Hard Waiting

One would think we would be used to this by now. I got out of a meeting today and saw that my husband had called and left a message. I wasn't for sure what it meant but I called him back half hoping he would have good news for me.

We had put our profile out there earlier this week for a little girl. We waited not for sure when we would hear if it had been picked or not. Part of me wasn't excited about the situation, but after researching somethings we decided there wasn't a big flag that we shouldn't put our name in for it. The other part of me had hopes knowing God knows the right situation for us and if this was his will we would do it.

I got off the phone with Patrick and my heart sank. It's hard not to when you hope for the best. I heard myself tell him that it wasn't the right one and God knows what is best. But that doesn't take the sadness away when you feel like you weren't good enough. yes I know it isn't that. It would be nice to see our dreams and hopes come true. I have to realize we may not get a girl. Ever. That is what makes me sad. I know I would be happy with a boy, but knowing this is our last chance makes it harder.

Now where is my Pepsi, a nice big piece of warm chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream, and a friend to share it with? I could certainly use it right now.

Cilantro Chicken

I remember when I first moved here.  I ate a lot of chicken. 

At that time chicken was super cheap.

This has to be another favorite recipe of mine....

Cilantro Chicken.

It is supposed to be grilled but you can bake it in the oven on a wire rack. 

I don't remember how long I cooked it in the oven. 

Maybe 350 degrees for 40-45 mintutes?

Cilantro Chicken
2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless thighs or I do 5-6 small chicken breasts
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
swee chili sauce to baste at the end.

1.  Place chicken in a large zip baggie
2.  Place olive oil, garlic, cilantro in a blender or food prcessor.  Process until the mixture is combined and smooth.  Scoop the marinade into the bag with the chicken, press the air out of the bag and zip it closed.  Knead the marinade into the chicken until it is evenly distributed.  Marinate overnight or all day long.
3.  Cook the chicken until done.
4.  At the very end baste the chicken with the sweet chil sauce and cook a few minutes more. 

I do mine in the oven and turn it on low broil at the end to make the sauce cook a little on the chicken.  Yum!

Abstaining

I Peter 2:11

"Dearly beloved, I beseech [you] as strangers and pilgrims,

abstain from fleshly lusts,

which war against the soul;"

I read this verse tonight and it stuck out to me like a big sore thumb.  God beseeching me to do the right thing even though my attitude might stink a wee bit in certain departments.  Sometimes I feel like I am in a battle.  I know what I am supposed to do, but the voice in my head tells me not to.

This verse talks about warring against the soul.  A war tears apart people, it devastates, it kills, it mames and so much more.  A war has causualities. Period.  You can not go to war and not have losses.  Is that why God beseeches me, he calls me, he beckons me to his side, he admonishes me to abstain from things that will only hurt us in the long run?  So that it protects you and keeps you from being hurt or hurting someone else?

While I don't feel I have big things that I fall for, I battle myself from within.  One of my personal battles I would like to "abstain" from is to stop letting myself think I know what others are thinking, which can destroy relationships with those that you care for.  

I want to trust God to show me his plan during this time and let him take charge so that I don't ruin something that is He could be cultivating in me.  In the meantime, God can you give me a glimpse of what I am needing right now?  You know what it is. 

Saint Basils' Cathedral is more beautiful in person than anyone could ever describe. 

 Pictures will never fully display it's beauty.

You have to see it in person to know its worth.

How well manicured it is.

The brightness and depth of its color.

The history that gives it meaning.

The same goes for friendships,

you have to tend to it to let it grow. 

To know it's worth.

To manicure it.

A history that gives it meaning.

Letting your friendship grow.

Give a friend a hug today and see how she is doing.

It is woman's day. {laughing}

Let her know that you value your friendship

Give a friend a call.

Today is "Woman's Day".  I heard them talking about it over the radio and it jogged my memory that our interpreter Sasha brought me roses that day 6 years ago while we were waiting to bring a precious bundle of energy home.  It made me think about March 9th.  Our Family Day.  Hard to believe 6 years have gone by since we adopted Asher.

