My Sister's Toe

These are some pictures of my sister's toe after yesterday's dance practice (the darkness on her nail is nail polish), OUCH!!! My foot looked this bad after SURGERY not after my soccer game. Her toe looks like this after DANCE!!! My mom says that she just sprained it because usually when any of her (my mom's) kids break a bone you can't tell, other than the pain. There is no swelling, bruising or anything else if we break something. My sister went to one doctor this morning that said she fractured her big toe, but he sent it to a doctor at a different hospital and he said there was no fracture. What are these doctor's looking at? Well they said she had to come back in a week and then they would REALLY know...ya, right.

Ginger's Cafe

Last Friday was a half day for Merit Academy, my sister and I couldn't decide what to do with ourselves. On our way home we stopped at the library then decided to stop at Ginger's Cafe, located on Main Street in Springville, they have delicious shakes that don't contain any milk which makes them edible. We grabbed two of their vegan cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip and brownie chocolate chip and saved them for later. I definitely recommend Ginger's Cafe for lunch. We went there over Spring Break and I ordered one of their salads, the vegan ranch was great considering it was vegan. We had hummus for an appetizer and little cuts of bread came with it, very delectable.

The healthiest muffins you will ever find!

Recipe

1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 cups oats
Or 1 cup white flour
And 1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 Apple peeled, cored, and chopped
1 cup raisins
2 Tbs. Chopped walnuts (optional)
2 Tbs. Toasted wheat germ (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium bowl combine eggs, egg whites, applesauce, oil, and vanilla.

In a large bowl combine flours/oats, honey, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt. Stir in carrots, apples, and raisins.

Add wet mixture until moistened.

Spoon into muffin cups about 3/4 full, if using no muffin cups spray
muffin pan with cooking spray before filling.

Combine nuts and wheat germ then sprinkle over top. Cook for 15-20
minutes.

Cherry On Top

• 
  
  If you are serving to a large amount of people, make mini muffins. I will look like a lot more muffins.


• 
  
  This batch is doubled, making about two batches of normal sized muffins and four batches of mini muffins.


• 
  
  I bought raw wheat germ and cooked it in a sauce pan until I had it as toasted a I wanted it to be, which supposedly is healthier.

The Weekend!

Last Friday was no school, which was freaking sweet! My sister and I went and saw The Bounty Hunter, which was pretty funny. Then my family spent the rest of the night hanging out together. On Saturday there were two pretty big events going on: Merit Madness and Miss
Springville! I went to both of the events and I was a little disappointed about the basket auction. I know I shouldn't compare it to the Reagan Academy basket auctions, but our basket auction stunk compared to their previous basket auction. Then the ladies in charge ended it early, which made my family unhappy because we came back after the Miss Springville thing so we could do some more auctioning. Well, there loss. On Sunday I made some more muffins and after church
we planted a bunch of bulbs in our flower boxes in the front yard. My boot got really dirty so I quit early. Then we celebrated planting the bulbs with some strawberry shortcake, which is not on the diet, but that is why we love protein and a good work out!

MERIT MARCH MADNESS

Recipe

• Saturday March, 20th
• 6pm-11 pm
• Merit Academy
• Dinner from 6-8pm $5.00
• Dancing the rest of the night $Price varies
• Basket Auction

My mentoring class is making a basket for this fun Merit March Madness Night and we have decided to do baked goods. But not just any kind of baked goods, they have to qualify under at least one of these circumstances:

1. Free of something (e.g. sugar, milk, chocolate, etc.)
2. Healthier than most baked goods
3. Organic ingredients

I volunteered to bring a basket and some of the chocolate chip cookie brownies that I talked about last week. But, my art teacher was talking about these muffins she makes that are made up of vegetables and don't have milk products in them and I decided that I will make those instead. This way I get to add another recipe to my collection and have a new healthy snack to cook for my family!
That isn't even the greatest thing about the Merit March Madness Night. The greatest thing is that my family (aka: my mom) has decided to make a basket for that night also!!!!!!! Our basket is going to be a movie themed basket and we already have 24 bags of popcorn and 8 movies to put in the basket, one of them being 2010!!!! We loaded the basket with movie candy like Milk Duds and Mini Charleston Chews, which are delicious to freeze before eating!!!!

Cherry On Top

• If you really want to go, because you know you do, to this event I think Merit is selling tickets online at meritacademy.org.
• My school wanted everyone to have tickets sold by March 1st, oops!, so if you want to go, quickly go to their web site and check it out. If you know my number just call me and I can get you some tickets!
• You can make your own basket and turn it into Merit by March 17th if you want to do a fun family activity!

