A Day in the Life...

Dried Papaya

2019-10-14T16:26:00.001-04:00

So we were at the grocery store the other day and my daughter asked what one of the fruits were that was for sale. It was a papaya. I can't stand papaya.

Jason and I went to Mexico, on our honeymoon, and in the morning they would have a wonderful breakfast buffet. Papaya was one of the fruits on the buffet. It is such a beautiful looking fruit. Papaya looks delicious. When I saw it I envision mango or canteloupe. The vision was far from the truth. Papaya is not pleasing to me at all.

I did buy the papaya so she could try it. The dreaded fruit was ripe today so I cut it up for her. She tried it. She is definitely not a fan either. She said it was disgusting. So what am I to do with all of this papaya?

I remember when I was little, I liked dried papaya. So I broke out the dehydrator and am trying my hand at drying the papaya. I didn't add anything to it. I just cut it up and threw it in. We will have to see how it goes!

PS I didn't like it.

Sprouts

2019-04-02T11:53:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wanted to try making your own sprouts? Alfalfa sprouts are the easiest way to start.

You need to start by getting the supplies that you need for this to happen!

3 Tablespoons Alfalfa Sprout Seeds
Large Jar
Lid with Mesh screen or Cheese cloth with a rubber band

Soak the alfalfa sprout seeds in the jar for 8 hours then drain.
Then you need to rinse the seeds three times a day. Keep your jar away from sunlight for the best results. The average time to do this is for 3-4 days and then you have alfalfa sprouts to add to tour salads, sandwiches or to your juicing!

I want to try radish seeds. Do you have a good place to buy them? Please feel free to share with me so I can try my hand at radish seeds.

Fermented Radishes

2019-03-31T15:10:00.001-04:00

So I am not much of a canner but lately I have been shopping at Aldi and the store sometimes has radishes on sale for an awesome low price.

One day I bought a bit too much of them. I really wasn't sure what to do with the radishes before they would go bad so I looked into fermenting them. I have several mason jars with lids and tried my hand at preserving them to be eaten later. I use about a cup of water to a table spoon of salt.

I quartered the radishes and put them in the jar with a couple of garlic cloves. I then filled the jars with the salt brine. My jars are simple mason jars with the twist off lids. The radishes sat on the counter for a week and a couple of times a day I had to unscrew the lids to let air out and then I tightened the lids again. I did a 3 day ferment and a 6 day ferment. I liked the 6 day best.

I just finished eating my last batch which is what brought me to this post.

Next time I make a batch I will take some pictures and post them.

You should definitely try this! We need more fermented foods in our diet and this is cheap, quick and easy to do!

I am interested in pickling eggs. My great-grandmother used to make pickled eggs. I just haven't found the right recipe. Have you ever pickled eggs? I would be curious into trying your recipe! Please feel free to share it with me!

Salt Brine:
1 Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Salt (I use Himalayan)

Quartered radishes
a few Garlic Bulbs

Black Eyed Peas

2015-06-08T08:30:00.000-04:00

Cookbook from 1981

Recipe:
1 lb dried black eyed peas
1 large diced onion
1/4 lb salted pork
1 diced bell pepper
1 C sherry
salt and pepper to taste

In a slow cooker place peas and cover with water, plus about 1/2 inch, add the rest of ingredients and cook low in a slow cooker.

I found the original recipe in the "Watkins Hot Plate". This was a cookbook made for my elementary school J. B. Watkins in 1981. The P. T. O. put the cookbook together as a fundraiser with a collection of recipes submitted by the students. I came across the recipe book not too long ago and found the black eyed pea recipe. I had to try it as I had most of the ingredients. The original recipe was not a slow cooker recipe but due to my laziness and set-it and forget-it mentality, I turned it into a slow cooker recipe and changed it a bit from the original.

It has been over 30 years since this cookbook was made and it is a trip down memory lane perusing through the recipes. I see names of people that I haven't thought about for years. What a great idea for a fundraiser! This is truly a treasure. If my daughters' school sells one, I will purchase one, for the memories.

Bees

2015-06-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

So we are first year beekeepers!

On April 1st we received two packages of Italian queen bees. So far our experience has been that these bees are very docile.

My youngest daughter Mila suits up and checks the bees with us when we go out for inspection. Mila and Jason generally check the bees together but I am always there taking pictures and watching because they are fascinating.

For the first few weeks we had a new channel at our house called beevision. Jason and I would sit out in chairs and watch both of the hives. It is really neat to watch the bees coming and going. We have watched bees dragging out the dead bees and we have watched the drones checking out their door for intruders.

I got really excited when I noticed them bringing in pollen. Bringing in the pollen was slow at irst but now we see more and more pollen coming as more plants are pollinating. Once a piece of pollen must have dropped off a bee on the landing so I snatched it up and ate it. It was really sweet. Fresh bee pollen is much tastier than store bought bee pollen.

I look forward to sharing my bee experience.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2015-06-05T08:47:00.003-04:00

I do not like brussel sprouts. I never have. I remember having them on my plate as a child and trying to think of the ways that I could get rid of them without eating them. Usually, I just had to eat them as I was enlisted in the clean the plate club. Brussel sprouts have a bitter flavor and they were always dry tasting. (and mushy)

A couple of years ago, I was at a friends house for dinner and I was served a plate with brussel sprouts on them. Brussel sprouts hadn't been on my plate since I was a child. As an adult, it is a vegetable that I have never bought, nor have a I served them to my children. So when I was served them, I knew I couldn't be rude and not eat them so I tried them. Her brussel sprout dish was amazing. Not my favorite, of course, but I rather enjoyed them. She shredded the brussel sprouts and roasted them in the oven with a mustard type vinaigrette.

