Still Alive!

Yup, I am still around. Life have been particularly full lately and I just haven't figured out how to make time for blog writing. I may be able to squeak in some time, but often my mind is so FULL of stuff that I can't put a coherent thought together.

Since I last posted, much has happened, but no more than usual, I suppose. My Anna had her 13th birthday so we have two teenagers in the house. For all the complaining that folks do about teenagers, they are not all bad. Maybe I am just lucky, but I love watching my girls grow into young women.

As you can see from the photo here, we experienced our first flood. We got over 4 inches of rain in a couple of hours. Our teeny weeny drainage ditch overflowed its banks and flooded our yard. Thankfully, our house stayed high and dry. Not all of our neighbors fared so well. The kids, however, thought it was cool. I was thankful for a break in the rain.

I have been very busy managing our apartments. It seems like I am spending more and more time lately one them. Time, I might add, that I don't feel like I have. Strangely though, God is showing me that this a sort of ministry that He has for me. I've arguing with Him about it, but I know it is a silly thing to argue with God. What's the point? We both know who is going to win. ;)

Then, of course, the kids' education continues. We don't take a summer break, but instead continue at a relaxed pace year round. I just started the oldest three on a new math curriculum.

I have also had a couple of graphic design projects that have kept me pretty busy. Both are volunteer work. One was the yearbook for our homeschool gym class and the other is a book and a video for a photography contest/exhibition at our old church.

Add in the cooking, cleaning, laundry and everything else that must be done to keep a household running, and my plate is more than full right now. I keep thinking that if I could just figure out a way to give up sleep....

Spring!

Photo by readshuei

Hello Spring! This is an aerial shot of field of tulips in Springtime in Amsterdam. Amazing isn't it? Seeing this brings out my inner desire to be a flower farmer. I just wanted to share this lovely rainbow of God's floral creations as a little pick me up!

Confession: I've Gone Poo-less

Just to clarify, I am talking about shampoo here. Unfortunately, with a baby in diapers, there is still a fair amount of poo in my life to deal with. [sigh] But that is another story for another day.

My confession is that I have not used any shampoo on my hair for months. There, I said it. I feel so much better now. If you know me IRL (in real life), you know that I don't walk around with dirty, stinky hair either. My shower routine is simple and easy and costs pennies. I am no longer spending money on detergents that I dump on my head and then wash down the drain. My hair is looking the best it has looked in the past year (even though I am long overdue to get my dry uneven ends trimmed).

Let me back up a bit and explain what led me to this decision to chuck the shampoo bottle. Let me take you back to a day when my hair was lush, back when I was pregnant with my youngest son. There is something wonderful about pregnancy hormones. When I am pregnant, my nails get strong and my hair gets thick. Well, my son is nearly 14 months old and my hair has gone through some transitions since then and it is not so lush. Around the beginning of summer last year I noticed that my hair started shedding twice as fast. Obviously, my hormones were shifting out of that pregnancy mode and all of that hair that I had not shed during pregnancy was now falling out with great gusto. My hair also turned into a big bundle of frizz. I determined that last summer would be the "year of the bun" and waited for this wonderful phase to pass. I waited and waited and waited. I tried various shampoos and conditioners hoping that each one would be the magical potion to turn my long locks into something I didn't want to hide.

Fall rolled around and I was still disgusted with my hair and continued pulling it back into a bun. Around this same time, I had stumbled onto several articles on the web praising the virtues of going shampoo-free. I had also read the book, Curly Girl, which also advocates not using shampoo. All of the authors swore that their hair was not greasy or dirty, but better than it has ever been. Each proponent of this had slightly different reasons for choosing to go poo-free. One wanted to be more "green" and environmentally friendly and not pollute our waterways with chemicals. Another did it to save money. The one thing that they all seemed to agree on is that shampoo is a detergent that strips your hair and scalp of its natural oils. This makes your hair drier and if it has an ounce of curl in it, frizzy. (Hmmm...sounds familiar) Also, when you remove all the oils from your scalp, your body feels like it needs to produce even more. this can cause an over production that can cause dandruff (another problem I have struggled with). After all my hair frustrations, I figured what could this hurt to try.

