Hello!

       Happy first day of autumn! :)  

       Truthfully, it's not been terribly "autumn-y' around here! We've had hotter days than we had all summer, and we've had them more continuously than we had all summer! But, the earth temperature aside, our apple and pear trees are still making fruit (although not as happily as usual), and making muffins from some of that fruit needed to happen! 

​       I saw this recipe for Caramel-Apple Streusel Muffins from Tracey's Culinary Adventures! They looked so good, and I had apples to spare, so I gave them a shot! Of course, because I had a ton of apples, I made this recipe x 3 and stored most of them away in the freezer to use in school lunches, breakfasts, or after school snacks. They are delicious & full of fall flavour! 

​      Enjoy!!! 
 

​     Let's shift gears a little here....and look at my kids from the last 4 years of the first day of school! I mean, they go from babies to beautiful, grown-up kids! *tear*
 

      Let's shift gears again....to a little company that is starting up that I'd love to briefly share about! It's called Little Red Canoe Book Co., and they are a Canadian book subscription business!

    I was asked to review a book box with Abby and Keziah, but that only involved getting the boxes, and doing an online survey for the woman who got in touch with me from the company - me talking about it here is all me!!!

   The girls (and I) loved the boxes! They were beautiful, filled with wonderful things, awesome books, and so much fun (which then makes reading even more fun!). So, check them out! 
 

     That's all for now!
  
      happy Friday!

xo
​

​    Happy Thanksgiving weekend American friends! 

    Here in Canada, we celebrate our Thanksgiving in October, but Canada has in the last few years started tagging along with “Black Friday” and all the sales that go along with it - so, for me, it’s a time to NOT go out because I’m not a big fan of crazed deal hunters! Don’t get me wrong, I am a deal hunter, and I am generally crazed, but I am a quiet deal hunter. For instance, if I see a shelf with a bunch of fantastic items and they are on clearance, I will silently use my arm to make one grand gesture of sweeping all of said item into my cart, and walking away. Pleased as punch. 

    Well, that was all pretty random.

    Let’s talk about today’s recipe! I found it this summer while cooking at Pleasant Bay Camp. Someone had purchased an ungodly amount of frozen blueberries for us to use, and I needed the freezer space, so got looking for a blueberry muffin recipe that was basic, used simple ingredients, and came out looking like a million bucks. 

     This recipe from Chef Savvy hit on all those points! 

    The campers gobbled them up, the staff stole them from the kitchen when I wasn’t looking, AND I got to use up some expiring milk to make up the first batch! 

   The recipe calls for sour cream, but we had an over-order of milk at camp, and it was expiring faster than we could make the campers and staff drink it! It is very common to use souring milk in recipes. A lot of recipes – mine included! – call for sour milk (or buttermilk), so don’t think “bleh! Using sour milk?!? Gross!”. It’s normal, it’s economical, and it creates a softer, fluffier baked good! 

    Some people do say not to use actual souring milk for recipes, but that strange, sour milk taste that is unpleasant if you were to drink it strait changes, and the only taste that remains is a oh-so-slight tangy flavour that really compliments sweet baked goods. I pinky-swear promise it DOES NOT taste like sour milk! 

    Anyway, all that being said, when I didn’t have actual souring milk, I made my own buttermilk by adding some vinegar or lemon juice to fresh milk (about 1 teaspoon to 1/4 Cup), stir, and allow to sit until it’s curdled. 

    As for the streusel top, I hate when super moist muffins get sticky on the top after they’ve cooled and sat. It’s better than a gross, dry muffin, but still. So, when I first looked up the recipe, I looked up “streusel topped blueberry muffins”, knowing that A: streusel is freakin’ delicious, and B: it would keep the tops from becoming sticky. 

