Planning ahead

The next three months are fairly dull compared to the rest of the year. We do have James and John Micah's birthdays. And a snow day would be exciting for us Southerners. But all in all, it's too cold to do much besides stay at home.

So why not use that to my advantage? When warm weather returns, we're going to be heading to the park and museum/zoo trips. It will be harder for me to cook every night. But right now, it's a great thing to cook more and help heat the house. So I'm committing to cooking one extra meal each week for the freezer.

Last week, I doubled my batch of cornbread chicken dressing. Last night, I made a huge batch of bone broth chicken soup and put a 5 quart ice cream bucket full in the freezer. These could be available if I got sick and needed a pre-made meal. Or saved for warm weather when I might be gone all day with the children.

$100 grocery challenge
Meet Penny has a great idea for keeping us on track with our budget for 2015. Her budget for groceries, cleaning supplies, toiletries and such equals to $25 per person. For our family of 7, that would be $175. I'm going to join in on that challenge.

I plan to use bulk purchasing to keep my budget in line. I want to use my menu rotations to calculate what I need for a year and purchase at the lowest price point. I will need 25 lbs each of white, red and black beans. I would like to get some buckets to store beans, oats and such.

Grocery stores have cycles throughout the year on what goes on sale. Here's a list. Loss leaders can be used to our advantage.

I don't think I'll be using many coupons. Most coupons are for processed foods. But they can be used strategically for health and beauty products at CVS along with Extra Care Bucks. I do get some meat coupons for Winn Dixie in the mail. Target also has coupons for meat and produce.

Keeping my cleaning simple with borax, baking soda, vinegar and dish detergent.

Stocked up on diapers right now and using less and less as the children grow. Hopefully there will be very little of the budget going to diapers in 2015. We feel a little richer already!

Organizing crochet/knit supplies

To get started, all you really need are a hook or needles and a ball of yarn. But after a while, the accessories start to add up.

• stitch markers
• needle guages
• yarn needles
• cable needles
• scissors
• different sizes of hooks and needles
• bobbins
• stitch holders

I claimed a stash on a freecycle-type group. This lady's stash contained some things that I don't know that I'll ever even use but I have it if I need it. But all this stuff has to be in an accessible place to be useful. It does no good if I can't find it.

I used a Lancome makeup bag. I also found two little organizers (probably for beads or something similar) at a consignment sale. I can organize all the yarn needles, bobbins, stitch markers and such and still have room behind the organizers for hooks, double pointed needles, scissors and more. 

This provides a place for the children to find what they need for their yarn crafts and a place to put things back so that we aren't losing things that we need on a regular basis. It's compact and easy to grab and carry with me.






Joseph is pointing to give you an idea of how small and compact it is. Staying organized means that I can easily carry projects on the go and more projects actually get finished. How do you organize your supplies?

To GAPS or not to GAPS

I have wrestled with whether or not to start the diet in January as planned. Part of me feels like we need a stricter diet. But I had no idea how effective some of the babysteps would be. I didn't expect to be feeling any better. I was just trying to get used to the way of cooking so that I wouldn't crash and burn with the GAPS diet. What I'm finding that is working for us is going to be real close to the GAPS diet so I'll probably be using a lot of those recipes.

I wanted a healthier diet so that we could fight off colds better. I've had a cold for several days. But it's been incredibly mild as long as I drink my kefir and ginger tea (2x a day). If I miss my ginger tea, like during the busyness of Christmas Eve then the symptoms return. I felt rough Christmas morning. But ginger tea with raw honey and I was able to cook Christmas dinner. I have to remember that just because the symptoms go away, doesn't mean that my body doesn't need extra support. I should probably plan on doubling up on the ginger tea for a week after a cold.

I've accomplished the goal that I set out for. I wanted us to get sick less often and with less severity. We're still gonna get exposed to germs. Especially with young children in the house. But we've got better ways of coping with it so that they don't become bacterial infections or crud that drags on for weeks.

I had an IBS attack before Christmas. It went on for several days before I could get back on track. In trying to figure out what had triggered it and what else I could do to stop it, I read about how GAPS can actually slow metabolism. That's the last thing that I need. I've found that what I am doing now has sped up my metabolism. I've even lost a couple pounds over the holidays. Crazy! It's even affecting how my husband and I react to medicine. We have taken zyrtec regularly without it affecting our ability to function. Now if we take it, it is like a tranquilizer and we could just sleep for days if that was an option.

But that was the information that finally made the decision certain. We won't be going through the GAPS intro diet in January. The babysteps are working so I will just continue with them to keep replacing what I use with a more nutritious and less-processed alternative. Opt out of the 2 yr diet for a complete lifestyle change.

Babystep #24 - Gluten-free pasta

I forgot to include how I did the parsnips in yesterday's posts. I've roasted them with olive oil, salt and pepper before. This time, I put a bit of coconut oil in my hand and rubbed it all over the parsnips then seasoned with salt and pepper. The coconut oil paired really well with the sweetness of the parsnips.

I'm discovering how quickly I can get a healthy meal on the table when the decisions are already made. Christmas Eve, we had a busy afternoon of baths, painting nails, costumes and Mass. I knew I had some leftover chicken cornbread dressing but it needed a side. So I would steam some brussel sprouts and season with salt, pepper and a couple pats of butter. I had supper on the table in less than 15 minutes. Chicken nuggets and fries and pizza are not even that fast.

The good decisions come when we make the decision ahead of time instead of when we're short on time. A couple weeks ago, I was cleaning out the pantry and used up a couple boxes of wheat pasta. Pasta is third on the things that make me feel the worst behind cauliflower and fast food milkshakes. So why did I have wheat pasta in my pantry? I know that Tinkyada pasta is gluten free and delicious. We can even get it at Walmart. But I get in the store and I'm thinking of how to get the most bang for my buck. I can't justify in that moment spending a couple dollars more on pasta when I'm not being strictly gluten free anyhow.

I shopped at Target last week and they didn't have Tinkyada so I got Ronzoni Gluten free for the homemade mac and cheese. It's a suitable alternative. So I'm going to use brand loyalty to help keep the good decision consistent. From here on out, it's Tinkyada or Ronzoni gluten free pasta.

I learned something interesting on Amazon. The price of Tinkyada varies by shape.




But the spirals here are only $28.20. Spirals work fine with spaghetti and mac and cheese. In the earlier days of gluten free when products were not so accessible, spirals might be all you could find. I'm not hung up on a particular shape especially when there is a 10-20 dollar difference in the price of a box of 12. Even cheaper when you use Subscribe and Save.

I'm reducing the amount of italian pasta dishes that we eat. I like my predictable weekly schedule and there isn't an italian night. I can make lasagna occasionally on Sunday and use roasted veggies like eggplant and squashes instead of noodles. However, I will need pasta for mac and cheese to go with salmon or ham. A box of 12 should last about 3 months.

Tis' the day after Christmas

Tis' the day after Christmas, and all through the house
The children played with new toys and wore new clothes
Mom wondered if it would be a crime to take down the
tree before Epiphany. Not that many ornaments remained
on it anyhow. One battling a tummy ache from the sugar consumed.
One battling a cold but much milder thanks to ginger tea and kefir.