Some poo-free advocates don't use anything but water to clean their hair, but most use a bit of baking soda mixed with water to wash - about 1 or 2 teaspoons per cup of water. This can be mixed up and put into a squeeze bottle or empty shampoo bottle (feel the irony) and kept in the shower. Just shake the bottle, squirt some in your hair, massage it in and rinse. Many also use a vinegar rinse made with 1/2 water and half vinegar. Apple cider vinegar seems to be the favorite. Then their are still some who just skip the shampoo and simply use conditioner to wash their hair.

So, what do I do? Well, I tried the conditioner only thing. It was ok, but I didn't like how my scalp felt. That's probably because I have always had dandruff issues. So, I decided to try the baking soda and vinegar route. I just massage a bit of baking soda into my really wet hair. I rinse this out and follow this with a weak vinegar rinse. I have a squirt bottle I keep in the shower and fill it maybe 1/8 full of vinegar and the rest with water. I let this sit a minute in my hair and rinse it out.

And my results? I had a week or so that my hair felt so dirty. From everything I had read, though, I expected this. Your scalp is used to getting all its oils stripped away so it is used to producing lots of oils to compensate for this. It takes a little time for your body to figure out that it doesn't need to do this. So, when you first start, it is only natural that your hair will go through an oily period. It does pass. I have found that my hair looks so much better than it has in a long time. It is way less frizzy. Although, I still struggle a little with dandruff, it is improved a lot. I now notice that the dandruff is worse when my body is stressed.

I find that I am happier with my hair if I still use conditioner once or twice a week. It is smoother and less frizzy. I have weird hair. Over the years it has gone from poker straight to curlier and curlier. I keep it long and don't' really get curls. It just likes to frizz. My bangs which are short have become very curly, especially since my last pregnancy. Because of this frizz/curl, I like a bit of conditioner. One idea that I read about and may try is smoothing your wet hair after showering with a washcloth repeatedly to distribute the oils from your scalp through your hair. Another was to brush your hair repeatedly with a natural bristle brush to distribute the oils. I kind of like this old school method because I remember reading stories about girls with beautiful long hair brushing it 100 strokes a night. Sounds kinda romantic.

So, the bottom line is that I am no longer searching for that perfect hair care product, I am saving a TON of money, I am being "green", and my hair looks better than ever. I have retired the bun and it only occasionally comes out, usually when I am short on time and need to leave the house in a hurry with somewhat wet hair.

If you are interested in more information and tips about going poo-less, here are a few articles:

The No-'Poo Do

Info: Shampoo Free

How to Clean Your Hair Without Shampoo

Let me know if you, too, chuck the poo!

So, who is the Patrick guy?

St. Patrick's Day is a day that I tend to hold dear in my heart for several reasons. Perhaps, it is that bit o' Irish blood coursing through my veins, or because I am named Patricia, the female version of Patrick, or the fact that I have a son named Patrick who is named after me, his grandmother, Patricia, and ultimately his Irish great grandfather, Patrick. Even if I didn't have all that to draw me to the holiday, St. Patrick is a worthy man to remember.

I know most of us, including me until recent years, don't know much about St. Patrick. I grew up celebrating St. Patrick's day with leprechauns, rainbows and pots o' gold. But this man, Magonus Sucatus Patricius, is a great example of a Christian submitting to god's will and doing His work. He was kidnapped and taken from his home to Ireland. There, while being forced to work as a slave, he truly found God and learned to listen to His voice. He eventually escaped with God's leading and returned to his home in England, but later God gave him his most famous vision to return to Ireland, to his captors, and preach the gospel to them. He obeyed. He returned to those he knew when in captivity and preached the gospel with such zeal that many found god and came to know Jesus Christ. Amazingly, one of his first converts was his former master. St. Patrick is famous for using the 3 leaved shamrock to illustrate the trinity. He ultimately started hundreds of churches in and was responsible for leading thousands to Christ all because He listened to and obeyed God with enthusiasm. What a great example for us today!

