Lessons Learned and Cranberry Pineapple Muffins

Major holidays are always the hardest time to be so far away from family, especially when Hubs is deployed. I have been kind of bummed about it all week. I tried to make myself feel better a few ways:

"Do you know how long it would take at the gym to burn off the junk you would eat on Easter if you were at home with family?!"

"Do you really want to deal with Little Miss being on a constant sugar high from all the candy Grandma & Grandpa would give her?"

The important stuff like that. HaHa!

While I am sitting around wallowing in self-pity, a few unfortunate life events happened to friends. Boy oh boy, did I feel like jerk. My thoughts and prayers have been with my friends constantly. I can't imagine the amount of strength they must have to endure what has happened. I am here getting all worked up over being away from family on Easter and there are people out there having REAL problems. Time to get over yourself Shannon and focus on the positive, be there for the people in your life that really need you.


So this morning I woke up, said a prayer for my friends, put a smile on my face because I was excited about spending the day with my daughter. I was so happy I made muffins!

Cranberry Pineapple Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal

1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar, divided

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

1/4 cup margarine

1 egg, beaten

1 cup skim milk

1 cup fresh or dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a muffin pan with paper cups, or coat it with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, whole wheat flour, oatmeal, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and margarine with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate small bowl, combine the beaten egg and the milk; add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Gently fold in the cranberries, pineapple, and pecans. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups three-quarters full.

Combine the 1 tbsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over the remaining muffin batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove immediately from the pan, and cool on a wire rack.

From "The New Holly Clegg Trim and Terrific Cookbook"

All You're Ever Gonna Be is Mean

Remember those mean girls (or guys) in school that seemed to take pleasure when they made you cry? I remember coming home every day from 6th day crying and wishing I never had to go back to school. I was told when I get older, adults don't behave like this, it will get better. I wish that were true...

 
Well, it has come to my attention that some bullies never grow out of this behavior. Or even worse, people that were picked on in school become the meanies when they grow up! That makes no sense to me; if you know how it feels to be tormented by your peers why in the world would you inflict that pain on another human being?

Maybe I am too simplistic. Maybe I just take the golden rule seriously: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Maybe I am just too naive.

When you do a Google search on "Why do people bully people?", you get over 3 million results.
 

"It provides them with a sense of power...It's a way of pulling your core group closer and putting someone else out of it."

"The simple reason is it shows that they have power over others. The reason that they do it repeatedly is that they are getting away with it. Nobody is calling them on their bad behavior. When they aren't called on it they think, 'Well, it must be O.K.'"

I came across one article that jumped out at me and listed the sort of adult bullies out there, I picked the 2 that are the most common:

1. Verbal Adult Bully: Words can be quite damaging. Adult bullies who use this type of tactic may start rumors about the victim, or use sarcastic or demeaning language to dominate or humiliate another person. This subtle type of bullying also has the advantage - to the bully - of being difficult to document. However, the emotional and psychological impacts of verbal bullying can be felt quite keenly and can result in reduced job performance and even depression.
2. Secondary Adult Bully: This is someone who does not initiate the bullying, but joins in so that he or she does not actually become a victim down the road. Secondary bullies may feel bad about what they are doing, but are more concerned about protecting themselves.

Ahhh unfortunately we all know people like this, don't we? Personally, I try to avoid them but I do understand and sympathize with those that choose to join in (but I do NOT condone it!).

So as adults, how do we deal with a bully? Unfortunately there is little you can do about an adult bully. After you report the abuse to the proper person (supervisor, etc.), all you can really do is ignore the bully and try to avoid them. That may mean going into hiding, okay maybe not hiding but trying to avoid situations and conversations about the bully because we all know how quickly gossip travels...

Adult bullies are often set in their ways, they are not interested in working things out, and they are not interested in compromise. Adult bullies just want power and domination. They want to feel as though they are important and preferred, and they accomplish this by bringing others down.
 
There is very little you can do to change an adult bully, just do your best to be the bigger person. Unless you can document the bullying, there really is nothing you can legally do about it.

