Testing, testing, testing. 

Has anyone foraged their own foods? I have planned to do this for years but haven't. My son just ordered two books on this subject. 

Basil Love

My basil plants are producing beautifully this year! Every time I have grown this herb it has done well but this year has just been beautiful, green leaf after beautiful green leaf since right after they were planted.

I have sold them at a farmer’s market table, mixed them up in soups, tossed them in salads and plan to layer them with fresh mozarella and tomatoes. I have been reading all kinds of interesting ways to store basil and I have also been craving pesto so I gathered a grocery sack full. After giving them a good bath and spin in the salad spinner, I used some in this thrown together recipe for pesto:

Walnuts (I know pine nuts are the standard for this but they are outrageously expensive and these work just as well)

Olive oil (I tried to use a lot less than I’ve seen in recipes)

Parmesan cheese (I don’t recall adding this before but saw it in a recent recipe and happened to have some out for my son’s dinner so I threw some in!)

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Sea salt and pepper

I just pulsed this in the food processor a few times. It was delicious. I am taking advice from a fellow farmer’s market table vendor and covering it with a light layer of olive oil and refrigerating it over night. In the morning, I will remove some of the oil and freeze it! 

Good Tea, Baby

My husband and I have had a bothersome cold of sorts ... we had stopped up heads and just wanted to be in bed for part of it. It finally started getting better but we still have this cough that seems to get more annoying at night than during the day.

I have been using ginger for a long time now (so many uses - look for a post about GINGER soon ;)
to help with coughs, colds and to warm up from the inside out. I've also used honey and lemon in hot water and along the way started putting the three together.
My husband loved what I made tonight and expressed it by asking me to remember how I made it. I lost some of the things he loved that I made previously so I am back to blogging things so at least we have them in this format.
When I started typing this and was trying to hurry with a title - my husband sipped some more from his mug and said again, "This is good tea, baby." Thus, the just right name for the tea he wants me to record.

Here it is:

A generous chunk of fresh ginger (about 3-4 inches) peeled and sliced. Powdered ginger will work if you don't have fresh.
A large lemon, sliced
Raw honey
Boiling or very hot water (I used a ceramic water warmer thing I got from Sam's and use as much as my faucet now!)

I halved the ginger between two mugs and placed lemon slices (freed of seeds) in each cup and poured hot water to fill the cups about 3/4ths full. I stirred in about a teaspoon or more of honey (again, each cup) and we are sipping some relief!

Letter Writing Part 2

Letter Writing Part 2

My pinterest board on letter writing:

Sandy's letter writing pinterest board

More letter writing pinterest boards: Please note that I have only looked at the letter writing boards of these pinners. I don't know anything of their personal pages!

Lianne Louise letter-writing pinterest board

Cassifitz Letter Writing pinterest board

Polka Dotty Me letter writing pinterest boards

Letter Writing Blogs:

The letters in my mailbox  - So very pretty!

Missive Maven -  This one is fantastic! I checked out a lot of links from her blog. There are letter writing pen pal type sites (one is The Letter Writer's Alliance that you can join for $3.00 and I did awhile back!) and letter writing supply sites as well as a lovely list of letter writing blogs. Love this resource. She also has an etsy shop that she sells stationery and more.

Are you a letter writer? If so, please share your experience!

Love,

Sandy

Letter Writing

A Return to Letter Writing

Have you ever been a letter writer? Some of you will remember what I am talking about in a life before keyboards and faster than finishing a sentence contact.

I remember. Corresponding through regular mail with paper and pens, envelopes and occasional stickers and other “slip ins” used to be a very active part of my life. I spent time every Monday through Saturday (with few exceptions) immersed in some activity related to note or letter writing. I had a make shift desk of some sort every place we moved and having places for stamps and other mailing and writing supplies was the main set up priority. I would write notes, poems, letters and “jots” down all through the day and night, knowing I would tuck them into delivery parcels for dear friends and loved ones.

I wrote or typed on a regular type writer … letters filled with what I was doing, feeling or seeing around me. I wrote notes to encourage, Scriptures to edify, jokes to lift up and personal moments to help the receiver of whatever I was sending to experience a blessing. I spent hours in shops selling cards and stationery and made sure those in my address book (from next door to across the world) had something for special events and occasions, care cards when in need of something and much, much more.

