Goodbye Jordan Fowles

 I don't know how to write this.  I don't know what to write.  Facebook has created a whole new way to be social, and sometimes it leaves a person feeling completely blindsided.  On Wednesday night I got on facebook and found out that a friend, Jordan Fowles, died that morning.  He was one of my sister Sarah's best friends when she was a teenager.  They dated in college, but ended up marrying other people.  They remained family friends over the years.  Jordan and I connected as friends on facebook a few years ago.  We were surprised to find out how many similarities we shared.  My husband was a lawyer. Jordan was a lawyer. They were the same age.  We each had six kids, most of them almost the same ages.  We even both had daughters named Emmeline.  I greatly enjoyed Jordan's posts on facebooks and chatting with him that way.  It was especially fun to read about his job at google, which he clearly loved.

 As I scrolled through the posts on his facebook page, I just wanted someone to say it was a big joke.  I thought, "Maybe it's his birthday and this is some weird inside joke."

It just can't be real.

But, it is.

His car crashed into a tree and he was ejected and died at the scene.  His facebook page is flooded with memories and stories of what a great guy he was- no surprises there.

As soon as I realized it was real, I grabbed my phone and called my sister.  She doesn't get on facebook a lot, and I didn't want her to find out in some insensitive and shocking way.  She had already been sent two private messages.  My hands shook uncontrollably while we talked.

I've just been breaking down randomly throughout the day.


I didn't know Jordan well enough to write a lot about his life, but his facebook page clearly demonstrates who he was, how he served people, how he touched their lives, how he persevered through struggles and weaknesses, and how he loved his children.  The last post I saw from him was just after he returned from a family reunion in Utah with his kids.  He wrote "Home again, home again, jiggety jig".

And he is.

It's hard to accept the reality of a childhood friend leaving this life behind.  Too soon.

In thinking of Jordan's children, I can't help but think of my own kids, how it would be for them to lose their dad or me right now.  Their pain must literally be breaking their hearts right now.

This is a part of being a grown up that I have always dreaded.  Mortality. Death.

Still, there is comfort. Comfort comes from truly believing that life is eternal, that those who pass on live on as spirits and will one day be resurrected with their physical bodies.  Comfort comes in believing in the atonement of Jesus Christ and the power to be healed, not only from sins, but also from immense suffering and sorrows.  I pray that the comfort will eventually sustain those closest to my friend, that it will carry his children through the years ahead.

The sentiment R.I.P. is, well peaceful, but that is not really what Mormons believe people do after they die.  We believe that the work goes on, and I know that Jordan is not sitting around on a fluffy cloud playing a harp. He's working.  He's serving.

1. What is this thing that men call death

This quiet passing in the night?

’Tis not the end but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

2. O God, touch Thou my aching heart

And calm my troubled, haunting fears.

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

3. There is no death, but only change,

With recompense for vict’ry won.

The gift of Him who loved all men,

The Son of God, the Holy One.

Copyright © 2007 by Gordon B. Hinckley and Janice Kapp Perry. All rights reserved. This song may be copied for incidental, noncommercial home and church use.

Suckers are Sweet!

What happens when you combine sugar, more sugar, and flavoring?

I call it deliciousness.

More specifically, I am speaking of suckers. Homemade suckers.

I made suckers with my friend Janice last night.  Janice, yes, you just made it into my blog again.  It tends to happen if you hang out with me enough.  But, these weren't just any suckers. They were the suckers of my childhood.  Well, not specifically the exact suckers of my childhood. Those were all eaten. But these were as close as it gets.

apple cinnamon, wintergreen, and watermelon

The memories!  My mom was so awesome!  When I was growing up in Texas, we were allowed to bring homemade treats to school for our birthdays.  My mom always, and I mean ALWAYS, made homemade suckers.  If I remember correctly, she usually made at least two batches. That way, we had enough to take for our school treats, have some for home, and some for our birthday parties too.

They were so yummy!  I can still taste, feel, and smell a hot cinammon sucker, sliding it up and down on my tongue, mostly smooth, but a little bit of texture and taste explosion!  Wow! They were just hot enough.  I loved to flip the sucker over between licks.  I loved to dip it in a glass of water before licking.  I loved how long it took to eat it. These suckers were not the kind you would crunch, not until you got to the very end. These suckers were the kind you really would lick until it was all gone.  My mom made all kinds of flavors: watermelon, strawberry, grape, cinammon, apple cinammon, lemon, tangerine, fruit punch, mint, root beer. . . there were a lot of choices.  I liked every single one.

