Finding My Way Home

Family, Friends and Food for the Fourth (nd an update too)

Well I just got notification that my side of the family is having a big BBQ at my brother's house on the evening of the Fourth.  I am thrilled since hubby's family is all busy and doing their own thing.  His mother and father will be at their church's 3 day meeting, his oldest sister is in Washington and unable to come home but will be home in a few weeks for Grandma's 90th bday, and his youngest sister and her hubby and daughter are in California at Disney!

Of course I asked what I could bring and my SIL told me maybe a salad or a dessert.  So I plan on taking both. LOL  Not sure what kind of salad to take, and I have a simple dessert recipe I will make (it is red white and blue).  Hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill sound so good right now.  And I know several of the other dishes will be potato salad and baked beans, etc.  One gal there doesn't cook, so she usually brings the pop, or ice and sometimes a large tub of icecream depending on what we are all having. 

We aren't shooting off any fireworks there though.  One of the twins is scared of fireworks, 2 of the other kids are with their dad for the weekend and won't be there either.  So it is the one if the twin who likes fireworks, and Noah, who is only 3 but loved them last year, so I unless he decides to change his mind, LOL, I think he will be ok with them again this year.  After the BBQ, several of us will drive back to town and watch the citywide fireworks display at the lake.  We won't buy much this year....maybe some snappers, some smoke bombs, and some other smaller items for Noah.   I just can't see spending alot of money on big bangs this year when we have so many things we could spend the money instead.

Matthew got called today for a small electrical job.  The guy wants an electrical hookup for a camper put in behid his barn by this weekend.  So Matthew is running a little late tonight getting that done.  He was hoping it was a 10 minute job, but knows things happen and it might take longer.  Oh well, we need the money to take care of part 2 of fixing my car's air conditioning.  (Part one was putting in a new fan, which he did last night.  Part 2 is???  LOL  I have no idea.  I know the fan works now but no cold air.  Maybe it needs freon?? Who knows.  That is hubby's job)

I have discussed having a yard/garage sale and then canceled it thinking I would just have an auction (a HS friend has an auction business and is going to hold a consignment auction), but now I am thinking I should just open up a Ebay shop, and possibly put some stuff on Etsy as well.I think in the long run I will end up getting more money for the items.  I will just advertise that I go to the post office once or twice a week, etc. so I don't have to go every single day.  That would be crazy. On days I have many packages, I will ask a girlfriend to watch Noah, or drop him off for an hour at grandma's shop.

Speaking of grandma's shop.....she has offered me one of her large display windows to put items in if wanted.  I told her I would speak to Matthew, pray about it and get back to her.  I know I won't make alot of money from it, because her shop is kind of out of the way, and not many people walk around there either.  However, the customers that come into her shop for Speech (She is a Speech Pathologist) might see something and buy it, or order one in a different color, tell their friends, etc.  I was thinking of putting some vintage items in the window, and making up some aprons and shaggy blankets to display and sell there.  I am getting excited about the opportunity to make some money to help with household items and Christmas, etc.  When I get the shops up and running, I will post the addresses here for all of you!!!

Matthew (who is the king of putting things off, starting projects and then not finishing them, etc.) has turned a new leaf.  I am not sure what happened, but I am not about to ask and screw this up.  LOL  Projects like Noah's bedroom upstairs that have sat for over 3 years without being finished are now being worked on!  He comes home from work and instead of colasping in his chair with the laptop, he asks if there is anything I need him to do!  Mostly it is small stuff like, take out the trash, take this box upstairs, etc.  But recently he has fixed part of the air conditioning on the car, fixed the leaky roof, replaces a filter on the furnace/air conditioner, and my favorite, bought and hung a ceiling fan in Noah's new bedroom!!!  The later was all his idea and he was so pleased to be able to buy the fan with his extra money coming in from electrical jobs.  :)  Makes me smile to see this part of Matthew blossoming. 