Dairy Free and a Whole Bunch of Other Stuff Free

Recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of organic dairy free butter

1/2 cup of organic dairy free shortening

1 cup packaged brown sugar

1/2 granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 12-ounce package (2 cups) dairy and nut free chocolate chips

Oven 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stir together flour, soda, and salt. In a mixer bowl beat butter and shortening on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugars an beat until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture, beating till well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Use 9 x 13 brownie pan to cook for 18-23 minutes. Then let cool completely before cutting into and serving.

Cherry On Top

• The dairy free items listed can be found at the Good Earth in Provo and probably any other organic store.
• These are great because they are dairy free.

Chocolate Chip Brownies

My sister is allergic to a ton of stuff and our school was selling a bunch of sweets and desserts on Friday. She couldn't have any of the food so she decided to make Chocolate Chip Brownies that she isn't allergic to. I enjoyed them and so did everyone else in my family but my daddy. I am going to have her get me the recipe and anyone who is allergic to milk can use this recipe.

After Surgery

Recipe

Medication

Confusion

Pain

I don't remember much of being in the "Recovery Room". When I woke up there was an old guy wheeled in next to me, but he was still sleeping. I tried to read the clock but I was too tired, then someone told me something and I ended up in a hospital room with my mom and older sister. There were two nurses and they had me rate my pain on a scale of 1-having no pain and 10-having the worst pain I could imagine. I said, "4." I think I cried a little and then the nurse gave me more medicine. I was really hungry so the nurse gave me apple juice and graham crackers and some other kind of crackers.

We left the hospital around one and we went to Mimi's Cafe to have lunch. I got some mac n' cheese with chocolate milk, which I was craving since I woke up. Good I am writing this blog because I think I will have the rest of that mac n' cheese for lunch today.

Cherry On Top

• The graham crackers are delicious at the hospital.
• Your mom loves you very much if she doesn't eat breakfast because you didn't get any breakfast.
• You will be in a lot of pain after surgery.
• Mimi's Cafe is a great place to go after surgery. They have great chocolate milk.

Surgery

Recipe

Weakened bone

Broken fifth metatarsal

2-inch screw

Grafting tools

Hospital

On Friday the 19th I woke up really early and my mom drove us over the hospital at 7:00. I was placed in a wheel chair big enough to fit five of me and wheeled to a hospital room. A nurse lady came in and gave me a really warm blanket, asked for my name and birth date, put a needle in my arm, and this needle was freaking long, then left. I was extremely hungry and my hospital door was open, across the hall someone had left an orange and banana. I begged my mom to sneak over and grab one for me but a cute nurse guy came in to ask me my name and birth date and whole bunch of other questions. He didn't get me the banana or the orange. After a while my mom took pity on me a moved a chair in front of the fruit so I could see it any more. Then another really cute nurse guy came and rolled me up to another room on a different floor so I could talk to some kind of doctor. After the cute nurse guy left I had to go pee really bad and that was really hard because I had a boot on my foot and a needle in my arm. But I am extremely talented and I went to the bathroom. Then I went back in my room and my mom and I waited for the doctor guy to come talk to me. When he came in he asked me my name and birth date then a bunch of other questions and I was ready for surgery. What was going to happen was doctor Morgan was going to make an incision and screw a screw into my fifth metatarsal. Then he was going to scrap away "Bone Grafting" some weak bone and take bone marrow from my ankle and put it where the weak bone use to be. This would speed up my recovery time and make my bone stronger.

Cherry On Top

• It is awesome when you have cute guy nurses.
• You do have to wear a dress that ties at the back, but they give you pants to wear and really weird socks.
• Make sure your doctor writes something on the body part you are getting surgery on. Dr. Morgan wrote a "Yes" on my left leg.
• Don't panic, the nurses like you more if you are calm. Maybe that is why I got a bunch of cute guy nurses.

Broken Foot

Recipe

2 years of dealing with a stress fracture

Weakened bone

A really stupid soccer player fouling you

Over President's Day Weekend I went down to Saint George for the Ice Breakers Tournament to play soccer with some of my friends. We had played two games on Saturday and won both of them. Monday we had two more games, we won the first game and that determined that we were going on to the finals. I was playing left defender with a couple minutes left in the game. We were already winning 3-0 and the other team got a break-away. Our keeper deflected the ball but it was heading for the goal, I made a break for it and kick it out of bounds. Then out of no where this stupid girl from the other team rams me from behind while I am still in the air from kicking the ball. I do three flips through the air (which was the coolest feeling ever!) and I rolled on the ground. I thought, "No harm done, your okay, just stand up and don't cry." I was totally wrong, when I got up I couldn't put any weight on my left foot. I knew it was broken, I could feel the bone when I tried to walk. It would rub against itself, I haven't ever felt that much pain in my whole life.

