Boredem=Baking Time

So usually when I get bored and this happens at night time when I think I have nothing else I can possibly do I start to think about what I can bake and who I can give it to. Don't get me wrong I LOVE to eat my baking, but I can't eat all of it that I bake. So I happen to be traveling back to Elwood tomorrow morning and thought, "Why not bake some apple muffins since I have apples in the freezer that I need to use up soon!" What a great idea I thought. So I started surfing the Internet and Pinterest. (If you don't have Pinterst GET IT). I found 3 great recipes and was bummed out because I only have enough frozen apples to make 2 recipes. So I figured I could make a healthy one and a not so healthy one, that way people can choose what they want to eat :)

1st recipe I decided to start on was the healthy one! Oatmeal Apple Raisin Muffins. Believe it or not I had all of the ingredients at home to work with so I didn't even have to go grocery shopping! I love it when this happens :)

So now onto the Oatmeal Apple Raisin Muffins courteous of http://www.tammysrecipes.com/ and Pinterest :)

1. I have to start by preparing my stations and getting everything I need.

2. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees and start whisking together the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Ingredients are: flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

 3. You have to make a well in the dry ingredients to dump the wet mixture into it.

4. I needed to chop up my frozen apples. This recipe calls for a regular apple, but you can defiantly use frozen apples if you have them! I didn't chop mine up to much because I like larger chunks of apple in my muffins.

5. You mix all the wet ingredients together. This consists of: egg, milk, raisins, apples, oil, and applesauce. I am proud to say I got to use my HOME MADE APPLESAUCE that I made last year :)

6. You dump the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix together. DO NOT MIX TO LONG!!

7. Put into 12 greased or paper-lined muffins and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I baked mine for 18 minutes. Do not worry that this "batter" doesn't really look like "muffin batter". I honestly didnt' think there would be a muffin like consistency when it was done, but I was wrong.

8. Let cool on a rack and then TASTE TEST!

These are amazing and easy to bake muffins. The taste I find impeccable. You get the taste of cinnamon, apple, and raisin, in a dense muffin. These will for sure fill you up!!

RECIPE
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon-I probably added in 2 because I love cinnamon
1 egg
3/4 cup milk-I used skim
1 cup raisins
1 cup apple
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce


2nd recipe is a little less healthy. It is called Apple Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins. I again had all of the ingredients so I didn't have to go to the store.

The recipe Apple Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins is courteous of http://www.barbarabakes.com/ and Pinterest!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with paper-lined muffin cups and get ingredients together.

2. In a large bow, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.

3. Add in vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract.

4. Slice up apples very finally.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add to egg mixture and stir to combine. Then stir in apples.

6. Divide batter into 12 muffin cups.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Mine went for 18 minutes.

8. Let muffins cool in their pan.

9. Once half way cooled off and you are able to pick them up you then dunk them in BUTTER and then the cinnamon sugar mixture. I have found for the cinnamon sugar mixture to twirl the bowl instead of pressing the muffin into it. It makes it coat a lot easier.

10. Let cool and then TASTE TEST!

These do taste very scrumptious and are very easy to make!

RECIPE
 3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk- I used skim
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 small apples grated- I used about 2 cups

Topping: I mixed my own, but you can follow her recipe!
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon




These are so easy to make that I am done with them and I am done with my writting blog all in less than 90 minutes! I started this around 5:00 and now I don't know what else to do! Guess I should make Kyle some dinner :)

Workin Away!

So Kyle, being the handy man that he is wanted to get a head start on our new land that we purchased. He wanted to pull out the fence to make it easier for the builders to come in when we are ready to start building. I told him that I would come help out. So last Saturday was the day I "got" to help him out.

I showed up late because I had to drop my nephew off, but once I was there I put on my hunting boots, jeans, t-shirt and some XL gloves. Guess we didn't even think about me needing some smaller gloves. Before we left Nick and Pat's house I asked Nick if there were any snakes in this part. He asked me what part I was talking about? Hahaha only Nick would reiterate my question. I nicely said well this area. His advice was not to look down. So guess what was in my head the whole entire time. YEP....I was looking down to see if I could see anything in the tall grass!! Luckily there were only small bugs that I saw :)

So...I was in charge of knocking the boards off the post. To do this I either kicked or yanked on the boards until they came loose. I then had to drag up the boards to the road and make a pile.

I got so far ahead of Kyle who was pulling out the (stumps) poles that were in the ground. Pretty sure that's not what they are technically called, but that is what I am calling them! I decided to watch what he was doing to see if I could do it. It looked pretty simple and easy to do. I told Kyle I wanted to do it. So he let me "try" to wrap the chain around and start twisting the handle to get the "stump" to come up and out of the ground. After a few minutes flew by I had to give up and let Kyle finish it. I really wanted to get one myself. So I tried again and again and again. I couldn't tell you how many times I had to have help before I actually got one. I think Kyle was being patient because he was tired and he was enjoying this break. After I kind of got that stump out Pat came with water. Just in the nick of time because it was H-O-T-T HOT outside. We took a little water break and then decided to work as a team on the rest of the "stumps". If I would have known how much faster it was to work as a team I would have done that from the start!!!

After we got the front yard post pulled we decided to pick the boards up and call it a day. I don't know what was worse, the pulling/knocking down of the fence or the picking up of the boards. This fence was quite sturdy and it was heavy.

