For some reason I cannot get the link in the below post to work . I did have some luck however highlighting it and then right clicking and hitting " open link ". That will take you right to it if you were wanting to read it. Which I recommend you read it, its good stuff! otherwise why would I link you to it, or not link you to is as the case may be... anyway just read it! ( please )
Katie
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thankful Wednesday
Psalms 100: 4 Says Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him and bless his name!
This Wednesday I am thankful for Modern Medicine. I know that sounds strange coming from me. I mean if there is an herb or natural way to cure something, that of course it the first thing I turn to, I have two or three herbal concoctions going in my pantry right now. ( I will tell you more about those later ) but this weekend, there was no herb I could turn to, and no natural treatment for me. On Sunday my tooth started to hurt. On Monday, the tooth pain was so bad, well lets just say I discovered childbirth would have been a better feeling. It was brought to my attention by some good friends of mine that I have an abscessed tooth. (ouch does not really do it justice!) You know how in the hospital that will ask you that silly question, on a scale of 1 -10 what level is your pain? Well maybe I am just being dramatic here, but my pain yesterday was off of that scale!
Well sure enough I do have an abscessed tooth, so I am on my second day of antibiotics, and I will say it again, This Wednesday I am thankful for modern medicine. My thoughts ( Well the ones that were not screaming ouch.... youch...eeh oh my... oh no...) were centered all day yesterday and today on what it would have been like before antibiotics, before modern medicine. those who had to endure this kind of pain without help, and sometimes would die with an infection like mine. I say out loud " Father God, Thank you for allowing me to be born in a time of modern medicine, thank you for giving us such talented nurses and doctors, thank you for discoveries that make antibiotics possible, Thank you!
I don't take the use of antibiotics lightly. The whole point of antibiotics ( biotic meaning Life, so anti life, like in living organisms in your body) is to kill all the bad bacteria, and in doing so they kill all the good bacteria as well. So I will be uping my dose of probotics ( pro life ) and that should be an extra guard to help ensure that when my gut repopulates and as it heals it will promote the good guys! For more info on this topic please visit this link!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/06/18/antibiotics-bacteria.aspx
But for now antibiotics are what is needed! And for those of you who are wondering, I will be visiting the dentist later this month! ( and yes, I found an all natural dentist )
Thank you Valerie for all your help, and thank you Jeff and Mary, and thank you Clark family as well!
This Wednesday I am thankful for Modern Medicine. I know that sounds strange coming from me. I mean if there is an herb or natural way to cure something, that of course it the first thing I turn to, I have two or three herbal concoctions going in my pantry right now. ( I will tell you more about those later ) but this weekend, there was no herb I could turn to, and no natural treatment for me. On Sunday my tooth started to hurt. On Monday, the tooth pain was so bad, well lets just say I discovered childbirth would have been a better feeling. It was brought to my attention by some good friends of mine that I have an abscessed tooth. (ouch does not really do it justice!) You know how in the hospital that will ask you that silly question, on a scale of 1 -10 what level is your pain? Well maybe I am just being dramatic here, but my pain yesterday was off of that scale!
Well sure enough I do have an abscessed tooth, so I am on my second day of antibiotics, and I will say it again, This Wednesday I am thankful for modern medicine. My thoughts ( Well the ones that were not screaming ouch.... youch...eeh oh my... oh no...) were centered all day yesterday and today on what it would have been like before antibiotics, before modern medicine. those who had to endure this kind of pain without help, and sometimes would die with an infection like mine. I say out loud " Father God, Thank you for allowing me to be born in a time of modern medicine, thank you for giving us such talented nurses and doctors, thank you for discoveries that make antibiotics possible, Thank you!
I don't take the use of antibiotics lightly. The whole point of antibiotics ( biotic meaning Life, so anti life, like in living organisms in your body) is to kill all the bad bacteria, and in doing so they kill all the good bacteria as well. So I will be uping my dose of probotics ( pro life ) and that should be an extra guard to help ensure that when my gut repopulates and as it heals it will promote the good guys! For more info on this topic please visit this link!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/06/18/antibiotics-bacteria.aspx
But for now antibiotics are what is needed! And for those of you who are wondering, I will be visiting the dentist later this month! ( and yes, I found an all natural dentist )
Thank you Valerie for all your help, and thank you Jeff and Mary, and thank you Clark family as well!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Weekly Menu Plan
Need some help planning your menu this week? Take a look at mine!