Enough of that. I'm definitely not a poet. But the day after Christmas is a bit of a lazy day with lots of play and a few chores to get all the boxes and wrapping paper out the door and find places for their new treasures. I've already done a load of dishes this morning and I still have more to do.

We did have a great Christmas. Christmas Eve mass was such a treat. James was Joseph. He received a compliment of being so polite. David was a wise man. He carried the wine which of course made me very nervous but he did great! Katie Rose was a beautiful angel but chickened out. I knew it was a long shot. But seeing her participating in the practices was definitely a step forward. John Micah was the one and only sheep. He was precious. Joseph slept through it all.



Christmas Day was full of gifts and good food. My husband was thrilled with the menu for Christmas dinner with ham, homemade mac and cheese, parsnips, green beans and sourdough biscuits. All his favorites. I wish I could say that I was a fabulous wife and planned it that with that purpose but it just fell together with what I had on hand and noticed on my grocery shopping trip. It was such a hit that I might just make it the standard Christmas dinner at our house.

I had great plans for dessert with a pomegranate cake. Unfortunately, my mixer decided Christmas was a great time to go on the fritz. It looked like a Pinterest fail for sure. If I did it again, I think that I would simplify it and make it in a bundt pan. Put the pomegranate topping in the middle and frost the outside. But to be honest, I think I should probably stick to what I do best which is heartier cakes like carrot and apple. Those I do really well. Anyhow, I piped Jesus' name on the top and we sang Happy Birthday.

I'm using this post-Christmas Day time to make some notes on what I would like to do next year. I would really like to do new pajamas as a Christmas Eve tradition. I want to include an Our Lady of Guadelupe Tea along with our Jesse Tea. I never have chocolate angels because I can't find them. I'll keep a list for ordering some items especially more gluten-free options for next year. I would like to have a Happy Birthday Jesus party with a real gift for Jesus.

My mom gave me a Thomas Kinkade planner for Christmas. It fits well and matches my purse. I love it. So while all the ideas for Christmas are still fresh. I'm going ahead and scheduling the family celebrations for next December. I've also made a list in notes for Jesse Tea ornaments so I can be searching for ideas throughout the year.



I'm starting lists in my Cozi app for each child of ideas for birthday and Christmas gifts to look for and make throughout the year. I would worry about them opening my planner but Cozi is a little harder to get into. I have several ideas that I need to gather materials for and having the lists with me all the time will allow me to find the things I need throughout the year.

Merry Christmas

Picture collage personalized with Smilebox

Mending challenge - Rearranging buttons

Some mending tasks require a little bit of thought into how to make it work with what you have. This coat for my daughter is so very soft and nice. The lining is her favorite color. But the buttons and snaps were a mess. Only the top button and snap was intact. The second was missing the button and the last two were missing the snaps. I found the third snap so I decided to move the top button to the second and the top snap to the bottom and reattach the third snap. I would end up with three buttons and snaps instead of four.

I could have looked for new buttons to match or bought new buttons to replace these but where's the fun in that? I prefer to try to figure out how I can make do with what I have.

So I got started. They really weren't too hard to reattach. The pattern made it easy to hide the black thread that I was using. And then I heard some clanking while I was working.






Sometimes, you just get lucky! In the pocket of the coat was the missing snap and the missing button. Plus an extra button! I squealed and James thought I had gone crazy. So I added the extra button to my mending kit. And now I have four buttons and four snaps. The second snap was loose so I reinforced it as well. My model was wiggly but she was tickled with it. She doesn't have tiny arms....that's just her little brother in the background.

I also put on the new patches on the Lowe's Build and Grow aprons yesterday. I added a crochet belt to the top of my son's Joseph costume to replace the gold ribbon that fell off. Looking forward to the Christmas eve Children's liturgy. They're all gonna be so cute!

It's a wonderful life

One of our holiday traditions is to watch Christmas movies. Our favorite is The First Noel narrated by Andy Griffith. I love it's rhythmic narration with bits of Christmas Carols. It just wouldn't be Christmas for us without it. We don't even have a DVD player working in the house so we put it in the van to watch on the portable DVD player on trips and while waiting on the boys in taekwondo class. 

Mike and I also watched It's a Wonderful Life. Not so much an every year tradition but I do enjoy when I catch it on. I can relate to George Bailey and I imagine most people can on some level. We all make mistakes. We all have weaknesses. And it's so much easier to focus on them than our strengths and successes. Have we tipped the scale so that there is more good than bad? Does God see people as good and bad?

Now of course, God will judge our lives at the end of time so I don't want to diminish that truth in the least. But I wondered if God simply sees us as the creatures made in His image. What if we saw only creatures made in the image of God? I think we have a tendency to divide people into the prodigal sons and faithful sons. When in truth, we're all a little of both. 

I think our mistakes can become a little glorified in light of the story of the Prodigal son. Those who attempt to live in righteousness are often belittled as the faithful son. When I went for my first confession, the priest asked me to reread this passage and see myself as the prodigal son receiving the welcoming of The Father. In truth, we all run from God in every occasion that we fall into sin. And we all risk falling into a rut of doing the right things until we're no longer doing them out of love but out of a desire to be blessed with the Father's riches. But we're His children. Child of the King. Princes and princesses. The inheritance is already ours. 

My husband has chastised me on occasion when I have started the negative self talk. I can't seem to accept a compliment without first pointing out a flaw. It's a bad habit. I'm getting better about not speaking even if I still think something negative. In honor of George Bailey's character, I resolve to believe that the world would be a much different place without me (and you) in it. As for my faults, if it's a sin then confess it and accept forgiveness. If it's a mistake, give myself a little grace because no one is perfect. If it's something that happens over and over again, seek counsel and brainstorm for ideas to keep it from happening habitually. 

But never doubt your worth! We are made in the image of God. If for no other reason than that, we should treat ourselves and others with respect. 

Christmas gift ideas - museum gift baskets

Our family enjoys museums. We had a membership to McWane Science center and the boys have been asking for us to renew it. We went to the Anniston museums on Museum Day. But these museums are too close together to reciprocate. If we get a membership at the Huntsville Space and Rocket Museum, then we get to go to all the local museums and more. Awesome deal!

So this is our family gift. But what fun is it to just get a membership card? So I decided to make travel kits. I got crayons, busy books, stationary kits, etc that are either wrapped or in their stockings. In thinking of what we would need for our museum trips, I knew the thing of importance for the older boys would be the snacks and drinks. So why not buy drink boxes, snacks and candy and divide it up so each child has their own?

I found 4 sturdy black crates at Dirt Cheap and used a basket I already had on hand for Joseph. I got everything else at Walmart.

• trail mix
• raisins
• craisins
• apple juice boxes (I get the Mott's for Tots because we usually dilute our apple juice with water anyhow)
• Veggie Chips
• Snickers
• Smarties
• Water flavoring
• squeeze applesauce
• yogurt melts for the baby

There are also marshmallow Santas, Hershey Kisses and candy canes in their stockings so hopefully they can resist digging into their snacks before we head to Huntsville. My husband has his doubts. But I think the anticipation of packing up their own bag will be a real treat for them. 

