Quick Takes Feast of St. Faustina with Avocado Chocolate Chip Muffins

--- 1 ---

I actually walked Cari's virtual 5K, with the Chef, the dog, and the baby in the stroller.  Sadly, I did not take pictures.

I'm in super great shape (she said sarcastically) because as Edmund observed, "You must get tons of exercise just walking around stores all day."  Babes and their mouths.

In all seriousness, I'm stuck.  Dietarily stuck.  In the last few months, I've tried less gluten, more paleo, and ended up more hungry, less satisfied.  And the seeds hurt my bad tooth badly.

According to that 90s diet bestseller, Eat Right for Your Type, my blood type is the only blood type that is supposed to consume dairy.  And I neeeeed dairy.  Especially with my gluten free tortilla chips (queso) and dark chocolate chip cookies (glass of milk).

Now I keep hearing from my redonkulously fit mother-of-four boot camp teacher about this "eat clean" thing.  So, my head is turned by that business and I just dropped a small fortune on greek yogurt, coconut oil, and evaporated cane juice which is actually really expensive organic sugar.

Here she is, with her beautifully fit family.  Oh, and I see her at daily mass too.  Yeah, she's perfect.  sigh.

At least eating clean doesn't eliminate any of the four food groups, except fried foods.  It also appears to be a healthy way of eating for the whole family.

Hmm, I wonder if there are any "clean" Halloween candies...

--- 2 ---

Everyone gets so jazzed this time of year about Stardollars Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Well, I've had it and guess what?  It tastes like coffee.

gross.

I much prefer the pumpkin milkshake at McDonald's or the pumpkin ice cream from Aldi.

I will definitely try the Culver's and Sonic shakes to compare.  I know you will need the results of my research.

C'mon Chik-fil-a, you've had that limited-time-only disgusting peach flavored shake since AUGUST!  Gimme some pumpkin!  I have a sneaking suspicion that they have to use up all the peach shake mix before they can change flavors.

Pumpkin is "clean," so everything pumpkin is clean too, right? 

--- 3 ---

When I fell in love with Downton Abbey, I explained the show to some people who hadn't seen it, and I was repeatedly told, "Oh, it sounds just like Upstairs, Downstairs."

In my head, I thought, "Silly people.   Downton Abbey is a period drama, Upstairs, Downstairs is a British comedy about a hotel."

It wasn't until this week that I realized I had confused Upstairs, Downstairs with the 1970's sitcom Fawlty Towers, starring John Cleese.

Oops.

This is not Fawlty Towers.

 

This is not Upstairs, Downstairs.

 
Lucky for me, I get to watch all of the remakes of Upstairs, Downstairs on Masterpiece Classic, and then I'm going to watch the original show from the 1970's on Netflix.

Huzzah for period dramas!

--- 4 ---

I plugged in Baby J for the first time today.

I waited until she was 17 months old.

Her obsession with farm animals, and the noises they make, meshed well with my need to take a shower, and the availability of Shaun the Sheep on Netflix. 

--- 5 ---

The Chef's family has their annual Oktoberfest this weekend.  I don't get why they get all München on us every year.  They're a bunch of Micks and I'll be one of the only Krauts there.

Ahh.  I think I just answered my question.  Micks + Beer = any excuse to celebrate. That's why I love Micks.

--- 6 ---

Back to "eating clean," the trainer makes snacks for us every Friday and sends us the recipes.  A few weeks ago, she made Avocado Chocolate Chip Muffins.  I made them, and even the kids like them.

Yes, there is a greenish tinge, but you can't taste the avocado.  Not that tasting avocado is a bad thing...

Avocado Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

1 3/4 c. white whole wheat flour (I used the Ultragrain from Costco.)
3/4 c. organic evaporated cane juice (I used organic sugar from yep, you guessed it, Costco.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet, because I have a ton of those.)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners, or use olive oil mist spray.  (I used Aldi brand Pam.)
2.   In a large bowl, combine flour, cane juice, baking powder, salt.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, avocado, banana, coconut oil and vanilla.  Add to flour mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.
4.  Spoon batter into muffin cups filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake for 25 minutes, checking for doneness.

This recipe is from the Clean Eating magazine.

--- 7 ---

I want to take my peeps to a Halloween movie this month, maybe Frankenweenie, maybe Hotel Transylvania, maybe both.  Not because I think either of those movies is something great, I just want to vote with my wallet against ParaNorman.  Also, I just got my tooth fixed and now I need a popcorn and candy corn fix.  

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