Artisan Bread in Minutes

1 1/2 tbs yeast
1 1/2 tbs salt
3 cups warm water
6 1/2 cups flour (white or half wheat and half white)

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Then place the lid on the bowl slightly cracked open. Let set on the counter for 2 hours and then place the bowl in the frig for up to 2 weeks. If you allow it to set the full two weeks in the frig you will have a light sourdough type bread.

Once you are ready to use it just take out the portion needed, cover it with flour so it doesn't stick to your hands and shape it as you desire. It's a free forming bread so you don't need bread pans but you can use them if you like. Otherwise place your bread on a lightly greased baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Then top it with a little flour and score it. Cover with a dry dish towel and let rise 40 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 with a pan of water on the bottom shelf to allow for steam creating that beautiful crust. Bake about 35-45 minutes.

Now this same recipe can make pizza, hot dog and hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls and lots more. You can mix cinnamon and raisins in the dough and make cinnamon raising bread, or cover the bread with nuts, cranberries, herbs, cheese, whatever you desire either mixed in or topped. You can make flat bread on the BBQ. Best of all you can always have quick easy bread fresh from the oven to make on hand all the time. Enjoy!

Homemade Tortilla's

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (my choice oils are shortening or grapeseed)
1 cup hot water

Mix ingredients in a bowl (preferably stainless steal allowing the dough to stay warm). I keep the bowl covered with a plate. It's much easier to roll the dough out if it stays warm. On a floured surface roll a small ball of dough in a paper thin circle. Have a pan preheated in the stove and ever so lightly flour the pan just before you place the tortilla in it. Cook on both sides about a minute. Stack the tortilla's but then let them cool completely before placing them in a zip lock in the frig or the condensation with cause them to stick together and become soggy. They should last about 2 weeks in the frig. Enjoy!

Tip - I use half white flour and half wheat for better nutritional value and you'd never know by the taste it was half wheat. It's amazing!

Yogurt Making

Get yourself a yogurt therm, cultures at www.cheesemaking.com and discover just how simple and cost efficient it is to make your own yogurt. The yogurt therm and yogurt culture you purchase will give specific instructions but in my size therm and the type of yogurt culture I chose it's as simple as heating 4 cups milk on the stove to 185f (I like adding 1/4 cup organic powdered milk but you don't have to) let it cool to 112F then place in the yogurt therm (which I plugged in before I got started) then add the culture, let sit a few minutes and gently stir in and let it sit for 6-12 hours depending on how strong a tasting yogurt you like, then place in frig. If you don't want to purchase the cultures you can add a 1/2 cup plain yogurt since the cultures are still active. Save a 1/2 cup of your homemade yogurt to make the next batch. As long as you keep it plain you can reuse the yogurt about 10 times before providing new culture. If you already used yogurt for the culture reuse it about 5 times. The trick is to make sure it doesn't go bad before you make some more but the perk to homemade yogurt is that I've found that it lasts about a month or more depending on how cold your frig is and how you store it. If you wish to add favors to it set aside your half cup for reuse and then gently fold some blended fruit into it.
Yogurt Therms are about $25-$40 at any kitchen appliance store. The cultures are only a few dollars. Enjoy!

Fuel

Despite this films perspective in evolution and global warming I can't throw out the bath water with the baby. I found this film very encouraging, inspiring and informative in natural living but for me it will always be about returning to God's natural order. It's a must see!

Food Matters

Why We Should Grind Our Own Flour

Whole wheat is a nutritious food but the vitamins and minerals dissipate quickly once the wheat has been ground into flour. In fact, within the first 24 hours the flour has lost 45% of it's nutrients and by the time 72 hours has passed it has lost a whopping 90%! 90% of nutritional value of the wholesome grain that does not make it in to your family's bodies. Is it any wonder we have to take nutritional supplements?

The taste of freshly ground flour is another reason to grind your own. Imagine that if that much of the nutrition is lost a comparable amount of the taste of the fresh grains must be lost as well.

The Structure of Whole Wheat Kernels

The whole wheat kernel or berry is made up of distinct parts, all of which contribute to the high quality nutritional value of the wheat. The wheat has high amounts of vitamins A, E and B. Wheatberries found in the tombs of the pharaohs in Egypt and examined still contained the full range of 26 vitamins and minerals, over 2000 years after it had been harvested!

