A Little Taste of Home for the Christmas Holidays

Today I got a little fire lit under me.  I managed to get my floors mopped, bathroom cleaned, and then I decided I'd better get movin' on my Christmas duties...Christmas is almost two weeks away! 

Each year our family gives a small Christmas gift to those who are part of the ministries we oversee at our church, or who minister to our family in some way.  This year I planned to use homemade canned goods from the abundant apple harvest as a little taste of home for the Christmas holidays for our friends.

In the Fall I canned about 30 small jars of apple butter, and several large jars of applesauce. 



Apple Butter



Applesauce


I think canned goods are pretty just as they are, but when giving them as a gift I want them to have a little something special.  I found these pretty 5" fabric squares the at the Wal-Mart, 100 for $10.  There are 5 different coordinating prints included.  I looked at other fabric and figured it may be cheaper to cut my own squares, but sometimes weighing the cost of my time is well worth the cost of convenience.  Obviously, convenience won this time.




Here are the 5 coordinating fabrics in the Fabric Cuts I chose.


In my basement I had quite a few extra canning lids.  So, one fabric square and one lid per jar...



Makes quite a stunning display!



This basket is for my neighbors.



These are for church.

With help from one pair of little hands and my own of course, we soon had all the fabric squares and canning lids attached.  My daughers' teacher is diabetic, so that's the reason for the one jar of applesauce.  Everyone else gets the ever so sweet apple butter.  Yummy!

Living Life In The Zone, by Kyle Rote Jr. and Dr. Joe Pettigrew

Living Life In The Zone, 

A 40-Day Spiritual Game Plan for Men,

by Kyle Rote Jr. and Dr. Joe Pettigrew. 

Being the wife of a NFL fanatic, I jumped at the chance to review a men's sports devotional, and I give it a Touch Down!  With an easy to read straight forward man to man format, this sports themed devotional speaks to real issues real men face.  The purpose of Living Life In The Zone is to give men Biblical direction and Spiritual insight to live and enjoy the abundant life Jesus Christ promises.  The reader gains Biblical direction, and Spiritual insight from famed christian men in sports, as together they focus on God, wife, children, friends, and work.  Including insights from Playmakers such as Coach Tony Dungy, the authors encourage men daily through God's Word in The Game Plan, challenge them with a short contemplative Time Out, followed by implementing what they've read through Today's Assignment.

This is a great devotional for that special man in your life who loves sports.  The devotions are specific and relevent to real issues married/family men face in their day to day lives.  The authors hit a home run when they decided to incorporate not only a sports theme, but wisdom and insight from christian men in sports whom men respect.  As a devotional, the format is consistent and easy to follow.  The Game Plan sections including God's Word are right on target because God's Word is the ultimate Game Plan!  I would certainly recommend Living Life In The Zone for any married/family sports fan man!

Booksneeze has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

YOU ARE DOING A GREAT WORK

Sitting at my computer at the point of having a complete meltdown yesterday, my husband entered the room and very calmly and lovingly asked me if I had subscribed to an email from Above Rubies that came into our joint email account a few moments before.  I opened my email account and the subject line read YOU ARE DOING A GREAT WORK.  As I sat there reading, tears flooded my eyes.  I felt a great release.  God knew I needed the encouragement from this email at that exact moment.  Because the message and kind words of this woman meant so much to me, I am compelled to share it so that other women may also be encouraged.  YOU TOO ARE DOING A GREAT WORK!   The following are the words of Nancy Campbell, the founder of Above Rubies: Encouraging Women in their High Calling as Wives, Mothers, and Homemakers.

Dear Aja, Anointed to mother,

May God’s blessings be mightily upon you and your husband and all your lovely children. May God keep you from accident, harm, sickness and danger and all enemy attack. My husband prays this prayer over our family every day.

May God fill you with His strength, patience and anointing as you nurture your treasures, the children whom God has so graciously given to you.  Each one is a special gift from God, Isn’t he?

Aja, you are doing a mighty work. There is nothing greater that you could be doing in the whole of the world. Your work is for eternity. Your children are eternal souls who will live forever. Not only are you training them for the purposes God has for them in this world, but you are also preparing them for the eternal world! Wow! What a mission!

How blessed you are to have your children around you. I know that you often feel overwhelmed, but I want to remind you that in the midst of all the frustrations and tiredness, that this is a very precious time of your life. It was the most precious time of my life. I look back and remember the times I felt “so tired” and yet I can’t think of anything in my life that has been more meaningful and more joyful than those wonderful days.

