Sadie will be two in March. I would never have considered potty training her yet, if she weren't pulling at her diaper and saying "pee" in a most distressed manner since sometime last November. Santa obliged and brought her a potty, which she loves, and since this week is the return to school and schedules, this is the week to really give it a go, I thought. The potty is set up in the kitchen, well away from carpets, and we've been letting Sadie go bottomless to see what happens. This morning I decided to make muffins. Sadie was a gem, running around mostly naked, entertaining herself, sitting on her potty and reading her potty book and then, bam!, peeing in the potty and making it sing. The potty sings when you pee in it. Or when you cover the two sensors in the bottom with your hand, as Sadie has also discovered. The morning went so smoothly, I thought to give it a go again tonight. Big Mistake.
Sadie hasn't been napping recently. Not sure what is up with that. She seems to think she gets two hours of playtime in her crib in the afternoons. Today was one of those days. Then she dissed my muffins. So by the time I was making supper (Greg and Olivia were gone to piano lessons), Sadie was tired, hungry and driving me up the wall. Why I let her go bottomless I'll never know. In the 45 minutes G&O were gone, I toasted pine nuts, dissected one grapefruit, mixed together spices, and cleaned up 6 pees: 2 in the potty and 4 on the floor. Supper was late, Sadie and I were both cranky and for what?! Sigh. We'll try again tomorrow.
[This is where I'm tempted to post an oh-so-cute picture of Sadie on her potty online for the world to see, but I will resist temptation.]
Onto the food! From the 2013 Milk Calendar:
Cranberry Crumble Muffins
1/3 cup (75 mL) quick cooking oats
1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter, melted
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat flour
2 tsps (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each, baking soda and salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) milk
1/4 cup (60 mL) plain yogurt (not fat free)
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, melted
2 cups (500 mL) fresh or frozen cranberries
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
Crumble: In a small bowl, combine oats, sugar, cinnamon and butter; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine all-purpose and whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, egg, milk, yogurt and butter until blended. Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with cranberries; stir just until moistened.
Spoon into prepared muffin pan; sprinkle tops with crumble. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.
Makes 12 muffins
I thought these muffins were delicious. I love cranberries, and sour things generally, and these muffins weren't horribly sweet and cake-like as some muffins are. Good texture too, firm but moist. I would definitely make them again. Sadie wouldn't even try them. Olivia ate half of one and said she didn't like it. Grace ate one and asked for another. Taye ate half of one and left the room. Greg is trying to avoid grains, he says his biggest pitfall, and if he eats one he'll eat three so he's not eating any. More for me, I guess. And Grace. And Olivia's lunch, whether she wants one or not.
For Supper! From January 2014 Chatelaine:
Za'atar Pork with Grapefruit Salad
Instructions
Preheat broiler. Arrange 4 boneless pork chops on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Combine 1 tbsp za'atar with 1 tbsp sesame seeds and 1/2 tsp salt. Sprinkle over pork chops. Broil in top third of oven 3-5 minutes.
Remove segments from 2 pink grapefruits, reserving juice separately. Toss 4 cups packed baby spinach with grapefruit segments and 1/4 cup each coarsely chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts in a large bowl.
Whisk 3 tbsp reserved grapefruit juice with 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1/2 tsp honey in a medium bowl. Drizzle salad with dressing just before serving.
Several notes: the original recipe called for 8 lamb chops; I'm not a big lamb fan and have a ton of pork chops in my freezer so subbed those in. We all four of us liked the pork. Success! The recipe said to broil the meat on parchment, which I did. I don't think parchment is supposed to be used for broiling and mine certainly burnt. Also, at 5 minutes under the pre-heated broiler, our chops were over cooked, so I've reduced the cooking time above from the original. None of us liked the grapefruit salad. I even hesitated to type it out here. We do like grapefruits, and I love toasted pine nuts like they are the best thing in the world, but this salad sucked. Will not be tried again. Za'atar: I've been reading about this for the past few years and noticed they sell it at Loblaws now, so thought this would be a good chance to give it a go. According to Chatelaine "This earthy Middle Eastern spice blend is the flavour of the year. Make your own by mixing 3 tbsp thyme with 3 tbsp sesame seeds, 2 tsp sumac or lemon zest, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt." It was yummy stuff.
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