Bliss for sale

Massage.


Did you KNOW about this magnificent bit of bliss conveniently located at your local nail salon?? At least, it's conveniently located at my local (aka: walking distance) nail salon. Until 3pm on Sunday, I had never had a massage before. Never. Ever. The main reason was, while my RSD was active, I couldn't. With all the surgeries and hardware in my back, no one would touch me, and quite frankly, I don't think it would have been the best of ideas. But I've been in remission for well over a year now, so I thought, WHAT THE HELL??
I paid such a ridiculously low price for 1/2 hour that I gave my masseuse a ridiculous tip (heck, it's the holidays, right??) She did surface work, deep tissue work, heat work, the whole nine yards of massage. She even climbed up on the table to get in a better position to "dig in." She was AMAZING! I've never done hard drugs but I'm guessing this was on par with crack.
I carry all of my stress in my back, so I'll likely need a massage every 2 weeks to receive the greatest benefit. Of course, I'm gonna consider it a medical expense rather than a frivolous beauty expense. Oh, and I think I'm going to call the Pres. and recommend 30 mins, 2x week for all world leaders. I do believe it could be the answer to world peace. I mean, WHO could think about invading a neighboring country, or forming a coup, or testing nukes if they are BLISSED OUT???
What about you...do you get massages?

Caramel Snack Mix

2 sticks butter
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. Karo (light)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 pkgs. corn puffs(this is basically a naked cheeto, you can substute:1 BOX Corn Pops Cereal)
1/2 box cheerios
1/2 box Corn Chex
1/2 Bag Pretzels

Melt butter, brown sugar and Karo in a pan over Med-high heat.Add baking soda. (This will bubble up.) In a Foil Roasting Pan Mix all of your Dry Ingredients, Pour the wet mixture over this and mix thouroughly. Add nuts if you wish. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Turn every 15 minutes.
Pour onto Parchment lined or Foil Covered baking sheet, spread out and let cool. The mixture will be very STICKY. Once is cools, break it apart and store in container.

This is YUMMY!!! I use the Foil Pan as it would be VERY difficult to clean a metal pan afterwards...call me lazy!

New Thanksgiving tradition: Bacon Beans

I tried something new for this year's Thanksgiving feast and it was a big hit, so I thought I'd share with you.  I think these would be great for any meal, any time of the year.  They are SO easy in the crock pot...but the flavor is amazing.

BACON BEANS

Amounts approximate for 3 qt yield

2 lbs of fresh green beans, washed & trimmed

1 lb bacon, cooked & patted dry.  (I used pork for my DH, but I think Turkey bacon or even veg protein bacon (not-bacon) would be lovely.)

1/2-1 tsp chopped garlic

1/2 small onion, chopped (optional)

1/4 c chicken or veg broth

splash lemon juice

Salt & Pepper to taste

Crumble cooked bacon.  Put everything but the lemon juice in a 4 qt crock pot.  Stir to combine.  Set crock on HIGH and walk away for 2 hours.  Stir & check tenderness at 2 hour mark.  If you like tender-crisp they should be done, if you like a softer bean, continue cooking another hour.  S & P to taste.  Add the lemon juice just before serving.

If you have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe this year, please leave it in the comments section, or create a link to your blog.

Full of love

After a day filled with family and food, Sam had to change into sweats to accomodate his full stomach and heart.  We feel so blessed by all that we have; especially to be Sam's parents.  We hope you had a lovely holiday surrounded by the ones you love, good food and good conversation.

Happy Thanksgiving

Being Thankful.
For my friends
my family
my husband and all of his hard work
For my health

thankful that I have a home, a car, food on the table and clothes to wear

thankful that I am able to help others

I am thankful for who I am.