Don't endure each day, but seek to make it special. You will never have these days with your children again. They are for such a short time. Enjoy them. Revel in them. You may feel that you are not accomplishing a lot each day, but there are years ahead to do all the projects you want to do. But at the moment, your lovely children are your priority. I remember thinking as I watched my children, “I will never forget them at this moment,” but the years have gone and I can't recall many of those moments. They are now all married and raising their own children and currently we have 34 grandchildren.

Back in those days I remember reading the thoughts of another mother and they were a comfort to me. She said,

"These are the never years. Never enough money, never enough time, never enough sleep - but always enough love. The sweetest kiss of a baby the tooth-paste-flavored kiss of a child on his way to school (sadly, homeschooling wasn't in process in those days in New Zealand over 40 years ago); the sleepy kiss of a husband who is just as tired as you.

These are the busy years, the wonderful, hectic, impossible years. Soon the children will be grown and I'll have plenty of time to organize my house, to sew and to cultivate outside interests. I wonder if it will be as wonderful as I sometimes dream it will. Or am I in the middle of the wonderful years... right now?"

Yes, you are in the wonderful years now. I look back on the years when all my little brood were under my wings (or I should say, under my legs and in my arms and one or other of them needing me at every moment) and they were definitely the most blessed years of my life. At one stage I had three in 17 months! That's because I had twins although they are now 45 years old! Then I had four children in less than four years. So I can certainly relate to how you feel at the moment.

We eventually had six, although we have since adopted some teenagers from Liberia.  But six children never seemed very many. Nearly every day my husband and I say to each other, "Where are the rest of our children? I wish we'd had twelve!" It just seems like one blink of an eye and they have all grown up and married. That’s why we have recently adopted four teenagers who keep us really busy!

I love some of the beautiful names God calls our children. Isn't this a lovely one? The "beloved fruit of the womb." (Hosea 9:16) Not just the "fruit of the womb", but also the "beloved fruit of the womb." The context of this passage is God’s judgment, because of their wicked works, was to destroy the beloved fruit of their womb, but it reveals how God views children and also how the early Hebrews felt about their children.

Here's what some of the other translations way...

NIV, Cherished offspring

RV, Beloved children

NAS, Precious ones

NEB, Dearest offspring

JER, Darlings

NAS, Treasures of the womb

Now there are some good names to call your children!

Hebrews 11:7 is a great Scripture, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

For 100 years, Noah did the same old thing - hammered, nailed and keep on building his ark. He didn't have time to do all the things that everyone else was doing. He just kept on slogging and being faithful, doing the same thing every day for all those years - but in doing so he condemned the world. Yes, he changed the world because he stuck with the job he was given to do! He changed the world by doing the same thing day after day after day.  And at the same time he saved his family!

You may feel that you are just doing the same old thing every day, but as you are faithful to raise godly children, and build an ark for the saving of your house, you will condemn the world around you.  You are accomplishing far more than those who go out to seek a worldly career to the detriment to their highest calling. Your influence goes on into the generations and even into eternity.

Isn't it amazing that our daily faithfulness in the home will have its impact on earth -- and also for eternity? It can change the world! We have to remember that bearing and raising children is a long-term investment - in fact, an eternal one! In a culture where everyone wants everything to happen instantaneously, we must learn to think long term - for the future.

So rejoice and be glad in your high and noble calling.

YOU ARE CHANGING THE WORLD!

Remember, you have the most important career in the nation!

Love from

NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies

By the way, are you on my email devotion list? It will encourage and strengthen you as a wife and mother.  If not, and you would like to, all you have to do is send a blank email to:

subscribers-on@aboverubies.org

And don’t forget that Above Rubies is now on Facebook. Join and be encouraged each new day.

My Little "Bumble Collection"

When I was pregnant with my son, I stumbled upon a beautiful diaper bag at T.J. Maxx.  It was a little more than I would normally spend on a bag, but I absolutely had to have it!  The fabric was quality, and the pattern was unlike anything I had ever seen in the realm of diaper bags.  Who knew diaper bags could be more than pink, blue or Winnie the Pooh?  It was a defining moment for me, finally a diaper bag with style! 



Buttercup Bliss Kimberly Tote, My Spring/Summer diaper bag


After my purchase, I embarked on a search to find out more about my new Bumble Bag.  I found a website for Bumble Bags, and thus became my fetish with The Bumble Collection.  If you're like me, pricey diaper bags aren't in the picture.  However, to my delight The Bumble Collection recently announced a decrease in their prices by 40-50%!  Not only that, they are now available at Babies R Us at their new reduced prices.  Follow this link to see The Bumble Collection official annoucement. 

Since that first day discovering The Bumble Collection, I added two more bags to my little collection. 



