Country Kids

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

2015-01-10T06:22:00.000-08:00

One thing I've learned about gluten-free cookie is that some of the food can be, well, downright weird tasting or just plain weird. Growing up in the Midwest and on the farm, we're used to old-fashioned, down-home cooking and baking. Since going gluten-free, I've learned to experiment. Much to the dismay some of my children someday! Cookies were something that they truly missed. These are simple, no fancy ingredients or things I can't pronounce or that aren't easily obtain at my local grocery store. They look like a chocolate chip and taste pretty darn close to a regular cookie.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups Namaste All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars and add in eggs and then vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and slowly add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on baking sheets and then remove to finish cooling.

Lisa

Gluten Free Tortilla

2015-01-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

Child 3 is now gluten-free. This has caused his world to crash since he believes one of the major food groups is taco pizza. Taco pizza for him is a tortilla shell with pepperoni and cheese dipped in ketchup. So to appease his poor belly, I tried my hand at homemade tortilla shells. I originally found a recipe on Namaste.com, which is my go-to gluten-free all-purpose flour. However, the recipe calls for shortening which I do not use. Here is my version with my oh-so-professional picture! HAHA!!

Gluten-Free Homemade Tortilla

3 cups Namaste all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 cup cold butter cubed
3/4 cup chicken stock

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter and add hot chicken stock. Allow to cool in fridge and then portion into about 10 balls. Flatten with a tortilla press and further roll out using a rolling pin. Cook on a pan sprayed with coconut oil about 2 minutes on each side.

These do not fold nicely like a flour tortilla shell, however, the farmer thinks they'd be soften if we steamed them. The kids made taco pizzas out of them and liked them.

My kid sucks....Part 2

2014-12-13T15:54:00.001-08:00

I originally wrote the post I'm sorry my kid sucks in September of 2014. I really was at the end of my rope. Our home felt like a warzone. We avoided anything that may upset our youngest child. We avoided trying to take him anywhere. I did have an appointment with our doctor and the only thing I wanted was medication.

I truly hated myself. To have a child whom you love with all your being and at the same time you hate him. Tears were becoming a normal part of our daily routine; mine, his, and our other children.

The appointment I had was cancelled and grandma asked if she could make an appointment to take him to the same doctor we had taken our daughter the year before when she was suffering from IBS. Realizing I hadn't even thought of this as an option, I agreed. I was willing to try anything. I knew I should have thought of this myself but when you're in a middle of a warzone, rational thought tends to go wayward.

They came home from that appointment with a little sack of vitamins and supplements and a new diet and weekly appointments to see this doctor. He told us that it may be 6-8 weeks before we saw improvements. His diet was to exclude gluten, wheat, limit dairy, no milk, and limit highly processed sugars, especially apple juice.

This time we attacked the diet for the entire family. Anything processed with wheat and gluten were either taken to the food shelf or thrown out. No more "regular" crackers, breads, and snacks. No more apple juice, no more milk. We went back to making our own coconut milk yogurt and ice cream. Everyone was now going to eat the same thing. Our middle child initially complained stating that he didn't have a problem with gluten, so why couldn't he have it. Our simple explanation was that Em was old enough to know and understand what she couldn't eat and why, Little Man couldn't understand it yet.

What happened? Within a couple of days, he was calmer. He stopped constantly hitting and rubbing his head. Amazingly, he stopped screaming and began hugging and kissing. As we continued forward, there were no more temper tantrums in the morning or raging fits at bedtime. Meal times became more relaxed. He started playing independently and following directions. Within a couple of weeks, other people started commenting that he was calmer and happier.

That's not to say that it hasn't been easy. Anyone can attest to moving to a gluten-free lifestyle that it's hard. There are no more cheats on letting your children eat hot lunch at school on those mornings you're running late. It's having to find time each week to bake and prepare snacks and treats for the upcoming week. It's having to make sure you have snacks prepared for when you go places where food is going to be and you're certain there won't be anything you can let your child have. And there have been many nights where dinner has become fruit and popcorn because dinner was a bomb.

