Discontent on the Ground

It boggles my mind that some people's children don't climb.  Really?  You can have a kid that stays on the ground?  :-P  None of mine have been content on the ground.  This has led to some pretty hilarious retrievals, from the tops of closets, cars, wood piles, counters, fences, etc.  You name it, it's been climbed on.  I thought it was a boy thing when I only had boys...but no, Baby Girl has kept up with her brothers. 

Marin up high in my pantry.



She looks guilty.


On Evander's second day of preschool in 2009, Emory noticed the big water tower from the preschool parking lot.  He was just starting to put sentences together and looked up and said, "I climb up?"  He hasn't climbed the water tower...yet...but here are some of his favorite places to peak over the years:



With the hot water running.  Mini hot tub?

 And who could forget the time Evander climbed all the way to the top of his closet?

I wonder who/where they get their desire to climb from...



 Daddy and the boys have turned climbing into a fun game and personal challenge thing now...which they enjoy.  Marin is still exploring. 

There may be some circumstances you are going through in your life that are out of your control, but you can be content in them right where you are just like Paul found contentment in Christ Jesus:

 
Philippians 4:11-13
 ¹¹Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
 ¹²I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
 ¹³I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

31 in 31: Beet Hummus

There are many  "30 in 30" challenges going around this year.  There's the 30-Day Facebook Challenge.  A friend did a 30 in 30 fashion challenge in which she had to come up with 30 different outfits from a minimal amount of clothing.  Some of you are doing a 30-Item Purge thing where you clean out 30 items from an area of your house each day.  Our church did a "31 and Change" program...are there any more out there?

Nick, as the wellness coordinator at his work, came home with "Campaign 31."  The goal is to eat 31 different fruits and vegetables in the 31 days of March.  Thus far, we haven't really had to get adventurous...until now.

Beet Hummus!  This is not an original idea...there are several recipes out there for hummus with beets.


The ingredients

 1 can beets
1 can garbanzo beans
2 T tahini
2 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. salt
olive oil

Drain your beets (save that beautiful beet juice for another use like Natural Play Clay  Egg Coloring  Beet juice painting  Road salt), and wash your beans.  Place all ingredients, save the oil, in a food processor and process.  If you don't have tahini, which is ground sesame seed paste, go ahead and use peanut butter!  I was out of olive oil and had to use canola, but whatever! 


Ready to go in my 1980 food processor--from my grandma! 

Add another clove of garlic or two for good measure.  :-)  Once those ingredients are combined, add enough oil to make the hummus a smooth consistency.  1/4 c oil works well.


Isn't this pretty?

This will be a great recipe to try if you don't know what to do with the beets you might get from a Community Shared Agriculture program this summer.  I imagine you could roast or boil the fresh beets.

Yummmmm!!!  Tasty!  Definitely tastes more on the hummus side than beet side. 

Marin likes it, too!  She's my little hummus girl.  :-)

Where I Came From, Where I'm Going

I came across a few folders the other day while I was cleaning out my cookbook shelf and getting rid of stuff I don't need.  Inside were stacks of newspaper and magazine clippings of recipes that my Grandma Gray collected over the years.  It struck me...so *this* is where I get my collecting tendencies from!


Note Grandma wrote, "Please save." May 1968



I would consider both Grandma and myself to be artsy...love doing crafts, painting, cooking, entertaining.  And apparently we both have an extensive recipe collection of newspaper and magazine clippings. 



If you know me well, you know that I tend to hang on to stuff...just in case I could do something with it someday.  Boxes, baby food jars, Altoid tins, Capri Sun pouches, magazine clippings, etc. etc. etc.  What might be considered junk to someone else (Nick?), I see as creative potential!  I don't mind stuff.  Yes, of course I love my house to look clean and clutter-free...but I also don't mind it with uhhhhhh...stuff. 



You'll shoot your eye out, Kid.  1960

I see many of my collecting tendencies in my son, Evander.  He has a stick collection, and I'm not talking about sticks from trees, but a sucker stick collection that he keeps in the cup holder of the van.  He talks about it a lot.  I think it's cool, but Daddy often intervenes when he cleans out the van.  :-P 

When I told Evander what we could do with an entertainment center a neighbor had dumped on their curb...he was fixated on bringing it home.  He even tried to convince me that Emory could take care of Marin and hold her hand while he pulled his Radio Flyer wagon down the street with the entertainment center on top while I walked beside it making sure it didn't fall off.  I guess it's okay as long as he doesn't become a hoarder.  I have a husband who lovingly prevents that from happening.



1952

Your family is an extension of you, whether you like it or not!  Grandma must have passed her knack for holding on to stuff to my dad, who safely tucks things away in his basement, who passed it on to me, and I've inevitably passed it on to Evander.  This is where I came from...and apparently this is where I am going with at least one of my children!


