I Hate Being Sick...

My girls came home from school sniffling about two days before they got off for Christmas break.

I knew it was a recipe for disaster.

I'm not hyper-clean, I don't freak out when my kids or my dogs track mud into the house or leave muddy handprints on the outside of my back door (I actually kind of like the handprints and thought about having the girls recreate them in paint), but when someone gets sick, I'm fully armed with Clorox wipes and disinfectant spray.

I used to work in daycare and Pre-K, so I know how fast those nasty little germies spread.  I constantly clean doorknobs and door jams, the backs of chairs, the undersides of tables - all those places that kiddos stick their grubby little fingers and we generally overlook while cleaning.

When I worked in Pre-K, this tactic worked.  I once spared my class from the great flu outbreak of 2010, by scrubbing and disinfecting every single surface my kiddos touched, urging them to wash hands constantly, and catching boogies escaping from little noses before the kiddos had a chance to smear them all over their sleeves.
 

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At home, it doesn't work so much.  I don't know if I've sanitized so much that the little buggers are immune, or if my kids have just managed to find new ways to spread their germs.  I imagine now that the cleaning products I use have somehow been morphed into some kind of sustenance for the germs, a la Dinosaurs:

So now Levi and I are sick, and my girls are back to their normal, healthy selves.  I'm glad my girls are over it, don't get me wrong, but this being sick business is miserable. 

I'm off to the couch to sip green tea and watch the Croods with my girls.  Hope everyone else out there feels a hundred times better than I do!

 

 

Sunday Mornings and Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Every Sunday morning, my girls wake me up as soon as they wake up, to whip up our Sunday morning chocolate chip pancakes and sausage. 

These aren't my pancakes.  This is a stock photo.  My pancakes look more like the Cookie Monster's happy place on a griddle, and they're awwweeesommme.

I started making chocolate chip pancakes when my girls' dad still had every-other-weekend visitation, and when he became ill and unable to take them, my girls pretty much started expecting them every Sunday.  I don't mind, I like the idea of a family "tradition" that will possibly get passed down to my future (way, way in the future) grandchildren.

I had originally tried making pancakes with fruit in them (apples and peaches, mostly), to sneak some nutrition in there and eliminate the need for syrup.  I loved them - the girls, not so much.  So, I still managed to eliminate the syrup, but it took the introduction of tiny little chocolate chips to do it.

*Here's the recipe I use:

   2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

  2 tbsp. baking powder

  1 tsp salt

  2 eggs

1 1/2 c milk

1/4 c vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

(I also add about a teaspoon of almond extract, but that's optional)

1/2 c mini chocolate chips

 

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. 

 

Put your griddle on the stove to preheat, on med-high heat.

 

Add the milk and oil - I use a fork to begin with, and then a hand-mixer to eliminate any lumps - and then add the eggs and extracts.  Mix thoroughly, remove the mixer, and add in the chocolate chips with a fork or spoon.

 

The batter will be thick, and depending on the humidity (or lack thereof) in your area, you may need to add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water or milk to thin it down.  It shouldn't be watery, but it should be thin enough to pour easily from your spoon or ladle onto your griddle.

 

Use a ladle, large spoon, or other dispenser to drop a decent-sized dollop of batter onto your griddle spreading it out a bit so that it's even. 

 

Watch until it begins to bubble all the way through, and flip it gently with a spatula.

 

When you see the bottom outside edges turn brown, move the pancake from the griddle to a plate. 

 

You may have to adjust your heat setting; the first pancake in my house is usually the one we use to do that (it's really just an excuse to eat it early, but the heat-adjustment thing works, too!). 

 

Enjoy your pancakes!

 

*This is a recipe I got online a few years back.  I've tweaked it a little, but if you recognize it as yours, let me know and I'll credit you for it.*

 

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does! 

 

Do you have any family traditions at your house?  Share in the comments below!

An Introduction

I have a few friends with strictly "mom" blogs.  No cursing, no vague references to a lingering need for vodka, no naughty jokes or blatant stabs at sweet family holiday traditions. 

It also occurred to me that my home blog has no place for the "good mommy" side of me - you know, the one that cooks (really!) and draws and does silly little popsicle stick crafts with my kids.  My writing life is a bit schizophrenic; there's the dark side that lives over at Conspiracy Theories, reveling in high school mischief and things I think that I would never say in front of my kids.  Now, here's the lighter side of the mommy me (it exists, I swear!) that enjoys curling up on the couch with my girls and a nice cup of hot chai, who makes chocolate chip pancakes every Sunday with my girls and is generally a pretty pleasant, less cynical person to be around. 

I'm reserving this particular blog for all things domestic-mommy:  recipes, crafts, organization, silly things my kids say and do that are appropriate for all-audience reading.

So, welcome, and I hope you'll join me on this new journey.  Thanks for stopping by!

~Sandra (the good one)