Pro-Life Speech

This video is a pro-life speech given by a 12 year old Canadian girl who decided to speak out against abortion in her school’s speech contest, despite teachers and school officials who encouraged her to pick a different topic. This is a very touching video, it left me with tears in my eyes. I certainly applaud this young lady!

Update and Lots of Pictures

Sorry I haven’t been around much this week! Monday, my computer crashed and I had to totally reformat it. Thankfully, all the really important stuff was on my external hard-drive, so I lost very little. But, it took all day to get it reformatted and to get everything re-loaded onto it. Now my computer is back to working normally again, so I’m happy!

I’ve also been busy this week working on digital scrapbooking kit to benefit the family of Tuesday Whitt. A group of several designers, including myself are creating a gigantic kit to sell at Faith Sisters to help raise money for the family. You can read more of Tuesday’s story HERE. This kit will be available soon, it goes into the shop at Faith Sisters on March 1st! So, for the next week or so, I’m working on getting everything set up, with a lot of help from the other designers participating.

I haven’t posted pictures of our garden in a while and I took a bunch on Sunday. I wanted to get them up on the blog on Monday, but because of the computer issues, I didn’t get a chance. I have a few extra minutes to do it now before I finish lunch and we start homeschool. So without further ado…here they are (lol!)

Saturday night Marty was looking through the Seeds of Change catalog and found these things called “Soil Blockers”. The are used to make solid blocks of soil to use as seed starters. You can read about the benfits of using them HERE. Here’s a picture of one of them…

Anyway, in the catalog, they range from $32 dollars and up. Marty being the handy guy that he is decided he could build one for less…here is the result and besides being a bit hard to get the block out of the base, it works great!

Here is the 2 piece soil blocker Marty made.

You fill the base up with soil and use the plunger to pack the dirt down tight.

Here Colt is demonstrating how to pack the dirt into the base with the plunger.

Now you push the plunger down and lift the base off, using the plunger to push the soil block out the other end.

Here’s a finished soil block.

Here’s some soil blocks all ready to plant. Marty simply made a small hole in the top center and planted the seed. These are planted with tomatoes.

Marty’s also been wanting to do something similar as planting potatoes in stacks of tires. Since we have an over abundance of plywood that Marty brings home from work, he decided to try this using stacking plywood boxes. He got the first “layer” made and got our potatoes planted.

Bottomless plywood boxes planted with potatoes. He’ll keep building them and stacking them.

The rest of the pictures are just random photos I took while we were working in the garden 🙂

Our compost piles. We had to start a second batch going, so Marty built a second container.

Our puppy Rook…he’s getting BIG!

Marty planting onions.

Broccoli growing in our garden.

One of our onion plots

One of our carrot plots

Broccoli Greens

Turnip Greens

Lettuce

Spinach

Mustard Greens

A view of our garden

Marty watering his newly planted onions.

Riley helped me weed and this is his bucket full of weed destined for the compost pile.

Riley emptying his bucket into the newest compost pile.

Riley filling up on water so he can help water.

Riley checking out the broccoli

Why Eat the Nourishing Traditions Way

This is a short little video that I put together, using the introduction to my e-book “Nourishing Ways”.

Menu Plan Monday – 02-09-09

I haven’t participated in Menu Planning Monday in a while, so I thought I’d do it today!

Here’s my menu and recipes for the week:

BREAKFASTS (choice of 1 of these)
–Scrambled eggs with misc. veggies
—Scrumptious Oatmeal
—Fruit salad with yogurt

LUNCHES (My diet lunches and substitutions are in parenthesis)
Lunch 1
Nitrate/nitrite free beef hotdogs from Homestead Heritage
beans
coleslaw
(hot dogs without bread, small serving beans & as much coleslaw as I’d like)

Lunch 2
Homemade Tomato Soup
cheese sandwiches
(Salad & Soup)

Lunch 3
Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches
veggie sticks
(Salad with Tuna)

Lunch 4
Nitrate/nitrite free Lunchmeat Sandwiches
veggie sticks
(Salad with lunchmeat)

Lunch 5
Ground Beef Vegetable Soup
cheese sandwiches
(Salad & soup)

Lunch 6
Nitrate/nitrite free lunchmeat sandwiches
veggie sticks
(Salad with lunchmeat)

Lunch 7
Tuna Salad Sandwiches
veggie sticks
(Tuna salad over lettuce leaves)

DINNERS
Dinner 1
Baked Parmesan cheese pork chops
Butter baked sweet potatoes
garlic green beans.

Dinner 2
Beef, Cabbage & Broccoli Stir Fry

Dinner 3
Nitrate/Nitrite free smoked sausage from Homestead Heritage
Sauerkraut
Carrots in Butter Sauce

Dinner 4
Mexican Style Baked chicken Legs
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Okra & Tomatoes

Dinner 5
Meatloaf
Cauliflower with Cheese
Green Peas

Dinner 6
Baked Lemon Pepper Fish
Broccoli
Butter baked sweet potatoes

Dinner 7
Out to eat.

