Posted in Daily Life
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that you totally destroyed it??????? I make "healthy" fudge and candy quite a bit. So I'm now thinking. how hard is this??? Do I really need to follow a recipe? I've doctored enough mistakes and floppy recipes. I should just be able to heat, stir and pour, right??? And then, there was this time this morning making chocolate syrup for my son- without corn syrup! (WOOOHOOO what a find!) So while daughter is in the shower, I decide to "throw" some fudge together! Hmmm............... Even after she is out of the shower (and she takes a LONG shower!) and we're supposed to be working on lessons, I am in the kitchen stirring, pouring, mixing, tasting, guessing, heating, blending.... I think I killed my blender. (This makes two in one year! I think I'll tell my husband that I need a viatmix! It would probably pay for itself!) At least daughter is working on her algebra but school has gotten postponed! Here it is lunch time and I am busily making scrambled eggs, frying ham slices, popping bread in the toaster oven. The kitchen sink is filled with cocoa and honey coated spoons, pans dripping with coconut oil and the cocoa and honey mixture (which never quite reached cohesiveness, I might add!) , and don't forget the pathetically chocolate coated blender. My boys are on the computer and playing Knex. (And now yelling at each other and for me! We all have bad days. We are not perfect. Each day is a new and exciting adventure. We don't always start each day at the same time or even complete our "to do lists" every day. But we can enjoy each day, each moment God has given us. And be thankful for each thing He has divinely allowed into our lives. And even sometimes, fudge can taste even better with a spoon! OOps! Gotta run! My scrambled eggs are burning!!!! |
) And I can't even ask my daughter to help me with lunch or the cleaning up 
because if she sees that I burned another blender........... Well, let's just say she is a smoothie addict and the last time our blender broke, it was replaced within the day! Sooooo...........Posted in Daily Life
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My family was given several boxes of apples, tomatoes, citrus fruits, along with some heads of cauliflower, bags of celery, and 6 bags of cheese curds. ALL ORGANIC and a bit past its day. So today my daughter and I are making pots of spagetti sauce, applesauce, and cream of cauliflower soup. YUUMMMM!!! For dessert, we're making maple apple crisp complete with whipped raw cream! We also started to flash freeze the citrus slices for future smoothies! (They make the BEST orange julius smoothies with kefir, bananas, and vanilla stevia!) I also chopped all the cheese curds in the food processor and froze them to use in quiches and casseroles. What an incredible blessing!!!!! This was an additional blessing because it gave me a chance to teach my daughter how to salvage seemingly "trashed" fruit and vegetables. My grandma taught me to cut up tomatoes when I was young. She showed me how to cut the bad parts off broccoli, cabbage, or tomatoes. My mom showed me how to make applesauce. And while my daughter does know how to make applesauce and bake bread, she needed more experience looking over fruit and vegetables to find the "good parts." The best way to tell if a fruit or veggie is still usable is experience. The more hands-on practice you have picking through produce, the better! I don't know what God has planned for my daughter's future. But I can train her to be prepared to feed her family and others no matter what her circumstances. So many people in our country are used to wealthy eating habits- ready made food, canned goods, meat you can purchase already seasoned and even cooked! And in this questionable economy, we all need to use as much of our produce as possible. I am so thankful for the opportunity being a bit less fortunate can provide. Necessity is truly the mother of invention! May you all be blessed by industriousness and ingenuity in these difficult times! And we all need to remember God has blessed us with such a bounty, so let's use ALL of it!
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Posted in Daily Life
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The Stowers family ran a whole foods/natural foods co-op from their farmstead. Because of this, their home was INVADED by police officers, their family was held for 5-6 hours, and their personal food stores were confiscated. Now, it is NOT illegal to participate in a food buying co-op in Ohio, so why did this happen?????? And the Stower's son in law is right now fighting in Iraq for the freedoms of the Iraqi people while his family is losing their freedoms right in the USA! (Which also means this search and seizure was largely done against mostly women and children!) I am horrified by this. How many times do I have to say, I can't believe this happened in America????? Why does the government (Ohio Agriculture Dept. is part of the government) think they need to tell us what to eat? Don't they have enough to concern themselves with already!? Here is the link to more information and a video. http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/blog/2008/12/17/buckeye-institute-files-lawsuit-on-behalf-of-stowers/ Please follow this case- especially if you live in Ohio. And value organic, whole foods. And just don't want the government telling us how to live, what to eat, how our children should learn, etc. Living in the midwest, I am following this case closely.
