New Year's Resolutions

I guess I've never actually carefully considered a resolution and stuck with it. But this year I would like to attempt these things:

• Work more on setting weekly goals, and sticking to them until they are completed. 
• I want to read more with my daughter and help her along with her reading skills and confidence.
• Teach my son patience, oh and potty training should probably be mastered by the end of 2011 too.
• Be a less nagging wife.  This one will actually take some work on my part.  I need to find another approach to getting my husband to do the things I'd like him to.  Maybe a note, or simple text reminder.  But repeating myself several times and yelling hasn't been good for either of us.  And maybe I should be more of a helper to him, rather than feeling like he is here to help me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ps- Not as much of a priority as the things directly considering my family:
 I would also like to make homemade bread often.
 Be a better friend and listener.

A Love and a Hate

First of all I want to share with you a great deal that Amazon has going on right now. 

Farmer's Market Foods Organic Canned Pumpkin, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)

For just...... $10.20

when you sign up for subscribe and save.  My first shipment came today, and I've already ordered a second.  The cans that came today expire in 2013, but I doubt they'll make it that long in this house!

Secondly, I want to share with you how much I DISLIKE this product:  Big Boss Grill.  The texture of the Teflon was uneven in some spots, scratched in another.  and there is a major design flaw that when the plates are snapped into place there is a gap where the batter can drip down into the area that houses the heating element.  Simply using less batter may have been a solution.  But I measured the 1 TBSP. exactly as the recipe book that came with it suggested.  This thing also put off a ton of smoke while I was trying to make donuts in it today.  The donuts came out rubbery, not anything like the delicious prepackaged gas station cake donuts (come on, you know they're tasty!).
So  I called the company and they wont refund my purchase.  But they will send me a new one.  Whaaaaat??  I don't want a new one!  So I'll try returning it to the store next time I'm out running errands 40 minutes away with two kids in tow!  blah!  But let me make this clear, the product itself is a great idea, just needs some tweaking.

Well, Christmas vacation is coming to an end here.  Soon the princess will be back in school and the man of the house will be back at work.  It's been great to have everyone together so much and see so much family! 
Speaking of family, just one more Christmas celebration to go!  Thankfully this one I know what I'm supposed to make, and we're just doing $5 grab bag gifts for the adults.

Count Down

I want to blog about all the emotions I'm feeling right now as we head full force into celebrating Christmas.  But my emotions aren't that of someone who is celebrating Christ, but someone who is feeling overwhelmed by materialism (gifts, what the family should wear, what to serve, what to pack in the car, what dish to share, etc).
My Christmas letter this year, if I end up sending it out, is much different than any other year, and probably way different than any other letter you've ever read.  It's honest.  It's gut wrenching honest.  A little too honest for the general public, to be honest ;-) 
 But I think that's just what this world needs, a little more honesty please.
Can I throw that word in one more time? You bet I can.
I HONESTLY hope you ALL have a very Merry Christmas.  I HONESTLY hope you aren't feeling the same feelings I am right now. I hope you are all enjoying this season and have safe travels and great conversations wherever you are.

Snow, Shopping, Baking

We have MORE SNOW!  Not that we needed it, but it's here and from the sounds of it, the snow has invited it's friend, WIND, to visit too.

 

So that means I'll be here, finishing up some online shopping and tackling more Christmas baking.  My husband is really the master of cookies, but I may give it a try.  Or maybe I'll stick to muffins. Yeah, muffins I can do.  Christmas muffins?  hmmm...

If you haven't checked out Amazon yet, do it now!  There is still time to have most items shipped before Christmas.  I'm also finding great deals to stock up our "gift box". 

The only in store shopping I've done is at the second hand store.  I also had a friend bring over some of her handmade bows for me to look at.  Oh they are just beautiful!  They can be found on Etsy.

Saturday Morning

I'm baking cookies with my husband, who is also my best friend, even though we can't agree on anything most things when it comes to baking.

The kids enjoyed playing in the snow this morning, so now I'm able to enjoy their little tracks in the snow while I stand by the window doing dishes.

