ThrivingMama

Baked French Toast

2012-02-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

A while back I posted a picture of a totally yummy Blueberry/Cream Cheese Baked French Toast and mentioned something about trying to post the recipe in the next week or so. Life took off, illness crept in and time slipped away. Now I'm making baked french toast again this week and figured it was high time I get a recipe up!

First off, any recipe that can revitalize stale bread is a winner in my book and this recipe is perfect for that. I also have an egg dish recipe based off of this one that has become a favorite. So, when the homemade bread starts to go stale, it gets cubed up, thrown in the freezer and saved for one of these recipes.

For the baked french toast: the blueberry one I made was good, but a little on the egg-y side for my tastes. So, I've taken the idea from that recipe and merged it with this recipe to come up with my ThrivingMama Baked French Toast. Also, the fruit amounts are a starting point. If you like a super fruity breakfast treat, then by all means, add more - I usually do!

ThrivingMama Baked French Toast
This recipe is intended for an 8x8 pan, doubled should work fine in a 9x13 with extended baking time.

4-5 cups cubed bread (1" cubes or smaller)
5 Eggs
1- 1/4 cups Milk
1/2 cup Half and Half
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 cups of your favorite Fruit/berries (frozen Cherries & Blueberries work well)
4 ounces Cream Cheese (small cubes)
1/2 cup Sugar

1. Spray pan with non-stick spray. Place half the bread cubes in the bottom of the pan. It should be covered fully. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of fruit, remaining bread cubes and top with cream cheese cubes and 1/2 cup fruit.
2. Thoroughly combine (I use the blender) eggs, milk, half and half, cinnamon, and vanilla and pour over bread & fruit.
3. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until completely set in the middle.**
5. While dish is baking, combine remaining 1 cup of fruit and sugar in a small saucepan to create a syrup. Pour over dish once it's done and serve.

Alternate to fruit & cream cheese: Make a syrup with 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 2 T. Corn syrup in a heavy saucepan and pour over dish before baking. Also a yummy treat!

**Note: Do NOT put a cold glass pan in a hot oven, let it come to room temperature before putting in a heated oven. I've also had good luck putting the whole pan in the oven cold and THEN turning the oven on and the pan warms up as the oven heats - but my oven heats slow. This may not work safely for you! Please use your discretion or a non-glass pan.

Sunday Sunshine

2012-02-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

This week's graces came in many forms. Extra divine doses of patience when faced with particular challenges in parenting were a huge blessing. Watching my daughter flourish into this little walking, talking personality has brought many moments of amusement to my days.

As I continue to regain my health after a particularly nasty cold, naps are a wonderful treat. A date night out with Handy Man and the gracious friends who will baby-sit for us also highlighted this week. Little chances to blog again are wonderful treats for me - I've missed it! Work I enjoy and quiet moments as a family have rounded out this week nicely.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

February Granola & Yogurt

2012-02-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what it is about the end of February that brings on the cravings for granola and yogurt. Maybe it's the months on end of bleak, cold weather and the desire for something that fosters thoughts of warm spring and summer days. And this year, I think part of it is the need for a fridge full of yogurt to fight the side effects of all the antibiotics that have been part of our (yes, all three of us) daily routines for the last couple of weeks.

So, on this chilly, cloudy Saturday morning, Granola's now cooling on the stove and milk for Yogurt is cooling in the sink. I LOVE that my daughter loves plain, unsweetened yogurt. I also love that I can net 5 quarts of yogurt for about $4.50. ($1.99/quart of Dannon for starter, $2.15/gallon of whole milk) Thanks for the kitchen lessons from a young age Mom!

And if your family isn't into *plain*, Life As Mom had a great post on how to doctor the plain yogurt and get great knock offs of your family's favorites from the dairy aisle.

Valentine's Day Donuts

2012-02-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

Sometime in January, a "life: beautiful" magazine fell in my lap that had a fantastic looking recipe for homemade cake donuts. I mentally flipped through the calendar to find the next "special" day that could qualify for the possibility of a new family tradition and landed on Valentine's Day.

