Experimenting with vegan(ish) muffins

This post won't be interesting to anyone, so save yourself some time and skip it.  I'm only writing it for myself so I remember how to make these, just in case they're good.  I made two kinds of muffins: oatmeal chocolate chip and blueberry.  

Oatmeal chocolate chip:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl:
1 c. oats
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3 T. coconut sugar
2 T. mini chocolate chips
Mix the wet ingredients in a measuring cup:
1/4 c. cashew milk (sweetened, got it at Aldi)
1/4 c. water
1 egg (My apologies to the chickens)
splash of vanilla
Combine wet and dry.  Put in muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for...??  They're in the oven now, so I don't know how long I'm baking them.  Maybe 30 minutes?

Blueberry:
Mix in bowl:
1 c. oats 
1/2 t. salt
cinnamon 
frozen blueberries
In a measuring cup, combine:
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. cashew milk
splash of vanilla (now that I'm typing this, I think I forgot to add that)
2 T. honey (I apologized to the bees)
Combine wet and dry.  Put in muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for same time as above. I'll try to remember to update with how long they actually baked and how they tasted.

So I'm back with the update. Neither of these were great. The texture was a little weird.  They were certainly edible, and I will eat them all.  30 minutes at 350 seemed to work. I might try 20 minutes next time. 


 

Amish vegan

I like the idea of being vegan, but I don't see it ever happening.  I wouldn't miss the meat so much, but I would definitely miss my favorite food group: dairy.  Plus, vegans are a little too radical for me.  For instance, I read that they don't eat honey because they don't want to violate the bees' rights to keep what they produce.  That's a bit over the top for me.  Being a vegan is in the same category for me as being Amish.  I always liked the idea of being Amish, but when the rubber meets the road, I don't think I could actually do it.  I do like having electricity.  Still, I admire both vegans and the Amish. 

Anyway, I'm not above the occasional vegan meal.  Today I made a vegan vegetable wrap for lunch.  I started with a bean/avocado spread that I made by whirring up these ingredients in my food processor:

 I know it's cheaper and better to buy dry beans and cook them yourself.  I have done it, but it's just so much easier to buy the can.  It's worth the 79 cents I paid for it in the time and effort it saved me.  Real vegans are glaring at me for ruining the environment by buying a can.  (I recycled it!)

 Usually I use fresh salsa, but these cans were on sale at Aldi for 39 cents, so I used it instead this time. 

 I also added some fresh cilantro, because I have it.  It turned out to be too cilantro-y so I would definitely use less next time.

 I also added some key lime juice, because I got these little babies on clearance and need to use them before they rot.

Into the food processor with those went an avocado, several cloves of roasted garlic (fresh garlic would be fine too), lots of cumin (because I love cumin), salt, and pepper.

 It looks disgusting, but it's tasty and healthy.

 I spread some of the mixture on a whole wheat tortilla and added some green onion, red pepper, and shredded cabbage & carrots (slaw mix was on sale, so I went the easy route). I bought a cucumber last night to put in my wrap, but I couldn't find it today and didn't remember bringing it in the house last night.  I think it's still rolling around in the trunk of Mike's car, which is with him at work right now. :(

That was a good meal. Took a long time to prepare, and I followed it up with a caramel candy bar and some cookie dough.  I also ate it with the lights on, so I'm not a good vegan or a good Amishwoman.

April Fools

My kids really enjoy April Fool's Day.  They love the idea of a holiday dedicated to pranks.  

 Noah's idea was to wire Sarah's door with explosives.  When she came out of her room in the morning, I heard a bang and smelled smoke.  Sarah was completely unfazed and said, "Huh. Nice try."  She said she knew something was up because her door was closed, and she sleeps with it open.  The cats, however were terrified.  Marty had been shut in Sarah's room, so she was right at ground zero when the explosion occurred.  Shiloh was in the living room, but she immediately puffed into a fluffball and slunk under the chair.

Sarah plotted her revenge before she even ate breakfast. She taped plastic wrap across Noah's doorway so he would smack into it when he came stumbling out in his sleepy morning state.  Sarah and I positioned ourselves outside his door with our cameras rolling, and I called to Noah that it was time to get up and start school.  He mumbled, "Ok, I'm coming."  We heard him shuffling around, getting dressed, pulling up his blinds, etc.  Then all was quiet.  Sarah whispered, "Did he go back to bed?"  Suddenly the door from the garage to the kitchen opened, and Noah called, "Good morning, everyone!"  He had jumped out his window, ran around the house, dug up the spare key, and come in through the garage!  Sarah and I were standing in the smoky hall with our cameras pointed at Noah's door, totally shocked.  Even Sarah gave him a high five for that one. The best prank of the day.

Mike got us all.  I always write our schedule for the day on the white board in the school room, and sometimes Mike will add something to it.  On this day, he had written a ridiculously long list of chores, including vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, mowing, and lots more.  I thought, "How am I going to enforce all that? Plus, it's raining, so how is Noah going to mow?  And the grass doesn't even need mowing..."  Then I saw that he had written in red, "See bulletin board for the rest of the list."  I looked at the bulletin board and saw a piece of paper that said "The list" on it.  I turned it over and saw "April Fool!"  Whew. Sarah was fooled for a second, but then she realized that no human could possibly do everything on that list and figured out it was a prank. When Noah saw it, he was just plain angry.  His voice cracked and went up an octave as he fumed, "What?!  I just mowed two days ago!" and stomped over to the window to look at the short grass.  He laughed when he read the rest of the list on the bulletin board and got the joke.

