recipe: mini banana muffins

It's no secret around here that our kids love muffins. Oh how they love muffins! And what I love about them is how easy they make breakfasts. I really like being able to give the kids healthy, homemade food for 3 meals a day, but let's face it, we're busy! so having a couple of those meals be easy ones is quite nice (I like to make up a double batch every time I bake and freeze half to pull out later in the week).

These are my go-to banana muffins for breakfasts... they're super easy and with only a handful of ingredients, healthy too! I like mini muffins because they're the perfect size for the kids and easy to bring along for a quick snack if we're out and about.


Banana Muffins


makes about 30 mini muffins


3 ripe mashed bananas
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
4 tablespoons water
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
optional: 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped walnuts

Mash bananas in large bowl. Add ground flax seed and water and stir. Add honey and applesauce and stir until creamy. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder all at once and stir until well combined. Add chocolate chips or walnuts if desired.  

Scoop into nonstick muffin pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

weekend

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was filled with legos. Hundreds of them to be exact. The weekend started out pretty blah... I've been struggling with being put on bedrest (struggling as in crying and eating some chocolate even though it's Lent and watching BBC reruns that is). After 7 months of being sick it's not exactly how I want to spend this last bit of being pregnant... 

It's not just the resting that's hard, which it is with 3 children under foot, but I just feel terrible and sick so much of the time. I mean really, could I just feel glowing and nice for once? I wasn't even sure if I should blog about it because really I've been quite complainy lately and that's just not very nice...

but anyway, that's how I've been feeling. 

Then I played legos with the kids for about 5 hours and I thought you know, I can do this bedrest thing. Even though I have eight weeks to go and that just feels insurmountable right now, and we've had to postpone all of our plans with moving, and life will look a little different for the next couple months, I think we'll get through this just fine.

I have to set my frustrations aside and trust that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be right now...

playing with legos, reading, organizing old photos... and generally trying not to overdo it. and the good news is I get to be with some of my most favorite people on earth while doing it all. And that's what keeps me going. They are worth it. Every bit of it!

 

(i keep telling kenji it's hard to build cute houses with his nasa lego sets... they always look a little slummy to me?)

(all akemi does with legos is take the helmets on and off of the lego guys and set them on little cars... over and over and over!)

(also this weekend: listening to tchaikovsky)

(and playing in laundry baskets. if henry's doing it, it must be a good idea.)

linking up today:

lunches lately

 peanut butter & honey sandwiches, strawberries

with toothpick pandas just for fun :)

whole grain white bread, sharp cheddar, apple, strawberries

veggie "chicken" nuggets, cheesy pasta, broccoli for Henry, grapes for the girls

snack: pretzel sticks & strawberries

 lunch out: grilled cheese sandwich, sweet potato fries, apple, and milkshake

we had a busy day of errands and appointments last week and decided to treat ourselves for lunch, I was totally craving a chocolate milkshake (which is weird for me since I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but obviously our newest little baby is!) so we headed to Kidd Valley. Even I ordered the kid's meal, it's nice going out for a fast meal and being able to get something that's somewhat healthy! The kids loved getting an apple and sweet potato fries with their sandwiches.

ash wednesday

The beginning of Lent is upon us again, how fast this year seemed to go by! Lent is a very special time of year and we use these 40 days before Easter to really examine how we're living our lives and prepare to renew our baptismal commitments. Of course we do give up some luxuries for Lent, but really it's about so much more than just giving up things. Father Ryan spoke at Ash Wednesday Mass about using Lent to die to ourselves and help those in need. It's about suffering a little in order to identify with those who are suffering so much more in our world.

This is something we really want our kids to be a part of and luckily our parish has so many ways for them to be involved... every year they get to collect money in their "rice bowls" to help feed the poor (and did I share the story about how last year they were sneaking cash out of our wallets all throughout Lent and I found $160 in Naomi's rice bowl? We kept wondering where our money was going!). And they collect baby items for needy families in our community - something the kids can really identify with since we have a baby and the thought of her not having warm clothes or food really hits home.

Before receiving the ashes on our foreheads we talked about what luxuries we would go without for Lent this year... at first we explained they should be things we love having in our lives and Naomi responded "you mean I have to give up my grandparents for Lent!?" so we talked a little more about it!

So our Lenten goals for this year are: 

- simple meals (no meat/fish, meals based on beans and rice, which actually is pretty easy since we normally eat vegetarian, but it will be hard for Kenji to give up his fish!)

- minimal sugar & sweets (I say minimal because we have a lot of birthdays, including mine, that always fall during Lent. it's more about a conscious decision to not have that cookie or donut that's offered because we don't need it)

- no eating out (except in case of a date night because those are such a rarity!)

- praying together as a family (we need to do this more. I used to pray the rosary every night for the kids at bedtime and it was really wonderful. I don't know why I got out of the habit, but Lent is the perfect time to start again)

- giving to those in need (for us this year, this will mean helping some family out with some projects. I think anytime we can take talents that God gave us and use them in a way that helps others it is a good sacrifice of our time and energy)

And that is Lent in our house!

linking up for embrace the camera today!

rainy tuesday

It's rainy and blustery out today, the kids' coats were blowing right off while we were out shopping! They thought that was so much fun. And even more fun to come home and spend the afternoon playing inside where it's nice and dry. In general they play so well together, but lately we've had a few times where they're acting up...

not playing as nicely with each other, not sharing, saying mean things.

They know it's a household rule that we don't speak meanly or think bad things about each other. We don't hit or yell, we share our things. But sometimes it's hard to remember in the heat of the moment. I thought about making some kind of chart where they get acknowledgement for acting kind to each other... a sticker a day or something or something like that.  But I don't want them to be kind just because they want a sticker; I want to foster kindness in their hearts. I want them to obey and be polite not because I'm bribing them, but because they want to work together and they feel like they're a part of a team (I know, I'm a hopeless optimist).

Sometimes we sit and have family meetings (Naomi sets up chairs and cushions in a circle, of course) and I just check in with them... tell them when I'm needing, less fussing, more obedience when called. We talk about ways they can help out with that. 

And we ask them what they are needing. 


Henry for instance says he needs people to not eat animals because he loves them so much. He needs everyone to pick up their garbage and take care of the earth. He needs the girls to stop messing up his flash cards. I can't speak for everyone, but we do our best to accommodate him and help him feel he is important. 

I try to help them see that we can choose to do good even when we don't feel like it, even when things may not be good around us. If we are good people and take care of our things, treat others nicely, we will reap that goodness in our lives. We will have a clean home, a happy family, friends... love. And most importantly, we can be an example of the good that God gives to us!

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart... for out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

 

our week

this week:

- Akemi started saying bicycle, noodles, grilled cheese, arachnid (thanks Henry), and sorry. It's the cutest thing, she'll drop a toy and say oops sorry!

- Her and Henry are equally high strung sometimes. They can both get really fussy if they don't get nap/quiet time or get to play with what they want. But they both love bath time!

- Naomi and I enjoyed a do it yourself mani pedi after the younger kids went to bed, I just love my girl time with her (and I love pink and gold nails too!).

- We had a visit with my Grandpa. He's not doing well and it's hard to see him so weak. He really loves seeing the kids though and even though he doesn't talk much anymore, he always tears up when Akemi reaches out and holds his hand... cue the tears! it's so bittersweet.

- I feel like it's been a long week. I'm a bit worn out.  But I am working on some fun projects I can't wait to post about...  next week will be fun!