Recipe: Gluten Free Banana Bread

My kids have been asking for banana bread for a year now. If it hasn't been that long it seems like it's been that long. I used to make banana bread and all sorts of goodies all.the.time.

Seriously....all.the.time!

I'm not exaggerating when I say we used to eat wheat morning, noon, night and snacks. No wonder my body is so messed up.

Anyway, I found a banana bread recipe over at food.com that called for rice flour and not a bunch of strange flours/ingredients.

Not surprisingly, I made changes as I always do. I decreased the sugar, didn't use the lemon extract, used sour cream instead of buttermilk, substituted cream of tartar and baking soda for the baking powder and I didn't use the coconut.

It turned out FABULOUS!!! I couldn't even believe it since the batter seemed really grainy. Now here is the problem that I have.

I cut the recipe in half and used 1/4 c. sugar. The recipe made 4 servings. That means that each person in my family ate 1 TABLESPOON of sugar disguised in the banana bread.

Would you sit down and eat 1 TABLESPOON of sugar? 

If not, why is it okay to eat it disguised in banana bread? That's the part I struggle with. I used to think that eating sugar in moderation was okay, but after all of the research I've done I'm not so sure anymore. Even the "natural sugar" is still sugar and from what I've read it's not good.

Regardless, we still eat sugar and junk food more than I like, but we are a work in progress that is for sure!

---

Here's the new {very professional LOL} recipe:

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Add the egg. Add sour cream. Add bananas.

• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1egg
• couple plops of sour cream (2T?)
• 2 mashed very black bananas

Combine the following dry ingredients

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda and pinch of cream of tartar {replaces the baking powder}
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda {yes, you could add 1/4 t baking soda plus 1/8 t. baking soda from above, but seriously I can't figure it out this early in the morning if ever}
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.

Put in a greased mini loaf pan. Bake 45-55 minutes until wooden toothpick is clean. For much better instructions check out the recipe at food.com!

Doesn't it drive you nuts that I say seriously all the time?

Seriously!?!?!??!!!?!?!?!?

This recipe has been shared at:

Grocery Cart Challenge
Balancing Beauty & Bedlam

Homemaking: Menu Plan and Intentional Living 11/28/11

Photo Credit


FYI - My homemaking goal is listed below my Menu Plan.

Menu Plan

Breakfast Menu Plan
Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work)

Dinners (we eat a primalish /paleoish diet  - limited grains/sugar):

1. KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week).  Chef salads: spinach, romaine, chicken, bacon, thawed peas, cheese, green olives and hard boiled eggs .
2. Baked Potato Soup with sweet potato fries and green beans or this recipe from allrecipes.
3. Roast beef (see notes below) trying this method posted at MarksDailyApple
4. Mini Meatzas 
5. Comfort Roast and Horseradish Sauce - from OnlyPenniesAPlate. Served with rice and broccoli
6. Taco potatoes (taco meat over baked potatoes - still haven't had this yet) serve with salads.
7. Hubby cooks - I always try to have meat on hand and he's great at whipping stuff up. Last week he made bacon and eggs.

Other recipes I want to try:
Qdoba's steak - SimplyRecipes , Paleo biscuits,Italian Cream Cheese Chicken, Popper Potatoes


My notes for meal #3....I read this method of preparing meat over MarksDailyApple:

Take a beef roast, braise it, shred it, marinate it in lime juice, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper, paprika and cumin overnight, then fry it in olive oil until crispy. Put about a pound of that onto a plate. Top the steak with cheddar cheese, cream cheese and fresh pico de gallo loaded with lime juice and cilantro. Top that with chopped romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, more lime juice and more cilantro. Seriously, the BEST meal in the world. I'd eat that over anything. Filet mignon, all you can eat sushi, cheeseburger and fries, pizza, whatever. Nothing beats that. NOTHING. Except MAYBE if you replace the beef with smoked pork shoulder. MAYBE.

---

Homemaking Plan

Goal Setting posts:

• Homemaking Page 
• goal setting does NOT work for me 
• priorities 
• Goals vs. Priorities with an Action Plan

My one word this week:

Limit

Limit "good" things.....do GREAT things.

