New Recipes of The Week

I have lots of new recipes to try now that I have organized those that I clipped into picture album sleeves in a binder. Unfortunately there are 3, 4, or 5 recipes in a single square to fit them all into 2 albums, so I am focusing on "never tried" recipes to weed out any not-so-great ones and make thinner and nicer-to-navigate books.

This is the food we've been cooking up this week...

Lemon Chicken Spaghetti

Not a bad dish with its creamy lemon sauce, but not super scrumptious either. 

We simply like Alfredo better.

Pizza

Taco and Pepperoni/Sausage

Technically not a new recipe, but a new experience. The crust puffed up so high when pre-baked, that I carefully cut it in half to make 2 pies out of 1 crust, then topped them with what we had on hand. Viola!

Curried Bean Salad

This recipe had really good garlic, cumin, oregano, and curry flavor. However my family is not fond of bean salads...the texture, I guess!

Sooo the winner for this week is...

Mulberry Oat Muffins & Old Fashioned Graham Muffins

We've rarely eaten a muffin that gets rejected. 

Neither of these are extra special, but pass my family's taste test because we eat many a muffin for breakfast and afternoon snacks.

Blueberry Oat Muffins

1 1/4 c flour

1 c oats

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 c water

1/3 c oil (optional. I left it out and used more water.)

1 c blueberries (or mulberries)

Combine the first six ingredients. Stir eggs, water, and oil into batter just until moistened. Fold in berries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. May sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (2 Tbsp sugar & 1/4 tsp cinnamon). Bake 400* for 15-18 minutes.           Yield: 1 dozen.

Have you tried any new foods lately?

Beautiful Blooms 2

Some lovely flowers appeared at our house this spring...inside and out!

Here are some fresh flowers delivered by caring friends.

And here is an amarylis that my mom gave to me 3 years ago. It bloomed and died back, but I saved it and even sent it to a plant babysitter while we were on our RV trip for 4 months. Now 2 years after that, it brought forth a burst of color again!

Just for fun, here is a photo of me and the first-time bloom of this huge bulb. (That is little M, under a year old - now 2 1/2!) See how much longer the stem grew second time around!

Not exactly a flower, but a bouquet of twigs from the flowering crabapple tree Riley pruned.

Outdoor blossoms opened in the yard. This is the little crabapple in the midst of our freshly manured garden. 

 A redbud out front.

Bradford Pear blossoms picked by the girls, stuffed in pockets, and arranged on the table.

Hop over here to see photos of last year's spring flower post.

God's beauty declared!

Trapping 2014-2015...by Riley

Right before we left on our Christmas trip I got permission to trap some prime property: over a mile of wooded creek bottom with pasture and farmland around a mile from the house. A couple weeks before season started I began baiting coons with fermented corn in a wooded corner of grassland approximately 1/3 of a mile northeast of our house. When season started I emptied the feeder and set 3 dogproof coon traps baiting them with corn.

I also made a coyote set across the road to the south in a pasture along with a coon set in the dry creek bottom running through the same pasture. During the first 2-3 weeks  I caught 7 coons and 2 coyotes at those 3 places.

After we got home from back east I began trapping solely on the new property around the middle of January. In the remaining 6 weeks of season I caught 1 bobcat, 3 coyotes, and 11 coons all on the half section with the creek running through it. The bobcat was caught at a hollow log cubby set.

2 coyotes were caught at dirt hole sets, 1 was snared,1 fell for a flat set, and another stumbled into a trail set. 

All but 1 of the coons were caught in dogproofs; the other wandered into a coyote flat set.

Overall I had a pretty good season except for having the golf cart engine die towards the end of season. Season total: 1 Bobcat, 5 Coyotes, and 18 Coons!

Basketball and Burial

The beginning of March found us a couple hours from home at a homeschool basketball tournament. Our games started Thursday at 8:30a.m. and lasted through Saturday afternoon.

Mature Miss graced the court a few minutes as a sub, but mostly enjoyed watching her teammates play tough. They placed 5th out of 8 teams in the Jr High Girls A Bracket.

Our Young Man got a little more playing time during his 3 games, even popping off a shot or two. He is more of a nimble, intense player... after he admires the fancy shoes of all the ball players! ("You know, the guy with the such & such brand and certain colored sneakers on?" "Um, no...didn't notice that, I guess.") The Jr High boys also placed 5th.

Their 1st year playing as 7th & 8th graders has been a little rough in regards to adolescence, comparing skill levels, and fitting in. However, our whole family enjoyed the interaction with the other team families at games and at this end of the season Hurrah.

Pizza party and two nights at a motel with a pool makes everyone happy! And if your friends are there...double delight! The littles got in several times throughout the course of our stay, and even the big kids swamped the hot tub the second night. Never mind that it was not heated and out of order! 

They learned a fun new game called link and generally congregated in the courtyard to enjoy each other's company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I regret to type that a few days before the big tourney we experienced another miscarriage. Just 6 months after our 4th little boy arrived too soon to survive. For some strange reason we had chosen not to tell our children about this pregnancy, and so it wasn't quite as devastating for them, initially.

At the risk of being misunderstood, I'm showing a picture of our miniature Titus Accepted fully developed around 11 or 12 gestational weeks. We have seen all 5 of our miscarried babies, cords, and placentas. We are still puzzled why we continue to experience this, but greatly reverence God's miracle of birth and just how perfectly He forms each soul in the womb.

We placed tiny Titus under the ground in the canopy of the cedar trees. Waiting for the day when we will meet him and see him as God designed him to be. 

It's been a sad time for us, 

but we rest in knowing God will work it all out each faith step of the way.

Fleeting February

Roses to adorn the bedroom mantle.

A Valentine surprise brought home to me from hubby!

Worship banquet with fellow homeschoolers.

Soups, salads, and cookies to decorate, following singing with guitar accompaniment and a devotion entitled "The Fire of God". Plus plenty of time to chat and play ball on the court.

Big C went on a date with her daddy to the Kansas Bluegrass Association event in the nearby big city. She played a song in the Junior Showcase and has been fiddling away ever since (though she loses her sheet music binder quite a bit)!

The occupyings of young active minds...bedroom revamped into a pretend clothing store.

Sledding after the snowfall.

We received a couple of good snowfalls at the end of the month close together. 

 Flipping Saturday breakfast sourdough cranberry muffins.

(We avoid heating the mammoth oven too frequently by "baking" on the griddle.)

Other things that happened in February

Riley emptied his animal freezer and sold to the fur buyer for an end of season clean-out.

He also took the driving test and now has a farm permit allowing him to drive all by himself!

All five children were down with fever, sore throats, etc. for more than half the month. We missed some Bible studies, basketball games and practices...but did make it to a couple pizza parties and overnighters.

We rested and sipped lots of steaming tea

.......in February!