Beef Stew Kinda Day

🙈The last week here has been a mixture of different weather each day.  Today its overcast and misty so I decided to haul out the slow cooker and assemble a good beef stew for supper.  I added a peeled and chopped sweet potato along with some radishes to the traditional carrots, white potatoes, and onions.  I sauted the beef with garlic, onion, oregano, and a bit of thyme, along with salt and pepper.  Then I decided fluffy whole wheat rolls would be a great side, so I plugged in the bread machine and got the dough started.  I had enough for 12 rolls, 5 slider buns (chicken sliders on the menu later this week), and 5 garlic bread sticks (those wont last past 4 o'clock). 🙈

Cookies Fail

Today I tried a baking recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I used oat flour and coconut oil in the recipe.  They came out grainy in texture and didn't flatten out. I'll modify the recipe tomorrow and retry another batch.  When I have it right then I'll try to post a pic.  Blogger hasn't been allowing me to post pics lately but I will try.

Sequel to "Journey" Post

I mentioned our family unit has had to immediately implement a strict turnaround in the foods we eat.

Examples:

Used to eat:                Now eat:
White rice.                    Brown rice
White flour.                  Grind own wheat.
                                       100% whole wheat
HFCS.                             NO packaged foods
Artificial sweeteners.   Raw honey
                                          Pure maple syrup
                                        Tad white sugar
A lot of packaged
Food options.                  Whole foods
                                         Wide range of
                                          Grains
                                          Lots fruits/veggie
Dairy.                               Plant based options
-------------------------------------
There has been a LOT of anxiety, frustration, and failure.

Anxiety--> Family, friends.... some do, but most dont understand.  At least, not in my little corner of the world.

Frustration--> I dont know about your family, but in mine, when they're hungry- theyre HUNGRY. And they want it right when they say the word HUNGRY. And it has to be tasty.
Failure--> Well, lately, nothing has been tasty. I'm working with whole ingredients and a lot of them I've never bought before. Try making something tasty the first, second, or even the TENTH time with ingredients your not familiar with. Example: dragon fruit. It's cute and a pretty color, but, yeah, never bought it before.
Lentils. Oh, lentils. I think I should forget about the lentils.
The research: cookbooks, blogs, instagram, fb. 
The equipment/tools: pressure cooker, yogurt maker, blender, grain mill, bread machine, hot air popper, food processor.... all items I either had to purchase or unearth from the dark recesses of my lower cabinet spaces.
It swiped across my brain the other day that I need a food dehydrator. Then i came to my senses as I looked around and realized, i have absolutely no place to put one. My extensive counter space is gone. I'm wary of putting any appliance away under the cabinets because as soon as I do, I'll have to drag it back out again when it's time to prep breakfast, lunches, suppers, or snacks.

So with this look into my daily grind and my now over crowded kitchen counters, I'll use this blog to do a daily "journal" of our family's fast track to, hopefully, better nutrition.

Kitchen Post

Today I tried to play catch up on prepping and making snacks for the weekend. It took most of the morning but I accomplished quite a bit. It time to make a fresh batch of granola.  For some reason i can not keep it from darkening quite a bit when baking. I peeled and sliced up a butternut squash for the freezer and also a spaghetti squash. Enough for 3 meals from each one. Hard boiled eggs, granola, hot air popped popcorn, fresh pineapple, fresh strawberries, and blueberries for snacks. I need a kitchen day like every other day.

Journey

About 2 months ago our little family unit started dashing down a pathway of eating whole foods and eliminating processed foods from our meals and snacks.
We've started buying grain berries, fresh veggies and fruits, lean meats, lentils, beans, etc. We invested in a grain mill and I unearthed the bread machine I was gifted with ten years ago. It has been frustrating but also satisfying when trying to cook and bake with ingredients that carry the same name but are in different form.
So I'll use this blog to chronicle our journey through season we are in.

Bar B Cue, buggy ride, and calf roping

Saturday we attended a barbecue and Lil Man had a blast! He even roped a dummy calf by one horn.

T-Ball Season Again :)

Practice has begun... :)

One Day Is All I Need

Most people dream of new cars, new homes, spectacular vacations....

Me? I dream of quilting stores and book stores. How luxurious it would be to go in a fabric store and wander through it looking at the different fabrics, browsing the notions and looking at the quilty books and magazines. Just. To. Look.

Ahhh- but then reality sets in and i remember i have a five year old and a sixty- five year old.

It's ok to dream sometimes, right?? 😊

Armadillo Egg DIP

Are You Ready?

My Lil Man keeps reminding me when Christmas is :) He has his plans made. He's ready.

I know when Christmas is. I have no plans made. I am ready.

We have two different views of what Christmas day will be like.

Christmas Season

Happy Thanksgiving

This day brings family, friends, food and fun. Most of all we are thankful for every blessing we have received  and will receive.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Quilt

Fair

We took Lil Man to the fair in a neighboring town. Nice day to walk around and enjoy the sunshine. The baby goats liked him too :)

Short Trip

Lil Man and I took a short trip last month and I didn't blog it. Here he is having a little fun.

Last Game :(

T-Ball season has wound to a close. Last game is this evening. Lil Man is warming up for a good game. He wants to try wrestling so we will keep that in mind.

So Humbled :)

Last Thursday evening at Lil Man's t-ball game, the coach told the boys to run a lap around the inside of the fence surrounding the field before their game started. As they all darted off, Lil Man looked back and saw the smallest player running far behind so he doubled back and ran side by side. I heard the boys mom say Lil Man was now her second favorite player because he cared so much. Very humbling...

Little League T-Ball!

Has started. He's enthusiastic... He's full of energy and spirit... He likes to pick the grass off short stop by the handfuls and gets distracted making spiderman imprints in the dirt with his shoes :)

Sweet Southern Iced Tea

Some have to have coffee, some have to have a soft drink, some require milk or juice. Me?? Sweet iced tea. It's the only morning pick- me- up that'll do.

A Pocket Full of Posies

The embroidery for the quilt square for my mom's Mother's Day gift is finished, pressed, and trimmed up. Here is a pic of the layout with the other blocks (they are 13 years old!) I've made to put in it.

Uh, please excuse the toes :)