A while back I posted a chocolate mug cake that needed to be microwaved. Two things happened though: One, people e-mailed to ask what they can do if they didn't have a micro-wave, and two: I personally found that I often couldn't actually eat the whole mug cake. Because I didn't want to waste, and I also didn't want to leave some random, useless amount of mug cake in the fridge, I would end up eating it all and feeling a smidge too full. 
   So, to answer both problems, here are mini muffins (so you could eat as much or little as you want), made in the oven!  

Mini Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients: 

• 2 Very ripe bananas
• 2 Tbsp nut butter
• 2 eggs
  
• 4 Tbsp cocoa (about 1/4 cup)
• 2-4 Tsp honey or maple syrup (optional). I have never used a sweetener, and these taste just sweet enough.
  
• 1 Tbsp extras: Nuts, raisins, chopped un-sweetened chocolate (or unsweetened chocolate chips), whatever! (optional)

Method: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees F. Lightly  grease a 24 cup mini muffin tin, and line with petit four muffin liners. 
2. In a medium bowl, squish up the bananas using a fork.
3. Mix in the nut butter and egg, and blend together. Then add the cocoa powder, and sweetener (if you are using any), and mix until it is evenly combined
4. Stir in any extras if you are using any
5. Using a 1 tbsp scoop (or a regular tablespoon), scoop batter into each muffin liner. The batter should fill all 24 spots.
6. Bake in warmed oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack before removing from the muffin tray.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, and eat at your leisure! :)  

   These little gems have a moist, fluffy texture, and I'm sure you'll love 'em!     

   Today's life hack makes me so happy! 
   My kids (like all kids) love blowing bubbles, but as the adult, I am generally holding onto the bubbles so that they don't spill (so the kids don't cry!). I don't really mind holding the bubbles, but my hands do get pretty sloppy with all the soapy drippings. 
   Option B is that the kids hold their own bubbles, and have soap dripping down their arms, or they set them down somewhere, and inevitably spill them. Then the crying starts. 

   But this....oh this glorious idea...I saw it on Pinterest, and my life changed forever! :)  
   It's pretty self-explanatory, and (as you can see) doesn't need hard-core tape to hold it up. All I had was painters tape for some reason. Anywho, it worked great, the kids had a blast (well, the youngest missed out because she was in bed having a hard time waking up from her nap), there was no soapy mess, and no crying! The best life hack ever. The End.  

   Oh, wait, one last thing. Open the bottle(s), take off the seal under the lid, then put the lids back on before attempting to tape it up. Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I don't want anyone saying I never told them, and they have a bubble soap disaster!  
   Oh, wait, one more last thing. I don't mind kids getting messy, they are kids after all! But if there is an option that avoids it, I would be a bonkers parent not to at least try it! If I had never seen this idea, my kids would still be blowing bubbles, getting super messy, and crying over spilled soap. Blowing bubbles would not be eliminated from our lives because it was messy. I just needed to say that. 
   The End (for real).

   Our good friends moved recently, and gave us their laying hens. Well, they didn't lay a single egg for 2 weeks (because it was still so very cold), and then-wham! They were laying a million eggs every day!!! O.k, a million is an egg-xaggeration (see what I did there?), but we suddenly had more eggs than we could possibly eat. So, as the old saying goes, if you have too many eggs, make a quiche. That is 100% not a real saying, but it could be. 
   Because we are largely gluten-free at our house, a "regular" crust was out, but I wasn't in the mood for a crustless quiche....with some inspiration from a favourite blog of mine, PaleOMG, a meat crust seemed genius, and I went for it!

