The First Thanksgiving

I thought it would be fun to pass along this information I just found.  Scholastic website has a link for learning about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving.  It's really interesting.  I'll be having the boys watch this as we are into Thanksgiving next week.  If you are interested, you can click to: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free People Puppy Chow

The season is here to get good prices on Rice Chex.  One of the things I do with the Rice Chex is to make people puppy chow for Kaden since he has all kinds of food allergies.  If you have someone that has food allergies, this would even make a good gift for them in a jar.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free People Puppy Chow

Ingredients
9 c. Rice Chex
1 c. (12 oz.) Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips (in the gold bag)
1/2 c. Sunbutter
1/2 c. margarine or canola oil
2-3 c. powdered sugar

Recipe Instructions 
Melt  chocolate chips, Sunbutter and oil in a glass bowl or measuring cup in the microwave. When melted pour mixture over Rice Chex cereal in a large bowl. Mix well until all the Rice Chex are coated. Mix in powdered sugar. Toss so all cereal is well coated. Let cool - if you can before you eat.

JoJo

JoJo, my littlest, is a big bundle of energy!  I think she has the energy of my three boys combined... and then some! 

In this picture she is talking to Papa.  Papa has his cell phone and she has Oma's cell phone.  :0)... . 

Her latest feat has been figuring out that markers write on things - none of which are paper.  One day, she managed to get two permanent markers and one regular marker and mark on walls, floors, doors and her feet.  (I still don't know how she got those markers.) Ugh!  What a day!  I spent quite awhile trying to get permanent marker off of things.  Then to my surprise the next morning, I found that I had missed a big scribble on a door, which will only be removed by putting on a new layer (or two) of paint.

But, she is such a little treasure!  I wouldn't trade clean walls and floors for her little kisses and hugs. 

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Heard on the human condition: We judge others by their actions; but ourselves by our motives.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

There are some seeds that can only be watered with tears of sorrow in order to grow.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

At your funeral you get one hour and one 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper, folded in half, to sum up your whole life. So what do you do Now, for Then?

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Only when a tree falls can it be used to bridge the troubled waters we face. 

The background for this tweet: Kevin watched an episode of "Man vs. Wild" with Bear Grylls where he couldn't cross a river until he had felled a tree.  When he was tweeting, Kevin was thinking of our friend who went to be with the Lord whose life was very well lived with eternal priorities.  It was inspiring and Kevin saw him as the tree that created a bridge for people to conquer things in their life.

It's Friday!

After cleaning the crawl space for several hours today, I'm sore. (sigh, smile).  Heh, but that's life. 

Tonight though, I'm pulling out my already made apple pies.  I'm getting ready to take them to a meal tomorrow with friends. 

This apple pie recipe is just delicious.  And, it's the perfect season to make them as apples are in season and at a good price.

Apple Pies (makes 2 pie fillings)


Ingredients
5-6 med.-lg apples
¾ c. sugar
2-3 T. flour
1 T. lemon juice
½ t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
2 T. butter

Recipe Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Have pie crust ready in pie pan. Peel, core and slice ¼ inch thick apples. Combine apples with sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring several times, so that the apples soften slightly. Pour mixture into bottom of crust and gently level with a spoon. Pat the top with butter, which is cut into small pieces.

Crumble topping: 1 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, ½ c. butter, cinnamon & salt
Cut in all ingredients until it looks crumbly. Sprinkle on top of pies.

Bake in hot oven (450 degrees) for 10 min.; lower heat and bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 35-40 min. Sides of pie will bubble & have a caramel look when done. Let cool before serving so sauce can thicken.

When I make pies to freeze, I buy aluminum foil pans ahead. I make the crusts first and freeze them. Top them with a styrofoam plate, then aluminum foil and a plastic store bag on top. Stack them in the freezer. You can add the apple pie fillng before freezing or later - depending on your time frames. After doing the above recipe and filling pie pans, top again with plate, foil and bag.

To bake a frozen pie, preheat oven to 425*. Take frozen pie out and unwrap it. Place it on a baking sheet pan. Bake for 15 min at 425*. Turn oven down to 350*. Bake for 50-55 min or until sides of pie bubble & have a caramel look.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

This tweet was actually from Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California:
"The teacher is always silent when the test is given. When God is silent in your life, you are being tested"

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Credit and debt is our modern way of putting the ark on the cart. 2 Sam 6:3-7. Wrong actions always outweigh good intentions.

