The Home List: What I'm Trying Part 2

I'm no expert at any of this, I'm flying by the seat of my pants!  The last time I wrote about the new things I'm trying around here, I mentioned home-grown food and canning/preserving.  Next on my list is making more food from scratch.  My luke-warm feelings about making homemade food instead of buying processed food were intensified when I watched Food, Inc. with Steve the other night.

If you haven't seen it, you should.

I promised Steve that there was no way I'd ever make our family eat vegan (no way), but I wouldn't mind cutting out some refined flour and high-fructose corn syrup.  And yesterday I forked over a few extra dollars for cage-free organic eggs and chicken. Once I look at my budget I'll let you know if it was worth it.

MAKING FOOD FROM SCRATCH:

Grace and I made some whole wheat tortillas for yesterday's lunch.  The recipe was Tex-Mex, so the results were more like gorditas than tortillas, but they were really delicious.  Like flatbread, almost.  Definitely better than store-bought flour tortillas.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of HomesickTexan:

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup unbleached and 1 cup whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp oil
3/4 cup warm milk (I used almost 1 cup)

Combine all the ingredients except for the milk in a large bowl.  Slowly add the warm milk until a sticky ball forms.  Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple minutes until the dough is firm and smooth.  Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.  Divide the dough into 8 pieces, roll into balls, cover with the damp towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll each ball into a thin 8-inch circle.  Cook in a hot iron skillet on high heat; 30 seconds per side.

In the past, I've also liked making my own bread, granola, baking mix, kefir, chocolate pudding, and pasta sauces.  The hard part is being consistent.  I try to think like Ma Ingalls and have a certain day of the week for baking, but it doesn't always work out.  What foods do you like to make for yourself?

Lately

The girls and I recently invited great-grandma K to a birthday tea party in her honor.  Grace got to use china for the first time, and she was very careful!

Grace made a hand-made lei for the birthday girl!

We loved having Grandma and Grandma K over for some girl time!

Grace and Leah went camping this past weekend with Mom Mom and Pop and the Lankford family!  They visited the Strasburg Railroad, and when they returned home Pop took Grace to get her very first manicure (his barber's wife does nails).  Can you guess which nail color she chose?

Leah and Grace are great helpers when it comes to making a salad:

and they love bubble bath time in Mom Mom and Pop's big tub:

Those Italians Know How to Eat...

I enjoyed a delicious lunch this past weekend and a little organic cafe in DC.  The company is what made it fabulous, but the food was excellent as well.  We ordered a Tuscan platter, and this is what it included:

two kinds of crusty bread
sun-dried tomato and olives with spring lettuce
black olive tapenade
fresh ricotta cheese garnished with radish
prosciutto
shaved parmesan
melon

Some time in the future I'm going to serve a meal like this to company, instead of worrying about preparing a big hunk of meat and several complicated side dishes.  Simple can be the best sometimes; maybe you'd like to try a meal like this, too-- no cooking required!  I'm off to Trader Joe's for some prosciutto...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of All Ages...

We saw the "greatest show on Earth" last night in Baltimore, with my parents and sister.  We were excited to see how the girls would react to all the spectacle and visual over-stimulation!  

Before the show, the audience could walk around the main floor and interact with the clowns and some animals.

"Who IS this guy?"

After the performing dogs, out comes Daisy, the 40-something year old elephant.  

She painted a few pictures and answered questions about her life under the Big Top.

She took a few laps around.  We were really close to her.  I started imagining scenarios of what would happen if Daisy got fed up and decided to go on a rampage.  The only thing separating us was that little inflatable ring and a man with a little prodding rod in his hand.  Maybe it's because I'm a mom that I start thinking about things like which direction we should evacuate.

The girls were impressed, though.  Then the show began!

You can see a man tumbling through the ring of fire in this shot:

Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the lions and elephants, but I have to say that the performing dogs LOVED their jobs.  I don't have a picture but those poodles and terriers were having the time of their lives.  It was harder to tell what the elephants were thinking.

As the show progressed after the intermission, Grace fell fast asleep and Leah became more and more wired.  Leah was clapping and jumping and pacing the aisle and waving to zebras.  It was a neat experience and we're thankful for the generous gift of tickets!  

Recipe: Cake Mix Cookies

I'm generally a bake-it-from-scratch kind of snob, but yesterday was my day to deliver a meal to friends from church who have a new baby girl, and I needed a quick dessert.  Enter in the random box of cake mix left over from a buy-one-get-one-free deal and the icing left over from making Grace's birthday cake pops.

