The S.A.L.T. Blog - Homeschool Blogger

To Everything There Is A Season

Sun, 1 Mar 2009 12:27:00 -0600

Recently, there have been some things that have been heavy on my mind. God's been working on me in some certain areas and I've come to the realization that some things need to change. One of those things is that I feel like this blog has had it's purpose and season but that season has ended and thus this blog needs to come to a close. I may begin posting again in the future but I just don't know. For now, I just know that I need to stop this particular blog. I will continue to post on my ministry and cooking blogs of which you will find the links below. However, in the blogworld, my primary focus will most likely be on my ministry blog. I have this intense desire to just draw closer and closer to God.

I will leave this blog up for awhile so that the archives can still be viewed. For any of you out there that have read this blog, I say thank you. Please know that you can follow my ministry blog. May the Lord bless you all as you strive to live lives for His glory.

My Ministry Blog

The T.A.G. Blog

My Cooking Blog
Cookalatte

Just a Little Rambling

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:10:00 -0600

Tonight, I spent some time working on the newsletter I put out for women. Right now, we're studying the book of Ruth. I love writing Bible studies. If they get published one day, I do not know. But one thing I do know, God teaches me so much when I write them. I delve into the study of God's Word and He woos me with treasures in His Word that bring me back for more. He also shows me things in myself that need changing. God's Word is so amazing. And I sit here just so thankful for how God speaks to me through His Word and shows me all kinds of things.

Oh What a Beautiful Day

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:29:00 -0600

Good morning to all. The sun is shining through my living room window right now and it cheers me up. It's been an interesting week already in respect to the weather. Who knew that you could have near 50 degree temperatures AND sleet! We sure did. Yep - the day before yesterday. Then yesterday it was warm enough that I didn't wear a coat. The wind was a little brisk at times though. Then this morning, I woke up to it snowing! Strange weather for sure.

This week has been the same story of our rollercoaster routine. My little Sugarplum got vaccinations last week and she has seemed to be more tired. So she has slept off and on a little more than usual. The last few nights she has stayed up later than normal - just didn't seem to want to go to sleep. She has typically gone to bed around 6:00pm - which is when she would be tired. Last night, it was about 9:30pm before she went to sleep! Big change. I have actually been wanting to get her to going to bed at least around 7:00pm (even 8:00pm) instead of 6:00pm. So actually her staying up later will hopefully help make that transition. It's just been hard to make any routine stick right now. My best friend encouraged me (she has 8 children - two of which are under 2) that routine will come. I guess routines are not as easy to come by during these infant months. I spent some time in prayer this morning just asking God how He thinks our day needs to go. I'm just going to keep this in prayer and seek God concerning routine, our schedule, and how our days should go. All families are different and God knows exactly what will work best for our family.

I love this stage Sugarplum is in. She just babbles on and on and on. She tries to say her name and does a pretty good job. She says bye-bye and mama and dada, talks on her baby phone, talks to her baby, it's just so cute.

The sun has creeped behind some clouds now and I see overcast skies. I know today is going to be a wonderful day - routine or no routine. It has to be because this is the day that God has made. May we all rejoice and be glad in it!

Friday Show-N-Tell

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:38:00 -0600

I was planning on showing the beautiful flowers my hubby bought me yesterday. But instead, my daughter made her own breakfast this morning. She even plated it. She loves all things chef-oriented and watches the Food Network. So this morning she put her creativity and knowledge from watching the shows to work. Here's what she created:

What we have here is a fried jelly sandwich with fresh pineapple around it, sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. She said "it was like heaven." Okay - at least I didn't have to eat it! At least she liked it and was putting her culinary skills and creativity to work. I like to see her using her imagination and applying things she learns.

For more Show-N-Tell posts, visit Mary at Raising 4 Godly Men.

Eating Healthy on a Budget - Part 1

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:50:00 -0600

I know when I wanted to start eating healthy on a budget, it helped me tremendously to read about how other people did it. It was so helpful to me to see what other's menus were like and find healthy recipes that I could try. I thought that what I have learned and what I am doing may be helpful to others out there wanting to adapt a healthier menu on a budget. Today I want to discuss the first important key to having a healthy, whole foods diet on a limited income. But before we dive into that, let me just say that first of all, our budget is $100 a week for groceries and non-food items. Keep in mind that we are still buying diapers and wet wipes. So $100 takes care of our food, toiletries, diapers, wet wipes, etc. When considering produce, it is very tempting to look at the weekly allotment we have and think - there's no way we'd be able to consume fresh fruits and veggies daily in addition to whole grains, protein and such that comprise a whole foods diet. When I decided to make the transition to a more whole foods menu for my family, I figured we would have to increase the food budget. I was pleasantly surprised to find that after carefully planning out my menu and shopping for the items needed, I actually was under budget some times and very rarely went over the $100. In fact, most times I stay within our $100 weekly allotment. Are you surprised? I certainly was! I mean, $100 for only food even seems to be stretching it. Let alone $100 for food and non-food items!

