Food: 5 MORE fridge/pantry staple items, + 5 more

I ran out of this yesterday after writing my first post on my 5 pantry or fridge staple items. POPCORN! We eat popcorn at least 3 times a week for snack or movie time. I forget the brand since I store it in a jar in the pantry. But we get it from our local health food store and it’s organic. I’ve fluctuated between it and the Food Club brand. There IS a difference in the quality and not that much difference in price. Even if I went with Orval Redenbaucher’s (whew – I probably just butchered that, but you know the brand), I think my organic is cheaper. I’ll check on that today since we’re making a trip for several staple items we are out of.

SO, here’s 6-10 in the pantry/fridge

6. Popcorn, organic
7. EGGS – we eat A LOT of eggs and when I made my fried rice last night, I was 1 egg shy and really prefer three in my fried rice when I don’t add meat
8. Corn tortillas – we do taquitos on Saturday morning or Sunday night, along with soft tacos with beans and spanish rice
9. Rice – still settling on brand, but usually choose to save money here; prices fluctuate, but I prefer Jasmine or Basmati, but usually get Food Brand, long grain
10. Dry beans – black or pinto, usually both. I have a great crock pot recipe for beans and do these at least once a week.

There it is! For me more than anyone else! Off to the store since we are out of some of our staples

UPDATE:  After trip to the Granary, my favorite organic popcorn is Arrowhead Mills, 1.75 lb. bag for $2.75.

12. Peanut Butter, Arrowhead Mills, sometimes organic, sometimes not

13.  Albacore Tuna in water

14.  Onions, i always cook with yellow onions, prefer the sweet ones, but right now, any onion I’ve brought home has made my eyes water :/

15.  Avocados, these use to be a luxury item, now they are a necessity!  And today, Walmart had them for 44 cents!

Food: Staples in my pantry/fridge

My friend Faydra, at Groundspeed, blog tagged me to give up our 5 food staples in our pantry. So here goes!

1. Spelt Flour (has replaced my forever used unbleached all-purpose)
2. NOW brand Maple Syrup (time for a Granary trip – we are out of this)
3. Nuts – anykind, sometimes peanuts in shell, almonds. Our freezer has many bags of pecan pieces I order in the fall;
I use these for my fruit salad and anything else they need to go into.
4. Farmer’s Cheese, homemade (aka Tvorog cheese) – this serves as my sour cream, yogurt (mix with honey or syrup). Yummy. Goes well with muffins or fruit. Everyone is happy when they eat it!
5. Apples, Apples, Apples!

Ok. I may have put more info with that than needed/wanted. I’m continually developing my staples list and one day hope to have it easily available on paper, other than in my forever-forgetting mind!

Parenting Books I just might read

I’ve been reading since….and I think I get a little cranky when I stop taking time to read. It’s been more challenging since I’ve had 2 kids, but I want them to see MOM reading and enjoying it! Sunday afternoon after playing a bit of baseball and kickball with the kids, I gave Sammy time to ride his bike along our side street while I sat out and watched; Saw does his own thing but his “leash” is shorter. So I took a book with me (fiction) I wanted to read…..and in maybe 20 minutes, read 2 pages. Twice. Sigh.

Some time ago I tossed all the parenting books aside. But yesterday I ordered a book I KNEW I needed since a lot of her information is on her website. From something I encountered recently I was faced with the question of what my parenting philosophy is. Hmmm. So after a not-so-fun-parenting incident on Monday evening, I went back to Raising Godly Tomatoes. I’d been recommended this site by a friend some time last year and I remember in July settling on it – and it worked. And then, I guess, somewhere along the days that ran into weeks, I stopped using the methods. Actually, what happened was, I gave my eldest a longer “leash” than he had earned. But, this works for us. So I’m anxiously awaiting my book (but have already gleaned enough from her website to put into action the methods we need to survive/thrive until then). And as I’ve said to my husband before “It would be great if you and i could at least be in the SAME BOOK, even if not on the SAME PAGE!” LOL! And after 48 hours of re-implementing this approach/method/philosophy, we’ve had us some great two days!

