7.20.2012

Banana Flax Muffins

I had some bananas that were going bad and I wanted to make some healthy muffins for my kiddos. Many of the recipes I came across that called themselves "healthy" were a joke. White flour, canola oil, granulated sugar, and bananas do not a healthy muffin make. I finally found one that provided a good base to work from. I modified a few of the ingredient amounts and came out with a dozen muffins packed with good stuff and only 167 calories a piece. 

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL RECIPE and below I will add my modified version. I reduced the amount of brown sugar and canola oil, increased the amount of applesauce, and added agave nectar. 

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/8 cup canola oil
1/8 cup agave nectar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 12 cup muffin tin with Pam baking spray. In large bowl combine all dry ingredients, including sugar. In smaller bowl, whisk all wet ingredients and bananas together. Make well in dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients in. Stir slowly and gently until flour mixture is just incorporated into the wet mixture. Scoop muffin batter into muffin tins 3/4 way full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of a muffin. Cool 5-10 minutes before removing. 

I baked mine for 25 minutes, they came out perfectly and taste delicious!



Kid tested and approved


Next up I will be trying  a protein ball recipe that I found on Pinterest. I haven't baked in a long time, but today has me back in the kitchen. Today in Aurora, CO a gunman opening fire in a movie theater killing 12 people. Living in CO means that this news is everywhere and on everyone's minds. When I get stressed I bake. There is nothing like making tasty, healthy treats for my kids and good smells throughout my house to help calm a person and remind them of the good things in life. My heart goes out to the people affected by this tragedy and to the people of my state who have dealt with fires and death already this past month. Hopefully we will all come out stronger on the other side. 

7.01.2012

PRK

Last week I finally took the plunge and got laser eye corrective surgery. After several preliminary appointments, it was determined that I was not a good LASIK candidate because of my corneal thickness. I was, however, a good PRK candidate. After doing a little more research, talking with people whom have had PRK, and just basically being done with glasses I decided to go for it. In the week leading up to the surgery I was very anxious. I had a hard time falling asleep at night b/c my brain just wouldn't shut down. It was kind of a relief once surgery day was here.

Surgery Day 4/26/2012
Dave's parents were in town so I knew the kids would be taken care of during my recovery so no stress there. Dave went with me to the Wright Eye Center for my surgery which was scheduled at 1:10 p.m. I filled out some forms, paid a lot of money, and then took some Valium. It is hard to tell when the Valium starts working. I still had minor butterflies after about 45 minutes so they gave me another. I was taken to a holding room so to speak where I sat on a recliner and a nurse would give me eye drops every 5-10 minutes to help numb my eyes. At one point I had to go get my eye drawn on so they knew where to direct the laser to correct the astigmatism in my left eye.

About an hour after arriving at the center, the nurse asked if I was ready. I'm not sure you can ever be 100% ready to have a laser directed at your eye, but I might as well go get it over with. Right? I laid down on a table in a dark room with some nurses and my Dr. They used a metal clamp to keep my eye open. Putting the clamp on was surprisingly the most obnoxious part of the whole ordeal. Some sort of medicine was placed on my eye for 1 minute while a nurse counted up, then I could see the Dr. scraping my eye with an instrument but couldn't feel it at all. Next up is the laser. I am told to look at the green light and then I hear a female voice through the machine say something along the lines of "22 seconds laser set". The laser part looked like what I would imagine an alien abduction might seem light. Very blurry, lots of lights, and slight burning smell. Then it was over and I was getting a saline wash and then a contact put over my right eye.

My left eye went very similarly except the laser said, "27 seconds laser set" and the Dr. moved my head around slightly. I am assuming he was correcting my astigmatism. The whole process took about 10 minutes. I sat up and already could see better than I could just 11 minutes ago. There was no pain yet either as I had taken a Demerol prior to the surgery. They checked out my eyes for like 2 minutes and then I was able to go home. Dave lead me out to the car and we went home. I put on my pajamas. laid down, and slept for the next 3 days. I had my alarm set to go off 4 times/day so I culd put in my antibiotic eye drops, steroid eye drops, take my Demerol, and take my Promethazine. I am told I came down about once/day to eat but I really don't remember much from those days.

