Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

Lately my daughter hasn't been much of a breakfast eater. She will drink her milk but only takes a couple bites of her cereal and doesn't want any more. I am a firm believer that breakfast is super important so was not too pleased with her sudden disinterest. I decide maybe she just needed a change up from cereal, perhaps she was getting bored of it.

I tried out these banana oatmeal breakfast muffins. They are very healthy, (no sugar, just honey) and are also quite filling! I do have a major sweet tooth though, so I added a small handful of chocolate chips to the batter. These muffins are made with oats, flax and greek yogurt. I used my magic bullet to grind up the oats into an oat flour. 

It seems to have done the trick, because little monkey eats one right away and then wants more!

I had bought these silicone cupcake liners because I thought they would be cute for cupcakes for future birthdays for my daughter. I like to use them whenever I bake muffins because it gives me a dozen muffins where I don't need to use paper liners. Saves money, and garbage! Win win!

Crockpot Corn Chowder Soup

There was a little break in the summer heat this past weekend, Saturday was a bit drizzly and cool, so I made a soup for supper. I love homemade soups but don't enjoy eating them when it's super hot outside. So it was a perfect opportunity to try out this corn chowder recipe I found on Pinterest. 

It was pretty yummy, fairly cheap to make, fed us supper and had enough leftovers for lunch the next day. If a recipe makes enough to feed my family two meals, I call that a win in the frugal department! 

Ingredients:

6-8 potatoes (peeled and diced)

1 can cream corn

1 can whole kennel corn

2 cups chicken broth

8 oz diced ham

1 cup diced onion

1/4 cup butter

2 cups half and half

Place potatoes, corn, broth, ham and onions in the crockpot. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Mash the mixture to desired consistency. Add butter and half and half. Turn crockpot to high and cook 30 minutes longer.

Galatians 6:10

"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

This was the verse of the day on my bible app. I found it quite fitting, as last night I had a friend offer to come over after my daughter went to bed so that my husband and I could have a date away from the house. As a godly woman and mom to young kids herself, she knows the importance of time alone with your spouse, and her generous offer was gratefully accepted! 

Hubby and I grabbed a yummy French Vanilla coffee from Tim Hortons and went for a walk around a local park. It was a very simple date but since it doesn't happen often, it was nice to do.

Sometimes we get lost in our own worlds and busy schedules, and we forget about blessing others. This verse and my friends actions are an encouraging reminder to "do good" for other people. I'm excited to "pay it forward" and make the same offer to another couple!

If you'd like to know more about this friend of mine, check out her blog, monicaswitzer.com. She always has encouraging and uplifting posts about marriage/parenting/spiritual topics. 

Another cardboard box house

Today I made my daughter another cardboard box house. You can see the first house I made here.

 We had a bunch of cardboard boxes stacking up in our basement from past purchases and needed to clear out the space, so instead of tossing them I decided to make another house that will hopefully provide hours of playtime. This house is bigger with a tunnel entrance. No roof this time but Little Monkey doesn't seem to mind.

It's nothing fancy or extravagant, but should allow for her to use her imagination while she plays.

We will likely take some crayons in at some point and decorate the walls with some original artwork! I think the bottom flap at the front of the tunnel would make a perfect "Welcome" mat!