Friday, December 28, 2007

New year prep

Good rainy day to all . Here in middle TN. we continue with our unseasonably warm weather, which by the way started back last March. Today is 60 with rain. Once again I am reminded why I moved here! LOL

Yesterday Zachary and Breanna cleaned the basement! I will count that as a Christmas gift to me. Not only did they clean the basement, but they did so with out fussing and working together!! A true Christmas miracle indeed! I was suffering from sinus headaches and that really made my day. Just seeing the basement clean made me feel better. I truly believe that a clean house can affect your out look on so many things. I am truly blessed by my family.

I have been busy making homemade croutons, ranch dressing, granola and bread. Cooking from scratch and with whole, good foods is certainly more time consuming, but it feels good to find uses for everything and waste nothing. I will have to keep you posted on the economical side of things. So far it seems to be a tad less expensive. But whole chickens here aren't any cheaper than buying flash frozen boneless skinless chicken breast in a bag , so probably won't do that again. The flavor of your own roasted bird is certainly better, but more time consuming in the cooking area. So six to one, half a dozen of the other. Guess it will be determined in the end by the current price when purchased. I pickled some garlic the other day as well. I tried some when we were in S.C. and loved it, but couldn't afford it at almost $8 a jar. So found a recipe on-line for about $3 a jar! It called for it to sit for three weeks before eating, so it will be ready on Knute's b-day - I can't wait! Tomorrow Bre and I are going to make Kimche, speaking of pickled food - LOL It is part of her unit study on Korea. Part of me wanted to opt out and buy some, I found it pre-made for about the same price as making my own. But the teacher side of me had a conference with the mom side and explained about how if she did it herself it would stick with her better that just tasting a jar made version. Once again, this will have to sit about two weeks before we eat it. Man our house is going to smell... I mean be aromatic.

Well as fate would have it, if we believed in fate, Knute and I were discussing our plans for a garden in 2008 , when in the mail our Burpee catalog arrived! We are hoping to get one put in on the cheap side and reap some fresh veggies all summer/fall. This year Bre planted some turnips and had good luck. I would love to plant some turnips, parsnips, rutabagas and sweet potatoes. I love boiling them and mashing them up in place of typical mashed potatoes. It is much healthier for you, and so yummy too! Also thinking of putting in some cucumbers, green beans and garlic. The kids always like to plant radishes in a container as well. We have tried this with carrots in the past with poor success, but more that likely will try again. So until we start prepping our garden area in late March we will content our selves with curling up with our catalog and making a wish list and checking it twice - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

School pictures

Here are just a few pictures from our school year so far. We use Sonlight as our home schooling curriculum and you can check them out at www.sonlight.com



End of the year ramblings

Well here we are, another year over. I know it has been quit some time since I posted. I had some trouble accesing this dashboard, but trouble seems to be over now. I could go into a long sentimental account of m;y year in reviwe, but I won't! LOL Just doesn't seem there is much worth mentioning. It has been a very longggggggggg year for us, strarting with our car accident in Jan. and my dh changing jobs in Feb. But things are starting to look up now, now that the year is over - LOL Seriously, Knute finealy started his own auto service in conjuction with his managment position at the Zone. He talked about it for almost two years. So about six months ago he went for it. It has really started picking up this past fall. We had struggled with one of us getting a second job and prayed profusly and unceasingly over it. Always with the same result, no. We feel that his business picking up is our answer. If he gets 3-4 large jobs, or 6-7 small ones it is the same as a second part time job or me getting a job outside the home. The benifits are enormus.
With the new year just around the corner I am finding myself making all kinds of promises to myself, after promising myself not to do that again! LOL Call them resalutions if you will, but I call them doing what I ought to have been all along. The top ones on my list are: Tithing, no excusses. Bible reading. Eating, cooking and preparing healthy whole foods. I will stop worrying about points, if it is vegan or to much sugar. I will only buy, fix and eat food to the best of my budget allowence that is as healthy as posiable. Means more work in the kitchen for me, but I am the best cook I know anyway. The health benifits will be enormuse since beans, rice and whole grains are better for you than prepared cemical inhanced sauces, cereals and aspertaim injected beverages and dairy products. I found a wonderful website, wwwthefamilyhomestead.com It has given me many culunary and basic baking ideas that make me want to smack my head and say duh! LOL If you check it out. please drop me a line to let me know what you think.
Well that about wraps things up. Check back often as I will post more, including new pics of our annual Edisto Island , S.C. vacation; now that this site is working better.

Blessings for a very Happy 2008, Beth Ann