Smooth Homemade Applesauce & A Birthday to Share

I've made homemade applesauce many times over the years but it has always been a chunky applesauce that I add a bit of cinnamon and sugar to.

Well this past Christmas I had stopped over to visit my neighbor (who is in her 90's) and when I was there she was preparing a dinner for when all of her family came to visit. At that particular moment she was making homemade applesauce. The only difference between hers and mine was that she was using her food processor to puree it. It made me think instantly of baby food. We talked and I told her that I make applesauce but had never thought of grinding it up like that. She said that is the way her family has always liked it and that it's pretty close to the store-bought jars of applesauce.

Well she's right. I made some just like hers (minus the sugar) and my kids loved it. It's not like it's a new recipe or anything but a new texture that pleased all of my little darlings. I made it again the other day and added a few fresh pears to it. Yummy! If you've never made homemade give it a try. It's quick and easy!

Smooth Homemade Applesauce

6 apples, peeled and sliced

2 pears, peeled and sliced (optional)

1/2 cup water

Place sliced fruit in a pan and add water.

Place lid on pan and let simmer till fruit is soft.

This only takes about 5-10 minutes.

Remove lid and let cool just a bit.

Place fruit in food processor and puree.

My apples were sweet enough so I didn't add any sugar but you can.

Just depends on your taste and how sweet you like it.

The birthday I was talking about is my SIL Crystal over at Fit and Flabless. She probably won't say that it's her birthday today so I'll share that little tidbit with you all. If you visit her be sure to leave her Birthday Wishes!

Happy Birthday Crystal!

Well I better get a moving. I've got a Science lesson/project to do with the kids on matter and molecules. Hope you all have a great weekend.

BINGO anyone?

Kindergarten style that is!

Katie is learning to read this year. She is putting all of her letter sounds together to form words.

I add new mini reading books to her lessons each week for her to read and by the time Friday rolls around she is so happy and proud that she has been able to read them from front to back. I'm pretty happy too because the task of teaching a little one to read just seemed impossible to me. My other two children both went to public school at that grade level and so that is where they learned the basics.

As a homeschooler it's a whole other ballgame.

You take on the responsibility of teaching your child which quickly makes you realize that if you screw up ~ well then you are doing so at the expense of your child.

But I'll stop there on that one because I could write a whole post (or more) discussing just the pros and cons of homeschooling. I'll just leave it by saying that there are so many factors to consider when deciding between homeschooling or public schools. Just be sure to know exactly WHY your are considering it and then weigh the good and bad as well as what will work the best for you and your family.

See how sidetracked I can get!

Now back to the Bingo~

Repetition is the key for teaching the basics. (Or so I think it is.)

I tried to think of a fun way to blend new reading words with old ones so that she could continue to work with all of them in hopes that she doesn't do a backslide. (Kind of like the saying ~If you don't use it, you will lose it.)

So I decided to make large 12X12 Bingo cards using some of my scrapbooking card stock. I drew my lines and then filled the spaces with all the words that we have been working on as well as a few new ones that we will be learning. My 4th grader even joined in on the game. He would hold up the Bingo word and ask her to say it first. If she was having trouble with it then he would help her sound it out till she got it right. After that they would both search for the word on their cards and continue on until someone yelled BINGO.

Hopefully playing little games like this will help to keep what she has learned fresh in her mind while moving on and learning new words.

Just a simple and inexpensive way to make learning a little fun!

Well that's all for today. It's been a busy week and I am sooo glad the weekend is almost here. We have had two school delays this week and they are calling for a small bit of snow tonight which will probably result in another delay for tomorrow. The kids sure don't mind but it makes it hard to keep school lessons on track.

On the flip side maybe the white stuff will cover up all this mud and I won't have to deal with muddy paw prints everytime I let the dogs in or out. :o)

Back on Track and a Cereal Bar

You will have to overlook the smudged photo. Not sure what happened!

Well I feel a bit better after ranting about dieting on Friday and you all left many great comments for me. Obviously, I'm not the only one thinking this way. I guess what I'll be doing is trying to eat a bit healthier with smaller portion sizes and LOTS of exercise. As I said, I despise using a treadmill but that is all I've got unless I want to freeze my patooty off in this cold weather.

(By the way, we are on our second day of 2 hour delays for school. Yesterday was for flooded roads and today is ice/snow. You may ask, Why does that affect me since I homeschool? The answer would be because my oldest son does go to public school.)

We did get a break on Saturday with sunny skies and warm temperatures so I put my sneakers on and hit my favorite walking route. A 3 mile trek throughout our town. I took Sunday off and then hit the exercise bike again yesterday and it's on my to-do list for later today.