Check out other menu plans at:

Orgjunkie
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

Need Your Help & Upcoming Giveaway

Photo Credit

Yeeeeee Haaaaaa!!! My eBook is done {mostly} and has been given to my editor {AKA my husband}. I will be adding a few final touches and it will be available in the next few weeks.

It's an eBook broken down step by step {including several worksheets} to hep people meet their grocery store goals. The steps start out with setting grocery store goals and end with people reviewing their purchases to see if they are in alignment with their goals. Click on "Steps to Success" for more details. FYI - Giveaway information is at the bottom of this post.

Please email me if you have any problems entering information in the form below {jaebroeder @yahoo.com.}

If you are viewing this in an email or in a reader please click over to my blog in order to enter in the information needed:

** I will be accepting entries through November 28th **


Giveaway coming soon!

• If you entered in your email address in the form above,  that will count as an entry in the upcoming giveaway.

• If you subscribe to my other blog WeeklyGroceryShopping.com via Facebook or Feedburner BEFORE the giveaway begins, you will get an additional entry in the giveaway as well.

Thanks so much for your help!!!

Homemaking: Menu Routine and Intentional Living 11/21/11

Gorgeous picture from our front yard!

FYI - My homemaking goal is listed below my Menu Plan.

Grocery Budget 101: WeeklyGroceryShopping.com

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Breakfast Menu Plan

Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work)

Recipes from Last Week
I'm one silly chicky! Last week I saw the recipe - Firecracker Chicken at SoSimplyGood and made it that night. As I made it I kept thinking it sounded sooooo familiar. Well goofy girl - that is called my OH MY GOODNESS lunch that I used to make all the time. The only difference is that I use curry seasoning. My family raved and raved and raved about this. Of course I didn't use chicken I used ground beef, but it was good!

I made pork chops using a recipe from MarksDailyApple (well, actually I used chicken) when I started to add the Dijon mustard I remembered that we don't like Dijon mustard so I added just a bit. We all really liked it. The ThePioneerWoman steak bites didn't go over so well. They weren't bad, but they took a lot of time...I'm lazy an energy conservationist in the kitchen. My husband thanked me for cutting his meat for him LOL.

New Recipes to Try
Comfort Roast and Horseradish Sauce - let me just tell you that I cannot WAIT to try these recipes from OnlyPenniesAPlate.

Menu Plan Routine

I'm changing things up just a bit this week. Instead of posting my menu plan I'm posting some kitchen routines that help us eat a primal diet.

Mondays and Thursdays: Bake 2 packs of sausages. My husband and daughter eat 2 sausages every morning. Occasionally my son or I will eat sausage for breakfast, but I prefer leftovers or a mini burger and my son prefers taco meat {strange folks aren't we?}

I always try to keep cooked ground beef crumbles in the freezer so I have "fast food" on hand. To the cooked ground beef I can add taco seasonings or tomatoes and Italian seasoning.

I posted my chicken routine last week.  Then I read {somewhere} that chicken has way more PUFA than pork so I may re-think my plan. For now, until I'm totally convinced, I'll stick with Chef Salad as our KISS night. Note: KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week).  Chef salads: spinach, romaine, chicken, bacon, thawed peas, cheese, green olives and hard boiled eggs .

My homemaking "job" is getting easier because I added cooking routines. 

It was our first big snowfall of the year. We were all a bit excited to get out and play in it!

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Homemaking Plan

Goal Setting posts:

• Homemaking Page 
• goal setting does NOT work for me 
• priorities 
• Goals vs. Priorities with an Action Plan

My one word two word goal this week:

Lay Back

Love this song...why is it sooooo many women are completely exhausted? Is it because we don't allow ourselves to lay back and breathe?

Check out menu plans at:

Orgjunkie

11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

Grocery Budgeting 101

Grocery Budgeting 101
I posted information about our grocery budget over at my other blog WeeklyGroceryShopping. I posted my grocery trip over there as well. Hope it helps!

Johnlyn

Homemaking: Healthy Eating

Image Credit

This post over at SoSimplyGood might interest you.  The part that jumped out at me the most was this:

Food is simply that – food. Fuel for my body. It’s not something I obsess about, it’s not something I feel guilt or anxiety over. It’s just food.

Check out her before and after pictures! What an amazing story.  In my case, I didn't even know that a person could have the energy that I have now. I thought I felt tired all of the time because I was getting older and had young kids.