    So, without further adieu, and sorry for blabbing on, here’s the recipe! 
​

Blueberry Streusel Top Muffins
Adapted from Chef Savvy's "Blueberry Streusel Muffins"

Ingredients:
For the Streusel Top:

• ¼ Cup butter, melted
• ¾ Cup brown sugar
• ½ Cup flour
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

 
For the Muffins:

• 2 Cups flour
• ½ Cup brown sugar
• ¼ Tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp powder
• 1¼ Cup sour milk, buttermilk, sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 Tsp vanilla
• ¼ Cup vegetable oil
• 1 Large egg
• 1½ Cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Method:
For the Streusel Top:

1. Mix the streusel ingredients together until it’s well combined and you have a crumbly/sandy texture. Set aside

 
For the Muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prep a regular sized muffin tray by spraying with cooking spray, or lightly greasing with butter (only to the top of the pan), and line with muffin liners. If you don’t want to use muffin liners, grease or spray the entire pan. This recipe makes 14-15 muffins, so either prep two pans, or be prepared to make this in 2 batches. I like to make a regular sized batch, and a mini muffin batch with what remains. Set aside
2. In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients, and whisk to combine
3. In a different, medium bowl, add the wet ingredients (but not the blueberries yet!), and mix well
4. Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring until it’s just blended. Don’t go bonkers here, muffins don’t like being over-mixed!
5. Gently fold in blueberries
6. Using a muffin scoop, or just scooping the batter into the prepared muffin tin, fill each one up almost to the top
7. Sprinkle each muffin with streusel
8. Place into hot oven and bake for 20 minutes or until muffins are set. To check doneness,  stick a toothpick or knife in the centre and make sure it comes out clean
9. Allow to cool slightly before removing from muffin tin

    Enjoy!
​
    I think these taste amazing if you eat them warm, with some butter and honey! 

   These lovely little muffins also freeze well, making them great to make ahead for school lunches, or to have on hand to randomly bring to someone who is in need of a pick-me-up!

   Ok, well, I’ll see you later this week! On Thursday (the day I set aside for any autism writing I want to share), I’ll be telling you about something that happened last week with my son Caleb. If you’re new here and don’t know him, he’s my 12 ½ year old son with autism. He’s growing into an incredible young man, and last week he was involved in something that ordinarily might not leaving a Mom weeping with joy (several times in one day!), but that’s what was happening to me! I am overwhelmingly proud of him, his classmates, and his school! Stay tuned for that! 

xoxo
​

       Hello!

       Happy first day of autumn! :)  

       Truthfully, it's not been terribly "autumn-y' around here! We've had hotter days than we had all summer, and we've had them more continuously than we had all summer! But, the earth temperature aside, our apple and pear trees are still making fruit (although not as happily as usual), and making muffins from some of that fruit needed to happen! 

​       I saw this recipe for Caramel-Apple Streusel Muffins from Tracey's Culinary Adventures! They looked so good, and I had apples to spare, so I gave them a shot! Of course, because I had a ton of apples, I made this recipe x 3 and stored most of them away in the freezer to use in school lunches, breakfasts, or after school snacks. They are delicious & full of fall flavour! 

​      Enjoy!!! 
      

     Let's shift gears a little here....and look at my kids from the last 4 years of the first day of school! I mean, they go from babies to beautiful, grown-up kids! *tear*
​

     Let's shift gears again....to a little company that is starting up that I'd love to briefly share about! It's called Little Red Canoe Book Co., and they are a Canadian book subscription business!

    I was asked to review a book box with Abby and Keziah, but that only involved getting the boxes, and doing an online survey for the woman who got in touch with me from the company - me talking about it here is all me!!!

     The girls (and I) loved the boxes! They were beautiful, filled with wonderful things, awesome books, and so much fun (which then makes reading even more fun!). So, check them out! 

      That's all for now! 

       Sorry I've been so absent! I've been super duper busy!!! 


xoxoxox

​

    Happy Thanksgiving American friends! 

    It is not Thanksgiving here in Canada, we celebrate back in October! Anywhooo, I hope wherever you are reading this, and whenever it is, that you can stop and find something to be thankful for! 

    So, I have a few recipes I've been fussing with, and I still love creating my own recipes, but the truth is, I'm often just surfing the web, looking for recipes that'll suit something I have in my mind, but spare me the grief of trial and error! 

    This is one of those recipes! I had nice, fresh blueberries in the summer, and wanted a simple and strait forward recipe that yielded deee-licious muffins! I also wanted a streusel top because I find that muffins that are just so crazy-delicious moist tend to get sticky on top. It's better than them getting dry on top, but still, I don't like sticky top muffins! And because I'm the kind of person who likes to freeze baked goods for later, if the tops are too moist, they get all icicle-y. Ya know? 

