Weekly Yarn Along....

Joining again the weekly Yarn Along with Ginny over at Small Things. I am finding that I really feel connected lately with the other women involved in the Yarn Along...and this blesses me to share two of my great loves...reading and yarn with others who appreciate the special place they hold in my heart. My reading this week has been all about recipes....so I've combed thru my daughter's new issue of Taste of Home's Healthy cooking magazine and have some earmarked...and also, my new favorite cookbook "Extending the Table"....I LOVE this cookbook as it is organized by country and region as well as ingredients and type of food...so if I am looking for something to do with chicken, and a portuguese chicken recipe catches my eye....or tomorrow we're making "Papusa's" stuffed with ground venison, onions, seasonings and cheese and having them with pickled veggies from the summertime....and next week we're going to try Phillipino "Lumpia" for dinner....love how these meals stretch my ingredients, are healthy and spice up our winter a little bit! LOL

Hmmm....my knitting....well, that has now turned into crochet! My friends, I started this darn knit hat 3 times and STILL had to frog it...and discovered that by switching to crocheting my hat that it is almost done! I guess I've crocheted for so many years, that it is much faster and easier for me to do. I'll still keep plugging along at knitting....I have scarves to make and am determined to learn how to knit socks on circular needles someday. But for now....I'm finding some simple pleasure with the familiar rhythm of my hooks. What are you enjoying during this cold, cold winter? Have a warm, blessed evening! ~Sue~

Menu plan Monday (and a crockpot, meatless meal)

Time again for Menu Plan Monday and today's plan includes a crockpot, meatless meal as well!  A friend had recently made this soup and her family loved it, so I thought this would be a great day to plan this for the Gorecki family as it is a very hectic Monday! LOL  So....here's the weekly menu with recipe at the end. ~Sue~


Monday:  crockpot African chickpea, curry soup and brazilian chebe bread buns

Tuesday: crockpot cream cheese chicken, gf pasta and salad

Wednesday: Great-grandmother's beef soup( Baba's soup) with meat/potatoes eaten seperately. (short story...when my great-grandfather and great-uncles worked in the steel mills, my great grandmother HAD to make soup for them everyday...and only the men got to eat the meat....if there was any left, then the women could have some.   There were 8 children....4 guys and 4 girls...and all 4 guys worked in the mill with their dad...so the reasoning behind only the men eating the meat was because they worked so hard in the mills....I've always found this interesting)

Thursday:  meat and cheese Papusa's, homemade salsa and salad

Friday:  crockpot Beef Stew

Saturday:  gf steak/mushroom white pizza , pickled veggies

Sunday:  roast chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots and corn (one of my husband's favorite, traditional Sunday suppers)

Now for the recipe for the african soup....you can follow this link to   http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/03/african-coconut-chick-pea-soup.html 


You can also find more Menu plan Monday's over at Frugal Granola's site at:  http://frugalgranola.com/2011/01/menu-plan-monday-1-24-1-30/

(This new setup on blogger has me slightly confused ...have to spend more time getting used to the links)  Have a great day!  ~Sue~

One Thousand Gifts...a give-away.

There is a very special give-away being offered from Michelle over at She Looketh Well ....Ann Voskamp's new book "One Thousand Gifts". Ann's writings have brought simple joy and much thoughtful subjects for prayer into my life over the years, and I encourage you to go check out Ann's blog over at A Holy Experience as well as Michelle's and enter this give-away...I promise you, the writings of these two humble, joyful, godly women will be a blessing to you. Have a blessed weekend! ~Sue~

Yarn Along....

Joining with Ginny over at Small Things for her weekly Yarn Along! I so enjoy sharing my love of yarn and reading with many other ladies every week...the inspiration is wonderful and the creativity is inspiring.

This week...not as much knitting has been going on as I would like, but after starting over 3 times, I'm making progress on my hat. I also received a book that I've been waiting for for months from the library....Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanders. This is the 13th book in a 14 book allegorical series that I started reading over 17 years ago. I love the good vs. evil and GOOD always prevails! I love long series of books where you feel as if you know the characters and can't wait for the new book to find out what happens next.

We're expecting quite a bit of snow over the next day or so, and since my oldest daughter had 4 impacted wisdom teeth out this morning, I've cleared our calender at least until Saturday, so am hoping to make plenty of progress on my knitting AND reading this wonderful book! ~Sue~

Everyone is an artist....

