Texas Family of Four

Sprouted Wheat Berry Waffles

2012-01-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

There is just something about waking up to warm waffles - don't you agree? Here's how you can feed your family what's typically known as junk food and know that they're getting a very nutritious breakfast that WILL hold them over until lunch, especially if they're topped with plenty of butter or coconut oil.

Spouted Wheat Berry Waffles:

2 cups sprouted wheat berries - how to sprout wheat berries

1 1/4 cups kefir or yogurt

1/2 cup oatmeal (anything but instant)

Blend the first 3 ingredients in the blender and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. ( I use a VitaMix blender so you may need to add a little more liquid if your blender struggles)

Add:

2 TBL melted butter or coconut oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Make sure your waffle iron is hot and ready to go because when you add the leavening agent you're going to need to pour quickly as the volume quickly grows.

With the blender on md/low add this mixture:

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

Pour onto hot griddle and allow to cook until almost all steam has stopped escaping from the griddle - usually 3-5 minutes. You'll find these are some of the lightest waffles ever! Top your waffles with coconut oil or butter and grade B maple syrup.

Enjoy.

Sprouting Wheat Berries

2012-01-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

In recent years I found that if I didn't eat wheat that I felt much better and could eliminate the arthritic pain I was experiencing. After several months I decided to experiment with a fresh piece of bread only to discover it felt as if I had contracted the flu just a short time later. Nope. Wheat is NOT for me - most of the time. I've spent a lot of time researching and this is really much more common than people realize, however, they'll never know how much better they can feel until they've abstained for at least 6 weeks. There are not too many people who are willing to do that. So, the next best thing to do is to make sure you're eating only organic non-GMO wheat and to sprout it. I can even tolerate this kind of wheat on occasion without feeling those ill effects I mentioned earlier.

What most people don't know is that wheat, along with most grains, nuts, seeds, and beans, contain phytic acids /phytates. Phytic acid needs to be neutralized in order for us to be able to absorb the minerals. Here's an a comment from an article on the www.westonaprice.org website: "Phytic acid not only grabs on to or chelates important minerals, but also inhibits enzymes that we need to digest our food, including pepsin,¹ needed for the breakdown of proteins in the stomach, and amylase,² needed for the breakdown of starch into sugar. Trypsin, needed for protein digestion in the small intestine, is also inhibited by phytates.^{3 "} Makes you wonder why so many people are gluten intolerant, huh?

SO...

When I can I like to feed my family wheat that I *know* is much better for them. In order to do this you must sprout those cute little berries to neutralize those phytates that interfere with mineral absorbtion. It's quite simple to do - really, I promise! Although I must admit to you that I read a blog on how to sprout berries and it was SO wrong. I ended up drowning the poor things and and had this stinky bowl of soggy berries on my counters. It smelled something akin to pig slop. YUCK!

How to Sprout Wheat Berries(or any grain for that matter):

Quart Jar (or larger)
Sprouting Lid or Canning Ring with Cheesecloth (you want the little buggers to breathe)
Berries

Fill your jar half full of berries. (You'll not want any more than that because they expand.) Next, you'll want to fill your jar with filtered water and place your lid on the jar. Give your jar a good shake to make sure all the little berries are fully immersed in the water and then drain all the liquid off of the berries. Lay the jar somewhere out of the way on its side like this:

This process will take 2-3 days and you'll want to repeat the previous step 2-3 times a day; rinsing the berries with filtered water and then drain the liquid off. You'll know your berries are ready to stored when you see the actual sprout coming out of the end of the berry, which you can see in the picture below. Look closely at the neck of the bottle and you'll see little white ~~hairs~~ sprouts. Ideally you do not want the sprouts to exceed 1". I like to make it to the 1/4" stage and call it good. :)

There are a couple ways to use your berries now that they've sprouted: dehydrated them and then grind into fresh flour, or you can use them just as they are. They can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or in the freezer for longer periods of time.

Coming up next: How to use those berries just as they are to make waffles.

Flax Seed Crackers

2011-12-30T05:57:00.001-08:00

Flax Crackers

For those of us who are looking for a gluten-free or even a grain-free cracker:

This recipe is for a garlic and onion flavored cracker – to make it with different seasonings omit the garlic, onion powder and rosemary and use whatever herbs or spices that sound good to you :)

Ingredients:

2 cups ground flaxseed - Ahem: Costco
1 cup water - might not take the full cup so gradually add
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp rosemary - preferably fresh
1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix until an even dough forms. Spread evenly onto parchment paper about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Gently cut dough into squares on the baking sheet - you just need to score the dough so it snaps after it’s baked. Bake for 20-30 minutes until crisp and edges are browned but not burnt. When the crackers are almost done you can brush the tops with coconut oil and then sprinkle with some kosher salt.

I've Been Featured!

2011-11-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

I've been featured in an online magazine publication. Even though it's really old news, does that make it any less exciting? Not really to me because it's health related and that just never gets old. I'm sure you've seen my post on kefir and kombucha if you've been following my blog for anytime at all. A sweet lady stumbled across my blog and asked to use my photos from my kombucha post. She has an online magazine, Raw-Food-Diet-Magazine.com, and it has lots of good information on eating a raw food diet. I'm into raw food: I love my kombucha, kefir, and sushi. I have to admit, I'm not much of a raw vegetable type person as I would rather have my vegetables cooked and dripping in butter or alfredo sauce. You just haven't lived until you've had brussell sprouts with alfredo - YUM!

Stop by Raw Food Diet Magazine and browse through her information there.

Have a wonderful Monday and don't forget to drink your kombucha!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2011-11-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

Crust:
1 1/2 cups pecan/ almond meal or finely chopped nuts
2 TBSP sweetner of you choice
1 tsp cinnamon
3 TBSP butter, melted

Filling
3 - 8 oz blocks of cream cheese softened
1 C. Sweetner of choice
1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
3 large eggs
1 - 15 oz can solid pack pumpkin (or 1 pint homemade)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice OR 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp each of ginger & nutmeg,
and 1/8 - 1/4 tsp cloves(depends on if you like the flavor).

Preheat oven to 325.

1. Make crust by mixing all dry ingredients and adding the melted butter.
Press into a spring form pan. It is hard to press, so just do it gently, it
will want to stick to your fingers.

2. In a bowl combine the cream cheese, sweetner, and vanilla and beat
until smooth.

3. Add eggs and beat well.

4. Add pumpkin and spices and mix well.

5. Gently pour pumpkin filling over the pecan crust.

6. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Turn oven down to 300 and bake for an
additional 10 minutes. It will still be a little jiggly in the middle even
when it is done. This cheesecake does get a little brown on top.

7. Remove from oven. If you do NOT like a soft cheesecake then wait to eat
until it is totally cool. This cheesecake tastes AMAZING warm though, and
warm it has a soft pumpkin pie like texture. It is GREAT cold too.

8. Garnishing option: whip some whipping cream stiff, sweeten with vanilla
cream stevia. Put dollops of cream on the cheese cake with pecan halves in
the middle of each dollop. You could also serve each piece with a generous
serving of whipped cream and a sprinkle of pecans.

Pork Roasted the Way the Tuscan Do

2011-10-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

Brent and I took a cooking class a couple of years ago from the world famous chef, Joanne Weir. We had so much fun with her and her food that evening and come away learning a thing or two a well. Joanne and I were instant friends as we had the unruly curly hair thing in common. The main course that she cooked for us was Pork Roasted the Way the Tuscan Do and I have to admit: IT was incredible. I've made it several times at home and everyone in our family loves it. I would highly encourage you to not skip on the fennel pollen! It's not easy to find and you'll probably have to order it, but I can assure you that it will be well worth it.

2 teaspoons fresh chopped sage
2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon fennel pollen*
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 loaf crusty baguette

On a work surface, mince the sage, rosemary, pepper, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and fennel pollen together.

Heat a frying pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Cook the pork, turning occasionally, until golden on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Roll the pork in the herb mixture and set aside. Cut the baguette in half the long way and scoop out the soft insides. Brush the inside of the baguette with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Place the pork on the inside of the baguette so that the pork is completely enclosed. Trim off the excess ends of the bread. Tie the baguette, at 1-to 2-inch intervals, with kitchen string.

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Place the pork on a baking sheet and roast until done, 155°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part, 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let rest 10 minutes. Remove the strings and cut into slices. Serve.

Baguette Bushed with Olive Oil

Tenderloin after it was cooked until golden and rolled in the herb mixture.

All bundled up and ready to bake.

The finished product... my mouth is watering.

I CANNOT Believe that it's Been SO Long!

2011-10-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

I know - I really have NO excuses (well, maybe a few) for not blogging. I have SO much that I can share and want to but most days time is a constraint. My youngest recently told me that I needed to post something.... anything. Here I am posting our most recent family picture taking at the top of California pass in Colorado.

We are all alive and well, although extremely busy. Brent has had his biggest busiest year ever, the girls are both spending long days doing school (expanding that grey matter) and me, I tend to goof all day :) I hope to get back into that "blogging" mode where I just cannot wait to share the next adventure with you.

Gingerbread Construction Crew

2010-12-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, my girls attend Texas Virtual Academy @ Southwest. For the past two years the school has hosted a Winterland of Gingerbread event. Last year the girls decided to build houses and began construction the day before the event. OH MY! I went to bed at 11:00 the night before the event thinking that we'd pass on participating that year because we simply could not get the houses to remain standing. They were collapsing, sliding, breaking, and simply - not working out. My level of patience was exhausted. My girls, however, were determined to make it work and continued working after I went to bed. To my surprise when I woke up the next morning there were two complete gingerbread houses, standing all by themselves. I'm sure my jaw dropped because I simply didn't realize that my children had it in them to continue until the wee hours of the morning to see the project through, especially after their repeated discouragement the night before. Their houses were absolutely adorable last year and they both decided then and there that next year, they'd start much earlier and not be stressed at the last minute. Here are the houses from last year:

Ashley's House:

Blair's House:

Just as they had planned last year, the girls were determine to start early and put more effort into their houses. The event was on Thursday the 8th and they started the project on Saturday the 4th. They worked for 5 days, actually more if you consider the searching and planning stage. First they came up with a design and then constructed their design out of cardboard. Then they made the gingerbread dough, using the cardboard as a design the cut out their gingerbread house. Ashley's house was so tall that it would not fit on a cookie sheet. She had to improvise by cooking on a piece of foil-covered cardboard. Both of the girls worked so hard to create the their houses and they were both absolutely adorable. Per grandma's request, we still have the houses gracing our dining room table. Grandma will be here this weekend and she wants to see the houses, not just photos of them. ;-) Here's a few pictures of the process:

Blair's House:

Ashley's House:

It was so much fun and I'm so proud of both of the girls for starting such a huge project and seeing it through to completion again. They both worked so hard. Isn't it amazing how much they improved over the course of a year?

My Children Never Cease to Amaze Me -- Birthday Dinner

2010-11-10T06:11:00.000-08:00

I know that I've bragged on my girls before, but nothing was as incredible as yesterday. I was emotional eating my dinner just thinking about all the work that went into making my birthday dinner special. And, it was indeed special. It was also a reflection on all those years of them working in the kitchen with me and the amazing amount of benefits that I reaped last night alone. I'm not saying that I've done everything right, because that isn't the case. My patience has been way too short and I've not given enough praise, but in spite of my shortcomings I've got two of the best daughters ever!

Our family typically goes out for dinner on our birthdays, but this year Brent decided to change things up a bit. He wanted to take me to lunch and have the girls fix dinner. He NEVER intended for them to do what they did. We left the girls at home ( unsupervised ) for the afternoon. While we were sitting at lunch the phone rang and instead of it being the typical business call it was the girls asking what they should fix for dinner. Mind you, this was probably around 1:00. I hadn't given dinner much thought at all, so I suggested the first thing that popped into my mind, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. They've been on my mind (food is always on my mind) because I've been having a hankering for them. Surely I'm not the only one who get a craving for good 'ol comfort food. Please, tell me I'm not alone! Anyhow, back to the story: the girls asked for the recipe, we instructed them where to find it and we didn't hear from them the rest of the afternoon. Well, at least until around 4:30 when they called and asked for our ETA.

It was right at 5:00 when we walked in the door. For those of you who know my house can picture this: I walk through the garage door to sheet hanging over the entry in the kitchen / dining area. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I wasn't supposed to be see what was on the other side of that sheet. It wasn't much later that a mechanical voice instructed us that "denim" wasn't appropriate for dinner. In other words: Dress Up! As I sat on my bed reflecting on the day and wondering what was in store for dinner I could smell all kinds of wonderful aromas.

Finally, we were called to dinner and our waitress escorted us to our table, which was located to the left at the top of the stairs. Blair created a private "room" for us out of sheets. (Don't forget the fact that this all happened in about 4 hours.)

Then, our waitress filled our water glasses:

And then she served us bread and salad:

I've taught my girls to make bread, but obviously Ashley has a talent like none other. The bread was absolutely perfect! The crust was beautiful with a light yet chewy inside. One loaf was cheese and herb bread and it was served with seasoned butter. OH. MY. It was so good!

And then our little chef, Ashley, created this beautiful and equally delicious salad. Notice the pecans? She candied those herself!

Our waitress with the most handsome man in the world:

This photo doesn't do it justice, besides the fact that the focal point was my place card and not the plate of food. (I had tears in my eyes at this point so everything was blurry to me)
We were served Lil Cheddar Meatloaves, Bacon Cheddar Potatoes, and Broccoli. Again, everything tasted so good.

Dessert: homemade cheesecake with fresh whipped cream and ganache. Again, all created by chef Ashley. This mom is pretty speechless.

The Lord has blessed me way beyond what I deserve. Not only did He send His only begotten son to die for my sins, He blessed me with a wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters. Now, that's the best birthday present ever.

Homemade Egg Noodles

2010-11-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was cleaning out the fridge and there was the remains of a rotisserie chicken. I decided to boil it down and make some chicken stock to put up in the freezer for a later date; however, the hubby had other plans. When I was away from the kitchen he started adding spices to the pot. For those of you that know Brent, he loves to get his hands into ALL things kitchen, unless of course it involves hot soapy water, or soapy water of any kind. After adding the spices he would walk through the kitchen claiming how wonderful it smelled and that he sure would like some homemade chicken noodle soup. So, what does this wife do? Yep, you guessed it! I commenced to making soup. I started by adding some vegetables to the broth and then making egg noodles. I have a recipe that I've used forever, but I don't really deem it as healthy as it could be. So, instead of using white flour or even wheat flour, I used some sprouted wheat berries that I had in the freezer. I put those bad boys in the VitaMix, added some coconut oil, a few egg yolks, some sea salt and let it do its business. Within a couple of minutes I had a very runny dough, so I turned it out on a floured surface and worked in some organic unbleached flour. Just enough to get a really nice consistency. I then rolled rolled the dough to a 1/8" thickness and cut into strips. Because I was experimenting with my sprouted wheat berries, I was uncertain as to how they would turn out. You'll notice that just one noodle is missing, that's because I had to cook just one to make sure we had a winner before I tossed them all in the pot. OH...what a winner it was!

Here's my recipe:

2 cups flour (organic and sprouted is the best, IMO)
1-2 Tbl butter, lard, or coconut oil (saturated fats are far superior to vegetable oils)
3-4 egg yolks (from free range chickens of course)
1 tsp salt
2-4 TBL cream, half and half, milk, or water (or more if necessary)

There are two different methods to mix your dough: #1: Cut the fat into the flour, making a well in the center of flour mixture and then adding the remaining ingredients and mix by turning in the flour.

#2 You can also place flour in a food processor, adding fat and eggs and then add enough liquid to form a ball.

