6 Week Bran Muffins....with Chia Seeds

Have you read about or tried chia seeds?

They are the latest super food... an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber.
They look like small, greyish seeds...bigger than poppy seeds.

I picked up a bag at Costco and I have been adding them to our muffins and oatmeal.

I even adapted my 6 week bran muffin to include some chia seeds.

I have been making this bran muffin recipe for many years...it's my favourite bran muffin recipe....moist & tasty.
{I am always so disappointed when I buy a bran muffin and it's dry and tastes like sawdust. Yuck!}

 This recipe makes between 5 and 6 dozen muffins and can be kept in the fridge for up to 6 weeks and used as needed.

{It has never been around my house for 6 weeks...more like 3 weeks!}

Sometimes I bake 6 muffins. Sometimes 12.

It works great for packed lunches and snacks, as well as breakfast and bedtime snacks.

One of my favourite breakfasts is a bran muffin fresh from the oven, a soft boiled egg and some fresh fruit.

So if you are looking for a high fiber muffin with nutritious ingredients...this may work for your family.
And don't worry...no one will taste the chia seeds and say, "Eww! Mom! What is in these?"
The chia seeds blend in perfectly with all the other ingredients.

It takes only 15 minutes to mix up and put in the fridge.

And it is so nice to have this in the fridge so a quick batch of muffins can be baked at any time!

6 Week Bran Muffins with Chia Seeds

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups white flour

1/2 cup wheat germ {optional}

3/4 cup chia seeds

5 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir dry ingredients together in large bowl

.{I have a large tupperware bowl with a cover that I love for this recipe} 

Set aside.

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

{ I use 100% lard, and not hydrogenated vegetable shortening, although next time I will try coconut oil as my readers have suggested!}

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs.

1 quart buttermilk.

{If you don't have buttermilk on hand, add a few tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar to equal amount of milk and use as a substitute. I have done this many times!}

In mixer or with hand mixer, cream shortening and sugar together. Add eggs...one at a time.

Mix well.

Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk to wet ingredients.

Your mixture will look like this:

Pour mixture into large bowl.

Add 6 cups of all-bran cereal and pour 2 cups hot water over top.

Mix well.

Cover tightly.

Label and put in the fridge.

After the mix sits in the fridge for a day or so...it will thicken and look like this:

And after the mix is scooped and baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, the result will be these:

I hope you enjoy these wonderful muffins!

They are so good with a little fruit.

They are a favourite of mine.

And the convenience of having a large quantity of the batter around to bake at anytime is awesome!

This post is linked to these terrific parties:








 

 

Can't Wait For These New Books...

Hello dear friends!

Sorry I have not been in blogland lately.

My hubby was away on business for 8 days and I was completely focused on the kids...driving them to all their activities and keeping up with everything.

So it turned into a little unexpected blog break!

I did a boys' birthday party all by myself...including a round of laser tag at the local place and a sleepover...in which the boys actually slept! Ha!

***

There are 3 new books coming out this spring for which I can hardly wait!

The first is the new Pioneer Woman cookbook...making it`s way to shelves on March 13.

I have her first cookbook and it is so gorgeous...both as a cookbook and a pictorial of her life on the ranch.

And many of you know already that I have been reading the Nie Nie Dialogues for a long time and was reading when she was in a near fatal plane crash in 2009 with her husband.

Not only did she survive being burned over 84% of her body....she reclaimed her life as a wife and a mom to 4 children, but is expecting a new baby in 6 weeks.

Her story is so inspirational.

I will be heading to Chapters on April 3 to pick up my pre-ordered copy.

And Amy Atlas has her first book arriving in stores on April 24....featuring her gorgeously styled signature parties!

 Hope your week is going great!

xo

Pink Tulips...

Some $4.00 flowers from the grocery store...perfect to brighten a winter's day.

Hope you find a bright spot in your day as well!

xo

A Family Documents Binder...

I  really want to thank everyone who has been hanging out with me this week!

It's been so much fun sharing some of my home managements tips and ideas with you!

On Monday we talked about meal planning.

Tuesday involved chatting about the 10 best ways to save money on groceries without using coupons.

Revolutionizing your laundry routine was Thursday's topic.

Today I want to share where we keep all of our family's important documents.

***

Do you have a system for keeping your important family documents under wraps?

Maybe you have these papers in file folders or a box.? I would like to show you how I have our family's documents stored.

Hello Family Documents Binder!

You are such a wonderful friend for keeping all of our documents so neat & tidy & easy to find.

This is such a simple project to create.

Only a binder is required....along with  some dividers, page protectors and a sheet created on the computer.

Create some custom tabs for the categories needed on the computer.

Print off the sheet.

Cut the tabs and stable the tabs to the page dividers to make categories.

You can make as many categories as you like!

I like to use this binder for official government documents, but you could add as many things as you wish!

Insert page protectors in each category to hold the documents.

Below is the page protector which holds our family's passports, along with a photocopy of each passport number and photo to leave at home when travelling.

Store all your documents in one place.... an organized binder!

For me, I don't feel that these things belong in a home management binder because I don't want them to be out in the open or the children to have access to them...just in case.

So I keep this binder in a private area of our home.

The binder can be stored in a safe for protection if you wish.

This system works so well!

