Strawberry-Blueberry-Muffins

Here is my recipe:

2 cups of whole wheat organic flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

  pinch of grinned sea salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 cup of sugar

  1 cup applesauce

2 eggs beaten

1 cup of fresh strawberries

1 cup of fresh blueberries

I am not sure of the results of this recipe yet, the batter looked a little thick. If they are good, I will post a picture, if not I will have tweak the recipe.

Let me know if you have similar recipes that I could try.

 

Magic

When I was a little girl, I always believed in magic. I always knew deep in my heart that I would one day do something incredible and then my magic would be released. Then I became a mom and I knew that was my magic. Raising you two little friends, is the most important thing I have done and will do in my life. You are my magic power.

I love how you view everything with a magical perspective. I promise I will do everything I can as a mommy to keep things magical for you. I will always let you put love into our baking which makes it turn colors. You are my princess army soldier ballerina. I love you always.

West Baltimore Mom Swap

This is a group designed for Mom's to share. We all know how quickly kids outgrow just about everything. Craigslist can be a great option, but there is always the UNKNOWN of whether it's safe or not,with using Facebook, you have to be friends with someone in the group to become a member!

Mommy in this group sell clothes, household items, toys, etc. We give each other advice and support. If you are interested in becoming a member, just click on the link below:


https://www.facebook.com/groups/WestBaltimoreMomSwap/

And request to join! Hope to see you there, Happy Swapping!

First Pool Day

Today the pool opened up but unless you are member you can not go on holiday weekends. So, I tried to avoid this terrible thought of not being able to go to the pool even though it was open.

1. We went for a lame run - 1.77 in miles in 28 minutes. It turns out french fries and cheese steaks are not good for my running average.

2. We made our own water fun using water buckets, empty plastic contains, and medicine droppers. It was pretty fun watching my girls play in the water because it reminded me of when I use to play in the hose when I was kid. The simple memories.

3. We created chalk outlines of ourselves and colored them in. This was a beautiful activity because my girls loves to lay on the ground to make the chalk outline and color them.

Overall, it was a pretty good start to the unofficial summer season. :)

Whole Wheat Banana Apple Almond Muffins

So, I am on a quest to make the healthiest most delicious baked goods ever. I plan to use whole wheat flour, low butter/oil, and low sugar. My first attempt are these muffins. I tweaked a recipe from here:
Bliss to Bean Blog.

Here is my recipe:

2 cups of whole wheat organic flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp lemon juice

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs beaten

5 mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup of almonds

 

I mixed the dry ingredients separately from the wet ingredients.  

Then slow mixed the dry into the wet, be-careful not over beat the mixture. 

Finally fold in the almonds at the end. 

Bake 20 minutes at 350, makes 24 muffins.

My girls love the muffins and I really enjoy them with a peanut butter frosting. :) I hope you enjoy too!

Slow - Baked Baby Back Ribs

Today I was going to grill some baby back ribs but then it decided to rain. So I was forced to cook them in the oven which turned out to be magical.

Here is what I did:

Place Pork Rub (brought at Walmart) on the ribs and place them in the fridge about 2 hours before I placed them in the oven. I backed them on 325 degrees for about 3 hours. I left them alone till the last 15 minutes. I turn up the heat to 400 degrees to allow for light browning.

They were delicious. I also steamed carrots and Chinese cabbage but added brown sugar to liven up the taste. Like I said, it was a magical dinner. :)

Traveling Mom and 2 Kids to Italy

We are currently in Italy visiting my husband while he works, training military. Yesterday we traveled from Baltimore, Md to Padova, Italy. It was just me and my two girls 4 and 16 months. Wow! what an experience. My girls were excellent the entire 3 plane - 18 hour trip. I, however, am completely exhausted. I am no hero, this was not our first time traveling internationally but it was my first time doing it without my husband. But my choices were 1) go and visit him taking both little ladies with me or 2) not go..... so the choice was very easy to make.

We traveled with 2 checked bags, 2 checked car seats (which are required in Italy), 3 carry-ons, and 1 stroller. The three carry-ons included a diaper bag, a Melissa and Doug roller suitcase which included books and coloring activities, and my personal carry on which included my computer and other things I thought I would need to keep myself entertained. Well, this was indeed, my first mistake. For future reference, a mom traveling with two kids has no time to do anything for personal entertainment. When my two beauties were awake I was making sure they were not standing, being dangerous, or otherwise making poor choices, while on the plane. When my little girls were sleeping, I had to sleep. So, next time I will just check my bag with my personal items, one less thing to carry.

Our flight path included Baltimore-Atlanta-Paris-Venice, with less than a 90 minute layover on each leg of the trip. Rushing from gate to gate was not difficult until we arrived in Paris. Paris has to be the biggest airport I have landed in. I had to go from gate E? to D55 which does seem like far but was about 1 mile walking. The signs were not helpful to find the "D" gates. Several of signs pointed down which made me think I should take an elevator down but then when I looked straight ahead I kept finding signs pointing to "D". So, I thought I would follow the signs. I did eventually find "D". Once arriving at "D" I was told my infant in arms daughter actually needed her own boarding pass, which was not necessary in Baltimore or Atlanta. I then had to go to the AirFrance service desk and had them print her out one. We ended up being the last people on plane. I am sure there has to be an easier way to get around in the AirFrance airport, maybe a tram or bus, but I did not find it and did not have the time to explore.

Like I said before, traveling with my little ones was a lot of work but so worth it. They gave me some of the best laughs and smiles while traveling. Now, we are in Padova, Italy. My husband will be working during the day and I will be exploring Padova with my girls. Today we slept till noon and had to eat in the hotel because everything closes at 2:00. So, tomorrow we will begin our exploring.

Here are traveling with babies internationally tips:

• Traveling with kids automatically bumps you to front of almost all airline lines. You will be able to board first, go through customs, etc....
• Do no bring a carry solely for your personal entertainment items. It will just be a nuisance and something extra to carry.
• Map out the Paris Airport or have a layover grater than 90 minutes.
• Have passports and boarding passes in their own sachet, because you will need quick access to these often.
• Bring several "d" rings. Being a military family, we often have "d" ring laying around and I have 2-3 in my purse at any given time. They are great to hanging coats on the stroller, attaching carry one bags to the stroller, and other random things you will need to hang or attach to each other.
• Bring an iPad or other tablet with movies already loaded. I had about 50 movies loaded on my iPad and it kept my 4 year entertained until she fell asleep from Atlanta to Paris.
• From Atlanta to Paris the flight was not full so the flight attendants allowed us to use three seats. My 16 month year old did wonderfully having her own seat. So, if you have an infant in lap I would always ask if there are any available seats.
• My 16 month year old is attached to her blanket so reduce the amount of times my daughter dropped it on the floor I attached it to the stroller with "d" rings.

If you have any additional tips or know the secrets to Paris Airport please comment below. Here are some "d" rings and "s" rings for those who not are military or hikers.

D - Rings


S - Rings