Well, after a long hiatus, I'm back.  We've had company, been sick, and started a remodeling project here, so not a lot of time to get online and blog.  Fortunately, the visit was nice, we're starting to get better, and the remodeling is going pretty well, IMO.  But, tonight, I needed an easy supper.  It doesn't get any easier than breakfast for supper.  Sometimes, it's really easy, but I did feel like cooking, so we made DH's favorite - biscuits and gravy.  Some of you might recall that DH cannot have dairy, but there is a way to make excellent biscuits and gravy with nary a drop of milk.  Here's my method.

Brown a pound of your favorite sausage in a pan.  Meanwhile, preheat your oven.  My biscuit "recipe" (aka, the Bisquick box) recommends 450, which takes a while with my oven.  So, after the sausage browns, I let it hang out while I mix up the Bisquick.  I use unsweetened soymilk or rice milk in place of the milk.  After I get my biscuits ready to go, I turn my attention back to the sausage.  Transfer your sausage to a bowl, and have it ready by your stove.  Then, if you need a little more fat in your pan, add Earth Balance (dairy free margarine) and melt it.  Also add flour and mix well.  I eyeball it, so no real measurements for this gal.  When the flour and margarine are well mixed and have cooked a bit, add unsweetened soymilk.  I think I use about 3 cups for a pound of browned sausage.  Whisk the flour and milk together really well (my secret for no lumps) and bring to boil, stirring constantly.  When it is thick, add your sausage and reheat.  By this time, your biscuits should be close to done, because the oven gets done preheating sometime during your gravy making stage.

When your biscuits are done and your gravy is made, put it together for a fairly quick and very simple breakfast for supper - dairy free, even! :)

Well, this week is going to be short and sweet.

National Association of Nouthetic Counselors

This is a fabulous organization that trains biblical counselors.  Whether you're dealing with a particular sin that has you down & you need some help or accountability or if your marriage needs some help, a NANC-certified counselor is sure to get you on track, and in a biblical manner.  A counselor uses the entirety of Scripture to counsel you (and help you learn to self-counsel), along with select other materials.  Even in the marital counseling, focus in on your role, your sin, and what you should be doing.  Don't worry, no one walks out of a session being the bad guy - your spouse gets it just as much (sometimes more!) than you do.

I heartily recommend going through some NANC-based counseling for every believer.

Yes, it would be appropriate for me to break my long blogging fast with a WFMW.  It seems that it's all I get done these days, if I can get on to blog at all.

Anyway, I'm combining this with the announcement that there will be another Garden baby come sometime during May 2007.  We've broken with tradition here, so maybe it will even be a girl to completely smash the tradition.  Our other children's birth month/year are as follows:  1/01, 2/03, 3/05. 

Anyway, the morning sickness, er all-the-time sickness.  It's not so bad this time, but I have to really stay on top of things.  First of all, I am never hungry.  Seriously.  I have to eat, eat, eat, eat.  Secondly, I can't get too full or it makes it worse.  Then, I jump from miserably full to starving in a few seconds & don't allow time to prepare.  Thirdly, avocadoes; 'nuff said.  For some reason, avocadoes have helped me so much, especially on a big salad dressed with honey mustard dressing.  I've been having these nearly daily for about a week and I've had less issues with nausea than ever before.  I've also weaned the baby, um, toddler, which helps too, as I don't need quite as many calories now & don't have to quite as frequently.

When I'm not eating my salad, here's a short list of what has helped:

a splash of lemon juice in my water

nuts (kept the bathroom for those midnight munchies)

crackers with nut butter

goat cheese spread on crackers or veggies

hummus with whole wheat pitas

Altoids (ginger preferred, but peppermint also okay)

Pregnancy tea, lightly sweetened

These are working for me, and I'm immensely grateful!

