God's Still Small Voice

Pardon my absence! I've been neglecting everything else in my life so I could work in the garden. I'm excited to say that, with the help of my sister, it's all in and mulched (ok, I have a little bit more to mulch, but it's basically finished). Does anybody NOT love this time of year? Yesterday my kids ate our first red strawberry and today there's a gentle thunderstorm outside; giving me a break from the garden, giving the garden a nice drink, giving my husband an excuse to skip yard work and putz in the garage, and giving my kids some wet fun outside. Besides sunny days in the hammock, this is the best kind of summer day.

I have to share an unfortunate event that just happened though. We lost a couple chickens this past week to predators. We live quite a way from the nearest wooded area so we've never had a problem with raccoons and such, but this last week we lost one chicken one night and one chick the next. (Sad face).

One night I went outside to close the girls in—they had been free ranging that day—and I had a feeling that I needed to slide their sliding back door closed, in addition to the fence gate and front door to the coop. I hesitated, though, siting to myself that we've never had a problem with predators before. Why worry? And I didn't close the small sliding door. The next morning my son discovered that our broody hen had been killed. I felt horrible! I thought I should've closed the back door, and I didn't. I had to admit to the children that day that I had ignored God's still small voice, and it resulted in a dead chicken.

Have you ever heard God's still small voice? Have you ever felt a prick in your spirit or a gentle nudge or reminder to do something? If you feel like it's a god guiding you, or the universe enlightening you, let me encourage you to consider the idea that it's the God of the universe. The Creator of all things, the Creator of you, knows what has happened and what will happen. Even more amazing than that is the fact that God loves us unconditionally and He only wants the very best for us! And because of those two facts, God doesn't sit back and watch the world happen, He steps down and interacts in it for our benefit. He nudges, He guides, He whispers quietly to our inner-most parts, 

“you better do this”, 

“check on that”, 

“call her”, 

“did you turn the iron off before leaving for church?” 

(ok, maybe this last one's paranoia, but you know what I mean).

God wants to protect us and those we love, but His voice is still and small. In order to hear it we must be tuned in, listening, and still ourselves.

My Favorite Blog to Follow

I will openly admit that I'm still learning.  I'm still figuring out just what works and what doesn't for this family of mine.  And, as you all know, once I have that figured out it changes on me.  But I'm figuring that out too.  I'm learning how to roll with the punches.  I'm realizing that less is more.  And that simple really is better, because with a family of six you can never really have "boring" anyway.  

My absolute favorite blog to follow is Little House in the Suburbs.  As of late she has written a lot about simplifying your summer schedule, and also how to simplify your DIY projects!  I didn't even realize that needed to be done!  But she's so right.  Read some of the most recent posts and you will be enlightened as to how to really get a hold of some of the hectic in your life and tame it into manageable simplicity.  I just love it!

Happy Reading

Foodie or Mommy?

I'm a foodie. I love to cook, I adore baking, and eating is one of my favorite past-times. The Food Network is one of my favorite TV channels to watch and I have an addiction to “Cupcake Wars”. I just can't help it. Food is yummy, tasty, fun to eat with friends, fun to make with kids (most of the time...OK, sometimes) and an important part of family bonding.

There is something that I have learned, though. After my brain first caught a glimmer of this truth, I panicked. I ignored it. I did not want to accept this truth! You see, I love being in the kitchen. It is one of my deepest burning desires in life to someday open a bakery. I enjoy new recipes. Grocery shopping? Not so much. But everything else surrounding food? YES! The truth I was avoiding was that dinner must be simple. With four children ages 7 years down to 10 months I simply don't have two hours every afternoon to experiment and prepare exciting new recipes. Besides that, with four children ages 7 years down to 10 months I don't have the money to prepare new exciting recipes! We just can't afford swordfish or tuna steaks (seriously? tuna comes in steak form? I thought it only came in a can!). Speaking of steaks, I don't remember the last time we bought steaks. You know the big juicy kind to throw on a charcoal grill? Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Yeah, those...we don't buy 'em!

Instead I've adopted a very simple system that is pasted on the side of the fridge. It goes like this. Monday = meatless; Tuesday = chicken; Wednesday = pasta; Thursday = beef; Friday = soup or casserole; Saturday = crockpot; Sunday = leftovers. I don't meal plan; I don't have time! If we're hankering for something special I'll buy ingredients for it, but otherwise I buy pantry essentials, meat that is on sale, and we go off the weekly chart. Meals are simple (my kids don't love asparagus, steak with au pauvre sauce or chicken in white wine sauce anyway). We're sticking pretty much to kid-friendly basics like tuna noodle casserole, spaghetti and meatloaf in this household. Do you know what I've discovered? Kid-friendly, simple and inexpensive meals all go hand-in-hand. Less adventurous? Yes. Less fun? Maybe. Easier, quicker and less stressful? Totally. And those requirements are pretty high up on the priority list lately.

What are your favorite frugal, kid-friendly meals?  Leave recipes, if you can.  We'll all benefit!  

Dandelion Jelly...Yummy in my Tummy!

There's just something satisfying about making something out of nothing, or creating something out of “junk” around your house to fill a need, instead of running to the store to buy something new. There's also something satisfying about carrying on a tradition or doing something you know your Grandmother or Great-Grandmother did generations ago. My Monday morning project was satisfying. I made dandelion jelly! It was a project that used weeds from our yard (free!), and made them into something new and yummy. It also reminded me of my Grandma. I know she probably made dandelion jelly for the same reason I wanted to make it...dandelions are abundant and free, and with her 5 sons (God bless her!) she needed inexpensive food...and lots of it.

First canning jars of the season.

A quick rabbit trail:

My sister and I spent one or two weeks every summer at my Grandparents' house. We loved it. Grandma taught us both to do cross-stitch, sew and crochet. We loved the time at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I feel so blessed now to have gotten the time with them. I'm also blessed to know the things Grandma taught us. As we got older we brought along friends and Grandma taught them how to sew and crochet too.

Back to golden, delicious dandelion jelly. First we picked the dandelions. I read that the flower heads freeze well and I still have two Wal-Mart bags of dandelions in our deep freeze. Whether I use them for more jelly or not is yet to be determined.

Then, the worst, most pain-staking part of the jelly making process: separating the yellow flower from any bit of bitter green! I don't know how long it took me, but I picked apart enough flowers to equal 8 cups of yellow fluffy stuff. I never wanted to see or touch another dandelion as long as I lived.

                       

Next I boiled the flowers in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes. As the flowers were boiling they smelled like cooked squash. 

Now we're boiling!

I strained the flowers out...   

                      

and re-strained the “juice” through a coffee filter. 

Dandelion tea, anyone?

 

Pollen, I guess?

The Help

To the flowery water I added lemon juice, a touch of yellow food coloring, and pectin, then brought the mixture to a boil. Then I added sugar (and a whole lot of it), stirred and boiled the mixture hard for 1.5 minutes.

Skim the top, pour into sterile, hot jars and put the lids on. Then listen for the sweet popping sound of your jar lids, meaning you've got a perfect seal and something pretty to place on your shelf to enjoy at a later time.

Yikes!

                                                

An unfortunate spill gives us a first taste!

From this amount of dandelions I got 13 half-pint jars of jelly. It tastes delicious and sweet...just like honey. I can't wait to try it on a peanut butter sandwich!

Find my Dandelion Jelly recipe on "My Mommy Recipes" by clicking on the link at the top of the page.