Adorable

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Cereal

Made me laugh.

October 15

October 15

 

 Psalm 122:7 

Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

 

Some people's homes are war zones. Families in conflict abound in our society. So much unhappiness comes from people no longer knowing how to share and give. Too many people are looking out for themselves, and they aren't willing to look out for each other. Mothers fight with daughters, sons with fathers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, each feeding the beast of hurt and discord. We are lost without a peacemaker, one who knows our hearts and can pave the way to reconciliation. Luckily, Christians have such a peacemaker. Christ came to unite all God's children, brothers, and sisters in the faith. He works in the home to call us to a deep love that is consecrated in blood. If we strive for peace within the walls, then we are one step closer to peace between our nations. God will heal all wounds, if we will only welcome Him in.

 

Prayer: Christ, You have broken down the dividing walls of hostility, and You are waiting to build bridges of love. Begin with me, Lord, and move forth in love. Amen.

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Remember

Llama

Ha ha. Rings true.

Window

Agree/Disagree

Lampposts

Bought these to decorate. Can't wait.

Bailey's Brownies

Found on a blog:(wish I could find the link)

Bailey's Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

heaping 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with foil and lightly spritz with cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until combined. Set aside.

Place chocolate and butter in a large microwave-proof bowl and melt in 30 second spurts, stirring in between each interval until completely melted. Set aside to cool a bit. (Alternatively, melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan set over low heat, stirring frequently until melted. Set aside.)

Once the chocolate mixture is warm (not hot!) add eggs, one at a time, whisking constantly to incorporate the eggs. Whisk vigorously for about 10 seconds to incorporate fully. Add sugar, vanilla, and Baileys and whisk until combined.

Add the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, folding until just combined (the flour JUST disappears).

Pour batter into the prepared pan, give it a quick wiggle to even out the batter. Bake at for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Enjoy and de-stress : )

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Customers

Ha ha

So very very true.

Epcot

Halloween Plate

I wish I had done this with my babies.
It is so cute.

Today

Simple Soaked Pancakes

From Heavenly Homemaker Blog:

Simple Soaked Pancakes

By Laura · Feb,16 2009

I've really been enjoying experimenting with my new sourdough starter…and the older my starter gets, the better it does!  Mmm!

But I keep falling back on my old stand by pancakes.  They are SO good and SO good for you and SO easy.

I make them by soaking my flour in buttermilk overnight which breaks down the phytates and makes them more digestible, thus creating sourdough pancakes.  Here's the recipe:

Simple Soaked Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour (or whatever grain you want)
1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 egg
3 T. melted butter (or oil)
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. sea salt

Stir the flour and buttermilk together in a glass bowl.  Cover with a cloth and leave on the counter overnight.  In the morning, stir in the egg, melted butter, baking soda and salt.  Whisk together, adding extra milk or buttermilk for the desired batter thickness you prefer.

Cook pancakes on a well buttered, hot skillet or griddle, flipping once bubbles begin to form.  Serve with real maple syrup, applesauce, jelly, or any of your favorite pancake toppings!

 

 

"All of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." -  ºoº Walt Disney ºoº  

 

Pecan pies

From Bakerella blog:

Mama's Pecan Pies
Makes 3 pies or about 32 individual pies

16 oz. pecans
2 sticks margarine
16 oz. package light brown sugar
1 heaping tablespoon (serving tablespoon, not measuring spoon) self-rising flour
16 oz. bottle Karo light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
6 eggs
3 regular size (not deep dish) frozen pie crusts – or make your own (enough for 3)