Gluten affected our oldest physically, gluten is affecting our Little Man physically and neurologically. Our best guess is that he was having headaches and stomach pain and giving him general discomfort. But today, it's definitely worth it.

Lisa

I'm sorry my kid sucks...

2014-12-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

(Originally wrote September 2014)

I'm sorry my kid annoyed you at the store today. I'm sorry my kid ruined 30 seconds of your day by his unexplainable outrageous behavior. I'm sure to you this shows as to my poor parenting skills that I allowed him to carry on as such throughout the store.

I'm sorry my kid annoyed you at the family function. I saw your eyes rolling back in their sockets when he starting yelling and then when I tried to calm him down, I'm sure I was the talk of the afternoon when he hauled off and hit me.

I'm sorry for the way my kid acted at church today. I'm sure you said an extra prayer for us as I dragged him kicking and crying to the back of the sanctuary. Or the school function that we had to leave, or really any place I've taken him.

I've seen the looks, the eye rolls, the whispers behind your hand as my kid and I leave a room, a store, a restaurant, etc.

Guess what? I'm sorry too. And I'm sad. I love him more than anything in the world. And what you don't know is that while his unexplainable and outrageous behavior may have ruined 30 seconds of your day, I have this unexplainable and outrageous behavior EVERY SINGLE DAY.

He's 3, almost 4 and he doesn't talk. He yells, screams, kicks, hits, throws, stomps his foot, pushes, and has even slapped me across the face on more than one occasion. I have anxiety taking him anywhere because I know he's unpredictable. I don't know why he doesn't want to talk. But yes, your unsolicited advice that I just tell him to use words is absolutely astounding! I wish I would have thought of that earlier. Why, it's almost magical. I just tell him to use words and WHAM! My problems are fixed.

Did you also know that while he may have annoyed you for 30 seconds today, I rarely take him anywhere because it's exhausting. It's a fight to get him dressed, feed, teeth brushed and into the car without it being a raging war. Do you know that most mornings by the time I get three kids dressed, lunches packed, bags packed, kids dressed and ready for school or daycare, that I'm so exhausted I could just crawl back into bed. Or that most mornings, I don't do my make-up until I get to work because I cry after I've dropped everyone off. Did you know that his siblings are also annoyed by him? Some days our house is like a war zone. It's all dependent upon this little one's mood.

We try to avoid taking him to the store unless I can go with just him. We avoid family functions if it falls during the middle of the day. His dad stays home from church so that I can still go with the other two. If we do go somewhere as a family, we take two vehicles in case he blows. We avoid any situation where it may cause him to lose it. Did you know that we spend a lot of time at home because of him, and the looks, and the whispers, and the eye rolls, and the unsolicited parenting advice?

Did you know that lately, my favorite time of the day is after we've spent almost an hour trying to get him to sleep, when I can then lay down next to him in his bed and watch him be peaceful.

We've been to doctors and they tell me nothing is wrong with him. He's in speech therapy and goes to school. We've tried time outs, strict routines, and even spankings. We've read every parenting site we can find about toddlers and anxiety and temper tantrums and defiance and every other subject we can possible think of. I've begged doctors to just medicate him so our house can be peaceful. But he doesn't have ADD, ADHD, autism, or anything else that they can find. I've begged the doctors to medicate me so I can just get through the day sometimes.

Please don't judge me because my child has a meltdown. Please don't judge my child because he had a meltdown. And please, for the love of all things holy, at least wait until I've left the store or am out of the driveway, before you roll your eyes at me and my child.

Lisa

Skunk Recipes

2014-04-16T06:20:00.001-07:00

Last week one morning I awoke to the dog banging on the front door. Thinking the Farmer had left him outside, I let the dog in and started about my morning routine. The dog meanwhile was going nuts, running throughout the house, rubbing himself all over furniture, rugs, over beds, etc. This is not unusual when he is left outside, I think he's trying to warm up. But after a couple of minutes, I realize something stinks...BAD.

