Distractions

     I don't know about you, but life sure throws a lot of distractions  my way. Busy schedules that we just keep adding too, school things for the kids,( Oh no it's your snack day! haha) , adding more and more on your plate sometimes, media (facebook( I am a frequent person on there! :) , tv, ect. I forget to slow down and live the simply life that I love so much and want for my family .

     Today was such a relaxing day! I went out to breakfast with my mom and my sister. We then went to a fabric store ( I am not good at sewing at all, I can do buttons!!! ha) , but I got fabric to make a table runner and some place mats . I am really wanting to learn to sew. I see it as something relaxing that I can do to have time to think, pray and just listen to God.  Something to take me away for a little from all the distractions life throws my way.  Do any of you sew? What are your favorite things to make?? Any tips for a newbie?

Here is a picture of the fabric I got at the store:

This is what my mom bought for the boys room. They love it! ( Okay I admit it , I am a weebit jealous):

         I am going to work on not having so many distractions in my life  ( and learning to say NO to things, really hard for me!)  . Spending more time with my kids, my husband and just living that quiet ( as much as it can be with two boys running down the hallway making train whistle noises!) , and enjoy all the blessings God has given my family and I. Thanking Him for this wonderful life we have and for the future plans He has for us!

So I just want to encourage all of you to slow down. Put those distractions away for an hour or two, and do something you love or try something new! Have that time for you and your family as well!

Remember to enjoy the simple things in life! Don't forget to stop by the 100th Barn Hop over at New Life On a Homestead!

~Katie

the end of our 1st week

Well in a couple day we will be ending our first week eating naturally. I know I have missed days of telling you meals and photos. I apologize but life became a little hectic! haha So I will try better to do this next week. I am pretty happy with how the week has been going. We have had a fruit and veggie everynight , like I said before we have always done this, but I have tried doing them in different ways.

Week #2  I think will once again be pretty easy since all we drink at home is water, hot tea, coffee and rarely  juice.  ( week 2 is only water , coffee, tea and 1 glass of juice for the week, coffee and tea can only be sweetened with natural sweeteners such as maple syrup and honey)


I have been already starting to ween myself off of the sugar in my coffee so it won't be so hard!  ( I love me some coffee with sugar and milk!) The hubby is on a business trip this coming week so I am reminding him of the rules! haha We shall see when he gets back how he did.


I am trying to work researching recipes that have no sugars in them, but substitutes like applesauce, ect. Does anyone have any really good recipes like this, breads, muffins, cookies? Anything would be great!


Last but not least! (sorry for all the rambling! I have a lot on my mind! haha)

I am working on a post of a movie I just saw: Farmageddon. Have any of you seen it? I will be writing about my thoughts on this movie ! That will be coming Saturday I am hoping! Can't wait to hear other's views on this movie!

Hope you all have an amazing day!!

~Katie

canning up a storm

Yesterday I canned the apples, which I made into applesauce. I also can't white potatoes, and last I canned a pineapple :) Here are some pics of my adventures :


These are the clementines and tangelos that I canned lastnight: Can't wait to try them!

The finished products!

Has anyone else canned anything this week or month? I would love to hear about it!  Have a great day!


~ Katie

Fun day with a friend!

Today my friend (Shannon) and I went to our local farmer's market for the produce auction. This was my first time! And I had a blast! Once you start , you get the hang of it pretty quickly! Such great produce for such a cheap amount!  

Here is what I got :
30 lbs. of red and white potatoes
3 lbs. of Tangelos
a box of 46 apples ( making into applesauce and  pie filling)

I will be canning all of this, this week and weekend. I will use some for our meals as well. I will defiantly be going to this auction again!  I want to say thank you so much Shannon for taking and teaching me the ropes!!  

Do any of you have a produce auction like this you have been too?  If you haven't I would look into doing so! You do get a lot of food for your money!  Hope you all are having a wonderful day!!



~ Katie

Day 1 of food journey

Today was our first day on our real food challenge. It was great! We all really didn't see that much of a difference that what we normally eat.

  For Breakfast : We had homemade granola with dried fruit in it.
  For lunch: The boys had PB&J ( natural peanut butter and home canned strawberry jam), apple slices, almonds and raisin mix. Tom had what the boys had , but had small portion leftover salad from dinner lastnight. I had a grilled chicken, mixed salad greens , dried cranberries and pecan salad. (almonds and raisin mix on the side).

Snack: We each had a banana with some whole wheat pretzels.

Dinner :  Was whole grain pasta with homemade alfredo sauce, broccoli ( which I ended up adding into the pasta and sauce), and Pineapple. The hubby and I had our pineapple with Cottage cheese.

Dessert: Tom and Kyle had a whole wheat choc.chip cookie.

So far so good! Wasn't too bad.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day! Don't forget to link up to the Barn Hop! http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2013/02/mondays-homestead-barn-hop-99/

~Katie

Starting the Journey

Well tomorrow we officially start our journey on the 14 weeks mini pledge. I am excited but also a little nervous mostly with how the boys are going to take it. But we will find out.

Week one is : Eat two fruits and / or vegetables per meal.
This won't be hard since almost all of our meals we usually have a banana with breakfast,  a fruit and vegetable with lunch and supper. So this week shouldnt be to hard . So we added something to this week. We are not going to buy anything that has more than 5 ingredients in it. Yes this will definitely be a challenge! But I am excited to see how much we can get at the store with this rule. Should be interesting!


