The Blessing of Adversity

It's been a little while since I've written, partly because I've been a little obsessed (who, me?) trying to find milk-free food.  In fact, the kids and I were all milk-free for a few days, me more in support of poor Rory, and Lily because she had been having a few tummy issues, herself, and I wanted her to feel better.  Actually, I am now wondering if I don't react well to milk, either.  I'm not sure I ever tried going without it before, but as I look into it, some of the things that I deal with regularly could be a reaction to milk.  In fact, I went a few days without and then had yogurt for breakfast one morning.  I felt terrible that day - all stuffed up and tired.  I didn't have any dairy again the next day, and felt much better.  So, I think I'll try to go the month too, and see if I see any changes in my own health.

Anyway, this whole non-dairy thing has also proven to be a blessing in disguise.  I realized as I was planning my menu for the next couple weeks that I had gotten in a bit of a rut with our food choices.  I realized that the easiest thing to do at this point was not to make the usual food without dairy, but to find new recipes that didn't include milk products to begin with.  That way I don't have to modify things, and we can all eat the same food at the same time.  So, we have had lamb stew (yesterday for St. Patrick's Day), chili, bean and beef burritos, and a bacon and spinach omelet (or scrambled eggs, as that is what all my omelets look like in the end), and Matzo ball soup.  Tonight, we are having Thai rolls, Spring rolls, and cucumber wheels, all from a cookbook I got from the library called "Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids" by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger.  The recipes are actually wheat-free, egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free and gluten-free, but the recipes look pretty yummy!  So the final blessing is that we are able to eat a more varied and exciting menu than we were eating before.  Go figure!



I've actually noticed this blessing thing before.  I had a very bad case of Lyme disease years ago, and found that I was drawn closer to God at that time than I had been before I was sick.  I know people who have lost jobs and found that the new job they got was so much better than the old one.  It's like the verse that says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.

And sometimes our blessings are the result of our own request to God, though we had something different in mind.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"  


Did your children ever ask you for some gooey dessert that you knew they shouldn't have?  Or want to do something you thought was too dangerous for them to do?  Did they ever do it first and ask later?  Or maybe it's just my kids?  Well, I think God's kids are the same way.  We see things, we think of things, and they seem like a really good idea.  And sometimes we go ahead and do them without asking first.  And sometimes we don't believe that the answer is "no."  But just as we know better than our children sometimes, God knows better than we do.  A friend of mine likens it to a beautiful tapestry.  God is looking at the beautiful picture on the front, while we're looking at the mess of strings on the back.  And if you've ever embroidered anything, you know exactly what I mean!  Many times we can't understand what He's doing.  We start to think he's ignoring us, or maybe even that he's being unreasonable or downright mean in not letting us have what we want.

Our pastor spoke today about that crossroads we all come to in life.  We have to decide whether to take the broad, popular road, or the narrow, difficult-looking one.  And in between those two roads stands the cross.  He said that we may get more than one chance to make that choice.  But then, we never know when that last chance may be.  The narrow road is hard to choose.  It looks difficult, and maybe lonely.  But it leads to life.  And the only way to get on it is to finally allow God to lead us.  Completely.

Honestly, that's a little bit scary.  I can relate to my 3-year-old who didn't want to ride on anything at the amusement park until she found a "train" that had handles so that she could drive it herself.

But if we don't get out of "safe mode," and give over the control to God, we will never be able to enjoy the ride.

http://www.simplylivingforhim.com/2012/03/its-time-for-some-moms-to-encourage.html 

St. Patrick - by Rory

We've been reading about St. Patrick  this week in anticipation of the holiday.  Actually, we've been loosely following a one-week unit study I received free from Knowledge Quest.  They have an e-newsletter you can sign up for, and you get free materials from time to time.  I highly recommend it for homeschooling!  Of course, they have plenty of things you can buy, also.  Anyway, included with the unit study was a free 33-page book written by Jennaya Dunlap called "St. Patrick: Sower of Light in Ireland."  So, Rory's report is based mostly on this book.  Just so you know, I am not receiving any money for telling you about this site - I just think it's a good thing and wanted to share :)  And without further ado, here is Rory's report.