I immediately put the dog back outside and call the Farmer to ask him what stinks. He then tells me not to let the dog in the house...long silent pause...He then tells me about his morning of letting the dog outside and then he hears him banging in the garage, walks into the garage (where our wood furnace is kept and running) and sees a skunk which proceeds to spray. He then goes back into the house, get a gun, shoots the skunk...which sprays again.

Because I'm not a morning person, I go about the morning and take the two oldest to school and the youngest to daycare. At daycare, the lady tells me something stinks...it's the Little Man's jacket and blanket so we put everything outside while I explain our morning and what must have happened. I head back to the van and get a text from my mom who tells me Miss Em's stuff stinks. I call her at school and tell her about my morning and realize not only the dog brought it in but it must have come through the heating vents. I make my mom go back to my kids room and smell them to make sure it's just their outerwear and not them and get to come home to spend three hours carrying out laundry, bedding, etc. and cleaning the house from top to bottom.

After trial and error, these are the best skunk recipes for cleaning out the stink.

Skunk "Febreeze"
Mix one bottle of hydrogen peroxide into a spray bottle, shake well and SPRAY EVERYTHING.

Pet Cleaner

2 bottles hydrogen peroxide

1 tablespoon liquid soap

Half cup baking soda

Stir together in a pail.

Sponge on liberally

Let sit for 5 minutes

Rinse liberally with water

Laundry
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
Regular amount of laundry soap

Floor, woodwork, etc.
2 cups vinegar in a pail of water

On things that I wasn't sure should be sprayed with hydrogen peroxide (like the kids dance costumes for their recital) I did use regular febreeze and it did get rid of the smell.

And when your other half comes restarting the wood furnace after you spend the entire day doing laundry and cleaning the house....consider burning everything...and then start over cleaning.

Blessings,
Lisa

Gluten-Free Wheat-Free Waffle (Pancake) Mix

2014-04-04T11:56:00.001-07:00

My kids love pancakes and waffles. When Miss Em was first told she couldn't eat gluten and wheat, this was her only concern. We have tried the premade mixes, but unfortunately, those are just not in our budget to buy on a regular basis. We've tried several recipes but ultimately I wanted something simple, without a lot of ingredients that would be similar to what the kids were used to eating. This is probably the closest I have come and my kids absolutely love them and all three kids give them two thumbs up!

1 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup gluten-free corn meal

1 scoop of your favorite protein powder (vanilla or plain)

1 banana mashed

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

3 tbsp. coconut oil (melted)

2 1/2 cups almond milk

1/2 tbsp. cinnamon (depending upon your taste - my kids LOVE cinnamon)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together dry ingredients and whisk in eggs, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and almond milk. Spray waffle iron or griddle with oil and cook until done.

Blessings,

Lisa

Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

2014-03-20T11:29:00.003-07:00

These muffins are gluten free, wheat free and dairy free (in our house, dairy free is milk products, does not include eggs). Hot out of the oven, these muffins were scrumptious with a dollop of butter, almost like a bread pudding!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 12
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 C brown rice flour

• 1 C light brown sugar
• 3/4 C tapioca starch
• 1/2 C Stevia in the Raw
• 1/4 C almond flour
• 1 tsp. xantham gum
• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 C coconut oil (melted)
• 1 C pumpkin puree

• 1 banana, mashed

• 2 eggs

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

• Whisk together dry ingredients.
• Wisk in wet ingredients and let sit for a couple minutes to rest.• Line muffin pan with 12 liners and divide batter evenly. • Bake 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees. • Remove from oven to cool and store in refrigerator.

TIP: While I do use Stevia in the Raw in place of sugar, I have not found a good alternative to brown sugar.

Blessings,
Lisa

p.s. I did take a picture, however, I cannot find the cord to my camera and couldn't figure out how to download pictures from my cell phone to my new computer!

No Fail Basic Bread Dough

2012-10-04T09:21:00.003-07:00

I love homemade bread. Typically though, my homemade bread is a big ol' fail. I've tried different recipes, oh so many different recipes. I make bread that has wonderful flavor but very rarely rises. I've tried different yeasts with no success. I've tried 5-minute a day bread, bread from scratch, and bread maker bread.