It is so possible! Now consider we're feeding four - one person being little Sugarplum who is a year old and eating regular foods. So a family of six would most likely need more money per week. There are a couple of key factors I find in having a healthy, whole foods menu plan for the family. Here's the first:

Planning. One thing about trying to eat healthy on a budget is that there's no way around it. You have to plan. Sometimes you have to know a day ahead what you're planning for dinner the next night in case you have to set something out the night before. If you're making homemade pizza dough, you have to plan out how long you need to get the dough made in order to make the pizzas in time for dinner. The other huge reason for planning is that making a grocery list is imperative. Healthy eating can't be a fly by the seat of your pants affair. At least that's been my experience. Many of the times I haven't planned things out well resulted in us having to eat something not nearly as nutritious. And in my perfectly honest opinion, canned ravioli soup is not as healthy for you as the commercials would like you to believe. :) Granted, circumstances happen and you find yourself not well prepared. In fact, I was right in that position last week. On Monday, my plan was to go and pick up our remaining groceries for the week. But plans changed and we went to look at a used mini-van that was for sale. We ended up not home until almost 10:00pm. So there I sat the next day thinking - what am I going to do for lunch? I didn't get my bread made at that point so there wasn't any homemade bread. So a sandwich was out. I hadn't had an opportunity to go the grocery that morning. So as you can see, there are times when things happen and you aren't able to stick to your original plan. However, the goal is good planning and good execution of the plan.

To plan more effectively, I recommend a few things. First, check the weekly flyer(s) for your local store(s). See what's on sale. I typically shop the sales for fresh fruit and meat. One week, Kroger had all-natural, hormone and antibiotic free lean ground turkey for $0.99 a package. I bought five packages and now have that in my freezer. My budget wouldn't allow me to buy anymore or I would have because it was such a great deal. Then last week, our local Kroger had organic cameo apples on sale for $0.98 a pound! That is a bargain for organic produce! They also had 4lb. bags of organic navel oranges on sale for $4.29. Once again, another great bargain. So that week's fresh fruit selections were apples and oranges and bananas. We usually always keep bananas around.

Once you've checked your flyer(s), check to see what you already have on hand. Maybe there's a bag of beans in the pantry that would make a great bean soup. Utilizing what you already have on hand can help save you money at the store.

Next, begin making your list of meals for the week (or two weeks, etc.). I include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks when I plan my menus. You can see one of my sample menus HERE.

Finally, it's time to make the grocery list. I write down what I need and even how much of some things I might need. If I need 5 tomatoes, then I make sure and right down 5 tomatoes. That way I don't buy more than I need or not enough of what I need.

For more frugal tips, you can visit Mary at Raising 4 Godly Men.

Tightwad Tuesday

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:50:01 -0600

Mary suggested I do my post on Whole Grain Pita Chips and Bean Dip for Tightwad Tuesday as it is also a very economical recipe. So instead of reposting it, you can click HERE to see the recipe. Today, I just wanted to add my own personal comments about healthy eating economical style. There was a time when I truly believed it was not feasible to eat really healthy with fresh produce and such. Produce just seemed so expensive and I just knew there was no way I could afford to feed my family a healthy, whole foods style menu on our budget. Let the record show that I am admitting I was wrong. Now, I do have a little more money for our grocery budget than I've had in the past. However, by most people's standards, we still have a very frugal budget. Yet, we eat very well and very healthy! So.....I thought I'd share a little about how we do it in an upcoming series because I am a FIRM believer in the importance of healthy eating not just because of what I've read and learned but also because of the difference I've seen it make personally. I am currently working on my first post in this series with hopes that I will be able to get it posted by tomorrow night. If you're interested in learning what I've learned and see how we are eating healthy on a frugal budget, please check back.

For more frugal tips, visit Mary at Raising 4 Godly Men.

Friday Show and Tell

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 13:55:00 -0600

For my show and tell today, I thought I'd share a recipe with you that includes two pictures. Try this instead of the store bought chips and bean dip. It's delicious and nutritious!

Whole Grain Pita Chips with Homemade Bean Dip

Ingredients
Whole Grain Pita Bread (be sure to buy one that is truly whole grain and no sugar in it.)
1 lb. bag dry pinto beans
1 onion, chopped
salt
garlic powder
cumin
pepper

Follow the instructions on the bag of beans to soak the beans overnight. The next morning, drain and rinse the beans well. Cook them until done. I added salt to the water while they were cooking.

When the beans are done, let them cool. Once they are cool, put them in a food processor with about 1/4 of the chopped onion, salt if needed, a little pepper, and about 1 tsp. of cumin. Process until blended and creamy like a bean dip.

For the pita chips, simple take a piece of pita bread and slice it like a pizza. You can slice it into whatever size slices you prefer. Since the pita bread is hollow in the middle, once you slice it you need to separate the two pieces in each slice. Lay them flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. There is no need for any oil on these. Toast them in toaster oven on toast setting or bake in oven until they start to brown. The darker brown they get, the crispier they'll be. Here's two pictures: one of the whole pita bread and the other of the slices.

