I ended up changing a couple meals this past week. We broke the fast on Friday and got take out pizza with Rich's mother. On Saturday, there was a community barbecue and concert type thing, so I'm making the ham and bean soup today.

Friday, I was able to get a windfall of pickling cucumbers from someone's garden, so had an impromptu pickling session with Rich. He packs the cucumbers into the jars better than I do. On Saturday I picked up a few more pickling cukes at the farmer's market, enough to make three more jars of bread and butters and one more jar of dills (this time hot dills), so we now have nine pints and one half pint of bread and butters (and mine is the best recipe ever), three quarts of dills and one quart of spicy dills. I didn't think I'd get any preserving done this year, because of how our move decimated our garden plans and efforts and how the unpacking and work on the house was taking so much time, but at least we have a little bit. The canning bug has hit me, though, and I plan on making two kinds of corn relish this week and maybe some blueberry preserves.

God has really provided for us since our move. People keep giving us fresh produce from their gardens, we even picked up a whole bunch at church this morning. At the farmer's market the farmers give us way more than we pay for, without fail, because they have gotten to know us or like our children or are pleased to see a larger family. Not only are we getting so much produce for so little, but it has been comprised of many of the varieties we wanted to grow, but didn't get a chance to this year because of the job change and move. Most of our produce over the last two weeks has been given to us by people who want to share their bounty with our family. The Lord is so good to us.

We will begin our formal schooling this week. This is earlier than the school district starts here, but we try to run our school schedule around the Church year rather than the school district's plans. Even with our many breaks, we end up in school more days than they do, because we continue schooling on most civil holidays, taking only Labor Day, Veteran's Day and Memorial Day off in common with the school year. Sometimes other civil holidays coincide with our term breaks or Church celebrations, but we don't consistently take them as holidays. We do school through the middle of July, however, so we always get Independence Day free.

I am excited to start school again and I know the children are, too. We just received a new art history program that we saw at the WHO and liked quite a bit, plus some more curricula to continue in our other studies. This will be a busy week!

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Vanilla Sugar and Berries, Cherry-Apple Cider
  Dinner: Ham & Bean Soup, Whole Wheat Bread, Salad, Haogen Melon


• Monday
  Breakfast: Yogurt & Berry Smoothies, Cantaloupe, Milky Tea
  Dinner: Salami Sandwiches on Kamut Bread with Pepper Jack Cheese, Lettuce & Tomato, Sliced Nectarines, Grapes


• Tuesday First Day of School!
  Breakfast: Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Apricots, Milk
  Dinner: Hamburger, Potimarron Squash, Eggplant, Pepper & Onion Saute, Wild Rice & Brown Rice Mix, Salad, Satsuma Plums


• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Leftover Pancakes & Syrup, Pomegranate Juice
  Dinner: Creamy Tuna Noodles & Peas, Salad, Fruit Plate


• Thursday
  Breakfast: Egg & Sausage Scramble, Spelt Toast, Mint Iced Tea
  Dinner: Beef Stew, Egg Noodles, Salad, Fruit Plate


• Friday
  Breakfast: Brown Rice Farina with Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Raisins, Milk
  Dinner: Vegetable Jalfrezi (I use a different mix of vegetables, based on what we have), Rice, Watermelon


• Saturday Rich Cooks

If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can.
What is on your menu this week?

Here is the list of foods from the freezer, fridge and pantry that I'm using this week. Anything from the freezer, pantry or fridge that was not bought specifically for this meal or this past week will be included in my lists.

Freezer:
Ground Beef
Ground Pork (we mix in the seasonings for sausage)
Beef Stew Meat
Frozen Peas

Fridge:
Meaty Ham Bone leftovers
Salami
Leftover Bruschetta Topping
Eggs
Butter
Yogurt
Sour Cream
Milk
Cherry-Apple Cider
Cheddar
Pepper Jack Cheese
Lettuce
Corn
Carrots
Cucumber
Celery
Red, Yellow & Green Peppers
Jalapenos
Grapes
Maple Syrup


Pantry:
All Herbs & Spices
Salt
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Canned Tuna
Kamut
Hard White Wheat
Soft White Wheat
Spelt
Pastry Flour
Egg Noodles
Mini Penne Pasta
Brown Rice
Wild Rice
Borlotti Beans
Steel Cut Oats
Yeast
Vanilla Extract
All Sugars
Tea
Nectarines

Apricots from our tree

Labels: Family, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

I have a couple frugality posts simmering in my mind, but it will be a little while until I can type them up and post them. In the meantime, this is something I've wanted to post about for a while.

