Monday, May 31, 2010

Warm Memorial Day Blessings


Hope all are enjoying family time on this day of remembrance as well as fellowship and blessings. I really enjoyed hearing the history behind this day, yesterday at church and learning where the birthplace was and how it was chosen by President Johnson.
Today I enjoyed doing some more prep and home made food stock piling. Among other things I made dairy free cheese! I will share this with photos soon. I do want to share my home made coffee creamer today. I made a fresh batch just in time for a friend to stop by and need an ear. We both love coffee creamer, but I just couldn't keep buying it after reading the ingredient label. So I looked around and adapted a recipe for my own use:
Orange - mocha coffee creamer
2 cups organic half n' half
1 cup organic sugar (or equivalent your choice sweetener)
1/3 cup organic coco powder
1 TBS. pure orange extract
Combine first 3 ingredients in small sauce pan and heat, stirring constantly to make smooth. Once mixture is smooth, remove from heat and add extract. Stir well. Let cool and store in fridge. Shake well before using in coffee.
NOTE: If this is to thick, you may thin it out with some organic milk.
VARIATIONS: Sub peppermint extract for the orange, for a great winter treat! You may also try hazelnut flavoring or any other combo's of your choice. Be creative and make it your own!
Blessings, Beth Ann

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Home made brown rice tortillas

In the never ending quest to eat better and save money, I have been making my own tortillas. Not only is this great for son's fibro but I can use which ever flour I chose. Spelt and brown rice flour are best for son, but you can also make whole wheat, corn, white or a combo.

Tortillas

4 cups brown rice flour
1 TBS. zanthum gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. olive oil
1 cup water

Combine all ingredients and mix well, until a ball is formed. Divide and form into 16 smaller balls. Squish with tortilla press and fry in small amount of oil on griddle.
Yield: 16 - 6 inch tortillas
My cost estimate: 90 cents



My cool tortilla press : )

"SQUISH!"


Nice and flat.

The prep line.





Fry time.


I use my olive oil mister to grease my griddle before frying : )





Heat yourself up some refried beans . . .




Finished product.



Load it up! Make yourself a toastado or a burrito, maybe even a taco. Lunch is served! My cost is about $4.50 for 6 people.
In this case however, the beans were free. I was gifted with one of those industrial sized cans refriend beans. Will easily get three meals out of it. While not very healthy and I would not buy this myself, this was a gift and is much appreciated on the budget. Eating this once in a while is OK, even a treat. Frees up more money to buy fresh veggies and groceries : ) I am truly blessed to have friends in my life who share their bounty and blessings with me and my family.
Blessings, Beth Ann









Twin's b-day

Yesterday was the twins 6Th. birthday. Where does the time go? I played the typical birthday mom game,"where was I this time 6 years ago?". So I remembered the surprise of discovering I was having two babies and how hard the pregnancy was. I recalled the bed rest, that wasn't restful at all! And then the emergency c-section 5 weeks early, followed by a couple weeks in the NICU. The end result is these two wonderful, beautiful, joyful blessings! I wouldn't change a thing ;)

Even though the day was overcast, we still had a pool party over at our friends home. The kids all love to swim, and the twins are getting pretty brave now that their toes touch the bottom ~ sometimes - LOL

Our friends gave the twins a ton of outdoor/pool items. They are pretty excited here with new pool noodles, considering that one of them chewed up the old ones at our friends pool!

The local Movie Gallery went out of business, and we used that as an opportunity to purchase some gifts. Here E is getting his most favorite movie, Wall-E, again. He has gotten this movie on two other occasions, but some how just keeps losing it! We have no idea. But buying a used copy took the sting out a bit.

Here E is holding up the pre=loved movie she received,"Cloudy with a chance of meatballs". Not only does she love this movie, but she adores the book as well. Every time we go to the library she checks it out, we're on our way there in a few minutes, and we will be returning it so she can get it again next time : )




Ah, the birthday cake shot. What can I say? It was dark, the candles glared. We had home made yellow cake with low sugar chocolate frosting and two, yest count them, two types of ice cream. I just smile thinking about it : )
It was a great day, with great kids and great friends.
Blessings, Beth Ann


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Rabbit trails . . .