This pretty Madeline Backpack works great as a multipurpose purse complete with diaper changing pad!



Kimbery Tote, My Autumn/Winter diaper bag

Go to The Bumble Collection to see the entire line of Bumble products.  You'll be glad you did!

Home Educating, The Well-Planned Day

I am fairly new to the world of Homeschooling.  Last year I started home educating my then 4-year-old daughter for preschool.  I used the year as a trial to see how homeschooling might work out for us.  Not to my surprise, the school year went very well and we enjoyed our experience. 

There are several reasons why my husband and I chose homeschooling for our children. 

1. We made the choice to be a one income family so I could stay home and raise our children.  For us, that includes educating the children at home. 

2. We want to instill Christian values and Godly character in our family.  Homeschooling is one way we can teach our children these things without distractions, and also learn about God and the Bible in school.

3.  There are certain things I prefer to teach my children about when appropriate rather than having someone else teach it to them.  I realize I can not protect my children from everything, but I can prepare them and teach them moral and Christ like ways to handle situations. 

4. As a home educating family, there are unlimited opportunities for learning throughout the day.

5. Although it is not required, I have bachelor's degree in education.  I enjoy teaching, and feel competent in educating my children.

One thing I found in my web search for homeschooling materials last year was a wonderful Home School Planner called The Well-Planned Day.  I purchased one at our area Homeschool Convention to use for the 2010-2011 school year. 



The Homeschool Planner can be purchased from the  Home Educating Family website.

The planner is pretty.  Although pretty is not required for functionality, it does make the planner fun to use and that for me is a must! 

There are two possible ways to use the planner:

1. You can write out what you plan to do each day for each subject and with each student. 

2. You can keep record of what you accomplished each day for each subject and with each student. 

So far in my use of this planner, it is a must have for any home educating family!  I will definitely purchase one next year when the 2011-2012 edition is printed.

The following description is from the Home Educating Family website. 

WELL-PLANNED DAY INCLUDES

Over 200 Full Color Pages

Available in an 8.5 X 11 Spiral Bound Printed Book or PDF Download

Full Year Planner: July 2010 - June 2011

Organize and Plan for up to 4 children in one convenient book.

Four Student Class Plans: Schedule each student's class assignments.

Four Student Time Schedules: Track each day by the hour.

Weekly Schedule: Organize your week with class assignments, weekly priorities, prayer requests, dinner menu, and notes.

Month at a Glance: Plan field trips, enrichment activities and books to read

Semester Attendance & Progress Reports

Perforated Report Cards

Menu Planning: Plan weekly meals and conveniently shop with perforated shopping lists.

Family Worship: Read through the Bible in a year.

Insightful homeschool articles and tips to inspire you throughout the year.

The cost of the planner is $24.95, but definitely worth it!  If you sign up for the E-Newsletter from the Home Educating Family website, they have periodic promotional deals on the planners.  Yes, I said planners.  They also have planners for students, both middle schoolers and high schoolers.  As well, sign up for a free sample issue of Home Educating Family magazine! 

Laugh Out Loud Quote of the Day!

It rarely matters what I make to eat, our girls usually find something on their plate which is unsatisfactory to their tastebuds.  I can almost guarantee complaints and/or refusals to eat, especially if the menu does not consist of chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese and green beans.  The rule at our house: They must try one bite

or sometimes 3 if it's something I know they've eaten before.

Tonight's menu:  Round Steak with A1 steak marinade, red pepper and zucchini slices.  

Simple and easy, nothing fancy,

but it filled our tummies! 

As my husband and I were in the kitchen finishing the final touches on dinner, me well knowing there would be complaints about the red and green things on their plates, my 5-year-old daughter turns to us and says, "Mommy's food's always good... sometimes."  I had to laugh out loud!

As for the food, the flavor came out great, especially the zucchini.  The meat was rather chewy, especially for kids.  For the next time around, I would definitely choose a different cut of meat. 

For the record, my 5-year-old daughter loves meat, especially a good steak off the grill.  She has expensive taste I guess.  Good thing we buy our beef in bulk!  My 3-year-old daughter rarely eats much meat, especially beef.  It is quite a chore to get her to chew and swallow even one bite!  I have more luck feeding her beans or cheese.  As for my 18-month-old son, once I shredded the meat up into teeny tiny pieces he gobbled it up!  He's going to be my good eater!

Fall Days... baked butternut squash!

 

The first day of Fall was Wednesday September 22, but on Sunday "Fall" made itself known!  It was quite chilly in my opinion and in the opinion of quite a few others at our fall church picnic.  