The other parenting book I’ve poked my nose into recently is Tim Kimmel’s “Legacy of Love.” One of the kids actually took this book off the shelf one day and laid it on top of my stack by my chair. When I ran out of the house for a little diet vanilla coke down at the local Sonic after a particulary challenging day, I went to grab my bible and anything else that might jump out at me…and Legacy of Love did. And it was helpful and Father nailed for me why I was so troubled that day by my eldest’s behavior. It was an issue of character. And when I got home, Tony and I talked with him and we were able to settle it with God’s Word. Amazing.

I’ve picked up another book recently at a fabulous used book store in a nearby town. I could just stroll in that store for hours just reading the titles of books! It’s like a big ole’ hug from the books when you walk in. Love it. There I found a book “Whole Child/Whole Parent” by Berends. No doubt, it challenges my reading level – LOL! But it’s got some gems in it and after reading a bit out of it, I had new eyes for my boys. Inquisitive. Accepting. Understanding. Listening.

Certainly on my list: Wild at Heart, Bringing up Boys, The Strongwilled Child (this should have come out with Sammy when he was born!), The Birth Order Book, Shepherding a Child’s Heart. All these in no particular order.

Well, so many books. So little time. Not to mention all the wonderful blog info that’s out there! I hope to later share about the stack of fiction books that’s crossing my threshold.

Surviving “no naps”

It was 8:41 pm when I walked out of the boys room – both asleep. Last night it was 8:32 pm. When they do nap (like on a Sunday) they don’t go to sleep until 10:30pm and that makes for a l.o.n.g. day. I can’t remember what happened on Monday night, but I had them up around 7am and they were getting cranky at Noon, at which point I fed them, read to them and we snuggled down in my bed for an hour and half nap!

I’ve been toying with “no naps” even before the holidays. It’s SO easy to go back to napping! Sometimes I don’t sleep well and I need a nap! My youngest (3 in three weeks!) could probably still use a nap, but he doesn’t want to miss anything! One thing I did try was having oldest rest on his bed with a book while I put youngest down for a nap (who likes for me to “lay down me” for him to go to sleep). This worked sometimes and Sammy and I would go do some school work and then take 30 minutes to rest (which Sammy usually fell asleep). And sometimes (when I wanted it to and even when I didn’t), Sammy would fall asleep reading his book! And Monday, I tried waking up Sammy after an hour nap – he woke up, changed positions, and went back to sleep for another 30 minutes!

So these past few days have been fairly easy to work through our afternoon “lull.” Tuesday we had organic produce co-op pick-up at 2:30, and errand, and then I took us to the park for park and bike riding time. Today we had to run a lunch into town for Dad. We’d made ourselves a picnic for the park but it was SO COLD (due to wind and no sun) that I couldn’t finish my lunch! The kids had already ran off without finishing their lunch, knowing their time was short! We’ll return on a day that the sun is out. So we picked up some Wendy’s chili on the way home, ate, I did some clothes folding while the kids played, and then I joined in for some block playing. We snuggled in a big chair for 30 minutes of Sense and Sensibility, then it was time for me to do some kitchen work. And surprisingly, the meltdowns we had encountered previously trying no naps haven’t popped up. I was on the verge of one today, but reigned myself in! LOL!

So here we are. Trying. Highly grateful for more peaceful bedtimes (for they have not always been this way even BEFORE trying no naps). To continue to survive, I hope to plan a walk to see our neighborhood horse we feed carrots to, do some art (I’m still working up the courage to do finger paints…), go see relatives, read, read, read our library books, play a game.

I think we’re going to make it.

Stone Sunday Chronicles – Last week!

