The Color of My Summer

Yesterday, it was a beautiful day. I was attending to my garden and I couldn't help myself but take pictures of the Asian veggies growing in my tiny garden space. I just a few took shots with Kodak Easy Share C613, I bet my shots would be better if it was taken on a DSLR camera - another wish list.

Then later on my son and I explored the compound for other picture worthy scenes. There was plenty of things to see and I enjoyed that I was sharing this with my 3 year old. I told him the story of how bees cook up nectar from flowers into honey. He loves honey so it was fascinating for him.

Some of the pictures that I took were from my Bok-choy ( pechay ) - they had tiny yellow flowers but I was not expecting to see them this early since they looked small. I also had shots of thistle flowers, the plant wasn't much to look at when it was growing from my space. I had to pull it out too since it was too prickly, but the ones growing in the pond had nice flowers. And there were those tiny lavender wild flowers, they were lovely too. Even the bees agree with me, my son spotted a busy group collecting nectar and that was when I shared the honey story to him.I also took pictures of my son's hand, he found two blossoms of Dandelions and he wanted me to take pictures of them too. I find them really cute.

Smile

I was nostalgic today of my preggy days when came across a Hil's Blog. As a first time mom, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of "first time everything", even until now. Pregnant with Thames, there was one of the many things I remember that never fails to put a smile on my face on a weekly basis..a newsletter from Pregnancy Weekly. Aside from the details on what you need to expect, they include a similar cartoon picture like the one I posted above. And thinking about it now, it helped my get through it all. 

In life whatever challenges you are faced with, I believe that any simple funny situation that can make you  smile or even laugh will work wonders for you as it did with mine. 

Lesson#2 : Don't forget to smile / laugh

You can see more cartoons here : http://www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com/index.php

Almost Everything

I'm an avid fan of the book Sneaky Chef because of my son who's a picky eater. But prior to the wonderful book discovery I was already a "Sneaky Chef" by heart, I guess any mom who has a son like mine would become one. I've experimented with carrots and broccoli in pancakes just so he could have a healthy breakfast. And then I moved to cupcakes/muffins since they became his favorite, I make it enticing as well by buying colorful liners.

Making these healthy breakfast/snack item also prevents me from throwing common fruit favorites when they're close to being over-ripe. Honestly, even for a fruit lover like me I still get tired of eating the same thing for a week and my hubby is not a fruit person at all. Since I have tried making these baked goodies they are always a hit with the boys. Now, no fruit goes to waste in my kitchen - almost.

I also discovered a good recipe from Sunny Anderson a couple of months back, you can even add your desired healthy ingredients. I'm not a big fan of blueberries ( I like to eat them fresh) in a baked recipe so I omitted it from the original list of ingredients. In the picture shown, I used strawberries, zucchini,carrots, bananas and walnuts. And I'm calling it my "almost-everything-in-it" muffins. Its moist,filling and I must say the healthiest I've made so far.

These muffins will still taste better even after days in your fridge. So for people on the go, you can just pop it in the microwave oven and viola! you can have something wholesome and enjoy it without getting your hands messy.I think muffins also are good when your watching your weight since you have portion control. Making these cupcakes/muffins is the most effective way to encourage my child eating his fruits and veggies even at breakfast without the fuss.

Here's also a collection of cupcakes/muffins I've made in the past: