Protein pancakes!

I must admit that my "famous" made from scratch pancakes are actually a recipe I "stole" from Melissa years ago when I visited her house and we had breakfast for lunch. That was about 10 years ago. My family loves them.

However, I have developed the need for protein because of blood sugar issues. I make them for the family, but rarely eat them now a days.

I was browsing through a magazine this morning and saw this:

I was intrigued...and hungry...so I tried them for breakfast.

I used 1 c Greek yogurt and a splash of milk, 1 c rolled oats, and 2 eggs.

Yum! Pancakes I can have! They had a bit of a different taste because of the plain Greek yogurt, but I just love Greek yogurt, so it made no nevermind to me. I'm full. Serves two medium to small stacks of 3 pancakes.

How do you decorate?

I used to be all about decorating and HGTV.

Then I had kids.

Then life happened.

My decorating style has changed.

The other day, Terry reminded me that "love" is a verb. 

I've been thinking on that a lot. I realized that one way we show love in our home is we decorate with "love".

Instead of works of art recognized by the world, we are surrounded by works of art that say "I love you".

Artwork by my daughters:

Artwork by present and former PAI sisters:

(Sorry for the reflection of my dehydrator in the glass)

Purity Promise Rings

My husband, bless his heart, will shoot daggers with his eyes at me every time I bring this up. He doesn't want his baby girl to grow up. He takes a few days, but eventually I get him to talk with me. This is just hard on him.

For our children's 13th birthdays, we have decided to take them on a special mommy&daddy date and give them a special ring. They must promise to do everything within their power to be pure in front of God and their husbands/wife. We have had a long talk. I'm quite candid about sex with them. I always have been. It is probably the science teacher in me.

My oldest daughter has chosen a silver ring with a cross and a heart, plus two little cubic zirconia stones. I'll put the Amazon link here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SO0FFLW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37G3PLJ9WFSU&coliid=ID879FV6034DM&psc=1

Corn dog muffins

Hot lunch... My goofy kids say that is their fav part of being homeschooled.

Today I was knee deep in Algebra with my oldest. I only had the time it would take her to work her next problem to throw lunch in the oven.

I cheated. I needed to.

I know good and well how to cook from scratch. Wouldn't it be lovely if I had time?

I digress. A busy mom does what she has to do.

We live in nowhere AK.  Many days I have to rely on my freezer and pantry unless I want to bundle up and schlep 4 kids to the store.

Lunch was fast.

Mix two packages of corn muffin mix....made according to package directions.

Add 1 can cream corn.

Prepare A pack of Lil Smokies (I didn't have hot dogs)

In a prepared muffin tin with papers, fill the muffin cup 3/4 the way with batter. Poke one Lil Smokie in the center of each. Bake according to the package directions.

Marmalade Sandwiches

It is totally up to you to decide what to watch and/or if your family does family movie night. Several months back, we watched the new Paddington movie. It was clean, and my entire crew enjoyed it. One thing we like to be silly about now is marmalade sandwiches....really just almond (we can't have peanut) butter and orange marmalade on bread... It really isn't a great big deal, and quite cheap as far as lunches go, but we find such silly joy when we have marmalade sandwiches for lunch.

Your go to "delivery" meal.

My church has had an explosion of people needing meals delivered because of new babies and surgeries.

My go to "delivery" meals are chili and breakfast casserole. I gotta go to the store for more ingredients.

What are your delivery meals for those in need?

Parenting Goals for the New Year

What goals have you set parenting wise for the new year? Mine is to spend more one on one time with each kid. We operate so much as a herd. We do everything, including homeschool, as a group. Yet, each kid is so very different on their own. My kids were recently in a Christmas play. The director has watched them grow up for 4.5 yrs,  and nailed their personalities with the parts they played. I want to make myself see them more as unique people, not just my herd.

-Kendra 

Toilet papers

We all need t.p.

It drives me batty that no one in my home posses the "super power" needed to remove the old tube and replace the roll.

Recently I found a brand that has no paper roll....nothing left to change.

I also purchased one of these free standing toilet paper stands.  

Now, no guarantees that they will actually  put the new roll on the top, but at least I'm not chasing paper rolls around the house.

-Kendra 

Sick tummies and homemade soda crackers

I discovered something cool. Three of us had sick tummies. Homemade crackers REALLY did a wonderful job settling them. Even the non sick folks chowed down. The difference between store bought and homemade was amazing as far as how they worked. They tasted about the same.

Here is the back story: 

I must be just plain dumb. I had an emergency box of crackers for sick tummies. I found the empty box, no crackers... Nobody ate them though. I just must have bought an empty box a the grocery store... I digress...

So, with a sick kid, sick hubby, and my own tummy in protest (precluding a trip to the store) I decided to look up a recipe online for old fashioned soda crackers.

I think I can call this a happy accident. These crackers were super simple, and really helped our sick tummies.

The recipe: 

Mind you, I used my convection oven at 395 F, but 425 F in a regular oven works too.