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Posted in Daily Life
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My oldest two kids made dessert this year! Here is my daughter's first ever cheesecake (Pumpkin Cheesecake):
Here is my oldest son's first ever pumpkin pie: (He made the crust, too!)
Both were VERY delicious! Great job, kids! I am so proud! (And I think I've been replaced as part of the Thanksgiving dessert line-up!) |
Posted in Daily Life
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MONDAY breakfast- pumpkin chocoate chip muffins, eggs, bacon, hash browns, oranges lunch- BIG salad, garlic or pepperoni bread, apple slices dinner- steaks, baked potatoes, broccoli, applesauce TUESDAY breakfast- cheese toast, eggs, juice lunch- soup, grilled cheese, apples dinner- slow cooker meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, steamed spinach WEDNESDAY breakfast- waffles, milk, oranges lunch- lentil rice pilau, fruit salad, fresh bread with butter dinner- curried chicken, lentil rice pilau, broccoli, oranges THURSDAY breakfast- Scottish oatmeal, berry smoothie lunch and dinner- Thanksgiving feast at my aunt's!!! (YUMMY!) FRIDAY breakfast- Swedish pancakes, bacon, eggs, orange juice lunch- yogurt berry smoothies, crackers with cheese, carrots dinner- PIZZA night! Spinach garlic pizza and pepperoni pizza and cheese pizza, salad and fruit salad SATURDAY breakfast- granola or grapenuts, yogurt lunch- left over pizza dinner- turkey and wild rice soup, fresh bread with butter SUNDAY breakfast- Southern breakfast (biscuits with gravy, eggs, sausage, orange juice, hash browns) lunch- slow cooked barbecue beef, french fries (homemade with coconut oil!), gingered carrot slaw, baked sweet potato dinner- pancake dinner!: pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, juice, milk |
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MONDAY Breakfast- Chocolate chip banana muffins, kefir Lunch- BIG salad, pears, cheese and leftover muffins Dinner- Having lasagne at a friend's house!!! YUM! TUESDAY Breakfast- Sourdough Monkey bread, oranges Lunch- walking salad, trail mix Dinner- Greek chicken with potatoes, salad, sourdough bread WEDNESDAY Breakfast- Waffles, kiwi Lunch- yogurt with fruit, granola bars, carrots and celery Dinner- tacos, mexi-rice, salad, corn, refried beans THURSDAY Breakfast- hot creamed rice cereal with dried blueberries and cream Lunch- sandwiches (tuna or cashew butter), chips with cultured salsa, carrots, kiwi Dinner- slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato and regular potato wedges, broccoli FRIDAY Breakfast- chocolate chip pancakes (can you tell we LOVE chocolate?!), berries with cream Lunch- baked potato tacos or broccoli and chees potato, fruit salad Dinner- Pizzas: one with spinach, bacon and kefir cheese; one half just cheese, half pepperoni, salad SATURDAY Breakfast- orange julius kefir smoothie Lunch- leftover pizza and salad Dinner- Italian vegetable soup, cut up cheese and meat, fruit with yogurt dip SUNDAY Breakfast- Southern breakfast (it is our Sunday treat!) Lunch- Berry pancake and yogurt cheese roll-ups, mint green veggie juice (from juicer) Dinner- slow cooker venison roast with potatoes, carrots, celery and onions, raw applesauce, broccoli
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Posted in Daily Life
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On another blog, someone posted their entire weekly menu on Monday. I really like that idea so here is my first one! MONDAY breakfast- chocolate chip zuchini muffins, juice lunch- cheese quesadillas with cultured salsa, strawberries with kefir cheese dip, carrots, apricot balls dinner- chinese (from local restaurant! ;)) TUESDAY breakfast- toast with cheese or cashew butter, oranges lunch- hot ham and cheese on sourdough, pickles, 4 friends salad, apples dinner- porcupine meatballs, broccoli, salad, applesauce WEDNESDAY breakfast- waffles, oranges lunch- walking salad, carrots, leftover zuchini chocolate chip muffins dinner- potato soup, pastrami rolls, salad THURSDAY breakfast- baked oatmeal with raisins and chopped apples lunch- (brown bagging day) turkey sandwiches on sourdough bread, apples, pretzels, pickles, sugar snap peas, apricot balls dinner- slow cooker meatloaf, sloppy potatoes, broccoli, spinach salad, applesauce FRIDAY breakfast- flapjacks with hot apple topping lunch- venison summer sausage, cheese cubes, crackers, sliced pickles, carrots, pears dinner- homemade pizza, salad, marinated mushrooms SATURDAY breakfast- smoothies lunch- meatloaf sandwiches on sourdough, chips with cultured salsa, kiwi fruit with kefir cheese dip, carrots dinner- tuna burgers, fried potato slices, sugar snap peas, salad SUNDAY breakfast- southern breakfast (biscuits with gravy, sausage, eggs), oranges lunch- leftovers dinner- ham, baked sweet potatoes, potatoes Anna, broccoli, applesauce We follow a "traditional foods" way of eating such as is recommended by the Weston Price Foundation and found in Nourishing Traditions, The Maker's Diet, and other whole foods books. Most of the food on our menu is organic. Each meal is accompanied by raw milk or kefir unless juice is mentioned. We use raw milk, butter and cheese on a daily basis and soak or ferment the grains in our diet. The cultured salsa and pickles in this week's menu are fermented raw foods. I make all my meals from scratch according to this way of eating for my family's optimal nutrition. For more information, please check out the Weston Price Foundation's website at www.westonaprice.org |
Posted in Daily Life
