding day!

 

And some pictures of my little family (the lighting wasn’t great in the church at the reception, but they turned out pretty great anyhow).

 

Did I mention that I was a bridesmaid?  Great dress huh?  Cute little boy and handsome hubby too.

And at last – a photo of my baby bump.  This was at about 20 weeks.  I’m 26 weeks along now.  And bigger.

The dress did a great job of covering it.  Nobody would have even known I was pregnant unless I pulled it in tight below my stomach.

And last, but not least:

Baby and Mommy.

Thanks guys – hope you enjoyed!  Later days.

 

 

 

 

Veg Egg Casserole

Can I just say that I really wish I had time and money to dress up, cook fancy meals, bake fancy desserts, decorate, and just entertain all the time?  Because I really wish it were possible.  Looking at some of the wonderful bakers on some blogs, and on television…  *sigh.

But my life consists more of being tired, broke, diapers, baby talk, and dealing with the public.  Not quite as glamourous.  But I wouldn’t change it for the world.  Mind, I will continue dreaming of being able to do those things mentioned first.  But I will enjoy what I’m doing now.  It’s special.  Being a wife, mom, daughter (in-law), sister (in-law), friend, and employee.  I enjoy all the roles [most of the time].  And when I don’t, I really know that I should.

Okay, now that I have that confession out there…  Let’s get cooking.

Oh, but first, a Cael interlude…  He’s just too cute to pass up, ain’t?

{All smiles… and maybe *slightly stunned…  *See next photo…}

{Great hair, eh?}

I made this dish a few weeks ago, because I was craving another dish.  You see, my mom makes this great corn egg casserole dish.  Normally for holidays.  And it’s awesome.  But I had no recipe.  I had an idea of what to use, but I wanted to add some green veggies to it, just to sneak them into the meal.  Just a warning though, we ate it before I remembered to get a picture of it cooked.  So…  that’s why the only pictures are before it was baked.

Veg Egg Casserole

1 cup broccoli, chopped

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9×9 pan.

Throw the corn and broccoli in the pan.

In a bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.

Pour over veggies.

Bake until middle is set (about 15-20 minutes).

Now, this is a bit different type meal…  But don’t  you dare hate on it, until you try it.  It’s pretty darn good.  Cael loved it, and hubby had seconds!

30 Day Challenge

Day 9 – How you hope your future will be.

Another hard question.

Joyful.  I hope that I will be joyful, if not always happy.

I hope that there are a few more kiddies running around, and that I learn to have more patience.

More on the material side…  I’d love to see a new house in the future, with a huge, amazing kitchen.

These are just a select few that happened to come to mind right off the cuff.  Of course there are many more thing I’d love to see in my future…  but here is a glance inside my brain.

Have a great day!  Talk soon!

 

A Food Kind of Day

Before I get started, I just want to do a shout out to a fellow blogger.  I love looking at other blogs for ideas, and inspiration, not to mention wonderful recipes.  And I’ve been following Madison for at least 6 months, and I love what she posts.  It’s a mixture of fashion, food, great products, and life.  She’s really down to earth.  She does ‘No Fat Talk’ posts that focus on not talking trash about our bodies (because, ladies, I know it’s really hard not to).  Just check her out.  She’s at Espresso and Cream.

Okay, now that we’re done that, onto other things.

{I caught Cael trying on Daddy’s shoes the other day – so cute.  Sorry it’s slightly blurry…  He just wouldn’t stand still!}

So, as I’ve said many a time, life is crazy busy.  It doesn’t seem to ever slow down.  And I am just barely keeping up.  (What am I going to do after baby #2 comes?!)  I’ve had multiple great post ideas floating around my head for the past few weeks, and no time to get them written up & posted.

Between working part-time, trying to keep up with Cael (who’s full speed ahead, and down to one nap a day), keeping the house together and clean, cooking/baking, trying to find time to help out with church programs, and still have time for friends and family…  I’m clean outta time.  At the moment though, house doesn’t look too shabby, laundry’s folded (not put away though, mind you), and I have myself a cup of lemon tea.  So I’m writing this.  And it feels good.  To be typing, sharing food and just having some sitting down time.

I’ve been reading a book by Lee Strobel called, ‘The Case for the Real Jesus‘.  And it’s really great.  I think it was written with teens in mind, but it’s a great book for teens and adults, and it’s written in a way for really easy understanding, I’d definitely recommend picking it up to read sometime.

Also, we do a ‘Young Adults’ (which is really whatever age…) group once a week.  We’ve just started up for the year, and we’ve decided to commit to memorizing scripture verses every week.  I think it’s  really great idea.  This week, I’m going to memorize Psalm 27:4 – “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”  I find that I don’t linger enough on the thought of heaven, and being close to God, and that I should do so more often.  So hopefully, this verse will stick in my mind and help me to remember to think on such things.

Now to some foooood.  Awhile ago (April, to be exact), I wrote a post about quiche.  Well, I’m onto the quiche again.  This time, I made a few changes in vegetables, but that’s it.  I just had to share it with you, because it looked so pretty.

The colours are just…  vibrant, and I thought they looked great.  So here goes.

