Feeling Productive...and Snow

What a day. What a glistening ,white snowy day...what a long, productive day....what a good day.
We woke up to 7 inches of snow this morning....you can see it stacked up on our fence. Seven inches in Georgia isn't a normal occurrence by any means and it takes the general populous quite by surprise...businesses close down, snow days are had by all the public school folk...EMT's are worked to exhaustion, the weather is broadcasted ALL DAY LONG and pictures of residents snow men creations are shared on the local channels.
Zac got home safely last night and I'm so glad that he beat the weather because all of the flights in Atlanta were canceled today. We had a good evening together catching up, him telling me all about his future dreams and showing me pictures of Colorado and telling me stories of the family. So nice to feel connected again and to have him beside me in our bed...he did have to go to work this morning which felt a little bit like a tease. So, today I made the best of it so that the next couple of days he is with us I won't have to be in the kitchen or cleaning very much.

Brayden and Trinity ventured out in the snow this afternoon....much braver then their mama. These pictures I took from our porch...that was about as far as I was going out in the knee deep stuff. Brayden chose his outfit...no coat, a new vest from a friend at church, and a felted hat that Aunt Robin made years ago. I had to put packing tape around his boots because I noticed a big hole in the toe (couldn't find duct tape.) Needless to say...we aren't very well equipped with super warm clothing around here.

Trinity was so very brave for staying outside for an entire 20 minutes or so...she could barely walk and I kept seeing her from window to window face down in the snow. I had warm clothes all laid out for them and hot cocoa made for when their adventure came to an end...

Let me tell you what all of this *white* does for me. Besides ,of course, creating a magical atmosphere...all I can think of every time I look out the window....all I can see in my head...is me shoveling piles and piles of it into my mouth. Yes, you heard that right. I crave it. I crave ice on a daily basis...I did when I was pregnant with Tristan too. I've had my iron tested and it is above normal, so there is no reason to explain this strange craving but it is constant. I just finished up my last big bag of Sonic ice (zac got me a bag of that pellet ice that Sonic uses in their beverages...to die for) and so today I actually got up the nerve to go out several times with a plastic cup and scoop up some of the deliciousness. So very good. It's dark now and I'm about to venture out and get some more for the evening. At least it's organic.

So, as far as what I actually accomplished today....I folded some laundry, dusted the house, and then this afternoon I thawed out about 6 lbs of chicken and cooked some of it into a sweet and sour stir fry, I boiled some it to have on hand for enchiladas and chicken salad, and then I made a pot of the most delicious chili ever. Don't ask for the recipe because I really have no idea what I actually put in there...but it's good. Then I decided to start making good use of all that pumpkin I scored a deal on a few weeks ago and found a good pumpkin muffin recipe.

My basic *system* to using new unhealthy recipes is to gently tweak them over time. What I mean by "gently" is not "all at once." Instead of omitting too many ingredients before I work out all the glitches I just start slowly making it healthier. I LOATHE using my expensive healthy baking ingredients for the food to turn out blah. So...I just start slowly. You can see the recipe I used here and then at the end of this post I will type out how I made them.

I somehow incorporated Prenatal Yoga into my day and it was so very relaxing and helped work out some of the kinks in my hips and spine. I would like to start making "yoga time" a daily routine. Maybe that's stretching it a bit...a few times a week routine. There, much better.

Looking forward to tomorrow folks. Pumpkin muffins and turkey bacon for breakfast...a good looking man walking around my home for the next 48 hours, and new pictures of kids playing in the snow and having quiet time in the house. Oh...a little side note. I'm not a morning person at all...as in I'm hopelessly grumpy when I wake up. Lately I've noticed a huge change in my attitude when I have breakfast already made the night before - at least aleady mixed up if not baked. I've also been setting up coffee the night before so that I can wake up that delicious "oh so good" smell. It's made mornings more managable and taken some of the pressure off of me when I first get up.

Hope your day was lovely.

How I made them:

1 can of pumpkin

1.5 cups of oil (next time I'm using half applesauce)

1 cup of turbinando sugar

1/2 cup of honey

4 eggs

1 cup of white flour

2 cups of whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons of aluminum free baking powder

2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips

1/3 cup of craisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl beat the sugar, honey, eggs, oil, and pumpkin until smooth. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Divide batter in half. Add chocolate chips to one half and craisins to the other. Grease muffin tins and fill 3/4 full with batter. bake 15 minutes. Makes 2 dozen.

Hope you try these and enjoy them! The original recipe said to bake for 16-20 minutes and when I checked them around 15 minutes they were already pretty brown...so you may need to watch them the first time!