school time!

today is the official first day of school for our school district. my daughter was both nervous and excited to be going to a new school. so was mom... :) 

her and her teacher

 this is my son playing in his class while i was speaking to his teacher. 

 his teacher and him. he loves having her as a teacher, we do too. :)

finally...

Our 4 year old son has been dealing with asthma for the last 3+ years. 

He’s been diagnosed for 2 1/2 years, with controller meds for the past year. Yesterday was our appointment with a pulmonology specialist out of Children's Memorial Hospital. Because the summer months are his best time; giving him relief from many of his symptoms I was a tad worried about seeing the specialist at this time…I was worried for nothing. I couldn't have asked for a better experience yesterday when meeting the staff and physician at Children’s. We were given a stronger controller med, Qvar, to use daily in place of his Pulmicort. We were also given two homeopathic meds that will work on controlling the symptoms of his asthma long term. The best thing about these homeopathic meds is that they do not have side effects! Yay!! He already deals with excessive hyperactivity, and most his medications only add to this. I can’t wait to see what changes we see in his asthma over the next several months. I have a feeling the E.R. won’t be seeing as much of us. J I can’t even express how excited I am about hoping for that. I am so grateful that our primary doctor saw the need for him to see a specialist. As my mother-in-law said yesterday “there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”  

He's such a beautiful boy; both inside and out. It just breaks my heart to see him going through all of this. 

oh honey!

so here's a tip for all of you bakers. some may already know this, but i just accidentally found out about this while baking the other night! i had a true "ah ha" moment! my husband was like "duh!" 

if your recipe calls for a sticky ingredient (such as honey) and oil, measure the oil first and use the same un-rinsed measuring cup or spoon for the sticky ingredient. doing this will leave absolutely no sticky residue in your measuring utensil which will ensure all of your ingredient ends up in the recipe! AMAZING! i don't know how i didn't figure this out before! 

if your recipe does not call for oil; just rub or spray a little oil in the measuring utensil and then add your sticky substance.

such a little tip, but such a big help! 

Beautiful Bagels

I have a friend that started making bagels a few weeks, months…oh who knows…back, her bagels looked so freaking good that I had to try my hand at it! I’ve been putting it off for a bit because to tell you the truth it kind of intimidated me. :}

Well, the anxiety finally subsided a little and I decided to just dive in and do it!

Here is my journey of making gourmet bagels in picture and recipe form, enjoy!

I made one batch of multi grain bagels, and one split batch of jalapeño cheddar and garlic Italian.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of warm water

1 tbsp of dry active yeast

1 tbsp of sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 tbsp of canola oil (or olive oil)

2 tsps of honey

2 tsps of salt

4 ½ cups of unbleached flour

~to make multi grain bagels use the following in place of half of the unbleached flour~

1 cup of oat flour

1 cup of whole wheat flour

¼ cup of ground flax seed

¼ cup of wheat germ

(Add whole oats to top the finished bagel prior to baking)

Directions:

1.)   In a large mixing bowl combine water, yeast, sugar and salt. Let mixture ferment for 5 minutes. Then add honey, oil, and all the flour to the mixture. Now, it’s time to get your hands dirty! Yay! Mix all ingredients by running your fingers around the bowl to help form a dough ball. Once all loose dough is formed into a ball remove dough to a lightly floured surface and begin kneading.

Kneading your dough is not an aggressive massage, but is more like the kind of massage you would pay to receive. It’s enjoyable :)

2.)   Knead the dough for roughly 5-10 minutes. There is a large range of time here, because you should gage on when kneading is done by the feel of the dough. The dough should be slightly firm to the touch. If using the multi grain recipe the dough will feel more like a stress relief ball, it will be firmer. Are you seeing a common thread??? Kneading dough is very therapeutic! 

3.)   Once dough is kneaded place dough on a floured surface (a cutting board works nicely) and cover with a flour dusted dishtowel. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. zzzzzzzzzzz....

4a.)   Next, divide the dough into 8 pieces; using a pizza cutter would make this easy. 

4b.)   Take each piece and individually pat them out to form a palm size semi flattened ball. Then, poke a finger through the center of the ball and stretch out the hole created. It will now look like a doughnut. 

4c.)   Place each of the bagels back onto a lightly floured surface and cover with the dishtowel. Let rest for about 15 minutes, longer if the area is cooler in your kitchen. zzzzzzzz....

5.)   While the dough is resting, place a very large frying pan (or stock pot) filled ¾ full with water on high heat. To the water add 2 tbsp of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Let the water come to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

6.)   After getting your boiling water set up you will want to get your baking sheets ready for your bagels. You can use parchment paper to line the pan if you want, but I found that adding a little olive oil to the pans and sprinkling with corn meal works just fine. Also, you need to preheat your oven to 450. Don't forget this step, or you'll be waiting on your oven! 