I have often thought about searching for his birth family.  Wondering if his mom or brothers would want to know him and look for him.  I wonder if his brothers are just like him.  I can't imagine several bundles of fast paced, knock-em-down, and I can't talk quiet enought boys in one room.  Oh what a picture!  If you know of Oksana Valevich's, post a comment.  I would love to see a photo of the woman who had a part in us having our son.

Maybe someday...

The picture above was at our stop on the way home to the States.  It was a exhausting day.  Little did I know that within a short time, I would be sick as a dog in our hotel room.  Sight seeing came abruptly to an end.  Sigh.  When I felt like eating I ordered off the kids menu and we found out kids eat free when ordering with an adult meal.  So we ate in.  A lot.  I guess Asher had a big appetite during that stay.

**Oh and one fun tid bit about Saint Basil's cathedral.  Or not.
It was rumored that Ivan the Terrible put the eyes out of the architect who built the onion domes so that he could not build another building to rival this one.

Grandmothers are Precious

My Grandmother was always a lively woman.  In fact I remember my Uncle Richard telling me years ago that it was Grandpa that had to tell her to simmer down sometimes.  My Grandfather who was so quiet telling my Grandmother who is so social to calm down.  I can see it even now.

Grandfather passed away in 1999.  This week we got word that my Grandmother was not well.  She fell and had internal bleeding.  You see she only weighs a whopping 79 lbs.  I can't even imagine!  Mom told me I needed to come down and see her.  So my sister and I dropped everything and drove down to see her.  It may be our last time.  They don't know if she will make it a week or not or if she will last another winter.

Grandmother always wanted to out do her brother and sister and live past 100 or 103.  Well... she almost got there.  96.  She said that she was satisfied with that today.

I'll cherish her memories.  I won't forget how she looked at us today when we got there or how she looked at us when we left.  I'll miss her even though I don't get to see her often. 

Maybe I will have a long life too since it seems to run in the family.  I can only hope.

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

I am slowly turning into a Zucchini Fan.  Who knew?

I found these on Pinterest Web-site and decided to try it last night.  I only used one small zucchini with the recipe because I honestly didn't think my kids would like them.  They gobbled them up!  My youngest son kept going back into the kitchen begging for more.  I couldn't help but laugh as I knew he had no idea he was really eating a vegetable which he had stop eating long ago.

One note:  parmesan all ready has a salty taste so use salt sparingly.  I added salt to mine but next time I think I will leave it out.  Since I liked a lot of crumbs on my zucchini, I may double the parmesan and panko next time and use 2 zucchinis with it.  Also use your baking stone....  it turns out extra crispy this way! 

Enjoy!

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. zucchini or squash (about 2 medium-sized)
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan (heaping)
• 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (heaping)  I used Italian Style Panko
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray lightly with vegetable spray.

Slice zucchini or squash into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Toss rounds with oil, coating well.

In a wide bowl or plate, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.

Place rounds in parmesan-breadcrumb mixture, coating both sides of each round, pressing to adhere. The mixture will not completely cover each round, but provides a light coating on each side.

Place rounds in a single layer on baking sheets. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumb mixture over the rounds.

Bake for about 22 to 27 minutes, until golden brown. (There is no need to flip them during baking -- they crisp up on both sides as is.)

Source: http://bakehouse.squarespace.com/home/2011/7/20/zucchini-parmesan-crisps.html

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

 Who would have thought chocolate and zucchini would be a good combination?  I have always had a hard time finding a good chocolate muffin recipe just by themselves, but these are wonderful!  I might actually grind the zucchini next time, but I couldn't tell it was grated into the recipe at all.  My kids ate it up!  They loved them.   Shhh!  Don't tell them there is a vegetable in there!

What's your favorite Zucchini Recipe?

Recipe compliments from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Zucchini-Muffins/Detail.aspx?ms=1&prop25=87945295&prop26=DailyDish&prop27=2012-07-08&prop28=RecipeOption&prop29=FullRecipe&me=1

Ingredients

3 eggs

2 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease or line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.
3. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mix until just moist.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Store loosely covered.

