Sweet Kitchen Helpers

The summer is fading fast and I miss not having a BIG garden.

I decided this year our family would not have time plant a garden or go to the

 Terri's Berries Produce Co-op.

Giving birth to my baby boy Ian, having my oldest son turn 18 and graduate from high school as well as host a boat load of house guest to see and attend it all was enough for me. The produce co-op is about a 35 minute drive one way (over an hour round trip).....a trip that I was not willing to do with a new baby. It feels like I just gave birth just yesterday.....I'm tired most days and still having nursing issues but I'm not complaining!! He's so worth a few years with out a garden!

I'm sorry to say that this year the ingredients for my beef stew were store bought and not organic and homegrown, my bread came from the store not from scratch but thats the way it is some years.

I really miss being in my garden, and watching my children dig, plant and pick what we'll have for dinner. But having Baby Ian in my life is so worth not having all that extra work a garden demands.

Thank you to all my blog friends that leave comments they mean the world to me.

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Chicken and stuffing casserole recipe!

You will find this delishish recipe over at my food blog!

I love how quick and easy this recipe is.

Life here with a new baby and 7 other people to feed, I need quick and easy!

Its also a great way to use up left over chicken.

http://rusticcountrycooking.blogspot.com/

Peace+

Georgainn

{C is for cake} and remembering the simple life!

Everyone payed their dollar then stepped on a number. The music started and the participants walked in a counter clockwise motion around the circle. Olivia was as cute as a button.  She gracefully strolled around with her cupcake purse draped on her arm, carefully stepping on the numbered squares. 
The music abruptly stops and a number is drawn. The gal yells 13!!!
Little Miss Olivia does not even know she is a winner of the church cakewalk.  Once she is told,
 she became so excited to pick a cake from a large selection of delectable sweets, her eyes sparkled with such innocent happiness. As a mom I wanted to savor the moment forever. sigh****

 

Olivia picked the homemade strawberry cake with carrier!

This homemade cake was yummo...so moist!

It made a tasty Sunday dessert and was chased down with a spot of tea.

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Its funny how a simple cakewalk game and homemade cake can carry me back in time, to the loving innocent  memories of the of my childhood.

The gift of simple purposeful living is something that I want to pass onto my children. In this modern society we live it it can seem an uphill battle.

We live in an era where going out to eat and store bought cakes seem the norm.

Anything less than that, is viewed as a punishment or that you are "poor" and can't afford.

Lately I have felt out of touch with my living simple ways I have come to love. I think because we did not grow a big garden this year it has really changed many other ways we once lived our life.

I miss the smell of the dirt and planting seeds. I miss strolling through the tall sunflowers in my bare feet and letting the garden tell me what was for dinner.

I miss the sound of my juicer going none stop!

I miss reading through my vegetarian cookbooks for ideas on how to use up my harvest!

I did not make any jam this year :( Thankfully I have some left from last year!!

I did not put up any veggies this year. No homemade tomato soup! Nothing...Nada!

Zero, Zilch!

Not having a garden has had a negative impact on the natural ways I once lived simply.

The rhythm of my day and how I live daily was very much changed by not having a garden!

It has changed how I eat and shop for my family. 

After some talk with hubs we decided to join our local CSA farm for the remainder of the summer and early fall.

My pick-up at the farm starts next weekend and I can't wait!

I have been yearning for that connection with the earth that fresh garden veggies bring.

I can't wait to experience eating new veggies and create new recipes for my family.

Have you strayed from the simple life you really desire?

What steps to you do daily to help you live simply with purpose?

Peace and joy for a wonderful day!

Georgiann

Its A Good Thing~

Whats a good thing you may ask?

Well for me it is fresh rolls with peanut sauce and bubble tea full coconut jelly from a Vietnamese place in town.
The taste of farm fresh raspberries......made into low sugar jam before they all go eaten!

My last picture is of the $15.00 treasure I found at last weekends Estate sale, that too is a good thing!
This bed frame is a double!
One of my boys has this same bed only in a twin size and I payed $75.00 for it! So this was quit a deal!
As I was leaving the sale, heading back to the car.....the bed frame jumped out at me! I was so excited!

