cooking at 3am??

yes, that is what i'm doing.

why???

well, a few reasons.

my super wonderful hubby works his patooty off from 9am on friday until 2pm on saturday.
yes, right on through.
he takes a little nap somewhere in there, but Lord knows that he works his behind off to get that paper out.
this is the life of a wife to an editor.

i suppose i was born for it.

my dad did it. my grandfather did it. my great and great and great grandfather did it.

it's in my blood.

so what does a good wife do to show her support? (especially when she rarely READS the paper that he puts out??)

well, good golly, she cooks the whole crew a batch of homemade lasagna.

i mean, what brings people together better than that?


so, i'm up at 3am cooking a good batch and i'm loving it.

i used my regular recipe, but i added in spicy ground pork and some kale from the CSA box.

life feels better when i'm doing something to bless another person.

try it. you might like it.

back to basics

i just don't understand why so many people don't "get" that what our country needs is to get back to basics.

i mean, like what our forefathers believed in.

hard, honest work.
true belief in God.
dedication to family.
honesty with friends.
selflessness.
pure acts of kindness.
taking care of the orphans and widows.
freely giving as freely we have recieved.
not killing those who cannot speak for themselves.
living within our means.
buying locally.
supporting artisans.
bartering instead of racking up debt.
using our skills for work instead of working meaningless jobs.

i could go on and on.

change is good, but sometimes a certain kind of change is detrimental.
to our country and to our lives.
to the future generation that we are raising.

back to basics is what i believe.

we're heating our home mostly with fire this winter, so i spent the evening gathering firewood from our yard...and teaching the kids how to gather pinecones for kindling.

i also bought some from a pastor that lives in the woods behind us.
yes. in the woods.
he and his wife have lived on that land for 45 years.
they married when she was 14 and he was 17.
they had five kids.
they built their own amazing log home overlooking the lake that they fish in.
she runs a country cooking restaurant and he helps her there.
he also pastors a little church and sells firewood on the side.

i have struck up a friendship with this man and i have to say that they live simple, love much and are two of the happiest people i have ever met.

i was telling him how we want eight kids and hope to maybe have a farm one day and he gave me the best compliment that i've heard in a long time...

he said that the day he first met me, he went to his wife and told her that he met a young lady that reminded him *exactly* of her when she was my age.

back to basics folks.

you will be the happiest you have ever been.
just watch.

visit from brother-in-law!

yay!

we get the honor of hosting tim's brother, brian, for breakfast tomorrow!

oh how i love to cook a good breakfast for a guest.

here is the menu:

~sage ground sausage, diced sweet onion and diced potatoes...all sizzled up together
~eggs sunny side up (from my dear friend katie's own chickens!)
~grits with raw cheddar cheese from our local farmer
~OJ spritzers
~french press coffee

who else is coming?
i'll set you a plate. ;)

the CSA box

okay, bear with me while i ramble a bit.

do you support your local farmers? i mean the ones that really put true sweat and blood into their crop like your great-great-great grandpa did?

they are few and far between these days, but they are out there.

support them for crying outloud!

okay enough of that. ;)

in my box this week:

~head of some kind of green (guessing bok choy)
~head of another green (no idea but it was tasty)
~head of red leaf lettuce
~head of romaine (?) lettuce
~2 sweet purple peppers (beautiful, BTW)
~a few apples
~an acorn squash

did i miss something jen?

okay the plan...

i used the greens tonite. they were amazing. see the previous post.

i am planning on making an acorn squash soup to be served with multigrain rolls that were donated to us. but i'll add some broccoli that needs using and top it with our fresh raw cheddar from farmer chad.


the two heads of lettuce will be used with the two purple peppers to make a simple salad.

the apples will be sliced to go along with the yummy raw cheddar as a snack.

this food tastes so good because i know where it came from.
yes, it's a little pricey, but i love love love supporting local farmers when i can.
they have a dream too, folks and they are living it!
plus, we really cannot take the chance of pesticides getting into liam's system.

i hope you enjoy my weekly post on the box because i love planning it out. :)

love...H

dinner friday

well, timmy is working a long one, so it's just me and the kids tonite.

i decided that i needed to start cleaning out all the leftovers in my fridge and pantry, so here is what i came up with...