Once upon a time, when I still had time to knit, I was part of a knitting group on usenet. It was a friendly group, straying from the topic occasionally, but usually getting back on track quickly.

Friendships developed between the members and people started posting more about their personal lives and other things not directly related to knitting or other yarn crafts. This was, overall, a good thing. It left room for some bad things, too, though.

For instance, someone posted one of those lists that she thought everyone would find funny. It was vastly inappropriate to the group topic. It was the one about if this country isn't a nation that was founded on Christian principles, then...

Well, it was the wrong group to post this list to in the first place, and it started a firestorm. One of the bullet points on the list was that this person wanted to receive postal mail on Easter. Someone who was not only annoyed at the list being posted, but evidently also very angry at religion, Christians and God and who was rather ignorant replied: You wouldn't get mail on Easter anyway. It's a Sunday.

I'll let you think about that for a moment.

Hmmm? I wonder why Sunday is a day without mail. Hmmm...

No work on Sunday, that came from Christianity. The whole day of rest thing, that was God's idea. So, if you enjoy the weekend, thank God and religious people.

The Romans and Greeks are not who invented the weekend. And yes, though there are many things the west has in common with non-western societies, because it turns out they are made up of humans as well, the reality is that our society is not based on those, but on western civilization. The day of rest comes from western culture directly through religious people and God's commands. If we had a strictly secular society, if somehow we had been able to throw off the yoke of religious "oppression" in the west, we would have much more to do with utilitarianism and less to do with rest.

We are coming up on a weekend with lots of fun activities in our area, then Labor Day weekend after that. Many people will take that time to rest, enjoy the outdoors, shop. All of that free time, just another great idea from God.

Labels: Culture and Politics, Faith and Morality

We missed both days of the farmer's market this week, so we were running a bit low on our fresh vegetables and fruit and having to wait until Wednesday to get more. However, one of Rich's new colleagues at work has a great garden and when we saw him at the fair last night, he asked how we were doing on tomatoes. We told him we were down to our last one, so he told us to swing by his house this afternoon and he'd send us home with more. Well, we picked up about 15 pounds of tomatoes or more, plus zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, spinach, dill, basil, beets, carrots, onions and grapes. Between all of that and the apricot tree, we are definitely set for produce until Wednesday. And it didn't even cut into our grocery budget.

Seeing his garden plot though gave us great hope for what and how much food we can produce next summer. We have a lot of good food to look forward to then!

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Pancakes & Maple Syrup, Sausage Patties
  Dinner: Smoked Chicken & Bean Stew


• Monday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Cinnamon Sugar, Grapes
  Dinner: Hamburger & Garden Vegetable Skillet, Blackberry Cobbler


• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Pepper & Potato Hash with Fried Eggs
  Dinner: Shredded Beef, Rice, Succotash


• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Cracked Wheat Hot Cereal, Yogurt & Mango Smoothies
  Dinner: Grilled Salmon, Cucumber-Tomato Salad Tomato-Basil Bruschetta, Fettuccine Bucati Alfredo with Garlic Chives from our friends' garden


• Thursday
  Breakfast: Beef Hash, Apricots
  Dinner: Bruschetta, Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Sliced, Boiled Beets


• Friday
  Breakfast: Toad in the Hole, Toast Cutouts
  Dinner: Creamy Tuna Noodles & Peas, Salad


• Saturday
  Breakfast: Blackberry Waffles
  Dinner: Ham & Bean Soup, Whole Wheat Bread

If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can.
What is on your menu this week?

Here is the list of foods from the freezer, fridge and pantry that I'm using this week. Anything from the freezer, pantry or fridge that was not bought specifically for this meal or this past week will be included in my lists.

