What a Crew!

When I look into these faces I am often admonished to live out my parenting in a kinder, gentler manner as Matthew Henry describes.

Let not your authority over them be exercised with rigour and severity, but kindness and gentleness, lest you raise their passions and discourage them in their duty, and by holding the reins too tight make them fly out with greater fierceness. The bad temper and example of imprudent parents often prove a great hindrance to their children and a stumbling-block in their way. And it is by the tenderness of parents, and dutifulness of children, that God ordinarily furnishes His church with a seed to serve Him, and propogates religion from age to age. - Matthew Henry

Summertime Standby

Well I had hoped to be blogging about the NCFIC conference that our church hosted this weekend. Instead I am home with a feverish Merry and her uncharacteristic irritability due to a stomach bug.  Thank goodness for Elderberry syrup!!  I'll still give you the low-down on what we've been up to this week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sew Cute: Since I had several orders to fill this week for embroidered swim team towels and totes I didn't have much time for recreational sewing. I was pleased with how the towels turned out as it was my first time designing a logo from scratch. My customers were happy and I was too when other parents placed their orders for more towels. The only sewing I did for fun was this bib n bow n sock set that I am calling GaGa for Grapes. What do you think?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taste Test: With orders to fill, a sick little one, a swim meet this week, and extra food to be made for our conference at church I needed a break from the kitchen. This favorite standby comes together easily 'cause it's made in the crock pot. It's a little long on the prep time but then you can leave it once it's in the pot. My kids LOVE to chop, chop, chop. Add a loaf of homemade bread and some tea... and you've got dinner! No need for salad since there are plenty of veggies in the bowl. By the way, I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine.
Slow-Cooker Chicken and Pasta Soup
4 carrots, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 long strips lemon zest
4 sprigs fresh dill, plus 2-3 T chopped
2 T Extra Virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup small pasta, such as pastina
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
½ bunch fresh spinach, stemmed
4 ounces Feta cheese
Freshly ground pepper and some lemon wedges for serving
1 – Combine the carrots, lemon zest, dill sprigs, olive oil and ½ tsp salt in a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Season the chicken with salt and add to the slow cooker. Add the broth and 4 cups of water, cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.
2 – About 20 minutes before serving, add the pasta to the slow cooker, cover and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
3 – Stir the chopped dill, peas and spinach into the soup and cover until the spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Stir to break up the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and crumble the feta on top. Serve with lemon and bread, if desired.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family Matters: In January this year we set a goal to memorize the book of Titus as a family. We have been buzzing along nicely but I have noticed our pace beginning to slow a bit this summer. Perhaps it is due to our more relaxed schedule. Normally we review at lunchtime since everyone is together and we are not usually in need of getting to whatever is on our evening agenda. These last few weeks we have not all been together during the lunch hour due to practices, appointments, etc. Much of our review has been done independently. I trust our efforts will be more productive once we get back to our school year routine this fall. What works for your family as you seek to hide God's Word in your hearts?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Homestead Happenings: We are continuing to enjoy our home grown produce. My husband worked hard this year to till up a larger area for our summer garden. The size and quality keeps getting better each time we gather. Here is Freckles with our two largest yellow squash as well as our two largest cucumbers so far. Not bad for a suburban gardener, eh?
My Deal of the Week was found on eBay. I have 3 daughters, therefore we play with dolls a lot around our house. We have some very nice My Twinn dolls but I had never been able to bring myself to splurge on an American Girl doll. Call me cheap, call me mean but I just could not do it. In fact, I still haven't. Tender Heart has had her tender little heart set on owning one so she used money from her savings to purchase Molly. She's the cutie with the glasses and braids. We were fortunate to get an original Pleasant Company Molly in superb condition for $30. I'll be sure to post a pic of our new friend soon.