Cherry On Top

• Your coach from your club team, Celtic, will be very upset. Get your mom to make the phone call telling your coach that your out for the rest of the season.
• Hopefully your a lazy person who is used to sitting on the coach all weekend because your supposed to have your broken foot elevated as much as possible for the five days after your surgery.
• Friends are awesome, the best part of the whole week end was having my friends visit. I got flowers from the soccer team I played with and cookies from a good friend. One of the families that knows us really well made us dinner.
• Don't forget to do your homework. A broken foot can get you down, but hopefully you have someone reminding you to do your homework so you don't get behind.

Delicious Brownies

The brownies turned out great! I did two batches, one was in an 8x8 in. pan and the other one was in a 9x13 in pan. It was definitely easier to move the thicker brownies around when I had to cut them into hearts. The chocolate frosting smelled so good as I was drizzling it on my brownies, I used the extra frosting and dipped my brownie extras into the melted frosting.

I cut the hearts out wrong with the 9x13 in. pan because I left the tin foil on while I cut them. That is a really bad idea, it is much easier to follow directions and take the tin foil off before cutting into the brownies. I took some pictures that I will be adding on this afternoon, then my family will be able to eat my scrumptious brownies.

M.D. Diet

Recipe

Three day cleanse(unless you have the name Brooke Lopshire; then it is 5 days):

Six 8oz bottles of water

2 eggs

2 oranges

All the meat you can eat(except pork)

and any vegetables expect peas.

If your name is Brooke Lopshire and you are retaining 24 pounds of excess water in your body, then life sucks. Your sister on the other hand is retaining no excess water and was done with the cleanse yesterday. There is a Super Bowl tomorrow and everyone can snack on whatever they want but you have to keep drinking more than half your body weight in water so you can pee out 24 pounds off excess water. Also, you are planning on going to a movie tonight and you can't eat anything because you are supposed to stop eating four hours before bedtime so your body burns the storage fat and not the food you ate for dinner.

Cherry-On-Top

• Work-out as much as possible to keep your mind off eating sugary food.
• Drink really cold water.
• Have a lot of good protein shakes that taste like chocolate milk.
• Eat Halibut with lemon juice.
• Do other activities that distract you from eating sugary foods.

Glazed Brownie Hearts

Recipe

1 box Betty Crocker Original Supreme brownie min (with chocolate syrup pouch) or Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix.

Brownie mix:

Water

Eggs

Vegetable oil

1 container (1 lb) Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy chocolate frosting

multicolored candy sprinkles or colored sugar

1. Heat oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Line bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with foil. Grease the bottom side of the foil with shortening or cooking spray. Make brownies as directed on box. Bake as directed for 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
2. Using foil to lift, remove brownies from pan; remove foil. With deep 2 1/2 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut 14 brownies. Place brownie hearts on a cooling rack or waxed paper.
3. In microwave bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on high 10 to 30 seconds. Stir; frosting will be thick and spoonable. DO NOT BOIL. Carefully spoon melted frosting over brownies to glaze, allowing excess to drip down sides. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles before frosting sets.

Cherry On Top

• Mix 1/4 cup Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy vanilla frosting and enough red food color to make pink frosting in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 10 seconds. Drizzle over chocolate-glazed hearts.

This week I received a Betty Crocker calender in the mail. For February the recipe is Glazed Brownie Hearts. Next week's recipe will consist of 1 box of Betty Crocker original supreme brownie mix with chocolate syrup pouch. 1 container of Betty Crocker rich and creamy chocolate frosting and some colorful sprinkles.

The Result of Experimenting

The last recipe "Pumpkin Cake" I tried on Wednesday and it was an EPIC failure. One of my family members was allergic to the ingredients, another is on a diet, and the one person who tried it didn't tell me if they liked it or not. But I did find soggy cake in the sink when I was doing the dishes today, like I said EPIC failure.

Why was my Pumpkin Cake so bad? I will list a couple of reasons I have thought up:

• I didn't mix the flour ingredients in a separate bowl.
• I added a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chunks, too much bitter-sweet chocolate.
• I didn't cook it long enough and the inside was too soft.(I didn't check it with a tooth pick)
• I used a 9" by 13" pan, which made the cake too thick.
• Not enough frosting because I didn't soften the butter enough.

To make this recipe at its best I would advise not doing these things. I liked my idea of adding chocolate chips but i think it would be better if they were milk chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Cake

Recipe

Whisk in bowl: making thick and fluffy

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 2/3 cup sugar

At a low speed slowly add:

1 can of solid-pack pumpkin

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. all spice

1/4 tsp. ginger

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 9" by 13" pan

Frosting

Beat until creamy:

6 Tbsp. softened butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 bar of cream cheese-cut into four pieces-add one piece at a time

1 tsp. vanilla

Cherry On Top

• Remember to let cake cool before frosting it.
• Make for parties or a snack that will last a week.
• Serves a lot of people.