Crack Pie

A long time ago, I saw Martha Stewart (I am totally annoyed by her, but I was watching with captions on, and the sensory deprivation made her bearable) visit a New York bakery and milk bar that serves a souped up version of Chess Pie (Just Pie) called Crack Pie. It sounded lovely to me, and I have a buttermilk pie recipe that is similar. I never pursued the recipe, but today, I stumbled upon in during a fanciful google search for random delicious sounding foods. Here is the link that not only reviews the pie, but also provides the recipe!

http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20100218_Crack_Pie_makes_a_move_on_Chess_Pie.html?viewAll=y

If anyone decides to make this, LET ME KNOW how it turns out! I am dying to, but I am scared that cracking open that can of worms could create an addiction monster that I don't want to deal with. Not to mention heaps of child neglect due to excessive baking.

Muffy KirkMuffins

This is my healthied-up version of a banana walnut muffin recipe I have.  I never make the old version anymore.  Mainly because I'm trying to be an example to the kids, not eat ridiculous amounts of fat and sugar, and basically because I still find them delicious when they are made my way.  I know, there is still a half a cup of sugar.  I have tried it with Splenda, but my conscience won't let me do that anymore.  The original recipe calls for 1 cup, so I have cut it in half.  Feel free to change it!  Let me know what you do!  Another thing to like about this is it's a ONE (yes ONE (1)) bowl recipe.  Less dishes = happier mommy!  So.....get cookin'!  Now!  Go!

Banana Nut Muffins

Preheat Oven to 350F.  Makes 12-18 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin tin.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 6oz container yogurt (plain, greek, flavored...use what you have around)

- 2-3 egg whites, lightly beaten

- 3 ripe bananas

- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour, for a less tough muffin...but still just as badass)

- 1 cup oats (I prefer old fashion, but quick will work as well)

- 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (or untoasted, or ground flaxseed...whatever you got)

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 1/2 tsp. sea salt

- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (toast them if you like to be fancy)

*Optional Ingredients:  1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 tsp. almond extract, 1 tsp. imitation butter flavor.  I could go on and on.  Is there a wrong answer, here?  I don't know.  You tell me.

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Preheat your oven to 350F and spray muffin tin with cooking spray/oil mister.

2)  Using your hand or stand mixer, lightly beat egg whites, sugar, yogurt (I bet you could use light sour cream or ricotta cheese, too) until well mixed.  Add bananas and allow the mixer to mash them up.  Chunks are okay.

3)  Stop the mixer and add the remaining ingredients.  Mix until smooth and combine.  Don't overmix.

4)  Add walnuts and mix until just combine.

5)  Fill muffin cups 1/2 - 2/3 full and bake 20 - 24 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

YUM!  

Ginger Pea Soup. It's SOUPer!

I made soup today. Easy, fast soup. Like me. I did not invent the recipe. It comes to you and me from the July/August 2010 issue of Clean Eating magazine, and it's just lovely. And it's a fantastic shade of green, which is one of my favorite colors. I have only tasted this recipe directly after eating it, and it was immensely satisfying and spring-like. I can only imagine that, after sitting and allowing the flavors to mix and mingle overnight, the soup will transform into something even more incredible. I did not have tofu in the house, (the Eureka Wal-Mart didn't have tofu, but they did have fresh herbs) so to "make up" for it, I added a little bit of feta cheese to my bowl, and it tasted pretty yummy.

Ginger Pea Soup
Serves 4. Total time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups frozen peas
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (I like Swanson's)
- 2 tbsp green onion, diced
- 2 tsp miso (or low sodium soy sauce, which is the option I used)
- 2 tsp ginger root, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup basil leaves (about 24 leaves), coarsely chopped
- 2 oz firm light tofu, crumbled

INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Heat peas with broth in a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Cover and bring to a \boil, about 10 minutes. Add green onion, miso, ginger and basil. heat for about 1 minute, then remove pot from burner.

2) Carefully pour mixture into blender/food processor and puree until smooth, about 1 minute. An immersion blender also works well for this step. Pour into 4 bowls and top each with tofu, dividing evenly. Garnish with additional green onion or basil, if desired. Serve hot, room temperature, or chill and serve cold.

Nutrients per 1 cup serving:
Calories: 147 (OH YEAH)
Total Fat: 1.5 g.
Sat. Fat: 0.25 g.
Carbs: 22 g.
Fiber: 6 g. (WOO HOO)
Sugars: 0.5 g.
Protein: 11 g.
Sodium: 173 mg.
Cholesterol: 0 mg.

Return of the Posts

HI! I have been willfully neglecting this blog for about five months now. Not that I was out to set any record. I feel like I owe some updates/pictures for anyone who still bothers to check. Of course, I am going to shamelessly promote this new post on Facebook, so...if you're reading this because my FB status told you to, well done. (I'm virtually patting you on the head right now)

Summer was awesome. We had a really nice routine of the YMCA in the mornings, lunch, then a movie for Wade while I did stuff, then dinner prep, dinner, and then whatever our evening plans entailed.