Here I am once again bragging on my kids ; ) I just wanted to share the story and pic's of our newest boarder, Di Vinci. As you all know by now, my oldest son wants to be an animal doctor and is currently working 30 hours a week (thank goodness for home school) for the local vet. He has been doing this for 2 1/2 years now, going full time this year. To say he has a love for animals is . . . like saying the Grand Canyon is a crack in the sidewalk. Anyway, this means we end up with alot of animals at our house. Just like the movie Rudolph the red nose reindeer, these seem to be misfits or animals in need. Some we take in, some are dropped off in the night, some are passing through and others are rescued from bad living conditions. The animals call it a blessing, we call it a ministry.

Our local library has a teen group, and Doc Tate (Z's boss) was the guest speaker last week. Doc is in the orange in the middle and Z is on the right end wearing neon yellow. Middle dd is a member too and is pictures second from left, wearing a tyed dyed shirt she made herself : )

This is Di Vinci, formerly know as Cookie. If you look at the top of his back you can make out some of the bare pink skin, caused by a skin infection from poor living conditions.


Another shot of Di Vinci's back. B is bunny sitting while Z is working on hutch. This is the first time that Di Vinci has ever been on grass and not on wire in a cage. He has sores on his feet from not having proper flooring.


Z worked late into the night to make a hutch with a real tin roof and a real floor. He had the help of our friend/neighbor G and material donated by DH's work friend S. It is hart warming to see a group of people to come together for the benefit of a needy animal. Now if we all could just do this for each other . . .
Blessings, Beth Ann




Saturday, May 15, 2010

Random Life

So the last couple days have been full of ups and downs, they always are : ) Thursday was a down day, children seem to always be the precursor to those : ) So I was really relieved when yesterday turned out to be so stellar. Friday is always my go into 'city' and shop day. Hubby was opening at work and so was Z. So just me and the youngest 3 loaded up. Every other week is a pay week, and we treat the kids to McD's. SO I stopped yesterday to get them some OJ (I bring my own coffee) and found out their machine was down : ( But they were giving away little Mcfrappy things ! : ) Kids call them coffee ice cream. So all four of us went on our way with a sugar high and a smile. Then on my return trip home I stopped at the local market for one item I forgot and they gave me a free sausage roll/chub! I was like, cool. They gave them to the first 100 customers of the day. Who says it doesn't pay to go shopping at 8 a.m.? You all already know my penchant for Kroger mark down : ) Bad thing about this is that for the rest of the day, every time I ran an errand I asked what free thing the place was handing out. The lady that cuts my hair looked at me like I had three heads! LOL The day progressed nicely, hubby thought he might have to work a 12 hour shift, but got home in time for dinner. Dear friend came over bearing food gifts, and brought her family to visit as well, awesome night : ) Oh, and found out that Z wants to bring home an elderly, homeless bunny from work! OK, not sure if that last thing is good yet . . . Z claims that it will be good company for his elderly, previously mangy, guinea pig. Hmmmm . . .

Blessings, Beth Ann

P.S. (does that apply here?) I am half way done knitting my first sock ever and it is turning out wonderfuly : ) BAD

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Last of the lost pictures . . .

OK, I have finished picking through the old pic's I just got developed and found the last five worthy to share : ) I know these are random and out of order, but that's half the fun of it!

Here are the first two scarves I knitted, back last Oct. Heck, they're the first anything I ever knitted! LOL I just love eyelash yarn.



I picked this three tier tree holder up at the flea market, one dollar! It worked great for holding all my Christmas goodies, and rested on my nativity cross-stitched table runner beautifully.


Here my youngest three are making Christmas cookies (taken before my new cool red coffee maker).