Now to the cereal bar!

I tried this out a few weeks ago and thought someone else may like it. It was simple to make and I had all the ingredients at home. At the end of the post I will include the fat and calories that I added up as I made them but keep in mind that you could switch out a few ingredients and reduce the numbers even more. I thought the walnuts were a bit high (yet still healthy for you) so next time I may substitute something else or just leave them out. Either way it was a good basic recipe to start from. Lots of possibilities!

Granola/ Cereal Bars

1 cup oats

1 cup shredded wheat cereal

1 cup walnuts

1 1/2 to 2 cups dried fruit (your choice)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Spray or grease an 8x8 pan.

Place oats, shredded wheat, walnuts, fruit, cinnamon & salt in a food processor and chop finely.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, honey and vanilla.

Add oat mixture and stir well.

Place in greased pan and flatten out with hands.

Bake 18 minutes at 350°.

Cool & cut into bars or snack size bites.

Here are the totals for the whole pan so you will need to cut the bars into the sizes that you prefer and then divide the numbers that I give you by the amount of bars you have to get an amount for each serving.

Calories = 3,160

Fat = 159

Fiber = 42

Carbs = 394

WW Diet on a Carb Paycheck ? - My Rant

Is it just me or do you guys think that the word DIET means more money out of our pockets?

They say that healthy foods really aren't any more expensive but they sure seem to deflate my wallet a whole lot quicker.

This past year has been tough economically.

I have gone back to the basics in many areas in an attempt to save moo-lah$ anywhere that I can. Feeding our family of five takes a big chunk of pay each month so I have gone back to fixing tried and true recipes that will help to stretch meals a little farther and cost us a little less.

However, those types of meals not only help to make our dollars stretch, they will also will cause our midsections, thighs and butts to stretch.

So for my "new start" this year I would like to go with a healthier lifestyle. One that will work for not only me but my whole family.

My question is, "Can I afford it?"

I already use low-fat or fat-free items in my daily cooking but what I really need to trim down on is the CARBS. You know, the cheap starchy grocery items that we all LOVE.

But how can I get rid of those starchy stretchers and afford to have an endless supply of fresh goodies and great meals that everyone will eat. (Without having to make two seperate meals. One for the dieters and one for the non-dieters)

Another issue is that I am very skeptical of those fake chemical-tasting butters, sweeteners and so forth. I wonder just how healthy they really are for us and so I have a hard time feeling comfortable buying and feeding them to my family on a regular basis.

Another is all the low-fat snacks. They taste good but you get such a small amount for the same price as a regular size bag. So obviously, I go with what I can make stretch the farthest - yet again, not the healthiest.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

DIET = More money spent with less food to fill bellies of 5 hungry people.

(Before you say it, Yes I know we could all stand to eat a little less but that's not the point. My point is why does it cost so much to eat good stuff?)

So what do you guys think?

Do you splurge and buy any and all diet items (butters, sweeteners, etc) available to help rid you of your extra baggage.

OR

Do you eat pretty much whatever you have and can afford and try to make up with lots of willpower on extra small portions and twice the amount of exercise?

I'm all ears to hear your tips, tricks and comments!

I'm off to chain myself to the tread-monster or maybe the bicycle so I'll catch up with you guys later today.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Winter Blahs!

Hello all!

Well my posts seem to be getting farther apart. I think the wintertime blahs (not to be confused with the wintertime blues) are finally here.

There just isn't a whole lot going on these days. Or at least nothing of interest to share or bore you all with.

We begin each morning with our schooling around 8 and usually finish up around 2. I hate to say it, for fear of ruining it, but schooling has been going so smooth since Christmas break. I've even added another class (Bible study) to our curriculum and all is going well.

Once school ends then the kids are off to play and I head to the kitchen for dinner prep. I haven't really even played with anything new on that front so I haven't had many new recipes to share. I did make a gooey mess yesterday...one that tasted good but really wouldn't have made for a great picture.

After dinner dishes are washed up then the evening hours are spent relaxing. We all seem to gather in the living room but everyone *chills* out with their own favorite pastime. Most of them enjoy TV or game time but I am either glued to the computer screen (reading all of your blogs) or working on one of several crafts that I have going at the moment.

Crocheted Afghan

Valentine Stitchery

Both projects are going S..L..O..W because I also enjoy reading and have had my nose buried in these books.

So as you can see I'm keeping busy and enjoying the slowness of winter but it sure doesn't give me alot to talk about with you all.