 A few years ago, my mom realized that her sucker making days were over.  Her kids were raised and her wrists were wrecked.  Carpal tunnel had taken its' nasty toll and she could no longer hold the heavy pot to pour out the molten sucker batches.  Getting old, well, let's just say that it stinks.

So, my mom gave me her supplies.  I used them once and then packed them away and kind of forgot about suckers for a while.  I had some pretty intense distractions, mostly my freak mouth problem.  Today is the 4 year anniversary of the day my mouth went crazy.  Fast forward.
A few weeks ago,my friend Janice talked about how much she likes suckers, so we decided to make some.

I got some extra flavorings and sucker sticks from the store.  My daughter Amy helped me set out the supplies.  And as we opened the box of molds, it was like my childhood was pouring over me.  It was exactly as if my mother had just used them a few weeks before.  I could remember eating suckers of every shape!  Dinosaurs, hearts, flowers, bears, mickey mouse head, trains, bunnies, apples, muffins, and stars. There was a Tuppeware container with her old flavorings, most of them still good.  I opened the apple cinnamon, and, instantly, I was 11 years old again.  If I were to assign a taste/smell to my childhood, it would be that exact apple cinnamon flavoring.

You know, I think it's kind of hard to lick a sucker and freak out at the same time . It's just a calming act. You have to slow down and lick it. Feel it. Taste it. Enjoy it.  Savor it.

And that is the feeling that came over me.  We made three batches. We used new flavoring for two of them- watermelon and wintergreen. For the other we used the apple cinnamon from my mom.  My entire house smelled like my childhood.  I'm sure to my kids and my friend it just smelled like apple cinnamon. My husband fled the kitchen to escape the spicy scent.  But, to me, it was peace. It was love and safety, service and sacrifice, calm and security.  It was my mom's love for me and my siblings, concentrated and poured into a mold with a stick, popped out into a beautiful translucent, tangible piece of joy.
 

It was magic. Last night, as I made those suckers with my friend and with my own 11 year old daughter, I felt the power of carrying on a tradition of love.  Yes, my daughter was a little annoying, as I'm sure that I was to my own mother . And, yes, we had a few mishaps, but for the most part, we enjoyed being together. The work became light as we talked and laughed and shared, enjoying the aromas as we worked.  I remembered what my mother taught me, and my hand was sure as I took the 300 degree mixture, boiling in the pan my mother used and passed on to me, and poured it carefully into the molds; my mother's molds.  I remembered how to use spoons to push down the sticks that popped up, how to reheat the mixture if it got too cold too fast, and how to carefully pop the hardened suckers out of the molds. And my daughter was learning, so that one day, she can remember.

You know you want one.

I guess, when it's all said and done, it really isn't about suckers, even though suckers are sweet! I mean, that's not why they are so special to me.  It has more to do with the gift of time combined with the joy of the sucker, the willingness of my mom to slow down and give us something that she didn't have to make time for, again, and again, and again.  Of course, she did this in so many ways. This is just one example.  It's a very happy, yummy example.  So, thanks to my mom, today I get to bring a big batch of suckers for my extended family to our 4th of July get together.  Anyway, it's pretty cool. And I know this post has been pretty SAPPY, but hey, it was about suckers!  And my mom!  And they are both awesome!  So, I guess to sum up my point. . .suckers are cool, my mom is even cooler, and I'm glad for both of them in my life.

How to Clean the Family Room

I am tempted to say there is something wrong with my children. But, I know it isn't true.

It's genetics.

I'm not sure exactly who or what to blame for all of our children inheriting messy genes, but the proof is in the pudding.  Judd and I are naturally messy.  He won't admit it, and I'm not going to elaborate in any way that would get me in trouble, other than to say he's messy.  And I'm messy too.  I've never enjoyed cleaning.


Allow me to clarify.

I enjoy clean.

I wish someone else would do it for me.

Now, my children have all inherited the same disease.  I imagine they have thoughts along these lines:

Why should I put my shoes away when I can just leave them on the floor in whatever random spot I decided to remove them? Then I have created a game for myself of hide and go seek when I need to find them.