I AM THANKFUL

The Rat Race

I get so caught up in trying to do "do it all" that sometimes I forget to stop and smell the roses. My girls are off of school all week this week for Thanksgiving Break. It was so easy on Monday to let them turn on the TV and do whatever they wanted while I tried to catch up on laundry, tidy their rooms, unload the dishwasher etc....while taking care of my 3 month old at the same time. In the afternoon, after getting her TV fix, my 4 year old daughter came up to me and said "mommy I just want to snuggle with YOU". Stop me in my tracks! All of the other stuff will be there...the dirty dishes, the dirty laundry and everything will be there tomorrow, next week, next year....but my 4 year old won't always be 4 . I decided to STOP what I was doing and snuggle with my daughter on the couch and read books...BOY OH BOY was it hard! hard to not go thru the mail that was on the counter, hard not to run to the dryer when the buzzer went off (my gosh, the clothes will be wrinkled), hard not to load that dishwasher....but WELL worth it! I think that I had forgotten that my kids enjoy spending time with me, reading books, playing games and just hanging out together. We have been baking for the last 2 nights as well (per their request) :Pretzel Bark, Quick and Easy Banana Bread and their own concoction of Grandparents Day snack MIX which is absolutely delicious! (I will post the recipes on Foodie Friday) My girls and I are enjoying ourselves this week and I now realize that they don't care about how the house looks or how cluttered the counters are, they care about spending quality time with ME!

How hard is it for you to ignore the day to day chaos and spend times with your kids?
Do you have specific days that you do housework so that you have time planned with your family?

Twihard with a vengence

We traded off last week: G had a night with the guys at his Alfa Romeo club meeting on Thursday, and I went out to see New Moon on Friday.  G didn't want to go see it with me, which was fine.  I actually went with his best friend because we are now officially "movie buddies" which means that I get a night out once a month to see whatever movie I want to see (G and I don't have the same movie taste.)  And yes, we are working on the whole "date night" G & me thing as well.  Although my MIL is moving to California soon, we have several recommendations locally and one is actually a preschool teacher so I'd have no reservations leaving Sammy with her, assuming he likes her.  Chances are, we'll do a 7:30pm date, so I'll put Sam down to bed before we leave.
But back to ME TIME.
Did I love the film?  No.  Did I like it? YES.  The action was great, the scenery was great, and they did a really nice job taking a very long book and fitting it into a 90 min movie.  YES they had to cut some scenes but I think the scene selection was the best they could have done.  Oh, and let's not forget the miriads of EYE CANDY on the screen.
All-in-all I had a great time, and strengthened my relationship with G's BFF, who has been in our lives since we met (G and Q have been friends for over 20 years and he was the best man at our wedding.)  It was nice to have an evening out, and believe it or not, I was 100% okay leaving both Sam and G.  G and I then spent some QT together on Saturday night, and I actually stayed up until (gasp) 11 pm, so we could have real time together, no just 1 hour after dinner.
We also had fantastic weekend weather, so I got a 6 mile walk in on Sunday, which was fantastic ME TIME.  Sam is a super-duper stroller baby and just sits back and relaxes.  I played some of my favorite music on my phone (without headphones so I could hear my baby) and that really motivated me: on the faster songs I picked up the pace and at one point was even jogging!
I'm really working on this balance thing and think I'm getting the hang of it.  Next up: DATE NIGHTS.
How are you taking time for yourself?

Chicken Fiesta Bake

I love the traditional Tortilla Bakes or Enchilada Casseroles, this is a mixture of a few recipes but is YUMMY!

3-4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1 onion
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 jar (16 oz.) Salsa
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Fiesta Corn (black beans and corn)
12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
1 bag Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese,

So here's how I make it:

HEAT oven to 375°F.

Add chicken breasts to water in a pan or in Crock pot, with 1/2 onion, salt to taste and cook until done. Let cool and shred.In a skillet add oil and cook green and red pepper and remaining 1/2 of onion in oil. Add chicken to skillet and stir in salsa, tomatoes and corn.
SPREAD 1 cup meat mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with 6 tortillas, overlapping as necessary. Cover with layers of half each of the remaining meat mixture and cheese; top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover with foil.
BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with more cheese; let stand 5 min. or until melted.


SERVE with sour cream!

Baby it's cold outside: Slow-cook Chili

With the chilly fall weather we’ve been having in Chicago, I’ve been doing a lot of crock-pot cooking, specifically: chili. I make different types of chili, depending upon the ingredients I have on hand. I rarely, if ever, purchase something specifically FOR chili; rather, I just pull things out of the pantry and freezer. If I have dry beans on hand, I’ll use those (make sure you sort, soak and rise before using.) However, the majority of the time, I use canned beans.