The mail boxes were one of the first things I sought out when moving into new places and I memorized the mailman’s routines more quickly than the garbage routes! I loved tucking a stack of outgoing mail into the mailbox (after checking the addressing info and stamp placement) and my heart smiled when I saw them picked up and knew they were on their way. I remember trying to picture each person as they opened what I sent.

What about my own mail box? I watched that with more eagerness than some get when shopping and was more excited than some on Christmas when something came for me to open, read and see.

Writing became something of a ministry and I would have not even considered ever stopping.

When I first heard of emailing ... it was around 1991 - give or take a year... and I couldn't grasp it. My SIL thanked me for a hand written letter she got from me and apologized for being too busy to write back. She went on to say that if we both got email - we could write notes and letters and send immediately with no cost for postage. It would be 1994 or 1995 before I had my first aol email. Have you ever seen the movie, "You've Got Mail"? If so, I can tell you that you got a glimpse of me on the scenes where Meg Ryan flies to her computer (except I've never had a laptop ;) and can't wait to read, reply and write emails. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. At first, I was finding everything I could to print for my regular mail corresponding. I designed and printed off my own stationery, learned to copy and paste things I could print, share, and so on. I figured out how to get clip art for just about everything, how to find images to match so many topics and then - how to take photos and use them in all sorts of mailing delights! I spent hours - far too many, I am thinking now - using the computer for my mail. I could type faster than I wrote by hand and I just couldn't get over how streamlined it could make my letter writing.

Eventually, I found myself getting busier and busier and doing more and more to save time. I'm not sure when it happened exactly ... but I stopped all regular mail and the only time I used my mailbox was to get bills and junk mail out.

That was many years ago and I have felt God guiding me back to sending things out by mail as a true ministry. I have gone back and forth trying to tell myself that it isn't God calling me but just a need for that familiar love. What I believe now is... whether it is God or my own voice (and I pray for Him to show me) ... the longing for it hasn't gone away but has instead grown stronger. God's glory can pour out through something like this and I am letting go and going with it.

I shared this with my sister several times when she was living in Florida and she was excited because she missed letter writing (she sent more out than I ever did!) and had decided herself, to return to the art. I started writing but haven't broken through my habit of never mailing anything but she and one of her daughters DID start back. They actually moved back here to Georgia and they have been sending out letters and receiving them. It spurred me on to break through and get back to it.

That is my letter writing story and I don't want to make this too long to read BUT I want to encourage any of you interested in getting back to letter writing or beginning for the first time.

I will share something I found just today and will close after that. I will write Part 2 of this soon and include some Pinterest boards, letter writing sites and so on. What I just found out today is that April isthe national letter writing month!

Safer oven cleaning

I haven't read all of this yet but I have a lot of requests for ideas and information concerning natural cleaning so I thought this would be a good share!

Learn more about a safer way to clean your oven at the Keeper of the Home site!

Home Comfort Series: Home Comfort Quotes

Here are some notes I previously underlined in the first part of Home

Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson. 

"Modern housekeeping, despite its bad press, is among the most thoroughly pleasant, significant, and least alienated forms of work that many of us will encounter even if we are blessed with work outside the home that we like."

"Today, laundry, cleaning, and other household chores are by and large physically light or moderate work that doctors often recommend to people for their health, as evidence shows that housework is good for weight control and healthy hearts."

"Yet housekeeping actually offers more opportunities for savoring achievement than almost any other work I can think of. Each of its regular routines brings satisfaction when it is completed. These routines echo the rhythm of life, and the housekeeping rhythm is the rhythm of the body. You get satisfaction not only from the sense of order, cleanliness, freshness, peace and plenty restored, but from the knowledge that you yourself and those you care about are going to enjoy these benefits."

"You need a memory good enough to remember how things are done, where things are, what the daily routine requires, what everyone in the home is up to as it affects housekeeping, the state of supplies, budgets, and bills. You have to be able to decipher insurance policies, contracts, and warranties, manage a budget, and master the technical language of instruction manuals for appliances and computers. The ability to split your attention in several ways and stay calm is essential."

Last one for this post:

"The act of taking care of our homes brings comfort and consolation both in the enjoyment of the fruits of our labor and in the increasingly rre freedom to engage in worthwhile, unalienated, honorable work."