When you have a nice soft dough, roll out to approximately 1/8"-1/4" thick depending on how you prefer your noodles. I use a pizza cutter to create my noodles, but if you don't have one you can roll the dough up and then use a knife and cut "rolls" that you unroll into strips. The noodles can be cooked immediately, or allowed to dry for a later use.

** This recipe freezes well

Tuesday's Tip

2010-10-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

If you're one of those who likes to recycle bottles, then you're also probably one of those who likes to remove the label so that all that is left is the pretty bottle. I'm weird like that, too.

So, today's tip is how to remove a vinyl label from glass.

It's quite simple: Start by filling the bottle with boiling hot water, or you can fill with water and microwave for a 2 minutes. (Be very careful and try not to allow any water to get on the label itself) Then, allow bottle to sit for a 2-3 minutes. After "resting" with the hot water in the bottle, the label is ready to be removed. Find the seam of the label and starting at one corner pry up the label and it should come off in one sheet; however, if the label has gotten wet at all, it's possible that it will tear at the wet spot. If there is any residue left at all, which typically there isn't, you can spray your bottle with a little bit of WD-40 and it will remove any sticky spots you have left.

Happy de-labeling!

Tuesday's Tip

2010-10-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sharing my "tip" today in the form of another recipe with the "tip" being how to get more lacto-fermented foods with probiotics into your family.

I've been trying different mayonnaise recipes for the past few months and this one, IMO, is the absolute best. Homemade mayonnaise is SO much better than store bought. Store bought mayonnaise is typically full of oils like canola and soybean, and a litany of other ingredients that I have no idea what they even are.

Homemade Mayonnaise

3 egg yolks (very fresh, room temperature)
1/3 tsp. sea salt (it needs to have color to ensure you're getting the trace minerals)
1/3 tsp ground coriander

1 TBL dijon mustard
A tiny dash of stevia powder to sweeten it (or about 1/4 tsp raw honey)
1 TBL lemon juice
1 TBL whey (Whey extends the life of the mayonnaise and make it a more nutrient dense food; however, you can make it without.)

1/2 cup organic expeller pressed coconut oil (melt if solid)

1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

**If you have a stick blender, I highly recommend you use it. While you can use a regular blender, I've found the the stick blender produces a better consistency than the blender.

Blend egg yolks for 30 seconds and then add remaining ingredients minus the oils and blend until well blended. Next, gradually add your oils in a steady stream while blending so that they emulsify. You should notice the consistency gradually changing as you add the oil. If you do not, you've added the oil much too fast.

If you've added the whey, you can sit on the counter for up to 8 hours and allow it to ferment for lacto-fermented, probiotic food and then refrigerate.

Enjoy!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

2010-10-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

If You Give A Mom A Muffin....

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are...
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

I always said that I'm a If You Give a Moose a Muffin, or If You Give a Pig a Pancake type of gal. Hence the reason that I absolutely love this!

** I don't normally piggy back off another blog, but I just couldn't resist this time. Check out Dancing in the Rain for the original post. She also has some really great recipes and project ideas! Very talented gal.... and she's also the daughter of my husband's cousin ;-)

Pumpkin Bars

2010-10-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Fall is in the air and I definitely get in the mood for all thing fall: sitting around a fire in the evening, caramel apples, hearing a marching band play, and of course pumpkin. I had my first taste of pumpkin last week in the form of a pie with whipped cream (minus the crust of course) and ever since then I've been wanting more pumpkin ! I stumbled across this recipe and with some modifications, I've decided that it's a keeper.

I think the next time I make it I'll use peanut butter, bananas and add a few chocolate chips and I'm sure the hubby will love me!

Pumpkin Bars

1 cup of almond butter (or any nutbutter of your choice)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (you can also use cooked squash, or ripe mashed bananas)
1/2 tsp cinnamon ( you may not want to add cinnamon and nutmeg if you use bananas)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1/3 cup honey or sweetener of your choice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 pan and top with chopped walnuts (optional). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

A Girl and Her Goose...

2010-09-02T05:54:00.001-07:00

Some recent bonding time with Oxxie at the farm.

Tuesday's Tip

2010-08-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

This doesn't follow my "typical" tip pattern, but that doesn't matter because I haven't had much of a pattern at all lately. ;-)

I've been reading the book, 5 Love Languages, along with my hubby, well..not really along with because he's totally done with it and has moved on to the Love Languages of Teenagers. It was recommended to us by some friends and even though we are still madly in love, the book is VERY interesting.

The tip that I'd like to share with you is this: LISTEN!

The average person listens for just a few seconds before they interrupt the person speaking. (I cannot remember if it was 7 or 9 sec, but mighty short either way.) What I realized when I was reading this is that I do that this way too often. I have this thought in my head and I want to share it. It's not that I feel like my thought is more important at all, but that is the message that is being sent. So, I'm committed to being a much better listener! How about you?

It's been awhile...

2010-08-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've completely abandoned my blog... for way too long. I'm sorry. I had a friend over not long ago and she mentioned that Coconut Blueberry Muffins had been on my blog for MONTHS. In all honesty... life has been too busy to afford blogging time. Now that school has resumed for the year, I do hope that I'll have more time to share with you.

I was sitting on the rock wall in my backyard that surrounds our pool yesterday and witnessed God's creation all around me. Yes, it was VERY hot and I was sweating, but I actually forgot that I was hot for a few moments. Planted in that area are verbena and plumbago and I was amazed at the creatures that stopped by for a visit and a snack. It must be migration season for the Monarchs as I was able to witness so many beautiful ones as I sat there. It was amazing! When you stop and think about the beautiful flowers, not only are they something beautiful for us to look at, but that they also provide food for many flying creatures. It was a wonderful time in the heat even though it felt like 113 (that is NO exaggeration) as I thought about the Lord's love for me and for the rest of mankind. He has provided for us so abundantly!!

Coconut Blueberry Muffins

2010-05-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

Coconut Blueberry Muffins -- Gluten-free and Sugar-free

3 eggs
2 TBL milk
2 TBL butter
8 Pkgs Truvia (or you can use 1/4 cup honey)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup blueberries

Mix all your first 6 ingredients and then stir in your coconut flour. Mixture will be lumpy and appear a bit soupy, but never fear! Stir in the blueberries and add to muffin tins. Bake at 400 for 16-20 minutes.

My Mother's Day Dinner

2010-05-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Have a little heart....chicken fried beef heart that is!

I decided to spare you from seeing this from start to finish for I feared that I might lose some of you.

This was MUCH better than I ever anticipated! In fact, I still cannot get over how incredibly good this meal was. We smothered it with caramelized onions and cream gravy. To quote my husband when things are REALLY good, "That'd make a puppy pull a freight train!"

Thanks, Babe, great dinner!

Crunchy Hip Hop Rap

2010-05-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

Help our school win!

2010-05-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Please, take a moment and cast a vote for Texas Virtual Academy @ Southwest!

Tuesday's Tip

2010-04-27T05:23:00.000-07:00

Hard boiled eggs can be less than desirable with a dry overcooked yolk, especially when the membrane around the yolk turns green. Do you all know what I'm talking about? If my camera wasn't ill at the moment I would show you, but I would imagine that many of you can picture it. (My camera has been fixed and I've updated this post!) My tip today is how to boil the "perfect" (in my opinion) hard boiled egg. Thanks to Uncle Bill P. for this "tip" he shared with Brent and me years ago.

#1 Fill your pot with water and set on stove to boil.

#2 While waiting for your water to boil, using a pushpin, make a hole in the more rounded end of the egg. Ok, I know they're both rounded silly, but one end is a little more pointed than the other and that is NOT the end you want to use! Don't be afraid, I've yet to break an egg, but I've never tried to put a hole in the wrong end either.

#3 When you water has come to a rolling boil place your eggs in the water.

#4 Set a timer for 8 min.

#5 When timer goes off, rinse with cool water and enjoy the most delicious hard boiled egg ever.

***All eggs are not recreated equal -- stay tuned, that's another post!

Gnocchi -- One of the rewards of early training

2010-04-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

When the girls were younger they always wanted to help in the kitchen. As many of you know, that requires plenty of patience because every job takes twice as long with a little one helping. And, I'll have to admit that too many times I didn't have the patience that I should have. But, in spite of my impatience at times I am now reaping the benefits of all those years of allowing the girls to sit on the counter tops stirring a pot of soup or playing in the flour as we made biscuits or cookies. What a rewarding feeling to sit down to a home-cooked meal in your own home and you haven't even been in the kitchen.

Yesterday was one of those days. Ashley spent many hours in the kitchen using up all those potatoes that were in our pantry to make gnocchi. It's a recipe that I started making a couple of years ago and we all love. So, being the industrious woman that she's becoming, she decided to make as many recipes as she could to use up all the potatoes before they went bad. She made both white and sweet potato, which are both delicious, but the sweet potato are by far my favorite. Sweet potato gnocchi with Alfredo sauce just cannot be beat. The bonus was that not only were we able to enjoy them last night, we will have the opportunity to have them many more nights with little effort because of the many that she put up in the freezer. She's a keeper!

Potato Gnocchi
Makes about 75 pieces

Cook:
1 1/2 lbs white or sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks

Knead in:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 egg
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp olive oil
pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

The recipe calls for you to boil the potatoes and then bake them in to oven to dry them out. We've found that baking the potatoes, either in the microwave or the oven is much easier.

After cooking the potatoes and while they are still warm, push them through a mesh colander or use a potato ricer and rice onto a clean work surface. You need to form the riced potatoes into a donut shape to cool. The texture should be mealy and dry not moist. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the cooled potatoes. Then put the egg and oil in the donut hole so they don't run.

Fold the mixture into itself to combine. Knead as little as possible. Over working the dough will result in tough gnocchi. Make a loaf out of the dough and cut into 5 slices. Roll each slice into a long rope, using additional flour if needed. You want the ropes to be approx the diameter of a nickel and then cut into 1/2" segments.

(As you can tell from the pictures, it will require a more flour for the sweet potato version as they are more fragile, but so worth it!)

If you have a gnocchi board this is where you would roll them on the board to give them the little grooves that have. A fork will also work as you can run the gnocchi down the tines to create a similar look.

Next you boil the gnocchi in batches until they float, which takes about 2 minutes. Toss them in olive oil to prevent them from sticking, spread over a baking sheet in a single layer, cover and chill for up to two days. We've never made it more than a few minutes at this point, until yesterday that is. :) In the past we've eaten them right out of the water after they've been tossed in oil.

You can eat gnocchi many different ways. Our favorite is with Alfredo sauce, but we also like them plain or sauteed in some browned butter and a fresh herb. Experiment, you'll love them too!

Tuesday's Tip

2010-04-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today's tip is how to satisfy that chocolate craving free of grains and sugar.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
Serves 8
3/4 cup chocolate powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

5 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 cup Xylitol
5 egg whites, at room temperature
pinch of sea salt
1 cup chocolate sauce

This is a delicious, moist and rich cake
Butter and flour two easy-remove 9-inch cake pans. Place butter, chocolate powder, water and vanilla extract in a glass container set in a pan of water over a low flame. Melt and blend well. Beat egg yolks with Xylitol for about 5 minutes with electric beater. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with pinch of salt until stiff. Mix chocolate mixture with egg yolk mixture and then fold into egg whites. Divide batter between two pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from pans. Remove one layer to a serving dish and place other layer on top. Frost top with chocolate and let it dribble over the sides.
(I personally like to put sauce between the layers as well)

CHOCOLATE SAUCE
Makes 2 1/2 cups
2/3 cup chocolate powder
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup cream, not ultrapasteurized

Place all ingredients in the top half of a double boiler. Cook gently, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until well amalgamated.

One of My Secret Recipes

2010-04-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to Dave Bishop :)

If there was one thing that I remember about my mom that she did extremely well, I'd have to say it was her ability to make cinnamon rolls. I don't have her exact recipe, but this one is equally delicious and it's all about the stuff in the middle, IMO. I've made these many times through the years and there are never any leftovers, so I'd have to say that's a pretty good indication that they're worth the effort.

2 pkg instant dry yeast
1/2 c. sugar
2 c warm milk
1 1/2 c warm water
1/2 c butter
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 TBL wheat gluten
2 TBL dough enhancer
8-10 cups flour

1 c butter softened
brown sugar
white sugar
cinnamon

These directions would be for those who already know how to make bread:

Mix yeast, sugar, salt and liquids, and then add flour until desired consistency. Knead for 8 min. Allow to rise in a well oiled bowl until double, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down and divide into half. Roll each half on a well floured surface into a rectangle approximately 1/4-1/3 inch thick.

Spread each half with 1/2 cup of butter:

And then liberally sprinkle with cinnamon:

Next, sprinkle white sugar over the cinnamon. Should look like a light snow:

Next, add a generous amount of brown sugar:

After spreading out your brown sugar, begin rolling your rectangle away from you. I like to roll the long side of my rectangle, but if you'd rather roll the short side you'll have some enormous rolls!

Next, cut your rolls in 1"-1.5" increments:

Place in a well greased pan and allow to rise until double:

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until lighten browned. I always add frosting to ours and either use a quick powdered sugar glaze, cream cheese frosting, or a caramel frosting.

I'm so sorry that I don't have the finished product to show you, they were eaten before I had a chance :)

Tuesday's Tip

2010-03-09T06:40:00.000-08:00

This tip is learning from life's experiences....

On our recent cruise we were spending a beautiful afternoon at the Flow-rider, which is a wave simulator. It was so much fun to watch people try to get up and ride the wave. There were those who could do it well, and then those who....well, not so much. As I was sitting on the steps watching I started conversing with another mom who I discovered was a fellow K12 mom. She was asking me different questions about the curriculum and we were enjoying sharing virtual school stories. She pointed to her son who was riding the Flow-rider and told me his name. He was REALLY good! He was also about as round as he was tall and he was wearing a wetsuit. I'm not making fun, but he had a lot going for him when it comes to center of gravity. Anyhow, back to my story.... My family was in line to take their turn at the Flow-rider, and while they were doing pretty good, they just weren't up to this kid's level quite yet. Just minutes after the K12 mom told me about her son, my daughter (I will not disclose which one) walks up to me and in a voice that wasn't quiet says, "Mom, did you see that kid that keeps showing off?" What does a mom do when her child embarrasses her so badly? You melt...right into the wooden bench you're sitting on. I so wanted to disappear like a vapor! BUT... since I couldn't I just didn't do anything. I was too shocked to even respond. Now, said daughter knows that what she did wasn't kind or smart. Hopefully next time she won't be quick to be so vocal with here opinions of others, especially in front of those she doesn't know.

Raw Milk Cheese, Veldhuizen Texas Farmstead Cheese

2010-02-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

Yet another "Crunchy" story and our family's quest in eating raw food to obtain better health. This one is really neat, I promise. Last summer we went on a field trip.... you know us homeschool moms use any opportunity to keep the education alive! This one was at the suggestion of a friend. Her family had recently visited the Veldhuizen Farm and after she told us all about it and shared some of the cheese with us I just knew that we'd have to go someday. So, when I suggested that we make the long trek to visit the Veldhuizen's farm a few weeks later my children were more than agreeable. And to make it even more fun, we invited our friends from Life on the Hay Farm to join us. The farm is located in Dublin, Texas, so it was a good poke from the Ft. Worth area.

When we arrived at the Veldhuizen farm, which is in the middle of nowhere, we were greeted by Stuart Veldhuizen. He and his wife Connie, along with their children (they're homeschooled too) operate the farm. Stuart had just started making some cheese and wanted to make sure the vat was just perfect before he took us on a tour of the farm.