Zucchini Relish

Zucchini is such a versatile vegetable.  I grew up detesting any squash like substance, but over the last several years I have been experimenting with them.  Trying to find that perfect fit for each vegetable so that it's texture, taste and smell suits me isn't too hard when you have the internet.

Isn't it funny how Zucchini will produce so much on just one or two plants?  You definitely don't want to plant too many.  I am fortunate that my mother-n-law shared her garden with me.  I have to say I have really enjoyed it this year. 

One item that a must have in our house is Zucchini Relish.  I no longer had my mom's zucchini relish on stock in my cubbord so I knew I need to at least try and make it myself so that I would always have it.  I know that there are a lot of recipes out there for zucchini relish, but don't forget this one tip...   The more zucchini you add to your recipe the more watered down it will become.  Zucchini holds so much water that even after you feel like you have squeezed it out, there is still more.  With this recipe I have added 1cup more to make 6 cups and it turned out fine.  In fact, a friend of mine said the jar I gave her was the best she ever had!  Not bad for a first time maker!

So stick to the ingredients.  Follow the directions and you will have the best tasting relish ever!  The jalapeno is optional, but if you take the seeds out, you can't even tell its in there.  I don't have a grinder, but I grate my zucchini and then use my chopper to make it small as possible.  It still works great.

I would encourage you to take the time and do some of the things our mothers did when they were our age.  If we don't do it, these recipes and traditions will be lost forever.  Look for more Zucchini Recipes to come!

Zucchini Relish
Ingredients:
5 cups peeled, ground zucchini
4 cups ground onion
5 tbsp canning salt
1 red pepper, ground
1 green pepper, ground
2 cloves garlic, ground
1-2 whole jalapeño, ground, optional
2 1/2 cups vinegar
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp dry mustard
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tbsp celery seed
5 cups sugar
Directions:
Put canning salt on the zucchini and onions and let it stand overnight. Place a plate on this and weigh it down and cover it.  The next morning drain and rinse, then drain again. (just run water over it and use your hads to loosen it up a little to let water drain off.)  Add vinegar, red pepper, green pepper, jalapeño and cloves and spices, cornstarch, and sugar.  Mix together, bring this to boil and then add to zucchini mixture. Simmer for 30 minutes. Let stand for 3 hours, reheat and then can.

Sterilize jars in hot water bath 20 minutes. Put mixture into pint or half pint jars and put their lids on.  Screw tight and put into boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Faithfulness

I have struggled this week with the unfaithfulness of others.  It made me angry to see how people can volunteer to do something and then never show up and follow through with what they committed to do.  It made me sick. 

Then God showed me this morning this quote,

"It costs to be faithful. It cost Abraham the yielding up of his only son. It cost Esther to risk her own life. It cost Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being put into a fiery furnace. It cost Stephen death by stoning. It cost Paul his life. Does it cost you anything to be faithful to your Lord and King?"

My focus was on the unfaithfulness of others instead on my faithfulness.  It made me realize that even though I am faithful to do more then what is asked....  it is the above and beyond that God wants us to be faithful in, and to have a good attitude about it.

If God has allowed you to do something for Him, don't be surprised when he wants you to do more.  Rejoice and be glad that he has allowed you to do it too.  I believe I have some confessing to do.

If you are not sacrificing to do something for God, then it's time to stop and see if you are being faithful to him at all.

When you get close to God, it will change your life forever....

Wednesday's night message at church was awesome!  We looked at the life of Simon.  No not Simon Peter, but Simon of Cyrene.  The man who carried the cross of Jesus.

At first glance, you would think that this mention of Simon was all there was, but as we looked at scripture we found out more about this man who was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus and the impact it had on his family's life.

Mark 15:20-21, "And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.  And they compel one Simon, of Cyrene, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross."

A few things to note that I didn not know or think of:

1.  They soldiers were not allowed to crucify Roman citizens.
2.  They had to crucify outside the city.
3.  Jews were not allowed to touch the cross because they would be defiled and would not be able to celebrate the anual passover.
4.  Cyrene is in Northern Africa coast, some 900 to 1000 miles away.

