Just a giant rabbit trail.

I got up today and our floor upstairs was warm, very warm. Must be cold outside! Sure enough, the clouds had cleared out and the temp dropped. It was 15F when I looked at the temp after the sun had been up for 3 hours or so.

My school mate/awesome builder called on Monday, he had time this week to do built in beds in the girls room, I had just enough money for what he bid me and the room needed to be gutted, he'd be back on Wednesday. No biggie. Hahahahahahaha. I crack me up. Today he finished and I have to get in there now and paint it all and repaint the room. We're going for all white so I can avoid taping off moldings, it'll go faster.

Hubby is getting his 6 or 8 colonies of bees this Saturday, he had to put the hives in the garage to thaw out.

Added another coat of spray paint to my old kitchen chandelier, it's now red!

9-yr-old wanted to help me make bunting today, I'd started cutting out pretty triangles last week or the week before. It's been taking up half the dining room table. I set up my little child labor sweat shop and she happily started sewing triangles. She'd get one sewn before I could cut them out. I had 2 other kids match them up for me from before I figured out how to cut them properly.

I'd seen a pintrest pic of button garland hanging off a bright chandelier so I had 7-yr-old start stringing them together. Easier said than done. 9-yr-old just showed me how she'd taken over and has one string almost full of buttons, so cute!

14-yr-old was sick yesterday and today, she went out to feed the goats today and she said her goat is "goopy" thinking she'll kid/freshen soon. Yikes, not this week! It's too cold. We have a stall now in the shed we can set her up in, but daughter is too sick to do that today. Goatie isn't due 'till April 20th so I think we're good for a few more days before she needs a kidding stall.

We're getting our chicks on Monday, have to have room in already full garage for them. The old bunk beds from the girl's room are in the garage too. ;)

The owner at the local kitchen supply store "All I Saw Cookware" and I have gotten to know each other since my business was in the mall at one point. I called him yesterday with about 5 ideas of items for him to sell. He's having a hard time getting people to come in there. I told him about Weck canning jars, Pamona Pectin, Harsch Crocks, and Tattler caning lids. I told him that I could let my large Alaska Farm & Food (facebook) group know about the availability and he said he'd look into it. He called today with some more questions and he'll start carrying many of those items soon.

My sister picked up my 11-yr-old son today to go play.

I haven't checked my work messages in 2 days now. I really should go and paint...

I think I may be getting what ever this crud is that the girls had this week, yuck.

So much going on, and time doesn't stop. Goodness.

inspirational photo - not mine

Snow Icecream

As I sit at my desk not working but blogging instead, my kids are giggling behind me while they watch AFV with my husband. I love hearing them laugh.

The sky decided to open up this weekend and take a dump, literally. We have SO much snow from this "storm". The roads are really bad because they had a good coating of water last week from the melt off then froze, then it snowed, making things very slick. There have been countless numbers of crashes out there, I'm staying home.

To those that say it shouldn't snow in April? I say, "then you shouldn't live in Alaska...it ALWAYS snows in April". Learn like I had to that March is "fake spring" and end of April-May is "real spring".

My 9-year-old asked at 9:30pm if she could make snow ice-cream and papa wanted to say no since it was late but really? How many more great large fluffy snowfalls will we get this year? Here's how we make ours.

Sorry no pictures, my phone is in the shop after last weeks phone-death-by-dog incident.

Snow Ice-cream: serving 6 children

Fresh snow
Vanilla extract (I typically save my gallon of fake vanilla extract for this recipe since we use so much making this and I'm not eating it, the kids are)
Sugar
Milk, any kind (almond, soy, real, we end up usually making this with vanilla almond milk)

Scoop up a LARGE bowl of snow, heaping if you can - (don't scrape it off the ground, gross).
Quickly swirl on one large circle of vanilla, we don't measure.
Scoop on a scoop of sugar over the top, we don't measure.
Swirl on some milk. Stir, mush down chunks of vanilla and milk, keep adding more milk as needed. You want it to be almost mushy but not quite. There should not be any bright white snowy spots yet, you want all the vanilla mixed in. Taste to be sure you have enough sugar, add more if needed.

Serve in bowls, not cones, it melts fast.

Enjoy!

This week...

If you are Orthodox then you know already that during lent, all sorts of "bad" things happen. Most people understand that it is because the Evil One is testing us and trying to make us go crazy, quit fasting, quit praying and just give up on it all. It helps to remember that especially during lent, especially when you are trying to fast, pray and go to church more than normal, the bad guy doesn't like this and will attempt to discourage us.

Each year at our house things break, typically appliances or car engines seize up or we get very very sick. Something new and fun to look forward to every year.

This week has been a trying week, starting on Monday when I really couldn't find my phone and finally went to see if it was in my sister's driveway...maybe it had fallen out of the car the night before. It wasn't there.