RECIPES:

Susan’s Homemade Tomato Soup

2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes (for spicier soup, use rotel style tomatoes)
1 stick butter, melted (raw or organic)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup milk (raw or organic)
1 tbsp. Dried basil
Sea salt & pepper to taste

In a large pan, melt the butter and sauté the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. Put in a blender and blend well. Return to the large pan. Put the tomatoes (liquid and all) into the blender and blend well. Add to the other vegetables in the pan. Add the chicken stock and seasonings to the pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Serve.

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Ground Beef Vegetable Soup

1 lb. Ground beef
½ cup onion, chopped
2 (14.5 oz.) cans stewed tomatoes
2 cup frozen vegetables (your choice, I use low carb)
Sea salt & pepper
2 ½ cup beef stock

Brown the ground beef with the onions. Add to a large pot along with remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer and simmer on low for about 1 hour, covered. Serve

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Tuna Salad

4 large can of tuna packed in water
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
¼ cup radish, chopped
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
4 dill pickles, chopped
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Sea salt & Pepper, to taste
Mayonnaise, to taste
Prepared Mustard, to taste

Open and drain tuna. Place in a large mixing bow. Add all the vegetables, pickles and hard-boiled eggs. Mix well. Add the mayonnaise and mustard to get the consistency you want. Season with sea salt & pepper to taste. You can also add 1 chopped apple if you’d like, I really like it that way, but Marty doesn’t. Serve as sandwiches or over lettuce.

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Garlic Green Beans

1 lb. Fresh green beans
1 Tbsp. butter (raw or organic)
3 tbsp. Garlic, minced
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Cook green beans for 2-3 minutes in salted water. You want them crisp-tender. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat and sauté garlic for about a minute. Add green beans and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. I also sometimes sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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Beef, Cabbage & Broccoli Stir Fry

1 lb. Ground beef
1 head cabbage, chopped
1 head broccoli cut into florets (save tough stalks and grate to make coleslaw!)
1 stick butter (raw or organic)
1 tbsp. garlic powder

In a large stockpot brown the ground beef. Add the butter and melt. Add remaining ingredients and stir-fry until the veggies are crisp-tender. Serve.

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Mexican Style Baked Chicken Legs

2 eggs
1/3 cup taco sauce
¼ tsp. Salt
1 ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 ½ tsp. Chili powder
1 ½ tsp. Ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. dried oregano
3 lbs. Chicken legs
6 tbsp. Butter (raw or organic)

In a bowl, beat the egg, taco sauce and salt until blended. In a ziplock bag, combine the parmesan cheese, chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder and oregano. In a shallow rimmed baking pan, melt the butter as the oven preheats to 400 degrees. Remove pan from oven once butter melts. Dip the chicken legs into the egg mixture and then shake in the bag with the Parmesan mixture. Add chicken legs to the baking pan and turn to coat. Bake, uncovered for 35 minutes, until no longer pink.

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Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 large sweet potatoes
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Boil sweet potatoes in large pot of water until soft. Drain the potatoes. Mash the potatoes. Add remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

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Okra & Tomatoes

1 pkg. frozen okra
1 can rotel tomatoes
Sea salt & pepper to taste.

In a saucepan, cook the okra in a little water along with the rotel tomatoes. Cook until okra is tender. Season with sea salt and pepper.

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Low Carb Meat Loaf

2 lb. Ground beef
2-3 eggs
½ cup onion, chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup green bell pepper, chopped
Garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper

Mix together all ingredients and place in a loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

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Cauliflower with Cheese

1 pkg. Frozen cauliflower, cooked
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg.

Place cauliflower in bottom of baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over cauliflower. Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes.

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Baked Lemon Pepper Fish

2 lbs. Fish filets
½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. coconut oil (liquefied)
Pepper
2 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

Place fish filets in a casserole dish. Drizzle with coconut oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with pepper and dried parsley flakes. Cover with foil. Let sit for 5 minutes. Put in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

A Week of Modest Dress Winter Edition – Day 7

This is my outfit for today (Saturday)

–Pink & gray striped blouse with ruffled front and puff sleeves, Faded Glory brand, purchased at Wal-mart for $12 (Marty bought it for me this week!)
–Denim skirt, Swak Jeans brand, purchased at Lane Bryant Outlet on sale for $29
–pink & white stripe crew socks purchased at Walmart ($6 for 5 pair, they’re all pink and khaki prints. My favorite are the dotted ones!)
–Khaki “Mary Jane” walking shoes

I really LOVE his outfit! I know it’s not “winter”, but it’s been in the 70’s around here this past week. Plus I’m ready for some SPRING! I’ve pulled the sides of my hair back into a pony tail and clipped with a small “claw”. I tucked my bangs behind my ear and pinned with a pretty pewter heart hair clip.

Well this ends my photo tour of my week in dresses/skirts. I really love wearing dresses and skirts and I really do go about my daily work wearing them. This includes feeding the animals, gardening, cleaning, laundry, etc.

