April Blog

Happy Spring!
One of the things I love about living in Tennessee is that spring comes early.  Being pregnant during the spring has been especially fun.  As everything is blooming, blossoming, and starting anew, I look forward to the amazing new start of birth.  Here are some other things I have been enjoying in April month.

5 Pound Sack of Potatoes

Last week at the doctors they estimate that the baby is already 5 pounds!  That is so big after so long of her being compared to a blueberry or an avocado.  We are working on getting the nursery ready and looking forward to meeting our little girl soon! 




The Healthiest Scone You Will Ever Like
My recipe this month is one that I have been making for some years now.  I've played with it, tweaked it, and really have been happy with the results in every stage.  You can't approach these like the scones you would get at a coffee shop.  Don't think white and flaky.  This scone marches to the beat of it's own drum.  I've found that the most successful whole grain recipes are like that.  They don't  try to make you think you are eating something white and fluffy but really it is make from barely.  Instead, whole grain recipes that are their own thing altogether are most enjoyable.  If you have any recipes like that, please share them with me.  This recipe is adapted from "The Healthy Kitchen"

Multi-Grain Scones

 1 Egg
1/2 cup sugar (I use cane sugar, but white sugar will work)
5 Tablespoons oil (either grape seed, olive, or vegetable)
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 1/2 cup flour ***see note
3 Tablespoons millet

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375
2.  Whisk egg, sugar, and oil together.
3.  Mix dry ingredients together in separate bowl.  Then slowly add dry ingredients to wet.  Then add milk and nuts.
4.  Grease a pan and scoop a couple of tablespoons of dough into mounds onto the pan.  There should be around 10 scones.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

***Note on flour:  This is where I have experimented with different combinations of whole wheat flour, white flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or white whole wheat flour.  My current favorite combination is 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour.
Click Here For Printable Copy of Recipe


What a Privilege To Love 

I've continued to enjoy dwelling on what Jesus Christ shared with his disciples right before he was going to be crucified.  I've been reading John chapters 13-16 a lot recently.  What has really stood out to me is the privilege as a Christian I have to love other people.

⁹"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  John 15:9-12 NIV

As a Christian I have "Christ-In" and I am commanded to love like Christ loved.  What a privilege!  When I try to love people on my own I often run out very easily.  But when I look at God's love for me and Jesus Christ love for me I then have so much more to give to other people.

One thing I learned this month is how there are similar topics covered in John 13-16 and in the book of 1 John.  In 1 John it also talks about what Christians are commanded to do.

^"23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." 1 John 3:23 NIV

This is what I am endeavoring to do on a daily basis, believing in the power of the name of Jesus Christ and to love other people.  That sounds like a good life to me.
 
Gardening

My Mrs. Moon plant made the first substantial showing, and boy did she show off!  From a little sprig of a plant that my mom gave me last year she really started the season off with style!

 I was so thrilled that my Solomon's Seal blossomed.  This is a flower that grows wild in the woods.  It is great to have a little woods in my backyard.

For my birthday Luke gave me 2 double pink knockout rose bushes.  They are going to get to be 3 to 4 feet tall.  I'm very thankful.  (for those of you keeping score in the gardening department, I ended up not getting the David Austin rose this year.  I found out that in the hot South, those English type roses need partial shade.  Maybe next year I will get one).




Learning How to Cut With Scissors
After the past 7 years of working with preschool and elementary school children to develop fine motor skills, I am still fascinated by the process, and still find it interesting.  I am starting to share what I know about fine motor development with my sister-in-law Anna for her little daughter Charlotte.  For any moms of preschoolers or people that have preschoolers in their life, I thought that I would also start sharing some fine motor skill development information on this blog.  Let me know if you use it.

View "Learning How To Cut With Scissors"

Cutting with scissors is something we take for granite as adults, but it is a skill children have to learn.  I've seen too many time a child never having used scissors before and then given the shape of a dog or flower to cut out and then been unsuccessful and very frustrated.  If you would like more information please click on the link for a document about learning to cut with scissors.

March Blog

Hello Friends!  I have enjoyed a happy but busy March.  Here are some things I would love to share with you.


1.  The Baby
Luke and I continue to look forward in excitement to our little girl coming in only 2 months!

2. Cool People Laugh at This Video
This You Tube video has had me laughing this week.  It is a true paradox.  Guys love watching movies with explosions, but the men in movies never watch the explosions, therefore: "Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions".


3.  Oh, the Joy!
Two different things I have been thinking a lot about lately is the resurrection of Jesus Christ and also preparing myself mentally for my upcoming labor.  When I was reading the Bible in John 16 these two different topics intertwined in a way that surprised and encouraged me.  This section in John is when Jesus was talking to his disciples right after the last supper.

¹⁶"A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me." ¹⁷Some of His disciples then said to one another, "What is this thing He is telling us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because  I go to the Father'?" ¹⁸So they were saying, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about." ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, "Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'? "Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. ²¹"Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. ²²"Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you."

