Follow Us Friday - August 29, 2014

Today is a very dreary day on the prairies.  Cooler temperatures (10°C), wind and rain is making today a tough one for a little man who lives for being outside.  So John and I are on a mission to keep Roman busy and keep our sanity at the same time.  I'm the type of person that has to stay busy at all times; if I get bored, you're in trouble.  Unfortunately this trait has also been passed on to Roman, much to John's dismay.  This is how we keep our little man busy on a rainy day!

7:00am - Breakfast
Roman and I had the same French toast with berries and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Protein Oats that we had in the last Follow Us Friday.  I clearly wasn't quite functioning yet because I completely forgot to take a picture.  I can assure you it was just as messy as the last time we had it; for Roman that is.

8:00am - Family Dance Party!
Lately Roman is loving dancing.  We picked up a wireless speaker from Costco yesterday so that we could have some tunes in the kitchen, because sometimes the iPhone just doesn't cut it.  This little speaker puts out some decent sound and it was only $50.  Of course it wasn't on the list of things we needed at Costco, but is anything you buy at Costco ever on the list?

8:05am - Chores and Play Time!
Clearly Roman's love of dance didn't last long today.  John tackled the dishes, with some help from Roman, while I lovingly removed all the blueberry stains from Roman's laundry.  I use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to remove all the food stains. Not only is it extremely cheap (at most it costs $1 so remove stains from an entire load of clothes), but it is extremely effective.  Even if the stains were missed and washed and dried multiple times, this magical concoction will still remove the stains!  Roman was helping me remove stains for a hot minute before he decided he was bored.  NOOO!  How did it happen so fast!?  John immediately scooped him up and rushed Roman into the garage to play with golf balls.  Good save!  Once the novelty of that wore off, they moved into the house to do some coloring.  I think I might be raising the next Michelangelo!

9:00am - Nap Time
Or so we thought!  After 15 minutes of rolling around I just assumed Roman didn't need a nap.  Turns out he had a dirty bum and needed a fresh diaper, which John was nice enough to change!

9:45am - Nap Time, for real this time
I settled in to work on some blog posts, and John crafted this special snack bagel for himself.  It is a sesame bagel with a pork cutlet and ketchup.  Not something I would personally choose but John wants to make sure everyone knows "It was really good!".

11:30 am - Lunch
Today was an easy lunch since we only had to make one meal for everyone!  John considers himself a tuna salad expert, so he made tuna sandwiches for all of us!  Roman LOVES tuna but prefers his bread on the side and in stick form. It's definitely a messy meal, but as long as he's shoveling good, nutritious food into his mouth, who can really complain?  For dessert, Roman had a toddler puffed rice square.  Basically it's a rice krispie treat that is organic, has less sugar, and more expensive than it's traditional counterpart.  *NOTE: I don't ever make my sandwiches look this fancy.  John thought it needed to be pretty for the blog post.  Note the raw spaghetti holding the tomato onto the top of the sandwich...

12:15pm - Outside Time
How you ask?  Well, we took Roman to the Yara Centre in town to play on the turf.  Now I guess it's not technically outside, but it's still a type of grass, and he can still run around like a crazy man and burn off some of his energy!  He had a great time playing soccer with John and I, but we became obsolete when a couple little boys showed up.  Apparently standing inches from someone your own height and staring them in the eyes is way more fun than playing with your parents.....  On our way home we stopped by the local pool and signed Roman up for swimming lessons!  This will be his second time taking lessons and I can't wait!  Granted it is a lot of work and can be a giant pain in the butt to haul him to the pool twice a week for only 1/2 hour in the pool each day, but he lives for the water and seeing him happy in the pool is worth every ounce of effort from me!  Plus I could also use the exercise!

 

This is when we divide and conquer!  At 2:00pm I headed into the kitchen to bake some banana bread!  Last night I had a bunch of frozen bananas come down on my feet when I was getting vegetables out for Roman.  This was the straw that broke John's back and he was going to throw them out!  I figured I'd better get moving and make some banana bread before my bananas were all gone.  While I was baking, John and Roman had snack time!  The menu consisted of cheese, crackers, avocado, part of an Old Fashioned Apple Crisp squeeze pouch and milk.

