Country School
Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal CookiesMoist and chewy, chocolate and cherries make these cookies sinfully
rich. Make the cookie dough ahead of time, freeze it and then bake
anytime for that fresh-out-of- the-oven taste
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp table salt
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large egg(s)
2 1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup dried cherries
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon,
nutmeg and salt together in a small bowl; set aside. Place room
temperature butter into bowl of a mixer and mix with a paddle
attachment until smooth, or beat with an electric mixer.
Slowly pour granulated sugar in an even stream into butter and mix on
high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Pour in brown sugar, mix
until incorporated and then scrape mixture down from sides of bowl.
Slowly beat in each egg one at a time until incorporated. Slowly beat
in flour mixture until incorporated.
Scrape mixture down from sides of bowl and stir in oatmeal and then
dried cherries. (Note: Freeze dough at this point or continue to step
6 for baking.)
Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough onto a nonstick sheet pan, a pan
lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat about 1 1/2 inches
apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are set. Cool
completely.
Either serve cookies or stack between sheets of waxed paper in an air-
tight container and freeze for up to two weeks before serving.
Homestead Snapshots...
Not sure how good these will be. I'm not what you would call tech-saavy in the least. Even joking, one probably wouldn't call me that. My 'techie' is off in Arkansas, so I'm all you have when it comes to sharing pictures here. I'm using the video camera (it takes still shots as well) and working to figure out how to upload them...it's slow-going, to say the least.
Here are some shots of daily farm life on this homestead...
Barn chores being done this morning -- seems the goats decided they could in fact, push hard enough on the fence and make their escape. So, while the fence was being rebuilt by eldest daughter and I, Matthew started his job....mucking out the barn.
Remember the tree? This is it. Not really much of a tree looking at it this way, but it's a good tall one...just dead for the most part.
This is the life, isn't it? Just lounging around...totally centered in the walkway of the front porch, not caring one bit for those of us coming and going trying not to break our fool necks dodging kittens!
This is our 'seeing-eye' goat....the friend we bought for the blind one. We tethered them out in the barn lot this morning after they made their escape.
These are the newest additions to the homestead...they are supposedly pregnant, but honestly, they are the skinniest 'pregnant' sows I've ever seen. But that's ok...they'll fit in the freezer much nicer this way ;o)Those are some of the shots of the day here. Maybe something exciting will happen here that an be shared later...not that we don't have exciting moments, but honestly, with Dewey gone, I'd just as soon keep things nice and quiet around here.
31 Days of prayer for my children
Day 2
31 Days of Prayer for my Children
September 1st I decided that I was going to pray each day specifically for my Children. In doing so I am going to illustrate each prayer. Here is my sketch for the first day....
Getting geared up for Fall
Here is a fun blog to get you going on Fall-cleaning and decorating.
Recipes to share...
These are from one of the LDS Cannery recipes....sounds like something I definitely will have to try!Breakfast Cookies
yield: 48 cookies
2 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 3/4 cup oatmeal (not instant)
2 cups Grape Nuts cereal
1 Tablespoon flax seed meal (optional suggestion)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened ** (see note below)
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple
2 cups raisins
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, oatmeal, Grape Nuts, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir to mix. Set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar; add vanilla and eggs, beat well. Stir in crushed pineapple (including juice) and raisins. Add flour cereal mixture and stir until blended. Drop by large spoonful on lightly greased baking sheet or use a #30 ice cream scoop. Slightly flatten cookie dough. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Store cookies in closed container. Freeze extra cookies until ready to use – reheat in microwave, if desired. Makes 48 cookies.
**NOTES: Try substituting 1 cup crunchy peanut butter in place of the butter
Apple Pie Tarts (yum...cherry and other fruits as well!)
Homemade Yogurt
Yogurt is expensive to buy in the store but SO EASY AND INEXPENSIVE to make at home. Give it a try and I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised. It costs less than 50 cents to make a quart of yogurt. I use the cannery dried milk.