So today, as I remember St. Patrick, I am going to think about listening to God to know the work that He has set before me. Just like him, God has a plan and work for each of us to do. True happiness and glory come through doing this work, the will of God.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)

In our home, it wouldn't be St. Patrick's without watching this little VeggieTales short. It is cute, funny, and does an excellent job of telling a bit about the man, Patrick, who changed history in Ireland.

Christmas in March

Well, I am feeling a bit behind. All last week I was fighting off sickness, telling myself that I was NOT going to get sick and that I could just keep going at my normal pace. With all of the hats that I wear and things that I do each day, I really don't feel like I have the luxury of getting sick. I did battle with my sinuses all week, dealt with pain and pressure in my ears, and pounded down my headaches with constant doses of ibuprofen. Even still, by Friday night I was exhausted and my left eye was bloodshot and pussy. Ick. I woke up Saturday morning and the eye was matted shut and I decided that I had to get to a doctor before this new development spread through the whole family. The verdict was a sinus infection, 2 ear infections and conjunctivitis (pink eye). So, I isolated myself as best as I could from everyone over the weekend and took my antibiotics.


I think I am finally seeing the light at the end of this dark tunnel although I am not quite through this yet. The good new in all of this is that during my personal quarantine, I was able to sneak in some scrapbooking, something that I haven't been able to find the time for in months. Yay! I didn't realize how much I missed it. I think it is like a drug. I had it out of my system, but now that I have gotten another taste of it, I am hooked again. Now, the trick is figuring out when I can sneak time into my day for scrapbooking. That's a challenge.



So, this is why we have Christmas in March. I started going through my photos and this sweet one of Samuel sleeping in his Grandma's arms at one of our Christmas get-togethers called out to me. I can't resist those flushed cheeks and pudgy little fingers. (Materials used for this page can be found here.)




Here is a page full of other misc. photos from the same Christmas party. I thought it was easiest to just put them all into a big collage frame like this.

(Materials used for this page can be found here.)

Then Santa came to another big family get-together we went to. Since we don't make a huge deal about Santa in our house and don't go to the mall to get the photo on his lap, this was Samuel's first time to meet the big guy. I don't think he knew quite what to think. At least he didn't start screaming, but he kept a wary eye on him the whole time he was one his lap. I like how this photo captures that. (Materials used for this page can be found here.)



So, that's about it for me. I'm just hoping that I can get back on track and doing what I need to get done along with some fun scrapbooking, of course.

CHEAP EATS: Popcorn

We are still working really hard to keep our food budget down around here because, well, we have too. I can't go into debt to feed my family. One thing we utilize is popcorn – not that packaged microwave stuff, but the real kind. I have found that I can by a 50 pound bag of popcorn at my local warehouse club for about $16. Let me tell you, 50 pounds is A LOT of popcorn. Our last bag lasted us years. So what all do we do with it? We mostly just pop it up for snacks. The beauty about popcorn is that you can make it into both a sweet or salty snack. We pop ours up in a stovetop popper like this that we got as a wedding gift nearly 22 years ago, but you can just use something as simple as a big pot.

How to pop popcorn in a big pot on the stovetop:

1.Place 3 T. oil and 3 kernels of popcorn in pot, cover and place on medium-high heat.
2.When those kernels pop, add 1/3 cup of popcorn to the pot and make sure they are in an even layer on the bottom.
3.Remove the pot from the heat for 30 seconds. (Doing this brings all the kernels up to the oil temperature so they will pop at the same time.)
4.Place back on the heat covered.
5.As soon as you hear popping, shake the pot. Keep the lid ajar so that your popcorn stays crispy.
6.Once the popping has slowed to a couple of seconds between pops, remove from heat. And dump into a bowl.
7.Season as desired. If using butter, it can be melted quickly in the hot pot.

Seasoning ideas:
Salt (Obvious, I know!) Any salt will work, but popcorn salt is nice because it is so fine, it sticks well to the popcorn.
Cayenne pepper for a little kick.
Salt, Pepper and olive oil. This is a yummy combo that I learned from a friend. Drizzle on the olive oil, add salt and fresh cracked pepper. Toss the popcorn in the bowl and repeat. Yummy!
Parmesan cheese
Cumin
Spanish smoked paprika
Curry powder
Nutritional yeast
Garlic salt
Pizza seasoning
Seasoned salt
Cinnamon or cinnamon-sugar

I have also heard that you can add salt right to the oil as you are popping and it will be distributed all through the corn. I will be trying that.

