Joan's Girls: August 2009

Our Message

Joan Ruth Smith Stout passed away on September 5, 2007. She was my beloved mother and grandmother of the beautiful girls pictured to the right, Kim, Tiffany, Tara, Chelane, Stephanie, Tristen, Sara, Telisa, Mikel, Jenny and Ashling. My mother died due to complications from malnourishment, or in other words, an eating disorder. I believe it started in her teens and she was completely unaware of the insidious disease that took route in her mind. She was somehow blessed to give birth to four children, three boys and a girl. Joan loved her children with devotion and passion even though much of the time, she felt poorly. Stomach problems, headaches and heart palpitations were a daily occurrence for her. As her only daughter, I was oblivious to her plight until my very own sweet daughter started on that same journey in her teens. By then my mom had been suffering from her eating disorder for a good fifty years, and there was no redirecting her thoughts. Unfortunately for me, I was angry for a while when I realized that the route of all her illnesses was through lack of nutrition. That was shameful on my part, and I am sure that only added to my mom's illness. I hope she knows now how foolish I was. However, through the journey of Telisa's eating disorder, the girls in our family have learned much, especially Telisa! It is for this reason that we collectively, as Joan's Girls, are choosing to send the message out to the world of what real beautiful bodies need to support good physical and mental health!!!!!!! We watch with horror the unhealthy and unattractive images on TV, Movies, Magazines etc. We witness some of our dear friends struggle with body image issues, and frankly we are sick of the comparing and obsessing over one's size versus one's health!! We believe in good health, we believe in eating the food provided for us by our Heavenly Father, we believe in balance and moderation, we believe in exercise in moderation, we also believe the best exercise is done while serving others, we believe that God created many types of bodies and we thank Him for that! We believe in modesty and we believe that our bodies are a gift from Heavenly Father! We believe that true beauty comes from within. All of Joan's granddaughters are true beauties. Our legacy to her will be our commitment to the TRUTH of what is beautiful and praiseworthy. We seek after these things. We will strive for good health and the truth in all we do!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Ideas for church lessons

If you haven't found this already, it's a good place to prepare lessons for church, what with all the extra cute stuff and everything...
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/

Monday, August 24, 2009

A good reminder

So I came across this article today. It's mostly the same as things that have already been posted here. But I still thought it was a good reminder...I often need good reminders! ;)

Intuitive Eating in 3 Easy Steps

Friday, August 21, 2009

Happy

"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you."
- President Harold B. Lee

Today I am grateful for the CHOICE that I have to be happy.

I hope everyone has a HAPPY weekend!
(that cute smile belongs to my niece Kinnie Elizabeth)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Monday, August 10, 2009

A Beautiful Mind

Try to read the paragraph below:
then consider what it actually says.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabridge Uinervtisy,
it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod
are, the olny iprmoertnt tihng is taht the frist and
lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.
Tihs is bcusease the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe and the biran
fguiers it out aynawy.

The brain is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Easy as Pie!

Make a pie crust and roll out on floured surface.

Dusting with a little bit of flour on both sides will make the dough easier to work with and move around.

Cut out dough with heart shaped or round cookie cutter.

If you're careful you can get enough for 8-9 pie pops from a 9-inch pie crust.

The circle shapes are easier to assemble than the heart shapes because they give you more room in the center for the filling.

Now it's time for pressing down the lollipop sticks.

Add a teaspoon or less of pie filling or jam.

Don't put too much filling or it will squeeze out.

It's time for sealing it. What you do is, you break a lollipop stick into a small piece and you press it down all around it. (But not too hard.)

Brush the tops of the pies with egg whites.

You can also use pecan pie filling

The pops baked in the oven on 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until the tops started to brown. Remove, cool and enjoy!

"I thought I would love these more than I did. But… (and I can't believe I'm saying these words) … They needed more fruit! A little too much pastry to pie filling for me. But still good, still fun to do and still super-cute!" (comment from the author)

This recipe is from the website Bakerella. It looked too fun to pass up! I think I would sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on the top of the each side. .... great to make with kids! Let me know when you have tried them!