Pancake breakfast muffins

Well, I know it has been a long time since I have updated my blog. We have been working with no Internet for a couple of weeks. I have been using Cole's iPhone to keep in touch with the world via Facebook. Although, it was nice being without for quite a while! I am glad to be able to post again. Well, what have we been up to? (I know you all are dying to know) :)

I have been super busy in the kitchen lately. We have been trying new recipes and every day we get closer to our NO PROCESSED food goal. Breakfast is really hard for me to do without having processed food. You know, I was a child of the 80's and 90's. When the question about what was for breakfast came up, it really meant "What kinda cereal do we have?" Maybe that is why I am not a breakfast person. I mean really, have you looked at Cookie Crunch? I loved them as a kid and now...YUCK! They don't even look like cookies. They look more like dehydrated cow patties.

We have been doing a lot of yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast, but the girls and I tire of the same thing over and over. So I had to come up with something new. And so the recipe search began. During one of my searches I was reading a blog and the writer jokingly talked about putting sausage in a muffin. At first I was mortified. Sausage in the muffin? That is gross! But, then I though why not sausage in the pancake muffin. And if you can put sausage in it, why not eggs too? And so, I made them.

Conclusion? LOVE IT! We loved them so much there are no pictures to post!

These little things are the perfect grab and go kinda breakfast. We put our leftovers in the freezer and heat them up when we need a fast breakfast. All you need to add is a little maple syrup and YUMO!

So how do you make these perfect little things? Well, I am so glad you asked! It is so easy!

*Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
*Oil a muffin pan. (normal or mini. We used the normal, but next time I am using the mini ones)
*Simply make a batch of your favorite pancake batter according to the package instructions. We use gluten free at our house. You should probably start with about 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of dry mix and then add your other ingredients.
*Cook your patty sausage as directed on the package. Or do like I did and buy the Jimmy Dean turkey sausage you just heat in the microwave. I used six pieces of the turkey sausage.
*After it is cooked and cooled, cut it into small pieces (about the size of the end of a pencil).
*Scramble 2 large eggs. Making sure to break them into small pieces also. (You don't one muffin to get all the egg. )
*Add sausage and egg to the pancake mix and stir until the they are evenly distributed.
*Poor the batter into the muffin tins until they are about 2/3 full.
*Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes (7 minutes for a mini pan). A toothpick should come out clean when they are done.

Serve with pure maple syrup and enjoy!

If you want to freeze them, wait for them to cool and store in a Ziploc bag or container. Heat them in the microwave in 10 second intervals until they are perfect.

I also thought that maybe next time I would put a little syrup in the batter to cut out on the mess my girls can make.

And I know some of you are thinking, "She is kidding herself if she thinks this isn't processed!" My GF pancake mix has no preservatives and the sausage is all natural. So I am feeling good about it right now! :) Maybe I am lying to myself.

Please let me know what you think!

SCHOOL!!

If you have known me for any length of time you know one fact I LOVE SCHOOL. I get all giddy walking in a store and seeing all the supplies arranged all perfectly. I love the planning. I love the teaching. I love seeing the "lightbulb" flip when a child understands. I love school! I was the weird kid that was ready to go back to school way before summer ended. I love the smell of books and one of my favorite things to do is to go buy new school supplies. I would look in the mailbox every day just to see if the letter containing the supply list and even better...the letter that told me MY teacher. Like I said, I am weird. My book bag was packed and ready to go weeks before school ever started. So doesn't it make sense that I would become a school teacher? And if you thought I loved school before, teaching took it to a NEW level. While I was teaching I was at the school basically all summer long. I was literally doing whatever I could do just to be in the building. Again, I LOVE SCHOOL. And here comes the big "but." BUT!! After Ansley was born, I could not focus anymore. I would think about my precious little one literally all day! Now I was still teaching my kids at school and Ansley was fine (she was with my mom). But, when it came time to renew my contract, I simply could not do it. Cole and I prayed about it and he finally told me to quit! I could not believe it. I (Mrs. Work And Never Leave) was going to be a stay-at-home mom and I couldn't have been more excited. But first, remember all those school supplies? Yeah, where are we going to put them? Thankfully, our neighbor was going to be a first year teacher in the fall and she took most of them. The rest of them I secretly stashed in the attic. I told you I was weird. I have pulled them out as Ansley has gotten older and I can proudly say that we are fixing to OFFICIALLY start homeschooling! I am again so excited. I read curriculum catalogs like they are novels. I talk to anyone I can about homeschooling and what they do. I read blogs and look dreamily at school supply stores. I am so happy to have the best of both worlds. And I have a little feeling that Ansley is just like her Momma! I am still not sure what curriculum we will choose, but I do know that I am going to use some of the great things from www.ConfessionsofaHomeschooler.blogspot.com. She has great printables and things you can download for a small price and the girls love it! Stay tuned for all the school fun to come!

