Mini German Pancakes

(Hmmm, just for the record, this is still not a "Food Blog" but . . . . I'm thinking I'm going to try and figure out how to some how bunch all my recipes together with a link of some sort or something . . . . . )

Preheat oven to 425
Grease  your muffin pan

Combine:
6 eggs
1 cup milk (we used soy and it still worked great)
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
(My batter was lumpy.)

Pour in muffin pan and cook 18-25 min.

4 ingredients!  SO EASY.  Crazy.

Notes:
*This much filled my 12 muffin pan, and the muffin pan is the best part.  Typically german pancakes are made in a casserole dish of some sort.  But using a muffin pan was fantastic.  Everyone gets their own perfect little pancake.  No "side" or "middle" pieces.  It was great. 

*If you're not familiar with german pancakes, FYI: they will get all tall and fluffy-like
* One of my kids just wanted a little butter on top, another one wanted syrup, the thrird wanted syrup and whip cream, my love an I had apples and whip cream on ours.  Any fruit you fancy would taste great. 

Banana Bites

This is my current kick.
I call them Banana Bites.  It's my version of a recipe I found on Pinterest.  It's awesome on many levels.  I snack.  And I will admit, that if I have an open bag of chocolate chips in my cupboard, that is what I snack on.  I have NO self control when it comes to chocolate.  But if I grab one of these, I get 4 or 5 chocolate chips mixed with oatmeal, bananas, and applesauce, instead of 20+ chocolate chips.  AND I feel way more full, AND I'm getting some potassium in me.  (Been trying real hard to up my potassium intake.)  AND Shortcakes likes them and I feel way less guilty giving her one of these than some processed, preserved cookie.  (Now if only I could convince the twins how yummy they are.)  AND they are E-A-S-Y.  When I'm cooking anything I'm all about being lazy. 

DO NOT pre-heat the oven first
 
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
2 bananas mashed with a fork
1 cup applesauce
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Stir the vanilla into the applesauce, then combine all the ingredients. 
Let it sit (the oatmeal kinda absorbs some of the moisture) while the oven per-heats to 350. 
Spoon rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet.  Makes a little less than 2 dozen, but if you "round" your tablespoons a little less you could probably get the full 2 dozen. 
Bake 25-30 min.  

Some notes:
* The original recipe I found said it didn't matter if you used "quick" or "rolled" oats.  I used "rolled" cause I don't know what it is that makes oats "quick." 
* The original recipe also called for 1 tsp cinnamon.  I am not a cinnamon fan.  The 2nd time I made them I omitted it and liked them much better.  You could also try using cinnamon apple sauce and get your cinnamon kick that way. 
* The original recipe was also healthier than mine cause is said to use raisins or dried cranberries instead of the chocolate chips.  I also tried that thinking I would love the cranberries.  But no, there was no love there.  I'm in this for the chocolate fix after all. 

Physical Therapy

About a month ago me and my best friend the tredmil were shooting for 20 miles.  At 19.4 my right calf let loose 3 & 1/2 years of bottled up protest.  (I got a crazy mean charlie-horse.)(Cause I haven't stretched -EVER- in all the 3 & 1/2 years I've been running.)  The golf-ball size rock in my calf has been spreading the love and the arch in my foot has started hurting too. 

So today I found my self at a physical therapy appointment.  And can I just say that I loved it.  Call me selfish but it felt amazing to have an entire hour, all about ME.  I had 2 people's undivided attention and it was all about me, me, me.  My life (as is every other mother's) is so NOT about me.  But for an hour, in that building, there was no one else to worry about, no one else to take care of.  And someone was devoting their entire thought process to what I needed.

A part of me feels really silly.  When I think of physical therapy I think of someone who is crippled or debilitated in some way and not functioning in life and needs the therapy to get back to normal.  As a person, I function just fine.  I go about life without a hang up.  So part of me feels almost ridiculous for going to physical therapy.  I'm trying to remind myself that as a "runner" I am NOT functioning.  My right leg range of motion is 1/2 what my left leg is, and my left hip flexibility is 1/2 of what my right hip is.  Not to mention the pain in my arch.  So it is really good for me to go.  I just feel like going is a luxury.  A luxury that I have a hard time labeling as a "NEED" cause I technically function.  And I feel bad cause there are people who aren't functioning in life and really need to go and can't afford it.  I feel spoiled rotten and very blessed to have nice insurance. 

The Silversmith

When reflecting on this week, I think a saying I saw fit nicely.  

God changes Caterpillars into Butterflies,

Sand into Pearls,

And Coal into Diamonds,

using TIME and PRESSURE.

