June 18

Outside my window...

...it is very warm. Amazing. It has been a mostly cool and rainy spring with unusual flooding. There have been occasional warm days though.

I am thinking…

...about relationships. About unhealthy attachments to earthly possessions. About how to educate our children. About how we judge people. Too many thoughts...

I am thankful for…

...fresh garden things. Lots of milk. A cool house. A washing machine.

From the learning rooms…

The whole household is learning, learning. Learning on the construction site. Learning in the garden. Learning from books. Learning from people. Learning from mistakes.

From the kitchen…

I am trying to be more saving. To buy what is on sale. To use what I have on hand and not try to "keep up with the Joneses" by making fancy meals or worrying about what people think of simple food.

I am wearing…

...normal, everyday clothes. Here's what I look like today. (Would you know? I took a selfie!)

I am creating…

...meals. Blog posts. 

I am going…

...to a family reunion, Lord willing. Yippee!

I am reading…

...the Bible. somehow I haven't been able to get into another book lately.

I am hoping…

...the garden will be productive after a late start.

I am hearing…

...the washing machine. The AC unit. The dryer. My keyboard.

Around the house…

We are working on cleaning, repairs, repainting, and etc. We have so many ideas and so little time. Christopher is into redoing furniture. That's his latest inspiration.

He decided to redo a twin bed frame we had setting around here to use in his room. There were four layers of paint and some stain to take off. I remember when my brothers painted it blue for their use and then we girls painted it pink for ourselves. Underneath those layers were black and white. (It had a twin that we gave away years ago.)

The head board had flowers and leaves. He opted to chisel those off and he'll probably do a picture with wood burning in that space.

Sample of the layers of paint

 

Christopher is using dark stain and white paint.

One of my favorite things…

Chocolate pie.

A few plans for the rest of the week…

The peas, strawberries and blueberries need to be picked. Picking means doing something with them after the picking.

There is a constant supply of milk that needs to be made into yogurt, butter, cheese and puddings, or eaten with cobbler, muffins or pie. 

The pantry needs to be restocked, which means a trip to town. 

I want to clean a few areas and do some mending.  

Here is picture thought I am sharing….

Homemade yogurt with local honey, fresh blueberries and strawberries from our garden/orchard.

Alfredo Pasta Recipe

This quick, simple meal can have variations of meat (or no meat at all) and pasta. Follow the pictures.

Put 1 lb of turkey burger (or your choice of meat) in a skillet

Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to the pan

Add 1-2 tsp of garlic salt 

1/2-1 tsp black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

 Fry meat over medium heat until well done.

Add 1 cup of milk

1 stick of butter

8 oz cream cheese

 Chop and stir together over low heat
until the butter and cream cheese are melted.

Cook 1 lb of pasta per directions on package, rinsing slightly with cold water when it's done.

Put half of the pasta in a casserole dish

Spread half the Alfredo mixture on top and
then repeat the layers once more.

Does that seem like a lot of food? Our family scarfs it up in one meal and wishes for more.

As I made this dish, I just pulled the recipe from my head and kept thinking I'm missing something. Now I remember- I usually add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese to this. Well, it was good without it.

If you go meatless, start with melting the butter. Then add the milk and other ingredients. You can also use raw garlic and onion if you wish, rather than garlic salt and onion powder. Just saute them in the butter to begin with.

Taco Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 lb hamburger
1 medium to large onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (green if you want more color)
1 quart canned tomato chunks and/or 1 pint salsa
1 quart cooked/canned pinto (or any mixture) beans
1 quart frozen or canned whole kernel corn
1 quart tomato juice
1 packet taco seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large kettle brown the hamburger in olive oil, adding in onions and peppers midway. Allow to simmer a bit to soften the peppers. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for a half hour. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese and nacho or tortilla chips. Very versatile. We put milk in the soup if we don't have sour cream and eat it with cornbread when there are no chips. And we don't always eat cheese with it.

What's your favorite soup?

Do you enjoy soup in the Fall?

Simple Fruit Salad

This is such a simple recipe that it almost doesn't need to be written down. 

Ingredients:
Canned and/or fresh fruit
Plain yogurt
Vanilla
Sweetener if desired

Directions:
Put as much fruit in a bowl as you will eat in one sitting. Cut it in bite size pieces. Add about half as much yogurt as fruit. Add a tsp (more or less) of vanilla and add some sweetener if you desire. Mix well and enjoy.

This can be made with any variety of fruit. It is especially good with raw apples, canned pineapple, sliced bananas and grapes. One morning recently I made it with home-canned pears, peaches and pineapple along with store-bought mandarin oranges canned in fruit juice. 

All my fruit is canned without sweetener. Peaches get canned in apple juice, straight from the can. Pears are canned with diluted pineapple juice. My sweet sister (in TX) canned fresh pineapple for me with just plain water.

We generally don't add sweetener to this salad but we have our taste buds trained to enjoy the natural sweetness of the fruit. And I use homemade yogurt which is milder than your store-bought plain yogurt.

This is simple breakfast (or anytime) food.

Do you have a simple recipe that is almost too simple to record?

Will you share it?

Simple Yummy Breakfast

Would you like a new recipe? Yeah, me too. This one has been a recent hit with our family.

1 lb sausage (or other burger)
1 cup salsa
6 (or more) eggs

This is a very adjustable recipe. The main idea is to brown the sausage in a skillet, stir in the salsa, crack the eggs over the mess, put a lid on and let it cook about three minutes. You've got yourself a delicious breakfast just like that!

I found this recipe at Lexi's Clean Kitchen and I'm certain you are welcome to go there to find many more yummy things. She has lots of recipes for people with diet restrictions.

Thought for the day- Choose to love housework because that is God's gift to you!

Picture for the day- the mug I painted at Polka Dot Pot.