We were laying around over the weekend, talking about our dreams, our family, our future. And how hot it was. And I said,”I don’t want to run today. It’s hot and I’m tired.”
And he said, “Drink lots of water. You’ll feel better if you go.”
I gazed out the window and said, “I wish you could go with me.”
He said, “I’ll go get my shoes.”
That’s love. He was right… we both felt better.
It’s raging summer here and temperatures are expected over 100 degrees tomorrow and Thursday. To get ready, we made some whole fruit popsicles.
I peeled whole kiwi (6) and sliced each into 3 pieces. Inserted a stick (we used craft sticks and no one died or got sick.) and froze them on trays. I also found 6 ripe bananas, that we broke in half and froze too.
Then we melted 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of coconut oil. To make a really thin chocolate that hardens immediately on the cold fruit.
Then dipped each piece.
As the chocolate got shallower in the cup, we used a spoon to help.
We had just a touch of chocolate leftover and used it to drizzle designs on the finished pops.
Brandon somehow managed to get chocolate all over his white shirt--should have seen that one coming, lol.
The Kiwi popsicles were so cute–but pretty sour. The bananas are by far our favorite. Now I’m wondering…what other fruit can I put a stick in to freeze and dip?
I know I had set the winner announcement deadline for June 15th. That was crazy. I didn’t expect so many wonderful entries to sort through or think about what it would mean to take a family of 8 on vacation for a week and get put back together after, while doing my regular chores and still getting my weekly menu subscriptions out on time.
So now you can be super impressed that I have gone through half of the contest entries and am getting them organized by type of dish to compile in a fun ebook. Everyone who entered a recipe will get a free copy of the e-book–hooray for you! I’ll keep you posted on the progress.
Until then, here’s a delicious Summer Recipe:
Crab Pasta Salad
1 bag–12-16 oz tri-color rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions
1 bag–16 oz frozen peas, thawed
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots peeled and shredded
6 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled
(add any other veggies you like such as bell pepper, zucchini etc.)
1–8 oz package imitation crab meat, chopped
Combine all ingredients and mix with 1 cup ranch salad dressing (purchased or homemade–light works well.) Chill. Right before serving stir in another cup of dressing.)
For gluten free, replace the pasta with 6-8 cups of cooked and drained navy beans–or use a combo of beans, such as navy, great northern, pinto, or garbanzo.)
We are back from Reunion and I have some photos and video to post later from Heather’s baptism. What a lovely, glorious day! I’ve been busy catching up on laundry and housework since then.
I also joined Holly’s Summer Transformation Challenge (STC) over at Club FYM. I love it over there and writing in my journal takes the place of some of why I write here. So when I’m in a challenge with Fit Yummy Mummy, I tend to want to neglect my blog. I’m going to try hard not to do that this time. As part of that challenge I’m writing a meal plan for 1–that coincides with what my family is eating too. Theirs has more carbs and calories since they are all skinny. But we are all eating healthy. Here’s my plan for this week:
You can click on the image to see it bigger if the print is hard to read. PI stands for Planned Indulgence.
Also new for me, I’ve started teaching a sewing class on Monday nights in my new office. It’s great fun! And right now am working on sewing my fall jacket that I’ve had fabric and pattern for over a year and never made the time to make it. I’m using this from Fabric.com:
with this pattern:
So the directors at our reunion improvised.
I found out this week that reunion is a unique thing to my denomination. The first one was in the year 1888 and they stayed in tents in September for a week to worship and fellowship together.
We do it about the same today but we are staying in college dorms and the ladies don’t have to wear dresses. It’s a week where we have prayer service every morning, religious class right after that, and worship every evening with some of the best preaching we will hear all year. The afternoons are full of visiting, sports, and games.
Grant decided to join in the fun
We play together, eat together, and worship together. There’s no news, no TV, no radio, no video games. It’s wonderful. I’m filling my cup to over flowing for the year.
But not for long
I’m visiting at Fit Yummy Mummy today. Check out my story!
Before and After FYM
If you decide to get the Fit Yummy Mummy program, will you come back and use this link? It will cost the same but part of the sale will go to help my family :).
“Is that Heather’s wedding dress?” Brandon wanted to know.
I started to laugh…but then stopped. It sort of is. It is the dress she will wear to become part of the bride of Christ. It’s her baptism dress.
I put off sewing for awhile. My sewing room has been such a mess since we moved, and I’ve had so many other responsibilities, that I just couldn’t get in the groove. It has been at least 6 months since I attempted anything (except a whale–and that ended a little tragically.) I wondered if I would remember how?
I thought I would try to buy a dress, but tradition dictates the dress be pure white and fully immersable! I’ve seen lots of first communion white dresses…but they weren’t meant for the water. And talk about pricey! Plus white tends to turn clear when wet–so I’m going to need lots of layers. It’s hard to buysomething like that.
I taught my first sewing class in the new house Monday night–so had to get my sewing studio in order. I thought I had taken inspiration photos to show you how messy it really was….but I can’t find them. Convenient..I know. Imagine a room from the TV show hoarders without animals or rotten food. That will get you close. I shoved all the stuff to one side of the room so Mark could work. Here’s before:
After Mark came and built out shelves for the triangular room.