A friend from church gave me a basic bread dough recipe and FINALLY I can make bread. Her best advice was that you don't have to follow the recipe exactly, you need to make bread like you cook, follow your eyes and nose. And since I've never been one to follow a recipe, this is my style of baking. The best part, it's basically a no-knead bread.

Basic Dough for buns, etc.
1 heaping tablespoon yeast (I've made with regular, fast-acting, and bread machine yeast with great results!)
1 level tablespoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and make sure bubbles are present.

Add all ingredients. Knead gently to incorporate all ingredients. I maybe knead for about a minute.

Place into a lightly greased bowl, cover, and set in a warm area to rise. For me, I let my dough rise in the laundry room. Once dough has doubled, shape into bread pan or form into rolls. Cover pan and allow to double again.

Bake 400 degrees until golden brown.

I am in LOVE with this dough. I have not tried it with whole wheat flour so I don't know if it would need gluten added to it. My favorite variation is to add 1 cup of 9 grain mix and decrease the flour by 1/2 cup and add 1 tablespoon garlic powder.

Enjoy!

Lisa

Miss Em's Famous, Mouth-Watering, Hot-Diggity Peach Cobbler

2012-08-12T17:10:00.001-07:00

I canned 28 pints of peaches today. Miss Em was quite concerned through the whole process that I wouldn't save her enough for her to make her "famous, mouth-watering, hot diggity peach cobbler" (do you ever wonder where your kids come up with this stuff?).

So we made peach cobbler. She gave me the general ingredients of what she wanted in there, I added the extras. I would have taken a picture but by the time I got into the kitchen, it was gone. Whatever didn't get eaten by us and our guests had been scooped up to take home for lunches tomorrow. The Farmer had even scooped up a little container for his own lunch tomorrow and put in on the shelf where I always put his lunch.

So in lieu of a picture, just imagine a warm, goey, peach cobbler steaming fresh out of the oven with trails of real whipping cream melting over the brown sugar crumbly top.

Admit it, your mouth is watering right? :) Thought so!!

Miss Em's Famous, Mouth-Watering, Hot-Diggity Peach Cobbler

5 cups fresh sliced peaches (but save the pit so you can grow a gazillion peaches next summer)
1/4 cup splenda brown sugar
1/4 cup splenda sugar
1/8 cup whole wheat flour
Shake some cinnamonony jamma mama (makes perfect sense right?)
Couple little pinches of sea salt
A little tipsy of lemon juice (1 tbsp)
Make a slurry with 1 tbsp. flour and 1 tbsp. water

Butter the butter of a casserole pan. Mix together all ingredients and put into pan. "And you gotta beat it with a spoon so it cooks up just right."

Crumbly Topping (Mix all ingredients together)

3/4 cup splenda brown sugar
1/3 cup splenda sugar
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
Shake some more of that cinnamonony jamma mama for some flavor! (there's moves and everything involved in this recipe)
1 stick melted butter
Some more of that healthy sea salt

Spread half of mixture onto top and bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a covered dish. Spread the rest of mixture and bake for 35 minutes in an uncovered dish.

Allow to cool and cover with some yummy whipped cream or ice cream. Sit back and enjoy and wish you'd remember to videotape your children! :)

Lisa

Tomatoes - Fresh fro the Garden

2012-07-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

Last night as we were finishing up chores, I wandered down to what is becoming my weedy garden. I really need to spend some time out in the garden weeding but it has been very humid and hot. However ,things are still growing splendidly!

I picked these four big gorgeous tomatoes that I took to work and ate for breakfast and lunch.

And half a colindar (red on red doesn't make for the best picture) of scumptious cherry tomatoes that the farmer took to work for lunch.

So delicious. So summer.

There may be lots of tomato sandwiches in our future!

Lisa

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

2012-07-19T12:23:00.004-07:00

A good friend gave me this recipe and it couldn't be easier. My kids also LOVE them!