This is a pic of a Christmas wreath I made out of leftover bulbs from a tree. Hard to see, but there is a silver snowflake w/bells in the center. I am so crafty :)



Last year we said 'good-bye' to beaded garlands. OK, more like I was threatened with a mutiny. So we tried something different, ribbon. I still have mixed feelings on this. You can't tell but the ribbon is plaid, of course. You can always tell where I have been, plaid is left in my wake . . .
Thanks for enduring this ride down memory lane.
Blessings, Beth Ann





Wednesday, May 12, 2010

More pic's of the found film and more : )

OK, I have been trying to down load these pictures all day (in between dentist appointments and arguing with insurance companies)! For some reason this computer does not like photo disc's, just my digi camera, grrrrrrr. Anyway, here are some more random photo's from that film I picked up last week.




I down loaded this twice and it still is sideways. I have no idea why since it is right side up in my photo que, weird. Just turn your head a little and squint, it's a wonderful pic of the twins on Easter Sunday : )



Here is a pic of last years wienie roast at Defeated Creek. B seems to be giving her hot dogs the 'stink eye', while Z is playing in the fire (as usual).



Here are our two coffee mug purchases from South Carolina last Oct. The blue one on the left is mine and is a replacement of one twin dd broke last year. The one on the right is for DH, a Piggly Wiggly mug. It is the only grocery store on the Island. You can get everything from flip-flops, crab bait and caviar there!





Siesta time for two of our dogs, Howard and Levi. All three dogs get along well, but only Zoey (not pictured) can walk unhindered. Guess that is why she is not here?





Ah, finely. A pic from my digi camera. This is a recent F/O (finished object), a plastic bag holder. I used some self stripping mohair for this and improvised a pattern I found on the net. I think I will make more of these for gifts, watch out! LOL
Blessings, Beth Ann





Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Camping photo's

My request for Mother's Day was to go camping, and so we went. We headed north east past Carthage to Defeated Creek, which is a core of engineers park on Cordell Dam. We LOVE this place. The only let down was that oldest son couldn't get away from work to go. When I dropped off his lunch today at work, I made sure there was a note inside with next months camping dates on it : ) Here is a brief look (more pic's to come in near future) at our trip:


We went with our good friend and also a home school mom, L A



This is H, daughter of another good friend, whom we took with us. She is not home school. Shhhhhhh, don't tell the public school cops : ) She is roasting a hot dogs with my DH




Here is twin son all ready to hit the swimming hole



Remember those 'If you give a mouse . . .' books? Well here is our version; "If you want to go swimming . . . " First you will need an inflatable . . . LOL



Here is twin dd with L A's dd - S, they are laying on one inflatable while waiting for another. Man I miss being a kid : )
It was so much fun I can hardly wait to go back! We have four more trips this summer (pray the fish are biting next time) here in TN. and our big trip to South Carolina next March. We usually do SC in Oct. but it didn't work out for us this year. But hey, March is only ten months away!
Blessings, Beth Ann





Monday, May 10, 2010

Menu Plan Monday


Well we are back . . . sitting here still feeling dazed, confused and fuzzy ; ) Maybe I need more coffee? Had a great time, but as soon as we got home I felt exhausted. I believe it was from being so stinking nice to everyone (I'm not use to it). The weather was great, warm enough to swim the first two days but a little cooler the second two days. Didn't matter as the kids got sunburned the second day and lost interest in being in the sun. All days were bright and sunny though. A nice change from all the flooding we had. The area we camped in had major flooding, but the campground it self was fine. The lake was a bit muddy and the fishing wasn't good though : (
Well I believe we didn't do to bad eating on our trip, but oldest son who stayed home because of work . . . well let's just say he made some poor eating choices. He got paid while we were gone, do I need to say more? I guess these are the life lessons he needs to learn for him self.
Here is a look at what we are eating this week, low-carb and leptin diet :
Monday: Spaghetti w/meat sauce and green beans (brown rice pasta)
Tuesday: Stuffed stop light peppers - beef (from last week, didn't make)
Wednesday: Creamy chicken stroganoff w/ broccoli
Thursday: Meatza w/veggie sticks (pizza w/no crust - ground beef w/toppings)
Friday: Crock pot BBQ chicken w/brussel sprouts
Saturday: Salmon patties w/green beans
Sunday: Stuffed chicken breast w/ broccoli
For more MPM visit www.orgjunkie.com Whats for dinner at your home this week?
Blessings, Beth Ann