So when I was at the store yesterday and they were selling fresh brussel sprouts, I decided to buy them and attempt to make an enjoyable dish with them.

My brussel sprout dish.

When I got home I perused many recipes on the internet with brussel sprouts but I couldn't find anything similar to what I was served a couple of years ago. I decided to take a culmination of the recipes I saw and I made the following dish:

20 brussels sprouts
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 T dijon mustard
1 T honey
2 T olive oil
2 T Balsamic vinegar

I combined all ingredients but the brussel sprouts and whisked them in a bowl. Then I cut the bottoms off the brussels sprouts and sliced them lengthwise and tossed them in the bowl. I made sure all of them were coated. Then I placed them in a pan and cooked them at 400 F for 20 minutes. I stirred them around halfway through the baking.

When they came out of the oven I drizzled some balsamic vinaigrette on them and served. They were good. I can't use any better adjectives to describe the brussel sprouts, but my cousin, who is a brussel sprout fan, was over for dinner and loved them. So if I was a fan of brussels they may have been better than ok for me.

If you try the dish let me know what you think!

Homemade Almond Milk

2015-05-28T15:39:00.003-04:00

I made my very own almond milk this morning. The process was super easy! We have been buying unsweetened almond milk for years now and the other day Jason had mentioned that we should make our own.

Meanwhile...

A picture of the ingredients on my
store bought almond milk.

My aunt called the other day and mentioned that she has been making her own almond milk and rather enjoys adding different spices and honey to each milk batch. What a coincidence, I explained that we were just getting ready to do the very same thing. She said when she is done straining the milk, she cooks the almond meal on low in the oven and then has her own almond flour. She has been making muffins with her almond meal and is going to share some recipes with me. So excited!

Jason's reasoning for looking into making our own almond milk is because store bought almond milk has carrageenan, and other additives, in it. To be honest, I have no idea what carrageenan is but he said it is bad for you. The discussions on carrageenan and studies
are not conclusive but it may be carcinogenic.

Anyhow, making almond milk is cheaper than buying it so his discussion gave me the push needed to try making my own almond milk. I read up on it and since I like simple, I decided to buy a milk nut bag. The milk nut bag is needed to separate the almond milk from the almond meal. I bought ours for a reasonable price on Amazon.

How to make Almond Milk:

My homemade almond milk.

Soak 1 cup of Almonds in water overnight. Strain water then place almonds in blender with 4 cups of water. Blend for a couple of minutes if using a regular blender (or until fully blended if using a vitamix - I used a vitamix). Place open milk nut bag into a bowl, pour mixture into milk nut bags and allow to strain. I squeezed it at the end to make sure all milk was separated from the almond meal.

You can flavor your almond milk by adding honey, cinnamon, nutmeg etc before blending. My aunt does this and loves it. I tried it and prefer plain.

If you try making your own almond milk then please share with me how you do it and how you like it!

Mushroom Grow Kit

2015-05-27T17:48:00.000-04:00

So I took the plunge and got myself a mushroom grow kit.

Mushroom grow kit in my pantry.

It didn't cost much and I am curious to see how many mushrooms the grow kit will yield. This kit is projected to yield 1/4 lb. of blue oyster mushrooms.

So it will take several weeks before I get the results and I will be happy to share the results once they come in.

There are many grow kits on the market at many different price points. Mine was only $6. I am pretty excited about this as I love to make cream of mushroom soup and risotto with mushrooms.

Prior to the past year my experience to mushrooms has been limited to button mushrooms and portobello mushrooms. (oh and shiitake mushrooms, found in Asian restaurants)You know, the kind that you find in the local grocery mart. But in the last year, I have been exposed to golden oyster mushrooms, blue mushrooms and elm.

I never was aware of the variety of flavor found in the different mushrooms and have found cooking with them a lot of fun.

Fun fact: Some mushrooms have Vitamin D if exposed to sunlight.

Mushroom recipe:

Mushroom Quiche

10 in. pie shell, partially baked
2 T butter
1 C sliced mushrooms
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
5 oz shredded Swiss cheese
1 lb cottage cheese (I prefer small curd)
6 eggs
1/4 t hot sauce (I use more)
1/4 t paprika

In frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until lightly brown, stir frequently.Placed mushrooms and onions evenly in pie crust and sprinkle with cheese. In processor or blender combine eggs, cottage cheese and hot sauce, blend until smooth. Pour into crust and sprinkle with paprika. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Stand 5 minutes and serve.

Nannins

2013-06-13T14:03:00.002-04:00

Dementia does not discriminate.

The person who suffers through it does not suffer alone. The whole family can feel its effects. My grandmother died a few weeks ago and I truly mourn her loss. She was a wonderful woman who loves all sorts of small animals and both of her sons more than anything. But my mourning for her started years ago. She had dementia and for the last couple of years, she could not think beyond the moment.

From as far back as I can remember, she always fed her babies, the squirrels. They would come in her garage and she would hand them peanuts. We would love to watch her feed the squirrels and of course as gifts, we would always buy her something to do with squirrels.

She did not remember the passing of her husband in 2004 on her birthday. She often thought she was at a hotel. We would have the same conversation over and over again every 60 seconds. Even though the dementia was not apparent to us until about 8 years ago, I think it started well before that. My grandfather would cover it up. I think he was starting with dementia too but we didn't have to be faced with it wholly. The doctors said his was due to a stroke. The dementia was always in passing then for my grandmother and she would have a bad moment but then she was back.

Sometimes, I would go visit and she would be throwing things away. One time it was pictures. I dug them out of the trash and took them home. Later, she said someone had stolen those very same pictures. I told her I had them and then she got mad.