On Monday night I mixed up the dough. And because Itty Bitty craves lots of chocolate, I mixed up chocolate and vanilla cake doughnut dough. Off to the fridge it went for the night and on Valentine's morning I got to work. Rolling, cutting, frying and glazing. Next year, I'll only make one batch and probably the vanilla batch - with some chocolate glaze of course! The vanilla donuts were moister and I really enjoyed the flavor more than the chocolate. Go figure.

We discovered this morning that a few seconds in the microwave will revive the "day-old" leftovers quite nicely! And as usual, I didn't follow the recipe to the T, so here's what I ended up making:

Vanilla Cake Donuts

3 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Eggs
2/3 cups Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup melted Butter
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon vinegar + Milk to equal 3/4 cup

Oil for frying
Glaze or Ganache of choice

1. Beat eggs, sugar, melted butter and vanilla on high until smooth and creamy.
2. Put vinegar in a glass measure and top off with milk. Add baking soda and stir. (This is the combo I learned to use to take the place of buttermilk).
3. Add 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and nutmeg to the egg mixture and start mixer. Add remaining flour and milk mixture alternately and mix thoroughly.
4. Refrigerate dough until firm, or overnight.
5. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut with favorite cutters or an actual donut cutter. I used a heart cookie cutter since they were for Valentine's day.
6. Heat fry oil to 375 degrees and fry donuts until golden brown on each side. 1-2 minutes per side.
7. Drain and cool on paper towels or a brown paper bag. Glaze or toss with powdered sugar.

Sunday Sunshine

2012-02-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.
As I write this, I am much more in a mood to whine and complain. But I won't. Instead, here are 10 things that I am thankful for this week:
1. Tylenol (adult & childrens'). with and without Bennadryl to help with sleep.
2. Friends who come to the rescue when I'm about to go over the edge.
3. My energetic, healthy daughter who keeps me on my toes.
4. My great husband who shares the joys, challenges and work of life with me.
5. French Onion Soup
6. Full fridge and pantry
7. Warm, spring-like days in January.
8. Organization projects completed within budget.
9. Lunch with friends.
10. Finding creative ways to provide for our family and stick to the budget.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine: Birthday Girl

2012-01-29T06:07:00.000-08:00

3 Years Old!

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

Today, my baby girl turns 3. She is a beautiful, healthy and thriving little girl and I am so thankful! She loves the little things like balloons and streamers and snow. She colors and plays and loves her friends. She sings and dances and love her dance parties. She's brought new challenges every day for the last three years that have made me equally stronger and gentler. She's a gift and I'm so blessed to be her Mom!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Watch Out - Mama's Organizing!

2012-01-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

I can't speak to the driving force that has me sorting through piles, repulsed by cluttered areas of my home and organizing like a mad-woman. I could theorize on a couple if instigators of this organizational force that has been unleashed on my surroundings. In five short months, give or take a week or two, we'll be bringing a new little one into our home and family and there's quite a few things to do to get ready. But really, it's too early for nesting, right? I'm part of a book club this year that's reading through an "organize your life" book and we're responsible for before and after photos (this at least accounts for the kitchen chaos being attacked). Short of those two items, I have no idea, because really, I don't like cleaning!

So this week I've gone after a couple projects as a woman on a mission. One was to clean the pantry out. The other was to organize the bins of children's kids clothing (more on this later).

The pantry project was instigated by the book club accountability. On a recent Thursday morning I took everything out of my pantry, dusted, cleaned and replaced. The honest words of G-Tot summed it up: "Mommy, there's a lot of dirt in there!" Yup, there was. It was almost like it hadn't been completely cleaned out since we moved in or something. Ahem. I was concerned that there was going to be a lot of food that was going to have to be thrown out, but there wasn't. And I was pleasantly pleased that there weren't too many surprises in my pantry either.

Organizing my spices was another project I tackled the same morning. I had spices residing in two different locations in the kitchen and never really knew what was where. So I sorted, combined and consolidated. They still live in two different places, but I know what lives where. Large bottles and bulk spices to refill smaller containers in the pantry and all the "normal" size spice containers are in the drawer. It's a much better arrangement.