1 box Spice Cake Mix
2 cups pumpkin puree

Mix together and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

My friend used the pumpkin pie mix but I had pumpkin puree in the freezer from last fall. I like the pumpkin puree better, it seemed to make a denser cake. Either way they are yummy and healthy. If you make 24, they come in at about 69 calories each and 12 muffins are about 138 calories each.

Lisa

Dinner at the farm

2012-07-14T17:29:00.001-07:00

I truly love summer eating. Our dinner tonight.

Chicken - Our farm. I cooked off two chickens a couple nights ago in the crockpot and we're been eating on them for a couple of days. I'd much rather have it roasted in the oven but its been hot, really hot!

Corn on the cob - Local farmer.

Tomatoes - Our garden! YUMMY! Sometimes when it gets hot, I really question why we garden and farm. Then I smell a fresh picked tomato and all my doubts go away.

Green Beans - savanging find. Seriously!

My brother called me this morning and told me that he was driving home with one of his boys and came across a ditched filled with green beans. They stopped to see what it was about. A semi-truck rolled over the night before (the driver is okay) and spilled the entire load of green beans. The kids and I went up to get some and ran into a couple of county highway workers who said to spread the word so people would come get them before whatever wasn't gone by Monday morning would go into compost.

I hate wasted food and thinks our society throws away entirely TOO MUCH purely because it doesn't look perfect. This accident is a perfect example. The company didn't want the green beans because they tumbled out of the truck onto the ground.

Here's what I came home with.

Actually this is about half of what I came home with. I spent the afternoon visiting neighbors, friends and relatives giving away beans.

Now tonight I'm canning. Lots and lots of canning. I barely put a dent in these and most of them are going to church with me tomorrow to give away the rest.

Lisa

Cloth Diapering using padded underwear

2012-07-03T19:09:00.002-07:00

I wish I would have gone this route with the first child. This could quite possibly be my favorite cloth diapering option. If anything, it cuts done on the number of regular cloth diapers needed thus making cloth diapering even cheaper. They are less bulky than regular cloth diapers and sew up quicker.

The little babe now has a nice little stash of padded underwear for daytime wear along with three new fleece covers. Running around outside, or even inside as long as I'm watching for when he goes, he doesn't need a cover. There are thick enough to absorb urine but not so bulky as to make them uncomfortable for a little mover and groover! I did the gerber training pants route with our oldest and these beat them hands down, not even a good comparison, blows them outta the water (not that I'm tootin' my own horn or anything here :) ).

Cost-wise these cost me $8.59 to make 10 pairs of padded underwear and three fleece covers. The only thing I had to buy was the underwear, the rest came from my fabric stash. The cost would have been approximately $25 if I had to buy the materials (FOE $1.50 for 3 yards, fleece $7.00 for 1 yard, flannel $8.00 for 2 yards and underwear $8.59 for 10 pairs).

As far as sewing, they are very quick to sew up. I did 10 pairs of underwear and 3 covers in about 2 hours and that includes the time spent measuring and cutting materials.

You could use any type of material for the cover (fleece, wool, PUL). If you used a pattern such as Katrina's Soaker Pattern (free pattern), it would eliminate having to use foldover elastic.

Hope everything is staying cool. Temperatures here in Wisconsin are hoovering around 100 degrees!

Lisa

Bulking up the underroos - Tutorial

2012-06-30T18:45:00.002-07:00

One of my most popular posts is when I showed my bulked up underroos. Now I'm back to bulking up some more underwear, but we're not quite ready for potty training with the babe yet. However, he is getting quite the rashes from his diaper and the summer heat so we're bulking up some underwear since his favorite place is outside, anytime, anywhere, with anyone, no matter the weather.

Start by gathering your supplies. I'm using some leftover zorb blanks and some diaper flannel and of course some underwear (which I prewashed, although I'm not sure if it's necessary with underwear but I did it anyways). You'll also need a marking pen and some pins. My favorite marking pens are crayola washable markers. I used to buy fancy sewing marking pens but with kids they always seemed to disappear and I haven't had any issues with the marker not coming out of the fabric.