Monday I woke up to cool weather and rain.  Not my favorite weather combination, but great for baked butternut squash with plenty of butter and brown sugar!  Yum! 

 I don't have tons of time for complicated recipes, so I attempt to keep my cooking simple.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  Choose a nice butternut squash, wash and dry.  Next, cut the squash in half lengthwise with a large knife, and scoop out the seeds.

Fill a 9x13 glass baking dish with 1 inch of water, and lay squash halves cut side down in the dish.

Bake squash for 40-60 minutes, depending on size of squash.  Bake until soft. Test softness by poking a fork into the thickest part of the squash.  Once baked, flip the squash over and fill the empty seed cavities with butter (or your favorite non-dairy butter substitute) and brown sugar.  

Return the squash to the oven for 3-5 minutes to melt the goodness!  Once the butter and brown sugar are melted, remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Get a spoon out, and enjoy! 

Berrylicious Sweet Tea

At our house we usually keep our drink choices simple: water, coffee, tea, juice, milk, and for my non-dairy husband we have rice milk and soy milk.  As the last few warm days of summer came to a close, I decided to make Sweet Tea for some friends coming over for dinner.  Since I rarely make sweet tea, I started out with a little internet search to make sure I knew what I was doing.  Most people who drink sweet tea on a regular basis are quite partial to their sweet tea, so I didn't want to serve anything sub par.  I found Perfect Sweet Tea, and I must say it was quite good.

Of course I never follow a recipe to a tea (pardon the pun), so I couldn't resist to "modify" and make it my own.  The Perfect Sweet Tea used Lipton Orange Pekoe tea, but I had Snapple Wild 'Bout Berries tea in my cupboard.  So in my mind I thought, "Modify! Why not? Could be tasty!"

Here's my version of Berrylicious Sweet Tea.

Supplies:
Tea pot, a 4 cup glass measuring cup, a glass or glazed pitcher, a 1/4 measuring cup, and large mixing spoon
4 cups water, and 2 cups very cold water
5 Snapple Wild 'Bout Berries tea bags
3/4 cup Sugar In The Raw (Natural Cane Turbinado Sugar)

How to make Berrylicious Sweet Tea:

Measure exactly 4 cups water into the tea pot and heat until boiling (I used filtered water from my Brita pitcher).  While the water is heating, open 5 tea bags and tie them together.  This keeps the tea bags manageable.  

Place the tea bags into the glass measuring cup.  Once the water is boiling, pour it over the tea bags.

Allow the tea to brew for at least one hour.  Then squeeze the last bit of tea and water out of the tea bags into the measuring cup, and discard the bags.  Add 3/4 cup turbinado sugar to your glass or glazed pitcher, pour in the hot tea, and stir until sugar is fully dissolved.

Add two cups very cold water, and stir.  (Again, I used refrigerated water from my Brita Pitcher.)  If you like your tea really cold, refrigerate for about two hours.  If you're pinched for time, cut the cold water amount in half, and add some ice to the pitcher. 

Finally, add a little ice to a glass, pour in the tea and enjoy!

Apple Crisp Modified

I enjoy spending time in the kitchen whether cooking or baking.  Somehow it's relaxing for me to get my creative cooking juices flowing. In my 6 years as a domestic engineer, I've adopted my own cooking motto.  When lacking an ingredient or two, "modify."  When there's an undesirable ingredient or two, "modify."  And so, my cooking motto has become "modify, modify, modify."

Many times I have a general idea what I want to make, but can't find a recipe that is exactly what I'm looking for or that I have all the ingredients on hand.  So, I modify the recipe until I get the desired results, and then jot down my new and improved modified recipe! 

As I entered my kitchen purposed to make apple crisp, I began my usual modification process.  I won't bore you with all the in between details other than I first tried a recipe called "Best Apple Crisp Ever" and it was by far Not the best ever!

In my opinion, Not the "Best Apple Crisp Ever"

  However, I will provide my successful final results.

Apple Crisp Modified, out of the oven and ready to eat!

Apple Crisp Modified!
(This recipe is enough for a very full 9x13 glass baking dish, and is non-dairy.)

20-30 Apples (I used apples from our trees of course, but you may use whatever types of apples you prefer.)
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Topping: (Courtesy of my Aunt Sabrina)
2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups quick oats
a couple pinches of salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil

Preparation:
Core, slice and peel apples.  I use one of those handy apple coring/slicing tools, then peel the slices and cut out any undesirable parts of the apples.  Since the apples I use are from our trees and we don't use pesticides, I cut out any bad spots from bugs, bruises, etc.  Next, toss the apple slices in a very large bowl with lemon juice.  You may want to toss them periodically as you slice them.  This keeps the apples from turning brown.  However, if the apples turn brown it shouldn't change the taste of the apple crisp.  In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add the mixture to the sliced apples and toss until apples are evenly coated.  Pour the coated apples into a 9x13 glass baking dish.
In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, oats, salt and cinnamon.  Add oil and mix until the topping is crumbly.  Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples.