Today began early as we were scheduled to serve as MVP (most valuable parent) in Saw’s class today. It began with Tony and I working together to throw a pork loin roast into the oven. Fortunately (albeit grudgingly) I am learning to bathe the night before so there’s only makeup and hair to contend with. Easy breakfast with farmers cheese (tvorog), honey, granola and banana. Sammy would love a return of my “famous Sunday muffins” but he and I are going to have to make it a routine to mix the dry ingredients the night before.

Way before we had kids, Tony and I were involved in a large Sunday school class where everyone was having kids before us. I loved that class and the people in it and was very passionate about encouraging others in their relationship with Christ. One of the members had twins at one point – and then “fell of the face of the earth.” And I remember it making me sad that she no longer attended our class, or church, that I knew of. Perhaps to make it more challenging, I think her husband worked on Sundays. And although our class visited and encouraged her, nothing changed. However, believing that a parent, as a Believer, had the greatest responsibility of leading their child to faith in Christ, and in my opinion, worshipping with other believers is a part of the process of teaching them to live out God’s Word, could not understand her absence and rememember thinking “God didn’t give you those babies for you to drop out of church!” Well, this was my simple prayer when I got home and was changing clothes “Thank you Father, for helping us to work through the challenges of GETTING to church! Thank for for the tenacity and perseverance it often takes on a Sunday morning to not give up and to keep moving us (especially 2 small people!) forward so that we can live out our faith by worshipping with other Believers.” Because believe me, I encountered some small, yet viable opportunities this morning to throw my hands up in the air and say “FORGET IT! IT’s TOO HARD!”

Our time was well spent in worship (didn’t get there for song, only message). Pastor is still preaching on 2 Corinthians and giving/money. It’s been a great series. Tony is PUMPED about starting Dave Ramsey’s course in a few weeks.

Our next tour of duty was changed – we were to be MVP’s in Sawyer’s class (a breeze) but were asked before worship if we could switch to Sammy’s class. My response: I’m not prayed up for that! That class is 30+ strong. But we were willing – and always will be, to step in where we’re needed. Sammy was NOT happy about Momma being in his class, but Dad is the fun man of the two of us and was able to win him over by playing a game of “ball” in the fish tank (no fish or water) and this won him over easily. They divide the boys and girls up after getting started and we were in charge of sharing about Jesus being in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, how hard it must have been for him and how He made the right decisions to lean on/into Father during this testing. We made a 80 link chain yellow/black, representing day and night. My Sammy was a great help. I don’t know who was the rowdiest, the girls or boys. But both groups LOVED my husband. This is how it always is. Our previous next door neighbors had a daugther – she saw me more than Tony (he was working nights at the time), but she ALWAYS remembered his name and would ask about him – and then say “What’s your name again?” Anyhow, we survived 30+ kindergartener’s and were glad to get home!

Since I’m finishing this post a week late, I can’t remember much past that! But there were a few things I thought worth reading. Maybe a sentence or two.

Teaching my kids to pray

My greatest responsibility as a parent is teaching our children how to have a living faith in the One True God through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is a joy and privilege to share Him with them. Daily we have this opportunity to seek Him together wherever we find ourselves. And usually, by the time the kids and I find ourselves in the schoolroom, that’s the first thing we do! Sammy has begun to lead us in prayer before our school time and it is so sweet to hear.

Wednesday night we found ourselves at church. Tony and I will be taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace study and Sammy is in Mission Friends, while Sawyer has his own pre-school activities. Sammy is learning a verse a week for his class. He earns coins when he says his verse and every two weeks they go “shopping” at the “store.” He loves it!

But this Wednesday night was a stormy night for East Texas. We listened to the weather reports on the way there and felt it was safe to continue. Although, honestly, the North area gets more activity than we do where we live, so I would have turned around if it had just been me and the kids. But my Love was with us and I trust him, so we headed on to church and got everyone in their places.