Also.... today I was hoping to see a friend of mine one last time before she moved. With a card and a large jar of my homemade strawberry jam (made last week) in hand, I walked through the picket gate and down the sidewalk to what was my old friends house! I knocked on the door and the lady who answered said I had just missed her by a day! But being the friendly gal I am....her and I got to talking. It seemed natural to ask her if she would enjoy the jam? She was thrilled to except and invited me plus 5 of my 6 kiddos whom had with me to step inside! Her and I chatted it up for about 30 minutes or so.  She wanted my phone # and said she looks forward to having me over again....with all my kiddos! She wants them to meet her grand kids!
My new friend Linda said, she was glad my friend was not there.....because she gained a new friend!

God has really showed his blessing to me this week!
God is good and has blessed me with much, for that I am truly thankful!

Well I'm off to bed to read some new books I bought from church!

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

A Real Deal!

I wanted to post a few pictures of this really cool dress before my tot wears it....as I'm not sure how white it will be after.

After eating at the Old Country Buffet last weekend with our family of 8 plus 2 of my kiddos friends....we all walked together around the mall.
 As we walked along......my girls and I stumbled into the Gymboree store when I saw this cute little dress and bloomers on the clearance rack.
As I quickly ripped  gently pulled it off the rack, the clerk said, the dress is another 20% off the last price! Soo the $32.00 dress was marked down to about $12.00 ......20% off that would bring the price to about $9.00.

SOLD to the lady with the BIG smile!!!!!

Can you believe I only payed about $9.00 for this dress?
Me either, but I did!
I pray little Miss Olivia will get to wear this sweet dress more than once....after all did I mention its white?

Look at the fabric....its real thick and textured!

I love love the color green and daisies yell,"simple summer"!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

March Balance Update~

Over at the blog tittled "which name" I am participating in "a step toward balance".
Go over and read what others are doing or decide to join in!

Make this your best year ever.....one month,one step at a time!

Read here to see what other things I have done since January to find balance.

For March my goal is to keep out of the grocery store and use the food I have in my freezers and on my Costso shelves. Make meals from what I have.

So here is the update for week 2~

• Walmart $40.00 (cheese sticks and frozen food like potpies, tater tots and fish sticks)
• Safeway $105.96 (fresh fruits and veggies)

So a total of $145.96 for week 2.

A great improvement from my first week!

Peace and Love In Christ,

Georgiann

Confessions Of A Embarrassed Housewife~

OK here goes......

I have a hard time staying on track or budget when it comes to the grocery store!
My goal this month was to stop hordeing  start empting the freezers of all the stuff I managed to stuff in there!
For instance the 2 large turkeys I got on sale at Thanksgiving......the Ham and Prime Rib that was on sale at Christmas. I wanted to use up all the 1/2 bags of nuts and  frozen veggies I stored up for the winter.....kind of like a squirrel~LOL

Am I the only one out there that does that?

I was striveing to eat up all the food from my freezers. Like the lone burrito and hot pocket that made its way to the back of the cooler making way for the Costco lot~
At my house the last few snack foods get striped of there box and tucked into the nooks and crannies. I vow not to forget them but some how months pass and well you know......

Now for my confession. I only made it 6 days into my goal and then blew it BIG time!

I did not feel the need to go to the store but, was needing a few ingredients to make Cheesey Chicken Enchilladas Verde and all the trimmings of a Mexican style dinner, for 2 families, I told I would bring dinner this week.
One of my church friends just had her 7th baby and another friend (from MOPS) was grieving a miscarrage and I wanted to honor both by bringing them dinner.

So on Sunday March 7, 2010 I set out for Winco (I rearly shop there because you must bag your own stuff.)
My hubby says, Winco has the best prices and prefers I shop there! I prayed as I entered the store....knowing I would have to report back if I blew it......and even that was not enough to keep me from blowing it BIG time!

Did I tell you that I'm a book hound? and that Winco has a really sweet Christian book rack?
Did I tell you that they have a really large bulk food area.....with whole grains and herbs?
Did I tell you that they have herb seed packets I never saw any place else? And they even had the starter mix I was needing to start my lettuce up on my pot rack in my kitchen?

Here is the break down (pun intended)

Winco Total   $274.15

Of that I only needed to spend  $49.06 on the things needed for the dinners I planed to make.
Money I spent on non-food wants was $56.60.
That leaves $168.49 spent on food that I will eat but did not need right now.

It gets worse.....I forgot to buy kitchen trash bags and I wanted to use up some nuts and unsweetened coconut....I planned to make some magic bars....but I needed some sweetened condenced milk, so off I went to Safeway! I ended up spending a total of  $39.57 at Safeway.

Yesterday since I was already across town to take dinner to my church friend, I decided to stop in at Costco! The plan was to get some more of my Organic Vanilla Soy Silk,a large jug of salsa and some lunch at the snack bar for the kiddos.