Sounds pretty hopeless right? It doesn't seem fair, if you are the victim you should be able to scream the truth from the tops of buildings! You should be able to make the bully feel as badly as you do because they are doing wrong, because they are the ones acting out of line and behaving like an angsty teenager. But that is not the "adult" thing to do, damn it I hate being a mature adult sometimes.

There are going to be people in your life that you aren't going to like but you are going to be placed in social situations where you are forced to be around them. This applies to family too! Try your hardest to make the best of it, put on a big smile and act like nothing is wrong because honestly why would you care what someone like a bully thinks of you? When it comes down to it, if you live your life the right way people aren't going to believe the rumors and the hype. 

Live your life your way. Do your best to treat others the way you want to be treated. What goes around comes around and I believe if you are a good, honest person then the truth will shine through.   

Crafting Craziness & Raspberry Lemon Muffin Recipe

This is what I have been up to this morning: Raspberry Lemon Muffins! Did I mention they are only 148 Calories each? They turned out pretty good but I can't wait until I can get fresh raspberries at the farmer's market, then they will be amazing!


I have decided that since I like crafting so much, why not start selling what I make to earn some extra fun money? Nothing big, just something to do in my spare time. So I have started stockpiling bows, pacifier clips, wreaths, and baby blankets. 


As I am making all this stuff, I start thinking about how am I going to sell it all....Do I sell it on Etsy? Do I just sell it from my blog? Any advise would be greatly appreciated!


Okay, off to do more crafting and share the muffin recipe:

Raspberry Lemon Muffins

Makes 12-16 Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 cup skim milk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp. lemon extract

1 egg

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, no syrup)

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

Preheat the over to 425. Line a muffin pan with paper cups or coat with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder, mixing well. In a small bowl, combine the milk, oil, lemon extract, egg, and egg whites, blending well. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until the ingredients are moistened. Carefully fold in the raspberries and lemon rind. Fill the prepared pan three-quarters full with batter.

Bake 18-23 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.

From "The New Holly Clegg Trim and Terrific Cookbook"

Keepin' Busy! Plus, Lemon Berry Loaf Recipe

I promised myself I wouldn't keep myself so busy this deployment, but I just can't help it!

Lets recap what fun things I did last week.

I made a duvet cover for Little Miss's toddler bed.

It was very easy, just alot of pinning! I found the tutorial over at Prudent Baby, she does an amazing job at this how-to for multiple size beds. It was actually cheaper for me to make this duvet cover than to buy one at the store!

Hubs made his first port of the deployment and he even sent us a picture with his Duffy the Disney Bear.

Doesn't he look like he is having fun? I would be lying if I said I wasn't a teensy bit jealous that he was able to see Athens...

We were able to Skype and it was great. Little Miss was so excited, she couldn't wouldn't stop talking. I hardly had a chance to talk to him myself!

I also got to meet some new additions to our Play Group: One of the momma's had her twins a few weeks ago and now they are finally home! They are so cute and tiny, AHHH baby fever is going into overdrive!

Little Miss also had an Easter egg hunt yesterday at a friends' birthday party. I even made the bow that matched her dress!

Finally, I made this yummy Lemon Berry Loaf. I will leave you all with the recipe!

Makes 16 Servings

1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tbsp. lemon extract
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen, just don't unthaw!)
2 tbsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat the over to 350. Coat a 9x5x3-inch non-stick loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix the oil, 2/3 cup sugar, lemon extract, egg, and egg whites. In a separate, small bowl, combine the flour with the baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with the milk, stirring just until blended. Fold in the blueberries and lemon rind.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Immediately poke holes at 1-inch intervals on the top of the bread. In a small saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave oven, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the lemon juice, heating until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the bread. Cool, and slice to serve.

From "The New Holly Clegg Trim and Terrific Cookbook" 

Care Package Madness!

Am I considered "crazy" if I send out so many care packages they are as tall as my toddler? If so, then I never want to be sane muahahahahaha!

