Day 2 - Going for Clean

Alright, I survived the first morning of my new routine. So far so good! One thing I wish I had done differently was lay out my clothes the night before, so that getting dressed while half-asleep wasn't such a big deal.

Making the bed was a good idea, even though I had to kick Jakob out to be able to do it. He moved himself to the couch, where he fell back asleep long enough for me to have my shower and breakfast in peace!

The desire to crawl back in disappears when there's pillow removing work involved!

Thanks to this guy, I have been getting out every morning into the fresh air, and I love it. Our plum trees are in absolute bloom, and the smell is incredible. I love his worried, little face, and big puppydog eyes. I can't believe how quickly puppies grow!

Sitting pretty

 You might have noticed, I bake a lot. It would seem our nurses have noticed, because two have commented on it. I'm always happy to share, and happy to have feedback. This morning, while Ellie had a morning nap, and Jakob coloured in an activity book, I decided to do some quick baking. Seeing as I started the day with a clean kitchen, it was easy to bake and be done before anyone noticed what I was up to.

The cupcake du jour is a Devil's Food Cupcake, gluten free. I'm waiting on DH to wake up in a bit, so I can run to the store for more eggs, to make a Marshmallow frosting. Yum!
I overfilled the cups, so that was a learning lesson. I am thrilled with how they turned out, however, and they're most definitely going on the Ellie's Tea Party menu.

Devil's (Gluten-Free) Food Cupcake

 Devil's (Gluten-Free) Food Cupcakes:
These are easy. Actually, everything I've been making lately has been easy. I think they're easy, because they're just modified cake-mix.
You need:
-Package of GF Cake Mix. My go to right now, is a locally made mix by Gluten Free Addicts. It's inexpensive ($3.99 vs $6.99 name brand), and scrumptious.
-3 tbsps cocoa powder
-1/2 cup buttermilk (I make my own with milk and a splash of lemon juice)
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-3 eggs
-a pinch of cinnamon

Mix everything in a bowl, I used a whisk and mixed by hand, channeling my grandmothers :) I made the mistake of overfilling the paper, and these rise rather substantially. Next time, I will put less than 1/4 cup of batter in each cupcake spot. Bake at 350F for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
I'll update with the Marshmallow Frosting recipe later in the day!
*Update* I tried not once, but twice to make this bleeping frosting. I rarely fail in the kitchen. THIS WAS A COMPLETE FAILURE. I have a feeling it's because I cheated and tried to use Simply Eggwhites, instead of using actual eggwhites fresh from the egg. I could not for the life of me get the stuff to form stiff peaks, and if I had taken photos of the distaster, it's possible I would have ended up on a Fail blog. The results were that bad! So... hmmm, I need a new frosting to go with these. I'm thinking White Chocolate Cream Cheese. For another day, another batch of cupcakes. My husband is asking me to please stop baking!

Back to the Going for Clean challenge... Today, on DAY 2 I'm going to add laying out the clothes I want us to wear tomorrow, before I go to bed, and I'm going to set the breakfast table when I shine my sink. I'm also conscious of taking the extra few seconds to put our clothes in the hamper instead of leaving them anywhere but there!