we had some leftover (tim-grilled) ribs in the freezer that i needed to use up.
so i tossed some root veggies (baby potatoes, baby carrots, onion) into the bottom of my trusty crockpot. added a few shakes of s&p, some garlic powder, a few oz of veggie broth. i topped the veggies with the thawed ribs and it's cooking away on low.
smells yummy!!

i'm also going to make some braised greens since we got a ton of them in our CSA box this week. i'll sautee them up with some crushed garlic, onion, s&p, dash of hot sauce and some EVOO.

speaking of my CSA box, i'm going to start a weekly post of what i got and what i plan to do with it. should be fun.

i'll do this weeks post maybe later tonite...if i get around to it. ;)

what's on your plate tonite??

quick cleanse

cleansing is good for the soul...it's also good for the body. ;)

i've been feeling a little sluggish lately and like my system is getting bogged down with allergies and icky stuff, so i'm doing a quick cleanse.

i'm starting with one day...tomorrow. just a quickie.

i may continue it a few more days, but i tend to set these mile-high goals for myself and then crash and burn.

so, one day.
baby steps and all.

i'm doing the arden's garden cleanse. you can buy it premade at harrys (which is what i did) or you can make it yourself.

anyway, i'll let you know how it goes.

wish me luck!!

the trampoline

oh my goodness.
we are so blessed.

our neighbor, who happens to be our landlord, just GAVE!! us a trampoline for liam.
yep. just gave it to us.

for some kids this might be just a fun thing to have, but for US it's a form of therapy for our sensory-seeking little man.

let me tell you about today...

i held liam off until the two littles were napping because there isn't a net around the thing and liam is sure to bounce his sister right off, so i waited.
well, the time came and i let him loose.
friends, this kid spent 3 hours out there this afternoon.
THREE HOURS!!!

he would bounce and bounce.
when he got tired he would lay there and look up at the trees.
a few times i even caught him singing praise songs while running around on it.

there is nothing. NOTHING. that will bring tears to a mama's eyes faster than seeing her son loving life and loving God at the same time.
he was singing "HOLY HOLY HOLY" and then crashing down on himself while laughing his guts out.
i stood on the porch and cried tears of thankfulness and complete joy.
i saw my son in a place that he was free. FREE!
free from the stress of not being like others.
free from the burden of not being able to talk and relate.
free from everything.
he was praising God because he felt great joy.

thank you, silvia.
your gift has touched our hearts on so many levels.
and now our boy has an escape.
an escape that is much needed.
and we are SO grateful.

grace

when you see a mama with lots of littles, please do not ask her if she knows "what causes that".

because likely, that mama already has enough on her plate.

likely, that mama is working her butt off to help support her family.

likely, that mama takes great pride and joy in the littles that you see as a burden.

likely, that mama is feeling the need to be perfect in a broken world and is doing her very best to shape and form her babies in the way God has called her.

are there exceptions to this? yes!

but is it something that you need to make her feel less of a woman about? no.

grace is a wonderful thing.

it is what God gives us every. single. day.

verses about grace

did you pray for your children and your spouse today?

the power of prayer is so amazing.
how much effort does a prayer take? not much.
how much effect does a prayer have? countless effects.

think about the ones you love that are being shaped and formed each minute and zero in on the areas that YOU see a need for change.
don't harass them.
don't make them feel small.
PRAY for them.
and then sit back and watch what happens.

i have been making an effort to do this lately and the changes i have seen in such a short time are amazing.

you will be amazed too.

don't know where to start?

here ya go:

for children

for your spouse

may you be blessed in ALL walks of your life and experience GOD in everything that you do.

amen.

MOTHER WARRIORS!!

oh yes we are!!

i am so excited about jenny mccarthy's new book.

read it!!! feel it!! let me know what you think.

i am putting it off (to my dismay) because i need to get into it and feel it...like i do...and i just don't have the luxury of down time right now. that's okay...it will happen!

here is another fellow "autie angel" mama's review:

granolachic

if you have a family member with autism, a friend with a child who is autistic or are interested in autism at ALL then run and get it. get it and read it. let the stories and words seep into your being and then begin understanding why autie mamas do what they do.
support us.
we desperately need you.

much love...