4 cups very warm water (not over 120 degrees)
1 3/4 cups regular nonfat dry milk (3 cups instant)
1/3 cups plain yogurt with active cultures, no additives (if bought from the store to use as a starter)
OR 1 packet of yogurt starter (I buy mine at Good Earth or Wild Oats )
Mix well with a hand mixer or in a blender at the lowest speed. Pour into a ceramic or glass dish with a lid. Put a heating pad on your counter and turn it on low. Cover it with a kitchen towel, put the yogurt mixture on the towel and cover the entire thing with a large bath towel so it retains the heat. I do this just before I go to bed and it is perfect when I get up in the morning.
Do not disturb the incubation. During the incubation period the cultures multiply and thicken the milk.
I then refrigerate the incubated mixture for 2-3 hours until it has cooled completely and is cold clear through. Divide it in half or as you wish and flavor each in different flavors with cannery jams. Mix the yogurt and the jam together with a hand mixer until well blended. You can add chunks of fruit it you wish.
Set aside 1/3 cup plain yogurt before flavoring to "start" your next batch.
Oatmeal Breakfast bars
Submitted by Marilyn Park
I particularly liked this recipe, easy and quick to put together. The bars you buy at the store are loaded with sugar and have preservatives and things I don't want in my food. Plus these are high in fiber! Love that! Try this recipe.....I think you will really like them.
2 3/4 cups old fashioned oatmeal or 1 cup 6 grain rolled cereal and 1 3/4 cups oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
1/3 cup applesauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup dry milk
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 to 1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup golden flax seed ground
1/2 cup palm shortening (or whatever you use)
1 grated apple with skin on
Cream egg, shortening and brown sugar and applesauce. Add all other ingredients and mix well, add raisins and nuts and grated apple last and mix in. This is a thick batter. Spread evenly on a non-stick 9X13 pan with a heavy spatula. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-16 minutes. 12-15 good sized bars.
Gearing up for fall and one project, two project.......
I can't believe it is already September...where did the time go? We are now on our 4th week of school and things are going great!
We are now gearing up for fall we have many projects we would like to do before winter sets in....One thing is we are going to build a greenhouse to start our veggie plants in. It is going to be big so it will be a lot of work but we are excited to get started......The second project is our chicken coop I am not sure if it will get done before spring but we are hoping:) If not I can wait until late spring:) We have most of the wood its just getting started:)
We have been pricing dwarf goats we found a male for $65.00 which we don't want but we are looking into maybe getting two females. That means we are also looking into electric fences. We are going to have to get educated on that:) The goats that we are looking at only weigh up to 25 pounds...I know really small almost the size of a small dog:) Although they will be small they still might try to get out so we will need to figure out what to do about that?
We have had the best year of fruit ever! We have lots of great pears and the peaches are wonderful. We have lived in our house for 9 years and this is the first year that we have had real fruit! I will have to learn how to can fruit:) I hope next year will be as good.
Our garden is still doing well. We bought some brocolli over the weekend and hope to get it planted this week. Our lettuce is about ready to be picked:) I will miss the garden when it starts getting to cold. Hopeful next year we will have the greenhouse up and then we can look at all year gardening:)
Many blessings,
Ma
Tuesday Visit
The news I've heard so far sounds very good, considering. Gustav didn't beat down on New Orleans as the thought for a while there. Our prayers are with the million plus folks throughout Louisiana without power and still bearing up under the remnants of heavy rain and winds.I worked on my Bible class lesson last night. Our Pastor was teaching verse by verse on Wednesday's from the book of Acts. He asked me if I would be willing to take his class for the rest of the year. I sort of agreed, tentatively, and said I'd pray over it.
No, I don't believe in women teaching Bible. Well, I certainly don't believe in women teaching men/boys. If it were a child's class, I probably wouldn't have the reservations, but this is teens.
The reason I agreed, for now at least, is that our church is incredibly small...on a really good week we have all of 25 faithful attend (truth be told, we have all of only 37 on the rolls right now altogether). Our teen class was started after we arrived....there were only 2 other children. We came to church and bingo -- youth explosion :o) Right now, for the 'teen' class, we have those 2 daughters of a friend, my two eldest girls, and my middle son. Once in a blue, blue moon, another friend of ours comes to church, but he is never able to be counted on. It just depends on what he feels like doing, and his family doesn't push otherwise. So, I would be teaching my own children...well, my own son. I don't have a problem with that at all. If the class were to grow to include other teen boys, I would not keep teaching.