This is a good day :-)

I still have so many people to shop for, & what I have bought I haven't wrapped yet.  I told my husband about his Christmas present last night... he mentioned he'd like a pair of gloves, and I just can't keep my big mouth shut.. so now he knows, and I'll be on to trying to find something else for him.

Thank Goodness for online shopping or I wouldn't have anything done!

PANCAKE UPDATE

We made pancakes again.  Last nights supper was a healthier version of these pancakes. 
*I added 1/2 cup of wheat flour.  This was our first adventure with this.  We'll continue to experiment, because it worked very well.  The pancakes weren't too heavy at all.  I'll try to add more next time.  Someday I'll tell you about my "newbie" adventure with wheat flour.  It's not a great story.. It's actually a rather embarrassing story, but with a happy ending.
*I used the homemade butter I made last week. 
Finally..
*I also added blueberries.  Can I just say we all really dislike blueberries.  The little man tolerates them because he thinks they're frozen Popsicles, this sweet child has never really experienced a delicious dreamsicle.  But I thought I liked them, because I tried them once and they were okay.  So I bought a case of frozen blueberries and threw them in the freezer to use whenever we needed.
  Blueberries are great for brain health & memory, which is why I started eating them.  I was having terrible memory loss that would leave me in tears not being able to remember past events, some of my kids favorite memories I could hardly picture.  I would even look at a picture I had taken and have no idea when it was from or what it was about.  :-(   Blueberries are also a cancer fighter.  That is super important to me as our family has dealt way too much with that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad disease.  Someday I'll tell you about the amazing woman I was blessed to call  my mother-in-law. :)

I need to stay on topic here... Alright..The point of this post is to let you know these minimal changes, I believe, will provide our family with better health.  I don't know if it will make us live longer, because I don't know how long we have here on earth.  But for this day, these pancakes made us happy and our bodies feel good. 

Even with the blueberries, the pancakes were delicious!  I'm not kidding you, both of my children ate 3 of these suckers (well, pancakes, no more suckers.. remember? haha)! 
As I was mixing these and watching the color of the batter change from milky white to brownish (wheat flour), to a nasty lavenderish-blue (blueberries) I thought we might not even get past the first bite.  I have been known to throw our whole supper down the drain & call up Pizza Hut because I'm scared it will be terrible.
 My husband, bless his heart, walked in the door as I was just mixing these up.  He offered to take over the cooking so I could clean up the kitchen (really, I didn't even have to beg him!).  Of course I accepted his offer!  This man has so much faith in me, I can't even tell you how great that is.  He poured this foreign batter into the pan and never once said a word about how awful they looked. 

I can honestly tell you, these were VERY far from awful or terrible they were pleasantly WONDERFUL! 
I can't wait to take make these again, and even take them a step further.  I LOVE easy recipes, and I love even more that my family loves them!  And while I'm at it, I LOVE my family too!  I gladly praise my creator for all of these blessings!  Thank you God!!


PS. Thank you to the man, woman, or team that invented spell check.. I'd look like a fool without you!!

Thought of the day

 I read this today and wanted to share. 

Leonardo da Vinci was famous for his paintings but only managed to compose 17 painting in 67 years, and some of those were never finished. Freud claimed that this was because Leonardo's father had abandoned him. Leonardo said his inability to finish projects was because his interests were "so many and so diverse."

I'll post why this is so special to me later, after I've had a good long talk with God and my husband about what is happening right now.

YES! I did it! Pancakes!

My sweetheart and I had a nice morning making breakfast together.  Here's what we tried today.

FROM THIS:

 TO THIS:

 THE RESULTS, THESE BEAUTIFUL HOT CAKES! 

I used a pancake recipe found here.  I added cinnamon because I've read/heard that it's healthy.  There are some statistics on it from the health diaries .  Cinnamon can help with cholesterol, blood sugar, yeast infections, reduction in cancer cells, anti-clotting effect in blood.  It's also a natural food preservative. 

 Although, we sure didn't need that last benefit, there was only one pancake left when the breakfast dishes were cleared. 



  

What I love about this, even more than the fact that it's healthier, is that it's less clutter!  No need to stock an extra box on a shelf, the recipe uses ingredients I already keep on hand.