Here are some before and after shots of the pantry and spice drawer.

Spices Sorting:

Spices After:

Pantry Before:

Pantry After:

Sunday Sunshine

2012-01-22T05:52:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

Another week gone by. A week with help from friends and opportunities to help friends. Warm soups on cold days. Hot cocoa after time in the cold snowy day. Creativity for putting meals together when energy and inspiration had both gone missing. Unexpected time of relaxation came on the heels of a particularly long few days. Early bed times and healing rest have been enjoyed by all in our home. The snow that fell was light snow -not heavy, wet snow. Chances to spend time visiting with friends. All these things were a part of this last week.

I hope you can find joy in the little things today and turn your heart to a place of gratitude.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine

2012-01-15T05:44:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

There are so many things I'm thankful for this week, I'm not quite sure where to begin, so here's the rundown in no particular order:

:: For the chatter of an almost-three-year-old
:: For the health of our family
:: For work in all the shapes, sizes and challenges it come in (and the paychecks that come along with it!)
:: For the "planning gene" that I am been gifted with and the many ways that it benefits my family.
:: For my "mom's helper" who seems to have free days and afternoons when I need a break the most.
:: For a warm house on this sub-zero morning
:: For the leaps and bounds at which GTot is developing: language, motor skills, imagination and so much more.
:: For hot cocoa.
:: For dinner surprises.
:: For projects getting done around the house, and the means by which to complete them.
:: For a clean pantry.
:: For warm clothes in this winter season.
:: For a sunny day.

I hope you can find joy in the little things today and turn your heart to a place of gratitude.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine: Christmas Edition

2011-12-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering thegraces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

Christmas is here. My life is so full of blessings that are too numerous to count. The ones that really mean the most during this season are (mostly) the ones that can't be purchased.

:: The friends who are as close as family and the family who are friends. Our fall has been filled with these wonderful people and they all mean so much to me.

:: For our health and our [growing] family.

:: For medical professionals who have great bedside manner and personalities and truly love their work.

:: For a warm house, hot showers and food on the table.

:: For the simplicity of a three-year-old's wonder at the Christmas season. The tree pictured (although with no snow) is our Christmas tree this year and G proudly tells folks "our Cwissmas twee Ou-SIDE!" I absolutely love it! She did point out that it needed a star

:: The flexibility of traditions while children are young. (Stockings don't HAVE to be opened as soon as you wake up, they can become road trip entertainment!)

:: The JOY that come through contentment during this season that can so easily be overwrought with despair and wants.

Wishing you and yours a very contented,

JOYFUL Christmas Day!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine

2011-12-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering thegraces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

I am having so much fun this Christmas season, seeing all of the little wonders of of the season through the eyes of my favorite three year old. From the "Mommy, Cwissmiss wights!" every time we're out after dark to the excitement when she examines each and every Christmas tree she sees. She's not made the Santa connection at all, and we're not pushing it.

This season also brings lights to our "Christmas tree" and as snow settles on top, it is one of my favorite winter scenes.

Fresh peanut brittle, homemade caramels and lunch with friends were also highlights of this week. I'm so thankful for doctors we like and access to good medical care. Both are such a blessing.

I was also blessed to be part of our Christ's Bounty program at our church. We provided 90 families with food boxes and the parents of about 50 kids with gently used clothes and toys to help out with their Christmases. The many volunteers and donations from around the country make this event possible and the recipients were so thankful.

It has been a week full of blessings. I hope the joy and peace of the Christmas season surround you this coming week and that you can count your blessings among the busyness of the season.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

God Gave Us Two

2011-12-07T05:54:00.003-08:00

I have really enjoyed being part of the Blogging for Books program. It's pretty simple, I go through the list and pick a book (or ebook), read it, review it and then pick a new one. This last time it was time to pick a book, I was skimming the childrens' books because I really wasn't sure how much reading time I'd have between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One of the children's books available was God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren and Laura J. Bryant. Since we had just found out we were expecting our "Number Two" it was a perfect pick! It sat on the shelf for a couple weeks as we waited to tell GTot that she was going to be a big sister.