This saying also reminded me of something I learned about silver a while back.  Wish I did a better job of remembering these thing when I'm in the moment.  If life is a test, I don't feel I earned an A+ this past month and a half.  B- maybe.
 
Malachi 3:3
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. 

When asked about the process of refining silver, the silversmith explained:
"I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining is exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."  

AND

He knows the process of purifying is complete by seeing his own image reflected in the sliver. 

We are the Silver.  The Lord is our Silversmith.  On occasion, life can feel as the fiery flames of the refiners fire.  Oh how painful and overwhelming the blaze can feel.  It is important for us to endure past what we think we can handle.  Our Silversmith knows us better than we know ourselves.  He does not throw us in and walk away to check on us later.  He "sits with His eyes steadily fixed."  He will pull us out at just the right moment.

And that is what I feel I've learned this past week.  We want so badly for him to take away our pain and sorrow and worries right away.  But the Lords time frame is not our own.  It is these fiery trials that make us reflect the image of the Savior in ourselves.

Valentines Day

It was Valentines Day this week.  And I can't complain at all.  My love wrote reasons he loves me on post-it notes and left them in various places throughout the house.  Each post-it note was accompanied by some of my favorite chocolate.  We also went out to dinner with our friends and went to a church dance and had lots of fun.  Couldn't ask for a better Valentines Day than that. 

Also in honor of Valentines Day I would like to post something I saw recently:

Woman came out of a man's rib. 

Not from his feet to be walked on.
Not from his head to be superior,

but from his side to stand with man.
Under the arm to be protected

and next to the heart to be loved.

I truly feel loved, protected, and blessed.  
 
 

When the lights are turned off, at first, it seems pitch black and you can see nothing.  But if you just hold still and wait trusting, your eyes adjust to the amount of light that IS there.  And you can in fact see, when you at first thought you couldn't.
That kinda goes good with my last picture about the stars and the darkness.  BUT, this is good too.

The Lord has poured out his blessings on me.  I live such a happy comfortable easy life.  I see everyone around me with never ending trials heaped upon their shoulders.  And here I sit.  Living a happily ever after.  A roof over my head (a leak free roof attached to a lovely home at that).  I am healthy and strong and able to do everything that my heart desires.  I have a husband who hugs me, and loves to be with me, and thinks I'm beautiful, and helps me, and puts up with me, and lets me lean on him, and makes me happy to just get to be with him.  I get to be a mother, a gift I know that some women do not get to receive in this life.  My children are happy and healthy.  And I have friends.  Friends who genuinely care about me and are there when I just wanna talk. 
Like I said, this chapter of my life feels like a happily ever after.
Every night I feel as though I can't thank my Heavenly Father enough.  And night after night I ask Him to help me to have and recognize opportunities to bless others because I have been so blessed.
Live has been a little busy lately, something written on almost every day on the calendar.  And I'm happy to say that a part of that is because I've had multiple opportunities to bless multiple people.  This makes me very happy.  I am so happy to be a blessing to someone else.  I am happy to be my Heavenly Fathers hands and do for my dear friends and family, what my Savior would do.  And to be completely 100% honest, I don't feel as though any of it has been a "sacrifice" or "hard" or like a "burden."  I feel as though the Lord truly has helped me to "run and not be weary, and walk and not faint."  (D&C 89:20)
However, as I said, there are those around me who truly have trials heaped upon their shoulders.  Despite my blessings, there have been many many days as of late, where despite my best efforts, I can not stop my tears.  And to finish off my feelings for the week, I want to share this picture.  It is true on multiple levels.

From Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27, 1850:

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

My question to you: Is it true?

Some of my thoughts:

Our Heavenly Father sends us to earth, knowing that we will sin.  And thereby cause him heartache.  Oh how his heart must ache.  Yet he sends us anyway.  And he loves us anyway.  Loves us beyond what we could comprehend.

I look at my children.  So innocent.  But they will grow up.  They too will sin.  They too will cause me heartache.

A part of me says, (a selfish part of me that I am choosing not to listen to, but a part of me none the less) says: Protect my heart.  Try not to love them so much.  So when they grow up and hurt you, perhaps it will hurt less.

As I said, I realize that this can not possibly be how my Heavenly Father would have me think, feel or proceed.  But it has left me contemplating parenthood.
Overall, I have decided the following:
I was given the gift of life on this earth, and not only life, but a good life.  A life born into a family that loves me completely and unconditionally without hesitation, despite the possibility of hurt or pain.  I could not ask for a greater gift than this.  And I choose to be a parent because I choose to share and pass on this gift of life and love. 

However, that being said, I would very much like to hear feedback, thoughts, and comments from others.