Friday, July 27, 2012
My Mom has a closing date!!!!
I am so excited to find out late last night that my mom will be closing on her new home Monday! Praise the Lord! She will finally be living up here near us! I am just so thankful and elated to have my Mom being closer to my kids and I! Finally I will have someone to talk God with, in person, and full of love and compassion!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Homemade Vanilla Extract and update on us
I love to make anything I can from scratch. So when I found out recently that you can make vanilla extract from scratch, I have been itching to get down to it. When we had the extra money recently I bought some bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans online. I then went to the local liquor store and got some really cheap vodka...one gallon's worth.
I decided to make two half gallons of the extract. One where I split the beans and scraped out half of the specks, caviar, and the other where I just split the beans. I want to see if there is a real discernible difference in the final product. An experiment of sorts! I love experiments like this in the kitchen!
Then I decided to go one step further and since I had some extra beans left over, make some extract with a different kind of liquor. I stood in the liquor store for quite a few minutes mulling it all over. I settled on Paul Mason's VSOP brandy. I bought a 750ml bottle for around 20 dollars plus tax. I know that only makes a quart...but it is a smooth brandy and it tastes good in baking, so I am excited to try it in the vanilla extract. I think it will taste heavenly!
I have put all of the jars in a dark cabinet. You have to shake them regularly for the first couple of weeks or so and then irregularly after that. They will be done after 4-6 months. I used approximately 7 seven inch beans for each cup of alcohol.
I have some photos I will post later so that you can see what it looks like. I do want to warn people to not rub your eyes or anything sensitive on your body if you have any of the vanilla oil or liquid on your hands. It irritated my eyes a little. I had to wash them twice. I washed my hands a few times only to find it really lingers. So bear that in mind. Nothing troublesome, just irritating. Makes you itchy a little. It doesn't irritate as badly as cinnamon oil does, though. You can't leave cinnamon on our skin or it will turn red and be very irritated almost burned. I don't like cinnamon oils in my goat's milk soaps for that reason. I love cinnamon and especially in my foods. But the oil can be a bit much for a lot of people's skin.
Next I am wanting to make a vanilla extract with tequila or even spiced rum. But I am going to wait until the next extra bit comes in. I do not want to get too crazy with it all right now. I want to make some peanut butter cooky dough to freeze soon.
I had the first peanut butter and jam mixed together with crackers with my 19 month old son tonight. That was a wonderful thing to do! I remember doing that often times with my mom, when I was growing up. I really enjoyed those snacks that she would share with me. Like apples sliced with cheddar cheese....yummy.
Our daughter is doing a lot better with her responsibilities and her attitude. She does make mistakes but is quicker to realize and apologize than she ever was before. My husband and I are becoming for consistent and graceful in dealing with her mistakes. I am so thankful for what God is doing in my life and my family's life! My husband and I are doing much better, thank you God, with our accepting one another and respecting one another. Thank you Lord for helping me to be a better wife and for teaching me everyday how to respect my husband better,,,and love him more like you do all of us!
I decided to make two half gallons of the extract. One where I split the beans and scraped out half of the specks, caviar, and the other where I just split the beans. I want to see if there is a real discernible difference in the final product. An experiment of sorts! I love experiments like this in the kitchen!
Then I decided to go one step further and since I had some extra beans left over, make some extract with a different kind of liquor. I stood in the liquor store for quite a few minutes mulling it all over. I settled on Paul Mason's VSOP brandy. I bought a 750ml bottle for around 20 dollars plus tax. I know that only makes a quart...but it is a smooth brandy and it tastes good in baking, so I am excited to try it in the vanilla extract. I think it will taste heavenly!
I have put all of the jars in a dark cabinet. You have to shake them regularly for the first couple of weeks or so and then irregularly after that. They will be done after 4-6 months. I used approximately 7 seven inch beans for each cup of alcohol.
I have some photos I will post later so that you can see what it looks like. I do want to warn people to not rub your eyes or anything sensitive on your body if you have any of the vanilla oil or liquid on your hands. It irritated my eyes a little. I had to wash them twice. I washed my hands a few times only to find it really lingers. So bear that in mind. Nothing troublesome, just irritating. Makes you itchy a little. It doesn't irritate as badly as cinnamon oil does, though. You can't leave cinnamon on our skin or it will turn red and be very irritated almost burned. I don't like cinnamon oils in my goat's milk soaps for that reason. I love cinnamon and especially in my foods. But the oil can be a bit much for a lot of people's skin.