Since I also made some fleece covers, I didn't line them with a layer of PUL. So if you want that additional layer for potty training, you'll also need some PUL scraps.

Start by making a pattern. I fold the underwear in half and lined up with the blank that was also folded in half.

Pin and mark the lines. The cross line will be used for marking the front and back.

I laid the underwear out on the cross mark, folded down the waistband to find the front and back length.

Lay the new soaker inside the underwear to see if it's a good fit and make any necessary adjustments. Once you have a good fit, use this piece to make a template for your other soaker pieces.

Fold your underwear inside out.

Pin your soaker pieces. Carefully sew around the outside of the soaker. Make sure you don't catch the other side of the underwear. Not that I've done this or anything, but it might be a possibility, especially if you're sewing with young children. Just sayin'.

I use a zig-zag stitch.

Ta-da! You're bulked up underroos!

The soaker material is entirely preference. I used what I had on hand. If you're using just flannel, I would use several pieces.

Lisa

Rhubarb Jello Dessert

2012-06-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon while I was in the midst of jam making, the Farmer asked me to "make that really good rhubarb dessert, you know the one with jello and the sprinkled crust, that's my favorite."

So the conversation goes back and forth until I finally call his mom to find out it's a dessert she used to make, back in like 1978. This is one of them.

Bottom Crust
3 cups flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat, 1 cup all-purpose)
3 tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
Cut in 3/4 cup butter
In a separate bowl, mix 3 eggs and 3 tbsp. milk and add to above mixture. Grease a 9x13 cake pan and press into pan.

Cover with 4 cups of cut rhubarb and sprinkle with 1 - 6 oz. package of jello (I used raspberry because it's what I had on hand).

Mix together 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups sugar (I used splenda), 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat), 1 cup rolled oats, and 1/2 cup brown sugar (splenda again). Sprinkle over rhubarb.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Very good. I've had a piece each night. Make that two pieces tonight. :)

Lisa

Linking to:
http://beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.com/2012/06/mostly-homemade-mondays.html

Dinner at the farm

2012-06-24T17:05:00.002-07:00

I love when people post their menus for the week because it gives me inspiration. However, I am not a menu planner. In high school, I had a friend who every Sunday night, picked out all her clothes for the week and hung them on hangers. I asked her once what happened if she didn't feel like wearing that for the day. Her response was but that's the outfit for the day.

Cooking dinner is like outfit planning. I know everything that I have in my kitchen and work around it. When I grocery shop, I always buy the basics, plus whatever else I think would be nice for the week. For example, if I see a recipe for fish tacos, I'll put the ingredients I need on my shopping list and figure sometime during the week, I'll make them.

If you came to dinner at the farm, this is most likely what I'd feed you (lunch is sandwiches, leftovers, or you're on your own so ALWAYS plan to come for dinner).

Roasted chicken, dilled green beans, saurekraut, lettuce salad with apples, radishes, and hard boiled eggs. The kids passed on the green beans and saurekraut and had corn. In the winter, we'd add bread and put out butter, homemade jam, and honey or maybe cornbread or some brown or wild rice.

And with the exception of the apples and salad dressing, everything was raised or grown on the farm. I'm very proud of that.

Tonight you'd even get dessert. Strawberry rhubarb cake for the adults (recipe tomorrow). Berries of choice with whipped cream and sprinkles for the kids.

I roasted two chickens today. The leftovers will go for lunches or added into other meals throughout the next couple of days. Shredded chicken with fruit and cottage cheese is a favorite lunch for the kids and we may have chicken tacos one night or a chicken salad with lots of veggies and fruit with crusty french bread.

Now I have to go hide the cake before I eat another piece!

Lisa

Whimsical Couture Pillowcase Romper

2012-06-23T12:45:00.001-07:00

The Facts

Fabric: 2 yard of Heather Ross Far Far Away
Pattern: Whimsey Couture Pillowcase Romper
Year: c. 2012
Notions: None. Could use grosgrain ribbon for ties.
Time to complete: about 2 hours. Could have been quicker but three kids, one of whom is sick (which explains the funky pose above) and another teething.
What I'd Change/Changes Made: None, surprisingly. Miss Em is very comfortable so I may make another one.

