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Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part Four
01:33, 2008-Aug-31
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Leanne and her team members spent some time (while not doing concrete work ~smile~) with the children of the orphanage. Here are a few pictures…
They made a trip into the town of Assuit, where the orphanage is located, and it was quite an experience. They had to have "tourist police" escort them. Here are some pictures of the town. The water you is the Nile River.
Once again we were up at The Orphanage hired a man to do the finishing touches, like smoothing out the top so when it dries it is nice and smooth. His name was Niem. He believed there was a God but that was the extent of his faith. He had a bad opinion of Americans because he’d worked in a lot of touristy places where he’d met a lot of Americans, who didn’t talk, act or dress in any way that would give him any other kind of opinion. The way we dressed (as do most Christian organizations we had a dress code we followed) especially caught his attention, and when he asked one of our Egyptian leaders, who oversaw our work, why we dress like we do he was able to say we dress modestly because of our God. Anyway, his opinion of Americans was completely changed and it was an opportunity for someone to share Christianity with him. It was really neat. As well as working we also put together presentations for the children. On Sundays we had two presentations we did. One in the morning and one in the evening, and we also had one on Wednesday’s in the evening. A presentation consisted of around eight songs (we even learned how to sing a song in Arabic!), a puppet show, and two testimonies. Once in a while we would even do a skit. One of our leaders would then give a massage. Everything, except the songs we sang, was done through a translator. It only got complicated when our translator (we had more then one) didn’t know what a word meant and then one of our leaders or team members would have to find a way to describe the word. I never spoke through a translator, but I have played games where you have to describe a word and it isn’t always easy to do. More to come… Updates from the Homestead
05:54, 2008-Aug-29
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![]() Yesterday was such a nice sunny day.. a day to enjoy our pond and the sunshine
. Today is promising to be the same. The nice weather is an appreciated change from the stint of cool wet weather we had; looks like we are back to summer weather for a few days. I am not really ready to head into fall quite yet. The cooler weather however did get me in the soup making mode. Yesterday I made veggie beef soup and it was yummy. I put a couple individual servings of it in the freezer for Tobin’s lunches while I am gone.My oldest daughter, Carolyn, is due to have her baby in about one week. My friend Sarah and I will be flying out there as soon as she gives the word that things are looking serious. We don’t want to arrive too early but we don’t want to arrive to late either! Sarah and I delivered Carolyn’s first baby. That was a bit easier since at that time she was in California (I am in Washington) but this time she’s in Maryland so there are less flights out daily and the flight time is a lot longer… but if it is meant to be that I am there, all will work out as it should so I am leaving it the Lord’s hands and not stressing over it all.
While I am gone Emily and Leanne will be holding down the fort. I have meals lined up for them to cook, groceries in the house, and should have just about everything I need to do, done! It is a blessed feeling to know that my girls are able to handle the house, the kids and the meals and pack dad’s lunch while I am gone. I will try and update you when I leave and who knows, maybe while I am there if I am not too busy.
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I started school this week with the kids. I usually don’t start until well into September and in the past it has even been October before I finally got things going. I think the wet cool weather just made all the kids think “school” and they were ready to get going. I have only started math with them. We will add in the rest of the subjects on the 8th.. even if I am not here Emily and Leanne have said they will get the ball rolling with everyone.
I really only have 3 students this year! It seems like such a nice relief in many ways. This will be my 21st year of homeschooling and like anything done for that many years I have lost some of the newness and excitement I had for homeschooling way back when.. but I have not lost the reason my hubby and I chose to homeschool and we are both committed to continue onward. I still value and treasure the time I spend with my children and would not have it any other way. I have enjoyed the “new school year” excitement this year.. Just watching Isaac get all excited about new note books, pencil sharpeners and all was sweet.
This school year Leanne will be getting ready for her GED and working through Saxon’s Calculus book as well as teaching Isaac his math. She taught him last year and did a great job. She will also be deciding if she would like to join Emily in working towards a degree of some type through College Plus. Right now Leanne is looking at an English degree as a possibility.
