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Earlier this week I made my way to the co-op where I purchase the majority of my food during the winter months. I hadn't been there in a while, trying my best to make the food we had in our home last as long as possible. We've been eating up the last of the root vegetables and canned items we had in our "root cellar" from our garden last summer. I had my grocery list in ha
Since moving to a home where we have land, one of my goals has been to provide our family with all of our food right here at home. Why? I think first and foremost, my desire comes from the instinct to take care of my family, especially my children. For the past five years I have been learning about different food ideologies. There are many, including myself, who are very passionate about providi
It's January. Thank heavens! I have been waiting for this blessed month since last spring. As winter has set in with the deep cold and snow and the holidays have passed, I finally feel like I can spend more time reading. As long as the weather has been nice I have felt obligated to be working outside on the many, many projects we have on our list, but with winter here there is not so much to
If there is one food subject that really fascinates me, it's fermentation. I have been delving into fermenting different foods for several years now, but certainly have a long way to go before having a full grasp of all that can be done for food preservation through fermentation, along with the great variety of food and drinks that can be prepared. When given the opportunity to re
As we sat down for Advent, the snow was falling peacefully outside. We warmed ourselves by the fire and the kids gleefully sipped on small wine glasses filled with eggnog. They feel so grown up enjoying their special holiday drink. For me it's not quite the Christmas season unless a glass of eggnog is being sipped on during the joyful time of decorating the Christmas tree, pla
I am always looking for ways to cut our spending with food without giving up the whole, real, organic food that I find to be extremely important for maintaining healthy, strong bodies. In my search for ways to reduce our spending I'm finding that many of the products I have been purchasing are actually very easy to make and are often made with items that I'd normally throw away. Inse
It's been weeks and weeks and more weeks and I haven't gotten a post up. Life has been going at full speed for so long now that I think we've begun to forget what it looks like to slow down! But it's all good, because what's been keeping us busy are the kiddos and learning how to be more self sustainable on the land we moved to. Our first eggs from the chickens we've raised and oh how goo
Much has happened or at least many things have kept us busy since I had my last opportunity to write a post. As usual I have so many things I'd like to share and so little time to actually do it. Baby Amayah A wonderful blessing made her appearance several weeks ago. Our beautiful daughter Amayah was born to us in our new home, creating memories that I shall never forget. She
The blog has been quiet lately. I'd love to say that will change, but I'm one busy momma at the moment and living life versus writing about it is taking far higher priority! One of my favorite plants as a child and it's growing right out our back door! We have moved to a wonderful 19+ acre property and are enjoying the beautiful land and the inviting home that we fee
It's been a long day of packing and baking a cute, little birthday cake for my soon to be two year old. My back has let me know that it's best to be done with the standing and the bending over trying to fill boxes, so I thought I take a moment to write a little post about some of the things we are planning for. I have been packing, because in a very short amount of time we are leaving b
Sunday is my favorite day of the week, even with the stresses that seem to come with it. Trying to get kids up and out of the house and to church on time always is a bit overwhelming and both my husband and my patience is often challenged during this time. Even after church, kiddos can be cranky and tired, but what I love about Sunday is first, I truly do normally enjoy going to church. I think it
My husband's birthday was several weeks ago and one dessert item he's had a hankering for is good old fashion yellow birthday cake. The only problem is our son can't have wheat, so that nixes the majority of recipes out there. I know that I could have used a gluten-free flour to make a close substitute, but to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the GF flours on the market. They are of
Last week I decided to take a new step and become a Norwex sales consultant. Why? Well, like many woman who are at home, I have been looking for ways to help earn a little extra income for my family. Beyond that though, we are getting ready to move and it has been very important to me to find ways to reduce our chemical use in our new home. It's ultimately been my goal to be completely chem
Giving birth at home is once again gaining in popularity. Until the first part of the 20th century this is how women brought their newborns into the world, but as hospitals gained in popularity, especially in the 40's, home births went out the door for the more clinical style hospital birth. I feel very blessed that we have an opportunity to have a home birth for our third child. I wish I c
I am over at Keeper of the Home today with one of my families favorite meals. It's a great way to use homemade fish stock which is filled with excellent nutrients for the body. http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/02/risotto-with-white-fish-and-orange.html Check out the recipe and if you aren't familiar with Keeper of the Home, check out Stephanie's site. It has quickly turned into one of my
I'm in this limbo place between being tired, but not wanting to go to bed nor feeling like reading at the moment. So, I decided to peruse drafts of posts that I have meant to finish, but never have gotten around to and realized I completely forgot to do this one. I actually thought I had. Not sure how I spaced out on this, but I wanted to be sure to share this spice mix, because it's wonderful and
Several weeks ago this topic came up at our church and I have to say that it's a point that I have found that I must remind myself of from time to time. Why? Well, first I should say, of course I know that Christan's aren't perfect, we are human after all, but I have a tendency to hold up born-again-Christians to a higher standard than others and when that standard is not met, it can b
Well, I certainly meant for this post to go up a couple of weeks ago. It turns out trying to buy a house, getting ready for a move, taking care of kiddos and everything else under the sun that is going on has kept me away from blogging. I do believe that my posts may be pretty intermittent for a while, so bear with me as my family and I make some pretty big transitions in our lives. All our awesom
My husband and I just finished watching FRESH and we both thought it was great. Makes me almost want to go and buy land to start my own farm for raising cattle and pigs... well almost. Truly though, it does only encourage us more in our endeavor to live a more sustainable lifestyle. While we aren't going to be the next grass-fed cattle farmer, we certainly are working towards a place where we ca
This is the third post in this series. You can also read about my first pregnancy, which ended with a miscarriage early on and my second pregnancy, which gave me a wonderful little boy. Pregnancy #3My daughter who is almost 2 After my son was born I made some drastic changes in my diet. Falling in love with a brand new baby and realizing that they completely rely on you for everything and
Yesterday I shared part 1 of this little series. My first pregnancy was a miscarriage, but thankfully the pregnancies going forward have all been far better, but not without their bumps in the road. Pregnancy #2My son, who is now 4. Feeling "huge" at about 4 months. After having a miscarriage with my first pregnancy, I wasn't too concerned about getting pregnant again.