Just a few more gifts to wrap and one soap saver to finish up and we'll be ready!

Random thoughts

The highlight of my week was in Barnes and Nobles this Saturday. Katie Rose had attached to a stuffed kitty. I told her that we couldn't get that today. She needed to put it back. She retorted, "No!" I was planning of tossing it and racing for the door in anticipation of an almost certain meltdown. I pushed the stroller forward and called for her brother from the Duplo table. She said, "I can't reach!" I pushed the double stroller a few more inches. She placed the kitty back where she found it without a whimper. I was so proud of her. I praised her for being such a big girl. Santa may just have to add that to her stocking.

I just bought the older boys new shoes this spring in suitable size 4 and 5. Today I had to buy size 6 and 7 shoes. That's two sizes in barely more than half a year. Gracious! Talk about some growth spurts!

Forget about the toys. The best plaything for a toddler is a Tide pods container. John Micah and Joseph have had the best time tossing and kicking it around the kitchen. It is light. Doesn't hurt anyone. And best of all (from the toddler's point of view), makes lots of noise.

We visited Santa this week. Katie Rose jumped up and down with excitement and talked to Santa which is really unlike her. She is normally so shy. We kept asking her what she wanted for Christmas but after trying to explain that it was about a toy or want, she kept saying angel. She will be an angel in the Christmas pageant this year.

David is developing such a sense of humor. We saw a neat chair at Dirt Cheap. It was round but missing the cushion with bungie-cord-like-back to it. But it was pink. James sat down in it to show how it worked. David said, "you look good in that!" I was tickled with how quickly and dryly he can pick on his brother. 

Gonna have to be extra nice to James next week cause we did pick on him this week. He was reading aloud in monotone and I was trying to explain that we needed inflection and character voices. He started pouting and fussed over 2 had's. I explained that it was one "had" as in the past and another "had" as in possession. As in "James had had a good sense of humor." James claimed it wasn't funny but he laughed right along with us. 

David loved The Charlie Brown Christmas special. He giggled through the whole show. I wonder if kids really hear adults in the mumbled voice like on Peanuts. That would really explain a lot. 

I can't believe Christmas is Thursday. Just doesn't seem possible. Still have shopping to wrap up. Just don't seem have enough (safe) hiding places for five kids. The older boys question whether Santa is real. I use my grandmother's response that if you don't believe, you might not get anything. My aunt said they continued to pretend long after they knew the truth. I add that Santa is a legend based on a very real man, St Nicholas of Myra. Anyone who gives a gift in secret participates in that legend. And Santa has lots of helpers!

Getting ready! The King is coming!

Vikings

My husband was away on business this week so I couldn't watch 24. We watch that together. So I decided to go through season 2 of Vikings. I much prefer watching it on Amazon Prime. That way, I can fast forward through the gory battles and pagan rituals.

It really isn't my kind of show. I like suspense but not gore or horror. But I have a connection to the characters. According to a book about my father's family, English historians Foster and Tilley say "that the Foljambes are a family of royal descent from King Ragnar Lodbrok of Denmark."

Now it is widely accepted that our family came from Normandy (which means Northmen) to England with William the Conqueror and then on to America by way of Barbados in the 1600's. But Ragnar raises some skepticism because his life became such Viking legend. While most agree that he existed, how much of his story is true and how much is embellishment is uncertain. Could his character be a combination of more than one man? But regardless of whether or not we can prove our ancestry back to this one man. We can definitely trace our genes to the Nordic region. And there is a feeling of a connection to this ancient people.

Seeing Ragnar as a real man is both fascinating and terrifying. Knowing that my ancestors were pagan is one thing. Seeing their rituals is quite another. But the best part of the Vikings show is Athelstan. His character is a monk that is captured by Ragnar and then becomes his friend. Seeing Athelstan struggle with his faith among strange gods and come to love these people is something someone like me can connect with.

The ending of season 2 was perfect. I love that Ragnar asks Athelstan to teach him a prayer. So they pray Our Father. But they keep it believable when Ragnar refuses to say "forever and ever." He is curious but not accepting the One True God.

Mending

A google search will bring up a plethora of links about the lost art of mending. I see more and more silly things like grown women taking their mending to their mommas and duct tape being used to hem pants. I think it's because people seriously think that mending is a talent that you either have or you don't. Not true. Mending is a skill. And the secret to being good at any skill is......

Wait for it.......Practice!

That's it. The more you practice, the better you get at it. Everyone's first seams and buttons will look a little messy. Occasionally, you will have to redo a job because you didn't stitch it strong enough. But you learn from each mistake and you get better at it.

In today's disposable society, it's much easier to just toss it and buy something new. But this is where mending really works to our advantage. You can find clothes from higher-end stores at thrift stores with nothing wrong but a missing button or a ripped shoulder seam.

All this tossing is not good for our environment either. I want my children to know how to get the most uses out of a garment from mending to extend it's wear, handing down to siblings and others and using in a secondary way to create a new outfit, quilt or even cleaning rags. I let the boys make a felt cup cozy. James sewed buttons on his and did a very good job at it. You never know when they might be grown and on a business trip and need to repair a loose button.

Now I do have to toss some things. Boys (and hard-working men) are brutal on clothes. But before tossing, I cut out the back pockets (for repairing my husband's pockets that get torn from box cutters and keys) and buttons. I save some old jeans and khakis for patches. I keep some things in my crafts supplies like my big jar of buttons. But I also have a mending kit. It's portable and filled with whatever I need. I use it at least once every week for some reason or another.

• thread
• needles
• pins
• seam ripper (very valuable because mistakes will be made at some point)
• thimble (helpful for pushing needles through denim and patches)
• tiny scissors
• buttons
• denim scraps

I got some hand-me-downs for Katie Rose that will be in storage until she is big enough. I washed the clothes and inspect them for mending needs before putting them in the closet. This dress had a different seam than I am familiar with repairing. One side nested into the other side. But a few minutes later and you can't tell which side was repaired and which side wasn't. 

I recently reorganized Katie Rose's closet and got out any clothes she could wear and put away some. I can fit 8 office boxes in the top of her closet. I have one box of baby memorabilia and outfits with sentimental value. I have one box of pajamas and dance outfits. I have two boxes of shirts, short sleeve and long sleeve. I have one box of pants. I have one box of shorts and skirts. I have one box of coats and one box of dresses. I divided by piece rather than size because kids grow differently. I can get out just one box if I notice her running out of wearable pants or short-sleeve shirts.

Babystep #21 -#23

Babystep #1 Add kefir daily or at least several times a week. - Joseph has become a pro with using a straw and drinks it up at only 15 months old. This stuff really helps us to get back to normal when we've eaten processed foods.

Babystep #2 One batch of broth and subsequently soup a week. - I'm adding bay leaves to my chicken soup. That savory flavor seems to make the White Bean and Kale soup irresistible.

Babystep #3 Introduce fermented veggies. - Still using kraut with soup and relish in deviled eggs and such.

Babystep #4 Streamline kitchen - Need a bit of a reboot. It's trying to creep back into disarray.

