Schneider Peeps

Non-Fiction Book Love {A Monthly Link-Up}

2013-05-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I mentioned that I really wanted to do a non fiction book review link up. I've been thinking of just the right title and since I'm not very creative in that way, I've felt stuck. So, in order to unstick myself I've come up with the very clever title of "Non-fiction Book Love". (Sometimes done is better than perfect, right?)

Here's why it's non-fiction, I'm not a fiction reader. I don't understand or want to talk about plot, climax and character development. When I read (or listen to) fiction with my children it's mainly for enjoyment and discussion not for dissecting the book.

But non-fiction is a different story, non-fiction informs and inspires. It's real.

So here's the info....

You can link up any non fiction book review (of course, this is a family friendly site, so keep it PG, please.)
You can link a post that has one review or many reviews - I just ask that they be non-fiction books.
I'd love for you to link back to my site either in a text link or with the link up button (I'll have a clickable button next week.) But to be honest, I'm not going to be the link back police, I don't have the time or energy for that. But it would be nice if you linked back.
If you link up, please go visit a couple of other links and leave a comment. I'm hoping this will become an amazing resource of new reads for us. I promise it only take a moment to comment.
If you link up, please consider turning off your CAPCHA (you know those symbols to prove the commenter isn't a robot). That will make it easier for people to comment. I know everyone has their reasons for having this on, but if you just don't allow anonymous comments you should be ok. I know for some making out those letters and numbers are easy but for some of us (like me) our eyes have a great deal of trouble.
This shindig will happen the last Thursday of every month. So go ahead and get your reviews written.

In the Garden....growing pineapples

2013-05-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

Of all this things we've grown, I think I'm most excited about the pineapples. I'm not really sure why but I am. We planted a couple of tops in the spring of 2011 and a couple more last spring and summer. One of the ones we planted in 2011 is making a pineapple.

So now I'm planting every pineapple top I can get my hands on in the ground by the peach and plum trees.

This is about 4 months being planted (August 2011)

April 2013

May 2013

Not a lot is written about growing pineapples, I suspect because most people don't live in a climate where they can grow them easily outside. But they can be grown in a 10-12" pot.

Here's what I've learned about growing pineapples...

You can plant the top of a store bought pineapple. Just leave a little of the flesh on, let it dry out for a day or so and then plant in well drained soil.
You can also purchase a pineapple plant from a nursery.
Some recommend that you leave the pineapple top in water for about a week. The times I did this, it rotted - so I don't recommend that, but it's your plant do what you want.
Minimum temperature is 60 degrees. Now, we've gone way below 60 here during the winter and I only covered them when we were actually going to freeze. So I'm guessing a little cooler is ok as long as most days aren't below 60.
Maximum temperature is 90 degrees according to Grow Fruit by Alan Buckingham. Most of our summer is above 90 degrees so I don't really know what to say other than apparently this isn't a hard and fast rule.
Water thoroughly and then let them dry out between watering
If side shoots develop you can just leave them and they'll produce another pineapple
I've heard that you can put an apple slice down into the pineapple plant to help stimulate production. I'm going to try that on the one from 2011 that isn't producing.

Pest and Problems

Not susceptible to any pests
As long as the temperature is kept above 60 degrees there's not any foliage problems
Root disease can occur if over watered and in cool soil

Harvesting and Storage

Harvest when pineapple stops growing and turns from green to golden
I'm sure you won't have so many you need to store them but just in case you do you can cut them up and freeze them

What fun things are you growing in your garden?

You can find information about other fruits and veggies by searching in my side bar or in The Gardening Notebook.

kale chips...

2013-05-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

...or "what to do when you have too much kale and people at church have started avoiding you." Just kidding, no one's avoiding me. But we have a lot of kale and Swiss chard. We've been eating them in some form at least 4 days a week since November. It's so bad my kids are checking the garden every day to see if there's some zucchini ready.

One night last week I decided to go ahead and try making kale chips. Several of us thought they were good, several didn't, some refused to try them. They're not at all like potato or corn chips so don't compare.

I looked at several recipes and then just did my own thing.

First I tore the kale into pieces. I'll confess that I rarely wash veggies that come from our garden. I know, I know. But I do check and make sure there's no bugs or dirt. Bugs don't seem to like the kale and since the bottom leaves are 3 feet off the ground there wasn't any dirt on them.

I drizzled olive oil on them and sprinkled sea salt, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.
Then I baked them at 350 degrees for about 15minutes.

Here they are, all crisped up. The crispier ones tasted better. I used a little too much oil and too much salt. Next time I'll use less oil and probably no salt. But I might use a little more Parmesan.

We had some leftovers. I used them in our scrambled eggs the next morning. They were pretty good.

organizing media

2013-05-19T21:01:00.000-05:00

All I can say is, we have way more DVDs and Cd's that I thought. I'm not really sure where they all came from but somehow they've busted out of their drawer in the entertainment center and I found them stashed in various places when I set out to declutter the living room.

Now, I could, in theory, just get rid of them. But most are movies my children have bought or been given, and some we watch over and over - like Magic School Bus and What's in the Bible.

So, I started looking for a way to organize them so that they are easily accessible (I did think about putting them in a box in the garage, but that would get frustrating) and take up no more space than the drawer in the entertainment center.

I found this at iheartorganizing. But I couldn't find those sleeves locally. While I was looking for them I found these colored ones at Target. They're plastic so they should last much longer than the paper ones.