I read a quote somewhere that said " Constructing something uses only the head, but creating something comes from the heart."

Here at Moonbeams Dreams , she is participating in a create something (anything) everyday for a month. I was inspired to think about the many ways that I 'create' everyday. By the way, please....go to Moonbeams Dreams and check out Jessica's etsy shop. I use her soaps and they are the creamiest, most delicious high quality soaps I've ever used. (her orange vanilla is my favorite)

As a homeschooling mother of 4, I had many years where I felt I had no creativity. I realized a few years ago, that just homeschooling 4 kids IS creative! LOL I was inspired by our Creator...by His creation....and since we are made in His image, ....I felt the need to be creative for me....to use the Godly creativity that I was given. I started making new recipes from foodnetwork...and tweaking the recipes, and loved being creative in the kitchen! I also started falling in love again (as I had years ago) with fiber....yarn, sewing, quilting....and started crocheting, and quilting....then in the middle of 36 inches of snow and 2 sick small children...I taught myself to knit. I also fell in love with writing again and started this blog along with journaling.

I was inspired by Jessica's post, to create "something" everyday....and as I usually work on something everyday, more specifically....I want to work with my children and get them into creating more....to look for the beauty more and to help them figure out what their medium or mediums for creating bring them the most joy.

How do you all feed the creativity that our magnificent Creator gave each one of us? Have a blessed, creative day! ~Sue~

Menu plan Monday...

Well, my friends...after this past weekend of parties, and still trying to get my meds adjusted...I am not as prepared for menu planning as I should be this week....but again, sometimes...this is real life...I am not always as organized as Iwould like, but I am prepared. My freezers are full and pantry is full....I can whip something up quickly using the ingredients that I have on hand. This week, in particular, my oldest daughter is having 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday, so I am making extra chicken broth, and homemade vanilla yogurt for her and trying to think of meals for all of us for the end of the week that she could eat, too....so I don't have to cook double meals, she can eat it well and the rest of the family likes it....so I'm still working on ideas for the end of the week...but, here is my 'loose' menu plan for the week...and just dinners right now...that's about all I can get together in my mind! LOL But again, this is my 'real life'...and it will be good! Blessings on your week! ~Sue~

Monday: crockpot venison stroganoff, brown rice, sweet/sour red cabbage w/bacon

Tuesday: chicken and rice soup, brazilian chebe bread

Wednesday: chicken enchiladas and salad (my daughter, Sara is cooking that day!)

Thursday; gf pierogie casserole, peas

Friday: chicken and gf dumplings, veggies

Saturday: homemade gf mac and cheese, green beans

Sunday: porcupine balls, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots

~Next week....trying some new 'international' recipes, such as homemade 'papusas'...can't wait! This week...we're all about comfort.

A fun filled birthday weekend....

~Happy 9th birthday to my special, one and only son! Happy Birthday, Ronnie!~

What a whirlwind the past few days has been! Lots of preparing to host 2 birthday parties in 2 days here....don't know what I would ever do without my oldest daughters...they are such a help and so accomplished in the kitchen, too! (you should taste their cupcakes!)

We hosted family last night for Ronnie's birthday....lots of fun and visiting going on...Ronnie is a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey fan and my cousin got him a hat and an official winter classic puck...cool!

I love this picture! Ronnie and our cousin, Maggie share the same birthday! When I was expecting Ronnie, my cousin, Kim was anxiously waiting for the go-ahead to get Maggie from China and brought her home a few short weeks before Ronnie was born...so we were expecting together....what a blessing family is!

This morning, Ronnie woke up very early on his birthday to brave the cold and snow for his basketball game....here is the team picture with his buddies.

After the game, we brought home 5 of his best friends for a party....lots of food, Star Wars and Legos going on...and a fun pyramid, too!

While I was the commander from the 'mother ship'...these were my Jedi....they saved the universe and rid the galaxy of evil this afternoon!

Our tired, but happy birthday boy! Happy 9th Birthday, my son! We love you!

~Sue~

One Small Change...

I am joining in with the folks over at One Small Change again. I know it has been a while...and many changes have been occuring in our family...but I wanted to mention one small change we're doing for 'winter'.

We've been homeschooling for 12 years now, with another 11 to go and over the years my husband's job situation has changed many times, and the Lord has taught me to trust in Him...and to be prepared and a good steward of what He has given us...so, all of this to say our change is....'purging'....scaling down, getting rid of excess.