The outside of the kernel is called the bran. Bran is good for the fiber that the body needs as well as helping to regulate cholesterol. It helps to detoxify the body which is an important function in our society where toxins assault us from every angle.

The wheat germ is the part of the kernel that sprouts. It holds the life of the wheat, the ability to produce plants like itself. It has the highest density of vitamins B and E in the wheat. This is where wheat germ oil is found, a healthy oil that helps the body absorb vitamins that are not water soluble.

Finally, the endosperm is the part of the wheatberry that holds the starch. This is the only part left in white flour. It is literally only the starch which breaks down into sugar in the body, and is meant as a food source for the plant as it grows, before the leaves come out and photosynthesis begins.

Written by- Marye Audet

When you grind your own flour freeze it to preserve the nutrients.

Healthy Zuccini Bread

3 eggs

1 cup softened butter

2 cups honey

3 cups grated zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour (half whole wheat half white)

Whip the eggs then add honey, butter and vanilla and blend until smooth. Then add the remaining ingredients and slowly stir as you add flour until just blended. Place in 2 well buttered loaf pans and bake at 325 for 1 hour. Enjoy!

Best Bread Recipe Ever

3 cups luke warm water
2 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. yeast
1/2 cup butter, or oil, or shortening
1/2 cup honey or white sugar or brown sugar or molasses
1 tbs. salt
6-8 cups flour

What I love most about this recipe is you can create whatever you want out of it (i.e bread, rolls, pretzels, pizza dough, garlic bread, cheese sticks, cheese bread, cinnamon raisin bread, etc.) use whatever you have around the house and make it wheat or white or both. A few healthful tips is that butter will always be healthier than oil, honey and molasses is better for you than sugar and as always wheat is better than white.

Mix the yeast and sugar with the warm water and let set 5 minutes until it's bubbly. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. You have to become a good judge of what your dough should look like. You want a dough that pulls like a rubber band without tearing. You want it to be a bit sticky but also dry enough that it pulls off the sides of the bowl. Knead it about 10 minutes and then place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a dry dish towel and let rise 1 hour on the counter. Then punch down and form the dough into whatever your making. Place in greased pan, cover and let rise 30 minutes on the counter far away from the stove because now your going to want to preheat the oven to 350F. For bread your going to bake it about 45 min to an hour. Rolls about 30-40 min. Everything will be in and around these times. When you can stick a knife in it and it comes out clean it's done. Enjoy!

Chili & Corn Bread

I love recipes for idea's but I never stick to them because in the end your taste buds will make the final analysis. So this recipe is a little of this and little of that, throw it all together in a pot over the stove and you have dinner.

Chili

1 lb ground beef
2 (8oz) cans of beans (pretty much any kind of bean except Garbanzo)
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 small onion
1/4 cup green chili's
2 tbsp sugar
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Cook the meat and onion together in a pot until the meat is fully cooked through. Then add the rest of the ingredients and bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it cook another 10-15 minutes.
Now if you are serving a vegetarian and some who wish to have meat then cook the meat separately and mix the onion in with the sauce then divide them and add the meat to one of them. Then say Mom and Dad want spicy but the kids can't handle it. Split it up.

Keep it sweet -for the kiddies
parsley
basil
little more sugar

Hot and Sassy
chili powder
Tabasco or jalapeno sauce
red peppers

Once served don't forget to top it off with some shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and green onions.

Corn Bread

1 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (safflower is best and better for you)
1 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2 pan. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and place in pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. For my family of four I usually have to double this batch. It's a big hit in our home. Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour (I use wheat and it tastes great)
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup oil (saflower is best and better for you)
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

Optional Topping
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan. Mix all ingredient in bowl except blueberries until just blended. (If you stir muffin mixes very much you end up with a rubbery muffin). Then add the blueberries and fold into the rest of the dough so as not to crush them. (I use frozen blueberries) Place in muffin pans. If you desire to use the topping melt the butter then add the rest of the ingredients and place on top of the muffins. Bake for 15-20 minutes on the bottom rack or the bottom of them will burn before they bake through. Enjoy!

Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
1 tbs butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs flour
1 tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Combine and stir together dry and wet ingredients. Then add together, stir just until well blended. Place in greased 9x9x2 pan. Then melt the butter in a small bowl and add the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon and strinkle on top. Place in oven on the bottom shelf about 25-35 minutes until cooked through.

Tator Tot Casserole

I thought the regular versions where boring so I modified the recipe as follows.

