I'm still here...

It's been a long time... Much has happened...  The short version is that the house that we were living in had toxic mold which was making us sick so we had to move with out much notice.  We've been dealing with mold related stuff for almost a month and a half now, and yet the end is not quite in sight yet.  So while I am still alive and praising God, I'm still going to be gone from this blog for a while yet.  I hope everyone is doing well, and I promise to tell the whole story when I can.

Elimination Diet for Food Allergies

I wrote a while back about Buddy Bear's allergic symptoms.  Since then I have been doing a ton of research, both online and from the library.  We tried eliminating dairy at the suggestion of our Nurse Practitioner, but that didn't help.  We eliminated food preservatives and dyes and it made a difference for Ally, but not for Bear.  After about two months we finally realized that he's allergic to eggs.  But still even with treating his eczema with ointment it still wasn't improving.  In fact some spots kept getting worse, and he was breaking out in more places.  So, with no further help coming from out NP, we decided to do a full elimination diet.  We decided not only for Bear, but for the last five years I have struggled with eczema as well; and Matt has problems with arthritis (which can also be food related).

There are many Elimination Diets online.  Some of the more comprehensive and helpful sites are:
      Elimination Diet by Dr. Cranton 
      Comprehensive Elimination Diet from Functional Medicine.org
      28 day Elimination and Detox diet from Whole Life Nutrition 
         (also see their blog here)

We chose to go with the diet from Whole Life Nutrition because of the details and the "support" network (Facebook and their blog) and their cookbook that has more details and Elimination diet recipes.  The Whole Life Nutrition diet is also a good detox diet to flush your body of toxins and get your immune system working well. 

So far we are on day 12, and I am pleased with the results.  Our eczema is clearing up, and Matt's arthritis is much better (he used to be able to tell if it was going to rain, but even with all the heavy rain we've had this last week he hasn't complain of any stiffness)!  As an added bonus, and since this is a high nutrient, low fat diet, Matt has last over 10 lbs and I have lost 8 lbs! 

Soon we will enter Phase 2, when we begin to add back foods.  I will be glad to Finally know what our problem foods are!
     

Exercise? Who Me? - Free online Walk At Home video

I haven't been good at exercising since RaeRae was born.  Come on!  A new mom with a baby finding time to exercise plus take care of baby, home, and ministry?  Then and two babies, then three... well, you get the picture.  I know it's something that is important.  Over the last few years I have spent money on a couple of different programs, only to not be consistent and eventually give up.  Part of the problem is finding time to get out and do cardio.  When in my schedule can I find time to get out of the house to go walk, jog, or run, and it not be dark outside, or leave my kids unattended?  That's been pretty hard to do... almost impossible. 

Last month, we had our friends stay with us for a week, LeAnna from Written Windows.  While here, LeAnna forced me (ha, ha) to do her exercise walk with her.  It's a DVD of Leslie Sansone's Walk At Home, 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk.  Well, we didn't do all 5 miles... but we did do 3.  And it was great!  All 5 kids (hers and mine) were all resting/sleeping and we got an interval-cardio work out with out leaving my living room! 

Last week I saw some of Leslie Sansone's DVD's at Walmart, and that got me to thinking.  I hopped on the computer when we got home and found her website.  And would you believe it...There on the Walk At Home website is posted a 1 mile walk that you can do for FREE!  So, I can try it at home with out paying a penny!  Yeah!  This time I have nothing to lose.  Nothing but weight and flab.  15 minutes a day.  I think I can do that...  ☺

Fun Filled Friday - Time at the beach

 

From this far-in-the-middle-of-nowhere place, we have to travel almost an hour to do any major shopping.  In some cases we have to drive two or more hours.  Last week we had to take a shorter shopping trip.  Basically we just needed some groceries from the coop and some things from Walmart.  Then instead of rushing home we stopped by McDonalds for take out burgers and went to the beach for a picnic and play time.  The weather wasn't terribly warm, and Lake Superior is COLD!  But as you can see the kids had a blast!