We have been going thru the house...filling up boxes of books to donate, recycling books/magazines...donating clothing and household items that haven't been used and finding creative ways to store what we do use and have it accessible. This has been so freeing, on the one hand and opened up so much space. But, I also have the dilemna of wanting to save certain books and curriculum that we've collected to use in the future with my youngest two children. It is very hard, at and 9 to know what curriculum will work with them best in middle school or highschool and yet...I already own it, and want to use it with them. Problem is how much do I keep and where do I store it?

But I feel like I am being a much better steward by donating our excess to people who could use it....to better utilizing our space to make it more open and hospitable....what would be one small change that you could do in your lives? ~Sue~

Yarn Along...

Joining with Ginny over at Small Things for her weekly Yarn Along...posting what we are working on with our shared love of fiber and our love of reading...please, go on over and check some wonderful reading and fiber art! ~This week, I've started a hat to match a scarf I finished using Paton's chocolate wool and simply softs 'toast'....I've found working with 2 strands of yarn are trickier for me, but as that is what I did for the scarf, I want the hat to match. Underneath, I have a shawl that should be finished soon...as soon as I have a little more time to sit and knit! LOL I've been working hard at purging our home of 'excess'...excess everything! Not a lot of knitting going on, but I try and do at least a few rows a day. I've been reading a lot of books by Ruth Bell Graham at night and have been challanged and inspired by her writings....In the above book, Legacy of a Pack Rat...these are various writings of hers thru the years....mostly journal entries and her thoughts thru the years...wonderful reading! So concludes my 'Yarn Along' for this week! I'm looking forward to getting some good reading ideas and yarn inspirations over at Small Things! ~Sue~

A Tale of Two Chickens....

~Sorry...no pictures...but I have 2 "fall-back" recipes using chicken that have become true family favorites and today will share the 'recipes'. I'm so sorry, but I am one of those people who rarely follow a recipe...and most often simply adapt it to what I have on hand and my families preferences.....so without further ado....Our standard favorite "Brown Sugar Chicken". I adapted this from Stephanie's website crockpot365.blogspot.com. Here are 2 ways I've prepared this for my family.

First, I've used everything from boneless chicken breasts to bone-in legs/thighs...doesn't matter, just use what you like. I prefer the bone-in because of the rich taste it adds and the nutritional value of the bonebroth. Just put your chicken in the crockpot on high (I always put it on high to get it started) then add lots of chopped garlic and salt/pepper (if I have it, I drizzle a little sesame oil over the chicken and garlic) then stir up in a bowl approx. 1 cup soda pop (I've used everything from sprite, gingerale or pepsi, doesn't seem to affect the taste) 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 cup or more of soy sauce and 1 cup brown sugar...mix it all together and pour over chicken. Turn crockpot on low and cook 5-6 hours. If you use the bone-in chicken...I like to take it off the bone and use a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I serve this with jasmine rice and steamed or stirfried cabbage/carrots/onions. That's it! Now, I've also made this in the pressure cooker, putting a rack on top of my chicken and steaming the veggies....this worked VERY well! Hope that is clear...like I said, I tend to not measure and just throw things together. LOL

Our new favorite chicken recipe was done on the stove...Orange Chicken. I took parts of many recipes that I've read and used what I had to make this delicious dish. Again...I served this with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. Ok....here is what I did:

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks, season with seasoned salt and garlic powder and brown in butter/olive oil blend....brown well, then turn and brown on all sides. (this doesn't take long) Take chicken out and place on plate.....then add 1 cup water and scrape up all the brown bits, deglazing the pan...add lots of chopped garlic and saute, then add 3 tablespoons of unsweetened orange juice concentrate, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup soy sauce....stir until well mixed, adding chicken back in and adding a little water as needed, simmer until chicken is very tender. (this all took about 1/2 hour) That's it! This was a huge hit...especially with my younger children.

~I tend to make a lot with chicken and venison, because that is what I have...we also eat at least one meatless meal a week...along with lots of eggs, yogurt and cheese for protein along with our kefire smoothies.

A local grocery store had a sale last week on bone-in chicken leg quarters, a 10 lb bag for only 39 CENTS a pound! Amazing price! So....I got 40 pounds! (thanks to my dad and step-mom storing 2 bags for me in their freezer) For a while, I determined that we wouldn't eat anything that wasn't organic and all natural, but unfortunately, our finances for people would not allow that...and I now have peace that God is in control of our health...as He is in everything. And, that eating healthy, cooking from scratch and not following the 'standard American diet' (or SAD) is much better for us, even if not everything is organic.

