A Peek At Our Life

August 30, 2008

Updates

The twins have arrived! Two new beautiful girls now make the tally six girls and three boys... everyone is thrilled!

The Buzz Around Me

Babies are sleeping on my lap, and the rest of the family is working on gutting the bus.

Kitchen Happenings

We're enjoying having all those freezer meals we stocked up on. A frozen casserole and some salad from the garden, and dinner is done. Whew.

In Our Schoolroom

The children are enjoying exploring a new Hebrew computer curriculum. I think the four-year-old knows more than anyone so far.

The Garden View

Brayden Waller planted some beets and collards and greens for me when they were here a couple of weeks ago... they will make a nice fall garden.

In The Sewing Room

I got that new bedspread and bedskirt made to welcome the babies. Now I have to alter some wool diaper covers before the case of disposables I bought runs out.

Home-keeping Agenda

Things are running pretty smoothly, but we're not doing any extra anytime soon.

Simple Joys

That smell of newborn babies. I just can't stop kissing them and breathing in that wonderful scent... none of us can.

Preparing for Twins

I add this link below only because local folks have asked. These are the things that we will be trying to buy before the babies arrive. So, while matching outfits are fun, these things are the priorities for us. (P.S. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that used items are perfectly OK... well...just not the diaper liners. *grin*) I will remove stuff that we have already gotten.

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My 2008 Goals

Well...my hopes anyway


~Deliver two healthy new babies safely and not too early.

~Switch to cloth everything...napkins, wipes, diapers, etc.
**Napkins, diapers & wipes done!

~Switch to non-electric kitchen appliances...grain mill, blender, food processor, etc.
**Got the grain mill with the money I made from selling junk stuff on eBay!**

~Learn how to make cold-process soap
**I did it! I really did it! I made Rosemary shampoo bars, Lemon-Calendula soap bars and Spearmint-Peppermint-Tea Tree soap bars. It smells so good in my closet where they are curing!**

~Keep a hand-written journal

~Begin putting our family photos into scrapbooks

~Maintain a "no backlog" policy with my sewing projects

~Purposefully put together an emergency plan and kit for our family with batteries, radio, canned food, clothes, etc. and have it packed and ready to *go*

~Begin building traditions, recipe files, scrapbooks, etc. for our family's celebrations of the Biblical feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles

~Read some fiction for a change!

Leftover Oatmeal Transformed

Fall 2007 159

After going through the trouble of making yogurt to save a jar of whey, buying from a co-op 50 pound bags of organic oat groats, rolling it into oatmeal, soaking the grain overnight in the whey mixture, cooking it and adding organic butter and coconut oil… I can not bear to throw the stuff away. It goes against every frugal, there-are-children-starving-in-this-world and…don’t-you-know-how-hard-Dad-worked-to-pay-for-it bone in my body to just toss it.

So the experiments began. I would add the oatmeal to my bread dough, but never could get it to stay light. I journeyed through adding it to homemade pancake batter, homemade biscuit dough and cookie dough. Some of those experiments were fair, but we were still searching for *just* the right use for this pale, cold and slimy bit of what could potentially be yummy-healthy goodness.

Fall 2007 161

Enter Peanut Butter Bars. An old La Leche League cookbook recipe I made in ages past called for rolled oats, soaked in boiling water for a bit before adding to the recipe. I looked at the leftover oatmeal and thought,”This has been in boiling water quite a bit…let’s try it.” So, without further adieu, we share with you our new, tried-and-true, we’d-almost-make-extra-oatmeal-just-to-have-for-this…recipe.

Peanut Butter Bars with Leftover Oatmeal

2 cups leftover oatmeal, cold and slimy is fine

1/2 cup butter, softened (coconut oil is also yum)

1 cup sweetener…sugar, sucanat, etc….(or honey- if you half the amount, and it doesn’t get the batter too moist)

1 egg

1 cup whole grain flour…wheat, spelt, etc….(Yes, these work with rice flour if you need!)(maybe a bit of extra flour if you used honey to sweeten)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/3 cup peanut butter (we like this better doubled)

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter, sweetener and eggs in a bowl. (The boys like to squoosh this with their well-washed hands.) Add oats and other ingredients; mix well. Spread into greased 9×13″ baking pan. Bake at 350′ for 10-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack; cut into bars. Yield 18(small) servings.