   Well, anyway, when these came out the first time looking like a million bucks, and then having all the teen staff at the summer camp I was cooking at DEVOUR them, I figured they were a good recipe! And the batches I made at home that friends and neighbours gobbled up confirmed that this recipe was a good one.    

    So, here it is, adapted oh so slightly from Chef Savvy and her Blueberry Streusel Muffin recipe! The muffins in my photos are (stupidly) shy on streusel! I made a double batch of the muffins when I was going to take the pictures, and didn't make enough topping, but when I realized it, I had already packed ingredients up, and done dishes, and I'm a little anal about cleaning and tidying as I go which can backfire in situations like these! Phew, what a run-on sentence!!! Also, the muffins I made at camp were a lot of "bakery style" with the domed top because the oven there isn't a weeny like my oven at home..... (sigh...)

​     Anyway, with a lot or a little toping, with the tops perfectly domed or not, these muffins are so good. For realz.

   Well, I wanted to have this posted earlier today. I also had a post ready for yesterday that I never got to actually finish and post. Last week the kids missed school on Friday because we drove to Toronto to see Matilda The Musical (which we had so much fun seeing!), then this week Monday was a snow-day, and Thursday was too - but we drove the kids to school (because we're mean) and because we had a meeting to be at, and also because we wanted to go into the school to be involved in the training for Caleb's new iPad. Again, with the run-on sentences! Then today was a P.A. day!!! So, I mean, this week was all wonky, and I didn't really get all the things done that I wanted to, but, oh well! I'm trying this new thing where I don't beat myself up about every failure, whether real or perceived. It's a hard task, but I think it's important to not be my #1 critic 24/7!!! 

    I will share next Thursday about my Caleb, my amazing Caleb and something that happened this past week that left me weeping like a sappy, happy Mother numerous times! 

     For now, just have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see ya next week! 


​xoxo

   

   Muffins! Sometimes you just want a good muffin to go with your coffee, am I right? Read that like you're from Brooklyn, it sounds way better.  
    Anywho, I'm back with a paleo recipe today, a tasty, make-and-freeze kind of deal. I'm not saying you have to freeze them, just that you can, and that makes them a handy little snack you can pull out when you need it.
   Let's just get to it!   

Sweet Potato Chai Muffins
Adapted from PaleOMG

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato, baked (at about 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes) and pureed/squished
• 1 overripe banana, squished :)

*You should have 1 cup-ish of puree sweet potato/banana total*

• 3 Eggs
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 Tsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp Maple syrup
• 1/2 Tsp baking soda
• 1/3 Cup flax meal
• 1 Tbsp coconut flour
• 3 Tbsp almond meal
• 2 Chai tea bags (you will cut open the bags to use the spices inside)
• 1/4 Tsp each ginger, all alice and cinnamon, optional
• 3-4 Tsp maple or coconut sugar for the tops, optional

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and line a muffin tray with liners (this recipe will make about 12 muffins)
2. In a large bowl throughly blend the sweet potato, banana, eggs, coconut oil, lemon juice and maple syrup
   
3. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together the baking soda, flax meal, coconut and almond flour, as well as the chai tea and other spices (if you're using the extra spices). Add a pinch of salt here too
4. Now add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix until combined
5. If you have a scoop use it to measure out the batter into each muffin cup. The biggest scoop I have is a 2 tbsp sized, and each cup holds about 2 scoops, which is about 1/4 cup. Just try to make each muffin the same size so they bake evenly, that's all this rambling is about! 
6. Sprinkle each muffins with a bit of the maple or coconut sugar, if you're using it
7. Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes or until you poke them with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
8. Let the muffins cool a bit before eating 'em.

   My favourite way to make and eat these is to freeze them after they have cooled completely, then when I want one I will warm it in the oven and eat it like it's fresh and hot out of the oven. Which it is, sort of....? 
   Either way, I find that paleo baked goods sometimes have the tendency to be wet (just a hair past moist), and warming it in the oven dries it out perfectly. Not dry as in choke it down dry, but dry as in a nice crunchy top, and a warmed inside. That's all. 
   I hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was good, busy, interesting? I can't explain now, but perhaps I will some time! 
   Anyway, I've still got little miss middle child home today with her chicken pox, and we went for a really nice wintery walk (I pulled her in a sled so she wouldn't get worn out and feel more sick, and I got some serious exercise!). It's the kind of beautiful, mild winter day where the snow if falling silently in big, heavy flakes. So lovely, and a great start to a week!
   I hope everyone has a great Monday!

