days of thanks ~ 11/1/2010

I am remembering last year’s “days of thanks.”  I’m not sure when I “met” Jodi (Granola Mom 4 God), but I do remember that I “met” Conny after Jodi joined in with Conny’s “30 Days of Thanks” and I followed suit.
I am thankful to God for my blogger friend Conny  :-)  We have learned over the year of many things we have in common (along with a few differences).  We have shared prayer requests and rejoiced together as we saw God answer.  I am looking forward to someday meeting Conny in real life!  If not in the midwestern USA, then in the air on our way to heaven.
I am thankful for “30 Days of Thanks” that encourage me to consider my many blessings ~ and to give thanks to God for them.

30 days of thanks in November

I am planning to join Conny again for this worthy meme!

cookie mama cookies

These have become a standard at our house, but they vary with the optional additions ~ in addition to those listed below, sometimes it’s unsweetened coconut or crispy rice cereal …or a mystery ingredient that needed to disappear  :-)

Cookie Mama Cookies*

Cream together:
1 ½ c softened butter
½ c vegetable oil (I use olive)
~ ½-1 c sugar
~ 1 c + brown sugar (orig. calls for 1 ½ c of each sugar)
 
Add:
4-6 eggs  (use more than 4 if you like cakey cookies)
1 T vanilla extract

 
Optional:
1 tsp lemon juice or extract
honey
~ ½ c. peanut butter
1-3 c. rolled oats (this will affect how much flour you need)
 
Stir in:
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3-4 c fresh whole-grain flour (wheat or rye mix)
(Option – use some all-purpose white flour)
 
Add:
2-3 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c chopped English walnuts (or pecans)
1-2 cups additional flour until dough is right consistency
 

Basically these are glorified Toll House cookies in a double-batch (which works great in our big mixer).
And with whole grains and less sugar, they are somewhat healthy ~ 

so Tim says: Eat two!

Bake 15 min at 350* (Try 10 min if you use a small cookie scoop).  Cool cookies on the pan a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.  The more whole grain flour you use, the more crumbly they will be.
 

 
* “Cookie Mama” is the name earned by Rebekah Pearl Anast when she sold these cookies --  I have modifed her recipe (of course!)
 
We usually bake a few pans of cookies, then freeze the remaining cookie dough on wax paper… (transfer to a ziploc when frozen) … to bake another day!
 


You’ll find all kinds of new recipes this weekend at Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Parade!!


:::Edit::: 
Photos are from April ~ I still have NO choc chip cookies in my house!  :-(
And, more important to your taste buds:  I use FRESH-milled white wheat flour.  This recipe will NOT taste the same with red wheat flour from the store.  SO, I suggest you use about 50-50 of whole wheat and all-purpose flour ~ to begin with at least. 

for a change

 

I thought I would show you that I do not only make desserts around here.  Today I decided supper would be based upon this recipe:

Zucchini Casserole from Country Woman Magazine ~ which gave credit to Linda Pottinger of Florida when I copied it down in 1996.   (The kids are asking if I’ve ever made it, so it’s been about that long maybe?  If you follow the link, you can see it was originally published in 1987.  It’s almost an antique!) 

Since I must always be tweaking recipes to suit me and my cooking preferences (and what I have on hand), here’s today’s list of ingredients:

~ 5 cups cooked chicken

1 medium zucchini, chopped (which is a far cry from 6 cups the recipe calls for)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 lonely mushroom, chopped

~ 2 cups of homemade chicken gravy

(2-3T butter, 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon chicken base, 1/2 c water, 1/3 c whole wheat flour, 1 cup milk ~ with most of these just poured in until I thought it good)

1/3? cup sour cream

dash or two of garlic salt

1+ cup leftover cooked brown Basmati rice

2 slices homemade bread toasted and chopped, remnants of salad croutons, and about 8 saltines crunched up ~ the “topping” with another 2 T butter drizzled unevenly over the top.

Remind me to add some shredded cheddar cheese in another 20 minutes or so, please.

Okay, the pictures!

Gravy with sour cream added…

 

The veggies, which I prefer to saute in a little butter and olive oil…

 

And, finally, the casserole before it went in the oven!

I suppose it will look better with some melted cheese?

