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It's Already Monday Again! sigh

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 01:45 by AMY JO - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I usually don't mind Mondays. Sometimes getting back into our normal weekly schedule is a good thing. Weekeneds are usually busy and hurried around here for some reason, and Matthew usually works most Saturdays, so Sundays are full of daddy time and by Monday, well, Mommy is ready for daddy to go to work, and get Noah back on his schedule. (Have you noticed kids work better with a good schedule??? LOL At least mine does!)

This weekend was so nice and laid pack though, and we enjoyed having daddy home for the whole weekend with us. Saturday we lounge around in jammies most of the day, and spent lots of time listening to Noah giggle and have so much fun with daddy. He is definately a daddy's boy in the evenings and on weekends when Matthew is home. I don't mind it at all. Of course I am included in most of their things, but sometimes I find it a good time to get away for a nice bubble bath, or some other excuse for a little alone time and refreshment!!!

Matthew was a joy to be around this weekend. He was able to leave the stress and uneasiness from work behind him this weekend, (sometimes easier said than done), and we talked and prayed alot about his new job position, money matters with the refinancing on the house (our house appraised low, so to get us locked into a lower interest rate, we need to come up with $4300.00!!!) and we are waiting on God for an answer right now. I must admit, at dinner on Saturday I went into panic mode, and Matthew had to bring me back to reality and the fact that God is taking care of this!!!

But last night, sitting here alone together after Noah was put to bed, Matthew's face went from fun daddy to stressed responsible money maker. I could see his whole body fade a little. I asked him if he still had a headache. He said no. I said are you nervous about going to work tomorrow?? He said yeah I think I am. We talked about it a little. We prayed about it, and I hope he is feeling better about everything today. It is alot of pressure, alot of politics and backstabbing going on in the office, and he is feeling the stress. He was able to relax this weekend and have fun, but as of last night, he was dreading going to work today. He even asked me if he could call in dead. I said, no and don't even joke about such a thing!!!!!

On a good note though, I know God is taking care of everything!!!! Matthew has unofficially been tol the position (of his former Supervisor) is his. The company will be hiring another person part time to help, but Matthew thinks the new person will most likely answer to the president, Jim, and not himself. OH well, he gets paid the same, either way since it is a salary job.

Antoher good note is that I opened my mail today, and received a check from our gas district. We are on monthly billing. Instread of paying very little in the summer (because we only use gas for our water heater then), and large bills in the winter (for our hot water, and heating), they average it out and we pay that amount for each month. They adjusted our monthly amount last year (only about $10 more a month), and now realize we overpaid for the year. So we received a refun check of $ 248.65!!!! YIPEEEEE!!! How wonderful. Of course, this will immediately be put into our emergency fund (for emergnecies, and possibly for the refinancing if needed) as soon as I can get to the bank this week.

We also canceled several extras in the last few months, like caller ID, etc. on our home phone, and they have been crediting our account. So this month's phone bill was lower that usual, and our cell phone was only $9.74 after getting a refund from calling them and telling them I had charges on my cell phone bill for games that I had not received and a voicemail package that I had not signed up for.

God is good, and I know he will provide for our needs and right now, our need is to find out how long we have ot get the $4300.00 for the refinancing. It sounds like alot of money, and to this one income family IT IS! But in the long run, it will save us ALOT of money if we can get the much much MUCH lower interest rate!!

Ok, that's enough for now. I am signing off to get some dusting, windexing and vacuuming done. I had on my menu planner soup for tonight, but once again, I am changing it. LOL I rarely ever go a whole week having exactly what is on the menu planner. It is warm out today, about 80 degrees, so I am thinking hot soup is not a good idea. I will have to look through my monthly dinner planner and pick out something else from another evening.

God Bless you!!

It was bake day today..See pictures..

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 01:19 by haflinger - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Today was bake day I did apple dumplings~blueberry bran muffins~ squash cookies..They all came out great. Its that time of year where I start cooking. I haven't done to much cause I love to eat and I'm watching what I eat .. Its hard when all this good stuff is around..

First we have blueberry bran muffins and apple dumplings..

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Next we have squash cookies and recipe included..

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Recipe for squash cookies ohhhhsoooo goooood..

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Ingredients

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1/2 cup butter softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups winter squash ,(COOKED I used one small can of squash..)

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups of raisins or any dry fruit I used raisins

1 1/4 cups of walnuts,chopped..I didn't use these..

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Directions

Preheat oven to 375 lightly greased cookie sheets.

In a large bowl,cream sugars and butter.Beat in eggs and squash.

Then in a medium bowl,sift together all dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture.Add raisins and nuts and combine.

Spoon approximately 1 heaping tablespoon of batter per cookie onto prepare cookie sheet. Adjust for desired size of cookie..

Note I used medium cookie scoop..

Bake for approximately 11 minutes..

Note I baked for 16 minutes..