Other minor pranks included Noah mixing Cheerios in with Mike's precious Lucky Charms and Sarah taping paper over my mouse sensor so my mouse wouldn't work.  I didn't prank anyone.

Rolling with the changes

In parenting, I've found that I'll occasionally hit on a solution to a problem, or think of a new way of doing things that really works great.  The first time I made a great parenting discovery, I thought, "Awesome! I have figured out parenting! Now I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride."  But then the children entered a new stage, things changed, and what used to work great no longer worked at all, and things were falling apart again.  I quickly realized that I will never "figure it out"; it's always in flux.  There are always new challenges.

Not surprisingly, the same is true with school.  I will find a new way of teaching, or a new curriculum, or some other idea that solves a problem or makes things run smoother.  But alas, it doesn't last!  I'm constantly having to adjust in that area too.  

For several weeks (maybe months), things haven't been going well in our little school.  We've been stressed, grouchy, tired of the same old routine, people, and attitudes.  After all, we are a peri-menopausal woman and two adolescents who spend all our time together; the hormones are raging around here!  Finally, I had a total breakdown in front of the principal, and he said something has to change.  We talked about putting them in public school; he also suggested that he could teach them after he gets home from work (but what would we do all day?); finally after much discussion and many tears (all mine), I thought of a compromise that might work.  Since math is our main area of tension, he could teach math at night and I'll teach all the other subjects during the day.  

We implemented the new schedule this week.  It's only the fourth day, but it has been a great week!  The students don't give the principal the attitude they give me, and everything is more pleasant without math looming over our days.  We are free to spend more time leisurely discussing ideas and going through the other subjects in a much more relaxed, happy, and productive atmosphere.  When Mike gets home, we eat dinner and then he takes them for math while I'm cleaning up the kitchen or exercising or doing whatever I want...all by myself!  

Tonight I was cleaning up after dinner and listening to the class in the next room.  It was very strange to be on the other side and not involved at all.  I was reminded of a scene from my one of my favorite movies, Dead Poets' Society.  After Robin Williams got fired, he came back to his classroom to clean out his stuff, and he got to listen in while someone else was teaching his class.  

Even the kids admit that this new schedule is working much better.  I wish it would last, but I know changes are coming and we'll have to reevaluate again.  But I am enjoying the calm while it lasts!

New history curriculum

We just started a new curriculum for World History.  It covers everything from creation to now.  It's full of great pictures, interesting activities, and Biblical truth.  We finished Unit 1 yesterday, which was all about the creation of the world, and we had a worldwide dinner to celebrate.  We had pizza from Italy, pineapple from Hawaii, guacamole from Mexico, rice from Asia, and a Mediterranean barley salad.

Today we're starting Unit 2, which starts with Noah and the ark.  We took it on the road. While I drove to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, Sarah read the lesson out loud. While we waited for our food, Noah filled in the timeline book.  On the way home, we measured 450 feet (the length of the ark) and ran the distance of it for P.E.  On the way, we happened to encounter some boulders and named them the mountains of Ararat.  When we got home, we measured the width of the ark, which just happens to be the distance from our mailbox to our neighbors' mailbox.

 A sea lion on Mt. Ararat

 

Easter

We had Easter at Jeff & Amy's this year, because Jeff wanted to smoke the ham in his new smoker. It was delicious!

I took little deviled egg chicks.

The kids are still not too old to enjoy hunting for Grandma and Grandpa's Easter baskets.

 

 They always enjoy spreading the milkweed pods that Grandma collects for them.

My brother, dad, and husband watching the festivities.

 Amy, Mom, and I took a walk after dinner and saw this pretty sunset.

 Mike played 4-way chess with Sam, Ben, and Noah.

Sarah and the boys

The palm frond left from the Passion Play we went to on Easter morning at Pekin First Church of the Nazarene.

Letting go

Mike's sister wants the kids to come and visit her in Texas.  I checked flight prices and told Mike how much it was going to cost, and we decided we couldn't do it.  But I've been watching for cheap flights, and a great deal came up, and after talking with Mike and clearing the dates with his sister, I bought the tickets.  Right after I did it, we had to leave for Kuk Sool.  I cried all the way there.  How can I put them on a flight by themselves?

I had a flashback to when I was 16.  My brother had left home, and my parents wanted me to go with them to Colorado.  I was too cool to go on a family vacation with my icky parents, because I was a teenager.  And I hated roadtrips, even back then (still do).  We compromised and they let me fly by myself while they drove.  My aunt worked for the airline so I could fly for almost nothing.  I remember getting ready to board the plane in Denver, and my mom was crying.  I couldn't understand why on earth she was so emotional, because I was going to see them in two days when they got home.  I get it now.  She was putting her baby on an airplane alone for the first time, and that's really hard.

So I told my kids that story, and I said, "Someday you're going to put your baby on a plane without you, and you'll understand."  Sarah said, "I'm not going to cry when I do it. I won't be an emotional mom."  Noah said, "Yeah, her tear ducts dried up years ago."