• Melt margarine in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until melted and set aside.
• Prepare your pecans. Remove any unwanted dark brown pieces from the pecan crevices and shake out pecan crumbs in a colander.
• Place brown sugar in a large bowl. Work out any lumps with the back of a spoon. If the brown sugar is too hard, you can loosen it up in the microwave. Heat it for a few seconds and it will be fine.
• Add a heaping serving tablespoon of self-rising flour and stir until the flour disappears into the brown sugar.
• Add the bottle of corn syrup. Then add 1 serving tablespoon of vanilla and stir until thoroughly combined.
• Add melted margarine. Fold carefully into the mixture so it doesn't splatter. Fold until the margarine is thoroughly worked in and disappears.
• In a separate bowl, crack open six eggs. Remove the "roosters" and loosely beat the eggs with your spoon.
• Fold the eggs into the pie mixture until they disappear.
• Add pecans and stir until completely coated.
• Remove three pie shells from the freezer at this point and check for cracks. (If you do have a crack, thaw and knead the crack together and refreeze.)
• Pour the mixture evenly into the three shells. You'll probably have a little bit leftover in the bowl. Tap tops with a spoon to check consistency and make sure there is the same amount in each pie. Redistribute pecans if necessary to make equal.
• Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350. Cook pies until they swell and then fall. At that point they are done.
• Remove and cool for about three hours to set. Store on the counter or in the refrigerator depending on how you like your pie. Or eat right away and really warm – the pie just won't hold it's shape at this point but it will be amazing.
• For mini pies: chop pecans, use mini frozen pie shells, removing them from the freezer as needed and bake in three batches on a baking sheet for about 35 minutes each. I'm guesstimating the time. Watch them and make sure they are done.

Enjoy!

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9 Disturbing Side Effects of Soda

9 Disturbing Side Effects of Soda

Need a reason to break your soda addiction? We've got 9, and they're not pretty.

Soda's Bittersweet Side Effects

If you've been reading health magazines and websites for any length of time, you've read a litany of reasons why soda is bad for you. It's nothing but sugar water. It's devoid of any nutritional value. It leads to obesity and diabetes. But we've dug up nine other disturbing facts about what soda does to your body, besides packing on the pounds, that don't get much attention in broader discussions about soda and its impact on your health. 

Weird Fat in Weird Places

In the latest bad news for the soda industry, Danish researchers discovered that drinking non-diet soda leads to dramatic increases in fat buildup around your liver and your skeletal muscles, both of which can contribute to insulin resistance and diabetes. The study revealed that people who drank a regular soda every day for six months saw a 132 to 142 percent increase in liver fat, a 117 to 221 percent jump in skeletal fat, and about a 30 percent increase in both triglyceride blood fats and other organ fat. Their consumption also led to an 11 percent increase in cholesterol, compared with the people who drank other beverages such as water or milk. 

Diet-Soda Belly

It's not surprising that drinking all the sugar in sodas would cause weight gain, but what is surprising is that even diet soda will pack on the pounds: Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center monitored 475 adults for 10 years, and found that those who drank diet soda had a 70 percent increase in waist circumference over the 10-year study, compared with those who didn't drink any soda. Those who drank more than two diet sodas per day saw a 500 percent waist expansion! A separate study the same researchers conducted on mice suggested that it was the aspartame, which raised blood glucose levels, that caused the weight gain; when your liver encounters too much glucose, the excess is converted to body fat. 

Caramel Cancer-Causers

In 2011, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban the artificial caramel coloring used to make Coke, Pepsi, and other colas brown. The reason: Two contaminants in the coloring, 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole, have been found to cause cancer in animals, a threat the group says is unnecessary, considering that the coloring is purely cosmetic. According to California's strict Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, just 16 micrograms per person per day of 4-methylimidazole is enough to pose a cancer threat, and most popular brown colas, both diet and regular, contain 200 micrograms per 20-ounce bottle. 

Accelerated Aging

Diet or regular, all colas contain phosphates, or phosphoric acid, a weak acid that gives colas their tangy flavor and improves their shelf life. Although it exists in many whole foods, such as meat, dairy, and nuts, too much phosphoric acid can lead to heart and kidney problems, muscle loss, and osteoporosis, and one study suggests it could trigger accelerated aging. The study, published in a 2010 issue of the FASEB Journal, found that the excessive phosphate levels found in sodas caused lab rats to die a full five weeks earlier than the rats whose diets had more normal phosphate levels—a disturbing trend considering that soda manufacturers have been increasing the levels of phosphoric acid in their products over the past few decades.