So here is the menu plan for week one of the pledge:

Breakfasts- ( this will be for all week)
                        - eggs and cinnamon raisin toast with orange slices or banana
                        -  Oatmeal with fruit
                        - whole wheat french toast, yogurt with berries
                        -  Berry smoothie, toast

Lunches-(choices for the week)
                       - grilled cheese and tomato soup, grapes/apple
                       - Apple sandwiches, cucumber slices,  granola
                       - Peanut butter sandwich( on whole wheat bread), applesauce, peaches
                       - Pancake sandwich ( cream cheese and homemade strawberry jam), applesauce, carrots
                       - Whole wheat pizzas, peas, apple slices
                       - Leftovers

Dinners-
            - Egg casserole, thawed berries and yogurt ( veggies in the egg casserole)
            - Whole wheat mac and cheese, salad, pineapple
            - Whole wheat banana pancakes, oranges/grapes, real maple syrup
            - Baked chicken, whole wheat noodles, corn and peas
            - Whole grain fettuccine ( going to try to make it homemade if I have time), Homemade Alfredo sauce, broccoli, mixed fruit
            - Quesadillas ( veggies inside), kids just have cheese with raw veggies, strawberries
            -  Homemade chicken nuggets, corn, leftover fruit

So we shall see how this goes :) If your are joining us on this adventure I would love to see what your menu looks like!  The more the merrier! Please invite your friends to follow and join us on this journey!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!
Don't forget to link up to the Barn Hop! Barn Hop #99!

~Katie





               

A Challenge/ Adventure

We have always been somewhat healthy eaters. But we are taking it to another level to cut out more procesed foods from our life so.........., we are going to be doing the  14 week pledge from http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/100-days-of-mini-pledges/. I am excited but also nervous to see how Tom and the boys will like it.  But we shall see, every week I am going to try and post about the experiences we are having doing this pledge. 

I would love others to join us on this pledge or just enjoy hearing I am sure fustration and histerical things from ours! Haha   Invite your friends or family to follow my blog so they can enjoy as well!


Just a short post today it is getting late and I have a few more things to get done before bed. Hope you are all doing well! 

Don't forget to link up to the Barn Hop!Barn Hop #99

~Katie

Dodge Commercial

    I am sure many of you have seen the commercial by Dodge that was shown during the Superbowl. If you haven't I would highly recommend taking a minute and watching it : http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/keepplowing/.

    Now even though my husband and I aren't farmers ( YET!) We Loved this commercial and we think it really showed the heart of America. God and farmers!

    If you also think this is a great commercial and are proud that, not only did they allow God and Creation to be mentioned throughout their commercial but also let America now that without Farmers there would be no food. Then I Ask that you join me, in writing Dodge a letter thanking them for putting out this awesome commercial!

You can email them here: http://www.dodge.com/wccsapp/universal/D/index.jsp


Thank you and I hope you all Have a Wonderful Day! Don't forget to thank a farmer today!

~Katie

Granola!!!!

Hey Everyone!,

      I know a lot of you have Facebooked and emailed me asking for the granola recipe I make for my family. So here is the post! I have hunted forever for a REALLY GOOD granola recipe, but a lot of them were just not doing it for my family and then I stumbled on a recipe at http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/04/recipe-granola-bars-cereal/ and let me tell you we are sticking with it!!! It is the best and all natural! YUM!!!

So here are the ingredients and how to make it!

 Homemade Granola - makes 3 lbs.
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw sliced almonds
 1 cup raw cashew pieces
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground or grated nutmeg
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
parchment paper
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Cover rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.

 2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, seeds and spices together in a large bowl.

 3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once butter melts stir in vanilla.

 4. Pour the hot liquids over dry ingredients and stir together with rubber spatula ( I use wooden spoon) until evenly coated.

 5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 mins.

 6. Then granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces for bars or break into small chunks for granola.

 Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

 So I hope you try this recipe. I am sure you and your family will love it as much as my family and I do.

Also go check out Lisa Leake's blog at : http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/. She has an amazing blog if you are thinking about taking processed foods out of your families diets! Great blog!

 Enjoy! Come back and let me know what you think!
 ~ Katie

Garden layout

This year we are trying to grow most, if you not all the vegetables for the winter. So on the amount of land we have (like 0.06 acres) we need to use every space available! The problem we have is only one side of our house gets full sun. So we have to use the sace on this side of the house as best we can to get the maximum yeild. We will be doing alot of vertical growing with things like the cantaloupe, cucumbers, ect. To leave enough space as possible for other things. We will also be using wooden crates we salvaged and filling them with dirt to make extra bedding. Those are placed on the other side of the yard near our young apple trees. We will also be trying a new technique with growing our potatoes. In an older post we tryed planting them in trash cans, which worked but not very well, so we will be planting them in laundry baskets filled with burlap and dirt. We are excited to see if this works because it will save space! Here is a picture of the layout. Sorry for the bad lighting.

Hope you all are having fun planning your gardens! I would love to hear if any of you have fun/ unique ways of planting things! Thanks for stopping by our little homestead! Katie