Quiche (Version #2)

(Makes 2 9-inch quiche)

Pie crust for 2 pies

1 cup broccoli, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

8 eggs

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 1/2 cups milk

1 Tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp parsley

Pinch chili powder

1 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Line 2 9-inch pie plates with pie dough.  Sprinkle celery, onion, peppers and cheese over pie crust.  In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milks, flour, salt, pepper, parsley, chili powder and melted butter.  Whisk.  Pour over vegetables and cheese in pie plate.  Bake quiche for 30-45 minutes (it really just depends on the oven), or until set.

Now, I figure it’s time to get on with the 30 Day Challenge.  So here goes.

Day 8 – A moment you felt most satisfied with your life

This is a tough one.  I’m really not sure what to write.

Hmm…  I felt really satisfied on my wedding day.  I had  finally married him, the guy I’d been dreaming of getting married to since elementary school (honestly).  Standing beside him, kissing him and just, being joined together with him, with all of our family and friends to see.

It was breathtaking (though, that might have been the cold air too… )

…  Just kidding!

It was great.  I do feel pretty satisfied most days though.  When I look and see all the blessings I have.  A great hubby, the cutest, funniest little boy, and another baby on the way.  Not to mention the family, friends, and material blessings…  they abound.  It’s great.  So why do I complain?  I just forget to think about all these things.  So many great things.

What about you?  When have you felt most satisfied with your life?  I’d love to hear yours…

Berries… and summer endings.

So hey.  I know I said last time that I would be posting soon.   I’m ashamed to say that I lied… again.  Life is just crazy.  And my priorities elsewhere [apparently].

Summer is coming to a close.  I know this because I’m currently sitting wrapped in a blanket with a sweater on.  You’d never in the afternoons though.  It’s nice and warm, sun beating down.  But as soon as evening hits, so does the brisk autumn air.  And it gets CHILLY.  But it’s cool.  Only thing I mind is needing to change about 3 times a day to accommodate the temperature changes.

But.  It’s still summer.  1 more week.  I’ve seen leaves fall, coloured red.  It’s scary, and beautiful all in one.  Scary as I don’t know where the summer went.  Beautiful, because it’s a gorgeous time of year.  Colourful and crisp, wonderful.

Can I just say that my little boy is growing up too fast?  (This is part of the scary leaves falling thought…)  He’s getting so big, and is running around everywhere.  Weaning himself from 2 naps to 1, and being the cutest, silliest, smartest little guy I’ve ever known.  He has this funny growl/laugh thing he does deep in his throat that makes him sound like a maniacal scientist.  It’s pretty great.

{We have these sweet kid-sized grocery carts at the store.  Still a bit big for him, but he thought it was great!}

Since it’s still summer, I decided to use up some of my berries to make muffins!  I’ve come up with the brilliant idea of freezing my muffins.  Because you see, hubby doesn’t normally eat muffins.  So that leaves eating them (a dozen plus) up to me.  And by the time 12 mornings have gone by, the muffins are normally green, and so am I.  I like to change my breakfasts up every couple of days.  It gets boring having the same thing over and over again.  SO – freezing them is what I have come to do.   And it works!  Muffins freeze great.  And if you set one out the evening before, it’s all ready for you to eat the next morning.  Yum.  Fresh muffins whenever I want.

Back to my berry muffins.

These are going to be Whole Wheat Berry Muffins.  (Well, half whole wheat anyway.)

Here goes!

Whole Wheat Berry Muffins

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

2 cups fresh/frozen berries (I used fresh blackberries and frozen blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line muffin cups.  (If you fill them really full, you’ll get 12 nice sized muffins.)

Cream together margarine and sugar.  Add eggs and salt, and beat until combined.

Alternately add dry ingredients and milk.

Fold in berries.  Spoon into muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until muffins are a golden brown around the edges.

Enjoy with a slab of butter, and a cup-o-tea.  A great (and almost convincingly healthy with the whole wheat flour) way to start an autumn morning.  Hope you like them!

And back to the 30 Day Challenge (that is taking me about 30 months).

30 Day Challenge

Day 7 – Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

Okay, first off, I don’t do the whole zodiac thing.  So I actually had to Google what my sign was, and what it meant.  Some people might think this to be sad… Me?  I think it’s fine.  Stars know nothing.  Stars say nothing.

According to my [thorough... hemhem] research, I’m a Taurus (one of those bull-type things).

And according to some random website, this is what a Taurus is:

Patient and reliable
Warmhearted and loving
Persistent and determined
Placid and security loving

Jealous and possessive
Resentful and inflexible
Self-indulgent and greedy

Some of these… may be true.  Others, not so much.

Take patience for example.  I don’t think I’m overly patient (or even a little, for that matter).  Especially when I’m pregnant and my hormones are rollercoaster-ing around in my system.  As for persistent and determined.  Yes.  You might even say I’m stubborn.  But hey, I’m told I get it honestly.  Jealous and possessive, perhaps.  Greedy, I hope not… I don’t think so anyways.

Anywho.  That’s enough of the stars for me.  Forever.  Hopefully I’ll hear from you guys and get another post rolling soon!  Later days.