A Better Lunch

When you space your children 4 years apart each, you tend to forget things in between.  I usually can't remember what I did yesterday.  So, the fact that i have to re learn some of the best little parenting lessons each time they pop up shouldn't be a surprise to me, or anyone that knows me.
Today's little parenting lesson relearned, if you want to actually each your own lunch, you must make two.  You see, we have entered the phase with The Littlest One where whatever we have on our plates looks infinitely better than what ever is on her plate or high chair tray, even if it is the same exact food.  It must be the presentation, and the big silver fork.  She does like the shiny things.  Regardless, she likes our food far more than her own.  As any good parent would, I tend to give up a good portion of my lunch to her.  The thing is, I usually don't want to trade back for what she has, again, even if it is the same food.  Once she has it, she tends to destroy it, or in foodie terms, she likes her meals deconstructed   I'm more into a polished, total meal, than a deconstructed one that might have a little snot, or who knows what else, mixed in.  Therefore, I need to remember to make two plates for myself from now on.  The first plate will be my decoy plate.  I will star off by pretending to eat from it.  Then, once she makes her move, I can start surreptitiously eating from the second plate, while feeding her everything from the first.  I know it sounds difficult, but I am hungry and desperate to eat an actual meal.  I am glad she likes real food, and good food, too, but I wish she would like it a little more on her own plate, and not so much just from mine.

I Know You Don't Care, But...

I know weight loss blogs are generally about as interesting as watching wall paper peal.  So, sometime ago when I wanted to blog about my weight loss journey, I created a separate blog all about it.  That, though, fell by the wayside.  I have a hard enough time blogging on this one, let alone one that was really just for me.
So, if you will, please, humor me for a moment while go off about my weight loss struggle.  it won't all be a food journal, I swear.
For those who don't know me personally, let me tell you that am obese.  In fact, I was morbidly obese.  I'm talking the biggest person on the Biggest Loser ranch big.  I started working on it, slowly, though.  Over the course of quite a while, I lost about 130 lbs.  Yes.  I'm serious.  I suppose I'm really putting myself out here now, but oh well.  I worked very hard to lose that weight.  I did it all with diet and exercise.  I even gave up coffee because I can only drink coffee by adding calories into it.  I exercised at least 6 times a week.  Started a couch to 5k program and was trying to learn to run.  On the days I didn't go try to run, I worked out at home with DVDs.  Anything I could do to add extra movement in, I did.  I even mowed yards voluntarily, just to exercise more.
Then, I got pregnant.  It was really not expected.  I was losing weight.  Getting my body to finally start to look like a normal person should.  We never got pregnant easily, either.  It took forever to conceive both of the other two.  So, when, after my husband come home off a boat, I suddenly found my self pregnant, I was shocked.  I was also scared because of all my body had been though.  while I survived the pregnancy, I also gained weight.  I gained 40 pounds back.  It really hurt to see that coming back on.  A lot.  I worked so hard to lose it all.
Anyway, now, I'm trying to lose it back again.  I want to start moving back down the scale to not only get back to where i was, but to continue on that journey and do even better.
The problem is I'm stuck.  I can't.  It took all the motivation I had last time to really get rolling an d serious, something I'm not sure I can duplicate.  I got about 10 pounds in, and pretty much quit on myself.  Again.  I will tell you, though, I know what the problem is.  Depression.  I'm eating my feelings away.  Life is so freaking emotionally difficult right now, nearing the end of a long deployment after him being in and out for the last year, dealing with being a physically single mother of three with no help, trying to plan our life after he retires very soon, all that is just too much.  I can't help it.  I don't have the will power to not eat Oreos.  Heck, I'm pretty lucky I haven't gained even more while he was gone.  It is also a million times harder to exercise right now.  Having an infant who isn't on a set schedule, and is super clingy, makes it really hard.  If I could get The Big Little One to agree to be in a double stroller, I could at least walk, but that isn't going to happen.  She refuses.  In all honestly, she is nearly five, and hasn't been in one since she was about three.  So, I can't blame her.  All that together means that there is practically no way to get in a good workout.  Not working out, and not eating right don't make for good weight loss.
I've got to turn this around.  I have got to get over myself, an everything going on, and focus on what I can control.  It's hard, though.  I suppose if it were easy I would have been thin years ago, and there would be be no weight loss industry.  Maybe I should stop feeling so bad that its hard, since the hard way means thousands of jobs.  I'm totally trying to find a bright side, here.
The reality of this all is I know what to do.  I've done it before.
I need to get off my butt, literally, and start moving.
I need to stop stress eating, and start finding a way to channel that into working out.
I can do this again.
I will do this again.
I will rebuild my self...better than before.