She refused to leave the house when she was always a social person. She didn't even come to my wedding 13 years ago, so her best friend, Doris Zimmerman, had the honor of sitting with my grandfather at the family table. Doris Z passed a few years ago and she had dementia too.

In the late 90's, I would go to dinner with my grandparents once a week, they would tell me the same stories over and over again. Looking back now, it could have been the dementia. Sometimes, I would remind them that I heard the story before but still they would continue. Eventually, I just listened.

I remember a call from my grandmother 5 years ago, and she was distraught. She said she kept losing blocks of time. She was having a clear moment. She had many of them back then. It was so tough to tell her that she was suffering from dementia. She would say she didn't understand. Trying not to cry, I tried to be honest when she was having the clear moment. It was really tough.

She would do weird things in her checkbook like writing notes. "Why is this bill for electric $150, it was always $40." or a note would say, "where is my money, why doesn't this balance." And she would constantly ask about money and where was it and why didn't the checkbook make sense. It got so bad that my father had to take the checkbook from her.

In 2005 she moved into an assisted living facility. We picked the one that my grandfather and she had visited several times before his passing and the place that she really wanted to go as she had friends there. She enjoyed being there at first. Doris Z was there too. When we went to visit, the two of them would be sitting on the porch. They both remembered who I was and we would have nice talks about the day or the past. My grandmother never remembered my children. I always had to introduce them to her. It was always a pleasant first meeting for her.

One day when I introduced them, she looked at me and said three girls? You should put a cork in it. They were little so they didn't get it. I just told her that I stopped at three so she needn't worry. My last child was a surprise. She was due on my grandfather's birthday. He died that year and she is so like him it isn't even funny.

Her dementia had gotten so bad at the assisted living facility that they moved her into the memory ward. It was terrible. The people that worked there were nice and there was nothing wrong with the place but she was 2 hours away from us and surrounded by like minded people. I came home from a visit in tears and told my dad that she wouldn't last long there. Shortly thereafter, she moved in with my parents. They live next door. That was three years ago.

I am so thankful that my father and mother took care of her for the last three years. My children got to experience a great-grandmother. They also got to experience the dementia, but for them it was normal. They don't remember her being any other way. My children were patient with her repetitiveness and always answered the same question over and over every minute.

The repetitiveness was frequent until about a year ago and then the questions stopped. I think that was when she stopped recognizing me. Who are you? I would tell her, I am Sharon. Then she would say, She's a nice girl.

Kalina would always go look for her when she went over my parents house. One day she was so excited that for one half hour, my grandmother remembered her and called her by name. That is still her favorite memory.

My mother called me one night a couple of weeks ago and said I think your grandmother is getting ready to pass. (Her breathing had changed over the prior few days and she had a harder time walking.) I ran across the field to their house but when I got there she was gone. My father was standing over her. Her body was still warm, I kissed her. Her eyes were cast as though looking in the distance, they were still open. It happened so fast. I wish for one more moment. A clear moment.

My father said he heard a whisper around the time she passed. It was her father's name, Joseph. He died when she was 8 and that was always sad for her because she never let him go. He must have been a wonderful man because she would tell me stories about him. She has been reunited.

I miss her every day, but I have missed HER for a long time.

In the early 90's I gave her a book. The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. I wrote "To my squirrel loving granfmother. All my ♥ Sharon." I found it after she passed. On the dedication page Beatrix Potter wrote: A story for Norah. At the bottom of the page in my grandmother's hand writing it says "Also for Nannin." When I held up the book a musical score fell out. It says, "On Eagles Wings." That's where she is. It was a message to me. I cherish it.

Nannin: I hoping you have your memory back and know this, You are Loved!

Geocaching

2013-01-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

Our first Geocache find was on January 1, 2005. The kids had a lot of fun and Geocaching was something that we did on a day when we didn't have somewhere else to be. We did about 20 here and there and then stopped. I am not sure why we stopped but we did.

One of the previous Geocaches did had us going to several different places, decrypting messages to give us the waypoints for the final destination. That geocache took forever but it was a lot of fun!! It was called "Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse".

I have gone back to look at our history and most of our original finds are no longer active caches.

You are able to find waypoints for Geocaches on www.geocaching.com. Once you have attempted to find a geocache then you come back to the website and log whether or not you were able to find the cache..

Eight years later, we are back to doing geocaching again. Mila was only months old the last time we did geocaching, so she was left at home and never had the experience. On January 5th, we went out and did 6 geocaches. She had so much fun she wanted to continue doing them.

Kalina gets embarrassed when we do geocaches because she is afraid someone might see us. She is currently reading the 4th Harry Potter book, so she thought it was funny when I told her about the Geocache muggles. In Geocaching, someone who has no knowledge of geocaching is considered a muggle. So when you are trying to find a cache you need to be stealthy and not let anyone know what you are doing lest they find the cache and destroy it.

So if you are muggle, check out Geocaching and see if it is something that you might find fun to do. Geocaching is better than sitting around the house watching tv. The caches will take you to places that you would have never planned on going and you might be able to find local treasure while doing so. I know Geocaching has taken us exploring to local places that we would never have visited otherwise.

Afraid of Ghosts

2013-01-23T11:00:00.002-05:00

Mila came home from the school the other day saying that she no longer wanted to sleep in her room. She said there was a ghost standing outside her door and she now wants to share a room with one of her sisters.

I asked her to describe the ghost and she said it was a man wearing a white tuxedo. I asked her if she knew what a tuxedo was. (She is eight so I wasn't sure) And she said yes, daddy wore a black tuxedo at your wedding and this one was white. She said the man was Caucasian and had brown hair and she looked over and the "ghost" was standing at the top of our stairs. She said she looked away and looked back and he was gone. She said this happened in the middle of the night.

