Wonderful, Challenging Food

This week we've learned what we suspected for some time...It's almost certain that one of our children has a dairy allergy, as well as a sensitivity to high fructose corn syrup. We had two bad, bad weeks, and after we removed the dairy, we had the best week we've had in...I don't even remember how long. So this discovery, while not what we'd prefer for our little one, is a relief. Having a good week has been awesome.

Nevertheless, dealing with a food allergy (or sensitivity of any kind) is really overwhelming. Cooking is already--bar none--the most stressful part of my homemaking job. Cooking food that my family likes, that doesn't contain ingredients we already try to avoid, that doesn't keep me in the kitchen all day long, on a budget, is daunting. Add no dairy whatsoever to the mix, and it gets really challenging. Well, I'll just be honest, I'm stressed out about food already, and when this came up I was so overwhelmed I had a good cry.

But this is a time when I'm so thankful to live in the information age. I was expressing my frustration to God the thought popped into my mind to check food blogs. A quick google for "dairy free blogs" turned up treasure troves of information. Twenty minutes reading the wisdom of people who have been there put me in a much more cheerful frame of mind.

Here are a few:

Kids Food Allergies Blog

Sakura's Baking Blog

Go Dairy Free

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Yesterday I was able to spend a little more time on supper and make something that was actually different and good, as opposed to the frantic meals I usually prepare. (Feels like everything is frantic and half-done these days...)

It was easy though--stuffed chicken breast. Here's what I did, so I have it for future reference. Maybe you'll enjoy it too!

8 chicken breasts

1 batch cornbread (The recipe took 2 cups--that size of a batch.)
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 small onion
poultry seasoning (about 1 T)
sage (about 1 t)
salt and pepper
chicken broth to moisten
1 egg

I sauteed the veggies in a bit of olive oil till soft. (some celery, mushrooms, or pimiento would be good too, I think...)

Then crumbled the cornbread in.

Added dry ingredients.

Stirred in enough broth to make it moist.

Then I tasted it--before I put the egg in. (I'm weird that way. I don't eat raw cookie dough either.)

Added the egg and mixed really well.

Slit and stuffed the chicken breasts. Put them on a big cookie sheet.

Put the leftover dressing around them. Put a bit of water in the pan so they wouldn't stick and dry out.

Covered and baked at 350 for about 1 hour.

Yum!

Would have been even better with gravy. But it was fine this way too.

Strength

He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak.

Isaiah 40:29

Finding My Way

It's amazing how quickly things return to "normal." On the other hand, it's amazing how long it takes to find one's rhythm again after a natural disaster like a hurricane.

The area is being cleaned up and repaired as quickly as can be expected, thanks to a well-planned infrastructure and the dedicated work of many volunteers bringing help and relief supplies. Electricity is back (except for some of those whose homes were flooded or destroyed with the water from Ike...a double whammy), and most of the stores are open that will be re-opening--which is nearly all. The mountains of fallen trees that lined both sides of our street have been picked up. People go about their daily lives as normal, for the most part. This was our first rodeo, so it's amazing to see recovery happen. People who have lived here all their lives have stories to tell of many storms they've weathered. I told Billy, it's no wonder some of them begin to feel that they're bulletproof.

We're finally establishing a groove after our homeschool year got off to a rocky start. We had school even while we were evacuated, but it's hard to give it 100% when things aren't normal. I feel fortunate though--local schools were closed for weeks.

I've worked out something of a routine...a flexible schedule of sorts. We hurry with morning chores and start school shortly after Billy leaves for work. I get Elizabeth started and when she's able to work alone I work with the middle ones on phonics, math, and other pre-K and Kindergarten skills. We work hard and try to finish the most intensive part of our work by noon. That (theoretically) frees the afternoon for housework, as well as tea parties and other such fun. Fall is here! Time for tea!

I find that Elizabeth, especially, thrives on routine. It feels good to know what to expect, what's going to happen next. I think it's particularly helpful after a month of limbo.

This has been far more boring than I intended. Now that we're functioning at something more like normal, I hope to resurrect this blog and write lots more often. I love to write here...It's the only real hobby I indulge right now, except for the every-so-often crafting. See you around!

