Laurie's Everyday Notions

Last week, with an abundance of asparagus and not much else in the refrigerator, I decided to make asparagus soup for dinner. I kinda winged it so measurements are guesstimates. 2 cups Asparagus 2 1/2 cups Bone Broth 1 cup Milk 2 T. Flour 2 T. Butter Salt 1/2 cup Cheese I started by sauteing a few hand fulls of asparagus in coconut oil. Once the asparagus had turned a brilliant green, I added the chuck of frozen chicken broth (probably close to 3 cups) into the skillet. While the broth melted and the asparagus cooked, I made a roux ~ 2 T. butter, 2 T. flour (fresh ground whole wheat), and a few sprinkles of sea salt. Once the butter was melted and the flour mixed in to make a thick paste, I added a little milk (maybe 1 cup). Keep an eye on the roux so it doesn't get too thick or scald (I've done this before). I also added a handful of parmigiana/asiago cheese to the roux. Once roux is just right (thick but not too thick), take ...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18    Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,   in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This picture helps me to remember the importance of prayer. Not only is it a vital way for me to communicate with my heavenly Father but I'm modeling the importance of such relationship to the children that spend their days with me.  Years ago I dreamed of being on the mission field of some exciting foreign land. I was humbled when He revealed to me that my interest in foreign lands may just have been more important to me then following His will. He also taught me that He can use me in my own backyard. He uses me in simple, everyday ways as I demonstrate His love, in the words that I use to tell the children how special they are to Jesus, and by leading the children in daily prayer.  Our daily lunch time prayer is, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest. Let this food to us be blessed." ...

On Fridays,  Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama , gives a writing prompt and inspires fellow bloggers to write for five minutes. The rules are "no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking". Five minutes is tough for me. I like to process my thoughts and then process my words to best voice my thoughts. But five minutes is good. Sometimes when one is short on time and pressured to produce, honesty can flow. The writing may not be polished but the real shines. Today's word is OPPORTUNITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We may not all have the same circumstances, the same opportunities, the same hardships, or the same blessings but we all have the same amount of time in our day. 24 hours. Oh, how I waste many of those hours.  A gift of time has been given to me, for each day IS a gift. How will I use today? Will I use it productively? Will I in someway use this day to bless another? Today, I will finally get the laundry ...

Sorry. I can't even share a picture because we ate it too quickly. The kids loved it. Hubs said I have to make it again. So I must document the recipe so I don't lose it. :) Date Bread Pudding 8 or so slices oat or whole wheat bread (covering the bottom of a 9X13 pan) 3 cups milk Splash of vanilla 6 eggs 1/2 cup organic sugar 1/2 cup dates, pitted and snipped into small pieces Cut up bread, throw into pan and bake for 10 minutes on 350. While bread is baking, mix sugar and eggs. Add milk and vanilla.  Once bread is done, add chopped dates and pecans. Top with milk-sugar-vanilla-egg mixture. The original recipe suggested letting the bread soak overnight. I didn't have the time for that step. Mine soaked for 20 minutes instead. Bake for 45 minutes at 350. So good...... 

As a daycare provider I struggle with finding gifts for the kids to make for their parents that are useful. Really, I don't want to send home another scribbled drawing that a parent may want to throw away but the guilt of doing so causes the parent to add the artwork (artwork that looks like the thousand other pieces of artwork) in the stack of all the other "art" the child has made for them. I know. Some of you may be shaking your head in disbelief that I can even suggest that one would want to throw away Jr's precious abstract of dinosaurs caught in a tornado. But let's be realistic.  A few mementos are great but a closet full becomes a burden. When we use all our household space to keep memories, we tend to be too busy organizing the clutter to MAKE memories. My first challenge was finding something useful. Something that would either be used up or something that is genuinely worth putting in that memory closet. My second challenge was finding something the...

I found this cool "tea cup" planter that I loved. I wasn't sure how I was going to add dirt and pansies without the dirt falling out. I looked around the garage and decided to use the "lining" of a hanging basket. I cut a small piece for the bottom and a strip to go around the sides, filled with potting soil, added the pansies and topped with a little sphagnum moss. Easy and the cost was less than $15. Cheaper than a bouquet of flowers and it will last all summer.

Today I am joining Gypsy Mama and others in writing for five minutes. No editing. No draft. Just writing from the heart. Today's prompt is IDENTITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My identity? Wow, I don't think I can sum that up in five minutes but I'll give it a go. Who am I though under all my titles of mom, sister, daughter, wife, etc.? I love babies and the laughter of children. I love being a mom even though sometimes I'm not very good at it. I love the birds singing and everything in nature (except spiders and mosquitoes). I dislike disorder, injustice and ignorance although my home is often disorderly and I can occasionally be quite ignorant. I love people and thrive on personal interactions with others. I make mistakes. In my life I've made HUGE mistakes. I've hurt others. I've made bad choices. Yet I've left those failures at the cross and pray for new beginnings each day. My identity is found in Chr...

2 cups of milk 1 cup oats 1/4 cup chai seeds 1/2 cup nuts (I used pecans) 1/2 cup craisins (or other dried fruit) Dump all ingredients into half gallon jar Cover Shake Store in frig.  In the morning scoop out a serving. Really. It's that easy and so good! UPDATE May 14, 2012 ~ Unfortunately I didn't eat my soaked oats fast enough. I can't even remember when I made them (another reminder for me to label my "stuff") and even in the refrigerator my oats spoiled. I was very sad. SO....keep an eye on your oats. Maybe start out with smaller batches. 

Cranberry Marmalade 2 1/2 cups  Master Baking Mix 1 cup milk 2 T. sugar 1 egg 1 pint orange marmalade and a couple handfuls of pecans and craisins. **I skipped the oil and applesauce that the recipe calls for because I was using a jar of my very runny orange marmalade that I had canned last fall. I should have also reduced the milk as the bread turned out a little too moist/doughy. Baked for an hour at 350. Cranberry Pumpkin with White Chocolate Pumpkin Bread was made the same as above, however instead of the orange marmalade I used 2 cups of pureed pumpkin and a handful of white chocolate. Both experiments were pretty good. The pumpkin bread was good but not great but the orange marmalade was fabulous! Shared:

Remember this post from last year? Yeah, that is all the treasures that I found during our city wide garage sale weekend.  This year may look a little differently. Most of these items are still being used. Many of The Boy's clothes are now too small. The football cleats and the snow boots? Definately too small. The chicken journal in the middle of the table? I still use it and it is my favorite. The hockey table? Well, it was great for summer when my daycare was full of boys. But after a month they all lost interest and I grew tired of tripping over it's bulkiness. The little money I spent on it was still a good investment. The hockey table was given away to a special little boy who I hope will enjoy it for a couple of years. The duck footstool has become very useful in the washroom for my little people. I may be hitting a few garage sales today but my main focus this weekend is to PURGE! My word for 2012 is "LESS" and I intend to follow through. As I drink my...