Easy Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin Recipe

I am a foodie, I cannot lie, and unfortunately it shows. So I'm constantly looking for ways to reinvent my favorite recipes to make them healthier but still just as delicious. So I present to you my easy reduced fat blueberry muffin recipe.

I confess my first attempt at making a reduced fat blueberry muffin turned into a major case of fail. The problem was, I went too far. Sometimes you need a little oil and white flour to keep thing yummy and not so much like blueberry scented stones.

But I didn't give up. After another attempt and a few easy changes I finally have an easy reduced fat blueberry muffin recipe that I (and my family) can live with, plus an interesting experiment that resulted in something super delish ...although possibly higher in carbs than I'd like...but onto the reduced fat blueberry muffins.

Living room inspiration: Beachy, blue-greens and built-ins

So the living room/dining room redesign continues. After bathing the walls in a wonderfully serene blue-green I need some more inspiration for the next design phase. I haven't said much about this project, mainly because I'm still trying to get my thoughts together. Generally, I have a good idea of vibes and feels that I want in a room. But when I get down to execution, I'm all over the place. More about the LR/DR revamp in a few days.

Have mercy, I’m in love with a pillow!

As the pink party draws ever nearer, I've been on the lookout for a new pink tablecloth. Not just any tablecloth (of course), but the most divine, squee-worthy table cloth imaginable (at a reasonable price). In my searching I stumbled up a site called Tonic Living …and just about fainted dead out of my chair!

Tonic living specializes in retro fabrics, pillows, upholstery, outdoor fabrics etc, and even better (for me anyway), they're located right here in Toronto! Double, triple and even quadruple squee! They have the most fabtastic patterns reminiscent of prints popularized in the 50's, 60's and 70's. But wait, there's more. They also have organic fabrics!
So of course, I'm no longer visiting Tonic Living in search of tablecloth fabric, I'm shopping for my in progress living room redesign. I've totally fallen in love with this pillow:

This other pillow

And this fabric

Right now, somewhere our mother's are collectively gagging and wondering why the heck we want old lady pillows in our houses. It's funny how retro adoration seems to skip a generation.

Check out Tonic Living

Best Interior Paint EVER!

Like many a Domestinista, I absolutely LOVE decorating and redecorating, (and re redecorating) the rooms in my house. There's nothing like coming up with a brand new color palette, plotting the room organization and filling the space with fabulous bits of furni, tschotskes and other delightful bits.

However, and again like many diva-licious Domestinistas, I'm not so into the toil certain aspects of a redesign can require. Applying interior paint would of course be at the top of my list. I am so not a fan. But what pulls a new room design together more than splashing the walls with a new hue. So hottie hubby and I took ourselves down to the local HoPo , following some lengthy paint chip recon on my part –which he for some reason wanted no part of (who doesn't love staring at rack after rack of similarly colored paint chips?) and selected our interior paint.

Prior to painting, the interior paint in our living room and dining room was a hideous baby poop brown color that the previous homeowners probably got on special, as its hideousness had infected several other rooms as well.

We'd learned from a previous painting adventure that primer was a must have , particularly since I wanted my new interior paint to be a creamy blue green that was much lighter in color. I had also learned from the great kitchen paint of '09 that priming adds another layer of work and I hate it. It messes with my need for instance gratification.

Enter the most fabtastic interior paint ever! CIL Smart is interior paint and primer in one and I LOVE it! It's fantastic, and the only paint I'll ever use from now on. It's thicker than regular paint and apparently very scrubbable; although I can't comment on that aspect just yet.

CIL Smart interior paint helped us take our rooms from that horrible dark brown to a wonderful, creamy pale color in only two coats!

At the cash register, CIL Smart costs about $10 more than CIL's basic interior paint; however, in the end, I think it actually costs less overall. With primer build into the CIL Smart interior paint, you save money on a can or two of primer. You also don't have to buy a second paint tray or tray liner. You don't have to use a second brush/roller or waste water on cleaning a brush/roller before reusing it for your paint. You spend less time painting, which equals less time with the lights on in that room, which equals lower utility cost (ok, I may be reaching there). Lol.

The biggest savings is in effort and time spent painting, which I happen to think is the most important.

So, if you're planning to purchase some interior paint sometime in the near future, maybe give CIL Smart a try. It's very worth it!

http://www.cil.ca/products/brands/cil-smart3.html

Free magazine subscription from Cheerios

Also known as the best prize inside ever! I can't remember the last time I purchased cereal based on the prize inside, but Cheerios hooked me big time on my last grocery getting expedition. In Canada, General Mills has printed coupon codes on the inside of boxes of Cheerios (of various flavors), Lucky Charms, Oatmeal Crisp and a few others. What that coupon code gives you is a free magazine (Canadian Living, Canadian Home & Style, Hockey News, etc)…not just one actually, but an entire year's subscription! Ooooh ahhhhh!!

