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Keelan is sick... this is the first one he's had in many months, which is good. Still, because of his past health history I remain unsure of how to treat his symptoms... it *is* cold and flu season, so it would be perfectly reasonable for him to have caught a cold, and there haven't been any dramatic changes in his diet, still I find myself wondering if he's had too much dairy, cumulatively. He's got a runny nose, and now a productive cough, still no fever. He was supposed to go to the pumpkin patch today on a school field trip, but with the onset of the coughing and three trips out of bed last night, I kept him home today. And frankly, after three night-awakenings and listening to him cough in his sleep, I really didn't want to go anywhere today. In fact, I arranged a store-pickup grocery order at New Seasons, because I really need some stuff (bacon- important! :-) but I just don't feel like shopping today. Didn't make it to the gym either. The upside is, since I've bailed out on a couple of things today, I won't be frantically racing around this afternoon. Got my dairy order out, I'm at home so I won't be late for Bible study trying to get Keelan home from school in time. I'll get Coralie from school this afternoon, and we'll go pick up the groceries from New Seasons.

New Adventure in Breakfast Food: a modified cake recipe. I have this fantastic new cookbook of Amish recipes. In it is a recipe for pumpkin cake. Now, the Amish eat a *lot* of fat, which is ok for them because they aren't sedentary. So the original recipe calls for 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of oil, and 2 cups of sugar. I kept the eggs, used 1/2 c of oil, 1 c of applesauce, and 1 c of sugar. I also added about 1/2 c of protein powder. I made 18 muffins (or would that be cupcakes??) and one loaf. It turned out quite good... I felt that I was able to cut out at least some of the fat without making them rubbery (which is why I hate low fat muffin recipes). I figured with that many eggs, a reduction in the oil wouldn't hurt. I also used whole wheat flour and threw in a handful of flax meal. We're all enjoying them.

Another recipe I tried was for eggplant. I really don't like eggplant at all. It's mostly a texture thing. This recipe was not low fat at all, but it did get me to eat eggplant. I had to modify the recipe some based on what I had, but it was a scant 2 c mashed cooked eggplant, 1 1/2 c shredded cheese, 1 c toasted bread cubes, 1/3 stick of butter, 1 egg. I put it in ramekins with buttered bread crumbs on top. The original recipe called for more butter and a lot more bread, but I just didn't have it on hand. Didn't need it anyway. It turned out well, but I think if I made it again, I'd puree the eggplant. I just can't stand the texture of it. The kids both tried it and said they didn't like it. (surprise!)

Something to check out: Jack's Country Store. We are seriously considering a vacation to Ocean Park, WA so we can visit the physical store, LOL. I love buying from them.