Staying home

There are days that I am pretty sure I am going to lose my mind. The dog keeps barking, the little one I am watching is crying, both girls want to feed him his bottle, people knocking at the front door, two kids have "something" all over them, supper burning on the stove are things to make me think I am going to lose my mind. Yesterday was one of those days. Two people were going door to door selling cleaning stuff (if you don't look clean, what makes you think I am going to buy cleaning supplies from you? just saying). At the same time, that I was trying to rescue them from my viscous sounding dog, I had supper on the stove which was beginning to smell a little overcooked. My hero was running late and I started supper without him, b/c like many of you we have Wednesday night church and teacher's meetings to attend. I finally get the girls eating their dinner when Ansley spots the french fries that I "accidentally" left on the stove (at our house you can always get them to eat the food on their plates if there are french fries for dessert...they get that from their daddy). Anyways, while I am retrieving the fries I hear BAM!!! Followed by "the scream". When I turn around there is little Charlotte with her chair on its back and she is face down with blood running from her mouth. And the adrenalin starts pumping. After about 20 minutes of cleanup (and my momma and sister to assure me that she doesn't need to go to the hospital), Cole and I finally sit down to eat cold hamburgers and warm salad. Whoa! what a crazy hour. Amazingly we did make it to church! Those are the days you question exactly how many brain cells pregnancy killed. But then there are days like today. Today was a typical Thursday. We have two extra little bodies here and they were all excited. We went for a walk and literally played outside until lunch. The kids all played well together. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The baby took a long morning nap. And we all have sun-kissed cheeks. Daddy even made it home for lunch and we were able to sit down and enjoy hot hamburgers and cold salad. Right now the kids have full bellies, dirty feet, and smiles on their little sleepy faces. These are the days that I thank God for being able to stay at home and listen to the giggles and grunts, the singing and complaining, and the cries and laughs. I am truly blessed to be able to love on, talk to, read with, cry with, and teach my babies and the babies of some great friends. :)

Barn Raising

A few months ago I was invited to a Thirty One party. I new that I would not know that many people (which usually makes me shy away from events), but this time I NEEDED a night away from the girls. I was right, I only knew the host. I was fixing to sneak away early, when I overheard one of the women talking about homeschooling. She was so animated and excited about things. We soon struck up a conversation. And I am so glad we did. It was on that day I met Kimberley Robinson. I learned that night about her large family and was able to meet some of the most well mannered preteens I have ever met. We parted ways that day and became friends on Facebook. That summer we happened to run into her and the children at the splash pad about month later. And again, she was so friendly and fun to talk to. So the other day, when I saw her plea for help to raise a cattle barn at her house, I quickly asked Cole. He thought it was a fun idea and we made plans to attend. I am so glad we did.

I cannot tell you how much fun we had. I know why the Amish still have barn raisings. What a wonderful day of food, fellowship, friends, and laughing children (and that isn't to mention the actually barn raising :) ) Ansley made a wonderful friend in Kimberley's Murphy. They were so cute telling secrets and holding hands. Ansley and Charlotte made their first mud pies and giggled like I have never heard before. The purity and simplicity in that day was more than I can put in words. The girls (who normally are shy and quiet when meeting new people) were relaxed and at ease. Before we had lunch Charlotte had already spread her blanket out to take a nap under an oak tree. I thank you so much Kimberley and Phillip for a wonderful day! I think the pictures will say more than I can ever describe in words.

Sleep

Well, I have a confession to make. I L-O-V-E sleep. Yep! I said it. I think sleep was my first love. I pretty much can sleep anywhere and at any time. That all changed the moment we brought sweet little Ansley home. The first couple of weeks were rough of course, but by week 5 she was sleeping until 5 am. It was at that time that I was sure she did not fall far from my tree. Wow, how things have changed. Let me describe the events of this morning.

I have said repeatedly, "I am so ready for time change. At least after the time changes Ansley's internal clock will be set for 7:30 am not 6:30 am." Boy was I wrong. This morning at 6:32 am, I hear her bathroom door open and the little footsteps coming down the hall. She quickly darts to Cole's side of the bed and climbs in. She never says a word. Two minutes after Cole leaves, she sits up in the bed like she heard a gun shot, rushes to get down, and runs to the front door. That is when I hear the scream. "He left me. My daddy left me." I quickly try to reassure her that daddy is just gone to work just like every other weekday. But that is not what she was so upset about. After a few minutes I finally hear her say, "If he has to leave to go to work, can't he turn on my shows?" I thought I was going to die laughing.