   I've got another recipe today featuring zucchini from my neighbours garden! :)  
   Chocolate zucchini muffins are nothing new, so if you're thinking, "eeewwwwww", you suck, and you've never tried it. You're just guessing it's gross because we treat zucchini as a vegetable, but in reality (botanically) it's  fruit. I know. Bonkers. So, what I'm saying is, if you're in doubt, think of this more as a chocolate and (insert another fruits' name here) muffin. 
   O.k? Let's get to it then!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 Cups almond meal
• 3/4 Cup tapioca flour/starch
• 3/4 Cup coconut flour
• 1/2 Cup cocoa
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Baking soda
• 5 Eggs
• ⅓ Cup honey or maple syrup
• ⅓ Cup milk (any kind'll do)
• 1/4 Cup melted coconut oil
• 1 1/2 Cups shredded zucchini
• 2 Ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate

Method: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees, and line a muffin tray with liners, or spray with cooking spray
2. Stir together all the dry ingredients in a bowl, and make a well in the centre 
   
3. Stir together the wet ingredients (including the shredded zucchini, but not the chopped chocolate...which isn't wet anyway...) in a separate bowl, then pour the mixture into the well of the dry ingredients
   
4. Use a wooden spoon to stir together the wet and dry ingredients just until they are combined
   
5. Add the chopped chocolate, and gently stir to combine
6. Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared cups, filling about ⅔ of the way up.
7. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Test for doneness at the 17 minute mark (by inserting a toothpick or knife in the centre of a muffin to see that it comes out clean), if it's not quite finished, bake longer, adding a minute or two more at a time. 
8. Once finished, remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes before pulling out of the pan and cooling on a rack.
9. Store un-eaten muffins in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze. 

   I think I'm not getting enough (or good enough) sleep lately. I usually can sit down at the computer and write away, but a few times over the last few weeks I just sit here....staring.........then, I suddenly I snap out of it, and think, "was I thinking of something important? I can't remember, I'll sit here and think for a minute......"(staring).....I think you get the idea. 
   So, on that note.........

   Good morning one and all. 
   Does anyone else have blue jays at their house? I have them here in abundance, and I really like to watch them fight over our bird feeders that hang here and there on our porch and in the trees.
   They squawk and fight, and dive and make a big show out of getting some seeds. They are noisy, they wake up the whole house, they've knocked down a few of my feeders, but I still really like having them here! They're pretty, and don't we (honestly) excuse more from pretty things? A rose with it's thorns, a bratty but beautiful child, Ikea furniture with it's crazy instructions and sometimes poor quality? You know it's true. 
   Anywho, onto muffin talk. I made these muffins for a breakfast with family over, and they were well received. My Dad said something like, "Uh huh", when I said, "these are paleo muffins Dad. They don't have any wheat, dairy, or sugar". But, let me tell you, a "uh huh" from my Dad (and the fact that he ate a few muffins...) means they passed some sort of test. :)  
   I've made them a few times, and even my kids like them. In fact, they enjoyed a few fresh ones as an after school snack yesterday. Nothing like a warm, good-for-you, but comfort food-ish snack to make a kid sit down and talk about their day a little. I did get a "uh huh" from one of my kids when I asked if they had a good day, but I'm starting to think (or hope) that this is just a reaction people have while eating these muffins because they are so delighted and taken by them that all their happy brains can say is, "uh huh"? Maybe? 
   Well, they are enjoyable, none the less!
   Uh huh.     

Paleo Lemon 
Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Lexi's Clean Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 tbsp coconut flour
• 3 tbsp tapioca starch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 Cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (but not hot)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (the juice from one fresh lemon)
• Zest from one lemon (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350, and prepare a muffin tray with liners.
2. In a small bowl mix together the wet ingredients and set aside. 
3. In a larger bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, making sure it's well blended
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix to combine
5. Fold in blueberries
6. Scoop (I use my 2 tbsp scoop, and have to use 2 scoops per muffin) or pour the batter into muffin cups, filling almost to the top.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the muffins have puffed, and the tops have a nice colour (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

   Well, alrighty. I hope this Wednesday is a good one! It really feels more like a Tuesday to me because Monday was the holiday, Tuesday they started school, so my inner calendar is just messed up. No matter, I shall make due. 