1 bag of tator tots
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups milk
1 cup cheddar or mozzarella cheese
1 tbs garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Cook the ground beef and onion in a pan on the stove. Then mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Place just enough tator tots in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish to cover it. Then pour the meat mixture over the tator tots and the rest over the top of that. Cover the top of it in cheddar or mozzarella cheese and bake in over for 40-60 minutes. Enjoy!

To Disciple and Be Discipled

I find myself discipled when I study words like honor, which follows with honorable, respect with respectful, correction with correct, instruction with instructed, restraint with restrained. We must become students before we can become teachers. (1 Tim 1-5-8)

To disciple is to teach, to train or bring up. To discipline is to educate, instruct, cultivate and improve. To correct is to set right. To punish is to chastise. To chastise is to correct. To honor is to respect, to be in submission to. To be honorable is to be worthy of respect. To submit is to surrender without murmuring. To discuss is to resolve, to examine. To control is to restrain, to overpower.

These words will guide a parent’s journey and will either be to our destruction or to our praise. There is the principle and the method. We cannot deny the importance of the principle but as to the method of how it’s applied we have much to decide. If we are guided by these principles through intention but fail to apply them in appropriate application we have failed. It is only by both the intention and the application that we may raise our children in the way of the Lord. It is not enough to say you’re sorry if you don’t mean it. It’s not enough to say you love Jesus if you don’t live it. It’s not enough to require something of your child which you have been ignorant to uphold yourself. (Rom 10:3-4)

My father-in-law has said that “little children are not problems to be solved; they are little mysterious to unravel.” We need greatly to understand our children for who they are and not what we want them to be. To love them even when they are wrong and not tare them down even more. To praise them and lift them up and stop expecting more. To be kind to their feelings and not embarrass them to put them to shame. To be tender to their needs and not grow weary of their ways. To listen to them and not ignore their plea’s. To be sensitive to them and stop thinking to yourself. To be tender to them, most of all when they have done wrong. Do unto your child what you would have your child do unto you. This is the example in which you give your child to live by.

To do these things we are teaching them a better way, we are educating them to improvement of mind and character unto the Lord, we are setting right the wrong ways, we are showing them our submission to the Lord that they may have respect for us and for God. We are becoming worthy of His praise and we are resolving with our children matters of the heart that when God examines us He may be glorified and when these attributes are exercised we have no need to overpower them. For they have become our “willing” disciples as we make witness of God. (Pro 14:5-6)

-Stacey Wallace

Issues Of The Heart

Heart appears in scripture eight hundred and thirty times in seven hundred sixty two verses. These scriptures tell us that the heart is the seat of affection. (Eph 4:23) His elect are graciously affected of God by their hearts. (Pro 21:1) Our hearts are enlightened (2Cor 4:6), tried (1 Thes 2:4), have faith (Rom 10:10), trust (Pro 3:5), love (Matt 22:37), fear (Jer 32:40), fidelity (Neh 9:8), zeal (2 Chr 17:16) and to be perfect (Psa 101:2). The heart should render to God obedience (Eph 6:6), it should seek God (Psa 84:2), be upright (Psa 97:11), clean (Psa 51:10), pure (Matt 5:8), sincere (Lk 8:15), repentant (Psa 34:18), devout (Psa 119:10), wise (Job 9:4), tender (Eph 4:32), holy (1 Pet 3:15), compassionate (Lam 3:51) and lowly (Matt 11:29). Our hearts can also be full of iniquity (Rom 1:21), love evil (Jer 17:5), be a fountain of evil (Matt 12:34), be way ward (Pro 6:14), blind (Rom 1:21), double-minded (Isa 9:9), unstable (Pro 27:8), hard (Mark 6:52), deceitful (Jer 17:9), proud (Pro 18:12), subtle (Pro 7:10), sensual (Rom 8:7), worldly (2 Chr 26:16), malicious (Ecc 7:26), diabolical (John 13:2), covetous (2 Pet 2:14) and foolish (Ecc 9:3). But what do these mean? What is the extent of these understandings? How do we keep our hearts unto all righteousness and how will that show forth in our lives that our child may by their hearts glorify God by our example?

We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and might, to have a willing mind and contrite spirit. (Mat 22:37 & Psa 34:18) To keep our hearts fixed on God, to be fruitful unto righteousness. (Col 1:10) To keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. (Pro 4:23)

The heart by definition is the inner self that thinks, feels and decides. The heart is central to a person, it directs his steps, chooses his thoughts, produces his life. What is in a man’s heart, so is he.

