The wheel

I was reading my last post and had to laugh.  SO, now it's FEBRUARY?! Where did January go? I'm sure I'll get to December and be saying the same thing.  :)  I told Brian last week that I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel.  I'm in constant motion.  I can't imagine how it is for families with kids involved in sports and lots of activities.  All we have is piano for Reagan and the rest is just "stuff" that keeps us (me) busy.

I'm leading a book study for the ladies at our church on Thursday nights.  It's been neat to see other married ladies come together and work hard to bless their husbands.  We're also planning a women's retreat, a training weekend, and leadership meetings.  It's fun to work for the Lord, but it certainly is work! The rewards are the best pay there is though. :)

We're still in limbo on our school situation for next year.  I'll just leave it at that.

In the midst of of our busyness, we have a special birthday coming up.  When we moved into our house, Skylar was only 3.  She didn't get to choose what her bedroom looked like.  So a while back she asked if she could ever "re-do" her room.   As a surprise to her, she is getting a room makeover.  I'll be sure to post before and after photos.  I'm so excited for her to see all the fun (PINK!) things for her room!!

We're also getting in to the gardening season around here.  Our yard still needs a lot of work, but we've been adding fruit trees here and there, and we're getting ready to plant our veggies for spring/summer. The girls look forward each year to the planting process.  I look forward to the "fruits" of our labor.

Oh, and I finally downloaded all of our pictures.  Here's a glimpse into our last few weeks.

Field Trip to the LegoLand SeaLife Aquarium

She makes the funniest faces!

My pile of squares for Skylar's quilt

That's Skylar at the top.  She's nearly fearless.

Our tissue paper flowers for Valentine's Day.  Placed in a painted jar, courtesy of pinterest.  

I'm newly addicted.  

Making candles for our "liquids and solids" homeschool project

Our pretty little tangerine tree!

See you in March.  Just kidding.  Kind of.  Back to my wheel. :)

Not all 'healthy' is created equal

I have a friend (and I'm kinda hoping she doesn't read our blog!), that recently tried to make the "switch" to organic foods based on my recommendations.  After almost a month she emailed and said "I don't see any difference.  It's too expensive and frustrating.  I'm going back to the way we did things before."

This is a topic I could disucss for days, so, let me address here a few reasons why all things labeled 'organic' are not always healthy.

As with all things in life, I like to take a comprehensive approach.  In parenting, there is no "one" method that works best for each child.  Our kids are not textbooks, so we need to adjust what we do and how we respond for each one differently.  With exercise, you can't just run for 30 seconds everyday and expect weight to fall off. With being healthy, you can't just make a switch to buying foods that have "organic" on them and expect to feel different within a few weeks.  In fact, eating organically is a long term investment.

Many of the pesticides that leave a residue on our foods are known carcinogens and cancer takes years to surface.  By eating organically now, I'm investing in my children's future by not exposing them to harmful chemicals.  Likewise, organic foods do not contain GMO's (genetically modified ingredients).  GMO's have not been around long enough for us to know their true impact.  Again, until we know the long term effects, we try to avoid them.

With milk, chicken, and beef, the non-organic versions contain antibiotics (which can lead to antibiotic resistance), and hormones to make the animals mature faster.  Those hormones are passed on to the person eating the food, or drinking the milk.  Doctors are noticing that children are maturing faster (girls as early as second grade) and some have linked this fact to the hormones in our food.  Obviously, just a month of eating organically won't make a difference here.

In addition, the 'organic' industry has exploded so there's a lot of money to be made by misguided consumers.  Just because something says "organic" on it, does not mean it's healthy for you.  Granted, when choosing between a regular and an organic cookie, the organic is the lesser of two evils, but not by much.  Cow manure is considered organic but you don't see me feeding that to my kids either.  :)

Our bodies were not made to process refined white flour and refined sugar.  We were made to eat foods that are whole, natural, and fresh.  Just because a cookie has an organic label on it, doesn't make it any easier for our bodies to process.  Does that mean that we only eat fresh, whole, natural foods at our house? No.  But we're careful about the quantity.  The bulk of our diet is made up of the good stuff.

We also (in that comprehensive approach) make sure that our kids get plenty of exercise and we take daily vitamins (with extra D and probiotics).

If you're considering a switch to 'healthy' eating, I encourage you to do some research on your own.  And give it more than a month.

Here's your sign

Tonight Skylar said, "You know what I would love to do more than anything tonight? I want to have the fireplace on, put a blanket on the floor, put a Christmas movie on, and drink hot chocolate.  With whipped cream.  Peppermint whipped cream."

We're raising that girl right.

You'll thank me!