One more quote:

Now, I feel amazing – I have energy to run through my day, I sleep like a rock for 8 hours straight, my skin glows. I’m finally enjoying the health and wellness I lost and have fought so hard to get back. I can be active with my kids and keep up with my two-year old nephew every day.

Other Reading Around the Web: 

• Here's an amazing list of resources from ChrisKesser. I've seen and read many of those websites before, but it's nice to have them in one place.
• Another post you might find interesting: Paradoxical Inflammation from CoolingInflammation

Homemaking: Routines and Chicken

Yesterday I said was going to post about routines and chicken as well as Yuban coffee.


ROUTINES and CHICKEN
How on earth can you have a routine about chicken? 


I was talking to my husband about KISS night. No, not THAT kind of KISS. I was talking about dinner. You know - keep it silly simple (KISS) where I serve the same thing the same day every week. I don't have to think at all, I just have to get it done. Everyone was tired of hamburgers, green beans and sweet potatoes (except for me LOL.) My husband suggested chef salads. To make this easier I'm working on a routine.

• Every Monday put a frozen chicken into the crockpot on high. It takes anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours depending on the size of the bird. Note: The chickens we buy from the Hutterites are frozen without any giblets and are in a plastic bag. Easy to get out when they are frozen. When I bought chickens from the grocery store I had to thaw the chickens out before I could use them or they would stick to the packaging.

• When the chicken is done let it sit on the counter for 30-40 minutes because it is HOT! Peel chicken off of the bones. This takes me 5 minutes.

• Put the chicken bones back in the crock pot, cover with water and cook on high until 8:00PM.

• Strain the bones from the broth and put the broth in the fridge. Let sit overnight. I remove the fat from the chicken broth (I know a lot of people like the fat in there and it's supposed to be good for you, but I don't like the fat in there at all). 

Now we have chicken for chef salads and chicken broth for a meal later in the week. I'm still working on a routine for the rest of the chef salad, but I have to add baby steps to my routine or it doesn't become a habit, it becomes overwhelming.

My son doesn't like chef salad, but he likes chicken, hard boiled eggs and carrots (basically a chef salad without spinach.) Check out GroceryCartChallenge for more recipe ideas.

Coffee Habit/Routine
Last week when I was looking at the habits in my life I realized that stopping at the coffee shop to get a cup of coffee had become a habit. 


Even though I was using my own "allowance/blow money" I didn't really want to spend my time or money this way. Up until the last few months, I have never been a person to go to a coffee shop to get a cup of coffee. I'd go to a coffee shop with someone, not for the coffee, but for the company. 


We really like this brand of coffee:


However, I realized that I like this coffee when it's HOT.

HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!

I wasn't stopping to buy coffee because it was better, I was stopping because I wanted HOT HOT HOT coffee.

So I went to the dungeon (AKA store room) and dug out my old coffee maker. I made coffee in that and my coffee was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT (good gravy could I be any more obnoxious). Now I take that coffee and pour it into a thermos and it stays hot for hours. No more stopping for coffee.

I've looked at making coffee different ways, but I don't want to buy anything special like an espresso machine. Any suggestions from coffee lovers out there? Cold brewing???


{Note: I don't buy coffee from Amazon anymore since they raised their price. I'm an affiliate for amazon so if you bought coffee from them I'd receive a small portion. I don't recommend buying this coffee from Amazon though. Sorry Amazon!}

Homemaking: Routines and Habits

Photo Credit

My "one word" goal last week was:

HABITS

Also known as ROUTINES.

Habits/Routines can have positive or negative influence in your life. Before I met  Flylady (well, I've never "met" her, but you know what I mean....) my habit or routine was to clean the house only when it was noticeably dirty or we had company coming. 

It would take HOURS. I was exhausted by the time I was done. I was not a lot of fun to be around by the time company came because I was so tired. Seriously, I'd spend 3 hours cleaning the bathroom so it was perfect. I'd spend an hour on the kitchen floor so it was perfect. How do you think I reacted when someone had the audacity to walk across my kitchen floor? Oh the nerve of some people.

Not a good way to live. Not good at all.

Flylady has been the saving grace for me for homemaking and my attitude about life in general. I think I've got the homemaking thing down pretty good now thanks to her. I know that I'll always be a "work in progress" but that's okay right? 

