Black Sheep Dancing

Why be like everyone else when you can be yourself?


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Me and Betty

IMG_5527This is my Betty…Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book. Copyright 1950, it was my grandmother’s. By the time I came around she preferred going to Amish Country for dinner as opposed to using the book. However, I remember hiding under the desk that held it and had a built-in book rack under it when we played hide and seek. It is fond memories of games and of her.

I pulled it out today to make a regular around here: pancakes. I have it memorized, but I still like to pull the actual book out. I love the photos and how simple the recipes were. For example, there is a base recipe for muffins and then it gives you a couple of other ingredients to make different flavors. So simple.

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Here we have today’s batch of Monkey Pancakes. It’s the basic recipe with some walnuts, bananas, and chocolate chips added to the batter. I like to double the recipe and freeze the extra for a nice warm breakfast on those busy mornings.

True story: In high school I went through a phase where I made chocolate chip pancakes nearly every day. That era was much more successful than my try at pole vaulting.

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Avocado, Strawberry, and Goat Cheese Toast

Avocado, Strawberry, and Goat Cheese ToastLately I have been on an avocado kick. I put it on toast, salads, even eat it plain. Today’s new creation was so supper yummy! Light, yet delicious. Mmmmm.

Like many recipes lately, this one is super easy.

Avocado, Strawberry, and Goat Cheese Toast

  1. Toast a piece or two of bread
  2. While it is toasting take a whole avocado and smash it up just a bit.
  3. Spread on the toast when it is ready.
  4. Add goat cheese crumbles on top
  5. Slice strawberries and place on top
  6. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar. If you are feeling fancy, you can cook it on the stove top for just a bit until it is more like a syrup.
  7. Eat. Eat. Eat.


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Fig, Pear, and Brie Grilled Cheese

Brie, Fig, Pear Grilled Cheese

Brie, Fig, Pear Grilled Cheese

Brie, Fig, Pear Grilled CheeseI love Pinterest…a lot. I love to see all the creative ideas. Well, lately I’ve been on a fig kick, and after browsing recipe after recipe, I came up with a recipe of my own. Fig, pear, and brie grilled cheese. Oh my! It is delicious and a nice grown up version of a kid staple.

Fig, Pear, and Brie Grilled Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

  • Bread
  • Fig jam/butter
  • Bosc pear
  • Brie

Spead the jam on both sides of the bread. Layer cheese and sliced pears. Grill as normal. If you like a nice golden, buttery crust go ahead and put some butter on the outside of the bread slices. Enjoy! photo


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No Martha Stewart

Pinterest is like crack. You just can’t stop. I sit and pin and pin and pin, and then on the weekends I go crazy and try to make some of the hundreds of recipes I have pinned.

This weekend I made:

Beyond Easy Beer Bread from Farmgirl Fare.

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Review: Very delicious, but basically drop biscuits in loaf form.

No-bake Engery Bites from Gimme Some Oven

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Review: No bake cookies healthified. Hopefully I can get my muchkin to eat these.

And that brings us to Pumpkin Gnocchi with Mushrooms from Martha Stewart. This looked soooo yummy in their photo (see at the recipe link). However, mine looked like this:

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Review: How did they get theirs to look so pretty? Mind looked like it was already eaten and digested. Taste wise it was okay, but it was so much work that I don’t think I’ll be making this one again. It was really rich and heavy. On the upside, it made a TON of gnocci, so I have half still left over to use with another sauce.

What have been some of your favorite “pins”?


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So much more than a label.

My kid has ADHD.

There. I’ve said it. Sadly, it’s a disability that is not curable, nor is there an “easy fix.”

When he was younger, there were many, many signs something was off. But people talked it off.

“He’s just a boy.”

“You cannot diagnose anything so young.”

“He’ll grow out of it.”

But that’s the thing. He hasn’t grown out of it and it got worse. My first call from the principal was munchkin’s first week of kindergarten. And it still isn’t good now in first grade. He’s a bright, happy boy who is not doing well at school. He has trouble making good friends. But it isn’t because he doesn’t want to.

On a daily basis all I hear is how he misbehaves. All he hears is how he misbehaves. It is not good for either of us.

You know what he prays for every night? He prays God will give him good luck so he can know how to behave so he can have friends. It breaks my heart.

And I’m not immune. I’m a single parent. I’m already stressed from work and from life, and no, I don’t want to hear how horrible you think he is. I need to know what he did, but I want to hear what he did good too.

Once at daycare I was picking up my son and another mother came up to me with venom and screamed in my face that I should learn how to control my kid. Didn’t I care about HER kid and how he treated HER kid? How could I raise my son like that?

Of course I care about others. Of course I care about my son. Of course I want him to treat others nicely and with respect. I wonder all the time what I did or did not do when I was pregnant that could have prevented this, or things after he was born. Did I eat too much ice cream when pregnant? Did I feed him the wrong foods as a baby? Is it because I’m a single parent? Would that have made it any different?

Because you cannot “see” ADHD, I feel many times people think I am a bad parent or munchkin is a bad kid. We are both trying really hard here folks. I wish it were easy, but we have yet to figure out what works. We’ve tried no dyes, gluten free diets, extra iron, fish oil, occupational therapy, reward systems, and even the dreaded medication. It’s a work in progress and costs a fortune. It also is an endless number of doctor visits and red tape trying to get him the help he needs; we all need.

Sometimes I feel like people think I don’t see it. Trust me, I know. I want to hide at pickup because I know if the teacher is walking towards me, it isn’t to ask me to bake cookies for the bake sale. Then I go home and help him with his homework for two hours when it should take 15 minutes.  Making dinner, getting him ready for bed, and then instead of relaxing, doing all the house things you have to do because you are the only other person in the house. And then I still have to work some more. EVERY DAY. It’s hard being a single parent, and extra hard when a disability is thrown in the mix. And it’s hard being a kid who just can’t seem to do anything right, no matter how hard he tries. Because yes, even if it doesn’t seem so, he is trying VERY hard.