On Wednesday the girls and I (and Isaac) went to town. Emily took her Western Civilization 2 CLEP test and passed (YEA!!). Then we went grocery shopping at Costco and then went to Starbucks and got our coffee and ended up at Ikea perusing the store with coffees in hand. Emily bought a book shelf for her bedroom. She has a really small room and was drowning in lack of organization. So now the books have a place to go. We saw some cute little baskets that hang on the wall.. but they were out of stock. We will check back next week (or when I get back.. something I keep saying often now). She thought that would be a perfect way to make a place for things and look pretty. She will be all organized before you know it and then there won’t be ANY reason why we can’t see her bed on some days.. right???
Today I have house cleaning on my list and laundry. I really need to get some soap made before I go so I will try and get things set up to do that so I can make it tomorrow (if I am still here
). Sierra, Isaac and I will be heading to the recycling center to take in our recycling. Jacob has been working all week for a neighbor and will continue that today. And we have school to do as well. Dinner tonight will be chicken pot pie and a salad. Emily and Leanne won’t be here so I will have to adjust my recipe so I don’t have too many leftovers. Emily and Leanne are house sitting and watching Miss Margaret. I have mentioned her before. She is the little 90 something year old lady they watch when her son and daughter in law go out of town. She loves playing Skip Bo but has very little recent memory so she never can remember how many games she has played and would keep on playing all day if the girls were willing! The girls don’t mind but after 12 games they are ready for a break..
That is all for today… Hope you all have a great weekend on your homesteads!
![]() Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part Three
05:23, 2008-Aug-25
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After arriving in Egypt Leanne’s team rested up and then it was time to unpack and get a glimpse of the orphanage in the daylight. I was surprised to see how big it was and how green! The orphange is near the Nile River and is an agricultural area so there was a lot green to be seen
Here is a picture of the girls on Leanne’s team. Leanne is sitting on the top row in the middle…
When the Egyptian girls saw them on the balcony for the first time they quickly swarmed around wanting to have their pictures taken..
The main portion of their time at the orphanage was spent laying concrete walkways. It was heavy duty work! They had no equipment to do the mixing the kids mixed it all by hand and carried it by bowlfuls to dump. Leanne said she learned so much about concrete work that she could give lessons now! Here is a look at the work they did… They had large piles of sand and rock that they mixed with bags of cement. They filled and carried the sand and rock by hand and then mixed it.
Exhausted!!
Laundry was done by hand on the roof top of the building they stayed in. This is the way everyone does their laundry. If you look back at some of the pics above you will see laundry and mattresses hanging over the tops of the roof drying.
In the evenings they had chapel time and Leanne was befriended by a couple of girls that were about her age. Leanne said the girl on the right really attached herself to her and she said she was so sweet.. she wanted to take her home with her..
The team spent more time with the children and got to see the town of Making Homemade Chicken Soup in Pictures
07:01, 2008-Aug-23
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Fall time is just around the corner. I start thinking about soups and stews to feed my family. They just seem to go hand in hand with the cool months of the year. One of my favorites is chicken soup. Chicken soup from scratch is very easy to make! Here is a step by step photo tutorial to show you how to make this yummy meal for your family. To begin with you will need one whole chicken and salt.
Put your chicken in a large stock or soup pot. Mine is a 14 quart size pot, but it is a little on the big size for the job. An 8 or 10 quart stock pot would most likely work just fine.
Now add 1 ½ gallons of water.
Add 2T of salt
Bring your chicken and water to a boil
Turn down the heat, cover and let is simmer for a few hours (2 to 4 hours or so) I never really time it I just cook until my chicken has kind of fallen apart.
Now it is time to separate the chicken and broth. I do this by putting a large pan (large enough to hold all the broth) in my sink
Then I put a colander inside the pan to catch the chicken
I pour the broth and chicken into the colander.
I remove the chicken and set this aside to cool.
Return the broth back into the stock pot
Now it is time to make soup! You will need about 4 to 5 cups of pasta. You can use any type of pasta you would like. Egg noodles are traditional but I like to use the rainbow rotini pasta that I get from my food co-op. You will also need one large onion and a few carrots (amount is up to you).