1 Chronicles 15:15 - The original command of God:
"15 And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD."

2 Samuel 6:3-7 - This generation chose to do it their own way:
3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

Preserving Grapes during the fall season

I love fall.  It's one of my favorite times of the year to harvest (or in this year's case - buy) produce to get ready for the winter months when the prices of groceries are higher.

One of the easiest things I like to do during the fall is to find a good price on grapes.  I buy about 20-30lbs of grapes for the winter.   I take them home and wash them, take off the stem and put them in quart (or gallon freezer bags) and freeze.

Then on a cold winter's morning when I'm making eggs, hashbrowns and bacon, I'll pull out frozen grapes to counteract the salt in the bacon.  It's looks gourmet and it's just delicious!

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Christian radio tag line: Using our Power for Good...

Losing Teeth

Last year, Kaden said, "Mommy, I'll never lose my teeth."  Ha, ha!  Kaden has now lost three teeth in the last two weeks.  He has another top front one loose.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day (@KevTrig)

One of the differences between me and God is that God doesn't think that He is me.

Marriage Today Seminar

Our favorite marriage speakers are Jimmy and Karen Evans at Marriage Today.  On October 8th & 9th, they are having a free marriage seminar at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. 

"When you and your spouse were dating, communication and romance happened effortlessly. But for many couples, as the years go by intimacy slowly fades away.

Join Jimmy and Karen Evans for a free seminar to help you rediscover the passion in your marriage. Jimmy will uncover the mystery and show you how to keep the flames burning for a lifetime. You can have the kind of relationship that grows deeper the longer you are married."

For more information, click here for the brochure.  To register, click here.

If you are unable to attend, but enjoy learning more about how to understand your spouse, you can listen to their past online sessions.

I know that this sounds like an advertisement, but to set it up correctly, it's all informational and looks like an advertisement.  But really, Kevin and I aren't into alot of seminars.  But, we do listen to Jimmie and Karen on tv, online and in person.  They have good practical information.  We go away learning something about the differences in men and women and laugh while we are learning.  I highly recommend them.  And even if you can't come to the seminar, try listening to them online. 

Fun freebie for Friday only

Hey, all!  I just found a fun freebie of the day - thanks to Econobusters.  It's an ebook called "The Big Brownie Cookbook" at Homeschool Freebie. 

Click on the link to Homeschool Freebie and they will direct you how to download.  Actually, they say to "right click", but it's actually left click.  It took me a minute to figure that out. (smile)  Then, go to "File" and "Save As" to save the recipes.  Very fun!

What a fun Friday treat!
Enjoy!

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Sometimes the chips are down and sometimes you down some chips...

Laundry Soap

Ever wonder, "How do you make laundry soap?"  I love a good challenge and it seemed like a mystery.  So, Ian and I found a recipe on TipNut.com.  We took a Friday afternoon and worked through it.

You need to start with Washing Soda, Borax and Fels Naptha.  We had the washing soda and borax on hand already from Kevin's experiment with tanning a hide.  We purchased the Fels Naptha from a local grocery store who ordered it special order for us.  I think it cost us $1.40 for a bar of it.

If you have laundry bottles to hold the laundry detergent, for this recipe, you will need four to five empty bottles (36-42 load size).

Ian grated 2 cups of Fels Naptha soap.

Next we boiled 1 quart of water (or 4 cups of water).

Once it was boiling, Ian dumped the grated soap into the pan.

Then, he stirred until the soap was dissolved into the water.

In a seperate bowl, he added 2 cups of washing soda and 2 cups of borax. 

Pour the dissolved soap mixture into the washing soda and borax.

Stir the dissolved soap, borax and washing soda until it's pretty smooth (it will be grainy).

The bowl was too small, so we upgraded to a plastic storage tub.

Then Ian poured in two gallons of water.

Then, he stirred until it was dissolved.

We made the mistake of letting it cool in the tub because it coagulated in the tub and not the laundry bottles.  We poured the laundry soap into the laundry bottles.

The cost for us to make the laundry soap was about .70 each bottle or $2.80.

We used it for several weeks.

However, we ended up purchasing a new washing machine and dryer.  They only allow you to use "he" detergent or you will void the warranty.  So, we now have alot of extra laundry soap. :0)... 

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

One thing a good negotiator does not want is a reputation as a good negotiator - it puts people too on-guard.