 

Buddy Bear just loves water!  He screams every time every time we pull him out of the water when his bath is done.  LOL!  I wasn't going to let him sit in the water... but he just had to get closer to investigate the waves!  Good thing I thought ahead to bring extra clothes.  ☺ 

 

 

The girls too needed dry clothes after all their running and splashing.

 

We all had SO-O-O much fun!

 

Fun-Filled Friday

A reminder to slow down... to live, laugh, love... 

Life is short... enjoy it.

How did you enjoy life this week?

My Baby is ONE!

Ah, how fast this year went!  So much has happened!  Bear has grown so much.  Instead of being content on the sidelines to watch, he has to be right in the middle of what ever is going on.  Much to the chagrin of his sisters! ☺  He is walking  (rather quickly at times! ☺), stacking mega blocks, hitting balls with a hammer, loves to call for our dog Bell "B-eh, B-eh!" Sunday during greeting time at church he would lift out his hand to shake hands. 

Memorial Day weekend when we had the birthday party he was just cruising all over the place.  I just L.O.V.E. this little guy!

Happy Birthday, Buddy Bear!  I'm so glad that God gave you to us!

Our busy Memorial Day Weekend

A special thank you to all those currently serving, or who have served in our military!  Your sacrifice does not go unnoticed! 

This weekend we practiced our 2nd amendment right.  We shot, and shot, and shot some more!  

Oh yeah!  In fact there was so much target shooting going on that our neighbors had to come and see just what was going on!  ... Just a little bit of practice... ☺

We had a great time with family! And celebrating with a GREAT BIG birthday party!  We decided that instead of throwing 3 separate birthday parties, especially with two of them being so close, we would just have one BIG party.  

With lots of cake.

With lots of presents.

And with LOTS of FUN!

Matt's dad, Ally, and me on the swing set that Matt built as the kiddos birthday present.

It was a wonderful weekend!

Giveaway winner!

And the winner is......

Katie Olsen!

Congratulations Katie!  I'll be contacting you to make sure I have the right mailing address.

Fun-Filled "Friday" - Buddy Bear walks!

Yes, it is a little late to label this post a Fun-Filled Friday.  I had tried to do a scheduled post, but obviously it didn't work. 

Buddy Bear is finally walking!  We took this video Tuesday night.

Birthday Celebration and a GIVEAWAY!

My little princess is 3!
  Happy Birthday, Ally!
 

In honor of Ally's third birthday, I am going to do my first giveaway!

The Children's Illustrated Bible
written by Selina Hastings, illustrated by Eric Thomas, published by DK.

More than a Children's story Bible, The Children's Illustrated Bible is also a Bible handbook with additional historical, and geological information about each story.  This book includes Bible references, colorful illustrations, and full color photographs and facts that help you understand even more what was happening in each story.  The stories are easy enough to hold the attention of a preschooler, and the additional information will fascinate even the older child (Hey, I've even learned a lot!).  This same book by Selina Hastings is available in a larger form published by New Leaf Press.

To enter just leave a comment below.  Make sure and provide contact information.


For extra entries:
1. Subscribe or be a follower.
2. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link in a comment.
3. Post about this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter.

This giveaway will be open till May 27th.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother is Just a Simple Word

Mother is just a simple word
yet it's especially dear...

And it seems to mean much
more with each passing year...

Each word of Love and Affection
describes you mother...

It's a word that's filled with love,
a word that reflects everything that's
wonderful - Wonderful just like you.

~Author Unknown~

(found here)

My mom with her grandkiddos:

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

We love you!

(And by the way... the snow did all melt... everything is green again... ☺)

Snow for Mother's Day?

The smell of hot cocoa, wood smoke, and the sight of fresh snow outside make me feel like Christmas!  They say it will all melt by tomorrow, and perhaps they are right.  We got about 5 inches in some places, and more continues to fall.  That being said, my girls declared that it's summer!  I think they must have gotten their seasons mixed up (LOL☺)!

I took the opportunity to go for a walk... by myself... this morning and revive a little of my love for photography.