That is when I hear Charlotte calling my name. Ansley (mommy in training) quickly lets her out of her room and they play for quite some time. I finally wake myself up and get the coffee going. I tell Ansley, "You have got to stop getting up so early. Mommy needs some time to wake up and get going before you get up." She looks at me all confused and replies, " Well, can you please tell daddy to stop waking me up. He is so loud."

After calling Cole this morning and describing how our child threw him under the bus. We came to the following conclusion: Ansley sleepwalks! She insists that her daddy woke her up this morning and every other morning. Even the other day during nap, she came out and I sent her back (because she had only been asleep for about thirty minutes.) But I had told her that I would lay down with her for a little while. So when I go into the my bedroom (where she is supposed to be napping), she is not in my bed. I frantically begin to look for her. Only to find her in her own bed, asleep with her best buddy, who was also napping.

Yep. My oldest child sleepwalks and talks, just like her Aunt Megan! She may have come from my body. But I am pretty sure I am raising myself and my sister all over again. :)

Ansley taking a nap with B. I love how their feet are touching. :)

Charlotte's Birthday

Over the weekend we had the awesome privilege to celebrate Sweet Baby Charlotte's 2nd birthday. It is so hard to believe that she has only been apart of this family for two years. In some ways it feels as though I was pregnant with her only yesterday, and then I can not remember life before her.

Charlotte has been such a little challenge in so many ways. She was so sick as a little baby. Taking medicine all the time and acting listless. All of that, without any answers from the doctors and specialist she was seeing. Developmentally she was slipping further and further behind and we were getting more and more worried for our little baby. That all changed during the summer of 2010. After doing a ton of online research and telling everyone in the world about her problems, a friend of ours casually mentioned something about Celiac Disease. Immediately, I ran home and researched pediatric Celiac Disease and Charlotte hit 4 of the 6 markers. Now, the real challenge began.

The specialist that was seeing her did not want to test for Celiac. They claimed she was far to young to be showing symptoms already. But, if I insisted she would order a test. Out a few that are available, she ordered the most expensive, not covered by insurance, and least accurate one. Now what? Well, although they recommended we did not change her diet. They also said it would not hurt her. So that is exactly what we did. And today I am so thankful that I followed my gut.

The poor baby was 16 months old, not walking, talking/verbalizing, or pulling up. Basically she sat there and let me hold her all day. Within three days of changing her diet we saw drastic results. She was making eye contact, verbalizing, skin was clear, and she was pulling up. And we were not the only ones who noticed the drastic change. We started the diet on a Thursday and on Sunday her Sunday School teacher made the following comment "I don't know what you did over this past week, but this is a totally different child."

I give you all that history for one reason. Charlotte is such a blessing. This weekend we truly celebrated her life and her health. Gluten free cake, monkeys (cake popsicles), hamburgers, chips and ice cream was the menu. And fun was on the agenda. The girls played and played with their cousins. Even the grandparents, and great grandmothers were able to be there.The last little birthday surprise was a trip to Build-a-Bear. Both Ansley and Charlotte had a blast. The girls were even able to see a rainbow as we headed home from our adventure. What a wonderful weekend we had. We are truly BLESSED!

In Transition

Like many of you, we are always in a state of transition around here. This year we started doing a little preschool type stuff and well for a while I felt as though nothing was really sinking in. That was until yesterday. Charlotte, who is almost 2 now, starting singing the Leap Frog song (you know..."the A says aa. The A says aa. Every letter makes a sound. The A says aa."). The cool part is she didn't stop there. That little stinker sang all of the letters up to the letter K. Maybe it is the mommy in me, but I was totally impressed.

Which brings me to the title of this post, we are now in transition from baby-dom into toddler and preschool. I think this transition has hit me the hardest. Maybe because when Ansley transitions into a new stage, Charlotte is right behind her with all her baby cuteness. But, now Char is officially not a baby anymore :( Char not being a baby does make me sad (so I treat her like one as much as possible). But, I am super excited about the days we have ahead. The girls are growing leaps and bounds and Ansley is getting ready to start official "preschool". I am so blessed to be the mommy of two beautiful, smart, healthy, happy, crazy, loving, playful, girlie GIRLS!!