Monday
Breakfast
Smoothies and FruitLunch:
Sourdough English muffin pizzas w/ carrots and dipDinner:
Sloppy Joes, steamed broccoli, and creamy scalloped potatoes.Tuesday
Breakfast Pancake Sausage muffins w/ scrambled eggs
Lunch
quasidillas w/ chips and salsaDinner
Beefy rice and cheese casserole, tossed saladWednesday
Breakfast
OatmealLunch
Sloppy corn muffins w/ cucumber and dipDinner
Chicken and Dumplings and homemade rollsThursday
Breakfast
Pancakes and fruitLunch
Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, veggies and dipDinner
BLT sandwiches, roasted seasoned potatoesFriday
Breakfast Sourdough English muffins w/ scrambled eggs
Lunch
Leftover BLTsDinner
Greek Chili Spaghetti , Tossed SaladSaturday
Breakfast
Homemade cinnamon rolls
Lunch
deviled eggs, bubbies pickles, carrots &dip
Dinner
left over chili.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Making the switch
Some time ago, around the time that our 6 year old daughter was born, we decided that we were going to make the switch from white flour and white sugar, to less refined versions. Whole wheat flour, and raw sugar, honey and maple syrup were all we planned on using. I am very glad we switched gears in this area, and could go on and on and on about the benefits of that. In fact I plan to in the near future. I plan on talking about why I grind my own wheat , what I believe to be true of grains and how to make them more digestible, Why we drink raw milk, and why I would never feed my family soy products. When to buy organic and when is that not necessary, how I make my own dairy products, and much much more. I plan on going over the ins and outs of our diet. ( for those of you who are no doubt on the edge of your seat waiting! ) But the more practical purpose of this post is to inform you that while my recipes I post will call for whole wheat freshly ground flour, I realize you may not have access to that, and while I will be using evaporated cane juice crystals, sucanat, honey and maple syrup, You could certainly use what you have on hand! For now that may very well be white flour and white sugar. That's ok! We are certainly not perfect in this area, and I have been known at family functions to chow down on a cupcake now and then. My kids are no strangers to junk food as well ( they do have grandparents )
Anyhow, I am hoping the more you learn, the more you will want to make the switch as well!
Here are some simple changes you could make today
Eat fresh fruits and Veggies
Drink lots water
Take a walk
Anyhow, I am hoping the more you learn, the more you will want to make the switch as well!
Here are some simple changes you could make today
Eat fresh fruits and Veggies
Drink lots water
Take a walk
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Greek Chili
A good friend of mine gave me her recipe for Greek Chili. Its a "Skyline Style" Chili. and let me tell you it is right on the money! I made a huge batch and canned it up last week, and thought I would share Heathers recipe here! Yummy!
Greek Chili
2lbs ground beef
2-4c. water
1/2 t. Cinnamon
1t. Salt
1/2t. cumin
1/2t.pepper
1/2t. red pepper
1/2t. cayenne pepper
11/2t. allspice
3T chili powder
11/2t apple cider vinegar
4 bay leaves
6 oz can tomato paste
16oz can tomato sauce
2 dashes worshestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
2 large onions diced
Simmer hamburger in water until done, add remaining ingredients, stir and simmer on low all day or overnight.
We serve ours over a bed of spaghetti, topped with fresh onions and freshly shredded cheese. But then again we are from Cincinnati!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Thankful Wednesday
There is a blog I follow called Heavenly Homemakers. Laura, who writes the blog, has been a real encouragement to my family. Part of the reason I wanted to start blogging was because her blog so inspired me. Every Tuesday on her blog she does what she calls Gratatuesday. She talks about the things that she is grateful for. Its really refreshing, because a lot of blogs do an awful lot of complaining. Well taking notes from Laura, I decided to post about the things that I am thankful for. I plan to do this on Wednesdays, hints the name Thankful Wednesday. I know, not as cute as Gratatuesday, however, I believe that Thankful Wednesday will help me to remember all the wonderful things that God has and is doing in my life. I would love to hear what it is that you are thankful for in the comment section!
Psalms 100: 4 Says Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him and bless his name!
This Wednesday I am most thankful for Friends and Family! Eric and I have been through some tough times in the lasts few weeks, and Eric has had a lots to do, and keep up with. We have a rental property that we are hoping to fix up and sell, so that we are not paying two, count them two mortgages. Being overwhelmed with the busy season of his profession, and all the extra blessing of work, Eric has not had the time to put into our rental. Well this past Saturday Friends and Family gathered for a good old fashioned barn raising! A workday to bless us, and boy were we blessed! We got more done in that day than Eric would have been able to do with weeks of work. All the overgrown landscaping was removed ( I am talking big bushes ) and cleared out, and new put in its place, grass that was way overgrown was cut, and a tree taken down. The sub floor in the laundry room was put down, and much more! I did not get to the property in time to take before pictures, and for what ever reason I forgot to snap some after, but I did get some shots of the workday. Although not everyone was pictures who worked, we would like to thank everyone! I am so thankful to God that he has surrounded us with such wonderful loved ones!
