Blogging

I try to take a day a week away from the computer and rest. Usually, that is Sunday. I feel it is good for my body and soul! So, I have not blogged since Saturday with Monday being a 'chore' and 'errand' day this week. I have a lot I want to post and many ideas. It will all take time, though as I juggle my responsibilities and hobbies. I hope you have a wonderful week. I can't believe January 2010 is almost half gone!

How I bake cookies the healthy way

Keep in mind that when I say 'healthy', it only means how they say what is healthy at the present. I have been a half-health-food nut for more than 30 years and just when I get something a point of habit to help us be healthy, we read or hear how that has changed. So, I keep plugging along trying to do my best to do right by us. These are ways I do things, it does not mean it is the best way. It is up to you to determine what your family needs.

So ... when I bake cookies these are some of the things I do:

Cookie recipes usually call for 1 t. vanilla added in with the liquid ingredients. I have nothing against it, but the price. I won’t buy imitation vanilla and the other cost too much. I did not have it once, and found out the cookies taste just as well. So, unless I have it on hand, I don’t bother using it.

I use half the amount of sugar a recipe calls for in all my cookies. I figure all the other items I add in add sweetening to the recipe and it helps us stay healthier by not eating so much sugar. Less weight gain. Less money spent, also! I tried honey and other substitutes, but half the sugar is easiest.

When not using egg yolks, I use one more egg white than the eggs the recipe calls for. I throw the yolks away. It bothered me at first. But, I also throw peach pits away because they are not good to eat.

I use 2/3 unbleached flour and 1/3 whole wheat flour that I mix baking powder in to make my own self-rising flour.

I use one of those cookie dough scoopers. We like a little larger cookie.

Tropical Oatmeal Cookies

The recipe below, but I added chopped walnuts, dried pineapple cut into bits, coconut, and tiny chocolate chips. I call them my Tropical Oatmeal Cookies.

Oatmeal Cookies

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

1/3 c. soft butter (not melted)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. raw sugar
3 egg whites
1 ½ c. self rising flour
2 ½ c. quick oatmeal, uncooked
½ c ground flax seed

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter, oil, and sugars until creamy. Add egg whites and continue beating. Add flour. Mix. Stir in the flax seed. Add oatmeal, a cup at a time, and stir with spoon. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls***** onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Note:
I added chopped walnuts and dark chocolate chips to this recipe.

This morning, I picked up one of my books 'Stories for the Romantic Heart' and opened it to a page containing this writing.

The Beauty of Love by: Author Unknown

The question is asked, "Is there anything more beautiful in life than a boy and a girl clasping clean hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful than young love?"

And the answer is given. "Yes, there is a more beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey together on that path. Their hands are gnarled, but still clasped; their faces are seamed, but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired, but still strong with love and devotion for one another. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love."

Steve and I are amazed when we see couples walking along ... with their hands so close, but not holding each other's. Now, I know that maybe there are reasons ... we just hope the reasons are good enough to miss out on that special sweetness. We sure look forward to still holding hands when we are old and wrinkled.


I found it at inspirationalstories.com Their post said it is in also... A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Adams year in Review

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Enjoy

The Library

Today, I went to the library. They are having a sale on their books. Though I hate to see a library selling their books, especially my favorite authors, I do like a good sale. And 4 books for a dollar is a good sale. At one time, I was on the floor looking at the bottom shelves with books lined up in two rows, one behind the other.
It remended me of when I was in the sixth grade and walked about a half mile to the public library. I liked the Nancy Drew books and would go back in the corner by myself and enjoy some quiet time of reading. Having five younger brothers and a younger sister, that was about the only quiet time I could find!
This noon, I came home with two bags of books and spent five dollars. A few were by my favorite authors and some for research. My husband has encouraged me, during the years, to keep a library even when I thought I should downsize because of space and moves. He knows it is important for a writer (and reader) to have her own books. So, now I have my own library in our home.

Holding Hands

43 years ago tonight a 15 yr. boy and girl went on a church outing to Skateland in Jacksonville, FL. They have been 'skating through life' since then, hand in hand.




We still like to hold hands. This photo was taken while standing in the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona where they meet at the 4 corners.

Brrrrr Cold

It is 26 degrees here this morning. Not what I expected for the Deep South. Though I did grow up here and knew it got cold in winter. I also remember wearing shorts at Christmas in N. Fla. And I am sure I could have here in S. Georgia this year, if I wore shorts. But now into January, it is cold. However we have been in much colder weather. This is a photo taken of us at an ice art exhibit in Alaska. It was way cold! But we had to go see the ice art! The one here was in honor of Schultz. We thought his comic strip would cease at the time, but thankfully it did not.

Sweet Memories

Sometimes when I sign in and use my email address, I hit the comma instead of the m for com. It always brings a smile to my face for I remember a friend of mine whom I was teaching computer. I had explained over the phone for her to type in .com and she could not get where she wanted to go and was frustrated. I went to her house to see what she was doing and she was typing in ., I had to refrain from smiling too much, for I thought it was so cute.
It is nice to have sweet memories of people to bring smiles to our faces. bja

The Lure of Alaska

This story is about a different branch of the Williams family tree. In the early 1900s Cason Williams travels from Georgia to Alaska in search of an answer for why his friend died. Was it really an accident as the report said, or was murder the real cause of death? And where is the gold Shane found? Will the old timer Cason meets be able to help him survive the cold winter of Alaska? While waiting for Cason to return, Anna, Shane’s fiancée back home in Georgia, is worried she will be forced into a marriage of convenience to help her mother keep their home.

My Precious Jewel

A love story set in the early 1900's in the United States. Eleven-year-old Emerald Cooper loves Aaron Davis, who is ten years her senior and only sees her as a close friend of the family. At the turn of the 20th century, a time when women could not enter into a man’s world, she could not let him know how she felt before he left on a venture. While Aaron is away helping in the building of the Panama Canal, a newcomer, Reuben Baker, comes to town. As the years go by, Reuben falls in love with Emerald and sets her heart in turmoil as she tries to decide whether to wait for a chance to declare her love for Aaron or accept a love that is being offered her right now.

Silent Love

This story is about Jonathan's great-nephew Clayton Williams as he leaves his home in North Carolina to follow in his uncle's footsteps by venturing farther west. Beth O'Neill and her family are also traveling over the Cumberland Mountains heading west. See how Beth handles losing her family, then tries to decide what to do now that she is on her own and headed to an unknown land. Read how their lives intertwine with Winola, a twelve year old girl, whose drunkard father loses her to slavers while gambling. Experience with them the hardships and pleasures of living in the early 1800's Ohio.