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...

The other day,  While Matt and Ben were busy doing "guys stuff",  Brooklynn and I stopped by the inlaws to grab some extra canning jars and while there they took us out to their garden and shared with us some fresh produce!    We came home with many Goodies,  one being fresh picked zucchini!        Now I won't lie.   No one in my family is a fan of zucchini,   As a matter of fact,  I usually have to sneak it into recipes,   and hide its evidence.      It's almost funny.    But one way they'll eat it is in bread!   They actually request it and eat every last bite.   So when we plant our garden, we always plant a few zucchini plants just with the intention of bread!   Sadly our plants are NOT doing well this year and it looks like we may not get any of our produce.  So when Matt's parents were willing to share their bounty,   we did not turn it down!.      I lo...

I shared in a recent post,  that while visiting the inlaws one afternoon, they gave us all kinds of fresh goodies from their garden.     Along with the zucchini, and lettuce they also gave us a few stalks of rhubarb!    I was so excited!   We've not had rhubarb in years but it's always something we enjoy.  It's not something "normal" and you can't just run to the grocery store and buy it so it's a special treat! I looked up some recipes and found one that used fresh strawberries and diced rhubarb.    It was super simple but came out great,  We had a family treat of warm crisp over vanilla ice cream!    Ben thought he was the luckiest boy in the world!  lol.   

 Snap peas!   So delicious and fresh.    It was a small amount but both my kids chomped and were eating right in the garden!      Talk about healthy goodness!

 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 ...

 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!  

 How blessed we are that Matt's parents shared their bounty with us!  They let us come pick from their garden and we were able to put much away for this winter!      How the Lord provides in so many ways!  

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!