Chop up the onion and carrots
Add them to your broth
Bring this to a boil and add your spices. I add 1T chicken broth powder that I buy from my food co-op and about 1t of poultry seasonings. After it has come to a boil cover the pan and let this simmer for about 1 hour or until the veggies are tender.
While that is simmering you can debone your chicken. Remove all the meat from the bones and discard the bones.
When the cooking time is up add your chicken meat and pasta to the soup.
Let this simmer for about 12 to 15 minutes. Now you can taste it to see if you need to add any more salt. I typically don’t add any thing else. Serve this yummy meal to your family with a salad and some whole grain crackers and enjoy!!
Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part Two
09:42, 2008-Aug-21
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As boot camp came to a close the kids began the task of packing up their belongings and getting ready to head to Egypt. Not all teams left on the same day and their team was a few days behind most of the others. The last few nights they were able to sleep in the dorm rooms. And after 2 weeks in tents that flooded often with all the summer rains in Florida, they all appreciated this quite a bit!
Here are a few pics of them packing up their gear….
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You can see everyone’s duffle bags and carry-on’s lined up and ready to go.
![]() There were a total of 70 duffle bags packed for the trip. Thirty five of them were the belongings of the team members and leaders and the rest were food.
![]() They packed up the bus and headed to the airport to catch their first flight…
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![]() There first stop was in Paris. Leanne took this picture as they were approaching Paris…
They had to wait for their plane to Cairo so everyone found some way to catch a bit of sleep while they waited.
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They arrived in Cairo and had a 10 hour bus trip to the orphanage. They finally arrived to their destination late at night and this is what they saw:
I thought you might like to read Leanne’s own words on what boot camp was like and how she feels about it now that she is home. The next posting on her trip will begin at the orphanage.
Boot Camp
Leanne Miller
The first day I arrived at boot camp was a little hectic. The fist thing I went through was getting registered, transferring all my things to a duffel (which was challenging due to the fact everything had to be on chairs and nothing was allowed to touch the floor) they issued me, and getting acquainted with most of my team mates that had already arrived. We then took our stuff to our camp site that had already been taken over by mosquitoes. I had no idea what boot camp was going to be like, but I could tell they weren’t joking when they said this was no pamper camp.
We woke up every morning at five-thirty to one of our leaders singing some happy energetic song that not one of us appreciated at that time in the morning. We had exactly five minutes to be outside our tent with our boots on, name tag on, and a clean tent ready for inspection. We ran an obstacle course every morning, which included anything from climbing over a huge mountain of tires, using ropes to swing across water, crawling through barrels, etc…then it was on to breakfast! Meal time was always a highlight to everyone. We always had to eat everything we took or we got a SB, which stands for special blessing and we have to work them off during our free time. After that we had devotional time, listened to a couple speakers, had our brick laying class, lunch, some other classes, puppet class (which was one of my favorite classes), bath and laundry time, free time or SB time, dinner, and then we finished every day with a rally with all the teams.
We learned how to wash our clothes by hand, we took bucket baths, which was done in public so for two weeks we never really got clean, and how to do everything very quickly. Just about everybody’s level of vanity dropped drastically. There was no time for make-up, and not much time for clean clothes (it rained just about everyday and so it was hard to get your clothes dry), clean hair, and basic things like that. As unsanitary as this may seem, looking back I can see how important it was to get us used to this kind of environment. It prepared us for the field. We also had to learn a verse everyday. There was rarely a time when we didn’t have something to do.
The hardest parts for me were getting used to having everyday of my time planned out by someone else, and while I was there I was asked to write a brief testimony of why I decided to come to Teen Missions, what I had learned from boot camp, and that kind of thing. This wouldn’t have been a big ordeal if I had had time to think it out and had plenty of time to write it, but they needed it in three hrs, all of which I had classes. It was hard to write something personal under pressure. Not to mention in one of those classes we had a lady who walked by making sure everyone was paying attention. It just added to the pressure.
Boot camp was hard, and it was definitely a stretching experience, but it prepared us thoroughly for our trip, and it showed us what it is often times like for missionaries. Though it was tough it was worth it, and I would recommend Teen Missions to anyone who is interested in missionary work and wants to see if they would like it.
Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part One
06:07, 2008-Aug-18
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There is no way I could give you a quick and simple overview of Leanne’s trip. Last night our family began the journey through over 900 pictures she took while gone! We made it half way through and it was time for dad to leave for work so we will continue our tour today some time. So what I have decided to do is to share with you about her missions trip in parts. That way I have time to digest all her info, resize pictures to post and share a little more detail with you. I hope you enjoy this mission trip to Egypt with Leanne!
Leanne began her experience with Teen Missions by leaving on a plane from the West Coast and flying to Orlando Florida. She along with several other who were on her flight were met by a Teen Missions representative and taken to Merritt Island Florida for two weeks of training that they call “boot camp”. The term boot camp has a couple of different meanings. One is simple and straight forward.. every team member buy’s a pair of boots and wears them. No other types of shoes are allowed other than water shoes. The other meaning is more like the military term in the fact that there is a lot of training and group work going on. They learn not only necessary skills for when they are on the field, but how to live without common luxuries like showers and toilets that flush, but they also begin learning how to work together as a team through a lot of physical training. Boot camp is primitive, difficult and according to Leanne was a real challenge to get through.
Here are some pictures of the kids arriving at boot camp:
![]() They were issued a lot gear such as hard hats, water canteens, carry on bags, duffle bags, etc..
![]() Here is Leanne’s some of Leanne’s team members assembled. There were 31 kids on her team.
Living conditions at boot camp were primitive. Here is laundry and bath day:
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Here is the water used to flush the toilets:
![]() There were no showers so they swam in the lake you see in the picture at the top until it got too dirty and then they closed it down and switched to Alligator Lake and no one went swimming in that one!
![]() Much of their day was spent with classes in brick laying and cement. They never did lay any bricks but they definitely put the cement classes to use!
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![]() As I said earlier the only shoes they wore were boots.. 6 or 8 inch lace up leather work boots. Leanne took this picture of one of her team mates all dressed and ready for church in her work boots!
![]() ![]() Now purely as a side note… the mothering side of me got a kick out this photo:
You see the brick in the girls hand? Well the kids could not leave their belongings laying around. If you did leave something behind the next day you carried a brick around with you all day long as a reminder to pick up your stuff.. I loved the idea and told the kids I need to come up with my own version of this! Think how this would solve the clutter problems! LOL… (they were not thrilled by my excitement over this new found idea..
) That is all I have time for today but I will be back to share more of boot camp and their departure to Egypt!
![]() Updates from my Homestead
07:38, 2008-Aug-16
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![]() We have had an action packed time around here lately. A week ago Wednesday I put Jacob and Sierra on a plane to WashingtonDC to see my daughter and her family. They had a great time. They toured DC and the zoo and enjoyed lots of R&R with Carolyn and her family. On Friday of the same week I put Emily and Isaac on a plane to Chicago to go and visit my sister in law in NW Illinois. They also had a fantastic time and were well pampered by their aunt and cousins. Emily also got to meet up with her College Plus coach and enjoyed that quite a bit.
So that left Tobin and me with an “empty nest” for a week, which we thoroughly loved! We got a peek into what our life will be like a few years from now and we did like the look of it. A few things I observed while my kids were gone:
I have no IDEA how to cook for two people! LOL.. good thing they all came home and started eating up the leftovers!
I vacuumed the floors 2 times in one week instead of 2 times a day.
I ran the dishwasher a handful of times while they were gone instead of 2 to 3 times a day.
After I cleaned a room and came back into that room a few minutes later.. low and behold it was STILL clean!
![]() I closed the bathroom door even when I was the only one in the house… old habits die hard…
I actually had the time to make progress on my never ending list of details..
I washed 3 loads of laundry in a week instead of daily!
And finally… I did miss them despite it all!
![]() So after our week of an empty nest they started coming home… Jacob and Sierra came home on Thursday.