For a while each evening I would take DVDs out of their cases and put them in sleeves. I categorized them as I went and used 3X5 cards as dividers. Esther always "helped" and Phoebe and Benjamin enjoyed helping, too.

OK, I'm going to admit that I had this weird thing going on in my head that really struggled with taking them out of the cases and getting rid of the cases - and it didn't have anything to do with filling up the land fill because I'd recycle them. So I put the cases in a box in the attic, just in case.

Originally, I used a shoe box to put the DVDs in. But it was too flimsy. So I found some old zip lock bowls that no longer had lids in my kitchen cabinet. The DVDs fit perfectly.

Here's the DVD drawer. Eventually I'd like Carl to put in some wooden dividers in the drawer but for now I'm happy with the re purposed bowls. Actually, eventually I'd like a large family room added on to my house with a built in entertainment area with lots of drawers and shelves. But that's years down the road, so for now it's plastic sleeves and zip lock bowls.

Here's the video game drawer. I know- lots of wires, but I don't play the games, so as long as the controllers get put back in the drawer I don't care what it looks like.

Now I'm slowly working on putting the name of the dvd on each sleeve. I think that will help us keep them in alphabetical order. It will also help me know if one hasn't been put away properly.

Have you found a good way to store media? Be sure to leave leave your thoughts in the comments.

In the kitchen...breaking out of the rut

2013-05-16T09:42:00.002-05:00

During the school year I find myself cooking the same things over and over and over. Fortunately for me, my family doesn't mind. They're all about quantity not necessarily quality. As I've gone through my day planner and looked at what I we had for dinners over last 6 months each week looks pretty similar....

Monday - canned venison or sausage, potatoes, kale or Swiss chard

Tuesday - pasta, Swiss chard or kale

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - roasted chicken or pulled pork sandwiches

Friday - homemade pizza

Saturday - grill outside or stew

Sunday - baked potato bar

Snacks

Lunches

Pintos beans - burritos, taco salad, chalupas, etc.

Breakfasts
Oatmeal
Eggs with potatoes and/or Swiss chard
Waffles
Pancakes (I half the recipe and put it in bags with the instructions for easy preparation)

But now that it's summer it's time to break out of the rut...

These lovelies are from Heather's 30 Day Vegan class

I've been trying Jami's homemade salad dressings - so far we've made the ranch and my ranch eaters love it.

We made Pioneer Woman's Hot Crash Potatoes - twice. (when she says to brush oil on them don't try to use spray oil - I did the second time and let's just say I had A LOT of leftovers for the eggs the next morning.)

I'm open to exploring more recipes this summer. We have a few weeks before our canning season will start so I'm wanting to make the most of my time. Please leave your recipe goodness or a link to it in the comments.

This post is shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Natural Living Mondays, Barn Hop, Backyard Farming Connection, Simple Living Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Simple Lives Thursday,

In the Garden....sweet potatoes

2013-05-15T09:19:00.004-05:00

Last year was the first time we've planted sweet potatoes. A friend was sweet and bought me some slips when she bought hers from the feed store. I later found out that they were $9...ouch.

We didn't do a very good job of digging them up, the soil where they were planted has a lot of clay and it was compacted down. In February, Benjamin found a few more still in the ground. Then when Gabriel tilled up the area more sweet potatoes went flying. So I wasn't super surprised when I found quite a few sweet potato sprouts coming up in the area they were planted last year.

After watching them grow and seeing more and more pop up, I decided to dig them all up and replant them in some looser soil and give some away. I was able to share with 4 people, including the person who originally purchased the slips for me last year.

Here's what I planted for us...27 slips.

This is about half of what I gave away.

Here's some things about sweet potatoes:

Sweet potatoes love heat. So for our zone they are some of the last things we plant. Planting season is April 15-May 15th
Need at least 100 frost free days (northern climates can cover the ground with clear plastic to help warm up the soil)
Sweet potatoes are not the same as yams and they're different than regular potatoes
Like loose, well drained soil
Once established you only need to water if you notice the vine wilting
Sweet potatoes are started by slips not seed potatoes (like white potatoes). You can buy slips (ouch) or start your own by planting a sweet potato and letting it sprout. After you see sprouts you can dig it up and gently removed the slips (sprouts) that have some roots on them. You can replant to potato and see if more slips develop. You can also do the same thing in water but it hasn't worked very well for me.
Plant slips 12-18" apart and to a depth of about half its length
If you live in a warm climate you might be able to grow them year round. As the vine grows you can bury it every 12" or so and it will re-root and begin a new tuber

Pests and Problems:

Wireworms and grubs can be a problem for any root crop
We had a problem with pill bugs eating the potatoes last year. We're using diatomaceous earth to help with this
nematodes may be a problem and you can add beneficial nematodes if you have poorly colored or deformed potatoes

Harvesting and Storage:

Unlike regular potatoes, sweet potatoes vines won't die back when they're ready to be harvested
Anytime between 100-120 days your potatoes will be ready.
Harvest before first frost (although some of ours went through our mild winter in the ground just fine)
Sweet potatoes need to be cured before storage. They need to held at 85-90 degrees and 80-90% humidity for 5-7 days. This will help them not dry out.
To store they need to be kept at 55degrees or higher. They'll begin to rot if its lower.

Any other tips? Feel free to share in the comments.

Information about other vegetables can be found by using the search button on my sidebar or in The Gardening Notebook.