I dedicate this post to my dad.  The grandkids always beg for his pancakes when they have sleep overs there.  He uses a boxed mix, but he makes them into the cutest teddy bear shapes.

 Maybe he'll ditch the box & give this simple recipe a try next time.

Homemade Butter Recipe

This family is making the switch from cheapo plasticy margarine all the way to HOMEMADE BUTTER! 

I used my fancy shmancy Kitchenaid mixer and it was so incredibly easy!   
Ingredients: Quite literally, you really use just plan old  Heavy Whipping Cream

• Pour cream into bowl. (I used 3 of these cute little cartons)
• Attach whisk and mix on medium-high until mixture thickens.
• Once thick switch to the flat beater (it's easier to get the butter off of this, then it wont stick in the whisk).
• When the cream turns to a buttery yelllow color and is thick remove from mixer. 

 Pour off the butter milk (save for something else, or just drink).  Rinse the butter in the sink to get all of the butter milk off.    I did this by holding chunks of the butter in my hand and squeezing the extra buttermilk out until the only liquid running from the butter was the clean water I was running over it. 

Store in a container with a lid.  Enjoy with homemade bread, rolls, or anything else you would like butter on. 

You may also add seasonings to flavor the butter. 

& my neighbor also suggested to lightly salt.  I checked this out, not only will it give it a little bit of flavor, but the salt also helps the butter to keep longer.  Woo!  Bonus! 

My husband LOVES butter.  He puts butter on everything.  So for years I had been buying the biggest cheapest container I could buy.  Although this really isn't a cost effective move in terms of food dollars, I believe that long term (health care costs) that this was a great switch for our family.  I had the butter on some homemade pancakes today, and I also approve! 

If you make this let me know how it turns out for you.

Oh.... Okay, so I should be honest and add here that there would be many more pictures, that was my intention anyway.  But mid-mixing I broke down crying about how bad I suck at making things from scratch and this was never going to turn into butter.. and poof, before I knew it, the mixture had thickened and my husband heard the buttermilk sloshing around in the bowl which meant it was almost ready... I would've heard it, if I weren't so busy feeling sorry for myself.  So a big THANK YOU to my husband, for encouraging me, and not putting up with my whining.

Change Two

The second change we've made over the past few years is our food.  I used to get so excited over a sale on hamburger helper.  Then when I found Wal-Mart had their own brand of it for cheaper I thought I was the luckiest gal in the world!  Until I realized the luckiest gal in the world wouldn't be excited over the ingredient list on that package!  Even though we are still transforming we have come along way.  For 2011 the changes we'll be making will be slow, and come in phases.  For the first quarter of the year I have decided we will not purchase the following things:

Granola Bars- 
My husband loves these and eats one every day for breakfast.  the kids also love them, and I find them to be a quick snack for myself as well.  And that is why we won't be purchasing them.  they are not so terribly awful that I will never consume one again, but I am hoping to avoid the High fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial sweeteners.

Cakes-
 I love baking, but for some reason when a birthday rolls around I'm the first to say "lets go pick out your cake".  Store bought cakes will be taken off the list.  This will be super easy, since none of us have a birthday in the first quarter of the year anyway.  Man, I do love making a list that I can tackle easily!
Packaged pasta-  This one may be a big mistake.  I really have only made pasta once.  But i feel confident that I can do it and don't need to rely on Martha Gooch to do it for me.
Bottled water-This is a true sacrifice for me.  We'll see how this goes.  Without bottled water I drink less than a glass a  week.  I'm hopeful that I can make this change work.  Oh & I know water isn't unhealthy, but the plastic bottle it comes in IS.

Soda-We're pretty well stocked up right now, but if we run out before March 31st, we will get by without it.  My husband drinks a can a day.  I love him so very much and I know that this is something that will benefit him.  So I'll put up with whatever crap lines he gives me as to why he NEEDS soda and how its' actually healthy to have just one can a day...  moving on...