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Never to late

Wow, another day near 90 here! It's so pretty it almost makes me forget how bad the storms were and how many were killed or injured. I can't believe the Operyland hotel is gone and so is Operymills : (

Tomorrow we are leaving for a mini vacation to Defeated Creek, up in Carthage. Love that place! Funny though, I just picked up the pictures from last year up there! LOL

Here is big son and twin dd fishing



Here are the twins sitting on the bank fishing. They are so excited to be going back, that they have been packed for two days now : )

Here is hubby cooking dinner, you can see how close we camped to the lake : )



Here is B, don't know why she is staring at her hot dogs like that! LOL We had a wienie roast.


Here is hubby showing B how to cast off ( I only cast on - knitting humor) See how gorgeous the scenery is?
I received my yarn package in the mail today as well. When we get back I will post some yarn and project updates as well as some more vacation pic's : p
Blessings, Beth Ann





Monday, May 03, 2010

Menu Plan Monday


Good soggy Monday morning ya all! Well we are starting to dry out here, after a week-end of torrential rain and thunderstorms. We received a little over 13 inches in two days I understand, not to shabby. So any way, we are spending today trying to dry out, see if any of our garden is salvageable and start packing our RV. We are taking off either Wed. night or Thur. afternoon for camping at Defeated Creek. Depends on DH work schedule. He has Thur. off, but if he can get out of work Wed. a bit early . . . : )
Here is a look at our menu this week as we head for a Mother's day camping trip:
Monday: Creamy chicken stroganoff (made with leftover whole crock pot chix)w/brown rice and broccoli
Tuesday: Stuffed stop light peppers
Wednesday: Beef and artichoke stir-fry
Thursday: Camping hamburgers : ) w/veggie tray
Friday: Camping hot dogs over an open fire w/kettle chips
Saturday: Camping chili (B's favorite), it has been known to set car alarms off!
Sunday: Mother's day, home from camping and going out for Mexican!
For more menu plan Monday visit www.orgjunkie.com
What's for dinner at your home this week?
Blessings, Beth Ann

Saturday, May 01, 2010

In the kitchen

A rainy, stormy Saturday here in middle TN. I am not thinking I will get to all the plans I had today, especially the out door lunch at the Feed Store : ) But in case I make it to the Home School movie preview this evening, I need something for kids to eat while I'm gone. So that means getting to all the cooking I put off while it was sunny : )

A friend blessed me with two whole chickens a few weeks back, when oldest son had a relapse. She didn't have time to make chicken soup, so she just brought the chickens! LOL It's the thought right? : ) Anyway, as she likes to say; I'm more creative in the kitchen then her. So I cleaned them this morning and plopped them in my crock pot. By wadding up foil and putting them under the birds, it steams the meat and gives them a 'rotisserie type flavor. I spritz the chicken with my cool new olive oil sprayer and sprinkle liberly with Kroger's version of Mrs. Dash - zesty, for flavor and browning.





We can either carve the birds for dinner or pull the meat off the bones to eat shredded. Either way, I will keep the carcases and make broth in my crock pot tomorrow : )
A different friend gifted me with a half case of limes. I am truly blessed down here! So after getting the chix's going, I decided to get my juicer going and make some lemon/lime aide for the kids to drink while I'm gone.



Aren't they a thing of beauty? LOL Twin dd even helped me ream them. That is after she finished pretending to change the oil in my Durango! She is truly a daddy's girl. She helped DH yesterday fix the hot water tank in the RV, so we will be ready to camp next week. She loves helping, kitchen or garage : )
So . . . still not sure what my plans are, but I'm ready!
Blessings, Beth Ann