I made a new essential oil fragrance today for my diffuser:
2 drops Vetiver,
8 drops Eucalyptus,
8 drops Ginger &
10 drops Lemon.
I have a huge diffuser, so you might want to half the recipe for a smaller one. It was a very soothing fragrance.
Category: Food and Drink
When the Eggs Won’t Peel
I nearly lost my religion this morning trying to peel eggs. (And don’t tell me all of your tricks to peel the perfect eggs – I have tried them ALL!) 😝
So…of course, I had to see what the Bible had to say about eggs.
Interesting verse, huh?
I find it very encouraging that while Job was questioning his very existence, he also asked about egg whites! So funny! But really, very apropos too. Sometimes it the little, fiddly, day-to-day frustrations that cause us to really “lose it”.
But the God who created the universe is still the God who created the chicken. And it’s His creation that lays those eggs that can give us so much trouble.
Whether you are struggling with a life-threatening disease or a wayward child or a lack of finances or a stopped-up toilet…or even if you are struggling peeling eggs – God is God.
He doesn’t change. He remains ever faithful, ever holy, ever the same.
We can trust Him.
My angel-ed eggs may not be the prettiest, but I can find peace in knowing Him.
Give God whatever you’re struggling with today. Let His strong arms carry you through that struggle to rest on the other side.
Welcome!
Thanks so much for dropping by our blog!
We’re a family of three here in Florida, where we garden a small croft (a fenced piece of land used for small-scale food production, usually near a house).
We also write Christian devotional blogs, updates on our son, recipes we’ve tried and liked and anything else that strikes our fancy.
We appreciate your stopping by and hope you find something that encourages your heart.
Doug, Alesha and Isaac
Yummy Raspberry Gummies
For the past 6 months, Doug and I have been acclimating ourselves to the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating. It is a little science-y for me, and so I’m glad he’s been lending his brilliant teacher brain to help with our menus and recipes.
It’s very rare for me to stick to someone else’s written recipe, so when it came time to make these delicious sugar-free treats, I did some tweaking to the original THM recipe and combined it with one I found while strolling through pins on Pinterest.
Here’s what we finally came up with:
Sugar-Free Raspberry Gummies
- Boil 2 cups water.
- Add 2 Raspberry Zinger and 1 Wild Berry Zinger tea bags to water and steep 5 minutes.
- While tea is steeping, puree 3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries.
- Remove tea bags, add pureed raspberries to tea. Strain through metal sieve to remove seeds.
- To tea/fruit mixture, add 5 tsp. Gentle Sweet, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, then using a whisk, gradually add 7 Tbsp. Just Gelatin. Continue whisking until gelatin is dissolved. I used the sieve to remove any undissolved pieces of gelatin.
- Pour or spoon mixture into silicone or plastic molds. You could also pour into baking dish, and cut into squares later.
- Place in freezer for 10 minutes to set. Remove from molds and store in refrigerator until completely set.
These are not only sugar-free, but full of vitamin C, so completely healthy for you. The gelatin is excellent for nail and hair growth, and is very soothing to an upset tummy. It also aids in digestion. Plus they taste SO yummy!!!
Enjoy!
Grandma’s Vegetable Soup
This is one of our favorites, especially during winter months when we’re craving something hot and filling to warm us up.
Grandma’s Vegetable Soup
Cook roast. (Any kind of roast will do. We prefer Shoulder Roast if we are cooking it in the slow cooker. We usually pop ours into our Nesco roaster to give it a yummy “roasted” flavor.) Save broth. Shred beef to be added later.
1 large bottle tomato juice
1 large bottle water (I use the tomato juice bottle)
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can green peas
1 can butter beans
1 onion, diced
2-3 potatoes, cubed
2-3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 large head of cabbage***
2-3 tsp Better Than Bouillon, vegetable base
Combine all ingredients in large pot, including shredded beef and broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Cook until fresh veggies are done.
We often do a vegetarian version on this soup. Simply leave out the beef and its broth. It is still amazing!
I know people can have very strong opinions about cabbage. Or, conversely, they are ambivalent and leave it out, thinking it won’t be missed. I will tell you, the cabbage is the absolute SUPERstar of this soup. Don’t leave it out! You will be disappointed.
You could substitute almost any canned vegetables for the ones listed, but we’ve always stuck with this combination and really like it.
The Better Than Bouillon stock bases are our favorites. We use the vegetable one, almost exclusively. It is so much tastier than the little cubes in the foil wrappers. 😉
I hope you enjoy this favorite soup of ours. My husband grew up eating it and I was so thrilled when his Grandma shared the recipe with me.