Heart & Home

Heart & Home

"...that the way you experience life in your home is determined by how you do your housekeeping."

"...little domestic habits are what give everybody's home the special qualities that make it their own and let them feel at home there."

I just love these quotes from the beginning part of the Home Comforts book (by Cheryl Mendelson) - It is so, so important to me for our home to be a place that not only others feel appreciated, embraced, and welcomed but those of us living here feel ever and always at home.

"It includes familiarity, warmth, affection, and a conviction of security.

Being at home feels safe; you have a sense of relief whenever you come home and close the door behind you, reduced fear of social and emotional dangers as well as of physical ones."

As Christians, we can be secure at an even deeper level.

Psalm 122:7 (NASB)

7 "May peace be within your walls,

And prosperity within your palaces."

Deuteronomy 33:12 - [And] of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; [and the LORD] shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

On top of feeling secure and like a sigh of relief in our homes is a need to keep our homes, as in be a keeper of them.

Even those who don't invest much into their homekeeping - it is an undercurrent, an ever flowing need.

Yet another snippet to share that I really liked and underlined it when I first got the book:

"What really does work to increase the feeling of having a home and its comforts is housekeeping. Housekeeping creates cleanliness, order, regularity, beauty, the conditions for health and safety, and a good place to do and feel all the things you wish and need to do and feel in your home.

Whether you live alone or with a spouse, parents, and ten children, it is your housekeeping that makes your home alive, that turns it into a small society in its own right, a vital place with its own ways and rhythms, the place where you can be more yourself than you can anywhere else."

How much more are these things true when CHRIST is the light and love flowing from our hearts and into our homes?

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

Is He welcome where we live?

Luke 10:38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

What about when the Lord isn't our top priority? What about hurting hearts, torn emotions and confused paths that tangle everything all up?

Psalm 42:5

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.

Maybe you, them, her, him... maybe any in this state just need to know there is hope beyond what the world has pushed into their paths.

As far as hope in homekeeping... it must be revived if it is weak.

"It is not in goods that the contemporary household is poor, but in comfort and care."

That sounds sad but we have all either been there before, seen others in it or are there now.

Proverbs 7:11

She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;

Isaiah 27:10

For the fortified city is isolated, A homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert; There the calf will graze, And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.

The author of Home Comforts really hits the subject at the heart of it when she shares a few paragraphs on page 8 about the results happening from neglecting housekeeping. The effects are negative ones in so many ways.

She ends this section with these words:

"The result is far too many people who long for home even though they seem to have one."

I believe the longing for home originates from a longing for God. Either longing to know Him or longing to experience Him again.

Psalms 63:1

Verse Concepts

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalms 143:6

Verse Concepts

I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land.

Selah.

When that longing is met, I believe it breathes life like never before into the home.

Thoughtful questions:

*What does your home feel like when you walk in the door?

*What atmosphere do you sense over all?

*Do you sense a power greater than yourself keeping you present in the motions of your daily tasks?

*Is the light in your eyes gone and do you feel a lack of hope in your home care? If not, do you know someone who seems to be in this place?

*Is your home flowing with milk and honey or more like a parched land today?

Home Comforts

I have been reading my enormous hard back copy of Home Comforts with such .well, comfort. Smiles.

Loving home and making it cozy, clean and comfortable has been with me for most (if not all) of my life. My mom said that when I was growing up, she could tell the condition of my bedroom (almost every one was shared with my

sister) by my behavior. If it got too messy, I misbehaved and as soon as it was clean, my mood settled.

I also loved homes of just about any kind because I would find something welcoming or inviting in them. I lived in or visited homes from Georgia to Ohio on quaint streets, condominiums, apartments, mobile homes, two story farm houses, all the way to the most simple of homes in the mountains of TN.

To this day, I recall the dining tables, living room settings, kitchen set ups, and much more.

When I grew up and ended up in my own home (and I've lived in a little shack, apartments, mobile homes, military housing, rental homes, and now the home we hope to stay in after being on this piece of land for over 20 years) ... I love having my own routines, homey places and more. There are aspects to homemaking that I don't love or I only like sometimes (like keeping the floors clean, scrubbing the back and bottoms of toilets, and organizing

paperwork) but I love making our house a home.

