My hubby's day off

I absolutely love days my husband has off work.  Not only do we get family time, but it's my time to really get stuff done around the house.  He is an amazing father, and he's so good to wrangle the kids for me so I can get things accomplished.  Today I made lots of muffins and breads and candies for a bake sale for our Jacksonville Roller Girls' double header tonight.  Mike and I are HUGE derby fans, and our son's teacher happens to be one of the stars of the team (pic of her and me below).  

Here's the carrot bread/muffin recipe I used tonight.  It turned out super tasty, and if I can make it and make it right, anyone can!

Ingredients:

2 cups grated carrots

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

3/4 chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare two medium loaf pans by spraying with cooking spray.

1. Grate and measure the carrots and set aside. (I used my food processor to do this.)

2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Whip the eggs together in a medium bowl.  Stir the sugar in and then add the oil, extract, and milk, stirring well after each addition.

4. Make a depression in the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture along with the carrots and nuts (if using).  Mix with a spatula until combined.

5. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans.  Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until the loaves test done when a toothpick is inserted in the middle of the loaves.

I also used this recipe to make 24 muffins. I baked those at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.  I think I actually prefer the muffins to the bread.

Credit: I modified a recipe I found on preparedpantry.com. 

On to the frustrating and awesome parts of my day.  I hope by now that you realize that I am not posting this stuff to brag or complain, but to show you that real moms have moments of frustration AND awesome moments that make up their everyday lives.  I want you to know about the good, the bad, and the ugly so you know that EVERY mom experiences that stuff ALL THE TIME.  :-)

Frustrating:  Lynnie dragged a bunch of egg shells (from my baking today) out of the trash and was playing with them before my husband or I could get them from her.  Then my son stepped in the mess and tracked the goo all over the kitchen.  As I was putting the Swiffer wet away after cleaning it all up, my son tried to pour himself a cup of juice and instead poured it all over the kitchen floor.  Well, Yippy.

In between (not really frustrating, but not necessarily awesome either): While waiting for my groceries to be rung up at Publix today, Bryant was very hyped up on the free cookie he received and was jumping up and down mumbling some sort of gibberish.  As he was doing that, Nicolyn kept trying to push the buttons on the credit card pad and put the pen thingy in her ear. That's pretty typical for us.  Luckily the cashier thought it was cute.  :-)  Also, Nicolyn started saying, "cookie?!" when we pulled up to the Publix parking lot.  She's super smart. It's funny that she correlates the two now.

Awesome:  1. Lynnie put a DVD in the player by herself and closed the drawer when she wanted to watch a movie.  It's so amazing to watch her discover her world and not have to miss every little moment. 2. My hubby and I went to a derby bout, and the New Jax City Rollers totally kicked butt!!!  He had a Outback gift card that he had earned at work, so we had a nice dinner beforehand.  It was fantastic to spend such a nice evening with him and a few of our friends.  3. Our babysitter (AKA the most amazing babysitter to ever roam the planet) organized our Tupperware cabinet, put away the dishes from the dishwasher, AND cleaned up the living room after the kids went to bed and before we got home.  I'll attach a pic of the cabinet - I just wish I had a "before" pic to show you!  Seriously, what a blessing!!!!!  Also, you know you're jealous of the hideous green paint in the cabinet.  ;-)