Recipe: Homemade Soaked Granola

This is one of our FAVORITE recipes... but somehow it never got shared. ~ Until now!! :)

Thirty Days of Thanx :: Day 13

Tonight I am thankful for God's ever faithful provision

and a lesson of reaping & sowing... 

Crockpot Lasagna: Kale!

Photo courtesy of

Food for thought...

Pennsylvania poster, c. 1917. Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.

Cow Appresheeation Day

This Friday, July 9th, is Chick-fil-A's annual Cow Appreciation Day!   So what does this mean to you? FREE food!!! :)  All you have to do is....

That's right...  go into your local Chick-fil-A restaurant**, dressed up like a cow, and you will receive a FREE Chick-fil-A (combo) meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner)!!. ~ For those "too chicken" to wear full cow costumes, Chick-fil-A will award a complimentary entree to customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory. :-)

Eat Mor Chikin!

www.cowappreciationday.com

FB event page
http://www.eatmorchikin.com/

**Void where prohibited. Offer valid at participating locations and only while supplies last. Terms and conditions apply. See store for details.

Delicious Chicken & Dumplings

This is one of our favorite meals! Adapted from the No-Guesswork Cookbook - to be made wheat-free!!

Delicious Chicken & Dumplings (from scratch)...
Yield: 8 servings
Cook Time: 30 mins + 20 mins

Of waffles, coffee and other morning beauties!

Movie Review: Food, Inc.

of Label Nazi's and MSG...

I was thinking today of how we've come - no only when it comes to foods we eat, but also the substances we use to clean - in both our house, as well as ourselves. Like, I have known for a long time, that things like MSG, nitrates & nitrites, High-fructose corn syrup, & hydrogentaed oils were bad... but honestly, never paid close attention. And who would ever know that even ingredients in the soaps we use - like: parabens, lauryl & layreth sulfates, scents, dyes, etc - can have such ill effects on our health & well being... as well as the place the Lord has entrusted into our care. Even plastic is proving to have more harm than good in long term effects. And because of it all, it seems I am becoming a regular bona-fide Label Nazi! -- my what having a baby does to a person. :-)

Something interesting I learned today (thanx to the awesome site: Food Renegade!)....

Did you know MSG has over 40 different legal names that the FDA permits food manufacturers to use in their labeling?

From TruthInLabeling.Org:

There are over 40 food ingredients besides “mono-sodium glutamate” that contain processed free glutamic acid (MSG). Each, according to the FDA, must be called by its own, unique, “common or usual name.” “Autolyzed yeast,” “maltodextrin,” “sodium caseinate,” and “soy sauce” are the common or usual names of some ingredients that contain MSG. Unlike the ingredient called “mono-sodium glutamate,” they give the consumer no clue that there is MSG in the ingredient.

The Truth in Labeling Campaign has asked the FDA to require manufacturers to identify ingredients that contain MSG by listing MSG on a product’s label. In response, we have been told that FDA regulations require that all food ingredients be called by their “common or usual names,” but there is no requirement that a constituent of an ingredient be identified. Processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is considered to be a constituent of a hydrolyzed protein or fermentation product because the MSG is created during the hydrolyzation or fermentation process. To autolyze yeast, for example, yeast is subject to processing; and during that processing, protein is broken down, and glutamic acid is freed. The finished autolyzed yeast product will, therefore, always contain processed free glutamic acid (MSG) as a constituent of the autolyzed yeast. The MSG will not have been poured into the autolyzed yeast. Rather, the MSG will have been processed into the autolyzed yeast.

The distinction between having MSG poured into an ingredient and processed into an ingredient is important because the glutamate industry plays on this distinction in their efforts to hide the presence of MSG. One of their favorite ways of hiding MSG is to claim that there is “no added MSG” in a product. If MSG is processed into a product instead of being poured into a product, they declare that there is “no MSG added” or “no added MSG,” in the product, even though they know full well that the product contains MSG.

In other words... don’t trust packaged foods — any packaged foods. Even the organic kind can be deceptive! - So, in a nutshell... Take charge... read labels... and don't assume anything is safe! ;)

Dairy Farm

Today our Conscious Parenting group took a little "field trip" out to a [raw] dairy farm! 