Psalms 100: 4 Says Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him and bless his name!
This Wednesday I am most thankful for Friends and Family! Eric and I have been through some tough times in the lasts few weeks, and Eric has had a lots to do, and keep up with. We have a rental property that we are hoping to fix up and sell, so that we are not paying two, count them two mortgages. Being overwhelmed with the busy season of his profession, and all the extra blessing of work, Eric has not had the time to put into our rental. Well this past Saturday Friends and Family gathered for a good old fashioned barn raising! A workday to bless us, and boy were we blessed! We got more done in that day than Eric would have been able to do with weeks of work. All the overgrown landscaping was removed ( I am talking big bushes ) and cleared out, and new put in its place, grass that was way overgrown was cut, and a tree taken down. The sub floor in the laundry room was put down, and much more! I did not get to the property in time to take before pictures, and for what ever reason I forgot to snap some after, but I did get some shots of the workday. Although not everyone was pictures who worked, we would like to thank everyone! I am so thankful to God that he has surrounded us with such wonderful loved ones!
Eric's Dad putting down flooring in the laundry room!
Our good friend Mike who took down this tree
And a rather blurry picture of our friend Mark!
Many more came to help, these were really all the picture I was able to take!
Special Thanks to
Ben
Peggy
Todd
Johnathan
Amy
Angie
Gale
Dad
Mark
Mike
Rob
Tracy
Torri
Tracy
Torri
Monday, May 23, 2011
Swagbucks
Being Frugal does not come natural to me. It seems like a lot of hard work to cut coupons, and find bargains, and is it just me or does anyone else have a hard time finding coupons that they actually use, or coupons for the natural foods? Not sure what I would need 50 cents off of captain sugar crunch cereal for, but that is not how we eat. I have tried a few different coupon websites, but to no avail.
I have discovered something that is great, even better than coupons. Free! Free is better than coupons. I am talking free anything! Have you ever heard of Swagbucks? Well let me tell you all about it! Swagbucks is a search engine ( like google is a search engine ) and that is exactly how you use it. The difference is when you search with swagbucks you can earn swagbucks ( points ) to spend on free things. So far I have earned a whooping $15 in amazon gift cards just for using swagbucks as my search engine. They have all kinds of redeemable prizes, and let me tell you there is no catch, I have not spent a dime of my money! I made them my homepage instead of google and the points really started racking up! I can spend my Amazon gift cards on lots of things! Amazon sells everything. I just bought my brand ( seventh generation ) of dish soap, ( not with a coupon, but for free) See how much better that is! If you tend to agree with me that free is better then coupons. Try swagbucks! You can sign up through this blog, by clicking on the link to the side, or the link at the very bottom! Remember to make it your homepage, so that you always remember to use it and rack up those points! Tell them Katie sent ya!
I have discovered something that is great, even better than coupons. Free! Free is better than coupons. I am talking free anything! Have you ever heard of Swagbucks? Well let me tell you all about it! Swagbucks is a search engine ( like google is a search engine ) and that is exactly how you use it. The difference is when you search with swagbucks you can earn swagbucks ( points ) to spend on free things. So far I have earned a whooping $15 in amazon gift cards just for using swagbucks as my search engine. They have all kinds of redeemable prizes, and let me tell you there is no catch, I have not spent a dime of my money! I made them my homepage instead of google and the points really started racking up! I can spend my Amazon gift cards on lots of things! Amazon sells everything. I just bought my brand ( seventh generation ) of dish soap, ( not with a coupon, but for free) See how much better that is! If you tend to agree with me that free is better then coupons. Try swagbucks! You can sign up through this blog, by clicking on the link to the side, or the link at the very bottom! Remember to make it your homepage, so that you always remember to use it and rack up those points! Tell them Katie sent ya!
Sorry Grandma
If there is one thing I remember about my Grandma, its that she had a deep loathing for snakes. I generally share her views on snakes. You would not catch me within 100 yards of one if I could help it. I certainly would not hold or touch one. Snakes have been a theme with our family this spring. It all started with me cutting the grass, and running one over in the yard with the lawn mower. If there is one thing that I hate more than a snake, its a snake that I ran over with the lawn mower, cut in half and still moving! Yuck! To top that off we have been spotting an assortment of all size snakes in our yard. We have gone a week or so without seeing a snake, so I thought maybe they understood my hatred for them and decided to flee for a more friendly and lawnmower free environment.