I love this double guaze material from Heather Ross. And it screams summer. The only difference I would make on another one is to lengthen the body, probably 3 inches. But this is only because Em has a long body. I left the ends on the tie raw so they will unravel and fray. I turned the hem under 1" twice since I didn't have enough material to add a ruffle and didn't want to put a solid blue ruffle.

I haven't sewn, really sewn, in quite awhile. It felt good. Now to start working on downsizing the fabric stash with some more projects!

Lisa

Controlling Out of Control Hair

2012-06-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I posted my "new do." Which I absolutely adore, even though I really need to get a hair cut. Unfortunately, on hot humid days much like today, it looks more like this.

I've always like headbands but hated wearing them for a variety of reasons. Those little plastic ones hurt, those skinny little elastic ones don't do much when you have thick, curly hair, and those wide jersey ones just look wrong. Then I found this on pinterest but was too cheap to pay $26 for a headband.

So this afternoon and 15 minutes later, I ended up with this.

And had the Lil' Man model.

Two simple rectangles twisted together to make the "knot" at top and an elastic band from my daughter's hair basket underneath.

So comfortable.

Now I'm going to go make a bunch more.

And then use them BEFORE my hair starts looking like it did in the first picture.

Lisa

ps - Yes, it's the middle of June and I still have a Santa Claus up. I figure if he makes it to the 4th of July, I might as well just say I'm decorating early.

My new planters

2012-06-10T18:04:00.001-07:00

The other day, during the snake situation. I was in the process of planting flowers. Scrunging through the shed, I found a variety of items to use.

The tall shelving unit was brought home when we were cleaning out the rental property last spring. I put nail holes in the bottom to help with water drainage and filled the buckets full of flower seeds and pumpkin plants.

These two dishes were also brought out of the rental property.

My last set of planters were actually mine and the bigger pot was filled with spinach.

The glider was also a free find last spring. I was driving through town and it was sitting in a front yard with a free sign on it. Just needed a good scrubbing and a coat of paint.

Lisa

A Simple Sunday Afternoon and the Snake

2012-06-10T13:08:00.001-07:00

It all started out innocent enough. Farmer took the little farmer to buy a new piece of farm equipment. So the little man and Miss Em and I took off to buy some very important things for the farm. You know, like a rose bush, potting soil, flowers and some tomato cages. When we got home, I began planting the new bushes in the front flower bed and then I moved to the back of the house and started planting the flowers but I needed the flower pot in the corner.

However, it was quite buried and tangled beneath the grape vine so I enlisted the help of the Farmer to help me untangle and hang the vine. With the planter freed, I began planting all my flowers but realized I had more flowers than pots. Too cheap to go back to the store to buy pots, I scouted the shed and saw this rack.

But I couldn't find the bins. (I'll show you the end result of my project tomorrow.) The Farmer though they were in the garage off the house. In the above picture, the garage is to the right, the laundry room is the left along with an entry door. Now in the summer, the kids usually prop this door open so they can come in and out of the house without having to bug me when they can't get the handle open.

Have y'all figured out where this is leading??

Uh huh, you guessed it. I went into the house to find the bins to find a 3 1/2 foot snake in my laundry room.

I seriously do not think I have ran that fast in years.

I seriously think the neighbors a mile away heard me screaming.

I seriously think I scared the crap outta the Farmer with my screaming for him to come RIGHT NOW!

Apparently, we roused the snake outta his nice cool home by messing with the grape vine. The Farmer called his dad and the neighbors to all come see because he wanted to know what kind of snake it was so he knew whether or not to kill it.

The Farmer and I had a screaming fight (okay really it was just me screaming) that it doesn't matter what kind of snake it is because the only good snake is a dead one. Their supposed rationale is that a bull snake (which apparently what is was) is good at eating mice around the farm.