Babystep #5 Add detox baths - finished one bag of epsom salt

Babystep #6 Add omega 3 supplements  - Even have my husband taking it.

Babystep #7 Purchase some more local raw honey. - on my third bottle since starting Babysteps

Babystep #8 Ginger tea - Walmart was out of ginger! How terrible! Will get some on my next milk run.

Babystep #9 Magnesium supplements - Both James and I are not using our inhalers. This is awesome!

Babystep #10 Sourdough starter - One seemed to be wearing out. I used it for biscuits and put the other on my counter. I'm feeding it immediately after using. I'll be baking, making pizza, making cinnamon rolls, or making beignets daily. This way I can put extra bread into the freezer for trips and busy times.

Babystep #11 Drink water first thing in the morning. - Yep!

Babystep #12 Work on creating a natural bath set for the children - Finished 4 soap saver for stocking stuffers and one for myself.

Babystep #13 - Menu planning each week - I have been following a six week plan that I made in November. I am loving the predictability.

Babystep #14 - Exercise daily - Still not at it. I think I am going to make it a goal to get to the gym daily but if I just make it 4 days, I'll call it a success.

Babystep #15 - Glucosamine for arthritis - Very helpful.

Babystep #16 - Homemade yogurt - My third batch flopped. I think I added the starter when the milk was too hot. So use a candy thermometer. I had picked the tutorial that I did because it didn't require measuring temperature. But I would rather check the temperature than waste a half gallon of milk. I'm also using organic milk now.

Babystep #17 - Avoid food dyes - Yep, becoming a challenge with all the Christmas candy that is around.

Babystep #18 - Fresh and frozen over canned veggies - It's actually a lot easier to open bags of frozen veggies than to open cans.

Babystep #19 - Be calm - I think it's helping. I have had other sinus symptoms but I have been able to fight it off rather quickly. My son that supposedly had an ear infection only has fluid in his ears. He has gobs of snout coming from his nose which could be a bit distressing. But it's really a good thing. That fluid has to come out. Keeping calm and supporting with diet and allergy meds seem to be helping us avoid tubes in his ears in the immediate future.

Babystep #20 - Enzymes - Gone through our bottle of enzymes so looking at different brands to determine which to use that is a bit broader than what we had.

Babystep #21 - Avoid MSG - I shopped at Save-a-lot last week. My husband was a manager for their stores for many years and I'm impressed with their dedication to quality in their private label foods. I found their brand of smoked sausage, Farmington brand. They had beef sausage available which was gluten free and MSG free. Awesome! Now the second ingredient is corn syrup but I'll take sugar in moderation over MSG. It is delicious. We've eaten two packs already.

There is a lot of controversy about MSG. I've seen a lot of discussion about MSG in the autism community. But for me, MSG as a culprit in some of our digestion problem would completely explain how I can make things at home with no reaction and then eat the same thing from the store and react severely. It explains how the gluten-free diet sometimes didn't seem to be working since sometimes we were just trading one set of processed foods for a different type of processed foods. This video was very interesting and informative.




Babystep #22 Use sinus rinses proactively - I ended up with a really bad sinus headaches about 24 hours after the white seeds flying in the air and tickling my nose at the zoo as well as the cat getting inside the house and van. I cleared it up pretty quickly but it occured to me that I could have avoided entirely if I had just used a sinus rinse. I really don't like them. They don't feel good but a couple minutes of discomfort is better than a day or two of sinus pain.

Babystep #23 Extra Vit C and D3 for the flu season - We've heard of people having the flu already so giving an extra boost to help keep us healthy.

Stocking stuffers - Soap Savers

I went to our local beekeeper to get another bottle of honey. I put it in the children's smoothies. They also love peanut butter and honey sandwiches. They had honey bar soap. It smells wonderful. Promises to be gentle on the most sensitive skin. So I'm going to try it out before Christmas for one of the littles bath time. If all goes well, five more bars will be purchased for stocking stuffers.

I want to make the bars last so I'm using a pattern I found in one of my Pinterest browsing sessions. This pattern takes a bit of getting used to with turning the bag inside out for each row of the body. I've never done that before but makes total sense. I have finished with Joseph, John Micah and Katie Rose's soap savers and will finish the older boys this week.

I will have the challenge of hanging 5-7 soap savers in two tubs. I wonder if command hooks would work or if the steam from the shower would dissolve the adhesive. I bet I can find something in the hardware section that will work. Maybe some sort of hook that I can hang on the shower rail.

Here is a pic of the first one that I made for my facial soap and Katie Rose's soap saver.

Jesse Tea

The Jesse Tea is very special to us. It was one of the first liturgical things we added to our home when studying to become Catholic. But I really think it would be valuable to anyone who enjoys the Jesse Tree tradition. We tried some paper ornaments last year along with the readings each night. I would like to try for some sturdier ornaments next year. These felted ones are gorgeous and by the price, time consuming! But hey, I have a whole year. I may do a combination of wood, felt and yarn ornaments.

The place where I learned about it was Catholic Cuisine. I love their blog. So many ideas for making our feast days and celebrations just a bit more special. The original idea came from Cottage Blessings. If you are interested in trying out a Jesse Tea, check out both posts and then you can personalize it to your family.

The first year, I made a blueberry cobbler for Mary. This year, the boys wanted to do it all themselves. I did help with the deviled eggs and toasting the bread. We used Cranberry Pomegranate Green Tea. When I poured it, James said, "It's the Red Sea!" Cool!







I will need to come up with some different ideas for next year. I like eating good 80% of the time in theory but the difference between a normal gluten free diet for us anyhow is that you can cheat several times before you really feel the effects of it. With a somewhat clean eating, mostly gluten free diet that has sped up our metabolism and digestion, we feel the effects immediately. I don't feel it eating biscuits at home or even wheat tortillas, but store-bought cookies, bread and pasta make me feel very sluggish and bloated the next day. It's got to be some combination of gluten and processed food along with our digestion abilities.

I did have some healthy dishes with broccoli, apples, honey and the deviled eggs. I made the deviled egg filling simply with salt, pepper, a heaping tablespoon of Bubbies relish and enough Spectrum Omega 3 mayo to make it creamy. This was for 8 eggs. I don't bother with piping the filling. Boys are more interested in getting it to the table fast than making it pretty. I just use the same fork that I mashed up the yolks with to fill the whites. They were delicious!
 

My new favorite cleaner

I have another kid that gets ear infections with no fever. My oldest would spike a fever and we would know immediately that he had another ear infection. My second never ran a fever with ear infections. Now number five is following suit. He had not been sleeping well and fussy with a bit of congestion. No fever so I kept giving him allergy medicine and hoped it would clear up. I got him looked at this morning. Yep, ear infection so we'll be headed to the ENT this afternoon. We really should get a group discount!

At the dr office, in each room is a tall shiny trash can that you open with your foot. My fourth is fascinated with it and always touching it. Last time that he had some allergy issues and visited the doctor, we came home with hand foot and mouth disease. Totally don't want to go there. So I saw a can of Lysol in the room and used it on the trash can and cabinet/drawer pulls. Problem solved!

