Sweet! Potato Pancake Recipe

I have to share this recipe with everyone. I found it at That's Not What the Recipe Says. These pancakes not only contain healthy sweet potatoes, but were yummy, fluffy and cooked without burning (that last one could just be that I found the sweet spot on my stove dial, I'm not sure).

I had 1.5 cups of sweet potatoes so I made 1.5 times the recipe. It made A LOT of pancakes, so if you are feeding an army (or growing boys), this is the perfect amount to make. And if you haven't yet discovered medallion-sized pancakes (use your tablespoon measure to pour them), they are "just my right size, Mommy!" as Lily says.

I like cooking with whole wheat flour, but I was afraid to ruin such a huge batch of pancakes by substituting too much, making them dense and soggy, so I did 1.5 cups of white and .5 cups of whole wheat flour. They turned out great, like I said.

Oh, and I added some nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, because they seemed a little blah without some kind of flavoring. It's up to you whether you do that, and how much. I thought they were delicious, but then again, I am partial to the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg cooking. Smells like holidays and home.

The caramelized bananas added a nice touch to them and I didn't need syrup. The kids didn't quite catch on to the whole eat-it-all-together thing, but at least they ate some of the bananas, which frankly shocked me.

Crafty MOPS has a New Look!

I am experimenting with a different template. I felt that the other one lacked...personality. Let me know if you have an opinion about this new look.

National Novel Writing Month

The goal: 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. Did I say great words? Did I say Great American Novel? Nope. The goal is just to get the words onto the paper. You can fix it later if you want to. Or not.

I did NaNoWriMo last year for the first time. And in case you are gathering your thoughts to come up with excuses, let me just say: if I can do it while living with my in-laws in a conflict-heavy situation and only having access to the computer for a couple of hours in the evening, then so can you!

If you have a story idea or unwritten novel inside you (and honestly, I think a lot of us do), I say GO FOR IT! It was a lot of fun and a decent challenge. It wasn't impossible by any means, but it was enough of a challenge to make me feel I had accomplished something by the end. Which brings me to another reason I loved NaNoWriMo: As a mom, I don't get a lot of chances to accomplish something as momentous as writing a novel. My greatest life's work (my kids) is always in progress, and it felt REALLY good to finish something so challenging.

If you've already decided you might like to try this crazy thing, go to the website and sign up. Be sure to register for Charlotte as your home region so you can join the discussion boards and see the calendar for the write-ins and parties that are planned. Also for moral support.

Because the people around you, while they may be supportive, will not understand your struggle to reach your 2500 word goal for the day. The message boards are a great place to go to find others who not only understand, but themselves are struggling to keep up. And to find people who will encourage you and tell you that yes, you can do it!

One last thing about NaNoWriMo. I would not have made it last year without Write or Die. It is a little free program that plays an annoying noise if you stop typing for a certain amount of time. You can set goals for yourself and set it to different levels of strictness. Here is a link: http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html.

If you decide to do NaNo this year, let me know! I would love to do this with someone I know.

Two Flower Crafts

I find so many cool craft ideas on the internet, and never have enough time to do them! So, I'll list them on here every now and then in hopes that someone can benefit from them. If you try them, let me know!

Here is a neat idea: some origami flowers made from baby wipes and paper towels and colored with food coloring. Very kid-friendly.

And here are some hair clips with felt flowers.

Yesterday's Craft and Blog issues

So I hope you enjoyed yesterday's journal making. I'd like to know how they turned out if you decided to close the sides at home. I decided to take the staples out of mine and stitched the whole thing on my sewing machine with a longer stitch (so the paper wouldn't have too many holes). It turned out great! Here is the tutorial I based the project on.

Several of you said you had commented on the blog for the giveaway, but there are only two comments on the blog. I'm wondering if I am having technical difficulties. Also, someone else said they had signed up as a follower, but I don't see her there. If you are one of those people, would you check the blog and email me if you see yourself or your comment there? That will help me a lot. Also, if a few of you could comment on this post and email me to let me know you posted, that would help, too. Thanks!