Enjoying Dixie Living,
Melissa

Just Peachy

True to my word this is the second installment of my Weekly Update format. It helps me to organize the few topics that I like to faithfully blog about rather than having to pull from the tons of random events of daily life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sew Cute: This week I spent some time working on some bib, sock, and bow sets that I plan to put in my shop. The bright pink and green are a perfect color combination for summertime little girls. I just cant get enough of these frilly socks for the days when you have to cover up those adorable little toesies!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taste Test: We are just starting to get some peaches in some of the local farmer's markets here in Georgia. Peaches are so versatile, fitting in seamlessly in any course of the meal whether in an appetizer salad, poached atop a main entree, grilled on the side, or featured in a tasty dessert. Here I served them in a tasty traditional Peach Muffin which I served at a brunch hosted in my home. I did substitute some of my home ground wheat for half of the white flour but just could not bring myself to trade it out entirely. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to use all wheat instead of half and half.
Georgia Girl Peach Muffins
Peel & Dice about 1-2 fresh peaches so that you have ½ cup
1 cup sugar, divided
1 egg
1 ½ cup all purpose flour (or substitute as I did)
1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp. Ground Nutmeg :)
1/2 cup milk
For Topping: 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon and ½ cup real butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Line or spray muffin cups. Cream butter and ½ cup sugar. Add egg; mix. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; stir flour mixture into butter mixture alternately with the milk. Gently fold in peaches. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. While baking, melt butter. Mix ½ cup sugar with cinnamon. When muffins are done, immediately dip tops into melted butter, then into cinnamon-sugar mixture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family Matters: We are participating this summer in our county Swim League. I cannot tell you what a great recreation this has been for all of us. I cannot fathom running from practice to practice and field to field as each of my children participate in a sport of some sort. Swimming, for us, has been the perfect solution.**Here's Tender Heart in the Backstroke**

Each week we not only compete against another swim team for points, but each child also competes against himself in an effort to improve his/her personal time. The top 50 times in each event will qualify to swim in the County Finals at the end of the season at Georgia Tech. As you know our family is a Tech family. Tech was also where the Olympic swimming events were helf when Atlanta hosted the Olympics here in 1996. For those to reasons, we would love to qualify. We were excited this week as Freckles earned his first "heat winner" ribbon so I am putting up a shot of my happy little fishy below. What makes my heart happiest though is seeing his sisters standing at the end of his lane cheering him on and being the first to give him a congratulatory hug when he comes out of the water.

**Yeah!!!! Heat Winner**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keeping Hearts and Home: It is summertime so we are in the garden. This week the kids and I had a lot of fun putting up some pickles for the first time. It was important to me that they be crunchy after processing, not just sour. I was pleased with the results. It is also quite rewarding to see my stash of home-canned items growing in the pantry.**We did some quick-process and some traditional**

As this was my first time canning with the girls it went a little slower than when I'm just buzzing right along on my own. As with all aspects of training the results will show up according to my patience and effort. This endeavor was no different. Lil' Liss ended up getting bored and leaving halfway through, Freckles scrubbed and chopped, disappeared, showed up periodically for tasting, and Tender Heart excitedly saw the entire process through to completion, helping and learning much along the way.
My Deal of the Week was found again at CVS. I am sorry but I do use disposable diapers for when we are out and about. It is just tidier for me not to have to tote around Jolly's soiled diapers until we get home. Consequently, we buy diapers in bulk. This week I bought a case of 96 diapers at CVS for $19.99, used a $3 off store coupon plus a $3 off Huggies coupon printed from here. That brought me down to $13.99 for the diapers. I paid that with Extra Care Bucks, scanned my Green Bag Card and left having paid $0 out of pocket, money added to my Green Tag fund, another $5 off store coupon, PLUS $10 more in Extra Care Bucks!!! Now if I can just find someone else to change Merry's diapers since she has started solid food...pyuuuwie!!!