On the way home there was a strange man on our road who stopped me and asked, "Is this your dog?" holding up a small white terrier looking mongrel. I replied that it wasn't and he explained how he had found it by the mailboxes wondering around aimlessly and so he had gone to a few houses looking for the owner. He explained that he didn't live in our neighborhood and it would be best if I took the dog since I actually live here and know more people around here. Sheesh, I want another pet like a hole in the head, but what was I to do but take it home.

Later in the day I got a phone call that my brother-in-law found some phone remains in his yard, my phone case was trashed (chewed by their dogs) and my sister was looking for my phone. It's a good thing I was in such a "good place" on Monday, because it was turning into a doozy. A few minutes later he called again, they found the phone in a puddle of mud and were trying to dry it out in some rice and see if it would work. It had no bite marks, so maybe it would work?

Fast forward 2 days later...

The phone worked last night, made 2 calls and now the screen is totaly black, I'll have to buy a new one.

The dog has become dear to us, in only 2 days, he's the sweetest thing. The owner called from the pound today frantic. It was his dog, his description nailed it. "Sir, what does your dog look like?" Man: Well it's a Shih Tzu but I gave him a really terrible hair cut."

This poor man was out of his mind with angst. His 8-yr-old daughter was apparently staying the night at a friend's house in the neighborhood and when the dog ran away the daughter didn't really think she needed to go after him. He came to our neighborhood yesterday to look for him and drove past 4 of my "found dog" signs, they even had pictures...

I had to inturrupt him, "Sir, we have your dog. It's yours." I gave him directions and he came to get the pup after an hour.

The dog was taking a nap on my lap when he got here, what a sweet dog. I guess if I even need a companion dog I'll know that a Shih Tzu would be a good choice. He was great with the kids, very attentive, very quiet, playful but gentle. It was nice to give him to the little girl, he seemed so happy to see her.

Ah, this week. I'll be happy when Pascha arrives...

mangy Shih Tzu

Life is great.

Warning: this post contains words like God and priests and soul. If you can not handle such content move along. I did, however, try to keep it brief.

This is not often my outlook on life. I struggle. I hurt. Life sucks.

Yesterday I was able to talk to a close friend (ok, my priest, but he is a friend too) for 4 short hours.

Today I feel like a new person.

The sun is out and it's beautiful, the snow is melting, water is flowing down driveways. Life is good today.

I love days like this, because it's not the sun or the snow or the spring-ness of it all that uplifts my spirits, it's my view on life and it's problems. It's knowing more about myself and knowing that yes, I'm a seriously messed up and sinful human being. But God loves me. And to truly understand that makes so much that is wrong ok. It makes me nicer, it makes me actually happy. Today I can see the job that is set in front of me and I plan to do it. I have tasks that I can complete and being such a project oriented person, I know that I can start working on them. Does this mean that I won't fall again? Does this mean that I won't simply forget those things that I know today that are so clear to me? Does this mean that I will succeed in...life? No, but it's somewhere to start.

I always forget how good it is to have a priest to talk to, you can really tell them the most nitty-gritty most terrible details of your life. They just smile or giggle or sigh and might say things you don't want to hear but that you need to hear. It's truly refreshment for the soul. I felt like I was digging up clods of dirt and throwing them out. By saying these things I was admitting them not only to him but to myself. That was powerful. To admit things that I do and think that cause problems in my marriage and life. That is huge. To be able to see one's self is huge. I know that I can't really see myself for who I truly am, who of us can? But yesterday I was able to peel back the next layer of the onion that makes up "me" and I have a new fresh beginning to life again. That is really wonderful.

Sometimes (this is for my different friends sake that I say this)...sometimes, priests say the wrong things, sometimes they give bad advice, and sometimes they hurt you, but that's because they are human and just as prone to temptations and stupid-ness as anybody else. Just as you may have a best friend and you spill your guts to them, they can easily say the wrong things or really hurt you. Most people are very sensitive about personal things they divulge to only priests. You really need to have a good mesh with a priest (or a best friend). I haven't had any negative experience, personally. God gives us what we can handle, and He must know that I needed some good priests to lean on. I haven't had a bff in ages that I could really talk to, but I have always had a priest waiting in the wings if I needed him.

Yesterday I dusted and cleaned the cobwebs off of my soul, today Christ is happier to live there, and that is making me happy.

Spring cleaning for the soul? It's a good thing.

Fresh spring rolls

I wish I was as photogenic as spring rolls are.

Thanks to my meal planning day last week I have actually had ideas for food and not only that, many ingredients that I bought to go into those foods!

Today I chose spring rolls. The kids are big enough to roll their own and the small ones don't want or appreciate them anyway. They can have the leftovers.

When I look for recipes I like to look at many different ones to get a general idea of what you can use in those foods, so I looked at about 5 today and figured out what I wanted to do. Here is what I made today, I put out all the fillers and let my family members make their own. I liked everything in mine best.

