pumpkin muffins

I messed with one of my favorite recipes and came up with these:

I think they're pretty good, they passed a double kid taste test, and they're super healthy. And I even remembered to write down what I did! Here it is:

Pumpkin Muffins

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure olive oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2T ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

4 heaping tablespoons powdered soy milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Vanilla soy milk (about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a big bowl mix the sugar, oil, applesauce, and pumpkin. In a small bowl, whisk the flaxseed with 1/2 cup water. Microwave for 30-second increments, whisking in between, until the mixture gels up. Add to the big bowl and mix. In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the wet ingredients and mix gently. Add soy milk at this point until the matter reaches the right consistency for muffins. Bake in greased muffin tin for about 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.

You could use different oil and experiment with different flours, and don't worry if you don't have powdered soy milk. (I finally found it hidden on a bottom shelf in our health food store). Also, I used a ton of spices - if you (or your kids) don't like super strong spice flavor, use less - a lot less - maybe half of what I put.

Enjoy!

new favorite: rainwater botanicals

I love shopping on Etsy, and recently came across what just may be my new favorite shop: Rainwater Botanicals.

Check it out!!

version 2.0

Of Pumpkin Pie Muffins - recipe adapted from 'Deceptively Delicious' -

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup almond milk (or soy milk) with a splash of apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour (or whole oat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sophie loves these! Next time I will add some oat bran and wheat germ as well. These are moist, light, and airy - kind of cupcake-like, actually. Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes.

And Tiger's Candy -

This time I rolled them in shredded coconut, and they are immensely better. Sophie is gobbling them up. Success!!

tiger's candy

My mom used to make these things called Tiger's Candy when I was little. I remember them being amazingly delicious, and even better because I was allowed to have them almost anytime I wanted one.

I'm mentally getting ready for camping season (one more month maybe??), and I have begun experimenting with different ways to get more protein into Sophie without a fight. Protein = energy = kids who will hike without fussing (as much). This is my theory anyway. So I found the recipe for Tiger's Candy online and made a test batch while Sophie was at preschool today.

I rolled them in cocoa powder since Sophie loves chocolate, but next time I will try rolling them in shredded coconut.

In my opinion, these aren't as amazingly delicious as I remember, but then again everything's better as a child. I'll have to ask my mom what substitutions she used.

Here's the recipe - adapted from Diet for a Small Planet:

Tiger's Candy

1/4 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup ground sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup finely chopped raisins

cocoa powder

Blend peanut butter and ground sunflower seeds together, then add wheat germ, flax seed, honey, and raisins. Blend well. Form into balls and roll in cocoa powder.

The original recipe calls for powdered milk, but I looked all over the grocery store and couldn't find powdered soy milk to substitute, so I just threw in some wheat germ and flax for fun instead. I'll have to look at the health food store, because that seems like a good way to add protein to just about anything.

beetle

A few weeks ago, Sophie found a beetle on the kitchen floor. At first she was a little scared of it, but once she realized it wasn't a spider she decided that it was her friend. She convinced Papa to put it in a jar for her so she could keep it as a pet, and she fed it lettuce and watched it for a couple days. Eventually she decided Beetle wanted to go back outside to play with its friends, so she let it go on the wood pile.

A couple days ago, Sophie was playing in the kitchen while I got ready to leave in the morning. All of a sudden she got super excited - "My beetle! My friend beetle come back!" - and ran to get a jar. She plopped the jar down on top of the beetle so it couldn't get away, and started singing a song to Beetle (she's constantly singing a narrative of her play). Part of it went like this, "My beetle, my beetle my friend beetle name is Beetle, he come back to play with me again, and I saw him on the floor and I almost step on him, but I didn't! And Beetle be my pet beetle, and I keep him in a jar..."



Unfortunately Beetle's jar got knocked over and Beetle got away, but she's still on the lookout in case he comes back to play again.

peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies

Sophie and I are home together today. I have the day off of school, and she's on spring break from preschool.



She's a very good helper. I struggle with being patient and letting her actually help me - especially if the oven's already done preheating and we're not ready yet. I'm getting better at it, and she's getting better at helping, too. She cracked the egg today and didn't get any shell in with it!


My rule is that you can't eat any cookie dough until the first batch is in the oven - this is her "hurray I get to eat dough now!" face.



After the first batch came out, Sophie decided that the rest really needed to have chocolate chips in them.

Delicious! We used this recipe, and substituted half whole wheat pastry flour.

owls

The owls have emerged on my o w l s sweater!



I'm almost done, just have the rest of the yoke and the neck to do now. I think these owls look pretty cool! I want to make a kids version for Sophie, but I think it will have to be in cotton because of her fussiness about itchy wool (she thinks everything is itchy). Even though cotton is death cloth in a wet climate, I do want her to wear the things I knit for her...

You are supposed to sew beads on for the eyes on all the owls, but I think I'm just going to do two pairs - one in front and one in back. What do you think?