Meat Crust Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground meat (italian sausage, pork, beef, or venison, or a mix with chicken or turkey)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 4 eggs, whisked
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 jalepeno, diced-Optional (if you remove the stems and seeds it gets rid of a lot of the heat, but you still get a great flavour) 
  
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Press your raw ground meat into a pie plate, like you would if you were making a regular crust, pressing it up the sides, and making sure it is all fairly even in thickness.
3. Place pie plate into oven, and bake for 18-20 minutes. It doesn’t need to be completely cooked through, but really close.
4. While your crust is baking, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil, coconut oil, walnut oil, or bacon fat into a saucepan over medium heat. Then add the garlic, & the onions.  Once the onions begin to become translucent, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on top.
5. After about 5 minutes, put the spinach into the pan, and mix it all around for 3-5 minutes until the spinach starts to wilt. Once it's wilted, remove from heat, and wait for the meat crust to be finished.
6. When the crust is finished, remove it from the oven, and carefully drain some of the grease from the pan (I tip mine carefully over a glass cup). Then, scrape the garlic/onion/spinach mixture into it. Sprinkle the chopped jalepeno on top (if using). The pour the whisked eggs over that.
7. Place the eggie pie into the oven and bake for 23-25 minutes. Once the middle pushes back when you poke it, it's ready fer eatin'. 
8. Let cool oh so slightly, then cut and serve. 

  This quiche is hearty (obviously!), and it makes some of the best leftovers ever. 
  Well, alrighty. Gosh, I'm pooped. It's a super terrific, sun-shiny day though (SpongeBob said it first, not me), so I'm hoping a nice walk with my youngest after the olders get on the bus will wake me up....fingers crossed! 
   Happy Monday! 

   I have been seeing these "cake mix cookies" all over Pinterest, and it seemed backwards to me. I thought you would use a cake mix, then just change what you added so that it was more cookie-ish or something, and I always thought, "um, why not just buy a cookie mix?". 
   But, because I like to experiment, I thought I would try them! I found a recipe I liked from Sally's Baking Addiction (though I did add cornstarch, and omit the sprinkles, I just don't get using sprinkles? Maybe it's because I'm old and crotchety?) 
   Even as I was putting them into the oven, I was feeling doubtful. Why cake mix? But then I could smell them baking, and it was this glorious cross between cake and cookie smell. Drool....Then, when I pulled them out of the oven...they had this fantastic looking top, and I knew they were different than a regular chocolate chip cookie and would be yummy!

Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 Cups vanilla boxed cake mix 
• 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp Cornstarch
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix or sift together the flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth and creamy. 
4. Add the egg and mix on high until it's well incorporated, then add the vanilla and continue mixing until combined
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on lowish-medium speed until it just comes together.
6. Add the chocolate chips, and finish mixing with a spoon until the chocolate chips are worked in evenly.
7. Using a one tablespoon scoop (I now have one, thanks to my friend Sarah! Thanks Sarah!), or a regular tablespoon amount rolled into a ball, place onto cookie sheet, 3 inches apart.
8. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes until edges are ever so slightly browned. If you've read my other cookie posts, you know how I do my cookies! They will look underdone, but let 'em be!
9. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. These cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days...I brought my double batch (50 cookies) to a choreography rehearsal, and came home with 11. So, that info on how long they will last is helpful if you plan on looking at them sitting on your counter in an airtight container! That's bonkers! :) Go forth and share thy cookies! I'm not sure why I'm talking like that...  

   You can see that they are a pinch thin, and they were a little crunchy. Generally I like nice, poofy, softy-soft cookies, but these were perfect as is. They were great to snack on, and because they were a little smaller, and were perfect for dipping into tea. 
   So, final verdict is that these cookies were worth trying out. I love my regular chocolate chip cookies, but these were a delight in their own way. 
   Well everyone-have a great weekend! 

   For this final Thursday in Autism Awareness Month, I wanted to honour Caleb.        

   We have had many hard years with him, but the truth is that he is the most genuine person you will ever meet, and has the most contagious laugh and beautiful smile.
   The song playing with the video is called "Meant to Be" and is from the Veggie Tales movie "It's a Meaningful Life". It is written and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman. 

   This song has been "our song" for Caleb since we first heard it on the movie (mentioned above), as we feel it sums up not only how we feel about Caleb, but more importantly, how God feels about Caleb.
  
