Ten on Tuesday

1. Holy week was so much more poignant for me this year.  It always matters and means something to me and I find that each year I grow in my adulthood Holy week takes on new meanings and speaks to me in different ways.  This year God has been working on me so much through my health trial and suffering that I felt in a SMALL way I could relate to a teeny tiny amount of suffering Jesus went through.  Oswald Chambers once said, "You can't be crucified IN Christ if you haven't walked that path to Calvary." This hit home to me this year.  I feel like in a small way I have walked maybe a couple feet of that path to Calvary through my health trial and suffering the past 7 years (but especially the last year.)

2. We did our usual traditions of Resurrection Eggs along with reading Benjamin's Box The Story of the Resurrection Eggs. We did our Triumphal Entry reenactment, He's Alive Buns and dying Easter eggs along with our Maundy Thursday foot washing ceremony and Good Friday church Service. This year we also started something new. We made a poster all about Holy week.  There were eight squares on the poster and each day resembled something Jesus went through during the week: Palm Sunday, The Cleansing of the Temple, The questioning of Jesus, The anointing of Jesus, Maundy Thursday/Last Supper, The crucifixion/Good Friday, The Tomb and the Resurrection. We read the bible passage each day that pertained and then the boys had to draw something from the scripture on the poster to remember the day.  It was fun at the end of the week to have a memory poster of Jesus' last week - Holy week and see the kid's artwork.. I got the idea from this book: Christ In Easter: a Family Celebration

We had brown eggs this year to dye and they came out jewel colored!  They were my favorite eggs yet.

3. On Easter day we had a first!  In the evening, after our late Easter lunch and annual egg hunt we went out (after dessert too) and had a second dessert.  We roasted marshmallows around my Dad's fire pit.  It was a beautiful sunset and such a nice time.  I felt blessed I got to see the sun rise that day and the sunset that day!  I was bushed the next day though!

4. I made this Pavlova for Easter dessert again this year.  Let me tell you - IT WAS TORTURE NOT BEING ABLE TO EAT IT! Yes, I am screaming that.  Holidays are THE hardest being on these crazy diets.  If I was on the Full GAPS Diet it would be different but I am not.  Being around all the Easter food that day was extremely hard.  I wont lie! I did deal with quite a bit of discouragement throughout the day in regards to food.

Seriously decadent!  Soft yet crunchy pillowy meringue crust filled will lemon curd whipped cream and topped with strawberries.  OH MY GOODNESS! Yum.

5. Thanks to a good friend, I found a source for raw milk. You know the kind that is not ultra-pasteurized and homogenized?  The kind that has good enzymes and building blocks of life still alive in it.  I prayed for a while to find a farmer to supply us with this at a good price.  God answered my prayers.  We now pick up our milk organic, raw milk every Thursday from our farmer friend.  It is so cool too because he is going to supply us with farm fresh organic eggs AND grass fed beef with the fat and bones all for an excellent price.  I am SO thankful!  He is the nicest guy too.  He even said that he would hatch us chickens if we want to start having our own.  Maybe in the near future! I am also looking into beekeeping.  We can't have that here at our house but we can at my parents.  Honey is getting expensive due to the bee shortage.

6. I made raw milk sour cream and raw milk yogurt with some of the milk we got.  I am still trying to perfect it so when I do I will be posting about it.  It did turn out good and the boys loved the fruit sweetened one I made with strawberries and pineapple for them. They have it sometimes in the morning for breakfast.

6. Our annual Homeschool Encouragement night - Curriculum night is coming up and I am so excited. I am a curriculum junkie.  It is so much fun to see them in person and get excited about what I am going to use in the fall for school. 

7. I have been conflicted lately.  There are seriously so many books I want to read.  I keep checking them out from the library and forming stacks all over the place for me to read and I end up playing a tug of war with scrapbooking, computer stuff (like blogging), and reading.  I want to make more time to read though and it WILL happen. I did just read this book about Oswald Chambers though and it was enlightening.  Did you know that he never actually wrote a book?  All of his books were done by his wife after his untimely death at a young age (in his 40's.)  She compiled a lot of his writings and sold them as books. Thanks to her, we have My Utmost for His Highest and many other of his writings compiled to read and learn more about Christ.  His faith was amazing.