And socks?  Well, they should probably get shoved in the couch cushions, or some other dark place where Mom won't find them until they have grown enough mold so that she can no longer identify their owner.

Popsicle sticks, candy wrappers, tissues, food particles. . . all of these clearly belong on the floor.  Right?
I think I remember learning something in school about taking the path of least resistance.

And toys, oh glorious toys. They hold my attention for at least 5 minutes, so I make sure to spread the parts all over the family room, and maybe also throw a few pieces downstairs, in the next room, behind the toilet, and of course shove a few in the couch cushions. It's just so convenient.

I know DVD's have cases, but it makes more sense to leave them out so that I can look at them.  And I can see them the best on the floor.

Stuffed animals get lonely and they can't breathe in the toy box.  They also need to be on the floor where I can see them and talk to them, you know, make sure they aren't lonely.

There's no point putting a game away if we might play it again in a month or two.

And even though Mom says to  put the cushions and pillows on the couch, well, I know better.  Mom is so silly.  Pillows are for building forts.  So are blankets, towels, sheets, tablecloths, brooms, chairs, ironing boards. Really, I will work with any material that I can find in the house.  I am sure Mom doesn't need it.

END CHILD THOUGHTS

Yep.  I think that about covers what they are thinking.  As I sit in this disgusting room, I am trying to muster the energy to gather them all together and make them clean up all of this toy/garbarge/movies/pillows/blankets MADNESS!  And I realize that I have a fantastic chart for cleaning your room, but I don't have one for the family room.  The need for such a chart is staring me in the face and squished under my feet as I type these very words.

So, here it is. I present to you. . .  How to clean the family room, a simple step by step guide for short people and even tall people that get claimed on my taxes.

1. As foreign as this idea seems, the floor of a common room, such as a family room, is meant to be bare of belongings.  Acceptable items are rugs and furniture. Everything else must go.  Please take a moment to mentally realign your thinking with this new concept.

2. Make the couches look like couches again, complete with cushions and pillows, and devoid of any and all belongings or garbage hiding in, on, or under the cushions.

3. Bookshelves.  These are so cool. They are for holding books.  I know, that's weird, isn't it?  Well, anyway, gather up the books on the floor and stand them upright on one of the 5 bookshelves in this room.

4. Now, let's move on. DVD's. They are round and shiny. They are pretty.  They belong in their special cases with little plastic sleeves.  This makes it so easy to find a movie when you want to watch them.  It makes the DVD's feel so nice and secure. Please put all of the stray DVD's in cases.

5. Don't be discouraged, but we need to talk about garbarge. Mom has placed these really cool plastic cans in the room. One is a garbage can. The other is a recycle can.  Put the garbage in the garbage can. This means things that cannot be recycled, like food that you weren't supposed to eat in here. It's also a good place for used tissues, carpet coated candy, and the lint from the vacuum.   Just about anything that is cardboard, plastic, or paper can be put in the recycle can.

6. Now, this next topic is embarrassing, but it must be addressed.  Clothes.  I know. This is silly, right? Who would take their clothes off in the family room?  Um.  We won't point fingers.  Just get them to the proper dirty clothes basket and we'll pretend it never happened.  This includes socks.

http://boogersonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/laundry-pile.jpg

7.  We're almost done. You can do this! You get to talk to the stuffed animals now. Give them some love while you pick them up and put them to bed in their nice spacious stuff animal condo, A.K.A. Great Big Rubbermaid Tote. They really will thank you.

http://www.aliexpress.com/popular/goat-stuffed-animal-toy.html

8. Dress up.  If you dressed up, you can dress down.  Even dress up clothes need a nap. They really prefer to be in the dress up boxes.  It's nice in there.


9. Quick! Gather up all the dishes that you used for your secret snacks and get them downstairs in the sink

.
http://www.staceyreid.com/news/?p=8751

10. And finally, let's talk about toys and games.  Ugh.  I know. This is kind of overwhelming. There are a lot of them.  But, never fear. They all have a container. The pony container has a pretty pony drawn on the side. The duplo container says "Duplo".  The potato head container says, well, you get the picture. You can clean these up any way you like.  Honestly, you never should have let it get this bad. You never should have taken out a new tub of toys without cleaning up the first one. But, since you did, I'm going to help you out.  Shove all of the toys in a big pile. Gather all of the bins and game boxes that are empty.  Now pick something up and put it in the right bin or box.  If there are 100 things on the floor, do this 100 times. If there are 500, do it 500 times.

http://abingtonfreelibrary.org/events/185

Now, whatever is left over either belongs in someone's room, or another room in the house, or it is junk. Put it away or throw it out. Vacuum.

