Hello everyone! Just want you to know that I haven't been able to use my blogger account lately so for now I've moved to Wordpress. Blogger is my fave, and I hope to end up back here one day, but till then, please visit me at my new site! I'm in the process of customizing, so it will look more like "home" soon...I hope to once again post 3 times a week. See you there!
Friday, April 03, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Nourishing Breakfast--Bird Nest Eggs and a Tip
I thought I'd have to bow out of this week's Real Food Wednesday, till I visited Katie's blog and saw her great egg recipes. I'm totally copying her egg motif! The theme of this week's carnival is healthy kid-friendly recipes.
I saw the idea for bird nest eggs on a childhood friend's facebook and made them myself. Big hit with my kids!
First make homemade hash browns. Boil potatoes--as many as you'd like. (I did this the night before.) Grate or shred. Salt and pepper, then brown in a skillet in coconut oil or butter. My cast iron skillet resulted in a nice crispy crust.
Separately, fry eggs over easy (remember, these need to be from pastured chickens for optimal healthfulness...I'm working on finding a source of healthy eggs). You'll want one egg for each person, per serving.
Arrange a pile of hash browns on each person's plate in the shape of a nest. Place a fried egg in the dished-out center. Now you have an egg in your nest!
You could also add some kind of yummy, healthful meat to your hash browns if you'd like. Ideally, this would be served with fruit and yogurt on the side, or something along that line.
My kids loved bird nest eggs. They were getting sick of scrambled eggs, so this was something that tasted different, as well as having an imaginative name!
On a totally different note, my kids are not picky at all and they love veggies. They really do. The other day my warped children were begging their daddy for the squash he got at the restaurant. They eat things other kids won't touch.
I've asked myself why. I think it's due to a number of things.
1. I exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. No solids, not even rice cereal.
2. I don't use baby food. From day one on solids, my kids are fed mashed up real food, fruits and veggies at first. (I avoid high allergy foods, of course.) They never know that Gerber Pineapple Delight exists. Their first food experiences are real food.
3. I don't fix "kid food." When we eat chicken, the kids don't get chicken nuggets, when we have spaghetti I don't order them pizza.
4. They don't have to eat what I fix if they don't like it or aren't hungry, but I don't fix special foods for them if they choose not to eat what is on their plates.
5. They have grown some of their own food. They might not like squash if their only experience had been the store variety, but when they had ownership in growing it, it became special. They watched and waited for it to be ready to eat, and since they grew it, of course they thought it was good!
Check out more great ideas at Cheeseslave.
I saw the idea for bird nest eggs on a childhood friend's facebook and made them myself. Big hit with my kids!
First make homemade hash browns. Boil potatoes--as many as you'd like. (I did this the night before.) Grate or shred. Salt and pepper, then brown in a skillet in coconut oil or butter. My cast iron skillet resulted in a nice crispy crust.
Separately, fry eggs over easy (remember, these need to be from pastured chickens for optimal healthfulness...I'm working on finding a source of healthy eggs). You'll want one egg for each person, per serving.
Arrange a pile of hash browns on each person's plate in the shape of a nest. Place a fried egg in the dished-out center. Now you have an egg in your nest!
You could also add some kind of yummy, healthful meat to your hash browns if you'd like. Ideally, this would be served with fruit and yogurt on the side, or something along that line.
My kids loved bird nest eggs. They were getting sick of scrambled eggs, so this was something that tasted different, as well as having an imaginative name!
On a totally different note, my kids are not picky at all and they love veggies. They really do. The other day my warped children were begging their daddy for the squash he got at the restaurant. They eat things other kids won't touch.
I've asked myself why. I think it's due to a number of things.
1. I exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. No solids, not even rice cereal.
2. I don't use baby food. From day one on solids, my kids are fed mashed up real food, fruits and veggies at first. (I avoid high allergy foods, of course.) They never know that Gerber Pineapple Delight exists. Their first food experiences are real food.
3. I don't fix "kid food." When we eat chicken, the kids don't get chicken nuggets, when we have spaghetti I don't order them pizza.
4. They don't have to eat what I fix if they don't like it or aren't hungry, but I don't fix special foods for them if they choose not to eat what is on their plates.
5. They have grown some of their own food. They might not like squash if their only experience had been the store variety, but when they had ownership in growing it, it became special. They watched and waited for it to be ready to eat, and since they grew it, of course they thought it was good!
Check out more great ideas at Cheeseslave.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A Perfect Week
Well, so much for my goal of posting more regularly. Just as I was getting off to a good start, my computer went down and now I have sporadic access...Soon, I hope, things will be back to normal and I'll have pictures and regular posting again.
That said, last week was so very nearly perfect and full to the top with amazing blessings that I think words without pictures will be OK today. Here's a list of all the things that came our way...(and I'm probably forgetting some)...
Bags and bags of clothes and shoes in my size, many still with tags. Things I needed!
Lovely papercrafting gifts from my husband
A swing set for the kids--with a fort and slide
A see-saw for the kids (from a different person)
Information about where to obtain raw goat's milk locally, as well infor about local honey, organic apple cider vinegar, and real olive oil. WOOHOO!!!
Lunch with a friend at Copeland's.
A supper date with Billy to celebrate our 9th anniversary at Outback, redeeming a gift card from Christmas
Free babysitting for said date
A trailer full of compost for the garden we're planting
A library book sale...We got around 200 children's books for 75 cents and inch
And I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
I'm not so much thrilled with the physical gifts themselves (although I'm full of gratitude for them), but more amazed at the love of my heavenly Father Who pours His blessings out on me. What an amazing week.
That said, last week was so very nearly perfect and full to the top with amazing blessings that I think words without pictures will be OK today. Here's a list of all the things that came our way...(and I'm probably forgetting some)...