We have also served this hot, scooped into bowls with cold milk either on top or in a glass beside. It is so yummy for breakfast. The texture seems to be a bit different each time we make it, my guess is because of the varying amount of butter and sugar we add to the original oatmeal pot. It makes great snack bars, or with a few chocolate chips mixed into the batter, a very rich dessert bar for crowds. (We have found that tripling this makes two very full jelly-roll pans full.)

Enjoy!

For more frugal ideas, head over to Crystal’s place for her Frugal Friday post!

Comments

Comment from Laura@heavenly homemakers
Time: January 18, 2008, 10:12 am

Sounds like you cook a lot like I do at my house! Great job coming up with a good way to use your leftover whey soaked organic butter and organic coconut oil oatmeal!

Comment from Sombra
Time: January 18, 2008, 11:43 am

If you want to try porridge bread again, I made this one this week

2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
(set to start)
1 cup cooked porridge
2 cups scalded milk
(break apart the cold porridge into the warm milk add:)
3 tablespoons fat (it calls for lard or bacon drippings.. but YUCK, not kosher, I used butter)
2-3 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
5-7 cups all purpose flour (This is a Canadian recipe, so that flour measurement might be off, you have to feel the dough to know how much is right. I made mine really wet and spongy and it was great)
Bake 375 for 30 minutes

Comment from Robin @ Heart of Wisdom
Time: January 19, 2008, 1:51 pm

Neat idea. We just finished making Snickerdoodles with oatmeal (raw not left over.) I’m printining out this recipe to keep in my kitchen for the next leftover oatmeal breakfast.

Congratulations! This morning I awarded you the EXCELLENT BLOG AWARD. You can pick up the award at http://heartofwisdom.com/heartathome
Thank you for all your encouraging post.

Comment from Holly
Time: January 25, 2008, 9:26 am

Good gravy, Julie. I have THE VERY THING left over in my fridge…wondering what to do with it! Thanks, Sweetie! :)

And sometimes…(shhhhh)….I think…WHAT A PROCESS! The rolling, the soaking, the making of the yogurt to get the whey…blah blah blah…WOW! It sure is EASIER to buy a box of cereal! :) (Don’t hurt me…just ruminating about the way we do things around our house…)

And regarding your post above…thanks so much! Didn’t I just send you a letter saying…”I can’t do everything that I know I need to do, should be doing…that I know is best and healthiest?” And you, of course, remind me that my daughter is two months old! We must keep things in perspective, and know that balance will return.

I am praying for your nausea - praying every day.

Love to you -

Comment from oldpathsfamilyfarm
Time: January 25, 2008, 11:27 am

Of course it’s easier to buy the cereal… but by the time I buy the oats (to have sitting there making me feel guilty), there’s no room in the grocery budget for cereal.

So I get myself stuck into doing it.

:)

Comment from Holly
Time: January 26, 2008, 8:57 pm

Oh. AS I re-read what I wrote, it sounds like I buy the box of cereal.

I don’t. I do the same thing you do. I was just saying….Goodness, wouldn’t it be easy if I COULD buy the box? :)

Instead, we buy oatmeal in 25 lb bags…make the yogurt, make the whey, etc.

Sorry if I was confusing! :)

Comment from oldpathsfamilyfarm
Time: January 26, 2008, 9:39 pm

Did I mention how much…(especially lately) I have dreamed of having a magical stash of dry cereal appearing in my pantry?

There are times I wish I never read Nourishing Traditions. What you don’t know can’t hurt ya, right? Right???? Hee Hee

Thanks for praying, Girlie. This morning I brushed my teeth without throwing up for the first time in a while…. It’s a SIGN!!!!!!!!! (I hope.)

Comment from Holly
Time: January 26, 2008, 11:26 pm

Ack. I know. But now, I have this info in my head, and my children call boxed cereal “cardboard bits….”

And I want to say, “But don’t you like cardboard bits?” (teasingly, of course….)

But no…we JOYFULLY eat lots of oats.

And btw, we had this recipe tonight. YUMMY! It dresses up old oats quite nicely! :) I put a little carob powder in one batch - that tasted great too!

Comment from Heather
Time: February 22, 2008, 7:55 pm

Visiting from Seeking Faithfulness. She recommended these “breakfast bars” and just when the kids were asking for dinner so….we just made them and the kids are having them with a side of fruit salad and mixed veggies. They are a definite hit on this cold snowy day. :) Thank you.

Pingback from An Untraditional Home » Dinner and a Doodle
Time: February 22, 2008, 8:29 pm

[…] set out a small bowl of mixed veggies. Then, while they were getting everything set I whipped up this fabulous recipe that Holly linked to. It was a hit. Yes, I encourage my kids to play with their […]

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