Waffles

Check it out! The first waffles I've ever made, in my first waffle iron! Really not sure why it took so long to get one, since I think waffles are a food group if you're 7 and 4. I like the healthier waffles, too, so those get pricey without sales and coupons. I played around and combined a couple of different recipes and adjusted for what I had for this recipe. Turned out great! I might toy with adding some ground flax seed or wheat germ in the future, but I was out of both this time around.

1 1/4 cups white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup steel cut oats ground in coffee grinder to a nice oat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk (also used about 3/4 cup of skim milk to thin batter after mixing)
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine flour through salt in a large bowl and mix. In separate bowl, whisk buttermilk through cinnamon. Add to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Let rest for about 5 minutes. Heat waffle iron. Cook according to your iron's directions. For me, I used about 1 cup of batter per waffle, and they cooked for about 4 minutes. Perfect!

Snow

Lots of it. This picture shows the drift at the deck door yesterday. More than 3 feet of snow there. Dog was like, "no way, nuh uh, fuhgettaboutit", and walked away after not having peed for 12 hours. I didn't blame her. LOL. After today, totals in the metro are 13-18 inches, with drifts taller than my 7yo. (I know because I saw him in them in the backyard. Crazy.)

EASY cheater Ham glaze

My mom and I were having this discussion last week as my sister prepared to make her first ever ham. She was asking us both the best way to glaze the ham. We both gave the same answer- a can of Coke. Seems to be too easy to be true, but this has become a big go to for our family. Put your ham in the roaster. Pour Coke over ham. Cover with foil. Bake. From time to time pour the Coke up and over the ham. Done. And YUM. :)

Change in Plans

We had planned on being in St. Louis this Christmas. Through the weekend we were eating all the perishables, getting everything ready to go, getting new tires on the suv, etc. At the same time, we were monitoring the weather, as a big storm was set to head in to the area this week, and we wanted to make sure we got out before it got here.

Things then started getting complicated. My mom was put in the hospital last week for double pneumonia---they caught it when she went in for her latest round of chemo. Initially she was to be in for the weekend, but she's now there through Christmas.

Ryan caught a tummy bug on Sunday night. His little brother had gotten it earlier in the week, and I had gotten it as well. This now ruled out any chance of the boys seeing their grandma, as she's on a floor that is very protected for low immune systems, and we can't risk her being exposed to any new germs right now.

By Monday night, when Ryan was still sick, my gut told me to cancel the trip. Hubby went along with it, but I don't think he agreed with me 100%. My concern was that we could still be passing the tummy bug around to each other, and if we got sick in St. Louis we wouldn't be able to go back home because of the snow. Meaning the boys would spend a miserable Christmas in the basement of the in-laws. No fun.

So early Tuesday I ran out and restocked all the fresh stuff we'd been clearing out- milk, eggs, produce. Made sure to get plenty so we wouldn't have to try to get out during a storm.

My gut proved to be correct Tuesday night when both Jonathan and I came down with the tummy bug. Bad. I'm still not back to normal. Snow is now coming down. But I'm about as happy as can be. We can rest in our own home. The boys have been able to keep themselves entertained pretty well here at home, which would have been much more difficult to do in St. Louis. Hubby just carried a ton of wood upstairs, and now we'll be able to enjoy nice fires in the fireplace.

So I will be posting the meal plans I've been hastily putting together for the rest of the weekend, since none had been needed before.

It is a nice reminder of the things that are important. Sure, I would have loved to have been able to visit all of the family, but I would much prefer to have a nice, warm, snuggly Christmas inside with my boys and hubby while the snow comes down. Oooh. Note to self---make hot chocolate :).

Hope you and your families have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.

What a week....

In 6 days, a pretty violent, although thankfully fairly short, stomach virus has ripped through here and hit 3 of us---me first, then the 4yo, and now the 7yo is up in our bed with a bowl. Only hubby has escaped- so far.

It has me pretty nervous about Christmas, as Mom was admitted to the hospital Friday for pneumonia..the chemo treatments have her immune system pretty screwed up.

Since hubby hasn't gotten it...I'm not sure whether to think of him as invincible, or a contagion for the rest of the family this holiday season.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!