   Making a quiche is always nice, hard boiling an egg is good too (if you don't have anger issues about the peels not coming off very well!....I might....). But when you have 8 beautiful hens who each lay an egg almost every day, you want something different than cooking them up in a pan, and easier than a quiche or hard boiled. 
   So, I started baking eggs! This is really less of a 'recipe' and more of an idea, but gosh, it's easy. If you trust your muffins tin, don't use any liners. The end result will be a little different (that 'fried egg' type result on the entire outside). If you're like me, and don't trust your muffin tin & no matter how much you grease it, everything sticks, then grab yeerself some fancy Stay Bright muffin cups (I get mine from Dollarama), and get crackin'!  

Baked Eggs

Ingredients:

• Eggs (as many as you want)
• Salt & pepper

Method: 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 Degrees F
2. Grease your muffin tin, or use the non-stick, foil lined muffin cups (don't try to use regular muffin liners, they won't work!) for however many you plan on making
3. Crack one egg into each cup, and sprinkle with salt & pepper. 
4. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on how you like your yolk.
5. Take outta the oven, take outta the muffin tray, and eat 'em! :)     

   I make extra of these, and stick them in the fridge in an airtight container. Then we'll eat them here and there in a meal, as a snack, or on a salad.
    Alrighty, that's it!

   Good day to one and all. 
   I made this lovely coffee cake as part of a brunch when my in-laws came over, and it was such a nice treat, minus the guilt. Grain free, dairy free and sugar free does not mean yucky, and if you're a doubter, this coffee cake will convert you. I promise.

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake

Ingredients: 

For the Cake

• 1 cup almond flour
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the Topping

• 1 cup pecan halves, chopped
• 1 Heaping tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons honey

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round spring-form pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the paper and sides of the pan with coconut oil.
2. In a small pot, or micro-wave sate bowl, put in the honey and oil for the topping, let them melt together, then stir in the cinnamon until well mixed, then add the nuts. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a small bowl, beat the eggs together with the milk. Then add this egg/milk mixture, the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. 
5. Mix until everything is well combined.
6. Spoon into the cake pan (put little blobs everywhere in the pan) and spread out evenly. Using your fingers, spread topping evenly over the entire cake, pressing it in lightly at some spots. 
7. Bake for about 35 minutes or until it is set in the middle and a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan about 15 minutes, then remove the outer ring and allow to cool another 5-10 minutes. Then, oh so gently place a cutting board onto the cake, and flip it over (so that you have the bottom of the spring-form pan facing up, and the top of the cake facing down on the cutting board). Remove the bottom of the pan, and the parchment if it's stuck. Then place a plate (or whatever dish you want this on), onto the cake, and carefully flip back over so that your coffee cake is now on a plate to serve. 

   This wonderful cake is really light and fluffy, it's moist and just sweet enough.
   Happy Monday!    

   Gosh, I'm having a hum-dinger of a time writing some sort of "intro" here......this happens from time to time, and when it does I like to resort to "what would my kids do?" 
   "Hey, excuse me.....hey...Excuse me.....excuse me....hey, excuse me.....Um, look at my banana bread....." O.k, so none of them would say "look at my 'banana bread', but I hear "look at this (fill-in-the-blank)" all day from my sweet Keziah, so that oughtta do it here!  :)      

Paleo Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond flour (meal)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour 
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil (melt it first, then measure)
• 1/4 cup honey and/or maple syrup
• 4 large eggs, whisked
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup well-mashed super-ripe banana (2-3 black skinned bananas)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans

Method:

   I like to let this bread cool, then cut it into slices, wrap up and put into a freezer bag, and stick it in the freezer. Then when I want some, I can just pull out one piece, put it onto a plate (covered with wrap), and let it thaw out (doesn't take too long). I've also taken out one piece from the freezer, stuck it into a plastic container, and packed it into lunches/snacks for myself or the kids as needed. By the time we get to eating it, it's no longer frozen. 
   Well now, I hope everyone has a good weekend! I plan on baking (obviously!), going out for dinner, and having the in-laws over, so, it'll be a busy and fun weekend!