Things I'm grateful for...

Today is my wedding anniversary. It makes me realize how truly blessed I am.

I've been married almost two decades to my high school sweetheart. We have the two most wonderful children in the entire world. For this, I am most grateful.

I'm grateful for the time I spend with my children and the ability to be involved in their lives.

I'm grateful to be breathing.

I'm grateful for grace (and no I don't mean my dog). :)

I'm grateful for joy.

I'm grateful for perseverance.

I'm grateful for dreams.

I'm grateful for love... and loved ones.

I'm grateful for Jesus.

I'm grateful for my abilities and talents.

What are grateful for...?

CVS Savings

Our town, city, whatever you want to call it -- just had its first CVS open. I already had my little red card and couldn't wait for them to open. It's been two weeks now and I'm enjoying saving money. The clerk today was impressed with the saving both Little Miss Muffet and myself enjoyed. I checked out first. I gave the clerk my coupon with my updated email address on it. For doing that, I will receive a coupon worth either $5 or $10 off $20. Last time I was in I received a coupon for a free CVS brand toothbrush. She rang up my purchases, some things were cheaper because I used my CVS card and I had coupons to use also. Everything totaled over $65 dollars. I had ECB's and my final total was $29. I purchased some pencil bags that were on sale but didn't ring up the sale price. The clerk and I discussed it throughout the sale. No ECB's and the sale price didn't ring up. She refunded the difference to me and I ended up paying about $22. I received $9 in ECB's and the $5 or $10 is on it's way. Next LMM made her purchase -- some sunglasses she had been wanting and looked at every time we have been in the store. If you purchase sunglasses, you receive a $5 ECB. She wanted some hair care products and they were $5.99 before tax. She did a second transaction (the assistant store manager told us during our first store visit that we could do this and they encourage their customers to in order to save money); she used her $5 just received ECB and her total due was $1.07. When paying for her sunglasses, she used a prepaid debit card that was a Christmas present that she had forgotten about. The only money really out of her pocket was the $1.07.

Little Boy Blue helped his grandfather today at his shop. One of his employees gave LBB a hammer that a vendor left with them. He was thrilled with his hammer. He explained that after the vendor uses it a bit and begins to show signs of wear, they give them the hammer.

We stopped by a furniture clearance store. They are having a huge sale because they are closing. Head and foot boards without side rails were $5 a piece. I really wanted to buy some. I tried to figure out something I could do to repurpose them. No ideas came to mind, so I left empty handed. There were some excellent deals. A coffee table was $9.99 -- it was a little rough around the edges and needed to be restained and varnished. A pretty good investment for a $299 coffee table. I passed on this also. The coffee table swiveled and I was afraid it may break soon. I may go back another day and find something but there were great deals throughout the store; somehow, those great deals must have been meant for someone other than me.

All in all, I think we had a pretty frugal day. Not buying something that I wouldn't/couldn't use counts!!

Leave a comment if you have any ideas to repurpose some really pretty, ornate head and foot boards.

Have a blessed day!!

On my heart... Part 1

I wrote this post on April 3, 2009 sitting at a table looking out the top floor of a carriage house of the Corinthian Bed and Breakfast in Dallas, TX. I was scheduled for some surgical procedures on my heart a few hours later at Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas. The view from my room was beautiful. My family was still asleep but I arose very early that morning and began this post. I had a lot on my heart and on my mind and I wanted to share with you and get it off my chest. The following is only a part, the rest will follow (no promise on when) in subsequent posts. The internet failed that morning and I never had the chance to finish... it has taken me four months to begin blogging again.


Jesus meets us where we are. He stands in the gap for us. He is my All in All. He bears our burdens. He is a father to the fatherless and a mate to the mateless. He is so much more than we could ever ask for. He loves the unloved. He cares for the uncared for. He finds beauty in ashes. In Him, the incomplete are complete. Sinless, he died for the sinner. No matter how bitter and broken we are, He calls us His and loves us unconditionally. He loves us, He has called us by name, we are a child of His. He calms our fears. No matter what we are going through, He is right there with us ... carrying us all along the way. He bore the burdens of the world. He is a constant in a inconsistant and constantly changing world. He is the same yesterday, today and always. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is so much to so many.



I love my Jesus and He loves me.



I strive to be a godly woman, a godly wife and a godly mother and a godly friend. I fail miserably over and over, but He loves me just the same. I want to be like Him. I try to pick up and carry my cross daily. Some days I forget, some days are a struggle, but He gives me strength.



Because of Him I live and I can face tomorrow. Because of Him, I know my sins are forgiven. Because of Him, I know I am loved. Because of Him, I am living and walking and breathing.



Almost six years ago, my family was at my grandmother's house. I named my grandmother Mimi when I was a little child. Somehow, Grandmommie came out Mimi and she was my beloved Mimi ever since. I lost Mimi a little over three short yet long years ago. But I digress. The family was helping Mimi move. Mimi had been a widow for several years and lived alone at the lake. She was facing kidney dialysis at some uncertain time, only God knew when. So many weekends were filled with packing up a lifetime of accumalated belongings and an attic-full to boot. My precious aunt and her family were there many more times than we were but we all pitched in as a family and did our part.



We boxed and threw away and gave away and yet there was always a bounty to take home. One of these weekends, My husband and I were upstairs wrapping a plastic film around something (my memory fails me to what the object was) in order to protect it during the move to my Aunt and Uncle's home. I felt weird, then was flush, sick to my stomach, then it happened -- I fainted.

And there begins my story. Somewhat of a secret, somewhat known, but always mysterious.



I just didn't feel right after the fainting spell. As soon as Mimi heard about it, she made me rest and lie down on the sofa. I felt bad because there was all this hustle and bustle going on around me and all I could do was keep my back on the sofa cushions. I tried to get up too soon but back down I went. More resting. Still felt weird. And this continued. More and more symptoms were added as the days went by.



That particular trip, we were given the organ. The organ that was my great-grandmothers. The organ of many fun musical performances of mine during my childhood. I loved playing that huge thing made of dark wood and a plethora of weird knobs that I could pull out and push in for different sounds. We brought it home with us that trip. As we were moving it in the door, down I went. Another fainting spell. Heart racing. Still feeling weird.



Days passed. More kept happening to me. I would stumble as I walked. It was as if one foot wouldn't always work. I went to a chiropractor that does more than just adjustments. He had helped with other family ailments, so I thought I would give him a try. His diagnosis was I was allergic to canteloupes and had hypoglycemia. Uhmm, okay. It didn't seem right but we gave it a try. I had never had a reaction to canteloupe before. Yes, I had some that weekend but only a few bites. I ate a few small pieces to be polite. I had taken several canteloupes to Mimi. We served them at one of the meals. I never really cared for the taste of canteloupes so I usually stayed away from them. This is how the allergy to canteloupes was diagnosed.



Days turned into weeks. More fainting spells. I was standing against a wall at a funeral of a dear friend that had suddenly passed away. I had not shared with anyone what was happening to me. I was standing against that wall because I was dizzy. Then more weirdness happened. I felt a weird electricity going through my heart and through my body. A friend came over to check on me and said I didn't look well. I told her what I was experiencing. She brought me something to drink and made me sit down. She asked some questions and was very concerned. She had experienced a brain tumor years ago. We talked a bit and I filled her in on the details of what had been happening in my life. She went and found my husband and made him take me home because she knew I wasn't well.



