Our Faith, Our Family, & Our Friendships.

 So it's full swing Canning Season in our Household!   So much time-consuming work,   but Oh so rewarding!       Our first planting of Green beans has come in and has been plenteous!       Enough to actually try my hand at canning with a pressure cooker!      I've always been scared to death of pressure canning as the nightmare stories that others share are always heard. So I've always stuck to water bath canning and just skip anything that has to be pressure cooked.      But this year I decided I need to "grow up" and get brave and learn something new!      So I borrowed Matt's parent's canner,   asked advice from those that are seasoned in the area and dove right in!      In the evenings,   As a family we picked the beans as they come in,   Then the next day I can what ever is picked so we are always storing away fresh produce,    Ben helps me wash and...

 I always try to think of ways to take advantage,  stock up to avoid paying higher prices later,   and make good use of them.    So when strawberries were on a huge sale,    I bought them!      We use so many strawberries around here!      The kids make fruit smoothies almost daily,   using bananas,  strawberries,  oat milk,  homemade yogurt, and fresh raw spinach.    So healthy and loaded with goodness!  So we froze about 6-gallon bags full just for this purpose alone!      One of Bens's favorite foods is strawberry jam on toast or PP&J sandwiches,   But being SO loaded with sugar, it's always on his "do not eat " list,     So I decided to bless him and make him up a couple of batches, sweetening them with honey.      It was my first go at canning in a bit,   and it's been a couple years since making jam,  so it took a minute to ...

Learning to plan my meals,  and time them out wisely has really helped with always having good foods on hand,  and Healthy meals to feed my peoples without stressing out. Mornings around here are busy,   Especially the days where both kids are in school and I work in the  lunch room all day,   All of us being out the door before 8 am,   with hair done,  teeth brushed,   everyone dressed,   breakfast served,  waters/coffee's/snacks packed,  homework collected and anything else part of the days routine doesn't always go smoothly.   Overnight French toast has become life saver!  Its a great way of getting my kids a hearty breakfast but also saving time with only a tiny bit of meal prep required.  I used my homemade bread,  slicing it up in think pieces,   whisk some eggs up with a dash of cinammon and place the sliced bread in a baking sheet and pour the egg mixture over it.    I then cover it and pla...

In our effort to go sugar free and healthy as a family,  we are striving to do allot more homemade in general when it comes to meals in our home.    Making more things by scratch and being creative in what we serve and doing better with meal planning.   Its allot work I tell ya,  but man,  so far- its been worth it!    The homemade stuff we've been making as been better than anything we've ever bought in a store. One of our favorites has been our honey mustard sauce (minus the brown sugar)!     Its so good!    We pour it over some tortillas,   loaded with diced chicken,   crisp spinach,  red onions,   and sliced tomatoes,  all rolled up into a tight wrap.   We've made them twice already and both times,   complete thumbs up!     Best part,  the dressing took minutes to make,    had nothing bad in it,  sweetened with honey,   cost effective,   and beyond ...

   So we had some bananas getting a bit ripe.    The energy wasn't there and So many other things to do.   but I knew my priorities had to be in the right order.   So Brooklynn and I started peeling,  mashing,   and mixing.    I even taught her to use the beaters,  and together we made a couple loaves of very healthy banana bread,   using farm fresh eggs,    organic bread flour,    and sweetened with only half the amount of honey that the recipe called for (lets be real,   bananas are sweet enough!)  and we even put in some walnuts to add extra protein!      They turned out sooo good!!     Like.... so good.      My guys ate and ate it!       As we made them I shared with Brooklynn that instead of wasting them we were able to make a healthy bread,   that was a fun snack and a good breakfast for mornings.   Im not sure how much she...

 Lol.   Always on the path to better eating,  more homemade foods,  and Healthier options.        That will never change.      I think it's important to know what goes in your body and to be wise.  What goes in us,    has a direct impact on so many areas of our life,  physical,  and mental.         Treating Bens ADHD is one of the hardest journeys we've had as parents.    But we won't give up.    We always strive forward.    Tho don't worry,  We do understand the need to compromise,  and have fun,  We do enjoy a treat here and there and sometimes have a complete day of indulgence.    Its all about balance and we know this.   We talk about it as a family.  We motivate each other,  and Im always looking for new and interesting ways of making eating healthy more fun.     Its a way of life for us.  ...

 It turned out amazing!!  So light and fluffy!   Cooked to perfection and taste so so good!    And it such a good feeling to feed my family good healthy,  homemade bread!     I broke it down and it's costing about 3$ per loaf using   organic flour,  raw organic honey, and farm fresh eggs,   ❤    so completely affordable!    I wish I had started this years ago. 

