Around the House

Lots going on this spring around our house!

We're winding up our school year. Only three weeks left after this week! Woo Hoo! We're all excited for summer break! This has been one of our best school years yet. I'm really looking forward to next year though and trying some new things with the kids. Beth is going to be getting into reading classics more next year, and she's very excited about that. We're also going to be doing an Astronomy unit study as a family. It will last about a year and we will learn a lot about God's creation in the sky...sun, moon and stars!

I'm preparing to make a wedding cake for my best friend's daughter, Heather. She's getting married June 5th and I get the privilege of making her a cherry blossom wedding cake. It has been almost 14 years since I've made a wedding cake, so I'm quite nervous. I made several of Heather's birthday cakes throughout her life, so it will be fun to make a cake for such an exciting milestone!

We're getting chickens! We're in the process of fixing up the chicken coop (I'll have to post pictures later) and they are supposed to ship the chicks out on my birthday, May 19th. We're getting 15 chicks -- 5 Welsummers, 5 Delawares and 5 Blue Andalusians. It will take several months, but I'm looking forward to our first eggs!

Bread baking is still a constant in our house. I've been grinding my own wheat and baking my own bread for three years now. It has been such a positive addition to our family's menu. I make sandwich rolls and blueberry muffins every week. Additionally, I make a loaf of bread here and there and other types of muffins. Sandwich roll and blueberry muffins are a staple in our house though. :)

Beth and I are winding up our first semester in the Bible Institute we're attending. We started in January and are really enjoying it. In total, it includes 6 semesters of Old Testament, New Testament and Theology. At the end of the three years, we will receive a diploma and will have 18 college credits that will transfer to our local university. If Beth decides to go there, she will have most, if not all, of her Bible classes that she needs. I'm learning so much and have truly enjoyed this new adventure!

We're planning a trip to Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky this summer. My brother, Darrell, will be turning 50, and we will be there to help celebrate! We'll also be able to visit my other brother Robert, and his family, my aunt Alberta, and hopefully some friends. Then we'll go to Kentucky for a family reunion. I'm looking forward to seeing cousins I haven't seen in years!

Ben is playing soccer this spring. He is having lots of fun and learning a lot. So far they've won both of their games.

The garden is producing already! We've eaten fresh spinach, asparagus and strawberries. There is nothing like grilled asparagus! We eat it like french fries. It's sooo good!

Cinco de Mayo is today! To celebrate, in our non-Mexican home, we will be eating chicken enchiladas tonight with guacamole, chips and salsa. Yum!

Well, that's some of what's going on around here. I'm hoping to be a bit more faithful to my blog now. :)

The Latest in Fashion

I love making homemade bread, but for some reason I get "air pockets" at the top of my bread. This time, however, it was a bit ridiculous:

Beth said "Look Mom, it's a Vera 'Breadly'." Cute, Beth!

What's for Breakfast?

Last night I made a batch of blueberry muffins. Instead of putting the frozen blueberries in whole, I chopped them up in my mini-food processor. I liked them a lot better this way with little bits of blueberries spread through the muffin. Yum!

One of the gifts I got for Christmas was this new muffin pan. It's a really nice, heavy duty pan, and I had no idea how much better my muffins would do in it. Every time I've made them, they've risen up nice and high.
It's the little things in life that make me happy!

Here was Ben's breakfast this morning (actually this is what we all had). Vanilla Yogurt with Grape Nuts and a few mini-chocolate chips sprinkled on top, sausage links, and a muffin.

I am always on the lookout for easy, healthy breakfasts to serve my kids. What do your kids eat for breakfast? I'm trying to stay away from sugar cereals, but we do eat a few cereals...Special K, Cheerios, Kix, and Rice Krispies are okay here. There are other good ones, but these are the ones my kids will eat. I also make homemade pancakes and waffles and freeze them. Oatmeal is another favorite (at least for Ben and I) in our house. Neal would eat scrambled eggs every day. :o)

Here's a good yogurt I found. It has a six live active cultures in it, and as I understand it, that is a good thing. :o)

Food Cooked at our House Yesterday

Homemade English Muffins -- I wanted to post this so that Ruthie could see what my English Muffins normally look like. When she was visiting, I messed up on the recipe and they turned out very flat!


These are Ranger Cookies (you can find the recipe at BreadBeckers.com). They have oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chips (not in recipe) and pecans. Yummy!


Chicken Supreme...this was Beth's "Meal of the Week." Those are potato chips on top! It was really good.


Daddy's plate: Chicken Supreme, mashed sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes from our garden), and broccoli salad. Great job, Beth!

Potato Soup Pizza

Since I've been grinding my own wheat the last 4 months, we eat a lot more pizza around here! It is just soooooo delicious! Sometimes we have "normal" pizza, and sometimes we experiment. Sunday we experimented.

We had leftover potato soup, so I warmed it up a little bit so that it would thin out somewhat (I make thick potato soup, and when it's cold it's really thick). I didn't put any sauce on the pizza, I just spread the soup over the entire crust, and then I put mushrooms, crumbled pork sausage, and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese.

Let me tell ya...it was SO good! The kids even enjoyed it warmed up for lunch today.

So next time you have leftover potato soup....



....make a pizza!

Baking Bread

When we took the lid off of our freshly milled flour, we found the imprint from the lid -- GLAD! Beth and I decided we are GLAD that we are now milling our own grain and baking our bread. Maybe you'll see why in the pictures to follow:

Making Sandwich/Hamburger Rolls

After the flour is mixed and it rises for the first time (I do those steps in the bread machine), we take out the dough and divide it into about 15 pieces.

Then we roll one portion into a ball.

Then we roll it into a "log."

Then we tied it into a knot and put it on the cookie sheet.

Then I placed them in the oven to rise.

Take them out of the oven -- Mmmm...they smell good!

And here is our finished sandwich roll!

This is some Mexican Corn Bread I made using my Mom's cast iron corn muffin pan.

On Saturday, Beth and I made homemade bagels. These are sooo good, and they were fun to make!