Not so fast! While the Lysol was still wet, John Micah runs his fingers over it and I holler just as he sticks all four fingers in his mouth. Ugh! He grins like a Cheshire Cat. I think he enjoys getting his mom riled up!

So in light of my child's bright idea, let's talk cleaners. I found a cleaner called Replenish. I think it is available at Walmart normally but the Real Lavender scent that I got isn't on their website that I can find. I really hope it's not discontinued. It smells so awesome! Makes me want to clean just to smell it.

That's a thought. What if they made cleaners with the smells like our favorite candles? Instead of burning a candle to make our house smell good, we'd wipe down counters and sinks. A great motivator and treat for cleaning.

But I digress, not only did the Replenish cleaner smell wonderful but it also cleaned better than any cleaner I had used. Plus it's good for the environment!

I looked through a list of ideas for cleaning kitchen cabinets. They aren't in bad shape but I've only spot-cleaned in the two years we have lived here. The kitchen cabinets could use a good scrubbing. So I mixed 1/4 cup of a generic brand of Dawn dish soap with 3/4 cup of borax and a bit of water to make a paste. I scrubbed all the cabinets, rinsed with a wet towel, and dried.

I then used a mix of mineral oil with tea tree oil (to kill any microbes) and lavender oil (to repel scorpions) and wiped it over all the cabinets with a microfiber cloth. Now I'm not brave enough to take before and after pics but trust me, the difference is amazing. I ended up using the last of the borax/detergent mixture on the floor. It cleans beautifully and so simple.

Now lets just hope that trash can was cleaner than I imagined.

Power naps

I rarely get a full nights sleep. My oldest is 11 and has never slept well. Between that, illnesses, bad dreams, etc, it's a safer bet that I will be up during the night at some time. Even when all the children cooperate, I find myself getting up out of habit. I ended up sleeping as late as I could each day to try to recoup lost sleep. Although I may get 7-9 hours of sleep, I still don't feel fully rested. So I started getting up at the same time every day to give myself some time to myself and hopefully help my body to sleep more efficiently when it settles into a predictable rhythm.

I have dozed off a couple times while the little ones were napping or watching a show especially during first trimesters of pregnancies. So I wondered if I could make 20 minute power naps as part of our regular schedule. I decided to schedule one show for the kids to watch in the morning and afternoon. I can fall asleep quickly so I sleep for 20 minutes and wake up refreshed. The children watch their show and stay out of trouble.

There are a lot of benefits to napping. The productivity aspect is the best for me. In the late morning when I'm starting to lose steam, I nap and then my alertness and energy are back so I can continue making the most of my time instead of trudging on for hours at half steam. Same goes for mid-afternoon. I might could get by with one power nap but with appointments and activities for the children, some days one half of the day gets shot. At those times, I still have one power nap time available rather than none.

By making the nap my priority and not a rule for the children, I have elevated it to cool status. Both David and James have made comments about needing THEIR power nap. They're not quite as good at getting wound down and really sleeping but maybe in time. Hopefully, this will be a tool for them as adults to pay attention to their bodies and give it the rest it needs.

Caffeine doesn't work with power naps. My metabolism has gotten faster so the caffeine that once relaxed and calmed me is revving my heart beat. But I do love tea and coffee. There are even health benefits. There's about 8 hours between my second power nap and my bedtime so I have my coffee after my second nap instead of first thing in the morning. My morning beverage is Good Girl Moonshine. I keep a jar of concentrated ginger tea in the fridge to add to my water with apple cider vinegar, lemon and a bit of stevia. The lemon and ginger provide a major boost to my digestive system. Apple cider vinegar has lots of benefits but the major one for me is that it somehow works as a decongestant. If I have a lot of congestion, within minutes of drinking I can feel the congestion coming down the back of my throat and clearing my head. If I drink it regularly, no problems that a quick sinus rinse won't alleviate.

Another benefit is helping to remember to brush the little ones' teeth. I have a much easier time remember before bed instead of after meals. Primarily because they'll be dilly-dallying with their cup of milk or juice so I'll postpone until they finish only to end up forgetting. Now I can just remember to brush before every sleep and always get it done 2-3 times a day. The past two dentist appts have had just one child with cavities. Maybe next time, we'll have no cavities at all.

Crochet Cloche Hats

This is one of the coolest and most irritating patterns. Cool because it resulted in two really cool hats. Irritating because the pattern doesn't match the picture. There's this beautiful spiral knitted hat. While I love the crochet pattern, I really really want to try the knitted pattern. But I can't find it! And I'm a much better crocheter than knitter so I'm not able to make the pattern up myself.

The first hat was made with a fairly light yarn but crochet thread is really what helps it have a cloche shape. My daughter loves the first hat. It's warm. The second hat ended up slightly too small for her and I couldn't tie down her little brothers to get a model for it.

The first flower is an irish rose pattern that someone gave me. The second is a doodle flower you can find on ravelry. If you don't already know, ravelry is the coolest thing ever for fiber arts. So many patterns!

Reclaiming my mornings

At our family's Thanksgiving get-together after listening all about my kids for about 30 minutes, my cousin asked me, "So what are you doing for you?" It was very thoughtful to see past just a mom. But still, part of me wanted to say, "Isn't all that enough?!" No, I don't have a paying job or classes to take. I do have an awesome support system in the moms group at church. And I have my blog to document my creativity.

It's so easy to lose sight of taking care of ourselves. But everything will take just as much time as you give it. Yes, we could spend every waking moment tending to children, husband, homemaking, homeschooling, etc. Or we can make the time to care for ourselves a regular, non-negotiable part of our day. A tangible way of putting on our oxygen masks first.

I choose the later. From 6-6:30 am is my time. I will make the bed first thing but all other household chores can wait. I have 30 minutes to tend to things that can get postponed then hastily and halfway done. I can shower. Actually take the time to shave my legs. Braid my hair. Use lotion. Put a little makeup on. The needs may change from day to day but 30 minutes is ample time to start the day refreshed.

Most of the time, the children aren't stirring until 7 but if they do happen to wake up during my time then they can play in their room. I've woken to hear Katie Rose shushing the little boys until she sees me get out of bed. The baby can play in the play pen in my room. Nothing is normally urgently pressing at that time of day. Sippy cups and breakfast can wait a few minutes.

It's easy to go days without showering especially when we have infants. We say, "There's just not enough time!" It's kinda thrilling to go from that to taking care of showering, shaving and moisturizing and have 6 minutes to spare. A few minutes to ponder about what else I might need. Maybe makeup if I'm going out. Maybe a braid or scarf for my hair if I'm just working at home. Yes, it does require waking a bit earlier. Stay tuned for a post on how I remedy that!

Pomegranate brownies with cream cheese frosting

I found a recipe for pomegranate brownies on pinterest. I wasn' t so sure about that particular recipe but pomegranates in brownies sounded like something worth trying. I had one pomegranate that needed to be used soon.

I wanted a fudgy brownie so I used this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction as inspiration.

Pomegranate Brownies

1 stick cultured butter

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup + 2 T flour or gluten free baking flour mix

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup pomegranate seeds

Melt butter and chocolate chips in microwave. Stir after 20-30 second increments until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line pan with aluminum foil.

