My 13 Muffin Day

It has been so long since I have written anything! There just isn't enough time in the day for everything I want to do.  But lately I have been doing a lot of thinking and our schedules have gotten so busy that we haven't had time to connect as a family.  I decided to try living a little more simply, not being in so much of a hurry and enjoying this moment in life.  So we are trying to do things a little differently around here.  I know it won't happen overnight, (it's sad that I have to remember to slow down!)but we are going to give it a try. 

To teach our kids (and ourselves) how to simply enjoy life I have been trying to incorporate little acts of service into our days.  It is such a better use of my time than tv or yikes, my iphone.  I want the kids to put down the remote or the video game and realize life can still be fun without those things.  Today I was trying to clean the house and kept thinking of all I had to do and would get frustrated with the kids when they wouldn't stay outside so I could clean or kept asking me for a million and one things.  Then it hit me, this was a time to simplify.  I just needed to face facts that the house wouldn't get spotless today, but also I needed to look at what was most important which was the kids. 

I love to cook, so I looked in the kitchen and I had all the ingredients to make a batch of muffins so I decided to see how a dozen muffins could change our day.  I know the picture only shows 9, but that's all that was left when I got around to taking one.

I made a batch and had enough for 13 which meant naturally I got one to taste!  That definitely change my mood, I needed a pick-me-up.  Then I surprised the kids with one each and they gobbled them up before I could even get a picture, they were thrilled for the treat an excited about our idea to see who we could share them with.  Fisher decided to take 3 to our neighbor so we took a few minutes to deliver them and catch up.  My mother-in-law was having a not so stellar day so we left 2 on her kitchen counter for when she comes home as a nice surprise.  We took 3 with us to give as a thank-you to my sister-in-law and niece while they helped Finley get ready for dance pictures.  That left 2 that we surprised my husband with after a long day.  He was particularly grateful! 

We didn't change the world today but we did enjoy our time together and making our family and friends smile.  That's all I really want my kids to learn that it doesn't have to be something huge, but enjoy every day and even if it is just a smile or polite manners try to do something for others.  And you know what? Our day was pretty awesome and the kids attitudes were better than usual!

I found a great recipe a few weeks ago that is gluten free and uses real ingredients and tastes awesome.  http://emthebaker.com/2014/02/28/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-muffins/
I follow it pretty much the same but all gluten free flour does not create the same results.  I have the best luck with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour.  I also use coconut palm sugar in place of the brown sugar and organic cane sugar.