Wildflowers and Worms

I love Spring!  The flowers, budding trees, getting my hands in the dirt, watching things grow, and yes, even the worms.  Yesterday, the kiddos and I went outside to do some digging.  My mom gave me some rhubarb plants, and I need to give them a home.  I found a spot that will do; and while the girls ran around and Buddy Bear watched from his stroller, I got to work with the shovel.  It wasn't long before Ally came over to see what in the world I was digging.  "Worms," I told her.  Of course she wanted to see, but wouldn't get anywhere near enough to touch it.  Oh how I wish I had my camera with me!  RaeRae wasn't to far behind, and she too had to see the worms but not touch it.  (How did I end up with such girly-girls?!)  Even though Buddy Bear is yet only 12 months old, he was not to be left out.  You could just hear his thoughts and squeals "What are you all looking at?"  So being the kind (and a bit crazy) mom that I am, I brought two worms over to Buddy Bear's tray to let him touch the worm.  A little dirt never hurt right?  Of course he got a good hold of that worm, and it went straight to his mouth.  Nature study up close!  No... I didn't let him get it to his mouth (his sisters just about freaked out!).  And then being the wonderful little brother (and totally boy) that he is, he tried to give the worm to Ally!  Like I said, I wish I had my camera!  Well, after seeing that the worm didn't hurt Buddy Bear any, RaeRae decided that she could touch it, quickly, barely, and in the middle so it didn't poop on her!  And Ally, well... she tried, but just could bring herself to do it.  So they got their own shovels; and as I finished digging a spot for the rhubarb, they helped me "dig for worms."

After "digging for worms," we went for a walk around the edge of the yard.  To our surprise, we found some Forget-Me-Nots growing around one of the sheds.  Of course my girly-girls were all about picking flowers, and we also found some violets, yellow violets, dandelions (of course), and a white springtime flower that I once knew the name of (but have lost my wildflower guide book and can't look it up).  Two beautiful little bouquets, and a wonderful reminder that it really is Spring... even if it is snowing outside!

Prepare To Survive

Over a year ago my husband, Matt, started learning wilderness survival.  He was laid off at the time so he had a lot of time for learning!  His interest in wilderness survival gradually turned into a desire to make sure that our family was prepared for any disaster that might occur in our area.  The more we researched and prepared our family, the more we realized that we need to share this information our family, friends, and anyone else who will listen; so a couple of months ago we started teaching an Emergency Preparedness workshop and just last week created a blog Prepare To Survive so that we can share more information with more people. 

So what about YOU?  Are you prepared to survive a tornado, earthquake, severe thunderstorm with major electrical outages?  Being prepared for emergencies is crucial at home, school, work, and in your community.  Disaster can strike quickly and without warning.  It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood, workplace, or school or can confine you to your home.  What would you do if basic services - water, gas, electricity or telephones - were cut off?  Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.  The best way to make you and your family safer is to be prepared before the disaster strikes!

Fun Filled Friday - Uses for Old Curtains

A while back a friend gave us some old curtains.  Ally helped me sort through them; and since RaeRae was sick and sleeping at the time and Ally needed something to do, we played dress up with some of the curtains.

Isn't she a cute little bride!

Design your own blog layout!

It's so much fun to have a blog that is uniquely your own.  Not just in content, but design.  Design that reflects your personality, content, and purpose.  Good design also helps boost your ratings (so I'm told).  But how do you get a personalized blog design with out paying for it?  ...Design your own!  I won't promise that it's easy... but it can be... it just depends on you!  It can be time consuming... unless you go simple and don't vary from the directions.  But it IS fun... if you like creating things without making mess all over the house! 

First, head over to SJH Blog Design and follow their step-by-step instructions for turning a simple blogger template into your own unique design.  As well as the basic instructions for blog design, check out the other design instructions on right hand side bar, including instructions for designing a Clickable Button.  This is where I got the instructions for creating my three-column layout.  If you're feeling brave, you can customize things further by experimenting with border and margin width and all that fun stuff.  There must be someplace with more instructions for adjusting border and margin width, but I just did it with a lot of trial and error till I got the look I wanted. 

One thing I found to be helpful during the design of my blog was to create a second, private blog to use as my testing ground.  Instead of messing up my main blog, I would apply my design experiments to my test blog until I got everything right.  Then I copied the HTML and pasted everything over to my main blog.