I was out doing errands one day when my husband called from his work to ask for his passport number as he was booking a plane ticket for business travel.

I was able to call my 15 yr. old daughter at home and ask her to get out the binder and  look up her Dad's passport number and call him back.

She easily found it....thanks to the Family Documents Binder.

And trust me, it is such a good feeling to have these important papers in one place.

When I need a copy of a child's birth certificate, or baptism certificate, I know exactly where to look!

  These items have a permanent home!

Revolutionize Your Laundry Routine...

In days gone by, Monday was the traditional day for a homemaker to do her family's laundry.

Monday was the chosen day because laundry was hard, back-breaking work and it was best to tackle this after Sunday's day of rest.

I am sure that  this homemaker thought this modern machine was a huge improvement over just a plain tub of water and a paddle....which at the time I am sure it was!

When I was growing up in a little village in Nova Scotia in the 1970's, our next door neighbour was still doing her laundry with one of these. {below}

She did her laundry one day a week and she had two children in elementary school whom my brother and I played with.

I was always slightly fascinated when I happened to be at her house on laundry day...it looked like fun to put the clothes through the 'mangle' at the top....although I wouldn't want to jam my fingers....double ouch!

 I have a close friend who has an antique mangle in her home. Her parents brought it with them to Canada from Norway and it is treasured as a family heirloom because it once belonged to her Grandmother.

This type of laundry equipment is unbreakable and will last forever, but sure is darn heavy and impossible to move...I know because we tried!

 When you look at these antique types of washing machines, it gives you a new appreciation for the machines we use today, where we literally dump the clothes in, push a few buttons and walk away.

However, it is still a dreaded chore!

In the days where these older types of machines were used, it made sense to do laundry in the traditional way of sorting lights from darks and clean from really dirty.

And if you are still doing laundry this way, I want to give you a few suggestions as to how you can make the chore of laundry more streamlined.

Tip #1~ Keep a laundry hamper just for towels and bedding.

Keep it in the bathroom or hallway so all family members can deposit their towels easily.

Do loads of towels, facecloths and bedding separate from the other laundry on an as needed basis.

I usually do a load of towels every second day.

I do 2 loads of bedding once a week.

Tip #2~Next, buy a simple laundry basket for each family member.

Keep it in their bedroom where they dress and undress.

{We keep ours in our bedroom closets.}

Keep the laundry basket there all the time....otherwise there will be dirty clothes on the floor!

Teach your children to put their dirty clothes in their basket.

I have been doing this with my children since they were toddlers.

Tip #3~Buy a few more laundry baskets{I got mine years ago at Zellers for $3.99} for transporting dirty laundry from the bedrooms to the laundry area.

Here is my son's dirty laundry ready to go to the washer.

Tip #4~ Next, assign each person a laundry day. It can be the same day each week or you can decide as you go depending on who has the fullest basket of dirty clothes.

Tip #5~And here's where you can save yourself a ton of time....just do one person's laundry in the washer and then dry it.

Don't carry every family member's dirty clothes to the laundry area and sort into dark and light with messy piles all over the floor.

And sort again when they are washed and dried and have to be put away.

Skip that step! Don't do sorting and sorting!

Just do one person's laundry at a time.

Carry that person's laundry to the washer,  wash it, dry it and then take it back to the owner's bedroom for them to fold and put away!

If I had to do laundry the old-fashioned way of mixing every one's clothes together, sorting light and dark  and then sorting again when they were all done, I would honestly have a breakdown!

All that sorting, sorting, sorting....no thank you!

Tip #5~And here's another tip.....it you don't have enough of one person's clothes for a light and dark load, put it all in together!

Yes, I said don't separate it!

Most clothes and laundry detergents today are colour fast and don't run!

The only exception might be new jeans.

{However, I would still do a separate load for delicates on the delicate setting.}

Tip #6~When it comes to socks for kids, buy them multiple pairs of the same brand and colour so their socks are all the same.

That way the socks are easy to match and if you have an odd sock, the other odd sock in the drawer is exactly the same and you have a matched pair!

For instance, my 10 yr. old son has 12 pairs of white socks of the same brand.

Tip #7~Teach teenagers to do their own laundry. My 15 yr. old daughter has been doing her own laundry for 2 years. This started when she reached junior high and she wanted her clothes washed every 3 days because she had 3 favourite outfits.So  I taught her how to use the washer and dryer and how to iron and she has been doing it ever since. In fact, she doesn't like me to touch her laundry at all...she likes to do it herself!

This past weekend, my 10 yr.old son asked me to show him how to iron so he could iron his dress shirts for hockey.

I showed him how and he did an awesome job and ironed 4 shirts!

Proud Mommy moment!

Okay now. Back to laundry...

Another thing...I don't check pockets any more! Every one in my house knows  'leave things in your pocket at your own risk' !

This started when I found dog poop in my then 6 yr. old son's pants pocket. True story.

{Don't ask!}

Now, in my professional organizing work, I have noticed that most families are still doing laundry the 'old way' of mixing all the families clothes together and then sorting them out again after they come out of the dryer into each person's pile.

And sorting them out before they go back to the owner's rooms.

So, I am really curious!

How do you do your laundry?

Are you mixing it all together and then sorting it all back out or are you more streamlined like me?

Inquiring minds want to know!

This post is linked to these parties: