Love is In the Air

My mind keeps coming back to Valentine's Day - funny because I don't usually give it a forethought until a day or two prior. It's just not a big holiday around this house. Well, maybe this year it will be. We've decided to cut back even more and my mind is spinning with crafty ideas to show my family and friends how much I care. Here's what's in the idea bank, just so I don't litter my bookmarks (we know they are trashed enough right now....)

For Adults
Homemade Fudge
Chocolate Peanut Butter Delights
DIY Bags, Boxes, & Candy Wrappers
Love You More Bags
Pie Boxes

For the Kiddos and Family
Heart Shaped Pancakes (these are just pink, but I'm considering making them into heart on my own. Amy has a TON of good ideas for mixing up different pancakes and healthifying them!
Scratch-N-Sniff Bags (Do I want to attempt this with toddlers?)
Valentine's Crafts for Kids

Morning Glory Muffins

We usually eat our "bread" breakfasts w/ fresh fruit - YUM!

 My fabulous, foodie sister introduced me to the site, EatingWell.com. I really like it! It has some great tips about eating well. While not everything is what I'd consider eating well, I'm grateful it gives some awesome substitutions for foods everyone loves that just aren't healthy. At least if I HAVE to make a certain dish, I now have a resource to make it more healthy. Plus, I feel most of their recipes are easily adaptable. It's an especially great resource if you're trying to lose weight and has some great meal plans. Here is one of my favorite recipes: Morning Glory Muffins

18 muffins

Active Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups grated carrots, (4 medium)
• 1 apple, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites, or 4 teaspoons dried egg whites (see Ingredient Note), reconstituted according to package directions
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts, or pecans
• 2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 18 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, apple and raisins. Whisk egg, egg whites, apple butter, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about three-fourths full. Combine walnuts and wheat germ in a small bowl; sprinkle over the muffin tops.
4. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Get a head start on your morning muffins the night before by mixing up the dry and liquid ingredients separately (refrigerate liquids). In the morning, combine the two, scoop and bake.

• Ingredient note: Dried egg whites are pasteurized—a wise choice when making meringue toppings that may not reach 160°F (the temperature at which eggs are considered "safe"). You'll find them in the baking or natural-foods section of most supermarkets. Reconstitute according to package directions.

Nutrition

Per muffin: 163 calories; 4 g fat ( 0 g sat , 2 g mono ); 12 mg cholesterol; 29 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 2 g fiber; 154 mg sodium; 149 mg potassium.
Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fruit, 1/2 other carbohydrate, 1 fat

5 Love Languages

 This month my husband and I celebrate 5 years of marriage. Time flies! Things are even better now than they were when we were first married. I just had a flash-back to our first weeks of being married, reading through the 5 love languages book. We'd read a chapter once a week and learn about how we could better love each other. While I don't agree with everything they say, nor recommend it hands-down against other marriage/love books, I did appreciate that it gave us a means to discuss our marriage.
 The flash-back was fun and I learned something about marriage. Needs can change over time. It's important to keep communicating them your marriage. After taking the test again, I laughed about the happenings of our life and how they've influenced my love-language. I'm sure they'll continue to change over time. I'm grateful we make time to talk about our marriage and how we can improve. I'm grateful we take time to plan loving each other.
 If you are interested in the 5 love languages or if you haven't taken the test in awhile, venture over there for a date night sometime with your spouse! It can give you a fun laugh and provide a way for you to communicate your needs. Just a small, but important step on the road of "happily ever after".

Pairing Down the Projects!

 Ever since I was called to lead the Young Women (Girl's age 12-18) Organization in our church, I have been feeling pretty unbalanced. I feel like I'm always juggling and while some things are going well, others seem to fade further and further into extinction. I suppose that's why God called me to do this, so I could really focus my energies on the work that really matters & a few basic tools I can use to accomplish them. What are they?
The Work.
 1. God. My personal relationship with Him. Time spent in the temple. Time to ponder. Time to study. Time to pray - to really pray. Without interruptions... 
 2. Family. Namely education with and playing with my children. These are the times I feel eternity most. When we play in the boy's room, which has no clock on the wall, I lose track of time and just enjoy reading to them, playing, & creating. It also means that I am self-disciplined creating a structure for our home, which I still haven't grasped since our youngest was born. It means that the family time is planned and meaningful. It means regular time to strengthen my marriage. This has grown to take so much more effort since #2 came along and my husband started school again.
 3. Church & Friendships. The growth of others. The real, sincere service that helps others draw closer to Christ. It means having to live more by the Spirit, being directed to know what to do and when to do it. I feel so dependent on the Lord in working with the Young Women. They truly are His daughters and He has a plan for them. I just have to be humble and still enough to know the plan so I can help.
 Tools to help me accomplish these works:
 1. Health. Providing healthy meals my family can gather around. It's so much easier to prevent illness and have energy to do the work of the Lord when you eat healthy. It is a PROJECT - phew! But either you put the work in to stay healthy or it catches up to you when you get sick.
 2. Family History. A close second for me to family is preserving my family history. I love to learn about my ancestors and teach my children about their family. I love to record what is going on in our family (which I do mostly at www.asmithfam.blogspot.com). It's important to me that we enjoy and capture the moments that are so precious in helping us grow together to become like Jesus Christ. 
 3. Music. To me it really means God, and family, and church. I realized the other day singing a beautiful song about Christ that music is how I gained my testimony. It's how my mother shared her testimony with me. It unified our family. I've pushed it aside for other projects, but dusted it off and started using this tool again to help me accomplish all of the above. The nice thing is, while I'm still working to improve, it's a skill I'm already proficient in. It's a polished tool I can use, not one I'm trying to acquire.

These are the "projects". They hardly seemed like projects if you asked me even a year ago. But when I was faced with entirely too many things to do, constant piles of unfinished business in my tiny house, and unhappy children, I had to focus and figure out what is most important for me. It means I'm cutting out things I REALLY love doing or I'd like to learn. I know there will come another time in life to pull those other things out. I realized I just have to be me. I have to do what I can and simplify. For me for now, it's back to the basics.