Remove and cool cookies on a baking rack..

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If you have any questions please PM me and if you want recipes for apple dumplings or blueberry bran muffins please let me know..

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From our kitchen to yours..

Brenda

Freezing rain..see picture (HAIL)

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 01:01 by haflinger - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I was baking and I hear the dog wanting to come in and noticed it was dark outside.. I looked and here comes the freezing rain..I grabbed the camera and if you look real close you can see it.. Can you believe it old man winter is around the corner.. Its that time of year..

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Blessing Brenda

Words to bring life

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 12:22 PM by Rilda - Link

Thank You Jesus For Everything!

Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, It will flow back and soften and purify the heart. Washington Irving

This week I will my words to renew my mind to allow God's will to flow in and through my life.

I greeted this day with love in my heart; I praised my enemies; I thought “I love you” silently to all I met and I loved my self enough to protect my body from overindulgence and my mind from evil and despair.

Willing my will to be the will of Gods.

Have a blessed day!! rilda

Need Answer ASAP Please.. Squash

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 11:27 by haflinger - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I need to know about squash in the can.. I have one can that needs to be used. I did a search and found recipe for squash cookies.. now its said use cooked squash. Is the squash in the cans cooked???? I don't know? would it work using it to make cookies..I need an answer ASAP I have everything out to make them and oven on..Thanks..

Brenda

A New Day...

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 06:01 by Chas - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Hello my friends! I hope you had a great weekend.
The picture above is one of the two baskets of apples we picked Friday. A very sweet lady who lives a pasture over from us invited us to pick all the apples we wanted. She said she hated for them to go to waste and I had made her a purse and she said this was a payment for it... boy, did I get it good!! WOOHOO! :)
I have a triple batch of crockpot apple butter in the roaster right now and it smells delicious. I have to 'put it by' later this morning. I am also putting up a few more jars of tomatoes, pickling a few peppers, and dehydrating some apples too... and then probably making even more apple something! :D
I will post the apple butter recipe later on this week, as well as an awesome idea of what to do with all your leftover peelings and cores... well two ideas rather, one from me and another from a dear friend. :)
For those of you who are wondering, Shannon's arm is getting better. The infection has went from all the way up and down his arm to much more localized and right around the area of the bite/sore. So much better, and we PRAISE THE LORD! :) Again, I want to thank you for the prayers! :)
My day has a lot in store and I must get going.
God bless you all.
My Cup Runneth Over...

Daily Devotion 279

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 04:47 by Sister Lori - 0 Comments - Link

October 6

Zacchaeus, Come Down

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Luke 14:11

Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree—how well we know the story. We quickly recite the facts. He was short, “little of stature,” the Word tells us. He was rich. He was a publican and therefore a sinner. But before we stifle a yawn and allow our minds to wonder, “Is that all?” Breathe the prayer of the psalmist: “Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

This man, in at least one sense, was a model or prototype of many of us who desire to see the Savior. We somehow have the idea that we must go up. But Jesus said, “Come down.”

Let us suppose that Zacchaeus would have refused to come down. While he dawdled to consider his options, his mind went back to a conversation he had with a friend a few days earlier. “Friend,” he said, “I am a man with wealth and power. I have a fine family, but somehow—and I do not understand how this can be—somehow, I am not satisfied.”

His friend replied, “There is a man called Jesus; He speaks of an abundant life, an everlasting kingdom. He is constantly inviting people to come to Him for rest. He is going through Jericho soon. You may want to meet Him.”

For Zacchaeus, the moment of truth had arrived.

Jesus said, “Make haste and come down,” and Zacchaeus obeyed. It was his first step on the way to salvation. “The way up is down,” as someone has said.

Today, Jesus is still asking men to “come down.” Come down from your sycamore tree of position, pride, and power. Come down from your sycamore tree of self-interest—business, job, things, whatever it might be.

Unless and until we do, we will miss out on the most fulfilling experience in all of life: “Today I must abide at thy house.”

Jerry Yoder, Auburn, KY

In thy presence is fullness of joy. —Psalm 16:11

Bible Reading: Luke 19:1–15

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

Philippians 1

Isaiah 31—33

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA 22803

Phone: 877-488-0901

E-Mail: [cs@vision-publishers.com]

Squashkin? Delakin? Pumash?

Posted on October 5, 2008 at 10:47 PM by ~Melissa - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

We couldn't decide what to call this new squash. I had a plant come up on it's own and I just let it go, knowing my other squash weren't growing as well. This is what we ended up with. In looking at it, we think it is a cross-breed between the delicata squash that we grew last year and the sugar pumpkins. Most all were growing on their bottoms, sitting upright. The green stripes were a bit more apparent until just at ripening when they began to take on some orange.