Apple Crisp ready for the oven!

Bake at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 30-45 minutes on the center shelf of the oven.  I fill my baking dish very full, so I bake the crisp for the entire 45 minutes.  The topping should get a little brown, but not burnt.  Serve the apple crisp warm or room temperature with your favorite vanilla ice cream.  I am partial to Breyers Vanilla Bean.  My husband uses an organic soy non-diary frozen dessert called So Delicious creamy vanilla.  I've even been known to eat the leftover apple crisp cold out of the fridge.  Yes, it's that tasty! 

You will find what you prefer, and perhaps you will "modify" my recipe!

Time to Make the Applesauce

As a kid I always looked forward to eating my mom's warm homemade applesauce.  There is nothing in the store bought realm that can compare.  Since we have apples this year, how could I resist making my own?  It's time to make the applesauce!

I didn't have one of those cool apple corer slicer tools, so I went about things the old fashioned way, I used a knife.  What I learned, making applesauce is a labor of love.

Once I got all the apples peeled, in the pot they went!  I used a large 8.5 quart copper bottom stock pot, and added about 6 cups of water.  I read to use about 1/4 cup water per apple when making applesauce.  I wasn't so exact as to count how many apples I had peeled (Really I forgot), so I used my best guess and eyeballed the amount of water.  Apples, are you ready to meet your destiny?

I heated the apples on high until they began boiling.   Then I reduced the heat, keeping the apples still bubbling, and put the lid on the pot. 

Still cooking...  I checked the apples periodically with a fork to see if they were soft.  I didn't time the apples, but I kept checking them once in a while.  There's plenty of liquid, so no burning to worry about.

Here they are, soft and ready for applesauce!

Last year my oldest daughter and I made a small batch of applesauce for a home school experiment.  We used forks to mash the apples.  This works easily and requires no special equipment.  The applesauce is chunky, but still very tasty!  (My husband laughs at me every time I use that word.  Tasty!)  Since my kids are quite picky, I decided to go with smooth applesauce this time.  My food processor is pretty small, so blender was my appliance of choice for ease of use.

I put the apples in with a ladle, making sure not to overfill the pitcher, and allowing the apples and liquid room to blend.  Within a few minutes I had warm homemade applesauce!

Some for now, and some for later.  Yum... makes you want some right now doesn't it?

Apples, Apples, and More Apples!

Although we've lived in our 1928 farm house for three and a half years, this is the first year I've purposed to pick apples from our three apple trees. 

Aren't they pretty?

 I vaguely remember our first year here.  Could it possibly be due to sleep deprivation?  We moved here in the late winter with our one-week-old and 21-month-old daughters.  I doubt picking fruit from the trees was on the top of any of my lists that year.  Our second fall we had a big storm which wiped out the apple blossoms, no apples that year.  The third fall, another storm with ridiculous wind which literally knocked all the apples to the ground.  I remember taking the girls outside, attempting to pick up apples, but most of them were bruised beyond being usable for anything.  I think I made one small batch of applesauce and an apple pie.  

Which brings us to fall 2010.  This year we have Apples!

This is our Gala Apple Tree

I am not an expert of apple varieties whatsoever, but I did look it up and there are hundreds of varieties grown in the United States.  If you're interested in learning more, check out All About Apples.

Of our three trees we appear to have a Gala apple tree, some sort of tree with an identity crisis, and another that may be a variety of Red Delicious?

Identity crisis, Red Delicious or Golden Delicious?  My best guess, it may be a grafted tree.

  In an effort to make best use of the resources God has given us, I decided to make applesauce and freeze it in our deep freezer this year. 

Apples are you ready to meet your destiny?

More to come... making Apple Crisp and Applesauce!

Beginnings

I've been contemplating making a blog for a week or two.  I can't remember how long ago really since I always have at least ten lists laying around at any given moment.  Blog ideas was one of the lists I made this month.  Anyhow, I decided to dive right in tonight, and so here I am writing my first blog post.  My reason for starting a blog is simple really.  I wanted something fun for me, a sort of outlet for creativity, a sense of accomplishment, and helping others I hope in one way or another, whether it be for information, enjoyment or just for a good laugh.  I look forward to recording my adventures, tidbits, lessons I've learned along the way, and anything else I find worth sharing in this blog.  Thanks for joining me on this journey!