 Homemaking inspiration:

Home Comforts with Cheryl Mendelson

The first part of the book has a section on the author's domestic roots while growing up and on through to her own places. She shares some things on how her two grandmothers did homemaking their own way and shared some of what those ways looked like. She shared a quote from The Odyssey that said:

"Each day I long for home, long for the sight of home."

Starting out a Home Comforts series:

One - I know we are busy. I was trying to do this detailed, wonderful, and beautifully inspiring series for us from page one to the end of the book.

I'm realizing that it might never be if I keep such a perfectionistic view of how it must be. I will just share a bit as we go and we can discuss as we decide. Sound good?

Our own Homemaking History: What do you remember of your grandmother or grandmothers homemaking style? Do you remember how she/they washed dishes? Cooked? Had special recipes? Sewed? Crocheted? Cleaned? What else?

What about your mother? What routines did your mother adhere to, if any? How did she manage her work load whether from home or between working outside of the home and being there?

My paternal grandmother died tragically before I was ever able to meet her.

She had 12 children and one grandchild the same age as her youngest child.

She went out on Christmas Eve to get the youngest child (my dad who was

five) and her grandbaby a few more gifts. She got a ride from her friend who drove a mail truck and on the way home, they ran into a blizzard on the mountain. There was an accident and both driver and passenger were killed.

So... I never had the chance to know her or how she ran her home.

My other grandmother was in her 50's and died of cancer a month or so after she was diagnosed and we didn't live close to her for most of my life. I don't recall much but I remember her little home being neat and it being important to her that kids keep their feet warm :) One of my only memories of her was her scolding my mother for letting me go bare footed and putting her own slippers on my feet and insisting I keep them on. I remember the set up of her simple home and the roses she always grew around her porch.

My mother worked after the divorce (she left with the four of us girls to be with her mother when she found out she was sick and she and my dad ended up never getting back together) so there wasn't a lot of domestic things, I guess. I do remember her loving simplicity and the scent of vanilla... she simmered vanilla beads on the stove almost always. She was very, very routine and had her coffee and breakfast by a certain time in the mornings and she was always trying to make her own versions of what we wanted from fast food places or restaurants. This was to save money and because it was healthier. I went wild for the sausage Mcmuffin breakfast sandwiches at McDonald's ... they had probably just come out! ... and she made some at home by cooking eggs as roundly shaped as she could, cooking a sausage patty, and putting those topped with a slice of American cheese on English muffins. She put them in a lunch sack and microwaved them and they were amazing. I had one every morning! 

(for the readers on the email list - this is modified from our present Home Comforts discussion)

Tuesday dinner

Our dinner:

Salmon sandwiches with spinach and a drizzle of this amazing mayonnaise with my beautiful changes! What were my changes? I omitted the Sirachi sauce or whatever it is called and added a few spoons of chipotle chilis. SO delicious! My husband LOVED the mock mayonnaise and I think I will start keeping it on hand. I served the sandwiches with blanched broccoli and a splash of a sweet balsamic vinegar. 

DELICIOUS cabbage salad

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mayo-Free-Cabbage-Salad/Detail.aspx

I shredded two heads of cabbage in the food processor and doubled all the ingredients but used less sugar and oil than called for. This was so good! I took it to a church potluck and it was a hit!

Today's healthier choices

Today:

Rainbow salad with healthy, homemade dressing
Portabella mushroom pizzas

Rainbow salad:
I threw baby spinach leaves, mixed salad greens and cut up Romaine lettuce in a big salad bowl and used my handy salad shooter for all the colors. A quick note on salad shooters... I got my first at the Salvation Army for under $3.00 years ago. I used it until the motor gave out and I used it a LOT. Right before it gave out, I bought one I found at Goodwill for under $6.00. I gave it to my DIL and blessed being that she is... she gave it to me when I was despondent over the high prices new shooters costs. To explain things a bit so I don't look like someone who gives and grabs back ... the shooter hadn't been used and she was only keeping it for making salads when company visited. We live close enough that I told her she can let me know if she ever needs it and she has a bit more space in her little kitchen.
ONTO... the food! Right onto my greens, I shredded cucumbers, celery, beets, onions, cabbage, carrots, yellow squash, and I don't recall the rest.