Little Bits at a Time:

My husband's "routine/habit" is to put a few dishes away every time he walks by the sink (we air dry our dishes). It drives me CRAZY. In my mind, I'm thinking "just do it already." GET IT DONE.

My routine is to walk past the dishes and think "oh I should put those away." But I'm in the middle of something so I'll do it later. 1 hour later, "oh I should put those away." I'm in the middle of something so I'll do it later. 1 hour later, "oh I should put those away." I'm in the middle of something so I'll do it later. See the pattern?

I use more energy thinking about putting the dishes away

instead of  just doing a little bit at a time. 

Tomorrow I'm posting about routines and chicken as well as Yuban coffee. I found another wonderful Shutterfly giveaway and checkout Naked Moxie for information about soy candles and a giveaway! Hello, random girl here!

Back to Flylady...her system Works for Me!!!

I know some people are overwhelmed by the Flylady way, but if you take her concepts (create routines that work for you)  and apply them to your own life, her system can work for you.

Or NOT??? 

Any perfectionists out there - have you found a different system that works for you?

Homemaking: Menu Plan and Intentional Living 11/14/11

Photo Credit


FYI - My homemaking goal is listed below my Menu Plan.

Be sure to check out last weeks' grocery shopping trip: WeeklyGroceryShopping.com.

Menu Plan

Breakfast Menu Plan
Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work)

Dinners (we eat a primalish /paleoish diet  - limited grains/sugar):

1. KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week).  Chef salads: spinach, romaine, chicken, bacon, thawed peas, cheese, green olives and hard boiled eggs .
2. Italian Cream Cheese Chicken  or pork chops (using chicken) serve with mashed potatoes (or baked) peas and carrots.
3. Big ole sirloin tip roast - trying this method posted at MarksDailyApple.
4. ThePioneerWoman steak bites serve with sweet potato fries and green beans.
5. Cinnamon Stewed Something didn't have this last week. I might make this or have "chicken wing" burger crumbles. Fry burger, add LA hot sauce, ranch dressing mix and cream cheese. Served with rice and broccoli!   
6. Taco potatoes (taco meat over baked potatoes - didn't have this last week) serve with salads.
7. Hubby cooks - I always try to have meat on hand and he's great at whipping stuff up. Last week it was fish that our friends brought to us.

Other recipes I want to try:
Qdoba's steak - SimplyRecipes , Paleo biscuits,


My notes for meal #3....I read this method of preparing meat over MarksDailyApple:

Take a beef roast, braise it, shred it, marinate it in lime juice, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper, paprika and cumin overnight, then fry it in olive oil until crispy. Put about a pound of that onto a plate. Top the steak with cheddar cheese, cream cheese and fresh pico de gallo loaded with lime juice and cilantro. Top that with chopped romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, more lime juice and more cilantro. Seriously, the BEST meal in the world. I'd eat that over anything. Filet mignon, all you can eat sushi, cheeseburger and fries, pizza, whatever. Nothing beats that. NOTHING. Except MAYBE if you replace the beef with smoked pork shoulder. MAYBE.

---

Homemaking Plan

Goal Setting posts:

• Homemaking Page 
• goal setting does NOT work for me 
• priorities 
• Goals vs. Priorities with an Action Plan

My one word this week:

Listen 

 You know...the little voice in your head that says quietly, "get off the computer."
"GET off the computer please."
"GET OFF THE computer now"
"GET OFF THE COMPUTER"

Why is it so hard to listen to that voice? Because I choose to ignore it. So this week, I really really need to listen. I know what my priorities are, but often get sidetracked. This week I MUST follow the schedule that I set. It's too easy to "work" just a few more minutes.


Check out other menu plans at:

Orgjunkie
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

Whoooo Hooooo Tell Your Time is on SALE

Okay, I've talked about this ebook FOREVER and I still absolutely love it. I don't "need" to read another time management book again.

This just in from Amy:

Tell Your Time (Instant download version only) is going on sale tonight Nov. 10 at 8PM (Central). First 100 copies will be FREE with coupon code: FREEDOM After that, ALL copies will be $.99 with coupon code: ONLY99 **sale ends Monday (Nov. 14) AM.