Mix sugars into chocolate/butter mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla. Fold in the flour and salt. 

I seeded the pomegranate and folded 1 cup of the seeds into the brownie batter. Spoon into prepared pan

Bake for about 30 minutes depending on the size of your pan. My pan was about 7x11..

Now here's where it becomes inspired. I had a half a pack of cream cheese left over from making a gluten free carrot cake. I was piddling in the kitchen and adding my big bag of confectioners sugar to an ice cream bucket for better storage. On the back was a cream cheese frosting recipe. Hey, why not?!

Cream cheese frosting

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 T milk

Mix cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla. Add sugar and milk and mix thoroughly.

Here is the finished product.

It tasted scrumptious warm from the oven. It was practically divine the next day. It is like a fudgy red velvet cake. Sam's pomegranates are huge so I had pomegranates leftover to add to cereal the next morning. I packed up a couple of brownies for my husband's business trip this week.

Here is an easy way of seeding a pomegranate. No more dealing with soaking the pomegranate in water to loosen the seeds. 

Teff Sweet Potato Casserole

I love sweet potatoes! They are delicious. Often, way too much sugar is added to them unnecessarily. I ordered sweet potatoes at Cracker Barrel once and they totally ruined it with all the brown sugar. They're delicious enough on their own. A pat of butter or a tablespoon of yogurt is all you need.

So on holidays, I really prefer sweet potato pie with a little sweetness but still a bit plain. But most people like sweet potato casserole with brown sugar or marshmallow topping. Both my husband and I can live without the marshmallows but I added it on half of the sweet potato casserole for the children.

A key difference this year was experimenting with teff flour. The brown sugar topping uses flour. With teff, it preserves the lightness of the sugar. After trying it with teff, I can only say that wheat flour weighs it down. Teff also adds another level of nutrition.

Teff Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (I peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into thirds and boil until tender)

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup softened butter

Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup teff flour

1/3 cup butter (cut into tiny cubes)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup miniature marshmallows (optional)

Combine first 6 ingredients until smooth. Spoon into casserole dish. Mix topping and sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Add marshmallows and brown slightly if desired.

More new standards

1) Stay on top of the dishes
2) Keep dishcloth draped over the middle of the sink when not in use
3) Keep towel draped over the oven handle
4) Toys kept off the kitchen floor
5) All non-essentials kept off the countertops
6) Bar area kept neat with nothing on or underneath the stools
7) Preschool activity center kept orderly
8) Keep all science things in science center


9) Make up beds before breakfast - I have developed this habit. It is rare that I don't make up my bed. However, I'm not very consistent in making sure the children make their beds. Mornings are so busy and half the day can pass before I think about it. I need to set up a visual schedule, maybe something like this one on pinterest.

I think the older boys need a smaller specific area to be in charge of and take pride in as I have the kitchen. It's too easy to blame their messy room on the other.

10) Keep books in the bookshelves and assign a librarian - While helping the boys with their room, I had to compliment David on the bookshelf. He had taken great care to organize it. So I gave him this job. I have the shelves in his room divided into science, history and fiction. The rest of the science books go in the science center. I need to assign the other shelves  in the living areas.

11) Put up coats and shoes immediately and assign a coat check clerk  - This job fell to James. He wasn't all that excited about it at first. He asked questions about real jobs with coats and ended up making a gate to block off the foyer while he worked. I think he was imitating what they do at his father's retail store when the portion off the section they are stocking.

I am making a change to one habit to make putting up shoes easier. I set up the diaper changing station in my bedroom instead of the living room. This way, I can come in, take my shoes off in my room, change and take the little ones to the potty, grab shoes and drop them off in the nursery closet on the way back to the living areas.

I tried over-the-door shoe organizers but they kept getting pulled down or unused because the little ones couldn't reach. I reorganized the nursery closet and assigned two office boxes for girl shoes and boy shoes. Now, putting away shoes is easy enough for a toddler.

Cultured butter

I wanted to try bulletproof coffee so I went to Manna grocery to get some grassfed butter. I found some from Organic Valley that was cultured. That intrigued me so I cringed at the price and bought a pack.

The bulletproof coffee wasn't too great. It made me painfully aware of how weak my coffee was made. I used the last of my coffee so I decided to use the butter sparingly for flavor. I used it on some sourdough rolls. I used it in my baked sweet potatoes.

For lunch one day this week, I put a bag of green beans with sea salt and pepper in a pot of water and cooked them down about 15-20 minutes. I put the beans on each plate and added a half pat of butter. I'm not sure if it was the coolness of watching the butter melt or the scrumptiousness, but my son (who normally hates butter, mayo, salad dressings, white bread, among other things.) got up for seconds and whined, "Oh man, the butter's all gone!" I got out another stick of butter for that.

Here's a portion of some of the good things about real butter from the link above.

Butter is rich in the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for thyroid and adrenal health. Contains lauric acid, important in treating fungal infections and candida. Contains lecithin, essential for cholesterol metabolism. Contains anti-oxidants that protect against free radical damage. Has anti-oxidants that protect against weakening arteries. Is a great source of Vitamins E and K. Is a very rich source of the vital mineral selenium. Saturated fats in butter have strong anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties. Butter contains conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster Vitamin D found in butter is essential to absorption of calcium. Protects against tooth decay. Is your only source of an anti-stiffness factor, which protects against calcification of the joints. Anti-stiffness factor in butter also prevents hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland. Is a source of Activator X, which helps your body absorb minerals. Is a source of iodine in highly absorbable form. May promote fertility in women.9 Is a source of quick energy, and is not stored in our bodies adipose tissue. Cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to children's brain and nervous system development. Contains Arachidonic Acid (AA) which plays a role in brain function and is a vital component of cell membranes. Protects against gastrointestinal infections in the very young or the elderly. - See more at: http://bodyecology.com/articles/benefits_of_real_butter.php#.VIG5VtLF-TN

Christmas nativity craft

This was a fun craft to make with the kids. The instructions in Catholic Schoolhouse Art Year 2 was to paint plain popsicle sticks. I already had colored ones so I let them make their stable any color they wanted. I used blue for Mary since she is often painted in blue clothing. Green seemed a good color for Joseph. Yellow for Christ since He is the Light.

Hope ya'll are having a Blessed Advent. I love the prayer for week 1.

O Emmanuel, Jesus Christ,

desire of every nation,

Savior of all peoples,

come and dwell among us.

Babystep #20 Enzymes

The littlest threes' digestion took a hit over the Thanksgiving holidays. One reason was lack of planning which was purposeful. Last year, we missed all holidays because either us or people back home were sick. I purposed to not plan anything until the day of. It sounds counterproductive but it sure seems like we jinx anything we want to do if we make big plans. Spontaneous seems to happen better.

I need to plan for spontaneity. I need to have breakfast, lunch and snack options that are easy to grab and go. And that's hard to do when everyone seems to do better on homecooked foods. I'll be looking into some ideas and post more on that later.

We left for Mississippi earlier than I had planned. I called my aunt who was on the road as well and discussed picking up something for lunch. She would stop and get hotdogs, chips and lactose-free milk for the little ones. It had been over a month since they had hotdogs so I thought this would be a nice treat. I didn't give them buns and they didn't have rolls at supper.  I didn't forsee anything major bothering them.