This post is shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Natural Living Mondays, Barn Hop, Backyard Farming Connection, Tuesday Garden Party, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Simple Lives Thursday

summer projects {bathroom}

2013-05-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

I spent last week cleaning, decluttering and prettying up the main bathroom. We only have one and a half bathrooms so this room gets a lot of use.

The bathroom is quite large and has a little privacy wall by the toilet. There's quite a bit of space on the outside of the wall and I've always wanted a little shelving unit there. However, I've never been able to find one that fit and that I liked. So, we made one. Don't look too close because it is far from perfect. Josiah and Gabriel helped me make it, I probably should have just asked Gabriel to make it and let me assist as he had to come back and take part of it apart to make it square.

Here's the almost finished bathroom. Whoever put the linoleum in did not replace the quarter round so I'll be doing that. And I really want to paint the white walls. They look fine in the photo but in real life the previous owners just slapped a thin coat of white paint over the old white paint before selling the house. Any color ideas? I'm thinking a cream/taupe color with white trim and white ceiling.

Our bathroom has a nautical theme to it. Carl and I grew up on the beach and love all things "beachy". My sister made this hanging quilt for my dad years ago. When he passed away she gave it to me. It fits perfectly in our bathroom. This week I finally got a real rod for it.

Just in case you want to make a shelving unit, I took pictures to share.

I just used inexpensive pine board. I used 1X12's. We cut four lengths 23" and two lengths 36". We nailed them together using finishing nails. It's a bit wobbly at this stage but that's ok.

Measure the outside of your unit and cut a piece of thin plywood that is will fit. This is where it's handy to have someone who knows how to square up a box. You need to use a speed square and maybe even some clamps. Nail the back on using finishing nails.

The top doesn't look very nice....

So we cut another piece of the thin plywood for the top and nailed it on.

I used paneling moulding to trim it up. The boys cut mitered edges for the top front and then just flat ends for the rest. For nailing this on, I drilled tiny pilot holes after splitting the wood a little.

The shelf shown here is stationary and I just nailed it in from the sides.

I used wood filler and filled all the holes and gaps. Then painted it with a primer.

I made the middle shelf adjustable by drilling two holes on each side and using shelf holders to hold it up. I did this because this piece of wood was cut just a little smaller than the others and the gaps would have been too big.

I finished it off by painting it "Tranquility" by Valspar. I only used one sample can that I had gotten free from Lowes.

Any ideas on paint colors that will look nice with the yellow pine paneling?

This post is shared at Make it Pretty Monday, Take it on Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday, Anything Blue, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Raising Homemakers,

this moment

2013-05-10T07:37:00.002-05:00

Inspired by SouleMama...

Dewberry season is coming to a close. Some have picked more and some have eaten more...

Have a lovely weekend!

{garden surprises}

2013-05-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

After traveling this past weekend, I was glad to spend some time in the garden yesterday. It's amazing to me just how relaxing piddling around is the garden is to me.

Our Swiss Chard and kale are still growing well and have not gotten bitter yet. We're enjoying them several times a week either sauteed, in soups or in eggs. We're also still harvesting beets. My favorite way to eat beets is to grate them and put them in a salad.

I found this beet hiding in the Swiss Chard. I've been clipping the leaves thinking it was chard...oops.

When Benjamin saw it he said, "Let's take a picture of it. It's the biggest beet I've ever harvested." Well, he was there a few minutes after I pulled it up...I guess for an 11 year old that counts as harvesting it.

This is what my dish drainer is looking like each day. I'm going to have to rename it the dish and vegetable strainer. We picked our first green beans of the season. We're pretty excited about that.

How's your garden going? Any surprises?

This post is shared at Backyard Farming Connections, An Oregon Cottage, HomeAcre Hop, Home and Garden Thursday, From the Farm, Little House in the Suburbs,

Punch Bowl Cake

2013-05-06T12:33:00.001-05:00

Growing up I thought that to make pudding all you did was open a box, add milk and shake. Then I found out that you could make pudding by opening a box, adding milk and cooking. Why bother with the cooking, I thought?

Then I learned that you really didn't even need the box to make pudding. You could make it with milk, eggs, cornstarch, butter and flavorings. You do have to cook it, but once you make it you'll never buy a box of pudding again. The flavor is so rich and creamy. {The recipe is at the end of this post}

For Esther's birthday we made a Punch Bowl Cake. We call it that because you layer the ingredients in a punch bowl. You can make all kinds of Punch Bowl Cakes but since Esther asked for a strawberry cake we made a strawberry and banana one.

To make this you need about 3-4 bananas sliced, a pound of sliced strawberries, an angel food cake that has been cut up and a double batch of homemade vanilla pudding.

In a punch bowl you layer the cake, then pudding, then bananas and strawberries. You continue layering until you run out of stuff. I can usually get 2 layers in my big punch bowl and 3 in my smaller one.

This is also a nice desert to put in individual dessert cups.

Homemade Pudding

¼ cup cornstarch

2/3 cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 cups scalded milk

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

2 tbsp butter

½ tsp vanilla

Scald milk. In double boiler, mix cornstarch, sugar and salt. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook until thickened (about 10 minutes). Add some of the thickened mixture to the yolks to warm them up. Then add this egg mixture to the milk mixture. Cook 5 more minutes. Add butter and vanilla. Stir. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.

Add mashed and sliced bananas for banana pudding. I'm working on a chocolate pudding recipe. I'll share when I've got it right.

Enjoy!