We didn't tell anyone else still. We didn't know what was going on and decided to wait until we had a name to put with the symptoms. There wasn't much to say, other than I feel weird, I can faint at a drop of a hat, I have weird electricity go through me at times and I am gaining anywhere from a pound to five pounds a week. Time passed, I felt worse, my dear husband and children became more concerned. I felt weaker and was pretty tired all the time but I kept pressing on.



I had some kind of appointment with my regular doctor (meaning ob/gyn) because I hardly ever went to the doctor other than for those reason. I detested going to the doctor -- other than when I was pregnanat, I gladly went then.



I shared with him my new tricks that my body suddenly seemed so keen on displaying. If I wasn't fainting I was tripping over air. He referred me to an internal medicine doc. He wasn't the most understanding doc. He thought it was no big deal that making a lasagna and french bread made me so tired I had to take a nap. He didn't understand that I always made lasagna three at a time and homemade french bread to go with it along with a huge salad and homemade dressing. Many times, one lasagna was going to a family with a need or in a crisis at the time (surgery, family member in hospital, death in family -- you get the picture) along with the brread, salad and dessert. I made the same for my family and would put one lasagna in the freezer. Countless times I did this. All of a sudden, this was too much for me - making one lasagna was way too much. I knew something was going on but he dismissed it "because making lasagna from scratch is hard work. You should just go to Sam's a buy the lasagna there, it's much easier and it's good too." His words, not mine. He ordered a few tests and hooked me up with a neurologist and cardiologist. "Should be something simple, but you're worrying for nothing."



He wasn't my docotr for long. He started picking on my cholesterol levels. They were below the "too high" mark but he felt cholesterol medicine would cure all my woes. Really now!! Fired him, on to next doc. My birthday that year was marked by several hours at the neurologist office, a good 30 minutes with him covering the bases, but a lot of time waiting. I had 2 MRI's the next week and a bazillion blood test. Too bad I couldn't donate all the blood I've given for blood test over the years. 5-7 vials at a time really adds up. EEgs, EKGs and a myriad of alphabet soup tests awaited me. Thousands of dollars at a time racked up. Still no answers. I was losing money and gaining weight.



The neurologist really thought I was having seizures. He ran this one test where they put this gum and butter mixture all throughout my head, only on a clump of strands of hair and hook up electrodes to them. My dear husband and my sister went with me. They got to sit on a comfy couch and watch me try to sleep on demand, blow a pinwheel and endure these funky disco lights. Really, how can one sleep on demand, especially with your little sister snickering and laughing and whispering. It was odd and no I never went to sleep.



On to the neurocardiologist. Endured a tilt table test that almost killed me. No, I am not being facecious. I thought my heart was going to explode and after twenty minutes of joking around with the nurses, I was suddenly begging them to stop the test as I didn't know if I could endure any more pain. I was watching my heart rate and blood pressure plummet. Pain. Pressure. Blackness. Total blackness. A white light. I was dressed in a white robe. Jesus was standing behind me, also dressed in a white robe, with his hand on my shoulder and we were reading something I was holding in my hand. Then, pain, excrutiating PAIN. Weakness, hurting, grogginess. When I awoke (read revived) carts, trays, apparatus were scattered about the once orderly room. I was wheeled back to a room where my unsuspecting dear husband had been directed to. I was so weak I could hardly speak. My poor husband had no clue what had just happened. This was supposed to be a no-big-deal test and the doc didn't even want my huband there. Huh?! Yep, he said there was "no need." Whatever! He drove me. We are so glad he did.



The doctor walked into the room, evidently I was strong enough to give him a really dirty look. His reaction was,"What, you look at me like I am the devil." My response:"Well, you're pretty close right now." He went on to inform us that "He almost lost me ... and had trouble getting me back." Okay, and I was supposed to show up to this test by myself. Daignosis:Neurocardiogenic syncope. Okay, first diagnosis. I continued with this doc a few more months. Visits every two weeks, all he did was prescribe me medicine and check my blood pressure. I showed him my toes, there were purple. No big deal, that's normal. Huh?! I was barely able to walk during this time. It was a great day if I could make it from the bed to the recliner. No, the blue/purple toes had nothing to do with it. Weakness and dizzness were the norm for me. My new skin color was gray. I wasn't eating but I sure was packing on the pounds.



It was a rare occasion when I could muster up enough strength to go to church. People prayed for me, but for some reason I wasn't healed because they prayed. Somehow, my body was not made aware of some time table that exists from the time they prayed to my supposed-healing time. I lost friends during this time. No one came to see me. Vanished, like Dorothy's house in the Wizard of Oz, I guess they were carried off to some far off place -- because they certainly weren't around anymore.



My dear husband and children rallied around me. We drew our strength from the Lord, Jesus Christ. My husband made deals with God. He begged God to heal me, to take my infirmaties away. My children felt responsible, so did my dear husband. Every Sunday they went to church. Usually, one child was left to watch over me. Countless Sundays occured where Dear husband left for church and I was left lying in bed with heart palpitations and chest pains. This was a hard time for my dear husband. He felt like if he was a "good christian" by going to church, somehow this would be payment enough for God to heal me and make me better or lead me to a medical doctor that would heal me and make me better. Instead, I was left in pain wondering how I would call 9*1*1 if the pain got any worse. As my dear husband has matured in his Christian walk, he has realized that God doesn't make deals and it certainly doesn't make your wife better.

Spring = Prom

Thursday and Friday we decorated for prom. I really didn't want to not have school those two days but in order to help it was necessary. I reminded myself that after these two days, we weren't going to have prom committee meetings after this week -- so it made it a little easier. Of course there were lessons learned during those two days and the rewards that were reaped were priceless.

Prom was such a special time. It began with dinner at a Bennihana type restaurant. Party of 18! Some were parents, some had dates, some didn't. It didn't matter. Everyone had a nice time and the food was fabulous and everyone looked beautiful and handsome.

Next was prom itself. What a wonderful memory filled night for my whole family. My dear husband and I learned to dance via the dance instructor and Little Miss Muffett and Little Boy Blue were dance partners for a time during the lessons. Later my dear husband and LMM danced. I wished I would have seen it but I was attending to one of my duties in the kitchen. There were pictures galore. There were pictures, punch, and a King and Queen.

Afterward, everyone (almost) went bowling. The girls looked just beautiful in their sportier clothes with all the curls and updo hairstyles. Yes, some girls even bowled in their formal dresses. They bowled until it was time to shut the doors. At the end, another mom and I passed by the security guard, he complimented our group on how well behaved everyone was. There were 12 lanes. I agree, the children were very well behaved but still had tons of fun.

Anyone that wonders if homeschooled children miss out, my answer remains the same as it has always been - they only miss the junk that no one needs. Yes, this was a homeschool prom and it was a blast. Realizing that not everyone dances and not all children may be allowed to attend the prom, it was still okay because they were able to attend the bowling festivities.

Cherish the special time and moments with your children. They grow up so fast.

Living Gluten-Free

I just made this Banana Crunch Cake from Gluten Free is Life. It was moist and delicious. She said it was a coffee cake but it would be just as good without the oatmeal crumble topping IMHO. It was not grainy -- it seriously took me back to my gluten days. It was full bodied and had a crumb just like a cake. It only called for oat flour -- no mixing or multiple flours and no guar or xanthan gum! It was easy and yummy!

It still amazes me how the gluten free products I try just keep getting better and better. I have learned a few things in the past year. 1.) The pre-made items are okay but can range from food grade cardboard to good but grainy. 2.) Some of the best brownies I have had were from a gf mix. Mixes are better than already made gluten-free products. 3.) The best gluten-free products that don't taste gluten free are the ones made from scratch.