7.)   This next step reactivates the yeast in the dough and will give the dough a glassy look when finished. Place 2-3 of the risen bagels into the water for 1 minute per side. When bagels are finished on both sides remove from the water and place on a clean towel to drain. I only let mine sit on the towel for a few seconds because the sticky dough allowed the toppings to adhere better.

8.)   When you remove your bagels from the towel, if you want to have toppings, turn them onto a small dish with your choice of topping. Then place the oven ready bagels on your prepared baking sheets and place in the oven. Once the bagels are in the oven reduce the heat to 425. Bake for about 15 minutes, and then turn the bagels and finish cooking for another 5 minutes. Do not turn your bagels if you are using cheese as a topping! Watch your bagels, because I found some of mine didn't take as long as others. 

Finished Product! Yummy! 

Use your imagination for flavors, or make some of your favorites! 

Thaw...

the great thaw has officially started! yay!

BLIZZARD!!

so...the blizzard has begun! 

yay, and wow!! 

i haven't seen this amount of snow in, well, forever! 

it's pretty amazing. 

here are a few pictures of what we have so far.

these were taken from inside, i don't really want to go out...

can't imagine why! 

 this is my husband shoveling a tunnel to our side door.

still shoveling

the kids watching daddy get the driveway cleared. 

i'll post more pics later. 

Low-cholesterol, multi-grain blueberry bread

3/4 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of regular flour

1/2 cup of ground oats

1/3 cup of sugar 

2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

1tbsp of flax seed meal mixed with 3 tbsp of warm water

1/4 cup of olive oil (or for lower fat use 1/8 cup of olive oil and 1/8 cup of applesauce)

1 cup of frozen or fresh blueberries

mix in the order listed and place in a sprayed pie pan or bread pan. 

cook at 400 degrees for about 30-40 mins. i'm not sure exacly how long to cook it for cause i just waited for the smell of the bread and it to get a light brown crust color. lol! it's really crusty on the outside but oh-so-soft on the inside...yummo!!

here's the nutrition information for using the 1/4 cup of olive oil:

 Calories 202.5

 Total Fat 8.2 g

        Saturated Fat 1.4 g

        Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g

        Monounsaturated Fat 5.4g

 Cholesterol 1.8 mg

 Sodium 277.2 mg

 Potassium 64.6 mg

 Total Carbohydrate 32.9 g

       Dietary Fiber 3.4 g

       Sugars 10.9 g

 Protein 4.0g 

Instant Banana Pudding for Kids

This recipe is for 2 servings

Step One

Mash one small banana with clean hands in a medium bowl.

Step Two

Add 6 tbsp of apple sauce to the banana.

Step Three

Stir in 2 tsp of plain yogurt. 

Step Four (the favorite step)

EAT!!

Apple Jack Pancakes

These are a favorite with my kids. The name reminds them of the cereal.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of (unbleached) white flour

(optional)--2 tbsp of ground flax seed--(optional)

1 tbsp of sugar or honey

1 tsp of of baking powder

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of ground cinnamon 

1/4 tsp of salt

1 egg

1/2 cup of plain applesauce

1/2 cup of buttermilk or sour milk

(To make sour milk,  add 1 tsp of lemon juice to measuring cup and fill to 1/2 cup with milk. 

Let this sit for at least 2 minutes. Then, you have instant sour milk.)

How to make:

1.  Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Make a well, hole, in the middle of your mix for the wet ingredients to sit. 

 2.  Heat up nonstick pan or griddle. (I use my cast iron pan, it works great!)

3.  Add wet ingredients and mix until combined. Do not over mix. The mix will be thick.

My son is doing all the work this morning!

4. Add pancake mix to pan and cook. 

(Our pancakes are about 1/2 cup of mix each. It's the right amount for the kids.)    

Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon and pour maple syrup over the whole thing. 

YUM YUM!

Blog Award

I just found out I was given a blogger award back in May by Cindy at Artful Living on the Bluff!!!!! OH MY! I am very grateful for this award and am very happy to pass it along to 7 bloggers I think are outstanding. Sorry this is so late in coming!

1. Char at Crap I've Made.

2. Agnes at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

3. Frenchy at Le Chateau Des Fleurs By Frenchy.

4. Missy at The Grubby Gardener.

5. Ode to Motherhood.

6. Anne at Open Book Girls.   
     And of course but not least,

      7. Cindy at Artful Living on the Bluff.

I hope you all enjoy the blogs I have chosen. I know I do.

Here is my list of 7 things you may not know about me:

      1. I hate bees! With a passion!  I was once stung by one, around the age of 7, in a very private area. Hence the not liking them! Lol.