Relax.

You did it.

Way to go short people and dependents!

People who Drink Chocolate Milk are Fat. . . OR ARE THEY?

One of my kids' favorite activities in the summertime is the free lunch program run by the school districts.  We live in Granite School District, but we prefer Jordan School District lunches. It's like the difference between gross and pretty yummy.  Anyway, we go to a school very close to our house for free lunch and we have been going there for several years.  I call it "Reclaiming my taxes."

We often seen daycare providers using this program to feed the children in their charge.  There is a particular woman who comes frequently and  brings about 6 or 7 young children with her. There have been quite a few times when my family sat next to her group. And, several times over the years, this lady makes some comments that make me want to share my opinion with her.  But, I haven't done it yet, because I don't want her to beat me up, swear at me, or cause an ugly scene at the nice free lunch school.

I bet you want to know what she talks about. Well, I think my title might have given you a clue.  Here's how it goes down. . . . .
My children sit down with their lunch trays.  4 of my 6 children usually choose chocolate milk.  Her charges see the chocolate milk and one of them says,"I want chocolate milk."  The lady, we'll call her DL, for Daycare Lady, not for Devil Lady, says,"Chocolate milk is bad for you!  It's full of sugar. It will make you fat!"
The child looks up at her with trust and wonder and replies,"So, chocolate milk is bad?"
DL,"Yes."
Child,"It will make me fat."
DL" Yes, people who drink chocolate milk are fat!"

Okay, it is at that point that I kind of want to reach over and SLAP her!  I mean, seriously, it's one thing to tell the kids that white milk is a healthier choice. That is true.  It's even true that the chocolate milk has more sugar. More on that later.  But to take it one step further and basically call my children fat is just plain rude.  We were sitting really close to each other, and she knew I could hear her. There was only one small child between me and her.  And, honestly, this is at least the third time she has said this about chocolate milk when my kids sit down with chocolate milk.  She isn't talking to my kids. She isn't talking to me. She's just calling my kids fat. And calling me fat too for that matter.  Cause, you know what?  I drink chocolate milk too!  And I LOVE IT!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7801188/Chocolate-milk-can-help-athletes-recover.html

Devil Lady, I mean, Daycare Lady, is a liar.  Or maybe she is just lacking in crucial knowledge and skills of tactfulness.  Even if it is true that chocolate milk makes you fat, she shouldn't have been saying that in front of my kids who were drinking chocolate milk.

So, let's talk facts.  I love cold, hard, non-disputable facts.  OK.

FACT( You have to say this in your head like the KidHistory guy. If you haven't watched KidHistory, you need to watch KidHistory. It is very funny and very clean and good for your soul. So, Google FACT KidHistory, and watch it. .  right now.)

Ok, I got a little distracted there.

FACT:
One container of TruMoo plain milk served at Heartland Elementary for the free lunch has 100 calories and 12 grams of sugar.  This is an 8 oz. serving.  EVERY single 8 oz. serving of cow's milk in the world has 12 grams of sugar.  Why? There is naturally occurring sugar in milk. It's called Lactose. Quite a few people have tolerance issues with lactose.  Anyway, it's in there. 12 grams.  Every time.


FACT:
One container of TruMoo chocolate milk served at Heartland Elementary for the free lunch has 120 calories and 18 grams of sugar.  12 of those grams of sugar come from the naturally occurring lactose.  6 of them are added in the form of another sugar.  It grows on a cane. Technically, to me anyway, that is a vegetable.  One gram of sugar has 4 calories.  Those extra 6 grams should make the calorie total 124.  This is a little confusing, but that's what the box says. I know the chocolate milk is fat free.  In the 1% variety, which is not offered at the school, the white milk as 110 calories and the chocolate milk has 140. They both have 8 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat, and the same sugar content as the fat free milk.


Let's talk about 6 grams of sugar.  I'm not saying it's nothing.  It is 24 calories.  That is the same as 1/4th of a banana, or 1/4th of a bag of fruit snacks. Ok. I'm just going to tell the complete and total truth.  6 grams of sugar is 1.5 teaspoons. Or 1.5 starbursts.  Or 1.5 Tbsp. of ketchup.

