The Very First Easter - great book for kids

The Very First Easter by Paul L. Maier

This is a wonderful book to read during lent. It has very nice pictures and it is told in story form. Mom and Dad are telling Chris (their son) about the first Easter. It is backed up with scripture. It is very nicely done book.

Book Review - Plain Wisdom

Plain Wisdom

By Cindy Woodsmall & Miriam Flaud

This was such a wonderful book. I really enjoyed reading it. Miriam is an Old Order Amish woman. She and Cindy teamed up to write the book. Each chapter begins with a scripture verse that ties into the subject of the chapter. Then, both Miriam and Cindy will share their individual thoughts on the subject. What I found interesting is how universal many of the ideas are. Even though the women are from completely different cultures both share the same God & Jesus. Additionally, so many feelings and emotions were shared by both - for example one chapter dealt with the worry / concern for the safety of family members traveling. It really impressed upon me how much we (as humans) are alike even though we might live in different cultures. We all hope, dream, live, laugh, love, fear.

They also shared many of their favorite recipes. I can't wait to make the Amish Friendship Bread starter and share it with others. Many, many years ago I had received a starter from a friend and it made such wonderful bread. I am excited to try the one listed in the book.

This book was very endearing and insightful. It is full of wisdom - much of it biblical wisdom. It is neat to see a friendship that has survived the obstacles of time, distance, cultural differences, the busyness of raising a family - and still it has endured and been strengthened over time.

New study

Mercola has a very informative article on a new study that links Breast cancer to aluminum.

He lists vaccines as a major source of aluminum.

Here is a link to the article:

article

There are two other sources of aluminum that I have found. Aluminum is found in deodorant and baking powder. A few years ago I switched to using Arm & Hammer Essentials Natural Deodorant. It is aluminum free and can be found at most grocery stores. Tom's is another good brand that I have used.

The baking powder is harder to find - I have not found it in the local grocery stores but Trader Joe's carries Rumford Aluminum-Free Baking Powder. They don't have it all the time but seem to stock it during the holiday baking season. It was fairly inexpensive there. I am sure you can find it at your local health food store, too.

Just wanted to share a few products that I have found that work well and are aluminum free.

The Five P's

I try to live by the 5 P's ------ have you heard this one?

Prior

Planning

Prevents

Pissed off

People

A friend of mine doesn't like the 'pissed off' and prefers to say 'perturbed' - so prior planning prevents perturbed people. So if you find that to be more word friendly - use that version. Either way the thought is the same. It is something that I try to live by as a little bit of planning can easily prevent a good day from turning bad. When you have little ones, it entailed making sure enough diapers and baby food are taken along. Hungry babies and 'messy' babies make for a very unpleasant day! Nothing can ruin a trip faster. I have a child with a dairy allergy. It is important to bring along foods he can eat. We can't always guarantee we can get the foods that are safe for him when we are out and about.

Lately, I have also been thinking about the economy and all the 'bad' reports I have been reading. Plus, there have been so many disasters around the world lately. One of our IT people at church has a son that has been living in Japan for awhile. He is not in the quake area but south of it. They have black outs for 3 hours about 2 times a day. There are food shortages and long lines to get gas. Plus gas is being rationed. (Please pray for Japan.)

It got me to thinking about how prepared should we be for various situations here in the states. Most of the time, disasters tend to affect only a certain region - and not the whole country. I also doubt that the level of devastation that is affecting Japan would happen here. Still, how prepared are we? What preparations have you done?

feeding teenaged boys

Wow - it is amazing to me how very much a teenaged boy will eat!!

I have found a few things that are cost affective, filling and cheap!

Potatoes - I buy them in the 10 pound bag - usually not overly expensive. I think the last bag was round $3.00 or so. Whenever I make a meal in the oven, I throw in potatoes to bake. These are then used the next day to make hash brown potatoes. I put some olive oil in the pan. Add some onions and green peppers. Then cut up the already cooked potatoes into slices. Throw those in. Cook until warm and slightly brown (or crispy if you like).

While I don't recommend it for adults as we don't need all the carbs, for a teenaged growing boy that works out all the time and burns off all that fuel --- it is a great side dish for lunch and not to expensive. It is very filling!

I also make a special treat for the boys - because they always seem to need snacks! Honestly, we can finish a meal and as I am still doing the dishes they are in looking to eat! I have started taking apples and dehydrating them! It is a wonderful, healthy snack. They love them and they aren't took expensive.

Just sharing a few ideas! What have you found that works?

Cross Country Skiing

My youngest has some wonderful Cub Scout leaders that took their den on a cross country skiing outing. He had just so much fun. So much fun! Above you can see him giving me the 'do I have to pose for a picture', look. Below one of the older scouts is helping to get his skis on.

Ready, set, go!