Jews from all over made this journey to Jerusalem for the passover.  The streets were crowded and the Jews wanted Jesus crucified before the passover.  Jesus struggled to carry the cross so the soldiers looked for someone to carry it for him.

So why did they pick this man of Cyrene to carry the cross?

When they saw Simon of Cyrene, they compeled him to carry the cross.  Why?  They couldn't ask a Jew too.  The Roman's honored the Jewish beliefs.  So they saw a man coming from Africa with a different color of skin.  They took one glance at the man and assumed he was not a Jew or converted Jew.  So they compeled this man to carry the cross.  Simon had come from a long way.  A month long journey.  He did not know anything about this man Jesus, but yet this event changed his life forever.

Did you know that compel means to be pressed into service of the King.  Boy was he!  Except this time he was pressed into service for the Lord!

But why was Simon even coming to Jerusalem?  It was mentioned Wednesday night that he could have been a converted Jew coming to celebrate the passover.  I believe the book of Josephus mentions that some of the Jews migrated to the area of Cyrene years before.  So maybe he came to celebrate and the Romans not knowing he was a converted Jew, compeled him to carry this cross.  Imagine coming all the way from Cyrene to celebrate the passover and you wind up defiled by Jewish law because you touched the cross....

Does the story end there?  I originally thought so, but was proven there is more about this man.

Look in Acts 11:19-20. "Now they who were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, travled as far as Phoenica, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.  And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrenen, who, when they were come to Antioch, spoke unto the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Acts 13:1, "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and Symeon, who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod, the tetrarch, and Saul (Paul)."

Symeion of Cyrene, was Simon who carried the cross.  He got close to Jesus and it changed his life, never to be the same.  He was a missionary now.  Telling the Gentiles about Jesus.

Remember Simon's two sons were mentioned?  Where did they end up?

Romans 16:13, "Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine."

Paul wrote the book of Romans and in Romans 16 he is saluting those whom he is close with.  Verse 13 shows that he considers Rufus' mother like his own.  Coinsidence?  No.  They had a family history together. 

What about Alexander, Simon's other son?

A little research on the internet shows that an ossury was found near Jerusalem that had the inscription of Alexander, son of Simon. Read/click on  the following document: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:8DZROnH3qcQJ:israelpalestineguide.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/alexander-son-of-simon-ossuary-illustrated-2010-edit.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjoQ5C8MLAOdZw7TZgvyneOzEqoprcGbUPB1kJ8K6-QKGoyld_aIv_n7mC3k_zhRfuZbf2NVZpnBu6FCfZ_pRNbo38gpTfPn2znvtLCHUCYno-9FG4QQoY_PE-n6a9J0CoOBKZo&sig=AHIEtbR8DHCkPhLjFj7AlMr9M1j1FZkr7A&pli=1

Amazing that science is catching up with the Bible.

Another Child of God

This week has been an awesome week, for the most part!  We had revival services at our church and he really preached hard on our walk with God, our attitudes etc.  On Monday I could tell the devil was fighting and trying hard to convince me to keep my two sons home.  One being in school and the other at 18 months made me dread the late nights and bed times.  I dreaded the melt downs that I knew would come.

As I cleaned my tub that day, I noticed a spot on the wall of the tub.  I took my scrubber and swiped my hand over it not paying much attention.  I felt immediate pain and looked down at my finger only to see the top layer of my skin on my fingertip had come off.  I had a hole in the tub.  I have no idea how that happened.  Immediately I thought about the cost of replacing something like a tub and all the other little things in the house that I knew needed attention.  AKA, spend more money on.  Our faucet in the other bathroom was being replaced and we didn't have time yet to put the faucet back together as we ran into a problem with the tubes being too short.  Who knows when that would be done!  We had just finished painting the bathroom and don't have the shower rod up because we needed to find a new attachment to screw in the wall to keep the paint from peeling when you used the curtain rod.  Oh yeah, did I fail to mention the numerous times we have had to work on our van lately?  Currently we now know that it is the fuel injector that needs replaced and that should solve the problem.  But wait!  what about the other car?  We are having problems with that and all we can do is pray it doesn't need attention soon!  Oh and one last one....  we had to replace our 6 year old refrigerator a couple months ago because it bit the dust.  