I think I may be dreaming of this banana cake tonight. I am glad I did make it tonight (and sample it), with Little Miss Muffet's help (she helped sample it, also), because this means breakfast is made for in the morning.

Gluten-free living is getting easier. This past weekend we went on a scout camp out. It was rainy and cold! We were so glad our troop was in charge of cooking, that meant we could help out in the kitchen in exchange for beds in cabins and buildings. The first morning all those campers filed in looking forward to that warm liquid to help warm them up, whether it be hot chocolate or coffee. There were murmurs of the coldness and dampness and hopefulness it would warm up. My room was blazing hot, probably 90 degrees. It was absolutely stifling. I didn't dare complain because I was so glad to be warm and not sleep on rocks and have a bathroom literally three footsteps away from where I laid my head.

Working and helping out in the kitchen was fun. My entire family lent a helping hand with each meal in some capacity. One neat thing about helping with the food was access to the menu before hand -- also there was the boon of making sure there was not any cross contamination. Knowing the head cook helped so much because he kept our food needs in mind. I forgot we were having spaghetti, so really it only helps when one remembers things they shouldn't forget. We talked about what LMM and I would eat for dinner that night. We were hoping there would be a left over hamburger patty from lunch for each of us.

It's neat how things work out. We were both able to eat spaghetti!! Another camper also had Celiac. Her mom had made an entire package of gf pasta noodles. When she dropped them off in the kitchen ahead of time, I was able to introduce myself and I was able to glean some neat ideas from her. Her family has been gluten free for 8 1/2 years! She told me of an Asian market in town where I will be able to buy stir-fry to go and flours/noodles much cheaper than at the health food store. Yippee! She offered to share the noodles with us also. Usually, I would have thanked her but said no-thank-you. Not that afternoon, the noodles were good, they were not any noodles I had bought before. They were good, I just seemed to have required a lot of sauce with the noodles. I hope I can one day repay the kind act. Maybe I will make this banana cake and wrap up a couple of slices for her dear daughter.

The gluten free life just keeps getting better and better.

Reading books

I love homeschooling! One of the neat things to me is all of the books we read; the read-alouds, the historical books, the living books, the free reading books, it's wonderful. I search used book stores, the Friends of the Library in our neighboring town, eBay, and last but certainly not least, PaperBackSwap for the wonderful books that fill our many bookshelves. These are in addition to new books from bookstores and curriculum companies.

Sometimes we end up with multiple copies of the same book. Mainly it happens when we visit the Friends of the Library during the 50% and 75% off sales. We can seriously buy $325 of books for only $25. We love those kind of deals! When we end up shopping off list and getting some books that we think look good, sometimes they are already sitting on our bookshelves waiting to be read. But at prices like that, it's okay to have duplicates. Besides, I can always list them on PaperBackSwap if I want.

One book with multiple copies is The Giver by Lois Lowery. One was from PaperBackSwap and the other came from a lot of books from eBay. This worked out well because both of my children can read the same book at the same time. I love their conversations when they refer a book to the other. During one's reading, the other will ask if they have read a certain part yet or where they are in the book. It's wonderful to hear them compare notes and their favorite portions of the books.

Today was the day they started the same book on the same day. I think there is a little sibling competition to see who finishes first but much more than that, they are both enamored with the book. Little Miss Muffet was actually stirring the vegetables at supper tonight while reading. Little Boy Blue went to the hardware store with my dear husband tonight and was able to read a few pages. I'm not sure if he was bumping his way down the aisles turning pages or if he just used the map light en route.

The day the book arrived (the first book) I read it that day. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was thought provoking. Both of my children have both made the exact same statement about The Giver without knowing knowing the other one said it also. They both finished the book today (the day they began reading it). LMM said it was thought provoking and gripping and went on to say; "What if we were limited and didn't have choices. What if we couldn't see color or hear music...". LBB said it was thought provoking and even a thriller. He felt the last 30-40 pages were the most suspenseful. In the back of the book there are questions for discussion, we will utilize those tomorrow.

What's for supper...?

For some reason I didn't make out a menu for this week but I've had fun trying new recipes. So far I've made my grandmother's Chop Suey -- delicious! Then I made cabbage rolls, a black bean soup (I'm still searching for that special black bean soup recipe). I also made sandwiches, pimento cheese sandwiches. I used Paula Deen's recipe of which she credits her son. It contained cream cheese, grated cheddar, grated onion and I used roasted red peppers that I diced. It was delicious, we much prefer the cheddar to Velveeta. That brings us to dinner tonight.

I had some tilapia. Hmmm, what to make... so I searched and came up with this Spanish Moroccan Tilapia from allrecipes.com. We placed the tilapia and the Moroccan vegetables and broth atop some De Boles multi grain gluten-free spaghetti style pasta. Next time I would serve this on top of some brown rice, but we've had rice several times this week. The pasta was different, it was made with rice, quinoa, and amaranth. It was kind of crunchy on the inside but looked done on the outside. I cooked it for the recommended time. It was fine and made the dish not so soft.

It smelled wonderful when it was cooking and we all enjoyed it. It is definitely a keeper. I don't know if I will put it in rotation but it's great for those nights when you want something different. It was easy to make, there was a lot of dicing of vegetables but very easy to prepare. I did not add the garbanzo beans because I did not have them on hand. For the two red bell peppers I substituted mini sweet peppers. They are yellow, orange and red and added some really pretty color to the mixture. I used all the kalamata olives I had on hand, probably twelve or so. I diced them pretty small. The purplish-black flecks added a nice contrast visually to the dish.

The dish was a hit and the pictures don't do it justice. I was going to also include a picture when the tilapia was cooking but it was not visually appealing, it was just white globs on top of red. It tastes much better than the pictures look.

It would be so easy just to post a few pictures but I will actually write instead.

I will share some pictures that Little Boy Blue took this weekend on his camping trip.

Dear husband and Little Boy Blue went camping with the Boy Scout Troop this

weekend. They trekked up a mountain for about a 5 mile hike. By way of gps, their campsite was much, much less than a mile away from the top of the mountain. The house was abuzz upon their return with tales of all they did. They agreed the food was good, really good. They both liked all the food that was served. The nights were terribly frigid and they both were cold at times but were thankful for the wonderful invention known as hand warmers.

It is funny, you can spend an hour and a half once a week, fifty weeks out of the year with the same group of people but not really develop friendships. Spend a Saturday and a few hour drive with some of the same people and you have stories to share for a lifetime and new friendships. Is it because you hung back with the kid that was struggling walking up the mountain and stayed with him so he wouldn't be alone? Is it because you helped to teach someone younger a skill or is it just because you are all sleeping out in nature covered by a big blanket of stars and everyone knows who does and does not snore, sleepwalk, etc. ? I don't know... but it does happen and we are all grateful for those friendships no matter what spawns them.

Showers and naps were the first things on the agenda after the arrival home this afternoon but not before talk, plans and hopes of the next camping trip.

Little Miss Muffet and I did enjoy our girls weekend. After she finished selling Girl Scout cookies, it was off to find a restaurant. We have special memories from past outings such as this. There was the time at Johnny Carino's when we just ordered Italian Cream Sodas and dessert. That was of course B.C. (Before Celiac). It was decadent and yummy!