Do you like things sweet? There are bunches of caramel corn recipes to choose from. I don't have a tried and true favorite that I can share with you, but here are some you can check out.

My favorite way to do sweet popcorn is kettle corn. I think it is way easier than caramel corn and just lightly sweet which I like. With caramel corn there are several steps. You pop the corn, make the caramel sauce, pour it over the popcorn and bake it. Kettle corn just takes one pot and just one step because you just mix sugar right into the pot with the oil and corn.

Simple Kettle Corn

¼ cup oil
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup popcorn

Place all ingredients into the pot and place over medium-high heat. Make sure you shake this constantly so it doesn't burn. Remove from heat when there are a couple of seconds between pops. Immediately dump into bowl. Done. Easy-peasy!

A really yummy variation on this is Cinnamon Kettle Corn. To make this, substitute red hots for the sugar. It makes reddish pink cinnamon flavored popcorn. I have often thought that you could probably substitute any crushed hard candy, but haven't tried that yet. I'm thinking butterscotch candies or maybe even leftover candy canes. Sounds yummy, huh?

Another great idea for popcorn is to use it in place of breakfast cereal. I have not tried this on my family yet. Breakfast cereal is something that I have cut from our grocery list unless I get a really sweet deal. Since they have been living with homemade granola or whatever I can pick up at the local food auction, this might seem like a fun treat. I think I will do some kettle corn style, but with ½ the sugar for a slightly sweetened cereal.

I'm sure if you think about it, you can come up with lots of great popcorn ideas. Here's a site with lots of unique recipes.

So, when searching for cheap eats, don't forget the popcorn. At just over 30 cents per pound, it is a great deal – especially if you realize that just 1 tablespoon of unpopped corn yields 2 CUPS popped. Try a new recipe and be sure to share your results and ideas in the comments.

I apologize...

Sorry for the downer of a post that I put up last week. I was having a REALLY rough day, battling some demons. It took all the strength that I could muster to cling to what I KNOW to be true and not what I was FEELING. I think that is just sometimes how it is. A day can be very dark and we can't feel the presence of God. But just because we can't feel Him, doesn't mean that He has left us. It is in those times that we must remind ourselves of what we know about God. Come on, if He is willing to DIE for us, you know He is more than willing to walk by our side through whatever is going on.

After much prayer and reminding myself of what I know to be true, I awoke the next morning feeling better both physically and spiritually. God is good! Things are still not all peaches and roses, but I KNOW that God is walking right by my side through it all.

I also need to share how God used others last week to be His hand of comfort. I discussed my struggles with my hubby. Much of my stress is induced by our current financial situation and, of course, affects him, too. But he was such an encourager to me. Thankfully when all I could see was doom and gloom, my hubby could see the light at the end of the tunnel and was able to share that with me. Also, last week, a good, long-time friend got a spiritual nudge to call, give me a phone-hug, and invite me out for some girl time. What a blessing! I hope she knows how much that meant. I am so thankful that they allowed God to use them. I pray that I can hear God's nudge to be used in such a way, too.

"What's on your mind?"

This afternoon, I sat and stared at my Facebook page and the "What's on your mind?" prompt. I was due to update my stale status from last Saturday and everything that was running through my head seemed wrong to post.

Here were some of my thoughts:

Trish...

is having a personal pity party.

Is tired and overwhelmed.

Is broke.

Feels guilty spending money on anything, even groceries.

Mourns the loss of cable TV.

Wonders how much she needs to give up.

Fears losing her home.

Is feeling sick.

Is out of patience with her children.

Got pooped on today.

Wonders why she even bothered dressing her son before she fed him oatmeal.

Has a mountain of dirty laundry to wash.

Aches all over.

May be fighting depression.

Needs wisdom.

Needs strength.

Wants to just cry.

Wonders what is wrong with her aching body.

Needs a sinus vacuum.

