the go-to muffins

My mom made a lot of from-scratch goodies when I was growing up, but she must not have been a big fan of the muffin because the only ones I remember were blueberry, from a box.

I, on the other hand, always seem to have spotty bananas around, which no one will eat. And I find banana bread + kids = too many crumbs. They can handle muffins, though. So we make these all the time and are a huge hit with my kids. (And us parents too, quite frankly.)

Banana Walnut Muffins
(adapted from the recipe in the red & white check BH&G cookbook)

1 3/4 cups flour (I usually use some combination of organic and/or whole wheat pastry)
2/3 cup organic sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (sometimes I use a teeny bit more)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup organic whole milk (actually, I usually end up splashing a little extra in if the batter seems dry when I go to mix)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted down
3 small/medium spotty bananas
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
(1 tbs milled flax, optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Smash up the bananas (I think it’s easiest to do on a plate with a fork). Add in bananas and all the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

Line muffin tin with foil muffin cups and I usually lightly spray with oil. (Paper liners really stick badly to banana muffins for some reason.) Spoon batter into the cups, about 2/3 full. 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes. It usually makes 14 for us.

Serve warm with BUTTER. :)

{rosette lampshade}

One of the things I don’t like about our bedroom (besides the fact that it’s tiny) is we don’t get a lot of natural light. It’s in the back of the house, which gets little morning sun, and there’s also a tree that shades one of the windows. Sometimes it can feel like a cave. Which is just depressing.

I did keep a little lamp on the nightstand but one of the kids accidentally knocked it over and it broke. Actually, I think that’s happened twice. However, I had a store credit to Homegoods for months and months and would periodically check in to see if they had any lamps I liked.

Finally a couple of weeks ago they had one (clearanced, even!) that would work. I hated the shade though. I tossed it in the attic and kept looking for a cheap shade to match.

But then! It dawned on me out of the blue one day that I could re-do the shade it came with.

Old shade:

Ugliness ripped off (also had to fix one of the bars; yay for glue guns):

And then I just tied strips of white cotton muslin (that I already had) around the sides of the shade and glued rosettes I made (out of the same fabric) onto the front. (Google “rosettes” and you’ll get a ton of different tutorials if you’re ever interested in making some. Super easy.)

Yeah, much better, I know. Now I just need to plug it in. ;)

pizza, homemade perfection

I hadn’t made homemade pizza in a long while, but we decided to make some a couple of weekends ago. I got the sauce recipe from my cousin Vangie – it’s a lot more like the sauce you find in Italy than American pizza sauce. It’s just a large can of whole peeled tomatos, drained, chopped right into the pan and sauteed in olive oil. That’s it! (I use my pampered chef chopper, handy tool that it is.) So, so good.

Andy requested it again this past weekend and that time we were sure we had some fresh basil on hand. Yuuuuuuuuum.

In-A-Pinch Meal Talk, cont.

So apparently there are a lot of breakfast-for-dinner types reading this blog.  I don’t make that often since we usually have breakfast foods for… wait for it… breakfast! Plus it’s not really Andy’s preference.

(Although, I’m not sure why that matters now that I think about it, since he’s usually working during the dinner hour anyway.)

I WAS surprised that there was only one person who said taco salad, because that’s our other in-a-pinch meal.

(Okay, I’ll try to refrain from snapping photos of my food from now on. It’s just so tempting since food actually, you know, SITS STILL.)

I don’t use anything fancy, just fresh salsa mixed in with ground turkey or beef. Add spinach or whathaveyou and tortilla chips and top with cheese and the kids are good to go. (I add more to mine; my kids have a gag reflex when it comes to sour cream. They do love guac, though.)

And, this was mentioned at least once too, whole wheat pasta and [jar] spaghetti sauce is a close third. (With pureed spinach, of course.)

Oh – I do have one more question: do you have dessert regularly? Do you give your kids a treat after they finish their evening meal? If so, what?

Are you a keeper or a tosser?

Madeline’s already asked me about two different toys that I “misplaced” in the garbage bin yesterday.  (Why must she be so thorough?!)

After the tornado consignment sale blew through our house, well, it was one of these times.  Something had to be done.  Ellen (“the girl who watches my kids” – whom we LOVE, by the way) offered to watch my kids (along with her sister) at her neighbor’s pool for the afternoon.  Which meant that it was the perfect opportunity to purge the toy boxes.

And boy, purge I did.  It felt goooooooood.

(I’m still avoiding Madeline about those toys.  She’s 5.  She’s got to forget sometime, right?)

It never ceases to amaze me how different my attitude and outlook on life changes (for the better) when my house is (mostly) in order.  Neither Andy or I function well in the midst of clutter and toy chaos.  I doubt many people do.  And, as I’ve said before, in a small house you need LESS STUFF.