      2. I love to go on long vacations by car. My husband does not. Can’t imagine why not!?!? I mean, aren't all kids supposed to annoy their parents while on long trips??? Lol.

      3. I grew up a pastor’s daughter.

      4. I know sign language. My brother and sister-in-law (my brother’s wife) are deaf.

      5. I love riding in the tractor with my husband, and singing at to all our favorite songs.

      6. This is bad of me, but I love Eminem’s raps.

      7. I hate folding clothes! I would rather move clothes from one location to another or have baskets upon baskets of clothes laying around than fold them. I’m a bad house wife! Lol.

Thank you again for the award Cindy!

Multi Grain Banana Bread

I have been making this recipe for a while. This is a recipe that has lots of ingredients that are wonderful for your body. Kids are great at making these. The initial recipe came from a kids book my mother-in-law gave me. I’ve tweaked it to fit our eating lifestyle.

I will give you the nutrition information following the recipe. 

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mash 3 whole bananas in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Step 2:

Mix the following ingredients in a medium to large bowl.

1 cup of whole wheat flour

½ cup of regular unbleached white flour

½ cup of wheat germ

¼ cup of oat flour (to make this, take oats and grind in a food processer till it resembles whole grain flour.)

¼ cup of ground flax seed

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of baking soda

Step 3:

Add the following to the dry ingredients and mix.

¼ cup of melted butter

¼ cup of olive oil

2 eggs (you can substitute 1 egg with 1 tbsp of flax seed and 3 tbsp of warm water.)

½ cup of sugar

Step 4:

Fold in the bananas

Step 5:

Bake in a greased muffin pan for about 17 minutes.

For a bread loaf, bake the bread for 1 hour.  

Nutritional Information: For 16 medium muffins.
Calories 163 : Fat 8g : Sat Fat 3g : Polyunsat 2g : Monounsat 4g : Cholesterol 34mg : Sodium 233mg : Potassium 150mg : Carbs 21g : Fiber 3g : Sugar 9g : Protein 4g

How to make homemade household cleaners!

Ok. So, because of my son's allergies and sensitive skin I have been making homemade cleaners for the house. I thought I would share some of my recipes with you guys! I have not had to buy cleaners for quite some time, which saves us lots o' money! 

Kitchen/bathroom cleaner

(Safe on all surfaces)

Reuse one of your old cleaner spray bottles, or buy a spray bottle that is rated for chemicals. (This is because over time the vinegar can corrode the other types of bottles.)

-Fill half the bottle with distilled vinegar, and then top it off with distilled water. 

-Add about 5 drops of essential oil of your choice, if you have it. This makes it smell better, instead of it smelling like a pickle! lol!

(If you have a dehumidifier, you can use that water. this is what I do.)

For tough to get cleaned areas:

-Add a little baking soda to the surface and then spray with the cleaner.

-Let this sit for about 2 mins.

-Wipe clean.

*You may have to re-spray the area to get any residue cleaned up.

Glass cleaner

Again use a spray bottle rated for chemicals. 

-Fill half the bottle with hydrogen peroxide and top off with distilled water. 

-Add 5 drops of essential oil for sent.

Wood polish

You can put this in a small squirt bottle, the kind with the pop tops.

-Put a whole orange or lemon peel, only the colored part of the peel, in a sauce pan with 2 cups of olive oil. 

-Slowly simmer oil for about 20 mins. This is to infuse the oils from the peel into the olive oil.

-Let the oil cool, then place in the squirt bottle.

DO NOT BOIL THE OIL!!!

To use:

Squirt a small amount of the mixture on the furniture and rub in with a clean lint free cloth.

*The oil does not need to be extra virgin; it should be just plain olive oil. 

It can also be the cheap stuff too, since you won't be eating it! 

Laundry soap

This makes about 5 lbs of soap. This will last a very long time!

Only use between 1 and 2 tbs of laundry soap per load. If you have a front load washer use 1/2 tbs per load.

Really, this is all it takes to get your clothes clean!

-Grate two bars of soap, any soap. Place grated soap in a large bowl.

-Add two lbs of borax (found in the laundry aisle)

-Add two lbs of washing soda (not baking soda that comes next) also found in the laundry aisle. 

-Add 1 cup of baking soda

-Mix the ingredients together and place in a medium to large container. (i use old 1 gallon ice cream containers)

*To make clothes static free and get tough smells out, place 1/2 cup of vinegar into the softener section of your machine. Works like a charm! 

Another use for vinegar!

*Use vinegar in your dishwasher's rise aid dispenser instead of buying expensive rise aids!

If you can’t tell by now, I buy vinegar and baking soda by the LARGE quantities!! Lol!

I hope you all find this helpful and useful! Happy cleaning!