You could not give yourself a bigger gift than this book. You can read how this book has impacted my life:

• Review in February
• Review in March when I figured out I had to DO SOMETHING for the book to be effective!!!!
• Review in August 

This post contains an affiliate link - thanks for supporting Hummingbird Homemaking!

Complicate Your Life to Simplify Your Life

Image Credit 

Is it true that elephants have small brains? If not, ignore the picture :)

As a homemaker, one of the most time consuming responsibilities I have is to provide food for my family.

When my kids were young and at home with me during the day I asked my husband what he expected from me as a homemaker. His response was "I would appreciate it if dinner has been started by the time I get home." Seriously? That's it? I can handle that!

Life lesson #45234565345: Never assume you know what someone else wants.

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Have you ever felt like you are making your life more complicated because down the road you know that it will simplify your life? I'm in the process of doing that right now with menu planning.

Breakfast CHECK
Lunch CHECK
Snacks CHECK
Dinner UGGGG

Breakfast
We've simplified breakfast.

Lunch
I don't have to plan for anything special for lunch. During the week we buy our kids school lunch, my husband gets to eat lunch at work and I eat leftovers at home. On the weekend I make sure to have plenty of leftovers in the fridge. My daughter usually wants to have fried eggs.

Snacks
Now that we eat a limited grains/paleoish/primalish diet  we don't snack very often anymore. I buy almond butter for my husband and myself. My kids will eat leftovers, a piece of fruit and/or peanut butter. My daughter usually wants to have fried eggs (see a pattern here with her?) Now we snack more out of habit rather than actual hunger (pre-diet change we HAD to eat or suffer major hypoglycemia consequences).

Dinner
Planning for dinner has been too taxing on my brain. I was spending too much energy trying to figure out what to cook. Here's the problem. I would be happy eating just salad at dinner. Throw in a hamburger during the day and I'm good to go. I'm sure eventually I would get tired of it, but right now my body is craving protein, butter and salad.

Instead of trying to figure out what sounds good to me I decided to assign a day to each family member:

1. Daughter - anything cream based (like Turkey Ala King)
2. Son - anything Mexican or Josie's Shepherd Pie
3. Husband - MEAT (ie. mini meatzas)
4. Me - (butter? ummmm not sure)
5. KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week). This was hamburgers, green beans and sweet potatoes - we're changing it to chef salads)
6. Open
7. Husband cooks

This works for my family because we all like really different things. My friend said it wouldn't work for her because her kids would choose corn dogs and grilled cheese. What do you think? Would this menu planning method work out for you?

One thing I love about the food I've been buying locally is how fast it thaws when you take it out of the freezer. I can take a pack of ground beef out of the freezer in the morning and it thaws out by the time I am ready to cook dinner. The whole chickens I buy from the Hutterites easily come out of the plastic bag that they are in. On Monday I dumped a whole frozen chicken in my crockpot, turned it on high and after 3 hours it was overdone (whoops!)

P.S. So what does a picture of an elephant have to do with menu planning? I was thinking that if I could use a small amount of brain power on menu planning, then I'd have time and energy to do other things that are more important to me (go for a walk, play a game, work on my blog, hang out with my kids and husband, plan a fun outing for our family, etc.)

Check out other homemaking posts at Raising Homemakers.

AMothersHeritage is having a master bedroom makeover challenge! She will be sharing simple and inexpensive ideas with you so stay tuned to her blog.

Jennifer is having a Shutterfly giveaway on her website JenniferDawnMcLucas. FYI - the giveaway ends on November 12th.

Homemaking: Menu Plan and Intentional Living 11/7/11

Live an intentional life...

Fall is definitely coming to an end. Picture of Spearfish Creek.

FYI - My homemaking goal is listed below my Menu Plan.

The  french toast recipe was a flop. Not because it wasn't good, but I think I wanted it to be like french toast in the "old days" (back when I ate grains and sugar...a LOT of grains and a LOT of sugar). We much preferred just to eat the oopsie rolls plain. It's amazing how far we have come on this journey.

My husband was out of town last week so we ate really really weird. We had leftovers one night and I almost  messed up LynnsKitchenAdventures.com Panera's Creamy Potato Soup by using the crock pot and once again NOT following the recipe. I added more liquid because last time I thought it was too thick. I forgot when you use the crockpot you don't need as much liquid. I ended up dumping everything out of the crockpot into a pan and boiling it to death. I only added 1/2 the amount of cream cheese and I liked it a lot better.