So I told her that maybe she imagined seeing someone standing there and that she was half asleep. She said no this was real. She said she was scared and just kept her eyes shut for the rest of the night. I asked her why she was afraid of a ghost? He wasn't going to harm her and maybe he was passing through and just stopped here for the night.

I even relayed a similar experience that I had when I was about the same age. I was taking a nap in my room and rolled over and looked at the window and swore I saw a little man man looking out the window and he turned to me and smiled. I looked away scared and looked back and he was gone. I told her that the experience was very real but I am not sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me. She said her mind does not play tricks.

Mila is the one who can't go to parts of the house on her own as she is always afraid that something might get her. Kalina was like that when she was younger so we gave her a stuffed animal and called it "scared bear" and told her to give all her fears to the bear and carry it with her when she was scared. Scared bear worked for Kalina. We tried the same when Mila was 5 and she didn't fall for it. So now we just try and reason with her.

Has anything ever been in the house that scared you?

Have you ever been harmed in the basement by something unknown?

Even though we try reason she is always scared to do things on her own.

Now with the ghost that she says she saw, her fears have escalated. So I told her that there is no reason to be afraid of our house and there is no reason to be afraid of ghosts. If it was a ghost it wasn't here to hurt her. It was simply here.

Have you ever tried to reason with someone who was afraid? What has worked for you?

Odd traffic

2013-01-17T16:28:00.002-05:00

If you have a blog and see traffic coming from adsensewatchdog or from zombiestat and websites labeled as such then check out this blog before letting your curiosity get the best of you!

http://spamspoiler.blogspot.com/2012/12/adsense-watchdog-zombiestat-vampirestat.html

The Emporer's Edge Series

2013-01-17T16:05:00.001-05:00

Linsday Buroker is a genius.

Barnes and Noble has a place that recommends books that you might like. It is one of those" if you liked.....then you might like...." In November The Emporer's Edge was recommended to me, it was free so I downloaded it. Sometimes books are offered for free for a limited time so I jumped at the book even though I had more in my queue that I wanted to read. The book is still free and that is why Linsday Buroker is a genius.

In December, I decided to read The Emporer's Edge. I really liked it and I was not disappointed. The book had a great storyline and great character development. It is set in a different world. The world is not as technologically advanced as that world we live in, but seems to have some of the same problems so the reader can relate. It is very class oriented. The best part of the book is that I knew nothing about it so nothing was spoiled for me. I had no preconceived notions.

I get to the end of the book and I realized that there may be more to the story. The Emporer's Edge builds the reader up to the start of something between the characters. When I finished it, I wanted more. So one web search later and I find out that there are five books so far in the series. I just finished the fifth book. I enjoyed every single one of them.

Lindsay Buroker has also written a few short stories that go along with the stories.

If you have read The Emporer's Edge, please feel free to share your thoughts with me.

The books in order are:

The Emporer's Edge
Dark Currents
Deadly Games
Conspiracy
Blood and Betrayal

There is another book called Encrypted that I have not read but is set in the same period and world as the Emporer's Edge books.

For more on Lindsay Buroker go to www.lindsayburoker.com

Thanks

2012-11-20T12:24:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed that some people are posting daily on Facebook the things that they are thankful for in November? Several of my friends express their thanks for a variety of things on a daily basis. I enjoy reading to their thoughts and the things that they are thankful for.

Too many people today are too busy to take the time to be thankful. Most are out to see what is in it for them. Many don't take these moments to reflect on the things in their life that they are thankful for. It is refreshing to see these thoughts on Facebook and I appreciate them taking a moment to express their thanks.

Some of their thanks:

Day 20: I am thankful for my dad! He is such a great man who loves his family so much! He has always been there for me and supported me when I needed him! He always played with us at the beach and brought me flowers to my dance recitals. He sat in the heat at swim meets cheering us on and is still cheering me on in all that I do.

Day 20 - thankful for the landscapers that are currently doing the much needed fall clean up for our yard. That way I can stay inside and play with my sweet baby girl.

Day 18: thankful for change....once a motion I despised but now I see it as an opportunity for growth.

Day 18 - today I'm thankful for naps!! My parents instituted "rest time" every Sunday afternoon after church & lunch and I have carried on the tradition. Naptime should be a daily requirement!

Nov. 5- I am thankful for laughter. The kind of laughter when you have tears rolling down your cheeks and those cheeks hurt from your grinning. This is a true gift and hopefully not a rare one.

Day 15: Thankful today and every day for Passion. Passion for life, God, family, learning, helping....the list goes on and on. Go big or go home! :)

I could continue to copy and paste from their pages but I wanted to share a sampling. All of their thanks are different and well thought out, heartfelt. There are so many things in life to be thankful for. You just need to take a step back and reflect. Take a moment, be thankful. Your thoughts and kindness make a difference.

Water Kefir

2012-11-15T12:55:00.003-05:00

Over the summer Jason listened to a podcast about kefir. He came home talking of the health benefits to drinking kefir. So of course, I wanted to learn a little more about them and there is a lot of information about water kefir and milk kefir on the internet. The two kefir's provide probiotics that our digestive system needs. In fact you can find bottled water kefir and milk kefir in some stores. I tried the milk kefir that was sold in the grocery store and it tasted like drinking yogurt. We all know that good yogurt provides probiotics but still our family wanted to try something different. Since I didn't really care for the milk kefir I decided to focus my efforts on obtaining water kefir.

