The healthiest pancake you'll ever eat.

In my previous post I mentioned my current favorite breakfast is this 2 ingredient banana egg combo that turns into a pancake. Yes, I was skeptical as well. I gave it a shot a few weeks back, because if it seemed like a healthier alternative to a delicious carb-y filled normal pancake. Basically if it's a carb, I love it. But I think we all know that woman can not live off carbs alone because we'd grow to the size of a house. Boo. 

So I tried it out and was pleasantly surprised. I'm not a huge banana fan which was another reason I was skeptical. But they turned out delish and are now in my current breakfast rotation. 

Ingredients:

1 Banana, mashed
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Mix ingredients together. And now here's the part where I turn it into a 4 ingredient pancake. I add a tablespoon of chia seeds and a tablespoon of ground flaxseed. Not necessary, but a great way to up pack a nutritional punch. 

Lightly coat your pan with coconut (or cooking spray, or whatever you like to use) and heat your griddle to medium heat. 

Once heated, pour on a 1/4 cup of batter. I can usually get 2 or 3 "pancakes" out it, depending on the size.

Flip after a few minutes and let them finish cooking. Then plop them on a plate and drizzle a little bit of syrup on top. Delish.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 

XO, 

Laura

Hello, again!

I'm just gonna go ahead and gloss over the fact that it's been over a year since I've done anything with this lil bloggy and move on current events in the Johnson household. ;)

1. Life just got a little bit crazier with 2 kids in baseball this year. That means practice and games take up the majority of our week nights. And we eat dinner at 8:00.

2. My new favorite breakfast: 2 ingredient banana egg pancakes with a little drizzle of 100% pure organic maple syrup. Amaze.

3. Oh and how could I forgot we are in the middle of the worlds biggest home renovation (to me at least, probably normal size to other people.) All the progress pictures are on Ryan's phone, and frankly it stresses me out when I look at them. So once everything is complete and my house doesn't look like it was hit by an atomic bomb, I'll post the before and afters :) 

And there you have it, the quickest update of an entire year you'll ever read. ;) I'm not making any promises, but I will try to post a bit more regularly!

XO, 

Laura

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

We hosted care group at our house last week, so I whipped up a batch of these Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies. They are so yum and super easy to make. The recipe is a Pinterest find from this blog. :) 

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs

1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix (18.25 ounce)

1 cup of white chocolate chips

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place powdered sugar in a small shallow bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter, eggs and cake mix until there are no large lumps left. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon) and coat in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheets at least 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the tops have slightly cracked and the tops look set (the centers will be a little gooey but soooo yummy). Let sit for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Serve immediately and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, if they last that long! ;)

Yield: 18 cookies

You can easily sub a different cake mix if you're not a fan of red velvet. A friend said she made lemon crinkle cookies by using a box of lemon cake mix and they were delicious. 

Hope you enjoy! :)

XO,

Laura

Thoughts

My brain has been in over drive these past few weeks.

Lots of changes happening to our little family in the coming months. 

Exciting changes.

Some a little scary. (hi, homeschooling)

But for the most part, all good changes.

Here's a little glimpse into what I've been thinking about lately...

[Ryan's new job]

HUGE blessing for our family in so many ways. So thankful for God's provision and this new opportunity for Ry.

[Family pictures coming up]

Uh, I'd say we're a few years overdue. 

We talk about it every year and every year it never happens.

This is the year people. This is the year. 

[Homeschooling]

Depending on the day I'm either super excited or super terrified.

I know God is going to use this experience (whether it's just this one year or we do it until graduation)

to stretch me.

 To strengthen my faith. 

To push me to rely fully on Him.

[Fall meals]

Big shocker here, right? ;)

I'm determined to use my crockpot a LOT more this season.

Lots of soups, hearty stews and casseroles.

And of course pumpkin flavored everything.

[Field trip ideas & family fun]

Pumpkin patch/hayride. Apple picking at Carter's Mountain. Museums (Air & Space, Spy, Children's)

Zoo. Football games and Chili with friends. Pumpking painting. Skyline drive & hiking.