Guess The Mystery Food

I have decided to do things a little differently the third time around when it comes to feeding a baby.  I suppose I am going old school with this.  Really old school.
I started checking out what all was in a lot of the processed, prepackaged baby foods, and quite frankly, I didn't like it.
I called up my mom, and ask what all she and her eleven siblings (yes you read that correctly) would have been given as a baby.   Her answers kind of shocked me at first.  The foods they were given, sausage gravy, grits, soup beans, may not all be super healthy or things I would try, but it started to dispell the myth that babies shouldn't eat anything that doesn't come in a jar with a label for me.
So, I decided to make my own food this time around.
The Littlest One is just over six months old now, and she should be able to handle most foods.   Therefore, I give her real food.  I throw it in my food chopper, get the texture a little better for her, and go for it.
I have to tell you, she loves it.  She didn't care for the baby cereal oatmeal that I bought, and now have sitting on a shelf and until I find someone else to give it to.  I can't say I blame her.  That stuff smells bad.  However, she loves real oatmeal.  I over cook it, and don't salt it, but still it tastes better than what she had before.  Mix it with a little fruit, and man has she got a great meal.
We are doing that will all kinds of things now, and as she gets older, and her body matures more, I will start giving her more and more foods that I think she should love.
Hence, a new series of posts, "Guess The Mystery Food".
Can you guess what I fed her?
I'll check back in about a day and see if anyone knows what it is after I post it.

Simple foods, made fresh.
That's how we roll these days, and we both love it.

No More Soup Poop

This post is going to be really crappy.  By that, I mean it will be a post all about crap, poop, or what ever you want to call it.
As your children grow up, you tend to forget, or really block out, many of the things you endure when they are babies.  In my case, I think I blocked out the soup poop.  Soup poop what I like to call a totally liquid bowel movement that babies can have in the beginning stages.
Having a baby that is only fed breast milk, they can only poop liquid.  Its awesome.
The Littlest One inherited her father's digestive track, and I can assure you she won't thank him later.  That kid can poop like no other baby I have ever seen.  She actually managed to squirt poop on my shirt one day during a change.  It was amazing, totally freaky, and gross all together.
Her poops are also massive.  She eats a lot, but only poops once a day.  So, you get a massive, totally liquid poop.  Again, awesome.  It almost always comes out of the diaper.  It can't help but do that.  We seriously deal with a blow out practically every day.
So, when the Dr told me that as I started her on food, she may get a little constipated, I laughed and told her I would welcome it.  I think the Dr was shocked, and she ask me if she still had loose stools.  When I described what i dealt with, she told me I might like what I get then.
I have to tell you, after just the first day of food, I already do.  The smell is terrible, far worse than before, but we managed to get a non liquid poop, that was much more manageable!  I was so thankful, and I look forward to the poops getting less and less soupy as we go on.
I realize that few people will read through this post.  After all, not many people will really want to read about poop in general, but seriously, people, I've never been so happy to share such crappy news in my life as to tell you that my daughter now poops like a normal person.  It really is awesome.

Cows Can Feel Safe...er

As I am very upfront about, I am a vegetarian.  I have been for many years.  So many years, that I can't even remember exactly how many anymore, but I'm pretty sure it is over 12.
I am an ovo lacto vegetarian, to be very specific.  That means I eat eggs and dairy.  At least, I used to.
 I think I am going on day 427 with no dairy.  Well, no.  I am on day one, but it feels like it has been years.  Yesterday, at The Littlest One's 4 month check up, the Dr told me to lay off the milk.  Apparently, her poop shouldn't be green foam, and it may be a result of dairy.  It may also be that i produce way too much milk.  Either way, the Dr wants me to try going with out dairy for a week, to see if it makes a difference.  I'm sure it will make some difference.  By the end of the week, I will have lost a ton of weight because that is all I eat.  I eat dairy instead of meat.  It isn't necessarily healthy, but that is how it is.  I try not to eat a ton of soy, because it too is actually unhealthy for very different reasons.  We have a dairy loving family.  Even with my husband, who likes to eat cereal in the mornings, gone, we go through at least 2 gallons of milk a week.  Usually, I'm trying to stretch the second gallon to make it last until my weekly Costco trip for milk.
No more, though.  I have to stop.  I have to find a way to not eat cheese, drink milk, and so one.
ow this is going to happen, I'm just not sure, but if this is how it needs to be, so be it.
Some poor cow out there can rest a little easier now, knowing it won't feel the cold steel of that milking device quite as much as it used to.
And maybe, I won't be changing green foamy diapers by the end of the week.
I guess that would be a win for the the cow and me in some warped way, but a win none the less.