Serve with your favorite toppings like salsa, cheese, onion, etc. Just a note, when buying prepared salsas at the store, be sure to check the ingredients as many have sugar in them. There are some brands though that don't have any sugar in them. Of course, you could make your own homemade salsa which would be even better. For more healthy recipes, click HERE.

To see what others have for their show and tell, visit Mary at Raising 4 Godly Men.

Tuesday Wrap-Up

Tue, 3 Feb 2009 12:44:00 -0600

It's been snowing again all day today. But this time it's ONLY snow - NO ice. That's the way I like it.

We're still not back on target with working on our routine since the power outages. Since the electricity came back on and we returned home, it's taken us some time to get back on track and we're just not there yet. However, little Sugarplum has adjusted back to - I hesitate to even speak the words - some routine. She's taking naps more consistently at 10:00am and 2:00pm. This is wonderful. She sleeps about 1 1/2 hours at each nap so that's not too bad. Especially considering that she usually lays back down after she wakes early in the morning and sleeps about 2 hours or so. So I think we're on the right track and it feels good to see some routine develop with her naps.

I concocted a pretty yummy lunch. However, when I tell you, you may be inclined to think it doesn't sound very good. Don't dismiss it too quickly because it truly was delicious! I made a spinach salad by putting fresh spinach in our bowls. Added grape tomatoes, carrots, and hard-boiled egg. I added some salt, garlic pepper, and fresh ground black peppercorn. Then on the top I put some of the leftovers I warmed up from our breakfast dinner my hubby made the other night: potatoes, steak, squash, zucchini, onion, and seasonings. I served this up with some homemade whole grain bread. It was delicious!

The last couple of days I've been working on next year's order for homeschool material. This is the time I do it every year. I am making some great progress. I already have language arts, health, math, science, Latin, and literature planned. I still have fine arts and history left to decide on. I will probably do geography as well.

We're back in business!

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:08:00 -0600

This has been an adventurous week! Early Wednesday morning (5:50am) we lost our electricity due to a major winter storm that came through our area bringing snow and ice. Our entire town lost power. We headed over to my parent's house because they had a gas fireplace. It was quite interesting. We were without power for almost two days. However, we were very blessed as others could go without power longer! I learned that snow can make a great refrigerator alternative. I also learned that making coffee the old-fashioned way is much more time consuming. My first go at it turned out pretty good according to my parents. Which is a great compliment because they are avid coffee drinkers. However, the second attempt didn't fare so well. It turned out quite weak and left much to be desired. I am surely thankful for my coffee maker! Our electricity came back on Thursday early evening. Let me tell you - it felt so good to be home and warm! My bed felt so good that night and so did the nice warm shower I took! I am so thankful to the Lord for keeping us all safe during that time!

Needless to say, we didn't stick to any routine. It simply was not possible! However, little Sugarplum did wonderfully well and is already getting back to the routine we were working on before the winter storm hit.

We also didn't stick to our normal way of eating as we had to eat what we could given we had no electricity. The first day the power was out, you couldn't go to stores or gas stations in our town because they were all without power as well. So many had to make due with whatever food you had on hand. Thankfully, I had all that ground beef in the freezer from several weeks back when I stocked up. We pulled that out of our freezer and my hubby cooked hamburgers on my father's grill.

Some changes are taking place. One change will alleviate some major stress for me in that particular situation as I seek to let it go and just leave it in God's mighty, capable hands. The other change will be huge and will require adjustments for us all. More on that when details are confirmed and we have more direction as to what we need to do and when. In the meantime, I am trying to take things one day at a time.

For all those who are interested in healthy recipes and information, be sure to check out my cooking blog. I have redone the blog to reflect our new way of eating and am sharing not only healthy recipes, but hopefully information on healthy eating.

And It's 11:43pm.....

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:42:00 -0600

So my plan was to be in bed by 10:00pm at the latest this week. Well, I've had some things on my mind due to some recent news. My family and I are about to undergo more change - and a huge change at that. So that's been on my mind. Last night, I knew my body felt exhausted and I was in my bed at 7:30pm. I laid there......and I laid there.........and I laid there...........................and I laid there.............................................until I rolled over and it was almost midnight and I still couldn't go to sleep! Tonight, it's almost midnight and I'm not very tired! Well, I put 2 and 2 together tonight and realized I've been taking my B-Complex supplement at lunch and I think that is part of the problem. I usually take it in the morning. But the last two days I've taken it at lunch. So, tomorrow I'll take it in the morning and I think that will probably make a huge difference.

SOOO.......for tonight I am up later. Instead of lying in bed hour after hour, tossing and turning, I figured I might as well get some posts done. So I've posted two recipes and our menu plan on my cooking blog. And I'm here now just chatting away. Interestingly enough, my eyelids are finally starting to get heavy so I think it's time to head to the bed and read a little. Hopefully, I'll be able to fall asleep easier tonight.