We tossed around a few ideas, a steakhouse, Chik-Fil-A, a deli ... where would we eat ... what sounded good ... SUSHI!! Of course! I took a detour to to the local Benihanna type restaurant. Well, the good news was there was only one party in front of us. The bad news was it was a party of fourteen. We were looking at a thirty minute wait but our tummies couldn't wait that long. After a quick inquiry about the wait if we were only eating sushi, we were immediately ushered to a table. Not having to wait for a grill table was great. We were finished before the party of 14 was seated. California Rolls, Philadelphia Rolls, Wasabi, Cucumber Salad, Seaweed Salad. So yummy, so good! So hungry three hours later. We had great fun; we used our chopsticks. LMM commented she liked her stainless steel chopsticks much better than the wooden pull-aparts. Next time maybe we will plan ahead and she can bring her own along with our wheat-free tamari sauce. It was so odd not being able to pour any soy sauce on our food but we managed without it. We went to the book store and perused the shelves of magazines, sat in formerly comfy chairs (no joke -- they used to have padding, well maybe they have padding but no springs, seriously you sit down and just keep going, going, going until you have sunk down until you almost reach the floor). We had fun sharing about the magazines, pointing at pictures, oohing and aahing, whispering and laughing.

We decided on our purchases and decided to top off the night with Blizzards from DQ. We made a major discovery, they no longer carry cotton candy blizzards. It has been many months (about 8) since I had one. They told me they may bring them back at a later date. You know when you crave something, you can almost taste it, your taste buds are sitting on the edge of their chairs just waiting to experience the burst of flavor, then the salivating stops because they no longer carry that flavor. It's kind of like those taste buds just sunk down, down, down in those formerly comfy chairs at the bookstore. Well, I'm a big girl and it was girls weekend so I just chose something else but with CHOCOLATE. We returned home and watched one of my favorite movies, Sweet Home Alabama. Remember, it was girls weekend -- chocolate and chick flicks, what could be better!

Saturday there were errands to run or we would have gone to the movies to see another chick flick. Confessions of a Shopaholic. Only a matinee though. Can you believe regular movie tickets are $9.50?! Since the kiddoes were little, seeing a movie at the movie theater was always a surprise and special treat usually associated with their birthday. One time we watched two movies back to back. 101 Dalmations then we went and bought tickets to the next movie, I don't even remember the name but it was animated and about basketball. The kiddoes thought it was awesome to see two movies on the same day. These days we go to the drive-in. What a wonderful invention! Double features for the price of a matinee. Sometimes we pack supper, soft drinks, snacks, blankets, pillows and the portable radio and off we go to the movies. We always buy the popcorn there, gotta have that movie popcorn with extra butter. LBB and LMM are growing up but going to the movies is still a special treat that creates excitement and it is still a special treat.

Well, I didn't even know what I was going to post about but I rambled on and on enough, I guess this will count as a post. :) Have a blessed week!

awaiting spring...

Frugality

Since becoming a single income family over sixteen years ago, I have implemented many different ways of being frugal. These have changed over the years as needs and income levels have changed.



I'm feeling the need to be careful and be more frugal these days. To see what I am already doing and areas where I could do more I thought I would list them here.



1. My top Christmas request was a clothes line. Cost: The price of a bag of concrete. We had all of the other supplies. The clothes line is up now. I'll save money on electricity once I actually use the clothes line.



2. I'm making my own laundry detergent. The first batch of laundry detergent was powder. I hadn't used powdered detergent in probably 14 years. My second batch was in the big five gallon bucket and was liquid. It didn't gel up as it was supposed to, but I am going to try something a bit different next time and it should gel then, otherwise it is working just fine.



3. Vinegar is our new laundry softener. 2 gallons is a little over $3, and that's without using coupons. No, clothes don't smell like vinegar and they are surprisingly soft. There aren't any unpronounceable ingredients either.



4. Jigsaw puzzles are cheap entertainment. I found some for $1 at Dollar Tree. Board games, dominoes, and cards are also cheap entertainment and promote family togetherness.



5. The temperatures are becoming more mild now in anticipation of spring. I have turned off the heater for the most part. We turn on some electric tower heaters in the morning to heat up the house and we have electric blankets on our beds if they are needed at night. We have been able to open the windows a few days when the temperatures have been in the mid to upper 70's. I hope to cut down on our electric bill and take advantage of the moderate temperatures.



6. I changed our telephone service and bundled it with our Internet. Yes, I had to agree to a two year contract. Instead of paying $45 for Internet and $65 for telephone monthly, we pay $65 for both - a monthly savings of $45 - that a savings of $540 a year!!



7. I've begun to use coupons again. A local health food store has a website, I can print off the coupons I will use from their site. Another has 20% off on certain days off certain items. I saw Albertson's is advertising double and triple coupons again. Another grocery store has loads of in store coupons and the register prints off coupons with your receipt. I received a $4 off coupon on paper towels. Awesome deal.



8. I make a two week menu then make my grocery list from it. I have made forms that have all the usual grocery items listed. If I don't need it that time, I just mark it out. I still keep my grocery list on the fridge when we run out of something, that allows me to accurately mark off those things we don't need. Making a menu lets us plan in advance for when we eat out. On those busy days when we would have gone out to eat, I use the crockpot -- so much better than drive-thru food. Freezer cooking helps tremendously also.



9. Freezing bananas. Laugh if you want, but if you've ever found those last few bananas that didn't get eaten because they were getting brown spots on them, then a day later they oozed some kind of goop and had to be thrown away -- you don't laugh then. Now oozy bananas have been eliminated. We always have frozen bananas for smoothies now. This was an attempt to be aware and not waste money by wasting food. This also includes forgotten lettuce in the crisper and sprouting potatoes in the pantry.



10. We take our own beverages with us when we go into town for errands. Four soft drinks can be $10. Three times a week is $30 =$1560 a year! Wow! What an expense! Plus, we save cans and cash them in. We don't make a lot but we are recycling.



11. I had been buying 6 to 8 cases of water a month. I found a Brita water pitcher on sale and am keeping my eyes open for the lowest price and coupons for the replacement filters. $4 per case of water = $32 a month. $384 a year for water. With prices I've paid so far for the replacement filters, it will cost about $80 a year for these - a savings of $300. I hope to find a really good price and save even more. I'm also saving more money by not having to go to the recycling center as often to take the plastic bottles.



12. Discount makeup and other hba items. How? I let other people pay for mine. How? I sell Avon. My customers orders cover the cost of my orders or at least greatly reduce what I have to pay. Even without customers, the price I pay is discounted.



13. I am an avid reader and so are my children. I use Paperback Swap. I have received several books that would have cost me $25 to $40 if I had to buy them. All for the cost of one credit, which was the cost of postage to send a book I didn't want or was finished with(about $2.50). Paperback Swap lists my savings at over $600, but that's at $4.50 a book. So the savings is so much greater, the convenience is wonderful too.



14. Actually, I am surprised I have been able to list this many items. I did spend money to save money a week ago. I bought some organic seed starter soil mix and the trays to plant seeds in for my own transplants. I also bought some organic heirloom seeds along with having some on hand. In a couple of months I won't be guessing what kind of tomato transplants are at the nursery. I'll have my own transplants and I'll be planting the vegetables I want because I won't have to just choose from the selection that is left over or from what someone else chose.



15. Okay, this one is kind of frivolous but nonetheless it's still saving money. We don't frequent Starbucks often, but I learned something recently. I opened some mail that I had originally just thought was junk mail. Not exactly -- there was a Starbucks gift card in there. I saved a percentage on my purchase by using that gift card. That was cool. Then I registered my card and I get free perks for doing that (free refills, free syrups, etc.) The only reason we went to Starbucks was because of the gift card. Since I have Celiac, I can't eat any of the pastries there which saves money too!