Save seven cents! 1968



Looking through Grandma's clippings...I can't get rid of stuff that's dated from 1952!!! 

And we totally have that curb-dumped entertainment center in our garage now.  :-)  Waiting to be turned into a play kitchen for Marin!

1968



I had this really awesome magazine clipping that was a quote about creative people who keep piles of stuff in different places...but I can't seem to find it.  That's perfectly fitting, I think.  :-)



Whirlpool ad 1968



Making Yogurt

You might remember me blogging earlier this month about food prices and my disdain for the yogurt market: I'm [Not] Going to Pump You Up

A friend responded saying that she was starting to make her own yogurt and shared this link:  Make Your Own Yogurt 

I had heard about making yogurt in a slow cooker before, but the idea really hadn't appealed to me until now.  I guess it also never struck me that this is indeed how you make yogurt!  Just look at what Wikipedia says about yogurt:

The milk is first heated to about 80 °C to kill any undesirable bacteria and to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds. The milk is then cooled to about 45 °C. The bacteria culture is added, and the temperature is maintained for 4 to 7 hours to allow fermentation.

You do need 1/2 c of plain yogurt to add to the milk you put in the slow cooker...so *that* part you don't make.  Once it's all done, you can save a half cup of what you made to use in another batch.  Nothing like fermenting bacteria!  Kind of like that Amish Friendship Bread...it's the bacteria that keeps on giving.

Evander was excited to make it...but remained very concerned that I was going to make him eat warm yogurt.  He picked out frozen peaches and raspberries to add to our yogurt. 

Here is what you do: 

• Dump a 1/2 gallon of whole milk in your slow cooker and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.
• Unplug the slow cooker and let it sit for 3 hours.
• Remove 2 cups of the milk to a bowl, whisk in 1/2 c plain yogurt.
• Combine with the rest of the milk in the slow cooker.  I added 1/2 c dry milk to help thicken it.
• Wrap, wrap, wrap your slow cooker like it's going outside on a snowy day.  I used a towel and two fleece blankets.
• Let it sit for 8 hours.



Wrapped slow cooker


I was so excited to unwrap my slow cooker!!!  The anticipation was crazy.  Would I have yogurt???  Or would I just have a runny mess???  I had yogurt!



Yogurt!!!


And the verdict?!?!???

Both the boys thought it was "too drippy" and that kind of weirded them out to it.  The yogurt does turn out a bit thinner than what you'd buy, even when I added 1/2 c dry milk to the batch.  If we make it again, I might try adding more dry milk or letting the whole thing ferment longer to get it thicker. 

Nick seemed to like it a lot!  I did, of course, add some sugar along with the fruit. 

This makes 64 oz. of plain yogurt.  At the store, I can buy 48 oz. of Yoplait (in eight 6 oz. cups) for $4.  The whole milk was $2, the dry milk was $3...I had the plain yogurt on hand, but I think that was $2 something.  The frozen fruit were $2 or $3 something each.  So I'm not sure how the price comparison works out.  You most certainly would have enough fruit, dry milk and yogurt to make three or four batches.  The yogurt cups from the store are definitely more convenient...but this was fun and can have less sugar in it, depending on how much you use.


What????  It's runnier than normal!



Yum!



Peach yogurt is my favorite.


And, yes, I was so excited because of the yogurt I let the kids eat it on the couch!  You can tell crackers had already been there.  :-P

Ready for Spring!

We are all ready for spring and this warm weather we've had this week is giving us a nice taste of things to come! 



Out with the old ways of winter!!!!




In with the new ways of spring!


Now, I realize this is only March 18 and it could very well snow a handful more times before it truly stays warm out (I was told that the Farmer's Almanac says it will snow three more times with at least three inches accumulation each time.  The farmers seem to be believing that stuff this year as I was also told it correctly predicted the snow we've had so far.  I'm not sure there's much science behind this...)BUT spring and spring things make everyone happy!  Yay for the shedding of the grumpy shell!  Although, spring does not make me feel relaxed---it's time to get busy!!!  Cleaning, purging, making sure the yard is in order. 

Marin is the little helper when it comes to all of those things.  If she finds a piece of trash on the ground, she'll pick it up and put her hand in the air.  I say, "trash," and she takes it right to the trash can.  When I lift the first rug in the kitchen to vacuum, she gets the other one.  When I tell the boys, "Go get your shoes," she gets them first....which is sweet, but really not that surprising as these boys mooooooooooooove soooooooooo slowwwwwwwwwwly when it comes to getting out the door!  :-P

And speaking of an orderly yard...



Time to play in the dirt!



Emory is always proud of his dirty hands. 

I discovered later that Buzz and Woody were buried in this pile of dirt!


And look what I found!  Complete with a bee!



Marin needs in on this blog!  This was earlier this week.  :-)

Spring is such an awesome reminder of our new standing as believers in Christ:

2 Corinthians 5:17
 ¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.


Roasted Tomato Soup

You HAVE to try this recipe.  It is amazing. 