With this pregnancy in full swing, I am in nutrition mode, trying to continue to figure out and research the best diet for myself, the growing child in me, as well as, how to best feed my growing children. I'd like to share some history about my other pregnancies, because (in my opinion) I have seen direct correlations to me changing my diet and the outcomes of each pregnancy, birth and overal
Over the past several months I have struggled with feeling anxious. Anxious for all the unknowns in both my life and in life in general. I am a person who likes to have life settled, needs to know where things are going and have some type of routine to my day. Since our move in the fall all of these things flew out the door and I have been struggling to grasp at the straws of life to once again ma
I'm laying on my couch as I type this. I have managed to come down with the stomach flu (Viral gastroenteritis) twice in the last six weeks. Both times while we were traveling for the holidays. Ugh... I've decided that stomach/intestinal issues while pregnant make a superbly horrible combination. When motion makes you feel ill and you have a little one rolling around in your belly, eek, no
I originally found the idea for this recipe on Browned Eyed Baker last winter. The first time I made it I did it just as the original recipe called and it was great, it's essentially puppy chow with popcorn. However, in the end I wanted to make my version a little more real food friendly. This turned out easier to do than I thought and what's great is you don't need pre-made chocolat
There are plenty of amazing bloggers out there and many have written some excellent cookbooks filled with more than just recipes, but also knowledgeable information for how to feed our bodies well. If you are still looking for a last minute gift for a real foodie or you want to introduce someone to a real food diet, consider these cookbooks. The books I have listed are all printable as e-cookbo
For any real foodie or food lover, salt is a whole lot more than just the white, bleached stuff you see at the grocery store called "table salt". For the most part we avoid this type of salt in our home and instead take advantage of the wonderful benefits of unrefined sea salt. Unrefined salts have essential minerals in them and the actual range of color that sea salts come in is fro
Can I just write that it's very difficult to take a picture of a shiny bottle! Well at least in an apartment with a point and shoot camera and lots of things to reflect on the glass. :-) Pure vanilla extract is an essential ingredient for any baker and purchasing a small bottle of the real thing can be very expensive. It turns out that making your own vanilla extract at home is actuall
I think I fall into the category of many who shutter when they hear the word fruitcake. The stomach gets a strange feeling when someone offers a piece of this so called Christmas treat that has been wrapped in plastic and a cardboard box, has the most unnatural colors in it and has been sitting on a shelf at some store or warehouse for who knows how long. As much as I detested fruitcake I hav
Photo Credit This is a topic that has been on my mind for a long time and one that I received no greater understanding of until I had children of my own, because then for the first time I understood the love of a parent and the role the parent plays in a child's life. When my son was born I was just beginning a journey back to knowing God and following His Word. In that first year as
Crème fraîche versus sour cream? From what I've read the main difference between the two is their butterfat content, although some further separate the two by one, the crème fraîche, having a lactic acid bacteria added to it, while the other naturally ferments on it's own. Crème fraîche butterfat content is usually around 28% - 40% while sour cream is between 14% - 18%. Traditionally, sour c
The first significant snow fall had fallen the day and evening before. It was a beautiful, white covering that clung to the trees and coated the grass with a pristine whiteness. Little puffs of steam came from our mouths as we got out of our car and bundled our children in snow suits, hats, gloves and boots. It was our daughters first time in all the snow gear and she stood apprehensively look
Hi everyone, meant to get this up this morning, but we are still traveling and things never go quite as planned when you are out of town. Thank you all for entering this contest, this may be the best received contest I've done! The winner is Reneegale Comment: "I liked Artistta on facebook. and the Macy's blog. My favorite holiday recipe is stuffing. I like to do the Racheal Ray Stuf
Sunday afternoon I prepared our 15lb turkey I had just bought the day before from a local farmer at the farmers market. I buy a turkey every year, no matter if we are celebrating Thanksgiving at home or not. That's because this is the only time of year I can buy my free-range, organic, heirloom turkey from the farmer who provides us with the majority of our meat. I have been buying our meat from F
I wish I could claim this recipe as my own, but I cannot. I am not a sourdough bread maker guru. More like stumbling my way through successes and failures as I practice learning the true nature of my sourdough starter. This recipe comes from Jules at Stone Soup - Delicious Healthy Meals In Minutes. If you head over to her site (as I did today to grab the link for the recipe) you'll see a place to
With Thanksgiving only a week away, we've been busy figuring out our plans to see both my husband and my family. My son is eagerly awaiting the day that we tell him it's time to load up the car and make the drive to grandma's house. He loves his grandparents, cousins, aunt's and uncle's and has been asking me over and over when will Thanksgiving be here so we can see them all. Thanks
The winner of the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway is... Renee (Fatty Bumpkins) Thank you to all who entered. Hopefully I'll have another giveaway to share soon!