Our Food Blessing!

God DOES provide!! Don't believe it? Check this out!!

Sadly, B is still out of work... so our funds - even for groceries - is extremely thin. But don't you love how, just when you start to worry & lose hope... God does something that is so amazing, it just knocks your socks off?! Over the last 3 days, we have been blessed to experience this first hand! So now, as I look around my kitchen.. this is what I see....

My Kitchen Table...

A 360 of My Countertops...

What a mighty God we serve!!

Organic Candy...

I just found out about this company that sell Organic candy! The company is called Pure Fun Organic Candy... it's products are made exclusively in Canada and the US... and have built a fine reputation for what is NOT found in their candy: NO Gluten, NO GMO'S, NO FD&C Colors, NO Casein, NO Dairy, NO artificial flavors, NO dyes, NO Synthetics, NO Pesticides, NO preservatives…nothing but Pure Fun. BUT they do have good stuff IN them to: organic cane juice, organic brown rice syrup, and natural colors derived from great stuff like red beet concentrate, alfalfa extract, red cabbage, annatto, and other yummy fruits and vegetables.They come in many different flavors and candy types….fruit rocks, pure pops, fruit pinwheels, citrus slices, chocolate meltdowns, candy canes, and root beer barrels, to name a few.

I wouldn't give any to KB yet... but it's good to know it exists for if I ever want an alternative, away from all the the high fructose corn syrups, coloring, preservatives, etc.

Olive Garden!

We just got back from Olive Garden with my dad... where we took advantage of the [soon to expire] "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" special - with salad (& bread sticks)... yum! I had the Asiago Garlic Alfredo with Whole Wheat Linguine.. it was fabulous!! (and I am stuffed!) Unfortunately, we were too full to have some of their special dessert - a seasonal favorite of mine... Pumpkin Cheesecake....
Oh well. Next time. Hmm... do I see an opportunity for an inexpensive date night sometime soon? Ooohh.... that sounds like a good idea!

Question of the day...

Is eating cheese puffs dipped in chili is really that gross or weird??

We had chili dogs, cheese puffs, brownies & lemonade for dinner at church the other night... (though not the healthiest meal.. it was graciously offered, at not cost to us!) After eating what was on my plate, I had some leftover chili, and so decided to dip my cheese puffs in it. I was quite enjoying myself, when all of a sudden someone goes.. "OMG are you pregnant?!" I was like, "um, no.. not that I am aware of." (confused) She seemed so grossed out me eating them - though I really didn't think it was that wierd! I told her so, as well as "if I was dipping my brownie in my chili, then that question would make more sense..." (lol!) I asked my DH and he said he thought it was pretty normal sounding... but I just wondered what y'all thought??? Weird, just different, or normal???

Food

Today I found myself feeling weary over the current (sparse) amount of food in our kitchen... and I had come to a point, where I was at a complete loss as to what other creative things I could do, with what little bit we had left. We are desperate need to go grocery shopping.... yet I knew just getting all our pending bills paid, was going to be a miracle in itself! - It was all becoming way too overwhelming to my mind, emotions... and stomach. In a state frustration, desperation, & tears, I called my earthly lifeline.... my mom (Marmee). I can't tell you how thankful I am to have such a wise, resourceful, & creative role model in my life! She assured me that it really will all be okay.... and then (over the phone -praise the Lord for free Alltel to Alltel!) patiently walked me through making a list of everything I had in my refrigerator, in-house freezer, chest freezer & pantry... and then helped me brainstorm creative ideas for meals. The more I sorted, the more the Lord began showing himself strong. I began pulling out things I never remember having... several chicken breasts, a chicken carcass with a little meat on it (to use for soup), a pork tenderloin, some sweet potatoes fries, some brown rice, two and a half bags of frozen fruit, some whole wheat flour, and lots of peas! Wow! Between shouts of amazement & declarations of praise to the Lord, mom began listing meal ideas as I am madly scribbled them onto my scratch paper! When everything was said and done - to my delight & surprise - we were able to come up with 10 full dinners... all possible without ever having to step foot in the store! (Thank you Lord!) I never in a million years thought I would come up with that much! God is SO good!

On tonight's menu... Whole wheat blueberry pancakes & smoothies! (yum!)