Freezer:
Ham
Chuck Steak
Ground Beef
Ground Pork (we mix in the seasonings for sausage)
Smoked Chicken Carcass
Mangoes

Fridge:
Eggs
Butter
Yogurt
Sour Cream
Milk
Corn
Carrots
Cucumber
Celery
Red Peppers
Jalapenos
Maple Syrup


Pantry:
All Herbs & Spices
Salt
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Olive Oil
Canned Tuna
Cracked Wheat
Basmati Rice
Whole Wheat Flour
Pastry Flour
Egg Noodles
Fettuccine
Vallarta Beans
Runner Cellini Beans
Steel Cut Oats
Yeast
Vanilla Extract
Honey
All Sugars

Apricots from our tree
Basil from our herb pots

Labels: Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

This picture is Jerome at three years old minus one day. You cannot see how dark he has become in this photo. I will try to get one today that shows his new, sunshiny coloring.


Here he is today with both rice pudding and toothpaste on his shirt. He has darkened up the most of all of us and he was not the darkest to begin with. Rich was scrubbing the dirt off his legs the other night and couldn't get it all off. He finally realized that the remaining dirt was actually just the new color of Jerome's skin.

The children and I finished priming the wall behind him today. It no longer has the scary stains and most of the scrapes and holes are masked. The people who lived here before evidently shot bbs and poked pins in frequent and random patterns all over every wall.

Jerome is three years old today! He is endearing and sweet and affectionate and we are so glad we have him. He's a precocious little boy, too, which we hope is something he is getting from his namesake. He still has a little of St. Jerome's temper and irascibility, but his desire for holiness and knowledge are already showing themselves in him. How can you not love this guy?

Three Thrilling Things About Jerome
1. He is adorable! I think he's one of the cutest children in the world and who else should know better, I see him every day.
2. He is hilarious. Our lives are filled with laughter because of him. I was explaining stinginess to the children and how it was a bad thing (we read it in a story) that we should not do. Jerome piped up "Why can't we?"
3. He is persistent. He still insists he's marrying Kyrie, Mike. He has a little song and dance about it now.

And here is my baby when he was first born, wrapped in a blanket I knit for him. Which he has recently discovered I made for him and is busy bragging about to his siblings.


I think his was the first birth announced on this blog. May he have many, many more years on this earth. Happy birthday Jerome!

Labels: Birthday, Family

After nearly two months, I am back to menu planning. We're functioning on a little less than normal, because we are replacing the oven in our kitchen. So, I have a working stove top, a crock pot, grills and a working, but possessed oven. It has been challenging coming up with meals that do not use the oven at all. It works well enough to broil, or if the exact temperature doesn't matter that much, like baked potatoes or something, but precise temperatures are not going to happen on this oven. That, and the fact that we've had hot, hot weather, means I'm not that keen to cook with the oven anyway.

I am switching this to a Sunday to Saturday schedule, because that is working better with my calendar. I'm also adding breakfast to my menu plans, since breakfast and dinner are what I always plan. We tend to eat leftovers for lunch, or something that is easy and quick to make on the fly.

We are still cooking from our freezer and pantry, but our produce is almost all coming from an amazing farmer's market that we have twice a week. I pick up about three or four days of fresh, inexpensive produce and we eat on it until it is time to get the next few days' worth. Wonderful!

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Berry Yogurt Smoothies, Fried Eggs, Cantaloupe
  Dinner: Smoked Chicken Salad with New Potatoes, Watermelon


• Monday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Sausage
  Dinner: Crock Pot Spareribs and Beans, Pea & Potato Salad, Roasted Corn, Watermelon


• Tuesday Jerome's birthday!
  Breakfast: Warm Rice Pudding with Raisins and Cinnamon
  Dinner: Pizza & French Fries (take out from a great wood fired pizza place), Salad, Chocolate Cake


• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal, Sliced Nectarines
  Dinner: Torteggas (with corn tortillas, because that is what we have), Watermelon


• Thursday
  Breakfast: Toad in the Hole, Apricots from our tree!
  Dinner: Claudia's Chicken & Rice, Salad


• Friday
  Breakfast: Spinach & Egg Omelets, Apricots
  Dinner: Pineapple Fried Rice, Garlic Green Beans, Watermelon


• Saturday
  Breakfast: Berry Pancakes & Maple Syrup, Sausage Patties
  Dinner: Fair Food!

If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can.
What is on your menu this week?