I love my son to pieces. He is my world. He is a funny, smart, kind little boy. I just wish I knew how to make him like that all the time.

So the next time, tell me how I can help my son. Tell me how I can help you help my son. Tell me what is great about my kid. But please don’t judge us. He HAS ADHD, not IS it. He is so much more than a disability. He’s so much more than a label.


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When life gets tough, dream, dream dream…

Does life every get super crazy? So crazy it’s hard to remember what day it is? Yeah, it’s been like that around here for the past, oh, year I guess. Okay, maybe not a year, but for a long time (or so it feels). But, it is times like these that I escape every now and then in my thoughts and dream, dream, dream…

For instance, this house is for sale. I’m positive it hasn’t sold yet because I’m going to live in it.

Emily's Dream Home

Isn’t it just beautiful? I’d stay at home all day and never leave. Of course, in order to buy this house I’ll need this:

And it would get lonely in that big house just me, munchkin, and Riley, so we’ll take this too:

When we get bored, we’ll hop on our jet and go here:

Sounds like a perfectly sensible plan to me.


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Foodie Pen Pal: April 2012

Recently a friend of mine joined this amazing thing…Foodie Penpal! A product of the genius of Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean, this fun project pairs people with penpals…that send food to each other. How cool!

I immediately had to sign up.

I eagerly awaited my pairings, and was lucky to get Melissa from www.thespatulaqueen.com as the person who would write to me. I could not wait for my package to arrive! And then the day came! What would be inside???

It was so fun to open it up!

There was coffee (she must know me so well!) and chocolate (really, REALLY well), and chocolate peanut butter, granola bars, and seasonings. She even sent some homemade chocolate oatmeal chunk cookies with a recipe. Seeing as my five-year-old gobbled up the cookies before I could even finish unpacking the box, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of these in our household.

Mom even tried some of the goodies. Mmmmm…chocolate peanut butter!

Funny, my neighbor got my package, so not only did I get some cool food, I met a new neighbor too!

I can’t wait for my Foodie Penpal, Emily over at Gliz Glam Granola, to open her box. Check out her blog to see what Ohio goodies are now feeling the California sunshine!

Want a foodie penpal of your own? Learn more about it here.


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Pinterest Pining: Maple Sweet Potato Pecan Burgers

I don’t know about you, but Pinterest has sucked up more than its share of free time since I’ve discovered it. I find myself doing all kinds of baking and projects because everything is “Brilliant!!!”. Although, actually, the overuse of that word on the site seriously drives me bonkers.

Anyways, I have seen various recipes for veggie burgers made from quinoa, but recently saw the recipe for maple sweet potato pecan burgers and by The Tolerant Vegan Imagehad to try it. Happily mom was in town, so she even made them for our dinner. Aren’t moms great?

I think the recipe was delicious. Probably the only thing I would change is add a little more salt. Otherwise, a very yummy and healthy treat!


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Some bunny’s been here

Happy Easter!

Wait.

What?

Yes, I’m a little behind the ball in life, but sometimes that is how life goes sometimes.

Easter was lots of fun. It’s a very important time, as the Easter Bunny is Santa’s helper too. He reports directly to the big man (year round) to let him know who is being naughty and who is being nice.

You have to build you bunny nest:

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And make some eggs:

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Oh, and of course you have to wear your Easter bonnet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And eat some yummy dessert:

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I think it turned out pretty cute!

I used

Sam’s Famous Carrot Cake from Allrecipes.com

and

Half a recipe of Cream Cheese Frosting II  from Allrecipes.com.

Directions to make the bunny:
1. Bake a cake round (flavor of your choice) and let it cool. Slice in half so you have two semicircles and glue them together with frosting with the cut side down.

2. Cut a v-shape about 1/4 of the way up the top so you make a small notch to separate the head from the body.

3. Ice the cake and use shredded coconut to cover so it looks like fur. I used a marshmallow for the tail and nose thing, jelly beans for the eyes and nose nose, and toothpicks for whiskers.

4. Cut ear-shapes from paper and color with pink crayons. Place these at the top of the “head”.

5. For grass, toss shredded coconut with green food coloring until color you desire. I used chocolate eggs and jelly beans tossed around for added decoration.

6. Eat.


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Buffet

A few months ago I got it in my head that I needed to rid myself of any furniture that still screamed COLLEGE DAYS! Suspect No. 1 was my tv stand. It’s quite fancy really. A rectangular box with a couple of drawers I got at Walmart for $30. High end, I know.

To add fuel to my obsession, I have been seeing all kinds of cool things on that black void known as Pinterest. (You can follow my boards at the link at the top) So I also got in my head that I needed an old buffet and I would transform it to greatness!

So, I waited and I waited until at last a perfect candidate appeared on Craigslist. Score! So, I headed down to Circleville, loaded it up in my aunt’s van and headed home. This actually was a long endeavor as I had switched cars with said aunt and forgot to take the house key with me.

After finally getting back in the house I put the munchkin to bed and immediately started cleaning it up and got 2.5 coats on before crashing at 3 AM.

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The next day after work I came home and finished it up. SIX coats later.

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So here is the finished result. I have to figure out how to hide the cords, and I’ll probably get some baskets for underneath it for munchkin’s toys, but overall I think it turned out pretty well. I love how the green accents turned out. I just need that last drawer pull. Lesson learned – always check the little bags the pulls come in, even if they all came from the same drawer.