This building looks a little "out of place" on the farm, but it is the store where they sell their cheese. They also sell some hormone-free, grain-feed meats too.

This the vat of cheese that was being made while we were there:

Just one of the adorable calves at the farm:

And then some of their chickens:

My budding photographer took this picture of a weed:

The inside of the "cave" where they age the cheese:
(And BOY, did it smell of cheese...and mold)

Redneck is a true Texas cheese! This cheese is finished off by brushing the rind with beer, which imparts a slight yeasty flavor to the cheese which is unbelievable good!

If I remember correctly this was a cheese that they were experimenting with and brushing with a red wine:

In this picture the whey is being drained off. You can see the yellowish liquid on the floor. I was sure thinking I wished I had drains in my kitchen floor!

At the end of the tour we sat down at the table in the store, ate samples of most of the cheeses, watched the Veldhuizen family place all the cheese curd into baskets, and critiqued the different cheeses that we sampled. This was one of the critique sheets. Do you think we liked the raw cheese?

One of the best things about the day, in addition to the fact that the cheese was delicious, was to hear the story of how and why the Veldhuizens started making raw cheese. I'm not much of a story teller, so if you'd like to know the rest of the story, you, too, will have to make the trek to Dublin to visit with the Velhuizens. And if you do, let me know because I'm out of good raw cheese ;-)

Tuesday's Tip

2010-02-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

Dryer Balls:

Several months back I heard about making wool dryer balls. And like most things that I hear about that are touted as doing wondering things and saving money, I just had to look into it a little bit more. After reading about their benefits, I decided that I needed to give them a whirl. What I read was that when placed in the dryer among the wet laundry the dryer balls help to lift and separate the clothes reducing static and drying time as well as leaving the clothes soft and fluffy. Technically the dryer balls work by improving the circulation of heat and air through the wet items.

I've made several and I've officially decided that I do like them. What I've noticed is that things don't get as tangled in the dryer. Maybe it's just our laundry, but it always seems that a drawstring or one of the legs of leggings will get all twisted around other articles of clothing causing something to get all distorted. I've not had this happen once in the month that I've been using my dryer balls. What I also notice is that everything appears to be fluffier. My dryer balls now have a permanent residence in the bottom of my dryer.

To make the balls, you begin to wind the 100% wool yarn just like you would if you were winding a yarn ball. Start by winding around your fingers:

After about 10 times around your fingers you pull it off and change the direction of your winding and start winding around the middle:

Again after about 10 times around that direction you change directions and this time you'll start to see a ball form:

Keep winding and changing your direction to keep the ball uniform. You'll want to wind until your ball is approximately 3-4" in diameter.

You then need to cut your yarn from the skein and finish off your ball. I used a rug hook with an eye on one end to thread my tail back into the middle of the ball. You can also use a crochet hook to pull your tail into the ball.

Now you are going to want to felt the balls. Simply place in an old pair of pantyhose, make a knot around each ball, wash with a load of laundry on a warm to hot setting, and then dry with your load of laundry.

After your balls are felted you'll want to again wrap some more wool yarn around them to increase their size to a 3-4 inch diameter. When you start wrapping your yarn around the the felted ball, just lay you yarn on the top of the ball and begin wrapping, there is no need to secure the yarn that you start with, only secure your tail at the end. Felt a second time and enjoy your new dryer balls!

The Dirt on Lip Balm....

2010-02-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

We are lip balm junkies in our house. It seems that we use the stuff constantly and in the winter we use it even more. We've even made the comment that it seems like the more we use it the more we need it. Are our precious lips becoming needy? I read something the other day that made me question our lip balm use. Can you believe that that "cool" or "tingly"feel that you get when you put some lip balm on is actually a drying agent? I was floored when I heard this! Well, they've duped me into believing it was moisturizing my lips, but after researching, that just isn't the case. So, what does this "crunchy" mom do when she finds out that what's being put on her family's lips is actually drying them out instead of adding moisture? You betcha, I decide to make my own so that I know what going on those precious lips!

I followed another blogger's recipe and we are quite pleased with the results.

Simple recipe with 4 ingredients:

Poured into 6 tubes: ( I know there are only 5 in this picture, but it really made 6)

And then one very creative daughter who personalized her tube:

I decided to figure out just how much it cost me to make this and the best way I can figure it is that the ingredients cost right under .10 a tube. I actually come up with .08, but I did have to guess at a couple of my prices. The tubes you can either refill tubes that you have, use a small tub, or buy some new empty chapstick tubes, which I've found for .23 a piece on Etsy Total cost with a new tube is less than .35 each, not too bad for protecting those precious lips.

I've been asked where to get the ingredients to make lip balm. The olive oil and coconut oil can be found at your local grocery store. The almond oil, which can be found at most health food stores, and beeswax are both used in soap, lotion, or candle making. You can probably find a local supplier, but if not I use Supplies to Star and pick it up so that I don't have to pay for shipping. Another online source that I really like is Brambleberry, but there are many other online sources.

** Update**
We are considering marketing these precious tubes of lip balm, and creating a business that our girls can run. We've tweaked the original recipe that we used and now have an even better one. :) Sorry, I just can't share that one.

Funchal, Madiera, Portugal

2010-02-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...I'm very slow! This is the last port day that I have to share with you and in my opinion it was the prettiest. I would love to be able to go back some day and spend more time in Portugal.

Once again we got off the ship with no real plans. We dined with a family that had visited Madeira before and they told us is was unnecessary to buy the bus ticket into town, which were 4.00 each way. So, we took out walking...and we walked...and we walked...and we walked. We were beginning to second guess the decision to walk to town when a gentleman approached us and told us he could take us all over the island and be our personal tour guide for the day. He was a pretty aggressive salesman and I could tell the girls were rather nervous. After Brent dickering with him about the price, the final price was 130 Euro. Brent hemmed and hawed and told the man he would have to pass. We took out walking again. About 100 yards up the road we were approached again...same scenario only this time the man only wanted 90 Euros. Brent again contemplated and then turned him down. Just up ahead there was a small group of taxi drivers and one of them appearing to be a little more timid waited until we were walking away and then ran toward us. He explained that he would be our personal tour guide for the day at the rate of 60 Euro. For the 3rd time, Brent declined the assistance of a tour guide. As we are walking off the girls are begging Brent to not accept any offers; they do not want to sit in a taxi all day with a strange man. Period. We only walked about 20 feet and the timid taxi driver ran after us again and offered to do it for only 50 Euro. The girls again are begging Brent to not accept. Brent tells the driver that he'll be right back. He then tells us to just stay put that he'll be right back. He takes off towards the group of taxi drivers that we have already passed and asked them if any one of them could beat the timid driver's price. I guess no one wanted to put up with us for less than 50 Euros. Brent agrees to accept the offer and asked the driver where his car is, because it's sure not anywhere where we can see it. He tells us that it is up the hill. You know, just up the hill...it sounds so simple, "just up the hill". Off we all go following the taxi driver as he heads towards his car. Only at this point Blair is crying saying that she wants to go back to the ship because she is scared to death of this driver, or any of the drivers for that matter. I am literally pushing her up this hill, and let me tell you...this isn't just any hill. You don't look out in front of you, you have to look up to see where you are going. I was huffing and puffing so hard that the driver turned around and asked if I would prefer he brought the car to me. Of course being the prideful person I am, I told him that I was just fine. My lungs were screaming and my arms were getting tired of pushing, but I was determined to succeed! We finally made it to the car with two daughters that really didn't want to be. The driver explains our options as to where we can go and we decide the first stop will be the Botanical Gardens. Oh my, what a beautiful place.

This was in a shopping area on the way to the gardens:

Their Angel Wing Begonias are like shrubs!

You can see the cable car in this picture. This is something that most tourists want to do. They ride the cable car to the top and then they do this basket ride down the mountain. The baskets look like a sled on wooden runners and two men, one on each side of you, run you down the mountain. If we would have had more time we would have done that too; unfortunately, we ran out of time and energy.

A view of our ship from the gardens:

There were quiet a few waterfalls that we saw while we were there. Just one of the reasons it reminded me of Hawaii.

Brent heading up to the top:

"Come on girls, you can do it."

"I think I can, I think I can."

And this is Lovers Cave:

Standing inside Lovers Cave looking out:

Our ship was huge, but this picture shows just how huge it really is:

I loved this sign for the women's bathroom:

I know, I became quite intrigued by every loo, toilet, water closet...etc that we used on this trip. But isn't this neat? I loved it! It was like a green house and the sinks were so cute.

All that walking really worked up an appetite! They had this cute little open-air pastry shop in the gardens. We ordered a couple of espressos and this delicious coconut pastry.

Can't you tell?

One of my more favorite pictures from the trip:

This is at the very top of the list of favorite pictures....and I'm not even sure why. My favorite is coming!

I took this so I would remember what all walkways were like in Madeira. Little did I know how dangerous these beautiful walkways could be.

The bird of paradise were absolutely beautiful...*sigh* I'm so ready to go back.

Madeira is a farming community, where they grow bananas, mangoes, and grapes.

Camera de Lobes (Lair of the Sea Wolves) is a small fishing village that we visited and this is a picture looking out into the Atlantic

This is my most favorite picture!

On the other side of looking back into the village. See the fish that they are drying?

And then we went up the mountain and this is the village looking down on it:

Remember that I mentioned that they grow bananas, mangoes and grapes? Look at this picture and you can see the bananas and the grapes. Any place you see green, that would be banana trees and all the brown patches are grapes.

Our Taxi driver about half way up the mountain:

Our final destination was to see the world's second highest sea cliff, Cabo Girao. This is looking down from Cabo Girao:

And then looking out:

Looking down again:

The family tourist snapshot to prove that we were there:

After we left this area our very nice driver too us back into town so that Brent retrieve some cash from an ATM to pay the driver. After doing that we looked around in a mall and bought some water and a few supplies at a grocery store. We were heading back to the ship when all the sudden Ashley falls very hard on the stone path, just like the picture above. Brent was about 20 feet in the lead, followed by Blair. I was behind Ashley and I don't know what I was thinking but I just looked at her and wondered why she wasn't getting up. There was an older gentleman and his wife were right behind us and he quickly bent down and picked Ashley up. He held her just like he was doing the Heimlich maneuver on her. He was so sweet and he held her until she had her balance and Brent was by her side. Immediately blood started pouring down her leg. Always my quick thinker, Brent took the water bottle he had and started washing Ashley's knee off. Now, we just had to get her back to the ship, and it's about 20 minutes of brisk walking. Ashley was such a great sport! She hiked her skirt up and didn't complain at all.

We did stop and take a break about 2/3 the way back to our ship when we saw this ship. This is an exact replica of the Santa Maria. You know..... the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria?

How would you like to fix dinner here tonight?

Ashley's knee after getting back to the ship. Needless to say, this really affected her ability to do several things over the next few days.

Vigo, Spain

2010-01-25T15:44:00.000-08:00

For the past two port days we've had a plan, but today we simply did not. We have absolutely no idea what we are going to do, where we are going, or even how we are going to get there. This photo is the best depiction of our fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stance we took when arriving. We stood at many a street corner trying to figure out what we were going to do next.

This restaurant was at the end of the street, right outside of the port. I just loved the colors and the ship-like look.

Some street vendors setting up their wares to sell for the day:

As you can tell, the buildings are quite close together and everything is either very up, or very down, but there just isn't much level ground in Vigo.

I absolutely loved all the stone! The cobblestone streets were so neat, but not very convenient when pulling a backpack on wheels!

Have you ever seen landscaping like this?

And believe it or not, this is not a one-way street!

Ashley is just too cute:

Notice the cat on the roof top? They were everywhere!

Ashley had a blowout with her dressy shoes on our first formal night, so we were trying to find a replacement pair for her. We saw a lot of interesting shoes in the process. Isn't this a unique way to display shoes?

And again... I just loved the fresh produce!

My girls were so embarrassed when we walked into this little pastry shop and I pointed to something,(I cannot even remember what it was) and the lady behind the counter thought that I wanted it. I took my picture and walked out, but my children said I was being very rude. I wasn't intentionally rude, what I call it is a language barrier; we simply didn't understand each other. I was pointing and complimenting the food and she thought I wanted to buy.

Around the corner from the pastry shop was this lonely little flower box of flowers:

We walked up and up and up...everything all day long was up hill until we were done finished and then it was all downhill. As we were walking up Blair discovered this door knocker:

I promise, even though it appears that Brent is wearing a skirt, he clearly is not:

I'm not joking when I say everything is UP! I could eat anything I wanted if I lived in Spain and walked everywhere.

But, then again I wouldn't want to live in Spain and have a small flat with only this kind of balcony. I'd really miss my yard.

Blair being her beautiful self:

Almost at the top looking back down to our ship:

And again the wonderful thing about Europe; fresh food everywhere!

I'm not real sure what this is for, but I thought it was pretty neat. It was placed in the middle of a roundabout.

Walking down the street this was a creepy thing to see:

We heard all this racket and chanting going on and we just had to investigate. In very rudimentary English a gentleman standing next to us explained that it was a protest and it had something to do with welfare.

Still searching for that perfect pair of shoes, we went into this mall and right outside the entrance was this pooch. I couldn't believe it. I've seen huge dogs that can take care of themselves tied up in a public place, but never had I witnessed a poor defenseless puppy being left to itself.

Do you notice anything interesting in this picture? The girls and I could not believe this when we saw it! Since when do you decorate with or sell plungers right along with accessories?

We didn't have any luck in that mall, so we headed to the outdoor mall area:

This is where I, Mom, start getting really fussy! I mean really fussy. My teenage daughter isn't having any luck finding the right shoes, and I'm hungry...really hungry. Brent walks into at least a dozen little sandwich shops and walks back out. What a tease! We've been told that we need to have seafood, so I think the sandwiches just aren't what he was looking for. We finally stop at a restaurant and we are seated. It smells so bad that I've instantly lost my appetite. Then the lady at the next table over lights up her cigarette and it begins to get even smellier. I felt so bad, but I just couldn't do it; I simply couldn't eat with smoke wafting around my head and up my nostrils. Brent was so kind to tell the waiter that we'd changed our minds. We take off walking and Brent spots another place to eat. At street level you looked down into this restaurant. It had a sign above the bar area that said "No Smoking". Just kidding, we were in Spain and I think it said "No Fumar". I don't speak Spanish, but I knew that sign meant something good! We walk down into the restaurant and it's a little spooky. The girls have decided at this point that they are just going to wait until they get back to the ship to eat something. Brent and I look at the menu and don't understand a thing! You'd think living in Texas we could have deciphered some of it, but this isn't a enchilada, rice and beans type of place we frequent at home. So, we choose to use the point and smile method of communicating. When we walked in Brent saw these shells with something in them just sitting on the counter, so he points at them and tell the guy we want two. I try real heard to not allow the gag reflex kick, but really...the food is just sitting out in the open where any dirty handed urchin could touch them. It takes forever for them to put them on plates and bring them to us. The girls are enjoying the basket of bread that was brought to our table. I didn't want to hurt Brent's feeling so when "it" arrived, I dove right in. And you know what? It was absolutely delicious! In about three bites it was gone and I wanted another one. It was the most interesting thing and I still don't know what it was. There was a small piece of seafood in the middle of breading, but the flavors were so unique and so wonderful. All we ordered were those two shells and a single shot of espresso, and our bill was 22.00 Euros, which is approximately $34.00. Needless to say, I was very thankful that the girls decided they wanted to wait for the free food on the ship.

We left the restaurant all fairly exhausted and the girls are ready to eat, so we head back to the ship. Here are just a few more pictures of Vigo:

The Port in Vigo:

Cherbourg -- Normandy, France

2010-01-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

This post is for all those history buffs out there! While I know very few facts about the Normandy Invasion, I do have lots of pictures of the area.