Here is the list of foods from the freezer, fridge and pantry that I'm using this week. Anything from the freezer, pantry or fridge that was not bought specifically for this meal or this past week will be included in my lists.

Freezer:
Spareribs
Ground pork (we mix in the seasonings for sausage)
Chicken Stock
Pineapple
Peppers
Green Beans
Peas
Spinach


Fridge:
Eggs
Butter
Yogurt
Cheddar Cheese
Feta Cheese
Milk
Basil
Corn
Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumber
Celery
Purple Peppers
Red Peppers
Red Onions
Scallions
Watermelon
Raspberries
Blackberries
Cantaloupe
Maple Syrup
Corn Tortillas



Pantry:
All Herbs & Spices
Salt
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes
Nectarines
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Sesame Oil
Champagne Vinegar
Mustard
Soy Sauce
Oyster Sauce
Frank's Chile Lime Hot Sauce
Whole Wheat Flour
Pastry Flour
Sushi Rice
Basmati Rice
Cellini Runner Beans
Steel Cut Oats
Yeast
Baking Soda
Vanilla Extract
Honey
All Sugars
Canned Diced Tomatoes
Water Chestnuts
Sesame Seeds
Cashews
Raisins

Apricots from our tree

Labels: Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

We had this for dinner on Tuesday. It was a slightly more expensive meal than we normally eat, because of the smoked salmon, but still very affordable. It also took only five minutes more than the time it took to cook the pasta. This meant I didn't have the oven on or the stove on for very long. It was a light (tasting) and filling meal for summer, didn't take long to make and only required a pot, strainer and spoon to prepare.

If I had been able to find spinach at the farmer's market, I probably could have knocked more than a dollar and a half or more off the total cost, but it still was only about $11.82 for the whole meal for the eight of us, including the melon we had for dessert. Not bad, really, especially since the salmon was wild caught. Since there are a lot of $5.00 dinner challenges out there, but they generally are feeding four people, this would almost work for them. That's only $5.91 for four people. If I had been able to get the spinach at the farmer's market, it would have been at least a dollar and a half less, maybe more, so it would have made the meal about $10.32 for the eight of us or $5.16 for four.

Had I used a similar amount of smoked, organic chicken, it would have cost $8.73, unsmoked, organic chicken that I had cooked ahead of time, it would have been $7.86 and had I used leftover chicken from another meal, it would have been a negligible cost and the entire meal would have been $6.88. For eight people. It isn't as hard as people think to make inexpensive, good meals for a family. Even without using instant foods, canned or boxed preparations. I bought most of the ingredients at the Grocery Outlet and the farmer's market, the pasta at Fred Meyer.

So, without further ado, here is your lovely summer recipe.

1 pound whole grain pasta of your choice
Splash of olive oil
1 large bunch of spinach, washed and dried, or bag o'spinach
1 large or two medium tomatoes, diced (I mean large, ours was about a pound)
1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced (if you buy them at the store and plant the ends with the roots, they will grow back)
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled (we used the kind with kalamata olives, basil and sun dried tomatoes in it, because that was what was at the store)
8 oz smoked wild caught salmon, flaked and mostly off of the skin
salt and pepper to taste

Large cantaloupe, sliced for dessert

Bring a large pot of very salted water to a boil. Toss in your pasta and cook as long as the package directs. Prepare your other ingredients while the pasta cooks.

Drain the pasta, return to the pot in which it was cooked. Drizzle with a little olive oil and stir. Add the spinach and cover for two or three minutes to wilt it a little. Stir it in along with the scallions, tomatoes, feta cheese and salmon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with ice cold water to drink, or juice, or white wine or whatever you like. We just had water that night. Eat your lovely melon that is perfectly ripe and sweet for dessert.

Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen

It is actually pretty close to the end of apricot season here, but because our tree hasn't been pruned or taken care of in several years, the fruit was later than the fruit of our neighbors and farmers around here. So, we are still gorging ourselves on apricots at just about every meal.

We would have gotten larger fruit had the tree been cared for properly, but we are happy with our abundance and windfall nonetheless.

We do have internets at home now, though we are still so busy with house projects I probably won't be able to post much for a little while longer. I'll try to get some more photos of the property and our projects up soon.

Labels: Blog Info, Family, House