Sneaky Cooking!! Zuchini Crisp

Garden growing?? Got a bunch of zucchini?? I found this fun recipe on allrecipes.com to use up some of the abundance... it is GREAT!!!! I'm telling you, it tastes like apple crisp. So until apple harvest we this is a wonderful way to use up the zucchini. Enjoy!!

Zucchini Crisp

Ingredients

• 8 cups cubed peeled zucchini
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• TOPPING:
• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cold butter or margarine

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the zucchini, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.
2. For topping, combine brown sugar, oats and flour in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the zucchini mixture. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and the zucchini is tender.

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

1934 Hershey's Cookbook

Thrift store score!

I'm guessing we will be enjoying some CHOCOLATE in the near future!!!!! This book is a 1971 re-print of the 1934 cookbook. The pictures are still the original.... they just edited some of the recipes to 'modernize' them. I love vintage cookbooks... fun find!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!Heather

Choosing Simplicity... Choosing CONTENTMENT

I am a creative soul. My mind is always thinking. I enjoy using my resources and I love to learn. I can always come up with something I could do, should do, want to do or have to do. I also enjoy change...... I like DOING. Put that all together and I admit I sometimes struggle with contentment. "If only" or "when" or "we could" or "What if" are thoughts that I have to keep in control. I have more ideas than I could ever accomplish!

The past few days my mind has been working overtime on plans for potential remodel projects for our house. We WILL remodel the kitchen/dining room with in the next few years.... it really needs it. We would LOVE to have a covered front porch and a screened in back porch.... then my mind gets a going and I've come up with a LONG list of 'would love' for our home. The list grows and my joy for how it is goes down.

The bottom line...... It is so easy to be consumed by the WANTS that we loose our contentment and peace with the blessings we HAVE!!!! Look at that picture of the pioneer family in front of their soddy! Seriously!!!! I live in a house that was built in 1911 and has had generations of families find shelter and warmth with in it's walls. Really, do I NEED all those fun WANTS?? Look at that family.... living in a Sod House and making do with what they have!

Choosing Simplicity is more often than not an exercise of WALKING a life of CONTENTMENT. There is always MORE to desire...... Appreciating what I have and enjoying a simple life takes swimming upstream in our culture. Sometimes I get swept up in the current, but fortunately God gives my heart a few tugs and I realize that what I have (this 1911 house with all it's old fashioned quirks) is wonderful! Yes, we will remodel the kitchen.... but not till we can pay for it with CASH! It works just fine as it is right now.....

How about you?? Do you ever struggle with contentment?? For me watching Home and Garden TV stirs up a lot of unnecessary longings. I also have to be careful what kind of magazines and blogs I read. What I put in my mind really does make a difference. What do you do to keep a content heart?? What do you have to be thankful for TODAY??

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!Heather

The best of both worlds...

Inside and outside..... This time of year I LOVE being able to get outside and play in the dirt. The breeze on my face, the warmth of the sun on my skin, the fragrance of blossoms teasing my nose, the feel of the freshly worked dirt in my hands and the promise of new life and fresh fruits of veggies. When I was little, from the time I could walk, my mom says I would always head straight for the sand box or closest mud puddle the moment I was allowed outside! I guess some things never change.... I just have made my 'playtime' productive!!

Inside my favorite thing to do is bake... followed closely with eating all the yummy things! Today was a day of the best of both worlds..... some time in the garden pulling weeds and some time in the kitchen baking. Can life get any better??

The garden is doing GREAT!!!!!! I finally have all 350 strawberry plants in the ground! Yee Haw!! I also finished planing our new grapes, black berries, raspberries, rhubarb, and bush cherries. I even dug up a small maple tree from the back area and moved it up by the house.... praying now that God does HIS thing and makes them all GROW!!

This evening in the kitchen I baked a batch of Double Chocolate Banana Muffins and my favorite breakfast: Peanut butter granola. Both recipes come from Homemakers Cottage, one of my favorite blogs.

Hope all is well with you! Are you enjoying spring?? Baked anything good lately??
ENJOY the MOMENT, for this is YOUR LIFE!!!!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

A day for the Special Plate!

The special plate is a family tradition that we really enjoy. It is coming out today to celebrate a special day in the life of our daughter, Robyn!

Today is Robyn's 11th Birthday!!! She has had an incredible year of growth: physically, spiritually and emotionally. God has an amazing plan for her life and we are blessed to share it with her!! Her passion and enthusiasm for life is something I can learn from.....

Robyn is my right hand helper in the kitchen! She is really getting a list of skills going.... her brothers love being able to make requests and for the most part she is happy to comply. Her new skills are very helpful to me, too! Here she is helping me make blackberry jam.
Happy Birthday, Robyn!!!!!!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Hunting Turkey

Last week, our 7 year old ETHAN, shot his first turkey during Indiana's turkey youth hunt weekend!! EXCITING!! Nate got in on the picture taking action and has big plans of getting his first turkey next year.

Ethan had such a GREAT time with his Dad on this hunting weekend.

The turkey tasted great, too! I cooked the turkey breast in my crock pot seasoned with a packet of Italian seasoning (mixed according to the package). It was moist, yummy and special. The next night I turned what meat we had left into creamy turkey and noodles.

This past weekend it was my husband's turn to bag a turkey! More yummy meat and great memories of the hunt.

Anyone else have turkey hunters in their family?? No, I didn't ask if any one has any turkeys for family! LOL!!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Visions of Strawberries dance through my head!