I will be back tomorrow though with a post about all the diet and exercise that you all are doing.

I am *bad*!

I usually walk through the summer months but when the weather changes and the nights fall early then I stop. I then hibernate for the winter and don't start back up till spring. After reading all of your inspiring blogs I'm thinking about starting up again (indoors) even though I HATE using a treadmill. I much prefer being outdoors on pavement.

Anyways, I can make myself exercise but I have issues with the food part of it all. So tune into tomorrow for my little rant and by all means share any words of wisdom that you may have. I can use all that I can get.

Enjoy your day!

A Little More for a Whole Lot Less

Hi all! Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. We spent Saturday getting some things done while the weather was a little kinder. We got our taxes filed and then I went outside to take some of the Christmas lights down off of the house. It's been so cold that I kept putting that chore off. I still have to wait for Mark to get the rest of them down with a ladder but he was busy working on one of our vehicles so that will have to happen another weekend. Sunday was spent just being lazy. So now I have a dirty house that needs cleaned. But I have three little darlings that are off from school today since it's MLK day so I've got help. :o)

Enough of my ramblings now and on to my post topic!

Here's something that I use to help to stretch a pound of ground beef a little farther.

It's TVP or textured vegetable protein.

If you are a vegetarian then you probably already know all about this stuff but if you are not then follow along and I'll tell you a bit about it.

TVP is used alot in vegetarian cooking but it can also be added to many meat dishes.

I use it when I am making sloppy joes, spaghetti,tacos, chili or any other recipe that calls for ground beef.

TVP is a soy product that provides fiber, iron, magnesium & phosphorous. It is a dry granule that you reconstitute in water and when you do this it will puff up a bit. When added to meat dishes it takes on the flavor of the meat and helps to stretch the quantity of the meal without changing the quality of taste. Thus, my picky eaters will eat it and they never notice the difference. (Kind of like sneaking shredded veggies into dishes. They never even know that they are in there.)

I purchase this in the health food section of our Kroger store but there are many places to find it.

You can find similar products in the frozen section. Our store carries Boca & Morningstar Farms flavored crumbles but they are a little more expensive. I prefer to stay on the *cheap* side ($2.99 for a 10 oz. bag) with the dry crumbles. I store them in my freezer and when needed I just toss a handful or two right into the meat that I am cooking.

Let me know what you think if you try this. Just curious if your family even knows it's in there.

Well I'm off to clean house so I'll catch up with you all later!

A Year of Learning

I read Susanna's post the other day about saving money and it made me think of the things that I have learned within this past year~ ways to cut back and make-do with what we have.

This past year has proven to be a tough year financially for many of us and it has prompted us to look for any and all ideas to reduce our spending. Some reductions have come easy while others have been a little harder to swallow.

Here are just a few ways that I have been able to cut back and reduce our costs.

1. From-Scratch Cooking ~ I have always cooked "homemade" but I have added many basic recipes to my files this year like canned milk, bread, biscuits, syrup, Play-Doh, pizza dough, chocolate syrup, etc.) It doesn't seem like a lot but when you add it all up then I HAVE saved money as well as cut back on the "garbage" additives that we consume from store-bought products.

2. Reduce electricity by hanging laundry out to dry, turning the heat back a notch and shutting TV's and lights off when not in use. ( The last one applies mainly to the kids who will just walk away leaving everything on.)

3. As I said above, I hang as much laundry as I can outdoors to dry.

4. Using homemade cleaning products that work as well if not better than the store-bought. (You'll have to click on the link and then scroll down to see the recipes I use.)

One other store-product that I have really cut back on is fabric softener. With a family of five our laundry costs can be a big expense (water bill, electricity, detergent & softner) but I've been able to cut back again by diluting fabric softeners. (I'll have to let you know just how many months this one bottle of softener lasts me when it's all gone.)

This photo is the corner where I keep my homemade laundry detergent stored (in bottom bucket) and my diluted fabric softener ( in Folger's can) along with a towel for any clean-up.

Normally during the summer months I don't even use any softener in my laundry. I just let the wind beat the wrinkles and stiffness away. (Though a few fabrics do get brought back in and fluffed for a few minutes in the dryer.) During the winter months though, STATIC is my main battle so I do use a softener. I have shared this tip before but I'm going to share it again because I've been using it for a good while and really like it.

Items Needed:

~Plastic coffee can or other container with a lid

~Liquid fabric softener

~1 Old washcloth

~1 hand towel

Place 1/2 of liquid fabric softener in coffee can.

Fill coffee can the rest of the way up with water.