Post Up at Blissfully Domestic!

Woohoo!!! My first post is up at Blissfully Domestic!

It will look familiar to those of you who have been around here for awhile...It was so popular that it seemed like just the thing for BD.

10 Ways to Help Your Kids During Times of Stress

1. Model trust in God. When our children see that we are not afraid because we believe with all our hearts that God is in control, they will be more at peace. It will help their faith grow.

2. Give them spiritual encouragement. Read and memorize scripture together. Psalm 23 and Psalm 91 are great places to start. Pray for and with them.

3. Keep a peaceful atmosphere. Play calming music and minimize chaos and excessive noise.

4. Don’t take your stress out on them. It’s easy to become testy or withdrawn when we feel tense or concerned. Our kids need us to be even-tempered and approachable during times of stress more than ever.

5. Spend time together. Talk, read aloud, play games, go for a walk. This helps our kids feel secure.

6. Reassure. Encourage your children with your words, but also give lots and lots of hugs.

7. Establish some sort of routine. As a crisis drags out, it’s comforting to have a routine and a general plan for each day, as much as possible.

8. Feed them healthfully. Make sure they get a balanced diet, not too many weird or new foods, and not too much sugar. Keep them hydrated with plenty of water.

9. Make sure they get adequate rest. Not only do they need a usual amount of sleep, they may need an extra nap or early bedtime. Stress is exhausting.

10. Turn off the TV! In times of natural disaster, viewing destruction will only make your children feel powerless and afraid, especially if they know it’s where their homes, friends and family are. They don’t have the emotional filters we adults have, and it’s detrimental to allow devastating images to play in front of them over and over.

After Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav was a natural disaster second only to Hurricane Katrina. Why aren't you hearing this on the news? I don't know. Maybe because this is not New Orleans, because it "wasn't as bad as expected," because it's an election year and it's political, or because there are more sensational stories. Who knows.

Life is slowly returning to normal. Many, many people are still without power across the southern portion of the state. We anticipated a month to six weeks without power, so when the lights came on four hours after we returned home, we considered ourselves incredibly blessed!

A few more stores open each day. Some grocery stores are open, but every line at every register stretches to the back of the store. We were fortunate to be able to pick up a few items to carry us through until things are a bit more normal. I don't plan to shop for awhile. Although most people have been amazingly patient, tensions are still high for some. I feel more comfortable staying in, plus I don't want to wait in line for 2 hours with 4 little kids. During our evacuation, Billy's mom picked us a bunch of beautiful pears from the old pear trees on family property, so we're blessed with fresh fruit. These pears are a hard variety that last a long time.

By the time we returned, a lot of cleanup had already taken place, so the roads were at least passable. There are still huge trees down everywhere. Yesterday Billy and some other staff members from our church helped a lady whose home was destroyed by an enormous oak. Billy said it was so big two men reaching around it could barely touch hands.

We'll finally be able to have church services again Sunday. Sunday is also my 30th birthday, and I can't think of a better gift!

I'm A Blissfully Domestic Contributor!!!

Woohoo!!! Power is back MUCH sooner than anticipated and things are getting back to normal just a bit.

I recently discovered the wonderful world of Blissfully Domestic and I was thrilled to death when the opportunity came up to become a contributor to their home and garden channel. I'm a little behind the rest of the new contributors (thanks to Gustav), but I should have something up soon.

Gustav

Hello everyone, our home was in the path of Hurricane Gustav so I won't be able to post for 4-6 weeks. God was very good and we are all fine, but life won't be back to normal for some time. I will post on CharityGrace as soon as I can!

Window Mistreatment

Blogger's acting wonky, so let's try this one more time!

The Nesting Place is hosting a Window Mistreatment Party. Wonder what window mistreatment is? Here are her definitions:

Mistreatment: (n). covering for a window that is quick, cheap and pretty. may or may not need hardware does not require sewing. a real designer's worst nightmare.

Mistreating: (v). the act of treating a window with dignity and respect without use of the following: hundreds of dollars, sewing, time, crying, divorce, child neglect...

