Artists In Training

Today is a cold and windy day. We all went to Church this morning for the first time in a long long time. L&D signed up for the play room and we went a little early thinking we'd have to stay to help them feel comfortable there. Well, as soon as they saw toys and heard us say play, they were off and didn't even look back to say goodbye. They had a great time, so it's good to know that we can go to church more often. They're transitioning down to 1 nap (I guess) and it's still a little rough for them in the morning. But hopefully it will only get easier to lose that nap.

We came home and tried to find things to occupy these 2 little active ones. We tried to go for a wagon walk, but didn't make it too far because of the cold strong wind. So, I decided to have them FINGERPAINT for the 1st time! They were confused and mostly wanted to eat it, but then had fun making a mess. Here are some cute photos:

Drew's masterpiece:



Libby's masterpiece:

Veggie (shhhhhh...) Muffins

I found a recipe online for some "delicious" veggie muffins, so I decided to give them a try. Of course, I made some alterations, so I could enjoy them, too. I made mini muffins this time and the batch made 48 (so it will make 24 regular sized ones). I left out 12 and froze the rest. They taste sort of like spice cake, but much less sweet. So, if you want a typical sweet taste, add more sugar. L&D are eating them UP, so I won't tell them what's really in them for many MANY years! ;)

VEGGIE MUFFINS:
2 cups whole wheat flour (or what you have on hand)
2-3 tablespoons soy flour (omit if you'd like, but it adds protein)
* 2 tbs. flax seed powder (I added this myself)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used the same amt. in unsweetened applesauce instead)
1/3 cup brown sugar- I used Splenda brown sugar (or other sweetener-sugar, Splenda)
2-3 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 egg (I used Egg Beaters)
3 cups vegetables, pureed (I used baby food- carrots, green beans, squash, & sweet potatoes)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F
Spray muffin pans or line with muffin papers
Mix ingredients with electric mixer until well blended
Fill muffins 2/3 full with batter
Bake 25 minutes (my mini ones only took 15 mins.) or until toothpick comes out clean
Cool partially in the pan, then remove to wire rack
Store half in an air tight container
Freeze the other half. Microwave to defrost.

From the author: "I like to use sweeter veggies. Usually 2 small jars of sweet potatoes, 1 of sweet peas, 1 carrots, and 2 mixed veggies (you can find spinach, green beans and corn this way).
If you are using your own steamed vegetables, you may need to add some fruit juice to thin it out to the consistency of applesauce.
If you don't have 3 cups of vegetables, make up the difference with unsweetened apple sauce or mashed bananas."

Since I have so much spare time on my hands...

I've decided to add a blog to my Cayenne Paper website. Ok, so I just started it yesterday and have only 2 posts. But many other businesses, especially those with in-home studios and children to raise, are using blogs to help connect with their customers. I thought I would join in the fun! Check out Cayenne's blog and don't forget to leave comments or become a follower. I'm also on Facebook, too, so you can become a fan there, too. ;)

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

I tried out a new recipe for muffins on Saturday and let's just say that all 12 are gone by today (Monday). I think that means they were a hit (between L, D, and me)! I went another route this time-- I took my Mom's banana bread recipe and modified it a bit by replacing 1/2 the sugar with Splenda, using light margarine instead of butter, Egg Beaters for the eggs, and added blueberries and some of my new favorite spread from Trader Joe's called Pumpkin Butter. Let's just say they were delish and you could not even taste the difference between these and the regular recipe. And for those counting, I figured out that they are only 3 Weight Watchers points. Not too bad for something so yummy!

Valentine's Day 2009

We had a nice Valentine's Day at our house. Nothing too fancy, but it was nice to get Maw Maw and Paw Paw's cards in the mail on that day. Here are some photos of Libby and Drew reading theirs. They liked them so much that they carried them around most of the day and into the car as we went on some errands. We stopped at the Party Store just to look around and they loved looking at ALL the Elmo and Sesame Street things. In fact, they were able to spot the big E from several feet away-- before we did!

King Cake

L&D are going through that toddler phase where they eat like piglets one minute and then nothing the next. The other night, for example, I was not really proud to say that they only ate animal crackers, goldfish (the graham ones), and mac n cheese for dinner. The rest, no matter what it was (chicken nuggets, roasted turkey, veggie burger-- things they love usually) was thrown to the floor. I made blueberry muffins last Saturday and they have been gobbling those up. So, I pulled out my Jessica Seinfeld Deceptively Delicious cookbook to see how I could sneak some nutrients into another batch of muffins. I added some sweet potatoes and unsweetened apple sauce along with oats to this batch. They came out so-so... almost like a healthy bran muffin that an adult would eat (and not so happily). They ate a few bites and then I, being the wonderful example that I am, cut myself a piece of the king cake that Maw Maw and Paw Paw sent us for Mardi Gras and our 9 year anniversary. Well, of course they wanted a bite, so I thought it was only fair to oblige. This is where I am impressed by my genius of a son because in a matter of 1 bite, he not only understood these new words, but used them over and over again.. KING CAKE. I heard "king cake", "more king cake", "Mama, king cake", "king cake, please"-- that's right-- PLEASE. We took some video, too, since we're that kind of dorky parent: