yummy pumpkins

I'm participating in recipe swaps through Life As Mom because I'm interested in variety. I like to see recipes and then try my best to manipulate them into a healthier version for my family!!

My entry in the recipe swap is one I found in a cookbook my mom sent me. She always gets me a community cookbook each year from her church or from the local fire department. This one is yummmmmmy!

Fall Muffins (makes around 30 regular, 18-24 jumbo)

· 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 cups whole wheat flour
· 2/3 cup rolled oat
· 1/2 cup oat bran
· 4 teaspoons baking powder
· 2 teaspoons baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 4 teaspoons cinnamon
· 2 teaspoons ground ginger
· 1 teaspoon nutmeg
· 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
· 3 ripe bananas, mashed
· 1 cup applesauce (the cinnamon applesauce makes it even better!)
· 15 ounces canned pumpkin
· 4 eggs, lightly beaten
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
· 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted - optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease or line muffin tins with paper liners.
Combine flours, bran, oats, baking powder, spices, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Using whisk or spoon, stir until well mixed.
Combine remaining ingredients (except nuts) in a large mixing bowl; beat until smooth.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Beat just until combined.
Spoon into prepared pans or tins
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.
Remove muffins from pan and cool on wire rack as soon as they come out of the oven.

honesty

My SIL posted this meme on her blog recently... she didn't officially 'tag' me, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. I am tagging Julie, Amy and Jennifer... let's get honest! So if you post it, then post a comment for me so I know to read it!!

Worst thing about you that you wish people never knew:

I wrecked my car once, at highway speeds (because I was on the highway), because I passed out at the wheel. I was drunk. I'm not proud - at all. I'm completely ashamed. I would kick my own ars if it were possible. I'm very fortunate to be alive after the speed and location of the accident. My parents don't even know... well - now my dad does (after reading this, sorry dad - but I was a dummy). But that's what this is, right? The brutally honest meme?? So there you go - I was a drunk driver. About 2 weeks later, my brother was hit by a drunk driver, he was injured and eventually was fine - but it could have been fatal after seeing the wreckage. I haven't had so much as a sip of wine and been behind the wheel since 1998. I will not let anyone I know drink a sip of wine and drive me anywhere - and if I can stop them, they won't drive themselves either. I wish I could go back and make that day different but I can't, it's my mistake, I live with it. I thank God everyday that no one was hurt by my stupidity.

What annoys you?
Insecurity, poor accountability, superiority complexes, bullies, indirect answers...
And on a lighter and slightly personal note, when my bra isn't comfortable - I'm pretty annoyed... also, when people drive with their signal on for no apparent reason - that's annoying.

What do you enjoy doing all alone?
bubble bath with a good book

What do you enjoy doing with friends?
laughing, talking, hanging out.

What do you enjoy doing with your kids?
I love watching them grow... but WITH them, I love to laugh, go to the lake, go for walks and 'treasure hunt' together, dinner time when we sit and talk, laugh and act silly. We actually DO sit together for dinner every night! I think in 6 years of marriage, we've maybe missed that 10 times.

What do you like most about your significant other?
I love that he's a great father to our kids, and a great husband and friend to me. Overall, our lives have taken us on one interesting ride - and he's stuck by, hung in there, and worked with me on this journey of ours, through thick and thin. I love that he's committed to this family and to being a father and when he gets home from work he devotes his time and attention to the family and doesn't flop down on the couch and ignore the kids as if they're 'my job' (I actually know people who do that). I love that we can have moments where we're not talking at all and then randomly start talking about the same thing.. that's a little weird, but it's also pretty neat!

What trait does your child have that you admire?

Big E - creativity - he loves to build things. Give him a random box of lego's and he can come out with a car from scratch... as if he saw instructions (but there really weren't any) and did it.
The toddler - passion - he has a passion for certain things. He knows what he wants and is very passionate about it.

What about you annoys others?
my convictions, my directness, my obsessive need to put certain things in the same place, my liking things a certain way... I'm sure there's tons and tons more.... :) I'm only human!

What about you is utterly obnoxious?
directness I'm sure, often I hear that I 'come across'... when I hear those words I cringe, because I don't INTEND to 'come across' anyway - it's just who I am.

