Vegan Chocolate Pancakes

This batter makes light, fluffy, and delicious pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons white sugar (my family likes sweet, I use 1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon oil

Directions:
1. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk the water and oil together in a small bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet. Stir just until blended; mixture will be lumpy.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Wordless Wednesday: Playing together

 

Click the pic above to get to other Wordless Wednesday Participants or go check out

Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday Bloggers, 5 minutes for mom, Ms. Mystery Case, Tales of a Pee Dee Mama, and Stacys Random Thoughts!

 

 

 

Vegan Peanut Butter Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• 2/3 cup Quick Cooking Oats)
• 1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I used creamy)
• 1 cup Rice Milk

Procedure:
1.Preheat the oven at 350F 15 minutes. Grease with little cooking spray or line the muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.

2.In a large bowl combine together the flour, oatmeal, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder.

3.In a small sauce pan, over low heat, melt peanut butter in milk, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

4.Once the peanut butter mixture is cool, incorporate it into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

5.Spoon the batter into the prepared pan filling it to the top of each cup.

6.Bake in oven for 13-15 minutes.

 

Taste:

The flavor of peanut butter is not dominating. It has the perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter. The sweetness was right for us not as sweet as the store bought muffins. So If you prefer it sweeter add some chocolate chips or increase the quantity of sugar to 1 cup.

Tackle it Tuesday - The Yard

(click the pic above to get to other Tackles for this week)

 

My tackle for this week was the yard.  I got outside and cleaned up all the junk that had made its way into our yard over the winter.  The neighbor kids like to leave junk there and so does Princess Belle.  So now that is one more thing checked off of my moving list and my yard looks lovely! 

Yesterday I went through my closet and packed most of the stuff in there that was not in boxes. 

Next, I have to get more boxes and get the rest of the stuff packed.  I also want to go through the things we have stored to get that take care of too.  My to-do list is long but I am taking care of it one thing at a time. 

TOS Review: Joyce Herzog- Scaredy Cat Reading System Express

 

We were given the opportunity to review Joyce Herzog’s Scaredy Cat Reading System Express with Princes Magpie (age 4) and with Princess Belle (age 11) for the past month or so. 

 

It consists of teacher training with:

• activities and suggestions
• board games,
• all the stories,
• all the word lists
• sentence lists for Levels 1, 2, & 3 – mastery based phonics available from JoyceHerzog.com.

As Princess Magpie is only just learning her letters and The Letter Master Story was a great way to introduce the sounds of the letters, and the analogy of ‘scared vowels’ builds a great picture for kids to remember when vowels make short sounds and when they make long sounds!  That was even a great reminder for Princess Belle who enjoyed the games which made learning more fun and served as a reminder for her as well.

This curriculum is very versatile, and is designed in such a way that it can be adapted easily to whatever learning style your child has.  It’s easy to jump ahead if your child is further along in his his/her reading or a good beginning for children like Princess Magpie.  The book has fifteen rules and lots of ideas on learning and studying and having fun with it and the CD includes songs to help. We are at the very beginning of our reading with Princess Magpie and I can see this being really useful in our journey as well as a lot of fun.  I am also using it with Princess Belle to help reinforce her understanding of the rules that she often forgets in her writing. 

This program is available for $30 online.  It includes the 122 – page book, two multi-use board games, all the word lists, sentence lists, and stories for practice, the SRCS Rules Songs CD with songs for each of the rules, The Story of LetterMaster MINI, and Using LetterMaster as a Teaching Tool and also has a downloadable sample. You can take a placement test to determine where in the series your child should start. 

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog for more reviews on this and several other Joyce Herzog products from other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew..

Monday Mumblings

1. I must be the most klutzy person on the planet.   I fell down today.  I was going to sweep the floor, one of the little's called me and I turned around and stepped on the broom and down I went.  Ugh, now my headache is worse than ever!

2.  I have switched to black coffee.  I have thought of doing this for a while now, but I was nervous.  Turns out I quite like the flavor of black coffee.  So now I don 't have to worry about the nutritional content of the additives in my coffee.  Simple black coffee is better.

3.  Princess Belle borrowed the curriculum I had bought for Princess Magpie after we move and she LOST it!!!!  Now I have to buy another one.  I have turned the house upside down but I can't find it!  With all the extra expense right now, I just didn't need that!

4.  It is a month to my move and I am so excited.  I can't wait to be there and to have this all done.  I can't wait to be home!  I can't wait to start settling in to my new home.  I can't wait to decorate and make it mine. 

5.  Princess Belle has taken to making sandwiches with hot sauce and butter or hot sauce and mayo.  It sounds yucky, but she loves it.

6. The town I am moving to had a snowstorm yesterday!  On the May 24 long weekend!  That is crazy.  I laughed and said that as long as it is all gone for my move, I can live with it.

FRESH STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oil an 8 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly.
3. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour.
4. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.
5. Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch.
6. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

Gratitude Sunday

Sunday's heart felt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

Here are some things I am grateful for this week:

1. A big girl who is starting to enjoy the same things that I am.  It is getting more and more fun to share things I love to do with her.

2. Being greeted by this happy, smiley baby every morning.

3.  Two little girls who are best friends.

4. How much the girls, especially Princess Magpie, enjoy their baby brother. 

5.  Watching my little ones play and enjoy each other.

6. Watching Little Prince grow and learn and seeing how amazed his big sisters are by it all.

7. I have happy, funny, playful children who fill my rooms with giggles, squeals, and whispered secrets on a daily basis.

 

Saturday Photohunt: Glass and Hands

Technorati PhotoHunters and Photohunter Facebook

The themes this week are: Glass and Hands.  I chose pictures from our trip to a museum last summer.  Princess Magpie got a kick out of the displays.  She liked to put her HANDS against the GLASS in the displays so that she could get a good look inside!

This Moment: Good Morning, Mommy

A beautiful and fun Friday ritual. Inspired by SouleMama.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – Amanda Soule