8. Friends have told me numerous times that they have tried to comment on my blog and had a problem.  I am curious as to how many people have this problem so if you read this post would you mind commenting on the post in the comments section below so I can try and figure out what the problem is?  Also if you could tell me if your comment came from a mobile device or a home computer it would help.  Thanks!

9. I am itching to update my blog. An entire re-design, probably not on blogger either.  My own actual website.  The problem is finding the time to do it.  I know right now it can't happen because of everything going on but maybe over the summer?  I will be praying about when and wait on the Lord's timing to see if that is something I should be spending my time on.

10. God has answered my prayers in finding some support in regards to my health walk.  I have had to navigate this entire 7 years almost alone.  What I mean by that is that I knew no one who had the same convictions of treating naturally and was going through similar health issues to go through this along side me.  I have certainly had A LOT of support in getting me through (thankfully) but no one that can wholeheartedly relate on the thyroid struggles, diet struggles, emotional struggles, financial struggles, doctor struggles and more.  God answered my prayers and  gave me some friends interested in doing the GAPS diet and dealing with several of the same issues.  We met for the first time last Saturday and I am so excited to have a our little mini support group. It is, and already has been, such a blessing. 

11. (Bonus) Today we were doing a project for History  and we had to paint Clay Pots like they did in ancient Greece.  We went to the store and bought pots and I had paint.  The boys and I got started and I told Cody sit in his chair correctly otherwise you will knock your pot off and break it.  Well what do you think happened?  Yup!  You're right, he broke it when he was almost done.  Oh, the crocodile tears.  I felt so bad for him.  For his disobedience he got the natural consequence - no pot.  Then shortly after Corbin was almost done with his and he got it too close to the edge of the table and dropped and broke his TOO!  AGGGHHH!  Tears everywhere.  Corbin was so sweet though, he said I will buy Cody another pot and himself one too if I would take them.  So sure enough we went back to the store and got more.  They redid them.  The first ones were better because they took more time but at least they got to have something to show for their time and I think they did a good job. What an ordeal.  I had fun painting mine though and didn't break it! :-) Aren't you proud of me?  We are going to plant some herbs in these outside after I clear coat them.

I hope you have a wonderful week and look forward seeing your comments (or not- if it doesn't work) to see if I have blog comment problems.

~Blessings~

Cherry Season

One of the reasons I love living where I do is that any time a fruit is in season I can go and pick it fresh from an orchard that is growing it.  Fresh and Local is what it is all about these days right?  I love supporting our local farmers and orchards.

Around this time of the year the cherries are in season and growing in abundance on the trees! This is the first time I have ever gotten to go to a cherry orchard that literally has hundreds of trees and pick fresh cherries off the trees.  Each tree was either loaded with sweet red cherries, Bing cherries or pie cherries.  Before now I didn't even know there were pie cherries!

I love picking fresh produce right from the plant because it helps my kiddos to know that food actually grows and doesn't just appear in a store!  It also helps them to understand that there is a lot of hard work and time that goes into harvesting fruits and vegetables.

We went with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins and they brought one of their college friends too. Cody really enjoyed picking cherries with Johnny.

Corbin has a cherry in his mouth here.  They were so good looking it was hard to not taste a few!

Brother "love" time or wrestle time.

Our first bounty.

The whole crew.  Steve had to work that day as well as the second time we went :-(  He was missed. My parents were out of town the first time too. We took them when they got back into town though.  The pie cherries were more ripe then too.

The first time we went I picked 5 pounds of cherries and the second time I picked 7 pounds of cherries.  Another thing about local and fresh is the price!  They were only $1.00 a pound. 

I have had so much fun with these.  I bought a cherry pitter and pitted all of them.  I froze some for smoothies and to use later for cherry crisp and cobbler (Gluten free of course).  We also ate some of them for lunches. Then I made some Vanilla Dark Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream.  Oh my goodness was it good.  Click here for the recipe.  I didn't use alcohol or bittersweet chocolate. I used dark chocolate. I also added some vanilla.

