I loved the ease of having the kids home for the holidays.
The days blended into one another and three weeks flew by too fast because we
were busy moving and settling into a new house. With so much to do, the lazy
mornings I had envisioned and looked forward to just didn’t materialize most
days. However, it was so good
to be able to wake up just a little later than my usual 5 a.m. and peacefully enjoy
breakfast in the quiet hour I got to myself before the others started waking
up. There were no early morning chastisements, hurried breakfasts, rush to
catch the school bus. No trails of strewn clothes left behind or balled-up
pyjamas found on top of beds. No realization a split second later (and the ensuing
anxiety) that either child forgot a water bottle, a book-bag, library book, a
hat, money for field trip/school photo/book order. Because they leave for
school at 6:40 a.m. and are up and maddeningly chirpy at 6:00, the kids
go to bed fairly early on weeknights. Usually they are already asleep before 7
p.m. which means we have to wait until the weekend to eat dinner together as a
family. At least holidays change all of that. So accustomed we are to not seeing
each other past 6:15 p.m., there is much giddiness and meal-times are loud, messy,
exciting. It’s sad when all of that comes
to an end. But, to be honest, by the end of three weeks I was a little twitchy.
So overwhelmed with all the things I still needed to sort through without the
kids (finally) underfoot, yet excited to reclaim a few hours of relative
under-stimulation each morning.
The night before the first day back in school, I stood in
the kitchen with my copy of the beautiful Super
Natural Every Day by HeidiSwanson propped up on my messy kitchen counter, laid open to page 47, Bran
Muffins. Working with what I had on hand I whisked eggs, yogurt, coconut
oil and maple syrup together while I conversed with the man (husband)
and a visiting friend, a sleepy baby balanced on my left hip. When I felt I
needed the use of both hands the baby would be passed to the others –
seemingly happy, her droopy eyes belying the frisky, jerky movement of her
hands and limbs. Back and forth she went, observing every movement as I scooped
the thick-ish batter into the muffin tin and, before I popped them in the oven,
dotted a few with a teaspoon of strawberry jam, some with chopped dates and
left the rest as they were. Not expecting these muffins to be very palatable
(come on, bran = blah most of the time) I assumed they would need
embellishments. How wrong. These muffins were moist, delicious, and hearty with
just the right amount of sweetness and a faint crunch (the crunch from the
crushed cereal in the batter lasted only up to a day but the muffins were very
moist three days later). No embellishments needed. Perfect with a tiny smear of
barely-salted butter (for me), and for breakfast-on-the-go for the kids. These
muffins saved me this week.
A few days ago I had cheerfully uploaded this photo on instagram. The caption said, “Kids back in school. Enjoying the quiet this morning”. How presumptuous and audacious. Of course that was an invitation to jinx myself forever.
Just when I thought I was going to unpack our last few boxes
in peace and then put up my feet and read a book, maybe: everyone got sick.
Including me. Falling like dominoes, starting with my girl, ending with me. So,
this week was all about sleep-deprivation and exhaustion. I feel a bit like a
wrung-out mop. Or dish-rag. Whatever is worse. But at least these muffins kept
me nourished while, according to my boy, we (he and I) were “living the life” today i.e. sitting up in bed convalescing reading and chatting.
If you’d like to make these muffins, here’s the recipe. I
used things I had on hand so I substituted coconut oil for the butter, a blend
of whole wheat and all-purpose flour for the whole wheat pastry flour, and yogurt for the
buttermilk. I’ve made quite a few things out of this book over previous months (more
blog posts to follow) and I find Heidi’s recipes very easily adaptable. The recipes themselves
contain suggestions for substitutes and I’ve found that I can use seasonal
fruits, a blend of flours and different alternatives for butter without my
alterations compromising the end-result. I’m excited to try more recipes from
this book over the next few weeks as part of my
target-one-cookbook-a-month plan for this year.
Bran Muffins
Makes 12
(Mildly adapted from the original recipe) Super
Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson, Page 47
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
½ cup coconut oil
¼ cup maple syrup
½ cup oat bran
1.5 cups plain, unsweetened bran cereal, crushed (I poured
it into a zipper bag and crushed it with one hand while I carried the baby)
½ cup wholewheat flour
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup natural cane sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
Preheat the oven to 400F. Generously butter a standard
12-cup muffin pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, coconut
oil and maple syrup. Sprinkle the crushed cereal and the bran on top, stir, and
allow the mixture to rest for five minutes.
Stir the dry ingredients together in another bowl and
sprinkle them over the wet ingredients, stirring till just combined. Scoop the
thick-ish batter into your muffin pan and bake 18-22 minutes. Cool in pan for 5
minutes before turning the muffins out of the pan to cool on a wire rack.
