Cheese Muffins

I should have known as I woke this morning that it was going to be one of those days... 

The day began with me lying in bed, groggily watching Logan playing with some of his cloth diapers. Until I came to the realization that he was playing with the dirty diapers from his diaper bag. Could have been worse - at least they were all wet and not dirty! But still... how disgusting is that?

Heather called me early this morning to join her at Ikea. The last thing she said before hanging up was "no rush". Good thing. Apparently, there is no such thing as being able to leave your house in a rush when you have kids. Or, viewed alternatively, it is always a huge rush to ever be able to get out of the house... To the point that I'm wondering how I'll ever get out of the house for 7:30 a.m. twice next week to get to our doctor's appointments on time?!?!?!  I was just about ready to leave to meet Heather, but wanted to quickly change the kids' diapers before leaving. And then Chloé peed all over herself and the change table... that's how life goes with newborns.  

A few moments later, I gave Logan an applesauce pack - the ones with the little spouts you can sip from, which tend to be pretty mess free. I quickly put Chloé into her car seat and turned around to see Logan, with a huge grin on his face, shaking the applesauce pack as hard as he could. And there he was, covered head to foot in applesauce. As was the floor of my entrance, the living room, as well as two doors. Lesson learned. It is not advisable to give your toddler applesauce as you are getting ready to leave the house. Quick clothing change for Logan... that's 4 outfits to wash from today and counting, and it wasn't even 9:30 a.m. yet. And I had just *finally* caught up on all of the mountains of laundry the night before. *Le sigh*

So finally out the door and off to Ikea. After a relatively uneventful trip to Ikea, as I went to put Logan in the car, I realized that he had peed through his outfit (and all over the stroller) while in the store.  No chance that I was gonna pack Chloé back up to change him in the store, so I opted to change him in the trunk of the car. Much to the alarm of a few people who glanced in our direction, giving me "most terrible mother in the world" glares. Come on!!!  It was a bit chilly outside, but not that cold and he was only naked for a split second. And really, he survived, so that's all that matters...

In true child style, Logan fell asleep just seconds away from our house. I didn't dare wake him up, for fear that he might not nap at all today, so I decided to drive around until he woke up (enjoying the precious silence and a tea!). Only to get home to realize that I hadn't done Chloé's car seat up before leaving Ikea!!! And that's the moment where I got today's first nomination for the "best mother in the world" award. I can only be extremely thankful that we didn't get an accident on my leisurely scenic tour around the West Island...

After lunch (yes, it was still only noon!), we were off for an uneventful walk to the grocery store, followed by a trip to the park. I'm still really getting the swing of managing this whole two kid thing. Or I should say, not getting the swing of it, but hoping that I will soon. I quickly laid Chloé down on the bottom of a slide to put her back in her sling only to turn around to Logan dumping handfuls of sand directly onto her face. Poor thing is only 2 weeks old and she's already being picked on by her older brother! At least she was sleeping, so her eyes and mouth were closed...

And then we finished off our park visit with Logan pulling a Superman stunt off of one of the park structures. He was playing with (which is a politically correct was of saying pushing around) a little girl at the top of a slide. And I looked down for one second to get Chloé to feed and looked up to see him basically jumping off the top of the ladder. How can kids move so fast??? Good thing the random stranger I had just met at the park had the wherewithall to catch him. This is when I got my second nomination for the "best mother in the world" award... Even though I saw it happening and was close enough that he wouldn't have hit the ground. But there's something super embarrassing about not being the one to be the first one to respond to your kid's suicide attempt.

And yes, I came home from all of this exhausted and with a splitting headache and vegged in front of the tv with Logan playing at my feet, Chloé in my arms, counting the minutes until Jerome came home. But the day's fun was not quite yet over. Logan managed to puke all over me before the day's end. Self-induced vomiting. Caused by a major temper tantrum over I-don't-even-know-what. 

And then for one last grand finale, while I was running his bath (and in his bedroom putting away his laundry), he managed to reach a bucket on the counter (gosh he's getting too tall!), stick it under the tub faucet a good number of times, and create an artificial lake in our bathroom... good times... Lucky for him, he went to sleep without a peep, or I might have just lost it.

People have been asking me since Chloé was born if I find the adaptation to having two kids easier or harder than adapting to having a first baby. Or if I find it tough that they're only 18 months apart. Up until today, I'd have said that the adaptation to two kids wasn't all that particularly challenging. But that was before I was nominated for any awards. Funny how much one day's events can change your perspective. Today, I felt like I couldn't even handle one of them, never mind two. And I'm sure that everyone reading this who has kids has had these kinds of days where you count the minutes until your husband gets home, until your kids go to sleep, until you can finally go to sleep... and I guess that's just part of the game. 

Luckily, even in the craziness of days like today, there are many moments that help you quickly forget the struggles. Like watching Logan giggle his head off as he ran through the tunnels in the play structure or through the leaves. Or getting to cuddle with him beside me, Chloé in my arms at the end of the day. Or watching him give Chloé 10+ kisses in a row saying "mmwa" every single time. Or getting a huge chuckle over one of his first combinations: "bum boy J" - I call Logan stinky bum boy when I change his diaper, which he repeats as "bum boy" and he has gotten into the habit of calling Jerome "J", imitating myself. I'm not quite sure what he meant when he said "bum boy J" this evening, but I laughed so hard that it made up for all of the crap he put me through today!!

And I'm sure that tomorrow will bring a whole new set of adventures... though Logan is in daycare about every other day, which means that I'll have a bit more peace for some of the day tomorrow.

Given what I just wrote, I guess that it's evident that I haven't had a ton of time to be cooking/baking since our return home from the hospital with Chloé.  I have made a few of my tried and true recipes that are already up here on my blog. Particularly, recipes which tend to be pretty quick and easy to whip up, such as:


shredded chicken

chicken coconut curry soup: 
 



  




mom's mac and cheese:
    








date and apple muffins:

maple banana muffins with flax

apple cream cheese pie for my parents' visit this past weekend:

Logan has been on a muffin binge for the past week or so, eating more muffins than Jerome and myself combined. And since I was home without Logan on Monday, I took advantage of a quiet moment while Chloé was sleeping in her car seat to whip up a batch of cheese muffins, which I haven't made in ages.

4 tbsp. butter (I used low-fat margarine)
1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
2 eggs
1/2 C milk 
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 ounces (60g) sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used low-fat cheese) (next time, I'd throw in some extra cheese)

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.  Melt the butter and set aside.

2.  In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and paprika.

3.  In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, melted butter and thyme and whisk to blend.

4.  Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

5.  Place a heaped spoonful of batter into muffin cups.  Drop a few pieces of cheese over each, then top with another spoonful of batter.  For even baking, half-fill any empty muffin cups with water. (hmm... I didn't read this step until just typing it right now... I just grated the cheese into the batter. But this sounds like it would have been tasty. I think that next time, I'll grate some of the cheese into the batter and then put some of it cubed into the middle).

6.  Bake until puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before unmolding.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 9.