I have tried LOTS of recipes for Banana Bread and this one is by FAR our new favorite! I've also included a recipe that we just tried for pumpkin bread that was delicious too!
Of course it's 90 degrees today and I don't really want to turn the oven on, but if it's fall where you are, give these a try and let me know what you think!  These are NOT healthy recipes, just to let you know.  I'm sure you can substitute some ingredients to make them more nutritious if you prefer.  For us? We like them just the way they are! :)

Banana Bread

1/4 c. white sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

combine these two ingredients and grease two loaf pans.  Then shake the cinnamon/sugar mixture onto the pans.

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

3-4 VERY ripe bananas, mashed

8 oz of sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 c. flour

(optional) 1/2 c. crushed walnuts

mix the sugar and eggs together until well blended, add the ripe bananas.  In a separate bowl, mix flour with other dry ingredients.  Add the sugar/egg/banana mixture and then the sour cream and vanilla.  

Pour it into the two prepared pans.

For a crumb topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. flour

3 tablespoons of melted butter 

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine until "crumbly" and add it to the top of the loaves before baking.

Bake @ 325 degrees for 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

PUMPKIN BREAD

2 cups white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs

combine until creamy

add in

1 can of solid pack pumpkin (16 oz).

In a separate bowl:

3 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

Stir the two together and add 1/2 cup water to the mixture.  

Grease two loaf pans (or one bundt pan) and bake at 350 for 65 minutes (or 90 for bundt).

Cream cheese icing:

1 block of cream cheese softened

1/4 c. butter, melted

2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

I heart apple orchards!

This weeks theme at I heart Faces is "In the Orchard." 

We haven't been to an apple orchard this year so this is a picture from our last visit.  Skylar loved eating apples right from the tree.  Just looking at the photos from our trip made me realize how much she has grown!
Go to I Heart Faces and check out all the other "Orchard" pictures!

We're growing stuff!

We're growing stuff around here!

No, not this stuff.

But we are growing this stuff:

We were able to enjoy the first "fruits" of our garden.  

The peas and squash and lettuce were absolutely delicious!!

I can't wait for our peppers and watermelon to ripen as well.

It just so happens we're growing these too:

We are enjoying our summer and looking forward to company next week! 

There's always time for Cinnamon Rolls!

Recently a friend of mine tweeted that she wished there was an "app" that could take all the blog post ideas in your head and write them for you.  In a dream world, wouldn't that be awesome?!

We've been busy with life and enjoying our spectacular weather, but I wanted to share another recipe with you all.  We had some friends that were in town recently and we invited them over for breakfast.  I made my homemade cinnamon rolls (that my family LOVES).  They got rave reviews and now I'm getting requests for the recipe.  So, here it is! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon white or brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
•  
• For the filling:
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
•  
• For the Icing:
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

Directions

1. If you have a bread machine you can just put it in there: combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start. And then skip to step 4.
2. If you do NOT have a bread machine, then you need to combine the water, and melted butter with the tablespoon of sugar and the yeast package.  You need to "foam" the yeast.  Mix it well and cover it with plastic wrap while you combine the milk, pudding, and egg together.  (if it does not "foam", you need to start over with another yeast packet).
3. Add your foamed yeast to the milk and pudding mixture.  Then add the four cups of bread flour.  It's important to use bread flour because it has extra gluten in it necessary for the good "dough-y" cinnamon rolls.  Mix until you have a ball of dough. Set it in a clean bowl in a warm place (microwave or under a towel) for about an hour to let the dough rise.  
4. Then, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans if you want them. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough.
5. Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

YUM!!!!

What's for Dinner? (Day Five)

So, here it is, day five of dinner recipes! I may post a few here and there, but I'm so glad a few of you have enjoyed the recipes.
Tonight's recipe is one of our family favorites! You can pick up a pork tenderloin for between 4 and 6 dollars usually.  For us, the girls always eat more of the "sides" so we have lots leftover to do "pork fried rice" for a round two recipe.
We have vegetables with every meal, and our favorite with pork are broccoli and carrots.  You can serve pork with potatoes or rice too.  It goes with everything!  I have been able to find pork tenderloin "pre-marinated" at the store for the same price so if that's an option for you, go for it.  But, if you have just fresh tenderloin, try this rub and "herb crust." It's delish!

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin


Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I have to admit, I leave this ingredient out...I don't care for cinnamon on my meat).
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or more, to taste
• salt
• 1- 1 1/2 pounds pork loin roast
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the Herb Crust:

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger (again, I leave this out because I don't care for the taste of ginger).
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 lime, zested
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup herb bread crumbs (or you can smash up "herb" croutons).
• salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, and salt, to taste. Rub the mixture all over the outside of the pork. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the pork roast on all sides, just until golden. Remove the pork to a sheet tray, fat side up.