Is too tired to care about much of anything.

Needs a break.

Is humbled by generous gifts from others.

Knows God still cares.

Knows this is temporary.

Feels God's presence.

Hopes that she doesn't waste this suffering.

Prays that God grows her through this.

Knows that God's strength is sufficient.

Prays that she will be a witness to God's strength and abiding love
through all of this.

Is at peace despite her circumstances.

Knows God is in control!

I know that this might seem a little raw and honest, but it has been a rough day
for me. I have allowed myself to become stressed about my circumstances
which is not a good thing. On top of that, I am not feeling very well. It feels like it would be just easier to stay in bed. But through my personal pity party, amazingly, I can't help but still feel God's presence. What I KNOW to be true keeps flooding in. These are temporary circumstances and I know God is allowing us to be dragged through this valley for a purpose. I also know that God will not give us more than we can handle. He clearly tells us so in His Word and I believe it.

So, sorry for the pity party here. But I know that I am not the only one going through difficult circumstances right now. It is my prayer that God's strength can uphold you, as well, through your tough season, too. If you are in need of prayer for anything, it would be my privilege and honor to pray with you and for you. Feel free to comment here or e-mail me through the contact box on the lower right side of this page.

Chili on the Cheap

Last Sunday, we had the family over to celebrate my youngest's first birthday. The timing of the day was such that I needed to come up with a lunch that could be ready to serve the moment we walked in the door from church. I came up with the idea of chili and cornbread because both could be made ahead. I took the chili out of the refrigerator and put it in the crockpot before we left for church in the morning and I made the cornbread the night before and quickly reheated it in the oven when it was time to eat.

The chili must have been ok because I had virtually no leftovers from my big pot of it. Even my brother-in-law who has proclaimed that he “Does not like chili” had two bowls. Because of this, my sister-in-law has asked for the recipe. Here is my dilemma...I didn't use one. You see, lately I have been on a quest to slash our grocery expenses drastically. I have discovered I can cook the cheapest when I don't follow recipes to a tee, but instead use what I have on hand or can purchase at a bargain.

With the exception of baking which is a bit of an exact science to make things rise properly, most cooking has a lot of play in it. I tend to read tons of recipes that I never actually use. I read them to try and understand the common threads that make up a particular dish. For example, when I wanted to make chili, I went to my favorite recipe site, All Recipes, and did a search on “chili”. Then I sorted these by rating so that I could look at the most tried and true and loved recipes. The recipes are quite varied, but if you look closely at what makes up the bulk of each recipe, you will notice that there are some trends. Most recipes are based on many of the same ingredients or at least the same types of ingredients. I noticed that chili tends to be made up of some sort of tomato base (whole canned tomatoes, tomato juice, etc.), chili powder, beans of some type, meat of some type, and then there are various extras that give each chili its unique flavor.

Now, if I just picked a chili recipe and then proceeded to go out and purchase all of the ingredients that I needed for it, it may not end up being any bargain. So, I looked at what I had on hand first and created my own recipe based on those things.
So here is my recipe:

TOMATOES:
These make up the base of the chili. I used a large (28 oz) can of whole tomatoes, a large can of crushed tomatoes and a (14oz) can of diced tomatoes. I did not drain any of them.

MEAT:
Most recipes have some sort of beef (ground, roast, etc) although I found several that also included some type of sausage. Since I didn't have anything on hand in this department I bought a couple of pounds of ground beef because it seemed to be the best deal and I know we love that in chili.

BEANS:
Most recipes call for kidney beans or chili beans which are already seasoned. My family members are not big bean fans even though I am trying to train them to be for the sake of saving money and eating healthy. I ended up using a can of black beans and a can of pinto beans because that is what I had on hand. I did use a little trick my friend, Angela, told me. After draining the beans, I put over half of them into my food processor and ground them up. This gives you the nice bean flavor in your chili without so many whole (obvious) beans themselves.

SPICE/HEAT:
I used chili powder which is what gives most recipes their standard chili flavor. I think I used about ¼ cup. I also added one fresh jalapeño, because I had them on hand to make pico de gallo. How much spice you use is up to you and your family's personal taste. I added some and then tasted. I have found that bottled hot sauce is really yummy, too, but I was about out of it last weekend.