Another site with lots of tips is Blogger Scrapbook.  I haven't had time to apply any of the tips that Sarah has given yet.  Looking over her site though she has some great tips on how to do things like How to add post divider graphics to your blog, and Adding buttons to your header, and so much more!

So there you have it!  Now you know what I know (or rather don't know, but can follow the same directions!).  I hope this was helpful!  Anyone else know of great sites for blog design instructions?

Fun Filled Friday

Ballet Class

Start with stretches to warm up (this takes about half the class because it takes so long to get all the little girls to get it right.  lol!)

Practice positions

Now we get to dance!

Dairy-Free Biscuits

1. Sift together
         1 cup unbleached white flour
         1 cup whole wheat flour
         2 teaspoons baking powder
         1/2 teaspoon salt

2. Cut in
         4 Tablespoons shortening

3. Gradually add
         3/4 cup plain rice milk
4. Knead for 30 seconds, roll to 1/2 inch thick, cut using any shaped cookie
   cutter or small glass.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

(Why didn't I think to use a heart shaped cookie cutter before?)

Eczema and Food sensitivity

We've been struggling with Buddy Bear's eczema since he was about 5 months old. You can see one of the spots on his forehead, and he gets it in other places all over his body as well.  Mostly we are able to keep it under control by using Renew lotion daily (Renew is a Melaleuca product.  For more information email me.), and we already have eliminated strong scents and harsh chemicals thanks to Melaleuca and their laundry, household cleaner, and bath & body lines.  But even with a prescription ointment, we still struggle at clearing up his face.  At Buddy Bear's last doctor appointment, our new doctor suggested that the trigger of his eczema might be a food allergy or intolerance .  She suggested that we try a dairy free and wheat free diet to see if it makes a difference.  A what?!  Dairy free isn't that bad (but means no graham crackers and milk, no cheese, no ranch dressing, no yogurt, just to name a few of our favorite foods!).  But wheat free?  Yikes, that's a little more overwhelming!  We've been dairy free for two of four weeks now (in most cases two weeks would be enough to see a difference, but since I'm still breastfeeding Buddy Bear, the proteins take two weeks to clear my body then two more weeks to clear his, at least so I've read).  I'm waiting to do a little more research before doing the wheat free test.  Really, this has opened a whole new can of worms for me.  I'm especially intrigued with information on Sue Dengate's website Food Intolerance Network.  Check out this list of some of the symptoms of a food sensitivity:

Airways: Asthma, Stuffy blocked or runny nose/ nasal polyps, Frequent nose bleeds,  Catarrh, chronic throat-clearing, Sinusitis, Frequent ear infections,  Frequent tonsillitis, Frequent colds and flu, symptoms of Samter’s Triad Skin: Eczema, Urticaria (hives), Cradlecap, Other skin rashes, Angioedema (swollen lips, eyes, tongue), Geographic tongue, Pruritis (itching), Allergic shiners (dark circles under eyes), Pallor (pale skin), Flushing, Excessive sweating, Body odour, Sore vagina in children  Digestive system: Recurrent mouth ulcers, Indigestion, Nausea, Bad breath, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Stomach ache, Bloating, Reflux in babies, adults, Constipation, Colic in babies, adults, Sluggish bowel syndrome (feeling of "more to come"), Soiling (sneaky poos)  Bladder: Bedwetting, Daytime incontinence, Urinary urgency, Recurrent inflammation (cystitis)  Skeletal: Growing pains, Arthritis  Eyes: Nystagmus (involuntary movement), Blurred vision  Muscles: Low muscle tone, Myalgia (muscle pain), Tics (involuntary movement), Tremor, Heart: Rapid heart beat, Heart palpitations, Cardiac arrhythmias, Pseudo heart attack (feeling of impending doom, chest pressure, pain down arm), Tachycardia (fast heart beat), Angina-type pain, HHT  Central nervous system: Headaches or migraines, unexplained tiredness, Chronic fatigue, Feeling 'hung-over', Confusion, Dizziness, Agitation, Tinnitus (noises in ear),  Hyperacusis, Paraesthesia (pins and needles), Dysaesthesia (numbness), Hypoglycemia, Epileptic seizures, Sensory symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Symptoms of lupus  Anxiety: Panic attacks, Depression, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, actions  Impaired memory: Vague or forgetful, Unable to concentrate, Won't persevere,  Unmotivated, Disorganised, Easily distracted, Difficulty reading and writing  Speech: Loud voice (no volume control), Speech hard to understand, Speech delay, Selective mutism, Stuttering, Repetitive noises, Talks too much (empty chatter)  Coordination: Poor handwriting, Poor coordination, Frequent accidents  Sleep: Difficulty falling asleep, Restless legs syndrome (RLS), Persistent night waking, Insomnia,  Nightmares/night terrors/sleepwalking  Mood: Mood swings, Premenstrual tension, Grizzly or unhappy, Cries easily or often, Irritable, Uncooperative  Oppositional defiance: ODD, Loses temper, Argumentative, Refuses requests,  Defies rules, Deliberately annoys others, Blames others for own mistakes,  Touchy, easily annoyed, Angry, resentful  Other behaviour: ADHD, ADD, Autism, Aspergers, Inattentive, easily bored, unmotivated, Restless, fidgety or overactive, Head banging, Fights with siblings, Difficulty making friends, Destructive, aggressive, Unreasonable, Demanding, never satisfied, Disruptive,  Discipline is ineffective. (http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/)

