Summer Circle of Life

    Last night's salad was from our garden, except for the lettuce. The tomatoes, cucumber, and pepper were so much tastier than any store- bought vegetables. I didn't even put dressing on, it was so tasty! (Which brings me to a side note that the kids reminded me of this week. Why did the tomato turn red when it opened the fridge? Because it saw the salad dressing!)

    I put all the peelings, seeds, bad spots, and the lettuce core in an ice cream bucket for my son's chickens. He has two Barred Rock hens that he hatched for FFA last spring. Peggy and Penny have just started laying eggs. We are SO excited! He also has 25 or 26 GORGEOUS Blue Copper Marans- 6 roosters and the rest hens- that my friend from work gave him for free. WHAT. A. GIFT!! The chickens LOVE all the scraps that we add to their diets. (If you have chickens, make sure you check before you feed them things, though. There are several foods or parts of foods that will make them sick.)

    Aren't these eggs beautiful? My son mostly feeds the chickens grain that is leftover from the cows. The original plan was that they would be free-range, and then they could just eat out of the barnyard. That hasn't happened yet, though. The Chicken Daddy is very protective of his girls/ children, and keeps them in tractors that he moves everyday up and down the back yard. For a 17 year old kid, he has demonstrated a lot of character in taking full responsibility for this endeavor. He designed and built the first tractor with his own money. The second tractor he remodeled from a bench thing that a friend gave me- but he used his truck to go get it with me, and he fixed it up to suit the chickens. But, enough bragging on my kid. This is a boring post about gardening and the circle of life.

    The eggshells from the eggs that we use get recycled 2 different ways. The Chicken Daddy takes some of them, dries them out, grinds them up in his grain grinder (that he bought or asked for as a gift back in Jr. High!), and adds the shell powder to the chicken feed. The high calcium content is good for them, and the calcium supplement also makes the eggs they lay have harder egg shells. The other way we use the egg shells is that I crunch them up by hand and sprinkle them around my garden plants. This detours slugs this year and fortifies and loosens the soil for next year as they get tilled back into the dirt. 

    So, that's one of the MANY cycles of life on the farm. We get yummy veggies from the garden, we give the scraps to the chickens, the chickens lay eggs for us to eat, the eggshells go back into the garden and chicken feed, and then we have more yummy vegetables and eggs to eat!

Sunday Confessions

"Good Baptists" don't DO confession. But maybe we SHOULD! We are told in 1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful & just to forgive us our sins…" James 5:16 commands us to "Confess your faults one to another, pray for one another…". 

Here's my confession. I don't belong in church today. I am tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, angry. Jesus said, "Out of the heart the mouth speaks." My weariness & frustration is spewing out all over the sweet, innocent people around me, & I am making their lives miserable. How can I teach my 2s&3s class to be patient & kind & not throw temper tantrums when Miss Anna herself threw a tanrtum and is not being kind and loving?

But church is EXACTLY where I need to be today! I need to be surrounded by other Believers. I need to hear God's Word. I need to be reminded of my sinfulness & waywardness. I need to be reminded that "Jesus Loves Me", as I sing with my 2s&3s class. I need to be reminded that Jesus forgives me. I need to hear that God wants me to go from here and keep working on being the person He wants me to be. I need to hear that He gives me strength. I need reminded that even though I have shamed my God by my actions & attitudes, He wants me to do my best to bring Him honor & glory from this moment forward. 

The Measure of Success

How do YOU measure success?  Some people measure success by affluence or status.  Some women measure their success by how they do against the men in the business world or by how many children they have.  I am tempted to measure my success as a Mom by how well behaved my children are in public. And I measure their behavior by my standards, not by that nice stranger's who tells me how nicely behaved my children are as they go through the grocery store singing at the top of their lungs.  I measure my success as a housewife by the amount of clutter on my counters, how many meals could be eaten by a small child off my floor (or how well you could grow a garden in all the mud that's been traipsed in), AND by how long the counters, flooors, etc., have looked the way they do now. Meeting my own standards can be very discouraging.  So discouraging that I often just give up on maintaining any semblance of order in my home or life. I am learning to set smaller, more attainable goals.  This week I am happy when I at least have the dishwasher and washing machines running by naptime.  Somedays making sure that everyone has clothes on and gets fed 3 meals-hot or cold- is the most realistic goal I can set for myself.