One of my daughters has a horrible digestive system. She gets dyspepsia, sour tummy and loose bowels all the time. So I did a little reading about water kefir and became obsessed with finding it. I wanted to see if it would make a difference for her. The "it" I am talking about is the water kefir grains so that you can brew your own at home and make the water kefir yourself. The only problem was finding the water kefir grains. I went to every store that I could think of to find water kefir grains and no one carried them. I went to farmer's markets looking for the grains and no one carried them. I even asked my aunt to get me some as she works for a health food store. To no avail!

I ended up ordering my water kefir grains online and received them in the mail. We received them in September within a few days after ordering them. So I have been successfully brewing the water kefir for about 2 months. Jason, Alisa and I like the drink. Alisa is the one whose digestive system needs the extra probiotics. The other two girls can't stand it. So I have only tried to make them drink it a few times and that was when they were on antibiotics for strep. We have all noticed a difference in our digestion.

Jason will use the water kefir when he makes his after workout smoothies. We also just drink the drink whenever. I can make the batch the same way and some times it is fizzy and sometimes not. I am not really sure why this is so. I am still in the beginners stage of making water kefir.

Our basic batch of water kefir is:

4C Water
4T Sugar
4T Water kefir grains
and a handful of raisins

The instructions we received stated you need to use mineral water and not treated (chlorinated water). We live on a well and our well water has worked just fine. You also need to mix the sugar into the water before placing the water kefir grains in there. Then I drop in a few raisins. I cover the jar with a coffee filter so it can breath. Do not use metal to contact the grains. (not sure why but I do) Once the mixture has sit on the counter for 2 days (24-72 hours - but I prefer 2 days) then you strain out the liquid and keep the remaining grains for your next batch.

Once your water kefir is complete you can keep the liquid on the counter so it can continue to ferment 2-5 days. Our does not last that long. Also, I prefer to put the finished product in the fridge. Jason prefers me to keep it on the counter, so I split the batch and do both.

That was how we started and we used that same recipe for a while until we started to experiment.

We have also done
2C Coconut water
2C Water
4T Sugar
4T Water kefir grains

Of course when we make the coconut water batch, it is sweeter.

When using dried fruit you need to get fruit that the ingredient is only the fruit. No additives. We have also used brown sugar, molasses and fresh ginger with fresh lemon. So far I have only found some raisins without additives and some blueberries. But I keep looking.

I have to say my favorite is the coconut water batch. You can find decently priced coconut water in the International section of your food mart.

You can also add a pinch of baking soda to help promote growth.

I have even given two starters of my water kefir grains to locals who wanted to start their own brew. I can't wait to hear how it works out for them. One of ladies traded me a Kombucha SCOBY for my water kefir grains. I have only made one batch of that so far and it was so good. (More on that later)

I would love it if you could share some Water Kefir recipes with me.

Also, I am not sure about why no metal on the grains. I just assume due to an acidic reaction to the metal. If you happen to know then feel free to share!

Sour Dough Pizza Crust

2012-09-21T11:55:00.001-04:00

A while back, I gave the recipe for the sour dough starter. Since then, we have been making sour dough bread once a week. I even entered my sour dough bread into the Caroline County Agruculural Fair and received third place for my efforts.Entering my bread was a last minute decision. Kalina, Alisa and Mila entered their renditions of Potato Heads in the Fair on a Monday night. They had a lot if fun turning real potatoes into something fun and crafty. They were awarded 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for their efforts.

Kalina had so much fun entering in the potato head contest that when we got home she looked online to see what else she could enter and the breads were due the following day. The contest was a Red Star Yeast contest and she needed to use Red Star yeast and submit a recipe showing that the Red Star Yeast was used in making her product. She decided to make naan bread.Since we would be going to enter her naan bread in the contest, I decided to make the sour dough bread. She won 1st place for the Red Star yeast contest. She was so excited.We had to go the fair three times so the girls could see their entries and ribbons.

Today we are making pizza for duinner and I am using the bread machine to make the dough. I decided on a sour dough crust. We have used the sour dough crust before and it is really delicious. If you would like to make a sour dough crust using your starter then this is how you do it in your bread machine.

You will need to do this on the dough setting of your bread machine and place the following in your machine:

3/4 C Sour Dough Starter
2 1/4 Tbs Olive Oil
3/4 tsp Salt
3 C All-purpose Flour (I used unbleached)
1 1/2 tsp Yeast

Then press start on your machine. Once it gets to the kneading then as water as needed. I needed about 1/2 Cup.

Enjoy and please let me know how the pizza works our for you when you try it.

**Update: I made two different crusts for the pizza, the sour dough and a regular crust. The sour dough was the best tasting and the most pliable dough. From now on I will only be making this dough as it is always the best all around dough!

Big Meadows

2012-09-12T10:20:00.004-04:00

In the beginning of June we went camping at the Big Meadows in the Shenandoah National Forest. Alisa chose this for her birthday celebration. My cousin Jessie, her husband Paul and their son Clayton met us at the camp ground. We reserved two spots in the shade for our camping adventure.

We had made plans to do a hike on the trail Dark Hollow Falls. The hike was wonderful. Everyone had a good time doing the hike down as well as the hike back up. The falls were wonderful. The air was cool and the spray coming off of the falls felt refreshing. The kids had fun looking for crawfish under rocks in the stream.

Half way down, Jason and Alisa got stung by stinging nettles.The stinging nettles have little hairs that hang on them and when touched they are like little needles going into the skin injecting their poison into the skin.Jason and Alisa's skin had whelps and red spots on them and Alisa started crying because it burned so fiercely. I tried to soothe her with my words but nothing I could say took the pain away. Then my cousin Jessie said find some plantain. So we looked and plantain was right near us and she started chewing on the plantain and then slapped the green chewed up mixture on Alisa and Jason and immediately they both started experiencing relief.