A 12 ounce soda has around 45 grams of sugar.

Don't even get me started on yogurt. Okay, get me started on yogurt. One 8 oz. strawberry yoplait yogurt has 170 calories and 26 grams of sugar.

And let's not forget that milk has 12 grams of sugar from the get go.  I guess that might just make some people fat too.  Did I mention that DL was, well, not skinny. She was very much not skinny.  Do you think maybe she is drinking chocolate milk after the little kids go home? Is that how she knows chocolate milk is full of sugar and makes people fat?

I promise I am almost done ranting.  It's just that, well, I know chocolate milk isn't exactly health food. And, I know that calories add up over time.  And I know that it takes 3,500 calories to gain a pound, so just by choosing chocolate milk and not cutting back in another area, theoretically my children could gain a pound after drinking 175 cartons of chocolate milk instead of white milk.  We go to the free lunch about 3 times a week over the 10 week summer, so they would gain a pound in about 6 years.  Of course, this is assuming that they overeat, that they don't adjust their intake for the extra calories. I don't know.  I guess, that maybe, I should be really worried about how that chocolate milk is going to make them one pound fatter in 6 years.  Really! How do I sleep at night? I am a terrible mother!  We can ignore the fact that most of my children are rather skinny.  Three of them tend to hover between 1 and 25% on the growth charts.  My 8 year old wears size 4T pants as capris. What am I thinking?  I've got to stop this chocolate milk madness.  Truly!

And you know, DL might have convinced me to spend a moment considering whether or not she could be right, but as I sat watching her let her kids eat  the huge chocolate chip cookies that also came with the lunch, I kind of forgot about the chocolate milk.  I wonder how much sugar those cookies had in them?   Actually, I don't care.  I'll take the cookie and the milk, thank you very much! Yummy!


http://www.pillarsofmodernman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/chocolate-milk.jpg

Unplugged- Turning off the TV and the Computer

While I have great respect for people who don't own a television, I am not one of those people.  I also admire people who eat only whole organic foods and run marathons.  I just can't quite bring myself to join them. But, I think they are all very awesome!
So, this blog entry today is about summer fun and baby steps, like from that movie "What about Bob?"  Baby steps to the door.  Baby steps to turn the knob. Baby steps to the car. .  .Bob was OCD and had ISSUES.  Baby steps to unplugging.

I'm not OCD. No, really, I am not.

I'm not.

This isn't about that anyway.  It's about summer and what I'm doing with my kids this summer. It's about how it is going to be a great summer!  Step by baby step.

I love summer!  I love having my kids home for summer.  I love no homework and less scheduled activities.  I love a more relaxed schedule.  I love getting to be with them.  Every year before summer break starts, I take some quiet time to think about what I want to accomplish during the summer break.  It's only 10 weeks long and it will be over before we know it.  I'm one of those people who has anxiety on the first day of summer because it is going TOO FAST ALREADY! So, I stop and think and then form a plan.  Some years we have worked on academic deficiencies in very specific ways, using worksheets and computer programs to help individual children as needed.   We work on Reflections, Science Fair, and History Fair.  We do science activities, art days, zoo days. . . it just depends on that year.

This year we have a pass to Thanksgiving Point, so we will be going there about once a week on the way home from me teaching piano lessons to 4 nieces and nephews in Orem.  But, the main theme of the summer is going to be," Have fun."  We need a break from forced academics. We need to just enjoy each day. Seize the day!  We need to slow down and enjoy each other.

There are two things I have done to promote my theme:

1. The cabinet of fun.

The cabinet of fun is a small hallway cabinet in, well, our hallway, of course.  It is situated against the wall in the hallway by our front door.  It usually houses various things like lunchboxes and scriptures. So, I cleaned it out, and, unbeknownst the the children, filled it with things from the dollar store. I revealed the stash when the got home on the last day of school. They were pretty thrilled. It currently houses playdough, bubbles, chalk, a lizard that grows in the water, and ring pops.  I will replenish this cabinet as needed.  The bottom shelf is for library books because my kids love to go to the library.  The rules for the cabinet of fun are simple: use the items and have fun. I also bought a kiddie pool for the back patio. It doesn't fit in the cabinet, but it's pretty fun.

