Pancakes and Coffee

A winning combination, really. My coffee every morning consists of Folgers Smooth Decaf coffee with peppermint mocha creamer and 3 small spoons of sugar. I really love it when I remember to buy sugar cubes, and I can ask myself, "One lump or two?" I always pick two. The new smooth coffee is the way to go. It is for people who have acid reflux or stomach ulcers like myself. Well, technically I don't have an ulcer anymore, but I did...and let's just say, I don't want another one. So, I follow a "ulcer diet" that I made up myself with the help of the gastroenterologist that found the first ulcer by way of endoscopy...(not fun!) Anyways, it consists of no caffeine (so hard); no processed tomato products (kills me); no chocolate (totally cheat on this one); no spicy foods; no pepper; no high fat foods (please...it's not gonna happen); no citrus; and easy on the stress...(a.k.a...worry and anxiety). I'm really not supposed to have decaf coffee either because of the high acidity, but I just make sure I drink a lot of milk. Oh yeah...I take acifex too, which stops the acid pumps in the stomach from...well...pumping acid. So there. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. However, this does put a damper on my use of my starbucks mug collection. I drink and eat as much as possible out of mugs. My philosophy is that everything tastes better in a mug. Such as...coffee, of course; ice cream (Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla with 3 York peppermint patties crushed up in it); soup; ice cold milk; and hot chocolate or hot tea. So, the mugs are getting good use. So far, I have Alaska, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, and New York. I want Seattle (specifically from the first starbucks), Iowa, South Carolina, San Antonio, Dallas, North Carolina (Chad and I had some special dates in North Carolina), Oklahoma, San Fransisco, LA, Colorado ( I would love it if they made them from all the places I'v been skiing...but I'm sure they don't), and I think that is it so far. I will have to go more places to add to it! We'll see.

In other news...last Thursday night, John and Lindsey were getting in from South Carolina for a visit and I had some quick errands to run. I wanted to get out of the house quick and get them done, and Chase and Aiden both had colds, and Colton was being a little attitudy for my liking, so I just wanted to make something that I knew they would all eat without complaining. I decided on whole wheat frozen pancakes and fresh strawberries. Fast...Good...Just what the doctor ordered for me to get out fast. So, I had all the frozen pancakes set out on 5 plates...3 plastic and 2 regular for Chad and I. The kids were running around the kitchen and doing a victory dance because it seemed that I had given up on the healthy, veggie, yucky meal combination that was put in front of them most nights. There were 3 pancakes on each plate and I was quickly popping them in and out of the microwave. When I went to get one out of the microwave and put another one in, I noticed one plastic plate was missing from the cabinet. I did a double take...counted again...and then looked around. There was Aiden, on the floor, eating what she assumed to be HER pancakes. She was about half way through. Now, the most notable part of the story is that they were still frozen. That's right. Hard as a brick bat. I don't know how she managed to bite them, or much less chew them, but there she was...happy as a clam...enjoying her frozen pancakes. What does this say about my cooking?