Whole Grains

About two weeks ago, I shared here how I was trying to learn how far to balance things out. Well, the Lord has a wonderful way of letting you know exactly how balanced things should be. I was trying not to become too obsessive about things, especially in the area of foods and "organic".

Then about a week ago, I was diagnosed as having low functioning adrenal glands. It can be a serious problem, but it can also be fixed with proper lifestyle changes (think in bed by 10:30), proper supplement support, and proper diet changes. The latter consisting primarily of cutting out all processed food.

Well, when you look around at all the food choices there are today, you discover that not many of them are unprocessed. Even many of the organic foods have undergone some sort of processing.

So I turned to a book I had gotten the week before, Cooking with Whole Grains. The first thing I tried was their granola recipe. It was too good. I made four cups and it was gone in about two days. I mixed up some more trying to get to the 5 cups needed to make the Granola Bars. But no sooner had I made the second batch then it was down too low. So I tried a third time. This time I had all the ingredients right there and made the granola and then immediately the bars. They turned out excellently. In fact, I might need to hide them.;-)

I want to share the recipe with you, because it is such a good treat and you control how processed it is. :-)

Good-for-You-Granola

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats

1 cup coconut (be wary of all the sugar that is added to this! I managed to find some un sweetened at the local co-op)

I cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

1/2 cup sesame seed

1/3 cup maple syrup or maple-flavored syrup (obviously, I recommend the real thing. :-)

1/3 cup butter or margarine (again, the real thing)

1 cup raisins

Milk or cream (optional)

Directions:
Stir together the rolled oats, the coconut, the sliced almonds, the toasted wheat germ, and the sesame seed. Stir in the maple syrup and butter or margarine. Spread in a 15X10X1-inch baking pan. Bake in a 375 oven for 15-20 minuts, stirring once.

*My notes: I don't use the wheat germ, and only occasionly use the almonds. To make up for it, I add another cup of oats and a 1/2 sesame seed. Also, I only bake mine for 8 minutes. Any longer and they'd burn. They also recommend eating it with milk or cream, but since dairy products are also out for me, I eat it plain, or on salads and it's great!


Chewy Honey-Granola Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/3 cup honey

5 cups Good-for-You-Granola

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:
In a saucepan combine brown sugar, butter or margarine and honey. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir together granola and whole wheat flour. Pour brown sugar mixture over granola mixture. Stir till granola misture is well coated. Press mixture into a greased 13X9X2-inch baking pan. Cool; Cut into bars. Makes 24 bars.

*My Notes: I didn't use brown sugar, but just substituted honey, but the constistancy is quite soft...the bars don't hold their shape.

I hope you like these as much as our family does.

Well, I better sign off if I'm going to get to bed by 10:30. ;-)

Tiffany

Baby Dresses

Our church has been blessed recently with the addition of Paul, Missy, and Ellie. They are a very sweet family who moved here not long ago so Paul could go the Naval base here.

Missy was expecting their second child, a little girl. Our church is very fond of celebrating these new covenant blessing, so our family hosted a baby shower for them.

It was so wonderful to see all those ladies come together to celebrate with Paul and Missy. The fellowship was fun and encouraging.

As soon as Shannon and I found out we were hosting the party we got busy with plans for our gifts to Paul and Missy and the new little one, but we didn't want to leave Ellie out. We agreed to make Ellie and Aimee Kate (the new little one) dresses.

I had so much fun making and then photographing these pictures!*

I made Aimee Kate's and Shannon made Ellie's. They are exactly the same except for size, of course. :-)

I only got pictures of Aimee Kate's. We had gift wrapped them when we realized we didn't have pictures of them together. By then we were in the middle of cooking and really didn't have time to stop. But anyway, if you just imagine this dress two sizes bigger, that's Ellie's. ;-)

The first is a picture of the dress with the little shorts underneath.

For the back closure, Shannon had four buttons in her stash that were perfect. So two went on Ellie's and two went on Aimee Kate's.Shannon and I wanted rick-rack for the edging and found this perfect match!