So as all those things ran through my mind, the Holy Spirit reminded me that devil was behind all this to keep me from going to the Monday night revival.  I was then more determined to go.  I was not going to let him beat me.

I'm so glad we went.  At the end of the service my oldest son, asked Christ into his heart.  I can't describe how I felt.  This last week he had been asking about salvation but we did not think he was ready.  We told him to pray and ask God to give him wisdom and understanding and he did.  We had some ups and downs with our son the week before with disobeying, lying etc.  I now look back and see that God used those moments to speak to him about sin and what it is and what it meant for Jesus to die for our personal sins.  We my husband returned to the pew, I looked up at him to see if it was true.  Did he really understand?  He shook his head yes.  He said he was crying when he asked his daddy about getting saved.  There was a humbleness in his heart and an understanding that Jesus died for HIS sins.

When we got home that night, my son was singing with gladness and jumping around.  I asked him to get dressed.  5 minutes later he bounced in our room still not dressed for bed time.  When asked why he wasn't in his PJs, he said he was too excited becaused he had been saved that he couldn't change!  Did I tell you what he told me that morning?  It took me by surprise, but my son told me that he took God's hand and sat in his lap.  I asked if he had a dream and he said no.  He just said he took God's hand and sat in his lap.

As my husband and I reflected on the night it dawned on me that this was the time of year we met him 5 years ago.  So I pulled up my journal and sure enough.....  We saw our son's referral picture on the 23rd of January 2007 and met him in person on January 24th, 2007.  On Monday, January 23rd, 2012, which is the 24th day in Russia, our son accepted Christ as his Savior 5 years to the date as when we met him.  I am by all means not superstitious, but I do truly believe that numbers are special.  The numbers in the Bible mean something and I by all means know it is in God's plan that our son was saved/adopted in God's family the same date he met his earthly adoptive family.  It takes my breath away to think about how God worked it together.

Healthy Living

If you have read any previous post, you will know I have started a journey of Healthier Living in my home....  and yes it is a journey.  I didn't clean out my pantry of all the bad stuff, but I am try new things and substituting BETTER things when I run out of the things in my pantry.  While I want to be healthier, I don't think that all that I have in my pantry should be wasted either.  Plus, I am not a big pre-packaged person anyway so my pantry isn't too bad.  Sure there are cake mixes for the "surprise, I have to take something to work tomorrow honey." type of situations...

Today, I want to share with you some ingredient conversions that you can do in your current baking.  I love making things from scratch, but my one down fall is using an ingredient when you don't know how it will turn out!  That scares me, but I have taken baby steps in trying these healthier solutions out and yes they are working!  Yes they tast good!  Very important!!

Butter
Yum...  
Butter is high in calories. 
Why not try these substitutions?

1.  Unsweetened applesauce:
  replace about half the amount of the called for butter with applesauce.  So if you end up needing 1 cup butter use 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup butter.  This works best in cakes.

2.  Unsweetened Pumpkin Puree:
Use the same as applesauce.

3.  Prune Puree:
Using Prune puree works well in chocolate treats and with goodies that have spices.
Use equal amounts of ingredient called for with the same amount of prue puree.

4.  Mashed Bananas:
Using mashed bananas works best with recipes that call for using OIL.  I wouldn't try using them in baked goods that are light and fluffy though.  Quick breads, coffee cakes and pancakes would work well with bananas.
How do you use it?  1 Cup of Oil= 1/2 cup of mashed banana.

How about Substitutions for Eggs?