Fresh spring rolls

-Firm tofu (shrimp is another great alternative "meat" source)
-Bragg Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce
-Deli mustard
-Pepper

Slice tofu into 3 sections, press them in a towel to squeeze out water. Slice into strips and soak them in the Bragg's, mustard and some pepper for 1/2 hour. Bake on oiled (sesame oil, yum) cookie sheet for about 1/2 hour flipping them 1/2 way through.

-Package of bean or rice noodles, I had rice noodles today. Prepare as package directs. Typically only cook them for 3-5 minutes in boiling water.
-Package of spring roll skins/ rice skins/ spring roll wrappers. What ever you call them, they are round and translucent. They turn transparent when soaked for 1 minute in water.

Variety of veggies and herbs:
Mint is classic, and so is cilantro and even basil. Today we had cilantro only.
Green onions or chives. I chopped mine into bite sized pieces, works best for biting purposes.
Carrots, you can shred or chop into thin strips. Strips for me.
Avocado.
Lettuce, I had iceburg, cut into thin strips.
Cucumber, this would have been a nice addition. I didn't have it, it was good with out too.

Line up your fillings, get your sauces made or out of the pantry (like me). Set up a deep plate or bowl for your wrappers to fit into, dunk them in warm water on the plate one at a time for about one minute. Get a kitchen towel on the counter in front of your plate and put some water on it. Bring your wrapper out carefully onto the towel and fill. They wrap up nicely, takes a few to get the hang of it. Dunk in your favorite dipping sauce, that's the best part!

everything set up and my first one on the towel being filled

Update three days later: Most of the ingredients are still good and in the fridge, so we're having them again for dinner tonight. Tonight's are some fresh noodles, no avocado and plain cooked shrimp (it was purchased frozen that way). So good!

Silly Saturday

My kids are funny and they say or do amazing or silly things. Sometimes I write them down on facebook or here...

As you may know we are homeschoolers. Spring is the hardest time for school for any child and that does not exclude mine. Math seems to get harder this time of year as well and they loose their focus more than usual. I decided to declare a contest on Thursday and to let the kids race through the rest of their math books and see who could win a promised "large bag" of candy. Well the boys were ok with that but were convinced that their little 9-yr-old sister would be the clear winner. She was already 10 lessons ahead of the 11-yr-old and 16 lessons ahead of the 12-yr-old. Well little miss 9-yr-old decided that she was going to win and the first day did 3 lessons total and on Friday morning got up and did 3 more lessons before I even got out of bed! I asked her if she was even going to give her brothers a chance. She giggled, "No!" The boys gave up so I decided to offer a boy reward of the video game that they have been wanting. Yep, I'm desperate.

little miss stinker doing her math

Yesterday was garbage pick up day. I asked the kids if the trash man had come yet. My 4-year-old daughter responded. "Yes, he came and we talked and talked. Oh, mama, I have to whisper you something." "Ok."  I said and bent over. "I think the trash man and I are in love with each other." Hopefully my daughter will grow out of the extra tall, much older, really creepy men stage.

the girl who loves the trash man

My 11-year-old son has now read all of the Brothers Grimm stories he also had his own chicken job this week and his brothers as well. On Tuesday he wrote this story:

The Two Chickens

Once there were two chickens. One of the chickens ate eggs and the other was simple and stupid. One day the evil chicken overheard the farmer talking with his wife, "One of the chickens is eating our eggs! When I find out which one eats the eggs I will kill it!" When the hen heard that, she became frightened and then she remembered the simple one and thought of something evil. The next day the farmer came out with a hatchet and put an egg in front of both the hens. Then the evil hen said to the simple hen, "Hey guess what? There is a treasure inside the eggs, just peck them out." When the simple hen heard that she looked at the evil one and answered, "But I don't know how to do it. I have never done it before." When the evil hen heard that she became angry and yelled, "Why are you so stupid" Do I have to show you how to do everything? Look, you do it like this." Then the evil chicken pecked the yolk out of her egg. But no sooner had she done this her head was cut off. And the stupid hen lived happily ever after. Then end.

My writer man on his birthday. I had to go with the Instagram 1977 look because of his vintage
Star Warst-shirt and his Star Wars cake his sister made for him.

Our daily bread

I got a request to share our weekly bread recipe. I don't expect most people to want to make it this way because you need a grain mill and a variety of grains to mill, but none-the-less this is the way we do it...