Here's a window mistreatment of my own. It's just an (unironed) old tablecloth and a couple lengths of grosgrain from my stash, hung over an existing rod. And now it's the only window in my house with a curtain. (In the ugly bathroom at that!) But with all the great ideas I got at the party, that's about to change!

A Day in My Life-August

This month I'm joining Little Jenny Wren's "Day in My Life." A bit late, but still...


Billy was out of town for the night and I'm sick, so we slept in this morning till almost 8. I woke with Sarah, my darling 3-year-old, snuggled in my bed and Baby Grace's blue eyes peeking at me over the edge of the co-sleeper. What a great way to start the morning!

Otherwise, my whole morning felt off-kilter since I felt so bad that I pretty much just fell into bed last night without making usual preparations for the next day. No one had clothes laid out, I didn't know what to fix for breakfast, and everything seemed to take twice as long as usual.

Finally everyone was clothed, beds were made, and Elizabeth had practiced her piano. I made old-fashioned oatmeal. My kids love this with cane syrup, which is sort of like Molasses. Mmmm...I love it too.


Normally Elizabeth starts her school work after breakfast, but it's rained a lot lately and the kids haven't been able to spend much time outside, so I let them play this morning. It's a beautiful day. We'll do lessons later, when it's too hot to be outside. Elizabeth showed me the "spear" she made, she says for spearing flounder. A friend told her how they used to spear flounder at night, and it has captured her imagination.

While they played outside, I began my housework. I felt flustered and scattered and realized that I hadn't yet spent time with God this morning. I've been hanging out in Proverbs 31, which tells about the ideal wife. I think I needed the encouragement and inspiration of this hard-working lady. I usually feel completely overwhelmed by all there is to do to run a household, homeschool, maintain friendships, and reach out to others, as well as keeping a strong marriage with my sweet husband. I know I don't need to be superwoman, but there is a way to get it all done, somehow.

In addition to housecleaning and nursing sweet baby, I washed a few of my "hand wash only" skirts, and hung them out to dry. I do "big" laundry every other day, and special things like this in between.






I made a quick batch of cookies and fed the kids lunch. Afterward I put the littles down for quiet time, cleaned the kitchen and did school work with Elizabeth. And snuggled and fed the baby. So sweet.



Late afternoon: I tidied the bedroom area of the house and worked on preparations for our coming homeschool year while the kids played outside.

I had promised Elizabeth pancakes for supper, but I really didn't have the time to make them, so I asked her if she wanted to. Of course my little cook said yes. She was so proud and I made sure that I praised her efforts. Let's just say that I'll give a little more assistance next time.

Billy got home as I was bathing the kids. It was so good to have him home, even after just one night. After we put the kids to bed we visited for a little while and watched the last episode of 24: Season 5 and then we turned in ourselves.

And obviously I didn't get this posted last night. So here it is this morning!

Frugal No-Sew Pillow Hack

Several years ago we ditched our delapidated old couch for a Freecycle futon. I saved the old couch's original pillows, though, and re-covered them in some upholstery fabric someone gave me.

They've gotten kind of grungy, being used for naps, forts, and pillow fights.

When I re-covered them, I made 2 of them reversible by putting different fabric on the opposite side. Since I rarely display this side, they are still looking pretty good.

With the 3rd pillow (which didn't have a reversible side), I used a piece of dollar a yard cotton from my stash and wrapped it like a gift. Safety pins in back.

I could have sewn it, but I didn't have time.

I finished it off with a length of grosgrain ribbon--a dollar for a big roll at Big Lots--also from my stash.

I also had this pillow, which I think is really cute. I especially love the color combination. But I don't really have an appropriate place to display something that says "Mommy Time Out."

A scrap of cotton someone gave me and a scrap of ribbon from a gift...

Fold, wrap around the middle, and pin...

Here's the front.

Tied with lavender.

Voila! So much lighter and brighter! If I count materials I actually bought, the total cost is less than $3. But I don't usually count the cost of stuff that's been in my stash for a long time.

And time? Ten minutes, tops.

