Let's Eat!

mon-bean burritos with chips and salsa
tues-chicken and noodles
wed-mushroom burgers
thur-chicken and spinach salad (yes again!)
fri-ham and corn

don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE

Coconut Peanut Butter Giveaway

Taken from Tropical Traditions website: Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter is made from organic peanuts and organic coconut. Two ingredients: nothing else! No fillers, no binders, no sweeteners, and no preservatives. The peanuts are 100% organic Valencia peanuts grown organically by family farmers in New Mexico and Texas. Grown in the dry climate of the southwestern United States, these peanuts are certified organic and free from aflatoxins. The dried coconut is certified organic coconut meat from the Philippines from coconuts that are grown with no fertilizers or pesticides. This premium dried coconut contains no additives or preservatives, and is not sweetened. Unlike most dried coconut on the market, our dried coconut products are not treated with sulfites to keep them white. Together, these premium organic roasted peanuts and the premium organic dried coconut are ground together to make a delicious and nutritious spread!


My take: While I found this product okay tasting when in a sandwich I much preferred it by the spoonful LOL and I preferred it even more when I used it in baked goods. The reason I say this is because it does have a definite coconut taste and I'm not used to that in my PB&J but as a treat by the spoon or baked into a goody - especially brownies - it gives a delightful taste that I really enjoyed!

so I wholeheartedly recommend this if you want to use it for extra flavor in baking or just eating but if you are looking for a replacement for peanut butter I wouldn't suggest it.

BUT that all said and done- I received this coconut peanut butter in exchange for my review and I plan to buy more cuz it makes baked goods soooo good!

so what about you? want to try it? here's your chance!!

leave me a comment telling me why you want to win this. that's it!!

for a second chance to win sub to Tropical Tradition's newsletter HERE

for a third chance to win tweet this giveaway and come back with the link to that tweet :)

this giveaway ends WED nite!! so hurry!

blessings!!

Shortcuts

are you ever lacking in the ability to do what you desire? boy i sure am!
i write this blog , telling you all sorts of great things and then i often fail to follow thru with those things!
i thought maybe this happened to you too (if not my hat are off to you!)

what matters the most and what i am concentrating on is my relationship to God. that is where i must remain constant.
and teaching my children about God takes precedence over teaching them math (tho they are doing fine in that area too thank you)

i will share a few shortcuts i do , a few corners i cut, and tho they are not the very best i could do, i do them SOMETIMES and pray while i'm doing them . :)

when the kids and i were all throwing up i asked my dh to bring home detergent so i didn't have to lift my head out of my bowl and make some. i had several more loads to do that week and felt justified.

i bought bread this week - and last week- instead of baking it cuz i was having a hard week. i bought the most expensive loaves and they didn't have any bad stuff added to them but of course the good stuff was removed but i prayed and we ate it.

i served leftovers 3x instead of using the meal plan i showed you! at least it was good food!

i slept in the afternoon cuz the baby was up late but the kids were up early and i was soooo tired. i actually gave them a 2 hour movie i had bought on sale for Hannah's birthday and let them watch it so i could nap! (my 23 yr old dd was here, to make sure they didn't set the house on fire)

i gave up pleasing my kids.

i let the toys stay on the floor longer than they should have.

baking? who baked ? not me!

i made salads all week and let that suffice as vegies.

i drank a coke twice this week cuz i have had migraines all week (prayers needed please!)

i bought shampoo!!!! i try to use organic or concoct my own but i simply didn't feel like it.

i bribed my kids with twizzlers so i could sit QUIETLY with daddy and not have them around for just a little while (how horrible but i did!)

oh i'm sure there have been more shortcuts. my fibro AND migraines have been acting up.
i guess you get the idea. my shortcuts are a big deal to me and i feel badly about them but to others they might not seem so bad. BUT as i said- my relationship to God is more important.
during this time frame i managed to read thru the entire new testament again and learned things i never knew before.
i have faithfully read several pages a night to my girls from their God's princess bibles.
i have studied the holidays more in depth- again lol
i have read aloud to my kids every day but one :)

i am trying. i am human. i just never gave myself permission to say it out loud.

i have lots more i could say here- like how my family is in a state of flux and we are going thru a super hard time that i sometimes fear will tear us apart.
or how my marriage is going thru a hard time and i sometimes feel like walking away (and i'm sure he does too)
or how my future is up in the air and i HATE that and am trying to discern God's will for us .
i am trying very hard. striving for Him i call it. a friend actually said to me- : nothing ever comes easily for you does it? you always have to fight with something". yes it seems i do and i'm tired of it!

but i am reading, praying and striving.

Check it Out!

Gleaning the Harvest is a ministry-oriented site helping you to minister to the needs of widowed and single home school moms. How do they do that? They present the families to you, and you give directly to them!

James 1:27
“The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.”

