Believe in the Magic Traci Diary

Recipes, Travels, and Stories

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  • Homemade GF brownies

    Homemade Brownies

    • Servings: 16
    • Difficulty: easy
    • Print

    Ingredients

    -2/3 semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (dairy free for Paleo brownies)

    -5 Tbsp. coconut oil

    -2/3 c. coconut sugar

    -2 eggs

    -1 tsp. vanilla extract

    -2/3 blanched almond flour

    -2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder1

    -1 tsp. baking soda

    -1/4 tsp. salt/

    -Mix ins:  2/3 c. chocolate chips or chopped nuts


    Directions

    1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper or spray with non stick spray.
    2. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and coconut oil over LOW heat until it’s smooth and glossy.
    3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
    4. In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar and eggs.  (I used my Kitchen Aid)  Set aside.
    5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  (Almond flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
    6. Whisk together the sugar-egg mixture and the melted chocolate until smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Mix.
    7. Fold in the dry ingredients. until mixed.
    8. Fold in the mix-ins.
    9. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
    10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  (Mine took almost 30 minutes.)  Make sure the center is cooked.
    11. Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting.
    12. Enjoy!

  • Meeting Ducks for the First Time

    Gaston, our puppy, and I had gone to drop off Oldest at school yesterday morning. When we dropped off Youngest an hour prior, it had been super foggy. So foggy that Oldest, who was in the car, told me that it reminded him of a horror movie. He was expecting some tentacles to drop out of the sky.

    Since the drive to Oldest’s school is country roads, we opted to wait a little bit before driving him to school. Once we got to his school, the sky had changed from super foggy to a glorious blue sky.

    Gaston had seen a duck once before from a distance. However, this was the first time he saw one up close. He kept trying to get to the ducks.

    He also enjoyed meeting a few other dogs.

    Dobby, our previous dog, was adventurous. Fortunately Gaston is the same way. He is going to love exploring places around our area this summer.

    Have a blessed day,
    Traci

  • Our Life was Turned Upside Down

    While I was at the dietician’s office on Monday, Oldest called me. He had been in an accident. Even though his car had been hit, he was okay just shaken up.

    He was getting ready to turn when a truck going straight through the light sped up. The driver of the truck clipped Oldest before hitting a pole. Since Nick had gone in the intersection, he was cited for failure to yield. As a result of the accident, the front driver’s side was demolished.

    We are waiting on word from the juvenile court for when he is supposed to go to court. His license is probably suspended. However that doesn’t matter; because he doesn’t want to drive right now.

    Now Hubby and I are driving him around. Luckily he is now on summer vacation, so I don’t have to drive the 20 minute commute back and forth to his school. However, he is working, so I have to drop him off and then pick him up. His job is only a 5 minute drive from our house which helps. The problem is he closes which means he is done at the earliest at 10:45 and at the latest 11:30. For a person who shuts down beginning at 9 pm, that is tough for me.

    I’m leaving in a few weeks for my annual EPIC trip with my best friend/ chosen sister. He needs to get those rides lined up because I won’t be around to pick him up.

    I drove him to school 2 times this week and then home 1 time. The only good thing about driving him was our puppy went with us. After dropping him off, we went for a walk in the town where his school is located. Gaston, our puppy, loved meeting ducks for the first time. That was fun to see him try to get at the ducks as they were swimming around. He didn’t get far because of the leash.

    So how’s your summer going?

    Have a blessed day,
    Traci

  • Menu plan: May 24, 2021

    Yesterday I went to see my dietician. We came up with a b rough plan for me eating. I’m dealing with disordered eating, trying to lose weight, and change of diet in the past month. I have moved back to eating a gluten free mostly vegetarian diet. My exception is seafood.

    After meeting with her, I went home and wrote out a meal plan with items needed at the grocery store. Crossed out items are items I already have at home. Highlighted items were bought.

    Well, the Kodiak cakes were a bust. I will change that to smoothies.

  • Be Present (How to Build Rapport Part 1)

    I just ended my 21st year of teaching special education. One of my skill sets is the ability to build rapport with my students. Over the years I have realized that rapport cannot be forced or bought. Some students will be receptive towards creating a bond with their teacher while others are more reserved. I have many students who I have had rapport with while others I have taught and then they moved on without us truly developing any sort of rapport. Instead of seeing me as an ally who has their back, they saw me as a hindrance.

    I’m going to begin a series where I’m going to talk about how to build rapport with students. I don’t know how many parts will be to this series because I keep coming up with more ways.

    Be Present

    Honestly I think this is one of the best ways to build rapport with students. Sometimes you need to put the computers, manipulatives, assignments, and even phones down and just show the students that you really care. If you are worrying about the next thing, the students won’t have your full attention. In this fast paced world of ours, we often don’t get the human connections that we crave. Being present and in moment with the students allows them to know you really care about them, their dreams, their worries, and/or their preferences. You learn who they are as a person and how they learn.

    During virtual teaching, it was so hard to be present with students. Many times they were just black boxes with names on the screen. You could call their name a billion times with no response. Some of my best moments with students were the times we finished the work for the day and just talked to each other. I learned about their dog and their favorite dog who had died. During the year, I watched them blossom over the year. The young man went from wanting to get off the computer to play Fortnite to wanting to draw.

