this is INSANE

I read this today and my mouth stayed in a dropped postion the entire time. I can't believe it. Some of the numbers they give are SHOCKING! I don't think that people know what they are eating most of the time. Mom, you'll love this.

The 20 worst foods in America

Nativities galore!

The stake here does a huge "interfaith nativity/creche exhibit" at the stake center every year for Christmas. It is AMAZING! They have hundreds of amazing nativities from all over the world that are donated by people in the stake and community.

My favorite is the one pictured to the right. I think it is from Africa. I love that they have lions, zebras, and elephants at the manger scene with an African Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

This morning we went and volunteered as hosts! I'll be honest, I had a lot of fun. We had the very first shift from 11-1 and nobody came so we (six fun women from the ward) just got to talk and walk around and enjoy ourselves. There are some great pluses to being at home with the rugrat and not working all day! I absolutely loved it. Kent and I are doing a shift tomorrow night together as well. Hopefully the Saturday night one will be lots busier than this morning.

Most everybody left their kids with a sitter (hooray for Cynthia) but I did bring the little rugrat along cause I thought he would just nap. He DOES not nap if there are people and lights and music around! He giggled and laughed a lot and then crashed immediately when we got home. He did fall on his head though. It has been happening a lot lately because he wants to reach for something while he's sitting up. When he reaches, he topples. He looks a little roughed and bruised up, but I'm sure it's good for him. This picture is for you Laney, since you only want to see Zeb. No more pancake mixes, I promise.

favorite thing...

Today has been a most ridiculously busy day. I've enjoyed it immensely. I really like having all the hours in my day blocked out with a purpose, even if the purpose is something regular like walking group, enrichment meetings, or hobby lobby.

I was out and about lots longer than I had initially planned so I went straight to school to get Kent before I made it home to make dinner. This meant we had to come home and figure out what we were going to eat. Luckily we had my current favorite food in the world!!!! when I find something that I love, I can't help but tell everyone that I know about it. Yet another purpose for my blog.

Hodgson Mill's whole wheat buttermilk pancakes. They are absolutely delicious. The texture, consistency, flavor, and everything else is just splendid. I used applesauce instead of oil and so they were low fat too. I love the texture of whole wheat. I must have Grandpa Howell taste buds or something (although growing up I would cry when he forced us to eat his whole wheat mac and cheese).
I'm not sure if they sell them out West (they are made in Illinois) but I highly recommend them to everyone.

early Christmas present to me :)

Yes, by the broadast of terms (and some of the more stringent ones), I am an environmentalist. I feel that we, as God's children, have a stewardship over Earth. Regardless of the severity of global warming and melting ice caps, we still have no right to be wasteful or overtly cavalier about our consumption of fossil fuels.

After a friend mentioned she had started using reusable grocery sacks (thanks em f.) I decided it was a noble endeavour and that I wanted to do the same. I have been searching for some inexpensive bags ever since. I located my bags this week at Meijer! Oh, how I adore Meijer. Sometimes I just go to walk around and look at things. I love the foreign foods aisle. But back to the point. These bags were oh-so-inexpensive and if any of you Utahns want to halt your improvidence and do your little part, just let me know and these can be part of your Christmas present too:)

Zeb will not lie down.

I think that he's teething again cause he is being so darn particular. He will only sit up. and he's drooling like a leaky faucet. It's all fine and good except for the fact that he can't get himself into this position. He'll get all frustrated and try to sit up from being flat on his back or stomach. It looks like he's trying to do sit ups and can't! The whole sitting up thing started about three weeks ago and now he's a real pro. Plus, I think that he's quadrupled the amount of hair he has in that short time. Less than three weeks until he makes his Utah debut. He's pretty excited. We are working on a few more tricks that hopefully will be perfected by the 18th.

z loves the snow

Last night was Zeb's first real snowfall! at least where the flakes were big enough to count as snowflakes and not just flurries. We stuck him out on the front lawn for a bit so that he could enjoy it! His reaction was so funny every time a flake landed on his face or head. I think that he enjoyed it immensely.

cookie cookie cookie

If anybody is in need of a new basic choco chip cookie recipe, this one is AMAZING. If you already have one that works for you, you may disregard this post. I am TERRIBLE at making the basic cookie. Mine are always crispy or flat or just plain hideous. This one turned out like none I have ever attempted. It has some very specific instructions and perhaps that is what made it so delicious. They were so good that I ate my two (or maybe it was three!) and sent every last one to the neighbors or with Kent for his anatomy group! I definitely didn't need them tempting me all the next day at home.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, MELTED
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp accidentally and they were fine)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325. Line pan with wax paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. I made mine a lot smaller than this! Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted (DON'T OVERCOOK). Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
The melted butter and lower baking temp are KEY to the recipe working out.