Yesterday I decided to do another super cleaning of my house. I always feel so lazy about it at first, but once I get going it feels so good to de-clutter and create a nice clean and peaceful living environment. It helps me to be more mindful too and I think of de-cluttering as a reflection of my life and letting go of attachments to things, either physically or emotionally. Clearing out things from my life helps me to let go of the past and be more present, if that makes any sense. Cleaning can be a great tool for practicing mindfulness if you think of it in that way. I love bringing mindfulness to everything that I do, even when I am washing the dishes.

I have been having so many ups and downs the last few days and to top it off, I have been hard on myself about it. Everyone tells me it is just the pregnancy and I know that is true but I still wish I had more control over my emotions. Damn hormones! I cried like a big baby yesterday, feeling sorry for the fact that I am getting bigger, more tired and less able to do all of the things that I want to do. I guess being the perfectionist that I am I just hate to admit to myself that I am not superwoman and that I can’t do everything. It makes me so frustrated because I so badly want to be doing things all the time, like baking, cooking, cleaning and spending time with the girls, but I am realizing that I also need to balance that with rest. I know that nothing lasts forever though and in just 7 more weeks and this will all be but a memory.

After the super cleaning, I allowed myself to take a short nap and then it was on to baking muffins. I really like to have healthy snacks on hand, especially because hunger seems to strike from out of nowhere lately and when I need food, I need it NOW. I have been eating a lot of fruit and whole wheat, sugar-free muffins lately when I am hungry for a snack. This recipe is one of my favorites and gives me the lasting baby-growing energy that I need. Even if you are not growing a life, these will no doubt leave you feeling great.

Healthy Whole Wheat Raisin Bran Muffins

These make a nice hearty muffin filled with wholesome ingredients. I used to love buying muffins from the store, but always found them too sweet. I made these muffins sugar-free, swapping refined white sugar for pure maple syrup and black strap molasses and they are vegan of course.

Makes 24 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups wheat bran
• 2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups raisins
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup black strap molasses
• 3/4 cup sunflower oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two muffin pans with 24 paper baking cups.
2. Combine the bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the raisins.
3. In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, molasses, sunflower oil, applesauce and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl along with the dry ingredients and lightly mix until just combined.
4. Spoon the muffin batter into the baking cups, filling them each 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Muffins are ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I think I am going to take some advice from the quote section of this blog and possibly tape this up some place that I will see it often.

“You can do anything, but not everything.”~David Allen

This is especially true for this time in my life. I am just so thankful that I have such a supportive husband who tries hard to understand me and gives me the advice that I need. REST. I know that I will make it through this. 🙂