In planning for this day Brent decided that we were going to watch the movie, The Longest Day, which is about D-Day. Well, I have to admit that our girls are not used to: #1 watching movies at all, and #2 violence of any kind. They both had their eyes closed through most of the movie and it took us two weeks to actually get through it.

So, when it came time to get off the ship on the Nov the 25th, the girls were worn out from our day before in Paris and I think all they could think about was actually being in the same place that war they had witnessed in the movie. They begged Brent to allow them to stay on the ship while we went off to see all the historical sites, which he allowed after laying down ground rules.

Being the organized person that I am...okay, no snickering... I didn't bring the rental car confirmation number, nor could I even remember what company that I'd arranged a car with! I was a little nervous getting off the ship and not knowing what to expect, but I have to say that I loved the French in Normandy; they are night and day from those that we had had experience with the day before in Paris. Not only were the people so helpful and pleasant, it was also the nicest port I've ever been to, which isn't saying much because I've not been to that many, but it truly is a beautiful port.

Here's the what we saw as soon as we entered the port. The lighting was horrible and this isn't the best picture, but It looked like a huge umbrella with all these hats hanging from the inside of it.

There were a couple of ladies with lots of brochures about the area greeting people as they came through the port. We told one of them our dilemma and she assured us that she'd find out where our car was. She pointed to her listed of rental companies and said she would start at the top and work her way down calling each one until she found ours. Instant relief! I believe the second place she called had our reservation and a French woman picked us up within minutes to take us to our car.

This was standing by our car looking back at National where we rented our car, and you can also see the cruise ship in between the building.

Here's our car for the day and what a car it was. Brent was so happy because he didn't have a clue how fast he was going. I'm not sure if Brent didn't see the speed-limit signs, or if he could read the numbers in French, but I'm pretty sure part of the day he didn't observe them. I could get real used to this car and I sure wished they were sold here in the states.

I'll have to admit that even though I completely trust my husband's driving ability, I was a little concerned that we would get lost because of our lack of ability to speak French. I couldn't have been more wrong. And no, not about our ability to speak French, but about Brent's ability to navigate no matter what country he is in. The roads were so well marked and very nice. I also loved all the round-a-bouts that they have. It does seem so much smarter than traffic lights!

As we were cruising down the highway we spotted Private John M. Steele, or actually the representation of him. On his decent into Normandy his parachute got hung up on a church in Sainte-Mère-Église, the first village in Normandy liberated by the Americans on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

And the inside of the church:

This is just a quaint little place directly across from the church:

We then took off to find the Normandy beaches. The first beach area that we came to was Utah, it was amazing that it appeared that everything is just as it was left, with the addition of a museum of course.

Want to play jacks, anyone?

Don't I forever look like the tourist with my camera?

I smiled to make it appear warm...Brent makes it look like it's actually cold!

Our next stop was the most breathtaking and also the most emotional one for me. It made me realize why the French in that region love the Americans so; our men were very brave and fought very hard for them. And, it made me thankful for all those men who have bravely fought for our country. When we returned to the ship we found that most people who took tours didn't get to see this area because it is quite a long way from the road, and a pretty good hike in. It was so worth it, even though it never got above 13 C and the wind was blowing so hard! Pointe Du Hoc:

As I'm standing on a lookout, this is what I see to my right and left. Don't forget the steep cliffs or how rugged they are when you read the words of President Reagan below.

"And the American Rangers began to climb, they shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, the ranger would grab another, and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land on the tops of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe." President Ronald Regan June 6, 1984

I was amazed at the craters that were still there!

I sure wouldn't want to be in the path of this!

When you look at the construction of these bunkers and think about how far away this area is from a main road, I just stood in awe thinking if the amount of labor the Germans went through for their cause. And the amount of effort the American Soldiers went through to defeat their cause.

Could you imagine being inside this?

This is inside one of the bunkers looking out:

Brent inside of the bunker taking a photo of the gun hole, which is the next picture:

We then moved on down the coast to Omaha beach, which appeared to be a bit more commercialized and we found out that this is the area that most tours visit this location.

Bunkers built in the side of a hill.

There really wasn't much to see and being a soldier than I think this is the beach that I would have liked to have landed on.

We knew that there was a famous tapestry in the town of Bayeux, known as the Bayeux Tapestry. How clever of them, huh? We knew that we still had a couple more hours before we needed to head back so we decided to check out Bayeux and what we discovered was a very neat little town! Funny thing is, we were so memorized by such a quaint little town(and the food) that we actually never saw the tapestry. Looks like we'll have to go back some day.

The streets of Bayeux:

This little canal was right in town:

A close up of the picture on the wall in the canal:

Busted! I'm having a hankering for a crepe and had just ordered mine with caramel. It was so good. Yet another reason that we really need to go back.

I just had to take a photo of this little rolls. They were just sitting on the top of the counter and Brent told the lady he wanted 2. We had to communicate by gesturing and pointing, and after he communicated 2 by using his fingers, he commenced to grab two. This is what was funny: As soon as he grabbed the second one, she started saying, "No!" and he dropped it. She was trying to show him that she had tongs and that he was NOT supposed to be using his fingers. After she scolded him, she gave us two fresh rolls. The sad part: they weren't even that good.

But, the sandwich you see in the upper right hand corner was delicious. I'd love for someone to be able to tell me how the French make these. It's a ham and cheese sandwich with cheese melted on the top layer, but it has the most unique flavor and I would really like to figure that one out!

When we got back to the terminal at the port they had this:

I knew that I had to take picture because Blair would never believe what she missed if I didn't have proof.

I hope to never repeat this day.....

2010-01-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

I know many of you are waiting to read about our next day of vacation and I promise that I'll try and get the rest finished this week.

I've never done this before, but because last Wednesday was ONE of those days, I decided that you all may just want to hear about it, and if not...well, move along somewhere else because if you continue reading you're going to hear about it. I wrote the bulk of this last Thursday while it was still fresh on my mind.

Hormones: Can't live with them, and I can't live without them! I know that because of hormones or the lack of, I really don't know which, I awoke at 4:30 yesterday. I also woke up feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest and a squirrel had it's tail down my throat...basically...YUCKY! I am resolved to have a great attitude because my husband has asked me to accompany him on a business trip and I want to go and enjoy my time with him. He is my best friend and I LOVE to be with him. After laying in bed and realizing that I wasn't going back to sleep, I got up and had a delicious bottle of kombucha, which sent the squirrel packing. Now, how do you get rid of the elephant? I'm still trying to figure out that one! I was hoping that my Americano would do the trick, but the elephant has decided to take up residency I believe.

I wake the girls up a few minutes after 7:00 and told them that we had to leave the house in 45 minutes so that I could get them delivered to their adopted parents, and then have plenty of time to get back so that Brent and I can leave our house at 9:00. We had a flight out of Love Field at 11:15, so all is well and we're in good shape. Well, 50 minutes later..one of my daughters (I will not say which one) is still styling her hair into that perfect hairdo. I tell her that I'm leaving and at 8:00 we're heading out the door and off. I was successful in delivering them to their cozy nest for the next 5 days and I'm back home just a few minutes before 9:00. Perfect! I walk in the door and my dear sweet husband is still packing his clothes. We are going to be so late! I decided to keep my cool, not say a word and make sure all my stuff was in the car and that he wasn't waiting on me. I didn't even make sure everything was picked up and put away, I've never left my house in such disarray for a trip! At 9:20 Brent brings me his expense reports and asks that I print a stamp so that he can get them in the mail before we leave. My computer is packed, so I unpack the computer and turn it on. Brent walks through in a panic and asks me what I'm doing on my computer. I explained that he wanted to mail his reports, right? He confirmed that he indeed want just that. I packed my computer back up, loaded my bags and took his mail to the mailbox. I decided the best course of action would be for me to just sit in the car. I grabbed our breakfast to go and sat in the car for a few minutes until he was ready, which was just a few minutes later. We were off at 9:30. It's not really that big of a deal I thought, because we are flying Southwest and we'll still get there in plenty of time.

Did I mention that I still felt YUCKY? Well, in case you've forgotten, I wanted to remind you again.

We were doing so good, traffic was wonderful, the sun was shining, and I was thinking about how nice it was going to be to be with Brent for 5 days....with him all to myself. Then we hit I-30. It was a parking lot. Brent gets into "Brent panic mode" and keeps saying, "I don't need this this morning." Since when did we ever need to have traffic anyway? I choose to keep my lips sealed. Instead I got out my awesome, trusty phone and checked the traffic and it appeared that we were going to be sitting for quite some time. An hour later, with Brent sweating from the abundance of nerves, we are through the traffic and moving on. He started driving somewhat fast, and got honked at by a couple of people, but all was good because we were no longer "stuck". We made it to Inwood, just a few blocks from I-35E and we hit traffic again! They had several of the left lanes closed. Not only is it bottle-necking, because of the lane closures, we also have to wait through three lights. Brent is getting really antsy! Time is a ticking and our plane is scheduled to leave in 15 minutes. I'm glad our children weren't in the car to witness this next move, but Brent decides to cut in line by darting through the barrels, using the closed lanes to place himself in the front of the line. Construction on Inwood is really crazy right now and when you're running late.......well, it's just completely unnecessary!

We arrive at the airport at 11:02 and Brent decides to use the more expensive parking since it is so much closer...you know, so we can save some time. Well, not sure if that worked for us or not, because we drove what seemed like an eternity. I jumped out grabbed my bags and took off running. We made it to the elevator and Brent pushed down...nothing! We waited for at least 10 seconds , which seemed like 10 minutes and then I spotted the stairs. I asked Brent if he could handle the stairs with his bags (he has more than me) because if he could, I would too. Off we went down the stairs and took off running as soon as we hit the bottom. We checked our bags at 11:06 (so very thankful that not one single person was in line) and I again took off running. Brent's suitcase was overweight, so he had to rearrange things in his bag. I ran to the the security and told the man in front of me that I REALLY needed to hurry because my plane was getting ready to take off and would he please let me in front of him. He was so gracious and allowed me to go through. I was such a mess at this point. I had my coat, scarf, purse, drivers license, boarding pass all loose, threw it in the tub to go through the scanner, pull out my laptop and I start to charge through the metal detector with my shoes on. I have to back up, take my boots off, throw them on the conveyor belt and then through the detector. Phew! As I get to the other side I pull my tub and it makes a tub ahead of mine fall on the floor...and it has the man's laptop that just allowed me to go ahead of him. I really didn't know what to do or even how to act. It wasn't my fault, it just so happened that when his tub came through on the conveyor that it didn't come out square and it was riding on the edge. Of course you'd have thought the the two security officers just standing there would have seen it and corrected the problem before it really became a problem. Anyhow, I'm in a hurry.....one of the security guards sees my distress and he picks up my coat, scarf and boarding pass and has them ready for me as soon as I have my boots on. What a sweetheart! I leave security and take off running. Did I bother to check my boarding pass to see what gate I needed to be at? Of course not! So, I ran to the wrong gate. I'm not sure what I was thinking, or maybe I wasn't thinking at all, but it only cost me a few seconds of time. When I rounded the corner to the right gate, the gentleman asks me if I'm a Roy. "Yes.", I proudly say. I turn around to search for Brent and he is no where to be found, but when I look the second time I see him running towards the gate. We hand off our boarding passes and run down the gangway. BINGO! It's a fairly empty flight so we were able to score exit row seats...and together! Brent and I both are sweating pretty good at this point and are so extremely grateful that we made our flight. Good 'ol Southwest wastes no time at all; we just clicked our seat belts and we pulled away from the gate.

And then I started coughing.

As soon as we were hit 10,000 feet I made a mad dash to the bathroom. I notice an older gentleman had just used it and I should have put two and two together and used the other toilet. I won't go into detail because I don't want to gross you out, but let's just say that accuracy wasn't his strong point. The good part was that he didn't even hit to bowl, so at least that part was clean. :)

We land at 11:50 and proceed to baggage claim. Of course we know that it's not going to be there, but we needed to find out when our luggage was going to make it in. The lady was so sweet and said that she thought it would on the 3:20 flight. We hop on the shuttle and ride the bus to the car rental. Brent has an appointment at 12:30; he wastes no time at all either, no wonder he loves Southwest. I could tell you about the Brent's appointments, but that would make you dizzy....... I promise. We were here and there for the next 3 hours and then we stopped to have lunch with one of Brent's customers at the Flying Star Cafe, which I highly recommend if you're in New Mexico. Brent and I then head back to Albuquerque where he is to get a bus and he has asked me to take the car and go back to the airport to pick up our luggage. No big deal, I have my awesome phone with a trusty little GPS. WRONG! I tell it to navigate to the airport and off I go. 10 minutes down the road there is a guard shack in the street. I roll up to the shack and ask the man if I was in the wrong place. He laughs and tells me that if I don't know where I am, that yes indeed I'm in the wrong place. I then tell him that I was just following the GPS and was trying to get to the airport. He laughs at me and tells me that this happens all the time; for some reason the GPS doesn't know that even though the street appears to go the airport, you have to go through the Kirkland Air Force Base, which is impossible for this civilian. The guard gives me fairly decent instructions on how to get to the airport, so I do a Uey and carry on. I turn where the guard tells me to turn and all's good. My GPS then tells me to turn again and by this time I've already forgotten the second street that the gurad told me to turn on, but I know in times past when you miss your turn or decide to go an alternate route the GPS will just reroute itself. Having way too much confidence in this neat little phone, I follow it's commands. Where do I end up? On the other side of the air force base. I've done a complete circle. At this point I'm not feeling well, it's getting dark, I'm in a HORRIBLE part of town, and I'm completely lost. In the mean time I get a phone call from our neighbor. She is asking about Maggie, our dog, and wondering where Maggie is. The neighbor has agreed to take care of her while we are gone. Blair delivered the food the night before we left and said she would bring Maggie over in the morning. I don't know where Maggie is! When I came back home this morning after dropping the girls off I don't ever remember seeing Maggie. I call Blair to ask her if she knows where Maggie is and Blair tells me that Maggie must be locked up in the house, because she never took her over to Dee's like she said she would. When I asked her why, she simply said she forgot. I pull into a convenient store and start crying. I'm not sure what I should do, and feeling a little bit overwhelmed at the moment. I call Brent who patiently and loving tells me that it's all going to be okay and that he'll figure out how to get the neighbor in the house. He also gives me directions on how to get to the airport. I dry my tears and with new resolve tell myself that I can do this. Off to the airport I go and I'm there within minutes. When I pulled up to the "loading and unloading area ONLY, but no parking allowed area", there were two security officers patrolling the area. I'm sure I must of appeared to be emotionally distraught, which I clearly was, because when I asked if I could park there so that I could retrieve my luggage, they graciously agreed that that would be fine, but I had to be quick. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I took off running and found our bags. What was Brent thinking when he sent sickly me to retrieve this luggage. We have two huge suitcases and one smaller one. How does one pull three suitcases? I stack the smaller of three on top on of one of the larger ones and walk very slowly. My purse is sliding off my shoulder, the smaller suitcase starts to slide and within seconds it crashes to the floor. Persistent me, I rearrange again only to walk another 20 yards and have this repeated over again. This happened about 4 times and I'm nearing tears again. I thought I saw a light??? I guess it was a train instead! I finally make it to the car and I'm so fatigue from not feeling well that I can hardly lift the bags in the car. (Remember, Brent's WAS overweight!) Not only does it take ever bit of effort that my body can possibly muster, it also changed my khaki skirt I was wearing into more of a black and khaki marbled looking affair. I truly was a mess, but I had the luggage in the car and I was headed to meet my man.

