http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/search/label/%22Real%22%20Foodie
Whole Wheat Spicy Carrot Coconut Muffins
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours
makes 12 standard size muffins
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup coconut oil, in liquid form
2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots (2-3 carrots, peeled and trimmed)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup moist, plump currants, raisins or dried cranberries
1/3 cup nuts, toasted and chopped
12 to 24 hours in advance of baking, combine flour in a medium sized bowl with 3/4 cup milk. Mix well (I had to knead mine a bit to get it completely combined), form into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Keep at room temperature for 12-24 hours. I’ve found that this process works best if you add the liquid in the bowl first and put the flour in second; somehow more flour gets kneaded together and less gets stuck to the bowl this way!
When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a muffin pan.
Place the cranberries in a bowl or cup and cover with hot water and allow to soak while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
In the bowl with the soaked flour, break up soaked flour “dough” into small pieces about the size of a shelled walnut. On top, sift together the sugars, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt, ensuring the sugars have no lumps. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the oil (if your coconut oil is solid or semi-solid, briefly heat it until it is liquid), eggs and vanilla extract together until well combined. pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and stir to combine. Do not overmix. Stir in the carrots, coconut, dried fruit and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
Next time I make this I may try to find a way to sneak in some pineapple (similar to this cake I made for Lloyd’s first birthday) but other than that it was perfect!
Posted by Sarah
Christi is now home as of late this afternoon.
She is doing fantastically - she is already bugging me to get her schoolwork ready (even for the weekend) so she can catch up.
She can’t get enough of holding Zoe, Jake and Smoky... And has made several trips out to hug Lucky... (All her pets)
There is so much to tell you all (Y’all for my Texas buddies) I hardly know where to start.
There have been no seizures since Monday.
Our whole family wants to send a huge Thank You to all our Prayer Warrior FReepers!!! Yes, those Prayers do and did make a huge huge difference!
To give you a bit of understanding how much they mattered, let me tell you a little of what transpired... In order to try to curb the seizure activity, the Doctors tried giving her Valium and Versed - we had known that she was alergic to Adivan from prior seizure problem. One of the problems with Versed is that it can trigger respiratory arrest - which accounts for the 13 minute stopping of her voluntary breathing I talked about before. You have no idea how it feels to have the ambulance driver come over to the car and ask me to come into the ambulance as they bag her to maintain her vital signs. Then when they told the trauma team that it had been 13 minutes with no voluntary respiration, and to hear them tell them to remove the bag and watch for her vital signs to drop. As I held her hand and waited - one of the Paramedics was getting a syringe ready with the long needle that I knew was for direct injection into the heart if they lost her pulse... Then, there was just the very slightest movement in her chest - then a tiny bit more and over several minutes, the breathing slowly increased to 20 breaths per minute... When I said that the trip to the other hospital we were on pins and needles, that may have been a slight understatement... My wife was worried sick, cried, prayed, and repeated those all the way...
At the A.I. duPont Childrens Hospital, they tried adding another drug to halt the seizures and it finally did, however they continued the valium to try to keep her sedated.
Tuesday was nerve rattling... Christi sat in the bed and kept saying the same things over and over...continuously - She was saying something that we had not ever heard her say before... She would say - “Uh huh, I know you... You’re a loser....” She would periodically stop and turn to her Mother and I and say “Not you - Mommie and Daddy, I’m not talking to you” and then go back for another hour of repeating the same thing... “Uh huh, I know you... You’re a loser...” Over and over, all day long... Doctors said it was just the medicine...
It was later that day that one of the Doctors was checking her and asked us how long she had had the whelps all up and down her legs - we told him that they were new, and that she did not have them when she came up there... Well, they found out she was allergic to Valium too, which the immediately stopped.
The next morning she was better, and she was no longer repeating the same line from the day before.
Well, tonight, Christi wanted us to sit down with her so she could tell us how scary it was.... She said that “When she was so sick, that Satan kept telling her that she was going to Hell with him, and she was scared. But that she then all of a sudden saw Jesus, and he comforted her and told her to tell Satan that she knew who he was and that he was a loser.” And she kept saying it until she was sure he was really gone.
Yes, I believe that the intercession was a result of all the prayers - yours and ours...
Tuesday also was the beginning of another phase of her treatment...
The fabulous Social Workers... They wanted to interview me and get the history of Christi’s background, the abuse, neglect, the 25 foster homes she was in in 2 years, and our motivation for adopting her. I am NOT a fan of Liberal Social Workers! But, I tried to cooperate while worrying about Christi as I answered questions for almost 2 hours.
The next day, Christi was markedly better, and it was Charlene’s turn with the Social Worker - asking all the same questions and getting the same answers... Then the plot started to be revealed... Well, she thought and she said ‘others’ thought that Christi should be institutionalized and that obviously at our ages, it would be in her best interest, and that we would at some point probably not be able to care for her adequately... My wife was livid, crushed, hurt, but most of all angry. When the Social worker came out to tell me of her recommendation - I unloaded on her! Politely, but no self-respecting fly would bother her after I was finished... She retreated to her office and then came back with some papers and announced that since we rejected that suggestion, that they would have to insist on us filling out these papers so Christi could have ‘Wrap Around Protection’ , and she wanted those papers the next day when we came back up there.
On the way home, I told my wife ‘In a pigs eye - will I turn over control and decision making for Christi’s life to the State.” So we worked out the cell phones on the way home - We talked to the adoption agency contact that we had worked with for the last few years in adopting Christi - (Theirs is one of the very few agencies who remain actively available for whatever their adoptees need - ‘Cradle to Grave’ if needed... (Oh, and she is a staunch Republican too.) She had followed Christi’s progress, and the lack thereof, and our responses, our handling of matters, her homeschooling, etc. Her advise was - Cal don’t sign anything till I get through talking to them and tell you to sign them... Also, she said she was emailing a release for me to return to her so she could have a few words with the Social Worker... I also drove to the back of the farm and paid a visit to our Family Doctor - she also said that she wanted to talk to the social worker... They both strongly feel that Christi is exactly where she needs to be (here at home) and that she is getting homeschooled better than anything the public facilities could offer.
Well, the next day, Thursday, Christi was doing very very well and was wanting to come home... The Social worker came in and I gave her a copy of a signed release of information so she could discuss Christi’s case with both of the above people... And that I was not signing anything till they agreed that it was warranted. She stormed off, and 2 hours later, while Christi was sleeping and Charlene and I had stepped outside for some fresh air, the Adoption Counselor called me on the cell phone, and just as she was telling me about their long conversation, the Hospital Social Worker came walking out the door on her way home... All she would say is that she had talked to them and that they were modifying their recommendation, and she left...
Today, when we saw the Social Worker, she was very very sweet, and said that that paperwork wouldn’t be needed, and that we could just hang on to it in case we ever felt we needed any of the services...
After that we were given her discharge papers and new prescriptions along with instructions, and we wasted no time in bidding them farewell!
So, it has been an extremely emotional week, filled with all kinds of challenges... Best of all, Christi is now on a medication regimen that seems to be working well. Our appreciation of Prayer is enhanced. Our appreciation for supportive friends is much stronger...
Now if I can just get those seed trays planted that I started to do last week when this all started... LOL
Seriously though, Thank You all for your prayers! They mattered!!! In a big way!