Rise & Shine Coffee Oatmeal Muffins

Lately, my teenage daughter has been enjoying these muffins for breakfast and (frequent LOL) snacks throughout the day. We homeschool, so grazing during the day is happily welcomed. You might notice that the plate of coffee oatmeal muffins is short of a dozen...I had to take the photo fast, as the number was diminishing rapidly as soon as they came out of the oven!

We tinkered with this recipe several times and now find them to be just 'perfect'...healthy enough to feel good about eating, and tasty enough that we don't think we'll ever get tired of them!

Rise & Shine Coffee Oatmeal Muffins

3 heaping Tablespoons of instant coffee powder (we use decaf)
1 cup hot brewed coffee or hot water
1/4 cup dry powdered milk
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
2/3 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vinegar
1/3 cup sourdough starter (can omit this if you don't have starter)
1 1/3 cups white flour
2/3 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cups oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips

Dissolve the milk and coffee powders in hot coffee or hot water. Beat together the eggs, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vinegar, yogurt, butter, oatmeal, and sourdough starter. Add the coffee mixture. Mix well, and mix in the flours and chocolate chips.

Fill paper cupcake liners in standard size muffin pan about 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes about 20-22 muffins.

We have made these as peanut butter oatmeal muffins also, by exchanging peanut butter for the yogurt, and omitting the coffee and sourdough starter. Those were wonderful also, but not as addictively yummy as these : )

Progress on the Summer in the Country Blanket

I am really enjoying the "Summer in the Country" KAL (Knit ALong) from Firefly. It is fun to see the bands of seed stitch meandering over and under the cable pattern. As you can see by the photo, I am nearly finished with the second cone of cotton yarn, so there are about 1380 yards of yarn in this blanket already! I think it is going to take about 3 1/2 cones as it is only about 32 inches long so far. I used Peaches and Cream article 930 yarn in baby blue color. I'm SO sad to see Pisgah mills close down. Theirs is the softest, smoothest, strongest cotton I have ever worked with. Luckily, I bought nearly a ton of their yarn a couple of months ago ; )



There is still plenty of time to join this KAL if you are interested. Firefly's patterns are always easy to follow and turn out so lovely! I think I am going to make one more of these blankets for one of my sisters, probably in this same blue color as that is her favorite. I will alter the next one to omit one cable and one section of lattice work, though. Mine is about 68 inches wide, which would probably be heavier and just bigger than my sister would enjoy.

The pudgy gray cat in the photos is trying to chew on my KnitPicks Harmony needle tip! Rascal is her name. She certainly lives up to her name : )

Max Lucado answers life's toughest questions

Max on Life: Answers and Insights to Your Most Important Questions is Max Lucado's newest book. This book is different from any of the other Max Lucado books I have read. He has taken many topics that believers (and non-believers) have questions about, and written a devotional in question and answer style. The book makes it very conversational and non judgmental for the reader to acknowledge that they may have had those very questions, and not ever had anyone to ask or to discuss them with. Each question and answer are complete on one page, or not much beyond one page.

For the most part, I found his answers to mesh soundly with my own doctrine and thinking, so that I would recommend this book to friends and family. I would not, however, give the book to a teenager or younger as the answers he offers to questions on sex and marriage are quite graphic. He uses humor to great advantage in many of the answers, driving home some points as nothing else might do. His statement in answer to how to select the right mate, “If you are a child of God and you marry a child of the Devil, you’re going to have trouble with your Father-in-law.” is a perfect example, and one that is going to stay with me for a very long time.

There are well thought out and very helpful answers to many of the toughest questions, regarding death, finances, children who do not seem to serve the Lord, and every aspect of the 'cares of this world'. The topics are well indexed, making it very easy to use in situations of immediate need, such as comforting or counseling others. I highly recommend the book. I think those who look hard enough will find aspects that do not mesh with their theology in certain ways, such as evolution (he speaks of millions of years) and seeming to believe that it is inevitable that many marriages will end in divorce, but given the encompassing scope of topics covered and the carefulness to base answers on scripture, I do highly recommend the book to any adult reader. I am very happy to have this resource on my bookshelf!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Summer in the Country Blanket

I joined a KAL (Knit Along) headed up by one of my favorite knitting pattern designers...Firefly . We are knitting a mystery pattern which is turning out to be so pretty. There are four large cables with bobble detailing, with sections of diamond laticework between the cables. I'm using 2 cones of Peaches and Cream 930 100% cotton yarn that I had in my stash. The color is baby blue. It is going to be such a soft blanket, the perfect weight for summer evenings.



Since I made it in my sister's favorite color, I think it is going to be hard to keep from gifting her with the blanket when it is finished. I might get to make two of them : )

It will be fun to see what the next set of directions add to the design.

Extremely Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies : )

My daughter and I love to fool around in the kitchen, just putting together ingredients and proportions that sort of feel right, to see how they turn out. We made these cookies last week, and oh, my! They were so good, with just the right amount of chewiness. We actually wrote this one down so we could do it again : )

Extremely Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Sucanat
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cup unbleached flour
1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream the butter, brown sugar, Sucanat, and vanilla; beat the eggs and add the eggs and yogurt to the other ingredients; mix in the leavening, oatmeal, and flour; stir in chocolate chips. Place well-rounded tablespoonsful on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes. This recipe only made 36 cookies, so we plan to double it next time.

Review of the book: We Be Big

"We Be Big: The Mostly True Story of how Two Kids from Calhoun County, Alabama became Rick & Bubba" is the first book I have read and reviewed for the BookSneeze program. I chose it because autobiographies are one of my favorite genres, and this one did not disappoint. I had never heard of Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey before receiving this book. Now, I find myself often wishing that their radio show was broadcast in my area (Midwest).
This was a very entertaining and fast-paced book to read. I think my husband is going to enjoy it even more than I did since it seems like there aren't that many inspirational and humorous books written from the male viewpoint. Rick and Bubba start with stories from childhoods. They tell how each of them gravitated toward radio, how they were initially teamed together by their college Spanish teacher, how their lives intersected from time to time until they finally came together to become hosts of a hugely popular morning radio show in the South. They didn't hold back on including very personal and sometimes embarrasing moments in their lives.
I loved that the chapters are each written by just one of the men, from his own perspective in a very easy to read, conversational style. I also loved the wealth of photos that are included in the book. Most of all, though, I was touched and impressed with the faith, humor, and perseverence (through even the most terrible of circumstances) of these two men. Their story paints a picture of God's faithfulness toward all of us. By the end of the book, I really felt as though I knew them, and with they lived closer to my area so I could hear them on the radio.
I'm glad I read this book. I would recommend it to anyone, men especially. It is an inspirational and very enjoyable book.




Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Free Christian books, anyone?

I found a terrific deal for people who love to read, and love a great deal, too. Booksneeze offers new releases from Thomas Nelson publishing company free to those who will read them and post reviews on their blog! I just ordered my first one, which looks like it will be a fun & interesting read. I can't wait to see how this works out, as I am slightly leary of 'free' offers. I'm posting a link to Booksneeze on my sidebar, if my tech-savvy daughter will show me how to do it.

We are snowed in at the moment. It would be a perfect day to settle into my favorite reading chair with some hot tea and a couple of cats to keep me warm, but I have to wait for the mailman to show up with the book first.

I hope everyone out there is staying safe and warm!
In His love,
Mary