I made Beef Stew - for beef stew this is the best recipe I've every had. I found out that none of us like beef stew a whole lot (oops - thought my husband did...perhaps I should ASK him what he likes?)

Be sure to check out last weeks' grocery shopping trip: WeeklyGroceryShopping.com.

Menu Plan

Breakfast Menu Plan
Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work)

Dinners (we eat a primalish/paleoish diet with very limited grains):

1. Chef salads with chicken and hard boiled eggs . I think I'll add green olives to mine - thanks Mary!
2. Chicken Ala King (using arrowroot powder to thicken) serve over mashed potatoes with peas served with carrots.
3. Taco potatoes (taco meat over baked potatoes - didn't have this last week) serve with salads.
4. Red beans and shredded beef and salsa (from the freezer) over rice serve with salads.
5. ThePioneerWoman steak bites serve with sweet potato fries and green beans.
6. Cinnamon Stewed Something you know I just can't follow a recipe...this sauce is really good though. Not sure what I'll serve it over...maybe just leave it thick and call it stew?  OR.Meatza (mini meatzas and each family member adds their own toppings)
7. Hubby cooks - I always try to have meat on hand and he's great at whipping stuff up. Last week it was leftovers because he had been out of town. Our friends brought us some fresh trout the day before my husband left so I think I'll ask him if he'll make fish.

Other recipes I want to try:
pork chops, Qdoba's steak - SimplyRecipes 


I read this method of preparing meat over MarksDailyApple:

Take a beef roast, braise it, shred it, marinate it in lime juice, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper, paprika and cumin overnight, then fry it in olive oil until crispy. Put about a pound of that onto a plate. Top the steak with cheddar cheese, cream cheese and fresh pico de gallo loaded with lime juice and cilantro. Top that with chopped romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, more lime juice and more cilantro. Seriously, the BEST meal in the world. I'd eat that over anything. Filet mignon, all you can eat sushi, cheeseburger and fries, pizza, whatever. Nothing beats that. NOTHING. Except MAYBE if you replace the beef with smoked pork shoulder. MAYBE.

Note: KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week). My husband suggested having chef salad every week.

** Be sure to check back on Friday over at weeklygroceryshopping.com to see how primalish eating on a budget worked out for us!

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Homemaking Plan

Goal Setting posts:

• Homemaking Page 
• goal setting does NOT work for me 
• priorities 
• Goals vs. Priorities with an Action Plan

My one word this week:

HABITS

I really need to evaluate the habits that I have. For example, I made Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins last week (I didn't add the sugar). They were GOOD...really really good. But you know what? I would rather just eat some butter when I feel like I want to eat some butter (must be Kerrygold brand)...I would rather eat a handful of almonds and then make a chocolate concoction whenever I want. I don't need to make muffins, but I think I do it out of habit. I believed this lie for a while...if you are a good momma you spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

My friend and I were talking about menu plans. I told her that I came up with an easier way to menu plan. As I was explaining my plan to her, we realized that it wouldn't work for her because her kids were too young. She asked her husband earlier in the week what he wanted to eat so she could add it to the menu plan. His response..."it doesn't matter, can't we just eat the same thing we ate last week?"

Why can't we?

Well, it just wouldn't be right.

Why not?

I don't know it just feels weird, especially when you read other blogs and how much planning they do and how many different meals they make.

So?

Hmmmmmm....I don't know that I'm ready to eat the same exact thing every week, but I think my friend's husband is onto something here. Just because a lot of people do something, doesn't mean that you should too. Time to re-evaluate.

I'll share my menu plan idea in a post this week.

This week I worked on the calendars I'm making for Christmas gifts.

This is the only Halloween picture I took - he went to school like this and
then added face paint when he went trick or treating.

Check out other menu plans at:

Orgjunkie
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

Recipe - Hard Boiled Eggs Updated

Recipe - Hard Boiled Eggs

The hard boiled eggs saga continues....I tried  making hard boiled eggs in September using my June 2011 method mentioned below, NO GO! I was so completely frustrated and gave up.