Let me know if you try it! I’d love to hear from you.
Trying to Catch Up
We've had a quiet couple of weeks here at our house. Ike's caregiver was on vacation one week, then she took some days off for the 4th of July.
We've been getting lots of rain here, along with our mid-90* weather. The rain does help the mercury to stand still and stop climbing for a little while each day.
I think the crepe myrtles must really love the rain. They are all in bloom all over town.
Our summer skies are really breath-taking here in Florida. I know other places have beautiful skies too; but I am quite particular to ours.
I know Kepler doesn't get outside as much as she would like. I think she was trying to tell me she needed a little more vitamin D when she positioned her head to bask in this puddle of sunshine.
Doug is still planting seeds and harvesting a few veggies here and
there. Nothing has produced like we expected it to, so for this next
round of seeds he will be using a special fertilizer for each bucket. Yep,
we have a garbage can full of cow manure in our back yard. ;)
I like to call this new addition to our garden "Bowl-o-Cilantro". (You can click to make the pictures bigger.)
Now…I'm a little hesitant to tell you this, because I'm afraid I might get fussed at; but that bowl? Yeah…it's Tupperwear. And yeah, it does have drainage holes now. Is that like really wrong? I'm telling you, I just could not resist doing it. How amazing does that cilantro look in that bowl???
The trick is to cut from a small quadrant of the full bowl when you need cilantro, then rotate and clip the next quadrant the next time you need it. That way it will continue growing in the bowl all the time. I am looking forward to some yummy dishes this summer!
We are still doing ok, financially. We did have to dip into the money we were saving for Doug's surgery during last week, as he didn't tutor. (The boys spent the week at church camp.) We received a $300 check in the mail, just in time to pay our utilities bills this week. We also received a HUGE check towards Doug's surgery. He will be calling today to set up his surgery date. He is a little nervous about that, as he's never had surgery before; but I know the Lord is going to see him through it with no complications.
By the way, we are still continuing to try to stay on our diet. I say "trying" because we got waylaid a little bit by the 4th of July. When you step out the door and smell barbecue grills cooking, it sets up a domino effect! We did have burgers…and then cupcakes, and then we struggled all weekend. However, on Monday, we got back on track and are doing well now. According to my doctor's scales, I am still the same weight I was this past February. Eh… And Doug, of course, has lost in the neighborhood of 30 pounds already. Yeah…I know. I want to just poke him in the eye, too! 😉
I leave you with a close up of Poppet. Doug was cleaning her cage this week and so I was spending a little one-on-one time with her. Then she bit my ear. And went right back into her cage!!! But she looks really cute here.
That's all for today!
Talk to you again soon,
Alesha
Chicken, Corn and Canteloupe
We had a good weekend, even though I was stuck at home with back pain. Doug and Ike both made it to church and enjoyed their day together. We splurged on our diet, because it was Father's Day. Doug wanted fried chicken, so that is what we had. 😉
I had been shopping for bedsheets, and I mentioned on FB how confusing that whole process could be. I did try to glean as much advice as I could before doing some online shopping. However, something even better came along. My friend was out shopping, came across sheets on clearance, and snapped up a set for me (regularly priced at $170!!!) for under $50! I told her she was hired as my new personal assistant for sure!
I ended up with Martha Stewart sheets. They are Egyptian cotton, and a 500 threadcount. So far we are loving them. They remind me of sleeping at my grandma's house. Her sheets were also so crisp and smelled so wonderful! :) Good memories.
Today I posted some books and jewelry on online yard sale groups on FB. We'll see what comes of that, if anything. Tomorrow, we are going to meet a lady that listed a skirt and sweater set for $10 in my sizes. I hope it all fits, but if it doesn't, it will be good motivation to not have many "splurge" days, won't it?
My dad blessed us with some produce on Saturday. He and Mama halved a bushel of corn with us and gave us a canteloupe too. It was honestly one of the best-tasting cantaloupes I have ever had in my life! Sugar-sweet.
I tried to recreate my Mexican rice and refried beans recipe yesterday, so that I could take pictures and share it with you. It was an EPIC FAIL. :( The rice wouldn't cook, the beans were still crunchy, everything kept sticking. Ugh! So disappointing! BUT, I do intend to try it again. I will not let it conquer me.
I guess that's all that's happened since I blogged last. These are turning into weekly posts, rather than daily; but I suppose that's ok. No publishing companies beating down the door yet, anyway! Tee hee hee.
Until the next time,
Alesha
Obtaining Mercy 