Have a blessed day! ~Sue~

Menu plan Monday....

Trying very hard to get used to my husband getting paid every 2 weeks instead of every week...finding I'm running out of a few things like milk, cheese, apples...my goal is to ONLY go shopping once every two weeks....thank goodness for my extra refrigerator and freezer! Here is our menu for this cold, snowy week in Pittsburgh! ~Sue~

Monday:

Breakfast: homemade granola, and yogurt
Lunch: gluten free steak and mushroom pizza, veggies
Dinner: split pea soup and chebe bread

Tuesday:

B-pumpkin raisin bread
L-ethiopian veg't stew (from cookbook 'Extending the Table') & Ingera bread
D- roast chicken legs quarters, sweet potatoes, corn

Wednesday:

B-cheesy scrambled eggs, gf toast
L- black bean soup and gf cheese puffs
D-crockpot chicken parmesean, gf pasta, salad

Thursday:

B- oatmeal, and smoothie
L- chicken & rice egg drop soup
D- venison meatloaf, gravy mashed potatoes, green beans

Friday:

B-crepes with homemade jam
L-homemade hummus with veggies and gf flatbread
D-(pressure cooker) Borscht soup and gf caraway salt sticks

(my son's 9th birthday family party...lots of cake and icecream!)

Saturday: My son's 9th birthday...he picks the menu!

B-cocoa crispie cereal and bananas (early basketball game)
L- hotdogs, french fries, veggies...more cake and icecream for party
D-pork ribs, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes...and homemade chocolate custard for his birthday dessert!

Sunday:

B-pumpkin raisin bread
L-crockpot "Good Sunday" soup (chicken soup with veggies and chunks of cheese)
D- barbeque chicken, wild rice, salad

~For more menu plans every Monday check out orgjunkie.com

This moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Joining with Amanda over at http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/ this moment.

My oldest quizzing my youngest on her spelling words....she got them all right! LOL I love homeschooling! ~Sue~

Thrifty Thursdays....

I love this idea! Today is Thrifty Thursday over at Saved By Love Creations blog...and since I so enjoy the creativity and challenge of simple, beautiful frugality, I thought I would join in this weekly blog hop.

Since I am using my pressure cookers 3 times today, that is what immediately came to mind for thrifty cooking today!

For lunch, I pressure cooked potato soup...made more nutritious by leaving the skins on for fiber and nutrients, homemade chicken broth, lots of garlic...and done in 40 minutes. Tender chunks of potatoes....and using much less energy by using the stove for a fraction of the time.

For dinner tonight, I will cook brown basmati rice in one pressure cooker and pepper steak with tons of mushrooms and peppers, onions and garlic in another. Being able to use inexpensive cuts of meat and have them just melt in your mouth and stretch to feed our family is such a blessing to us!

There are many books on pressure cooking out there, especially by my favorite pressure cooking expert, Lorna Sass. Also, in the new issue of Hobby Farm Home magazine that I mentioned yesterday, they have a huge article on pressure cooking....from the history of it, to safety issue and delicious recipes. Just another way to be creatively thrifty! ~Sue~

Yarn Along...

I am joining Ginny over at SmallThings blog for the weekly Yarn Along! Oh, how I LOVE yarn...the feel, the colors the different textures. I also love reading and books just as much! After 12 years of homeschooling...I've collected so many books that the challenge is finding adequate storage for all of them!

This is a picture of the afghan that I FINALLY finished for my niece's wedding gift. This was such a soft yarn to work with. I first learned to crochet and last winter during our 36+ inches of snow and 2 little ones with whooping cough, I taught myself to knit...and am now addicted. Will post next week a couple of finished projects along with one almost finished shawl and one started hat. (I have found that crocheting is so much faster for me...but ends up being very painful with my RA and Fibro...knitting is so much kinder and gentler to me)

The picture above also shows one of my youngest daughters favorite books at the moment, "The Spinner's Gift"...what a warm, beautiful book!

I am reading my 2 favorite magazines....curled up in my comfy queen anne chair with the beautiful, warm wool sweater that my husband blessed me with for Christmas. I just discovered Hobby Farm Home and love it! The above issue has features on making homemade yogurt , and cooking with the pressure cooker, which I have been loving lately and will be using tomorrow.

