The Bounty of our Garden

This year our garden did not do so well between the drought and a serious lack of "something" in our soil we did not get a whole lot. Our tomatoes did well as did the beets, carrots, peppers and a random pumpkin Caleb planted, I think we are a bit out of season I think beets should be early spring or fall.

I think with the tomatoes I am going to smoke dry them, just for fun. As I use the other things I will let you know how it goes.

So now it is clean up time and we will get ready to plant again...maybe the next garden will go a little better.

Question

I have been looking for information on how much the average family spends on groceries, but there is no info out there.

So my question is how much does your family spend on groceries a week/month?

I am trying to figure out what is "normal" and if what I am budgeting is doable

One income family in a two income world

"Don’t bankrupt your future for gratification today, but don’t live so abstemiously that you cannot enjoy life now."
Joni Mc Coy's Miserly Moms

This is my thought for today...we have spent this week taking a close look at our spending looking for ways to save money. And like all things in life money is about balance,I thought this statement summed it up nicely.

Are we going to work on being better about our spending, YES are we still going to do things to enjoy life YES! We are not going to start eating all dry beans, but we are going to budget groceries

There are so many plans out there that make BIG promises for the future but until then life is no fun.I think it's we have the possiblity to be a millionare by 50, but we are not gauranteed tomorrow so live everday like it is the last but also remembering it may not be:)

Beautiful Buns

If you did a search for "beautiful buns" there is no telling what you might come up with:) but hopefully you would be directed to this blog. Last week I made some great hamburger buns, partially fuled out of the desire to eat better and the need to save money I decided to make my own buns.

I know you are thinking why make buns? Well for one they taste soooo much better than the mushy, pastey bread you can buy and they cost much less-OK there is the time factor but the reward is so worth it.

So if you want to make your own buns I've included the recipe

1C Water, lukewarm

2TB Butter at room temp

1 egg

3 1/4 C White Flour

1 Tsp Salt

1 TB Yeast or 1pk

1) Sprinkle the yeast inot the water and leave for 5 min. Stir to dissolve

2) Combine all the ingredients and mix well

3)Knead by hand or in kitchen aid for about 10 min until the dough is soft and smooth

4)Place the dough in a clean lightly greased bowl.

5)Cover with a towl and let rise 1hour until doubled in size

6) Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a flattened ball

7)Place the buns on a greased or non-stick baking sheet, cover with a towel and let rise 30-40 min until quite puffy and doubled in size

8)Preheat oven to 375 degrees

9)Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes, until golden

10) Remove from the oven and cool them on a wire rack

This recipe also makes GREAT dinner rolls just change the shape or make smaller balls!

I know this might seem like a lot of work but oh the JOY baking brings ENJOY!

We are so blessed

I know that our family has been blessed with God's grace and mercy everyday as I look at two beautiful, sweet, smart and I think perfect children. I try not to take this for granted but when you hear stories like this one you can't help but wonder why have you been so blessed. I ask that all of you will please pray for this family that God will give them peace, acceptance and the grace to get throught this difficult time and that God's will be done in their lives and through this He will be glorified.

The following e-mail is from a man Donnie works with

Prayer request for the family of Craig and Paige Stewart


This afternoon we met with Dr. Biggio at the Kirklin Clinic in Birmingham. After looking at an ultrasound for a few minutes he was able to confirm what we had already been told – that the babies are indeed conjoined twins. On the ultrasound, he could see two heads, but said that below the heads everything appears as one. It was too early (9.5 weeks) for him to
tell much about the organs, other than that he saw only one heartbeat. Separation would not be an option. He believes that if the babies live until and survive birth, they will be incompatible with life and not live long thereafter. He says there is nothing that doctors could do to help these babies. His recommendation was to terminate the pregnancy.

Believing that all life is in God's hands. we told him that we would continue with the pregnancy. Although for us we didn't really consider this a decision to be made, I must say that I now view the weight of that decision with a different perspective than I have in the past. I suppose we were as prepared for today as we could have been; what he told us
Was basically consistent with what we had already been told. Nonetheless, this has been a very difficult day.

Please continue to lift us up in your prayers. Without God in our lives and Godly people interceding for us, I can't imagine how we'd make it through the coming months. Paige will be living through the process of being pregnant without the expectation of a happy ending. Please pray that faith in the Lord will guide and sustain us through this process
As we move toward whatever conclusion He has planned.


Craig

Pickles

Ok so we all know what to do when life gives us lemons....we make lemon bars of course:)

But what do you do when life gives you cucumbers,peppers and onions?

You make pickles!

Dan got some beautiful cucumbers from someone at work and our garden produced peppers and onions so I made a batch of pickles...sweet to many peoples objection but maybe I'll do some dill this fall. I also canned some salsa out of our bounty of tomatoes.

There is just someting about canning, it gives me such inner pleasure

Our Sweet Girl

1) Ella finally let me give her pony tails...all over:)

2) Ella's first night in a "BIG Girl bed"

3) Ella all dressed up and ready to do some cooking-like mother like daughter

4) Enjoying some Starbucks-like mother like daughter:)

5)Mother's day

6)Just saying HI