I ended up spending $91.37 at Costco.
Of which $43.96 was on non-food want items.
$15.80 was spent on food I needed and some jugs of milk.
So that leaves $31.61 spent on food we will eat but did not need!

I do just fine if I don't set foot in the store. I'm always temped by the non-food wants the grocery stores carry.
Though it seems I blew my goal BIG time I will still give my no shopping for food goal a go!

It is only March 9 and I have enough food to last me for quit a while.....I will use what I have.
I will not give up just because I blew it.

It did feel good to use up all the 1/2 bags of this and that in the first week...before I went on my willy nilly spending spree!

Well, keep me in your prayers as I continue on my journey this month!
I will dig in my freezer to see if I have a cornbeef for St. Patrick's Day coming up.

I know I have cabbage.......Well have a fun filled day and remember to never give up......there is always hope, with the Lords help!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann                                            

Balance....One Step At A Time~

As a Christian wife and mother I am always trying to improve myself and find balance.

I challenge myself to try new things. Over the past few years I have started baking bread almost daily.

I try to eat vegitarian a few meals a week...even started raising chickens for eggs.

I got my kiddos invloved in  growing a large organic garden!

In January, I gave up coffee and high sugar French vanilla creamer.

In February, I started going blanket time with my youngest 3 kiddos...I have not posted about it yet....

I have joined  the blog "which name?" and other blogs in a monthy challenge to find balance in our lives.

Each person posts at the begining of the month what their personal challenge will be.

Everyone will be working to simplify and find balance in their own way!

Every person will post something different....join us if you will?

Read what others are doing....get inspired~

Make this a year of change....one baby step at a time!

I will report how my month goes as I go along!

For me the willy-nilly spending party is over!

For the Month of March

I challenge myself~

 I want to see how long I can go with out spending money at the grocery store.

I want to live out of the pantry and only cook what I already have!

I want to keep track of my food budget better than I have in the past!

I will keep you all updated~

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Our Lovely Sunday~ Part 1

We are member of a Wild Life Park......its right in our own back yard so to speak!

So this past Sunday Hubby and I decided to load up our family (except our oldest son, who was at a hunger retreat) and head to the park! The weather here was sunny but cool.....we had a bit of spring fever going on!

 With 40 mintutes before our tram would leave to take us in the free roaming area......

 we had time for the bathrooms and a quick visit to the Discovery Cabin!

The Discovery Cabin has computers,crafts, a reading corner and small amimals ie: frogs,snakes salamanders,bees etc.

There are animal pelts and other things to touch and see!

The cabin is quit large...the last picture only shows 1/3 of the size of its total size!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our LOVELY SUNDAY .......pictures of the AWESOME scenery and animals!

You know your a homeschool family when......

ALL your kids say they want to stay longer and discover more things in the cabin~

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Garden Beef Stew~

These two beautiful and very talented girls of mine were so excited to gather the veggies from our garden on their quest to make Garden Beef Stew!
In the garden they found carrots (of many colors) some potatoes,tomatoes,bell pepper,zucchini,onion and a few herbs.....parsley, thyme and oregano!
I also added a sweet potato and some celery...from the store;(

They looked so cute trotting across the yard with there full baskets of vegetable finds!


Clean and chop all the veggies! Put in a big pot and stir......add 1 box of French Onion stock,
some tomato paste and a dash of Worcestershire Sauce (War sauce)......








Brown up some stew meat and add some flour to use as a thickener!
Put veggies and meat together and cook all day! (I usually start off using my crock pot for this kind of thing but my counters were full) I then HAD to get it out because my cast iron pot was not big enough! Messy Messy!




You can't have Garden Beef Stew without homemade bread!Here is Olivia keeping a close eye on the bread going in the bread maker I bought from our neighbors garage sale for only $5.00! (I already have one but wanted another) With a large family one bread maker was just not enough and now 2 kiddos can help without bickering! (I think Olivia calls the new one) hee heeI also bought a battery powered lantern for $1.00 and the batteries still work! I'm ready for winter when the power goes out!



Thanks for coming by!
If this is your first time here WELCOME! I'm having a giveaway to celebrate my first year of bloggin' to enter scroll down to find the giveaway post!

Blessings,
Georgiann

The Rewards Of Gardening~

We are finally reaping the rewards of fresh veggies from the garden!
Jackie has enjoyed picking the ripe produce....and running our juicer!
She actually drank 2 glasses of juice made from carrots,celery,apple and beet with the tops! Very healthy!
Blessings,
Georgiann

Going Green!