Thanksgiving Day, John Micah had eaten his weight just about in turkey and potatoes. He's my anti-green kid so he didn't eat the brussel sprout salad. That night, his stools were a little loose but was fine the next morning. That afternoon, they were pale and looser. Katie Rose and Joseph had the same problem.

Now, the good news is that I got them home and gave them kefir and enzymes. We got back to our homecooked diet. The issues were cleared up very quickly.

But I wondered, "What in the world is the culprit?" They did have a couple of cookies and a little debbie snack but they've had way more gluten at home without that kind of reaction. Could it be the location or processed food or what?

I decided that at Christmas we would do a lot more enzymes to support their digestion and then it struck me. What if that's the issue? I looked up a lot of information on enzymes and I think I found part of the problem. We hadn't been eating potatoes much at all over the past 6 weeks. I was cooking more soups and dishes that didn't require them. I wasn't relying on chicken nuggets and hotdogs so we weren't going through a huge bag of tater tots or fries a week. So it turns out that potatoes are a seed and naturally have enzyme inhibitors. No wonder with our Irish heritage and potato cravings that we have trouble with digestion.

So here's the plan:

1) Take enzymes regularly so that our enzyme banks aren't depleted
2) Take enzymes with us wherever we go.
3) Eat foods that are high in enzymes like raw fruits and veggies in particular bananas, avocado and mango.
4) Limit potatoes and other enzyme inhibiting foods. Look into sprouting and other means of making these foods more digestible. Sourdough is one method of making enzyme-inhibiting foods more digestible so I'm heading down the right track.

Sourdough biscuits

Somewhere on the internet a while back, I saw the idea of using unfed starter in biscuits. My starters are growing and I decided to use this to keep them from getting too large for their jars. I used a half cup from each jar. These biscuits are so very scrumptious. I would never make more than a batch for our family because they are so hard to stop eating.

My menu plan is all mixed up. I wrote it out on my white board in the kitchen but my white board is listed Monday to Sunday and I was writing out my menu as Sunday to Saturday. And then I got my days mixed up and somehow had Pizza written on Thursday but intended for Wednesday and yet somehow I made it on Tuesday. We may not want to take too long of a stroll in my head right now. So anyhow, I made my egg dish (scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits) for Tuesday on Wednesday instead. Maybe I'm back on track.

I have not bought self-rising flour in nearly a decade. The recipe for self-rising flour is simply 1 cup of flour with 1/2 T baking powder and 1/2 t salt  I use wheat flour for my sourdough mostly since it breaks down the gluten and gluten-free flours for most quick breads and desserts. The exception is biscuits. Biscuits are an easy way to expand a meal when the budget is tight. 

Sourdough biscuits

2 cups bread flour (biscuits are often best with a lighter flour but this is what I had)

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

3 T shortening

slightly less than 1 cup of unfed starter (1 cup makes it sticky so I had to add a T or so of flour)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a cast iron skillet. Mix the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening with a couple of knives until it is pea sized. Add starter and mix completely but as little as possible (this is important, light biscuits are the result of very light handling) Drop Tablespoons of biscuits into cast iron skillet and press lightly with the backs of your fingers so that they are all about the same height and should cook evenly. Cook for 10-12 minutes. I like mine with a little brown on top but some prefer white biscuits so just keep an eye on them til they reach your desired preference.

Babystep #19 Be calm!

When we had the cold, I was very irritated over it. I was doing all this good stuff but still getting sick. Not fair! It wasn't milder for some of us. It wasn't shorter. But realistically I couldn't expect to be at optimal health in just three weeks with just babysteps. I needed to detach myself from the results. Sometimes things will go good. Sometimes they will go bad. If the changes we are making have value then they should be continued. If they don't, I shouldn't start them.

My mom had heard that colds were the body's way of cleansing itself. I was skeptical since I knew it was viruses that cause colds. I looked it up and found this article that was intriguing and convincing that colds help eliminate weaker cells much faster than the body could locate and eliminate them on their own. I also read a scientific study about mice and how viruses impacted intestinal health. Our bodies are so very complex and these interactions with viruses and bacteria may not be completely black and white.

But I think the aggravation that I was feeling was a big factor in not being able to fight off the cold. I woke up this past Sunday morning with a sinus headache, sore throat, post nasal drip, chills, etc. I knew that I might have been exposed to a viral sinusitis or it might be a relapse. But thankfully it was a Sunday so my husband helped with the children and reheated leftovers for lunch. I made pomegranate oatmeal for breakfast and sourdough beignets for supper. I stayed home, rested, drank ginger tea w/ apple cider vinegar, ate well, and stayed calm. I also took ibuprofen and a decongestant. By afternoon, I was well. The next morning, I felt no evidence of any illness.

This article from Mayo Clinic demonstrates how positive thinking promotes health. I don't think we really give enough credit to how the thoughts in our head affect the health of our body and vice versa. I feel healthier emotionally and mentally as much as I do physically. I'm not sure how much of that is directly related or indirectly such as less IBS symptoms=more energy=more accomplished=better feeling about myself. But I suspect it's intricately intertwined.

Life is an ebb and flow process. I love Mark Lowry's description of life more abundant.




 Bad things happen. It's inevitable. But instead of finding a bad attitude, I hope to look for the silver lining. And when a silver lining is hard to find, offer up those sufferings no matter how small they seem.

What we're reading - Stories of the Child Jesus

This is one of the books that we're reading through this Advent. The first story is from Ireland and very appropriate for the older boys' age group of 9-11. A poor boy is excluded from playing with rich kids until they both realize that "the least of these" applies to children's play as well. We read Matthew 25 so they could see the biblical lesson. We can't wait to read more.

Babystep #18

Babystep #1 Add kefir daily or at least several times a week. 

Babystep #2 One batch of broth and subsequently soup a week. 

Babystep #3 Introduce fermented veggies. 

Babystep #4 Streamline kitchen  - I added the blender back to the counter since I was taking it in and out a little too often with making smoothies. I'm also keeping a small basket on the floor to toss stray toys and shoes to keep the floor clear.

Babystep #5 Add detox baths

Babystep #6 Add omega 3 supplements  In a Facebook group, someone was asking for help with little bumps on their skin. Someone commented that they also had them on the backs of their arms and that it was a fatty acid deficiency. Some of the children and I have had this as well but they're almost gone since starting these supplements back.

Babystep #7 Purchase some more local raw honey. 

Babystep #8 Ginger tea - I've started keeping a mason jar of it in the fridge to add to my water.

Babystep #9 Magnesium supplements - I've had this cold which is hopefully all wrapped up. I've used my inhaler 3 times in the past two weeks. Disappointing but still that's less than I was using it when I wasn't sick.

Babystep #10 Sourdough starter

Babystep #11 Drink water first thing in the morning. 

Babystep #12 Work on creating a natural bath set for the children - I love using coconut oil as a moisturizer. No worries about avoiding any nicks or scrapes. There are no worries about irritating ingredients.