Bags and bags of clothes and shoes in my size, many still with tags. Things I needed!
Lovely papercrafting gifts from my husband
A swing set for the kids--with a fort and slide
A see-saw for the kids (from a different person)
Information about where to obtain raw goat's milk locally, as well infor about local honey, organic apple cider vinegar, and real olive oil. WOOHOO!!!
Lunch with a friend at Copeland's.
A supper date with Billy to celebrate our 9th anniversary at Outback, redeeming a gift card from Christmas
Free babysitting for said date
A trailer full of compost for the garden we're planting
A library book sale...We got around 200 children's books for 75 cents and inch
And I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
I'm not so much thrilled with the physical gifts themselves (although I'm full of gratitude for them), but more amazed at the love of my heavenly Father Who pours His blessings out on me. What an amazing week.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
One Who Has Friends Must Show Herself Friendly
You cannot receive affection unless you will also give it. You cannot find others to love you, unless you also will love them. Love is only to be obtained by giving love in return. It is important to cultivate a cheerful and obliging disposition. You cannot be happy without it.
I have sometimes heard a girl say, "I know that I am very unpopular at school." Now this is a plain confession that she is very disobliging and unamiable in her disposition.
If your companions do not love you, it is your own fault. They cannot help loving you if you will be kind and friendly.
~The Original McGuffey's Eclectic Third Reader, 1837
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Growing Things
We're planning a garden this year and I'm excited. I grew up gardening. We've had a garden on and off, but having 3 spring babies over 5 years, my gardening involvement was limited.
Still, I couldn't wait for us to finish making garden beds. We had a few herbs growing experimentally in a little strip outside the front door. I threw a packet of lettuce seed out between the herbs and watered them a time or two.
Still, I couldn't wait for us to finish making garden beds. We had a few herbs growing experimentally in a little strip outside the front door. I threw a packet of lettuce seed out between the herbs and watered them a time or two.
It came up and it's growing day by day. My kids love to give me the lettuce report. I had to stop them from pulling up--and eating--all my baby lettuces.
There's something about growing veggies themselves that makes kids want to eat them. This morning we read about the Garden of Eden and I asked them to describe their ideal gardens.
Elizabeth (8): "My garden would have a silver and golden wall all around it and lots of flowers inside, with a secret gate. There would be a pink sparkly mail box and a castle in the middle."
There's something about growing veggies themselves that makes kids want to eat them. This morning we read about the Garden of Eden and I asked them to describe their ideal gardens.
Elizabeth (8): "My garden would have a silver and golden wall all around it and lots of flowers inside, with a secret gate. There would be a pink sparkly mail box and a castle in the middle."
Silas (5): "I don't know."
Sarah (3): "My garden would have a pink sparkly couch in the middle. And carrots and celery. When the rabbits came to eat the carrots, I would shoot them with a BB gun! And there would be a fort around the outside to keep bugs and rabbits out."
A side note: My computer's on the blink, so posting may be light for a few days!
Sarah (3): "My garden would have a pink sparkly couch in the middle. And carrots and celery. When the rabbits came to eat the carrots, I would shoot them with a BB gun! And there would be a fort around the outside to keep bugs and rabbits out."
A side note: My computer's on the blink, so posting may be light for a few days!
Chewy Oatmeal Bars
Recently I was looking for a good all-around cookie…somewhat nutritious, makes a lot, fast and easy, not crumbly…And this recipe fit the bill. Plus, they are man-pleasin’! I adapted it from one I found online and I’ve been really happy with the results.
*******************
Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Bars
1 1/2 c. coconut oil OR 3 sticks butter (Billy and I like the taste of the coconut oil better, but butter works fine too)
3 c. brown sugar (if you are really going for healthful sweets, I’m sure rapadura or sucanat would work just as well)
3 c. whole wheat flour
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla
1 T. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. soda
1 t. salt
3 c. old fashioned oatmeal
2 c. raisins
Cream oil or butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oats and raisins until well mixed. Mixture will be very stiff. Turn mixture into greased jelly roll pan and pat evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool, cut into bars.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Who Says?
Who says you can't play outside in a skirt...
with rubber boots...
A creamy skirt and black rubber boots...Do you think the fashion police will get us?
Homemaking
...Making your home a place that sustains you and your family is one of the most important jobs you can do. Times are tough, there are all sorts of things going on in the world that are difficult to understand, but if you make your home a place that comforts, a place where you can relax and be your true self, a place where your children feel safe and warm, a place where you show your family the joy of living simply, then you are doing a really significant and essential job that takes the hard edge off the outside world. So when you shake open the sheets to make up that clean bed, when you set the table with knives and forks, water glasses and a flower in a cup, when your beef stew and dumplings is slowly bubbling away welcoming your family as they come home with the smell of home cooking, when you sit with your tea, when you sweep the floor, when you sew or knit or cook, I hope you find happiness in your home, because I know it's there. You might not have discovered the mother lode yet, you might just be picking up fragments every so often, but keep at it and you will be rewarded.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Cottage-y Pillows
Sweet things for the house often turn up in the most surprising places. One place where I often find inexpensive, pretty household items is the dollar store. How convenient that it's just seconds from my house!
A few weeks ago I was in need of extra pillows for guests. At the dollar store, I found these cute little things for just $5 each. My house is mostly traditional, but I'm a fan of cottage decorating...So a pretty pillow is the perfect way to sneak in a little cottage flair!
A few weeks ago I was in need of extra pillows for guests. At the dollar store, I found these cute little things for just $5 each. My house is mostly traditional, but I'm a fan of cottage decorating...So a pretty pillow is the perfect way to sneak in a little cottage flair!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