Brent is in another town and he decides that he will direct me instead of me using the GPS...I wonder why?? It just so happens that I'm in rush hour traffic and it takes me forever to get to where Brent is, but I finally manage. When I get there he tells me that now I only have to follow him to his next stop, which is a mere two hours away. Tired and not feeling well we are off to our next destination, the Taos Inn. While on the road Brent calls the neighbor and gives her instructions on how to find the hide-a-key on his truck and use the garage door opener to get in. Oh, my...the first and only time I've left my house a wreck and my neighbor needs to break in to retrieve our dog. How completely embarrassing!

We arrive in Taos and Brent insists that we stop at Wal-Mart to buy a humidifier, which I believe is an excellent idea. I remember at this point that I'd made a huge mistake this morning because I didn't put that last load of laundry in the dryer before I left with the girls, so when I get home I still have wet clothes in the washer. And now in my suitcase are my pj's, which are wet. Could anything else go wrong today?

When we finally make it to the hotel I'm so relieved. It's freezing cold and Brent shows me to way to our room, yes this seems really silly, but I would have never found it on my own because this property is like a maze! The Taos Inn is SO old and while our room is very nice and cozy, it is also very drafty. But the best part is that it has a kiva fireplace in the room with some wood. Brent immediately starts a fire and within minutes the room is toasty warm. Well, that is as long as you didn't stand in front of the door and have the cold draft blowing on you. Brent has the awesome idea to use the extra pillows and shove them around the base of the door to block the draft.

Even though we are both hungry, we decide to go to bed instead of heading back out to find something to eat. Getting in bed I hurt by leg on something sharp. When I looked to find out what it was I discover the bed isn't sitting square on the frame and the frame is sticking out. Brent helps me fix that and we crawl in bed only to discover that we are going downhill. We both start laughing....this is just getting too comical. Brent then tells me that he TRIED to bring me to a romantic place. We laugh some more. I go to sleep only to wake up a few hours later with that elephant still hanging out. I don't know if it was the dry air or what, but it hurts so badly that I start to cry. So, what do you do in the middle of the night when you cannot sleep? You pray...and pray...and pray. That's exactly what I did and I told the Lord that I was thankful for all my blessings, but I really hoped that He had something better in store for me tomorrow.

Tuesday's Tip

2010-01-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted about making homemade detergent and softener, I've experimented and found something that I like better. Here are the recipes that I'm currently using:

Homemade Laundry Detergent
1 bar Laundry soap (Zote, Fels-Neptha,Castile)
4 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
4 c. Borax
2c. all fabric bleach(non- chlorine)I use OxiClean
1c. baking soda

Using a food processor or a Microplane, grate your soap and mix with remaining ingredients. Store in an air-tight container. I use approx 2 TBL of this detergent per load, although I might be able to get away with less.

Fabric Softener
1 bottle Suave Naturals Conditioner 22.5oz
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
8 cups water
1 TBL glycerin
.75 oz Downy fragrance oil

Mix all ingredients together and use as you would normally use fabric softener. I like to use my stick blender to mix it. I kept an old gallon vinegar jug to store mine in. As you can see it's fairly inexpensive compared to Downy; cost is approx $3.00 for 3/4 of a gallon.

Such an easy way to save money.....remember, we're cheap!

Paris

2010-01-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Ok....

I'm so sorry I've made you all wait so long! I'm just helping y'all with your patience :)

When we found out that we would be able to go to Paris on this trip it took a long time to decide how we were to get to Paris prior to leaving. The port the ship was to stop was La Havre, which is the closest port to Paris. We looked into a car rental and were quickly dissuaded from that idea. The next option was to catch the train in La Havre and ride two hours into Paris, but that was a little bit expensive and we weren't quite confident with that option either. The last option was to pay a fairly hefty price to ride a chartered bus through one of the ships shore excursions. We decided that for us this would be the best choice, even though we are usually completely opposed to using the ships excursions.

We left the ship at 9 am on a double-decker charted bus headed for Paris. It was a fairly uneventful ride with the exception that the driver decided to stop at a convenience store just a few miles from downtown Paris! You can imagine a double-decker bus that is full of people all wanting coffee and a water closet at the same time! I had the opportunity to sit and admire that French convenience store for an hour. I was so glad when the bus started to roll again!

In Paris the bus dropped us off at the Eiffel Tower and we were told to meet the bus back at the tower at 4:00 sharp. I'll have to tell you that we really didn't have a game plan for Paris. I know, I know...this is so out of character for us! LOL Our main objective was food. We wanted to try everything Parisian and experience sitting on the sidewalk as we dined. We were VERY successful in mastering that objective!

Here are just a few pictures from out day in Paris:

I know.. I can just hear you now. "How boring, I've seen this picture before."

But, you haven't seen this one before!

Or, this one!

This was just a neat street that we walked down. I loved the tree lined streets and park like areas!

Just some of the Parisian architecture.

And some more...

This is the Seine River. We had inquired about doing a river tour because Ashley had a muscle in her leg that was causes her some pain when she was walking. But, after hearing the price, these cheap skates decided to keep walking. We did take a lot of breaks for Ashley, and of course we sat and ate a lot too!

I loved the window boxes that so many flats have. I know I'd miss my flowers if I didn't have a yard!

We spent the better part of our day on this street. It was such a neat area with great shopping and plenty of food!

The fresh food and flowers is something that I definitely would love if I lived in Europe.

One of the many Brasseries.

This is where we had lunch. We ordered quiche, sandwiches, and crepes. It was all so yummy.

And a little bit later we decided to have coffee. This was Ashley's cappuccino. It was fairly inexpensive, coming in around 10 dollars. Our total for the entire beverage break only cost us about 30 dollars. Want to move to Paris?

The next three photos Blair has the camera and this is how the conversation goes:
"Ok, Daddy, smile."

"No, Daddy,...smile really big!!" And he replies "Like this?"

"Okay, Daddy...smile for Momma."

Ashley is behind the camera here. They just love to take pictures of Dad. Brent and I learned to LOVE espresso while we were on this trip.

Brent loved this car.

It is amazing how even when it's cold out, the Parisians still sit outside and dine. Where in America would you find it 40-50 degrees and people still eating outside?

This is Napoleon's Tomb.

And the area around the tomb

And some more area around the tomb

Blair sitting on the wall around the tomb

I just couldn't resist the opportunity to take a picture of this. I've never seen a street before where the gas pump is curb-side!

We came upon this scene as we were walking back to the Eiffel Tower. Although we have no idea of what was going on, the gentleman in the tan jacket had a bloody face, and on the other side of group was his wife and children. The only thing that we could come up with was that he was the victim of being pick-pocketed. Can you believe that amount of police that responded?

Yet another of the many places that fresh fruit was hanging right on the street!

We had a great day in Paris shopping, walking (everyone but Ashley), and eating.

London -- Day 5

2009-12-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

When spent 4 days traveling all over London and thoroughly enjoying ourselves, but today is the day we've all been waiting for! It's really too bad (sometimes) that we have to be so cheap, because it really cost us last night...SEVERELY! The room we stayed in was so small...probably the smallest I've ever stayed in. I don't believe that Europe even knows what a queen sized bed is, much less a king. They definitely don't know what comfortable beds are like either. There are a few things that the Europeans could learn from us lazy Americans :)

Anyway, our room was ultra small! And then you added us and our luggage...now your talking about major claustrophobia. I wished I was being funny, but I'm not. We had to take numbers as to who would move when because there wasn't room for two people to move at one time. The hotel was on a busy street and we went to bed with lots of street noise in the background. Ok, I'll be honest here: I did get some sleep, exactly 3 hours! I woke up to water running down my face. I have to confess that I first thought it was drool that must have flown from Brent's mouth to my face because I just don't sweat! I opened my eyes to further examine the situation and realized that poor Brent isn't drooling at all. It's HOT and I'm sweating! My fussy side immediately presents itself to Brent and wakes him up to ask him if he is hot? Why did I bother to ask? When I look to my right and my left everyone is out of their covers! Oh, I bet you don't think I can really see, huh? Well you're wrong because we are on that busy street. Remember? And that busy street also has some very good lights, which seem to work even better after midnight. Back to waking Brent up.... he is such a good sport and tells me to call the front desk and tell them that the AC isn't working. In the meantime Brent gets up and gets a wet towel and throws in on me. Wow! Relief. He then gets dressed and heads downstairs to have a little conversation with the gentlemen at the desk. He comes back with a 2 liter bottle of water and 2 large glasses of ice. Yep, he is my knight in shining armor. Mr. Gentlemen at the front desk, who told me on the phone that he couldn't do anything has now told Brent that he'll come take a look. When you're hot time seems to crawl! It took him forever and when he did get there all he did was inspect the thermostat. I have to assume that he thought we were ignorant Americans that didn't know how to operate one! Once he did his inspection and realized that we did indeed have it set like it should be, he said, "Sorry, we don't have maintenance man at night." Man, oh man! We have to stay in this sauna for several more hours? Then, we remembered the window! My poor children... I had to crawl over them to reach the window and open it. We thought we heard traffic noise earlier....not sure what that was because now we heard traffic noise. But, we were slowing changing the temperature in the room. We laid there until we couldn't take the noise any longer and then shut the window and resumed the wet towel approach.

Morning finally dawned! We had the girls get out of bed, which was a sleeper sofa. (In America we would call it a twin sized sleeper, not a double.) We were able to move a little more freely once we acquired that additional 10 square feet. Brent spent more time in the hallway than he did in the room while he was awake. We women can take a lot of time getting dressed :) We drug our suitcases to the lobby with anticipation of the same awesome English breakfast that we had the previous 3 morning. What a disappointment. Everything was awful....and I'm not picky! I typically enjoy Holiday Inn Express, but this was definitely not what I'm used to.

The night before Brent had decided that we would hire a cab to take us to the Waterloo station. We were able to arrange one that said they could fit all 8 bags and us in one vehicle. It is so cold and rainy and I am so thankful that Brent insisted that we splurge this one time in hiring transportation. We would have spent more money on Starbucks trying to get warm had we walked! It was too funny when the driver saw all of our luggage, you could tell his wheels were turning! The taxi was a mini van, but small. With Brent's incredible packing skills we were able to fit most of the bags in the back, and the rest rode on our laps. After getting loaded Brent ran around and opened the passenger side door, or better yet what would be the passenger side door in American. The driver was right behind him and started laughing and told Brent that if he really wanted to drive that he'd let him. Brent scurried around to his side and we were off to Waterloo!

We arrived at the station at 8:00 and our train was scheduled to depart at 8:39. The station is the largest in the UK and I was told second largest in the world, but I've been unable to verify that. Thousands of people use it to commute everyday. Since we have no idea of where we are supposed to go, I think Brent started sweating the minute we walked in the station. He was a NERVOUS wreck! Most of you all know how intense Brent can get, well multiply that by about 10 and you'll have a better idea of how he was doing on the morning of Nov 23rd. It is pouring rain outside and the roof isn't the best I've ever seen and it is raining in the station as well. Did I mention that it was cold? The girls we so cold that Brent left me with the luggage watching the boards on the wall which are suppose to indicate which platform we are to get on, while he took the girls to buy scarves.

Thought you all would love to see our luggage!

This is a small part of the station.

I stood there studying those boards, but I didn't not understand what was going on at all. I finally asked a young girl in front of me and she was so kind as to explain the process to me. Brent returned with the girls and then took our tickets and went to talk to someone. He returned to motion us through the carousel for handicapped people, there was just no way we were going to be able to make it through the turn-style everyone else was using. We make it through the gates just as a train has just deposited thousands of people! I'm sure that is an exaggeration, but I've never seen so many people get off train. It was like watching clowns getting out of their car at a rodeo!

People, people and more people!

I was pulling my luggage and minding my own business and some chic turned around and yelled at me. She said that I almost knocked her over. Of course being the polite American I am, I apologized. Later replaying it in my head I realized that if she almost got knocked over it was because she wasn't watching where she was going, because I was simply moving with the flow of traffic! We walked and walked, and kept asking what platform we need to go to and nobody knew where we should go. Finally we were informed that we need to go back and wait on the other side. Back through the handicap gate we go to wait on the other side once again watching the boards. We only waited for a few minutes and then we saw our train was assigned a platform. Once again, we went back through the handicap gate and off to our train. This is what was so funny! Brent walks up to the door and starts to pickup his luggage and the door closes in his face. He was instantly furious! I saw the next car down still had its door open so we headed down there. We were able to get on without too much trouble, but then I got to thinking.... I did a lot of research and bought these train tickets a long time ago. Very discounted... remember we're cheap! Anyhow, when I purchased them it said to make sure you are on the MegaTrain and there should be a place card in the window indicating that you're on the right train. After inspecting the windows I don't see any place cards. I tell Brent, who immediately panics and jumps off the train to ask someone if we are indeed on the right train. They assure him that we are. PHEW! We get all of our luggage situated and find a seat. Now, that was an ordeal! We were probably halfway to Southampton, our destination, before Brent was able to relax enough so that he could enjoy his trip. I wasn't as uptight as he was, but I don't feel the responsibility that he does either. It's so nice to be the wife!

A Southwest Train

They were very nice on the inside and after we ordered hot tea and coffee we settled in. Blair took a nap, but somehow that picture disappeared from my camera, along with a few others that just happened to have her in them!

Now, when I said cheap, I meant cheap. We traveled from London to Southampton, which is 1.5 hours away and we only had to pay 1 lb person. 1 pound while we were there was about $1.70.

When we arrived in Southampton we take out on foot to find the ship. It was a great walk, and only about 1 mile! We all needed the exercise and it was fun to haul around 80lbs. It was good for us, I promise I'm not complaining. I really did enjoy it! It would have cost us about 40 dollars and we wouldn't have had the privilege of burning so many calories. See, being cheap does have its benefits!

We made it to the ship and we were so happy that we were finally there! Check-in was a breeze and we were off to find some food. Breakfast, or the lack thereof, was a LONG time ago. We each enjoyed a delicious lunch, the girls were instructed(by mom and dad) that their meals had to include a vegetable and fruit, and we set off to explore the ship.

We relaxed the rest of the day in anticipation of our trip to Paris tomorrow.

London -- Day 4

2009-12-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

We're moving! I've mentioned that we do everything the cheap way. We planned this entire vacation around points and we only had enough hhonors points to stay at the Hilton for 3 nights. We ate our last huge English breakfast before heading out with our luggage on to our next home. We are each traveling with our suitcase that weighs right at 50 lbs, plus a carry-on bag. So we each have two pieces of luggage. In order to get to our next hotel we can do two things: call a two taxis, or ride the bus. Can you get what we did? You betcha, we hauled our suitcases down the hill, through a park, and back up a hill and across the road to the nearest bus stop that has a bus heading in the direction that we would like to go. Can you guess which bus that might be? Ok, you probably wouldn't know, but it is the 381 bus...again. When we finally reach the bus stop it is very crowded. The wait was about 10-15 minutes and we saw our favorite double-decker pull up. We let everyone else get go first so they wouldn't have to wait on us with our luggage. I was the first in line and as I was getting on with my bags the driver held up his hand and said, "I'll only take one of you." You got to be kidding right? Nope! He was as serious as a heart attack. So we all backed up and waited for the next bus to come by. We were lucky because it was only about 10 minutes later that one pulled up and since he was fairly empty he allowed us to get on. Phew! I was worried we were going to be traveling in singles for a minute.