*Okay, not all of those boxes are care packages (only the 3 in the middle of the pile!)*

My goal this deployment is to send a care package for every pay check. Well, he left on the 11th and I haven't sent out a box yet so I am already behind! Of course this box is filled mostly with stuff he forgot. He only packed one pair of pants for port visits, so I obviously had to send another pair. I don't know how often he does laundry but I can only assume it is only when absolutely necessary. He left a shaker bottle here and since he manages to go through those like candy, I figured he has probably already lost the first one. He left his sunglasses and a towel. I also filled the box with lots of goodies, like his favorite hard candies and some pictures of us on our Disney World vacay. In fact, this box has a bit of a Disney theme to it. I wanted him to open it up and think of something happy (like our recent Disney vacay), so I painted the flaps red and had Little Miss cover them with Mickey Mouse stickers. While I was at WalMart I came across these simple 5X7  plastic frames with a magnet on the back and I thought they would be perfect to hang on his rack, so I picked my favorite 2 photos from vacation for the frames. I hope he is happy when he opens it!

Then I made an "Egg Hunt" care package for his department. I filled plastic eggs with individually wrapped candy and toys like rings with bubbles, those plastic poppy caps (no idea how to better describe them!), and super stretchy plastic bunnies. 

The third box is for Hubs, he needed more of his protein shake and it comes in this HUGE container that wouldn't fit in the APO/FPO flat rate boxes. So lesson learned, I will have GNC ship it straight to him so I don't have to go searching for a box again!

Dang it, I just realized I forgot to pick up extra customs forms. We get paid again soon so its already time to start thinking about the next box!

Some helpful websites when it comes to care packages:


SKIP cares


Navy for Moms


Free Care Package from Scion!



 

 

Review: Frederic Fekkai Marine Summer Hair, Beach Waves

I have been searching for a way to achieve sexy, effortless beach waves. I have tried curlers. I have tried the sock bun. Then I came across this gem at TJ Maxx: Frederic Fekkai Marine Summer Hair. I decided to give it a try. 

*Oh my goodness, I am in love!*

I tried it out this morning, I had showered last night and slept on my wet hair. So it was a hot mess this morning. I figured it was the perfect excuse to try out my new product! My hair is as straight as a board, I am not exaggerating by saying it has zero wave to it. 

As soon as I sprayed this stuff in, I could see a difference. It was a nice, light mist that smelled wonderful; not too strong and faintly sweet. It didn't make my hair stiff or wet looking once it dried. I simply scrunched up pieces of my hair after I sprayed it and finger styled. So very easy!

My hair held all day, even outside in the humidity. This product even offers some UV protection, which is great since I spend a lot of time outside. 

This product is definitely worth buying!

I am so happy to have found this product, I only paid $9.99 at TJ Maxx and when I looked it up online I saw it retails around $25!

Recipe: Baked French Toast

I apologize for the lack of blogginess going on this week, my mommy is in town! So we have been spending lots of mother/daughter/grandbaby time together. This week I made the BBQ Shrimp recipe that I absolutely love and of course we had french bread. We had quite a bit leftover so I decided to make Baked French Toast for breakfast!

1 cup light maple syrup

1 (16 oz) loaf French bread

2 eggs

2 egg whites

2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 cups skim milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coat a 3-quart oblong baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the maple syrup into the dish. Slice the French bread into 2-inch slices, and place over the syrup.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, sugar, skim milk, vanilla, and cinnamon until well blended. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, pressing the bread to soak up the liquid overnight, or leave at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.!

Preheat the oven to 350.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.

Per Serving: Calories 261, Protein (g) 9, Carbohydrate (g) 47, Fat (g) 3, Calories from Fat (%) 11, Saturated Fat (g) 1, Dietary Fiber (g) 2, Cholesterol (mg) 444, Diabetic Exchanges: 0.5 very lean meat, 2 starch, 1 other carbohydrate. 


I prepped this the night before, it was so easy. Then I just popped it in the oven in the morning and voila! easy breakfast. 

I totally love this cook book from Holly Clegg. My mom surprised me and bought the Gulf Coast Favorites edition, I can hardly wait to try out all the recipes!