Noah has been talking up a storm!!!  I can't believe in the last couple of months since his birthday screening in April, how much he has developed.  He is definately not the same little boy.  He is doing better every day.  Last night I told Matthew that he had been talking up a storm all day long and learning new words every day.  Later on Matthew said, how do you turn HIM off??  LOL  We both had a great laugh over that one.  The little boy that wouldn't talk earlier except for mom, dad, cookie, candy, etc. little words, is now talking 4 word sentences, answering questions with words instead of sign language, and asking for items instead of pointing and grunting.  God is so good to us.  I love this little guy.  And yes, there are times you want to turn him off still.  LOL  But most of the time, I love hearing him talk (now not only in English but a little Spanish and Chinese due to a few tv shows he watches)

Well, that's all for now.  I should go. 

Vanilla Ice Cream

I recently made vanilla ice cream and it was delicious!!  I wanted to share my recipe with you.   You can now find all my ice cream recipes (eggless recipes and non dairy too) and ice cream making directions here:  http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/makinghomemadeicecream.htm    If I have more recipes to post I will be adding them to that page.   

Vanilla Ice Cream

6 eggs
3 cups cane juice crystals
2 T vanilla (only the real stuff)
2 c. whole cream
Whole Goat Milk, as much as needed to fill ice cream maker container (whole cow milk will work too.. :)
1 T arrowroot powder (helps make the ice cream smooth.. but this is optional if you don’t have any) 

In a big mixer (like a Kitchen Aid or Bosch) mix together (with the wire whip) the eggs and cane juice crystals until light and lemony colored. Add vanilla and mix again. Add cream and arrowroot powder (if using). When all of this has mixed together completely pour it into your 1 gallon ice cream maker container. Add whole milk until you reach the "fill line" on your ice cream maker container.  Follow the instructions that came with your ice cream maker or click on the above link for general instructions.

dry toast

July fun!

   Tomorrow is our 20th wedding anniversary.  We both have to work but have Friday off, so we are going out for a nice dinner to a place we go only for special occasions. 

   On July 4th, we will go to Hubby`s parents.  They have a heart shaped, man made pond that you can ride paddle boats on, fish or swim if you like to swim with fish and mud.  I don`t know how to swim and I wouldn`t like other things swimming with me anyway!  We have lots of good stuff to eat, and play volleyball and just visit with friends and relatives we may not have seen since last year.

   Our vacation starts July 3 till the 20th.  We have some kitchen work to do,  I want to paint the cupboard doors, and we want to paint the bottom part of the living room walls below the boarder white.  I just love to make small changes, it makes such a big difference.

  We will also be taking curtains down and washing the windows in the whole house, an every year thing.  We do summer cleaning, not spring because it`s when we have time.

  I got a new to me reconditioned dryer on Monday.  Our old one broke during the winter.  I will still hang things outside if it ever stops raining, but it`s so nice to be able to dry the small stuff and everything if I need to.  I had forgotten how nice and soft they get and how nice they smell.

   I hope I relax and unwind enough to be able to sleep better while we are off.  I usually only sleep 5 hours or so, and wake up at least 3 times a night, and sometimes it`s hard to get back to sleep.  Then I count the time I have left if I could get to sleep right NOW!  But, it doesn`t happen.  Then I feel like my feet  are stuck in the mud all day, and I have to walk and move quick at my job.

   It is getting late and I am cutting myself short on sleep time again.

   Have a wonderful July 4th, everyone!

                  That Girl

The old farmhouse

I don't think I have ever taken a photo of the old homestead from this angle..... I was on my mower today and I had my camera in my apron.... this is being taken looking west from our garden area...... I wish I had a photo of what this looked like " before".. oh my! It was so delapitated!  The building next to the house is our "schoolhouse" or aka: "smoke house".... it was built as a smoke house and was in such bad shape when we moved here. Many told us to tear it down. My husband decided to make something of the old structure and completely remodeled it from floor to roof... and made our schoolhouse! We spend a great deal of time here... this is where we do all our schooling. As you can tell it's close enough to the house, that I can run in and check on things.   This November it will be 3 yrs since we moved to Missouri. This place has seen many changes - it's really not the same place we drove up to!  Wow.  Still have things to renovate still, but most of the stuff is done! Praise God for that!