Cut wash cloth in 1/2 & place in coffee can.

When drying a load of clothes in the dryer I take one of the washcloth pieces & wring it out well. I then toss it in the dryer with my clothes and start the dryer. ( This can be messy so I leave a handtowel near to wipe my hands on.)

When the clothes are dry I toss the dried washcloth piece back in the softener can till I need for the next load.

My clothes come out soft and without static.

As I use up the softener in my can and it reaches the 1/2 way mark I simply refill it to the top with water again.

Like I said, I have been using this method for a good while and am still on the original bottle of store-bought softener.

I really hope our economy begins to improve this year and we can begin to live a little easier. However, I plan to continue using the lessons I've learned this past year to live a little greener, healthier and simpler and hopefully to save a little more "green".

Enjoy your Weekend!

Downsizing...or So I thought!

I began working on this stitchery last week in hopes of completing it for Valentine's day. (Pattern Here)I know how I want to finish it and I know that I will need some pretty fabric. So off to my fabric stash!

I have 3 large totes overflowing with fabrics so I thought that maybe since I've not been sewing much lately that I would "weed" out my stash. Maybe get rid of some that I don't think I will use.

Yeah Right!

I placed fabrics in piles of blues, reds, browns, etc. and then went back through them to downsize.

Guess how many I got rid of?

NONE- not one single piece of fabric.

To me, fabrics are just like good books.

You can NEVER have too many!

I think instead of getting rid of anything I may just need a bigger space to store them all.

Have a great day!

Purple Skies

Well the long holiday is over. The kids are back to school today and at normal time. It's only 9° outside so I kind of figured they would be on a two hour delay but they weren't. So the oldest is at school now and the other two are about to get started with their schoolwork as soon as they finish their breakfast.

As I was getting the kids up and moving this morning I noticed how pretty the sky was. The sun was just beginning to come up and the purple and pinks were beautiful. I know the old saying goes something like this:

Red Sky at night

Sailor's Delight.

Red Sky in morning

Sailor's take warning.

I'm not so sure that the saying holds true each and every time but I do know we are forcasted to get another 1-2 inches of snow this afternoon.

Our roads are just now beginning to melt off.

(Sorry, but I took these from inside the house so they don't look too great but it's cold outside!)

But I hear that there is sunshine at the end of the tunnel. I'm not so sure I even remember what sunshine looks like at this point. It's been forever it seems since we've had many sunny days.

Just hope it doesn't warm up too quick and then cause flooding problems for people.

Well I better get busy with school. I'll have to stop back later to see what all of you are into.

10 Birthday Wishes

Our second son was born 10 years ago on this day.

Remember all the Y2K fuss during 1999 and all the what- if's for 2000.

Well because of all those what-if's I didn't really want him to make his debut on the 1st day of that year and thankfully he didn't. He decided to wait seven days later to give me those few hours of pure misery before he made his appearance.

He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds and 11 1/2 ounces. The biggest of all three of my children.

Funny thing is...he is my smallest child now a days. You know, the one that you have to make eat food.

He's also the one with the softest heart, the biggest brown eyes (just like his Daddy) and the grin that just makes you smile.

I asked him this question tonight.

If you could have any 10 wishes then what would they be?

1. A laptop ( I informed him that if anyone in this house would get a laptop it would be me.)

2. Rip-Rider 360

3. An XBOX 360 Points Card

4. A phone card for an old cell phone that he was given. ( I told him he doesn't go anywhere that he would need a phone yet. He's only 10 :))

5. He wished that his little sister would leave him alone so he could play.

6. No school for another week...More Snow Days!

7. Three ...not two, but 3 Lego Build a Sets

as for 8, 9 & 10...he's still trying to think of them.

Happy 10th Birthday Gage!

Love, Mom

Homemade Tastes So Much Better ~ Waffles

Goodbye Eggo and Hello Homemade!

This was my first time of ever making homemade waffles and boy were they good.

Homemade Vanilla Waffles

3 tbsp. melted butter or oil

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Place flour in a bowl.

Make a well in the center of the flour and add the rest of the ingredients.

Stir well with a whisk.

Cook waffles according to your waffle maker.

Mine called for 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle.

I also added a dash of cinnamon to my batter but there are many different flavors and fruits you could add to this recipe.

Just expiriment and ENJOY!

Anytime I make pancakes I always freeze the leftovers so the kids have a supply to just heat and eat. The same now applies for these waffles.

( Just place wax paper between waffles and seal in a ziploc container & freeze.)

