Well, the day inevitably arrived where both our boys headed off to school. I waved both my boys off as they boarded the school bus. Le sigh. With one in Grade 2 and the youngest in Kindergarten this full time SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom) is feeling at a loss as to what to do with 7 hours of the day without any children with me.
A selfie at the bus stop with my boys who are ready for Kindergarten and Grade 2
So now what? I thought about day drinking but that would only have me crying more and leave me with a wicked headache. I thought about driving to the school and hiding in my minivan in the parking lot to catch glimpses of my baby as he plays on the school grounds during recess and lunch break but the thought of the school calling the police on a stalker van prevents me from crossing that line. I thought about crawling into bed with my favourite tub of ice cream and having a good ugly cry while I stuff my face but I already put on a few pounds over the carefree summer with my boys so I don't relish the idea of adding on any more. I also thought I could turn my attention to treating my 2 dogs and 2 cats like my little babies and dressing them up to cart around town but I fear my husband might think I booked myself a 1 way ticket to Crazytown. Alas I will move on to Plan B.
I love to bake and do nice things for people. Friends and Family often ask me to bake for them and to share my recipes. So with all this extra time on my hands I figured I would try my hand at writing a blog post on one of my baking endeavours. While I do consider myself to be a bit of a Foodie my lifestyle doesn't afford me the budget of top knotch cooking supplies/appliances nor gourmet food nor beautifully staged photos from various angles on a high end camera. But if you like simple, wholesome goodness on a budget in an often messy and mix-matched kitchen then my food posts are for you.
With the summer months slipped away the fall season is one of my favourite times to bake. My kitchen is filled with aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, cloves, apples, pumpkin, carrots which are warming and comforting and just what I need when feeling a little blue.
I have an abundance of apples which my boys and I have been picking for free at various places around town. It is amazing how much free fruit is readily available this time of year. As a Middle Class SAHM on a budget with 3 big-eating men in my life (to clarify: my husband and 2 sons) any opportunity to use free food is a big win in my books. I've been tweaking my Apple Bread recipe which has been eagerly enjoyed by family. Many recipes call for nuts to be added to Apple Bread but in the interest of coming up with snacks to be used in school lunches my recipe is nut-free.
This recipe is enough to make 2 regular sized loaves of apple bread. For this batch I opted to use petit loaf pans to make individual sized servings. It is a wonderfully dense yet moist bread that has a dessert-like taste. It is delicious particularly when served warm and topped with homemade apple butter. (I will do a post another time on how to make absolutely delightful apple butter in a future post.)
Apple Bread
Preheat oven to 300F (150C).
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 90 minutes
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups apples - peeled, cored, and chopped
1 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil because it is what I had on hand)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp cinnamon
The Ingredients
1. Preheat oven to 300F (150C). Use cooking spray to 2 regular sized bread loaf pans or a tray of smaller sized loaves.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt and apples in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, oil, white sugar, cinnamon, and brown sugar together in a small bowl; adding to flour mixture and mix only until just moistened. Evenly divide the mixture between sprayed loaf pans.
Thick Apple Bread Batter divided into individual sized pans
3. Bake for 90 minutes. (An toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf should come out clean when loaves are ready.) Cool for 15 minutes in the pans before removing to completely cool on a wire rack.
The finished result smells SO good
I am fairly budget conscious so I like to get a sense of cost to prepare things. Here is the total cost breakdown:
2.5kg All Purpose flour cost me on sale $3 at the Co-op
2kg White Sugar cost me on sale $2 at Walmart
1kg Brown Sugar cost me on sale $1.88 at Co-op
500ml Baking Soda in a 2-pack at Costco (I can't remember the price but 1 tsp would be pennies)
500ml Olive Oil cost me on sale $0.99 at Co-op
small bag of Cinnamon cost me $2 at Walmart
a tub of table salt cost me $1.25 at Dollarama
18 pack of eggs cost me $3.69 at Costco
Apples were free because we picked them from public spaces
The cost in order to make 2 full loaves or 11 individual loaves:
3 cups all purpose flour = $0.90
1 tsp baking soda = pennies
1 tsp salt = pennies
3 cups apples = FREE
1 cup olive oil = $0.50
1 1/2 cup white sugar = $0.30
1/2 cup brown sugar = $0.20
3 eggs = $0.62
2 tsp cinnamon = pennies
Grand total: It cost me approximately $2.65 to make this batch of Apple Bread or $0.24 per little loaf.
This provided my husband and kids with a healthy and affordable snack for their lunches this week. And saving money makes this thrifty mama happy!
We do love to share in our home. So I put together some little goodie bags for my boys new teachers. Each gift contained a individual sized loaf of Apple Bread and one of my jars of Apple Butter with my personalized touch of course. A very inexpensive way to show our appreciation to the Teachers who will be responsible for my little men each day.
Teacher Appreciation Gifts
My kiddos also enjoy sharing with the kids in their class. When the Atlantic Superstore was having their back to school sale on a number of school snacks I bought up numerous packages of fish crackers at $1.77 per package. It was an excellent price and fit my budget for being able to provide a little something to share in their class. It was a cute way to kick off the new school year.
Some o-FISH-al Back to School snacks to share with classmates
I will continue to come up with some creative ways to fill my time now that my kiddos are both in school all day. I certainly am not used to having our home so quiet. Usually such quietness means one of my kids is getting into some serious trouble. It is going to take some time to get used to this new norm. But better the quiet solitude than the sound of my own blubbering. Last night in the midst of my mommy tears my husband reminded me to start seeing the joy and beauty of our boys growing up as there is so much fun to be had in this stage of their lives. I know he's right and I do need view this stage of life from a more positive perspective. The caring words of a friend who checked in with me this morning especially rang true, "These milestones are success stories and should be celebrated." As I watch the clock tick closer to when the bell will ring for dismal I eagerly await the return of my boys on the school bus. When I see them I will excitedly ask them about their day out in the big wide world (without Mommy) and secretly pat myself on the back for keeping it together without the use of day drinking or a tub of ice cream. I call that a successful day.
Mommy's little men all set for Grade 2 and Kindergarten