If you can open a can, you can make homemade chili. It’s that simple, really. Chili is cheap & filling. Make a large vat: it freezes well. I think it’s better the second day, so we always have chili 2 nights in a row.


Slow-cook Chili
**Adjust amounts depending upon the crock-pot or stove-top pot you’ll be cooking in. These amounts are approximate for my 4 qt crock-pot.


1 15 oz can pinto beans or other white bean cannellini (white kidney) are nice too.
1 15 oz can black beans or other dark bean, like red kidney.
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes. Flavored tomatoes are fine, and Rotel would be good.
1 small can diced green chilies (optional)
1/2 t. chopped garlic
1 small or medium sized onion, chopped

½ lb ground meat. We have tried beef, chicken, pork, pork sausage and soy chorizo.
Salt & pepper to taste
Chili powder to taste (could substitute paprika + red chili flakes + extra cumin.)
Ground cumin to taste (this gives it a smokey flavor.)

I make this in the crock-pot, but you could make it in a heavy pot on the stove too. I don’t brown the meat at all, I literally throw everything but the spices in the pot, turn on low, and walk away for 3-4 hours. If it cooks down too much, add some more beans or tomatoes, depending on whether you like a thicker or thinner chili. About ½ hour before serving, add your spices to taste. Remember that if you use red chili flakes, the longer you cook with the flakes in, the hotter your chili will be, due to the oil in the flakes (source of heat.) Feel free to use one of those chili seasoning packets, if you don’t like to mess around with spices “to taste.” If I have room in the pot, and corn in the freezer, I add some frozen corn in the last 1/2 hour.

We serve chili with grated cheddar cheese on top. Sometimes with a bit of sour cream and tortilla chips on the side. I also like extra green chilies on mine.
Enjoy & have a great weekend!

Yoga Chiropractics

Stretching is part of any well-balanced fitness program.  It helps prevent injury.  We know that.  But did you know that stretching is, in and of itself, exercise.  Serious, calorie-burning exercise?  Well it is. It's call YOGA.  In it's truest, most basic form, yoga is a tradition of physical and mental discipline.  Yoga is a calming of the mind through meditation + stretching positions called poses.  Its learning to breath, and moving your body with those breaths.  Believe it or not, there are loads of different ways to breath and each one benefits the body in different ways.  Similarly, each yoga pose benefits the different muscle groups in different ways.  Oh and balance...did I mention the balance?  For an extremely clumsy person like me, yoga is a god-send of balance perfection.  I swear I don't fall down as much as I used to, because I've learned my center of gravity and how to properly hold my posture.

But even if you don't want to meditate or do "hot yoga" at your gym with a bunch of sweaty bodies, you can do yoga.  It sounds intimidating at first, but it isn't.  Like anything else, it takes practice.  You likely already know some yoga poses and don't even know they are poses at all.  This site has a good run-down of basic poses along with pictures.  This blog has daily poses and breathing techniques ... like you are doing a group practice without the group.   

Back to the title of this post: yoga chiropractics.  Sam is quite a toll on my body, especially my back.  I didn't go from a 6 lb baby to a 20 lb baby gradually as birth moms do.  Nope.  I started w/ a 15 pounder.  That was TOUGH.  And it still is, as Sammy likes to be carried, a lot.  I have found some basic yoga stretches completely decompress my spine after a long day with Sammy.  I cannot begin to imagine the chiropractor bills I've saved just by learning and DOING a few simple yoga poses.
Now, I'm green, don't get me wrong.  I need to do yoga more consistently, and I need to branch out on my poses.  I used to do yoga practice at the gym once a week, religiously; but if you read this blog regularly, you'll know I'm afraid to go back to the gym and lose precious time w/ Sammy.  So I do it at home.  And that's OKAY.
The best thing about yoga is that it doesn't require equipment or anything special.  You can do it at home in comfy clothing, or at the office in your desk chair.  Its accessable and attainable.  And you feel the benefits immediately.

Have you ever done yoga or taken a class/bought a video?  Are you interested?  How has yoga helped you?