1-Preheat oven

2-Mix in a big bowl- 4 1/2 c AP (unbleached) flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

4- cut in 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

5- Add 11/2 c water, mix

6-on a lightly floured surface, kneed until a smooth ball

7- roll out to thin sheets. Cut into squares with a pizza cutter.

8- brush tops with a egg wash (1 tbs water mixed with one egg) and sprinkle with salt as desired

8- bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20 or so min. I like to use parchment paper.

Kid friendly, quick quinoa salad

I prefer red quinoa. I like the flavor better.

I admit freely to cheating in the kitchen when this mom gets busy...

One box (12 oz) quinoa cooked... 1 1/2 c quinoa plus 3 c water, in my rice cooker on white rice setting....or bring to boil, cover, let simmer about 20 min.

Plus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can diced tomatos, drained

About 1 c crumbled Feta

2 tablespoons Greek season blend

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Toss together. 

It tastes good warm or cold.

Christmas Kisses and Reindeer Noses

Aren't these cute?

They are fun, yummy, and very very easy.

I blame Terry!

 I was contemplating making these with the kids. She "pushed" me over the edge.

Lay the square pretzels out on a cookie sheet.

Place one kiss in the center of each.

Heat the oven to 275F,

Stand there. Don't leave.

Watch 3-5 min until kisses are shiny.

Remove and push your desired candy into the kiss.

Let cool and eat.

Have fun. Try different candies and different kisses.

Christmas craft with tweens-candy cane wreath

My daughter and I worked together on this. She will be 13 in April. It was a rare "cool mom, this is fun" moment. It does take a lot of hot glue, so make sure you have a lot.

I made this one

 

1- glue sides of candy canes together back to back....like a double hook/ staff

    - you need 11, depending of course on the candy canes. Buy two boxes.

2-arrange the pieces hook to hook to look like hearts in a circle

3- I put a cut paper plate on the back to secure it

4- use a flat ornament on the front to secure it

5- decorate as you wish

 No creative craftiness needed.

Trash free Christmas

I kinda stumbled into this...

We found huge felt gift bags at Michael's. In our house, each child gets three gifts. I just put all three unwrapped in the big bag (this bag has grandma gifts). I have one big bag per kid. The thing I despise about Christmas morning is trash pickup. This eliminates that. The bags are reusable.

Postal Address

Please Note:

PAI has a new postal address


P.O. Box 29
Bangor
Maine 04402


:) 

Busy Mommy Ranch Chicken

There are days...

Sometimes, way tooooo many in a row.

I love to cook from scratch. In fact, I'd say my family is rather spoiled. However, today was a day that the herd needed food, but I was loathe to cook it. Luckily, I had the wherewithal to start dinner at 2.

It wasn't fancy. I like "slow food", as in food that is easy to prepare but cooks and makes my house smell yummy for hours. There is nothing like opening the door to a blast of yummy scents wafting from the kitchen.

You can adapt this recipe easily to a crock pot. I happen to be convinced that my enamel coated cast iron Dutch ovens are "magic"....no I don't believe in magic, but a girl must be silly sometimes lest she become a grump.

This is another process more than a recipe:

1) pick a type of chicken....enough for your family

2) pick a dressing...this time I picked Peppercorn Ranch made from Greek yogurt

3)Does anything go good with it?...bacon goes good with almost everything

4) season and brown your chicken. Salt and pepper work fine. I grab a MSG free quick season when I'm in a hurry.

5) put your chicken in a cast iron Dutch oven or a crock pot

6) add bacon crumbles, or whatever you choose

7) dump on a bottle of your fav salad dressing

8) cook about 4 hrs at 350-375 or on high in the crock pot

9) leave it in the sauce, I used a wooden spoon to mix and bust it up

10) serve over rice or noodles. I have a rice maker. You should buy one. No thought involved! My almost 10 yr old is in charge of it.

Tonight we had bacon ranch chicken:

12 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 bottle ranch dressing

6 strips bacon, crumbled

Seasoning to sprinkle on the chicken

Small bit of oil to brown the chicken

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Another thought to share...

I ran across the NLT translation of this verse this morning, and I was reduced to tears. It touched me. Maybe it will say something to you too.

Proverbs 31:25

She is clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future.

Time to Think Tuesday

I have a rather busy day tomorrow, as I did last Wednesday. I doubt I'll get time to post. So here is a picture by Terryl to ponder:

Pumpkin Dip

As promised...

Here is the batch I took to Bible study: 

 

1 - In a mixer, dump softened cream cheese and about 1/3 can sweetened condensed milk. Blend.

2- Add 1/2 can pumpkin purée (reg size can). Blend.

3- Add your fav spices, I did about 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh) and about 1 tsp cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract. Blend. ...disclaimer....I never measure. I'm a sniff and dump cook, so those are estimates.

4- Fold in one medium tub cool whip.

5- refrigerate over night, or about 4 hours at least

6- Our fav dipper is chocolate graham crackers, but plain ones, fruit, and vanilla wafers work too...really any hard cookie . Ginger snaps are good too.