My Favorite Bran Muffins

Lolly is always telling me I should post recipes online . . . so this is for you.

This morning I was packing Cody's lunch and I asked him if he wanted a muffin or a piece of cake. I was secretly hoping he would say cake, because I want it out of the house. He chose a muffin. I thought I probably deserve some mom bonus points when my son chooses bran muffins over cake.

My Favorite Bran Muffins

3/4 cup ground flax seed
3/4 cup oat bran
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t cinnamon
1 cup shredded carrots or pumpkin puree or mashed bananas*
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until just moistened. Line 9 muffin cups with paper cups and spray top of muffin pan. Over fill muffin cups about 1/2 in. Bake 20 minutes or until muffin is not soft in the center when touched.

*I don't always add bananas or carrots, it just depends what I have on hand. And I usually reserve the pumpkin for the fall. I am somewhat seasonal about my flavors.

I can't believe how much my kids love these muffins. They obviously have no idea how good they are for them!

Egg Huntin'

Warning the following post is not intended for small children. The weirdest thing happened to me this morning. I was looking forward to a great Sunday morning sleep in session, when the kids came barging in. In my mind I considered the chances of me still sleeping in. I figured if Jeromy got up with the kids I was home free. Cody and David had an announcement for me. They said "We have something to tell you . . . Happy Easter." My immediate reaction was "Shoot." Luckily I said this under my breath. You see at our house the "Easter Bunny" leaves a basket out with chocolate bunnies and goodies, maybe even a small toy. Well unless the Easter Bunny is actually real, then he didn't visit our house. The kids had already been downstairs, so they would've seen any baskets that the Easter Bunny left out. I am sorry to say the Easter Bunny isn't real and I forgot to put out the baskets. All plans of sleeping in were discarded. I had Jeromy corral and dress the boys in their room while I threw together 3 Easter baskets and hid them downstairs. Then I wrote a note from the Easter Bunny telling the kids their baskets were hidden in the house. When Noelle woke up I "noticed" the note. Easter was saved!

Banished

It was the uncles turn to play the Wii. The kids were hovering like flies. Standing around between and under the uncles. So the frustrated uncles sent the kids outside. It was their turn to play video games. As you can see the kids were not going to be distracted that easily.

Take a picture quick before the curl falls out!

My hair looked great for about 30 minutes. For my birthday I wanted to go to The Melting Pot. I have been looking forward to this day since the last time I was there 9 months ago. And I was not disappointed!

Shrimp Anyone

Have you ever been to The Melting Pot? We highly recommend it. My favorites were the deep fried stuffed mushroom and the snickers fondue over cheese cake. It is an all night event full of amazing flavors and good entertainment. Of course you provide the entertainment, but we were not lacking in the least.

Heather and Kendall were steaming.

Is it summer yet?

As the days get warmer my kids start wondering why we aren't swimming. I have no good answer for them. I can't say that it's too cold to swim, because they would be swimming regardless of the temperature . . . like when they swam in Lake Tahoe 2 weeks ago. So I just tell them "No." No explanation just, "No." Evidently Davey didn't like this answer.