3:00pm - Nap Time
This meant laundry and blogging time for John and I.  We also may have sliced off a few pieces of fresh banana bread and hovered over the counter eating them....

6:00pm - Supper
Tonight we had Honey Garlic Pork Bites with rice and sautéed vegetables.  This was something I invented while processing a massive pork loin we purchased at Costco yesterday.  The was a product that was recommended on a Mommy Facebook page as a good buy.  From a $20 pork loin I ended up with, 1 pork roast, 16 pork chops, and 2 meals of pork bites.  Talk about a good deal and a great way to save money on groceries!  It required a little bit of cutting and prep when we got home, but it was definitely worth it!

6:30pm - Playtime with Dad
John and Roman started playing inside after supper, but it was soon apparent that this was not going to work.  Roman had had enough with this inside business and wanted to go outside NOW!  So we bundled him up in a windbreaker and mitts and they headed outside.  There is no child happier than this one when he is outside!  The only small downfall was that he was unable to pick and eat green tomatoes, which caused a small outburst of screaming and stomping.  There is nothing cuter than this child getting frustrated and stomping, but I do realize that the day will come when he's losing it in the grocery store that it will not be so cute anymore.  Until that day, I shall enjoy it.

7:00pm - Tubby Time!
Dirty baby + water = clean baby.  That's all I'm privy to.

8:00pm - Bed Time
Which means it's time for me to finish up this blog post, possibly start another, and to work on some other projects.  I really wanted to whip up the food item that goes with a blog post I want to do, but I think I'm done baking for one day.  Hopefully I'll get to it one day this week while Roman is at daycare.  I feel a little guilty sending him to daycare when I'm at home but I know it's good for his development (we've seen a big change in his already) and I've already paid for the time.  Ack, first world mother problems.

See you next week!

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts

There was a point in my cooking career (many moons ago) that I always wanted to stuff food in food.  I'm not talking about anything as interesting as a turducken, but I had a small obsession with stuffing chicken and beef with cheese and vegetables.  It started out as an interesting concept but my family quickly lost enthusiasm.  The final nail in the coffin was steak wrapped around asparagus and feta.  I had gone too far!

I must have been traumatized because I had not stuffed another piece of meat until this very day.  I found inspiration in a post on a healthy eating Facebook page.  A gal had posted a picture of this delicious looking stuffed chicken breast.  Instantly the memories of the past flooded back, but this time I had no one to stop me, John and Roman would be the next victims of my meat stuffing crusade!

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts
4 chicken breasts
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tomato, diced
3/4 cup chopped spinach
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups panko bread crumbs
2T chili powder
1t chipotle powder
1t salt
1t pepper

Preheat oven to 350°.  To create a pocket for the filling, butterfly each of the chicken breasts by slicing the breast in half, running the knife parallel to the cutting board, but not cutting completely though.

In a small bowl mix together ricotta cheese, tomato and spinach.  Spoon the mixture into the pockets in the chicken breast, diving the cheese mixture between the chicken.  Secure the chicken breast closed using toothpicks.

On a plate combine panko bread crumbs, chili powder, chipotle powder, salt and pepper.  Stir until well combined.  Add a splash of water to the beaten eggs and brush over both sides of the chicken breasts.  Coat each chicken breast in bread crumbs and set on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

If you want to make this a freezer meal, simply wrap the stuffed but un-breaded chicken breasts in plastic wrap and freeze in a freezer bag.  To serve, thaw the chicken, coat with egg and bread crumbs, and bake!  Easy peasy!

Losing my job and loving it!

A shocking title for two reasons; 1. Who would ever think that losing a job could be a good thing? and 2. I just blogged about going back to work and now I'm blogging about losing my job.  Even crazier is that these two posts are written exactly a week apart!