Fifteen minutes into our intro video the sirens go off, so we hustle to the main building (we were in a portable) and make sure our kids are good; they are hustling Saw’s class (with windows) to an inner classroom. Tony’s making pc’s to the PD to get the status on the possible tornado. I’m making pc’s to check on and alert neighbors. Finally, we’re given the all-clear, only to watch another 15 minutes of the video and have the kids dismissed. So we had to leave and pick up sweet kiddos.

Before leaving T wants to know the status of storms so we don’t head off into one. Sure enough, there’s a strong cell moving from South Tyler that has spawned a tornado. So we make our way to a local car wash and pull in for safe keeping. This safe keeping lasts at least an hour before the storm has passed over our area and it’s safe to return home.

When we get to the car wash, my oldest is a bit scared and crying and his baby brother says “God is with us, Bubba.” Wow. Divine music to my heart! This reminder (along with a homeopathic Hypericum) and holding Mom’s hand, is helpful to calming my dear Sammy. The kids did GREAT waiting patiently in the car. We’re studying the letter “R” this week, so Sammy and I did some “I spy and “R”" with some junkmail left in the car. We talked about their crafts they made in their class. Sang “I’ve been working on the Railroad” (part of our studying the letter “r”). Made a phone call to check on our parents. And they ate my church mints by two’s – I guess I should have used that as a math lesson!

But to keep this Momma calm, I began to pray. And as I began to pray, my right hand began to move as if sweeping over the area the storm was passing and I asked Father to weaken the storm. So I had my kids join in and practice praying with me, asking Father to weaken the storm. Sammy also prayed for those who were in the storm and had damage, as we had heard reports earlier of folks trapped in their homes from a tornado farther East. Finally, probaby by bribing Saw with some mints, he said a prayer for our home repeating after me. Even Daddy had joined in. This brought peace to my heart, regardless of how Father would choose to answer that prayer. But more importantly, it continues to further my children’s education in praying to Father, about the big and the little things in life, because He cares for us.

We were able to rejoice as a family when we returned home that everything was in tact and our home, neighbors, and family were safe! Thank you Father! Now our hearts prayer is for those who did receive damage and have been displaced from their homes. May they know Father’s love for them in the midst of their loss and my He provide their needs abundantly.

Stone Sunday Chronicles

Multi-tasking as I wait for eggs to hard boil for husband’s lunch, listen to new show “Worst Cooks”, and attempt to blog about my lovely day That looks like I just wrote something for FB….

In the Kitchen again

Short time to blog; my water is on for my most recent addiction, evening Cafix (caffeine free) – so yummy with a bit of stevia and half n half!

Back at it this week with a few new recipes.

The Potato Soup recipe I tried this week bombed for my family. I held my head high and ate it. It had cinnamon in it and although the boys and I eat a bit of cinnamon on this and that, dear husband not so fond of that much. I know what he’s looking for in a potato soup recipe – rich and creamy. This wasn’t that. I was glad to try it since it was basically dairy free (can use olive oil and calls for coconut milk). So, scratch that one.

But soup has been my aim this week as it is C O L D in our little part of Texas! So today I threw together a friends Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe for lunch. Success! Well, my youngest said yucky – but oldest and husband ate it up. Weirdo me didn’t have beans on hand (normally don’t buy mine but crock pot my beans) so I had to quick cook some. We were on cheese ration as there wasn’t much shredded cheese left. But I’m trying to limit that as well. So 3 out of 4. I’ll take that and not worry. It was easy and threw it in the crock pot so I could work on rearranging/cleaning out the spare bedroom to set it up for our school area.

One of the best things I did this week in the kitchen was put a large package of chicken thighs in the crock pot on Sunday evening. It made a wonderful broth (i used this in my potato soup recipe). The chicken I used throughout the week, first in Chicken Pot Pie (I tried the cream soups substitution recipe I got off recipezaar….it was ok and it probably IS cheaper, but I prefer the soups), which I actually made again later to share with my Auntie (we have 1/2 left to eat for lunch tomorrow….love easy Sunday dinner!). I also put it in my soup recipe today. Oh, and I probably put some in our weekly lunch “usually veggie” soup.