We had researched this route the night before so we'd know approximately which bus stop to get off on. We had the address of the hotel, but no one was sure which stop was the closest for the 381 bus. I'm sure most of you know that Brent is pretty intense at times, so as soon as the bus turned on the street that the hotel was on he wanted us to get off at the next stop. We all hauled our luggage off the bus, studied the map, and then headed in the direction we thought we were supposed to go. Brent is so good with having his bearings that he lead us right where we needed to go. It wasn't bad, we only had to pull our luggage for about 6 blocks before we spotted the sign: Holiday Inn Express. What a great feeling to know that we made it! And we didn't spend a pence doing it!

We checked out bags and set off again to go exploring. We decided to go to the Waterloo station first to have a bite to eat and check it out. We then decided to head back to the Tower of London. Just a few of our pictures while visiting the Tower:

This is the building where the Crown Jewels are located. I've NEVER seen so many diamonds and gold in one place in all my life! It was beautiful.

This is the yard that the ravens live in. There is a story behind the ravens and if you're interested you can read about it here.

Another view of the same yard.

This young whipper snapper is guarding the Crown Jewels. Is it me or does he look like he should be in school instead of being a guard?

I just loved this set of stairs. The light colored stone on the far right is the chapel, which were not allowed to take picture of, but many people who were beheaded were buried beneath the floors of the chapel and remain there today.

There are many different towers at the Tower of London which are all part of the Inner Ward and this is one of them. Prisoners were house in the towers.

The moat is on the other side of these arches.

This is the Broad Arrow Tower, which is also part of the Inner Ward. There are several crowns housed in this tower now.

As we walked across the path in the picture above, we saw these dwellings. They are the homes for the Beefeaters, which are the ones who act as tour guides, provide security, and are a tourist attraction in their own right.

Here is a picture of two of the Beefeaters. The one that is sitting down is the one that was our tour guide for the Ceremony of the Keys.

As you will read if you click the link about about the raven, you'll find that some ravens are kept in cages and some are allowed to be free. These are the raven's cages.

More housing on the grounds. I cannot remember who lives here, but someone so important that they are guarded as well.

I have this thing with strange things I see in the bathroom. This was the only time I witnessed a loo such as this one.

This is what you've all been waiting to see. The London Bridge picture I shared earlier is really the London Bridge. This is the Tower Bridge and people often confuse the two.

I'm still trying to figure out while Blair insisted on looking so "special" each time the camera was aimed in her direction!

The moat around the Tower of London. It no longer has water, but beautiful green grass instead. The mote was also the sewer, hence the rich green color :)

This is the entrance straight ahead in this picture. On the other side of the arch is where the Ceremony of the Keys is held every night.

Just one of the methods they used to torture the prisons at the Tower of London.

I'm fairly confident that if I was a traitor that I'd start talking if I were to put on this!

Traitors' Gate

The architecture is truly amazing!

Cool building...but not quite sure what it was.

London -- Day 3

2009-12-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

*Beware: This post is exhausting!

Today we woke up with a plan. We were going to attend The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We again ate our huge breakfast and again we snagged a few extra cheeses and cookies for later. We rode the hotel shuttle to the Canada Water station, which remember, this is the closest Underground station that will take us all over the city, and when we got there it was shut down for the day for maintenance. Convenient! Brent goes into immediate panic mode, while I suggest that we could just ask how someone how to get there by bus. There were some very helpful Underground employees who explained what bus we could catch to take us to another station that would be walking distance to Buckingham palace. I think we all perked up when we saw the bus that we were supposed to get on and realized it was one of those double-deckers that we'd been wanting to ride.

We hopped on and flew up the stairs to find the seats closest to the very front. We were in luck; we get the front row! It was LONG bus ride with all the many stops it had and we were anxiously watching our watches. The ceremony starts at 11:30 and we were told that we needed to be there at least 30 minutes early. We finally arrived at Victoria station at 11:15. Brent asked the gentleman working at the station what train we should get on to get to the Palace. He quickly informed us that this was the closest station, but that the Palace was within walking distance. We walked, and walked, and walked! My walking distance and the Brit's walking distance are clearly two totally different things!

I could not believe what I saw when we rounded the corner...there was a sea of people! And one too many of them were smoking fags! Have you ever been afraid that someone was going to catch your hair on fire with a cigarette, or fag rather? Blair grabbed onto Brent's belt-loop, while Ashley and I walked single file behind them bumping into people each step of the way. Brent just kept walking, so we kept following. I'm not real sure where he was going, but we were following him wherever he was leading. All the sudden he decided he wanted to turn back, so we turned around and headed back. A little info is necessary so that you can visualized what happened next. Buckingham Palace is surrounded by a iron fence, you can see that in the pictures below. In front of the Palace there are two large gates for driving through. Everyone who is attending The Changing of the Guards is behind the fence, stacked 7-10 deep to see the ceremony, but NO ONE is in front of the gates. There is a mounted police in front of each gate to make sure that you keep moving and do not stand in that area. Hopefully I painted a clear enough picture that you can "see" what happens next. Brent, being the one to never miss an opportunity to take a great photo, walked behind the mounted police and steps up to the front of the gate to take a picture. The mounted police turns her horse around and yells, "GET AWAY FROM THE GATE!" She had a switch in hand and for a second I thought Brent was going to get flogged! I witnessed Brent move faster than I've ever seen him move! I so wished that we had taken our video camera and I had been videoing when all this happened. It would be so much better than me trying to explain!

Here are just a few of the pictures that we took while we were there at the Palace:

I was just sure these boys were coming to take my husband away for his stunt earlier!

Interesting bit of trivia here. If the Queen is present at the Palace, there are 4 of these guards posted, if she is absent, there are 2 guards present. Funny how knowing that and only seeing two guards while we were there, I still kept looking up at the windows just waiting for her to peak her head out and wave to the crowd. The funniest part is when they are finished they raised their leg high in the air and then stomp it as hard as they can. I guess that means they're done.

These young boys, I mean guards, are very interesting to watch. The stand still and then all the sudden the start using very animated robotic type movements, marching a few feet away and then turning back to their little guard shack.It's not the best, but he is a short video clip:

A couple of the mounted police stopped right in front of me to allow their horses a little nuzzle time.

The gate:

I didn't get a good picture of the people that were standing right in front of the Palace, but in front of it is a round about. This is what is in the middle of it and you can see the all the people that are over there to view this as well.

Brent and the girls standing in front of the Palace:

Buckingham Palace side view. You can clearly see all four guard shacks in this picture, but only two guards.

The iron fence that surrounds the front and part of the sides is absolutely beautiful. We just wonder if it is painted gold or if it is gold plated. I haven't researched it to find out yet.

When the ceremony was over we decided that we head toward Hyde Park and Savile Row. One of Brent's customers insisted that he took his wife shopping at Harrod's, so we were off to find Harrod's. This was the walk from Buckingham Palace, toward Hyde Park...absolutely beautiful and this picture really doesn't do it justice!

This the wall that surrounds the entire Buckingham Palace compound, except for the very front and part way down the sides. Doesn't appear that they want anyone to scale the wall, does it?

I just loved the street signs in London, they were all so cute!

I cannot remember what this was...my note taking should have been better!

I pity the poor person who orders sushi for lunch and thinks that it's going to be express. The poor chap is going to have to air up his tires before he can deliver anything.

The architecture in London and the rest of Europe that we experienced, is so unique. I enjoyed just looking at buildings and thinking what my life might be like if my family just had a flat to live in. I have a better understanding of the abundance of space that we have in this country!

Picadilly Circus is like Broadway in New York, only on a much smaller scale. After exhausting the Hyde park and Savile row area, we took the Tube to Picadilly Circus. When we arrived it started raining, so we didn't get to explore too much. Not to mention the fact that we were all exhausted, once again.

I just had to take these photos! Brent absolutely loves this saying. Every time the train stops there is a warning that is played saying, "Mind the Gap between the train and the platform."

We decided to ride the tube to the other side of London. #1 it's raining and tube is warm and dry, and #2 Ashley has been begging to go back to the Tower of London all day long. She really wasn't interested in all the sight-seeing that we had been doing for hours. By the time we arrived we all needed to find the nearest loo. So, we went into the KFC that is underground and on my way into the loo I had to duck, and this is posted:

The inside of the KFC...everything is so old and neat looking!

Our mission was the Tower of London and we were there! We walked up to the ticket counter and the lady tells us that we are too late. So, we decide that we'll come back tomorrow. I was so exhausted that I cannot remember how we got back to our hotel early that evening, but we did.

We all rested for a short bit, and when we slowed down we realized just how hungry we were! So, my darling husband suggests that we head back to Canada water and catch a bus to Waterloo, which is an enormous station that has the underground, trains, and buses. We wanted to check it out since we were catching a train out of there on Monday morning. We just knew that we'd find something good to eat either in or around the station. I suppose since we'd ridden so many buses that day since our local tube station was closed and we were feeling a little too confident at this point. We arrive at the station, study the map and decide that we need to catch the 381 bus. Seconds later one of us spot the lucky double decker bus and we all hop on. We rode, and rode, and rode, and rode, and rode......and then 45 minutes later the announcement said, " This is the final stop for 381 Peckham." We hopped off the bus totally confused. Did we miss Waterloo? None of us heard them call for a Waterloo stop. After more studying of the map and talking with a driver we discovered the error of our ways. One end of the 381 route is Waterloo, the other end is Peckham. Canada Water, were we hopped on, being in the middle of the entire route. After looking around we realized that we were the only fair skinned people around and it become apparent that we needed to get out of Peckham in short order. Before too long we saw another 381 bus pull up and before Brent would get on he asked the driver to make sure he was headed to Waterloo. We hopped on and rode the same route in reverse. We didn't ride it all the way back to Waterloo because our stomachs just wouldn't allow it. We stopped near the London Bridge station and found a quaint little French restaurant! I'm so exhausted and have been so hungry for so long at this point. Blair is a little fussy and Ashley too. Well, maybe it'd be more honest to say that we were all a little fussy! I'm sure my feelings were similar to those who find water in the desert. Our lunch was 7 hours prior and only consisted of a bowl of tomato soup and a cup of hot tea. Not a real "stick-to-your-ribs" kind of meal! It's amazing what you become very thankful for when you can't or don't have it.

A thoroughly delightful, educational, and memorable day!

London -- Day 2

2009-12-12T06:43:00.000-08:00

On our first morning in London we woke up at 6:30 to rain pelting the window. I had mixed emotions about braving the rain to go exploring, but the host at check-in assured us that the rains in London never lasted too long. We all bundled up in warm clothes and set off for our day. We had a HUGE breakfast, thinking that if we ate a lot that maybe we could skip lunch and then just buy dinner. We dined on bangers, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, fried eggs, blood pudding, and Babybel cheese. It was all very good, with the exception of the blood pudding. The girls loved the Babybel cheese so much that they both went and got extras so that they could have them later in the day as a snack. That would be our cheap side coming out in us!

We set off to catch the shuttle that would take us to the Canada Water Underground station, where we would be able to explore the entire city. Basically, we just flew by the seat of our pants. One of us would mention a place to go and then we took off. It was great! We rode the tube to London Bridge station and this is what we saw:

I absolutely loved the fresh flowers that were readily available all over Europe!

By the time we actually get to this point, breakfast was already forgotten as I'm ready to sit down and have something to eat! Not that I was hungry, but I just wanted to try everything! This was by far my favorite part of the underground that we experienced! I loved the old brick architecture and the cute shops.

Ok, now don't get too excited about this next picture! It's the one you've all been waiting for.

Yup, that's her, The London Bridge. Funny how I didn't know what to expect, but it was more than this! I was a tad bit disappointed that there wasn't more to her.

We walked across the London Bridge heading toward the next underground station. I really need to back up for a moment. When we got off at the first station, I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom. Like right then! We could not find the loo. Well, I must admit that we did find one, but you had to pay to get into it. So, being the cheap wads that we are, we set out walking, and walking, and walking, and walking to find a free toilet. In the meantime we found the London Bridge, had to take some photos and then continued on our journey to find the freebie toilet. We found it! It was an hour later, but it definitely kept my mind off the cold wet day that's for sure. I'm not real sure if it was the excitement of actually finding a toilet or what, but this sink really amused me. I just had to take a picture of the sink. Why is everything in Europe so small?

I honestly had a hard time keeping my hands in the sink to wash them, but this sink was not the smallest one I used on this trip!

We hopped on the tube at the next station and immediately this happened:

Brent later confessed toward the end of our time in London that something about the tube put him to sleep. The droning noise of the train along with the swaying back and forth made him sleepy every time.

We were off again to the Houses of Parliament district. Immediately getting off you see the Eye of London:

And then you turn around and there is Big Ben:

Because all the buildings are so close together and there was a lot of construction going on, it was very difficult to get pictures of all the places we saw.

Entrance to St. Marget's:

Brent and Blair in front of St. Margaret's:

I laugh every time I see this picture. I cannot remember which on of the girls took it but don't you love how it's just our heads and then Big Ben didn't even get all the way in the picture! I just had to include it though...looks like the traditional tourist picture.

After visiting the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abby, London Bridge, Big Ben we were needing a kombucha! I'd done my research before we left and even communicated with a kombucha drinker from the UK and she informed me that Whole Foods did indeed sell kombucha. We were on a mission! We asked where Whole Foods was and followed the instructions to Kensington High Street. Not only did we find Whole foods, but we found an incredible shopping district in London. We saw this little pastry shop and everything looked so beautiful that we just had to take a picture!

Have you ever seen a more beautiful chocolate rose perched on the top of a cake?

Upon entering Whole Foods, this is what I saw. I was immediately amazed that all this food was just sitting out in the store. Their children must be much better behaved, or never visit the store with mom and dad, because I just could not see this kind of food at a child's level not being tampered with or consumed here in the US. Also, their laws must be more lenient about allowing food to be out in the open like this.

Ashley took this photo and right after she took it an employee got on to her and told her, "No Pictures!"

We loved this Whole Foods, but unfortunately they did not have kombucha. We were told that they no longer carried the product. It was our first realization that we would have to go the entire 2 1/2 weeks without living elixir!

After leaving Whole Foods we were all starving. We went back to the cute little pastry shop, sat down looked at the menu, ordered our food, and then bailed. Too much time has passed, but if I remember correctly Brent had his heart set on a baguette sandwich that we saw by the station. After some more walking, and walking, and walking, we found the place, which is called Upper Crust. We all had sandwiches and then went next door to Big Ben's Cookies and ate our sandwiches and had a cookie. My baguette tasted like heaven! I don't normally eat bread in any form or fashion, but I just had to try it. It was stuffed with Brie cheese, fresh basil and tomatoes. Just typing that makes me so hungry for another one! I did regret consuming so much gluten later as I started having aches and pains once again.

We saw these chips when we were purchasing our baguettes:

The girls got the biggest kick out of these chips. Brent thought it was pretty apropo that our chips are called Lays and the Brit's are called Walkers. We Americans sure lay around a lot and the Brits are walking constantly. We also saw chips that we all thought were pretty funny was in the airport in Iceland. Instead of Cool Ranch Doritos, they said Cool American Doritos.

My memory escapes me as to what we did for the rest of the afternoon, or maybe there wasn't much left of the afternoon, as we don't have pictures to prove it! I would like to note that because we did so much walking, our breakfast only lasted a few hours, and then our lunch only lasted about an hour for me. I was starving by 6:00 and very ready to eat a warm meal!

This was on our way back to the hotel:

We ate a delicious dinner at a pub called The Blacksmith. I had bangers and mash, which was out of this world, Brent had fish and chips, and the girls shared some fried rice with some other Thai sides. With full tummies we were all tired and ready for bed! BUT... we couldn't go to bed because three months prior I had requested tickets to witness the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. The ceremony takes place at 9:00pm every single evening, rain or shine and it has for hundreds of years. We did go back to our room after dinner and rested for a few minutes before heading out again to attend the ceremony, which I should note that it was about a 45 minute walk/tube ride to get there. The ceremony is simply the locking of the Tower. The Tower of London still to this day houses all the Queen's jewels. I wished I had pictures to share, but you are not allowed to take any pictures of the ceremony. I'll share plenty of pictures of the Tower later when we visited during the day.