Then Mary left a comment at WeeklyGroceryShopping about egg salad and I've been craving hard boiled eggs ever since...here's what worked last night with my very very fresh farm eggs:

• bring water to a boil (without the eggs)
• using a spoon, gently put eggs into the pan of boiling water
• boil eggs for 10 minutes
• turn burner off and let sit for 5 minutes
• place eggs in ice cold water
• crack eggs on top and bottom, then roll around on the counter
• watch the peel slip off

Next time I won't cook my eggs as long....they were way too dry for me, but my son LOVED them. I only made four eggs last night, this weekend I'm going to attempt to make pickled hard boiled eggs.

For dinner we had eggs, carrots (I ate romaine lettuce leaves plain too) and LynnsKitchenAdventures Potato Soup (this soup was almost a complete flop - will share details on Monday). My son thought we needed to add some broccoli to the soup - wonderful idea!

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* Did you hear me whooping and hollering last night?

Update June 2011

I was finally able to get my hard boiled eggs peeled EASILY last night. Here is what you do (I tried this with some eggs I left in the fridge for 3 weeks and eggs I picked up yesterday)

1. If you can, buy farm fresh chicken eggs. They taste better and are better for you. I pay $3.00 per dozen, but have seen them for $2.50 a dozen as well.
2. Put in a pan and cover them with cold water.
3. Add a significant amount of oil (good way to use up bad oil that you have laying around). I probably added 1/4 of a cup.
4. Boil eggs for 7-8 minutes. While you are waiting get a bowl and fill it with ice water (a LOT of ice).
5. Remove eggs 1 by 1 from the boiling water and place into the ice water.
6. Happily peel your eggs.

I'm not sure if it is the ice water or the oil that does the trick - I'm sure I'll test this at some point in the future. Let me know if you try it!

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Last year I learned how to boil eggs so the yolks weren't dry and crumbly. If you like dry and crumbly yolks you probably just want to move right along.

I always thought hard boiled eggs were a bit hard to get down. They are filled with a lot of nutrients, but I could barely choke down the yolk.

When I first started making hard boiled eggs, I followed Betty Crocker's recipe (something like boil the eggs for 25 minutes). My yolks were always green (and dry and crumbly).

Then I read that you should put the eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, boil for 15 minutes and then put them in cold water. My yolks were yellow (and dry and crumbly).

When started buying my eggs locally, one of the men suggested making hard boiled eggs this way:

1. Buy Happy Chicken eggs.
2. Place eggs in cold water and bring to a boil.
3. Boil the eggs for 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the burner and let sit for 3 minutes.
5. Carefully dump out hot water and replace with cold water.

With a LOT of doubt that this would work, I figured I would try it.

Did you know that you can have yellow yolks that aren't dry and crumbly??? Seriously, I had no idea. They were absolutely delicious. Since that time the chickens have gotten bigger and the eggs are bigger. I now cook for 7 minutes and let them sit for 5 minutes before I put them in cold water.

Delicious!

This recipe has been linked to:
 Grocery Cart Challenge.
 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

Homemaking: Creative Deprivation

My goal when my kids were young was to deprive them.

Deprive them of STUFF.

I first read about this parenting principle in The Complete Tightwad Gazette (still looking for the page #, but can't seem to find it.)

Amy D. wrote that when her kids would complain about the size of the ice cream cone she bought them, instead of buying them a bigger ice cream cone, she would not take them to the ice cream shop as often. The theory being that they would appreciate the small cone once again.

I found that the more "stuff" I bought my kids, the more "stuff" they wanted. The same principle holds true in my own life. However, when I focus on being thankful, I can appreciate what I have.

Teenage Years
I'm finding that I don't have to be intentional at all about depriving them of STUFF any longer. Given our parenting values and financial goals they are naturally deprived (the items they would love to have now cost a fortune compared to the little things when they were young.

Never deprive your kids of what they need....

unconditional love, touch, undivided attention, time,

but there is a time and a place to deprive them of things THEY think they need.

Other Posts:

• I wrote a blog post about the Fulfillment Curve a few years back. While the post needs updating, (we actually NEED two cars now given my husband's job situation) the principle is the same. 
• Decorating and the Fulfillment Curve
• Frito Free Child
• Investment Purchase

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