The portabella pizzas were turned upside down (stem and brown inner side scraped out) and a little spaghetti sauce was spread in each "crust". I added 1 teaspoon of Ricotta cheese to each pizza, 1/2 ounce of sharp cheddar and 1/2 ounce of goat cheese. I topped each with shredded carrots, shredded onions, shredded cabbage, and shredded beets. I know it sounds bad but it somehow worked. I put these in the oven at 400 degrees until the toppings were bubbly. I've made these mushroom pizzas for years and I don't think a batch ever turns out the same!

Dinner:
Nut meat veggie burgers on bread (had no buns) with mayonnaise or cashew ranch dressing, tomato slices (salted and peppered) along with Romaine lettuce, mustard and ketchup.

Rainbow salad left from lunch.
Spaghetti squash with a drizzle of olive oil and seasonings.

Nut meat veggie burgers:
3-4 carrots, peeled
1 onion, peeled and quartered
one splash of OACV (wanted lemon juice but I used the last of what I had on lunch!)
1 cup of pecans
1 cup of almonds
seasonings
Sauteed mushrooms (in Worcestershire sauce, light soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar)
A sprinkle of chili powder, a dash of liquid smoke, a squeeze of chipotle mustard and another of barbecue sauce.
All the ingredients went into the food processor using the S blade. I pulsed/chopped until holding together. I had to work to make these stay together on a greased cast iron grill. I topped some of them with sharp cheddar and they were delicious in flavor but I need something to make them less soft next time. They were still a hit.

That is all for now!

First post of Fall

Tonight's dinner:

Chicken breast (made in the pressure cooker last night) pulled from the bone, de-skinned and sliced. Sauteed in a cast iron with freshly sliced portabella mushrooms and a drizzle of olive oil, shake of pink Himalayan salt and ground peppercorns. This went into a serving dish and I sauteed some chopped garlic (my 10 year old son loves this chore ;) and let it heat up until fragrant and added to the chicken and mushrooms.

We are also having broccoli after I finish dunking it in some boiling water for a couple of minutes and then giving a few stirs in the same skillet I made everything else. This will be served with toasted tri-colored couscous and baby spinach leaves. I might grate some Parmesan or really sharp cheddar cheese over the top and serve with pan seared, whole grain bread.

It feels good to be back in the kitchen! I mean, I've been in the kitchen almost constantly but everything has been such a blur of activity and rushing from one thing to the next. I love it when I can bring something together and experience it more than just flinging it from pan to plate.

My husband made very fattening smoothies with eggnog, nutmeg and bananas so it is a good thing we are all hopping back to healthy tomorrow!

Earlier summer garden notes

A post I just noticed not sent from earlier on this summer: (an update: the garden is almost gone! All we have left are some peppers, basil, and possibly watermelon! We are making plans for a fall/winter garden now. )

How are you?

Share from your kitchens!

Share from your living areas!

Share from your gardens!

Share, share!

How is your homemaking?

Things here are overflowing with blessings.

There have been some scary situations… some sad moments and reflections and things haven’t been perfect. What I’m choosing to focus on is the light flowing through our lives and that light is from the Lord. He pours it down from heaven and surrounds us with beauty so bountiful that the world’s countless words cannot come close to explaining it.  Here, we  are growing our best gardens ever, we are happy in our new (to us) home and still studying nutrition in research, reading, and almost living in the kitchen some days.

My husband lost 41 pounds and won a Biggest Loser contest at work and since I started my weight loss journey three years ago… I have lost 36 pounds. I prayed over this and I believe God has been showing the way to go and it is an ongoing thing… not just a one ditch effort.

We have tried herb gardens, vegetable gardens, berries, flowers, you name it over the years. With all we put in… we haven’t yielded a great deal of harvest. The closest was one of my many herb gardens but something happened the next year and it never did well again. This year, I prayed over our seeds, seedlings, soil, land, and on and on and the Lord just blessed and blessed and blessed some more! I honestly don’t know that we have lost ONE plant! We WAY OVER PLANTED in hopes to have at least some success but every spot has not only survived but THRIVED! I even won a contest from www.seedsofchange.org (I think that is it) and got 50.00 worth of seeds for FREE!