God Gave Us Two is a beautifully illustrated story of a polar bear family expecting their "Two". The older child wonders what life with the baby will be like and the theme that children are a blessing from God runs strong through the story. The big sister asks the questions that I think most kids ask: What if I don't like the baby? What if the baby doesn't like me? What if the baby cries too much? Each question is answered gently and kindly with reiteration of the blessing of a new child. The illustrations are beautifully done and can tell much of the story on their own.

This is a great story to share with your young children the idea of a new member of the family on the way. I know we're enjoying it!

December Musings

2011-12-07T05:34:00.001-08:00

Life has been full. I thought things would calm down once the dust settled from the flood this fall. It didn't. It only seemed to speed up. November brought precious family moments and time with friends and visits from some of GTot's aunts, uncles, and grandma. Thanksgiving rushed upon us and I did precious little cooking for Thanksgiving - I let HandyMan and his brother and do most of it. It was quite a break - and a treat.

The beginning of Advent came right on heels of Thanksgiving, as it always does, and so begins our Christmas season. I've begun making Christmas candies- good news! Now they have to last until Christmas - bad news! I'm working on the post to share the recipe for some amazing praline caramels that I made on Monday. I'm also working on a book review of a precious children's book that has become a regular in our reading list.

Life is full. We are blessed. May joy, peace and love fill your Advent season.

2011-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering thegraces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

I'm thankful for grocery deals, for mechanics who can turn a $340 job into a $40 job, for friends. For delicious smelling foods of the season and yummy tasting treats. For health and great doctors who not only have great bedside personality but are great at their jobs too. For cookies & milk and freezer meals. For visits from family and time watching GTot enjoy her aunts and uncles. Facebook conversations and text chatter.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine

2011-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Practicing contentment by remembering thegraces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

This week I am thankful for . . .

:: Friends. The ones who you can call for help in the middle of the night, who come and hang out and chat over pizza, the ones you catch up with over a long distance phone call or steaming cups at Panera and new friends made over a meal and bonfire.
:: The Non-Routine. The routine of this week was all messed up and it was good!
:: Folks who will pitch in to help out a stranger in a time of need. Good people around here!
:: Tortellini Alfredo. mmmm...
:: The hilarious things that come out of my daughter's mouth. Things only a 2 year old can come up with!
:: Surprise calls and visits from siblings.
:: Warm house as the temperatures drop.
:: Sunny, clear fall days.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Halloween Treats

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Because we live in a rural area we don't see a lot of kids traipsing around on Halloween. We do get a few folks who know us and bring their kids by, so I try to have something around. A couple of years it was candy, but then there's leftovers and my will power around mini candy bars is close to nil.

Last year I made sugar cookies and spent the afternoon with YouthGal (aka- GTot's favorite baby sitter) and GTot decorating them. I wanted to do it again this year but just didn't have the energy to do the whole shebang sugar cookie - cutting- baking - frosting mess. So I improvised. I made a batch of my favorite sugar cookie dough and a batch of the best Chocolate Sugar Cookie dough. I colored the plain dough orange (well, as orange as I could get it with very little red food coloring in the house) and we cut out pumpkin faces with the chocolate and put them on top of the pumpkin cutouts before we baked them. We used a pastry cutter to get the zig-zag affect which made the mouths super easy. They turned out pretty cute and tasted pretty good too!

We didn't use much of the chocolate dough, but that's ok because there's a bake sale I'm going to have to do something for later this month and this dough freezes beautifully!

Sunday Sunshine

2011-10-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

Practicing contentment by remembering thegraces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

This picture to the left is what we woke up to this morning. It was an amazing winter wonderland and the absolute perfect snow in our area. It didn't accumulate enough on our driveway to need to shovel and it was mostly melted by tonight. It brought with it a pristine blue sky and moderate temperatures. It was a gorgeous morning!

