Applesauce Muffins with My Lady

Paige went online last night and printed a recipe for Applesauce Muffins.  

She can't really read so well so I don't know how she decided on this recipe, but she was very proud of her find.  

It came from a Holly Hobby website.  How could I resist?

Here's the recipe:

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1.   Preheat oven to 375 F.  Grease or line a 12 cup muffin pan.

2.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Whisk to blend.

3.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until just blended.

4.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  

5.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 5 minutes.

6.  Eat ... and share with your friends.

We liked them.  Here's the photo evidence..................

Seven Teeth and Counting!

Paige just lost her SEVENTH tooth!  

She is a Tooth Fairy's nightmare.

Sarah pulled it out for her.  

It was a proud day for them both.

Now it's time for her to write the notes 

that remind the good Fairy to leave her some loot!

(We have a forgetful Fairy! .......................)

Pasta Lady

Paige was in a really bad mood the other day.  It was making me have a bad mood.  Or ... maybe I was already having a bad mood.  I'm not sure.  Either way, I had to keep her away from the other kids.  I told her that she had to stay by my side.  She could not let go of me.  She had to stay connected to me.  This was her punishment.

We sat on the sofa for a little while and she seemed to calm down.  

She liked her punishment.  

I needed to make dinner.  She needed to stay connected.  

I decided to pull out the pasta press.  We needed to get messy.  We did.  

It worked.  Neither one of us stayed grouchy for long.  

Our dinner was delicious.  

Paige is delicious.

The Ghost Bike

Frank is always tinkering with his bike.  

I think he might tinker more than he rides.  

His latest project was to add ground effects.  

Yes.  He pimped his bike.

Honestly, I think it will make him super safe when he rides.  

He mostly rides at night and now the cars will not be able to miss him.

Here is a picture of his bike regular-style:

Here it is at night:

Here it is with the lights on:

Amen, Sistah!

Batter Blaster ... Yum

When I was shopping at the Whole Foods market recently I saw a crazy thing on the shelf.  It was called the "Batter Blaster".  It looked like a can of whipped cream but it was a can of pancake mix.  It was not cheap.  I think it cost $5.00 for the can.  Maybe $6.  I thought it was ridiculous but I also thought that it was something that the kids would think was very funny.  (Do you notice a trend at all of me buying things because I think it will make my kids laugh?  See here.)  I, of course, bought it.

Anyway, I got to the checkout lane and the checker girl got all excited that I was buying this silly thing.  She said that they had an employee taste test and that this thing made delicious pancakes.  I wasn't so sure.

I got home and tried it.  We loved it!  It really does make tasty pancakes!  AND, as a bonus, you can make all kinds of shapes and letters.  You can draw whatever you want (within reason, of course.  It IS pancake batter, you know.).   It also makes delicious waffles.

I have since bought two more Batter Blasters.  It is so simple and yummy.  And I'm extra happy to report that we do not have to pay the super-high Whole Foods prices any more.  I found a 3-pack at Costco for only $10!  Woo Hoo!

So now, my friends, go forth and make yourselves some tasty organic squeezy star-shaped pancakes anytime you want.  For an extra tasty treat, have them with some Trader Joe's Wild Maine Blueberry Fruit Sauce!  Yummy!

Swim Away From the Poop!

We have tadpoles.  You can read about them in an earlier post.  

Tadpoles, of course, need to have their tank cleaned occasionally.  Basically, the trick is to mix some of the old water with new fresh water and to get rid of all of the mucky-muck from the bottom of the tank.  It's easier than it sounds.  Our tadpoles do not like to come out of their tank.  They prefer to hang out in the murk at the bottom of their dirty tank rather than swim in the clean freshness of the new water.  

Paige was watching me trying and failing to dump the little critters from one vessel to another.  I was trying to be careful -- I wanted to dump some of the water water and all of the tadpoles but none of the muck into the clean tank.

Her solution?  She drew them a map.  She showed up beside me with this picture and yelled into the tank, 

"SWIM AWAY FROM THE POOP AND INTO THE CLEAN WATER!"  

She's quite clever, my girl.

(That little face is Paige yelling at the tadpoles.)

Seven New Pets For Us!

The kids and I were playing at our friend's house the other day.  Ms. Deb and I were happily ignoring our children as they played outside ... until we realized that the silence had been going on too long.  

You know the feeling, moms.  When the peaceful silence becomes alarming.  When you realize that the kids just might not be getting along as well as you suspect and that they might be getting into something?  When they might be sneaking into forbidden places or coloring on your walls or ... worse.  

Well, we started our hunt.  Deb and I.  She took the front yard.  I took the back.  

I found them first.  They were all there -- in the neighbor's back yard.  In the POND catching tadpoles with nets and buckets.  They were thrilled.  I'm not sure how the tadpoles felt.  I didn't ask them.   

I still can't believe how many tadpoles were in that tiny pond!  Every scoop of the net brought up at least ten tiny creatures.  It was amazing!

We made the kids put the little guys back.  Most of them.  I've always wanted the kids to have some tadpoles.  I always thought it would be cool to grow our own frogs.  I let the kids keep a small bowl of them.  We put the rest back.  

We took the little bucket back to Ms. Deb's house and divided the take evenly between households.  Each family got to keep seven tadpoles.  We still have ours.  It's been almost three weeks since we brought them home and they are all doing well.  Hopefully, we'll be good parents and soon we'll have a family of happy frogs.