We've Got It

A short post today because I've got 2 kiddos home feeling under the weather. Yes, "we've got IT" whatever "it" is. We've got the FEVER, the RUNNY nose, that all over BLAHHH feeling. My 7yo Daughter was fever free and feeling well so went of to school this morning. My 4 year old and 13 week old are home with mom today....feeling the blues. Mommy is tired from being up all night and they are winey and clingy....we are snuggling, having hot chocolate and staying in our PJ's all day because being sick isn't fun but we're making the best of it. My daughter just came up to me and said "mommy I am thankful for you"...and that make is all worth it.

What do you do when the kids are home sick?

Pre-product review: Mineral Makeup revisited

A month or so ago, I did a product review on Mineral Makeup, telling you about Neutrogena's mineral line.  While I still like the ease of application, my sister recently had me check out another line.  It's the Signature Minerals line and I'm going to do a full product review soon.  Before that, I wanted to let you in on a little secret: you can try this makeup for FREE.  What?  yes, FREE.  You can pick out 6 samples, any combination of foundation, blush, concealer, finishing powder, and eye shadow to try and just pay $7 S&H.  No catch.  And if you decide to purchase some makeup, you can get $2.50 samples of new shades to try, before you purchase the full-size jars (so you don't end up with a drawer full of unused blue eyeshadow!)  The makeup itself is relatively in-expensive as far as mineral makeup goes.  It's a big cheaper than the Neutrogena line and has more variety.  It's about 1/2 the cost of Bare Minerals, which I used for close to 4 years. 

They post all ingredients on both the website and each product jar. On the website here, you can compare the ingredients in SM to other similar mineral makeup lines.  I was shocked at how much crap is in most makeup, even the mineral makeup I was using, which I thought was "pure."

Here is the link for the free sample kit.  Please get it, try it, and tell me what you think.


** please note that Inner HOTmama is not paid to promote any product.  We do try different products and give you our real, honest opinion.  That's it.  I literally stumbled upon this product line and can assure you that SM doesn't even know I'm blogging about their product.

Carmel Apple Pie

As promised, my Carmel Apple Pie recipe.

yields 1 nine inch pie



This is a SUPER YUMMY pie. It isn't super-sweet. Adjust and add more brown sugar or more carmels if you want a sweeter pie.  My brother-in-law actually likes it so much I have to make a separate pie for him at the holidays!





Crust
3 c unbleached flour + 1/3 c for working crust dough
1 c butter (COLD, salted)
1/2 c cold water


Filling
9 c sliced apples (I use granny smith)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 T. unbleached flour
1 1/2 c. chopped carmels
(you can add chopped nuts if you'd like.  Walnuts or Pecans would be good.)

Method
Unwrap carmels and place in heavy-duty zip-lock bag. Place bag in freezer.  Turn oven on to 400.
In large bowl, slice apples to = 9 cups (I do not peel the apples.) Add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Stir to incorporate. Place in microwave for 5 mins on high, to get the juices going. Set aside while making the crust.
In large bowl, cut 1/2 of the butter into 3 cups of flour, using either a dough cutter or 2 butter knives. When butter is incorporated, add remaining and continue until dough is crumbly. Add cold water slowly (I use my hands at this point.) If necessary, add additional water 1 T. at a time. Turn dough onto floured surface. Turn several times, gathering into a ball. Divide ball into 2, put 1 aside. Roll 1 out into circle. Dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Place in pie-plate.
Take carmels out of the freezer and smash in the bag (I use a rolling pin, but a hammer would work as well.) Stir the carmel chips into the apple filling, and pour filling into pie-plate. Roll out top crust and place on filling. Crimp edges to seal. Cut several small holes in the dough top for steam. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.

Bake for 45 mins on 2nd bottom rack, until top crust is browned. Let cool, don't cut for at least 2 hours, or juices will be runny.
Enjoy!

Guilty pleasures

Guilty pleasures...we all have them.  Those little things that we don't tell many people about.   The safe secrets that aren't harmful but we're a bit embarrassed about.  I personally think guilty pleasures are healthy...its good to have that not-so-typical part of yourself.  It helps balance your life.  My guilty pleasure?  It's not really a secret.  It's more of an obsession.  It's 7 days and 14 hours away.  You guessed it!  Twilight.

