Hannah's birthday- a bit late

February 15th was Hannah's 4th birthday! I can hardly believe my little girl is 4. She has come such a long way since being a small baby, so helpless and needy to a big girl who helps me with housework and with her sister. We had a nice day. We went to a Big Backyard activity and toured the Maple Syrup camp and learned how sap goes from the tree to table! I was very interesting, but a very long walk. We got home and then it was time for us to head to Chuck E Cheese, we had pizza and Hannah recieved a free ice cream treat for her birthday. She got a small Strawberry Shortcake decorative pillow that hangs on her doorknob. Bethanne recieved a small Chuck E Cheese ball. When we got home, grandparents, an aunt, great grandparents,an uncle came over. She got a bit to many toys and I need to learn to sew Barbie clothes so her Barbies can look a bit more modest. I made her a yellow cake with chocolate icing and multicolored candy stars, which is what Hannah requested. We didn't have a party but it was nice and Hannah knew she was very much loved.

My 2nd OB visit

I had my second OB appt on Monday the 20th. It went well. The baby is doing well despite the following week's deer accident. I have gained back two of the 20lbs I have lost but that will probably change since birthdays are over. I have an ultrasound on the 21st of March so hopefully I will be posting what the baby is then 🙂 I am excited to see my little angel again. So all is good on that end. I am looking forward to my upcoming trip to Holmes County where the girls, a friend and myself will be staying with a New Order Amish family in March. I am going to close now and sign off.

Please, no more deer!

We were on our way home on the back road that we travel all the time. There are some woodsy areas along the road. Well DH saw a police cruiser with his lights on way behind us so he put his belt on, we kept going and the cruiser stopped (he wasn't after us ) but as we kept on we saw a doe run out into the road DH started to break when we felt another one. Two deer hit our van tonight, on Hannah's and I's side! DH said I was screaming although I don't remember it, I do know I was quite shaken. Everyone was fine, praise the Lord. Our van is slightly messed up but driveable, DH is going to try to loosen up the dent in the passenger door to make it easier to open as we have a $1,000 deductible and liability only. The girls actually handled it better than me. We pulled over I went to the nearest house where a nice lady telephoned the State Highway Patrol, where we found out they no longer take reports as the insurance puts it against the driver's record! The lady offered me a hug, she was so nice. I am calming down and everything seems good with the baby. DH told me he saw a buck standing on the side so I am thankful that he stayed there and didn't get us too. We also knew it was from the Lord that we saw the lights on the cruiser so DH would put his seat belt on. Hannah is worried about the “poor deer” and wanted to go back and check on it!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup raisins (I did not add the raisins)
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used the Carb Options creamy Jiffy)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar or sugar substitute equivalent to 1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda
1/2 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed or 2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups rolled oats (I used quick cooking)
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces or chucks

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl combine raisins and boiling water; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and butter; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar or substitute, egg, cinnamon, vanilla and baking soda. Beat until combined. Add flour; beat until smooth. Stir in oats.
3. Drain raisins; stir raisins and chocolate pieces into oat mixture.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets (I line my pans with parchment paper). Bake about 10 minutes or until light brown. Transfer to wire racks, cool. Makes about 40 cookies (I got about 32 out of it).

Per cookie with sugar: 87 cal. 4 g total fat, 3mg chol, 47mg sodium, 12g carb, 1 g fiber, 2g protein. Exchanges 1 other carb. 0.5 fat. Carb choices 1

Per cookie with substitute: same as above except 78 cal, 10g carb. Exchanges 0.5 other carbs. Carb choices 0.5

Mushroom Swiss Steak and Gravy

1 large onion chopped (I purchased the frozen chopped onions and used 1 cup)
2 medium carrots, sliced (I again used frozen sliced measuring 1 cup)
1 can mushroom pieces and stems, drained
1 1/2 lb boneless beef round steak, cut into serving size pieces
1/4 teaspoon peopper
1 can (18oz) progresso vegetable classics creamy mushroom soup
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce

1. In a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker, layer onion, carrots and mushrooms and beef. Sprinkle pepper over beef. In medium bowl, mix soup and tomato sauce; pour over beef.
2. Cover cook on low 8 to 10 hours
3. Place beef on serving platter. with slotted spoon remove veggies and spoon over beef. Stir gravy in cooker with wire whisk to blend. serve gravy with beef.

Exchanges 1/2 starch, 1 vegatable, 3 v.L meat, 1 1/2 fat Carb choices 1

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2 slices white bread (we use wheat only)
2 american cheese slices
2 tsp butter or margerine, softened.

top 1 of the bread slices with singles, cover with remaining bread slices
spread outside of sandwich with butter
cook in skillet on medium heat until golden brown on both sides.

Makes one serving.

This is the sandwich we paired with the tomato bisque. I will be posting a variation after we try it this week.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Pudding

This is absolutely delicious! Even Don liked it and he usually doesn't care for pumpkin. 15 oz can solid pack pumpkin 12 oz can fat free evaporated milk 1/2 cup sugar (you can use splenda for both this and the next ingredient) sugar substitute to equal 2 TBSP 1/2 cup buttermilk baking mix 2 eggs, beaten 2 TBSP light, soft tub margarine, melted 1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice 2 tsp vanilla Mix together all ingredients. Pour into greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low 6-7 Hours or until thermometer reads 160 degrees Serve in bowls topped with fat free whipped topping, if you want. Fix it and forget it diabetic cookbook page 218

Easy Stuffed Shells-Slow Cooker

20 oz bag of frozen stuffed shells
15 oz can of marinara or spaghetti sauce
15 oz can of green beans, drained

Place shells around edge of greased slow cooker.
Cover with marinara or spaghetti sauce.
Pour green beans in center.
Cover. Cook on Low 8 hours or on High for 3 hours.
Serve with garlic toast/bread and salad.

From the Fix it and Forget It Diabetic Cookbook page 118

Maple Cranberry Syrup

(I have not tried this yet myself but the pancakes are great) 1/2 artificially sweetened maple flavored syrup 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce Heat ingredients in saucepan over medium heat stirring until cranberry sauce is melted. Keep warm. From Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook page 46

Foil Pack Chicken and Mushroom Dinner

	Prep 10 min Total 50 min 1 pkg (6oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken (I used the Kroger brand) 1 3/4 cups water, divided 6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lb about 1/2 inch thick) 4 slices thin sliced smoked ham, chopped (for this I used turkey, a bit healthier, and placed two slices on top of the chicken I did not chop it) 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 1 cup frozen peas (I did not use peas) 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup (you can premake the packets and put them in the fridge so all you have to do is put them in the oven.) 1. preheat oven to 400F Mix stuffing with 1 1/2 cups of the water (do not cook it) Dividing evenly, place stuffing in center of 6 seperate sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. 2. layer chicken, ham (or turkey), mushrooms and peas on top of stuffing dividing evenly between each of the 6 foil packs. Mix soup with remaining 1/4 cup of water; pour equal amounts over each pack. 3. bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal pack, leaving room for heat circulation inside 4.Complete all 6 foil packs and place on baking sheet Bake 30 to 35 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove from oven. Let stand 5 min. 5 place packs directly on dinner plate. as packs are HOT cut slits into foil using a knife to release steam before opening Makes 6 servings. This was very delicious and clean up was a snap!! Enjoy.