My tip this week is my laundry detergent.  I have a pretty severe sensitivity to any artificial fragrance.  I get a nasty migraine, a runny nose, and sometimes an asthma attack, so I pretty much avoid anything scented.  The exception to this is if it is scented with essential oils.  This limits me often to the more expensive "organic" or "health-food-store" type products - lotions, soaps, shampoos, shaving cream, etc.  For laundry, I could use the "free and clear" versions of many soaps, and I do sometimes.  However, I also cloth diaper, so sometimes these products are a little harsh on delicate skin or they don't clean as well as I'd like.  Fortunately for me, I tried Bi-O-Kleen laundry powder when it was on sale at the health food store.  Normally I prefer the ease of liquid (and it does come in a liquid version), but Bi-O-Kleen powder is awesome & I don't mind its powderiness.

Bi-O-Kleen is a bit expensive, but when you figure in that one whole box will last a family of 5 at least 4-6+ months, it turns out to be not so bad a deal.  It smells freshly citrusy, which is nice, and a little bit goes a long way.  Not to mention that it is super environmentally friendly.  With the rage being "environmental consciousness," you can wash you clothes and feel a wee bit of pride that you're doing your part, and that your clothes are clean.  It is the first "environmentally friendly" laundry detergent I've found that works really well.  At least it works for me.

When I'm pregnant, I have a hard time with heartburn, and tomato products make it even worse.  Worse still is the fact that I cook with tomatoes probably 5 times a week or more.  It seems that we are a tomato eating family - spaghetti, chili, chili spaghetti, soups, casseroles, etc.  One trick that works is to put a pinch of baking soda in with the tomatoes, especially in chili and spaghetti.  It gets foamy there for a while, but when the foam is over, I am better able to handle my beloved tomato products.  Even though I'm not pregnant now, I still use this trick, as it just seems to help the meal "sit" better.  Not to mention DH's gratitude when he doesn't have to sit up refluxing supper.

It's simple, but it works for me! :)

Boy, it's been busy around Ezekiel's Garden!  But, here I am, back again, and ready to share my tip for Shannon's "Works for me Wednesday" meme.

My tip revolves around garden produce, since I can't seem to keep up with the cucumbers lately.  The giant 10-12" cucumbers with very few large seeds even at 1.5" diameter!  One tip, since a family can only eat so many cucumbers before declaring mutiny, is to give them away.  Well, that doesn't work so well when one has a dearth of garden-fresh cucumber-loving neighbors.  Enter plan B.  Pickles.  What?  Those messy, time-consuming, stinky things?  Nope.  Kosher dills.  Seriously.  They're simple, not too stinky, and don't take forever either (we're talking an afternoon vs. 2 weeks).  I found my recipe by scrounging around Google until I found one that looked delicious and easy.  I think it is the Heinz Recipe.

Here it is:

Kosher Dill 

4 lbs pickling cukes (around 12 of mine)
14 cloves garlic, peeled & split
1/4 cup canning salt
3 cups distilled or apple cider vinegar 5% acidity
3 cups water
12-14 sprigs fresh dill weed
28 peppercorns

Wash cucumbers; cut in half lengthwise (due to cucumber size, I cut some into 1/2" chunks and some into 1/8" crinkle slices). Combine garlic and next 3 ingredients; heat to boiling. Remove garlic and place 4 halves into each clean jar, then pack cucumbers, adding 2 sprigs of dill and 4 peppercorns. Pour hot vinegar solution over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of top. Immediately adjust covers as jar manufacturer directs. Process 10 minutes in BWB. Makes 6-7 pints.

Another tip is to keep some brine on hand in case the cucumber ever slows down enough that you can't make a full batch but can't possibly give them away either.  It keeps in the fridge for quite a while (not that I've had occasion to find this out)

I will admit that until this summer, I've probably eaten a total of 1 jar of pickles in 10 years.  I don't normally like pickles.  Well, until these babies, that is.  I have probably eaten 2 jars all by myself.  I'm not going to tell you how many pints I have on my pantry shelf.  All right, I will, but I'm not telling how many I've gone through already.  *sigh*  Anyway, 30 pints of dill slices or chunks.  And, we've eaten at least 3 pints of slices and 4 of the chunks, not counting the 3 or 4 pints we've given away to friends.  Should I tell how my kids beg to eat them at every meal?  Naw.  That'll be for another post - wierd food habits at the Garden.

That's all.  Just my tip on how to prevent cucumber waste, and possibly an idea for Christmas gifts... ;)