I have to admit that it is pretty cool that she was able to take care of their discomfort using her herbal / nature knowledge! Alisa was thankful but thought she looked silly with green goo on herself. Of course she and Jason got stung by these plants because they were wandering off trail. Hmmm.

When we got closer back to camp we spotted a bear just hanging out eating foliage. Watching the bear was really exciting and unnerving at the same time. We snapped a few pics and quietly watched the bear and then continued back to our camping spot. Jessie was really happy that she was able to see a bear up close, in fact, was hoping that she would see one on this trip.

At one point during our hike, Jason and Paul were so far off trail I made a comment that we need to watch out for bears and a couple passing heard me and stood there and watched as our husbands came out of the woods. Oops. When we were almost back to camp we came upon a deer that was walking really close by. Clayton, 2 years old, was really happy to see the deer. My kids thought it was neat but they weren't as excited as we see deer all the time in our backyard.

Back at camp the kids ran around and played and the adults hung out and finished setting up camp. Camping would have been a disaster if it weren't for Jessie and Paul and their tent that is as big as a house. That tent had three rooms! I forgot to pack one of our tents. At the camp store a $40 tent cost $80 bucks. Because they had their enormous tent, we were able to put our girls in one of their rooms. Jason and I used our tent.

We only stayed a Big Meadows one night. At about 4am there was a lot of loud noises outside our tent. The noises went on forever. When everyone "woke" up we all talked about what it could have been and decided it must have been owls talking to one another. When we got home I listened to different owl sounds on the internet to try and determine what kind of owls they were and found out that they were Bard owls, a male and a female talking to one another. How cool is that? I mean I was pretty mad that my sleep was disturbed but I had never hear owls like that before.

That was our second camping trip for the year. I hope we are able to go again in the fall. Mila and Kalina aren't interested in camping for their birthdays. They want pedicures, roller skating and the like.If we aren't able to camp then a day trip for a hike is definitely in order. Shenandoah National Forest is beautiful and I always feel a little freer there in the middle of nature. The best part is the hikes for me and the ones close to the streams and the falls. I love the sound of running water. Peaceful.

Veronica Roth

2012-09-07T13:04:00.000-04:00

I rarely get this excited about books. I have read many that I have enjoyed and have talked about or recommended to friends. Last week I finished 2 books that I can't stop thinking about. I rarely read books again for the second time. These two books, I will be reading again.
The last time I was this excited about a book it was the Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. After I read that book I lent it out to 8 girls in my office. Obviously a few years back as I don't go to an office anymore. When I got the book back it was torn and tattered. I finally gave it away to the last person but I was so happy that they enjoyed the book as much as I. I enjoyed them sharing in the love for that story. I enjoyed them telling me their thoughts on a book that I really really cared about.

I feel like I am trying to really build up the books but I am not. I am just trying to compare my feelings about them with prior reads. For example: recently I read The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom and I was totally engrossed in the book. I love the story but I wasn't compelled to find people to share in the experience. When people ask for a recommendation on a book The Kitchen House will be one of them but it didn't compare with my feelings for The Other Boleyn Girl.

Anyway, the two books that I recently read is Divergent and its sequel Insurgent. They were both written by Veronica Roth. When I was halfway through Divergent (not knowing that there was a sequel), I told my husband that I was reading a great book and that it would make a great movie. I did some searching on the internet and found that a movie is in the works. (yeah! My instincts were right!)

The first book ended with a bit of a cliff hanger and the final page said that there is a sequel. The sequel is called Insurgent. After one day of mourning the loss of finishing the story Divergent, I bought the sequel Insurgent. I breezed through that book as well and it was just as good as the first book. After reading the second book, I found that the two are part of a trilogy and the third book will be out fall 2013. Do I really have to wait that long?

I can't tell you how many people in this short week that I have told about the books but when someone wants to discuss the weather I throw in a recommendation for the books.

Last night Jason started reading Divergent. I can't wait for him to finish. I want his thoughts on the book and want to see if he finds as hard to put down as I did.

Briefly, the books are about a Dystopian Society and the problems that can result in a society designed as such. They are about breaking the mold versus going with the flow. Trusting instincts versus going with the norm. It is written in the first person and the interior struggle is just as great as the external. Take my word for it, read the books and then let me know what you think. Otherwise, do some research on the web find out more on the books then read the books and tell me what you think.

School has started...now what?

2012-09-06T15:30:00.003-04:00

So the girls have had three successful days back at school. It is peaceful, quiet, lonely and nice, all at the same time. I spent the first two days trying to just get some lingering things out of the way. I have also managed to get the house back to normal. We had a Labor Day weekend gathering with close family and the house got a little out of sorts.

The entire family had a great summer. The girls were very helpful and we managed to have several outings to the pool, the lake and the park. Jason and I took the girls to Cocoa Beach on vacation, so he could have some time to relax. He also took a couple of days here and there to be home with us.

Last year was my first year home as a stay at home mom. I really felt like I was chasing my tail. I always felt like there was an overwhelming amount of things that needed to get done and when I didn't accomplish those things, I would beat myself up. Some days, I felt deflated. This year, (meaning school year) I want to get organized and build myself back up.

Now that school has started I will nail down my organizational skills. I have started this by making a time schedule of when I am to accomplish certain things in any given day. By doing this I am going to better manage my time and not beat myself up if I can't get everything done. I did the same thing when I was in the work force and I was a successful employee. I was successful because I was able to measure myself and had a sense of accomplishment. This attempt at making a time schedule for my day should do the same thing as it did when I was employee. If it doesn't, then I will try something else. I will give it until the end of the month and see if I am better at managing my day and managing my sense of accomplishment.