2. The second intentional change in our home is to unplug.  What do I mean?  I mean we have agreed not to watch T.V. or play video games on the computer or other devices between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day.  The kids have also agreed to get up by 8 a.m. and get their chores done by 9 so we can get busy having fun.  This is a very lenient rule.  I mean, there's a lot of time after 4 p.m. where the kids could watch tv or play a game.  We are only a week in, but so far, nobody is counting down the time until 4 o'clock. They are too busy having fun.  And besides, I'm not trying to completely deprive them of technology. I'm just trying to help them rediscover some simpler joys, ones powered by their own bodies and their brilliant imaginations.

There are so many things to do when we choose to put the breaks on the easy entertainment.  Yesterday, Clara and I sewed a skirt for her doll. It was so nice to have the time to do that with her.

In one week of summer, we've already managed to have a lot of fun:

  We went swimming at the big pool.  We went to the park.  The girls have been riding their bikes.  They are playing with everything from the cabinet of fun. They are being creative.  Amy spent some time making duct tape fans before heading out with her brothers, my dad, my sister, and three of her kids, for a trip to the Grand Canyon.  I went on a 4 hour hike with my friend Janice yesterday.  We went to a summer party. They have played at friends' houses, played with water guns, helped me cook, and played soccer.  We've eaten a lot of ice cream too.  Ice cream is important.

And I've finally found the time to start teaching my kids piano lessons. And they are practicing!  It's pretty awesome to hear the same two songs being played by 5 different people.

One week of summer break is already gone, and I'm not very happy about that.  But, I am happy about how that week went.

What will the rest of the summer bring?  Well, you never know what will go in the cabinet of fun, but I plan to keep it loaded.  I'm not sure what else.  I think we are going to actually take a family trip- maybe Bear Lake or Yellowstone.
For the most part, I'm taking it one day at a time.
Hiking.
Board Games.
Gardening.
Art
Science
Sewing
Reading
Walking
Riding
Playing
Creating
Talking
Anything

I love summer!

Mushy Bananas- amazing banana bread recipe

I realize I haven't blogged for over a month. Um, I guess the reason is I have been extra busy, yep, busier than my usual ridiculous busy. And I've also been baking.  Why? -because the bananas keep going mushy.  My kids love chocolate chip banana bread, so I've tried quite a few recipes over the years.  I've found some good ones, but recently I decided I wanted to make banana zucchini bread, for the simple reason of getting rid of the zucchini that came in my bountiful basket before my husband could fry it up and make me want to gag! I know, I'm super nice.  So, I looked up a recipe that also included chocolate chips, and got cooking.

Wowzers!  Yummy!  I admit, after the first time, I altered the recipe. I kind of have a hard time following recipes exactly So, I will share the recipe and also the ways I changed it.

The recipe tells you to mix it a certain way.  I just threw it all in the mixer and gave it a good beating, then proceeded from there.  And I usually quadruple the recipe. Yesterday I multiplied it by 6.  And it fit in my Bosch.

I got the original recipe from tutti-dolci.com/2012/07/double-chocolate-banana-zucchini-muffins/

Here it is, with my changes noted after each ingredient. You can also make mini loaves or regular loaves.  6 times the recipe made 14 good sized mini loaves.

All the chocolate chips on the top kind of ended up in the middle of this loaf. I know which piece I want.

Double Chocolate Banana-Zucchini Muffins
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (can omit.  I ran out of cocoa powder so usually I have left this out)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk( don't pay for buttermilk.  Add 1 tsp lemon juice per cup and let sit for 5 minutes)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup honey ( or agave syrup)
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract( don't use a nasty kind. See my post about vanilla)
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 cup grated zucchini( or grated carrots, or a mixture of both)
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate
chips( this is not enough chocolate chips for me.  I doubled it.  More chocolate is more celestial)

Here are the directions according to me:

Bake at 350. Muffins 15-20 minutes. Mini loaves about 30 minutes. That is how it works in my oven. Yours might be different. Keep baking until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or crumbly, but not gooey.

Okay, you can follow  the standard protocol of mixing the dry ingredients separately, then mixing the wet separately, then combining them, but as long as you don't go pyscho and overbeat the baking powder, you can just add it all at once, well after you mash the bananas.  What I usually do is mash the bananas and then add everything except the baking powder and chocolate chips. I mix well, then add the baking powder,and then I add the chocolate chips.

