Lazy Days of Summer

Chief chicken chaser on his way to find "his" chicken.

Here chicken, chicken...where are you?

Our silkies safe from hawks in the run.

Girls in the sandbox which - I am surprised to say - has not become a chicken dust bath ;-)

While the kids enjoy some time off from school and we don't have a lot of gardening or harvesting to do they love to play in the sandbox and Mama loves to play in her garden box!  This is one of my raised beds that is really having a bit of trouble this year.  Just a week ago it was FILLED with dense, thick foliage on the squash and tomatoes.  Now, just rot remains in most of the bed.  I have decided that with all of the rain we get here in the summers there was simply not enough air circulation to keep the leaves dry.  Hindsight tells me that I should prune the squash leaves and tomatoes heavily.  Lesson learned.

The nice thing about my raised beds though has been that the chickens do not get in them much at all.  They are much more concerned with pecking and scratching the ground than in digging up my raised bed plants.  The powdery mildew in this bed has been a constant battle.  With the abundance of rain and poor air flow due to density, this is one battle I have lost for sure.  Oh well, it's all part of Dixie Living, right?





See you around the Homestead,
-Melissa

Healthy Home Remedy: How to Make Elderberry Syrup

It always seems this time of year brings merriment, overindulging, and inevitable sickness.  Our family has found a wonderful remedy that we have begun making at home - Elderberry Syrup.  There are many Civil War time accounts of its use to aid with dysentery and other stomach maladies.  I have not been able to find any growing locally so I am buying mine from Shoshanna here.  Once the dried berries arrive it is a cinch to whip up this helpful remedy in no time.  Because black elderberries have been shown to ward off illness and hasten recovery, we keep a Mason jar full in the fridge and take some everyday with grape juice to avoid the stomach crud.  So far, so good!  Here is the recipe we are using to support our immune systems:

Elderberry Syrup

4c. Water, well-water, filtered, spring, etc.

1c. Dried Elderberries

1/3c. Dried Echinacea

Fresh Ginger, 2 thumb-size nubs, scraped and chopped

1-2t. Whole Cloves

1-2t. Dried Rosehips

Half a lemon

1 1/2 c. Raw Honey

*Leave out echinacea if using as a preventive, rather than to treat an active illness as echinacea should not be taken for more than two weeks at a time.

Bring elderberries and all spices/herbs to boil in water in a medium aluminum-free pot.   

Reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer for an hour.  Stir from time to time to prevent sticking.

Allow to cook down until liquid has been reduced by half.  

Pour into strainer and allow to drain into pitcher or mason jar as liquid comes to room temperature.

Once COMPLETELY cooled, squeeze in juice of half lemon and stir in honey until dissolved.

Every adult (13+) gets 1T/day

Every kiddo gets 1t./day

Enjoying Dixie Living,

Melissa

Amazing Overnight Blueberry French Toast Breakfast Bake

Blueberries oh how I love thee...
This was not always the case for me.  Many blueberry seasons came and went with no heed, summer berry salads were passed over due to their inclusion of blueberries, even blueberry muffins were a big. fat. nope!
Then I read and read again of the wonders of these dark, super food berries.  These nutritional dynamos that were loaded with antioxidants and anthocyanins, and I just HAD to give them another chance.  Enter my favorite breakfast to save the day...my beloved friend French Toast.  But wouldn't those dark little berries ruin everything?
I was overjoyed with the flavor combination of cream cheese with the berries amidst crispy, tasty mounds of delicious sourdough bread.  Could it get any better?  Oh yes, yes, yes it could and it did!!  The second time I made this scrumptious delight I decided to include the Blueberry Sauce.  Allow me to add: Mind. Blown.
Taste for yourself and see.  Even with a family of 8 one pan is more than adequate for this overnight breakfast delight.  You will thank yourself again and again in the morning. This is also a perfect dish to prepare when entertaining overnight guests.

Now updated with recipe video here:

Ingredients:

12 Slices stale French Bread

12 Eggs

2 Cups Milk

1 T. Vanilla Extract

1/3 Cup Maple Syrup

2 8oz Pkg. Cream Cheese

1-2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

2 T. Cornstarch

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Water

Your children and husband will lavish you with praises while you reply it is no big deal.  After all, you are the mom.  By the way, could we please stop saying I’m JUST a mom? We are so much more than merely moms. We are chosen by God’s to be His child. We are treasured, dearly loved, and bought with a price. It is not right for us to belittle that which our God holds so precious. Isn't it a privilege that we are Mamas, enabled to carry a life, and blessed with a sacred job to do.