When going Green we might think why bother?...the things I do can't change the world!
I'm here to tell you....
Every bit counts to make this world a better place! Change starts with us!

One thing I recently did was decide to not buy paper napkins and paper towels!
I had said that line before, but did not buy an alternative to wipe our faces at meal time. Cloth napkins are very spendy and I would need a lot! So after a short time we went back to paper towels.

I guess I thought we were just going to be neat little eaters....ALL 8 of us! Never needing to wipe our face again....even on spaghetti night! LOL Boy was I wrong:)

So this time around I came up with a new idea. I bought striped dish cloths from Walmart to use as napkins and for spills. (The dish cloths I use for cleaning are plain white.) A package of 7 cloths was $3.00. I bought 4 packs...so I spent $12.00 and have 28 cloths. Paper towels are about $8.00 and last about 1 month or less. So I will save $$$$ in the long run. Frugal and Green! YAH!


I also decided to buy a very small $10.00 trash can with a pull out bucket to but the dirty NAPKINS aka dish cloths in for laundry. The pull out bucket is small and easy for my 3 yr old to carry the soil cloths upstairs to the laundry room. (it also helps to keep them from getting lost in the laundry).

My 3yr old loves to help with anything and everything! She has been folding the dish towels and wash rags since she was 2. She is really lovin' her newest little chore!



So in honor of St. Patricks Day....what are you going to do to go GREEN?

Have a blessed weekend!

Free Coupon From Kashi~

If you go to Kashi.com you can get a coupon for a frozen meal!
I don't buy to many frozen meals as I cook mostly from scratch.

I do like the Kashi brand and how can I pass up FREE!


Blessings,
Georgiann

Waste Not!

Have you ever gone to the store to buy produce? Some times get the big Costco size bags? We all feel so good throwing all those veggies into the cart do we not? Our kiddos are going to be eating healthy! Right?

In theory that is what we plan to do but in most cases the reality is,all our expensive produce sits buried in the crisper drawer. Our veggies never see the light of day until we decide to clean out the fridge in a few weeks. Throwing away hard earned money!

We vow next time will be different....we are going to serve up those veggies to our family... but some how we repeat the cycle over and over. We are good people trying to do the right thing! We want to do well for our family!

That used to be me! I asked myself "Why do I keep repeating the same cycle?

I figured out the obvious....dinner time at our house with 6 kiddos and a Husband was very busy! The thought of taking 5 various bags of veggies out of the fridge....then trying to wash them in a sink that was full of the days dishes was something I would avoid at all cost. Oh and then there was the issue of finding a spot on the clutter filled counter to chop them! EEEKKK!!!

It didn't help that Hubby would say
"What is your problem with serving up the veggies!"

I guess the disarray of my kitchen by the end of a long day was causing the nightly dance of the veggies!
More like me doing a solo break dance (and you better not get in my way!)while the veggies stayed hidden in the crisper drawer! LOL

I have since made a few simple changes...I clean and prep ALL my veggies the day I bring them home! (my back was starting to hurt from many nights of break dancing. LOL) My house is now a happy home and we now eat our veggies! (And I leave the break dancing moves to my kiddos!)

I use my V slicer to quickly do the work. I got my slicer at the fair for $40.00 it came with many blades and a safety handle. This is one of the most used gadgets in my kitchen. It makes quick easy work of slicing veggies for sandwiches,salads and party platters. It usually only takes me 20 minutes or less to have all my veggies cleaned,chopped and stored.



I use my V slicer on cucumbers,lettuce,onions,peppers,carrots,celery,tomatoes,cabbage,zucchini and the list goes on! The rest of my veggies I just chop...like radishes,broccoli,cauliflower and green onions.

I use clear plastic bins with lids made for storing shoes. They are big and stack easily in the fridge.

I put the clean,dried and chopped lettuce in its own bin to keep it from getting soggy.
I put all the other veggies in a large bowel or a different bin.

Now salads and sandwich makings are just a grab away! Having all the prep done comes in handy when you are famished after a long day and are tempted to grab for the unhealthy carbs! Healthy eats for the kids are ready to go! Your veggies are now convenient!




I wish you all many healthy eats! Now take your kiddos and a bag of fresh veggies to the park! Let them see the light of day!

And remember....like my Hubby says,
"the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". So ladies it time for a change!


Prayers and Blessings,
Georgiann