16. Target pharmacy. Every 6 to 8 weeks, they have a coupon for a gift card worth $10 when you fill a new prescription there or transfer one. I save up the gift cards and use them for Christmas gifts -- free money! I'm only able to use the coupon when I get a prescription filled, it's got to be done, why not get a free $10 gift card. Also, Target often offers free gift cards when you buy certain items. If they are something that we use/need, I will get them at Target when that is offered, it's even better when I can use coupons.



There is also the usual 'I don't buy convenience foods'. I shop the perimeter of the grocery store first and don't go down aisles if I don't need anything on them. When I make lasagna, I make two and put one in the freezer. I double and triple pancake recipes in hopes of having enough left over to put in the freezer. I can't do this with waffles yet as I don't have a new waffle maker. I have two, but they were both used with wheat flour batters and with all the nooks and crannies I am not willing to use them with gluten free batters. For a couple of months

Looking forward to a new rank...

Tonight was troop elections in Boy Scouts for Little Boy Blue. He was elected Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. This is a position of great responsibility as he and the Senior Patrol Leader lead, train, and supervise the troop of boys. Boys drop out with bad leadership and participation grows with good leadership. They will do a grand job of leading the troop.

He will soon have his Scout Master Conference to finish earning his Life rank. Once he has obtained Life rank, he will begin work on his Eagle Scout rank. This is only weeks away.

Since he has a position of responsibility, this counts toward his requirements for Eagle Scout.

We asked the pastor Friday if there was anything at the church that LBB could do as an Eagle Project that would help out the church. Sunday evening we had our answer - the church has a dedicated library room, but it is not finished. Bookshelves need to be built, sanded, painted; books need to be sorted as well as cataloging the books. Who knows, maybe they can even help the pastor unpack the 15 boxes of books in his office and shelve them.

A year ago, Eagle seemed so far away -- not unattainable, but several ranks away. Now - a few weeks, my son will be a Life Scout and working on his Eagle.

Not to leave out Little Miss Muffet, we were informed of an opportunity that I think is just wonderful. She can go to the state Capitol and work as a page in the Capitol for a week through Girl Scouts. How awesome is that! I think LMM is very interested in this. We might have to juggle a few things to clear the calendar ... how many people can say they worked as a page in their state Capitol. Hopefully, this is something that can be worked into our schedule.

Weekly Menu

Here is our menu for the week...

Monday -
Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Strawberries
Lunch: Salad
Supper: Crockpot Baked Potato Soup
Snack: yogurt and granola

Tuesday -
Breakfast: Muffins (not sure what kind yet), Fruit, Yogurt
Lunch: Leftover Baked Potato Soup
Supper: Tacos or Taco Salad
Snack: Spicy Jicama Strips

Wednesday -
Breakfast: grapefruit w/ agave syrup
Lunch: Sandwiches and Salad, homemade salad dressing
Supper: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes (or pureed steamed cauliflower), Brussel Sprouts
Snack: Apple Slices and Nutella

Thursday -
Breakfast: Yogurt, Granola, Fruit
Lunch: Tuna Salad served with apple slices, black grapes, sweet pepper strips
Supper: Lasagna, Salad, Gluten Free French Bread
Snack: Orange Slices sprinkled with cinnamon

Friday -
Breakfast: Oatmeal and Fruit
Lunch: Lettuce Wraps
Supper: Beans, Fried Potatoes, Salad OR Chop Suey
Snack: yogurt and fruit

Saturday -
Breakfast: Gluten Free French Toast, Fruit, Bacon
Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries
Supper: Salmon, Grilled Crab Stuffed Shrimp wrapped in Bacon, Baked potatoes, Sauteed Green Beans, Molten Lava Cakes (Gluten Free, of course)
Snack: 7 layer Bean dip, nacho chips

The baked potatoes for the soup are left over from Sunday. It's easier to cook 12 baked potatoes at once than 6 at two different times. I also cooked more bacon than needed yesterday; we had bacon pieces on our baked potatoes last night and there is enough left over to be sprinkled on top of the baked potato soup. Every Monday is crockpot night. If I don't do this, we tend to eat out on Mondays.

Tuesday we are having muffins for breakfast. I have many, many wonderful muffin recipes that I have collected over the last 15 years. We have many favorites, among them are Blueberry-Banana and Ginger Pumpkin along with many others. Since going gluten-free almost a year ago, we have not enjoyed our weekly, or sometimes twice a week muffins. I'm not sure if I will replace the flour with my gluten-free flour mix in one of my existing recipes or if I will make gf muffins from one of my gf recipe books. I'm going to let the kiddoes choose.

On Thursday, supper will be so easy because the lasagna is already made and in the freezer. I made spaghetti on Saturday night and made three times as much sauce as I usually would. Part was for supper that night, part was for the lasagna, and part was for the freezer for pasta or for pizza sauce. Little Miss Muffet wanted to make the lasagna, so I handed the kitchen over to her. She was excited to make it herself, instead of just helping.

The grilled crab stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon is something that I made for my dear husband last Valentine's Day. I made two for each person, placed them on a salad plate, curved one to the left and one to the right which made a heart shape. This is a tradition I plan on continuing. A couple of weeks before Valentine's Day last year, dear husband was at a conference for work. One night at dinner he had a steak and this shrimp. He raved about it. When he and his boss returned home, I called his boss to help me get better understanding of this dish my husband loved so much. I found out it was like a crab cake mixture and took it from there. He was so surprised to see the shrimp and impressed that I went to the trouble to recreate it for him.

Ready for spring...

It is such a mild day outside. Right now it is 71 degrees. The mercury probably won't rise any higher today, but it is so nice. We opened the windows to allow the soft gentle breeze to flow in and let the stale winter air blow out. As I sit on the sofa, I can hear the birds chirp and the bamboo chimes clink.

It makes me want to go plant my vegetable seeds right now and to remove the dehydrated vegetation from the flowerbeds, but I know it's not time yet. So I'm enjoying the sounds and stillness. I don't even want to turn on the television, I don't want the intrusion of the stillness. I love days like these. I am thankful I don't have any errands to run and I can read, surf the net and enjoy the beautiful day. I am sure we will have winter weather again in a few days, so I am soaking all of this in. The dogs are enjoying the children running and playing outside with them.

This morning I created a few items I hope will aid in organization and will be great time savers to me. First I created a master list for shopping at Sam's Club. I listed all those items I buy from there (dog food, sour cream, grapes, etc.). Then I made one for the grocery store I normally shop at. I arranged the list by dairy, fruit, vegetables, canned goods, and so on. I left blank spaces on each of the pages so I can add those things I may want to add, such as shrimp which I don't buy every time. I will mark out those things I do not need so only those things I need to buy will be left on the page. I also need to make one for the health food store which will include our gluten free items. I also made a menu form which has spaces for breakfast, lunch, supper and a snack. It is a two week menu list. I have used other menus I have found on the web, I have made my own forms and have even made two month menus on a piece of notebook paper. Hopefully this menu form will prove effective for our family. Now I'm off to make my menu plans and grocery lists.

Crockpot Taco Soup

I knew this afternoon would be busy. We had a prom committee meeting and didn't know how long that would take. There were a few other errands to do so I knew we would not have much time to make supper tonight. I took out my trusty crock pot and decided what to make. I changed up my Taco Soup recipe and this is what I came up with. It was delicious by the way.

Crock pot Taco Soup
3 large frozen chicken breasts
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 can Rotel, do not drain
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 26.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1 package taco seasoning
1 package dry ranch dressing
1/2 cup onions, diced
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour in Rotel and diced tomatoes. Do not drain. You need their liquid for the soup. Drain and rinse the black beans. Place all of the other ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours. Shred chicken before serving.