A Week of Modest Dress Winter Edition – Day 6

This is my outfit for today (Friday)

–khaki waffle weave henley t-shirt, Mountain Lake brand, purchased at a garage sale for $0.50
–Denim “Overall” jumper, Blue J. Brand, purchased at a garage sale, can’t remember how much I bought it for…it’s been around a long time!
–cream knee high socks
–Khaki “Mary Jane” walking shoes – Danskin Now brand, purchased at Walmart for $16

I just washed my hair, so I have it down with just the bangs pulled back. I usually wash my hair at night, but was too tired last night 🙂 Riley wanted to pose with me this morning.

A Week of Modest Dress Winter Edition – Day 5

This is my outfit for today (Thursday)

–Red floral waffle weave henley t-shirt, Faded Glory brand, Christmas gift from my Mom
–long “Docker’s” style denim skirt, Bobby Brooks brand, bought at garage sale for $0.25
–Khaki “Mary Jane” walking shoes – Danskin Now brand, purchased at Walmart for $16.
–White knee socks

My hair is down, because it’s Thursday and that usually means we go and do something after Marty gets off work. I really like this t-shirt. My Mom actually gave me 2 of them, this one and a cream colored one with small blue floral print. They are really comfortable and great for layering.

Two more days of outfits coming!

Simple Dinner Wins Rave Reviews

As you know, I’ve been on a diet, starting this past Sunday. I’ve been doing pretty well with it so far, sticking to my meat and veggies and avoiding carbs such as breads, grains and really starchy vegetables. My family has also been pretty happy with the meals, but the REALLY liked dinner last night! Here is the menu:

• Mixed Veggie Salad with Homemade Yogurt/buttermilk Ranch Dressing
• Seasoned Parmesan Cheese Crusted Center Cut Pork Chops
• Butter Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Carrots in Butter Sauce

Wow, I got rave reviews! These are all recipes that I just created on the spur of the moment, but turned out really well. Of course, I’m going to share them with you 🙂

My Mixed Veggie Salad was simply 1/2 lettuce, 1/2 green cabbage, chopped onion, carrots, celery and green peppers.

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Homemade Yogurt & Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

1 pint canning jar with lid
Homemade yogurt made using raw or organic milk
Homemade buttermilk
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
parsley flakes
dill
chives
salt
Pepper

You’ll see, there are no measurements for for the seasoning, I just did it to taste. In a pint canning jar put in the yogurt to about the line shown in the photo to the let. Add the buttermilk to about the line shown on the jar to the left. Now, add you seasonings. Put on the lid and shake well to mix. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. My family REALLY liked this salad dressing! Next time, I’m going to finely chop some onion and garlic to add to it and let it sit overnight before serving. It’s really much better after letting it rest overnight…the flavors mingle and combine much better. Store in the refrigerator. Also, you may need to adjust the yogurt/buttermilk ratio to get it to the consistency you like. The first time I made it, it was too thin, so the next time I added more yogurt to thicken it up. That worked really good and the consistency was more to our liking. This is also really good with a mixture of yogurt and kefir, we tried that at my SIL’s house and it was really good!

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Seasoned Parmesan Cheese Crusted Center Cut Pork Chops

6 center cut pork chop
2 eggs scrambled
1 stick butter, melted (raw or organic)

For the Crusting:
8 oz. grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. parsley flakes
2 tbsp. dried chopped onion
1/2 tbsp. each sea salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a ziplock bag, combine all the ingredients for the crusting. Combine well. In a bowl, scramble 2 egg. Melt the butter and put into the bottom of a baking dish. Dip each pork chop into the egg and then put in the ziplock bag with the crusting mix. Shake well to cover each pork chop. Place pork chops in the baking dish. Coat each pork chop the same way. Put baking dish in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes. I cooked for 4o minutes and it was too long, but mine weren’t really thick, so watch and adjust your cooking time.

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Butter Baked Sweet Potatoes

1-1/2 lb. sweet potatoes
1 stick butter
sea salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small baking dish, melt the butter. Cut the sweet potatos into chunks. Place them in the baking dish and toss with butter. Season with sea salt and pepper, toss again to coat. Place in the oven for 40 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are done through.

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Carrots in Butter Sauce

6 carrots
1 stick butter
sea salt & pepper, to taste

Cut the carrots into 1 inch pieces. Place in a saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and then cover. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes (until carrots are tender). Drain off most of the water and add 1 stick of butter. Let butter melt and season with sea salt and pepper.

This was such an easy menu and my family really loved it. It was not only a favorite, but it was healthy and made from scratch! Making meals from scratch does not have to be a difficult thing. I know exactly what my family consumed and I can ensure that they didn’t get any extra chemicals!

A Week of Modest Dress Winter Edition – Day 4

This is my outfit for today (Wednesday)

–Lavender layered look T-shirt, White Stag brand, purchased at a garage sale for $0.50
–Denim skirt, Swak Jeans brand, purchased at Lane Bryant Outlet on sale for $29
–White knee socks
–Khaki “Mary Jane” walking shoes

Okay are y’all tired of seeing me in a pony-tail yet….lol! I’ll try to do something a bit different with my hair tomorrow, since we usually go out for dinner on Thursday.

Serene Allison’s Simple Sour Dough Bread

I found these videos over at Keeper of the Home. I didn’t want to forget were I saw them at, so I thought I’d post them to my blog where I can find them again and so you can watch them too 🙂