Then the most exciting part: LEANNE IS HOME!!!!!! She was scheduled to arrive home on Thursday night at 11:30pm but her plane was delayed for 3 1/2 hours in New York. There was a storm that delayed them for 2 1/2 hours and then they sat on the runway for an hour waiting for their turn to take off. So it was 3:AM west coast time before I could go and pick her up. She had been up for over 24 hours already. She had left Switzerland then flew to Paris and then NYC and finally home to Washington state. She has shared so much about her missions trip with us and soon I will have more details and pictures to share with you all. She is quite happy to be home now.
Finally yesterday (Friday) evening I picked up Emily and Isaac from the airport and all my chicks were back in the nest again.
We came home and dished up ice cream with yummy strawberry syrup (thank you Erica!!
) and I went to bed and I know my girls talked until late into the evening. Emily and Leanne were so happy to see each other. They are very close and missed each other something terrible so their reunion was a most welcome close to all the summer adventures. I do know I need an airport break! LOL I have been to the airport 5 times in 10 days and been through security 3 times.. I think I have become a pro at it! LOL.. Now it is time to start thinking about fall, grandbabies due and starting school with my kids.. oh and Leanne will be working to get her drivers permit. Just when I finished one it is time to start the next..
I am looking forward to being back to my regularly scheduled blogging now and sharing more info from the homestead!
![]() Blueberry Muffin Recipe Correction
07:13, 2008-Aug-16
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I got a couple of comments on my blueberry muffin recipe asking how many blueberries to add. I can’t believe I missed that!
It was a busy baking day that day I guess! LOL.. Here is the corrected muffin recipe:Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Crystal Miller
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking soda
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1 egg
½ cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
In a medium sized mixing bowl combine flour and baking soda. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, melting the coconut oil slightly before adding. Add this to the flour and baking soda and stir until just mixed. Stir in the blueberries.
Spay a muffin pan with non-stick spray. Spoon batter into each muffin cup. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.
Sunday on the Homestead
04:51, 2008-Aug-3
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Today has been a quiet day here on my homestead. The weather is warming up again after a couple cool and wet days. The weather people predict more sunshine coming our way! On Friday Emily had another CLEP test. It was Western Civilization I and she was not feeling very confidant. Her study times had been hit and miss as the babies she nanny’s were dealing with colds and teething. She went ahead and took the test anyway and passed just fine. After she finishes 3 more tests she will have her first year of college credits completed. Not bad for starting in May of this year. I just can’t say enough good things about College Plus and thinking “outside the box” when it comes to a college education. But of course most of my life has been thinking “outside the box” so it seems like something that just fits right for our family. After the testing we did some shopping and came home. I had all the kids with me and every time I take the crew out and about I seem to forget something even though it is written on my list. Must be the distractions! On Saturday morning Emily had her test for her driver’s license and thankfully she passed! So now that is 4 down and 4 to go (I have taught half my kids to drive and have the other half still to do). Having both tests right next to each other was a bit nerve wracking for her and of course mom feels the stresses too. But today we are both thankful to have it all behind us. The funny thing was that after she got her license I did the driving because she could not drive until we contact our insurance and put her on the plan. The ironies of life.. you get your license and can’t drive! LOL.. in fact I will have to take her to work tomorrow because the insurance office won’t open until after she is at work. But starting Tuesday she will be good to go. After we came home yesterday Emily and Sierra made pizza for dinner. Emily loves to cook and she cooks and plays in the kitchen to unwind. I have to admit I don’t mind this little hobby of hers! Haa.. haa.. I did not have to cook dinner and the pizza was delicious. She made one vegetarian pizza with homemade ranch dressing as the sauce and it was sooo good. She covered that pizza with onions, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and artichoke hearts. The other two were salami, sausage and pepperoni with onions and mushrooms. All of them were yummy. Updates on Leanne … she should be heading to debrief in The rest of my kids are busy preparing for a few days of vacation on their own. Jacob and Sierra will be going to see my daughter Looking now to the week ahead I see a lot business as usual here on my homestead and helping my kids get ready for their trips. That is all from my homestead on this beautiful sunny summer Sunday. Hope you all are enjoying a restful Sunday on your homestead. Monday on the Homestead
11:41, 2008-Jul-28
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![]() I tossed and turned a lot last night. I do attribute my restless night to the two cups of black tea I drank in the evening… I love a cup of tea in the evenings and black tea is my favorite.. but I pay for it. I will have to be a good girl next time and drink some herb tea instead. Despite the lack of good sleep I was up at 5:30 this morning. I had a cup of coffee, checked my email and enjoyed some quiet time.