Optional garnishes: squeeze of lime juice, grated cheese, dollop of sour cream, and/or a few tortilla chips crushed

You may notice there is no corn in this recipe. Add it if you would like. Little Boy Blue is allergic to corn, so I omit it.

Eat and enjoy!!

Scout Spirit

Wouldn't you know it, the first time I go to Bunco in 3 or 4 months, I miss something at Boy Scouts.

At the end of Boy Scouts tonight, a speech was given about a boy who demonstrates the scout spirit, does what he is asked and always asks how he can help. Then ... my son's name was called. We had no clue. He had no clue. One of his friends came up to him afterward and said, "When she was up there saying all that, I knew they were talking about you." Isn't that a sweet thing to say, in the context of one boy to another.

Wouldn't you know it, his momma wasn't there and his dad had stepped out to check on his sister in her Girl Scout room. Talk about timing. If I had been there, chances are I would have been in the Girl Scout room myself, so I still wouldn't have seen it.

It's really nice when someone else sees your child and knows what he does and how he conducts himself. I know my son and how he is, but to be recognized among his peers by a leader is something else. We are always proud of Little Boy Blue, it's nice when others are also and when there is public acknowledgement.

He will receive his Life rank shortly, which is the one before you receive your Eagle rank. He is already talking and thinking about planning his Eagle Project. He is going to meet with our pastor about possible projects that could be completed at our church. If there are none, then he is making back up plans to help at my aunt's church. He could very well accomplish his Eagle rank while he is 14.

Little Miss Muffet is almost ready to begin work on her Gold Award which is the Girl Scout equivalent to Eagle. Even though they are not twins, more times than not they do the same things at the same time. They lost their first tooth a week apart and lost their last tooth a week apart. That's not the first thing and won't be the last.

It makes you all smiley inside and out when recognition is given to your child, especially when they deserve it.

Way to go, Little Boy Blue!! We are proud of you!

We are proud of you too, Little Miss Muffet.

Produce Gems

I took an unplanned trip to the grocery store Tuesday, which is rare. Usually I have my menu plan made and the shopping list made from that before I go. We were in need of some fresh vegetables and fruit and I didn't want to wait until the scheduled shopping day.



I have read and heard over and over again, "Never go to the grocery store when you are hungry." Well, I didn't heed this advice. It was bad enough that I didn't have my trusty list.



With Celiac, it's not like I can buy cookies and chips and the regular junk food, but I wasn't hungry for junk food. I discovered many treasures in the produce department. I took time to stop and look because I didn't have my list.



We bought purple cauliflower, leeks, jicama, watercress, and broccosprouts along with the regular produce.



I decided to make pureed cauliflower for the first time, I even thought maybe I could pass it off for mashed potatoes to DH. I thought this wonderful, lavender find would turn white when I cooked it, just like the seeds I told you about in an earlier post from rareseeds.com. This variety became brighter and more purple as it cooked. Wow! How was I going to pull off purple mashed potatoes... I followed a simple recipe I found on http://www.recipezaar.com/ . I don't remember which recipe, but it had some water, chicken bouillon and a garlic clove that you cooked the cauliflower in. Then you puree it with some cream and butter. It looked like purple grits! It was tasty, it had a definite garlic taste, the texture was a bit different. I'm not sure what bright purple, look-like-grits, glop of goo is supposed to taste like but we never imagined garlic! It was all eaten but the white variety would probably work best next time.



I had chopped the jicama into thick matchsticks, so they looked like uncooked french fries. Some went into the salad. I thought it might be a good crouton substitute. We had fun munching on the left over jicama. We love jicama now. Tonight we finished it up, I spiced it up with some lime juice and lime zest and sprinkled it with chili powder and salt. It was yummy! It was a great snack, especially when you want something zesty and crunchy.



We are enjoying the watercress in our salads and on sandwiches. The sprouts are a welcome addition also. These new items have really dressed up our salads and made them more appealing. No more boring salads!



I've never bought/used leeks before, so I guess I'll be making potato and leek soup. These new produce items have really created some excitement. Everyone has been open to trying the new items, no matter what color they are!

The Spring Garden

Every year for the past nine years, I plan a spring garden. Now just because I plan a garden doesn't mean it always comes to fruition. Some years the earth even gets tilled, but life gets in the way.

Last year, the goats ate the garden THREE times. They squeezed and squirmed their way through three layers of fencing (chain link, bull wire and chicken wire). The garden grew back twice but the third time, there was nothing left to grow. I sold the goats shortly after so they won't be a factor this year.

Several years ago, the kiddos were involved in basketball and cheerleading, when that was finally over we had some out of town visits to make, so no garden that year.

My fondest garden memories are of our first vegetable garden. It was huge. I even grew black beans. We spent an hour or more each evening out in the garden after dear husband came home from work. We would also get the fresh hen eggs from that day. Many evenings I would either make a huge salad for supper or make an omelet and saute' the vegetables. I still have some of the black beans from that garden. I remember the joy I had giving gifts of fresh vegetables to friends and family. We learned a lot that year, like when to pick watermelons. The kiddos and their friends had so much fun sitting on the tailgate of the truck eating watermelons throughout the summer and having watermelon seed spitting contests. At various times, either Little Miss Muffet or Little Boy Blue would have lost a tooth and it was a great place for the seed to exit. I have reaped the rewards of those watermelon seed spitting contests for years. Watermelon vines have shown up all over our property, some from the contests and evidently some from the birds.

Okay, enough reminiscing. I received a seed catalog in the mail from www.rareseeds.com/ .

If I buy all the seeds I want to buy, my entire property will be taken up with all sorts of exotic vegetables. There won't even be a lawn because it will be taken up with red and yellow carrots, purple cauliflower and beans that turn green when you cook them and the blue pumpkins will take up lots of room with their sprawling vines. The best thing of all - they are all heirloom seeds, no GMO, no hybrids, no gene altering. I love it! I am going to have to pace myself, say only order 10 packets of seeds, well maybe 15. Dear husband did tell me to buy whatever I want. What he doesn't know is I want one of everything. Dear me! that could be expensive! LOL
I guess I will begin my annual garden planning, so I can see what what seeds I need (want) to buy and estimate how large of a space it will be this year. With buying some of these wonderfully, neat seeds I have read about, maybe ... hopefully I will have lush vegetable garden with prolific growers and an abundance of wonderful vegetables to share and if there are any left over maybe some to sell at the farmer's market in the neighboring county. Hopefully it's not all wishful thinking.

Every year that we have had a garden, I always buy one exotic item. The first year was black beans. One year was purple bell peppers, they all got fed to the chickens as dear husband thought they were ruined and didn't realize they were supposed to be that color. I on the other hand kept wondering why they kept disappearing off the plant. Mr. Stripey tomatoes have been a favorite more than one year. Yellow pear tomatoes were the exotic choice one year. It all depended on what I could find locally. This year it won't be limited to just one item thanks to my new catalog.

Stealth Vegetables

In an attempt to provide adequate vegetables and fruits for my family, I added a stealth vegetable to a meal a few nights ago.

I made chili, I knew it was going to be a one dish meal, so I wanted to make sure to pack in some vegetables. I added a large can of organic diced tomatoes, but I do that every time. This time I added shredded carrots. The thick rich sauce of the chili hid the carrots. The carrots cooked and were tender. Mission accomplished.

I did not sit down and write out a list of New Year's Resolutions, but there are things on my mind that I want to accomplish this year. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely a list person. I love making lists, although they always seem so long ... I love marking through a task as it is completed and have the satisfaction of accomplishment, no matter how small or large the task. I hve come across lists that I have made, thankfully I have dated them, a year or two later and have found I have accomplished many things on that list even though I don't remember writing the list.

