Whole Wheat Oatmeal {Whatever} Muffins

I love recipes that fall into the "whatever," category, as I like to call it. Whatever's on hand, in the pantry, on sale, or in the fridge will work for this recipe or any other "whatever" recipe that I post. "Whatever" recipes are great basic recipes to have around because of their flexibility and versatility. And I love the creativity of it--I often find great and unexpected taste combinations that I want to make again.

In this particular case, we're talking about the fruits and nuts that go into these Whole Wheat Oatmeal muffins.

I've made them with blueberries and almonds...

 Bananas and walnuts...

And dried cranberries and flaxseed...

And they've all turned out great!! I've finally got the recipe down, so here it is! 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal {Whatever} Muffins

{will yield 24 muffins}

2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups whole milk {or almond milk for DF}

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup honey

6 tablespoons butter, melted {or coconut oil for DF}

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 cups fruit {dried or otherwise}

1/2 cup nuts {optional}

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is preheating, combine the oats and milk in a large bowl to allow the oats to soak. Add the other ingredients to the bowl up to the flour and stir to combine. Add the flour and stir to combine. Finally, gently stir in the fruits and nuts. The mixture shouldn't be too stiff but have the consistency of a thicker batter. If it's too thick {if you added some flaxseed or the like}, just add a little more milk to thin it out. Pour by the 1/4 cup full into lined muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. Will yield 24 muffins. 

Again, this recipe yields a larger amount, but these muffins freeze very well. They also make a great breakfast, snack, or even a lunch! Enjoy! 

Lovely Details: Homemade Mac & Cheese

Mac & cheese is the ultimate comfort food, for kids & adults alike. This is a great recipe that is not only easy but a waaaay better option than the ones that come in a box, which are full of chemicals, artificial dyes, preservatives & are nutrient deficient. 

Whole Wheat Mac & Cheese

{adapted from this recipe}

1 lb. 100% whole wheat pasta noodles

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

2 cups whole milk, warmed

8 oz. grated cheese

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

Boil the pasta according to the package instructions but remove the pasta 1 minute before the al dente time suggested. While the pasta is boiling, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk together until mixture begins to bubble and form a rue. Turn the heat down to low and slowly add the milk, whisking to incorporate it. Turn the heat back up to medium & bring the milk to a gentle simmer. As soon as the milk starts to bubble, begin adding the grated cheese {extra sharp cheddar, monterrey jack, or a mix of both work very well}, whisking until all the cheese is melted. Turn the heat back down to low. Add the pasta, salt, pepper, garlic powder and stir. Continue stirring the pasta occasionally and allow the sauce to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy! This keeps and reheats very well, so the leftovers make for some easy lunches during the week!

Soooo...ya.

I had this going on today. The slightly-too-big-and-droopy BLACK goucho pants with the way-too-hot-for-this-weather BROWN moccasins. And I left the house in this fashionable attire {crap!}. I need to shower & brush my hair, & so do the kids. In reality we'll all go to bed dirty on non-freshly-washed sheets and deal with it tomorrow. But at least there are clean towels. Clean. I didn't say folded. They're in a laundry basket in the living room, because that's where everyone keeps their towels, right?

It wasn't a bad day--we enjoyed the beautiful weather, the kids played outside, and we had ice cream for a snack. It was just a day. A black pants with brown shoes kinda day. Soooooo...ya. Just incase you thought you were alone.

Homemade Strawberry "Ice Cream"

Summer is in the air! I so enjoyed having the windows open yesterday, allowing the fresh air and the scent of campfires and grills nearby to waft inside. On a hot summer day, creamy, cold ice cream really hits the spot. And this Strawberry "Ice Cream" is certainly no exception! In fact, you may never want to buy the store-bought kind ever again...