This week has brought time with friends, and some fun evenings out. Other friends stepped in to watch GTot for our evenings out which is always such a blessing to us!

I read a quote this week on my friend's blog that I absolutely loved: 'Anyone who doesn't treasure my kids, doesn't get to have them'. We are so blessed to have a lot of wonderful folks who truly treasure and enjoy spending time with our daughter and that is the most amazing gift anyone can give the parents of young children!

This week brought the end of soccer season for HandyMan. While I know he will miss this time with his team, I'm looking forward to having him home a little bit more in the coming weeks.

This week was not without its trials and challenges, but even through those I'm learning how to be a better mother, wife and friend.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine

2011-10-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

I've not had much time to blog in the last month, but it was time to center myself this morning and focus on gratitude. So much has gone on since I last posted, but here are a few of the things that I'm so thankful for today:

:: Movie mornings with G.

:: Donations of time and supplies to aid the flood relief efforts in our area.

:: Fun evenings out.

:: Surprises.

:: Projects for work.

:: Caramel popcorn.

:: Freezer meals.

:: Coffee & dessert dates with friends.

:: Surprise helpers at my door.

It has been a long couple of weeks, and just when it looks like life may settle down, something else comes up. Life is full. We are blessed!

Book Review: The Corruptible

2011-10-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Corruptible by Mark Mynheir is a solid who-done-it with a bit of a film-noir feel. A private investigator is retained by a very wealthy client to track down a data storage device which contains information which is invaluable to his client. Mix in a missing person, a murder, and a police officer of questionable character and the mystery evolves.

The plot was solid and held my attention but the character left me scratching my head. I think that the main character reminded me of a combination of multiple characters I've encountered on TV and in other books. the combination in this new main character didn't sit well with me.

I can't say that The Corruptible was one of my favorite reads, but I can't pin down what was the turn-off.

Disclaimers: I received a complementary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of the Blogging for Books program. The opinions and thoughts of this are my own and are not influenced in any way.

Hello, Sunshine!

2011-10-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

This morning I was dragging myself out of bed and to the shower. The thought of having only two more "wake-ups" until a much needed 4-day weekend helped to pull me through my shower. I welcomed in the little guy I babysit and lit up the pellet stove to take the chill out of the house. Seated with a cup of coffee I was greeted by this wonderful image when my desktop weather application opened up.

Hallelujah! After a month of clouds and rain and floods and more clouds and more rain - this is such a welcome sight! I hope everyone has a great week!

Three Weeks of Flood Relief Efforts

2011-09-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

It's been about three weeks since I posted last. I mentioned that we were working on gathering supplies to serve "some meals" from the church. When I wrote that, I had no idea that we'd be serving two weeks of hot dinners and a brunch, totaling over 1000 meals.

I also talked about getting potable water out to folks who didn't have drinking water. I had ideas about distributing water through drink coolers since bottled water was a scarcity. A week after the flood, I was connected with a county official who had us pallets of drinking water within three hours of a phone conversation. I don't dance well, but I did a happy dance and thanked God for the contact. I started calling him Santa Claus in conversation around the church, because he would come through with amazing resources that our community needed. Basic things, but essential.

I had no idea I'd be coordinating cleaning supplies as well. But I did. Scrambling for bleach, gloves, brooms and whatever else we could get our hands on. I think I may have walked into a room full of people and cheered when I got a call from a counterpart at another relief site who said he had 300 face masks for our location. (The face masks are very important for folks who are having to spray bleach on areas that have been saturated with flood water. I spoke with folks who didn't have them when they were cleaning up from the 2006 flood and still had health repercussions.)

"How'd you get in charge of all this?" one of the high school students from church asked me as we were getting ready to serve dinner one night and a number of folks were milling around gathering up supplies. "I have no idea! It just evolved." was my response.

The last three weeks have been filled with an amazing array of emotions and a level of exhaustion that I haven't experienced in a very long time. Many hands made miracles happen.