Who is your favorite Historical Figure:
Beethoven

If you walked in a bookstore, what part of the store would you walk directly to?
non-fiction

What is your least favorite type of book?
science fiction, hands down (sorry dad)

in five minutes or less...

• Friday after dropping big E off to school we were rear-ended... no major catastrophe, and the boy and I are fine. The SUV is super durable and came out with mere scratches ;). Not even worth getting insurance involved.


• Saturday we had some of the neighborhood kids over for turkey dogs, chips, cake and a pinata beating... that was a blast. Jonathon's parents came by and had fun watching those kids go after that pinata.... We offered big E a birthday party OR gifts... what do you think he chose?? Since he chose gifts, we ended up having the neighbors over for just dogs and chips. They're usually over on the weekend anyway, so to make it more about the birthday we waited to do his cake for Saturday and got the pinata. What fun it was!


• Sunday was a trip to our fav. Chinese restaurant... where we would leave our debit card (another city away) and have fun trying to figure out where we left it!! Once we discovered it was there, we were a little less worried about fraud or theft.


• Monday was a trip to pick up the card after dropping big E off at school....we ended up getting a toddler haircut since we were near our fav. place for haircuts anyway!


• Monday also marked 'black Monday' at my employer's.... they laid off over 15 people in just under 2 hours. I'm fortunate not to be in the mix, I work for them from home - independently. It's sad, and I'm so sad for these friends of mine who've lost their jobs. Just awful.


• My SIL and BIL in TX have officially been given the opportunity to adopt 2 of their foster kids!!!! I'm super excited for them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

flashback Friday

Amy(right) and I(left) on the way to the beach when I was 9 years old. This would be the last trip we'd take together, I moved away with my family shortly after that vacation. The trip was for my birthday and a sortof 'going away' girls gathering. Amy and I were very close, best friends from childhood, we were literally joined at the hip whenever we could be. After moving away, we wrote, and even called one another for a while. Time pushed forward, and so did our lives... we lost touch.

How bitter sweet it has been to be reconnected with her. We hadn't talked in years, or even seen pictures of each other. She contacted me through the online obit right after the news of my brother's death, and we've been in touch regularly since. It's funny that we both have blogs, and all this time has passed by, yet there's so many little things that are similar about our lives. The irony is that she and I both married Jonathon's, and we both have 2 boys!! Even more interesting is that the Jonathon she married was also a childhood friend, and now I have the pleasure of keeping up with the both of them, as well as getting a few random updates about other elementary school buddies!!

Ahhh - flashback Friday has brought me some smiles from the yesteryears...

how about them apples?

Life as Mom is doing a recipe swap - and so I'm posting 2 of my fav. apple recipes for the swap! I normally delete alot of emails for recipe swaps because not many people end up participating, but I love apples and something about fall makes them even more yummy!!

The first is "apple brownies" - I got this recipe from a google search about 2 years ago and tried it and loved it! I worked with whole wheat flour to make it a little healthy....when using whole wheat flour you use 3/4 cup + 2tbsp in place of 1 full cup of white flour. Also, keep in mind that whole wheat flour doesn't rise the same as white flour because of it's density. You can mix 1/2 white w/ 1/2 wheat to get a better rise in the flour.


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 to 3 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup walnuts (optional)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and eggs. Stir in apples and nuts. 3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Fold into apple mixture. 4. Pour batter into a greased 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan. Bake for 50 minutes.

This next recipe for Apple "morning" muffins includes mixing whole wheat and white flour - this is because it's just a nicer looking muffin if it rises like white flour allows.


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup grated apples
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 12-muffin tin or line it with paper liners. Set aside. 2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the eggs, sugar and oil until well combined. Stir in the grated apples and carrots. In a separate bowl, sift the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Blend the dry ingredients with the apple mixture until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Happy Birthday

A photo montage from around 3 years old until now. Most photos prior to 3-4 years old are on paper, I plan to scan those in when I can.

big E mentioned to one of his grandparents on the phone today that this was the 'best birthday yet'. Wow - he's growing fast, and it really shows in the photos! What a handsome boy becoming a young man right before our eyes.

changing things

big E's room has been plain old white since we've lived here. He's changed his mind 10 times about colors. We finally agreed we'd just surprise him based on his colors of interest.... so today we started the design on a dime bedroom re-do birthday project.....He has no idea at this point of colors, theme, anything.