Tried my Spelt bread with molasses earlier this week and it was a hit, even with the husband (shocker!). It was gone in 3 days. This bread is easier to digest – and tastes wonderful to boot! So, another batch coming up on Monday!

Farmer’s Cheese has served us well. I have slipped a bit into Raw Food (picked up Raw Food Diet Detox at the library) so we had mashed up sweet potatoes for breakfast the other day with a bit of FC and drizzled maple syrup. I added granola to mine and Sammy’s. We ate it up. I think youngest went “yucky” again. Hmmm…are his taste buds changing??? Goodness, anything with maple syrup on it can’t be yucky, can it??

Tonight I tried a Dijon-Cider dressing recipe out of the above mentioned book. Whew. Tart. Husband was willing and I think it was easier to work with on our salad. We finished our last bit of Italian dressing the other night and today I threw out the remaining bottles of dressing (all had high fructose corn syrup included, with one being its FIRST ingredient! Yikes!). So I’ll keep looking for a more pleasing dressing. And I think I knew this but was in denial…ketchup has HFCS – bummer. What to do about that? We don’t use it often, but still. I had put raw organic baby carrots ont he table first, to help me eat them instead of fries with our fried fish, and secondly, to see if the boys would eat them. And they did! ANd then Sammy kept wanting more ketchup to dip carrots into…hmmm. Anyhow, boys didn’t eat salad tonight – not sure what they would have thought. Me? I prefer Balsamic Vinegar – love that stuff! Anyhow, seeking dressings made from scratch and that would fall into a healthy category.

My homemade applesauce is 2 1/2 quarts gone. Since a friend of mine gave me the jars, I’m sharing the last quart with her as a thank you and housewarming gift since she recently moved. I’ll be making more applesauce next week but perhaps changing the white sugar to something else, maybe succanant (sp?) or ….

But for breakfast? Saturday morning buttermilk pancakes and I did not have to twist anyone’s arm to eat a little bacon we had available. So as one can tell, I’m not diving off into the raw food craze. However, the book I picked up has provided me with some wonderful information. Information not obesssion, is what I’m after so that I can continue to make better choices for me and my family.

But today – my husband offered me LOVE. Well, I said “Thanks for the drugs.” when he handed me a cold REAL coke (which I hadn’t had all week…). We were trying to get some things done around here and boys were driving us crazy about the time they are normally resting or napping….but we were gifted back with them going to bed early:)

Well, off to cozy up with my cafix and watch those Cowboys! How bout them Cowboys??! (To hear my youngest say that brings a huge smile!).

From my kitchen window: Tales of a Happy Homemaker

This is where I was most of my first day of 2010. In my kitchen. Beautiful day outside, with lots of leaves in our back yard, even though we don’t have any trees A chance to hear the boys playing in the back yard – sometimes this went well, sometimes not so much!

I’ve been inspired by several to be in my kitchen. I would first give hats off to the movie, Julie and Julia. After I first saw it several months ago, I was off in the kitchen trying new things immediately. Not French cooking, but NEW to me dishes. Recently I saw it on DVD – and I just really enjoy that show. I enjoy the happiness that both the J’s found in cooking. And since I’m responsible for feeding 3 others – and boys/men at that, a joyful attitude towards the kitchen is helpful!

My second inspiration comes from the blog I follow Owlhaven. She’s a Mom of 10, most adopted from several different countries. She’s a wonderful inspiration. On her blog I’ve found several recipes and have tried at least 3-4 within the last few days! A few days ago I made her homemade granola recipe that has received rave reviews from the kids and hubs. It is a wondeful topping to the homemade tvorog cheese (aka “Farmer’s Cheese”) that I made mixed with a dab of honey to sweeten! Yummy! This morning I spent my time peeling 10 lbs. of apples to make homemade applesauce. And boy, did it turn out yummy as well! But I forgot, last night I made pasta carbonera (off Owlhaven’s blog as well). It was an easy meal to fix (spaghetti/bacon/onion/garlic/basil or sage/parmesan cheese). I think I need some more spice, but I’m willing to try it again. Easy and cheap is how I would describe it.