1.  Unsweetened Applesauce:
1 egg = 1/4 cup of applesauce

2.  Vinegar and Baking Soda
For 1 egg = 1 tsp baking soda and 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

3.  Ground Flaxseed  { i love this one}
For 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed and 3 Tbsp of water = 1 egg

4.  Mashed Bananas
1 egg = 1/2 cup mashed banana

5.  Silken tofu
I probably won't ever use this one, but who knows...
Great for baking goods.
1 egg = 1/4 cup of whipped or pureed silken tofu

Sugar Substitues:

1.  Artificial sweeteners {I prefer to stay away from these}

2.  Molasses
1 1/3 cup of molasses = 1 cup sugar.
Recommend only replacing 1/2 of the called for sugar with this as molasses is a very strong flavor. 

3.  Honey
1 cup sugar = 3/4 cup honey + 1 Tbsp

One thing to consider is this:  If you are afraid to try these, just try replacing half of the ingredient to test it out before cutting the high calories out completely.  A little here and a little there will add up.  You will be surprised how they taste and knowing it is better for you will do us all good!

Through all this I am learning to be more self disciplined in my life.  Remember our physical health will often affect our spiritual health and emotional health.

Here's to more Healthy Living!

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

I recently went to the doctor and had my blood work done again.  Once again my LDL levels were borderline high and I was told to start using fish oil twice a day and have it recheck in 3 months.  Fish Oil?  Yuck, I hate fish and seafood.  I do know there is a good flavored fish oil out there but it is expensive. 

So once again I am revisiting the oatmeal options.  I like oatmeal, but detest eating it as a cereal.  I know they have oatmeal cookies in the store, but I have tried them and they are as hard as can be and not very tasty.  So I decided yesterday to look on-line and see if I could come up with something that would be a little more desireable.  I found the perfect match!  It is ALL good for you.  Every ingredient!  I decided that since I had all the ingredients that it was worth a shot to find a new breakfast item for me.  When they came out of the oven, I was really eager to try one.  I didn't wait long before I took my first bite.  Do you want to know if they are good?  Why yes they are!  So I am very excited to share with you a very HEALTHY oatmeal breakfast cookie that is soft and moist.  If you don't like the craisins, leave them out.  I find they add a nice touch to them! 

I was also a little nervous about using flax seed, but I did it anyway and found that it is great in foods.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
1/2 mashed banana (I used 1 large)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (or non peanut)
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed (or an add’l 1/4c flour)
1/4 cup nonfat milk or vanilla protein powder (+2TB of water if dough is too thick)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray; set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together banana, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla.
In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, ground flax, milk powder, cinnamon, and baking soda.
Stir the oat mixture into the banana mixture until combined. Stir in dried cranberries.
Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. With a thin metal or small plastic spatula dipped in water, flatten and spread each mound of dough to a 2¾-inch round, about ½ inch thick.
Bake, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months; thaw before serving.

Oatmeal Muffin Remake

This last month, a good friend of mine has been encouraging to get back into shape.  She passed her Personal Trainer's Test and now is licensed to help other people.  To get her started she asked for some friends to help her get some practice in and I volunteered.

I have really been encourage by her.  She gave me some tools to get started. 
1)  Drink a lot of water-96 oz was recommend.
2)  Increase your fiber
3) Work out 3 times a week and a couple times a week do some strength training exercises.
4)  Use Loseit.com to start having an awareness of how many calories I was actually taking in.  It's not really calorie counting, but building an awareness or calorie consumption and portion control.  Two things I was horrible at.
5)  She has also educated me about using more natural ingredients, not processed sugars etc....  So I have started sloooowwwwly changing ingredients out in my home and experimenting with healthier ways to make things.  She also mentioned that natural sugars and ingredients will burn off quicker then the processed sugars.  I thought that was pretty interesting.

So I hit a low point this week with just being busy the last two weeks, Thanksgiving food etc.  I was at the doctor's office in the middle of the week and they weighed me.  I expected some good things, but was disappointed.  Mainly because I didn't weigh myself to begin with and I have no idea of where I started.  I did notice a change in me but I was still frustrated.  Until today.  I had another session with my friend today and she measured me.  I have actually lost a couple inches around the waist and some more elsewhere.  I guess I did make progress!  Since she brought her scale with her, I decided to weigh myself and was pleased that it was less then it was a few days ago.