Multi grain bread (makes 3 large loaves)

Add to grain mill, typically we set it on fine:
1 c Prairie Gold wheat berries (Hard white spring wheat, known for it's light color)
1c Hard Red wheat berries (I use this because a friend gave me hers, she didn't know it was flour, another reason to have a grain mill, you can score free food...)
1 c Spelt berries (ancient type of wheat, nutty flavor, high protein, not gluten free, typically paired with Kamut)
1 c Kamut berries (another type of wheat, high protein, not gluten free, typically paired with Spelt)
-we grind these 4 cups of wheat berries in our NutriMill grain mill-

4 kinds of wheat berries made into flour

Combine flour with 3.5 cups of water and cover with a plate, let sit overnight. (I have done a decent amount of research and have discovered that whole grains have Phytic acid in their hulls. This is not good for you and prohibits your body from absorbing the good nutrients in those same grains. Soaking or sprouting those grains breaks it down making it better for you and easier to digest. Not to mention that it makes a much nicer loaf of bread. The easiest way I have found to soak is after grinding, that way I don't have to soak the grain, then dry it then grind it. Saves many steps for us.)

here is the wheat soaking in the water, getting all soft and good for us

Add to grain mill:
1/2 c lentils (what ever I buy in bulk, I believe they are green or brown lentils)
1/2 c millet (this is a gluten free grain, is a complete protein, high in nutrients and much less expensive than quinoa)
1/2 c brown rice (I personally don't love cooked brown rice...perhaps I even hate it, so I add it to my bread)
-grind, this acts as my "white" flour that I add in later, these grains probably *should* also be soaked, but the recipe only calls for 3.5 cups of water and I'm trying to eliminate extra white flour)

Next day add to the dough:
1 heaping Tablespoon of yeast
1/4 warm water, proof

1 heaping T of salt
1 scoop (maybe 1/4 or 1/2?) of white sugar (this is clearly not the best sugar for us, but it's cheaper than honey or maple syrup so I use it because of cost and ease)
1/2 c ground flax seeds
1/2 c whole or quick oats
2-3 glugs of oil (that might be 1/4-1/3c oil? I use olive oil but any oil will do, I won't get into the trans fats oil thing today...)
--mix--
(we use a large Kitchen Aid mixer, this recipe fits the normal large size, I have seen larger Kitchen Aid's just recently but this recipe is to the max of my large one, my sister does a large recipe in her Bosch mixer)

Gradually add your lentil/millet/rice flour. When it needs more flour start adding white all purpose or bread flour, you should only need one or two cups of this to make a nice, not sticky dough. Knead the rest of the way if you think it needs it. Let rise for 1.5 hours.

Grease 3 large loaf pans (I should measure mine, but I believe they are "regular" sized loaf pans, not mini size). Divide dough into 3 parts, shape into pretty oval loaves, flour, put into pans and let rise for 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let preheat for another 10 minutes, don't let the bread rise for more than 45 minutes. If you do, pop them out, re-grease pans, reshape loaves and let them rise a third time for only 20-30 min. It will rise much faster this time.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350. Remove loaves and pop them out of pans right away, they should be nice and brown on the bottom. Let cool on their sides. Put in bags when cool and eat within a couple of days or freeze. There are no chemicals so it WILL mold if it sits out for too long in a bag.

As is most bread, it's best enjoyed warm. You can also shape into rolls instead or create cinnamon/raisin bread with it instead of regular bread.

We typically start our bread on Thursdays and bake it on Fridays so we can have a yummy fresh loaf every Friday night.

As you can see it has many grains, thus the "Multi grain" name. I like using different grains in my cooking because they are a great way to get extra protein, minerals and nutrients into our diet. A better balance, if you ask me, than just plain wheat bread. I like knowing that even if my kids only put some butter and cinnamon/sugar on top they are still eating a "healthy" snack and they won't be hungry in 5 minutes.

The grain mill in an investment to be sure, but any whole grains are better for you if you grind them fresh and wheat flour can become rancid if it sits for too long after being ground. I originally split the mill with my sister and we'd share it, but she has since bought a hand crank mill (which I envy) and her little boys enjoy grinding her wheat for their weekly bread.

I have used the mill to make my own gram flour (not to be confused with graham flour). Gram flour is made from garbanzo beans or chickpeas or chana dal. Also called garbanzo flour or besan. Used a lot in Indian cooking and I've seen more in gluten free recipes. It grinds up those large beans no problem. If you are on a gluten free diet I would imagine that a NutriMill or something similar would be a great investment. Those tiny bags of specialty flours in the health food stores are expensive! But beans and rice are not. You just grind up what you need and you have your flour. I have a coffee grinder for the stickier (more oils) nuts and grains and spices. So if I need almond flour or to grind some flax seeds I use my coffee grinder for those.

Like I said before, this recipe will be way out of the league of many people and it certainly was for me a few years ago. But getting a system down really helps. And having a 9-year-old who only wants kitchen jobs (no animal jobs for her) is a great way to get my bread made weekly.

And I forgot to take more pics the day of baking. But here's the finished product.
Soft and extra delicious with homeade fireweed/rhubarb jam on top.