My 2 cents for Tuesday

Today was a busy affair. It started out getting the kids ready for the day. The painter came and finished up the patch job. It's nice to know that they are done. No more workers coming in and out of the house. It looks good.

Then I went over to my friend Cyndi's house and took a few more pictures of her puppies and a couple of her chicks. She is growing a great garden. I am trying to get a few seedlings started, but they keep getting disturbed my littlest helping hands. I also love the idea of Cyndi having egg laying chickens. I am seriously thinking about doing that myself. We would have organic eggs to feast on. We eat eggs a lot. Not only are they a good source of protein but they are a good source of Omega-3. We could keep them on the side of our house. I don't think right now is the best time for us to do it. Spring is generally the best time to start raising chickens.

I made dinner early on (Chicken Divan) and even got a batch of cookies made for a treat for the Cub Scouts. I added something special to the cookies today. I made my usual batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies and added some flaxseed to it. I'm adding flaxseed to some of our recipes just as an extra special additive. It contains Omega-3 oils and is supposed to help with brain functions. I even added it to the Buckwheat pancakes I made this morning. Here's what I found out recently when I was learning about flax seed. It promotes cardiovascular health, colon health, it can boost immunity, provides fats that are precursors for brain building (also recommended for kids with ADHD), promotes healthy skin especially those who struggle with eczema, it may lessen the severity of diabetes by stabilizing blood sugar levels, the fatty oils in flax seed can be slimming, and flax seed is a good source of protein.

At 4:30 we had Cub Scouts. We made a Pine Wood Derby car holder today with the Webelo's leader. I think there were 9 boys total and it seemed like we could have used more hands. They were their usual squirrely selves. But, my bribe of cookies did seem to help and they sure enjoyed making something.

This evening was another adventure in single-parenting. I felt like a referee most of the night moderating fights and various disagreements. Ethan had a couple temper tantrums but he eventually settled down. The highlight of the night was going over and picking lemons at my neighbor's house. He has a beautifully productive lemon tree with big lemons hanging in abundance from most every branch.

So, here's my 2 cents for the day.

1. I was inspired to pick lemons by this blog I've been reading. It's called Your HomeBased Mom. She is sharing all these spring recipes for lemons. I love the color of lemons. They are yellow and cheerful and felt they would be a welcome addition to our household. That's my little extra excitement for the day both for the benefit of beauty and our diet.

2. I am trying to be more health conscious, that's the reason I've added flax seed to our diet. I hope it is worth it.

Also, here's the recipe for the buckwheat waffles. I got it from this website called Dinner with Kirsten. I have altered it with a few differences mainly the addition to my precious flaxseed. No one seemed to notice the addition. It doesn't taste any different. But, I know those little seeds are in there making a magical difference. Plus, buckwheat flour is a good source of iron. And, adding iron to my diet is one of my top priorities right now.

Buckwheat Waffles (and Pancakes)

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. buckwheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. flax seed

1 egg separated

1 c. buttermilk

1/4 c. water

2 Tbs. butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, mix well. In a smaller bowl mix up the egg yolk, buttermilk, water and butter. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients all at once and stir just to blend. Like usual, whip the egg white with a hand mixer or a whisk until soft peaks form, then fold the whites gently into the batter. Cook either as a waffle or a pancake. Enjoy!

Note: I generally double or triple the recipe. And, for variation I'll mash up a banana or 2.