My Coffee Just Got Better

As long as I am coming clean on addictions, my crock pot and scrap booking, I should admit that I have a serious caffeine addiction.  This one really is a real, physical and psychological addiction.  I need caffeine.  I crave it.
I drink Coke Zero like there going to quit making it, which they better not because I would have to learn to like diet Coke, and that is a yuck.  As much as I love Coke Zero, I love, love, and love, coffee.

Normally, I don't care about this addiction.  I really don't.  In fact, the addiction often helps me make it though the day, and I could care less about the negative health aspects of consuming so much caffeine. Unfortunately, right now isn't normal.  The problem I have with both of these addictions right now is that, of course, I am pregnant, and that means I really do need to limit my caffeine intake some what.
So, right now, I get one, very small, cup of coffee a day.  It is 8 ounces.  I know because I use the Starbucks VIA which takes 8 ounces of water exactly.  I love that cup.  I savor it.  I don't rush though it.  It usually takes me an hour to drink it.  Really.  The first sip is like a little bit of heaven and sanity coming at me all at once.  I turn on the TV for what ever children are in the house, and insist they watch it for at least 10 minutes while I start my cup.  Once I've gotten a few sips in, then they can return to the screaming banshees that normally run my house.
Obviously, I love that cup of coffee.
Today, though, I have to tell you it just got better.  Really.  I swear.
I drink my coffee with creamer.  I prefer some kind of vanilla or caramel flavor, and I usually buy what is on sale.  However, the one thing I don't like is that those creamers are made of oil.  Once, I ran out of creamer and tried to mix a little milk in.  It was terrible!  They can't be mixed into a drink, and sort of separated.  I had to actually throw good coffee away.  That grosses me out a little.  I tried fat free milk and syrup, but that just didn't quite get it right.  So, I stick with the artificial creamers.
Until now.
International Delight came out with a new line of Coffee House Inspirations make with real cream and milk.  I had to try.  Today, I actually indulged in a bottle sans coupon.  That must be chalked up to a pregnancy craving, because I always use coupons for creamer.  I just had to have it, though.
As soon as I opened it, I could tell the difference.  It looks different.  Is smells different.  Actually, is smells like really good icing.  That alone made me nuts.  I almost couldn't wait for my water to boil to make the coffee. The flavor didn't disappoint, either.  That stuff is fantastic.  Really.  I swear.  Probably the best coffee creamer for home use ever.  I mean, even Kanye West couldn't come up with another creamer and upstage this one.  Its that good.
If you like creamers, and don't really care about the calories, try it.  I'm pretty sure you will love it.  Though maybe not as much as a crazy pregnant woman who only gets one cup a day.

An Epic Food Failure

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I am a pretty decent cook.  I am not a chef or real foodie, but I can make a decent meal.  Even when I don't cook from scratch, I tend to be able to throw together something that comes out pretty well.

Tonight, apparently, I failed.  I failed miserably.  Let me state before we go any further, though, that it was not so much what I did, but what I picked.

Since it is Girl Scout night, I need to be able to get my meal ready pretty quickly as Scouts doesn't even end until 5:30, assuming we actually get out of there on time.  So, normally Monday is one of my crock pot days.  For some reason, my brain missed that memo today, and I just forgot all about it.  (I would venture the guess is pregnancy brain already, but who knows.)  The Husband is trying to eat healthy right now, and has requested lots of chicken breasts this week.  So, I thought, chicken breasts, baked potatoes, green beans, and some cottage cheese thrown in for The Big One and I who don't eat meat.  Unfortunately, I needed to hit the store to do this as I am out of potatoes.  I kept trying to get there today, and it never happened.  Just one of those days.  Not a problem if you can grab the potatoes and have them done in about 15 minutes in the microwave.  It is a problem if your microwave suddenly up and dies on you.  That is worthy of a whole post by itself (and probably will get one), but it also means that I have to make the potatoes in the over at about an hour of time instead of 15 minutes.