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day, so we decided to try making our own "ice cream" at home to celebrate. You don't need an ice cream maker for this recipe! Here's what we did:

Homemade Strawberry "Ice Cream"

{makes 6 servings}

8-10 oz. fresh strawberries

1 can coconut milk {not lite}

1/3 cup honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until combined. Pour mixture into ice cube trays {will fill 3 trays} and put in the freezer. Once completely frozen, pop the cubes out and put one tray's worth at a time into a food processor. Process until the mixture forms a ball and has the consistency of ice cream. Each tray will serve about two people, unless you like a really big bowl of ice cream... :) My kids loved it so much that they were begging for some more last night and first thing when they woke up this morning! I promised them we could have it again for snack this afternoon, and it turned out to be a perfect, sunny day for that!

If you don't have a food processor, this recipe would also make excellent homemade popsicles! I don't have popsicle molds yet {it's on my ever-growing list of kitchen items I'd like to purchase... :)}, but I'm anxious to try it out once I do! 

This recipe definitely falls into the "Whatever" Ice Cream category {it can be whatever kind of ice cream you want!}. Simply substitute any fruit, or any combination of fruit, for the strawberries. Pineapple, blueberry, peach, raspberry, mandarin orange... Ooohh, and how about adding some spices to the mix? Peaches + cinnamon, blueberries + vanilla bean, watermelon + fresh mint, mandarin oranges + nutmeg, cherries + dark chocolate...the possibilities are endless. Now my mouth is watering!

Enjoy! 

Airing My Dirty Laundry

In a brief moment of panic last night, I realized that anyone, anywhere could see what I did on an average day by looking at my photos {shocker, I know}. Now, I had thought about family and friends looking at them, but everyone else?!?!?! All of a sudden I wasn't so sure what I thought about that. If you've spent any time looking at my daily pictures, you know that my carpet isn't always clean, the dishes and laundry pile up, and so on... But that moment passed, and I began to appreciate the freedom in that, too. 

So on that note, I'm airing my dirty laundry {literally}. As I walked around the house today, I became cognizant that there were nine {NINE!} different piles of laundry laying around, not including the big one in the basement by the washing machine. Holy moly. This week's goal: to sort, wash, organize and PUT AWAY said preponderance of laundry. And there's more...

I'm good at starting all kinds of projects but I suck at finishing them.
Sometimes I'm too lazy to serve a vegetable with dinner.

I don't remember to wash the sheets every week {or sometimes two}.
The dishes pile up {a lot} and so does the mail.
Playing on the floor with the kids? Ya, that's not really my thing...

There are boxes I still haven't unpacked from when we moved almost two years ago.

I get angry and yell at my kids, especially on the way out the door to school.

Organization is not my forte.

I haven't mopped the kitchen floors in a month {or two, or three?}. Seriously.

And that's me. Just ME. For all the world {apparently} to see. 

Why am I comfortable sharing all of that? Because I have a feeling that a lot of me looks like a lot of you. I sin. I fall short. I don't always clean up, follow up, follow through, or follow directions. And that's okay. Because I'm human, and so are you. No one is perfect, and you know what, it's a relief to stop pretending to be so. There's only one Person who is, and none of us are it. I want people to really get that, and I want to be the kind of woman that people look at and they're like, "whew, I'm glad I'm not the only one who..." or "thank GOD it's not just me that..." It's so easy to look at Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram and think that life is always beautiful, picturesque, and perfect, and so are the people. And to not be so perfect all the time makes you a complete and utter failure, especially as a mom. 

Thankfully, that's not reality! We have a God who has redeemed us and who has created us each with a unique set of gifts and abilities. It's time we not only rejoice in our strengths and gifts but also relish our weaknesses, because when we are weak HE is strong! God can heal, fix, redeem, and even use those areas where we fail. And there is freedom and healing there, friends. Freedom to Just. Be. You. In all your glory, with all your beautiful flaws. Take a look around at your cruddy floors, cruddy kids, cruddy microwave, and cruddy toilets {you know they are--admit it!!} and PRAISE GOD, because it's okay. You're okay. Crud and all.

"When we live in that picture of what should be instead of what is, we add a layer of guilt on top of what is already very difficult. And that makes it almost impossible. It's extremely counter cultural to admit that life is not perfect. I think that people are desperate to admit together that life is messy, and that marriage is hard, and that parenting is excruciating sometimes. And that doesn't mean that you're doing something wrong. It's hard because it's supposed to be."

~Glennon Doyle Melton