Fruit Snacks-  you know, the gummy little things in a package.  We have a couple boxes open right now, and a few in the pantry.  These things aren't even real fruit!  They have been a snack time staple in this house.  The youngest child here whines and cries for them and doesn't ever stop with just one package.  I usually feel like if I get one out for him i might as well have one too.  Then I'm in pain because the sugar crapola is stuck to my teeth and I wish I never heard of the things.

Suckers-Maybe if there is a great deal on organic suckers again.  Otherwise NO SUCKERS!  I don't care how cheap they are, or if my princess is offering to use her own money, no suckers!

Pancakes-
I decided since I don't know what all of these are:

Enriched Bleached Flour (Bleached Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Dextrose, Soybean Oil, Salt, Egg Yolk, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Cornstarch, Egg White, Xanthan Gum. Allergy Warning: Contains Eggs And Wheat. May Contain Traces Of Milk, Walnuts, Peanuts And Soy.

That I'm just going to have to figure out how to make pancakes on my own, using ingredients that I know.  Like Flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, egg & butter.  Wow, even typing that was easy, I bet making them will be just as simple!

A week ago I was actually having dreams about planting our garden and all of the wonderful vegetables we'll harvest.   Each year I am learning so much more and I feel like this year is going to be a great year for our garden! 

Change One

The first change our family has made and will continue to work on is following Jesus Christ.  It's not like we weren't believers before, but we really have a great passion for Him now.  Our main focus for 2011 is doing what He would like us to do.  Remember the old bracelets like this:

I could really use one of those for a constant reminder.  Or maybe a tattoo is in order.  Because I don't always act the way Jesus would, but I would love it if I did.
My head is so much clearer when I go to the Bible for the answers I need.  I am able to teach my children better when I'm teaching them from the Bible and not from my own understanding. 
My husband and I cannot always agree on everything, but we do agree that what is written in the Bible is the truth.

Changes

I'm a fan of change... All sorts of change.  Brett Favre leaving the Packers for the Vikings, Clothing, furniture placement, kitchen appliances & tools, table/drink ware, the places things are stored in the cupboards, and especially coins!  haha, get it, coins.. Because that's change too..

Okay, not nearly as funny as I thought it would be, but there is still hope this blog post will work out!

Our family has made so many changes in the past few years, mostly for the better.  I, I mean WE, have decided that there are a few really great things that are important to us, that weren't as important in the past.  I will highlight these changes in 3 posts, then I will try to update on them occasionally as well.  Be on the look out! 

I really love pumpkin

Yes, I REALLY do love pumpkin.  I think I could eat pumpkin muffins all day long.  I used a pumpkin bread recipe that I modified from my homemade cookbook.  It's actually just a 3 ring binder we had laying around.  My favorite aunt e-mailed me 9 e-mails full of attachments.  Each attatchment was a recipe of my grandma's.  So I printed these on card stock, hole punched them and snapped them in to what I now call my homemade cookbook.

Pumpkin Bread
ingredients:
1 3/4 C. Pumpkin (1can)
3 1/3 C. Flour
3 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Shortening
2/3 C. Water
4 Eggs
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon

I have no patience for beating eggs, or separating dry ingredients from liquid.  So I just put everything into a bowl & mixed it.  With my fancy new kitchenaid mixer that I am in love with.
For bread, bake at 350 degrees for just under an hour.  This time I made 24 muffins and 1 loaf of bread, the muffins I took out after about 35 minutes, the bread I turned off after 45 minutes, but left in for another 15 minutes... so the timing isn't terribly important.  I'd say if you want a general rule- 350 for 40 minutes, then do the toothpick check.

For the frosting I used a recipe I found here.

¼ C. Softened Butter

4 ounces Cream Cheese (half a bric

½ pounds Powdered Sugar 

A Splash of Vanilla


Ps- A cute little story from my "childhood".  My grandmother used to make the BEST pumpkin pie.  I used to say Punky for pumpkin... As in, "I love grandma's punky pie".  It wasn't until about a year ago when my husband corrected me I realized that I was still saying this. 

Christmas Photo Cards

With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

The cards turned out wonderful this year!! I just can't wait to get them in the mail to all of my wonderful friends and family!