Saturday, April 28, 2012

chocolate cake•muffins

Chocolate cake for breakfast?  Wasn't this in a Cosby Show episode?  
Bill feeds the kids cake for breakfast and they all start chanting, "Dad is great!  He gives us chocolate cake!"*
Now Mom's great.  'Cause that's what I just did.




You might say, "Isn't this basically your Insane Chocolate Cake, with some flax meal and almonds mixed in?" 
And I might say, "Don't be ridiculous!"
But really, it is.  
But in all fairness I also cut back the sugar. 
You might also say, "Isn't it a little crazy to feed your kids chocolate cake for breakfast?"
But I say this recipe has some redeeming nutritious elements to it (whole grains, banana, omegas...).  We had these muffins for breakfast with some Greek yogurt, and felt pretty good after that.
And, oddly enough, no one complained...




the (non)veggies:
  • 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 3 TBS flax seed meal
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 medium banana, mashed
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds



the love:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350° and prep 24 muffins' worth of pans.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, flax meal baking soda, salt, and cocoa.  Smash any large lumps of brown sugar with the back of your mixing spoon.
  3. Make three holes in the flour mixture, and put the vanilla, vinegar, and oil each in a separate hole.
  4. Dump the mashed banana and the water over the top of everything and stir it all together until it's just combined.  Fold in the almonds.
  5. Scoop the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about a half hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
  6. Serve for breakfast, a snack, dessert-- whenever really-- and prepare for cheers.



*I couldn't find the Cosby Show clip, but here's a hilarious classic Bill Cosby standup clip about chocolate cake for breakfast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRmN4KnfPxQ

Thursday, April 5, 2012

camping!

With the weather warming across the west, camping season is creeping upon us.




It's prime season right now for places like Moab and its surrounding areas-- and there are so many magical places to explore in south east Utah!  




As Utah gets too hot, Medano Creek will start to flow at Great Sand Dunes National Park.  This is the perfect place to take little ones to splash in the water and wallow in the sand-- a taste of the beach in Colorado!




As summer gets into full swing we'll be able to camp closer to home, in the mountains-- places like Rocky Mountain National Park, and all the "secret" little places out on the forest around us that we've discovered.




These are just some of our favorite places we've camped before-- and we continue to explore more (Dinosaur National Monument this summer?)...
And, one of my favorite things to do while we're out is to cook.  My Dutch oven is my favorite tool--




but I've got a few other things in my portable kitchen, too.




I'm excited to share some of these things and some tricks we've learned over the years as the camping season progresses.




But even more so, I'm excited to get my wild little boys outside where they belong!