Monday, February 27, 2012

Yogurt Muffins!

This mommy found a recipe that has made it to the top of favorite lists in this house!  Both the boy and the princess are addicted and this mommy doesn't mind, I mean, who can deny the little ones a midday snack of muffins that are made with yogurt and applesauce!?  I found the original recipe at JCasa handmade blog which she adapted from The joy of cooking!  It was love in just one look!  You can check out her blog but I'm also adding the recipe here, and instead of canola oil this mommy uses regular applesauce!


You will need:
1 egg
1 cup yogurt (or 2 individual containers) -you can use any kind you like but this mommy uses the store brand vanilla yogurt
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. applesauce
2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
whatever add-ins you want (fruit, chocolate chips, etc)




Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Either line a muffin tin with liners or spray a generous amount of non stick cooking spray into the muffin tins. (this mommy doesn't use liners as the boy is allowed to get a muffin himself and sometimes he forgets to take off the liner!)
In a bowl combine the egg, yogurt, vanilla, and applesauce.  Stir until it is all evenly combined.  In a seperate bowl combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  Slowly stir in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, make sure you don't overmix the batter as it will result in tough muffins!  Pour in your add-ins and stir until evenly distributed in the batter.  The boy loves it when I add chocolate chips! 
Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full in each cup (this recipe will yeild between 12-18 muffins depending on how big you make them!)
Bake for 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown!  12 minutes works beautifully for this mommy and her oven!
Take your yummy muffins out of the oven and cool!
Enjoy! 
But this mommy does warn you they are good! And they are addicting!  Be prepared to be making these a lot!  We have to have a supply of these on hand at all times, its the all time favorite snack for this mommy's house!  The princess has gotten to the point of pulling down the container of muffins and pouting until it is opened and she can have one, that's how much she loves them! 
Experiment with different add-ins and different yogurt flavors!  There are so many yummy possibilities! 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The princess turns 1!!

This mommy is in disbelief..... the princess turned 1!  Where, oh where has the time gone?  How could it be that my little baby girl is now an active, energetic 1 year old?!  The last year has flown by!

This little baby girl......















Has become this big girl........























Oh how this mommy wishes time would slow down a little! It seems like only yesterday we were about to welcome our little princess into the world!

We celebrated with our friends and family with an owl themed birthday party!  A good time was had by all! 



Here's a look at our decorations!  Tons of balloons, hanging decorations (handmade by this mommy), owl pinata centerpiece (again made by this mommy), and a fingerprint tree for guests to sign.  This mommy was pleased by how it all came together!








This was this mommy's first time making a stacked cake, and boy was she nervous!  But after much thought and a little luck this mommy was able to pull off making this cute as can be owl cake for the princess!  And of course the cake inside was pink as well!  :)













Of course just one cake wasn't enough so this mommy made of bunch of these owl cupcakes to match!  We also had a matching owl smash cake just for the princess to destroy!  :)







We couldn't have asked for a better birthday party!  Here's a look at the day......




We started the day in an adorable petti romper and flower hair clip (the clip was made my this mommy).  This mommy was excited that the princess finally had enough hair for the clip to stay in!







The flower clip made it through the morning before she was done with it.



Right before the party we had an outfit change into a handmade tutu dress (again made by this mommy, seeing a trend? lol)  :)




Although leary at first, once she got a taste of the cake she dug right in!



She loved it!!


Opening presents began!  (note: the painted fingernails, especially for the party, her first time getting her nails painted!)



The boy of course had to help his little sister open the presents!


She got pink everything, and this castle (found at my local Michael's) was painted and walpapered by this mommy for her princess peg dolls.



She loved being the center of attention all day!




New toys are awesome!




Officially 1!!



The tutu suprisingly made it through the entire party pretty much clean!




The day ended back in her petti romper!  A quick picture with mommy! (please ignore how horrible this mommy looks!)



And the day wouldn't be complete without the boy giving the daddy some love too!  Oh how I love my boys!








So whether this mommy likes it or not the princess is growing up!  Soon she will be walking and this mommy is in for trouble!  :)  How sweet it is to be the mommy to 2 amazing children!