Somehow, we still cannot figure out how we did it, but after leaving the Tower of London Blair and I get ahead of Brent and Ashley. We couldn't find them and they couldn't find us, so we headed back to the hotel by ourselves. Blair was a little nervous, and I believe Ashley was too, but all was well and we found each other at our end destination within minutes. I was so glad to see that small uncomfortable European bed by the time we got back! What an enjoyable yet exhausting day.....

London-- Day 1

2009-12-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

There is so much to cover about our trip that I've decided to break it down into days. Wouldn't want to overwhelm you all, right? I have about 700 pictures and it's so hard to decide which ones to share. They may not mean much to you, but there is a memory for me associated with the ones that I've picked, so bear with me if you find them completely boring.

I'm going to give you all a little history for our trip. We left DFW on the 18th at 12:10pm and arrived in London on the 19th at 12:00pm. Now, it really wasn't that bad because London is 6 hours ahead of our time zone. So, we were only in the airport or on a plane for 18 hours. I'm sure many of you can relate to the traveling long distances. And some of you might even be able to relate traveling long distances with someone sitting next to you that smells like stale coffee, very potent body odor, and cigarette smoke. Gee, lucky us, huh? Unfortunately, for me this part of our trip will never be forgotten because I cannot get the smell out of my nose!

We had three separate flights. Yes, we're very frugal and took whatever tickets theThankyounetwork would give us. We flew from DFW to Boston, from Boston to Iceland, and from Iceland to London. The DFW to Boston leg was a breeze, but it was the Boston to Iceland that was the most difficult. Or, at least the most smelly! We arrived at Heathrow on time and took off walking following the signs to baggage claim. 45 minutes later of very brisk walking and not getting lost, we found the carousel that was taking our luggage on a joy ride. That was one happy moment to find everything that we had parted with 21 hours prior!! Ok, now was the hard part...we had to get from the airport to our hotel room, which was only one short hour away. Since we all had very little or no sleep the night before (Every time I started to doze my neighbor would ask for Coffee in his thick Icelandic tongue, or I would be aroused because of a horrible stench only to open an eye and find one of his arms in the air). Ok, back to our journey..I'm telling you that man STUNK! We followed the signs to the underground and found a very helpful chap who sold us tickets and told us where to catch the next subway toward our final destination. It was a long walk with our luggage, and at this point I must acknowledge how well my girls did about hauling their heavy bags and not complaining...they were true champs! I'm very certain that first day we burned 3x as many calories as we consumed. Anyhow, we boarded the Piccadilly line and rode it just as we were told. When we arrived we were greeted by a shuttle to the Hilton. We were all starving by the time we made it to the hotel, which was around 3. After settling into our room, we went to investigate where we could grab a bite to eat. There were two pubs very close and we took out to find the one that we were told was open. After arriving we found out that it was indeed open, but the chef wouldn't be cooking for another hour! We trudged back to the hotel and drank some hot tea while we waited for the hour to pass.

The Clipper was well worth the wait! Brent and I both had fish and chips, which were out of this world and Blair had a huge bowl of soup that was incredible too. Ashley, being the timid one, ordered a hamburger. I suppose it was just to see if they made them any differently in London.

It is sad, but we almost fell asleep waiting for our dinner to arrive but perked up when our food arrived. The waiter brought a basket of condiments: brown sauce, tarter sauce, salad cream, tomato sauce, malt vinegar(something familiar)and a few others, but I cannot remember. We discovered that we loved the brown sauce, which is an English staple. We left The Clipper and walked back to our hotel to change into our PJs. We were in bed and asleep at 6:30. Our children will never live down the fact that they begged to go to sleep so early!

It's Coming......

2009-12-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

To all those who are patiently waiting for pictures and details from our vacation across the pond and back again, I'm working on the photos right now and hopefully will be sharing them VERY soon!

2009-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here she is....the vessel that we'll call home for 13 days!

Neglect...

2009-11-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

I've done it AGAIN...I've neglected my blog. Life has been too busy around here for me to blog about anything, whether it's worthwhile or not! We are trying to complete 2 1/2 weeks worth of school in addition to our normal load, so that we can go on vacation and know that we don't have to come back and get in "catch-up" mode. If I keep everything in perspective, I can endure the long days of school right now, knowing that in the not so distant future our family will disappear from here without our computers or phones and be unreachable for 18 days! I cannot believe it and I'm sure thinking that it will be pure bliss! We are making that once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip...or at least for our family. We will be traveling to London and visiting the UK and then we will board a ship that will carry us over to France for a couple of days, and then on to Spain and Portugal. We will be out floating along in the Atlantic for 6 days.....OH, how I'm looking forward to that!

We are still planning out what we would like to do at the various ports that we will be visiting. In Cherbourg, France we would like to do a little history while we are there and visit the Normandy beaches and educate the girls on D-Day. Well, to be real truthful, I'm going to need to do a little studying up on that subject. In Paris we will do those things that you're supposed to do in Paris. That leaves Madeira, Portugal and Vigo, Spain to decide what we would like to do there. I could just walk, and walk, and walk, and eat, and eat, and eat, and I'd be perfectly happy. I love to try new foods and see new sites, unfortunately, I'm not so sure that my children will be down with what mom wants to do. Although, Blair did tell me that she cannot wait to have afternoon tea and pastries in London.

We have just a little over a week to get prepared for our trip and we are far from being ready. We still have a few articles of clothing that we need to buy, last minute arrangements to make, and then to figure out how to pack what we will need in one suitcase per person. That is going to be the challenge of the week!

I hope that I'll return with lots of great photos to share and I'll be much better at keeping up with my blog.

Oh, that was another "thing" that I have been busy doing is planning a birthday party. Our youngest turns 13 today and it makes me feel so old! Here are a couple of pictures of her with her friends that she had over last weekend to celebrate her birthday.

I hope to share more pictures from the party later.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Tuesday's Tip

2009-10-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

For those dropping by from the Daily Meme, please feel free to scroll down to find the link in the box and use Tuesday's Tips for your blog.

I've always loved baked potatoes, but could never get the "perfect" skin until my brother, who used to be a manager at Red Lobster, shared this tip with me. Now, I, too, can make a pretty mean baked potato!

How to make the world's best baked potato, at least IMO:

Scrub and dry potato
Cut a slit in the top
Liberally rub lard over the skin of the potato
Roll in kosher salt (Table salt will not work, as it will be way too salty)
Bake directly on rack in oven @ 350 for 1- 1 1/2 hours, or until soft.

Kefir: Deliciously Creamy Fermented Milk

2009-10-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I talked about our family consuming fermented foods in order to maintain good health.I'd like to introduce you to yet another fermented food that is a part of our diet, kefir. I'm going to back up a bit... My mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2001. She is doing remarkably well and currently in remission, but because of her diagnosis we started thinking of things differently. Knowing that her cancer was because of the synthetic hormones she had been taking since her hysterectomy several years earlier, I was on a quest for a Dr. who practiced using bio-identical hormones. In doing so I also found a Dr. that encouraged his patients to eat a healthy diet and encourages certain foods and kefir is one of them. I purchased kefir at the store several times and we all loved it, but because of the expense I started researching how I could make it. What I discovered is that the commercial stuff that you buy at the store, while it is good for you, is an inferior product compared to that that is made with actual kefir grains. I found a source on the internet, Marilyn the kefir lady, and sent off for some grains. That was in September of 08 and I've been drinking kefir ever since. The grains are continually growing, so in no time I had surplus grains. I started sharing them with friends... lots of friends, we ate a few, and have even sold them back to Marilyn at times. If you'd like to listen to Marilyn speaking about kefir, click here She shares some great tips on exactly how to brew kefir, and tells you what not to do. If you have questions, listening to Marilyn will more than likely answer your questions. You can also read about her here.

Kefir is said to have originated in the Caucasian mountains, where the Abkhasia people are known for incredible longevity. There have been claims that some of have lived up to 150 years old. I've no intentions of living that long, actually I'm hoping the Lord comes back before then, but I'd like to be healthy and free of aches and pains. Consuming raw milk kefir ensures that I'm ingesting 30-50 different strains of probiotics, along with the different strains of beneficial yeasts and bacterias, creating a happy gut. It is said that 80% of illness and diseases come from an unhealthy gut, so I'm doing my level best to make sure mines stays nice and happy.

Kefir grains:

Add fresh milk and allow to sit on your counter for 24 hours

After 24 hours you'll have thick kefir.

Stir your kefir and then strain through a wire mesh strainer.

You might have to tap against the bowl to get all the kefir to go through, but eventually it will all go through.

In the end you should just have your grains.

Tuesday's Tip

2009-10-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are visiting from the daily meme, or anyone else for that matter, please feel free to use the Tuesday's Tips on your blog. You can snag the code from the scroll box if you look further down on the page. I only ask that you give credit where credit is due. Enjoy!

Today's tip is actually a funny story, or at least it was funny to me.

We were in Oklahoma this past weekend on business and also attending a Christian camp. On the way home we decided to stop at the outlet mall in Allen. Brent's favorite store is the Bostonian~Clarks store. I will not tell you how many pairs of shoes that my husband owns, but it is a LOT. Anyhow, Brent was doing his due diligence in finding the perfect pair of shoes with that perfect fit. The girls were getting bored with shoe shopping and had shopped at the store next door, gone to the bathroom, and were back with us. Blair decided to start trying on every shoe in the store, just like her father. She would try on shoes and then come show us. At one point she started trying on just one shoe, with a different shoe on each foot. She actually did this one time and took the shoes off that she had been trying on and left them with Brent and I while she was off looking for more shoes. After about 10 minutes, I told her that she needed to take the shoes back. While she was returning one of the shoes, she realized that a women had the other shoe on her foot. It took Blair only a few seconds to realize that that shoe was not a shoe for sale, but rather the shoe of another customer. I was too embarrassed to ask, but I have to assume that the poor lady had been feverishly looking for the missing shoe.

So, the moral of the story is:
Make sure that that shoes you are trying on are actually located in a box and not just those that are strewn on the floor.

Kombucha: The Living Elixir

2009-10-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Kombucha is an incredibly refreshing fermented tea that is full of probiotics, vitamins, and beneficial yeasts and bacterias. When I first started studying about kombucha, I was a little frightened and completely unsure if I would ever be able to ingest such a concoction. All I could imagine was old tea that had gone bad. YUCK! It was exactly a year ago that I began my research and I was determined to be open with the idea of fermented foods. It took me until the end of November to actually try the stuff. I'll have to admit the first time I tried it I did NOT like it, but knew that I could drink it on occasion for the health benefits. After getting back into my own neck of the woods I decided to try it once again. The second bottle was a bit more interesting and I was able to consume the entire bottle without completely grossing out. A couple of weeks later I tried my 3rd bottle and after that I was hooked. If I had only tried the 3rd flavor first I'm sure I would have been hooked from the beginning. :~)

Here is a picture of a Kombucha Scoby(Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast):

And then the scoby added to the top of sweetened tea:

Bottling the Kombucha for a second time to impart additional flavors and to create fizz:

After adding either juice or fruit, or a combination of the two:

This is how I make komucha, but like everything in life, this is not the only way.
**You need to make sure your hand have been washed and that all jewelry has been removed from your hand before handling a scoby.

1 gallon:

1 1/2 TBL loose green tea
1 1/2 TBL loose black tea
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 scoby
1 cup of starter tea* or distilled white vinegar(not apple cider vinegar)

Brew your tea, sweeten with sugar, and allow to cool to room temperature. Add to your brewing vessel and fill with enough water to brew a gallon of tea. You need to leave enough head room for your scoby and 1 cup of starter tea. Your tea should be room temperature and then add your scoby on top, and then pour your starter tea over the top of your scoby. It is ok if your scoby doesn't float, it will eventually. Cover with a towel and secure with a rubber band. Allow to brew for 7-10 days.

When brewing is complete, you remove your scoby (make sure to remove all jewelery and wash hands thoroughly) and set aside. We will notice that you have grown a "baby" scoby on top of your original scoby. You can simply keep using the old and new scoby, or you can pull them apart(if they are attached) and share with a friend. You can either consume your tea as is, or you can ferment it for a second time with additional flavors. I choose to do the latter as the second ferment imparts more fizz into the beverage! We also like to filter out the yeast strands before the second ferment. This can easily be done by filtering through cheese cloth, or using a fine wire mesh strainer. Save at least one cup of finished tea per gallon of tea you want to brew. This is your *starter tea.

We like to add the following in our second ferment:
1/4 - 1/3 cup 100% juice (grape, cran-grape, and berry are ones that really enjoy)
1-2 strawberries, sliced
1 strawberry and 1/4 kiwi
3-4 crushed raspberries
3-4 crushed blueberries
Juice of one lemon with 2 tsp sugar
1 Cherry divided and pitted (we add this along with some juice)
Fresh Ginger slices (this is a great addition to any of the flavors and seems to add additional fizz)
*** Please note that we use 16oz bottles for our second ferment.

You can be as creative as you'd like to be when making additions during this time. I've heard of those who like cinnamon sticks, mint sprigs, oranges, and herbs. I really want to try lavender, but I have yet to get around to that. I've also read that vanilla beans are incredible, but....they're way out of my budget!

I must tell you that it is very possible to create so much fizz that a glass bottle will explode during the second ferment. I actually had this happen one time and the bottle shot off like a rocket, thankfully no one was injured. I would recommend placing your bottles in a cooler or cardboard box for this process until you get to know your brew :) You can burp your bottles every day or so to check their progress. When your second ferment is done, which is usually anywhere between 3-5 days, refrigerate your elixir and enjoy cold.

The finished product:

If anyone is interested I do have extra scobies and will be more than happy to share on with you for a small fee plus postage.

Weekend Snapshots

2009-09-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Wow! When I reflect back on what has happened in the past 5 days since I've posted, I realize that I've been one busy woman!

On Wednesday I had the privilege of visiting a friend who just had a baby the previous Sunday morning. Here is Evan Pierce:

And here is big brother that just happened to be playing in the First-aid kit earlier and used a band-aid to decorate his forehead. He is so proud of his little brother!

The girls and I went to Houston on Thursday and had a picnic with other TXVA families on Friday. We were going to leave around noon, and like always our departure didn't go as planned. As were were leaving our garage door came off its tracks and would not close. I couldn't just leave town with the door up! I called a repairman to fix the door...$200.00 and two hours later we were on the road. (Now for honesty: I first called my husband...what was I thinking, that he could fix the door from Lubbock? Sometimes I wonder why my mind does what it does!)

This is the statue of Sam Houston that is right on I-45 around Huntsville:

We finished the weekend off my taking the girls to see Mary Poppins. Brent and I had the opportunity to see this performance on Broadway. When we got back home and told the girls about it Brent promised them that if it ever came here or somewhere close he would take them. They both loved it! But, who wouldn't?

I really wished that I had more pictures, but my camera was confiscated after I took this one :)

Tuesday's Tip

2009-09-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are visiting from The Daily Meme, please feel free to use the Tuesday's Tips meme. Just scroll on down and you can grab the link. I'll I ask of you is to give credit where credit is due. Enjoy!

Tuesday's Tip:

With all the swine flu we've been reading about and the scare to get the new vaccine, I thought I'd offer my two cents on this subject.