Nature scavenger hunt. Picnics. Bake treats for friends & family. Operation Christmas Shoebox.

fall chalkboard

Ry watched the kids so I could get a mani/pedi. It was glorious.

Soaking up every last minute at the pool

This kid loves to build things.

Cheers to family ice cream dates.

A little summer work to keep their minds sharp ;)

Teething. 

All for now!

XO,

Laura

Hurry Up, Fall!

I'm a colder weather kind of girl. I know I'm probably in the minority when it comes down to it but that's fine by me. Maybe it has to do with all the holidays and fun that go along with the cooler weather or maybe it's the fact that unless I'm burning a bajillion calories in spin class, I don't want to be sweating all the time, thankyouverymuch. 

Today is August 7 and do y'all know what that means? It means we're only 24 days away from pumpkins and fall decor!! Come September 1st, our casa is officially saying "Adios!" summer and "Helloooo, there!" fall ;)

Thanks to Pinterest, I've got some fun ideas of how I want to bring fall festiveness into our home. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Garlands

I love them! They instantly make any room just a bit more festive! I love this simple, white pom pom garland from West Elm to hang across mantle for everyday. 

These fall inspired garlands are so creative! I think I'm going to have to give the pinecone one a try ;)

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Pumpkins

Nothing says "It's fall!" like pumpkins. There are so many fun ways to dress them up too! Glitter, lace, paint, carving etc... The options are endless!

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Candles 

There is just something about certain smells that bring back memories or get you excited for something. Fall inspired scents are the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit.

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Okay, so now are you ready for Fall? ;)

In the next few weeks I'm planning to post some of our family's favorite cold weather recipes. Hello crockpot, soups, chili and casseroles! 

XO,

Laura

[You can follow me on Pinterest >>  Laura Johnson]

Our Day in Pictures

Whew. It's been awhile! Instead of a boring you with lengthy recap, I thought I'd show you what a typical day looks like for us.

Something I just started recently, that we are all enjoying is reading the boys a few chapters from a book while they eat breakfast. Currently we are reading The Boxcar Children. I used to love these books as a kid and it's been so fun to re-read them with the boys.

 After breakfast, the older two boys head upstairs to play or work on some summer school work. Logan and I stay behind and I get a chance to drink my coffee and give him his breakfast. It's so nice to spend some one on one time with him.

During the summer, we try to do something fun outside of the house each day or so. Mostly it's just something simple like a trip to the library, the pool or a play date. Other times there's activities or events going on around town and we'll do that. The local movie theater has free kid movies every Tuesday morning, the bowling alley has unlimited $4 bowling for kids on Thursday mornings. The Visitors Center downtown has a great children's program on the Civil War each week and the boys have really enjoyed that. Carter has been very interested in history lately, so that's been a great way to have fun and feed his interest.

 Next up, lunchtime!

I would love to say lunchtime is followed by naps, but alas Logan is the only one in this house who still takes one. So we have "quiet time" where the boys are supposed to read quietly or rest in their beds. But let's be honest-that is a rarity. It usually just ends up being semi-quiet playtime in their room. And ya know what? As long as they stay in their rooms, it's fine by me. ;)

The rest of the afternoon is spent taking care of things around the house or errands and then getting dinner ready. Every other week or so, my parents will watch the kiddos so we can have date night!! Woo!

Bonefish. The the food lover of my soul & one of our fave date night spots.

So there ya have, a lil peek into a typical day during the summer. :) 

XOXO, 

Laura

Strawberry Pickin'



On Thursday we went to Braehead Farms with my mom for some end of the season strawberry pickin'.

 

It ended up being the perfect day for it-- overcast and not too hot.

 

 

Testing out the goods.

 

 

Afterwards, Grammy treated us to lunch at Cracker Barrel. Yuuuum.

 

 

Intense game of checkers.

 

XO,

 

Laura