Emily was up a little after 6 and she had her coffee and Bible time. I packaged orders and then it was time to get her to work. She has not gotten her drivers license yet.. that will hopefully happen at the end of the week. She has scheduled a drive test for Saturday morning and we are praying she passes. Then she will do the 5 minute drive to work herself!
But I have not minded.. she drives down the hill and after saying good bye to her I drive back up the hill. By the time I got back Tobin was home from work and we chatted for awhile and then he went to bed. The younger kids started waking up one by one. They spent the first part of their morning reading their Bibles and then had the last of the blueberry muffins (the ones I made on Saturday) and a pineapple smoothie for breakfast.
Then it was on to a little light housecleaning. Isaac vacuumed the rugs by the doors, Sierra unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it and also washed some dishes by hand. Then she swept the kitchen floor and with Isaac’s help they did a super duper scrub the kitchen floor by hand cleaning.. I went back over the floor with Mop and Glo.. My kitchen floor is quite high maintenance but it looking pretty nice right now.
I started a load of napkins in the wash and then pulled out the things I needed to grate up some laundry soap. I grated it (after it was cut up) and Jacob my capable helper cut up the soap and then bagged and labeled it all.
Sierra and Isaac also picked up the living room, dusted it and vacuumed it. In just a bit they will both be spending some time cleaning their rooms.
I also worked a little on a baby blanket I am crocheting for my daughter Hannah. I think I made a mistake somewhere because it is not looking right on the sides… here I thought I was doing so well and now it looks like I will need to pull some stitches out!
That is how my Monday on my little homestead has started out.. oh yes.. I also had another two cups of coffee amidst the morning busyness.
The rest of day I plan to go and look through some books on my shelves and in boxes. I am going to order a little curriculum and need to see what I have so I don’t order something I already own. After Tobin gets up him and I will head into town for our little date afternoon/night.. or maybe I should say our one on one time. Our first stop will be Starbucks (can you tell I like my coffee.. LOL). Then we just sit and enjoy some time chatting with each other before we head off to run errands. Sometimes we end the evening by going out to dinner and sometimes we are ready to come home and enjoy the evening with the kids watching whatever our favorite TV show is. Currently we have two going. We finished season 3 of Alias and I ordered season 4 but it has not come. So in the meantime I started ordering LOST through Netflix. I figured it would only be a couple of times and then Alias would arrive.. but my seller on Amazon is making me a bit irritated. No response to my emails and no acknowledgement from him that he even got my order. So I think I will be filing a claim with Amazon and ordering from a different seller.
Dinner tonight is leftover Hamburger Pineapple Bean Bake and leftover casserole from last night and some leftover coleslaw. I will add some tortilla chips to it and I think I will have Sierra bake some cookies and we will be set.. or the kids will be set if Tobin and I decide to have dinner in town.
That all for Monday on the homestead.. Hope you all have a blessed Monday on your homesteads!
![]() What’s Been Cooking in My Kitchen
07:07, 2008-Jul-26
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I had a busy day today in my kitchen and took some pictures to share what I have been up to.
I made a delicious new crockpot bean dish for dinner. I called it Hamburger Pineapple Bean Bake. The family enjoyed it a lot. I served it with homemade coleslaw and tortilla chips. Here is a picture of it in the crockpot:
![]() I started cooking my beans first thing this morning. While they were cooking I ground up some soft white wheat and used it to make Blueberry Muffins. I purchased some more organic blueberries in my last Azure Standard order and wanted to use them.