Either way, I didn't stay with the book of Acts. I might change my mind, but right now, I went with a short study, 'introduction' as it were, to the 12 Apostles instead. Then I have something we had started here on the final days of Christ and His Resurrection. I'm just not sure what to do with the teens. I know my own children will follow and understand the study I have, but I'm not sure about the others. The 2 daughters are both saved, but their level of actual comprehension I don't know about. There is one more girl who comes every so often -- an elder's daughter -- but you can't count on her, either. It's Fair season throughout the Mid-South and she does alot of shows and demonstrations (she does rodeo stuff and barrel racing, plus her family runs a livestock sale and auction service).
Well, we'll see what happens.
On another note, Dewey and Christopher headed out early-squirrely this morning for the job in Arkansas. Straight into thunderstorms and rains. We are pretty sure we have forgotten to pack him something, but that's typical. You always feel like you are forgetting something when you don't really want to leave in the first place. But, we loaded his new truck to the gills...he might forget something, but he certainly won't lack for much of anything! The children each tucked drawings and such into his bags and toolbox for him to find. Right now, we are planning him back next weekend. This week they will get settled into the lease house, and start the process of hiring locally -- something that might be difficult. Everyone on this job must have their Arkansas Electrical license. If they can't man the job that way, it will go Union. Not a problem for Dewey as technically he is still Union, but Christopher won't be able to work the job then as he isn't in any of their schooling. Let's pray they can man the job themselves.
Question of the day -- if a tree falls in your yard and you aren't there to witness it, does it make a sound?
Yep. It does. Just after finishing on the grill yesterday, we were all sitting inside getting dinner ready at the table and we heard a whoooooosh and a light sort of thud. We al stared at each other like goofs...as if any of us had a clue what that noise was...and someone finally got the bright idea to get up and go look. There at the end of the trailer laid our pine tree. It wasn't the prettiest one we have by a long shot, but in the spring it was covered with a solid mass of wisteria up one side. Now, it's just lying there in the yard like...well, like a fallen tree.
I knew we shouldn't have mowed the side yard. We'd let it go for thee longest time (ok, so it was more out of laziness than any other reason...still...) but here we just mowed on Saturday and now Monday comes and down it goes. Could be all that tall grass and weed was holding the old tree upward.
And wouldn't you know it, but the chainsaw isn't working. So...next question of the day will probably be this:
How many homeschoolers does it take to drag a tree to the back pasture?
Ginger Massage Oil
Ginger Massage Oil
Makes 4 ounces
¼ teaspoon vitamin E oil
1 teaspoon dry, powdered ginger
1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
1 to 2 drops lavender essential oil
1 to 2 drops eucalyptus essential oil
Dry Elbow Home Remedies
Dry Elbow Home Remedies
Sugar Scrub:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup olive oil
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Massage the scrub into elbows, knees, ankles & any other dry spots. Wash off after 30 minutes.
Crisco (or any other lard)
Before bed rub Crisco into the dry elbow patches then slide on a pair of clean cut socks (to use as elbow protectors). Do this every night until dry patches disappear.
Lemon Salt Scrub
Squeeze the juice out of two quarter wedges of a lemon, add salt then scrub into your elbows gently, trying to sluff away the dead skin. Then take the lemon wedges and lean your elbows on them (one elbow on each). Rest like this for 10 minutes. Do this daily until the dark patches disappear.
Lemon Soft Scrub
Mix fresh lemon juice and baking soda to make a thick paste, apply to dry elbows. Gently rub in to exfoliate the skin and leave to sit for about 15 minutes. Wash off and apply a moisturizer or Vaseline.
Rehydrating Soak
Exfoliate elbows with a favorite scrub or loofah, then soak elbows in warm water for 10 minutes. Apply Vaseline. If you apply Vaseline to the dry areas right after a hot bath or shower, this will have the same effect.
Basic Maintenance Treatment: Exfoliate or scrub elbows daily then apply honey, Vaseline or a rich moisturizer to elbows. If using honey, leave on for 30 minutes before washing off.
Tip: Use a clean sock, cut off to have two open ends, and slide on over your elbows when applying moisturizing treatments to try to protect the moisturizer from rubbing off (especially good for overnight treatments). You could also wrap your elbows in plastic wrap.
If your elbow patches are thick and quite dark, this will take several regular treatments to clear up.
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