My husband and I just finished watching this film called The Greater Good. We learned about the film through Dr. Mercola's article called If You Think You Know Everything About Vaccines... Think Again! If you have questions about vaccinating your children or yourselves, or simply want to educate yourself and possibly consider that perhaps a different approach to how vaccines are currently
Wanted to remind people of the giveaway from Tate's Bake Shop. It ends in two days. It's easy to enter, just head over to my original post and leave a comment saying why you'd like to win. Earn two more chances to win by following Tate's Bake Shop on Twitter and liking them on Facebook. http://artistta.blogspot.com/2011/10/giveaway-from-tates-bake-shop-who-wants.html
When my husband came home from work today he let me know of a great article that our friend Diana from Spain In Iowa shared on Facebook today. I have stepped away from using my personal facebook account which I'm so glad of, however one downfall (actually the only downfall of not being on FB) is that I miss out on some great articles that get posted. (Note: I do still maintain my blog on FB)
That's right folks. The movie Farmageddon: The Unseen War on American Family Farms was so popular when we showed it at Bryant Lake Bowl that we had a line of people waiting and hoping people wouldn't show up so they could still buy a ticket to the sold out movie. When & WhereWell, the movie is back and is being shown once again at Bryant Lake Bowl this Saturday from 3:00 - 4:30 PM. Afterw
I recently had an opportunity to check out Kimberly Harris' new cookbook Fresh - Nourishing Salads for All Seasons. This cookbook was well thought out and obviously put together with care. With an excellent introduction that covers the ingredients the recipes use and other helpful suggestions and ideas in creating delicious salads in your home, you start out on the right foot. As you head int
Several verses from the Bible have been laid on my heart over the last couple of weeks. I read them during my morning time in the Word, where I'm reading through the Bible in a year, something I highly recommend everyone to do to begin to TRULY understand what it means to be a follower of our Lord and Savior. "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny him
I recently had the fun opportunity to try several package of Tate's Bake Shop Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies that Tates was so generous to send on to me. As I pulled the packages of cookies out of the box when it arrived my first step was to check out the ingredients. I know Tate's had great basic ingredients last time I had the chance to try some of their cookies and I was more than pl
Kristen Michaels at Food Renegade, mother to three, as well as, a nutrition and wellness coach, has designed a wonderful e-course that shares information about fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and the first foods to feed your little one. Beautiful Babies Introduction from FoodRenegade on Vimeo. 12 Multimedia SessionsThese twelve multimedia sessions offer hour-and-a-half or longer
Both of my children are napping... this never happens... I almost don't know what to do with myself... I could finish the huge unpacking/reorganizing project I started in my kitchen area today... I could take a nap (which isn't normal for me, but I've been very tired lately)... or... how about I write a post for you all. You know it's not like it's been a while since I've shared a recipe or anythi
A couple of weeks ago I put up a post about this eye opening movie coming to the Twin Cities. Well the times is here. Just how important are the issues that Farmageddon covers? Read a couple of quotes I've included below and see how you feel about your freedom and right to eat healthy food. "There is No Right to Consume or Feed Children Any Particular Food;There is No Generalized Right to
I've decided it's time to take a break from the unpacking and take a seat on our small deck and enjoy the sun for a moment while I write a couple of thoughts. We started (emphasis on started here) the moving process to our temporary apt. on Monday. We were in a pretty good place with most of our things already down in our basement and garage and virtually all the packing done except for those t
I have much to do this day as we enter final stages of packing and selling a good portion of our things. We are hoping to move in a week and have decided instead of putting things into storage we are going to sell as much as possible so we can be more flexible over the coming months as we figure out where the Lord is leading us. We have found a temporary place to live, which I am beyond thankful f
Over the last month or so, I've mentioned in my posts there has been several projects that have been occupying my time. The biggest is us trying to buy a home and getting ready to move. We are still figuring out that part, but another project that has been exciting to be a part of is working with an amazing crew of people who have been diligently combining their efforts to bring an important docum