Yes, I too am one of those middle aged moms obsessed with the books and movies.  I too fantasize that both Edward and Jacob are in love with little 'ole plain-Jane me.  Why you ask?  Why would an educated working mom be interested in "young adult" novels about vampires? 
Let me explain: I grew up in a painfully small farming and factory town.  Our consolidated high school had less than 400 students TOTAL.  I graduated with 87 others and very few ever left said painfully small town.  I knew from a very young age that reading was my favorite form of escapism and that an education would get ME out of said painfully small town.  So I devoured books.  I spent an unhealthy amount of time at the library.  I wasn't pretty or popular.  I was a geek in the truest sense of the word.  I never took a study hall.  I completed 6 years of math and science.  I had a near perfect GPA.  I took college courses in HS.   I was, GASP! in band on top of all this.  So, needless to say, the boy didn't run to my doorstep.  They didn't even notice me.  Sure, I had boys who were friends, but I don't think they even thought of me as female, let alone desirable.
I have never lost my lust for reading or knowledge.  I usually read about 1-2 books a week.  And one day, I found the Twilight series.  And I once again escaped my normal benign existance and was magically transported back to HS.  But this was a much better experience, because I was Bella Swan.  I was just a typical girl, yet the most beautiful, intelligent and sensitive boy in the school wanted ME.  And the next year, my best friend turned into 6'5" of muscled hotness and wanted ME too.  And I had adventure (be it dangerous and oft-time life-threatening) and mystery and excitement.  Everything I DID NOT have in my own HS experience.
So, I love Twilight.  I've re-read the books too many times.  I bought advanced tickets for New Moon (opens Nov 20th.) 

This is MY guilty pleasure.  What's yours?

Sweet Sweet Slumber

To be healthy, both mentally and physically, we need sleep.  Okay, we ALL know that.  But how many of us moms (both new and seasoned) actually GET enough sleep each night?  I'd place a safe wager it's far too few.
Experts differ on the precise number of hours we need each night, from 6-8.  The bottom line is, we need 6+ hours of solid sleep in order to function at our best.  All of us ensure our children get enough sleep, right?  We fret over naps and early bed times and sleeping late enough in the morning.  We worry about our little ones being overly tired, and our school-aged kids staying awake in class.  But why don't we do the same for ourselves?  I think this is yet another area in our lives where we don't practice what we preach.  Like eating and exercise, we make sure our kids are healthy but put OUR health second (or 3rd, 4th, 5th...)
I know I've felt like a walking zombie since we brought Sam home.  It's been the single toughest part of learning the ropes as a new mom. 
For now, my sleep is directly related to Sam's: if HE isn't sleeping at 2 am, then I'm not.  If HE gets up in the night then I do.  But at the same time, I haven't been taking advantage of his early (7:30-8pm) bedtime.  This week I've been trying to go to bed earlier, to take advantage of that time. 
I do want my evenings to be "G" time, but its not quality time if I'm falling asleep on the couch at 8:30, now is it?  So for the next month, I'm going to go to bed early.  Whether I'm tired or not.  If I'm not tired I'll read in bed until I fall asleep.  But I'll give my body the rest it needs.  After Sammy gets in a more solid sleep pattern, we should both be more alert during the evenings, and THEN we can worry about more "alone" time at night.

Are you getting the sleep your body deserves?  If yes: how do you ensure that?  If no: what steps can you take to increase the amount of quality sleep you get?

Inner HOTmama Pledge

If you read this blog, than you are interested in becoming an InnerHOTmama, or already consider yourself one.  Me, I'm a work in progress.  But I think we ALL need to make some commitments to ourselves, if we are going to continue on this journey together, finding the balance between motherhood and self-identity.  Let's call it the InnerHOTmama pledge.  It will start small, and as more of you contribute ideas, it will grow.
Can you take the pledge with me?

INNER HOTMAMA PLEDGE
I vow:

1.  To love myself for who I am today.
2.  To take some time for myself every day. 
3.  To NOT take the kids to school while wearing PJs. 
4.  To be a good example for my children regarding healthy eating and exercise.
5.  To celebrate my accomplishments as much as I celebrate the accomplishments of my children.
6.  To focus on today, instead of beating myself up for mistakes made yesterday.
7.  To work on my self-confidence/self-esteem.
8.  To have a hobby just for me.

Do you have an idea to add to our pledge?  Can you make these commitments to yourself?

