HOT COCOA

So I made some hot cocoa today from my new favorite cook book!!! Amy will agree with me on this. The cook book is called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. She has put together a bunch of recipes that include some sort of vegetable in every recipe. This one calls for a 1/2 cup of pureed sweet potato. So I whipped it up and it turned out really delicious!!! I think this book is gonna be a keeper in my house. If you enlarge the picture of the recipe you should be about to read it and print it out if interested.

SNOW HAT"S

I found these three monkey's sitting on the couch last night. I had to take a picture of that!!! Leia really looks like she was enjoying herself.

ORANGE BRAN FLAX MUFFINS

I made some of my favorite muffins the other day and wanted to share with you. They are so healthy, you can freeze them, pop them in the microwave and they turn out great. Charli loves them and that makes me feel good.

Fresh oranges give these muffins great flavor!

1 1/2 c. oat bran

1c. flour

1c. ground flaxseed

1c. wheat bran

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 oranges, quartered and seeded

1 c. brown sugar

1c. buttermilk

1/2 c. canola oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. golden raisins (optional)

*Preheat oven to 375 F. Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. In a large bowl, combine oat bran, flour, flaxseed, wheat bran, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

*In a blender or food processor, combine oranges, brown sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs and baking soda. Blend well.

*Pour orange mixture into dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Stir in raisins.

*Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Makes 24 muffins.

Per muffin: 186 cal, 4 g pro, 30 g carb, 8 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 18 mg chol, 3 g fiber, 140 mg sodium, 4 g flaxseed

A note from the recipe: We know this muffin is higher in fat than we recommend. However nearly half the fat is alpha-linolenic acid-the plant version of omega-3, which is sorely missing in most diets. We think it's worth finding room for this muffin.

SNOW DAY!!!

We woke up to snow this morning and we probably have an inch altogether. Now I know that is not much to some peoples standards but 2 inches is usually our max. So any snow is fun for us.
I had to go out and take some pics of our house while it was snowing.
I bundled up Charli and her friend Keegan, so they could go play in the white stuff. Keegan had to borrow Charli's clothes. Sorry about the pink pants Kelly and Todd. He didn't seem to mind.
Charli licking the snow off the slide.
And of course we had to make snow angels.

3 YEARS IN REVIEW

Charli's Birth-Day. Under an hour old. This is one of my favorite pictures from the hospital.
Charli at 8 months old. Sitting up and wearing clips in her hair!!!
One year pictures from the Picture People. Standing up!!!
Our 2 year old, September 2006
Our big 3 year old. September 2007

Birthday Pictures!!!

I celebrated my birthday with some friends on the 13th. We went to dinner at Basque Norte in Chico and they brought me 30 balloons. It was so many balloons it was crazy!!! Kelly and I wore our knee high leather boots to dinner. It was so fun and we all had a great time.
Here is me trying to get all 30 balloons to fit into our car. They actually all fit and Charli loved sitting next to them on the way home.
I tried to get some pictures of Charli and I on my actual birthday but here is what I got!!! I guess that is what you get when you have a 3 year old and they want to be silly!!!

Charli and the dog vest!!!

So last night Charli got creative and put on Will's dog vest. Will was our Miniature Pinscher's vest. On a sad note, Will past away in late July, he was 13 and was hit by a car. He has been very missed since he left us. Anyways it was so hilarious to see Charli come out of my room with Will's vest on and that she was actually able to get in it and it some how looked like a mini dress. She then proceeded to put on my knee high leather boots. So funny and of course she just hammed it up for the camera. Another side note, Chad got me those boots for Christmas on Ebay. He bought them through Ebay Express and they were 99 cents and shipping was $11.00. I am not joking. I love them and they are so nice, I have always secretly wanted a pair of black boots. My husband did good.