For as long as I can remember every winter my dear hubby comes down with a head cold, which parks itself in his sinuses and then travels down to his lungs. The end result is a sinus infection and bronchitis. He would go to the Dr., who would put him on steroids and antibiotics. He would get better, but many times this would be repeated one to two times more. Not a good way to spend your winter.

For the past 1 1/2 years my husband and I have been taking Vitamin D3. Last year we also started using fermented foods as a regular part of our diet. I'm happy to report that last winter we did not get as much as one little sniffle. Utterly amazing, huh? I thought so too! After doing more research, I've found that D3 does boost your immune system, and so do fermented foods, so it really may be more than a coincidence. It was such a wonderful winter without having the flu, or even a head cold that we have no desire to stop our regime.

My tip for you is to see if you, too, can make it through a winter without a sniffle by taking a Vitamin D3 supplement and eating/drinking more fermented foods/beverages. Fermented foods not only aid in digestion, but they are full of beneficial bacteria, yeasts, probiotics, and vitamins. We personally consume Kefir, fermented milk, and Kombucha ,fermented tea, on a daily basis. Miso soup and sauerkraut are also a part of our diet, but not on a daily basis. There are many other fermented foods and I'd love to hear of any fermented foods that your family consumes!

Weekend Snapshots

2009-09-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

This was the VERY best part of the weekend! Well, at least the very best thing that we ate. All thanks goes to Ashley for providing us with this To Die For flour-less chocolate cake! She served it with fresh raspberries, which were an excellent touch! I ate so much that I told her that she wasn't allowed to make it again, or at least anytime in the near future.

Saturday was bottling day for Kombucha. This is something that I've intended to blog about for quite some time, so I'll be doing that in the very near future. Kombucha is a fermented tea that is very refreshing and full of probiotics and vitamins.

Barbecued Wings: what we dined on Saturday night along with organic produce from the co-op this week. Ashley's cake was a great completion to this meal.

The newest addition at the "farm" as we call it. It is a Brahma bull calf that will eventually be another Mr. Bull . His name is Pete, since he will be a re"Pete" of Mr. Bull.

I immediately fell in love with him, he has the be the cutest calf I've ever seen!

Mr. Bull

Blair was in the pasture and Mr. Bull walked right up to her. I was standing on the other side of the fence and I know how gentle Mr. Bull is, but something about this beast walking toward your daughter and then lowering his head as he approached was just a little too unnerving. I wasn't sure if I should be ready for the picture of drop the camera and run to save her. As you can see, he just wanted a little loving. Notice that when Blair is in this position it looks like she is the same size as his head.

I saw this on my front door and was a little disturbed by it. With the abundance of lizards that we have in Texas, I'm surprised this isn't the first time this has happened. This poor lizard was on the door when it was open, but then someone shut the door and its tail became stuck between the door and the jam.

What a pleasure....

2009-09-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure to present our virtual school champion, Senator Dan Patrick, with the Educator's Golden Apple award. The award was presented at an Open House for Texas Virtual Academy at Southwest at the Arboretum in Dallas, TX. It was a great experience -- even though I felt as if I had a dozen cotton balls in my mouth and my legs were made of jello.

I was honored to be able to honor Senator Patrick! Not only is our school GREAT, we also have a GREAT Senator who understands the need for virtual education and other public school options.

Senator Patrick has a great personality, and shared some stories with us about his "virtual" world. He told us how we need to pave the way, since we are Texans, and that virtual education is the way of the future.

Dr. David Fuller, Head of School -- Senator Dan Patrick -- Leslie Smith, Principal -- Jennifer, the proud parent :)

We had an outstanding attendance! I heard that there were only 400 registered to attend and I was told that there were chairs for 500, but we had standing room only! Way to go, TXVA!!

Goodbye Oxxie

2009-09-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Oxxie is now back where he started.

Blair made a very mature decision deciding that Oxxie would be better off where he could be with other geese. The last few days he was here he would sit on a bench on the back porch peering through the window and honking for Blair. Since school has started Blair hasn't had as much time to just hang out in the yard with Oxxie and she really felt sorry for him, knowing that he was lonely.

Do you notice that all the geese are going one way and Oxxie the other? Right after this picture, Oxxie took off flying and crashed into a hut you can see in the next picture. He hit the building rather hard and fell on the ground.

Blair ran down the pasture to the get him. As you can see in the picture, Blair is very concerned for her friend and squats down to talk to Oxxie. It was so cute because Oxxie walked right into her arms. He was so content and really didn't care to be put down.

Blair provided plenty of comfort for Oxxie. It was obvious that it was a very stressful time for him. She eventually let him down and just allowed him to warm up to his surroundings with her by his side and without the other geese present.

By the time we left Oxxie had calmed down and was with the other geese in a pen, but I cannot say that he was happy that Blair wasn't going to be by his side. It was very hard to drive away, knowing that Blair's friend of 21 weeks was being left behind to make new friends.

Tuesday's Tip

2009-09-14T18:17:00.001-07:00

Life has been really busy around our house. It's been hard to even come up for air between blogging for thebigthink, helping the girls with school, helping new families, getting ready for open house last week, playing hubby's secretary, being wife, mom, housekeeper........should I go on? I'm not complaining at all! I love what I do, especially the part that involves my husband and my children. My personal blog is what has been neglected the most. When time is tight, something has to give.

I've had many visitors from the Daily Meme who I'm sure were looking to see if they would like to use the Tuesday's Tip meme. I'm so sorry that I've neglected to post how you can do that! If you'd like to do that, I now have it posted it at the bottom. I ask nothing of you, except to give credit where credit is due :)

My Tuesday's Tip:

For we dare not to class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (II Corinthians 10:12)

This tip is for me today! As I look at some of your blogs and realize that your doing school yet still keep up with your blogs, along with the rest of your life, I can get a little disgruntled with myself. But, when I read this verse I realize how unwise that is! My prayer is for myself to grow in the Lord's grace, knowing that I'm perfect just the way He made me. I shouldn't be comparing myself to anyone, but living for Him everyday.

Are you this Patriotic?

2009-09-05T15:17:00.001-07:00

I just had to share this with my blogging friends! We were on our way out of town this weekend when we spotted this fellow displaying his patriotic spirit. A few minutes after we took this picture he was dragging his feet on the pavement. Maybe he was in need of a pedicure? He loved the attention we were giving him and flashed the peace symbol at us more than once with a large grin on his face. He was definitely feeling free!

Weekend Snapshots

2009-08-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Red River is beautiful!

I just love the setting sun in the mountains....absolutely beautiful!

We decided last minute to cook a dinner on the grill where we were staying. We bought fresh corn and squash from a local stand and then purchased some Brats. It was absolutely delicious!

We found the perfect car for Ashley!

Another Good Rain....

2009-08-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a very strong thunderstorm that blew through. We weren't home during the storm, which may have been a blessing in disguise. This is the mess we came home to. Looks like we have our work cut out for us this weekend!

The wind had to have been very strong to drive these into the pool!

Funny how it looks as if our house is on fire! I promise you it was not, just the glow of the lights and the air is so heavy that it looks like smoke.

First Day of School

2009-08-24T09:23:00.001-07:00

This is not how I wanted to start school today, but in order to spend more time with Dad, we're on the road. Gotta love virtual education where we have the opportunity to travel and do school. We found that the Homewood Suites in Amarillo is a pretty decent place to do school. We gave the business center a run for its money to see just how many people could fit in the small room. :)

We'll all be thankful to be back home and in our schoolroom.

Vacationing in Red River

2009-08-21T18:44:00.001-07:00

We're having a great time in Red River.

Tuesday's Tip

2009-08-18T08:07:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share one of my favorite verses. This verse keeps me focused when I just don't feel like I can do it anymore. It is a great reminder to me, and I hope it is for you as well.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.

Don't you want to adopt a duck?

2009-08-12T09:56:00.001-07:00

The ducks are so sweet, but Daddy says that we cannot keep them. Blair is ready for them to find a new home because she is afraid that she'll become attached if they are here much longer. I'm with Blair, they are so cute and sweet that it's hard not to just fall in love with them. The larger of the two is a Rouen duck and the smaller one has been identified as a young Muscovy duck. I believe that Rouen is possibly a male and the smaller one is possibly female. They do not like to be separated. On the other hand, Oxxie doesn't want to be near them....hence the need to get rid of them.

Tuesday's Tip

2009-08-11T07:24:00.001-07:00

Today's tip will be a recipe. I recently fixed this recipe for my family and they all declared it a new family favorite. As usual, I didn't exactly go by the recipe, but I promise I'll share what I changed.

Mango Chicken

1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 mango, peeled and sliced
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
2 TBL melted coconut oil or butter
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
pinch of nutmeg
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 cup chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
1 can whole coconut milk

Preheat overn to 350F.
Strew onion slices in a large baking dish. Arrange mango slices in a layer on top of onions and place chicken pieces, skin side up, over mango. Mix together coconut oil(or butter), salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, and lemon rind in a small bowl and brush on chicken pieces. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until chicken is nicely browned.

Remove chicken and mango slices to a heated platter. Pour chicken stock into the dish and bring to a boil over high heat, scraping up coagulated juices. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring in lemon juice and coconut mile. Strain into a small saucepan and continue to simmer to allow the liquid to reduce and thicken slightly.

I didn't have mangos the first time that I made this, but I did have Fisher & Wieser, Mango Ginger Habenero sauce. I poured approximately 3/4 cup over the onions and followed the remainder of the recipe, almost ot a T ;-)

We had to remind Blair that she needed to use a fork and knife to eat this dish....I only wished I had a photo to share of her eating this with the sauce up to her elbows.

Enjoy!

Duck, Duck, Goose.....

2009-08-09T18:01:00.001-07:00

One the way to meeting this morning we saw these two ducks waddling down the road. Immediately we were all torn as to whether we should leave them, or coax with some food and take them back home. Well, you can tell what we decided. Brent left the girls and myself with the ducks and he went back home for food and something to carry them back in. They were both scared to death, but seem to be adjusting fine to the abundance of attention. While they are both pretty, the larger one is absolutely beautiful. I'll post some more pictures later that show its color much better. Oh, my! What are we doing with a goose and two ducks??

Crock-Pot Soap

2009-08-06T06:16:00.001-07:00

I've had several requests for the soap recipe I made with a friend in a Crock-Pot.
It will probably take you more time to find all the ingredients than it will to actually make the soap, but it will be worth it! In fact, I don't know that I'll ever buy store bought soap again. The object of our soap making was not to make pretty bars, as you can tell, but make soap that we could grate, add to water along with some fragrance and gelatin and make a liquid soap out of. Our family was VERY pleased with the final product!

It is very important to use a digital scale for measuring all ingredients.
It is also very helpful to have a stick blender, although it isn't necessary. Your arm will get very tired of stirring, and stirring, and stirring some more, getting your mixture to trace; I equate this process to making pudding on the stove.

If you have never worked with lye before, it is extremely important to understand how dangerous is can be. You need to wear goggles, an apron or old clothes, and gloves. This is not something that you want on your skin or in your eyes.

Check out my prior post with all the pictures so that you can better understand the process. And as always, feel to ask any questions....

8 oz (227g) avocado oil
2 oz (57g) castor oil
10 oz (284g) coconut oil
24 oz (682g) olive oil
8 oz (227g) palm kernel oil
6 oz (170g) shea butter
22 oz (625g)distilled water
7.8 oz (222g) lye

Place your measuring cup on the scale and tare to zero. Measure your distilled water.
Measure lye in a glass or stainless steel measuring cup.
In a well-ventilated area, add lye to water while stirring with a long handled wooden spoon
Once all lye is dissolved neutralized your wooden spoon. (see note below)
Measure your hard oils: coconut, palm, and shea butter. Heat them on low heat until melted.
Measure all liquid oils and place in a Crock-Pot. Add your melted solid oils and mix thoroughly.
Slowly and carefully, add lye water to the oils.
Using a stick blender, blend the soap mixture until it reaches a trace. (if adding a colorant, this is where you would add it)
Cook the soap until it has fully saponified, and then you may add an essential oil, or fragrance oil.
Line molds and spray with olive oil. Add soap mixture and allow the soap to sit for 4-6 hours. The soap is ready for use as soon as it has hardened.

How to neutralize lye:
Make a mixture that is equal parts soapy water and white vinegar. Use this to wash anything that comes in contact with the lye, skin and utensils.

Tuesday's Tip

2009-08-04T16:28:00.001-07:00

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.

~ Larry Balderson

As I start this new school year, this is very important for me to remember. I need to be flexible so that I can be the mother/teacher that I need to be!

Tuesday's Tip

2009-07-28T06:04:00.001-07:00

***Updated Post

A friend shared this with me a couple months back, and I've been using it ever since. Because I don't want a huge 5 gallon bucket sitting in my utility room, I choose to leave it in dry form. I used a fine microplane to grate the soap. I use a 1 TBL for each load of laundry, and that is for a front-loader. What a great way to save money!

TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater

Castile

or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Fabric Softener

1 Gallon White Distilled Vinegar

1 Tsp. glycerin

20 drops essential oil (I use fragrance oil and more of it because I like my laundry to really smell good!)

Add glycerin and essential oil to the vinegar and shake vigorously before each use. Use approx ½ cup per load (Since I have a front loader, I am limited to whatever size the dispenser is and it works great!)

When selecting your essential oil make sure not to choose a darkly colored one.

My new favorite homemade laundry soap mixture:

Jessica Sprague's Free Photoshop Class: Lesson #12

2009-07-27T06:37:00.001-07:00

Yet again, class was a lot of fun!

Jessica Sprague's Free Photoshop Class: Lesson #11

2009-07-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

Today's class was on selective/spot recoloring, as if you wouldn't be able to tell.
I'm not sure that I liked any of the photos I picked.

This photo of Blair was way before digital and I could definitely tell a difference.
Wasn't she just the cutest thing? She was always a mess!

Maybe a little too vintage?

The color almost appears fake, but that is the color of the flower!

Jessica Sprague's Free Photoshop Class: Lesson #10

2009-07-24T07:54:00.001-07:00

Ok, I have to admit that I just couldn't help myself this morning; I watched the next lesson, and I just had to try it!

Jessica Sprague's Free Photoshop Class: Lesson #9

2009-07-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

Girls and Horses....

Jessica Sprague's Free Photoshop Class: Lesson #8

2009-07-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

Finally.... I've found the time to get another class in! This is so much fun, but it does take time and I haven't had a lot of that lately. When I saw the class for today,(or rather the class that was for almost 2 weeks ago) well.... this picture was just the one! Two adorable girls, with hearts as big as Texas, for the Lord, and for each other! They're such great examples to the younger girls!

Know that you're loved.

Tuesday's Tip

2009-07-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have tried this and this may be old news, but for me it is something that I've done in the past and forgot all about it! So, I thought I'd share my new discovery!

Make up a pizza crust recipe and divide. Wrap each section in Saran and then place in a Ziploc baggie to freeze. You can thaw the dough in the microwave on defrost. We use .5 lb for one crust, turning frequently. (Watch carefully if you use this method, you do not want to cook your dough.) You can have pizza on the table in under 30 min!

Pizza Crust

2 TBL yeast
2 C. Water
1-2 Tsp salt
3 TBL olive oil
5 C. flour (I only used unbleached flour and love to use whole-wheat)

Mix wet ingredients with yeast and then add flour. Knead dough for 6 min, and then let rest for 10 min. Bake at 500 for 10-15 minutes.

If you have Lifetime electric skillet or another waterless electric skillet, this crust works wonderful! We roll the dough out in a cold electric skillet that is sprayed with olive oil, and then add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place the lid on skillet, turn up to 350, and 10 minutes later you have a crispy crust pizza!

Enjoy!