This post is shared at Tasty Tuesday, From the Farm, Little House in the Suburbs,

This moment

2013-05-03T07:27:00.000-05:00

Inspired by SouleMama...

Esther turns four today. We needed to celebrate a day early. Hello Kitty, google eye letters and numbers, and silly string - what more could a girl ask for? Oh, and strawberry punch bowl cake (recipe to come next week).
Have a fun filled weekend!

thinking of summer

2013-05-01T09:37:00.001-05:00

Now that our homeschool co-op and drama are over, I feel free. We've done pretty good keeping up with our school work this year and so I have visions of a summer break (although we always do math and reading during the summer).

I really, really want to get some projects done around the house. Things that I've wanted to do since we moved in a year and a half ago but just haven't happened. Some a big and some are small.

I do much better with a written list instead of just relying on my memory. As I was writing my list I thought I'd share it with you. It's in no particular order. I'll work on one or two projects as I can and until they are complete before moving on to another project. Some will be done by me, some by my children or husband, some by all of us and some won't get done at all - which will be ok.

~Put shelves in all the closets. {we've already started this one. The photo above is our master bedroom closet, all that stuff was on the two original shelves above the rods and on the floor}

This is the other closet in our bedroom that stores my sewing stuff.
And yes, all that was stacked on the one shelf.

~preserve as much food as I can. This includes jams, jellies, tomatoes, corn, green beans, meat, dehydrating cherry tomatoes and squash. This will take priority over other projects. When the produce is ready there's no delaying.

~declutter and organize each room one by one. The worst rooms are the girls' room and one half of one of the boys' rooms.

~organize all our dvd's and videos

~put all digital photos on flash drives, scan pre digital photos into computer and put on flash drives. Put flash drives in safe.

~finish painting chicken coop

~make fun plant markers for garden

~ fix small shelving unit for bathroom

~ decide on colors to paint the interior of the house {this is a hard one for me since I won't paint the beautiful pine doors, cabinets and paneling. But they cast a slight yellow ting in our home, esp. in pictures. I also don't want anything too dark or bright or modern. I like simple fresh colors but taupe just isn't going to work with pine, I don't think. Any ideas on colors? I'm all ears}

~refloor Christian and Josiah's bedroom. {we had a water softener leak a few months ago and it still smells musty, ugh...}

~paint the bathrooms {this is way down on the list}

~replace the kitchen cabinet door catches. {right now only 3 close properly}

~organize garage and attic, with labels.

~get RV slab hooked up with water and electricity. This has been done before but hasn't been used in years.

Now, before you think we're all work and no play we'll also...

~go to the library each week

~go to the movies each week {our local theater has $1 movies on day a week}

~participate in Vacation Bible School with our church

~go to scout camp or Jamboree {Gabriel and Benjamin}

~go to church camp

~go to the beach for several days

So what about you, what are some of your summer plans and projects?

enjoying the journey

2013-04-30T04:30:00.000-05:00

All the stars aligned perfectly on Friday morning and I was able to spend a significant amount of time in the garden. I've been a little down about my garden this year. We've not had much rain, we had a crazy freeze a month after our average last frost date and we seem to have pill bug infestation.

But actually getting to leisurely spend time in the garden instead of just running out there to do this one thing or another reassured me that things are not as bad as I thought.

Here's what I saw...

Our repeater onions are flowering. They look so funny to me but the bees are loving them.

I have a total of 62 tomato plants. I counted. I have 8 empty spots because pill bugs ate the seedlings. I've sown some seeds and put wide mouth mason jars over them to create a mini greenhouse.

I planted nasturiums on some of the cages. I can't wait until they flower.

Our potatoes are doing great. Carl and Benjamin surprised me one afternoon by putting wire around the bed so we can add leaves and hopefully get a larger harvest of pototoes.

Even with the pill bugs munching on the green bean seedlings, the freeze killing about 75% of them and Carl and Benjamin "helping" me by putting the wood chips in the bed instead of the walkway I still picked our first two beans on Friday.

Baby tomatoes growing.

Wildflowers in our backyard. An advantage of not mowing. The bees are enjoying the pollen. One day I want part of our backyard to look like this. Go ahead and click over, you'll be glad you did.

One of our peach trees is finally budding. It's late for us here so I don't think I'll be forced to choose to remove the first years fruit so that the tree can get better root growth.

Our blueberries are looking good. I need to water them more than I did last summer. Because I'm scared of overwatering I tend to underwater them.

This is our pomegrante tree. See that little red dot in the middle? That's it's first bloom ever. It has 4 blooms so far. Hopefully we'll get a few this year.

More and more mulberries are ripening each day. Esther and Gabriel or Benjamin have a mulberry date daily to pick the black ones.

Our Cara Cara orange tree is full of blooms. I bought this from an elderly man who was selling them on the side of the road. You never really know what your getting when you do that - time will tell if it really is a Cara Cara.

The Satusma orange tree has little oranges on it. Last year this tree didn't produce at all so it's nice to see it come back.

I found some ladybugs on the Cara Cara tree. (Ignore the black on my thumb, I had to spray paint an apron that morning.)

This is what I'm most excited about. One of the pineapple plants is producing a pineapple! I planted this one from a pineapple that I bought at the store in 2011. The other one I planted that year isn't producing just yet but I check it regularly.