And for the center front, we attached three little ribbon flowers.

We had such a lovely time at the party. Paul and Missy were able to stay later and visit. Aimee Kate got quite active and apparently punched her Mom's tummy three times! We were all quite startled and then laughed.

On April 4, 2008 Aimee Kate was seen for the first time. She weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz. We went to the hospital to visit, but didn't think to bring the camera till it was too late. :-( But you'll just have to trust me that she is the sweetest baby. Missy allowed Shannon and I to hold her, and you could tell she was still having a hard time keeping her eyes open (Aimee Kate, not Missy;-).

We look forward to the day when we see them again!

Tiffany

*Thank you to Shannon for letting me take pictures on her camera. I have misplaced the cord to mine and can't download any pictures. Thanks Shannon.

Balance

This is not a post about standing on one leg. It's about balancing things that are good for you with fads.

Let me explain. At the Sense and Sensibility message boards there has been a discussion about using natural facial cleanser, moisturizer, and cosmetics.

I do believe that it is smart to only allow natural products on such a sensitive area as your face. As a result of that thread, I have completely gone to Burt's Bees for facial cleanser and moisturizer and am in the process of figuring out my colors with the Everyday Minerals brand.

After reading some of the posts about what actually goes into the commercialized products, I want to avoid every putting those things on my face again. Here are some of the links that were provided on the board:

Costmetic Ingredient Dictionary : it tells you exactly what in those substances you are putting all over your face

Toxic Chemicals In Costmetics : list of chemicals in things labeled "natural"

Top Five Ingredients to Avoid : short and to the point

That's a good starting place for the issue. Through doing research Shannon and I have also changed to using baking soda for toothpaste. It has an amazing whitening powder. My mom's a dental hygienist so she can tell us if we're using it improperly.

Now my delemna has come into play at this point. Yes, I agree. We shouldn't be putting these chemicals, etc. on our skin. But what about using them in other places: cleaning, eating, drinking?

Soon after this original post on S&S it was cleaning day. My turn to do the bathrooms. I went to where the basket with the cleaning products in it was. I grabbed the basket and headed to the first bathroom. First thing I did was put on my gloves and start spraying.

After a while, I thought, "Okay, I'm not putting chemicals on my skin directly, but here I am using chemicals that I have to wear gloves to protect my hands. I am spraying this substance in the air, possibly breathing it in, but definitely walking through it while it is in the air. I need to find something natural to be able to clean with."

So I started looking online for recipes and such and found quite a lot including a good recap here of what household items can do for cleaning. So I want to start making my own cleaning products.

Now that leads me to eating. Okay, now I've decided I don't want the chemical landing on my skin, whether I purposely put them there or not. But what about all those chemicals I've put into my body through eating!

Oh, dear, this seems to be growing to be much more than just changing makeup brands.

But, it makes sense doesn't it that I continue what I'm trying to do (avoid chemicals) to its logical conclusion. So I start paying attention to what I'm eating and how much of it is processed. Now in our home, I don't buy the groceries, so I don't have control over what comes into the house, but I do have control over what I put into my mouth. So I start watching what I'm eating.

All right to recap: I have changed my facial cleansers, facial moisturizers, makeup brand, toothpaste, cleaning products (in process) and am trying to change my eating. The only thing left in drinking.

A few months ago, I read on someone's blog about drinking from plastic (Lauren, if you read this, I would love to include the post!). My doctor also told me that chemicals leach into the water to drink from plastic bottles. I have almost completely given up using plactic. I'm trying to find an alternative for going to the gym, but other than that, I use glass or aluminum.

Okay, there's all my reasons and they really are valid reasons, I believe. Now my question, and the question other people have asked.

"When does it go too far?"

It's a good and valid question. This is my answer: As long as I am doing these things to keep the temple of the Lord healthy, then it's wonderful. But as soon as I start doing these things to hug trees, save the environment, or become one with nature, I'm doing them for the wrong reasons and should either re-evaluate what I'm doing, or change my focus.