Many of the things on the list describe symptoms of my other children as well.  According to FoodIntol.com 75% of people have a food intolerance, so I continue to play detective to see what (if at all) my children are intolerant too.  Has anybody else suffered with a food intolerance or know of a good elimination diet and guide?

Praying for your Husband

Prayer is one of the areas of my spiritual life where I struggle the most.  Revive Our Hearts Ministry has several wonderful downloads especially some challenges for prayer.  Here's what Nancy Leigh Demoss says about praying for your husband:

“She does him good . . .” (Proverbs 31:12a)

Bless your husband by praying for him! The Apostle Paul instructed all Christians to pray for one another (Ephesians 6:18). This includes wives’ responsibility and privilege to pray for their husbands. Earnest prayer for your husband is good for him, for you and the spiritual health of your home (Proverbs 31:11-12).

Satan desires to destroy your husband, especially his character and his leadership in your relationship. Trust God through prayer as you daily surrender your husband and marriage to the Lord’s wise, loving care.

Will you join me for 31 Days of Praying for Your Husband?  Go here for the print out from Revive Our Hearts.


(Also check out the great free wallpaper downloads for your desk top here.)

Mission Family Nutrition - Week Four

This week I attended The Heart Of The Matter conference.  Monday through Thursday I logged into my computer for four "webinars" each day for wonderful homeschool inspiration and practical tips and tricks.  Wow!  Was it good!  After all the audio is edited, etc. it will be available on their website to purchase.  They also have a bigger online conference in August that I am already planning on "attending."  If you homeschool, this is a great inexpensive way to attend a homeschool conference!

So with webinars daily, and Buddy Bear getting sick, I didn't complete my Mission Family Nutrition goal of introducing my family to a new grain.  But I did try two new recipes that were Very well received by my family.  Early this week I received a free issue of Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking.  I was excited to sit down and browse through the magazine to find recipes to try with my family.  I love that Taste of Home always has such practical recipes with ingredients that most average people have on hand and not a lot of ingredients that I have never heard of nor have any clue where to buy them!

Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas
   This was very good!  Even Ally, my picky eater, ate some!  RaeRae
   had seconds (unusual), and My Man had thirds!  And as a plus, it
   was quick and easy to make.
Prep: 30min  Bake: 15min   Yield: 8 servings

2 cans (15oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (15oz) enchilada sauce, divided
1 cup (4oz) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, divided
8 whole wheat tortillas (8in), warmed


1.  In a small bowl, mash 1 can black beans (great way to involve kiddos!), set aside.  In a large nonstick skillet, cook the turkey, pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add the mashed beans, remaining beans, half of the enchilada sauce, and 1/2 cup cheese;  heat through.
2.  Place 2/3 cupfuls of bean mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in two 11"x7" or one 9"x13" baking dishes coated with cooking spray.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake, uncovered, at 425 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.