{Sometimes, I put her hair up just to remind myself how beautiful she is.}

{Most SOOC.}

PS: don’t forget Fun Mom Friday is tomorrow!

And it’s up!

Yesterday, ALL BY MYSELF, I drug the remaining top-bunk box down from the attic, and started getting the bed set up. Andy had to pick up an extra bolt (one of the included ones was stripped or something) on his way to work, but we were able to finish last night. The kids were so excited they barely paid attention to their bedtime story.

(That photo doesn’t show the depth well, but it’s really a full on the bottom and a regular-sized twin on top.)

Arianna slept in there, too, in the crib. She woke up once (at 2 a.m.), nursed, and then slept the rest of the night.

(And there was much rejoicing.)

space small, space beautiful

For a while now, I’ve been trying to clear our tiny house of all the excess and clutter. When you have a small house, you just need less stuff. And for what stays, I want everything in my house to be stuff that I love.

This is a little project I did a few weeks ago. I don’t have a before picture, but, I used to have this white juvenile lace(sorta) runner on my dresser top that I never really liked. It finally occurred to me to update it. (But I was also “determined not to just settle on something nice at Target.”)

I found this online, out of stock, but VERY thankfully, our BB&B had it in-store. (And I had a coupon.) It happens to match my walls perfectly (a little more celery than the photos suggest.) And I LOVE how it turned out.

The flowers mostly run along the front edge, except at the ends. It’s reversible and the flip side is green with white flowers (which was too much against my green walls.)

I also found this doll on clearance at Hobby Lobby, perfect for keeping some necklaces:

Something that used to bother me (my dresser) now makes me smile every time I walk into our room.

So, remember the bathroom?

We went from this:

To this:

TO THIS:

(I usually have white yarn bath mats but they get dirty-looking so easily. I finally got some darker ones at BB&B.)

The new tub:

The crumbled wall I showed you at the top of this post (looks a little different now):

That’s right! I finally got my lazy rear into gear and painted the trim in the bathroom. It’s not a perfect paint job (still some problem areas from the silicone caulk) but hey, it’s DONE.

A situation

Y’all. We woke up this morning to this:

Sad, we know. (Tree hit by lightning at 3 a.m.?)

Kitchen makeover – Before and After!

Before (taken fall 2009):

AFTER:

Before:

AFTER:

Before (during remodel):

AFTER:

Yes, I loooooooooove it!

(And a big thank you again to Andy’s parents for coming down and to his dad for installing the countertops/sink/faucet! Couldn’t have done it without you!)

It’s the little things.

A couple of years ago I bought a laundry sorter and it has served me well. I’m a stickler when it comes to separating and washing whites, colors, and darks (even pickier than my mother) and I’ve always appreciated having a load ready to go without having to wade through all the laundry to figure out what I have.

It’s been driving me crazy though, more recently, since the mesh separators have all ripped and the sides were also seeing their last days:

(Sidenote: the tearing was more likely from children climbing into the unit. I do not have particularly heavy laundry.)

Not to mention it’s made of this coated fabric stuff (read: non-breathable) that had molded in some spots on the bottom. Ew, I know.  Oh, and the separators didn’t even go all the way to the bottom so things like bitty baby socks would roll into the wrong section.  (Which the Type A in me found irritating.)

So, all that to say, I’ve been wanting to change it for a while. I went to the fabric store and bought a few yards of white denim and then finally figured out a plan of action. It took me two days to finish but I am THRILLED with the end result.

(And yeah, with the cost of fabric and supplies, I could have bought a new one. But I would have been in the same predicament two years from now and frankly, my version is a million times better.  And it holds a lot more volume.)  (Which the lazy Type B in me loves.)

Back in its home in the laundry room, (and filling up fast):

Like I said, it’s the little things.

DPP Day 22: STACKS

That, folks, is a lot of laundry.

Still posting with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 15: The ones I was talking about

Except I only ate three.

Still posting with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 13: Hot Soup!

Happiness is… coming home from church to a crock pot full of steaming yumminess on a cold, rainy day.

Posted in conjunction with the December Photo Project.

Odds & Ends

A couple of quick, random, un-related things…

I’ve gone RED again for the holidays!  (I mean, not me personally, but my blog design…)

When I was changing the color of my feed icon, it reminded me I’ve been meaning to mention to those of you new to reading blogs – and I personally know a few – you can click on that icon (in the sidebar to the right, directly under the words “Subscribe (it’s free!):” and subscribe to my blog (and anyone else’s) so that you can check for new posts all in one spot (your feedreader) and not have to click around to each individual blog that you read in order to check for updates.  A HUGE time saver.

Several questions from the comments on my last post: The bunk beds are Columbia from Atlantic Furniture. Just do a Google search if you’re interested; lots of options and colors available.