After they were done cooking I cleaned things up did a little house work and then my beans were done. I assembled my bean dish. Then I made a dessert for after dinner and I know after you read the title you will think I have gone a little nutty with my beans.. but I have to tell you it was soooo good!! I made Pinto Bean Cake. My kids ate it, knowing there were pinto beans in it (it is extremely difficult to be stealthful in this house LOL).. They took their first bites waiting to taste beans and they could not! J They gave it a “2 thumbs up” and Jacob (my bottomless stomach) had seconds. Here is a picture of the finished cake and then one piece I served up with a scoop of ice cream. The glaze topping is poured on while the cake is hot and it sinks into the cake making it so moist and yummy!
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Now for the recipes!
Hamburger Pineapple Bean Bake (crockpot meal)
Crystal Miller
2 cups dried pinto beans
1 cup dried black beans
12 cups water
1 T salt
1 lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped
½ cup chopped peppers (green or red or yellow)
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T prepared mustard
2 T molasses
1 20oz can pineapple chunks
1 ½ cups bbq sauce
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot combine the dried beans, water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce and cover and cook until the beans are soft, about 3 hours. Drain beans saving some of the bean broth to add later.
In a frying pan cook the hamburger, onions and peppers until the hamburger is no longer pink and the veggies are soft.
Put the beans along with the meat and veggies into a 5 or 6qt crockpot. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on low for about 5 hours. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Crystal Miller
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking soda
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1 egg
½ cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
In a medium sized mixing bowl combine flour and baking soda. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, melting the coconut oil slightly before adding. Add this to the flour and baking soda and stir until just mixed.
Spay a muffin pan with non-stick spray. Spoon batter into each muffin cup. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.
Pinto Bean Cake
Crystal Miller
½ cup butter
2 cups cane juice crystals
2 cups pinto bean puree (see below)
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
½ t ground cloves
Glaze
1 cup sucanat
¼ cup milk
½ cup butter
1 t vanilla
In a mixer cream together butter and cane juice crystals. Add eggs mixing well after each one is added. Add pinto bean puree and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.
To make glaze combine sucanat, milk, and butter in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Add vanilla and stir. Pour over hot cake.
To Make Bean Puree:
Combine 1 cup dried pinto beans and 4 cups water in a medium size sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover and cook beans for about 3 hours or until they are soft. When the beans have finished cooking, drain them saving the bean broth. Put beans in blender and add a couple of tablespoons of the broth and blend until the beans are smooth. Add more broth if needed, but not too much. The beans should be the consistency of refried beans.
Woo Hoo the Winters Wood is In!!
03:42, 2008-Jul-24
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After more than a month of working on the project we are thrilled to be able to say the wood is in for the winter! Tobin and the boys worked tirelessly to cut down trees, limb trees, and clean up trees that had broken during the winter’s ice storm. All in all it is approx. 6 cords of wood. Our place looks great and the wood is in. What a great feeling.
Tobin and I were both quite proud of the youngest three kids as they worked to help with this task. Jacob especially has really done a lot of maturing in the last year. He is a hard worker and knows how to put in a man’s days work, not a bad thing for a 14 year old to know. He is even sought after by the neighbor to do work for him. This year Jacob has learned to use a chainsaw (it is a smaller electric one).. he used it to cut up all the small pieces of wood that were brought in (and there was a LOT of them). He made a stand to hold the tree limbs in so he could easily cut them. He also learned how to drive Tobin’s tractor and use it around the property to bring in wood, move piles of leaves and sticks and any other task Tobin needed his help with. He is proficient with mowers, weed wackers and a host of other tools. Just had to take a moment here and share with you about my boy
Here are some pics of him driving the tractor during one of the wood gathering days. Sierra and Jacob are also helping with the clean up of a tree that Tobin took down..![]() -
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![]() Here is one pile of the many piles of tree limbs he cut up…
![]() And a picture of some of the many, many pieces of wood Tobin split…. by hand...
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This was the first year he mentioned that maybe getting a log splitter in the future might be a good idea!
![]() Winter may still be a ways off.. but it is great to know we can look forward to warm cozy days and evenings inside while the wind and rain and the snow do their thing outside!