Well a recent trip to the Cincinnati Zoo proved to be the icing on the cake. My boys thought it would be fun to hold a snake. Not to look at from afar, not to pet, but to HOLD! Of course not wanting to my boys to pick up on my fear of snakes, and encourage them to be manly and all that kinda stuff, I stood by proudly while they held a snake. I believe it was a small python or boa or some dangerous jungle snake like that. Anyway, Kyle was not one bit afraid or hesitant, he jumped at the chance, but Andrew was hesitant, I could tell he wanted to hold that snake, and he wanted to know what that would feel like, be a manly boy, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. As he was watching his younger brother, I could tell that the wheels in his mind were turning. He kept pacing back and forth and saying " should I, or shouldn't I ". Putting aside my totally grossed outness , I said to Andrew " if you don't try this you will regret it later" So he agreed with me, and held the snake.
I have a new found respect for snakes, They have the ability to boost a child's self esteem and give them a sense of pride. Andrew was beaming! He was well aware that he could now do something that many grown men would not be willing to do! He walked away a little taller, and really happy he went for it! As for the snake itself, I am very glad its back in its cage where God intended it to be!
Well a recent trip to the Cincinnati Zoo proved to be the icing on the cake. My boys thought it would be fun to hold a snake. Not to look at from afar, not to pet, but to HOLD! Of course not wanting to my boys to pick up on my fear of snakes, and encourage them to be manly and all that kinda stuff, I stood by proudly while they held a snake. I believe it was a small python or boa or some dangerous jungle snake like that. Anyway, Kyle was not one bit afraid or hesitant, he jumped at the chance, but Andrew was hesitant, I could tell he wanted to hold that snake, and he wanted to know what that would feel like, be a manly boy, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. As he was watching his younger brother, I could tell that the wheels in his mind were turning. He kept pacing back and forth and saying " should I, or shouldn't I ". Putting aside my totally grossed outness , I said to Andrew " if you don't try this you will regret it later" So he agreed with me, and held the snake.
I have a new found respect for snakes, They have the ability to boost a child's self esteem and give them a sense of pride. Andrew was beaming! He was well aware that he could now do something that many grown men would not be willing to do! He walked away a little taller, and really happy he went for it! As for the snake itself, I am very glad its back in its cage where God intended it to be!
Kyle Holding dangerous jungle snake
Its one thing to hold a snake, quite another to actually enjoy it!
Andrew holding dangerous jungle snake.
Andrew getting a little more comfortable.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Thank You
A guest post written by my husband Eric :
Hello,
Katie and I would like to say thank you to our friends and family for your thoughts and prayers over the last week. While the losing of our baby has brought moments of sadness over the week, it has not stolen our joy. We have realized the sufficiency of God's grace this past week. Because of your thought and prayers, we have had a peace and knowing our baby is with the Lord. Glory to God!
In the weeks after knowing Katie was pregnant, the Holy Spirit spoke to me regarding the baby's name. Katie also was spoken to regarding the baby. Now, we are left wondering, questioning why. I cling to my inability to understand God's ways. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). While we don't understand why we lost our baby, we do not question the goodness of God. We do not give credit to God for the loss of our baby. Satan gets the credit for that. Children are a blessing from the Lord. I know he would not take it away!
While disappointed in the flesh, we rejoice in the spirit. I have a friend who says, "God is good all the time!" And it's true...despite our circumstances God is good all the time.
Eric and Katie
Hello,
Katie and I would like to say thank you to our friends and family for your thoughts and prayers over the last week. While the losing of our baby has brought moments of sadness over the week, it has not stolen our joy. We have realized the sufficiency of God's grace this past week. Because of your thought and prayers, we have had a peace and knowing our baby is with the Lord. Glory to God!
In the weeks after knowing Katie was pregnant, the Holy Spirit spoke to me regarding the baby's name. Katie also was spoken to regarding the baby. Now, we are left wondering, questioning why. I cling to my inability to understand God's ways. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). While we don't understand why we lost our baby, we do not question the goodness of God. We do not give credit to God for the loss of our baby. Satan gets the credit for that. Children are a blessing from the Lord. I know he would not take it away!
While disappointed in the flesh, we rejoice in the spirit. I have a friend who says, "God is good all the time!" And it's true...despite our circumstances God is good all the time.
Eric and Katie
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