We (as in I) have decided to plant lots of pineapples near the peach and plum trees. So each time I get one from the store I'll be planting the top in the ground. (millions of pots are just too expensive)

I know some of you are just getting started on your garden for this year and can't believe that I'd be down about mine but usually by mid july it's too hot here for anything to really produce. Maybe our crazy weather will continue and we will have a cooler than normal summer.

Are you gardening? Are you enjoying the journey?

This post is shared at Tuesday Garden Party, Backyard Farming Connection, Small Kitchen Garden Post Produce,

My Summer Reading list {The Ultimate Homemaking ebook bundle}

2013-04-29T09:29:00.002-05:00

I'm popping in to let you know about a great ebook sale. I love books of all kinds but to be honest, I'm usually to ~~cheap~~ frugal to actually buy a book or ebook. It has to be written by someone I know or have read and enjoyed before or be recommended highly by someone I respect. I also have to really, really believe that it will help me in some way. I'm not much of a recreational reader.

Because of that I don't buy many book or ebooks.

But when this ebook bundle of 97 ebook for $29.97 came through my email I noticed several ebooks that I have been wanting to check out but either haven't had the time to read them or am not totally convinced that they'd be useful to me and so I don't want to spend the money.

All the details are below. One thing I want to mention is that I'm an affiliate for this sale. You can check out my disclosure and affiliate page here.

I've purchased my bundle and I'll be posting in a couple of days some helpful hints of dealing with NINETY-SEVEN ebooks. Especially, since one of my goals this summer is to organize and declutter...

For 6 days only, more than 75 widely-known bloggers and authors in the homemaking sphere have joined together to offer 97 of their most popular eBooks and eCourses, valued at just over $600, for the incredibly low price of $29.97! More than anything, our goal for this sale was for it to be, well… ultimate! We firmly believe that you will not find a more comprehensive collection of homemaking resources anywhere on the web, and particularly not in this price range. For this low price, you gain access to every single one of these resources, so that you can customize your own collection to contain exactly the ones you want and know you'll use. This library of homemaking helps include topics such as mothering, organization and cleaning, recipes and kitchen helps, home education, spiritual growth for both moms and kids, home décor and DIY, pregnancy and baby care, frugal living, health and fitness, and even work-from-home and financial tools. To sweeten the pot, we’ve also teamed up with 10 companies to bring you over $140 in bonus offers, giving you an affordable opportunity to get products you’ll use and love for only the cost of shipping, or in some cases, entirely for free! Click here to visit The Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle.

What's Included in the Sale?

When you purchase The Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle, you will get instant access to any of the 97 eBooks and eCourses listed below.

PLUS over $140 of FREE Bonuses

Each The Ultimate Homemaking eBook collection comes with more than $140 of FREE Bonuses from 10 companies that we know you'll love. More on these bonuses below.

Please note: This collection is only available from 9 a.m. EST on April 29th to 11:59 p.m. EST on May 4th. There will be no late sales offered.

PLUS, You will receive FREE Bonuses from these companies...

~A FREE Two-Month Membership to Fit2B Studio, where their wholesome workouts for the whole family are tummy safe and particularly target Diastasis Recti (split abs). ($19.98 value. No shipping restrictions.)

~A $15 store credit to TruKid. With products like their aware-winning sun care, they are dedicated to providing all natural skin and hair care for kids, babies, and now pets. ($15.00 value. Standard shipping applies. International shipping available.)

~Your choice of incredible natural products like sea salt and clay for FREE. Choose from the Redmond Trading Earthpaste Bundle ($24.90 value) or the Facial Mud Bundle ($26.90 value). (Standard shipping applies. Continental US only.)

~Your choice of a FREE heirloom sourdough starter or FREE yogurt starter from Cultures for Health, the leading supplier of starter cultures and supplies for making cultured and fermented foods ($12.95 value. US & CAN addresses only. Standard shipping applies.)

~Your choice of: a FREE 3-Month Subscription (for new accounts) or 30% off a One Year Subscription. Plan to Eat is an online menu planner that uses your recipes, scheduled for the days you want them. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)

~A FREE Culinary Herbs Assorted Seed Pack Check just in time for spring planting from www.wheatgrasskits.com, a living whole foods company. ($11.95 value. Standard shipping applies to all US states and territories- no international shipping for seeds.)

~Get $10 off Union28's original "my husband rocks" tee. Their marriage apparel lets you celebrate your spouse in style. ($10.00 value. Standard shipping rates apply. International shipping available, but free shipping only available within USA.)

~A $10 store credit plus 1 FREE lip balm from Bee All Natural. Their whole body products nourish and heal, and are made using only the highest quality, food grade, organic ingredients. ($13.49 value. Standard shipping applies. International shipping available.)

~A FREE 2 oz. bottle of your choice of liquid herbal formula from TriLight Health. They specialize in fast acting, great tasting natural herbal remedies. ($12.95 value or more. Standard shipping applies, within the USA only.)

~Your choice of 3 FREE ePlanners OR a 3-Month FREE Membership to ListPlanIt, whose mobile lists will help to organize your life. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)

The fine print:

Bonus Offers

Each bonus offer can be redeemed once only per eBook Bundle purchase.
For each bonus offer, transaction numbers or proof of purchase may be required at the time of redemption.
All bonus offers are free gifts from the bonus sponsors, are their sole responsibility to provide, and are subject to availability.
All bonus offers expire at midnight on May 19th, 2013 (2 weeks from the last day of this sale).