THE EXTRAS:
There's quite a few extras that can go into chili. I read through several recipes, taking note of what I had on hand and what I thought would blend together without a clashing of flavors. I keep a fairly well stocked pantry and spice cabinet so I had quite a few things available to add to my chili.

Here is the list of what I threw in:

Onions! We LOVE onions around here, so I think I added two chopped yellow onions.

Garlic. We also love garlic and it can add a little kick so I think I used 4-5 fresh cloves, minced.

Cumin. 1-2 tsp.

Beef Bouillon. I actually used beef soup base, but 3-4 bouillon cubes would be equivalent.

Beer. It adds a really nice flavor to chili. I used a bottle of Budweiser that was hiding in the basement from who-knows-when.

Worcestershire sauce. I splashed some in. It was perhaps a tablespoon.

Brown sugar. I used a loose ¼ cup.

Apple Cider Vinegar. I used a splash – a tablespoon or two.

Cinnamon. I just shook some in. It was perhaps a teaspoon.

Fresh cilantro. I only added this because I had it on hand. It tastes wonderful and added pretty flecks of green into the chili. I used about ½ a bunch, chopped.

Salt. Add it to taste.

Black pepper.

THE PROCESS:
I browned the ground beef along with the onions in the bottom of the pot and then drained off the grease. Then I started adding in the rest starting with the tomatoes and working down the list here. I taste tested often along the way to make sure I was happy with the flavor. It is better to add too little of an ingredient if in doubt about it because that can be fixed.

After all the ingredients are in, it is important to let this simmer a bit for the flavors to blend together. In my case here, I let it simmer for an hour and then let it cool and placed it in the fridge. Then it had about 4 or so hours in the crockpot the next day. This made a good sized pot of chili.

I served it with fresh pico de gallo (which is something that my family has learned to crave), fritos, sour cream, and sharp cheddar cheese.

All things work together for good...

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

A couple of blog posts back, I shared in perhaps too much detail the ordeal with Rachel and the stuffing up her nose and how faithful God was in answering our prayers to give the doctor wisdom to help her. What I didn't mention that when we were there, the doctor also noticed a lot of wax in Rachel's ears. It was enough that she could not get a look at the eardrum. Since we had to return for a follow up on the nose, the doctor told me to put mineral oil in Rachel's ears at night for the week preceding her next visit and she would clean all that wax out and check her ears. Instantly, a light bulb went off in my head and I asked the doctor if a lot of wax in her ears would affect her hearing much. If you know my little Rachel, you know that she is not a good speaker. She doesn't say much and her words are very garbled and unclear. I can't even get her to say her own name. The thought had never occurred to me that her speech difficulties could be related to a hearing issue. The doctor said that yes, wax could diminish her hearing and that could indeed affect her speech development.

So, yesterday, we went for Rachel's follow up visit. The doctor has this long skinny tube hooked up to a low pressure "vacuum" so that she can suck the wax out and remove it. She said that there was as much wax in both of little Rachel's ears as she would remove from a full-grown man and that this had to affect her hearing. Once she could see the eardrums, she noticed that there was quite a bit of fluid behind them. It was not infected and it appeared that it is something that may have been there for some time. She had us see the audiologist for a test that measured the movement of the eardrum. In one ear, there was NO movement and in the other virtually none! My poor girl has probably not been hearing much of anything. It is as though she has been walking around with earplugs in her ears. I just wonder for how long this has been the case.

Well the solution for fluid behind the ears is surgery to put tubes in her ears. Although part of me wants to freak out aver that, I know that it is not that big of a deal because I had tubes put in my ears so many times as a kid that I lost count. Unfortunately, Rachel has probably inherited my bad ears.

Well, my point of this post is not just to share my little girl's problems, but that God is so good. I just know in my heart that these ear problems are the root of Rachel's speech problems. And to think, had Rachel not stuck stuffing up her nose, we would have never have found this out now. God truly DOES use all situations for His good, just as the verse above says! God's loving care never ceases to amaze me!