St. Patrick

It was the dark ages.  BAD things were happening to Patrick.  First he was taken from his home in England, and then jeered on by sailors.  What a horrible life!  But God was not through with him, yet, and still protecting him.  But still, more bad things were to come, for as he got older, one time, finally, he got killed.  But before that, he met lots of friends, taught lots of people about Christ, and made his best friend, side kick and companion, Benen, who stayed with him and was another great missionary with him and the king's son.  What a great friend!  He went to lots of places.  He was first taken as a slave in Ireland, and met up with an army from Wales, and he went back to Roman England, where he lived before he was taken as a slave in Ireland.  He went to many places, met many people, taught many sermons, and lived a great life, and God was with him all the while.  The End.

Not-So-Simple Food...For Rory

Okay, you are going to laugh.  My last two posts had to do with how we simplify our food and making ice cream.  So, we go to the doctor yesterday for Rory's yearly check-up.  He's been generally healthy, but we had a few minor concerns.  The doctor checks him over and said he had symptoms of being intolerant of dairy products.  Not an allergy, but maybe a sensitivity.  So, he recommended that Rory not be given any dairy products for a month to see if it helps.

So Sorry, Cows!

My stupendous menu includes for the next week or so...chicken parmesan, quiche, quesadillas, burritos, pizza, and cheese ravioli.  Hah!  Also, leftover pancakes (made from milk) and yogurt with granola.  Do you realize how many times a week we use dairy products?  Plus, the kids drink milk for most meals.  And, Rory reminded me, we have ice cream cones, which is a rare treat.

I stopped at a health food store on the way home, and bought some almond milk, almond milk yogurt, and rice milk ice cream (for the cones, of course).  It would probably be simpler just to not have Rory eat these types of food for a month, but I couldn't imagine trying to make him go "cold turkey" without some sort of substitute!  Besides, if this turns into a permanent thing, it will be good to know what some of the options are.

So, welcome to the world of recipe modification, label-reading (there are dairy-based ingredients in our favorite bread, and - gasp - chocolate chips, for example), and asking everyone at Sunday's pot-luck what is in their dishes.  Blah!  But, as I told Rory, if it makes him feel better, it will be worth it.

Bible Love Notes: A Car or a Bible?

Bible Love Notes: A Car or a Bible? 

This is a great post on a blog called "Bible Love Notes."  It's very short, but has a really powerful message about where our priorities are.  Enjoy!

Ice Cream Recipe

So - Rory was up shortly after 6:00 this morning, because he remembered that we were going to make ice cream today!  I have an old-fashioned ice cream freezer, complete with hand crank (though it also has an electric  motor we can use if we get too tired!)  We haven't used it for a while, especially as it works best with snow, and we have had very little snow in our area this winter.  We actually had a tiny storm Wednesday night, and though there wasn't enough to really build a snowman or sled, there was enough to make ice cream!  Anyway, the ice cream turned out so yummy - okay, I confess that we were eating ice cream at 10:00 this morning - that I thought I'd post the recipe.  It's actually a variation of a recipe that came with the freezer, but it's just so easy!  When I was a girl - many moons ago - I remember my Mom making a kind of custard ice cream that was cooked on the stove first.  This one does not have to be cooked, so you don't have to wait for the mixture to cool before you can freeze it - good for impatient 9-year-old boys!

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 quarts half and half
2 cups sugar
1 quart whipping (or heavy) cream
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1 bag mini chocolate chips

Mix the half and half, sugar, and whipping cream together, transfer to ice cream freezer and churn until almost done (about when your arms fall off).  Add the vanilla and chocolate chips (quickly so the bottom of the ice cream doesn't harden) and continue churning.  Transfer to freezer containers (it filled up 4 quart-sized yogurt containers), spooning a bit into separate bowls for all of the workers to try (don't forget this part!) and put into freezer until hard.


Voila!  We will be having ice cream for dessert tonight!

Simple Food...For Me

As I mentioned in my introductory post of this series, simple living really means different things to different people.  This definitely applies to food!  On the one hand, we all have to eat.  On the other, there are a vast array of choices involved in obtaining, storing, and preparing our food.

My Criteria
When it comes to providing food for my family, I have a few basic criteria.  It has to be nutritious, inexpensive, easy to store, and not too difficult.  Everything we eat does not fit all of these criteria, but I've gotten pretty good at balancing them so that most of the food fits most of the time.

