Monday Yumday!

Monday is upon us and what a great weekend we had.  Friday night I got a surprise in the form of a babysitter and tickets to see Porgy and Bess.   It was fantastic.   It was a great end to a very long week.  Saturday morning was full of swim lessons and food with some much needed "rest " time in the afternoon.  For me, that's a book, for Justin a nap, and for Oliver quietly playing with his Legos.  Sunday we headed out to the movies but we were too late for the show we wanted, so we had some time kill -- which led us straight to the bagel shop!   Oliver didn't want his so I ended up eating one and a half myself!    At the movie theater Oliver wanted popcorn, -- and well naturally he couldn't be expected to eat a whole bag of it himself, - so I helped him out a little.   It wasn't a great start to the month.    But, I did manage to work my arms and abs a little bit in the afternoon and hope to get back on track and redeem myself. 

I haven't planned out our entire meal plan for this week.  I am just going to wing it and see if I can keep us all on track.   The fact that I have to buy my lunch today will start me off behind the eight ball, - but Monday mornings are tough.   As much as I want to be the mom who is totally organized I totally am NOT.  

Tonight I am going to make up some tuna fish for myself (greek yogurt, with just a little bit of mayo, mustard, onion, bell pepper and celery).  Dinner tonight will probably be a salad as we have some produce to get through before it goes it bad.  And, tomorrow I hope to crockpot some beans (I haven't decided whether to do black beans or lentils yet) to get us through the week.  Of course, we also still have plenty of veggie burgers stashed in the freezer too.  

Oliver's lunch today looked like this:

 

 

I know, it's not a great picture, but I'm trying.   It's carrots and bell peppers, hummus, grapes and a whole wheat banana muffin, - which is really what the blog is about today.   I made these last night and they turned out great!   I learned a new tip:  when baking with berries, coat them with the dry ingredients first.  This will prevent them sinking!   As some of you know from previous blogs, I love the Lemon-Raspberry Muffins -- with my own twists of course  -- from the 100 Days of Real Food Blog.   But, I always ended up with one or two muffins that were off because the berries sunk.  I had no idea what the problem was until I read about it on the Joy of Baking.  

Banana Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten        
1 teaspoon pure  vanilla extract
3 small ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup honey        
1/4 teaspoon  baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine mashed banana, eggs, vanilla extract and honey in a bowl.  Combine whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl.     Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly, leaving approximately a half of cup in the dry ingredient bowl.   Place blueberries in dry ingredient bowl to coat with mixture and then fold into the rest of the batter.   Divide mixture into twelve baking cups (recommend silicone) and bake for 25 minutes.

Great for breakfast or including in the lunch box!