Maryjane's Farm magazine has been a favorite of mine for years and the new issue just arrived in the mail today! Wonderful reading for a cold winter's day!

For more inspiring "yarn alongs", go visit Ginny's blog at the link above. What is inspiring you in the afterglow of the holiday season? ~Sue~

Giveaway: Solar powered radio & light

A wonderful blog Homestead Revival is hosting a generous giveaway for a USA solar powered radio/lantern. This is a wonderful radio that has so many features...a light, can be powered 5 different ways and will charge a cell phone as well....follow the link above to enter and for more information! ~Sue~

Finally...Success!

One of my 'resolutions' this year is to eat healthier and to save money. My family LOVES vanilla yogurt....and I use plain yogurt for everything. I've tried many times with many different methods to make my own yogurt and the results have been very disappointing (runny, taste a bit off...) until now!

Last night (after much research of different methods) I tried a simple oven method. First, I brought 1/2 gallon of milk plus 1 cup of dried milk powder to 185 degrees, then lowered the temp. to 100, added the starter, poured 1/2 into a quart jar, mixed vanilla and stevia with the rest and poured that into a quart jar and put them into the oven that I had heated to 200 degrees and then shut off. I kept the oven light on all night and this morning...perfect, delicious yogurt! I had to laugh as my children all had bowls of it this morning...at this rate I'll be making it frequently!

I was reminded of the classic children's book "The Little Engine that Could"...I hope my children will see that yes, their mother has many failed attempts, but keeps persevering...and occasionally has success...now, if I can learn to ferment veggies....and knit something other than a scarf....and finish the quilt I started and......so many things to learn, so little time! I hope I never lose the desire to learn! Have a blessed day! ~Sue~

New Year! New Goals...Menu Plan Monday

I'm back in 'blog land'...and find that I've missed journaling my thoughts and a little about our lives. I also am finding that menu planning is now ESSENTIAL...especially as my wonderful husband gets paid twice a month now instead of every week...so, if I can stretch menus out to 2 weeks worth at a time and only go grocery shopping once...I think we can save a lot of money, and always be prepared with whatever we need on hand. So...here is this weeks "Menu Plan Monday" for 1-3-11 thru 1-15-11 (we have kefir smoothies everymorning as a snack between breakfast & lunch...so I won't list them repeatedly)


Monday 1-3-11

Breakfast- oatmeal & apples
Lunch- leftover ham/potato casserole, greenbeans, tangerine
Dinner -Black beans & Rice, salad with homemade dressing

(to do: make hardboiled eggs, granola, gluten free bread and yogurt)

Tuesday 1-4-11

Breakfast-Granola & yogurt
Lunch -bean & cheese quesadillas and salad
Dinner-SmokedTurkey leg paprikash in crockpot with gf pasta and steamed carrots

Wedneday 1-5-11

Breakfast -GF pancakes with homemade jam , tangerines
Lunch - Homemade tomato soup, cheese, nut crackers & apples
Dinner- Crispy chicken breasts, roasted potatoes, salad

Thursday 1-6-11

Breakfast- eggs and gf toast, pineapple
Lunch -potato soup, cheese & nut crackers, homemade pickled veggies
Dinner -Pepper steak with mushrooms and brown rice

Friday 1-7-11

Breakfast -GF apple muffins
Lunch -chicken lettuce wraps, tangerines
Dinner -Crockpot orange chicken, jasmine rice and steamed broccoli

Saturday 1-8-11 (9AM basketball game)

Breakfast-muffins and yogurt
Lunch - Leftovers, fruit
Dinner .-Homemade gluten free veggie pizza and salad


Thru out the week, we eat fruit everyday, fruit kefir smoothies everyday, so I don't list every snack. But this is our plan for the week. I've been loving my crockpots...sometimes the main course is in one and rice is in another....I've also been loving my pressure cookers...yes, plural...a huge one for large meals and the smaller on for main courses or for rice.

You can link up for menu plan Mondays by going to http://orgjunkie.com/ or just to glean some great ideas from others who have benefited from menu planning!

Now to TRY for an earlier night and earlier wakeup tomorrow! Due to a lot of health issues that I've had this year, and especially this past 2 weeks, we are seriously in need of some organizing and getting into workable routines for our family....and God is so faithful to lay them out for us......back to schoolwork tomorrow! Have a blessed week! ~Sue~