Nutritional Facts:  1 enchilada equals 360 calories, 11g fat (3g saturated fat), 55mg cholesterol, 808 mg sodium, 42g carbohydrate, 7g fiber, 24g protein.

This next week my goal is to experiment with making a healthy Ranch dressing from scratch.  Ranch dressing in our house is like white gold... it gets served with everything from vegetables to pizza, from chicken to watermelon (although the later doesn't happen often...yuk!).  Ally has even been known to dip her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in Ranch...YUK!  Personally, I prefer to leave Ranch for fresh veggies, salad, and sometime sandwiches; but I think that sometimes the rest of my family would starve without Ranch!

Mission Family Nutrition - Week Three

My week two goal in Mission Family Nutrition hosted by Melinda at Coming Clean was to make a new bean dish.  I don't cook a lot with beans.  I'd like to do more because it's a great source of protein and it's a great food to store long term.  One of the long term food storage rules is "store what you eat, and eat what  you store."  In a time of emergency or major crisis for our family, beans and rice won't do us much good if I don't know how to cook with them; so I figure I'd better learn now.  And even when there is not a crisis, it's a very inexpensive meal that can be quite tasty.  All that to say, I now have a new bean dish that my family approves of... well... Ally didn't actually approve, but she hasn't been approving of any food besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches lately...  Here's the recipe:

Red Beans and Rice

1lb pkg. dried red beans

water

ham, salt pork, or sausage cut into small chunks (I used ham)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

3-4 cups water

6 oz can tomato paste

8 oz can sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced (I used my garlic press instead)

1. Soak beans for 8 hours.  Drain.  Discard soaking water.

2. Mix together all ingredients in slow cooker.

3. Cover.  Cook on Low 10-12 hours, or until beans are soft.

4. Serve over rice. 8-10 servings

I didn't follow this recipe exact.  I used canned beans, so I also used less water.  I also didn't use the crock-pot.  I just combined everything together in a large kettle and heated it through on the stove top while the brown rice was cooking.  It was really good.  I cut the recipe amounts in half since it was a new recipe and I wasn't sure how well it would go over.  It was ALL gone!  My family of 5 (even Buddy Bear had some) ate the whole thing and would have eaten more!  So next time I can definitely make the whole batch.  ☺

My goal for this next week is to introduce my family to a new grain.  And to continue making a menu.  It's way to easy to just throw a pizza in the oven when I don't have a menu... 

....................................

Check out this link here for a free e-cook-book of 22 healthy chicken recipes.

Priorities

Projects.  I have so many projects going on right now.  So many things that need to be done... or rather I want to be done.  I wanted so badly this morning to roll up my sleeves and get to work.  Especially on my decorating projects... I have these dreadfully naked windows and just yesterday got a few things to help dress them up. (I hate naked windows! And I have to come up with something creative for the ugly polished brass rods, and eventually the books in those boxes will find a home on a yet to be built bookshelf, and...)  Yes, it was quite tempting to take a break from "preschool" and work on "house."  Then I was reminded that houses don't build relationships; doing preschool with your children builds relationships.  My kids don't care if our windows have (or don't have) curtains, if the desk is a mess, or you can't hardly walk through the basement sewing/laundry room. 

What they want... what they need ...is quality time with Mom.

Heat wave in the Nort Wuds!

OK, so you know you're living in the "Nort Wuds" of Wisconsin when... you go to the grocery store or gas station and you feel like a wimp because it's 25 degrees (F) and you're wearing a jacket and hat and everyone else is in short sleeved T-shirts...  (and that is a terribly long run-on sentence...)  Only the "old" people were wearing jackets.  Seriously?!  Yeah, I've lived here before; but honestly, I don't remember 25 degrees (F not C) being a heat wave!  "Ya gotta luv it!"  :)

Mission Family Nutrition - Week Two

 

Week Two of Mission Family Nutrition at Coming Clean.  Last week my goal was to create and follow a menu.  Well, the menu was created, but I can't say that I followed it exactly!  Of course right after I make the menu Ally got the 24-hr stomach flu that RaeRae had last week.  Since my whole day was spent taking care of her the only thing that we ate from the menu that day was breakfast (eggs and whole wheat toast, but not the fruit salad).  But it worked out well later in the week, yesterday.   Since I forgot to pull the chicken out of the freezer to thaw for dinner yesterday, I substituted what we were supposed to have for dinner Tuesday.  ...Be flexible...be flexible...