Since then, I’ve been working for a week on folding my fabric onto comic book boards (The economical way to make mini-fabric bolts. I spent $20 on 2oo boards, saving $400 over buying these.) I have a LOT of fabric. Caleb’s closet is still full of boxes of fabric waiting to be rolled. I’m getting rid of a lot as I go.
I love being able to see all my choices without digging through boxes. I’m hoping they are far enough away from direct sunlight, not to be faded.
Anyway, a clean room with space to work is very motivating. I made 3 ballet costumes the next day.
And yesterday I cut out Heather’s dress. Heather was on the farm visiting her grandparents so couldn’t be fitted. I had to guess. (When she arrived, I had to take 4″ out of the width of the dress!) I chose a piece of fabric and a pattern from my stash. The fabric was a remnant of white on white embroidered gauze with woven stripes that I fell in love with years ago, but never found the right purpose for. It was going to have to be very special. There’s nothing more special than a baptism!
In our church, we believe baptism is a public declaration of our covenant to follow Christ for the rest of our lives. The children have to make the decision themselves, but can’t decide until they are at least 8 years old. This gives them time to mature enough to be able to understand how imp0rtant this decision is. When Heather turned 8, she wasn’t ready yet. I tried to tell myself it was okay. That I was glad she was making the decision on her own and not falling to peer pressure. But mostly I worried. I worried about the questions she asked…the deep thinking she showed that she was struggling with faith. And I prayed…a lot.
You wouldn’t believe the deep discussions we had late at night after the rest of the children were asleep. We would talk about how I knew God was real. I would tell her my testimonies, about how God sent an angel to comfort me in my deep grief and I actually felt his arms around me, but saw no one. About how God healed Caleb’s smashed fingers instantly while Heidi prayed and Grandma and I watched. How I saw Christ in a vision on the cross and He told me that his sacrifice was for ME. And how his face looked like love. And that even though I was worthy of his contempt and condemnation only love was in his eyes.
We talked about that if the big bang theory was true—-where did the first life come from? How we have all the chemicals in the lab that are in living things, but that without life–life cannot come. Life must come from life. So where did that first life come from?
And we talked about how fulfilling a Christian life is. I mean if I live my whole life by Christ’s teachings, I will have a pretty happy life. Loving, forgiving, serving, holding no malice. And if I die and I’m wrong, I still had a fanstastic life. But if a non-believer lives his whole life in sin, he will feel the misery of it his whole life. And if he dies and is wrong, will continue in his misery. And after all that, she still wasn’t sure. She wasn’t ready.
So I stopped talking to her about it. And just prayed in silence. Prayed that God would reveal himself to my daughter in a way that would affect her life forever. Prayed that she would have her own tesimonies and not have to rely on my witness alone. I prayed that fear or anxiety of the water, of germs, of other people watching wouldn’t get in the way of her desire to follow Christ. I don’t know what happened between Heather and God, but one day a few weeks ago, she said to Daddy, “I’m ready now.” He smiled; I cried.
So that is why I am making a white dress. The best reason in the world. Now I’m off to buy a zipper and then we’ll take pictures of the finished dress.
I’m not gluten free, but a lot of my friends are. So in my research to help my gluten free friends live happier, more frugal lives, I found an article on making xanthan gum at home. Xanthan gum is not horribly expensive. I bought a 1 lb bag at Amazon for $17.49. But you only use a tsp or so per recipe, so it lasts a long time.
The flakes before pulsing to a powder.
Even then, I thought if you could make some at home for little effort, it might be worth a try. So basically I mixed a little yeast and cornsyrup in a jar. Shook it around for 5 days and then added a 1/4 tsp of vodka and then dried what was left. It was an amber colored thick liquid, that dried into glasslike sheets. I powdered the dried sheets in the blender and then compared it’s thickening ability to my purchased xanthan gum.
After Pulsing to a Powder
I added a 1/4 tsp of each to 1 cup of water and stirred and waited. The commercial gum mixture got thicker and thicker the longer it sat. The homemade did nothing. I doubled the amount…still nothing. I did notice the water felt slippery when rubbed between my fingers…. but still never thickened the water.
Homemade left; Commercial Right. Notice in the white mixture, you can see the xanthan gum absorbing water and swelling like gel beads. Nothing like that happened on the left.
I tried to follow the insructions very carefully and for now have PLENTY of commercial xanthan gum to use. I love how it thickens a light salad dressing. I’m still playing around with it.
Homemade Xanthan Gum on the left. The two look nothing alike.
So has anyone made their own xantham gum successfully? Can you see what I did wrong?
I’m visiting today over at Life in a Shoe. Come join me!
{If you are subscribed to my newsletter, then you are enjoying the subscriber only coupon good on any or all of my ebooks. If you aren’t subscribed yet, take care of that and I’ll send the code out again on Thursday.}
Send in your favorite warm weather recipes. It might be cold, cooked on the grill, use garden produce; or be frozen :). There are no special rules or restrictions. I may edit a recipe for health or ease so don’t be afraid to send in an old favorite that might not be as healthy as you wish it to be. Think about breakfasts; lunches; snacks and dinners that you enjoy when the temperature is hot outside. Enter as many recipes as you like.
Recipes will be judged on uniqueness, health, taste, and how appetizing they are for warmer weather.
I’m thinking of a phrase from a Sesame Street song: “Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear…just sing, sing a song.”
The recipe that you think someone else already sent in, or is too simple…may just be the winning recipe. So don’t be afraid to enter, let me sort it out :).