Roasted Tomato Soup  (Scroll down for recipe)

I can't wait until the garden is exploding with tomatoes and basil and I can use both for this soup and Pesto Grilled Cheese sandwich.  Yummmmmmmmm.


Tomatoes, roasted and ready to go!

 Tips:

1. Roast the tomatoes ahead of time, and store them until ready to use. 
2. Use Swanson Organic Vegetable broth---it has half the sodium of a chicken or beef broth.
3. Add the bacon into the soup before pureeing instead of using it as a garnish.
4. If you don't have fresh basil, add a tablspoon of dried basil before pureeing.
5. Use a hand immersion blender/emulsifier/whatever you want to call it which works perfectly for pureeing.  If you don't have one...just get it done somehow!  :-)

Sliced Shamrock Sugar Cookies

I thought it would be fun to try a tutorial on my blog and what better place to start than in the kitchen?  Woo!

Disclaimer:  I am NOT a baker.  I do, however, have a wonderful addition to my family called Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer which has increased my chances of becoming a baker. 

Disclaimer:  I am NOT a photographer.  I do like to take pictures, but my camera is a small Cybershot so forgive the lack of lighting or the "wrong use of " lighting in the pictures because basically, I have no lighting.  I also don't think I took the right pictures, but I also did not want to insult your intelligence.  Maybe I will next time.  ;-)

Disclaimer:  I am NOT a professional...anything, really.  If you think, "I could do that!"  You're right.  You can.  If you think, "That's stupid."  Shhhhhhhhhhh!  Keep quiet!

I used this cookie recipe, not because I've tried it before...but it looked easy to work with: Sugar Cookies



Add your ingredients and mix, mix, mix!

It was Daddy who let him do this! 

Once you have your dough mixed, divide it in two parts with one part having slightly more dough than the other (how's that for exact?).  Put the lesser dough back in the mixer and dye it green!  It would be best to use gel food coloring.  I couldn't find some in my cupboard (I know I had green!  Grrrrrr...), so I had to use normal green food coloring.



Green!



Roll your green dough and plain dough into separate logs, wrap them in plastic wrap, and stick them in the freezer.  

Once your logs are pretty solid, working with one log at a time, cut the green into thirds and the plain into fourths.  Roll 'em into snakes!  Then return to the freezer. 

Rollin', rollin', rollin'



Missing a fourth.  :-(

Don't forgot to cut a little off of a green roll lengthwise for your shamrock's stem.  I forgot.  To add this, you would cut a plain snake in half, sandwich your green length in it, and then proceed with the next step.

Once you have your rolls, pile them together like this:

Shamrock log

Next, take your fourth plain snake and flatten it out with a rolling pin...and hope you have enough to cover your shamrock log!

Cover your shamrock log!

Once you have done this, you must roll this big log with your hands so that the pieces jive together.  Be purposeful, but don't overdo it as you want your shamrock to look like a shamrock and not a blob. 

Start cutting.  1/4 -1/2 inch cuts work well.

Bake as directed.

Photo-worthy pan

Enjoy!

It's Finished

So, back in January, a thing was going around Facebook for crafters.  It went something like this:  "Pay It Forward in 2011!  The first five people to comment on this status will receive something hand made from me.  The only catch is, you must repost this as your own status to receive something."  I jumped on it, not only because the girl I grabbed it from makes beautiful sewing items, but because I of course love to make things...but making things for others is more fun.  :-)

Why?  Well, I guess it's just thinking of the person the whole time you are making something...saying prayers for them, and knowing that what you are doing will (hopefully!) bring that person joy.

So...here it is...only the SECOND lap quilt I've ever made!  Item number two of five, or six, or seven Pay It Forward items.  :-)

You can find the pattern here: Rectangles Quilt

This will be going to my friend Tanya in North Carolina.  I hope she likes it !  I promised I would make her a quilt months before this Pay It Forward thing....so you other Pay It Forward ladies of mine, please don't expect a quilt!  Ha.  They take *such* a long time, which you are all definitely worth the time...it's just my crafty brain does not like to stick to one craft for too long.  :-)  Expect something equally as cool.

I used some fat quarter packs I got for Christmas.  Fat quarters are 18" x 22" (a quarter of a yard) and often come bundled with coordinating fat quarters.  I chose not to free motion this quilt, as I did that with the last (and first!) one I made because it was difficult for me to keep everything all flat so that there wasn't any folds in the backing fabric.  With the free motion, you can push and pull and guide the fabric in every direction so you end up with a whole bunch of squigglies.  You can also free motion pictures like flowers, paisleys, leafs, etc. which I have not tried doing, yet.  So basically, I just quilted around each rectangle of this quilt. 

This quilt has been kid and cat-tested and it didn't rip, so that's a bonus!  ;-)