Meanwhile, make the herb crust: In a food processor or blender (pulse only), combine the onions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and lime zest. In the same saute pan in which the pork was browned, add the olive oil and the onion mixture and cook until softened. Stir in the bread crumbs and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt, to taste. Spread the mustard on top of the fatty layer of pork and then press the herb crust into it. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 30-35 minutes. Remove to a cutting board and allow to rest, covered for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice and serve.  

We usually do brown rice and a vegetable.  I mix it all together for the girls and they eat it up! (They say it tastes like chicken..ha!).

For a second round, you can take the pork and make an actual pork fried rice by chopping up the remaining pork, mix it with pre-made white rice in a skillet, add four tablespoons of soy or teriyaki sauce, frozen peas, carrots, and a scrambled egg.  We also love to add peapods because the girls like to open them in order to get the peas out.  If you don't want to do rice again (because you just had rice with the pork), try a different spin with soba noodles and some crushed red pepper (and top with toasted sesame seeds).  Ok, now I'm hungry...

Enjoy!

What's for Dinner? (Day FOUR)

This one is courtesy of my dad! It is DELICIOUS! We like to add a side of guacamole (mostly because my girls love to eat it!).

Southwest Chicken Soup 

Saute: 

1/2 cup diced onions w/ 1 Tbsp. olive oil  

Add:

1 tsp. cumin 

1 tsp. chili powder 

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper 

1/2 tsp. salt 

2-4 cloves of garlic 

Add and bring to boil: 

1 - 15 oz. can chicken broth

1- 15 oz. can black beans (drained)  

1- 15 oz. can corn (undrained) 

1- 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (Mexican style)

Add:

8 oz of shredded, cooked chicken

Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Serve with fresh cilantro and a Tbsp. of sour cream. Can be topped with crushed tortilla chips.

What's for Dinner? (Day Three)

The girls loved the waffles for dinner last night! Instead of just cutting up the rest of our strawberries and putting them on top, I sliced them up, put them in a saucepan with a tablespoon of butter and one fourth cup of sugar and made a syrup.  (Just bring it all to a boil and then simmer for about 3-4 minutes).  YUM!

Tonight we are back to savory with Kabobs! I found a flat iron steak on sale at our grocery story for 3.00 so that is our choice of meat tonight, along with one chicken breast for my non-steak eating children. One onion and one bell pepper are about 99 cents each.  I usually add rice as a side, but since we just did that on Monday, we are doing baked potatoes tonight.  They were .59/pound so that added an extra dollar to the budget for all 5 of us.  Add the sour cream ($1.20) if you need.  If you are keeping track, that's about $9 for the whole meal.  Plus, if you have extra leftover, you can do the round two recipe at the bottom!

BEEF AND/OR CHICKEN KABOBS


You can either use your favorite marinade or make your own.  We love to use Italian dressing as marinade for our kabobs.  The powdered packets are only a dollar and stretch pretty far.  Or try this one:

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce (if you like it spicy)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (if you like it spicy)
• salt
• ground black pepper

Other ingredients you will need: 

• Meat of choice-We use either two chicken breasts or one steak (or a combo of both).
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 1 cup sour cream, to serve
• 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
• 8 metal or wooden skewers (make sure to soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes prior to using them)

Directions

In a large resealable bag mix together the lime juice, garlic, hot sauce, canola oil and chili powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove 1 tablespoon of the marinade and set aside (to mix in the sour cream later).

Slice the meat into thin strips against the grain and put into the bag with the marinade and mix well to coat everything with the marinade. Place the bag in a large bowl incase it leaks and refrigerate for one and half hours.

Mix the reserved marinade with the sour cream and refrigerate.

Slice the peppers and onions into one inch square pieces. 

Remove the meat from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Thread the beef and vegetables onto the skewers. Each skewer should get 4 pieces each of the pepper and onion and 3 pieces of the beef, alternating as you thread them onto the skewer. Cook the skewers on a grill pan or outdoor grill over medium high heat until meat is medium rare, about 3 to 4 minutes a side. Garnished with the flavored sour cream and cilantro. Reserve any extras for online round 2 recipe, Tortilla Pizza.

Round two Recipe:

TORTILLA PIZZA

Ingredients

• 2 flour tortillas
• 2 roma tomatoes, sliced
• Chicken or Beef leftover from Fajita Skewers recipe
• 1/2 cup shredded Jack cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the tortillas on 2 baking sheets. Top each tortilla with the sliced tomatoes. Divide the beef or chicken and vegetables from the leftover fajitas over the tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and golden and the tortillas are crispy, about 10 minutes. Transfer to serving dishes and serve.