To Eat or Not to Eat Meat

A little about ME,

When I was in high school , I made the choice to become vegetarian. My mother told me that you "HAD" to eat meat in order to get protein and that I wouldn't be healthy if I didn't. She told me that as a little girl I would only eat the bun, onions, pickle and ketchup on the McDonald's Cheeseburgers she would get me and that at around age 7 , I started asking for the hamburgers without the meat. I think she actually ordered it without meat for me once and it took them an extra 10 minutes to make one without meat, plus they all thought we were nuts and thus it embarrassed her. That was the end of that.

So as a teen, I decided to stop eating meat all together, no more chicken strips and no more lunch meat.....but mom politely told me "as long as you live in my house , you will eat meat". This made for the FUN high school years, fighting about food amongst all of the other things that teenage girls and their mothers argue about. College life was easier as I could eat what I wanted, since I was away from home, although it was usually processed food or my wonderful sandwiches made of Bread, Ranch Dressing, Cheese, Lettuce and Tomatoes. I lived on these sandwiches as well as Macaroni and Cheese, Baked Potatoes and Salad Bar items. I was not a healthy eater by any means, but I didn't have to chew any parts of an animal and that was fine by me!

Flash forward 20 years, I still don't like to look at meat nor touch it! Frankly, I don't like to CHEW meat. I was lucky enough to marry someone who understood me and would make it for himself. We have 3 children now and my DD 7 has claimed that she is a VEGETARIAN and will not eat baby chicks or anything else meat related nor will she eat beans, thus THE BIG PROBLEM, she needs protein in some form. My DD 4 LOVES all chicken and by chicken I mean "chicken is chicken" and "hot dogs are chicken" Turkey is chicken" and even "steak is chicken", she is her fathers daughter and that is fine with me. My 3 month old? too early to tell. What is interesting is that with each of my pregnancies I CRAVED meat, hamburgers,chicken, etc......and it didn't make me sick at all, they say my body must have needed it at the time. I didn't feel bad about eating meat during my pregnancies and just chalked it up as being a FLEXITARIAN. (being mostly vegetarian but eating meat when I wanted to or out of convenience)

So today, I stay away from meat completely. My husband and youngest daughter are true carnivores and my oldest is a self proclaimed vegetarian at the age of 7. I fed my daughter everything as a baby and toddler , as not to influence her one way or the other and now she is making a choice not to eat meat.I accept her decision and I will continue to help her make healthy choices from all of the food groups and make sure that she gets all of the nutrients she needs.

Is your household vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian? Is there also a meat eater, if so how do you balance it all?

Picture Perfect

I take TONS of pictures of my kids, TONS! At dance class the other day ,one of the moms , Debra , mentioned a site where you could upload the pictures to scrapbook pages and they get mailed to you. No time spent buying papers and accessories and not time spent cutting and gluing. Mind you that I LOVE to scrap book , I just can't find the time to ever finish a project. I have started books and never finished and have shoe boxes full of pictures. The site is called Create Inspiring Story Books you can make scrap book pages, greeting cards, posters, thank you cards etc...all at a reasonable price(scrapbook pages are around $3 a page). It saves time and money. I don't have to buy all of the items to scrap book and I can make duplicate pages with a click of a button! This is definitely a time saver and a fun way to make gifts for family members and friends! Oh, and did I mention there are over 2000 pre-made TEMPLATES? You can't go wrong!

Check out what I created here.



P.S. To buy items on the site , you pre-pay for credits and have a year to use them. You can even buy gift credits for others! L-O-V-E IT! For more info you can reach Debra at Debra@createinspiringstorybooks.com

Apple Sauce Bran Muffins

I thought I'd post a quick, yummy and healthy recipe. Great for fall and great to grab on the way out the door.

APPLE SAUCE BRAN MUFFINS

1 1/2 c. Nabisco 100% Bran
1 1/2 c. Mott's applesauce (or use Sam's Moms recipe for homemade applesauce)
1 egg
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. seedless raisins (optional)

Mix bran, applesauce, egg, butter and brown sugar; let stand 5 minutes. In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder and cinnamon; stir in bran mixture just until blended. (Batter will be lumpy.) Stir in raisins if desired. Spoon batter into 12 greased 2 1/2 inch muffin-pan cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes or until done.