    Join me next time for another strategy to help you develop rapport with students.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Spring Walk

    In February, we got a new puppy, Gaston. He is still learning how to walk on a leash. I took him for a walk to get exercise and to also capture photos of the spring beauty around my neighborhood. Gaston was super happy when we saw his friends, Cooper and Brownie, on the walk. He got to walk/ bounce all the way home with them.

    Enjoy photos from our walk.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Spring Snow

    Last Tuesday into Wednesday, we had an April snow. It seems that every year we have one snow in April. This year it was in late April rather then at the beginning of the month. We got about 1.5 to 2 inches in my area. It took me 5 minutes to unearth my car from the snow because the branches of my maple tree hindered me being able to clean it off completely.

    This is me that morning after my drive to work. I had seen the beauty of the sprig snow and was ready for it to melt.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Mom, What’s For Dinner? Week of April 25, 2021 (Mainly vegetarian)

    Jump to menu:

    My dear children, you are not going to like what I have planned for dinner. (I’m talking about my 2 children, not all of y’all. Oh, and I’m not southern. I just like the word y’all.)

    Let me pick up from where I left y’all. My health is not the best right now. We are still trying to figure out what is causing the pain. I sorta have an idea, but nothing is solid just yet. So, yesterday I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy to see what is going on with both my upper and lower GI. They found and removed a polyp from my colon/ large intestine. It’s now being biopsied. They also saw the gastric sac (not the real name) in my stomach. That is also being biopsied. Now it is a waiting game.

    So Traci, who enjoys Googling stuff, found out that polyps are more than likely not cancerous. However, they are caused by eating red meat and greasy food. Three years ago, I went vegetarian for over a year. So, I know I can do it. This is a week 1 of back to eating vegetarian. Oldest told me that he’s glad that he is not going to eat vegetarian because he couldn’t handle not having red meat.

    Week of April 25, 2021

    Sunday – Cheesy bread and sausage (boys) – Veggie cauliflower crust pizza (Me)

    Monday – Italian salad (Me) – Boys are on their own.

    Tuesday – Veggie Chili (Me) – Short rib pappardelle (Boys)

    Wednesday – Nachos with leftover chili – Boys are on their own.

    Thursday – Sloppy Joe’s (Vegetarian & Meat)

    Friday – Loaded fries with leftover sloppy Joe’s

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Health Update

    Four years ago, I went gluten-free because I was having headaches. I ate that way for over a year before adding back gluten in my diet.

    The day after Easter, I had a bad attack after eating my lunch. All of the sudden, I was cramping and in a lot of pain. I went home and feel asleep for an hour and half. My abdomen was hurting. I took off the next day and was still having issues. Youngest knew I was in pain, because I was crying before he left for school.

    I laid down for a nap around noon. When I woke up, I was still in pain, so we went to Urgent Care. The doctor at the Urgent Care immediately sent me to the Emergency Room because he thought it might have been appendicitis. I SAT and WALKED in the ER’s waiting room for 4.5 hours before I was sent back to a room. During the 3.5 hours I was in the back, I was got a CT with contrast. There was some troubling results but none of them were conclusive to why I was having pain. There was no appendicitis. My course of treatment was to go to a Primary Care Physician and to take pain relievers.

    Since that day in the ER, I have seen a Primary Care Physician and a GI doctor. There is a possible issue with my upper GI and lower GI. Next week I’m having an endoscopy and colonoscopy to see if we can pinpoint the problem. They are going to look to see if I have Celiac’s Disease. If not, I’m probably have a gluten intolerance. There is no test for gluten intolerance. I just need to change up my diet.

    I was also given some acid reflux medicine that I have to take every day.

    I’m back to being gluten free. Today is day 5. It’s so much easier than it was in 2017, because it has become more mainstream. Today I got myself some bread – Portuguese and cinnamon swirl, a cookie for dessert tomorrow, cinnamon rolls, and English muffins – all of which are gluten free. YUM!

    Join me on this journey as I begin to figure out what is causing my health issues and then trying to learn to live with them.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Plant a Seed

    I’m going to interrupt the Holy Week narrative for this very important announcement. But before that, I should tell or remind you what happened on Holy Monday. Jesus removed and freed the animals and cleansed the temple of all the people who were using it to make money.

    ““Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”
    ‭‭John‬ ‭12:24-25‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    https://www.bible.com/97/jhn.12.24-25.msg

    So who is that grain of wheat? Jesus was talking about us as Christians. We need to take the Word of God and plant it in our souls. Unless we water it with his Word & prayer, it’ll be just that a seed. We need to have a relationship with you.

    We need to love others just as Jesus did. Be reckless. Let you serve others with the gifts you were given by God in order to be glorify God. You are to be the hands and feet of God.

    He’s after your joy and eternity. Just remember that.

    Dear Lord,

    Thank you for reminding me that we need to love others recklessly. I’m so glad you are after my eternity and joy. All I need to do is have a relationship with you.

    In Jesus name, Amen