Thunder

I had a witty and intelligent post scheduled for today.  But we got a little much needed rain last night.  And I'm grateful.  Truly.  But the little bit of rain was accompanied by lots of thunder which means that a terrified two year old was clinging to me until well after 2am.  Needless to say no one got much sleep.

So, all plans are out the window and it's time to pull out the Plan Zzzz activities.  The ones where we focus on just being.  Chores, projects, housework and anything with real educational value all slide.  The goal of the day is just being together.  We celebrate finding comfort in a hug and a reason for getting up in the morning in a sleep deprived smile.

So we spent the morning baking and this afternoon will be fort building and snuggling up for a little family movie time.  What did we bake?  Chocolate Chip Vege Muffins.  Yummy and the added veges relieves any guilt I may have in foregoing productivity today.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups total grated zucchini and carrots
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1-2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, earth balance, or oil
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons water and 2 teaspoons baking powder, mixed together in a separate bowl
1/3 milk, soy milk, or almond milk
mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all except last ingredient in a large mixing bowl.  Add milk 1/3 cup to start with, adding more until the mix resembles thick cake batter.  The amount of milk needed will depend on how moist the zucchini and carrots are.  Now it's time for the good part.  Add in a 1/4 cup or so of mini chocolate chips.  This is what makes my kiddos inhale these yummy muffins.  I add just enough so that each muffin has a few chocolate chips but not enough to make them overly chocolately.  Bake about 15 minutes until the tops are golden brown.  

We were out of chocolate chips so I finely chopped a square of baking chocolate.

Sometimes we have to just "check out" for the day.  We gather our family around us, ignore the demands of society and just celebrate one another.  That's what I'll be doing later today as I struggle to consume enough chocolate to keep me awake until bedtime...