What is God's measure of success for someone who follows Him? Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." -Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30-31, Luke 10:27 God told the prophet in ancient times, "He has shown you, oh mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" Micah 10:37  Put God first, love your fellow man (little ones and big ones), and realize that you WILL make mistakes and not measure up to God's standards or your own, and then accept God's love and forgiveness for your shortcomings, and keep pluggin' along!

McDonald's Breakfast at Home

Some mornings we just NEED McDonald's, but in a family our size, we don't NEED the bill that comes with it. So, I "hack" my way through to a cheaper and more wholesome "meal in a hurry" for busy Saturdays.  Here's how:

#1 English muffins.  I admit, I have never been able to successfully make home made English muffins.  They just don't turn out right for me.  So I buy the 12 pack, or horror of horrors! 2 6-packs of the leading brand.  Whatever.  Still cheaper than McD's! :)

#2 Home made sausage patties.  You could buy pre-made patties, but we are all about saving money, right?  I just divide 1 lb of our favorite sausage into 8 thin  patties and fry 'til brown.  If you fry up an extra pound, you can cool them and then freeze in a zippie bag for quick week-day grab-and-go. (Or prepare them on a weekday for that upcoming oh-so-busy Saturday morning!!) You can also brown some sausage links (1 or 2 per sandwich, then just split lengthwise), bacon, or use leftover ham slices or shaved deli-ham.

#3 Eggs. If you like 'em scrambled, just whisk 4 eggs in a bowl, then fry in a small frying pan, flip to cook the second side, and cut into 1/4ths.  Even easier, we just crack 4 eggs into the small frying pan, poke their yolks to make them cook faster, then eat them over-medium or hard.  Easy-peasy.  If you want to go gourmet with your fast food, you could also make omelets and divide them into serving-sized helpings. However you choose to cook your eggs, you can also make up extra ahead and freeze.

#3HASHBROWNS!!!!! Can you tell this is my favorite part of a McDonald's breakfast? ;)  Here's the link for the recipe I used.   As usual, I did not follow the directions totally, and skipped the "freeze and shape" steps.  I also do not deep fry. I just spooned the mix into the well-olive-oiled fry pan, flattened them a little with the back of the serving spoon, and fried them on both sides until brown and crispy.  Delish without all the fat!!

#4 Drinks.  Serve this delicious on-the-go meal with either scalding hot coffee or nice cold orange juice to complete your meal.

#5 Enjoy your McDonald's at home meal!!

Shaker Gingerbread

Shaker Gingerbread is our version of "Christmas Pudding".  Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas I just HAVE to make it.  I grew up eating Mom's very tasty gingerbread, and I learned to like Mincemeat Pie.  THIS is the perfect combination of the two!  I found the original recipe in Country Living Magazine, put out by our local Rural Electric Cooperative.  This is my own unique version of the recipe!!

Shaker Gingerbread
1 C. Brown Sugar
2/3 C. Butter or margarine
3 Eggs
1 C. Molasses
1 C. Plain Yogurt
3 1/2- 4 C. Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 C. Mincemeat (see following recipe)
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Cardamom
1/2 tsp Cloves

Cut butter into sugar.  Blend in eggs, molasses, yogurt, baking soda, mincemeat and spices.  Stir in flour.  Bake in greased 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

Anna's "None Such Mincemeat"
I can't see buying a jar of mince for $5 or more, when I can make it for $1 or 2!! So, I took the ingredients from a jar, and developed my own.  It is much lighter in flavor, but can be adjusted to suit your personal taste.