Their logic is totally ridiculous.

Unfortunately, they removed to the snake to the field across the road.

There may be a farm for sale shortly.

Lisa

Simple Summer Jammies

2012-06-08T15:59:00.002-07:00

It started out with me wanting to make my oldest some "simple" summer pajamas using this tutorial. I even picked up this t-shirt on the clearance rack at walmart for a dollar.

Apparently, I have issues with measuring. They were very blousy and a tad short. I did the mature thing and threw them towards the trash and went and did some manual labor.

I came back to them awhile later.

I added a simple bodice and trimmed the top, back and armholes with foldover elastic.

Now I'll be making some more. This is a great way to repurpose t-shirts! Miss Em says they are light and airy...the perfect summer jammies.

Lisa

Grandma's Chocolate Syrup

2012-05-28T18:28:00.001-07:00

My middle child's favorite food is chocolate, followed by blueberries. He has quite the little sweet tooth for a 3-year-old. He's also my hyper child so we like to watch what he's getting in his food (i.e. high fructose corn syrup and sugar and 482 other ingredients in something as simple as chocolate syrup). When the chocolate syrup ran out, I called grandma to get a recipe.

Grandma's Chocolate Syrup

1 1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups sugar (I used Splenda)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combined cocoa, Splenda, and salt. Gradually add boiling water. Stir over medium heat until smooth (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Store in fridge.

Ta-da! Something I no longer feel horrible about feeding my chocolate loving three-year-old!

Lisa

Rhubarb Kiwi Jam

2012-05-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying to look past the picture and make this jam! It is good and surprisingly, for jam, not at all that unhealthy. This is so good that the evening shift girl at work tried some and then got mad when I put it in my bag to take home until I explained there was another jar in the fridge.

I manage an group home so I spend a lot of time cooking and baking. I had brought in rhubarb to make rhubarb dessert and had some left over. We also had some leftover kiwi that were bordering on going bad and this is what I came up with.

Rhubarb Kiwi Jam

3 cups chopped rhubarb
4 cups chopped kiwi
1/4 cup sugar (Splenda is what I used)
1/4 cup vinegar
Oh about a teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup lemon juice

I added all ingredients but the kiwi and cooked until the rhubarb broke down. Stirred in the kiwi and cooked for about 10-12 minutes.

The result...a sweet, tart jam that I definately want to make more of!

Lisa

On chasing cattle

2012-05-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

When having farm animals, cattle in particular, there are certain things that are bound to happen. The biggest is that cattle will go through the fence when the Farmer is not home to chase them.

Cattle also have a horrible timing. If it's raining, storming, snowing, you're late for work, it's the middle of the night, you and the kids are all dressed for church, and nobody is around to come help you chase them, they WILL go through the fence.

I've chased cattle pregnant, I've chased cattle with babies and toddlers strapped to my back. I've chased cattle pregnant, in the pouring rain, at 2 in the morning. I've chased cattle barefoot, in flip flops and in Nikes. I've chased cattle in freshly plowed fields and through corn that's 8 feet high. I've tried bribing them with corn, sweet talking, swearing, and down right running. I've tried evasive maneveurs and last second whims but have found that dumb luck is usually how you get them back into the pasture.

Also, if you get a pedicure, the cattle are bound to go through the fence.

Oh, can you tell what I did tonight?

Lisa

Rhubarb Dessert

2012-05-13T18:04:00.002-07:00

This is probably one of my favorite desserts. It has an almost sour taste that I love. My chickens have been digging through freshly plowed fields and garden which accounts for the bright yellow, almost orange filling.

Crust
3/4 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar

Crumble, put in 9" x 13" pan and bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling
5 cups rhubarb
5 eggs yolks
2 cups sugar
4 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk

Mix and pour onto crust. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Topping
5 egg whites
12 tsbp. sugar

Beat egg whites, add sugar and spread on top of baked mixture. Bake 15 minutes or until gold brown. (My topping should be higher but I only have a hand mixer so get bored standing there beating my egg whites...still tastes good.) :)

Lisa