Lucy is just growing and growing. She's eating "people" food a lot now. She is also babbling like a dickens and is doing "sooooo big." I am wrapped around her little finger, she is just so charming.

Wade has turned into the best little guy. (of course I think this...I'm his mother) He is potty trained now (pretty much in one day, thankyouverymuch...whatever, it was totally him, not us!), and you can see how proud he is of his underpants in the picture. He also asks how Kevin's day at work was, checks in with me every so often to see how I'm doing, and generally tries to make sure Lucy is laughing at him. This effort can quickly turn into him knocking her down or bopping her a little too hard over the head. Violent Acts Toward Lucy (VATL...right...I tried to think of a cool acronym, but I'm too tired for that crap) are the main source of Wade's time-out sentences. And speaking of time-out...

So far the whole "no spanking" thing is working out great. I have to say that as 3 rolled around and Wade gained the ability to express his thoughts and opinions (read: Mommy and Daddy can no longer bang the proverbial gavel and have their way because nobody has the capacity to show opposition) I was having my doubts. Wade has his own sense of logic and justice, as do most three-year-olds, I would assume. Most frustrating might be when he desperately wants something, and we are trying to give it to him (ex: I want my flip flops, not my shoes), but he is in total melt-down because he is SURE that we are really trying to thwart his efforts to attain his want. Here is the conversation:
"I wanna wear flip flops out side."
"Okay, let's just get th..."
"NOOOOO..AAAHHHHHGGGGG (general sobbing) I want FLIFLOOAAAAAHHH"
"Alright (trying to be gentle and encouraging), here they are, lets put them on."
Mindless screaming about flipflops.
Effort to clarify that we are indeed able and willing to provide flip flops on feet.
More mindless body thrashing for flip flops.
Time Out.

I have to say that Kevin has really gotten good at the time out. I am now getting better, and I have to say that Wade is doing well with it now that we have ourselves in a predictable routine. In my support of the "time out" I was really amused at another mother at the Y a few weeks back. As we were leaving, a little girl from Wade's class and her mother were also headed out the door. Before we parted ways to our respective cars, the little girl (who, I should add, is not that little for her age...kind of a ginormous three-year-old) gave Wade a good shove. Noone was hurt, and truthfully, I didn't even see it happen. I just felt Wade trip into me a little bit. I turned to see what Wade wanted/tripped over, not realizing that he had been pushed, only to see the mother of this child slap her hand sharply and say "We do not hit." I almost started laughing (luckily, I was able to control myself). She must have meant: "You do not hit. I, on the other hand, may hit you when I deem it necessary as punishment for you hitting. But don't hit."

Okay, so I have drifted to a hot-button issue. I will not apologize. Ha. Do, however, feel free to comment or get your own blog so that you can post your hot little opinions. Lovely.

And for my spanking mommy and daddy friends, I am just getting my ya-yas out, and I think you are excellent parents and I believe that every parent has to do what works best for them and their children.

Let's diffuse any bad feelings here with some more recent pictures of my (unspanked) kids. These are from May, June and July. I will try to make some slideshows...but no promises. *grin*

1st Run!

I found a double jogging stroller on Craig's list. It was up by my parents, so I had them pick it up for me. They brought it down three weeks ago and I've taken it out several times. In a word - awesome! I am so happy with it! Not such a bad thing that it put the kids to sleep, either!

Nugget's Kin

Our dog, Nugget, is an Austrailian cattle dog, or a Red Heeler. He is fat and lazy because we are bad dog owners. I got this email from my dad, and I showed it to Nugget in an effort to inspire him to become a better dog. So far, he hasn't done anything to change his slovenly ways, but I'm waiting for the inspiration to settle in. Any day now, I'm sure I'll wake up to Nugget organizing a training program for himself with the neighborhood rabbits.

Go to this link to see some Extreme Sheepherding!

http://www.wimp.com/sheeplight/

Just a few pictures...slideshow will follow!

We've had some great weather, and we've been taking advantage of it with lots of visits to the park and other outdoor venues. Wade loves swinging on the baby swings (so he can put both hands up, and also so he can have me sing "Alphabet of Nations" from They Might Be Giants "Here come the ABC's" album) and sliding down the slide. This particular day, he was climbing up one slide and running to slide down another. All in all a very happy time. The bloodied lip photos are from a spill he took at Fit n Fun (not fit or fun that day). We ended up going to the emergency room, but left before we got seen as we realized that it was not that serious. Grisley. Nothing a little pants on the head couldn't fix. :) Oh, and the picture of the bedroom is the re-do I did for our room. We're trying to neutralize our house for selling it next year. I like the way this turned out!