1/2 C. Water
2 C. Raisins
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1 C. Molasses
3 Apples, peeled, cored, & chopped
1 Tbsp Dried Lemon Peel or Zest
dash of salt
1/4 C. Dried Orange Peel
1 TBSP Pumpkin Pie Spice (See below, or use commercially prepared mix)
1/4 C. Flour or 2 TBSP Cornstarch
1/2 -1 tsp. Rum flavoring
1/2-1 tsp. Brandy flavoring

Combine all ingredients in saucepan or microwave container.  Cook until apples are tender, raisins are soft, and sauce is thickened.  *Note: I buy up lemons and oranges in the winter when they are on sale, and then dry the peels as we use the fruit.  Then, I grind the dried peels in the blender or food processor, and store them in glass jars or clean spice jars for future use.  This is MUCH cheaper than buying store-bought lemon and orange peel or zest.

Pumpkin Pie Spice 

·         4 tablespoons ground cinnamon

·         4 teaspoons ground nutmeg

·         4 teaspoons ground ginger

·         3 teaspoons ground allspice

·         2  teaspoons ground cloves

I stole this recipe from the internet, but I can't remember from where.  It works, and is cheaper than store bought.  Just re-use a spice container, or store in a small glass jar.

Slainte!

We have pasta night once a week, usually on Friday.  Last Friday we had other plans, so pasta night got bumped, and Daddy doesn't have any leftover past for his lunches.  So, I scheduled pasta night in earlier this week.  Hey, it breaks up the routine, right?  Most of the family really likes spaghetti, but some also like chicken fettuccine alfredo.  So, when I make alfredo sauce, I usually do a red sauce, too.  This Tuesday was one of those nights where I made a big batch of pasta and sauce.  Leftover pasta is always good, it freezes well, and makes for great non-sandwich lunches.  The bread is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside- great for dipping in pasta sauce, soup, or herb oil.

So, here's my pasta night recipes....

Italian Bread
2 pkgs (4 1/2 tsp) yeast
2 1/2 C warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
7 C flour, plus some for kneading
1 egg white, 1 Tbsp water, cornmeal

Mix yeast, 2 cups flour, salt and sugar in large mixing bowl.  Add warm water and stir until blended. Stir in next 5 C flour until too hard to mix.  Pour onto floured surface and knead in the rest of the flour, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Oil the mixing bowl well with olive oil.  Place lump of dough in bowl, cover with moist flour-sack towel, and set in warm area.  Let rise for at least 1-2 hours.  Separate dough and place on well-oiled baking stone or baking sheet. Mix egg white and water, and brush mixture on top of loaves. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Allow to rise for 1 more hour, at least.  Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.  Cool for 15 minutes before slicing with serrated knife and serving.
An alternate method is this: After kneading, divide dough in 2-4 round balls.  Place on greased baking stone or in a dutch oven, or roll into log and place on greased baking sheet like a french baguette. Brush with egg white wash and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover with moist towel, and allow to rise several hours (all day or overnight).  Follow baking directions as above. Makes 2 large round or long loaves, or 4 shorter, thinner baguettes.


Chicken Alfredo Sauce
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 stick (1/2 C) margarine or butter
1 C Half and half or evaporated milk
2 cups Parmesan and/or Romano cheese (1 regular size sprinkle can)
2 Tbsp parsley
Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme) to taste
2 cloves minced garlic, or garlic powder to taste

In large sauce pan, cook and shred chicken, garlic, and seasonings.  Add butter and milk. Stir in cheese until mixed and melted through.  Serve over fettuccine or other pasta.

Easy Meaty Red Sauce
1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, or sausage, or a mix of meats)
1 can or jar of cheap spaghetti sauce
garlic powder
basil
oregano
thyme
rosemary
parsley

Brown meat in large frying pan or saucepan.  Add spaghetti sauce and spices to taste.  If you use fresh spices from your kitchen garden or farmer's market, you will need 1/2 to 3/4 less than you would dried seasonings (1 or 2 sprigs of each fresh herb and 1-2 cloves garlic).  Simmer for 10-15 minutes to let the flavors marry.  Serve over spaghetti or other shaped pasta.