Spaghetti sauce with zucchini

This is my second recipe with zucchini.  I used to buy spaghetti sauce, but I've gotten spoiled with making my own sauce. 

Spaghetti Sauce


Recipe Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. oil
2 medium onions, chopped and diced
2 c. mushrooms sliced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 14 1/2 oz. diced tomatoes
29 oz. tomato sauce
12 oz. tomato paste
1 c. carrots, chopped
3 c. zucchini, shredded
2 T. Italian seasoning
1 T. sugar (opt'l in my opinion, but does ofset the acidity)
1 t. salt

Recipe Instructions:
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add onions, mushrooms and garlic. Cook the onions, mushrooms and garlic for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked and the onions are soft.

While the food above is cooking, put the rest of the ingredients in a crockpot and stir. When the mixture above in done, add to the crockpot. Stir.

Place lid on crockpot. Turn heat to low. Let cook for 8-9 hours.

When done, I pureed the sauce in a blender as there was no way my kids would eat all those veggies in the sauce. If you like knowing what is in your sauce, don't puree. :0)...

Serve immediately or let cool and freeze in quantities you can use in the future.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Single guys: Don't forget that if she has an hour glass figure...all that sand has gotta go somewhere. Outer beauty fades, inner endures.

Zucchini bread recipe

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 c. shredded frozen zucchini
4 c. all purpose flour
1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. zucchini juice and enough milk
6 Tbsp. oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

Recipe Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 2 (8x4) bread pans.

Defrost zucchini in microwave. Keep zucchini juice.

In one bowl combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk to mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, combine zucchini juice and enough milk to make 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Add oil, vanilla and eggs.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix just until moist. Then, add grated zucchini. Continue to mix until zucchini is mixed in well.

Divide batter evenly into the two bread pans. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar.

Bake at 350* for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes. Then, cut out and tip upside down on a wire rack. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Best served warm with margarine.
__________________________________________________________________

This is how I make premixed zucchini bread bags

In a quart bag, combine:
4 c. all purpose flour
1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Write on bag with a permanent marker

"Grease 2 bread loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350*.
In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. zucchini juice/milk mixture, 6 Tbsp oil, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 eggs.
Add dry ingredients. Mix until moist. Add in zucchini. Mix zucchini until incorporated.
Bake 1 hr 10 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 5 min in pan. Cool on wire rack."

Abbreviate the writing on the quart bag to your understanding.

I love having these stored in my cupboards. 

And if you can't eat both in one sitting (which our family can), put one in a gallon ziploc bag and freeze. I like thawed zucchini bread almost as well as fresh.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day

Hope without substance is merely Hype.

Mary, mary, quite contrary

I always hummed this question in my head as a little girl:
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.[1]"

Well, I'm not Mary, but I can answer you and say, "My garden DIDN'T grow this year!"...  I think we got a bowl full of tomatoes, no zucchini, one mini-pumpkin and three cucumbers.  Ack!

As bummed as I am, life still goes on.  :0)... 

Last week, I bought a twenty pound case of zucchini.  I shredded it all for the winter.  Did you know that one pound of zucchini is approximately three cups of zucchini.  I ended up with twenty bags filled three cups full. 

What do I do all winter with twenty bags of zucchini?  Well, I have three favorite recipes.  I'll post them as I can.  :0)

Kevin's Tweet for the Day (@KevTrig)

For the Christian, you must be 'Baaaa to the bone.' For we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Free tickets to museums this weekend Sept 25th

This weekend on September 25th, you can get two free tickets to go to a museum or zoo - depending on which ones are participating with the Smithsonian.

Go to: http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/venue.html to find out the venues you are close to that are offering this program.

Then, go to: http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/admission.html?2010 to request two free tickets.

What a fun way to spend the day!

How stuff works

The other day, I stumbled onto How Stuff Works while looking for science facts for Ian.

The website is comprised of all kinds of information on Adventure, Animals, Auto, Culture, and etc.  The two main ones that I am looking at for homeschooling are: Animals and Science.

I'm passing it along in case you might find that it is an interesting place to look for facts or information.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day (@KevTrig)

How is your devotion to and pursuit of God? Wholehearted? ...or hole in the heart-ed?

Kevin's Tweet for the Day (@KevTrig)

Add the Spirit to God's Word, and it becomes a Sword.

Kevin's Tweet for the Day (@KevTrig)

Half truths are full lies.