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Have you ever been defeated by socks? Or even piles of dirty laundry? Dirty dishes in your sink? What about bits and pieces of toys, scrapbooking materials, or (this one hurts!) legoes laying all over the floor? Is your desk so messy you can't even think about school????? For me, at this moment, the socks have me in a corner up against the wall. And about to climb it! You see, yesterday afternoon my kids decided to go play outside. Bluesky came in with wet feet, threw his socks onto the pile of boots by the door, and began searching for new ones to cover his red, clammy feet. Alas, the socks had picked that moment to revolt and not a single one was recovered. (Now, before all you Southerners begin to balk at this battle, remember, we are up NORTH. It has been below 0 almost consistently this week so going sockless is NOT an option!) I decided to assist my son in his sock relocation program. We began digging furiously through the baskets of clean laundry, badly in need of folding, in the living room. Not one sock showed its little head. Hmmm........... I took the hunt upstairs (known to those who are closest to our family as THE KID ZONE) sure laundry had found its way magically up the stairs, folded itself, and gone to sleep wearily in the proper dresser drawers. I was mistaken. Not only were no socks to be found but many drawers were completely bare!!!!! Son and I resigned to defeat and he put on his cozy acorn slippers. Fast forward to today, the sock battle had long since been forgotten. (Mostly because I don't do laundry at night!) As children scurried to get ready to attend gym, I was So where are the rebels now? Well, I was able to pull together a covert operation. We successfully eradicated some from their hiding places.......... But we have evidence there are many more still out there, watching us, waiting for another chance to attack when we least expect it. Morale in our company has improved as we finally moved the captured socks from the washer to the dryer. (Have you ever seen a load of JUST socks??!!) As soon as they are ready to submit to our authority, we will be placing them on our feet and heading to the health food store. Our only hope is tobe able to locate 6 matching pairs in 6 different sizes! (JUST FYI- I have started my own secret spy organization to infiltrate the rebel socks. Somehow, though most of our other clothing, bedding and towels ended up getting washed yesterday, the socks were able to escape capture until this morning. I've got a really uncomfortable pair of nylons hanging out in one of the drawers they are known to occupy. I'll keep you posted............) But on a serious note, I've noticed that when my house is chaotic and out of control, other things in my life seem to follow suit. It seems I can't think clearly in a messy house. Now, I'm not saying things need to be perfect BUT when I can't see the computer screen because webkinz are blocking the way or we have no clean socks, something is really out of balance. I know I haven't been home much this week. And I even have plans to escape my home today. But if I don't want to be here, maybe my kids don't either..... Maybe they are affected- not by the mess- but by the lack of comfort my house provides when the mess of life gets the better of my motivation. Somedays, I just let too many things go and then, voila! I am overwhelmed and just want to escape the mess. Sometimes, we do too many outside activies, we visit and shop too much. Our house becomes a drop off, giant CLOSET not a cozy home where family memories are made, where relationships and learning are allowed to flourish. There has to be a fine line drawn between chaos and comfort. Everyone knows their own level of tolerance for each. My prayer today is that we all find that line for our families. So love and mercy and faithfulness can be practiced and chaos is not allowed to reign. |
Posted in Daily Life
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Please watch this and listen to the words of this song. It is a great reminder to not take the time we have with our children for granted. It applies to boys, too, even though the song was written for Steven Curtis Chapman's daughters. Children grow up so quickly. Each day is truly a gift. Thank you, Steven, for such a beautiful reminder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B1XM9jWiLI |
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Celebrate the original American past-times: HUNTING AND FISHING!!!! Tomorrow around the country (USA) there will be lots of fun outdoor events. Support the sportsmen and women in your lives or introduce some special young people to hobbies in the great outdoors! Hunting and fishing provide people with fun family time as well as an introduction to conservation and wilderness appreciation. Locate an event near you at http://www.nhfday.org/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=1 And remember the words of President Theodore Roosevelt: "In a civilized and cultivated country wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who protest against all hunting and consider sportsmen as enemies of all wildlife (do not understand) the fact in reality, the genuine sportsman is, by all odds, the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination." Introduce a young person to the wonderful world of hunting and fishing! Take a kid outdoors! |
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"Okay. So let's all behave like good little automatron robots and believe everything we hear on T.V." ~Ben Stiller in 'Mystery Men'~
(I've said this more than one time to my children as we discuss current events and issues important to our lives. It's amazing to me how many people just believe what is said on TV- or read on the internet!!