The group relaxing in front of the fire in the lodge afterwards.

What a great outing!

new recipe

I tried a great new recipe for chicken ---- and I took a great picture of it. I can 'see' the picture on my camera but can't download it to my computer. My husband is working on fixing the problem. I decided to blog on - and just go with clip art.

Don't you love my chicken! Yep I cooked her up!

Anyway, the whole family loved this even my picky eaters!

Take French's Original French Fried Onions - about 2 cups. Crush with a rolling pin (or a glass will work).

Take boneless chicken breasts and dip them into an egg.

Then coat with onion crumbs, pressing them to the chicken if they don't stick well.

Place chicken on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 50 minutes. (Or however long it takes for the chicken to no longer be pink in the center.) I had really large chicken breasts and they were still partially frozen - so they took about 50 minutes. If they are smaller and completely thawed I would think 30 minutes would do the trick.

The chicken tasted delicious. I actually have to confess that I heard this on TV on a commercial for French's Fried Onions. I hate to even admit that the commercials 'sell' anything. I truly try to blot most commercials out. For some reason, I was listening and this commercial caught my eye. I actually sent my husband to the store to buy French's Fried Onions today just to make this. Sadly, the commercial did the trick. It was good though.

A sign........

That yes I am getting older ------- I have had to get glasses for driving ------ for distance. I would like to say they make me seem like...........

--------- a wise owl

Sadly, I think reality is they are more of a sign of getting older. They aren't quite grandma glasses as those are the ones you need to magnify the print. And those must be perched on the end of the nose to really get the full grandma affect. Mine, I feel, are more stylish than that! I can't wait until I need them for distance and for reading. (Bifocals! - Yuk!) Or better yet I can have two pairs and perch the one I am not actually using at the time on the top of my head - for safe storage. That would look very hip, wouldn't it!

Herbal tea for colds

What a wonderful find! We tried this for the first time this year and both brands worked fabulous.

Traditional Medicinals Gypsy Cold Care &

Yogi Cold Season

Both are organic, caffeine free, herbal teas specifically blended to help cold symptoms. It is amazing but you can feel your airways opening up as you drink them. We are huge fans of the Yogi teas but found the Traditional Medicinals Gypsy Cold care to be just as good.

Lenten bible study for adults

Bread & Broth by Cynthia E. Cowen

Again, I was hoping to share about this wonderful study before lent began. Our Christcare group is doing this study and it has been such a joy. It is food, fellowship and biblical study all rolled up into one. We have just so enjoyed it. The study is done very well.

&

There are 6 sessions. For each session a soup or stew is suggested to serve along with studying about the lives Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Elisha, John the Baptist and Jesus. We normally meet at 7:00 but for this study are meeting earlier at dinner time. We do change it up and serve the dinner first as most of us can't wait that long. We wouldn't be able to focus on God's word as we would be too hungry to think straight. So we have changed up the order listed in the study. We discuss why that particular meal was served after we have eaten it but we all get the concept. It has been working very well and is such a wonderful way to share God's word. We are nourishing ourselves with God's word and with bread & broth! Nourishing our spirit and our bodies.

I was hoping to blog about this book BEFORE lent began but sadly just didn't get to it. I am so sorry about that. Still, I have to say we really are enjoying this story and I highly recommend picking it up for next year's lenten season.

Have you heard of or read Jotham's Journey? That is an advent study. This story, Amon's Adventures, takes place roughly 30 years later. Amon is Jotham's son. Jotham gets accused of stealing money from the temple and is sentenced to die. Amon, as the oldest son, sets out to try to prove his father's innocence. The book is set up in a similar way as Jotham's Journey --- each day you read a chapter. The chapter ends with a bible verse and a lesson to be learned. We often have a hard time just reading one chapter a day as it does leave you hanging to find out the 'rest of the story'. It is very, very well written and has been just a joy to read.

So much to say........

Hockey season is coming to an end and while we love the sport - it is sooooo nice to have time back. Hockey is quite a time consuming sport and more so for our family as we have 3 boys in the sport. Our middle son did make an elite team where 65 kids from this region tried out and he was one of 15 to make the team. They have practices this week and a tournament this weekend. And then (breathe a sigh of relief!) we are done for awhile!

And I will be back to blogging more frequently! I have been composing blog entries in my mind - just not had time to get them on the blog! My kids always laugh at me when this happens - I don't blog for a while and then whammo - many, many updates! So hang on ....... here they come!

Blogging for books

I blog for books and love doing it. This is the latest book that just arrived. I really enjoy reading about the Amish. What is so exciting about this one is that it is an advanced copy! I have never gotten an advanced copy before - it can't even be bought in the store until March 15th. How cool is that!!! I am halfway through it already and really enjoy the book. There are some really great recipes in the book! I will do a full book review soon - so stay tuned!