Have You Ever Felt This Way?

I'm taking a few weeks off from blogging. My family and I got away to Monterey this week, which was so wonderful and much-needed.

Carmel Mission

Colton Hall, where the California Constitution was signed

Beach Fun

 

Monterey Bay Aquarium

But I still read several blogs, and came across this one that I thought was so relate-able.

Have you ever felt like this?

I Want to Run Away

Keep Battling the Body

 

My neck is out right now and my chiropractor is on vacation this week. I've awakened every morning for four days with a splitting headache. Can't wait until he returns Monday!


That nasty cold/flu keeps trying to make its way into our family - each child and parent has had their opportunity to do battle with it. Bought a larger bottle of my elderberry syrup and we're going to town on it. So far, it hasn't won over any of us. We're all still functioning and active. All symptoms have been very mild and totally manageable. Elderberry syrup rocks!

If you missed my post about how our large family wins the battle over illness, here it is.
http://www.chrisseiler.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-our-large-family-wards-off-illness.html

Working on our kids' spring/summer clothing inventory this week. What's a clothing inventory, you ask? Click here: http://chrisseiler.blogspot.com/2012/03/clothing-inventory-chore-charts.html

My Valentine's Dinner Recipes

Many of you enjoyed the pictures of our home Valentine's dinner that I put on Instagram and Facebook. Many of my male friends were lusting - you must repent!

I'm going to share with you how it all came together. For some of you, this may seem basic and you could do something far more elegant. For others, this may be helpful.

STEAKS
We had rib-eyes in the freezer, but I prefer sirloins, as they are less fatty.

I don't usually do this, but for Valentine's, I marinated the steaks in a bit of Worcerstershire and soy sauce.

Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder (that's my favorite combination for most things)

My husband barbequed just right.

SAUTEED MUSHROOMS
My mother-in-law taught me how to saute the best mushrooms.

WARNING: This is NOT whole, real food here, and we only eat these on special occasions.

1. I break off all the stems and only use the caps. The stems go to the pigs. NOTE: Mushrooms shrink when you cook them, so make sure you start with enough mushrooms - my pan was full at the beginning and mushrooms were stacked on top of each other, but the pan was half empty by the end of cooking.
2. Melt two sticks of butter in a saute pan.
3. Add diced onions & minced garlic.
4. Add mushroom caps.
5. Sprinkle GENEROUSLY salt, pepper, & garlic salt - don't skimp here!
6. Put a lid on and let them saute for about 15 minutes or until they are all tender. Walla!

The key: Mushroom caps must be floating in butter!!!

ASPARAGUS (there's many ways to make asparagus, but this is how I do it most of the time)
1. Melt a little bit of butter with some olive oil in a frying pan.
2. Add minced garlic.
3. Break of woody ends of asparagus spears. Place them in the pan.
4. Toss them around so they are well coated.
5. Sprinkle with salt, lemon pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder (you could add diced onions, but my kids freak at the sight of onions)
6. Cook until tender, but not limp. They are best when they maintain their bright color.

BAKED POTATOES
I bake my potatoes in the oven, no foil, at about 425 degrees. Depending on their size, they could take up to an hour. If I'm in a hurry, I'll microwave them first for like 10-20 minutes, then put them in the oven to finish.

I like my potatoes to have a slightly crisp skin.

So for the last 15 minutes of baking, here's my trick
1. Pull the potatoes out of the oven and drizzle olive oil on top of each potato.
2. Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt.
3. Bake for remaining 15 minutes.
Delish!

We topped our potatoes with:

• freshly grated cheddar cheese (I like the taste of cheese better when I grate it myself than buying it already shredded)
• real bacon bits - I take a few slices of bacon, and cut bite-sized pieces with my kitchen sheers. Then I fry the pieces in a pan. Once they are really crisp, I drain them on a paper towel.
• chopped green onion
• butter, of course
• sour cream, if you like

We had some sparkling cider to go with dinner, and See's candy for dessert! There you have it!

Blog Posts I Really Liked This Week

Before I share with you my favorite blog posts from this week, I wanted to share with you some of the pictures I've been taking in my photography class. Just remember, I'm a beginner!!!!!

We've been learning how to do blurred backgrounds.

blogs i enjoyed this week
Your Care Guide: 25 Point Manifesto for Sanity in 2013 - Holy Experience
5 Things You Need to Know Before You Begin Your 2nd Term of Life - Holy Experience
How We Use Essential Oils to Fight Colds and Flus - The Prairie Homestead
2012 Homestead Yields & Cost Analysis - On Just a Couple of Acres
Encouraging Maturity in Children - Smockity Frocks
We're Going Around the World Literally - Keeper of the Home
Do I Parent Out of Fear or Faith? - Inspired to Action
A No Waste Kitchen  - New Life on a Homestead
Love Your Neighbor. Even If You Don't Think They Deserve It - New Life on a Homestead

Sad Day on the Farm

My Pastor-Hubby & I had the privilege of attending a church leaders' conference in San Jose, CA yesterday. We listened to some fantastic speakers: Francis Chan, Jon Tyson, & Rick Warren. It was wonderfully encouraging and inspiring.