I didn't want to make "Resolutions", I just have a mental list of things I want to integrate into our daily life. One was start a new blog - well, that is done, you are reading it. I started one about four years ago, but abandoned it three years ago. I wanted a fresh start, so many things are different in my life now so I wanted a new blog to reflect that.

Sometimes we have one dish meals. Before finding out about having Celiac, we had homemade pizza quite often, once a week sometimes. Little Miss Muffet had even memorized the recipe. I would also make a salad to have with the pizza, but the salad was ignored. I don't know if we just got tired or bored with salads but they were ignored quite often, I was tired of wasting the money on salads only to see if the dogs would actually eat it. I decided it is just easier to add the vegetables to the pizza or whatever else might be on the menu. Tonight was stuffed baked potatoes. I seasoned the ground meat with Simply Organic's taco seasoning (it's gluten free). I thought about adding some stealth vegetables to it, but decided against it. There were the usual offerings; cheese, sour cream, onion, ground beef, sliced kalamata olives, but I also put out sundried tomatoes, organic baby leaf lettuces, mini sweet peppers (I love those things) and pepperoni. Okay, pepperoni isn't a vegetable but it was eaten just the same. I'll chronicle my attempts at stealth vegetables to save uneaten salads from the non-existant compost bin. In the middle of winter, there just isn't enough green matter to begin a compost bin.

Okay, all of this talk of food reminds me, I need to make out the menu for the coming week.

Adding to a Family Tradition, Continued

After such a busy, event-filled day, 5:30 AM came a little too early the next morning. Every one of us slept through our alarms. They had to be out the door by 6:30. It was close to 6 AM when I jumped out of bed running. I made the coffee first, then put the bacon on to cook, fried the eggs, set the table, made them cups of coffee, sat at the table, ate breakfast and had them out the door by 6:30. I still don't know how we pulled that off. I'm sure our host was wondering though because as I raced into the kitchen to start everything, I did notice he was already outside waiting (maybe even wondering if we were ever going to get up). I didn't accompany them outside that morning, I was still tired. As they drove off into the early morning darkness lit by the full moon, Little Miss Muffet saw me turn off the lights and head back to the bedroom. She made the announcement in the pickup, "Mom's already finished the dishes and now she is going back to bed." She was really close. I just ran some soapy water in the sink and put the dishes in it and left the bacon grease to solidify some so it would make for an easier cleanup.

I went back and snuggled down in the warm bed. In fact, the whole house was warmer this second morning. I awoke at 8:15, sat straight up and thought, "Oh no! I left the water running!" I hadn't, but it got me off to my second running start of the day. There were no deer that morning to distract and entertain me as they had the previous morning. They may have been there earlier, or maybe they slept in as I had. I had the dishes done in no time then began cleaning the kitchen. I moved the kiddos backpacks and belongings to one of the beds in our bedroom and began cleaning the rest of the house, making beds and vacuuming. They were back by 9 AM. I went out and greeted them and asked if I could bring them coffee or anything else. Mocha Java seemed to be the choice of the day, I'm so glad I brought hot chocolate packets. Little Boy Blue was hungry (aren't all 13 year old boys) so I offered a bacon sandwich. That sounded great to him, so I made him one with the leftover bacon from breakfast.

It was funny to see him with his Mocha Java in one hand, bacon sandwich in the other, and standing back watching Dad and our host skin and quarter his deer for him. We laughed about him taking a snack break. Dear husband then told us about the night before in the deer blind. They were sitting there waiting for a deer when Little Boy Blue reached inside his jacket and brought out a granola bar and began eating it. Dear husband informed him they were deer hunting and not supposed to be eating, and in his nonchalant way, Little Boy Blue then offered his dad one.

Coffee for the kiddos isn't a regular beverage choice at our house, but early mornings seem to bring out the need for something hot and stout even though it is always decaf. The only other time Little Boy Blue has drank coffee was when he and his dad got up really early to help my cousin irrigate at the farm a couple of months before.

They were finished and had the ice chests packed full of the venison that will soon be gracing the shelves of our freezer and be our supply of meat for the coming year. Everyone wanted showers before the trip home. Everything was organized and those that weren't getting ready helped with the final clean up details and loading everything up in the suburban for the trip home. All at the same time, everyone was ready and the house was clean. The kiddos were looking forward to the two hour trip home so they could sleep. We stopped in a little town an hour away and ate at a little cafe. We had to wake the kids up.

The food at the cafe was good. It's almost always a challenge when we go out to eat somewhere and definitely when it is somewhere new due to our food allergies, two of us can't have gluten (wheat, rye, barley, etc. ) and one can't have corn (cornstarch, high fructose corn syrup, etc.). It means we have to study the menu and ask our server questions that we hope they know the answer to. It also means we have to avoid buffets due to the risk of cross contamination. We all made good choices, there was tons of food on each plate and it was reasonably priced. With full tummies, we continued on our journey home.

Forty-five minutes later we made an unscheduled stop. We decided to stop by my sister and brother in-law's and show them the pictures. Dear husband was happy because he got to brag about his children's first deer hunting trip some more. When we got to town, dear husband remembered the meat processor we use was open on Sunday. I gave them a quick call, and someone was there making some repairs and he said he would wait on us. That was really nice, it meant I didn't have to make that thirty-minute drive one way the next day or even the day after and we didn't have to buy more ice to keep the meat iced down.

So much was packed into this day and a half adventure that it seemed longer than what it actually was. I wished though it would have been longer. I would have loved to sit out on the porch swing with dear husband, drink some hot chocolate or coffee, talk and stare at the mountains. I also would have loved to have been able to play some checkers or dominoes with the family, but maybe those memories can be had with the next trip...

Wonderful Gluten-Free Bread

Since Little Miss Muffet was diagnosed with Celiac last February and me just a month later, the journey for a fresh, soft yeasty bread has been long and not the textures we had imagined, until today. Little Miss Muffet made the Bob's Red Mill Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix.

It was easy to make, rose high, and almost tastes like we are cheating. It doesn't have the dense cornbread like consistency of the breads we have tried. After letting it rest for a while, I slathered it with butter and lemon curd. It was light, airy, fluffy, yeasty and tasty. Yum! I'm sure this loaf is going to be eaten pretty quickly! It does have cornstarch in it, so Little Boy Blue can't eat it since he is allergic to corn. I did find Oro Wheat bread, it is made without high fructose corn syrup, Little Boy Blue enjoyed having a grilled cheese sandwich today. We also try to stay soy-free since Little Boy Blue and I both are hypothyroid.

Look how high this rose. You can see the indention where the top of the pan was. I'm thinking sandwiches for supper, french toast for breakfast...Yum! Next bread we will try is a few from scratch, we hope it will be as good as this one is.

Adding to a Family Tradition

This past weekend my dear Husband took the children and I on an adventure we had never embarked on before.

Two years ago, my husband, his dad, and brother began a new family tradition by going deer hunting at a friend's ranch a couple of hours away. They always had lots of fun and came back with full tummies, full ice chests, and full of stories. It was a nice male-bonding time for the guys.

This year (actually I should say this season) it all got changed up a bit as dear husband was out of the country. We were surprised with an opportunity for dh to get his annual hunting trip in, just a few months later and without his usual hunting buddies. The children and I were invited.