Our children will only be as good as what is in their hearts. We may only guide them in uprightness when our hearts are right. We cannot expect our child to do any better than we have done ourselves. Most assuredly we know that the Lord does not see, nor judge as we do. For a man can only look to the outward appearance but the Lord looks to the heart. (1 Sam 16:7) We can only know a man’s heart by what his life produces. (Matt 12:33 & 7:20) As teachers, as parents we must fashion our hearts unto God that our lives show forth righteousness unto our children. When our hearts are not diligent unto God, our lives will become a lie and our children will reflect that lie. But when our hearts seek after the Lord with all our strength, soul and mind, our steps are directed by Him, our thoughts are formed by Him, our strength is found in Him, our love is all for Him, our souls belong to Him, our words are about Him and our hearts live in Him. May this be what God sees in our hearts and our children.

-Stacey Wallace

Homemade Essential Oils

1. Mix 1/4 ounce of bulk herbs of your choice with 1 cup of carrier oil.
2. Add the mixture to your slow cooker and allow it to cook on very low heat all day (about 8 hours).
3. Remove the mixture from the crockpot and strain.
4. Place in a jar, storing in a cool, dark place. The oil should last about 6 months.

Essential Oil Ailment Guide (Source: Remedies for Life)

For PMS
Combine geranium, peppermint, rose, and ylang-ylang oil. Breathe it in daily.

For happiness
Combine chamomile, clary sage, valerian, and ylang ylang adding a few drops to a bath.

For headaches
Combine basil, chamomile, lavender, and peppermint and breathe it in daily.

-by care2.com

Money Saving Tips

This is a list of ways I've learned where I can save money. You may pick and choose where and how you wish to save but as a stay-at-home Mom the possibilities are limitless. I've found that being a family on one income, my job is learning to save the money my husband provides so that it can be stretched as far as possible.

1. Paper Products (I buy only toilet paper - use clothe napkins and microfiber towels for cleaning and messes, toilet paper for kleenix and stay away from paper towels and plates) - Saving about $32 month
2. Make your own laundry detergent (takes only 20 minutes) - Savings $20 month
3. Make your own cleaners (takes only 1 minute) - Savings $8-15 month
4. Make your own hygiene products (minus shampoo or conditioner)-it's easier and faster than it sounds and of course always better for you (recipes found in my blog and favorite sites) - Savings more than you can imagine.
   
5. Use clothe wipes and diapers - Savings $20-30 month
6. Every 6 months make a point to call up on everything you pay monthly to and see if they have promotions or idea's for lowering your bills.
   
7. Keep a compost pile to put trash to use
   
8. Gardening and canning (don't forget herbs) anything you can grown, even one tomato plant will save you money
9. Save rain water - best for gardening and saves a lot
10. Always buy used or refurbished- Savings limitless

Coupon Shopping

Stack your savings

1. watch for store promotions
2. coupons (cut coupons from printable coupons on-line or newspaper coupons).
3. electronic coupons (when you visit your store on-line and add coupon savings to your discount card).

Don't forget to double your coupons (gather as many as you can of one item).
4. if there is a particular brand item you like you can go to their web sight and ask them if they will send you coupons.
5. never impulse buy (go with a list and stick to it)
6. stock up on sale items (that way you never buy regular price).

The best way to save in any shopping needs is to always look for printable coupons. You save on just about anything from clothes to shoes, hardware, books, tools, car maintenance, restaurants, jewelry and lots more. Just go to any search engine on-line and look up the store or item name and search printable coupons. You'll be amazed how much you can save. Organize a weekly list of needs for the household and set aside an hour each week seeking out coupons for those items and you'll be amazed how much money you can save with very little effort. You can even shop organic and save.

Organic
www.organicfoodcoupons.com

www.horizondairy.com

www.organicvalley.com

www.kashi.com

www.stoneyfield.com

www.seventhgeneration.com

www.amys.com

www.earthsbest.com

Groceries

www.coupons.com

www.smartsource.com

www.safeway.com

www.frys.com

Anything & Everything Coupons

www.wow-coupons.com

www.couponcabin.com
www.mysavings.com

www.coolsavings.com

www.printablecoupons.com

Search for the "Coupon Mom" at youtube.com and get's lots more tips and help.