Pancakes!

We love pancakes around here, and whenever we make them we try and make a new variety. I try and tell myself they are healthy because I add flax seed meal and make them from scratch, but really, some of the varieties are not really healthy at all! But, sometimes you just have to indulge the sweet tooth and partake in something less than wholesome.

Pancakes:
1 C. flour (I use whole wheat)
2 TBSP. Sugar
1 TBSP. Baking Powder
2 TBSP. Flax Seed Meal
3/4 C. Milk
2 TBSP. vegetable oil
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add in the wet ones. I drop the batter onto a hot skillet by the 1/4 C. full. I find this makes about 10 pancakes. Which is more than enough when we eat two a piece.

Honestly, I have no idea what the nutrition information is for these, so sorry that I can't fill that in.

Variations:
(most of these ingredients get folded in last. The spices get added in with the dry ingredients)

*chocolate chip: 1/4 C. chocolate chips
*apple cinnamon: 2 TSP. cinnamon, 1/4 C. shredded apple
*s'mores: 2 TBSP crushed graham cracker, 1 TBSP cocoa powder, 1/4 mini marshmallows, chopped
*Blueberry: 1/4 C. blueberries (really any berry works!)
*rainbow sprinkle: 1/4 C. applesauce, 2 TBSP rainbow sprinkles
*Sweet Potato/Pumpkin: 1/4 C. mashed sweet potato/pumpkin puree, 1 TSP. cinnamon
*Banana Nut: 1/4 C. mashed banana, 2 TBSP. finely chopped walnuts (or pecans, or whatver nut you want to use)
*Honey Nut: (substitute 2 TBSP honey for the sugar) 1/4 C. finely chopped nuts
*Oatmeal Raisin: 2 TBSP. oatmeal, 1/4 C. raisins

This is the list for now and it keeps growing everytime we make pancakes and I look in the cupboard for more ingredients. Let me know what varieties you would like to see, and I will try them out for you! Or share what varieties you come up with!

Links, links, links, links, links... Oh, and some more links.

I horde links like you would not believe.... So I figured I would share some of my favorites (I will group them for easy browsing!). This is going to be a work in progress for a bit, so feel free to check this post out every couple of weeks to see if I have added anything, for now though, this is a good start!

Tutorial's, How-To's, and Instructions:

For Around the Homestead:
*Project List from the Creative Homeowner
*NDSU Building Plans This site has plans for EVERYTHING! From cattle feeders to root cellars, you can find just about anything you may want to try your hand at.
*Building and using a midwest solar food dryer
*Build a Simple Outdoor Bench Because everyone needs a place to sit after a long day of gardening

For Around the House:
*Making Homemade Laundry Soap
*Power Your House with a Bloom Box
*Recycle your old jeans into a rug
*Chalkboard Paint
*The Container Store I found this site very helpful when I was looking for spice jars, and am going to be ordering some vials with droppers when I start making tinctures.

For Yourself and Your Family:
*How To Refashion a Men's Shirt to Fit a Woman
*Make T-Shirt Yarn
*Hot and Cold Comfort Bags



Helpful Online Resources
*Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association Biodynamic farming is one of my main interests!
*Countryside MagazineHas a ton of useful and interesting articles, sometimes I just like to browse the online library.
*The Backwoods Home: Articles
*Mother Earth NewsSomehow in the off chance that I am introducing someone to this wonderful magazine. I have been reading this since I was a little girl, and I can credit that with planting the seed for wanting to live simply.


Blogs/ Misc:
*No Impact Man
*Garden Girl TV
*Forager's Harvest
*The Wife Life This blog has crafts, natural beauty recipes, recipes for yummy things to eat, and all sorts of fun things. I love just browsing through her archives.
Make It Do A plethora of posts, organized by awesome little tabs.

Shooting for the Moon

Our moon is a familiar sight to us all, but do you really know how important this celestial body is to our environment, and even our bodies? I have decided that starting with the next full moon (October 29th), I am going to strive to be more aware of how the moon effects myself and my surroundings.

First off, let's talk about how the moon effects the earth. The moon controls our tides, and we have especially high tides during the new and full moons. This of course also has some impact on the earth's water tables. Now, you may be wondering why I am bothering to blog about this, since I don't have a blog about boating or fishing. In permaculture and biodiverse/biodynamic farming the earth's cycles become very important, and being aware of the phases of the moon are incredibly important. The different phases of the moon have an impact on how the plant's grow and there are optimal times to plant each type of plant. It's all very fascinating and I am going to direct you to another site, because really there is so much information to be related, and they do a very good job of it already over at Gardening by the Moon.

The Phases of the Moon Explained

By tracking the phases of the moon and planting at optimal times, you can really improve the output of a plant. It's an old concept and people used to plant according to moon cycles, and in fact that's part of what the farmer's almanac is based on! I have always loved the farmer's almanac. So, why not take the time to consider the moon phase, and astrological sign of the moon before planting? If it's more in tune with nature, then it's all good in my opinion.

How does the moon effect us? Well, that may not be as obvious. The moon follows a nearly 28 day cycle, which is also the same as a woman's cycle, so if you're female, try tracking your menstrual cycle by the phase of the moon instead of days of the month, it will probably be WAY more accurate. But even if you're not female knowing the phase of the moon can be incredibly important for you as well. Did you know that the phase of the moon can have an effect on the success of your diet? In fact it's always best to start a diet on the day of a full moon, and have the period of the waning moon helping you out as you begin. It's all very neatly summarized at the Moon Connection, and I think I am going to use that as a guideline for how I plan on eating from now on. If I am going to start gardening according to the phase of the moon then this seems like a natural next step.

Moon Diet Plan

In fact the Moon Connection website has great information on hunting and fishing by the moon as well.

So my goal is to start living more by the moon. For anyone else that's interested in any of this, a helpful resource would be a lunar calendar. I use this one for free: 2012 Lunar Calendar