Enjoying Dixie Living,
Melissa

Summertime Redesign for the Blog

This summer I plan to start a new format with my blogging. I am thinking it will be easier for me to do a weekend update post. I plan to include a Sew Cute section (for my creative endeavors), a Taste Test section (for new or interesting recipes), Homestead Happenings (to update you on our progress) a Keeping Hearts & Home section (for uplifting or thought-provoking musings, and an additional section known as Family Matters that will have the sole purpose of allowing me to blog about my wonderful blessings. Somewhere in one of the sections I will also plan to post my Deal of the Week as I have had a great time super couponing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sew Cute: We recently learned that my husband's sister and her family will be relocating to Charlotte with her job. We are excited for her but disappointed that we will be missing out on a lot of time together with her two little boys. To give them something to remember us by, the girls helped me design and create a couple of hooded towels. This is a project that went together really easily. Once I got the designs embroidered on the back, Freckles was able to help me choose a fun train-themed fabric that would suit their boyish tastes. These towels should last them several years. It is our hope they will think of us giving them a great big hug every time they wrap up snug and warm after their baths.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taste Test: Some of our “first fruits” from the summer garden are in and Tender Heart is here with me to share the beginnings of our bounty. The onions are some that are still left from the spring garden and the squash is what is coming on now. Yellow squash is not one of my favorites but it will be plentiful so I decided to get my family off on the right track with a tasty recipe to start the season. I have been trying to do a meatless meal one night per week as a matter of health as well as frugality. To stretch the meal you could add in some corn. Feel free to substitute your favorite cheese variety instead of mine. This recipe was well-received by my gang and not a bite was left!
Squash Strata
5 to 6 large squash
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt & Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup crumbled butter-type crackers (Ritz or Club crackers)
3-4 T real butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese, or similar
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
6 slices Asiago cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Butter a 9- by 13-inch casserole dish.
Clean the squash then slice into 1/4-inch circles. Here I've used the mandolin slicer.

Arrange the slices of squash in a strainer or rack over 1/2-inch of boiling water. Cover and steam just until barely tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain any excess liquid from the squash, and mix in the onion and garlic.

So that I could do something else I've used my steamer instead.

Arrange half of the cooked squash mixture in the prepared casserole dish. Add a layer of crumbled crackers, butter pieces, and 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese; then continue layering with the remaining squash, butter pieces, and shredded cheese to use it all. In a small bowl, mix the slightly beaten eggs into the milk with a small whisk or a fork, adding the salt and pepper while you are mixing. Pour the milk/egg mixture over the top of the entire dish and cover with the sliced Asiago cheese.

Here it is ready to go into the oven.
Cook approximately 30 to 40 minutes or until just beginning to brown on top. Serves about 6.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keeping Hearts & Home: I was so humbled this week by God's faithfulness. While working together in our garden my son was given the job of hoeing between the rows while the rest of us girls picked weeds from the plants. Even in the morning it was hot, hard work especially for him. Sometimes we sing as we work or just talk casually as a though strikes one of us. Here in Georgia the red clay in our soil can really bake pretty hard making the dry ground quite unforgiving. As Freckles pounded away he stopped to remark, “Mama, this ground reminds me to keep my heart nice and soft for God.” I smiled, thrilled that he had made his own application but as I continued to work it was hard for my grateful heart not to give thanks to our Faithful God who promises us that His Word will not return void.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family Matters: We are having a good summer enjoying more leisure time. It has been nice to have time off from formal school work, etc. I am not taking time off from frugal living though. This Deal of the Week comes from CVS, courtesy of those wonderful Extra Care Bucks! Again, I made money shopping. Here's what I got paid $10 to buy:

I bought a $9 fancy Schick Hydro Razor, used a coupon for $5 off so I paid $4, scanned my Green Card, and got $4 in Extra Care Bucks. They were out of the body wash I had also come there to buy so I visited another CVS on my outings. This time my coupon was for a BOGO any Gillette body wash. My husband really loves his body wash so I was excited to have this coupon. I grabbed the last two off the shelf, scanned them, scanned my Green Card, scanned my coupon, scanned my ECB card, then paid with my existing Extra Care Bucks. I left with a store coupon for my next purchase of $15 or more and $10 in Extra Care Bucks! This of course does not include the money they loaded on my Green Card too. Lest I forget I am also waiting for a check from Schick for $4 since they are offering a Schick Hydro Try Me Free rebate for the purchase of this razor. My earnings may go up to $14. Now if we could just turn off the lights when we leave a room...

Enjoying Dixie Living,
Melissa

Asparagus and Chicken and Cheese, Oh My!

