I shared with you all a while back about some big changes coming to the Lego house. It’s not been easy. During the week I am a single, stay-at-home, homeschool mom of four boys. There is no time for going to the gym and no energy to eat healthy. The last two months have been nothing more than survival. I don’t handle change well – especially change I didn’t ask for! – and this has been a massive change.

My sleep patterns are different, I don’t have my gym membership anymore, there’s no one to watch the kids so I can get up early and run, and I’m no longer cooking for grown-ups. My diet is absolute crap. Without the motivation to cook for my hubs, the kids and I eat junk – mostly because it’s easy. My mental energy is being used just acting as the sole caretaker of four little people, so I don’t have the brain power to meal plan like I used to. I have workout equipment that I’m not using because any spare moment I have is spent trying to rest or clean or lesson plan or shower.

Life changes.

Priorities change.

I don’t get to be an athlete right now. (I say “right now” because I do love being an athlete, but this stage of my life doesn’t allow it)

This isn’t the end, but it’s a point where I have to decide what fit and healthy looks like when things get hard. I have been amazingly spoiled with financial means, time, and help from others. I’ve been able to afford good food, I’ve had time to spend working out, and I’ve had people to help me with my kiddos so I can focus on my hobby. I see now how very lucky I’ve been.

What do you do when you don’t have childcare? How do you work out when you’re absolutely exhausted from being “on” 24 hours a day and never getting a full night’s sleep? How do you eat healthy on a budget, with with minimal time and effort?

I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out.

While I’m frustrated by my current situation, I am prayerfully taking it as a learning opportunity. So far, being the runner girl has been easy…what happens when it gets hard? Who am I when life gets significantly more difficult than it’s ever been?

I hope that I can be a help to you, as someone who now doesn’t have it as easy as I did. I hope I can be someone who can figure all this out and hold your hand along the way…not someone who you look to and say “well, she’s had it all handed to her.”

So, with my wine, PopTarts, Doritos, turkey sandwiches on white bread, and more wine…my goal is to not only make myself healthier and happier, but to help you see that we are all in this together.

A girl’s gotta eat.

And a girl that loves to bake just HAS to fix some yummy cupcakes for her mama’s birthday. It’s the rule of the South.

I found a recipe on the Food Network site that looked pretty good, so I decided to try it out. Paula Deen is my usual go-to gal for baked goods, but a certain three-year-old tossed a bunch of sour cream in my cart at the grocery store and this recipe calls for sour cream, so…

Anywho, here’s a link to the original recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/go-to-chocolate-cupcakes.html

Here it is with my tweaks (the original recipe was a little unclear and it led me to do a second batch…I figure I’ll help you eliminate a step)

Go To Chocolate Cupcakes (for my mama’s birthday)

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup baker’s cocoa
• 1/3 cup freshly brewed coffee (I used Starbucks Veranda Blonde, pour-over. Because I’m fancy)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Go ahead and grab three bowls. You’re gonna need them. I used my Kitchenaid metal mixing bowl, my large Pampered Chef mixing/measuring bowl, and my medium Pampered Chef mixing/measuring bowl. In your largest bowl, add your flour, sugar, powder, soda, and salt. Whisk and set aside. In your medium bowl (make sure it’s microwave safe), add butter, cocoa, and coffee. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for one minute. In your smallest bowl, while the microwave is running, add vanilla, eggs, and sour cream. Whisk until well combined. When the microwave dings, uncover your dish and whisk the chocolate mixture until combined, and add to your flour mixture. Whisk. It’ll be thick and funky, but do your best and trust me. Add the sour cream mixture with your whisk and stir until just combined and smooth.

I’m not a fan of cupcake liners. My kids end up eating them, they make a big mess, and your cupcake sticks to them anyway. Take your muffin tin and a couple of tablespoons of butter. Don’t be shy. Grab that butter and use your fingers to smear it around the inside of each cup. Make sure each is well-coated. Fill each cup about 2/3 full and bake for 16-18 minutes on the middle rack, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan. DO NOT try to get them out early. You’ll regret it. Take a butter knife and carefully slide it around the edge of each cupcake and they should pop right out. Continue to cool on a wire rack until they’re at room temperature.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4oz butter (room temperature)
• 4oz cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Mix on high speed until good and fluffy (if you have a Kitchenaid mixer, start on low until the sugar isn’t going to powder all over your face, then slowly increase up to level 8 and let her go!)\

It’s possible that the kids and I ate a dozen of these today, sans frosting.