During the first session of the conference, I received a text from my children at home. Joshua's mommy rabbit was found dead and mutilated on the front driveway.

Somehow, her cage door had been left opened. The rabbit cages are suspended high above the ground, but she managed to jump down to the ground and got out during the night.

We had begun, this past week, weaning her babies out of her cage. We have three of her five babies sold already, so those were the first we moved out to a cage of their own. She had two babies left with her.

When the kids went to her cage yesterday morning, it was completely empty.

Stephanie, our babysitter, spotted one white baby on the ground hiding in a corner. They snatched that little girl up and put her in the new cage with her other brothers and sisters.

The tri-colored baby was never found. We suspect a coyote.

My text message read that there were many tears at home. Joshua, my oldest boy and owner of the rabbits, dug a hole and buried his momma rabbit. Stephanie led them in a small "funeral."

This is part of farm life.

On a lighter note, here's some other happenings on the farm these days.

Our three little pigs, Bacon, Ham, and Pork Chop, are not so little anymore. They're four months old, requiring 12 pounds of food a day.

Our hens are completely free-ranged all day long now. Our puppy is now trained to leave them alone, and she's doing fantastic. Unfortunately, this means we are finding some eggs on the lawn. Anybody know how to solve this?

This lone rooster is kept very busy all day - and he's developed a bit of an attitude.

My oldest boy, Josh, is teaching my fourth child, Noah, to drive the tractor.

My Pastor-Hubby likes to put in 30 minutes to an hour each day working on the farm. He works that in around his church schedule.

This is Hannah's Holland Lop doe who will be ready for breeding in spring.

Noah enjoys playing with these baby bunnies. These are the babies purchased for him, Luke, and Hannah. These are not Joshua's babies born in December.

Noah's baby rabbit

Luke's baby dwarf rabbit.

Our lab-mix puppy is so grown up. She's the best dog we ever had. She desires to please and obey. She is going through a little bit of the terrible-twos right now, at eight months old. She loves playing in the seasonal pond we have on the property (which is what she had done before I took these pictures of her.) Isn't she pretty? Any guesses on what she's mixed with?

My Awakening Fast Menu & Shopping List

awakening fast 2013

If you don't already know about the nation-wide Awakening Fast, this is an excerpt from the email sent out yesterday to our women by our Women's Ministries Director, Cheryl McEachron (who is one of my dear friends and mentor):

Beginning Monday, January 7, churches around the nation are entering a 21-day fast called the Awakening Fast. Fasting is called for by God several times in the Bible when His people needed God's divine intervention or when someone was wanting to focus on crying out to God for a particular answer (Nehemiah, Esther). We need a REVIVING, an AWAKENING in our spirits so we recognize our desperate need for HIM! In the book of Daniel in the Old Testament we see Daniel a young Hebrew that has been taken captive with several of his friends by the Babylonian, King Nebuchadnezzar. This young man is offered, even ordered to eat the food from the King's table, which is against his Jewish dietary laws. He resolves himself to humbly request a very restricted diet - all fruits and vegetables, grains and only water to drink. Later Daniel fasts for 21 days by eating no meat, no sweets and no fermented drinks. We now call this way of eating for 10 days or 21 days, a Daniel Fast. For Daniel, he & his friends, they were tested and found to be better than any of the other young men, and at the end of the 21 days he has an angelic visitation and a powerful end time vision. What is it you desire from God?? What would you sacrifice to meet with God?? Fasting is more than changing or eliminating food for a period of time. It is a time to spend time with God and focus on what pleases Him. 

Types of Fasts: 

Full Fast: Fluids only, no food (water or juice)

Daniel Fast: Eat no meat, no sweets or breads, Drink water and juice. Eat fruits and vegetables. 

Partial Fast: From 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (or sun-up to sun-down) (select what type of fast; full, Daniel, or at least one food during that time), you could also choose to fast media or any other item God lays on your heart

Prepare to Fast:

If you are ceasing to use coffee and/or sugar, begin today to cut down on the amount you use each day so you will minimize the discomfort of the detoxification your body will go through if you stop all at once. Detox symptoms are headache and possible irritability. You may also feel more fatigue and need a little extra sleep or rest.   

