Poppy Seed Banana Muffins

Poppy seed Banana Muffins

3 over ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
½ cup organic sugar
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup coconut milk
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp dried lavender, chopped or put through a coffee grinder
1 ¼ cups unbleached flour
¼ cup ground flax seed
1 tbsp hemp hearts
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt 1 tsp vanilla In large bowl, combine egg, sugar and oil. Add coconutmilk, poppy seeds, lavender, vanilla and mashed bananas. In another bowl, combine flour, ground flax seed, salt, baking powder, hemp hearts and baking soda. Add to liquid mixture and mix well. Scoop into 18 greased muffin tins.   Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Note: You can buy Flax seed at most pharmacies and Health Food stores. It doesn’t cost much but eating it whole doesn’t do you much good. Ground Flax seed is what you need. You can grind your own Flax seed with a coffee grinder (costs about $20) or you can buy already ground Flax seed. The already ground Flax seed costs a bit more, it has to be stored in a light-proof container, in the fridge and it is only good for a few months. You can put ground Flax seed on your cereal every morning or bake with it. Baking with it decreases its Omega 3 value but some recipes just aren’t the same without it. Personally, I don’t use ground Flax seed with chocolate recipes but otherwise I use it all the time. I make a fruit shake every morning with 1/8 cup freshly ground Flax seed. Ground Flax seed is very good for you in so many ways. For any recipe you can substitute ¼ cup flour for ¼ cup ground Flax seed. Buy yourself a coffee grinder. It’s a worthwhile investment!

If Men Got Pregnant...

If Men Got Pregnant…

- Maternity leave would last two years…with full pay.
- There’d be a cure for stretch marks.
- Natural childbirth would become obsolete.
- Morning sickness would rank as the nation’s number one health problem.
- All methods of birth control would be improved to 100 percent effectiveness.
- Children would be kept in the hospital until they were toilet trained.
- Men would be eager to talk about commitment.
- They wouldn’t think twins were so cute.
- Fathers would demand that their sons be home from dates by 10:00 p.m.
- Men could use their briefcases as diapers bags.
- They’d have to stop saying, “I’m afraid I’ll drop him.” -
 Paternity suits would be a line of clothes. - They’d stay in bed for the entire nine months.
- Menus at most restaurants would list ice cream and pickles as an entrée.
- Woman would rule the world.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Bacon wrapped Water Chestnuts

Pack of bacon, cut in half
2 cans water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
½ cup mayo
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp chilli sauce

Wrap bacon halves around water chestnuts, secure with strong, wooden toothpicks. Place on metal rack over pan to catch drips. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Cook Mayo, brown sugar and chilli sauce in medium sauce pan, on medium heat. Brush sauce on bacon wrapped water chestnuts after they’ve baked 30 minutes. Put back in oven for another 10 minutes

Baked, Cut Potatoes

Baked, Cut Potatoes 4 potatoes olive oil desired spices, such as garlic and onion powder, dill, cilantro, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, etc. Slice potatoes almost to the end. Place in small casserole dish. Brush on some oil and sprinkle on desired spices. Bake at 425 degrees for an hour.

PUBLISHED!

And I thought last Christmas was the best Christmas ever...PUBLISHED! 2013 was such a wonderful year, from beginning to end. Two of my biggest dreams came true. First we moved to Ontario and second a publisher wants to publish my novel. I still can't believe we actually moved and I'm just beside myself about my book finding a home. Thank you to all who shared words of encouragement. I'll let you know when it's on the market.

Surprise!

Every summer, Mike and I travel to Dryden to visit his dad. This year we did something a bit different...we still went to Dryden but this year we brought Will and Scott with us...and all of our furniture and belongings. Yes, we've moved to Dryden, finally. We've been here since June 30th, almost 5 months. Any transition isn't easy; it's a good thing we all hated living in Thompson and love living in Dryden. That makes it easier to handle. Mike and I left good jobs behind and now we're only working part of the time. Hopefully we can get by until Mike is at least full-time. We found a place to rent. Life is good. Too bad Dryden gets snow in the winter. I haven't been writing since spring. I'm going to submit my manuscript to another publisher very soon and then start writing again. I'm not working as an educational assistant in Dryden. I'm still working with students but for the first time ever, I'm working with adult students. I've been thinking about a career change for a while now. Since I got here I've been doing research on what the best kind of job for me would be. Physically I'm sort of limited. As much as I 'd like to just be a writer, realistically, I'm assuming I need a real job. I've decided on Business administration, I think I'd enjoy doing that. I found a college I can get my diploma from. The 2 year course starts next September. I'm going to see if I can get funded for the course. That's one of the great things about Ontario. Will and Scott have applied with Ontario Disability Support Program, another really good thing about Ontario. Will is getting a walker to help him walk because he's only able to walk for 5 minutes without getting too tired. There isn't a lot of employment here, insurance is so expensive that I'm unable to drive until we can afford more than double the cost of our insurance. The price of Gas and hydro is criminal. I'm thinking, solar power would be ideal once we're in our own house. However, I'd rather be living in Ontario than Manitoba! Mike and I wonder if he should have moved to Dryden ahead of Will, Scott and I but that would have been difficult too. We all wanted to move at the same time so this is what we did. Here's hoping it all works out. I miss all my friends in Thompson and I miss the museum. Luckily we have a lot friends here too.

For those who are wondering

For those who are wondering…I rewrote my novel and submitted it again to a publisher a month ago. Will I rewrite and/ make changes to it again? Very possible. Do I think I’ll get published real quick and on my third try? Probably not. Am I going to give up? No. I’ll keep trying and if I can’t find a publisher for my novel then I’ll pay to have it published, but that’s a last resort. I’ll decide that this time, next year if I’m willing to go that route. I feel good about my novel…right now, not to say my mind can’t be swayed by a thousand rejections though. It’s possible that my first novel will never be published and maybe my second and third book will be. Maybe I need more practice…here’s hoping!