I have made this breakfast treat twice this week for dinner (a definite family favorite) so I have a good many leftovers stocked in the freezer now. I made double batches both times to ensure that I had plenty for freezing. When the kids want them for an early morning breakfast they just pop them in the toaster and sit down to eat.

I don't think I will ever buy another frozen box of waffles from the store again. There is no comparison in taste or price.

Homemade WINS on both!

**Sorry this post's spacing is so jumbled up. I have tried to fix it numerous times and it just won't work. This has happened in the past and it always seems to fix itself later. Must just be a blog glitch of some sort.**

SNOW and a Soup to Warm You Up!

It's still snowing and we are loving it!

Well, the kids and I are.

Not so sure my husband is so happy to be back to work and having to deal with the road hassles though.

Three of us still have nasty head colds so we've all been staying indoors.

Which means NO snow play this time. :(

But it's still pretty to watch. It's a light and fluffy snow that looks like glitter floating in the sky at night time. Very pretty!

Schools are cancelled again tomorrow so the kids are getting an extended holiday vacation and loving every minute of it.

LET IT SNOW....LET IT SNOW....LET IT SNOW!

If you are outside and need a warm up after being outdoors in all that white stuff then here's a recipe for you. My cousin gave me this one over the holidays and it was really good.

Sorry I have no picture for you. I took one but it didn't turn out. It was too blurry to even see!

Stuffed Cabbage Soup

2 lbs. ground beef

2 large onions, chopped

3 lbs. cabbage, chopped

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

14 oz. beef broth

2 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

2 large cans tomato sauce

1 large can diced tomatoes

2 large cans of water(use the tomato sauce cans)

1/2 - 3/4 cups white rice

Brown beef and onions together and drain well.

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer till cabbage and rice are done. This recipe makes a huge batch (our family of 5 could eat this for two days) so you may want to cut it in half or even more.

Hope this warms you on these cold winter days!

Cream Cheese Cranberry Bars

It's such a pretty morning here. It's snowing pretty good and schools are on a 2 hour delay so far so I've got a little bit of time to play on the computer before I need to get my oldest up and off to school.

That is, unless they decide to cancel it for the day. (Keeping fingers crossed!)

This recipe is one that my Dad sampled over the holidays and really liked so he asked for the recipe. I love cranberry and cream cheese so the two together were delicious.

Cream Cheese Cranberry Bars

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups oats

3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup lemon juice

16 oz. can of whole cranberry sauce

2 tbsp. cornstarch

Combine flour, oats, 3/4 cup sugar and butter till crumbly.

Set aside 1 1/2 cups of this mixture for the topping and press the remaining mixture in the bottom of a greased 13 X 9 pan.

Bake 15 minutes or till lightly browned at 350°.

While that is baking, beat cream cheese till fluffy.

Add sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice.

Spread this over baked crust.

Combine cranberry, corn starch and 1 tbsp. sugar in another bowl & mix well.

Pour this over the cheese layer.

Top with reserved crumbs.

Bake 45 minutes or till golden.

Cool, cut and refrigerate leftovers.

Enjoy!

Yippeee!!!!

School just called and said they are cancelled today due to the snow.

We could all go outside today and play, however, several of us have nasty colds so I guess we'll just admire the snow from indoors where it's nice and warm.

Enjoy your day!

Christmas Gift Stitcheries

Hope you all enjoyed ringing in the New Year.

Today I thought I would share a few of the finished stitcheries that I gave as gifts this Christmas.

I got a late start this Christmas so I stuck with 5X7 sizes so that I could get them all finished. I stayed up late stitching into the nights in hopes of completing them all. I finished the last one just in the nick of time.

I used patterns that I found here on the internet. I know the sunflower one came from The Pickled Pepper Patch but I am unsure of where I found the other one. If anyone recognizes it please let me know and I will gladly give credit where credit is due.

While talking of credit, I would like to say that I am so thankful that all of you creative people are willing to share your desings with us. I am going to try to organize each and every pattern that I have saved so that I can give the proper credit when and if I post about using someone's pattern.

Some of you add your name to your patterns and that is a great help. When I come across a pattern that I like I save it to my documents. I don't change the file name or anything. Then in a week or two when I go back to save it to a disk I can't remember where it came from.

Anyone else do this??

So I have a long task ahead of me~ to search for all the free patterns that I have collected and put a name with them.

I hope to find all of them but fear that a few may be lost.

Well I think I'll go curl up with a blanket and work on another stichery.

It's pretty cold here but I know some of you are in the below freezing temps. which is way colder than here.

So stay warm wherever you are.