Are your children afraid of the word "asparagus"? Does it give you, as a mom, the shakes? I happen to adore asparagus and am looking forward to having a few of my own in my garden one day soon.  Our bed is on year three and we should finally be able to harvest a real crop.  Until then I will continue to get them from the farmer's market every time they are available. One recipe that I have developed to make them more enjoyable involves something almost everyone loves...cheese and chicken. This comes together alot like a quiche. I originally made it with a refrigerated pie crust and it was great. This time around I made my own crust from scratch using whole wheat pastry flour...I know, I know! Either way it is sure to be devoured. Go collect what you'll need and let's get started.

Asparagus with Chicken

You will need the following:

1/2 refrigerated pie crust or make your own

1 cup milk or half and half

3 farm fresh eggs

2 T real butter

2 T olive oil

1 cup chopped fresh asparagus, use frozen if you must

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1t dry mustard

2 boneless, skinless free range chicken breasts

1 1/2c Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 450. Unroll your softened pie crust and roll it into about a 12 inch circle and line your pie pan with it. Use a deep dish pie pan and prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Bake that for 6-8 minutes, remove and turn your oven down to 375.

Melt your butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and saute your onion, garlic, and asparagus for about 3-5 minutes. DO NOT cook them to death! Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Using the oil that was left in the pan, add the chicken and cook it for about 5-7 minutes. You will want it to be lightly browned. Remove this from the pan and set aside too. In a bowl you will now whisk together the milk, eggs, mustard, and some salt and pepper to taste.

To asssemble this dish you will want to sprinkle about 1 cup of the cheese into the bottom of crust then layer the chicken and vegetables. Pour egg mixture over this and finally, top with the remaining cheese. I am showing two here because I made one to share. Bake for 30-35 minutes until set and allow this to cool 10-15 minutes before you actually serve it.

Presto! You just ate asparagus and lived to tell about it ;)



Enjoying Dixie Living,



Melissa

Anticipating Spring with Homestead Skills

"For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to SPRING forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. --Psalm 61:11

Don't these look fun? I had a customer put in an order for some embellished jeans and I knew these would be just right. I can just imagine her 5 year old hopping about in these.


There is a hand-drawn carrot that I've placed on top of the patchwork applique. I finished them with a simple zig-zag stitch so they'll fray just the right amount to complete the shabby look of these sweet springtime jeans. The double ruffles are extra full and feature a pink jelly bean fabric and the bottom layer repeats the polka dot from the carrot fabric above.

Needless to say, once my little girl saw these she wanted some too but I sent her to get the mailing envelopes instead. We didn't even have to visit the post office, just click, print, and set them in the mailbox. We discussed the verse above and the application it has for her letting righteousness and praise spring forth and she began singing. Her cheerfulness got me in the creative mode again and this is what I am currently working on...

I didn't want to leave her feeling too sad so I let her have some input into what I am working on now. Can you guess what these are going to be? I'll post again when they are finished.  Homestead life is about skills.  Sewing happens to be one I enjoy.  Sometimes it is simply utilitarian, but often I get to use my sewing skills to create beauty and fun.  How about you?

Enjoying Dixie Living,

Melissa

Keepers in Training

Our family is pretty large (6) and so is our laundry pile. We are still small enough in number that looking neat still matters to me. I don't like anyone to have stains on their clothes, nor do I like them to dress sloppily or in wrinkled clothing. Consequently, I have to scan each item before it's washed and treat items for stains. Hands down I have found that Oxi Clean can get out pretty much anything my kids do to their clothing. From baby blowouts to grass smears and ketchup they are gone! I keep a soak bucket for treating these stains and am always pleased with the results. That takes care of the stains but there is still the matter of ironing to keep clothes looking crisp and sharp. I used to do all of this myself, but who has the time? Furthermore what am I reinforcing in my kiddos? So many times our children ask, "Can I help, Mama"? or "Can I do that"? My standard reply used to be "No, thank you. This is too hard." But after watching my girls play they gave me the courage to let them iron. Now they iron their own skirts for me. What a blessing!

Here is Lil' Lynnie in action with an idea she came up with while playing...simply raise the ironing board only half way. Mine still locks in place and she is able to do her ironing at her height. That's a real win-win if you ask me. She is so proud when she gets to iron "just like Mama."
In constant pursuit of ways to train keepers at home,
Melissa