Let me know how you like the recipe and what modifications you make! ENJOY!

Foodie Friday: Applesauce

 

I tend to say "too many apples, too little time" this time of year.  I make applesauce and pies.  I LOVE making pies.  I'll post my carmel apple pie recipe soon, promise.  But today I want to share something so easy it's pathetic.  Once I started making sauce I could not believe I had been purchasing it for too many years.  Sam likes chunky sauce and so do we.  We also like tart sauce, but you can make it sweet; just adjust the apples you use and/or

add brown sugar (which I find superior for apples over white sugar.)
Apple sauce can be made on top of the stove or in your crock pot.  I prefer the crock because I don't have to stir and just load it up at night and have sauce in the morning.  I usually do this on a Friday night so I can cool and store the sauce Saturday morning (wouldn't be able to do this on a weekday.)  This year, instead of just quart freezer containers (sauce is good for up to a year in the freezer) I'm doing 4 oz containers as well, because that's perfect Sammy and/or snack size.

EASY-PEASY HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
Choose the apples to your taste.  I use a mix of Gala & Granny Smith.  But Fuji, Red Delicious and Pink Lady make great sauce as well.
Peel, core & slice enough apples to come almost all the way up in your pot or crock.
Add enough water to prevent sticking.  In my 4 qt crock, this is just about 1/4 c. You have to watch and add more water if you are using the stove top method, but just cover and walk away if you are using your crock pot.
*Cover and set crock on low for up to 7 hours, or on high for 2-3, until apples are smooshy OR
*Cook in a heavy pot on the stove (cover on) on low-medium for 2-4 hours, stirring and adding more water as needed.
When apples are smooshy, you can stir & smash for chunky sauce, or cool and put in the blender for smooth sauce.  Add cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg or whatever combo you like, to taste.  Add brown sugar in SMALL amounts if you desire a sweeter sauce. 
I promise you'll love this sauce more than anything you purchase at the store AND you'll save money.  Right now you can usually get a 10lb bag of apples for $10... I made 2 batches in my 4 qt crock, using approx 9 lbs of apples, which yielded about 6 1/2-7 qts of finished sauce.

If you want that fancy-schmancy sauce w/ additional fruits, add those (thawed frozen or fresh) in the last 1 hr of cooking.  Peaches and pears are particularly good.
ENJOY!

Wellness Wednesday: Exercise your mind

It's just as important to exercise our minds as it is to exercise our bodies.  I think we often overlook this.  I know when I was at home w/ Sammy, as much as I loved our 24/7 time together, I felt like my brain was turning to mush-mush.  I've heard it called "Mommy brain" and other names.  You start to lose short-term memory and it's hard to have "adult" conversations.  At least, this is what happened to me.
When I returned to work, I felt I was reclaiming my brain again.  Don't get me wrong, being a SAH is likely the most challenging job on the planet, and you use your brain constantly, but in a different capacity.  Let's face it, Jack's Big Music Show and the Backyardigans no matter how entertaining, aren't as intellectually stimulating as NOVA.  So what's a mom to do?
READ.
I don't care what.  Redbook to Twilight to a newspaper to a textbook on physics.  Anything but a children's book.  I read on my train commute and it's not only good intellectual time, but great ME time as well.  I personally trade off every-other between an intellectually stimulating book and a good "no-brainer" work of fictions.  (I'm currently re-reading the Twilight series for the 5th time.)  It clears my head from my day at the office, and its a great transition to my time at home w/ DH and Sam.
My husband is a SAH, and tries his best to read during 1 of Sam's naps.  Even if Sam is just down for 30 minutes, that's 30 minutes DH has to himself and 30 minutes of reading.  Sometimes it's a car magazine, sometimes a novel, sometimes news on the web.
I think it's so important that we continue to USE our brains and gain new information (and entertainment.)  It helps balance our lives in so many ways.

What are you doing to exercise your brain today?

Halloween

Sams Mom and Zenful Mommy spent Halloween together! It was fun to get our families together as well as have some much needed "girl" time . Although the weather was cold and the kids couldn't stay out long, everyone had fun! It was a simple yet memorable night and I hope we make a tradition of it! Just thought we'd share a picture of the littlest ones! Happy Monday everyone!

What did you do for yourself over the weekend?