So, my sister gave me a new cookbook way back when, "The Sneaky Chef" it is called. I was so inspired to get my family eating healthy at the time, I went out and got the latest Cuisinart food chopper and began puree-ing everything in sight. That is where the party stopped! I have now had a freezer full of little baggies of purple, orange, and white puree for quite some time. Today, I decided to have a "good mom" day and put the purees to work. My chefs were anxiously awaiting our treats for the day -- PB & J muffins and Brainy Brownies. The first recipe included pureed carrots and sweet potatoes and the latter has spinach and blueberries in it! With much "help", we got both recipes accomplished and the kids did just as the book described. They ate up the muffins and begged for about half the pan of brownies! I had to try this for myself, and I must say that they weren't too bad. A lot of work, but I am going to try to freeze some of the muffins in order to pull them out for a quick lunch.

Nate even enjoyed the brownies as well! With a little Soy milk, of course.

Next on our agenda, sack lunches. In an effort to actually teach our kids about kindness, poverty, hunger, and just helping those who need it, we have been making sack lunches given to the homeless by our church. The kids decorate the sacks with stickers (today was Easter stickers!), then fill them with the suggested items. It has been a really good experience for all of us and Grace is always full of questions. "Maybe I could put some money in the sack for the people", is the recurring request she has when preparing the lunches. It is honestly the sweetest and kindest thing she says.

While I was being "good mom" today, most other things get left untouched. This is probably my biggest struggle right now, balancing the mom/housekeeper/wife/friend/daughter/sister roles that I try to keep up daily. So, this is what some of the other places in the house looked like when I went to bed tonight and will probably stay this way until we have company or something!

Yes, the green bucket sitting in the dining room is the "poopy underwear" soaking bucket! It never seems to make it out to the garage, because we need it too often!

Does anyone else's kitchen counters look like this??