Little Miss Muffet and Little Boy Blue were so excited to have this opportunity to go deer hunting with dad. I, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. We loaded up and traveled Friday evening until we got there after sunset. We were welcomed by the bright moonlight, a few random cats and by the cutest farmhouse with all it's lights on that shone like beacon. The little farmhouse was surrounded by a fence with gates on three sides.

We walked in the door and the first thing you saw was a sign that read, "Welcome To The Ranch." With the space heaters and the lights on in each room, it was welcoming and inviting. It was a little like bed and breakfast meets deer camp. The living room was filled with two old rustic army style twin beds with metal frames. The first bedroom had two four-poster antique cherry wood twin beds, along with matching dresser and nightstand. The second bedroom was well equipped with a full size bed and two twin beds, an antique armiore and chest. The bathroom was very modern with fluffy slippers and robes and big white fluffy towels. There was also a kitchen equipped with just the right amount of pans. I checked out the kitchen quickly, aquainted myself with the contents, unloaded the refrigerated items into the fridge and everyone settled into bed, all before 9 pm.

We all tried to go right to sleep, knowing 5:30 was going to come early. As we waited to fall asleep, I heard an odd noise, dear husband heard it too. We listened carefully and he decided it was a turkey. I wanted to see this wild animal that was making this noise and tiptoed through the house, as not to wake the kiddos, and that is when I heard the noise coming from inside the house. The wild turkey ended up being the hot water heater. So much for the wild animals.

We all jumped up when the alarm rang at 5:30 with anticipation of the days events. I made scrambled eggs, sausage, chocolate covered donut-holes for dh and gluten-free, corn-free maple glazed donuts for the rest of us, and a plethora of fresh fruit to choose from. The three of them gobbled up their breakfast and raced out the door decked out in their new camo duds. One great thing about hunting so late in the season is camo is really cheap ($1 short sleeve t-shirts, $5 long-sleeve t-shirts and overalls). I went outside with them to meet their guide and our host. He let me know their plans, asked if I needed anything, and told me about when they would be back. I hugged and kissed the family and made my way back to the warm house.

I was looking forward to the quiet time alone, a luxury I don't have very often - but I don't wish for it very often either. I washed the dishes, vacuumed the floors and then got myself ready for the day. I crocheted a bit while sitting at the kitchen table. I looked out the kitchen window as I reached for the coffee pot to pour me the last cup of the decaf chocolate velvet coffee. It had such a wonderfully aromatic chocolatey perfume, I just knew it would entice the deer to the deer blinds in which my family each had a large cup of the dark, sweet smelling liquid with them.

As I looked out the window, I saw a buck ... oh, and a doe, and another, until I counted twelve deer in all. I hurriedly tiptoed to the camcorder and got it out of the case. I received a text message from dh, saying they hadn't seen any deer yet. I got the camcorder going and filmed them through the window. I replied to dh's text saying I just shot 12 deer... with my camera. In good humor he sent back one, telling me good, I should have them all cleaned by the time they got back. I decided to get a little braver and I stepped out onto a porch that I wish I had been able to spend more time there. I tiptoed closer, being careful not to bump into the wooden porch swing. In the quietness of the morning, I could hear two young bucks fighting. I heard the antlers crashing together and the crunch of the branches breaking around them. I tried to get a clear picture of them but they were in a thicket and it was too dense to get clear pictures of them. It was a moment of awe, standing outside without my coat on in freezing weather and not even noticing because I was watching nature. The deer were grazing, the big buck looked up at me and saw I meant no harm so he went back to eating the corn. Then I heard an odd sound behind me, kind of curious and kind of afraid, I contemplated just going around to the other side of the house to the other door so I wouldn't have to see what kind of animal was behind me. Instead, I let curiosity get the best of me, I turned around to find a big ole fluffly cat pawing at the screen door trying to get in. It's not that I'm a scaredy-cat, but I had been warned that illegals coming up from Mexico cross through there. In my defense, we were out in the middle of nowhere with no tv, radio or cell phone signal (although text messages usually went through).

I went back in the warm house and decided I didn't want to crochet anymore. (I just taught myself how to crochet last Tuesday.) I looked through the lastest Organic Gardening magazine. I was amazed that I was able to read it from cover to cover in one sitting. Every so often I would want to turn on something for noise, but there were no noise makers there. Solitude. It was soothing, healing and peaceful. I decided I would lie down for a bit and maybe get in a quick nap before everyone got back and the excitement began. Before I fell asleep, I thought I should take my blood sugar reading (pre-diabetes). My family came in wondering where I was, then when Little Miss Muffet saw what I was doing, she asked if I was feeling okay. When I told her it was just a routine check, she sighed with relief and said, "Okay, good! Guess what I just did?! I got to drive!" This is a post for a later time.

Little Boy Blue shot a buck, 7 points! We walked over, cameras in tow and the learning process began. Our host was wonderful and was a great teacher. He showed and explained everything they needed to know about cleaning and skinning the deer. The 110 lb. buck was cleaned, skinned and quartered in about 20 minutes. The kiddos really enjoyed hearing the story of the first time their dad and uncle had to do that. It took them three hours, it would of taken longer if the host hadn't of taken pity on them and told them how to do everything.

I took the learning process a little further and turned it into a Biology lesson. Caution: Queasy stomachs may want to jump to the next paragraph. We looked at the brain in wonderment -- that those little squiggles and pockets of fat with interwoven blood vessels are what holds the deer's thought processes, tells it to run, jump, eat, etc. We cut a cross section and studied it. Dh and the host both took a step back during this. We looked at it's teeth, saw the bristles type growths inside the gum and then looked at the eyes. I've always heard how cow's eyes were easy to disect. We saved the deer's eye to disect a little later.

We were taken on a tour of the ranch, saw breath-taking views and had lots of fun. Our host made a hearty venison stew for lunch. I actually went on the next outing to hunt. I loved the deer blind, it was the pickup. We dropped Little Boy Blue and Dear husband off at their deer blind and then we went and checked on a waterer for some of the livestock on the ranch. The host got out of the pickup and told Little Miss Muffet that it was her turn to drive. She was careful and really concentrated hard on her task at hand, so hard that she didn't hear her instructions to turn. It was funny, anyway she got to go in reverse and did finally make her turn. Don't you just love those private country back roads, that's where so many have learned to drive. Anyway, she parked on top of the mountain and we waited. We waited first for the feeder to go off then we waited for the deer to come. Out of nowhere it seemed, a doe appeared. She stared at us for quite a while. Little Miss Muffet waited. The host asked if she knew where to aim, she indicated that she did. She waited and was patient. The doe walked behind the feeder and disappered from view, but LMM was patient. Then the doe turned and gave her the view she needed. She acted like a pro through the whole thing. Our host thought she had hunted before, but no this was her first deer hunt. We waited a few minutes. The doe hadn't even taken a step, which was good. Our host gutted it for us and the Biology lesson continued. I had Little Miss Muffet name all the organs. The deer's stomach was full and LMM was curious to the contents (thanks, CSI). She cut it open and it was full of grasses. This was impressive to her. We picked up Dh and Little Boy Blue, who had just gotten a spike. Wow, looks like the freezer's going to be full.

We returned back to the farmhouse and had a few minutes before we joined our host for supper. I had brought some baby leaf lettuces, I peeled some mandarin oranges and put in to make the salad. I had also brought some honey mustard salad dressing. It made a nice accompaniment to the steaks, mashed potatoes and black-eyed peas our host fixed for us. We enjoyed sitting out by the fire while the steaks cooked on the grill, laughing about events of the day, laughed at stories from past trips that the host shared with us. No one had a problem going to sleep that night. We all had full tummies and were tired from all of the events of the day.

To be continued....