"The B-I-B-L-E. Yes, that's the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God. The B-I-B-L-E."
Amen and Amen. |
Let's all remember to take our questions and perceptions of the "truth" to the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And to read the One book that has stood the test of time and eternity: the Good Book, the Bible.Posted in Daily Life
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Well, I don't know why we started so late today but we eventually decided we would start schoolwork after lunch. I took the baby to the store to get groceries and got home in time for lunch. While I was at the store, the older children were playing a game that their dad said they could finish after lunch, so....... At about 3pm we started schoolwork! I didn't even know where the minutes disappeared. A day like this would usually make me very irritable. And I don't hold that in well.....
But today, God was gracious! (He always is! I just responded well today!
Truly, the afternoon that ordinarily would have been torment to us all- because of ME- was instead a sweet blessing of observing one of God's most precious little creatures. Not to mention the added blessing of the children's willing hearts, the gentle caress of the breeze- it was only 80 degrees today!- and the sunlight dancing through the leaves of the tree canopy over our heads. God always seems to give us above and beyond what we ask for or could imagine- especially when we are obedient to him.
I am so thankful I responded in love to my children instead of in sin to the stress of the day getting away from me! May all of us remember to respond in love to those around us today!
God Bless! ~mel+4 |
) We headed outside to do seatwork at the picnic table and were rewarded by a close visit from one of the baby bunnies! We observed him for a while, then set aside our math books to sketch him into our nature sketchbooks. What a precious gift! Posted in Daily Life
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My firstborn son was finally diagnosed with transient synovitis which is a scary sounding name for unexplained hip joint pain!
Wishing you all good health! ~mel+4 |
He is totally fine again now, but is miffed about missing two weeks of sports camp! I am very much relieved! I learned a lot about vain imaginings during that time- and about trusting the only One who knew what was really going on! Thank God it was nothing!Posted in Daily Life
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We 'school' year-round to expose our children to a lifetime love of learning philosophy. We use an adapted form of the Ambleside Online Curriculum- a wonderful and free online resource! (Thanks, ladies!) We are still finishing up our current year but will start yrs 5, 3, and 0 in August as three of the kids will be of legal school age. Our favorite parts of the day are literature, nature studies (including walks and sketches), hymn singing, learning Spanish, and listening to music. We also really enjoy anything we can do outside!
We have a lovely old English style garden which make nature studies a joy. This weekend, the children sketched a robin family in their nature notebooks while sitting at our new picnic table. The birds had nested in a lilac bush near the house. Both parents were very comfortable being observed and the children loved seeing the science the read about put in action. Our oldest remembered when we read Who Really Killed Cock Robin? She decided she'd like to read it again on her own this time so we will look for it at the library this week.
Talking about robins got our second son interested in worms again. He and his older brother collected over 40 of them this weekend while helping their grandpa (Pap) rake up our brush pile. Big brother proudly stated he was going to catch the biggest fish ever with his worms. Little brother was horrified and promptly hid his worms under a bush! He wouldn't even go fishing with Dad and big brother!
This weekend the local homeschool commmunity is hosting a used book sale. After homeschooling for over 5 years, I have quite a number of books we never used or used very briefly and set aside. So I am thinking of setting up a table. That is a bit ambitious for me this week, though, since our oldest son is having terrible pains in his hips- so much so that he can't walk at times. The doctors are clueless so far. He goes for a bone scan tomorrow. I have spent a lot of time in prayer over his condition. And I have to admit I am scared. But I know he is in God's hands. He is God's son first, then mine. I just need to trust Him with this. So I am learning to...... But it is not always easy. Sometimes, it is a minute by minute releasing my son into His care. Othertimes, His power and love are so great that it is easy to trust. I guess "my faith is like shifting sand, changed by every wave." (Caedman's Call) And some waves are stronger than others.
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