 

Here's a recipe for Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits that we had last night.  It's from Sue Gregg's Eating Better Cookbook series Main Dishes.  (Very educational cookbooks as well as delicious recipes.  I highly recommend them!)

 

1. Blend together:

   2 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour (pastry preferred)

   2 teaspoons baking powder

   1/2 teaspoon baking soda

   1/2 teaspoon salt

2. Cut into dry ingredients with pastry blender or two table knives until crumbly like small peas:

   1/4 cup butter (unsalted preferred)

3. Blend egg and milk, then stir into dry ingredients just until blended; do not overwork dough:

   1 egg

   3/4 cup buttermilk (if using buttermilk powder combine powder with dry    

      ingredients in step one, and add water here.)

4. Knead dough lightly about 10 times on lightly floured surface with flour on hands.  Pat out to 3/4" thickness and cut biscuits with rim of floured glass.

5.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

These biscuit are better made with Whole wheat pastry flour (ground from soft white wheat that has less gluten) instead of normal whole wheat flour (ground from hard wheat).  All I had last night was the normal whole wheat flour and the biscuits were definitely not as light and fluffy as traditional biscuits.  You could also use half whole wheat flour and half unbleached white flour.

This week it's my goal to make a new bean dish.  Thanks to WIC we get plenty of legumes.   I didn't grow up eating many beans (except for chili or burritos), so it's a challenge for me to serve my family beans.  If you have any tips, I'd definitely appreciate reading them!

Funtastic Frogs Review

 

I can't remember where I first saw these fun math manipulatives, but I was immediately drawn to the bright colors.  I knew that they would be a hit, and they are.

  

The girls love "playing" with them!  

 

As you can see the large frogs fit perfectly on one's fingertips to make great finger puppets!

The frogs themselves come in a container of 108 frogs in 3 sizes and 6 colors (orange, green, red, blue, yellow, and oops I forgot the purple!), and strings for lacing.  The happy frogs are made of colored plastic (they are not painted) and have a larger hole in the bottom (for putting on fingers or the logs you can get) and a small hole in the top for lacing.  Please note that the medium and small sized frogs make excellent choking hazards so keep out of the reach of any at risk children (you know your child)!  I purchased these from Rainbow Resource for $13.25.  They do have a smaller package available with 72 mixed frogs for $11.25 or 108 of just the small frogs for $9.00.  Keep in mind though that many of the cards and activities require all three sizes.  These are great fun on their own ("how many frogs fit in this circle?") as well as with the activity cards or workbooks.

I bought three sets of activity cards: Matching and Counting, Color patterns, and Number Patterns.  Rainbow Resource is the cheapest place to buy these at only $6.25 each.  Each set has 17 cards, and each durable card has one brightly colored side and 

 

one "coloring book" side that you can photocopy for recording or making your own patterns.

Matching and Counting Activity Cards: Using the frogs, match the color and size of each frog on the card.  Count the frogs.  Great for color and size recognition and learning to count.  The recommended age is 5 and up, but Ally can do this well and she is not yet 3.  This is the easiest set of activity cards.

Number Patterns Activity Cards:  Match the frogs on the card.  Look for a number pattern. Use the pattern to show what comes next or to find the missing frogs.  This set of activity card only uses the small frogs.

Color Patterns Activity Cards: Match the color and size of each frog on the card.  Look for a pattern.  Use the pattern to show what comes next or to find the missing frogs.

There are other products available as well such as counting logs (that the small frogs snap onto. Available on Amazon.), Lacing Patterns Activity Cards, and a wide variety of math workbooks.

"Funtastic Frogs are FUN!"