Babystep #13 - Menu planning each week

Babystep #14 - Exercise daily - took a walk in between taekwondo classes. Getting better about catching opportunities for extra movement.

Babystep #15 - Glucosamine for arthritis - My knees are feeling great!

Babystep #16 - Homemade yogurt - Fixing to have to start my third batch. Love it!

Babystep #17 - Avoid food dyes

Babystep #18 - Fresh and frozen over canned veggies. - I would stock up on canned veggies on trips to Savealot or Aldi's. I liked knowing that they aren't going to go bad on me. The past few weeks, I've been getting frozen or fresh. This article from Eating Well has some great info like how tomatoes and pumpkin are the exception as far as canned foods that lose nutrients during the preservation process. Meal planning is helping with this. If I happen to not use the produce I bought one week, then I know I must have it on the next week's menu plan. Produce is not ruining in the fridge because I have a plan!

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

We had a great day of relaxing at home with some awesome food. I tried a pomegranate balsamic glaze for the turkey from a recipe in the All You magazine. It did add a little bit of sweetness and flavor. I think it would have been better if I had just poured in on like a gravy afterwards.

The star was a brussel sprout salad with hot bacon dressing from the Southern Living Thanksgiving issue. We've never eaten brussel sprouts any other way but steamed with salt and pepper. I may have added some crumbled bacon at some point. This was rich and decadent. I could have lived without dessert after that.

I love Southern Living. It's very visually appealing. I go through most magazines and find a handful of pages I want to keep. I go through Southern Living and can only find a handful of pages that I don't want to keep. I like everything from the Southern Living magazine. I'm thinking of starting holiday boxes and keep my Thanksgiving magazine with my Thanksgiving crafts and decorations. Same with Christmas. Same with Easter. So on and so forth.

I had heard a couple ideas about Thanksgiving traditions that appealed to me. One was a Thanksgiving tree with leaves with all our blessings written on them. The other was writing our blessings on strips of paper and bring them out next year as memories. I decided to combine the two. I had a box that was about two feet high. I broke it down and cut off the flaps. On the inside, I wrote Thanksgiving vertically and drew a totem-pole looking tree as the box ended up about 6 ft long .

We sat around in a circle and wrote our blessings on construction paper leaves with the year and glued them on the tree. I folded the box back up and put it in a large ziploc storage bag. This way, if any leaves fall off then they aren't lost. I'll put this in (or beside or under) my Thanksgiving box . We can bring it out each Thanksgiving and add blessings for that year.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Culinary efforts and results

Yesterday turned into a leftover day instead of red beans and rice. My red beans and rice keep getting postponed. I meant to do it last week but I didn't realize that we were out of worchestershire sauce and that gives my recipe a distinctive flavor. Definitely wouldn't have tasted the same. I have successfully substituted Country Bob's all-purpose sauce but I was out of that too. Heaven help us! Groceries don't last too long in this house.

So last week, I made chili (replacing the red beans and rice) and Cuban black beans. Both were served with cornbread. I'm getting back to using yogurt in a lot of things. I'm almost through my second batch. Make your cornbread as you normally would but replace the milk with yogurt diluted with water so that it is the consistency of milk. It makes a lighter, moister cornbread. I guess buttermilk would work similarly. My husband noticed the difference right away and complemented the cornbread as he was getting seconds.

I did make the Baked Blooming Apple on Monday. It was delicious. It called for a bit of flour so I used teff. Teff is an awesome flour that gives almost a chocolatey taste. It is used in cookies and desserts and it adds nutrition like protein and iron. As I was whipping up some homemade whipped cream, I thought, "Oh no, dairy!" I hadn't even thought about it. But it didn't bother me. I don't know if it is the amount that is the problem or certain ingredients in some dairy products or what. Food sensitivities are so baffling. But I'm learning the homemade stuff rarely bothers me and the processed and take-out stuff often does.

The biggest success has been the Boston Butt. I had some Weber seasoning Garlic and herb that needed to be used up. I figured that a lot of my spices were in it so I mixed that with some chili seasoning and brown sugar. I dry rubbed the meat the night before. It was so big so I ended up putting it in an ice cream bucket and covering the top with a ziploc bag.

In the morning, I put it in my Bella slow cooker with a couple sliced onions and a cup of chicken stock. I think my slow cooker is one of my best-ever purchases. It is 16 or 18 qt. It was a returned item that has a big dent on the side but it still works. I figured that was a sign that it could take a licking and keep on ticking. It is so versatile. It works while I'm busy with schooling, errands, and such. I can't find it on their website but Rival has a similar one.


It cooked at 275 degrees for about 8 hours. I shredded it and used Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce although several of us were eating it plain. John Micah was about having a temper tantrum to have some more so we ended up eating supper at about 4pm. It was a huge bowl of meat. The meat was over 10lbs raw and cost $18. I imagine removing the bone and fatty portion ended up shaving a couple pounds. Let's say that we conservatively have 7 lbs of cooked meat.

Homemade pulled pork - $18 plus maybe a couple dollars for spices and onions

Dickey's pulled pork at $12 lb x 7 lbs - $84

Savings = over $60

Now, we love Dickey's! Especially their kids-eat-free Sundays and free ice cream. We make mini coke or root beer floats in the barbecue sauce bowls. Their brisket is awesome! My son even requested his birthday party to be there. In fact, we may eat there the Sunday before Christmas so that I can keep the fridge clear for a thawing ham and other fixings. But nice to be able to create some of that flavor easily at home! I think I will have to try brisket again. I've made it once. Pretty good but not quite as memorable as the Boston Butt.

Sunday night, I put a whole chicken in the slow cooker with apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. It roasted til the next afternoon. I scooped out some of the bone broth into a smaller crockpot. I worried the carrots and onions wouldn't get soft while we were gone to taekwondo class so I sauteed them. I also added some frozen peas with some of the shredded chicken breast. This was some of the absolute best chicken soup. So flavorful!

I've developed a theory of why we use so much cheese. Slow cooking and using whole pieces of meat lend fat and flavor to our meals. Using boneless, skinless low-fat everything has removed a lot of fat and flavor. So we add fat and flavor back in the form of cheese. I thought I couldn't make it a week without cheese but I'm finding myself craving it less and less.

I'm enjoying cooking a lot more. The baby is getting bigger and more independent. I'm not seeing it as a chore that I would much rather someone else do for me. Now, I will gladly take a dish washer. Monday night, the kitchen was a mess. We had relaxed a lot Sunday and ran errands a lot Monday so the dishes were piled up terribly. But the kitchen can look so much worse in my head than it really is. It was a mess Saturday morning after a busy day Friday. Stuff was all over the floor and the dishes seemed so piled up. I assumed it would take a couple hours to get it done. I put on some peppy music and decided to tackle what I could before taekwondo class. I got the kids to pick up the floor. I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. I washed the stones and sippy cups by hand. I wiped down the counters and swiffered the floor. Guess how long it took! A total of 14 minutes! And it wasn't even a full load in the dishwasher cause I had to add the coffee pot and kettle to make it worth starting. Very motivating because that afternoon, I got a lot of cleaning done in the house. Sometimes, getting started is the biggest part of the battle.