Water Pollution

The artificial sweeteners used in diet sodas don't break down in our bodies, nor do wastewater-treatment plants catch them before they enter waterways, researchers have found. In 2009, Swiss scientists tested water samples from wastewater-treatment plants, rivers and lakes in Switzerland and detected levels of acesulfame K, sucralose, and saccharin, all of which are, or have been, used in diet sodas. A recent test of 19 municipal water supplies in the U.S. revealed the presence of sucralose in every one. It's not clear yet what these low levels are doing to people, but past research has found that sucralose in rivers and lakes interferes with some organisms' feeding habits. 

Mountain Dew Mind

Dentists have a name for the condition they see in kids who drink too much Mountain Dew. They wind up with a "Mountain Dew Mouth," full of cavities caused by the drink's excessive sugar levels. "Mountain Dew Mind" may be the next medical condition that gets named after the stuff. An ingredient called brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, added to prevent the flavoring from separating from the drink, is an industrial chemical used as a flame retardant in plastics. Also found in other citrus-based soft drinks and sports drinks, the chemical has been known to cause memory loss and nerve disorders when consumed in large quantities. Researchers also suspect that, like brominated flame retardants used in furniture foam, the chemical builds up in body fat, possibly causing behavioral problems, infertility, and lesions on heart muscles over time. 

Whacked-Out Hormones

It's not just the soda that's causing all the problems. Nearly all aluminum soda cans are lined with an epoxy resin called bisphenol A (BPA), used to keep the acids in soda from reacting with the metal. BPA is known to interfere with hormones, and has been linked to everything from infertility to obesity and diabetes and some forms of reproductive cancers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pegged soda cans, along with restaurant, school, and fast-food meals, as a major source of exposure to the chemical. And while Pepsi and Coke are currently locked in a battle to see which company can be the first to develop a 100 percent plant-based-plastic bottle—which they're touting as "BPA free"—neither company is willing to switch to BPA-free aluminum cans. 

Dead Birds

Before you switch from cans to bottles, though, take a look at the photographs of Chris Jordan, an environmentalist and photographer who visited the Midway Atoll area in 2009. It's close to the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a mass of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean where things like soda caps (which often aren't recycled) and plastic fish netting float just beneath the surface of the water. Birds, sea turtles, and other wildlife mistake the debris for food and eat large quantities of the plastic, which they are unable to digest. Ultimately, the plastic causes them to starve to death. It's estimated that thousands of animals die this way every year. 

Unknown Side Effects of GMOs

Take a look at the ingredients list for any soda and chances are most of those ingredients are derived from corn. As much as 88 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified to resist toxic pesticides or engineered to create pesticides within the plant itself. Thanks to lax government safety regulations, and tight corporate control over who gets to test these proprietary seeds, there are no human studies that can prove or disprove whether these crops are safe. Independent scientists have found that, in animals, genetically modified crops, or GMOs, are linked to digestive tract damage, accelerated aging, and even infertility. Most recently, scientists in France found that rats fed GMO corn for their entire two-year lifespan developed mammary tumors and died earlier than rats that ate non-GMO corn their entire lives. 

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Zelda themed room

From Technabob blog:

Zelda-Themed Bedroom: It's Dangerous to Grow Up Alone

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 03:00 PM PDT

What's with all of these kids getting special geek bedrooms and beds shaped like vehicles? I had a boring room with a boring bed because I had boring parents. Yeah, I'm a little bitter. Anyway, this is a pretty awesome Zelda inspired bedroom. Lucky kid.


This Zelda room is great, but it's not the only special room this kid had. He had a Mario nursery, but when his parents felt that he outgrew it, they gave him this room. See, this kid had two cool rooms. My parents suck.

They have a second child on the way, so this room was made to accommodate two kids. You guys are great parents. Unlike some people. Check out more pictureshere.

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