I have never been a big fan of lists in my home life. I think this is because lists feel urgent or restrictive. Now I am keeping a list of things I want to accomplish and will cross off what gets done but won't beat myself up when I don't get it done fast enough. If it is on the list, it will get done when I have time for it in my allotted schedule. My schedule will be flexible.

Once time management is successful, then I will be tackling each room to make it efficient and more organized. Wish me luck! I will let you know when I start tackling the rooms and what methods I use to make our space a better place.

**Side note: I just reread the above and want to share my accomplishments: My children and their success. Being here has made a big impact on how they are doing in school. Alisa said this summer she was glad I was home because she is enjoying her summer and doesn't want me to go back to work.

Free book Websites

2012-08-22T12:14:00.002-04:00

I love to read. Reading is one of my favorite past times. I enjoy reading all kinds of books. Over the years, I have collected cookbooks, fiction books as well as non-fiction books. When Jason and I started a home together, the books were overwhelmed us because I just didn't want to discard my books.

When the kids were young it was hard to find time to read. I would get late fees at the library because I could never seem to return them on time. Then in 2005 I discovered www.paperbackswap.com. It is a great site where you can swap your paperback, hardbacks and books on CD. The books have to be in good condition. You mail out your book that is requested and receive a book credit. Then you can request a book and if it is available it is sent to you. There is a waiting list for popular books and your request is put in a queue and you receive notification when it is your turn to receive the book.

The cost to mail a book is usually between $2 and $3 dollars. By using paperbackswap.com, I have been able to clear out my books and send them to someone who will enjoy them also, and in return I get a book that I am looking forward to reading.

I also have used www.bookmooch.com. Bookmooch is great for international trades. The site is not managed as nicely as paperbackswap but I have gotten some good books from there as well. Bookmooch does not maintain a queue for books that you are hoping to get. Bookmooch on the other hand will send you an email if a book is available but will not hold the book for you. Additionally, the books do not have to be in good or better condition but you need to list the condition of the book when posting it.

There are no costs involved on either site unless you are impatient and don't want to wait for a swap before requesting books. If that is the case then you can purchase swap credits.

Of course, another place to get free books is through your library but you don't get to keep them and you have to turn them in on time.

I have recently been looking into ebooks and found a couple of good websites for them as well. One of the websites is www.ereaderiq.com. If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app, this is a great website to check out. It lists the free books available on Amazon as well as books that have been discounted for purchase. I have found some great reads, children's books, self helps as well as cookbooks on there. So if you have a Kindle or the app then go to the website and see what treasures you might be able to find for yourself!

With Kindle and the Nook you can lend a book for 14 days, one time only and usually it is not for the popular books out there such as Water for Elephants but there is a swap website for your ereader and it can be found at ebookfling.com. I have only used the website once to send a book that I have read and have not requested anything from there yet but I look forward to using the site more and seeing what I can find on there as well.

The Nook has a free book offered on Fridays. To find out what book is being offered for free on that day all you have to do is friend Nook on Facebook and you can go there to find out what the free book is on that day.

Please let me know if you know of any place to get free ebooks or any other swap website. I would love to check it out.

Processed Food Coupons

2012-08-09T12:16:00.000-04:00

So, when I started to be a stay at home mom, Jason and I decided to start using coupons to keep our food budget in check. I have to admit, I am not a coupon queen and I didn't get $400 worth of groceries for pennies. We were able to save some money on our groceries. Saving money in groceries did come at a price. I am not talking about the savings. I am talking about the processed food found in the majority of the coupons.

I would look at the ads for items on sale and write my grocery list accordingly, using the coupons that I had accumulated.

Be forewarned, most of it is junk. My kids were happy and gladly helped clip the coupons eying up most of the junk that we would potentially be buying. In the beginning, I did buy the junk as I was saving money for their lunches. I was doing my children a disservice.

I also started getting a lot of hives. I am allergic to MSG and can read for mono-sodium glutamate on the labels but apparently MSG comes in many forms and names. So we have changed once again how we shop for our groceries and will not be buying based on coupons and matching them up for sales. I am not saying that occassionally we won't be buying junk, I just won't be saving money based on the junk coupons that I have on hand.

I have been mostly shopping on the periphery of the store getting whole food and making my meals from the basic ingredients. This is a work in progress for me. This also means more mini trips to the store.

I used to buy boxes of waffles for the kids as an easy breakfast. Yesterday, Mila and I made a batch of whole wheat waffles and put them in the fridge for breakfast today. The kids liked them just fine. I used a basic recipe that I found on the internet and will need to perfect the recipe a bit before I am completely happy with them but like I said the kids liked them.

Once I perfect the waffle recipe, I will match a large batch and freeze them for the kids for breakfasts once school starts.

I am still in a search for water kefir grains as I will be sending that for the kids drinks at school. My aunt is checking out her local health food store to see if they can order them for me. I am really excited for the kefir grains!

If you have a whole wheat waffle recipe to share, then please do, I would like to try it!

Summer Vacation

2012-08-07T12:22:00.004-04:00

So it has been a while since I have made a post. We have had such a busy summer. We went camping at the Shenandoah National Forest and we also spent a week at Cocoa Beach Florida. The beach was absolutely wonderful. The girls found a lot of seashells and we took my father and Jason's mother on our vacation as well. The day we drove back from Florida was my birthday (boo).

We have spent a lot of time at pools and at the lake enjoying our afternoons. The girls have been pretty good at knocking the chores out before lunch so that we can have these nice afternoon outings.

So now it is August 7th and I feel the summer is rushing by. We also just celebrated our 12th Anniversary (yeah). It is hard to believe that I have been married for 12 years. The years have flown by, just like my summer is. I look forward to the next twelve years.

