I,m Back

Wow, It's been a loooong time. I needed to take a break from blogging and just focus on my kiddos and hubby. Life is starting to get back to normal again so here I am. I have a lot of catching up to do. I have lots of updates to share along with some new family favorite.
It feels good coming back here. I can't wait to get you guys caught up.

Two

How can it be.....

My sweet baby is now 2 years old......

Oh Lord, I beg, Please help me to never forget these days....

How To Make Whole wheat English Muffins

We love English Muffins. They are tasty and easy to make from scratch. We make ours with freshly ground hard white wheat, but, you can use whole wheat flour from the store or half all purpose and half whole wheat. Just don't be afraid to try them. They are just too good to miss out on.
The recipe I first started with came from recipetips. I have made a few changes to meet our family's eating needs. 
WHOLE WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFINS
Ingredients
3 cups freshly ground hard white wheat
1 tsp salt (we use Redmond's real salt)
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tablespoon yeast
1 cup of milk (you might need a little more to reach the right dough consistency)
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg
cornmeal as needed

Directions

After we grind the flour needed for the recipe, we then mixed all the ingredients together in a large bowl to make a soft and sticky dough. At this point I pour the dough into the bread machine and let it do all the hard work of kneading it. If you don't have a bread machine you can follow the instructions given here.

Once the machine is done kneading, remove the dough and put it in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise until it doubles in size (1 - 1 1/2 hours). Once the dough has risen you then take it out of the bowl and put it on your work surface.(if the dough is sticking to your hands try oiling your hands a little) Gently roll and pat the dough out to about 1/2 - 1 inch thickness. Use a round biscuit cutter to cut your dough into rounds. Cover the muffins with a towel and let them rise for 30 minutes.

Heat your griddle on med-low and carefully transfer your muffins to the griddle.

When the underside is nice and brown , flip them and cook the other side.

The outside should be brown and crusty and the inside should be soft and hot, but not gooey or gummy.

Split them open with a fork and slap them with some real butter. My kids cannot resist fresh English Muffins hot from the oven. Baby Boy likes his with a little honey or homemade jam.

I hope you will try this recipe and make some whole wheat English Muffins from scratch. Your tummy will thank you for it.

Until next time, bye

TOP 5 WAYS WE SAVE ON FOOD

We are always trying to find new ways to save money on food. These are just 5 ways that we have found that really works for us.

• WATCH FOR SALES AND USE COUPONS

We buy things when they are on sale and use coupons as much as possible. Around here we have Publix Supermarkets. They have great “buy one get one” sales each week.

 We try to stock up on products during those times and match those sales up with coupons to save  even more money. Some things that we are always on the lookout for are butter, cheese, frozen veggies, paper goods and  dry pasta.

• BUY IN BULK

We buy as much of our raw materials as possible in bulk. Things we buy in bulk are things that we know we use a lot of. Buying in bulk helps us to get quality goods at reasonable prices. Things such as oils, rice, beans, sugar, seasonings and spices, yeast, whole grains, wheat and so much more.

We are not members of any of the populer buying clubs such as Cosco, BJ and Sams. We have found that we can save money without  being members of those types of clubs. Besides, they don’t have  the products that we use and buy the most, such as Organic unrefined coconut oil, Palm shortening, organic oats and whole wheat berries. We are able to get a lot of our "raw" materials from places like tropical traditions , bread beckers co-op , and  amerorganic . 

• MENU PLANNING

Menu planning is very important at our house. We only have 4 different menus that I rotate every 3 months. The menus are pretty simple and straight forward.

I Plan breakfasts, lunchs and dinners for a whole year, one season at a time. Most of the meals are prepared and frozen ahead of time each month. At the end of each month we go grocery shopping and start all over again, baking prepping and cooking for the next months meals.

• GROW YOUR OWN

We grow most of our organic fruits and vegetables at home in our garden. Living in the sunshine state we are able to grow a full garden year round. We grow everything from herbs to watermelons in our small backyard garden. At harvest time we eat what we can and preserve the rest by freezing or canning.

We started gardening 8 years ago and each year we expand ou efforts to grow even more of our own food. We also barter and trade garden goods with other gardeners in our community. Gardening allows us to feed our family safe organic foods without the high prices.

• MAKE IT YOURSELF

We make a lot of meals we eat from scratch. I love to cook and bake and so does everyone in our house. Food preparation is very much a family affair. We come together to make big batches of food to"feed the freezer" each month. We make everything from cookies to yogurt from scratch. 

My guys eat a lot. And I love to feed them good wholesome foods that not only taste wonderful but is also good for them. Papa is also very good in the kitchen. When it comes to sweets and treats nobody makes them better than my sweetheart. There are always some yummy cookies in the freezer, and special occasions are made that much more special with Papa in charge of deserts.

I hope that this has somehow helped you or at  least give you a great idea of where to start.

It's All Natural

I got my first relaxer at the tender age of 13. I begged my dad to let me get a "perm". I told him that all the girls in school wore their hair straight, and I was the only one left. He gave in and when I turned 13 he surprised me by taking me to the mall to get my ears pierced and my hair relaxed. I was so happy. I loved how soft and straight my hair looked. I loved the length and I could not wait to start school that year.
 
Fast forward 20 years later and it is my own daughters complaining to me about how long it takes for me to style their hair and how much it hurts. They want to have straight hair like their mommy and they want to know how old they have to be before they too can have straight hair. I knew that I had to do something. I love their curly hair and I never intended to relax those lovely locks.
 
 I started to do some research about caring for their natural hair. I wanted to learn how to style their hair without causing them any more discomfort. I wanted them to fall in love with their curls. That is when I stumbled onto http://www.curlynikki.com/. and youtube. We spent hours at a time watching women style their gorgeous natural hair. They taught us how to properly care for our precious strands. In no time at all the girls started to fall in love with their curls and started asking me why my hair had no curls. I wanted to see my curls again. I wanted to learn to love my hair the way God made it, the way it grew out of my scalp. That's when I decided that I was going to go for it. I wanted to go  natural.

Well 16 months later I must tell you all. I LOVE MY HAIR, I REALLY REALLY DO.
On  September 18, 2011 I said goodbye to the last strand of relaxed hair and said hello to my lovely curls.

Now the true journey can begin.

I will be sharing a lot more about caring and styling our natural hair. We have learned a lot this past year.
Until Later, bye

I'm Back

I miss blogging. So to get back into it I am thinking about starting a couple of series. We have been going through a lot of changes around here. Everything from revamping how and what we eat to a mini home makeover. I can't wait to share all what's been going on around here. I also have to update some things about our homeschool. I have a great post coming about homeschooling on a really tight budget. and how to use the Internet in your homeschool.
Well I have a lot to write so I better get started.
Until later, bye

Technical Difficulties

We will be back tomorrow to try and load more videos. See ya soon.