So, at the last second, I had to choose something else.  I opted for quinoa.  Apparently, my choice was incorrect.  I like quinoa, and it is very healthy.  It is also a complete protein, something very important that I try to get in The Big One now that she is not eating meat.  I knew they would all balk at the idea of something new, so I told them it was special rice.  They didn't buy that either.

The comments I heard tonight were pretty bad.  It seems my family thinks I was trying to poison them.  Not with a nice poison that you can't detect, either, but something horrific that makes you want to lick tree bark.  The Little One started crying the instant I made her put a tiny bite in her mouth.  The Big One acted as though she was going to vomit each time she started to chew the few bites I required she eat in order to continue to be a vegetarian.  The Husband told me he had mistaken it for cardboard, but then told me it might be ok, if I picked a flavor other than "recycled" next time.  It was French Herb.

I liked it.  So, I have it.  I have a medium sized container of it to eat  tomorrow.  I'm thinking a nice cold quinoa salad with some cut tomatoes, cucumber, and a little feta will be great for lunch.  I guess this time I will actually be allowed to eat all of my own food without anyone asking me to share, or just picking up my fork and getting a bite at their own will, too.  I suppose my loss is also my gain.  Ehh...I can only lead the horse to healthy food, I can't make it eat.  I can, though, remember that the horse refuses particular healthy grains, and promise never, ever, to fix them again.

Oh You and Your Part Time Vegetarianism

As I have clearly stated before, I am a vegetarian. If you want me to be specific, I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian, though I really need to cut out the ovo, and maybe the lacto.

Anyway, what that means is that I eat no meat at all, but I do eat eggs and dairy. I am also a very strict ovo-lacto-vegetarian. I check everything I can for any animal product, and forgo anything, much as I may love it, once I find out what it has. This means I can't eat at so many Mexican restaurants because of the lard in their food. This means that I can't have jello shooters anymore (not that I have actually ever had one) because gelatin is made from animal hooves. The gelatin thing also leaves out a lot of desserts, yogurt, and even marsh mellows, but so be it.

I try my best to buy shoes that are all man made, which let me assure you, sucks when it come to finding great footwear.

I do all this, and more, as a choice. This is my lifestyle. This is the way I want to be.

Let me also state that I do not think it is wrong to eat meat, but I think it is wrong for ME to eat meat. I do not expect anyone else to make my choice. If you eat meat, great. If you don't, great, let's exchange some recipes. I really think that whatever you choose to do, be happy with it, and it is all good.

However, there is one thing I don't understand, the idea of part time vegetarianism. This is the big movement now where people only eat meat sometimes. They may do it for different reasons, but not every meal has meat. In the south, we just called that poor. You see, not everyone, even those with farms and animals of their own to butcher, has enough to have meat at every meal. So, the reality is you don't have it. I doubt any of them are calling themselves Part Time Vegetarians (PTVs).

My own father has eaten meals without meat. He may not like it, but that's how it is sometimes. I dare you to call him a part time vegetarian to his face. Double Dog Dare, even.

My own children could be called PTVs, I suppose. The Big One only eats chicken now, and it must not resemble an actual piece of chicken in any way for her to eat it. No. It needs to be ground, breaded, and shaped, preferably like a crown or star, for her to be into it. I by no means consider her a PTV, nor do I care for anyone else to call her that.

She eats meat. She may not eat much of it,but she likes it when she eats it. She doesn't have a guilty conscience if she eats it. I think all of the disqualifies her from being any kind of vegetarian at all.

I read someone liken being a PTV to being a Part Time Christian somewhere, and I nearly wasted perfectly good Coke Zero. The idea of a part time Christian, only when it suits you, is funny. No one would go around and proclaim part time Christianity. To me, both are based on deep personal beliefs. Granted one is a religion, but both of them represent specific ways of life that you choose to live.


So, why is it ok to only hold true to certain beliefs sometimes, when you think you can count yourself in, but not when it matters. To me, you can't count yourself into the crowd until you are really willing to follow through. We aren't even talking about making mistakes here, but intentional choices. You either choose to eat meat, or you don't.

To call yourself a vegetarian, in any way, when you actively partake of meat on at least a part time basis, is a bit demeaning to the term. I actually am a bit offended. You are not a vegetarian. You just eat less meat. If I walk into the woods dressed in camouflage, am I suddenly a hunter? In my case, I would probably be there to scare the animals away, but still, I participated in half of the appropriate related activity. So, under this same misguided premise, wouldn't I then be hunting? Maybe I would actually have to carry a gun. I certainly wouldn't have to kill anything because many hunters come back with nothing to show for their efforts, even though they wanted to. So, you can't make that a requirement.