General

It is your responsibility to download and back-up your purchase within the 1-month download time-frame. With proof of purchase, we can renew download links up until August 1st, 2013. After this date we will no longer have access to the books and will not be able to provide any new links to download.
Due to the nature of this sale, there will be no refunds available. However, we would invite you to read our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about the file types, the download process, how the bonus offers work, etc.

Please note: This collection is only available from 9 a.m. EST on April 29th to 11:59 p.m. EST on May 4th. There will be no late sales offered, so make sure that you get your bundle right away!

Particularly for those wanting to read these ebooks on their mobile devices (iPhones or iPads, Android, Kindle, etc.) you will want to learn more about the file types, how to download them correctly, and how to transfer them to your device. Click here to view more details

This post includes affiliate links, and I make a portion of the sale of each ebook bundle. You can read my disclosure page here. Thanks for your support of this site!

drama {the good kind}

2013-04-29T04:30:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned several times how much I appreciate our homeschool drama club. We've just completed our 5th year with the club and I have to say that it's one of the best extra curricular activities we've done.

It's amazing to see the kid's abilities develop from one year to the next. Most are pretty self conscious their first year but as the years progress they get more and more comfortable. It was fun seeing teens stand up in front of 350 people on Thursday night and 400 people on Friday night, perform and not be nervous.

Here's couple of photos of Josiah and Phoebe. I had to crop the other performers out as I'm uncomfortable posting pictures of other people's children without their permission.

Josiah as Uncle Max

Phoebe as Gretl (who is supposed to be 5).

This play was overwhelming at times. This is the first time we've done a musical and it really adds another dimension to the performance. Also, this was an overwhelming play to do as far as costumes are concerned. Some of the characters changed 6 or 7 times.

But we live in an amazing community that really understands the benefits of the arts in their community. We had a lot of outside help. A couple of our local music ministers helped with voice coaching. Josiah was one of the recipients of this coaching and he is so much more confident in his singing than he ever was before. The local dance theatre loaned us their "Nutcracker" stairs. Two different high schools - one public, one private - loaned us costumes to help out. A local Catholic church loaned us a kneeler....

...I could go on and on. But I won't.

All of this to say, if you have a local drama club (homeschool, private school, public school or community theatre) think about what you can do to help them out occasionally. They really do enrich the community.

Are you involved in a community theatre of some sort? If so, what are some of the plays you've done or seen that you enjoyed?

this moment

2013-04-26T07:20:00.001-05:00

Inspired by SouleMama...

Math, brownies and bedhead first thing in the morning. This is one of the perks of homeschooling.

Have a lovely weekend!

dewberries

2013-04-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon Carl called me on his way to a funeral and said, "The dewberries are ready. We need to go pick." Can I just say, this is the worst possible week of the year for the dewberries to be ready?

We have about a 2-3 week window of picking dewberries each year. We try to pick enough to make jam to eat and give as gifts, to make cobbler filling and to freeze to eat with yogurt and put in smoothies. Fortunately, we are only on week one so if we don't get lots picked we still have another week or two left.

We, as in those of us not in The Sound of Music (or helping with costuming), have picked 9 pounds already which is about 2.5 gallons.

The cool thing about dewberries is that they're just wild blackberries. They are not as big as blackberries and they have thorns BUT all we have to do is go pick them. Totally worth it. Even this year as we enter our third year of drought there's dewberries. They're not as plump as they have been in years past when we've had adequate rain, but for jam making they're great. We also take the ones that are really dry and finish drying them out to make a tea.

So, I'll start keeping track of our harvest and preserving in the sidebar of the blog for the spring and summer.

Do you do any foraging? If so, what do you forage?

This post is shared at Barn Hop, Backyard Farming Connection,

Gardening ebook bundle

2013-04-22T09:02:00.001-05:00

Good Morning! I hope you had a great weekend. We spent the weekend filled with ballet and athletic awards banquets (my kids don't play any athletics but there's a dance afterwards) and getting ready for The Sound of Music production.

I wanted to pop in and let you know that The Gardening Notebook is part of a Gardening Bundle this week. You can get 5 great gardening books for $7.40 through 8am EST on Monday, 4/29.

Here's what you get...
Frugal Gardening 101 by Phoebe Hendricks
In Frugal Gardening 101: A Comprehensive Guide to Vegetable Gardening Without Breaking the Bank, Phoebe shares her passion for gardening and proves that vegetable gardening doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s a comprehensive guide that shows you how to garden organically for very little with tips for buying, starting and saving seeds, organic pest and weed control and more.

Apartment Gardening by Jami Balmet
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to have a garden with limited space, Jami’s ebook will show you how! Apartment Gardening: A Practical Guide to Growing Vegetables in Small Spaces is a beginner’s guide to everything you need to know about container gardening, including more than 100 pages of how-to advice to help you start your container garden today.

Simple Food {For Spring} by Shannon Stonger
Simple Food {For Spring} is more than just a cookbook. In addition to 28 grain-free recipes (complete with full-color photos!) highlighting spring produce, Shannon also encourages readers in sustainable and homegrown living through her introductions to cleansing, foraging, dehydrating greens and more.

Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving by Laura Coppinger
In Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving, Laura shares her tips for a successful, organic garden, including how, what and when to plant. Beyond gardening, you’ll also find her strategies for making the most of your farmer’s market plus canning tutorials and recipes to help you preserve your harvest.

The Gardening Notebook by Angi Schneider
In addition to a how-to guide for gardening beginners, Angi has created the perfect spot for recording all of your notes and research for your garden. With more than 50 pages of printables, The Gardening Notebook is the perfect way to organize everything you need or want to remember for your garden!

