Apple cinnamon muffins

I seem to be on a pretty good baking spree lately, much to the delight of my husband (okay, and myself, ha). We had a lot of apples in the fridge and I was looking to make a “breakfast” item so these babies were the natural progression. And we loved them. Perfect for a quick breakfast treat, snack during the day or dessert after dinner!

Apple cinnamon muffins with simple sugar glaze Adapted from Add a Pinch
*makes about a dozen (I was able to get a few more than a dozen)
Ingredients:

• For muffins
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (+ 2 teaspoons for coating apples)
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 cups apples, peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk
• For glaze
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-6 tablespoons milk or other liquid (depending on how quick you’d like it)

Instructions

• For muffins
• Preheat oven to 375º F. Coat muffin or cupcake pans to prevent sticking or line with cupcake liners.
• Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Toss together diced apples and 2 teaspoons of flour to coat apples in a separate bowl. Set aside.
• Cream together butter and sugar until lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Add an egg, one at a time and then the vanilla.
• Gently fold in flour mixture, alternating with milk. Stir until just combined. Fold in diced apples.
• Scoop mixture into prepared pans, filling them about 3/4 cup full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• For glaze
• Stir together powdered sugar and liquid until glaze is formed. Add more powdered sugar or liquid to desired consistency.

*Note: batter will be pretty thick


Enjoy!

Why I ate my placenta: Placenta encapsulation

I really don't remember when I first heard of placenta encapsulation but not gonna lie, at first I thought it was super weird. My thought process was something like, "huh, people actually do this??" followed by "gross".  Fast forward to Emersyn's pregnancy and having read and heard more about it and its benefits, it made sense. One thing I had also always heard about was how bad postpartum depression and baby blues can be and since I tend to be emotional enough all on my own, it was one thing I was worried about.

So I figured if taking placenta pills could help at all, why not? 

Placenta encapsulation

Taken from my placenta encapsulation specialist's website, "the placenta’s hormonal make‐up is completely unique to the mother. No prescription, vitamin or herbal supplement can do what one placenta pill can. During pregnancy the placenta takes over hormone production for the body. By the end of the pregnancy the placenta is creating more than three times the amount of pre‐pregnancy hormone production. After the birth it takes some time, usually 6 to 8 weeks but sometimes up to a year, for the body to properly take over the productions of hormones again. By ingesting the placenta you are, in theory, replacing the hormones and nutrients lost during the birth and helping the body to be balanced while recovering from pregnancy and birth. Each woman’s placenta is unique to her hormonal make‐up.

Benefits

• Decrease in baby blues, postpartum depression and other postpartum illnesses
• Increase and enrich breast milk
• Increase in energy
• Decrease in postpartum bleeding
• Decrease iron deficiency
• Decrease insomnia or sleep disorders
• Aids in quick postpartum healing
• Increases mother baby bond"

**Taken from Postpartum Peace**

The Process

My midwife suggested a placenta encapsulation specialist that some of her other clients have used so we went with her, Ariel Vickery of Postpartum Peace. 

Upon letting the hospital know we were keeping the placenta, they kept it refrigerated for us until we went home. About 48 hours after birth, Ariel came to our house and began the two part process of dehydrating and then encapsulating my placenta. The next day she came back and finished up and I had the pills all ready to begin taking. (For more info, visit her site).

The Results

Going into this, I was skeptical if these pills would actually do anything but I knew I might as well try. I figured, if nothing else, maybe they'll have a placebo effect ha.

It quickly became evident that for me, the pills worked wonders! I'm not exaggerating a bit when I say that I'm now a believer ha. My whole emotional outlook on life changed when I started taking them and I really felt like myself again rather than all weepy. Sometimes still a very tired self, but myself, none the less. There were days where I had forgotten to take them and only realized when my husband noticed. It was very evident in my mood and attitude when I did vs didn't.

It's extra hard being a momma in those first first week/months with no sleep, changing hormones, etc ... especially if you have a baby that doesn't like to nap like I did ... and taking my placenta pills helped greatly to ease back into normal life and have the physical, mental and hormonal balance I needed. Add that up with all the other benefits such as enriched breast milk and quicker Postpardum healing, it's something I am so glad I did! We'll definitely continue it for future pregnancies.

What do you think about placenta encapsulation? 

PS Thanks to Ariel who made the whole process very easy! She was so helpful, professional and nice and comes highly recommended if you're in the Kansas City area!

Strawberry layer cake & mini red velvet whoopie pies

A bit overdue for a new blog post!
Winter is in full bloom here in the Midwest with cold weather and snow blanketed yards. Emersyn turned five months old on the 1st and we're getting more and more settled into our new place. Ive had many goodies that I've meant to share and have even taken photos but the actual sharing part is what I've had some troubles with ha.

So in light of Valentine's Day and the month of February, here's a few "red" goodies I've tried lately that we've gobbled right up. First, a strawberry layer cake via The Little Epicurean. Recipe can be found here. We really liked this cake.  It was light, fresh and delicious! A perfect Valentine’s Day treat.

And next up, red velvet whoopie pies! These are colored all naturally with beets and adapted from Baking a Moment. Erik’s work was having a cookie contest at work with the criteria being red cookies that were under 100 calories so I went with mini pies!  Each of these whoopie pies are approximately 50 calories each and about an inch round.  They’re also very addictive … yum!

Mini Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
**makes approximately 50 pies about an inch round
Ingredients:

• Cakes:
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 egg, separated
• 3/4 cup beet puree (I roasted two beets in the oven at 400 degrees for 60 minutes then peeled and pureed)
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Filling:
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Cakes:
2. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, and then mix in the egg yolk.
3. Add in the beet puree, milk, lemon juice, vinegar, vanilla, and combine.
4. Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and combine.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the egg white until fluffy and stiff. Fold the egg white into the cake batter.
6. Drop approx 100 scoops of batter (about the size of a quarter) onto lined baking sheets, and bake at 375 degrees, for 7 minutes. Cool completely, and fill with fluffy cream cheese filling.
7. Filling:
8. Whip all the filling ingredients together until fluffy.