We were in Maryland for our 12th Anniversary so we took the kids and two of our dear friends, Corey and Ursula to Cantler's for lunch. I don't think I have been to Cantler's since we have moved to Virginia and as usual the food was great. Of course we got steamed crabs and an appetizer.

I have read a lot of good books this summer. One of those books was called the Kitchen House. I really enjoyed reading that book and I keep recommending it to people asking for a good read. It was a period piece set prior to the Civil War in the south.

My cousin, Jessie, recommended the book when I met up with her at my Uncle's house in St. Michael's Maryland. St. Michael's is another place we went this summer. It is a really nice town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I love that town. They have a lot of shops. It is on the water and there are many bed and breakfast's there as well.

When we are at my Uncle's house we enjoyed his pool and we also had crab's. They were our first crabs for the summer. In the evening after filling up on crab's he hooked his lawn mower up to a wagon and we drove around his community singing Christmas Carol's and met some of his neighbors. We had a blast. The girls didn't want to leave.

So this weekend we have our Fantasy Football draft. I can't wait to see how my team will turn out. I won our league Super Bowl last year so I have last pick this year and we don't do a snaking draft. There are 12 teams in our league.

Blueberries

2012-06-29T14:56:00.002-04:00

We have been trying to go and pick blueberries for the last couple of weeks. There is a local farm that has seasonal blueberry picking. All you have to do is pay for what you pick. Every year the girls look forward to this.

The few times that we have tried to go something has come up. One day there was a storm so we didn't get a chance to go. Another day we were short a car seat and we weren't able to go. The last attempt we had the Directv guy coming, so we had to wait here instead of going.

Most of my family enjoys blueberries. Mila is the only one who is not really a fan of blueberries. In fact, when we take her blueberry picking she doesn't mind the picking but doesn't share in the eating. Which, of course, is fine with me. More for us! Usually when we pick the blueberries they are gone before the afternoon is over.

On Monday afternoon, Jason and I took a walk to the local park with Alisa and Mila. Our driveway is a half mile long. On the way back from our walk Alisa noticed what she thought was blueberry. She asked if it was a blueberry and indeed it was! For about a tenth of a mile our driveway has blueberry plants on either side. So we picked a few and then we had to get home so I could get the girls ready for Vacation Bible School. On the way home from Vacation Bible School we stopped and spent about an hour picking all the blueberries. There were so many that weren't ripe that we decided to wait a few days and check back for more berries. Today, three days later, we went back to check on the blueberries with two if the girls friends and we found a lot of blueberries. The kids spent about a half hour picking and eating blueberries. Again there are still a lot of unripe blueberries that I can't wait and go back in a few days and pick some more.

We have lived here for ten years and never knew of this treat waiting for us along our driveway. In fact, at the beginning of spring I was looking to buy blueberry plants and they were about $15 each. We have so many out there I can't wait for fall to remove them and plant them in our back yard.

My grandparents had a recipe file that has a lot of recipes. A lot of the recipes I remember enjoying on my many visits to them when I was a child.

Here is a recipe of my grandfather's using Blueberries:

Dissolve 1 yeast cake in 1 cup Luke warm milk. Add 2 cups warm milk, 4 tablespoons shortening, 4 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt. Beat thoroughly, add 2 eggs & flour, 2/3 cup Blueberries. Set in warm place to rise. Bake 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

First of all I don't know what a yeast cake is? I did a quick web search and 2 and 1/4 teaspoons of dry yeast equals one cake of yeast.

And it doesn't say how much flour? I would be curious to try the recipe if someone can tell me the amount of flour they think I should try. Usually it is 3 cups when I make bread.

Emergency Fund

2012-06-21T11:20:00.000-04:00

Dave Ramsey recommends a 3 to 6 month emergency fund. Suze Orman recommends an 8 month emergency fund. I am proud to say that we have finally rebuilt our emergency fund. Prior to Financial Peace University (FPU) we had an emergency fund but we also had DEBT.

Jason and I completed Financial Peace University last summer and therefore follow Dave Ramsey's plan. Since last summer we have been living debt free. In order to do so we had to wipe out our savings to pay off school loans, and pay off our two cars. We never really had any credit card debt and when we did it was usually around $1000. Credit cards are a convenience for purchases but I have never relied on using the credit as a sole means for purchasing. Prior to FPU I was all ready pretty frugal so eliminating the credit cards was a pretty easy task.

To be honest, I can't say that we are completely debt free. When I say that we are debt free, I am not including the house. We still have less than 10 years on our home loan. If we make the minimum payment then Kalina will be a Freshman in college when we pay off our home loan. We want to start adding more to our home loan so that they will not have entered college by the time it has been paid off.

Ideally, I would like to have the house paid off by the time Kalina enters her Senior year in High School or before. If the girls successfully complete each college year on time then they will all three be in college at one time. Kalina will be a Senior when Alisa is a Junior and Mila is a Freshman. We are trying now to save for their college so that the cost will not be too much of a burden when they go. Paying off the house prior to them entering college will also help with this.

An emergency fund is important because we don't want to take out any loans if anything happens to Jason. We will have a cushion to get us through a rough time such as an injury or a job lay off. Of course there are other types of emergencies such as a water pump needing replacement or a basement flood. We have set high deductibles on our car and home insurance and can afford the higher deductible because of our emergency fund. We did this to reduce our insurance rates.

We were able to build our emergency fund back up due to our monthly budget. Without the budget, I do not think we would have successfully built our emergency fund back up so quickly.

What emergencies have you had? Did you have an emergency fund to get you through it?

Black widow

2012-06-19T22:17:00.001-04:00

Jason snapped a picture of this Black Widow in our back yard! We were walking and it flipped upside down just like this. After he took this picture I stomped on it. The spider is a really pretty spider unfortunately they can be harmful! :)