That is probably the 3rd reason for my inspiration – trying to save on my grocery bill. Well, actually, that’s only my partial inspiration. Perhaps what propels that is the desire to feed my children wholesome food – even perhaps whole foods. And we’re working toward that end. An ingredient that has worked it’s way out of our pantry is High Fructose Corn Syrup. It is in so many things offered. Yogurt being one of them, along with wanting to avoid Splenda, brought about the Farmer’s Cheese which delightfully fills in for yogurt as well as sour cream, or even a cream-cheese like spread. I was crossing my fingers on the granola, as I continue to try to find an easy go-to snack for the kids that’s not processed. As we passed by the Nutrigrain Food bars at the store (which haven’t been in our house, to my dismay, for some time) and Sammy asked for them, my response was “I’d love to feed them to you cause their easy – but they’re not the best for you.” I was grateful for his acceptance of that truth! Something about having kids makes you want to give them the very best – and learning how to prioritize in the midst of that desire, one of my first priorities is teaching them good eating habits and to enjoy whole foods!

Next up: Spelt bread with molasses. This is my dear Judy’s recipe that she has finally written down after learning the process of it being completely down in the fridge. That recipe is LOVE to me. We’ve had this bread several times and SO enjoy it! I can’t wait for it to smell up the house and to eat it! And it will go well with our tvorog cheese as well. Yum.

And somewhere in between I’ll be trying a green smoothie – something along the lines of spinach/apple/carrot/tvorog/honey. I’ll post how it turns out. Along with my inspiration to try that.

Well, my blog time is spent. I’m pooped. We’ve had our black eyed peas and wonderful cabbage (made by the hubs – which was fattening) along with homemade cornbread. Our dessert was easy peach cobbler with a special treat from Schwan’s – cinnamon icecream! Let’s just say, the kids were happy about that!

I had hoped to blog about what Father had shared with me during the Christmas holidays and how I was drawn closer to Him through music. But I have a feeling that is to remain between He and I for now. However, I received some MARVELOUS Christmas gifts and hope to share some photos SOON!

Still worshipping….and waiting

The last 2 Sundays have found us late to church. Last week: Tony got called out on the way to church; had to turn around so he could get his work vehicle and we went on to church, so no singing, just Pastor’s message. At 8:30am. We had MVP (most valuable parent) responsibilites in Sawyer’s class. This week, Tony received several calls during the night (I was already awake, anyway) and was awake well until 6am. I awoke at 7:54am. Fortunately, I didn’t turn into a crazy momma. But we were late and missed the music – again. Yet still, I found myself wishing Pastor would hurry through his points ’cause of my dear Sammy who seemed to have ants in his pants! I can see he and I need to do a bit of role play – I think this would help him. And yet, I think he is quite “normal.” I was getting a bit nervous when Pastor was still on his first point – so I looked down and saw he only had 2 points! This was good news. Ugh. I need to learn how to function better. However, rejoicing that my Sammy enjoyed “children’s church” which has a bit many kids in it and is loud – 2 things that doesn’t always go well for him. We had extended session today (voluteer help in pre-school) so this was were he had to be.

So I’m still worshipping. And waiting. Waiting for my Sammy to learn to sit still-er and for me to turn into that warm and fuzzy curled up cat (see previous post on Worshipping with One Eye Open). And perhaps by that time (grinning), Sawyer Wayne will have joined us! And although he is still boy, I rejoice that he is not so busy

I hope to post my Christmas blog soon with photos and how Father has been at work in my heart this Christmas season through several songs. He is so worth our adoration and praise. Oh, how I love Him and am utterly entralled by His wonderful love for me!