This was divine.

With the second batch of cherries I made these Cherry Almond Muffins.  I used agave instead of honey and coconut oil instead of olive or grapeseed.  They turned out great.  I couldn't have a bunch of cherries and not make some cherry pie filling.  I made multiple batches of the filling.  The pie cherries really do make a difference.  They give the pie filling that little bit of tartness, that zing. Up next for the cherries, canning with my Mom and Aunt this week making Cherry Jam.  Yummers!

The next fruit in season that I can't wait for is peaches.  These are my all time favorite fruit.  I will be picking a lot of these!

Do you have any cherry recipes that you make every year?  How about family traditions with cherries or fruits that are in season?  I would love to hear about it.

~Blessings~

A dream come true

For real... I am living a dream come true.

I have been dreaming of living where it snows for so many years now I can't even count.

Not only did God bless me by moving us to a place that gets snow (just enough to be fun and not scary) but he moved my family here too!  My Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and my Parents.  I could have never imagined God would do this.

Today we got our first big snow of the year.  Kind of a late start to winter where we live so we were really anticipating our first real snow.

We woke up today with huge fluffy flakes of snow swirling around outside in the winter wonderland.  Everything was white and looked like it was coated in soft, fluffy cotton. I literally got tears in my eyes when I saw it.  I know that is silly to some but to this girl it's for real ~  A dream. The pleasure God gives us with His creation. Breathtaking.

We hurried through school (yeah, we homeschoolers don't always get "snow days") and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for our first sled and snowman building!

Steve couldn't help himself and did a few "drifts" in the car on the way over.  The boys loved it!

Here are some pictures of our fun time at Grandma and Grandpa's today

Pulling up to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Corbin taking the first run.

I love creating good memories with these guys. Living a dream.

My turn with Cody!

My mom joined in and had so much fun.

There goes my dad!  What a trooper.  He loved it.

Cody's turn.  It looks like he is having fun in this picture BUT when he got to the bottom of the hill he said "My not want do that!"  AGGGHHHH!  He started wailing.  He was brave though and really deep down I think he liked it.  Just a bit scary for a two year old!

He liked going down with Daddy much better.

After we sledded for a while we decided to build snowmen.  We were going to do one together but then we each decided it would be fun to build our own.  They all turned out unique!

Steve and my mom teamed up and built this guy.  I call him Howie. We all used parts and pieces to this snowman kit we got a long time ago.  It has buttons, eyes, carrot nose, hat, etc...

Here's my little girl.  I call her Matilda.

My Dad had some help from Cody.  Here is his snowman.  I call him Gramps.

Corbin and Grandma also built one together.  I call him Corky.

We had so much fun building snowmen.  Steve said it had been probably 20 years since he had built a snowman.  I have never built one so this was a first for me!

I just had to get a picture of Cody in his snowsuit.  Before we moved my friend Gina gave us this snowsuit and I am SO happy that we have it.  It fits Cody perfectly.  He was snug as a bug in a rug.

All cozy.

After we were done outside we went in and I made Paula Deen's snow ice cream.  I have literally been wanting to make this for about 5 years.  Ever since I saw her make it on her show.  We just never had any snow to make it with!  Now we do.  Yay!

It definitely lived up to my expectations and I can't wait to make it again.  Everyone loved it and it was a cinch to make.

Here I am at the end of the day soaking it all in.  Warming up by my parents fire place.  They were so generous to let us come over even in the midst of unpacking.  We had such a great time.

~Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His love endures forever!~

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries

I had been wanting to make this dessert since before I was told to abstain from gluten.  After that diganosis I really wanted to make it because I knew it was gluten free and would still be decadent and yummy.  Thse are the things I tend to miss with a GF diet. (I am adapting though.)

The perfect opportunity came with Easter to make this Pavlova.  What a wonderful spring dessert!

Do you know what a Pavlova is? 

