Braver, Stronger, Smarter

Loving this quote today (I love most things Disney). Moral of the quote: 

• BELIEVE in yourself
• RECOGNIZE your inner strengths
• REMEMBER the power of your mind

Apple Cookies

These apple cookies were a terrific find from Pinterest. I found them when I was going through major baked goods withdrawals. It has just enough sweetness from the chocolate chips and apples to satisfy, but still had the feeling of a snack. The original recipe (link below) is from another awesome blog, with a ton of delicious looking recipes. Sweet find, pun intended.

Progress vs. Perfection

I am a Piano Teacher, and have been for the past 8 years. To my piano students, the above saying is very well-known. I tell them this before they try to pass-off a song to me. I recite this saying for three reasons:

1. To help them relax and calm their nerves.
2. To help them recognize that they can still succeed even if mistakes are made.
3. To point out that in order to achieve perfection, hard work leading to progress is what's needed.

In the past few weeks, I've started to recognize what wide-range applicability this principle has. By recognizing the vital importance of simply progressing (even if we aren't where we ideally want to be) we can be more at ease and at peace in our lives, we won't let mistakes set us back, and we can value and be more aware of the distance that we've already traveled on our journey. Pretty cool stuff in my book. 

"Everything But The Kitchen Sink" Muffins

What do you get when you combine raisins, bananas, pecans, oats, carrots, cinnamon and nutmeg? These AMAZING nutrient packed morning muffins! All of the above ingredients in one tiny muffin might seem like overkill, but believe me, they work so well together. PLUS, they are super filling, so if you need a quick on-the-go breakfast, make a big batch of these and then grab one or two on your way out the door throughout the week (you could even freeze them if needed).

The original recipe (link below) had these puppies baking at 400°F, which I tried for my first batch, but it really overcooked them. I reduced the temperature to 350°F and it was perfect. Some other changes I made: increased the amount of milk, added cinnamon and pecans (SO GLAD I ADDED PECANS--it was seriously good). Definitely a recipe to go down in the muffin hall of fame (or at least my little blog).