Each year I take my birthday to reflect on the previous year and decide what I want to accomplish this year. I also like to try to learn something new every year. Last year I learned how to move 3 times. I hope to never repeat that lesson! This year, my goal is to simplify. We have been way too busy and it's time to take some measures to simplify our life here in Iowa and give ourselves some breathing room to be able to actually be a family...
be together. To do that, we need to get rid of some of our clutter. We need to learn to rely on less
(moving a million times will do nothing but show you how much extra crap you really have and don't need.). We need to learn to re-purpose what we do have. I've got a pile going in my basement of items that we don't use or seldom use. Tote by tote, box by box, I have been simplifying our life. We are going to have a garage sale this summer to allow someone else the opportunity to use those things. I've also already started with menu planning and streamlining our grocery list/shopping. I'm going to organize our closets and I'm going to revamp our cleaning zones. I'm going to make our time quality.
Today, though, is simplicity in another form...breakfast, specifically muffins. I hate mornings. Hate. Them. I don't like to get up until I'm good and ready
(something that is not really possible with kids, but I do have a nice husband who usually gets up in the morning so I can sleep for a few extra minutes and trick myself into thinking that I'm getting up because I want to and not because Uriah has to go to work.). I don't like to talk. I certainly don't want to have to mess around with figuring out what to make for breakfast. I've found that, in addition to cereal - both hot and cold, muffins are the easiest way to get some fruit and fiber in my kids each morning and, as an added bonus, the kiddos feel like they're getting a special treat. Muffins are easy to freeze and take only a few minutes in the microwave in the morning - something Abby can do for herself if we aren't up yet. My next goal is to have a breakfast menu - hot cereal, cold cereal, eggs, pancakes, waffles - so that Abby and Finn have some diversity in their morning and it's not just an alternation between oatmeal and Rice Krispies.
This week I made Chunky Monkey muffins and between Abby and Finn, they are almost gone! My goal is to make a couple of different kinds and have them stocked in the freezer for easy breakfast and snack options.
What do you do that makes your week a little less hectic? I'd love to hear your ideas!
Makes 1 loaf or 18 muffins
Cream together until smooth:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
Add:
Sift together, then add to the banana-butter mixture:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Mix the batter well, it will be slightly sticky. Then stir in:
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Divide batter into 18 well-greased muffin cups. Bake at preheated 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out smooth. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack and cool completely.
When I make food, I try to make extra of whatever I'm making. I double, or triple recipes. So many things freeze well if you pull the air out of the bag with a straw. Breakfast foods (pancakes, etc) put a piece of wax paper between so they don't stick. When I make a casserole type dish or meatloaf I make one or two extra, put them in foil lined pans, freeze, pull the foil lined entree out (then you get your dish and freezer space back), wrap the whole thing in foil, put in a zip top bag, use a straw to suck the air out (air is your enemy), voila - frozen entree for a much better price, and ingredients you control. Just plop it back into the same dish, add .5 the normal bake time (if it normally takes 1 hour to cook thawed, it will take 1.5 hours frozen to cooked).
ReplyDeleteEven if you do this to half the meals you make, you'll quickly build a freezer of meals for busy days or days you just don't feel like doing much. BUT make sure you label all the food you make (what it is, date) and keep a list of your inventory, so your freezer doesn't become an abyss for food. I have a white board with markers attached next to my deep freeze for just this reason.
I chop extra onion or other veggies to freeze and have on hand to quickly add to recipes. I make extra browned hamburger (and freeze it) to have on hand when I need a quick throw together meal. When I buy chicken breasts, I cube some of it before I freeze it (it thaws way quicker and is ready to go for meals that need cubed chicken). I repackage whole pieces in zip top bags. (Lay the bags on a sheet pan so they freeze straight and take up less room) Then I can pull out as many or few pieces I need, and it thaws much faster than a mass of frozen bird.
And if you like banana food, this makes the best pancakes - really good with peanut butter on them(and/or a few chocolate chips in them) if you're of that persuasion. http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/banana-bread-pancakes-127211.aspx
The first review is mine and has my substitutions for extra bananas in it.
Thanks, Jessie! I never thought of freezing my veggies, but that is a great idea! Some nights I don't have time to be wielding a knife when Finn wants nothing but to be up in my business. I am totally going to start doing that! I like the idea of having a couple of extra pre-made meals in the freezer, too (because sometimes I am lazy.).
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