Let's start with the back story.  I worked at a job that I loved, with an amazing group of people, for a little over six years including my maternity leave.  I was back at work for four days before I was laid off.  I was absolutely devastated.  Not only did I lose a career in a field that I loved and had a passion for, but I also lost the community of people that have been there for my wedding and the birth of Roman, two of the important events in my life.  One thing my Dad often says is that "God only gives people what they can handle".  This was instrumental in me pulling it together and preparing to start the journey down this new path in life.

For a person that has been employed since the age of 15 it was terrifying and confusing to be out of work.  Having not had to look for a job in almost 10 years, I had no resume and no cover letter, but I had desire.  I genuinely enjoy having a job, so I immediately typed up the documents I needed and started applying for jobs.  Instantly I had interviews and job offers!  I was overjoyed!  This was going to be easier than I thought!  But then I started thinking.  After paying for daycare I wouldn't be contributing much to the household bills.  Was it really worth going back to work right away for only a few hundred dollars a month?  Would that time be better spent at home with Roman?

Before I ran this idea past John I had to answer the big question; can we afford it?  I sat down with a pen and paper and started jotting down all of our expenses for the year.  It really is shocking how much money we spend on useless things, and we don't even realize it until you write it down, but I digress.  Luckily John works for an amazing company and it worked out that we would be just as far ahead if I stayed home.  Obviously there were going to be some sacrifices we all had to make, but it could be done.  I revealed my little plan and notes to John and I was surprised to find that he was all for it.

Now it's time to prepare for the adventure of staying home with my special little man full time.  I negotiated a lower interest rate on my credit card (just in case), cut back on our cable and phone services, started stock piling more freezer cooking meals, and got back into looking for coupons.  Roman is going to daycare three days a week, since we've already paid for the month, which gives me time to get everything in order. 

Now that I know his development will be left solely up to me, I feel like I need to have a binder full of activities, crafts, outings (cheap ones) and games for us.  Roman is really blossoming at daycare and I don't want to slow that down. *Side note: Roman stopped crying before I got to the door to leave at daycare this morning!!!!  I want him to have plenty of opportunities to explore, learn, and play with other kids!  I'm overjoyed, and mildly terrified, at the chance to spend all this time at home with Roman.  This is a decision John and I never would have made on our own.  Many parents wish they had the ability to stay home and raise their kids, and I feel so blessed that I was pushed in this direction.  A situation that seemed so catastrophic has a silver lining, and I can't wait for the adventure!

Follow Us Fridays!!

Since I'm at home full time now, I figure that is as good a reason as any to have more blog posts!  I thought it would be fun to do a "day in the life" type post that highlights one day of Roman's and my week.  What we did, what we ate, and all that fun stuff!  Not only is this a great way to give you ideas of things to do with or feed to your family, but it should keep me from getting in a rut, hopefully. Variety is the spice of life after all!

Without further ado, here is our first Follow Us Friday!

6:30am - Breakfast
Quite possibly Roman's favorite meal of the day!  Today he had French toast sticks with syrup and berries, and milk.  Roman LOVES blueberries, particularly the frozen variety, which is great because they are much easier to keep around.  I had Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Protein Oats, which is quite possibly my favorite breakfast of all time!

8:00am - Shopping

I needed to pick up a few odds and ends as well as a couple things for an upcoming blog post, so Roman and I headed to Superstore.  If you can go to the grocery store at this time of the morning during the week I highly recommend you do!  The store is virtually empty and all the fresh produce is just being set out!  I'm super lucky that Roman loves shopping so he is quite happy to ride in the cart while I wander around the store.  If he does get antsy I grab him a bag from the produce section because he loves to shake them.  Don't panic I'm right beside him the entire time he has the bag!

9:30am - Snack Time
Roman had a Baby Gourmet pouch in the Old Fashioned Apple Crisp flavour, some fresh raspberries from the garden and milk.  I always taste the pouches before I give them to Roman, just in case.  This is my favorite to taste.  I think I could quite honestly eat the entire pouch myself!

