Cranberry muffins

I found this recipe for cranberry muffins on Allrecipes.com and we made them today (I'm trying to use up some frozen cranberries).  They are delicious!!  The kids really love them too - Annika has quite a taste for sour or tart things!  Next time I won't put pecans in the whole batch so that Annika can take them to school for snack.  I made a few changes to the original recipe (some of my own, and some as recommended by the reviews), so I wanted to write out my recipe so I remember it for next time (and so you can enjoy them too!).

Cranberry muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour (I did 1 1/2 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (or slightly less)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Ground chia seeds (I don't measure too carefully- just throw a spoonful or two in)

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped

1/2 cup pecans, chopped 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a muffin pan, or use paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix together applesauce, oil, egg and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and chia. Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans. Spoon into muffin cups, 2/3 full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes (about 18 minutes for mini muffins), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 2 minutes before removing.

Enjoy!!

Emmett's birthday

Here are a few pictures (okay, a lot) from Emmett's birthday yesterday...

We had to be at church early, but we took a few minutes in the morning to quickly take some family pictures, since we were all dressed so nicely (yes, I planned our outfits :P).  I think they turned out pretty nice, considering we were just using the self-timer!

After church we went to Montana's for lunch, just the four of us.  Emmett was NOT a fan of the big moose ears, but he did enjoy his ice cream cone (which Annika very nicely shared with him - they were actually her dessert, but she gave him one as a birthday present!).

After lunch we went home for a quick nap, and I got things ready for the party.  We invited a bunch of our friends and family over for a "come and go" party, from 3:00 - 5:00.  It was pretty low-key, but I was still pretty busy getting everything ready, since we had been out late (for us!) the night before for Carey's work Christmas party.  But everything got done, and we had a lovely afternoon.  The theme of the party was "Lego"- one of Emmett's favorite toys.

I bought a plastic mold in the shape of Lego blocks, so I made chocolate Legos to top the cupcakes and as treats for the guests to take home afterwards, and I also used it to make Lego ice cubes for the punch!

I made cupcakes because I find them easier than doing a cake, and because I thought it would be better suited for our "come and go" party (that way guests that had to leave early could take one home).  The other food was pretty simple - M&M's (yes, I sorted them by color - did you know that there are significantly fewer red M&M's than the other colors??), Lego-shaped candies, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, and fruit.  I also made some cranberry apple cider in my crock pot.

The decorations were also very simple, but I was quite proud of this Lego "happy birthday" banner that I made (I had to hand-color the yellow outline around each letter before cutting them out).  If anyone is planning a Lego birthday in the near future and would like to have it, please let me know!  It seems like a shame to just throw it away (please forgive the poor picture, it was hard to take a picture with so much light in the background).

Emmett had a great time at the party - I don't think he totally understood what a "birthday" is, but he enjoyed opening presents, eating yummy food and being with friends.  Thanks so much to everyone who came out!

Happy birthday Emmett!

Two years old today!

This moment - baking cupcakes

"A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

SouleMama

Another session of ballet lessons

On Saturday was Annika's last ballet class.  She did another 8 (or was it 9?) week session through the city's Leisure Guide, and she seemed to enjoy it.  It always seems a bit hard to tell - at home she says she's excited to go to dance class and she loves dancing around and being silly, but at class she always looks so serious and half-interested (but maybe that's just her nature - she's always quite serious and quiet in public).

Anyway, she did well, learned a few new moves (she took level 2 this time) and listened well to her teachers.  I find the teachers for the Leisure Guide ballet programs to be really hit and miss.  The first time she did a ballet class I really liked the teacher and found that she had a really good balance between fun and learning in the class (and she seemed to be quite aware of what to expect from a group of 3-5 year olds).  Last session (same class) I thought that the teachers seemed to be far too concerned with teaching actual ballet moves and didn't seem to realize that little girls also need some time to just twirl and have fun.  They also didn't seem to have much experience with little kids.  This time around the teachers were good with the kids, but it seemed like there wasn't much actual ballet teaching happening (which I found odd, since this was a Level 2 class) - they played a lot of games and learned about different kind of movement, but they hardly ever did plies or talked about feet positions, arm positions, etc (things that the previous teachers had spent a lot of time on).  Oh well, I guess you can't expect too much from an 8-week class. :P

Now we have 2 weeks of swimming left (I'm kind of sad that Annika missed the past 2 weeks due to illness, since she has really been improving this session), and then a little break until the new year.  In January we're planning to put her in skating lessons - it will be her first time skating!  I guess we'll see how that goes!!

Getting the party started...

Emmett's birthday is coming up in a week, but since my family won't all be around on the actual day, we started celebrating a little early on Friday evening.

Concentrating SO HARD to blow out those candles!

Sneaking a taste of the cake (an ice cream cake from Marble Slab - delicious!!)

Opening his present, very carefully

Looking forward to more birthday celebrations next week!  I can't believe my baby is 2 already!!

This moment - making smoothies

"A Friday (or Saturday!) ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

SouleMama