Next I am wanting to make a vanilla extract with tequila or even spiced rum. But I am going to wait until the next extra bit comes in. I do not want to get too crazy with it all right now. I want to make some peanut butter cooky dough to freeze soon.
I had the first peanut butter and jam mixed together with crackers with my 19 month old son tonight. That was a wonderful thing to do! I remember doing that often times with my mom, when I was growing up. I really enjoyed those snacks that she would share with me. Like apples sliced with cheddar cheese....yummy.
Our daughter is doing a lot better with her responsibilities and her attitude. She does make mistakes but is quicker to realize and apologize than she ever was before. My husband and I are becoming for consistent and graceful in dealing with her mistakes. I am so thankful for what God is doing in my life and my family's life! My husband and I are doing much better, thank you God, with our accepting one another and respecting one another. Thank you Lord for helping me to be a better wife and for teaching me everyday how to respect my husband better,,,and love him more like you do all of us!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Starting Bible College Again Soon
I am really excited about starting this term of bible college. I attend Charis Bible College online. I took the last term off because we were really busy with my daughter's softball and all kinds of other things. I have missed it terribly and do not want to ever take another term off! I usually take one class but this term I am taking two. I am really thankful for having the money to be able to take two classes. I know they are not that expensive, only 150 a piece. But, I do not expect my family to do without anything in order for me to do what God wants me to do. If He wants me to take more classes, He will give me extra money and in the right time, and He did that this time! I am so excited.
I posted about the classes I have taken and in more detail about what I am taking this term on my other blog. I am excited especially about the Your Home Can Survive the 21st Century by Delron Shirley. I appreciate any and all edification in the area of my home...after all it is my main ministry and job! Thank you God for that one!
I really enjoy being able to discuss the classes online with the other students. You can take the classes via correspondence, and it is a little bit cheaper, but you do not get the interaction online. I have made some for life friends through the classes and am so thankful for that fellowship with like minded believers!
*and no I do not get anything off of recommending this school, except a good feeling knowing I am doing the right thing in sharing what God is doing in my life*
I posted about the classes I have taken and in more detail about what I am taking this term on my other blog. I am excited especially about the Your Home Can Survive the 21st Century by Delron Shirley. I appreciate any and all edification in the area of my home...after all it is my main ministry and job! Thank you God for that one!
I really enjoy being able to discuss the classes online with the other students. You can take the classes via correspondence, and it is a little bit cheaper, but you do not get the interaction online. I have made some for life friends through the classes and am so thankful for that fellowship with like minded believers!
*and no I do not get anything off of recommending this school, except a good feeling knowing I am doing the right thing in sharing what God is doing in my life*
Thank God for dinner tonight
I am going to start blogging more about the foods I am thankful for making for my family. Tonight I am going to make a Cannellini Chicken chili. It is more like a chowder, I guess. Because I add a variety of vegetables to it. But I use a white chicken chili seasoning. Today I am going to add fresh corn off the cob to it. I am not sure what else as of yet.
Right now I am making a pot of chicken broth to save for a black bean soup I want to make later in the week. It is a recipe I will adapt from Jacques Pepin. I have some old green onions, zucchini, kale green bits, rosemary, salt and pepper, and a little butter and oil in the broth along with the chicken breasts I will use in my chili tonight. I may not use all of the chicken breasts. But what is left I can use to make chicken and rice or make a broccoli rice casserole with chicken added? I will see.
Earlier I took the bag of chopped kale I had in the fridge and I took out all of the big stems and the bad pieces. I put a bunch of those in the broth pot. My toddler prefers the taste of kale to spinach. I do, as well. So, I sauté the kale in a cast iron skillet with seasonings and the other veggies I might want on a pizza, like chopped broccoli and onions and garlic. Then they have less water and will not water down the pizza. Plus they add a lot of great flavor. I usually season them with salt, minute pepper, and garlic powder. It really makes a homemade pizza or the take and bake pizzas taste really over the top when you add sautéed veggies to it! Everyone, even non veggie loves can appreciate them when they are seasoned right and put on a pizza.