I decided to cook one up today and see what it tasted like. I baked it for quite some time and once done, I served it at supper. The texture was more stringy like in spaghetti squash (which is odd because I never grew that here). I think it took on that from the pumpkin. The smell of the item smelled identical to pumpkin, although it was more yellow in color like squash. The flavor... was bitter. We don't know what went wrong with this cross-breed, because delicatas are sweet and so are sugar pumpkins, but this was like a flat squash flavor with a bitter edge to it.

I will be trying to boil the next one to see if I notice any changes and see if I can work with it enough to cause us to keep the 20 some that grew in the patch. If not, I guess the girls can enjoy carving them... we have plenty.

Warmly, ~Melissa

Time for a new plan.

Posted on October 5, 2008 at 9:25 PM by ~Melissa - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I have a new plan for trying to work in foods into our diet. I seen tonight it will already need some tweaking, but I need to go with this to start. What I decided to do was to try a new recipe each day, well at least 4-5 a week, I am hoping. And no better time to start, than TODAY!

Today's recipe was a Vegan Macaroni and Cheese. It was easy to cook. It was a crockpot recipe. The cheesy sauce however was a bit "sour" for our tastes. After it was all done, I had to cut it with a bit of honey to even make it palatible for our family. And then... it was still a no go. I found that when I took a bite of steamed broccoli which I had for a side dish, with a bite of the pasta, it really wasn't too bad. But alone, it was just too sour. I know that lemon can be a great taste, but I did not grow up with it, and the sharpness of the flavor was nothing our family was used to.

I also tried a cashew gravy. It had onions in the gravy and the way it was directed to cook, they did not get blended up. I put it onto a vegetarian loaf (which was new also, but I just tweaked a burger recipe that I had and made it into a loaf). The flavor... was good. The family says... It is a keeper. Though, next time the girls would prefer me to blend up those onions instead of leaving them in pieces within the gravy. Dh said he would have liked it better if I had made potatoes with our meal, LOL. He lives on potatoes and prefers it with every meal unless it is mexican or pasta ...and even then we add potatoes occasionally. The new loaf was a keeper as well. I have one daughter that requested I exchange the carrots for more potatoes, but I just smiled and everyone else said... it's fine...leave it as it is. When my girls don't eat too many carrots (this daughter especially), it seems that if it is tolerable, I ought to leave it in. *grin*

After all the cooking tonight, I realized that I struggle with doing dairy-free and soy free at the same time. An automatic substitute for dairy is soy. I made the vegetarian loaf with a vegetarian burger, didn't even dawn on me that there was TVP (Soy) in it.

I did not take a picture of the loaf, but basically here is what was in it...

One can of vegan vegetarian burger, one potato shredded, one cup of carrots shredded, 3 eggs, 4 slices of ww bread cubed, a good set of shakes of sage, onion powder, and garlic powder. I baked at 350 for about 30 minutes. During that time, I made the gravy and then topped the loaf with the gravy and baked another 20-30 minutes. (enough for the carrots to soften and the gravy to bubble).

The gravy recipe I found in the book "Choices: Quick and Healthy Cooking" by Cheryl Thomas Peters. It was good and I am relieved that I had ONE new recipe for today approved by all (even if I need to tweak it and blend the onions into the gravy next time!).

My plan will need some tweaking as on the first day I was given some comments on the plan. The new recipe is planned to be a side dish to the main meal. That part works, that way if it doesn't go over, the kids still eat. The next part is that I need to keep the menu plan a bit more "normal". This will prove to be difficult as we are ingrained in a particular style of food and when you can't eat that food, finding a new normal isn't always as easy as substituting one food for another. Like tonight, I should have made a potato dish for the new loaf. It would have been much easier for the family to accept the new food without feeling like they were being deprived. But, in my thinking... we had plenty on the table... the menu consisted of: Trial: mac and cheese, pineapple and banana salad (have bananas that need eating), burger loaf, gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower and squash (trial... we had a crossbreed in the garden and we tried it tonight...not so good! LOL). After looking at the menu, I need to try and keep it smaller/simpler as well. It's not like we're going to potluck, so I don't need to have so much food on the table.

Anyways, I will be sharing our journey as I try new recipes. I will share my flops, my forgetfulness, etc. All in all, going to a new diet will be hard on the entire family. I guess it isn't that it will be... IT IS.

Today's aftermath of whatever little Paige ate, allowed her entire dresser of panties to be emptied. That is about 15 pairs of underwear. She told me at about 6pm, that she ran out of panties. She also had about 6-8 bowel movements today. Totally cleaned her out, I guess. Her skin still has the redness that appeared yesterday afternoon. She also has a red blood mark in her eye today. She was aggitated most of today, but seemed to calm down after supper and fell asleep a bit early for her (around 7:45 pm). She didn't eat the loaf tonight, she has always seemed to say no to soy substitutes, although she does like gluten and those usually have soy flavorings. I guess I will likely need to make my own at some point. Anyways... hopefully tomorrow is a better day.