I really LOVE this time of year!!! Anyone who knows me in real life knows that they will most likely find me OUTSIDE! For the last week or so I have been busy in the garden and in my new strawberry patch. Our local U-pick strawberry farm shut down 2 years ago (sooo sad). I have had a small strawberry patch, but not enough to put up jam, freeze, and EAT fresh....... This year, our solution, was to put in our own LARGE patch so that we will have all the strawberries we could want and I will have extra to sell. It has taken a lot of time and work (we wanted to do it right), but it looking great. I will try to get pictures posted soon..... I am so bad about downloading pictures off my camera. All said and done I will have 150 ft of strawberry rows (each 2 ft wide)...... I will also still have my other small patch.... I do indeed have visions of strawberries dancing in my head!!

On a side note.... My Blogging fast was wonderful!!!! It again revealed to me how much time I waste on the computer and how much mental energy all this blogging (reading and writing) consumes.... Really, when something happens my first thought shouldn't be whether it will make a good blog post!! :) LOL!! I also shouldn't be plagued by guilt that is induced by reading all the wonderful things that others are doing..... I can only DO so much... I'm only ONE person!!! I just read other blogs and want to do it all, too!! YIKES!!

I recently purchased a "Simply Said" design from my friend, Michelle, and I think it is a perfect reminder for me..... "Enjoy this Moment, for this is Your Life!"

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Time for a week long media fast....

Sometimes, my mind just gets cluttered..... My house is in need of a good spring cleaning but more importantly my mind needs one!! It is hard for my Spirit to hear God when my mind is so busy consuming tv, internet, radio etc! I don't even give myself time to think some days, let alone enough time for quality prayer with my savior!! This week I will be abstaining from media consumption. I will open up some time for my Spirit to refill with Jesus.

I have also been really thinking about relationships... the ones I have with my husband, my children, my extended family, my friends, my church..... In our modern, fasted paced world, it takes genuine determination to have real depth to any relationship. I have also found something very interesting.... facebook is both good and bad for me. The good is that I have connected with long lost friends and I can easily send messages to people I need to pass along information to or have a question for.... love that. However, the bad is that it feeds surface level friendships that are based completely on my own convenience. If I don't want/feel/need someone on facebook I simply don't get on. Real, deep, truly meaningful relationships are not so simple and require committed time and self sacrifice. We live in an incredible self centered culture and facebook has a tendency to feed this in me. I want REAL relationships with people!!! I want to spend TIME with people, I want to have CONVERSATIONS with people!!! I am blessed to have a few friends that go beyond facebook and I want to nurture those relationships. I also want to spend more un-hurried time with my husband and children.......

So, if you think of it... will you pray for me?? Thank you!!


Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Happy Sad Mommy moment

Last night was Kindergarten Round Up (Enrollment).... for our youngest, Nate. Happy. For Nate. He is growing up to be a wonderful boy! Sad. For Me. No more little ones to be at home with all day. It is one of those mommy moments that sneaks up on you! When the boys (as we affectionately call the youngest two) were little there were many days I didn't think I would survive their childhood! They were BUSY boys! My Grandmother even embroidered a wall hanging for me that says: "Mothers of little boys work from SON up till SON down"! So TRUE!!

I am HAPPY for Nate... I wouldn't want him to stay a baby forever, but SAD for me... these Mommy transitions take some time to get used to. A few years from now it will be something else.... like my oldest getting his drivers license! Ok, YIKES, I'm not going to think about that!! Oldest, Wes, turning 13 this summer and Nate starting kindergarten is enough for me this year!!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Simple Family Supper

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Efficient Cooking!!!

Efficient Cooking
I believe in "Efficient Cooking". Efficient cooking saves me a ton of time and $$. I brown LARGE quantities of ground meat (usually venison in our family since my hubby is a deer hunter) and then freeze it in meal size quantities. It makes for FAST track cooking to make any meal that calls for browned ground meat!!!

1. Brown the meat in a large pan
2. Drain it (I put it in a large strainer) and allow it to cool.
3. Package it in high quality freezer bags, label and freeze!
4. When ready to use, just quickly defrost in microwave

Home Makers Cottage is hosting a freezer meal carnival. Even thought this isn't a complete meal recipe it serves as the easy foundation for so many different meals! Hop on over for more wonderful recipes and ideas!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Ok.... this one isn't funny.... true but makes me angry!

Ok... I'm not going to turn this blog into a political one, but some of these political cartoons have just hit the nail on the head!!! We are told in the Bible that the friends of Israel will be blessed and her enemies will be cursed! We are also commanded to pray for Israel. I personally and we corporately, at our church, pray for Israel and pray that our nation will be her friend!!! Please join in with me and PRAY!!!!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Ha ha ha ha!

Another good one from here!
Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Simple Family Supper

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The forecast of my dreams!!!!

Do you see this forecast?? WHOO-HOO!!!!!!! Don't expect to see me around much the later half of this week!!!!!!!!

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
54° F | 29° F	59° F | 40° F	70° F | 47° F	74° F | 50° F	76° F | 52° F

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Update on my homemade liquid dishwasher soap

I posted way back in the fist week of January about my homemade liquid dishwasher soap. (You will find the recipe at that post) I appreciate when other bloggers post updates on their homemade/frugal attempts... did it really work?? This time it really worked!!

I used this batch all of January, February and finished it up yesterday. Almost three entire months running the dishwasher at least once a day and many times a week it gets ran twice a day. Not bad for $3!!!! It cleans the dishes extremely well and with all that savings I am completely happy! One thing I did find was how LITTLE of this I actually need to use for the dishes to come out sparkling clean!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Funny for Friday....

I found this political cartoon here..... Just too good not to pass along!