 

Well, due to technical difficulties with the internet service, it is now out of the oven ~ Ta da!

daybook October 26, 2010

FOR TODAY  

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Outside my window...
we’ve had rain and wind ~ temps in the mid-40’s today (9 C) ~ maybe 50 F?
The other day I saw my men taking turns swinging at the log pile:

 
I am thinking...
maybe God is answering my desire to be a Morning Person with the new habit of waking up early (cold crud prevents oversleeping) ~ It seems sort of backwards when the time will soon change back to standard time, so 5:30am will be 4:30am.  That would be an EARLY Morning Person.  :o  (or at least a dairy farmer)

I am thankful for.…
...live streaming ~ I was able to watch/listen to my family sing as well as Pastor’s sermon on Sunday night
…selling apple pies and lots of rolls at the antique mall on Saturday
 
… Miss Artist’s love of peeling apples for her mom’s pies
… Miss Music Box selling lots of her bread too (and manning the table for both of us!)

I am praying for...
... the Rettigs and the church in Prague 
… my dad who is out today at meetings, then leaves for AZ again tomorrow
… my mom who is baking up a storm before she has surgery on her finger Thursday
… Amber’s new little one (Matthew)
…Diane and family
…Chloe and her family

From the learning rooms...
We are trying (okay, this mom is wanting) to get back on track after last week’s craziness.   The Popper is almost finished with her piano book – yay!  but is struggling with some tough spelling words.  The Cattleman worked hard at making his first book report interesting  :-)  The Cowgirl is ahead in Literature for sure ~ I heard her say she will begin her Christmas unit soon!  The Computer Geek took his first Chemistry test this morning ~ I should be checking that.  He and Miss Artist are almost through with Silas Marner ~ Then they will write a book review on it.  Miss Music Box is having good discussions with her dad about her reading for government.  And we should be listening to Jan Mickelson for school credit too!  One week until Election Day 2010.



From the kitchen...
We were busy in the kitchen Friday and Saturday, so I sort of took yesterday off ~ almost.  I did make a pot of chili for supper.
Tonight should be the egg rolls I wasn’t up to working with last night.  :-\
And yes, more than one of you have asked about recipes lately…  I’m listening, really.
Oh, I almost forgot!  I made granola yesterday with yogurt-soaked oats – Yum!  And since I was finishing off the last of our Brown Cow plain yogurt, I also made a batch of homemade yogurt.   Wow, I did do something besides laundry yesterday.

I am creating...
hmmm, not much?  Or does coating candy with chocolate count?

Almond Joy, anyone?

I’ve never coated with Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate before ~

Oh my.  Dark chocolate.  Oh Me.  The Price!

 
I am going...
to get the older girls when they are finished with cleaning at the office ~ I suppose I should get more eggs while I’m out
 
I am reading...
I’m almost finished with the Gospel of John
I picked up the Beechick books again this week ~ trying to get finished so we can move on!

 
I am hoping...
the weather will improve so Tim can work on siding again

I am hearing...
the wind as it whistles through the open garage door

(60mph = whistling?)

 
Around the house...
Yesterday was a Major Laundry Day, which means I have clothes to iron laying in my room…  And the bathrooms are still needing attention beyond the lick & promise, if you know what I mean…
 
One of my favorite things...
happy cows

No, she’s not ours.  But isn’t she cute?!

 
Pondering these words...

I am the vine, ye are the branches:

He that abideth in me, and I in him,

the same bringeth forth much fruit:

for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5

 

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Just the usual?  (We need to stay home and accomplish school!)
Wed eve ~ church
Thurs ~ violin lesson for Miss Music Box 
Fri ~ piano, groceries


Here is a picture for thought...

the cupcake I should NOT have eaten this weekend

but it surely did taste delicious!

~ Find more Daybooks at Peggy's ~

Choosing Gratitude #8

Revive Our Hearts calendar ~ July 2010 ~

True gratitude is not an incidental 

                          ingredient.  It is one of the chief ways 

that God infuses joy and resilience into the 

daily struggle of life.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, 

and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 

Psalm 95:2

Nancy Leigh DeMoss ~ Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy

 

 

 

 

 

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,

See him dying on the tree!

'Tis the Christ by man rejected;

Yes, my soul, 'tis he, 'tis he.

'Tis the long-expected Prophet,

David's Son, yet David's Lord;

By his Son God now has spoken:

'Tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,

Was there ever grief like his?

Friends thro' fear his cause disowning,

Foes insulting his distress;

Many hands were raised to wound him,

None would interpose to save;

But the deepest stroke that pierced him

Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly

Nor suppose the evil great

Here may view its nature rightly,

Here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the Sacrifice appointed,

See who bears the awful load;

'Tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed,

Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,

Here the refuge of the lost;

Christ's the Rock of our salvation,

His the name of which we boast.

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,

Sacrifice to cancel guilt!

None shall ever be confounded

Who on him their hope have built.

~Thomas Kelly, 1804