Joan Ruth Smith Stout

Joan Ruth Smith Stout
March 16, 1931 -September 5, 2007

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!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

For Valentine's Day...

I made these awesome Red Velvet Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup this morning! I got the recipe from Whipperberry! A super cute blog! Jason loves Red Velvet (I've never been a huge fan) so I thought I'd make these for him this morning since he'll be gone all day tomorrow.  I actually really like them and the syrup is killer good!!!  Jack also loved them which is really saying something since he is Mr. Picky Eater! Jason unfortunately is still asleep because he doesn't feel well but I'm sure he'll enjoy these. Either way they are super cute and yummy! I was kinda bummed that I don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter (how is that possible!) since I have every other shape known to man! Anyway I thought I'd share since they are a fun festive treat! Enjoy!
I love you all and Happy Valentine's Day! xo

Red Velvet Pancakes

1 1/2 C. Buttermilk

4 Eggs

4 Tbsp. Butter, melted

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 Tbsp. Red Food Coloring

2 C. Flour

2 Tbsp. Cocoa

1/3 cup Sugar

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Melt butter in separate bowl, then add buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and food coloring. Blend well. Pour in dry mixture and beat until smooth.



Pour ½ cup of the whipped batter on a greased skillet. Pan fry on medium heat until browned. Flip over and brown again. Top with desired toppings and serve warm.



{To make a heart shaped pancake (optional), place a heart shaped cookie cutter on the skillet, and pour batter into the cookie cutter. Remove form before flipping.}


*Optional toppings include syrup, butter, whipping cream, and shaved chocolate.


Buttermilk Syrup

1 C Butter

1 C Buttermilk

2 C Sugar

2 T Vanilla

1 t Baking Soda

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda. Stir and Serve.
Posted by Stephie at 11:25 AM

4 comments:

Beus Fam said...

Sounds delicious!! Thanks for the idea!!

February 13, 2011 6:49 PM
Van Leeuwens said...

And to think i just made boring pink heart shaped pancakes. These sound DELICIOUS! Somehow I have 4 heart shaped cookie cutters, I think I can spare a couple for you Steph!

February 14, 2011 7:17 AM
Kathryn said...

Sounds so yummy! Thanks so much steph for contributing a post on joans girls! I tried to put a new background, but it said my password was incorrect.

February 15, 2011 9:33 AM
Kim said...

Oh my YUM!!! Way to go! Those look and sound FABULOUS...kind of like YOU!

February 16, 2011 2:21 PM

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