Muddy Buddies

It seems like I've reached a lot of milestones with my online activity today. 100th post on the baby blog. 10,000 photos on my Flickr account. And this is the 900th post on (never home)maker. That's a lot of hours spent online. Certainly more than I've spent in the kitchen.

Especially lately. My time spent baking and cooking is limited as Ada becomes more and more aware. She's awake far more hours of the day now, requiring me to stop, drop, and play. As much as I'd like to say I'm a.l.w.a.y.s grabbing fruit and veggies for snacks, I've had a new favorite lately.

And it's no-bake!

MUDDY BUDDIES

What you'll need . . . 

• 2-1/2 cups corn chex
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter or Earth Balance
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Method . . .

1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter, chocolate, and butter. Heat on high for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, toss in your chex. Then add the peanut butter mixture. Stir with a spatula until well-coated.
3. Then in a large Ziploc bag, toss in the powered sugar and chex. Shake, rattle, and roll until everything is -- again -- well-coated.

I'm not even going to pretend I made up this recipe. It's just one that's been in my dessert repertoire for a few years, but it's all over the internet, so I can't remember where I found it. I tend to use less powdered sugar -- sticking with 1/4 cup at most. I also keep everything chilled in the refrigerator. I just like it that way.


Today on (never home)maker, baby! I wrote all about the first weeks of breastfeeding. There's definitely graphic boob-talk on there. Don't say you weren't warned . . .

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Wednesday

I have another run to add to my Fun and Fast Treadmill Workouts post. This one is a true interval workout and, therefore, a metabolism booster. Just what I need to shed some of those pregnancy pounds.

The Workout: Just over 4 miles. 5 minute warmup at 6.7 MPH. Then alternate between 7 MPH and 8 MPH, 1 minute each for 10 minutes. Drop speed back to 6.7 MPH. Then repeat the 10 minute fartlek (speed play) workout. Finish with another 5 minutes at 6.7 MPH.

I'm finally over my sickness and went out for a speedy 5 mile run in the cold this evening. Stephen surprised me by making OSG's Nut Butter Parsnip Fries -- all while watching the baby. If you haven't before heard of or tried that recipe, it truly will "change you life," as Angela says on her site.

For dinner, we're enjoying some baked tofu! A nice change from all the veggie stir-fries we've been eating lately.


Otherwise, we're celebrating Ada's entrance into the double digits for age. She's 10 weeks old today. It's so true what they say. Babies go from this:


To THIS in a blink of an eye . . .


Today on (never home)maker, baby! there's a brief video post about our nature "hike." Yup -- Ada and I got the chance to take a walk outside. It was glorious -- and rare in upstate NY to enjoy "balmy" weather in January.

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Chocolatey Peanut Doughnuts

Being sick while taking care of a 2 month old isn't my idea of a good time. Being sick in GENERAL isn't exactly fun. We've been laying low the past week. Sleeping a lot. Sniffling, too. Thankfully the weather was snowy enough to cancel this past weekend's Freeze 10K, so I didn't miss out on my weekly race (it's rescheduled).

Instead, I stayed indoors and baked up another tasty -- and still healthy -- doughnut. The scale has budged one more pound since my Weight Loss Journey post. Not stellar progress, but I'm choosing much better foods than I was in the holiday season.

CHOCOLATEY PEANUT DOUGHNUTS

What you'll need . . .

• 1-1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons water

Method . . .

1. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a mini bundt pan (or doughnut pan, if you have one).
2. In a food processor, pulse the oats and peanuts until they are flour-like. Pour into a medium bowl.
3. Add all other ingredients and mix well. (If you don't have Ener-G egg replacer, use your favorite replacer for 2 eggs. I imagine eggs, too, would work fine. Let me know!)
4. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Frost with plain peanut butter.

This recipe yielded an especially moist (hate that word, but it's true) treat. And -- yes -- you do taste the peanuts. They're incredible. If you're in the mood for doughnuts, check out these other recipes:

Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts -- my favorite!
Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts


Today on (never home)maker, baby! I wrote a monster of a post about our must-have baby items. And tons of stuff that we totally don't need or want.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

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