Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Being a perfect mother

Oh, how I strive to be the perfect mom.


I know I'm not the only one out there who does. Especially us working moms.

I want to be the mom with a perfectly organized, clean house. I want to be the one with placing healthy, prepared-from-scratch breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks before my family everyday. I want to have all our doctors and dentists appointments organized ahead of time. I want to look perfectly put together, hair and makeup done, wearing a smart casual outfit when I greet my daughter after school.

The reality?

I'm a fly by the seat of my pants type of girl when it comes to meals. Oh sure, once in a while, I'll plan a week or two of meals and have it all together, but then the real me reappears and it's back to daily shopping trips for me. I'd rather recline on the couch with my cats, a decaf latte and a book, than clean the house or do laundry. I get it done, but it's a struggle against my own sense of laziness most of the time. I'm the one calling the doctor after my prescriptions run out. My daughter reminds me that we need dentist appointments. Sometimes I shower before my daughter gets home.

Yesterday was definitely a lazy type of day. I went back to bed after seeing Lizzie off to school. But I did plan and shop for meals for two days. And I did four loads of laundry. So I guess it balances out.

Plus, I had fresh muffins waiting for Lizzie when she came home.

So I guess I'm not that bad of a mom after all.
Lizzie told me I should be proud of these muffins.

Want the recipe?

Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
(adapted from a recipe in this book)

Makes 10

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
7 tbsp canola oil

For cinnamon sugar:
2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 10 cups of 12-cup muffin pan or line with muffins cup. Prepare cinnamon sugar and set aside.

Mix flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.

Spoon small amount of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with heaping tsp cinnamon sugar. Repeat, ending with a layer of batter. Use fine skewer or tip of sharp knife to swirl cinnamon sugar through batter.

Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out on wire rack. The instructions say to wait until they cool to taste as the sugar mixture remains really hot.

1 comment:

MJ said...

Things are so different for moms these days! Those muffins look maaaavelous!