Melissa

The Wheels on the Bus

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Sew Cute: I have been busy with the typical seasonal sewing and hair bowing for the upcoming kid-friendly celebrations of St. Valentine's, spring, and even a little of St. Patrick's day.  However, I have been having even more fun with my new toy.  Here is a peek at it:What is it? What does it do? Just wait and see.  I have so many clever ideas and projects in my mind that my head may just burst if I don't get some of them out soon! I don't scrapbook AT ALL, so all of my ideas are for home decor and other craft embellishment uses. 

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taste Test: Here is a quick and tasty recipe that I enjoyed while at a friend's home recently.  Sometimes the simple recipes surprise you with their belly-warming comfort.  This is not one of the "healthy" items to add to your regular menu but it is an easy appetizer with only 3 ingredients and would make a terrific afternoon/afterschool snack.  I call them Mushroom Pinwheels.  Here's what you'll need to keep the kids full until suppertime: 2 rolls refrigerated crescent rolls, 1 bar cream cheese, softened, and 1 can mushrooms.

 

1.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, open your can of crescent rolls, and here we go. 

2.  Open the rolls onto your workspace and flatten them into a rectangle with your rolling pin as shown.

3.  Spread the dough with half of the softened cream cheese.

4.  Sprinkle generously with half of the mushrooms. (This was the part my kids enjoyed).  Have your ungreased baking sheet standing by. 

 5.  Beginning at either end, short or wide does not matter, roll up the dough rectangle.  I prefer to start at the long side, which is NOT what is pictured here.

6.  Using your sharpest knife, carefully slice through the rolled dough layers.  This is similar to making my cinnamon rolls here.  From this point you will place the slices on your cookie sheet and bake as directed, usually about 13 minutes.  These are best enjoyed while still warm.  I hope you like them.                      

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Family Matters: This school year has really been buzzing by.  Between music lessons, park days, field trips, museums, libraries, errands, Classical Conversations, and friend's houses we are out of the house at least 3 days per week.  Having a plan for each trip in the car is essential to my sanity.  I keep the fighting and whining knixed and take comfort in knowing that car time will not be wasted time by taking the following steps:

•  Be prepared: it seems so simple but this first step is the key to the whole puzzle.  If you're enjoying a baby during this season of life, keep the diaper bag refilled and ready to leave as soon as you return from the last trip.  Hang it on a hook by the door.  You know, a place for everything and everything in it's place.  The same goes for tots.  Have a special bag with toys, snacks and books that are for car rides only.  Grab their cup and you're out the door.
• Use your library's reservation system to provide you with a world of educational resources such as audio books and language CD's.  Audio books were such a hit with the kids that I began to look for other audio resources. To my utter amazement I found everything from multiplication table music, historical textbooks in story form, biographies of famous musicians, missionaries and inventors, to life sciences on CDs. To top it off, several of the resources had included activities for further study via games we were able to enjoy in the car. This prompted our discovery of many more games and tools for learning every subject imaginable while on the road. 
• Limit your vehicular video viewing.  I know almost every car has a DVD player now.  So?   Just as you would not allow limitless viewing at home, don't plunk your kids down in front of the set every time you get in the car.  Set guidelines for enjoying videos so that they will remain a special diversion.  My kiddos know that if we're going to be in the car less than 2  hours we won't be watching a movie.  It also helps stave off that "entertain me" mentality many young people seem to have.  This has proven so beneficial for us.  We have many of our most meaningful and memorable discussions of life, faith, and just plain fun while in the car chatting freely with each other.  We've also been know to enjoy more than our fair share of Karaoke-style singing in the car too.  Don't act too shocked if we pull up beside you at a red light one day and everyone in the car is singing full throttle! 

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keeping Hearts and Home:  I am gathering my notes and resources as I plan to discuss courtship in my next post.  I will primarily focus more on what courtship is not vs. a "this is what you must do" approach.  Every courtship looks different, that is the beauty of allowing God to write your love story.

See You Soon,

Melissa

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.
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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?
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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?
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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!

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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.
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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**

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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