9:45 - Nap Time!!!
Unfortunately this nap time wasn't overly productive for me.  I'm slightly obsessed with a new game on my iPhone.  It's called Scramble, and I think it's for kids because it's made by Disney but I don't care haha.  In the game you run your own food truck and have to cook and serve all the orders.  It's a super stressful game and I love it!  After I ran out of lives I worked on a few blog posts while I watched The View!

11:30am - Lunch
Today for lunch Roman and I are attacking the leftovers in the fridge!  Roman had some Chicken Dijon, mixed vegetables, fresh garden tomatoes, and milk.  I whipped up a Taco Salad or sorts, using taco salad meat & veggies and spaghetti squash.  It was actually really yummy!

12:00pm - Outside Time
While I was meandering through Superstore this morning I came across some sidewalk chalk and thought that would be a great activity for Roman!  The sticks were thick enough that I figured he would be able to hold onto them well enough to color on the driveway and I was right!  Granted it didn't last very long before the soccer ball, tricycle and water puddle started calling Roman's name.  Non the less we had fun!  The weather is amazing today!  It's around 17°C which is a glorious break from the 30°C we've been experiencing lately!

And as life goes with kids, everything kinda fell off the rails at this point.  Roman attempted to go down for a much needed nap at 1:00pm but a certain white, barking beast woke him up,  So we played for awhile until John came home at 2:00pm.  Roman always shares John's lunch and this time it was a tomato salad, bread and an orange.  Finally at 4:20pm Roman went down for his nap, thank heavens!

6:00pm - Supper
Tonight is pizza night for Mom and Dad!  I had my usual Hawaiian Pizza on a thin crust, and John had Pepperoni & Mushroom on thin crust from Dominos.  Did you know you save 60 calories per slice switching from regular crust to thin crust?  I was shocked!  Roman is having Thai Turkey Meatballs, minus the hoisin sauce, with mixed vegetables.  Mixed vegetables are a frequent go to for Roman because he LOVES them!

6:30pm - Outside Time with Dad
And so begins our night time routine.  Roman and John head outside to play in the backyard with the dogs and John usually enjoys a beer while Roman gorges on green tomatoes.  I have never seen a person that loves green tomatoes as much as Roman.  I might have to make fried green tomatoes some day and see if he likes them.  While the boys are out doing boy things, I take this empty house time to clean up from supper, (un)load the dishwasher, pick up toys, anything that is easier to accomplish without a little person running around.  If I happen to move fast enough and get it all done before they come in, I'll often have my "dessert" which consists of a mug of David's Tea or I'll head outside and water the garden/flowers with the boys.  This usually end with Roman soaked to the diaper from the hose, which is perfectly fine because next is....

7:30pm - Tubby Time!
This is all John, unless he has a meeting in which case I fake my way through doing it Dad's way.  Little is known about what goes on during tubby time.  All I know is that it involves laughing, splashing, and sometimes a little crying.

8:00pm - Bed Time
Here ends the day for Roman.  After Roman went to sleep I picked up the toys he drug out after tubby time, then settled in to finish up this blog post and edit the photos that go with it.  I'm also working on a few other posts right now as well.  One of which involves cake, so you know it's going to be a good one!  Tomorrow my Mom and I are heading to Saskatoon to do a little shopping.  Mostly I'm going along for the Kernels popcorn, specifically the creamy caramel flavor, that I know we will be having on the ride home!  And of course to hang out with my awesome Mama!!

Hope you enjoyed tagging along on our day!  See you next Friday!

Lemon Cranberry Crumble Muffins

It has been so long since I have baked anything that I've started going through withdrawals!  I've always wanted to create my own recipe for a baked item but I never knew where to start.  So when I had some frozen cranberries left over from making apple cranberry squeeze pouches for Roman, I decided now was the time to create my very own recipe.