Serve your meal with green beans (with or without bacon, turkey bacon, or Bacos), and a simple green salad.  We like to pretend to keep our meals "authentic", so we drink grape or apple juice on past night, served in fun plastic goblets.  Of course, you can't truly enjoy pasta without listening to some Pavarotti, Bocelli, Paul Potts, Three Tenors, Il Volo, or other Italian and operatic music! Slainte!

Sports Party

May 3, 2015  Today we had our Spring Birthday Party.  The kids always have fun planning (and executing!) their birthday parties.  Since we have 3 kids born in April and May, and 2 born in November, we have a Spring and a Fall family birthday party.  All 5 kids collaborate on the parties, whether it's their turn or not, with official birthday kids' preferences weighing a little more than those whose birthday is in the off-season.  Over lunch one day on Spring Break the kids just started throwing out ideas, so I quickly grabbed paper and pencil, and here's what we came up with.  This is NOT meant to be a party-planning post, but maybe it will give you some ideas for one of your next get-togethers with family and friends.

So, we started with food.  We made up names based on local sports teams- everything from local high schools and colleges to our favorite pro and semi-pro teams.  Browns Brownies, Smithie Smoothies, Bobcat Burgers, Rubber Ducks $1 Dogs, Indians Ice Cream, OSU Buckeyes, Cavs Corn, Cedarville Yellow Jackets Lemonade, Buffalo Bills-Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip etc.  Some of the other food items weren't tied to a particular team, but were still sports related.  Gatorade, popcorn, peanuts, crackerjacks, Sports themed cake, "adult beverages"= soda pop, and chocolate dipped pretzel rods= baseball bats.  My 13 year-old computer whiz made little labels for all the food and attached them to toothpicks or directly to the dishes.

I found some cheap wrapping paper on clearance, so we used it as a table runner.  The napkins were clearance too!  Sometimes a mish-mash party is more fun than one that's all matchy-matchy.  It can be more laid back and cheaper, too!

Decorations were kept simple.  My 13 year old can do anything with Word and Paint, so she made up a bunch of pennants featuring all the local sports teams, including the colleges of all the guests.  The birthday girl is a big fan of my Little Pony, so big sister even made a pennant for Canterlot High!

College Pennants

Pennants and sports stick-ons

More pennants

As you can see on the middle picture, above, we also had sport shaped stick-on all over the walls.  The little sisters traced cookie cutters onto construction paper, cut them out, added details, and stuck tape on the back.  If you don't have sports shaped cookie cutters, you can use stencils or print templates off the computer.

Middle sister made a "scoreboard" out of cardboard and stenciled letters to highlight the birthday kids' new ages.  Once again, our "100 Cookie Cutters" set came in handy!

Sports memorabilia help with decorating

Mother Goose got a helmet and jersey to help celebrate. $1 games on the coffee tables gave guests something to do in between main events, and doubled as guest prizes.

Little Brother, who was also the youngest birthday kid, dressed up his special friend so they would be twins for the party.  

Party games included backyard baseball (ok, it was really whiffle ball), and basketball with the Little Tykes hoop.  We also had other balls available for impromptu 2 square or other ball games. Some other activities we thought of doing were tug-of-war and bean bag toss.  

Party bags!!  You can't have a party without giving goodie bags to the guests.  We pretty much raided the $1 Store for this part.  We found drawstring sport bags,  referee whistles, balls, and water bottles.  We also added handfuls of candy and granola bars.  A couple other things we had thought of were ball caps, stickers, and individual boxes of cracker jack.

We found these 2 websites to be helpful: http://www.birthdayinabox.com/party-ideas/sports.html

http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/birthday-party-ideas.html

Have fun at YOUR next sports party!