When I have a thought dreading the labor and work involved of delivering my baby, I try to remember the joy that I will have because a child will be born into the world.  And then I remember the even greater joy I can have right now because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead!

4.  Who Said Oatmeal Cookies Couldn't be Yummy?

My new recipe for this month is Chocolate Cherry Cookies.  I love how this recipe uses whole grains and are delicious.  You don't have to force yourself to eat these cookies!  I froze half of them and have them stored in the freezer.  Then I microwave one for 25 seconds, and the chocolate and cherries get all gooey, perfect!

Chocolate Cherry Cookies
From Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2010
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup old fashion rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter melted
3/4 cup brown sugar or raw cane sugar
1 cup dried cherries * (you could reduce this to 3/4 cup, or do a combination of raisins and cherries)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg lightly beaten
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate pieces

1.  Preheat oven to 350
2.  Stir together, flours, oats, baking soda, and salt.
3.  Stir sugar with melted butter till smooth.  Add to flour mixture.  Beat until well blended.  Add cherries, vanilla, and egg.  Beat till combined.  Fold in chocolate.
4.  Drop by the tablespoon on baking sheets that have cooking spray.
5.  Bake for for 12 minutes.

5.  "The Music Within"
This movie about the man behind the writing of the Americans with Disabilities Act was funny, moving, interesting, and made me very thankful for how far we have come as a society.  



















6.  A Late Bloomer Just on Time

Two years ago on Mothers Day I was at a brunch where they gave all the mothers an African violet plant.  They had left overs, so they gave one to me.  In the last two years it hasn't bloomed once.  And then out of no where it bloomed, right before I am about to become a mother.  How beautiful!



Next month I hope to have pictures of our nursery and our gardens.  Enjoy April!

February 2010

Happy February!  Here are somethings that made me smile this month.

1. The Baby

Our baby is growing strong.  I am 6 months pregnant and they estimate that she is 2 pounds in weight!  It is so fun to have her kicking all the time.  On the ultra sound they were able to tell that her toes are like mine!  Her second toe is longer than her big toe.

2.  The Belly
Some people have asked to see a picture of my belly, so here it is. It is strange to have your body change so much so quickly! 

  


3.  Don't tell my Grandma!

As a child, anytime my mom would estimate instead of being exact with a measurement while baking she would always say "Don't tell Grandma Bucher!"  This is because I come from a long tradition of baking and cooking.  My Grandma is precise in measurements, and her wonderful baking and cooking demonstrates the wisdom of that.   

Carrying on with tradition, I normally like to bake from scratch.  But with the pregnancy I am learning the importance of simplifying when needed.  

I highly recommend  Duncan Hines whole grain muffins.  I've been staying away from mixes because I'm trying to stay away from white flour.  But these are amazing.   I've made the blueberry and the chocolate muffins.  The chocolate muffins are almost like brownies!

4. My "Cry" Book

Pregnancy has definitely made me more emotional, so crying can often be from a happy place.  Whenever I get out this book from the library that has pictures of what the baby looks like every day of the pregnancy, I inevitably cry.  I'm such a visual person and this book has helped me to try to comprehend the amazing things that are happening inside of me.  God is an awesome designer!  This book has brought back memories of when my mom was pregnant with my brothers.  She had a book with pictures about the stages a baby goes through in the womb.  I think it really helped me to connect to what was happening, and have an awe at an early age for the birth process. 
 
5.  The Bible
 This month I have been so thankful for the wisdom that the Bible has provided for my life.  Everything in my life that I enjoy comes from God blessing me and from the wisdom and the guidance that the Bible provides.  I know that I couldn't have figured out how to have such a good life on my own!

"The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7
 
6.  Jane Austen

The funny thing about being a Jane Austen fan is that I never tire of seeing different adaptations of her books!  I watch, knowing what is going to happen in the plot.  Instead, I am excited to see how characters are portrayed, or what the outfits look like!  Masterpiece Theater did a new Emma.  They have it available to watch online for another week.  
Watch Emma Online Here


7.  Cooking
Last month I learned the lesson of checking over a recipe before you post.  Leaving out 2 cups of water in the ingredients last month will be noticed when making a rice dish!

This month's recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, "The Healthy Kitchen" by Andrew Weil and  Rosie Daley.  I've had fun learning how to make homemade granola.  It is so easy to adapt to your own personal taste, which is what I have done with this recipe.  

Note on the picture:  It is difficult to make granola look appetizing in a picture!

Granola
2 Tablespoons oil (I use grapeseed oil)
1/2 cup honey 
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 Tablespoon wheat germ
1/2 cup pecans (or your favorite nut)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix ingredients  Spread on a greased baking pan with a rim.  Bake 20 minutes.  Stir half way through while it is baking.  Let it cool before storing in an air tight container or in a bag.

8.  Gardening

These Pinwheel zinnias are going to grow around my tomato plants this summer.  The are supposed to be really easy to start from seed.