I hope I am not alone in seeing the absurdity of someone who is a meat eater calling themselves a vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great if you want to eat less meat. Good on you. However, if you really feel the need to label yourself something special as a reward for your effort, try a different word or phrase. I hear people use flexitarian, and that is at least not offensive as calling yourself a vegetarian. Instead, how about you forget about trying get other people to pat you on the back for your sacrifice, and just enjoy a wonderful, flavorful, healthy meatless meal.

I Was Wrong

This post is dedicated to the one who was right and in honor of Father's Day, because he would love nothing more than for me to say "I'm wrong and you are right".

That wouldn't be me, though, because I was wrong.

You see, if you know me, you know that I love a bargain. I do not believe in paying full price, unless I have to, and cherish a deal. That deal shopping mentality includes my grocery shopping as well. If I have to buy something not on sale, I always look for the cheaper store brand, because I refuse to pay for a name. Store brands are generally as good as a name brand, and are usually much cheaper.

At least I thought so.

My husband loves Frosted Flakes cereal. Loves it. We just call it Daddy's cereal in our house. The Girls will actually come into the kitchen and ask me if they can have a bowl of Daddy's cereal. He loves it that much.

However, without a coupon or sale, or even better if it is a sale and coupon, that name brand cereal isn't cheap.
I buy The Girls the cheaper off brand versions for anything they ask for. My Husband, though, required the good stuff. I found that to be ridiculous. I could save over $1 a box. That would be at a minimum $2 a month, and $24 a year in cereal alone.
So, once, I bought the knock off brand and took it home without consultation. The instant he hate it, he told me it was terrible, and he hated it. I told him it was the same thing, but cheaper. He disagreed vehemently. This actually became a small point of contention for us at some point.
I couldn't believe that he could hate the knock off that much. I even thought about switching out the bags, and putting the cheap stuff in the good box to see if he still felt the same way. I never did it, and just started begrudgingly buying the expensive brand.

Yesterday, I had a break through. I realized just how wrong I had been. I bought The Girls a knock off Cinnamon square cereal. This is one of my favorite cereals, if I do ever eat cereal. Last night, I had a little of the knock off as a snack with them. It was terrible. Not only could I tell the difference, but it didn't even look right to me. Even The Big One came to tell me that it didn't taste right. I may have just been the particular knock off I had, but regardless, there was a huge difference between that and the real deal. I was floored, and a little disgusted with the cereal itself.

There was a difference. He could tell, because it was one of his favorite things, and it mattered to him.

So, to my husband, I'm sorry. I will search high and low, and stock up on the good stuff when ever I can. If, heaven forbid, there is no sale, I will just buy it for you, with a warm heart, because you deserve the good stuff if you want it.

I'm a vegetarian not a side show freak.

To paraphrase one very muscely cartoon character who also derived a nutrition from vegetables, I am what I am. What I am is an ovo-lacto vegetarian. That may sound like a mouth full, but it simply means that I eat dairy and eggs but no meat of any kind. No big deal, but I'm laying it out there like it is today. See over the past decade or so I have taken a lot of crap about the fact that I am a vegetarian and I just don't get it..quite frankly, I am kind of shocked by some people's reactions to my vegetarianism. I am often shocked at their shock. I get that I live in the south, home of the road kill cafes, but seriously people, its 2010, its not big news or a big deal any more.

Its almost as though some people have as much of an aversion to my not eating meat as I do to the thought of eating meat. So, back to my main point, I'm going to lay it all out there today.

I don't eat animals. This does not make me weird or strange, no matter what you think. It makes me a person who loves animals and can't bear the thought of eating another living, breathing, thinking, creature, no matter how dumb it may be. It makes me sad in side and grossed out at the same thing. Animals are friends and companions, not a source of food, in my mind. When I see a piece of meat, in my mind, I instantly see the animal laying there. I just do. It is how I am wired.

Now, all that being said, I don't think it is wrong for you to eat meat. If your conscience is clean when you chow down, then you are doing what is right for you. I have to do what is right for me.

If you do have any questions for me, maybe about my diet if you have concerns about having me over for dinner, feel free to ask. I would be glad to clarify anything you might need clarified. I would be glad to help you learn to cook healthy, tasty vegetarian meals, as well. You can even come over for dinner if you want something special and non meaty.