I can tell you , I have been blessed by knowing about this great group of people who are truly living God's Word.

win this halter style apron! it's easy peasy to enter so go HERE and do so!

brit hume and tiger woods

am i the only one who didn't know about this?

Preparedness Pantry

have you ever wanted to sit down and figure out a basic plan for emergency preparedness? well i have found a way for you to do that with less work on your part. :)
preparedness pantry is the place to do that. with their Food Storage Analyzer you can fill in the number of people you have to plan for and they will calculate the nutritional needs you must fulfill. they will give you lists based on that to calculate how much you have and how much you need.
if you have purchased your own items , say at walmart, they have a place for you to fill that in. if you are purchasing items from them they have a place to fill that in. they even keep track of what you have and what you need at all times so you can go back and fill in more info and never lose a thing!

one neat thing- preparedness pantry calculates how long the food you have will last your family! no guesswork on your part!

you'll want to try it for yourself.
play around, get the hang of it (it's easy) and you can start to put together a plan for emergencies for your family. remember you can purchase your items from preparedness pantry (dontcha love that name?!) and you can add purchases from elsewhere. either way it all gets kept track of!
how handy!!
note the red button below!!

my menu this week

sun-chili
mon-chicken spinach salad
tues-bean burritos
wed-chicken vegie noodle soup
thur-potatos and onions
fri-chicken potato soup
sat- lentil soup

Sugar

Sugar and the environment

What's the difference between white and raw sugar in terms of environmental impact? What about raw and brown sugar - are these the same product?

Let's take a brief look at how each of these cane sugar variations are created.

How raw sugar is made

Sugar cane is initially pressed and the juice is then mixed with lime to achieve the desired ph balance and to help settle out impurities. The resulting liquid is reduced through evaporation, then a centrifuge used to separate sugar crystals. It is then dried further to produce granules. The brown color of raw sugar is due to presence of molasses.

How white sugar is made

White" sugar is created in a couple of ways.

Mill white sugar is the result of sulphur dioxide being introduced to the cane juice before evaporation. It effectively bleaches the mixture.

In the production of refined white sugar, which is the most common product in the Western world, the raw sugar syrup is mixed with a heavy syrup and run through a centrifuge again to take away the outer coating of the raw sugar crystals.

Phosphoric acid and calcium hydroxide are then added to the juice which then combine and absorb or trap impurities. Alternatively, carbon dioxide is used to achieve the same effect.

The resulting syrup is then filtered through a bed of activated carbon to remove molasses and then crystallized a number of times under vacuum. It is then further dried to produce white refined sugar like we buy in the store.

Brown sugar

Brown sugar is refined white sugar with a molasses syrup mixed in, then dried again.

Sugar use in other countries

While the sugar cane plant is a somewhat thirsty plant, it's one of nature's best photosynthesizers. In many countries, simple crushed sugar cane is the way you get your sugar fix, or other treats that require little further processing of the sugar cane.

Sugar cane and the environment

Environmentally speaking, the less processing required means the less energy used, less waste products and fewer chemicals.

While whole or crushed sugar cane can be difficult to source in the city, out of the options remaining, raw sugar is the more earth friendly option and brown sugar oddly enough is the worst choice.

It never ceases to amaze me the number of food processing sequences that take something out of a food, only to add it back in later on, such is the case with brown sugar. Another example of this is breadmaking flour that has most of vitamins destroyed in the milling/bleaching process only to have vitamins needed to be added back in.

The bad news about sugar and the environment doesn't end with how the syrup is processed into a final product.

Effluent and waste from sugar mills creates major problems for local environments. Pesticides and herbicides applied during cultivation contaminate the ground and water supplies. Added to these problems is the firing of sugar cane prior to harvesting which pumps millions of tons of carbon dioxide and and other chemicals into the atmosphere each year. Natural habitats in sensitive areas are often cleared in order to grow sugar cane to meet increasing demand.

Do we need added sugar?

Our collective sweet tooth causes far more damage than just cavities. Our sugar choices should go beyond the type of sugar we buy or the type that's present in products we purchase; it's also a question of consumption levels. The simple fact of the matter is that most of us have no need for the amount of added sugar we consume. Sugars can be made by our own bodies through the conversion of carbohydrates present in many foods, or through various forms of sugar other than glucose present in fruit and vegetables.



taken from HERE


ALTERNATIVES we (tami and family) have chosen
raw honey, (we are blessed to have a local seller down the road!)
maple syrup- try this mixed in oatmeal or cream of wheat!
molasses- good for cookies
naturally sweetened jam- polaner's all fruit for example. they use dehydrated sugar cane juice

skirts

busy day today- my weekly bible study with dorothy- so i will just leave you with 2 links to fantastic reading!!!!


skirts only? YES! with verses to back up that thought!

what about "back in the scriptures" clothing?