We have three kinds of watermelons, three types of cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, yellow peppers, red peppers, rainbow chard, yellow squash, carrots, purple pole beans, basil, parsley, okra, egg plant, pineapple sage, sage, rosemary, lemon balm, dill, cilantro, several kinds of tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, specialty peppers, cantaloupe, honeydew, nasturtiums, zucchini, beets, sweet potatoes, oregano, chives, chamomile, lavender, sweet mint, peppermint, German thyme, lemon thyme, hanging strawberries, and some flowering beauties left here by my beautiful MIL when she moved.

We are so in awe of God’s work every time we mulch, weed, gather, water, and so on.

I am also doing something I have tried for around 15 years now without the first sign of success …ever. I am growing aloe! Everyone I EVER had died no matter what advice I followed or how I followed it! Now? I have so many and more being potted every few weeks! I have two nice sized ones in pottery pots on each side of our back door (inside) and another one in a planter basket on one of the end tables. I have a stone fire place front/floor/shelf and there are a row of them there. I have a huge one (a gift someone had for like 10 years) in a terra cotta pot in the dining room, a vintage bowl full of little pots of them and some on the front porch! I used cacti soil mixed with some organic potting soil and some in regular soil and others in just organic potting soil. They are doing SO well!

My daily rhythm is basically:

Getting up around 4:30 or 5:00 am with my husband and making his coffee for then and a cup to go as well as a cup for me ;) I make his breakfast (oatmeal, eggs and garden squash with onions, or grits) and sometimes a smoothie or juice.

When he leaves, I have been sitting down with my coffee and doing my quiet time… reading the Word, praying, prayer journaling and so on. This morning I changed the schedule around. Now, I am heading to the gardens before Bible time to beat the heat. I may start reading but as soon as the sun rises, I head out with my garden hat on and hand shears in gloved hand ;) I take a good look at everything, weed here and there, mulch where needed, water if necessary, and gather anything ripe and ready! I want a lovely basket or something for gathering new cucumbers, basil leaves, pineapple sage, tomatoes, okra, rainbow chard, peppers, peppers, and more peppers! 

Lunch

My daughter and I just enjoyed this nut meat mixture along with veggie filled/fried eggs and on top of a mixed salad.

Prayer Places

There is a television episode with Charles Stanley aired on August 18th, 2013, titled: God's Stress Remover. This sermon has had SUCH an impact on me... on my emotions, heart, and mind!
If you have access to something capable of playing a video... I HOPE you will take the time out of your day, evening, or week end to watch this.

I have watched this and taken notes on it and shared it with anyone who was willing to listen. It is that good...
Love,
Sandy
Note: I'll share more on this after you've had a chance to hear about it.

Around my appliances

We are trying to save the last of the garden so we can till it up and start over for fall! We didn't yield NEARLY the harvest we hoped for but the bounty was substantial even so. We have been juicing the cucumbers and using them in homemade salad dressings and eating lots of thinly sliced freshness on sandwiches. Spreading cream cheese on whole grain bread, pan seared toast, whole grain tortillas or lettuce leaves and layering with cool cucumber slices makes for delicious summer snacking!
I am gathering the rest of the cucumbers this week and getting the seeds out, rinsing, drying, labeling and storing them for the next time I plant!

We have had great success with a variety of peppers and we are eating those on so many things, adding them to dressings, soups, salads, baked goods and more. We are also dehydrating them, blending and making pepper powder to use for seasoning and natural health applications.

 Dehydrated tiny tomatoes. I set the temp at 135 and spread halved little tomatoes over a mesh sheet for about 10 hours. I have read you can blanch them or toss with a bit of oil and I have done similar in the past but this time, I was in a hurry and just put them right in after giving them a good wash. I love these! 

 Cayenne peppers from our garden and organically grown! My husband just cut the tops off and put them on the trays. We are dehydrating them at 140 and have the timer set for 8 hours but they may need to go up to 12 hours. We'll check them before bed and again in the morning. 

This is the flour milled from soaked, sprouted and dehydrated hard grain white berries. I also have a bag of flour done the same way with spelt berries. 

I have been soaking and sprouting a variety of grains and more - spelt, hard white, soft white, quinoa, lentils, beans, and so on. The grains have been sprouted in jars (or bowls and damp, clean kitchen towels) before dehydrating and then grinding into flours. I've used them as is after making into flours and I've soaked the flours the night before and all have turned out good to great.
We've had pancakes this way twice, cornmeal skillet breads, and bread loaves.
We made brownies with white flour and the regular baking ingredients and I wasn't highly impressed so I am hoping to make a healthier sweet this week to make up for it!