Once we were done with that task I FINALLY got to see what our land looked liked. We walked around to see how much we had to clean out and what not. Here are some pictures of what the land looks like.

As you can see there are many trees, a house, and a stable that will need to be torn down and cleaned up. Kyle has done a great job so far. I think he likes working on our land. He was out there this weekend working away. I made it out for about 2 hours at the most yesterday :) I told myself him and Nick had it under control today and that they didn't need me. Can't wait to see what he got accomplished!

Oh and Kyle is such a loving husband that he bought me my own pair of work gloves. They fit perfectly! To bad they weren't in a pretty color though :)

3-Day Weekend with HD and Oreo

I have been waiting for this weekend to come!! I love it when my nephew comes and stays with us in Lincoln. HD is now 17 months old and to top off his visitation we got Oreo for a 3-day weekend also.

Kyle and I didn't know what to expect with HD and Oreo at one time! So I picked both of them up on Thursday and came home for dinner. I didn't have time to cook so we had Runza :) After that the boys decided to play together. Here are a few pictures from that!

I took Friday off so I could spend some time with HD. I felt bad for Oreo because he was outside for most of the day so I could hang out with HD. I love them both equally!! Just wanted to state that :) Friday morning HD and I hung around the house for awhile until lunch time.

Then we thought we should get dressed and head out of the house for a little bit. We meet up with my friend Jennifer and had lunch at Olive Garden. HD colored the whole time and didn't really care for his meal because he was having to much fun with Jenn and the crayons! After lunch HD and I loaded up and drove back home where I carried him in because he was passed out. He took about a 3 hour nap so I laid back and relaxed. I got to hang out with Oreo during that time since I kind of ignored him all morning. Gotta spread the love to both nephews :)

Finally around 5:20 Uncle Kyle came home and decided to do some yard work. HD and I helped pick up sticks in the yard so he could mow. After Uncle Kyle was done mowing he decided to fix a door in the house. HD was all about helping him with this task. It was cute because HD was watching his every move. Uncle Kyle even gave him a tool (note to self....do not give little kids tools!).

After the door was removed Uncle Kyle went outside to work in the garage. I think HD and I were driving him a little crazy :) At that time I was bored and so was HD. I decided we should build a tent in the living room. I gave HD a flash light and brought in the chairs, blankets, and pillows and started my building task. Once it was built HD was inside it with his flash light!

Yes I know what you all are thinking..."That's it?" Yes, that's all I had to work with!

After about 5 minutes of playing inside HD thought it would be more fun to demolish the tent that Aunt Mo created. He thought this was the best thing in the world! Wish you all could here his giggles. It was so cute!

After all of that fun it was bed time. The next morning HD woke up at 7 on a SATURDAY!!! I really did think kids slept in :S
So HD and I were up and going making pancakes when Uncle Kyle thought he should get up and go work in the garage again (this is a reoccurring statement that I make because he is just like his dad, Nick). Once we were all cleaned up and dishes were done I decided to take HD to the park so we could burn off some of that energy the little guy has, plus Aunt Mo needed to get out of the house!

Once at the park I found out that this kid is not scared of anything. He was climbing, crawling, sliding, and jumping everywhere at the park. I was more nervous than he was!! Here are some pictures of our time at the park :)

After the morning in the park we walked back home and had lunch with Uncle Kyle. It was then time for a 3 hour nap. HD had to get all rested up because Aunt Mo's friend Ashley was coming that night to eat and watch movies.

Once up from his nap Uncle Kyle played with HD and Oreo so they would stay out of the kitchen. I was trying to get dinner ready. I wanted to make a casserole. The casserole was called, "Mac and Cheese with Ham". I figured a 17 month old would love this as would I. I made Uncle Kyle late for the races because it took me a little bit longer to make the casserole than I thought. He was very kind to stay and help me out :)

Once Uncle Kyle was out the door to the races and Ashley was over, the casserole was ready! HD devoured his. I was quite pleased with it and so was Uncle Kyle (who ate it at 2 in the morning). Here are some adorable pictures of HD eating :)

Ashely stayed for one movie, "The Princess and the Frog" and for a glass of wine. Then she was off to her house and it was time for HD's bath. This kid loves his bath! I wanted him to get in and out because I really wanted to watch, "How to Train Your Dragon". YESSSSS I was being selfish :) So he hopped in and played for about 10 minutes and then mysteriously the bath drained, o-well I thought to myself. HD got out and it was time for our movie!!! We both laid on the floor with pillows and curled up and watched, "How to Train Your Dragon".

It was around 10:45 when I finally put him to bed :) I know it was late, but we were having fun and the movie was SOOOO good!!

The next day, today Sunday, HD decided to wake up at 6 and we went to the living room and watch, "How to Train Your Dragon" again :) I then had to take both my boys back to their moms this morning. I was quite sad and I didn't know what to do since I had no kid or dog to lug around and watch. Uncle Kyle on the other hand had this relieved look on his face when he told them by :)

This posting is pretty much to tell you that I would do anything for HD or Oreo. I love them so so so so so so so so so much and we all had a FUN 3 day weekend even with the lack of sleep.

As I end this I am laying in bed thinking it is time to sleep. Yes, I know, it isn't even 9, but I am running on less than my usual 7 hours of sleep :)