The plan for now is to keep Adelaide in the crib until Arianna grows out of the bassinet in our room. Then we’ll put her in the crib and probably Adelaide will go in the full bed with Madeline. I don’t plan on setting up the top bunk anytime soon but wanted the option for the future. (I think it’s recommended that children be 6 or 7 before they sleep on a top bunk and Madeline is only 4.)

Also, I know the second photo makes it look like the footboard is taller than the headboard; they’re the same height.

I’ve also been asked several times about the bathroom project/remodel. My dad ended up hiring out the drywall and they came yesterday. I’ve got a fan blowing in there to hopefully speed the drying. I think it needs two more coats of mud and then they’ll sand/finish it. After that, it is just the window trim and baseboards left, which my brother will do. Oh, and the paint. (Which started the whole mess, remember?)

And as usually with any home-improvement project, it will be SO nice when it’s finished.  (In EVERY way.)

DPP Day 8: (Cheater Post) Girls’ Room

I mentioned back in November that we were in the process of re-doing the girls’ room. Andy’s parents had brought a new-to-us crib that his dad graciously painted white.

Today the rest of the furniture came! (Which was a total surprise because I never did get a shipping confirmation.) And, conveniently, my folks still had a few hours before their flight so my dad was able to put it together. (Thanks, Dad!!)

Before photos can be found here and here.

AFTER:

(Please excuse Pooh’s state of undress.)

The bed is actually a twin-over-full bunk bed. We didn’t put the top on because we don’t currently need it and we also don’t have a twin mattress yet.

Madeline and her mama are thrilled.

The Snowball Effect

I have to dash out the door early tomorrow morning (Wednesday) to be able to get a few errands done before Madeline’s picture-taking appointment at 11. (Why do we wait ’till the very last day of the expiration month before getting a new license plate sticker? The line at the courthouse is sure to be excruciatingly long.)

And yes, her birthday was in June. I’m going to dress her in a summer dress and just pretend.

(Clearly being on time is not my current forte.)

So, all that to say, I’m going to try to crank out a post tonight and throw it up before I leave in the morning. You’ve been warned.

My plan for today was to get Drew’s door painted. He’s had pencil scribbled all over it for about a year now, along with all manner of other scuffs, and it had become one of those things you see so often you just don’t notice anymore. (Like my refrigerator door. If you’ve been to my house, you know what I’m talking about.)

I had bought a little can of door/trim paint the other week and finally decided today was the day. (Really, the main reason I chose today was just because both Drew and Madeline were at school.)

BUT THEN, seeing his sparkly white and gleaming door, well, the trim around it looked rather dingy, as did the baseboards. So they got a little quicky coat of paint, too. And then I noticed the bathroom door.

You know where this is going, right? I ended up painting the bathroom door/trim next, and then the two hall closet doors (and trim), the main entrance door to the hallway, the trim around the arch into the dining room, the trim around the entrance to the kitchen, and touch ups around all the pertinent baseboards…

So that’s what I did today: PAINT. And you know what?

My walls look terrible.

Spending my b-day

Yesterday morning I gave myself a present. Andy took the kids to the park and I dumped out every single one of our toy boxes and bins and put back in only what my kids actually play with and what I won’t mind picking up again. (Which included moving all the furniture because you know half our toys eventually end up under there.)

Two full bags of plastic junk. I told Dolly afterwards I felt like I was walking on air! Usually when I clean out their stuff, I dig around and pull out odds and ends. This turned out to be a much more thorough method. I even decided to comb the van because I was scared they’d bring some of the junk piled up in there back into the house. (And we just really can’t have that.)

As per my ambitious goal, I did not cook. Andy made me cheese eggs for breakfast, can’t remember what I ate for lunch, and my sisters and I took the kids (mom’s treat) to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then to Walmart for that blasted toilet paper. Except I walked out with a very full cart (how did that happen?).

Oh! I had at least two people ask what we ate for dinner the other night, so if you’re interested in such things:

Me: [name deleted] Farms’ Organic Lettuces (with roasted pears, pistachios & balsamic-molasses vinaigrette); Rabbit & Ramp Stew (with porcini mushrooms & crème fraiche) I did not order this but Andy did and the chef sent one out for me also; Hand Made Ricotta Raviolis (with spring vegetables & white truffle oil) another chef-sent course; [ranch name deleted] Pork Tenderloin (with root vegetable purees, apples & brown butter); and Carrot Cake Souffle (with Cream Cheese Anglaise).

Andy: Warm Asparagus Salad (with peekytoe crab, spring potatoes & aioli); same two middle courses I had; Sautéed Alaskan Halibut (he ordered a different set so I’m not sure what came with his entrée); and he had the strawberry tasting for dessert.

I told you, WAY too much food.

And I finally did find my camera. It was in Madeline’s mini backpack. I should have known.