Strengthen Your Heart:

Many of you have a devotional you read everyday, but if you would like fresh devotions delivered to your inbox morning and evening go to http://enjoyreallife.com/ and check the box at the bottom of the screen. There are also encouraging messages by many wonderful leaders found on http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/ - on the upper righthand corner click on Quick Links and click on the 21-Day Video journal as of January 6. 

If you need a list of foods you can eat, recipes, and devotions all in one place try http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/  

My husband and I will be doing the Daniel Fast starting Monday, and my 9yo son wants to join us. Our other older children are choosing their own methods of fasting.

I look forward to this fast every year. Not only is it a wonderful way to start the year, setting my mind on things above, but I enjoy the eating plan. In the past, we've lost around 11 pounds during this 21 day fast. We enjoy eating whole, real, God-made foods at home anyways, so this isn't much of a stretch for us. But we do eliminate meat and dairy, and all those delicious sweets (that I'm now so tired of after the holidays). Our focus for this fast is on God-made foods that come from plants, mainly fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Here's the menu I've created to keep us on track during this fast. I've used the same one for the past three years.

Breakfast

Flatbread with PB

Smoothies

Oatmeal with apples or berries, honey, & nuts

Banana covered in PB & rolled in granola

Potato & veggie burrito

Cream of wheat with raisins or mashed bananas & nuts

Whole grain cereal, puffed brown rice cereal, shredded mini wheats, or granola with almond milk, fruit

Whole grain waffles with pure maple syrup

Ezekiel bread topped with honey & cinnamon & broiled till toasted

Lunch

Grilled veggie wraps

Chili on baked potato

Veggie patty with oven fries or roasted red potatoes

Soup & salad, Ezekiel bread toasted with olive oil & sea salt

Greek salad & W.W. pita

Black bean, corn, & tomato salad

Bean burrito & fruit

Spinach salad

Dinner leftovers

Dinner

Red beans & rice

Mediterranean pasta with O.O. & garlic, salad

W.W. linguine with broccoli

Grilled veggie wraps or pitas

Vegetable soup with barley

Veggie stir fry with peanuts over whole grain rice

Beans & cornbread with honey or flatbread

Chunky minestrone

Vegetable saute over pasta or rice

Lentils with spinach & garlic, whole wheat crackers

Couscous with asparagus & orange

Chili (no meat)

Roasted veggie pita with hummus

Tortilla soup with Taco Salad (no meat)

Veggie Paninis on flat bread with grilled portabella mushrooms

Winter squash with pure maple syrup & nuts or stuffed with whole grain rice

Vegetarian spaghetti with tomato sauce & mushrooms, salad

Black bean tacos with lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa

Snacks

Apples & PB

Fruit & nuts

Rice cakes with PB & raisins

Air popped popcorn (olive oil & salt)

Fruit kabobs

Whole grain crackers & PB

Flatbread chips with hummus

Sweet potato fries

Celery & PB

Corn tortilla chips & salsa or guacamole

The following is my grocery list for the fast. It may appear long, but many of these items, I already have on hand, so I don't have to buy everything here. But its my checklist to ensure I have all I need.

SHOPPING LIST

Minced garlic

Sea salt & pepper

Taco & chili seasoning

Cinnamon

Olives

Vegetable broth

Corn, canned or frozen

Diced tomatoes, canned

Black beans, canned (put in blender & salt for refried beans)

Tomato sauce (no sugar)

Corn tortilla chips

Whole grain crackers (I like Ak-Mak)

Rice cakes

Natural peanut butter

Whole grain flatbread, tortillas, & pitas

Ezekiel bread

Frozen berries & fruit for smoothies

Veggie burger patties

Honey

Pure maple syrup

Several different kinds of raw nuts

Rolled oats

Cream of wheat

Whole grain cereal, puffed brown rice cereal, or Cheerios

Granola (or make your own)

Raisins

Hummus

Dry Beans (pinto, kidney, navy, any kind)

Barley

Lentils

Couscous

Whole grain pastas, variety

Whole grain rice (brown or wild)

Olive oil

Popcorn kernels

Fresh Produce

Tomatoes

Carrots

Celery

Onion

Squash, summer (yellow & green)

Squash, winter

Bell peppers

Cabbage

Mushrooms, small & portabella

Potatoes, sweet, russet, & red

Lettuce & salad toppings

Spinach

Avocados

Any other veggies you like

Berries

Oranges

Apples

Bananas

Any other fruit you like

Here's a printable version of this menu and list for your personal use.

If you plan to join us in this spiritual journey over the next several weeks, I hope you find these lists helpful. Planning is the first step, so I've done that for you. Now, you can focus on getting your heart set on God, seeking His will for this year, and asking for His intervention in our nation. If ever a year to depend on God, this is the year, with the way the nation and world are heading. Thank you, Jesus, that I have you to lean on and that you are in charge, not the government. We need God now more than ever!