Since we're into July now I wanted to keep the muffin fresh and light.  I've always thought of lemon as a summer flavour and since it pairs so well with cranberry I knew this was the flavour I wanted for the muffin itself.  My one pet peeve with lemon muffins is they either taste artificial or the lemon flavour is so subtle that you can barely tell that it's a lemon muffin.  I wanted this muffin to slap you in the face with delicious, natural, lemon flavour and it does just that!

These muffins are super light and fluffy, the cranberries add some bite, the lemon adds zing, and the crumble adds extra sweetness and a bit of crunch.  What more could you want in a muffin!?

Lemon Cranberry Crumble Muffins (Makes 18 muffins)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup pastry flour*
3/4 cup sugar
1T baking powder
1/2t salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries
Crumble
1/2 cup large flake oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, cut into small cubes

*If you don't have pastry flour you can use all purpose flour instead.  This will result in a slightly denser muffin but it will still be scrumptious!

Preheat oven to 400°.  Grease muffin tins or line with muffin cups.  In a large bowl stir together all purpose flour, pastry flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl whisk together milk, butter, eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest. 

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together until well combined.  Add in cranberries and fold in.  *TIP - toss the cranberries in a bit of flour before adding to the batter and this will prevent them all from sinking to the bottom of the muffins as they bake.  Fill muffin tins with the batter.

In a bowl toss together oats, brown sugar and butter.  Using a pastry blender (or your hands) work the ingredients together until the butter crumbles into small pieces.  My favorite way to do this is to take a handful and rub it between my hands.  Sprinkle the crumble on the tops of the muffins.  I don't think it's possible to have to much crumble so be generous!  Bake for 20 minutes and enjoy!

The time has come *tear*

 

Unfortunately my maternity leave has come to an end and I have to go back to work.  Actually I'm already back at work, in my desk as I type this, but just go with me on this one.   I can't believe how fast the year has gone.  As soon as your little bundle is born people are always telling you "enjoy it, it goes by so fast!".  I heard them, and I thought I understood what they meant, but I had no idea at all.  It sounds cliché but it really does feel like Roman was only born yesterday.

 

Now my not so little man is heading off into the great big world of daycare.  Daycare can be a frightening place for any little person, especially after spending an entire year at home with their favorite person.  Roman has always been a fairly easy going little guy so I thought the transition would be easy.  Boy was I wrong!  He has his bad days and usually cries when I leave, but I also know he has his good days, he just forgets to tell me that part of the story!  All of this change can be stressful for both parent and baby, so I wanted to share some tips of how I make our morning routine a little less stressful during this "interesting" transition time.

 

Freezer cooking!!!  You all know I love preaching the gospel about freezer cooking, but I had no idea how amazing it was until I went back to work.  I pick Roman up from daycare at 5:45 and he is usually in bed by 7:30.  How in the world am I supposed to cook a meal from scratch and eat, feed our zoo and bathe Roman in that amount of time?!  Even with John's help there is no way it would happen.  Did I also mention that during this lovely transition to daycare Roman now refuses to be any farther than 6 inches away from me for the first 30 minutes we're home?  With freezer meals I don't have to worry about supper at all during the day.  I take a meal out of the freezer before I leave in the morning and it's ready to heat when I get home.  This way I can still get some snuggles in before we have to continue on with the routine.

While Roman was on his daycare trials I went on a massive freezer cooking mission.  I made enough meals to cover us for a couple weeks at least and I probably have enough breakfasts for a month,  Here is what I made!

• Texas Breakfast Casserole
• Breakfast Burrito Bites
• French Toast Sticks
• Salisbury Steak
• Chicken Dijon
• Smart Mac & Cheese
• Stuffed Peppers
• Apple Chicken Bites
• Loaded Mashed Potato Cakes
• Chicken Nuggets
• Burrito Casserole
• Thai Turkey Meatballs

Pack lunches the night before.  This may seem like something you can accomplish in the morning but take a moment to picture this scenario.  You wake up half an hour late, your kid won't eat what you made for breakfast so you have to make something else, and the dogs are refusing to come back in the house.  Sound familiar?  It happens in our house sometimes too and the last thing I want to do is to think about lunch.  Heck, I barely have time to think at all.  It's so much easier to grab a bag out of the fridge and roll.  Plus it'll probably end up being better for you rather than throwing an entire box of granola bars into a bag.

