Sunday Well Spent?

     I spend my Sundays trying to prepare for the rest of the week.  I find that if I give away my Sunday, oh and it feels like a sacrifice, then the rest of the week goes a little more smoothly.  There are times when my back is aching that I wonder if it's really worth it, but it is.  

    I try to make at least 3 dozen muffins for the week ahead.  Banana muffins are my go to muffin.  I can't believe that I don't already know the recipe off by heart.  I have started making them with whole wheat flour and the kids haven't noticed (so don't tell them they are eating healthy muffins).  I found the neatest thing last week at Dollar Tree, they had silicone gingerbread molds.  I greased and floured the molds, put them on a cookie sheet, and they worked great.  You how sometimes ideas are better in your head than in real life?  Well not this time, this time they were great both in my head and in reality.

    Last week I learned a really valuable lesson about being prepared.  The Sunday before last I spent my time making muffins.  I usually freeze half (to keep them as fresh when they eat them as they were when I made them).  I keep a couple of Tupperwear (who am I kidding, they are Rubbermaid or Ziplock containers, I'm too poor for the real Tupperwear) containers full of muffins for hungry kids (which is something that they always seem to be) and for lunches.  Monday I had to go out for the day, and left the dog by himself in the house.  Apparently he likes muffins as much as the kids do, because he went up on the counter, and pulled the containers off.  He somehow pulled the lid off of one container, and ate the other one.  I came home to sheer bedlam.  The floor was littered with muffin wrappers and crumbs.  Fergus greeted me at the door with a muffin in his mouth.  To say that I was unhappy may be a bit of an understatement.  I have learned to keep my counters clean and put the muffins up high.   

    I spent the afternoon yesterday running around the kitchen switching out muffins and switching waffle batches.  I own three waffle irons.  It is an excellent way to give the kids a hot breakfast on school mornings without having to get up early.  I line my three waffle irons up and pour batter.  Yesterday I made apple cinnamon waffles and chocolate waffles (jokes on them, I used whole wheat flour and added flax).  I now have a weeks worth of healthy hot breakfasts.  With the three waffle irons it really makes the process go fairly quickly.  We have a generic waffle iron, a Elmo and Cookie Monster waffle iron (it puts their face on the waffles) and a Cinderella waffle iron (this one is my favourite.  It puts a picture of Cinderella's carriage on the waffle.)

    Basically I try to cut fruit and veggies and have them in a container at the ready.  I make a big batch of egg salad.  I make salads.  I try to do as much as I possibly can to ensure that my week goes a little more easily. My Sunday is a write-off, but my week goes pretty smoothly, well as smoothly as it can go with four kids and a muffin eating dog.