Fortuitously, my Canadian Living subscription is about to expire. My Home & Style isn't far behind, and thanks to unlimited coupon redemptions, I do believe I'll be hunting down a specially marked box of Oatmeal Crisp this weekend…for the cereal of course. Nothing to do with feeding my home and cooking type mag addiction ;)

 

Check it out!

Williams-Sonoma is trying to kill me: Part 2

Behold...That's right, it's a brand new pie mold from Williams-Sonoma!!And that fantabulous gadget will give you this:


Is that not the gorgeousness! Oh the possibilities. Rather than one giant pie that for some tragic reason you can never quite cut into nice neat wedges, many individual, sweetly latticed pie babies for all to admire. Quick and easy but lovely presentation. Best of all, it's under $10 (US).

A feast for milk glass lovin' eyes

Just a quickly little mini post to share a Flickr group I just stumbled upon Called "Hobnail Milk glass, so cool it gives me goosebumps". Indeed, that is quite the mouthful of a name. However the pics of milk glass are fantastic. I'm always looking for interesting ways to display my tiny, yet growing collection.

Fenton & Etsy - When forces colide!

It's a miracle that I can even put fingers to keys to produce this post, as I've just encountered a most marvelous site. Two of my favorite things have come together as one.

I've already divulged my love of Fenton Milk glass, so I'll spare you another gushing. My love of Etsy however, is something I haven't really shared.

I was first introduced to Etsy -a fabulous site where artisans and collectors can sell their wares -while planning my wedding last year. It's the darling of many a bride-to-be, and where I purchased my wedding jewelry.

So you can imagine how positively giddy I was to come across My Milk Glass Shop. While I adore the thrill of an antique shop hunt, My Milk Glass Shop is going to be perfect for pieces that I can't find and simply must have, like a gorgeous hobnail sconce I'm considering. If you're a collector, this Etsy shop is definitely worth a try. If you're not a collector, have a look at Etsy anyway. You're bound to find something fabulously unique.

Click to cure

I was all set to make the first post following my slightly lengthy-ish hiatus about the magnificence that is the Jessie Steele apron collection; however, at the last minute I recalled a site that my MIL sent my way not long ago. It's called TheBreastCancerSite.com. You can also find them on Facebook.

This is a great site that's doing its part for the cause, providing information support and helping to fund mammograms. There is also a great, little store filled with things such as pink ribbon home decor, kitchen bits, clothing and more. Check it out!

Confessions of a reformed veggie hater

For the better part of my 30 and change years on this planet I have been an unrepentant hater of vegetables. Of course, like most veggie haters, I had a few tolerable selections -corn (actually a grain -i know), carrots, some lettuce. There may have been a couple of veggie phases that introduced a few more things, but for the most part I just didn't enjoy the veggies.

Then, a little something happened that started the change and then most recently something else pretty much turned me all the way. So here's the secret -
Doing it yourself makes it better.

I'm not sure why, but it works.

Change #1 - I think the change initially started when I began to take a more active interest in cooking. As I began experimenting and wanting to put more cohesive meals together I would of course come face to face with the need for veggie sides or the addition of veggies to soups, stews or pastas. So, I would look at all of the ingredients around the vegetables and choose recipes based upon those flavors, knowing that they would infuse the then offending veggie with tastes that I already enjoyed. Here are a couple of examples of recipes from Allrecipes.com that have helped bring me around to the leafier side of eating:

Italian Sausage Soup
Veggies involved - Carrots, zucchini, spinach, tomatoes
Helpful flavors - spicy turkey sausage and a lot of garlic

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
Veggies involved - Cauliflower
Helpful flavors - garlic, Parmesan cheese


*Note: yes, I know many of the above are technically fruits

Change #2 -Now this was a biggy. This latest change has lead me to enjoy what I would consider to be some very "extreme veggies" like swiss chard and beet greens. It all began with a little book called Square Foot Gardening. When I started my garden, I planted a square of chard and a square of beets for my mom. Her first little harvest of chard did not interest me in the least, as she had tried for years to get me to eat the stuff. I hated it as a child, of course. However, a little something changed with the second harvest of chard and several bunches of beet greens. I think I may have felt compelled to taste it because it was a day when I was fixing dinner, with the greens as a side.

If you cook it, you have to taste it right?

So, after the application of some olive oil, garlic, a bit of onion, s&p and some judicious sauteing I brought a small forkful to my lips and ...holy moley! Delicioso! I loved it, and I have no idea why.

I can now list several veggies that I greatly enjoy. Chard, spinach, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots...the list goes on. So, I genuinely think that getting involved with veggies is key. Plant a garden. Source some recipes filled with flavors you already love and experiment. It makes a huge difference.