Lay clothes out the night before.  Not just the kids', yours too! I don't consider myself a fashionista that needs a super stylish outfit every day, but I would like to have an outfit that matches and doesn't have any mystery baby stains.  No more standing in front of the closet for 10 minutes in the morning thinking "I have nothing to wear"!  The night before I put out whatever outfit I'm going to wear the next day, along with any jewelry that I want to wear with it.  I get dressed while Roman is playing and quite often I end up pulling him off a dog or out of a garbage can while attempting to get dressed.  If everything is in a pile then at least I know where I left off when I come back to getting dressed.  Don't want to leave the house without pants!

Be ready before the kids wake up.  The unfortunate part of this tip is that you sometimes have to be up at the crack of dawn.  Roman wakes up around 6am so that leaves me staggering into the bathroom at 5am to get ready for the day.  Sure I could get ready when he's awake but there is no way we would get out the door in time.  My goal every morning to have my hair done and makeup on before I hear chattering coming from down the hall.  Now if you have a messy eater like I do, I highly recommend staying in your pjs until after breakfast is cleaned up.  Nobody wants a smear of blueberry across their white pants which sends you back to the closet in a panic because "I have nothing to wear".

I realize these tips aren't exactly earth shattering information, but hopefully they will help your mornings run smoother and keep the stress to a minimum.  How do you make your mornings start off on the right foot?  Share your tips in the comments!

Chopped Inspired Chicken Wrap

Today I was feeling inspired for lunch.  Well, actually I was dreading lunch because I had no idea what I wanted to eat.  All I knew is that I definitely did not want the leftovers in the fridge.  I hate wasting food but sometimes you just can't eat the same thing 4 days in a row.  So after preparing Roman a delicious lunch I headed to the fridge to see what my options were.

I came across some leftover sesame chicken and rice.  There was half a chicken breast and maybe 1/3 cup of rice left.  It had been fermenting in there for a couple days and the rice was looking a little sad.  Suddenly I had an idea!  Why not take a page from a recent Chopped episode featuring leftovers and make something new with it!  The hunt was on for something to pair with the chicken that had seen better days.

Some semi frost bitten whole wheat tortillas were peeking out at me from the bottom of the freezer and they looked like they could use some love.  I recently picked up some of my favorite summer roughage from the local farmer's market.  Earth, Sun, You is a vendor that sells delicious micro greens and shoots of all kinds at the Regina Farmer's Market and the Moose Jaw Farmer's Market.  I love the pea shoots and the sunflower shoots are pretty tasty too.  In this particular dish I decided to use pea shoots mixed with radish shoots.  We recently had my parents over to help us install a vanity and I had some onions leftover that I had chopped for our BBQ lunch that day; I knew I could work those in.  I grabbed a cucumber, a little mayo and some cheese, because everything is better with cheese, and voila this delicious wrap was conceived!

Leftovers can get old fast, especially when you're the only person that eats them!  Next time your staring down a sad display of precooked food, take the opportunity to be creative with your meal and see what you can come up with!  The worst thing that can happen is it doesn't taste good and you end up tossing it, like you would have to that disheartening meal you found in the first place!

Thai Turkey Meatballs

This is a holy grail recipe!  I found this delicious morsel a few years back on Pinterest and have been making it on a regular basis ever since.  Not only is this recipe super easy and amazingly delicious, but it's also pretty healthy!  The water chestnuts make this meatball!  They add a slight crunch that is so beyond amazing that you'll be wanting to add them to everything you make!  I usually serve this over rice but it would also be great over couscous or even on their own as a appetizer for a party!  Doesn't this photo just make you drool!?

