July 31 - Corina's birthday!

Hooray! Corina's 12th birthday - finally! She's been counting down the minutes to her first day in Young Women. I made Corina's favorite breakfast: cinnamon rolls. We have two yummy recipes - the one we bring to neighbors and make for company, and the healthy version. We love them both, but some people are funny about wheat. You really should try this healthy recipe - you will love them for breakfast and snacks!

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk, nonfat
1 1/2 cups water, warm
1 1/2 T. yeast
1/2 cup olive oil
1 T. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 c. honey
1 egg white
1 ts. salt
1 1/2 ts. baking powder
8 cups freshly ground white wheat
2-3 T. butter, melted
1 T. cinnamon
4 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 cups raisins
(optional - I don't like raisins so I only put them in a few)

Warm the milk and add warm water. Dissolve the yeast in the liquid mixture. Mix the remaining ingredients into the liquid and add just enough flour to make a soft
dough. For light rolls, make sure the dough is soft and not stiff. Knead the
dough for 10 minutes and let it relax for 15 minutes. Take half of the dough and
roll it out with a rolling pin to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Brush the surface
lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and a thin amount of brown
sugar. Sprinkle with raisins, if desired, and press them lightly into the dough.
Roll up the dough like a jelly roll and cut into 1 " slices. Put them on
nonstick cooking-sprayed cookie sheets and allow them to rise until they are
double in bulk. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly brown.
Remove and eat as is, or frost lightly with powdered sugar and water or skim
milk mixed. We love them without frosting. They are excellent with diced apples
in the filling instead of raisins!!

After lunch we all had to go to the dentist. It was so nice of them to fit us all in on the same day. 4 hours later (and almost $2,000) we finally got to go home. Corina had her last baby tooth pulled - fitting for a 12th birthday! Annalisa has been our little shark for awhile now because her bottom 2 permanent teeth grew in behind her baby teeth. The dentist pulled those 2 and 2 others to give some room to move around. She was really scared so they gave her laughing gas. Ever wonder what happens to a giggler when they give her laughing gas?! She was hilarious. She was laughing like crazy and couldn't stop. Dave and I thought it was amusing that the dentist "generously" gave us 10 tubes of toothpaste and a bagful of toothbrushes and floss. We figured he feels guilty that we're paying for his kid's college education.

Corina's favorite food is spaghetti so of course we made that for her birthday dinner, and instead of a cake she wanted brownies. It was a great day!

Good things:
clean teeth
no cavities
two girls in Yw