Easy, yummy, cakey cookies-- good for friends and good for keeping Steve happy in the after-practice snack department.

Here's the recipe~

1 box cake mix
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil
1 cup of chocolate chips, chopped nuts or candy, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together.  Drop by teaspoonfulls onto baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until centers are just set.

I used buttercream icing on these, but I once had cookies made with spice cake mix and topped with cream cheese frosting...DELISH!

Scenes from the Yellow Party

We love the fact that almost all of our extended family lives within an hour's drive (and we really miss those that are too far away to come to Yellow birthday parties- we love you!).  Steve and I are thankful for the provision of our little old farm house here on the hill with it's large yard and two million picnic tables, and we're determined to take advantage of it while it's "ours" and fill our house and yard with loved ones!  Take into account that our nearby family on both sides totals to be about 40 or 45 people, and you have the makings of a party.

When all of them come dressed in yellow in honor of the birthday girl, it's quite a sight to behold.  I am very SAD that I didn't think to take a group yellow picture while the party was hopping.  Here are some scenes from Grace's third birthday party.  Many thanks to my sis April who loves to take my camera and document gatherings such as these.  I know it's awfully fun to use my baby camera, and sometimes it's good for me to put it down and not worry about taking pictures for a couple of hours.  It was very freeing.  So thanks for these pictures, April!  Here we go:

It's not a Deterding party without the cake pops.  This time they were chocolate and unfortunately no one left me any leftovers!

Have you ever seen such a monochromatic buffet?

Shane, where's the yellow?

Nothing like a little competitive cornhole.  Nice yellow, guys.

Grae has his sights set on one of my daughters.  I thought it was Grace, but then he made this smooth move on Leah.

Thanks for joining us, everyone!  

Grace Olivia at 3 Years Old

The older my children get, the harder it is for me to describe them in just a few paragraphs!

Grace Olivia is a kind, passionate (meaning sometimes very emotional), very bright, exuberant three year old.  She is overflowing with personality and curiosity, and I spend a lot of time in conversation with her answering the endless "why?" questions and singing songs that she makes up.

Parenting a three year old can be exhausting and challenging at times-- but I absolutely love this age!  Yes, there are days where I feel like I'm constantly correcting her, and talking her through decisions over and over again, and reminding her how she should speak politely or treat her little sister gently, and correcting her some more; but we are so blessed to see Grace developing into a little girl who is a joy to be around- by God's grace!

Grace is still practicing her letters-- I'll have to remember to post a picture of her "signature".  She can write her name, but all of the letters end up looking like backwards "c"s!  Grace can read each letter in a word and can identify the sounds that many letters make.  She loves to cut paper and color (with markers, please, crayons are for babies like Leah).  Grace does a lot of singing and dancing, and makes up her own songs that are a conglomeration of several songs with some made-up words thrown in.  Lately, we've been hearing a lot of "hallelujah"s thrown into the mix.  She is becoming more and more comfortable around new acquaintances and will introduce herself, then Leah, then start a conversation.  Grace still likes to orchestrate play when she's with her peers and is always full of ideas about what others should do or play:)

Even though she can be very independent, Grace likes to be held and hugged and kissed and seems to need frequent cuddling from her mommy.  She often says "Mommy, I love you so much!" and gives lots of kisses.  Or she'll say "Mommy, I'm just so proud of you!" which always makes me giggle.  Three year olds say the darndest, cutest things.  I'm also the only one who can put her to bed at night.

Some other favorites:  Yellow, obviously.  Cereal.  Visiting friends and family; especially having sleepovers at the grandparents' houses.  Sprout on t.v. at Mom Mom and Poppy's house.  A game she created called "No Cushions", where she takes all the cushions off of the sofa in the playroom and then jumps on them.  Hide and Seek.  BandAids.  Reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible, most days.  Fancy shoes.  Panda, her stuffed animal and bedtime buddy. Sucking her thumb when she's tired.

Does not like: those tree frogs that make a lot of noise at night.  Getting her hair brushed and styled.  Water in her eyes.

It's been a fun three years with Grace.  Life sure wasn't as full before she arrived on the scene.

Happy Birthday, dearest Grace Olivia!  We love you so much and thank God for giving us such a wonderful gift in you!