Things Dead and Not So Dead

So while our back yard has been dying, ...

our front yard has been dying, ...

and Kimball has also been dying...

the same goes for our side-front-ish yard – but at least it has been dying in style!

Instead of mowing and watering, I've been mulching and rocking.

The landscape spiral is a neat way to make it look arranged, and still deal with all the rock we get from our... uh... soil... or something like that. It certainly ain't permanent, but then again, neither is a mowed lawn. I'd rather draw than mow! In any case, progress has been slow, but it's nice to have at least some parts of the yard that are getting tended.

Baby Brigham

Just a few photos of Brigham... we'll get better photos up as we snap them.

Sugar-free Rhubarb Muffins

With my recent diagnosis of osteopenia, I decided that it's time to get sugar out of my diet, for the most part. Which would naturally mean getting rhubarb out of my diet.

But not so fast!

I searched this morning for sugar-free rhubarb muffin recipes and came up with very little. So I improvised and herewith provide the results. NOTE that this is not a "sweet" muffin. And the rhubarb is still a bit sour. But the entire family (wife and three of the kids) quite liked them (the four-year-old didn't so much).

Here it is:

Mix together:

3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1/2 c oats
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc.

Then mix together:

3/4 c fruit juice
1/4 c melted butter
2 T oil
1 t vanilla
1 egg

Gently mix dry and wet, add 1 cup rhubarb (chopped in bitty pieces), cook for 15 minutes (or so) at 350, and then see if you like it.

If so, leave me smileys at the bottom.

If not, I expect frownies!

Edit: So, we've discovered that if you cook the rhubarb in the microwave for one or two minutes before adding it to the muffin batter, it mellows the flavor out a bit.

Also, we've been adding equal parts blueberries and rhubarb, and that seems about the perfect combination!