We have had a few times of eating from the pantry and freezer and nearly cleared both out in the process. What a blessing, what a blessing it was as a friend and I shared... to have food in the back yard! No bread? We sauteed different peppers with an onion and served alongside some eggs. Out of eggs? We had cucumbers and carrots in a juice! There were so many things that helped us stretch right on through and I am so thankful!

I am on a mission to make the most use of each and every one of my kitchen and household appliances as I can find to make. If they are going to take up space in this home, I want them to be used to the fullest!

So, the appliances I used making the things in this post were:
Our blender, dehydrater, oven/stove top, food processer, juicer, grain grinder, and I think that is it for now!
How do you use your kitchen and house hold appliances to get the most out of them? If you don't feel you get enough use from them... what are some appliances you'd like to gain ideas about?

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

By: Vonieta Stogner

"A delicious pumpkin cookie that can be eaten single or filled with whoopie pie filling to make it even better."

• Cooking Method• Bake• Crock Pot• Grill/BBQ• Microwave• StovetopDish Type• Appetizers• Breads• Desserts• Drinks• Main Dishes• Salads• Side Dishes• SoupsMeal Type• Breakfast• Desserts• Dinner• Lunch• SnacksOccasion• Birthdays• Christmas• Easter• Parties• Passover• Potlucks• Thanksgiving
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Original Recipe Yield3 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 cup shortening

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix well.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling.
4. To Make Whoopie Pie Filling: Beat egg white and mix with the milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar. Mix well then beat in the shortening and the remaining cup of confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 425 | Total Fat: 21.7g | Cholesterol: 24mg

Draft share/Smoothies

Yesterday, I made a great, green smoothie someone posted on a forum. I will try to remember to get the link for that to post but I am hurrying up to add my smoothies because I only have about ten more minutes on here!

The green smoothie was simple:
4-5 oranges, peeled and cut or pulled in a few pieces
Lemon

and the one I had this morning came from: Practically Raw and was a fall treat!

Apple Pie Smoothie
1 large apple, cored and cut in wedges (peeled, if desired)
3/4 cup of almond milk
1/2 t. cinnamon
Vanilla extract

In my drafts files... from my kitchen.

Quick share for my records and for anyone still reading this:

3 nourishing juices as of late:

1. Three organic carrots and two crunchy apples along with a piece of fresh ginger.
2. Three organic carrots and two organic oranges.
3. Apples, lemon, and blended with brewed green tea.

Smoothies:

*Chocolate almond milk, frozen banana, peanut butter powder, and Greek yogurt.
*Apple, pear, cinnamon, almond milk and spinach.
*Apple pie smoothie from the Practically Raw book ... scrumptious! Two apples, cored and cut in sections (I usually use a little circle thing that does all of this at once) ... almond milk, cinnamon,
POST ACTUAL RECIPE


Bok Choy! I have never eaten this before and I bought it for juicing or green smoothies but we got hungry!
We tossed some garlic, fresh ginger, water and stir fry sauce in the WOK and added a bunch of Bok Choy after cutting it in slices across and then down the middle. My daughter made this and her friend, Jordan made organic, brown basmati rice. We drizzled some Paul Newman's light Asian ginger dressing over the rice and spooned the greens over that. SO GOOD!

We also made our very own Pumpkin Smoothies. My again mentioned daughter (Lauren --- I should share her name, right?) was talking about some Pumpkin milkshakes she heard about and I told her we could make smoothie versions. She wasn't delighted but I set about having her help gather things for it none-the-less. We loved them! It took some tasting to get it right but in the end... they hit the spot.

Almond milk
Pumpkin
Pumpkin Pie Spice (we made our own from an internet recipe and used all of it for three smoothies: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger, 1/4 teaspoon or more of freshly grated nutmeg.)
Ice cubes
Vanilla bean sugar with a vanilla bean left in
Sucanat
We made these by blending well and then swirled some half N half in them SO GOOD.

Roasted beets with honey goat cheese ----drizzled with balsamic vinegar glaze or vinegairette.