A friend reminded me that I haven't been using my blog and that she has to find the condensed version on my Facebook page now. Here I am with the full version of my life again, starting with a recipe that has been requested. This is a healthy version of this timeless muffin, with an optional, not-so-nutricious topping!

A Healthier Blueberry-Lemon Muffin

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup flax meal

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 snackpack applesauce

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tsp. lemon zest

1/4 cup skim milk mixed with 1/2 cup vanilla flavored greek yogurt

1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (i also used strawberries) coated with 1 tbsp flour

Optional Topping

1/4 cup butter

juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup of sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin pan.  In a small bowl mix together both flours, flax meal, baking powder and soda and salt.

In a larger bowl whisk together applesauce, egg, sugar, canola oil, lemon zest and milk/yogurt mixture.  Mix in the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in Blueberries, pour into muffin pan and bake 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Combine butter and lemon juice and brush on still warm muffin tops. Dip in sugar.

     I know you'll enjoy these! Later Days!!
 
    

a wee update.............

The chip bag in a pot of dirt experiment proved to be as unexciting as it sounded.......still crunchy and still all there, albeit a titchy bit sun faded. So don't go throwing these bags out the car window-----they will not biodegrade any time soon.


My metatarsals are feeling much better but what the doctors thought was a ganglion cyst under the ligament in my forefinger took me to a surgeon at the Hasewega Clinic in Stratford for surgery.
Fortunately there is a great little yarn shop there called Closeknit. In my two trips down so far i have come away with enough yarn to keep me busy while i'm off work waiting happily for my finger to heal. I am throwing the yarn with my middle finger.(with an impressive level of proficiency I might add)
Far right is Crazy Zauberball and next to it is Fleece Artist and Misti Alpaca in between. I'll have more recent news in the next post............



Later days!!

Not bionic parts.....

After having suffered enough, i finally went to see my family doctor about the pain i was experiencing while walking. The good news was that nothing was broken though i was disappointed to hear that once again bionic parts were not going to be offered to me. (They said no when i broke my leg and again for the flexor tendon issue in my finger)
I was, instead, referred to Melissa Bendo [B.Kin, Ped (C)]. She did some manipulation of my foot,
snapped some photos and took video of my gimpy walk. After a detailed explanation of my issue (dropped metatarsals) she whipped out a pretty foam mold.
As you can see, my left foot impression lacks support. Melissa was knowledgeable and makes the orthodics herself so any adjustments can be made in a timely fashion----and i get them tomorrow!! I truly cannot wait to be able to walk again and begin my running regiment!


Later Days!!

Not much of a noticeable change in the composting experiment. The bag is still crunchy but has suffered some sun fading.






On a tasty note, Chantal and I experimented with a few candied bacon recipes. After trying a brown sugar coating, a brown sugar and maple syrup combination and finally a maple syrup and cayenne pepper mix we found a winner.



At 350F bake bacon for 10 minutes on a baking rack set on a cookie sheet. Brush both sides with maple syrup and cayenne(if you don't like a little zip omit the cayenne) every five minutes until done - approximately 30 minutes. Let cool on aluminum foil spayed with Pam.
It's sweet, salty and smoky addition that is amazingly versatile. We've used it as a topping for sticky buns, in a guacamole recipe that I'll share in a later post, on bagels with cream cheese and cucumber and obviously as a straight up snack!
Hope I've inspired you to make bacon the most important meal of the day!!

Later Days!!

Power of Me

President's Choice flaked light tuna with sweet and sour sauce. Chantal is not a seafood fan but likes canned tuna so when I saw a tin of something new I had to try it. We sauted sliced yellow and orange peppers, added some pineapple tidbits along with the canned tuna with sweet and sour sauce. Since there wasn't quite enough sauce to our liking we made some more using PC plum sauce and VH orange ginger sauce.
It turned out great! And it took such little time to prepare that it's perfect when you're in a time crunch. The tuna does include pineapples and carrots so it's not necessary to add more vegetables if it's just a meal for one.

We went to Grant's recently and found out that they were no longer going to be carrying this product. Disappointed, I e-mailed President's Choice to find out which store in my area might have it. They just called me to say that they called to talk to the grocery manager and that this item would indeed be included in their next order. My tiny voice has been heard and it did make a difference - I may just speak up more often........

Later Days!

We'll see.........

Jasmyn had a craving for chips the other night ( in the middle of a rainstorm) so I drove her to the store where she picked up Harvest Cheddar Sunchips.
The bag is indeed noisy and the idea of it being compostable just begged us to try it. We took a large pot and placed the chip bag on top of some potting soil. A little more soil on top of that to keep it from blowing away and then placed the pot on the deck.
Not the IDEAL composting environment but more realistic in terms of how the bag will compost if it had been tossed away.
We'll take new pictures every week and see how it goes.




Later Days!

PA day

What does Chantal do when there is no school on a Friday? Why, go to school of course! Chantal and three of her classmates formed a team that unfortunately didn't quite live up to it's name-The Great Four.

They played their wee hearts out and considering they were the smallest of all the teams they did very well. Being Chantal's hockey playing debut it's not surprising that more than one ball got past her, but she did stop her fair share.

We did have to warm up in the car between games, but all in all it was a great morning and the kids, though not into the finals had a good time:)

Later Days!!