The original recipe calls for just sprinkling the chocolate chips on top. I double the amount and mix them in and then sprinkle some on top as well.  Chocolate is important.  Skimping on chocolate is simply wrong.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake.  You can use liners that are sprayed or just spray the pan.

I like these muffins because they taste fantastic. They are moist! They are chocolaty. They use up mushy bananas and yucky zucchini. ALL of my kids like them, and they qualify as a COMPLETE meal!

Every food group is represented- veggies, fruit, protein, dairy, grains, fats, and chocolate.
I have also substituted up to half of the flour with oat flour( made in my blendtec).  I'm sure they would be fabulous with whole wheat flour, but I've been using white.  I consider these to be relatively good for you.  If people can hand out junk like twinkies, granola bars, chips, ding dongs, and donuts as soccer snacks, I can consider a muffin full of chocolate to be a healthy snack . But, they don't taste healthy and the texture is excellent, not chewy like some recipes that skimp on fat.  They are moist, delicious, and well, usually gone pretty quickly after I make them.

How many books have you read in the last year? Book Review of some books I have liked

I thought it was time for another post, but I honestly couldn't think of anything that I'm feeling all fired up about right now.  So, I decided to write about a life-long never ending passion- reading.  I think that, it you are reading this, you might like reading too.

What good books have you read this year?  I really do want people to share. Tell me what you read and why you liked it.  My main problem with reading is that I read so many books and I don't keep a record of them, that I couldn't even start to tell you every book I have read in the last 12 months. I forget them. It is likely somewhere around 150 books, not counting children's books.  We read a lot of those at preschool and bedtime.

So,  here is a random and EXTREMELY incomplete review of some books I've read recently.

1.Cinder and Scarlett by Marissa Meyer- Oh, man!  If you can't stand waiting for a sequel, DON'T READ THESE BOOKS! They are really good. They mix some fairy tale elements with sci-fi awesomeness!  They are really good and fell into the category of books that I had to finish reading and caused me to read non-stop and ignore my children and home.  I'm not even going to tell you what they are about.  They are just so good!  The next two books are called Cress and Winter, but Winter won't be out till next year.  Here is a link to the author's website.  http://www.marissameyer.com/books/


2. Invincible microbe : tuberculosis and the never-ending search for a cure

This was a non-fiction book about tuberculosis.  It had a lot of pictures and was really interesting.  I am not a HISTORY person, but I like history and science when it is given in enough detail that it's about more than memorizing dates and places.  It was fascinating to learn about the history of TB.  It was also kind of scary.

3. The Count of Monte Cristo.  We're reading this for book club.  It's really long.  1276 pages.  Yes, I just wrote that number.  But, it's good.  Adventure, love, murder, revenge, kindness, forgiveness. It's worth reading .Get it on the kindle app. It's much easier to hold a book that fat in digital format. And it's free.

4. Anomaly by Krista McGee- dsytopian, religions, also a series and this is the first one. Sorry.  I like sci-fi and dystopian makes it even better.  In this story, Thalli lives in a post nuclear war society inside of a mountain.  All of the humans have been created to follow rules and live without emotions.  Anyone who is abnormal disappears. Thalli knows she is different, but she just can't hide it, and it's a matter of time bfeore she disappears too.This society has no family structure or emotionally based relationships. Rather, people live together in pods and each has a job assignment. Love is forbidden.  Some reviewers knock this book, but I really liked it.

5. I think 5 is a nice number, so I'm going to end my book review with. . . Wait! I already reviewed 5 books.  I can stop now.  Okay, I'll do one more.  If I can remember the name of one more book that I have read.  Yes, I'm that bad.  Okay, I've got one.  Actually, it's 4, and they have all been written. It's a series called The Newport Ladies Book Club, written by 4 authors, one for each book.  The books cover the same time period, but each tells the story of a different lady who ends up joining this book club and becoming friends with each other . I like it because it's not fakey happy perfect and it evoked some pretty strong emotions in me.  These books do contain some LDS aspects as one of the characters is a Mormon. But, they are not all Mormons.  The books are called Paige, Athena, Daisy, and Olivia.

Okay, well, that's all for now folks.  Go read some books! And, if you have a moment, either here or on my facebook page, drop me a line and let me know what good books you have been reading lately.

Happy Reading!