Muffins!

This recipe is a blend of a few that I found in different sources, either online or in a book.  I use Joy of Cooking for a lot of basics, like baking temperatures and time estimates, but often find substitutions and additions online from various sites, some of which cater to specific types of diets.  I took elements of vegetarian and "paleo" recipes and incorporated them into these, which are, when all is said and done, really consumable only by standard omnivores or ovo-lacto vegetarians.

Banana, Apricot, & Oat Muffins

This recipe makes one dozen standard-sized (small by today's standards, but not mini) muffins

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 medium-sized bananas, mashed (about 3/4 to 1 1/4 c.)

1 T. citrus zest (I used orange and grapefruit that I had left over from baking cookies)

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 T.     coconut oil

1 large egg

1/2-1 t. almond extract

1-2 t. vanilla extract

1/3 c. coconut milk

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. rolled oats

1/4 c. coconut flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease regular 12-cup muffin pan liberally.

Mix together all wet ingredients in one medium-sized bowl.  Add zest.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add chopped apricots to dry ingredients, stirring to coat.

When oven is preheated, pour wet ingredients and mashed bananas over dry and fold everything together in a few strokes.  There may be "dry spots" in the batter, but that's okay, because you don't want to develop any gluten in the muffins (so that they come out suitably crumbly).

Divide batter among baking cups;  the cups will be pretty full.  Additional rolled oats may be sprinkled on top of muffins, if desired, to make them prettier or more expressive.

Bake for 23 minutes, then check for doneness with toothpick.  Toothpick will probably come out clean, but if there are a few moist crumbs on it, that's fine, too.

Remove pan from oven and place on cooling rack for 5 minutes.

Remove muffins from pan and finish cooling them on the rack.

I've been thinking about my behavior and its consequences on my relationships with those I love and hold dear and those relationships which make life more pleasant (or not) and may be deemed socially important but in reality are minor and, if not fleeting, ephemeral at best.

I will, at times, completely lose it and yell and gesticulate.  It's something that almost invariably takes me by surprise, or at least it appears that way until I think about the event afterward, when I'm feeling more controlled and calm.  Unfortunately for us, Kat has been the target of my angry bursts (not exactly tantrums, but...).  I (finally!) apologized for having yelled at her when she'd had an accident in class one night which caused us to lose about a third of our product.  I had put a lot of pressure on myself (and, therefore, Kat as well) to make things come out well, for I was nervous (and therefore) bossy.  I sometimes see that same behavior in Kat and have to remind myself that I do not want her to have to learn, when she's my age, that such behavior is personally, as well as socially, unacceptable.  I'd love to teach her without making her go through the grief, for that regret, that self-loathing, is something that I would not wish upon anyone I hold dear.

The INFJ personality type, on the Myers-Briggs spectrum, is supposedly a very rare combination, so there are not a lot of us around.  So rare, supposedly, that it's truly unlikely for us to encounter one another (without seeking each other out, I suppose).  I think Peter's INTP, as he is more thoughtful and perceptive than feeling and judgmental.  He's a self-described "gregarious introvert."  I'm a judgmental introvert, occasionally distant, but sometimes seemingly aggressive.  It's something that I'm not proud of, but something that I acknowledge and can only try to change as long as I'm alive, for to be alive is to change, is it not?