Relief efforts continue as we are still distributing supplies but the frenzy has died down. The last couple of days I have been embracing my "normal" routines as we settle back in to fall.

No Way to Prepare

2011-09-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

I felt prepared coming into this week. My menu was ready. Activities were organized and ready to go for my daughter and the little boy I baby sit. The house was in relatively good order. I was on top of the laundry. I was feeling good.

But there was no way to prepare for this:

These photos were taken on NY Route 7 in Nineveh, NY - 19 miles northeast of Binghamton. Our area is flooded. Water has reached historic levels in some areas and very close to record levels on our part of the river. Our house is high and dry but our neighbors to the church are not. We will be working in the coming days to come alongside them as they pump out basements, shovel out muck as well as doing the same cleaning in the church basements.

Today, it seems that getting drinking water and food-stuffs into town will be the priority. We are making plans to serve some meals from the church. If your pantry is dry and overflowing, or if you have extra hands and are willing to help, please contact me at thrivingmama@gmail.com.

Applesauce, Pepper Jelly & Tomato Sauce - oh MY!

2011-09-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Friday on my way home I hit the produce stand and gathered apples, peppers and the other sundry fruits and vegetables I needed for the fridge. While I got dinner ready, GTot and HandyMan picked tomatoes from the garden.

After supper, HandyMan and I got to work. The order of business: Applesauce, Pepper Jelly (Hot & Mild), and Tomato Sauce.

I have a great KitchenAid attachment that makes the applesauce a breeze. GTot was allowed up on the counter to watch the tomatoes squish thorough and thought it was the coolest thing! "Mommy!! My applesauce!"

Then it was on to the Pepper Jelly. I used this recipe as it is written for the hot jelly and replaced 5 jalapenos with a 5th bell pepper for the mild jelly. The mild has very little bite and is fabulous with cream cheese. I had some for breakfast this morning on fresh bread. YUM! I'm too chicken to try the hot stuff. I'll bust it out when my Dad comes to visit next month.

Finally, we cooked up some tomato sauce. GTot helping again to get the stems off the tomatoes. I'm a hack-job of a canner. I'm making it up as I go along and I really hope that this great stuff I've put into jars actually stays good and we can enjoy it in the months to come. One of my 'experiments' was the tomato sauce. I added balsamic vinegar and basil to it while it was cooking. I'm thinking it should be fine. The batch I made and had for dinner earlier this week was great, so now I'm just hoping that the canned version will be just as good!

The stash above came from 2 1/2 hours of work in the kitchen. Not too shabby.

This post is linked up at An Oregon Cottage's Tuesday Garden Party.

Sunday Sunshine: After the Storm

2011-09-04T04:30:00.000-07:00

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude by giving.

This has been a week of no routine. I'm thankful for the utility crews who have worked so hard out here on the East Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. I'm very glad that our power was only out for two and a half days and is back on now. My garden was spared and our house mostly protected as Irene's winds and rain came through our area.

:: I am thankful for companies who live up to their promises and are a pleasure to do business with.

:: Homemade tomato soup, applesauce and pepper jelly.

:: Accountability techniques

:: Extra hands for shopping day

:: The hospitality of friends while our power was out

:: Sunny days to dry laundry on the clothes line

:: Play dates and friends for GTot

:: HandyMan's hard work both at work (in the many tasks and challenges his job presents) and at home to keep our house maintained and improved.

Life is full. I am thankful.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Power's Out Pizza

2011-08-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

We're on day 3 of no power on our road. While I had planned on using up things in the fridge this week, it's a bit more imperative now that the perishables are living in a cooler on my kitchen floor. I racked my brain trying to figure out what I could make for dinner with the stove top or grill that would use up the most of what was heading towards moldy in the cooler. Cheese, pesto and tomatoes were all rescued and piled one pizza crust on the grill. It was a great dinner! The tomatoes and basil in the pesto all came from the garden and are some of my favorite flavors of summer!

Anyone else getting creative trying to selvage their food in the face of a power outage?

This post is linked up at An Oregon Cottage's Tuesday Garden Party.