Welcome to our little kingdom. We have a bag of nifty gifties for you.

I got stood up again. I was supposed to tutor L tonight, but she didn't show up at the shelter. I even had a bunch of really cute Sanrio pencils to give to her because last week I noticed that she only had one pencil and it seriously less than 2 inches long. And next week is Thanksgiving so I probably won't see her until the week after that. I hope she and her family are ok.

Last night I tried out a lowfat muffin recipe from one of the Weight Watchers message boards. I tried it with pears, but I didn't cut them small enough so the recipe - originally for 6 muffins - ended up making 10. It turned out really well, though, and Brent even had a hard time believing they were lowfat.

Check it out:

Fall Muffins

1/4 c. oatmeal
1 c. dry cream of wheat
2 or 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. shredded pear or granny smith apple
1 egg
1/2 c. Splenda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. skim milk
4 tsp. canola oil

Combine first ingredients up to the shredded pear/apple. Combine second part of ingredients. Stir together. Bake in 6 sprayed muffin tins for 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees. Before putting in the oven, sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. dry oats over each muffin.

"Now me, I could eat a muffin a day, some days even two knowing they'd be free. So that'd be... ten a week, fifty-two weeks a year, for at least another... forty years, which works out to... Twenty thousand muffins! [pause] My life suddenly seems long, measured in muffins." - Daphne, Frasier