Basically it is a 7-9 inch round of perfectly cooked meringue shaped like a basket.  Slightly crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside.  You can fill it with fresh berries and drizzle on berry sauce or you can put a layer of homeade, tangy lemon curd down first, then top with berries.  There are really endless possibilities. 

I highly recommend making this.  It is easy, beautiful, tart, sweet, decadent and gooey all at the same time!

Click on the title for the recipe I used...

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries

Mounds Bars

I started making this dessert for Christmas time last year.  I had it for the first time at one of my MOMS functions at church and I loved them so much.  I happen to really like coconut so this was a winner for me.  These bars are so easy to make and that is another reason I love them.

My friend Camille gave me this recipe and I have adapted it a bit.  They are always a hit!  Try them.

There are three layers to this dessert:

graham cracker crust

coconut layer

chocolate chip layer (sorry its blurry)

Recipe:

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. melted butter
1 can Eagle Brand condensed sweetened milk
4 c. coconut
1 12oz. bag oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper that comes over the sides. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter, and bake in 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 8 min. Mix the condensed milk and coconut together, and spread gently on baked crumbs (this part you might have to do with your fingers gingerly so you don't disturb the crust below.) Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Pour chocolate chips over warmed coconut layer and stick it back in the oven until you see the chocolate chips melting (about 5 minutes.)  Remove it from the oven and spread the chocolate chips evenly over the top of the the whole dessert.  Let it cool and put it in the refrigerator about 2 hours or more.  Once they are completely chilled remove the whole dessert from the pan by pulling the parchment paper.  Set the dessert on a cutting board and with a sharpened butchers knife (the big knife) cut them into squares.  They are rich so don't make the squares too big.

Make these and you will have one happy camper - or many happy campers!  Corbin literally asks if he can have one every hour of the day!



Sweet Potato Pie with a pecan streusel toppping and toasted marshmallow drizzle

Wow!  How is that for a name.  Say that ten times fast.

I made this pie for my family tonight because we were doing a thanksgiving themed dinner time and this was the finale. - I don't mean the turkey and the whole bit (we are saving that for the actual day.) What I mean is our tradition of writing what we are thankful for, singing a worship song about thankfulness (I will enter His gates with Thanksgiving my heart) and looking up and reading some thankful Bible verses. I also read about the Thankfulness of the Pilgrims and how in the beginning they only had rations of five kernels of corn each day. We also talked about the character of Squanto and how he showed great kindness and generosity. It was a wonderful time and the family gave the pie rave reviews. In fact some people had TWO pieces. I won't say who though (not me this time...hehheeheh. Although I wanted to.)

Sweet Potato Pie with a Pecan Streusel topping and Toasted Marshmallow drizzle

1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (I like to use home-roasted not canned but you can use canned)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tlbs dark corn syrup

1 cup evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground ginger

9 inch graham cracker crust (deep dish) In this recipe I did not use a deep dish.  I used regular depth crust and made 6 extra little mini pies.

For Streusel

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tlbs all-purpose flour

2 tlbs butter

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

For Marshmallow drizzle

1/2 cup marshmallow fluff (warmed)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine sweet potatoes, brown sugar, dark corn syrup, evaporated milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger in mixing bowl.  Whisk it all together until it is combined.  Pour into crust.  Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, add all steusel ingredients into a bowl and with a pastry cutter combine until crumbly.  After 15 minutes carefully take the pie out, turn the oven to 350 degrees and add the streusel topping to the pie.   Cook another 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center.  Let it cool for about a half an hour. Warm the marshmallow fluff and drizzle over the pie.  Use a kitchen torch to brown or toast the top of the marshmallow. (In my picture I didn't do this because I did not have access to my kitchen torch but it would have made it oh so good.)

 

Changin' it up

Good day everyone!  I am going to be changing things up on Mondays around here for a while.  There are such a variety of foods I cook around this time of the year that I just have to share with you.  A lot of them are favorites that I only cook once or twice a year.  What I plan on doing each Monday is posting one of my favorite fall or winter recipes with pictures. Lord willing!  I just love reading blog posts with pictures and I always feel like I am cheating my readers if I don't post pictures!  Does that sound fun?  Does that sound yummy?  I hope so!  My mouth is watering right now just thinking of some of the tastiness that awaits. 