Because our family lives on one income, we don't have unlimited amounts of money to spend on food.  The upside of this is that I have more time to cook from scratch, because I am home during the day.  This is one way we keep the costs down.  It is much cheaper to buy flour than a loaf of bread, and a whole chicken to roast than prepared chicken dinners.  This also helps to keep the food more nutritious, as we are not buying things that are loaded with additives and preservatives to extend their shelf life.  I also know exactly what is going into the food, and am not surprised when I read the label.

However, there are those days that we're out all day and need something to cook that's quick!  That's when the box of spaghetti with a jar of sauce can save us from a trip to McDonald's or the local pizza place.  Not that we never frequent those places, but we try to save them for special occasions, or true "emergencies."

I'm going to say a little about storing up food, here.  I know that there are families who stockpile enough food for a year or more.  I also have friends who shop much less frequently than I do, and that works for them.  I usually shop once a week, and I usually use the basic grocery store that is in our town.  My reasons for this are that I don't have room to store a lot of extra food, I don't have a lot of time to go travelling from store to store to get the best deals, and I like to take advantage of sales, which change weekly.

My Process
The first thing I do when deciding what to buy, is to make a menu.  I've found that this helps me to keep costs down and provide a better variety of meals.  I usually do this after the weekly sale paper comes out, so that I can include those items on my list.  I figure out what we will eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week, adding items to my grocery list as I go along.  I use a blank monthly calendar to write the menu on,  so that I can also see the things I've had for the past few weeks.  At this time, I also check for any leftovers we have that need to be used up.  In fact, I usually schedule a few "leftover" lunches or dinners, to force me to clean out that fridge!  Another advantage to making the menu is that I don't have to think each day what to do about dinner.  I try to think ahead when I write the menu, planning quick things on days we will be out, and putting longer tasks like baking bread or making stock on those days that I plan to be home.

My Food
My preference when buying food is to buy basic ingredients that can be used for a variety of things.  If I have flour, I can make bread, pizza crust, biscuits, tortillas, muffins, cake, pie, cookies, etc.  In fact, the pizza crust recipe can be used for pizza, breadsticks, or stromboli.  A whole chicken can be roasted one day, and the leftovers used for sandwiches, quesadillas, a casserole, and soup.  Oatmeal can be breakfast, or used to make granola, bread, or meatloaf.  Bags of frozen vegetables can be used a little at a time as side dishes or soup ingredients.

I've learned a few tricks for using up those dreaded leftovers.  The first is courtesy of my Mom - basically take all of the bits of things that might go together, heat them up together and call them "Conglomeration."  I think my kids think this is a real dish.  If I have bits of meat, I can put them on pizzas, wrap them up in strombolis, quesadillas, tacos, empanadas or burritos, or throw them into a casserole or soup.  I use leftover spaghetti sauce for pizza sauce, and dried-out bread for croutons.  A great way to use up tiny bits of leftovers, is to start a "freezer soup."  I have a Rubbermaid container that I keep in the freezer.  When there are only a couple tablespoons of something left over, whether it's cooked veggies, meat, spaghetti sauce, pasta, or chopped fresh veggies like onions or broccoli stalks, I throw it all in this container with any water it was cooked with.  When the container is full, I empty it into a pot with some water or broth, and cook it up.  You never know what you'll get, but it's always good!

Home-Grown Food
Something we just started a couple years ago was raising chickens.  It is definitely more work than picking up eggs at the store, but I like knowing that the chickens are taken care of, and that we will have something to eat even if we can't get to the store!  Anyway, the chickens are fun!  We've also been able to exchange the eggs at the local milk farm for fresh milk.  I try to garden, though I wouldn't say it's a money-saving effort at this point.  We also like to pick wild raspberries when they're in season, and can or freeze them for the winter.

Storing Food
I've been learning to can foods, and have so far done jams, cooked dried beans, chicken stock, applesauce, pumpkin, and rhubarb.   I like that the food can be preserved without relying on electricity (i.e. a freezer) to keep it good.  In fact, I just read a blog post on how to can ground meat which I am going to have to try!  I have to say, the beans have been really great.  I think it's cheaper than buying cans of beans, plus they have a lot less salt in them.  They're already cooked, so they're ready for soup, quesadillas, or salads right out of the jar.  I try to keep a couple varieties on hand all the time.

How About You?
So these are some of the things I do to simply provide good food for my family.  I would love to hear your ideas, too, so please leave a response in the comments section so we can all learn from each other!

Other Posts in this Series:
Living Simply...For Me
Simple Homeschool...For Me