If you've been wanting The Gardening Notebook and waiting for just the right sale. This is it. At this point I don't have any plans to include it in any other bundles or sales. Plus you get 4 other great ebooks. So even if you already have The Gardening Notebook this would be a great time to get some other gardening ebooks.

Click here to get your Gardening Bundle!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, read my disclosure statement here.

::right now::

2013-04-17T08:29:00.000-05:00

With windows open I can hear the cars rushing down the street carrying people to work and school. I also hear the morning doves begin their busy day of foraging. And, of course, Cogburn telling us that, yes, in fact, the sun is up. Everyone else is in bed. I'll let them stay there until they are each ready to get up. No rushing for us this morning.

As I sit here this morning my mind slows down and I can focus on what the day/week holds for us - or what it *might* hold for us. And reflect on what has already passed.

...seeing Elmo hanging from a bumper on Monday caused my children to chant "Save Elmo" for about 2 miles of drive time. After assuring Esther that this wasn't the real Elmo she even joined in.

...watching our citrus trees come alive with blooms and now baby fruit. I'm declaring this will be a good year for citrus.

...my garden, on the other hand, isn't doing as well as I would like. I have a case of disappearing plants. And lack of time to tend to it properly. I'm declaring it will be an ok year for vegetables.

...and, What?, you ask, would cause a very dedicated gardener, even one who wrote a book on the subject, to not tend her garden properly? The Sound of Music, of course. (Phoebe is all the way to the left as 5 year old Gretl)

...drama practice, singing practice, choreography practice, costuming and now stage set up is taking up lots of time this year. But it is so worth it to see the kids shine!

...the school year winding down. We're counting our lessons by how many we have left instead of how many we've done. The last day of co-op is tomorrow (it's always bittersweet)

...trying to explain to a 3 year old (and 11, 13, 13 &16) why someone would hurt other people they don't even know, in a way that doesn't cause fearfulness.

...keeping our conversations limited about things that cause stress and worry for our children. Not only the Boston bombing but also dad's office closing. We've entered our first week of unemployment.

...prioritizing the honey-do list. I'm going to try to fully capitalize on Carl being home for a short time. (I'm actually pretty excited about this part)

...knowing that in all things God is still in control and the evidence of that is all around - we just need to be still and look for it. Praying for those whose loved ones have been lost of hurt in the bombings.

shepherd's pie recipe

2013-04-15T08:38:00.002-05:00

For the past year or so we've been part of a meat co-op that purchases pastured meat in bulk. We order every two months. When we picked up out meat this time, Gabriel said "You should make shepherd's pie."

You should have heard the "oh, yeah's " that went on when a few days later when I finally made it. It's so super easy and I usually have all of these items on hand. For some reason, I have forgotten about it in my meal planning for quite a while.

There's are tons of different ways to make shepherd's pie, here's our way...

Shepherd's Pie Recipe
1 lb ground beef (browned)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
2 cans green beans
mashed potatoes (we like alot)
cheddar cheese (grated)
salt & pepper
Cook up a batch of mashed potatoes (season with salt and pepper). You need enough to cover a 9X13 pan about 2" deep.

Brown your meat (adding salt and pepper) and then spread it on the bottom of a 9X13 pan.
Add a can of diced tomatoes (or Rotel for a spicy flavor) and mix it in the meat.
Sprinkle corn on top of meat.
Sprinkle green beans on top of corn.
Top with mashed potatoes
Sprinkle with grated cheese

Enjoy!

What's been cooking in your kitchen lately? Share with us in the comments.

chicken enchiladas {two ways}

2013-04-09T04:30:00.000-05:00

We had the opportunity to prepare dinner for a new friend who was visiting from England last month. She was visiting our friends who are orginally from Kenya. I wanted to make a Tex/Mex meal since I was pretty sure she had never had any.

When I was talking to her at church making sure she didn't have any dietary restrictions, she asked, "What exactly is Tex/Mex?" hmmmm, that's a good question.

My answer was, "Pretty much anything you can wrap in a tortilla and put lots of cheese on."

One of our favorite meals is chicken enchiladas. Now, this is not the healthiest of meals so we don't have it very often but when we do it's a hit.

Chicken Enchiladas

Whole chicken, while boiling add:

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp cumin

Dried or fresh cilantro

Boil until meat falls off bones. Let cool, drain the chickens, saving the broth for enchilada sauce.

Filling:

Meat

Minced fresh garlic

1 cup broth

1 can diced or stewed tomatoes

1 chopped onion

Garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and chicken bullion

In large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add meat and garlic. Sauté, then add rest of ingredients. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes.

Sauce:

3-4 cups chicken broth

Cumin

Tomato bullion or tomato sauce

Cilantro

Cornstarch or flour to thicken

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil to thicken. Let cool.

Tortillas:

Put about 1 inch of oil in skillet. Dip tortillas in hot oil for just a moment. (Don’t let get crispy)

When all is ready, start rolling:

Inside tortilla put some meat mixture, grated cheese and onion. Roll up and put in 9X13 pan. When pan is full cover with sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is more of a process than an exact recipe. Feel free to adjust the spices or the amount of broth.

Also, it's ok if you have left over meat or sauce. If you do you can make enchilada soup later in the week.