I made bread earlier in the week. That turned out well considering I forgot to add the salt to the recipe. The bread rose faster and had a more potent yeasty taste to it. But it turned out fine other wise. Will work well for sandwiches.
I promised a coworker of my husband's a coconut cheesecake pie this week. His wife suddenly asked for a divorce after they sold their home to move into an apartment in a new town with better schools. He is really bummed. He used to eat the pies in the past with his son and they both enjoyed them, so I thought it would be a nice thing to do for him and his boy. I talked to him about how God wants us to love one another and it is a choice, not a feeling. God's kind of love is not a feeling but a decision we must make every day to do. We talked a while and he wants me to try to talk to his wife via the mail, That is because she does not know me and might not be receptive if she knew it was him involved. Plus, divorce affects 3 generations of people. Not just your kids. Your grandkids get affected, too. It has BIG reprocutions. Please pray for Matt and his wife so that they will be able to keep their family together and not get a divorce.
Well I have to check on lunch. That is a naan pizza.
Right now I am making a pot of chicken broth to save for a black bean soup I want to make later in the week. It is a recipe I will adapt from Jacques Pepin. I have some old green onions, zucchini, kale green bits, rosemary, salt and pepper, and a little butter and oil in the broth along with the chicken breasts I will use in my chili tonight. I may not use all of the chicken breasts. But what is left I can use to make chicken and rice or make a broccoli rice casserole with chicken added? I will see.
Earlier I took the bag of chopped kale I had in the fridge and I took out all of the big stems and the bad pieces. I put a bunch of those in the broth pot. My toddler prefers the taste of kale to spinach. I do, as well. So, I sauté the kale in a cast iron skillet with seasonings and the other veggies I might want on a pizza, like chopped broccoli and onions and garlic. Then they have less water and will not water down the pizza. Plus they add a lot of great flavor. I usually season them with salt, minute pepper, and garlic powder. It really makes a homemade pizza or the take and bake pizzas taste really over the top when you add sautéed veggies to it! Everyone, even non veggie loves can appreciate them when they are seasoned right and put on a pizza.
I made bread earlier in the week. That turned out well considering I forgot to add the salt to the recipe. The bread rose faster and had a more potent yeasty taste to it. But it turned out fine other wise. Will work well for sandwiches.
I promised a coworker of my husband's a coconut cheesecake pie this week. His wife suddenly asked for a divorce after they sold their home to move into an apartment in a new town with better schools. He is really bummed. He used to eat the pies in the past with his son and they both enjoyed them, so I thought it would be a nice thing to do for him and his boy. I talked to him about how God wants us to love one another and it is a choice, not a feeling. God's kind of love is not a feeling but a decision we must make every day to do. We talked a while and he wants me to try to talk to his wife via the mail, That is because she does not know me and might not be receptive if she knew it was him involved. Plus, divorce affects 3 generations of people. Not just your kids. Your grandkids get affected, too. It has BIG reprocutions. Please pray for Matt and his wife so that they will be able to keep their family together and not get a divorce.
Well I have to check on lunch. That is a naan pizza.
Monday, July 9, 2012
God is so awesome
I am so thankful for my God! He has brought just the right people into our lives. I thought these people were brought here to bless us, and they have, but I am so amazed at how God is letting me bless them! I have been able to openly share what God has taught me about being a mom and respecting men and it is totally blessing another mom. I am so thankful to be able to share that wisdom, from God, with someone else. She really is open to it and that really blesses me to see! To see God's word, the seed, fall on good ground, praise the Lord. I am hoping for fruit in her life, for her and her kids' sake. They all deserve to be out of the bondage of b.s. and into the light of God and His truth. Man this is so awesome!
A bonus is that my kids have new play mates and it helps their mom have some extra time to do school work and spend quality time with her baby, too. It is a win win. I am just so thankful for my God. Father, you are so amazing! Thank you for your wonderful surprises and blessings...they help keep me going!
A bonus is that my kids have new play mates and it helps their mom have some extra time to do school work and spend quality time with her baby, too. It is a win win. I am just so thankful for my God. Father, you are so amazing! Thank you for your wonderful surprises and blessings...they help keep me going!
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