Mmmmm, healthy TF pudding!

It amazes me the things you can make that are soooo much healthier than store bought, pre-packaged, artificially-laden things at the store. What's even more amazing is that picky kids like it too! This is KerryAnn's pudding made with avocado.

A day in the desert, pt 2- the drive

So we took that right. And we drove..... and we drove.... and we dr.... well, you get the point. Here are some more FABULOUS sky & scenery pics from BEAUTIFUL Wyoming!


This is the salt lake (pond?) we passed going to & from the shooting site.




Just some scenery from the drive out of the shooting site.






The cows were staring us down. We all thought it was hilarious & we were laughing SOOOOO hard!


From the gravel road well after we'd taken our right instead of left.




This is the pass we came to & couldn't go any further. From what we could see the snow was no less than 5' deep.


Believe it or not, there's actually a road under there!!



So we turned around & headed home.....






It was a beautiful day, a beautiful drive. I remain in awe of what God has placed before us!

Orange tree update!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had some citrus growth. This was taken last week and the orange was about English pea size. This week they are about the size of pinto beans (cooked).

A day in the desert... Part 1 (because there are TONS of pics)

Sunday we decided to take the boys shooting. They got to shoot their first "real" gun. Well, the older 2 did. The little one stuck to the BB gun & finding spent shells. He's so proud of his baggie of shells. We went up to the desert & shot the guns, did some off-roading & then we just drove for miles til we came to a pass we couldn't cross because of the snow. It was a blast, but neither Hubba nor I wanted to get out of bed the next day! LOL.... The kids slept late, too.




In the event of home defense, we'd been counting on the dog as part of our defense. We took her along to see if she'd turn tail & run from gunshots, or if she'd stick around. She didn't even flinch. Needless to say I'm so very proud of her!!! She had a BLAST running through the bush and sand and hills.














Such a gorgeous view from where we were.


The ride "home" until of course I yelled GO RIGHT when we were about to turn left on the road home, LOL. Hungry kiddos & a cutie pie Hubba. YUM!

Waste Not, Want Not, pt. 3

In my last post, I shared the recipe for cowboy beans. The corn was leftover from dinner a week before that I tossed into the freezer. I didn't want it to go bad. You can do this with so many recipes & leftovers. I always try to revamp leftovers.

Here are some ideas:

Save all your veggies & freeze them in one container. Just keep adding to it each time there are leftovers, no matter how few. A teaspoon or 1/4c at a time, will add up to a soup's worth, in just a matter of a few weeks. You can make a basic veggie soup with broth or stock, or throw in a diced leftover chicken breast.

Save your ground beef, 1 tablespoon at a time. Each time you brown your hamburger meat, take a tablespoon or 2 from the pan & add it to another container in the freezer. In 8 days of doing 1 T, you'll have 1/2 cup of browned meat to add to beans for burritos or tacos, make a soup with, hamburger gravy, etc. Whatever application you choose, you won't miss the meat in the first round & no one will taste a difference!

I like to save bread ends if no one wants then, or bread that is about to go bad. I cube them up & pop them in the oven. I preheat the oven at 350º for about 10m or so, then stick the pan of bread cubes in. Turn the oven off & walk away. Just be sure you don't forget they're in there & preheat the oven for something else!!! Some of them stay as cubes for stuffing or croutons, some get whirled in the food processor to use as bread crumbs. Bread crumbs are amazing little pieces of food. You can add them to stuffing, use them as a filler for meatloaf & bread items like chicken & pork chops for frying or "oven-fried."

Mashed taters make a yummy potato soup, potato (pan)cakes or yet another filler for meatloaf or pierogies. Shepherd's Pie isn't picky about the taters that we dollop on top, either.

Before you throw something away, look at the possibilities it may have.

The less you waste, the less you have to buy again.

Have a blessed day!!!

Cooking for the cowboys.....

Cowboy beans, so simple!

Choose your measurements of corn, hamburger meat, pintos beans, tomato sauce & taco seasoning. Brown meat. Drain. Combine all ingredients in a pan & simmer til heated through or you're ready to eat. I typically simmer rapidly for at least 15m, then turn it to low to simmer until we're ready for dinner. Sometimes I cook it all up & throw it in the crockpot too. Serve over cornbread! Such an easy & versatile recipe!

Vote for KerryAnn!!!

As you know, our diet is making a slow but sure & steady change back to the basics of eating. My friend, KerryAnn has been a WONDERFUL help & her forum- Cooking Traditional Foods is an awesome resource for anyone battling with poor diet, food allergies or the struggle of changing a dietary lifestyle.


It would do us BOTH a great honour if you'd vote for her at 2009 Start Up Nation Leading Moms in Business Competition. You can vote once each day!!

Here's her profile on Start Up Nation:

"KerryAnn Foster created Cooking Traditional Foods in 2007 to assist busy mothers who wish to feed their family whole and traditional foods. KerryAnn is a work-at-home mother to two young children in the Asheville, NC area.

Cooking Traditional Foods releases a weekly menu mailer, maintains a subscription recipe archive, publishes cookbooks and runs an active forum for women who wish to feed their families whole and traditional foods. Each Menu Mailer contains the menu, shopping list, preparation schedule and recipes for six dinners and one dessert for the week. All Menu Mailers are gluten and casein optional, to assist those who have food allergies.

Cooking Traditional Foods was born out of KerryAnn's struggle with celiac disease. After being diagnosed in 2006, KerryAnn could find no resources that combined a whole foods cooking style and cooking for food allergies in a fast and easy format. KerryAnn launched the Menu Mailer in 2007 with an easy to use format so that anyone wishing to use whole foods, with or without a food allergy, could have a quick and easy meal on the table that the family would actually eat and enjoy. By using the menu mailer, a busy mother doesn't have to worry about taking the time to plan a menu. She just has to follow the shopping list and recipes each week to have fast, nutritious food on the table that is delicious and kid-friendly.

The CTF forum provides mothers an interactive way to gain help with their cooking questions, support for transitioning into the whole and traditional foods lifestyle, help with food allergies and support for a thriving family life through natural living and mothering.

KerryAnn does private consultations for those who wish to have special menus created, want to learn a particular cooking skill, want specific help for switching over to whole and traditional foods, or wish to learn more about celiac disease and food allergies."

Waste Not, Want Not- Pt. 2

Remember the tea bag post? Oftentimes I buy things that no one will touch with a 10-foot pole. These green tea bags were a definite no-no. So I re-purposed them:



I must say, it was a lovely smelling bath & easy cleanup. Want to know where my bags went after the tubby? You got it, the compost heap! YAY for reduce, re-use, re-purpose!!!