To make the soup, take your leftover sauce and chicken and put it in a pot. Add water, more spices and veggies like squash and zucchini slices to it. I used some of our dehydrated zucchini. Serve with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

chicken coop expansion

2013-04-08T04:30:00.000-05:00

The chicks are getting bigger and it's time to put them with the big hens. We've put them in the run during the day and the hens have gotten along well. I'm not sure if it's because the "flocks" are pretty even in numbers (28 hens, 28 chicks) or if it's because there's quite a bit of roaming room. I've been pleasantly surprised how easy it was.

But the chicks haven't stayed the night in the coop because there isn't enough room. So Carl and Gabriel (the only boy available this weekend) expanded the coop.

The painted part is the original coop. Fortunately, it was all put together with screws so they took one wall off, built a floor and framed up three sides. Do you see the lumber under the small piece of plywood. Its 2X4's from a shipping crate from a local transmission shop.

We used these shipping crates to build the entire floor and frame up the walls and roof. The crates were free. So if you need some good wood, don't overlook your local transmission shop.

Putting the original walls back on.

Putting the roof on. The sun was setting and we were feeling the pressure of getting this done. A couple of hens were already roosting by this point and the chicks were gathering into one spot to be put up for the night.

We still need to paint the outside and build a few more roosting poles but the hard part is done.

this moment

2013-04-05T07:38:00.000-05:00

Inspired by SouleMama...

When I was emptying my camera card I found this little impromptu photo shoot that Phoebe did of Esther. Thought you might enjoy it.

Have a lovely weekend!

recycling water

2013-04-03T07:51:00.000-05:00

When we first moved into this house we moved the washer and dryer out to the garage so we could covert the large mudroom/pantry into another bedroom for Christian and Josiah. Since this is really only a temporary situation we didn't want to go through the expense to tie the washing machine into our septic system. So, we've had a hose that drains our gray water on to the ground and I move it around some to water as much as I can.

It works ok, but it's kind of ugly and the hose is only so long. So, I've been thinking about what to do that will fix both those problems and wouldn't cost much. Here's what I came up with...

Total cost...$0.27 for the everything but the waterhose. The 100 foot hose was $28. I had everything else around the house, I just needed to convince Carl that I really did want this done.

A 55 gallon drum (we got this from a friend who has a petroleum products company. Now before I get any grief, let me just say that this actually held a soap and has been on our property and empty for over 2 years.)
An outdoor water faucet (I found one in the garage - I think it's one we replace because it wouldn't shut off all the way)
A threaded pvc nut to screw onto the water faucet to keep it in the drum (I bought this a ReStore for $0.27 - I just happened to be there when I saw it but you can get it at any home improvement store)
Expandable foam (also called Great Stuff)
Spray Paint (to help with the ugly factor)
Wood Pallets (I have a couple of these kind from a tile company. I like them because they look more like a boardwalk than a pallet)
Waterhose ( I got a 100 foot one because I wanted it to be able to reach pretty far)
Drill and circle bit

Here's what Carl did...

Drill a hole in the bottom of the drum
Put faucet in the hole (the part that usually screws into the pipe)
From inside attach pvc nut (it helps to have an 11yo boy around for this)
Put exandable foam around the faucet

Here's what it looked like from the inside. I thought about washing it out but then thougtht "Why bother?"

Build a little platform for it to sit on.

Here's the front. I've sown some morning glory seeds in front of the pallet to grow up onto it. Because, it's all about being cute.

I'm just leaving the faucet open all the time so the drum won't actually hold the water for very long. With the longer hose I can water all the citrus orchard, the side yard and a part of the front yard. We do an average of 3 loads of laundry a day, 5 days a week so that's quite a bit of watering. I also use a homemade laundry soap.

Have you every used a gray water recapturing system?

This post is shared at Barn Hop, Tuesday Garden Party, The Backyard Farming Connection,

Honeyville Farms - 20% off sale

2013-04-03T00:01:00.003-05:00

I don't normally post "deals" but I wanted to let you know that Honeyville Farms is having a 20% off sale from Thurs, April 4th to Tues, April 9th. They only have this sale a couple of times a year so if you like to buy in bulk or like to buy dehydrated food stores this is a great time to do it.

Use coupon code SPRING13 to get the discount.

The links in this post are affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Schneider Peeps

Non-Fiction Book Love {A Monthly Link-Up}

In the Garden....growing pineapples

kale chips...

organizing media

In the kitchen...breaking out of the rut

In the Garden....sweet potatoes

summer projects {bathroom}

this moment

{garden surprises}

Punch Bowl Cake

This moment

thinking of summer

enjoying the journey

My Summer Reading list {The Ultimate Homemaking ebook bundle}

What's Included in the Sale?

PLUS over $140 of FREE Bonuses

Home and Property {Cleaning, Organizing, Decor}

Educational Children's Resources

Budgeting {Finance & Time}

In the Kitchen {Recipes and Cooking}

Pregnancy & Baby Care

Holidays and Special Events

Spiritual Growth

Marriage and Romance

Motherhood

Health and Fitness

Beauty

Working from Home and Blogging

Ecourses

PLUS, You will receive FREE Bonuses from these companies...

The fine print:

This post includes affiliate links, and I make a portion of the sale of each ebook bundle. You can read my disclosure page here. Thanks for your support of this site!

drama {the good kind}

this moment

dewberries

Gardening ebook bundle

::right now::

shepherd's pie recipe

chicken enchiladas {two ways}

chicken coop expansion

this moment

recycling water

Honeyville Farms - 20% off sale