Bulk Taco Seasoning Mix

We are having taco salad for dinner tonight.  I always cook up my hamburger and add taco seasonings to it before adding it to my salad.  I realized this morning I was out of taco seasoning and it was time to make more.  This is another product that I make myself now.  We are not real big fans of the taste of the taco seasonings I use to buy from my health food co-op and I wonder about MSG in it as well (the grocery store stuff definitely is full of yucky things typically).  I recently was reading an article (wish I could remember where now.. maybe Dr. Mercola? If I find it I will give the link).  It said that if a product lists “spices” in their ingredient list and they purchase bulk mixed spices from a supplier that adds MSG to their spice mix then the company that uses the spice mix does not have to claim that it contains MSG. So basically something can say it is MSG free but still may contain MSG if they have the word "spices" listed in the ingredients.  If you have MSG sensitivities like my hubby does or you just want to avoid it for health reasons …  read your labels carefully!   

Taco mix is so easy to make. It takes less than 15 minutes to make up a batch, the recipe doubles easily.  I usually make a double batch but today I did not have enough dried onion, so I settled for a single batch.   

Bulk Taco Seasoning Mix

¾ c dried onions
½ c chili powder
¼ c salt
3T garlic powder
3T cornstarch
3T ground cumin
1T to 3T cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like it) 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Store in plastic or glass container with a lid. 

It takes approx. 3T of this mix to equal one packet that you would buy in the store.   

This recipe makes about 2 cups.  I store it in a canning jar in my cupboard.

What we've been up to

 I thought I would share some pics of some of the projects we have been busy with here on the homestead.

First of all, we have so enjoyed all the wildlflowers that have bloomed! I love bachelor buttons & black eyed susans!  We took an old hand pump that had been on the old cistern that we took out ..... and repainted it and used it for landscape decor!

This area had once held a cistern and hand pump and we tore that out and made a flower bed.....

 We had a big problem in this area.... the previous owner had laid brick pavers and they had cracked and the weeds were coming thru and muck..... my 16 yr old son tore the whole thing out, leveled the dirt, laid down black landscape tarp and then put down pond rocks and some stone...... turned out nice, eh?  I was so suprised when I was done and so happy! No more mucky wet ground!!

 It sure is handy to have a teen age boy around!  He helps me a great deal with household projects! Great job, Jacob!

Dru has been busy working on refinishing all the outside doors. Stripping, sanding, re-staining and then finishing...... he even took the old door hardware and cleaned them up with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint! It turned out great! 

We took the old screen doors, stripped them, repainted and cleaned up the old hinges.... we rescreened them with a tough pet resistant screen..... it sure comes in handy to have screen doors durring bug season!

Finally, I have really been enjoying working in our garden and flower beds..... the roses are blooming and beautiful... and the wildflowers are attracting the butterflies and hummingbirds and bees...... one of my favorite spots in the warmer months is my front porch.... I love to sit out there on my rocker and look around at the surrounding countryside.... it's where I go in the early morning hours.... I love to sit out here and listen to the birds chirp and sing praises to my Lord...

Home sweet home.......

Lots of other projects we are working on..... hope to share more later next week!

Until then, God bless!

gloria

Pina Colada Yogurt

Us old ???

Janet and Mya went home today, .  But while Janet was here we had some fun shopping.   We went bra shopping and clothes shopping. The best part was no kids!!!  Just us two.  It was so fun and nice. 

We had one lady laughing so hard she had tears running down her face.  It was because Janet was telling her how much we have in common.  We are born 6 weeks apart, Janet is the older one.  Our atm pin numbers are the same( we did not set it up that way). Janet broke her leg 12-27-93, I broke my leg 12-27-07, the same leg, the same way(slipped walking), same surgery , but my leg has more hardware. There are so many other things that are the same too.

So anyway, we are out shopping Janet is looking at some shirts and I said no those look like something grandmas would wear.  Janet says you are a grandma!!!! Thanks Jan, I did not feel like one until she said that!!!!  It was then out shopping we both saw that we are getting older and saw our age.  We are going to be 40 years old this fall.   Where did the time go??  The past 25 years just flew by and we got older.

Then Janet made a few good points. 1. is we survived with out cell phones, the kids just don't believe that.   2. is we lived with out texting!! , if we had it back then we would have to learn how to spell better.  3. is that we lived with out computers to help us with our school work, there was no spell check , there was the "look it up in the dictionary", if we knew how to spell it we would not need to look up.

Blessings Mj

This Weeks Menu

Our 25th wedding anniversary!! 

Tobin works so no holiday bbq for us.. already had it!