So as I continue my journey to get into better physical shape.....  I will leave you will a remake of my Oatmeal Muffin Recipe.  It was a decent recipe before, but now I LOVE IT!!!  I couldn't believe how substituting ingredients would make a difference.

Oatmeal Muffins {BEFORE Makeover}
1 Egg
1 Cup buttermilk {1 tablespoon vinegar + 1 Cup Milk}
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar Packed
1/3 Cup Shortening {Crisco}
1 Cup Cooking Oats
1 Cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray with cooking spray and bake 20 minutes.

Oatmeal Muffins {AFTER Makeover}
1 Egg
1 Cup buttermilk {1 tablespoon vinegar + 1 Cup Milk}
Instead of 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar Packed Used: 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 Cup Molasses + 2 teaspoons
Instead of 1/3 Cup Shortening {Crisco}= USE:  2 1/2 Tablespoons Crisco and 2 1/2 Tablespoons All Natural Applesauce
1 Cup Cooking Oats
1 Cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray with cooking spray and bake 20 minutes.  Makes 1 dozen.  Approximate calorie per muffin is 140 Calories.

Notes: 
1)  Changes of ingredients were made in Red. 
2)  I didn't try to change the flour to some wheat as I wanted to see how the other changes turned out. 
3)  The batter may appear a little runny, just make sure and scrape your bowl good before scooping out.  These turned out more moist then they used to.
4)  Since molasses is used they will bake darker in color so don't worry.  They have a great flavor!!
5)  When substituting applesauce for the shortening, they recommend that you only replace half of the ingredient with applesauce and using shortening for the rest.
6)  You can substitute up to 3/4 the sugar content amount with molasses, but they don't recommend any more past that.  I just did half to start out with.

Day 3--Charleston

We saved the tour of the Ghost Ship for the last day. 

What is the Ghost Ship? It is the U.S.S. Yorktown ship that was sunk at the battle of Mid-Way.

A second ship was built in order to keep the Japanese from knowing they had sunk the original ship.

The day started out pretty chilly.  The wind was blowing pretty good creating a nice "mist" blowing off the water.  We caught the college sail boats competing on the water just off the side of the ship.  I don't know how they kept from capsizing and we saw several that almost did!

I won't show all my pictures, but I definitely know my husband would not fit on this ship!

He is 6'5" and he had to stoop alot and bump his head walking down the steep steps from level to level.

I can't remember how many was on the ship.  Maybe around 3,000.

See this recipe for 10,000 Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Can you imagine making that many??

We finished up the day going back down-town and walking around.

Then we decided to go to a different area of the beach

and walk before going back downtown again for dinner.

Can you tell that downtown historic Charleston was our favorite place?

 

Day 2 Continued

Day 2--Charleston

After a visit to Fort Sumter, we decided to head on over to Boone Hall Plantation.  It is a really pretty place and it's long drive back to the house was beautiful.  Imagine driving your carriage or wagon...  Boone Hall Plantation had been used for several movies.  I can't remember them all, but I will point out the parts that stand out to me.

Boone Hall plantation has had several different owners.

The original plantation was not as we see it today.

Plantation homes were built with wood and not ornate.

The ornate homes were built by the owners back in Charleston.

Besides the obvious crops that were grown here, like cotton,

Boone Hall was the top producer of pecan trees that supplied a

huge quantity of the countries pecans.  When one of the hurricanes

hit Charleston, that ended that.

The first building built on the plantation was this smoke house.

Live Oak trees with Spanish Moss. 

The oak trees are deciduous and stay green all year around.

Behind this live oak is a river that is connected to the ocean.

Owners would ship their goods out on barges to Charleston

when the tide came up.  The plantation didn't seem far from Charleston,

but back then it took a bit to get from Charleston to the plantation.

This was the easier way to get their goods out.

Nicknamed "Slave Street",

These homes were the place where the household slaves stayed. 

Field slaves lived in wood shacks in the fields.

