Spring is FINALLY reaching Minnesota. The weather has still been cool, 40's to 60's. Even had a few days I think that got into the 70's. None the less, it is nice enough to get outside and start cleaning up and sprucing the yard.
This is year two at our house. Last year, A. worked extremely hard at clearing the left hillside of weeds and underbrush.  The hillside had been unattended for years. I planted a few plants and flowering bushes that hopefully survived this winter and will comes back this year.
This past fall A. and I raked up as many leaves as possible. I'm glad we did but there are so many leaves laying on the ground now.

In just a few hours I picked up quite a pile of sticks.

The hill will definitely look better this year than last but we know it won't be ideal this year or probably next.
Thank goodness, A. is so hard working and we will continue to tackle it together. What outdoor projects are you doing this year? gardening? new deck?

Who doesn't love a soft warm cornbread muffin? I don't think I've ever met a person who doesn't adore them.  I decided to use Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Cornmeal Muffin Mix.

I simply followed the recipe on the back and Ta Da! Warm delish muffins. I have to say these are one of my favorite muffin mixes. I wish it was a tad bit sweeter but that would be my only tweak. The whole bag will make 2 dozen muffins. All you need is water, eggs, oil and the mix. 

To make them slightly sweeter, consider adding a touch of honey. 

These were super juicy and moist. I definitely plan to make these again for sure!

While the original recipe says this will make 16 muffins, I made 12 large muffins and they turned out great. The only small issue I had was the muffin seems to stick a little to paper liners. I love my silicone liners and the muffin didn't stick to those at all.

Ingredients for muffins:
2 cups flour
1/2 white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8oz can of crushed pineapple
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Ingredients for topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour

Preheat over to 375 degrees F. In a large bowel mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt).
Then add wet mixture (beaten egg, 1/4 pineapple juice from can, milk and butter).
Blend together well. Fill muffin pan.
Top muffins with one spoonful of crushed pineapple.

Mix topping ingredients together and spoon onto muffins.
Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
If making 12 muffins instead of 16 add 2 minutes to baking time.

Enjoy!

Ever have fruit that if you leave it on the counter one more day it is going to be thrown out because then no one will eat it withered, bruised or mushy?

I had some plums that were heading in that direction and instead of tossing them, I made Plum Strudel Muffins.

Muffin Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract (could use vanilla extract if don't have almond)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (could use heavy whipping cream)
1 1/2 cups chopped plums

Streusel Topping Ingredients:
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cold butter
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Beat milk, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in one egg at a time. Then add extracts.  Then combine flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients. Fold in plums. Fill muffin molds 3/4 full.
For the topping combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Crumble in butter. Sprinkle on top of muffins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

These were definitely yummy and not your usual muffin.

I did it and I have proof!
Thank you to all who supported me and the Special Olympics.  The Polar Bear Plunge was hugely successful. There were over 600 jumpers and over $77,000 dollars was raised at just our location alone!

There are countless jumps still going on across Minnesota and I have no doubt that The Special Olympics will reach their goal of raising $1 million dollars.

Our team first met at Patrick's in St. Peter for a pre-jump beverage and lunch.  Then quickly went over to the pond, checked in and waited until it was our time to leap.

The event was incredibly organized and amazingly arranged. There was a super fun atmosphere. Everyone was smiling, laughing and just having an awesome time. They called groups by the colors of their wrist band that you got when you checked in. When your color was called, you brought your after jump clothes and towel into the warming tent. Then lined up to take the fun yet nerve racking walk across the pond to the open water.

It all seems like a blur. One minute I'm walking across the lake. Next minute I'm there at the edge of icy water and a man on the bull horn is counting One, Two, Three, JUMP! Ahhh! And I did it!!!

(I'm the one in the green hat on the left)

The water was well, duh! Cold!  It went up to my chest and I quickly hauled it our there. I didn't run straight for the hot tubs like a lot of people did. I ran straight for the warming tent. I wanted out of my soaking wet clothes and to dry off.

I'm glad I took the plunge. I don't regret it for a moment. It is a memorable thing to say I have done and I'm so glad I could support The Special Olympics Minnesota. Next year, I may not jump but would definitely consider helping with the event in some way (registration, passing out coffee, etc.)

And the my friends is how Minnesotan's do successful a fundraiser!

For the last several Saturday mornings I have made A. muffins.  They are a nice treat to wake up to and are a scrumptious breakfast to have during that week. Plus, a huge bonus is they are grab and go type of food.

I'm challenging myself to for the rest of 2014 to not repeat the same muffin recipe and to try new recipes.

Last week, I made a banana oatmeal muffin. Pretty dang tasty if I do say so myself.

The how-to:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients, set aside. In a large bowel beat eggs till lightly fluffy. Add in remaining wet ingredients. Combine with dry ingredients. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Keep checking to see what recipe is created on the upcoming Saturday's...I'll post the good, not so good and the dang right delish!

What muffins do you love? Recommend?

In my mission to eat less processed food and to make more homemade recipes I really wanted to make a breakfast/snack item that was quick and packed with protein.  I was leaning towards making dried granola but then I found on Pinterest a ton of different variations of a granola energy/protein ball.

BINGO! Just what I was wanting.

I sorta winged my recipe, patching it together from a few different ones I found online. I was very happy with how these turned out.

Ingredients:
2.5 cups of quick oats
1 cup of ground flax seed
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup of honey
2 tablespoons of vanilla
1/2 of dried fruit (I used cranberries)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolates

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. I used a cookie scooper to scoop the oatmeal goodness. Finally, place in the freezer for one hour.

To make mine easy and ready-to-go I bagged 3 balls per mini baggie and they are all just chilling in the freezer till I need them.

Per my calculations each ball is roughly 180 calories and 5 grams of protein and 21 grams of carbohydrates. I probably could find ways to make them less caloric and have more protein but this was a super quick recipe that I'm sure will become a regular.