Linkety Link

I have a few minutes this quiet Sunday afternoon, so I've cleaned up my blog roll--removed blogs that haven't been updated in a long time and added some fun new ones.

This is a good time to mention that I just put blogs on my roll that I enjoy reading. Just because they are on my roll doesn't constitute an endorsement--as if I can project what anyone is going to write on their blog anyway! Click through--I hope you find some new ones that you enjoy too!

Basil for Pesto

This year I really wanted to garden. But for the 3rd of the past 5 years, I had a baby instead. Ah well, babies are more fun and a whole lot sweeter.

Still, I couldn't get past the urge to grow...something. So I picked up some herb plants. Rosemary, aloe, peppermint, sage, and basil.

Since Elizabeth loves to water plants, most of them survived my Black Thumb of Death, all except the aloe, which I can't seem to keep alive no matter what I try. (The neighbor has some on his porch to which he does nothing as far as I can tell--and it thrives.) And the peppermint, which I planted under a faucet that doesn't drip. The basil was a bit yellow for awhile, but soon it greened up and filled out and now it's really beautiful.

So I picked some.

I've never made pesto before. But it sounded so good.

Pine nuts? How about toasty pecans instead?

Garlic. Parmesan. Oil.

Maybe I shouldn't show you this. The green mess doesn't do this deliciousness justice. Oh my. It was so fresh and good. I could have eaten it all from a spoon. I grew up in a home where we often sat down to meals where we'd grown virtually everything, but it's been a long time since I've had food I grew myself.

Instead of eating it with a spoon, I made a pizza. Chicken, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It would have been better with fresh mushrooms and sun-ripened local tomatoes, but it was still amazing. Even Billy liked it, much to my surprise.

Pesto pizza. I highly recommend it.

When You Are Three

Who cares if shoes are too big...

Or if they are on the wrong feet...

As long they are pink!!!

Lemonade on the Porch

One of the things that excited me most about our new house is the small screened porch in back. I've wanted a porch for all our married life, but I've never had one. However, one thing after another took precedence and I hadn't yet gotten the porch orderly enough to actually use. That was on my to-do list every day last week, but still I couldn't seem to get it done.

Billy and I have a weird sort of telepathy. Often when I have something on my mind, he does too--but we often have different purposes in mind for the same item or event, and he usually beats me to the punch. (I procrastinate.) So naturally when he scored a weight bench on Freecycle last week, the first thing he thought of was turning my beloved porch into a weight room!

The next morning I took the little ones outside and we put the porch to rights. Then we had lemonade, made from local lemons I juiced and froze last winter, to beat the sweltering heat. So nice. The porch might turn into a weight room one day, but I'm going to enjoy it for now!

Embellished Clothespins

Don't you want clothespins to match your laundry?

Then get out your Eric Carle paint set.

Mix pretty colors...

And go to town!

Flower garden colors...

Black and white...

Cherry pie? Ladybugs? What does this make you think of?

(I"m hesitant to use these on a real outdoor clothesline since I'm not sure they acrylic craft paint would stay put if they got wet. Anybody know?)

Show and Tell Friday hosted by Kelli.

I Haven't Stopped Blogging, Really

Life has been crazy. Four babies, guests once to several times each week, a time-consuming new writing project, washer and dryer on the blink, etc. etc. I've had a lot on my plate. I so enjoy the creativity of having a "fun blog"--in fact, this is really the only thing I do consistently for fun. But lately it's had to take a back seat. I hope to streamline my blogging so it takes less time and I can do it more often.

A Ladybug for Grace

It's fun to make things for little girls!

World's Best Chocolate Pie

No, really. It is the best. This is what I made for Father's Day.

Nana's Old-fashioned Chocolate Pie

2 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
Dash salt
6 egg yokes (save whites for meringue)
3 c. whole milk

Whisk sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and milk together. Beat egg yokes and mix well. Cook over medium heat till filling is very thick, stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn!

Place in 2 baked pie shells. Use whites to make meringue. (Instructions here since I don't have time to type it all in.) Top pie and brown in a 350 degree oven till golden. Cool and enjoy. Because you WILL enjoy it!