 And this time Ben helped with the process!   I cut up a huge family pack of chicken breasts, dipped each piece of chicken in egg,  handed it to Ben and he dipped them in the bread crumbs and seasoning mixture and then arranged them all on the tray to cook/freeze for quick lunches!     It was good to teach Ben about home cooking and how really easy it was.  

In my efforts to feed my family healthy I recently decided to try my hand at making chicken nuggets from scratch.  Not knowing how they would turn out I made a small batch for lunch...they were amazing!!   Taste was exceptional and better than any store bought ones I've ever tried!    My kids raved over them and matt said they were great!       So next time I found chicken breasts on sale, I bought a huge family pack and went to town.    The goal was to make dinner and then freeze some for a later date,    same as I would buy a bag of frozen nuggets for a quick lunch.        They were more cost effective,  and I knew all ingredients added since I made them!    It made me feel good and I was pretty proud of myself.  Tried something totally new and it was a success!

 Yes!   You read that right!  20dozen! husked,  slightly Cooked,  cut off the cob, and bagged up!    What a job it was but sooo nice to fill my freezer with farm fresh for winter!         I was so blessed to have the inlaws help with the whole process,   start to finish.         Thank you pa and gigi!

 One of my favorite times of the year,  the time when we yield from all our hard work,   when we put away for winter, and the abundance of my fathers blessings are so evident.   He always provides!    Most days tractors and trailers full of bales of hay drive down our road and I smile big. I Love living here,   where we are surrounded by fields and farms.    Harvest is all around!  And I know it pleases the Lords heart.   So many times harvest and gathering is mentioned in the Bible,   and its in correlation with wisdom and hard work.   It's the fruit of your efforts! Matt and Ben picking green beans out of our family garden!  

  It was a stretch.    Out of my comfort zone,   But in transparency and sharing how I'm growing in the Lord I want let you know that I did it!    A little background,   A dear brother in Christ died last week and went to spend eternity with our Father in Heaven.    I reached out to the ladies who where were in charge of putting on the luncheon after the funeral service,  asking if I could help in any way.    They responded that they needed cup cakes!    .... I can do that I thought?   Cant be that hard right?     I asked how many they needed and they said 4 dozen.    I got right to work.   I whipped up several batches of batter,   poured them in cup cake paper cups,   cooled them,  and covered with chocolate frosting,    and decorated them a bit.    I was impressed with how easy it was and it felt so good to help out.     I share thi...

What a gift to be able to pick a harvest with my mother-in-law.     It was hot but the kids had great attitudes and The fellowship with gigi was wonderful.   How blessed I am to have a woman in my life who loves the Lord.  Her example to my children is priceless.   Between all of us we picked about 25 pounds!   

 A childhood favorite!   When I left home I requested my mom give me the recipe to one of the simplest dishes she ever made as I was a kid,  but one that I LOVED. It was a casserole of sorts with few ingredients and super easy to make.    I still love it today and make it for my family often!   It's also great as leftovers for my guy's lunches!  Broccolli and Cheese Cassarolle 2 cups cooked broccoli (drained of all water) 3 eggs 1/2 cup minced onion 1/4 tsp pepper 1 cup cheese 1 1/2 cups milk  1 tsp salt 3/4 cup busquick.  Grease 10 in pie plate,  mix veggies and cheese in pie plate,  Beat milk, eggs,  and Bisquick and pour-over.  Bake @375  35-40 min   Of course, I can't make a recipe without adding a few of my touches,   We try to use healthy organic ingredients, and I add in a cup of cooked meat,  usually ham to make it more filling.  I also add some extra seasonings like garlic p...

 Such a blessing to receive healthy foods from the inlaws bountiful asparagus patch!   I am so grateful that they are willing to share with us and provide our family with yummy veggies!    

     To be fair with the whole story,   I'll start with a couple weeks to a month ago now (kinda lost track of timing) I had a chef reach out to me,   and offered a job of taking photos for a pretty tip-top restaurant about an hour from me,   for menus and billboards, etc.    It was an amazing opportunity working with one of the top chefs in the area who HERSELF creates and serves dishes to NFL players and many big-time people.    The chef would provide the fancy dishes and my job would be to shoot and help create fabulous images for the restaurants involved.       A dream of mine.   Like wow.   How often does an opportunity like that come along?     But,   I knew I had to turn it down.   For many reasons but the top one being the fact that even tho food photography is a passion of mine,  I am a beginner.    I 100% admit it.      My specialty is families and peopl...

 Pure amazingness!       I highly recommend!      Chicken street taco's        Homemade and fairly healthy with good ingredients!      We always go to a local restaurant and order these,  It's delicious but costly by the time we fill a growing boy.    So We decided to make them at home,  and my gosh.  Every bit as good as what's ordered.   Eating GOOD, affordable, and healthy does not have to be impossible,  you just got to get a little creative  ;)      and Of course.   It doesn't hurt that momma loves food photography and takes any chance she can to snap a photo.