Chorus

You were meant to be touching
The lives that you touch
And meant to be here
Making this world so much more
Than it would be without you in it

You were meant to be bringing
The gifts that you bring
And singing the songs
You've been given to sing

You are perfectly, wonderfully,
Beautifully meant to be
You were meant to be 

xoxo Love you Caleb

   My mind is so blank right now....I can't seem to think of how to start this post. I can hear my daughters voices in my head though when they make me sit down to watch one of their "shows", so, I'm gonna go with their opening speech formula: ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the apple & bacon roast chicken show!
   Seriously, it's all I've got right now. Please be gracious. :)

Apple & Bacon Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3-5lb whole chicken
• 2 slices of bacon
  
• 1 apple (any kind), quartered
• 1 Onion, quartered
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Rinse the chicken in cold water, and pat down with paper towel (this helps the skin get nice and brown). 
3. Cut each slice of bacon into 2 shorter pieces.
   
4. Gently pull skin up on the breasts, and prick breasts with a fork. Season with pepper. Then slide 2 half pieces of bacon onto each breast (I also tried adding some extra sliced apple under the skin with the bacon, and although it added to the meats sweetness, it kept the bacon from getting as crispy as I usually get it. So, do it however you wanna, I'm just letting you know). :) 
5. Pull the skin back over the breasts and the bacon (hold skin back together with toothpicks if needed). 
6. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the quartered apple and onion, putting anything that won't fit into the roasting pan or baking dish you plan on using.
7. Shake paprika onto the chicken, rubbing it into the skin gently with your hand. Season generously with salt, and more pepper.
   
8. Place into a roasting pan or baking dish, and place into oven.
9. Cook for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake for an additional 60 minutes (for a 3 lb chicken. Add 20 minutes extra cooking time per pound of chicken). If the chicken is getting to dark before it's finished cooking, simply tent with foil.
10. Once finished cooking, juices from a pricked thigh will run clear. Remove from oven, and tent some foil over the chicken and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.

   This really is a simple roast chicken to put together, and it comes out so tasty and juicy. 

   Back when I posted my lemon & rosemary roast chicken, I meant to ask what kind of roast chicken anyone in the great big www liked? Share your ideas if you have any!  

   Just a quick post today about re-using old things as new! One of my favourite things!
   These pillow cases are old sacks that I've purchased at antique and flea markets and washed (and washed again), and simply slid another pillow into.

   In my living room I also had 6 other old sacks as pillows, but instead of putting a different pillow into it, I bought them stuffed with "pillow fluff" (stuffing), and sewn shut. They are a little more tricky to wash though....so, I would personally recommend just slipping a different pillow into the sack, and if you want it to close, just sew a zipper, or some cute buttons. 

   Well, we're heading home today, and I will be able to rest my head on my lovely pillows again! :)  

   So, I'm still away visiting family, and I didn't even remember that today was Monday! I'm sitting here chatting with my Mom, and I had to ask her what day it was! We were visiting other family 40 minutes away from our "visiting home base" of my Mom & Dad's, and we only rolled in around 3am....so, yikes, I'm a little pooped!  
   Anyway, I wrote this draft about a week ago, but was busy making (and posting) Easter treats and didn't post this! So, lets take a step back from all that sugar from last week, and make a healthy-ish casserole. I know "casserole season" is coming to an end, but I eat spaghetti squash a lot, and was getting a little tired of it in a bowl with sauce and needed something different, gosh darn it! 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash 
• 1 pound italian sausage or ground meat (you'll need extra spices if you use regular ground meat)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup pasta sauce (no sugar added)
• 1/2 Cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 jalepeno, diced (optional, but you know you wanna...)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (and the same amount of dried garlic, paprika, sage or oregano if using regular ground meat)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 eggs, whisked (in a large bowl)
• Olive oil to use here and there
• Also optional: Diced peppers, tomatoes,  mushrooms, and shredded cheese for the top.  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (don't chop any fingers off in the process! Spaghetti squashes can be buggers to cut open!). Scrap out the seeds.
3. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake until tender, for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F.
4. While that's baking, place a large pan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until it starts to get a little colour, about 3-5 minutes. Add the italian sausage (or other ground meat). Cook, breaking up bigger pieces, until no more pink shows.
   