(update 7/1/12)

It's been a little over 2 months since my surgery and my vision is better than 20/20! I wake up wit dry eyes, but that is the only side effect I have noticed. I am more than thrilled with the ability to see unaided my glasses or contacts. Having PRK was totally worth the cost, the recovery, and having a laser pointed at my eye!

May and June updates

I cannot believe two months have gone by and I've severely neglected this blog. I have been quite active on my scrapbooking blog though! I will try to remember what has been going on around here but my thoughts are all over the place so maybe I will break it down into categories.

HOUSE

After 9 months of Dave commuting to Denver, we have finally put our house on the market. Our MLS listing went live this past Thursday and we've had 6 showings since then. So far no takers, but the feedback has been mostly good. People think it is fairly priced, the problems areas they have identified are ones we are already aware of, and it shows well according to the Realtors. We have already sank too much money into this house the eventual buyers will just have to see all the positives over the few downfalls. I think it is a great house and we really are not trying to hide anything from prospective buyers.

On the flip side, we went out looking at houses in Arvada yesterday. We saw five properties and they all had good and bad qualities. They were all in the right ballpark but nothing I was totally in love with came across our path. We love the town though and know that our right property is out there.

VACATION

In May we took a trip back east for Brian and Erin's wedding in NY. We flew into MI and drove to NY. My Mom came with us to help watch the boys while we attended all the wedding festivities. We had a fantastic time and the boys traveled beautifully. Rochester was a very beautiful town although we only really saw near where Brian and Erin live. Their wedding was lovely and the reception was just gorgeous! On our way back to MI we stopped at Niagara Falls. I think the boys had fun and I had forgotten how magnificent those falls are. The Canadian side is also 1000x's better than the US side. Go figure.

Back in MI we were able to catch up with some friends but not all unfortunately. It is so hard to get everything done that we want to when we are back east. The time flies and then we have to return home. At least we will closer to the airport next time we have to travel!





HEALTHY JOURNEY

About one month ago I started calorie tracking and a week later I started the couch to 5k (c25k) program. My weight was holding steady at around 160 for awhile but then started climbing again. I decided that I didn't want to be the person who gains an extra 5 lbs. with each kid. I was 150 when I got pregnant with Archie and 155 when I got pregnant with Fletcher. Well I am proud to say that after only 1 month I am 150 lbs. My goal weight has always been 145 b/c that was where it hovered for a majority of my 20s. I think my 30s may actually be better than my 20s!

Today is the last day of my 4th week of the c25k program which is an 8 week program. I joined Gold's Gym b/c the air quality here has gone to crap since the Waldo Canyon fire broke out last week. Running on a treadmill is actually way easier than navigating the hills around here.

(left is from 1 month ago, right is from 2 days ago)

MY BOYS

Archer and Fletcher are growing and changing daily. Just when I think they are the best, they surprise me with some new phrase, activity, or even just a smile! Conversely, just when I think I cannot do it anymore, I find a strength inside of me that I didn't know existed. These children are equal parts fascinating, loving, annoying, demanding, and wonderful. We still want a third but are in no hurry as our second still doesn't sleep through the night.

Fletcher is a full fledged walker and he has recently learned how to stand up without holding onto anything. He has mastered the stairs and even is learning how to go down them on his belly. His personality is so different than Archie's too. Fletcher has no fear. He will climb over the edge of the couch without pause, stand at the top of the stairs and laugh, and climb onto the table without ever looking down. He is also a lot more demanding than Archie ever was. Fletcher needs constant attention and is not content to play by himself. He is a lot more like me and Archie is a lot more like Dave.

Archer is talking up a storm and picks up on concepts really quickly. He is super smart and I sometimes forget that he still only 2 years old. I have more intelligent conversations with this kid than I do with some adults. Right now he is very much into water play. He helps we water the garden every morning, has recently discovered water balloons, and he even washes his hands all by himself. He knows how to use our Google tv remote, Dave's tablet, and my phone without assistance. His new favorite phrases are "that's not cool" and he ends every query with a "maybe".




I think that is all I've got for right now. The house needs to be cleaned b/c we cannot leave until it is show worthy as we might get a call for a showing at any time. Oy.