*One thing that stood out to me was this:

Upon touring the 1st floor of the home,

we learned about the slave trade.

A shopping list was saved by one of the

lady's of the home and first on the list was

"one slave girl = $980"

$980!  I couldn't believe how much

they spent for the use of a slave.

I also viewed a record of slaves that came to

Charleston and was amazed by the

amount of slave that came. 

You do the math. 

This was over 100 years ago....

Also note that more slaves were sent to the

Caribbean and other areas besides the U.S.

The number is staggering.

Boone Hall Plantations cotton gin under restoration.

When the cotton gin was invented, they built

their own cotton gin.

Walking around the plantation was neat. 

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to tour much of the home.

We were only able to view the first floor because the upper floor was

occupied by the current owner who comes there once in awhile.

Over all it was a beautiful afternoon, and

I really enjoyed learning more about our countries history.

We followed up the day with eating out down-town again at Poogan's Porch.

Pic from Poogan's Porch.

My meal was so good!  It was worth it to have a nice date night meal with my husband.

Charleston Adventures

Day 2-

We decided the night before to go ahead and do the Ferry Ride out to Fort Sumter.  The weather was supposed to be in the 70s that day and the following day, rainy and in the 60s during the morning.  I'm so glad we did!

We drove back downtown to Liberty Square to take Spiritline Ferry out to Fort Sumter.  I was a little worried about the boat ride as the last boat ride I had been on, we got sea sick.  I knew that it wouldn't happen with the Ferry ride, but you always wonder.  The ride went smooth and the smell or salt water in the air was invigorating!

The bridge in the background is Arthur Ravenel Bridge.

This was built for a measly half a BILLION dollars.

Pennies if you like....

But it is beautiful!

It is 1 1/2 miles long.

The Ghost Ship above...

More details on a later date.

Charleston is called the Holy City because it made a point to secure religous freedom in this city.

The downtown area is filled with Steeples and old churches are absolutely beautiful!

Fort Sumter was actually built on a sandbar. 

Granite pieces were brought in so they could build

a 3 story fort on this site. 

Only 1 story remains today.

Historic Downtown Charleston

Day 1-Evening

After leaving Folley Beach we decided not to even go back to the hotel.  We figured if we did, we would not get out and enjoy everything we wanted to see.  We were surprised at how easy it was to find our way around, especially with a map of the downtown area.  We were also pleased that it didn't take us as long to get around Charleston.

When we hit the downtown area, we mapped out where we were going to park.  As we were driving around we kept missing our turns, but it ended up that was a good thing as we found the restaurant we would go eat at the next night.  Along side of that, there was a parking garage right by it so we were happy we new how to at least get there the next night.

Once we parked, we found ourselves wandering around downtown, and I took a few photos before it got dark.  The architecture was so beautiful.  I wish I had taken more, but I did not.

We did find a good place to eat that night.  I never tried grits before, but I did try some of my husbands.
It was a Shrimp and Grits plate topped with a Ham Chorizo sauce.  I don't like seafood, but I did try the grits and it was SOOO good.  I'll would love to find a recipe to duplicate it.

After we ate that delicious meal, we did more walking.  A bunch more walking.

Figured out my night vision flash here. 

Thought this was really pretty.

On the Pier they had benches and swings under the

shelter stretching out into the river that connected to the Ocean.

It was a lot of fun sitting on the swing just talking

and watching the boats on the river.

I didn't realize this but Charleston gets a lot of

Cruise ships that dock here everyday.

I think my husband told me that Charleston is the

#6 top spot to visit in the United States.

I absolutely know why now!!

But what good is a trip if you don't ever get a little lost....  As with every time we go somewhere we always loose our way.  It took us a little while to maneuver out of downtown Charleston because every time we thought we could turn one way to make it back to the bridge, we would run into a one way street...  in the other direction!  We ended up north of where we should have been, but we quickly found our way back to the hotel after that!  We never had a problem after that getting lost down town.  At least we got to see some more awesome old buildings in the dark!

Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park

Good way to end our Day One!

Just me and my husband!