5. Add sauce, dried basil (and other spics, if using) and salt and pepper. Stir it up, and remove it from heat.
6. In the large bowl with the whisked eggs, add the meat mixture. Stir well. Then scrape the squash threads into the bowl, and mix well. Put this mixture into a 8x8 baking pan.
7. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour, and the top seems firm and the casserole "springs" a little when you poke it with your finger. Add shredded cheese if you want for the last 5 minutes of baking. 
8. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

   So, I had planned on making this, but forgot and used my sausages a night or two before. I had other ground meat options, but because I had made more sausages than we needed, I decided I would just cut up the cooked sausages and use them. So, fyi, that's an option. I just added them to the pan with the onion like I would have the raw meat, and continued on. 
   Anywho, this was tasty, makes great leftovers, and was a nice change from the usual. I hope everyone had a good weekend (or maybe still having a good 'weekend' like me?). 
   Whatever your plans, whether you have today off or not, have a great day! 

   So one last Easter treat! These are yummy, yumm-yum! 

Cadbury Creme Egg Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

• Homemade chocolate chip cookie dough (half the recipe), or one tube of pre-made cookie dough (what I'm doing this time). I've made it both ways, and they both taste good, but store bought dough flattens a bit more. 
• 8-12 mini cadbury creme eggs, un-wrapped, and chilled (put 'em in the fridge for a bit). * 8 is the number for a tube of dough, 12 is the number if using the dough recipe above. 

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. Make half the dough from the recipe above (or open the tube!) 
3. Divide the dough into 8 (or 12) equal parts. Roll each section into a ball.
4. Taking one ball of dough, press it flat in your hand, and put one chilled egg in the middle of the dough, and carefully wrap dough around the egg (make sure there are no cracks).
5. Continue doing this until all the dough and eggs are gone, placing balls onto baking sheet.
6. Bake for 12 minutes, or until you see the bottoms getting a bit brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes on the cookies sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. 
7. Time to eat! :)  

   Pretty darn (or "derned", as my sister would say) simple. And man, these are sooooo yummy! Seriously, so yummy! 

   Well now, I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend, whatever your plans! We're heading out to see the fam for the weekend, and I'm quite looking forward to it! 

   I struggled with this post because I felt like it was a cop-out somehow, but I've reconciled myself to it, and am sure that a big part of people becoming familiar with autism is by watching it. They say knowledge is power, and I really believe power from this knowledge will change the way people see autism. 
   Today I have a few video trailers from films that really touched me, taught me, and challenged me and how I saw autism in my son, and in others. I hope you take the time to watch the trailers, but more than that, I hope you write yourself a little note to remember to actually watch these in full. 

   This HBO documentary "Autism: The Musical", and documents children with different levels of autism coming together to celebrate their differences, and their unique talents. 

   Another HBO film titled "Temple Grandin" (based on the book "Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism" by Temple Grandin) is such a wonderful movie. Claire Danes, who plays Temple, did so much research into how Temple talked, her mannerisms, and what made her who she was. A wonderful film that you will want to watch, and tell other to watch too! The book is also amazing, and worth reading.

   This last film, a documentary called "The Horse Boy", may seem strange. This family travels across the world to visit Shaman (a Shaman is a person thought to have access to, and influence in the world of the supernatural) in an attempt to help their autistic son. What I love about this is watching a family come together, working together, learning from each other, and coming out better for it. 
   This movie also touches me because I see in their son a lot of what my Caleb used to be like a few years ago; they share a lot of the same problems and mannerisms, and it breaks my heart to see their son struggle. The book "The Horse Boy: A Father's Quest to Heal his Son" by Rubert Isaacson is a great read, and gives a lot more details than the documentary. 

   The truth about me watching movies and documentaries (and reading books) about autism is that I need a reminder, I need empathy, I need to see autism in more ways, but I especially need to see it from my sons eyes.
   It can be easy for me to get into "the groove" of dealing with Caleb, and I forget to stop and see how beautiful he is, how amazing he is, how far he's come. I get frustrated with his limitations, and see what he does wrong through the lens of my "normal" brain, not his autistic brain. 
   Caleb struggles, but he also fights everyday to overcome the things that could (should) hold him down. I don't give him the credit he deserves for what he has to do every day to function and survive. Watching others (especially kids) with autism gives me a new, outside-looking-in view of Caleb, and my life with him. I watch a movie or documentary, or read a book, and see Caleb in it. It reminds me to be patient, to show grace, to love the things that make him who he is, and see how strong he is. When I see autism that way, it inspires me to be better for Caleb, the way Caleb works everyday to be better for me.