Thai Turkey Meatballs  (Makes approx. 20 meatballs)
2T soy sauce
1T sesame oil
2t minced fresh ginger
1/2t chili flakes
1t sugar
1T cornstarch
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
1 lb ground turkey (chicken also works)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (truth be told I just dump the sauce in until I think it's enough)
sesame seeds for garnish
4 green onion, chopped for garnish

Whisk together soy sauce, oil, ginger, chili flakes and sugar.  Whisk in cornstarch until smooth.  Mix ground turkey and water chestnuts together and add soy sauce mixture, stir until well combined.  Drop balls onto a baking sheet liking with parchment paper. *TIP - use a small ice cream scoop to form the balls so they are uniform in size and cook at the same rate.  Bake at 400° for 15-17 minutes.  Place cooked meatballs in a bowl and coat with hoisin sauce.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion.

To freeze: Freeze meatballs on baking sheets before baking.  Transfer to a freezer bag, label and freeze.
To serve: Place frozen meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400° for 20-30 minutes until cooked through.

Fruity Baby Muesli

 

It sure seems like I've had a lot of baby/kid breakfast recipes lately.  I guess that's because I find breakfast one of the tougher meals when it comes to Roman.  I need something fast, simple, and preferably doesn't require a lot of cooking first thing in the morning.  While cruising through my copy of First Meals by Annabel Karmel I came across this recipe. 

I only knew of muesli as the dry cereal that I've seen in the breakfast isle at the grocery store.  It seemed like a simple recipe and I liked that I could prepare it the night before and leave it in the fridge; makes for a much less hectic morning and a less stressed Mom.  Why is it that kids always know when your planning on leaving the house and that's the day they always wake up late or fight you on eating breakfast?  If you know the answer to this question plaguing mothers around the world, please leave the answer in the comments!!

Fruity Baby Muesli
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 wheat germ
1 dried apricot or pear chopped
1T raisins
2/3 cup white grape or apple juice
1/2 red apple peeled and grated
3 grapes, halved and seeds removed

Combine all ingredients together and let soak overnight.  If you make this for a younger child you can blend the soaked mixture.

I made a couple of swaps in the recipe.  First, I didn't have wheat germ so I just added more oats.  Then while I was shopping I forgot to grab the grape juice and didn't want to make the trek back to that isle with Roman who was slowly losing his patience for grocery shopping.  So I ended up grabbing some apple cranberry juice that I just happened to be standing beside.  How convenient!  Plus it was pretty tasty!

Breakfast Burrito Bites

After eating oatmeal for breakfast for months I decided I needed to mix it up a bit.  I like having eggs for breakfast but I don't always feel like cooking at 6am, nor do I always have the time when I'm trying to feed a starving 1 year old.  I found this recipe on Ella Claire Inspired and decided to make it in my latest freezer cooking day. 

Not only are these bites delicious and healthy, but they are super easy to make and are great for breakfast on the go, which will be super handy in a couple months when I'm back to work.  The tortilla cup that holds all the eggy goodness makes for a fun presentation that is sure to entice kids to at least try them.  Roman seemed to think they were pretty tasty!

Breakfast Burrito Bites (makes 24)
4 large flour tortillas (I used tortillas with flax in them because they were on the discount rack)
16 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2t salt
1/2t pepper
1 cup bacon, cooked & chopped
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
chives (as much or as little as you like)

Cut each tortilla into 6 triangles.  Spray muffin tins with oil and push one triangle into each cup.  In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper and chives.  Sprinkle bacon, spinach and bell pepper into each muffin cup.  Pour egg mixture into the muffin cups and top with cheese.  Bake, covered with foil, at 350° for 25 minutes.  To freeze, just wrap in plastic wrap once cooled and pop them into a freezer bag.  To serve, reheat in the microwave.

I've tried a few other egg cup recipes and no matter what I do they always seem to stick to the muffin tins.  I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have that problem with these.  Even though the egg seeps outside the tortilla a bit, they still didn't stick.  I'm not sure if it has something to do with the tortilla or is I just oiled the tins better this time...