I am, though, completely tired of any backlash for not eating meat. Basically, you need to get over it.

I am happy with myself, and love the way I live. So, be happy for me, and appreciate our differences. We can all live together, and can even eat together peaceably, if you would just let us. So, please, take me as I am. You don't have to understand it. There isn't anything for you to understand more than the fact that I won't ingest animals. There isn't anything for your to like or dislike, either. It is just what it is. I am what I am.

I Admit It, I love My Pot

I know, it may not be cool to say it, but I am all about my pot; my crock pot. (ha)

I fully realize that just saying crock pot ads about 40 years to your perceived age, but I think it is time for people to rethink the crock pot. They are making a serious come back, and for good reasons. In the world we live in today, if you aren't too busy, then you aren't really living. At least, that is what we tell ourselves. So we have kids in soccer, ballet, music, swim lessons, and anything else we can get them into all at the same time. We have social clubs and hobbies that take up full days. Many families have two working parents, or one parent who works, or just parents who spend their entire days out and about, that we rarely have time to make great, healthy, home cooked meals on week days. So, why not use the method our mothers, or maybe their mothers, used years ago; the slow cooker (aka crock pot).

I've been using mine hard core for a few months now. It started with Mondays. Mondays was Girl Scout day, and between moms group events with The Little One, school, homework, and the Girl Scouts with The Big One, I was always struggling to put out a good supper before bed time rolled around. So, I simplified and re planned. Granted, in the beginning, we were doing a lot of chili or black beans on Mondays, but my family happens to like that. So, once a week was totally fine with us.

From there, though, I began to realize just how easy this thing is. I love it. I put anything I can in the crock pot right after the school drop off. Then I'm good to go until time to serve. It is truly fantastic and freeing to know that dinner will be there and ready when we are!

Not only is it a great time saver, but the meals are so much healthier than many of the quick fix things that I would have otherwise gone with. It is such a win/win, that I just can't seem to get enough of it.

If I were to be honest, and I usually am, I have to admit that I use it more than just once a week now, and in fact, I cook more in it than I do out of it right now.
I just can't pass up an opportunity to make something in the crock pot, if it can be converted to do so.

We aren't talking just soups and chili anymore, either. One of my new favorites is crock pot lasagna. Coming home to a lasagna that is ready for you is too fabulous for words. I'm itching to get to the store to make things for chicken crock pot pie (which I will actually make with out chicken, and add precooked chicken in to each individual's bowl that wants it) and chicken coconut curry (that I will be making the same way with the precooked chicken).

I am always on the look out for a few good things to make. I'm dreaming of a breakfast casserole for out breakfast for supper nights, and some desserts that can make the house smell yummy while they cook all day.

I know it may not sound super cool to admit that I love my crock pot, but I am working on changing that. If all the moms in the world used their crock pots a little more, I think there would be a little less stress, and a few more happy spouses with full tummies.

Pancakes at Our House

We have a few loose family traditions going on over this way. Two of them revolve around food and both happen to be on Sunday.
Every Sunday night is pizza and game night. With my husband deployed that has morphed into pizza and a movie night because I just can't play Princess Monopoly with a 5 year old and a 2 year old by myself. It doesn't start or end well. Once my husband gets back, we will go back to pizza and a game night, which we all enjoy.

The other Sunday food thing is that each Sunday morning, I make pancakes. I make a pretty good sized batch, so that I have some for at least one other day, like Tuesday morning, already made.

The Big One loves pancakes now. Loves them. And I love that she loves them so much. So, we get into pancakes around here. Usually, I make different shapes for them. The staple of our pancake shapes are hearts and stars. I have however branched out on occasion. I have made a rocket. We do roses every now and then, and of course there are seasonal pumpkins.




Today, though, I made my first butterfly. I was a little worried that it wouldn't even resemble a butterfly, but it turned out ok. It wasn't great, though. So, I tried again, and the second one looks pretty good. Good enough that you can tell what it is. If i hadn't let it get a little over done, it would have been awesome! I even put some colored sugar crystals into the batter, to give it a little color and spots, and make it a little more butterfly ish. The Big One loved them, and was absolutely tickled with her butterfly.



The Little One, well, she really isn't a big pancake person. She did down a banana, and some of my eggs with chipotle salsa, though. Maybe one day, she will get into pancakes, but probably only if I make one shaped like a steak.