![]() Simple Meal: Pinto Bean Tacos
09:30, 2008-Jul-22
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Pinto Bean Tacos
Ingredients Needed:
WW Tortillas
Pinto beans
Hamburger Lettuce or spinach or any type of greens
Salsa
Cheese
I made these for dinner last week and they were so yummy! I cooked up 3 cups of pinto beans and then made refried beans from them. Then cooked my pound of hamburger and seasoned it with taco seasonings and mixed it with the refried beans. This made a LOT of taco filling. Fed my crew for dinner and for lunch the next day and still had a little left that was finished up the next day for lunch. This could also be frozen in meal sized portions for smaller families or the recipe can easily be cut down in size to fit your family’s needs.
I used ww organic tortillas and had a salad leftover from the night before for the greens, a small amount of cheese, a dollop of organic sour cream and some yummy fire roasted salsa. It was a delicious meal and no one minded eating the leftovers!
![]() Here is a picture of Emily’s taco.. she has to get creative with all her food! Haa.. haa!
![]() ![]() Making Kefir From Powdered Cultures
11:00, 2008-Jul-19
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Fill a clean canning jar ¼ full of kefir. Pour milk to the top of the jar. Cover and leave out at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. And that is it!!
Gather your ingredients together
And enjoy!
Thursday on the Homestead
08:21, 2008-Jul-17
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![]() This week has been another busy week. Tobin and the boys have been working on firewood and we have over 2/3rd’s of our wood in now and hope to have it all in by the end of the month.
The beautiful and warm summer weather means we all have spent a good deal of our afternoons cooling off in the pond and enjoying the sun.
I have been keeping up on the house and laundry and doing a bit of packaging and labeling of my products and filling orders. I try and get my dinner all done or in the crockpot in the morning which has left my afternoons free and that has been so nice.
Today looks like another warm day so the same program will continue.. housework, meal preps (I really need to do some baking but don’t want to heat up the house to much.. the weekend may be a bit cooler according to the weather man and I can catch up), help with the wood stacking if needed and time at the pond with kids and hubby.
Tomorrow Emily and I will head into town so she can take another CLEP test. This one will be Western Civilization I. She has been studying like a mad woman for this test as it has a lot of info to cover but she feels she will be ready for the test tomorrow. When she is done then we will go and do the weekly grocery shopping (need to finish my grocery list today too).
Updates on my daughter Leanne
She is in Egypt! She arrived on the 11th of July. She called me from the airport before they left the states. She sounded happy and in good spirits and was excited that boot camp was over and they were on their way. Communication from Egypt is not as good as it was from Florida (mail is so slow and no pics to share.. etc…) so I only have the Teen Missions web updates to go on now. If you would like to read what her team has been doing since arriving at the orphanage you can read that here: http://teenmissions.org/updates/article.php?Report_pkey=1008740
Creative use of Leftovers
Now onto budgets and saving money in the kitchen! One way I try to be frugal and save money is by using up all my leftovers. The other day I had made rice and baked chicken legs. We had a good amount of rice leftover, maybe 3 to 4 cups. Two days later the rice was still in the fridge and still good so I thought about what I could make with it. I made Salmon Patties. I did not use a recipe but having made salmon patties and other types of similar patties I was familiar with the best consistency for them. I added 2 cans of drained salmon to my rice (tuna could also be used. I buy canned salmon when it goes on sale and often have several cans in my pantry), 3 or 4 eggs, a little flour to help hold it altogether and some salt and pepper. I heated up the griddle with some olive oil and scooped out quarter cupfuls and fried them on both sides. They were delicious! I made some homemade tartar sauce (mayo, pickle juice, onions, salt, and pepper) and served it with a big green salad.
Dinner tonight will be leftovers again. I made a pot of Spicy Beef and Beans over Rice last night and I think we have enough for tonight’s dinner. If not I will mix the beef and beans with the rice and add broth and a few veggies to make it into a soup. Either way I will serve the meal with a green salad, tortilla chips and salsa.
That’s all from my homestead today! I hope you all have a wonderful day on your homesteads!
Smoothies
07:08, 2008-Jul-16
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After my last blog post on pineapple I shared a smoothie recipe and was asked by Kat if I had any other smoothie recipes.
Yes I do!& | |