Tuesday, June 2, 2009

First Day on the Job

So, today was my first attempt at being a (pt)SAHM (I'm working part-time for the summer, which means I'm pretty much at home on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays). I actually started the new schedule two weeks ago, but because Phil had a few days off of work during that time and then CJ was sick for a couple days, today was the first REAL day at home.

Let me tell ya, I think I'm more exhausted from a day at home than I am after a day of work! If you could indulge me, I would like to share with you what we did today. Please feel free to let me know if what we did/didn't accomplish is reasonable. I'm new at this and not sure how to balance my time...and I'm not sure what a practical pace is.

So, today's events:
1. Early morning trip to the dentist (for me, CJ sat quietly and watched)
2. Came home and made a batch of pumpkin muffins (recipe follows, after all this blog is supposed to be about recipes)
3. Ate breakfast/muffins
4. Took CJ and one of his friends to the bank, where we cashed in $111 worth of coins. Isn't that cool?
5. Gas/Car wash (thanks to the newly received cash)
6. Let CJ play with friends
7. Oh yeah, in the midst of this, stripped the beds, washed the sheets and did 4 additional loads of laundry
8. Lunch with Phil and CJ
9. After lunch, while CJ practiced math on the computer (www.funbrain.com), I read a little on my book, "The Thirteenth Tale" (continued laundry)
10. Made a big ol' batch of meat sauce (to be used in multiple recipes...lasagna rolls, tostadas, chili)
11. Took CJ to swimming lessons at the Y, worked out briefly.
12. Went to yoga class...instructor didn't show.
13. Made dinner (lasagna rolls) and headed to CJ's baseball game
14. Game was rained out...led to time for blogging. :)

That's it, so far.

So, to the recipe. I've kind of been on a muffin kick lately. Last week, I made crumb-topped banana muffins from www.allrecipes.com. I'll post that recipe next. It was great!

Today, we made pumpkin muffins, not particularly in season, I know, but we still had some in the pantry. I found this recipe on two of my very favorite blogs: www.smittenkitchen.com and www.dineanddish.com. I figured they had to be good...and they were!

Pumpkin Muffins
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 can (15 oz) canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I subbed cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)
1 1/4 c. + 1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put liners in 12 muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Then, whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 TB sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter amoung muffin cups (I filled 12 and had a little extra), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golder brown and a toothpick or skewer insterted into the middle comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool.

Eat and enjoy!

3 comments:

Les said...

I'd say that's a 9 on a 1-10 scale of productive days!! It's great to have those days but don't try them everyday. A 5-6 is a win in my book!!
Glad to see you made a little time for book reading!

Unknown said...

Woah, Jimi! If we're comparing, then I'm SO LAZY! Good job! I'm tired just reading it, though. Lend some of your energy this way. ;-)

Kristen said...

I totally agree with Les...my you got a lot accomplished!!