We (Jonathon) taped, and (I)painted 3 walls in just under 2 hours.

Then today, I finished the base color for the headboard wall. We're leaving it at this for about 3-4 days, then finishing off the project w/ the 3rd color (very navy blue - color of his new chair). We've ordered a couple of the peel and stick wall decals to finish off the look for him. All in all - the room re-do, was a total design on a frugal budget.

Big E was so surprised and excited! He wanted a 'beach' theme since our visit to the beach. So I fould this tropical boy quilt, and found a cordinating bedspread to interchange from time to time. He LOVES IT!!

stuff

Dear blog - I haven't forgot you. Sometime soon I'll get back to cluttering you up with my mindless babble... right now I'm just in awe of this journey of life with our kids and our family and our daily adventures, fall brings changing leaves, but it's a familiar feeling of change in general that I have... there's so much to journal, but for now - I'm breathing it all in. Time flies, kids grow, days go by so quickly...

anniversary train

Today we celebrate 6 years of marriage!! Last year I wrote a little about what got us where we are today, and some things that have brought us closer and stronger. Another year under our belts, another year of learning and growing together as friends, partners in this journey of life, and parents to two terrific boys.

We decided to go see Thomas the Tank Engine w/ the kids, have a afternoon outdoors, and finish it off by grilling out and treating ourselves to a 6oz filet mignon (it's a big deal around here to eat red meat).

A day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. We took big E when he was 4 and he had so much fun, and we just knew little J would love it! The look of surprise and excitement on his face when he realized that we were going to see a REAL Thomas Train AND get to ride on coach cars while Thomas pulled us was priceless!!
Big E was right there with little J cheering on Thomas. We got up early, the attraction draws 10,000 people in each year in the small town of Spencer. We arrived at 8am, and the parking lot was full of empty spots, as we left mid-day the parking lot was crammed with cars, and they were directing traffic! I'm glad we opted for an early morning train ride reservation. They had train tables set up throughout the entire attraction, in many different locations. We have one at home, but nothing beats playing with other people's toys!!

Both of the boys had a blast today, it was nice to see big E enjoy the excitement with little J. We took lots of photos and some video too. I will post them to smugmug this week.

a random meme - tagged

Tagged by my sister in law , I've been asked to share 6 random things about yours truly. So here you go!

• When I was little I had a bedtime fear - this didn't occur until my brothers (particularly Chris) would sneak in my room to scare me, or worse - hide under my bed when I went to bed! So, to remedy my fear, I'd cover my ears and eyes with a blanket or pillows. I literally wrapped a small blanket up like a burrito and then tucked it around my head to seal off the noise. Silly - but it worked!
• I am a preachers daughter and I was almost named "Angel". Ha - bet that would have been fun to deal with in school. Most people know that I'm a preachers kid, and think that my name has some strong symbolic biblical meaning - all the while I was actually named after the song by Hall & Oates - Smile Sarah Smile.
• For a while I worked for a company and did 'repo' work and account management. Imagine that, me (at about 110 pounds at best then) showing up to 'repo' something. I learned alot, became a little jaded - and I'm very glad I moved on from that line of work. Someone has to do it - but not me!
• I like to dunk french fries into a Wendys Frosty.... of course, this isn't healthy - so it's a rarity. HA!
• I can recite every word to Ice Ice Baby AND Barenaked Ladies "one week" - and now that I think about it, neither of them really make much sense.... so why did I bother? Mis-spent youth.
• When I was in my early 20's and was leaving my then boyfriends house around 11pm on a Friday the 13th, I hit a deer - on Moose Road. When I called 911 for assistance (it shattered my windshield, antlers came in through the glass) they hung up on me and thought I was prank calling. I wasn't at all happy with them.

I'm supposed to tag 6 people for this one.... but I'm only tagging Amy, Julie and Jennifer. So, let me know when your entry is up on your blogs - post a link back in a comment on this blogpost!

Here are the rules for the tag:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on the blog.
Write six random things about yourself
Tag six people @ the end of your post.