Be prepared for a good amount of sweets to come your way because one of the things that bring me the most joy is baking.  I do love cooking but baking and desserts are my favorite.

This Monday I bring to you a very decadent, spicy, creamy dessert. Guess what?  It is easy, easy, easy to make too.  Not only is it beautiful to serve and says fall is here but it is the perfect end to a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!

The Perfect Pumpkin Cream Trifle

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix

• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups cold milk
• 2 (3.4 ounce) packages cheesecake flavor instant pudding and pie filling
• 2 cups whipped topping
• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
• 1 cup English toffee bits
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Combine the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and pie spice in a large mixing bowl; pour into the prepared dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Cut the cake into 1-inch cubes.
4. Whisk together the milk and cheesecake pudding mix. Allow to set, about 2 minutes. Fold the whipped topping into the pudding mixture.
5. Layer 1/3 of the cake cubes into the bottom of a large bowl; top with 1/3 of the cream mixture and sprinkle with 1/3 of the pecans and toffee bit. Repeat layering until all ingredients are uses. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.  Makes 20 servings.


I got this recipe off of All Recipes a couple of Thanksgivings ago.  I have made it before and it truly is a wonderful dessert.  As we say around here "It is a keeper!"

Banana Crumb Muffins

In honor of my friend Susie who is in town I thought I would post a recipe that she gave to me.  I actually made these over the weekend because I had three over ripe bananas.  I do like banana bread too and I have a great recipe for that that I will share sometime but I like to change it up and make these muffins too.  I usually love these straight out of the oven because the crumb top is a little crisp and the muffin is warm.  The recipe makes about 10-12 muffins. I like to use them for quick breakfasts too.  Try em' you'll like em'.

  A lot of my family recipes I have in this format (4x6 photo) and I print them at Costco 4x6 size and store them in my picfolio albums. They are my family recipe books.  I am working on getting all my recipes in this format.  This idea is just one of the many things you an do with Storybook Creator Plus 3.0.

He's Alive Buns

I like to try and do fun stuff with Corbin that has to do with the up and coming holiday.  Sometimes it's crafts, sometimes it has to do with cooking but if it a Christian holiday I always try to find a way to incorporate the TRUE meaning of the holiday into our creative session.  When I saw this recipe in my MOMS of all Seasons newsletter I knew I had to try this with Corbin this year. My friend Michelle M. created the recipe and shared it in the newsletter.  They are called He's Alive Buns and they are really yummy!

Here are some of the ingredients.  Forgive the photography skills here, I had to take this one quick because Corbin couldn't wait to get started.

First you pop open the biscuits.  You'll need to flatten them out a bit to fit the whole marshmallow in the middle.

Wrap the biscuit around the marshmallow and seal it shut.

Then the goodness begins!  Dip the biscuit already laden in butter in more butter! Melted butter of course.  After that, dip it into a cinnamon and sugar mixture, coating all sides.

As you can see Corbin had to lick his fingers.

Have I told you that cinnamon and sugar brings me great joy? LOVE it!

Cook them according to the biscuit package recommendations.  Here is my dear son waiting patiently.

He's Alive, He has risen! The tomb is empty. Praise God.  Now I must tell you that this photo does not do these buns justice.  They are ooey gooey on the inside and bottom and crunchy and crusty on the outside.  If I had my Macro Lens then I could have gotten a much better shot of this decadence.

My family gobbled these up and I wont tell you how many I had.

The Recipe

1 package tube biscuits

1 package large marshmallows (you only need 8 though)

3Tlbs melted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

5 or 6Tlbs. sugar 

Take each biscuit out and stretch and flatten it enough to fit the marshmallow inside.  Wrap the biscuit around the marshmallow and seal really well.  Dip the biscuit in melted butter and then dip it in the cinnamon & sugar mixture.  Lay on a foiled line cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.  Cook according to biscuit packaging.  Eat them when they are warm.  You wont be able to just have one.

Luke 24

The Resurrection

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!  Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again,' "  Then they remembered his words.