This week I’ve been finishing up Boba Work.

So instead of being out on the field photographing, im in the house, processing A LOT of pictures :)

Coleen attended a session last week with me and got more behind the scene photos. She just posted them this week on her facebook… so I thought id share them here :) – they are always fun to see.

The model btw was a blog reader of mine! :) – who was traveling through town.

Our church has a great parking lot to let the kids ride bikes in. Even though we live in a great neighborhood, the hills in it, make it hard to ride bikes with our kids. The hill our house is up in-particular is very steep… and honestly I don’t think id ride down it on a bike.

So going to the church to ride, is a great treat for our boys.

Here are a few memories from this weeks trip out there to ride…

Inside out shirt.

Wind Pants.

Angry Bird Hat.

and a Pink Scooter.

It goes, in its own cute Owster kinda way. :)

I thought I would go ahead and post this muffin recipe. I haven’t tried many whole grain muffin recipes yet… but this one has turned out well the past 3 times I’ve made it. So its a keeper :)

It makes a great sweet treat for the kids and Travis & I.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup sucanat (or white sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon raw salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(I only used 1/2 since my vanilla is strong)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups white hard wheat flour
2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate morsels

Directions:

Mix Soft Butter, Sucanat, Vanilla, Eggs and Milk together until smooth.

In separate bowl put flour, salt, and baking powder together. Mix it up well.
Then pour the flour mixture into the already beaten Butter/egg/milk mixture.

Batter will be on the thicker side, but shouldn’t be but so thick. If it seems to thick just put a little more milk :)

Once well mixed, add the two cups of morsels and stir with a wood spoon until well mixed.

I fill my muffin pans up pretty high too, id say almost to the top. These do not rise very much. Also sprinkle the raw batter once in the muffin pan with a dash of sucanat or raw sugar for some extra crunch.

Note: if you don’t want as much chocolate, you can leave some out. We however, like lots! :-)

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or so. My pans are thin, so it doesn’t take long. So the time may not be exact… just keep an eye on them as they bake.

Enjoy!

These are great served cold too btw and keep for a few days very well in the pantry in a zip lock or tupperware.

Recipe Adapted from: King Arthurs

One thing I have always been very disciplined in doing, is keeping up with my weight and staying active. With all the recent changes in our schedule and my having to work more outside of the home… I find myself putting my health on the back burner.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago, when I stepped on the scale, and realized I had gained about 7 pounds since we moved to GA.

While I know I am far from heavy… being the weight I am now though, is not something I am comfortable with.

More importantly though, I need to live healthier.

I need to realize I am a few years shy of 30… and that staying active is important.

I recently joined the Quaker Heart Health Challenge, that is encouraging us to plan to accomplish 15 activities in 30 days. I sat for some time thinking about what I could do to live a healthier life style… outside of what I already do…

… and heres what I am thinking. 

1 – Drink WATER- water is so important in our diets… and I think to often we don’t drink nearly enough. It is shown to speed up our metabolism, transports nutrients and oxygen into cells, moisturizes the air in lungs, protect our organs, aid in helping our bodies absorb nutrients better, regulate our body temperature, detoxify and even protect and moisturize our joints. The list could go on! Water is so important.

2 – Stop drinking Soda and Caffeinated drinks. This will be hard! I loved having a diet coke in the morning – and found it to be one of my only struggles and real unhealthy habits to let go. But I am! The real struggle now however will be to give up caffeine as well….

I also plan to… Walk a mile or so a day, eat more veggies, eat less breads (I so love them!), cut my sugar intake drastically!! – even though we use all natural sweeteners like Sucanat, I still think less is more, I hope to cut out large meals, which I already seem to do, but making a point to eat smaller more frequent meals, playing outside with the kids more, trying to work in some yoga if possible… and cooking all our meals from scratch.

All that being said. I am trying not to focus on that number on the scale. I really desire to just be healthy… to feel good… and to be an example to my children.

These to me are very real steps to help me do that.

I would love to Invite my readers to join the Quaker Heart Health Challenge

Joining the Quaker Heart Health Challenge is my first step towards becoming a healthier me. Now I’m curious to know, what motivates you to stay healthy?

For your chance to win $750 complete these two steps:

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.