Hello, My Name is.....

Have you ever gone to introduce yourself and forgotten your name?  I know a lot of you will laugh at that idea, but there will be a few, probably other moms, who just went "eff, yeah I do that".

It occurred to me the other day that in the past 2 plus years, I have gone by "mommy" more than my given name.  My husband called to me using my name rather than the normal, honey, or mama when the kids are around.  It honestly took me a second to realize who he was talking to.

This got me thinking, have I begun losing "me" and replacing it with "mommy me"?

Let me start by saying I LOVE every second of being a mom.  There is nothing I would rather do than be mommy, and I am exceedingly lucky to be able to stay home with my guys and be just that.  However, there is a part of me that would like to hold onto my identity that isn't attached to my children.  My kids won't always be little and as mommy needy as they are right now, so I take time to savor the moments I have with them, but still think about the future.  I don't want to get to the point where they are out, doing things, living life and I am trying to figure out my place.

I wonder how many other parents feel that way.  Parenting take such a commitment, as it should, and you really throw yourself fully into it, but how do you hold onto those pieces of your "youness" so that when you aren't chasing a toddler around, you know how to function?

I have started really thinking about who I am as a person, not just as a parent or a wife, daughter, sister etc, but as an individual.  What are the things I want to accomplish, what are my goals, and dreams.  All of those other parts of who I am help shape me, and I am so glad for it.

I realize those thoughts are rather heavy for a Friday night, sorry crew.  When I started this blog, I wanted it to be as real as possible and that is what I am really thinking about.  Don't worry, it's not as dreary as it sounds, more just figuring out how to balance all of the parts of my life.

I am interested, what are some things that others do just for yourself?  Just to hold onto who you are and are things you love or are passionate about?  I have a bunch of projects in the works that I am so excited about, and they are really helping me maintain my ownness.   Pretty sure I have made up a few words here tonight.  It's cool, G does it all the time.  So if it's good enough for the toddler, then it's good enough for me ;)

I have crossed over

I have joined the Twitter.  You can start following the blog @crunchypearls10.  I am sure eventually I will tweet something awesome :)

Veggie Muffins!

After trying a few different recipes, I decided to make up my own veggie muffin, since I knew my 2 year old would sometimes eat them.  I also decided that it would be a good idea to let him help with the baking process.  Maybe he would take an interest in the food and be more likely to eat it.  

And so, I present to you the making of the veggie muffins by a 2 year old: 

We started with some carrots, a beet and a zucchini then blended it in a food processor

Then mixed equal parts whole wheat flour and white

Vanilla, apple sauce, eggs, yogurt, raw sugar and pumpkin pie seasoning

Gabe helped measure everything out and in true toddler fashion, played in the dry ingredients

Then we added the wet ingredients to the veggie mix in the processor

This is what you get when you mix the wet ingredients with the dry

Liam decided to join the fun

We then put the mix into a mini muffin tin for easier freezing later

This part called for coffee

We baked the muffins then had to taste test

Gabe decided he liked this recipe the best, and ate 7 muffins! 

Here is the full recipe with directions.  Let me know what veggies you try and how they go with your little ones!

Dry Ingredients: 

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oats

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar

4 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Lg eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 cup fruit/veggie juice

1/4 cup applesauce 

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2 1/2 cups veggie puree

Directions:

Puree veggies

Preheat oven to 375

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside

Mix sugar, oil and eggs well

Combine veggie puree, yogurt, applesauce and juice in processor. 

Add in sugar mixture

Mix veggie mixture with dry ingredients in large bowl

Spoon batter into greased/papered muffin tin

Bake at 375 for aprox 20 minutes

Yeild: 48 mini muffins

I like to freeze the muffins in bags of 6, then just throw them into the fridge to thaw when we are running out.  I also suggest keeping them in the fridge for storage.  

Hope everyone enjoys!