Because I've changed so many things, I want people to understand why I'm changing them.

Tiffany

Edited to add a link: plastic water bottles Thank you, Lauren!

My 1st 1940s Dress

The title is slightly misleading. I have begun another 1940s swing dress, but it still lies in my UFO bin :-). So this dress is actually my first finished 1940s dress.

Anyhoo. The pattern is a Vintage Vogue. The pattern number is 2669, but the company doesn't sell it anymore. I did find one here on e-bay, just to give you the picture. I got it on sale at JoAnns a couple of years ago and have been keeping it for the right moment.

The moment arrived when we received an invitation to a friend's wedding. So I began working on a mock-up. It went slowly. Eventually I got to the point where I knew the adjustments that needed to make the dress work and I was running out of time. So I laid the mock-up aside and began work on the dress. I finished 2:30 am the morning of the wedding.

The wedding took place near Birmingham, AL and the trees at the church were in full bloom. So before we went in, I asked my sister to take pictures of the dress under the tree.However, in the haste to get the dress done, I had forgotten to put the shoulder pads in the dress. Any good 1940s pattern needs shoulder pads. The rest of the pictures from the church didn't turn out. But I did wear the dress to church the next (after putting the shoulder pads in when we got home from the wedding:-) and had Shannon take more pictures.

The pattern was marked "Advanced" and those gathers on the front are to blame. They aren't difficult, just time consuming.

We have adopted a couple in our church to be our "Grandaddy" and "Nanny" since all of ours have passed on. She told Shannon that the embroidered eyelet was very popular in the 1940s. That was a nice surprise! I had just chosen the fabric because I had it, but it's also historic.

Now for the next project.......

Tiffany

Jane Austen Quiz

I just took this quiz and wasn't surprised with the results, but it was fun. I thought I would post it here.

Take the Quiz here!

Have fun taking it. And let's see what other Jane Austen characters there are around here.

Tiffany

Acceptance Speech

Thank you, Shannon for the wonderful honor of giving this humble blog an Excellence award. I would like to thank my parents, sister, personal trainer and all of you out there! Thank you!

All right, my silliness is over (for right now). I really do appreciate Shannon's award. She is such a wonderful sister to have.

Now getting this award gives me the right to give out ten more (although I will probably only use three;-). So, get ready for the awards ceremony.

And the first award goes to Shannon (A Maiden's Musings) : This is a truly felt gifting. I admire Shannon's talent in writing and thinking. She has such a wonderful way of putting her thoughts into words that you can understand. Oh, and she's a wonderful sister to have around. She is great at listening and giving advice.

And the second goes to Lindafay (Higher Up and Further In): I have so enjoyed reading about her life. I first began reading it for the posts about homeschooling and the Charlotte Mason method. I have ended up reading it for the lovely way she shows Christ in her everyday life. I would truly like to thank her for sharing her curriculum and showing me practically how Charlotte Masons works.

And the third goes to Lauren (With Humility, Thankfulness, and Rejoicing): I just plain love reading her blog. I was very privileged to meet her in October and she has such a sweet, kind spirit.

And there you have it. Look, and awards ceremony that lasted maybe 10 minutes and no immodest dresses, long videos, and extra talking. :-)

Have a blessed day!

Tiffany

The Proverbs 31 Woman

I was re-reading Proverbs 31:10-31 the other day and something struck me.

The verses are talking about all what a virtuous women does: helps her husband, works with her hands (willingly I might add:-), she prepares delicious food, she grow things, she is strong for her tasks, she's a hard worker, she helps the needy, she sews.....then "her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land."

Just a second, where did that come from.

It made me pause and meditate on that one verse. Then it hit me.....her husband could only be a respected member of society if she were being a helpmeet to him and taking care of all the things at home. Because she was a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, her husband was looked up to and respected.

I believe the highest praise I could ever receive would be for my father and husband-one-day to be well thought of by others.

May I one day (Lord willing) be a helpmeet to my husband so that he is able to show others the light of Christ and be a respected and looked up to member of society.

Tiffany