My Latest Obsessions and a Yummy Summer Recipe

So it's almost summer, or so the calendar says, though the weather isn't even hinting at it. I think I may forgo the garden this year as it seems it's going to be another short growing season again (last year was only 2 months instead of the normal 4 we usually get). For one thing, my garden boxes are a royal disaster, all full of sweet grass. For another thing, I bought and planted a bunch of stuff last year and got next to nothing for it. Tons of work and expense for no reward. No thanks. That sort of frustrates the self-sufficiency project.

I'm intrigued by this new show called "Extreme Couponing" where people spend like 60 hours a week clipping coupons so they can go on massive shopping trips to buy 5,000 each of four different non-related items (i.e. toothpaste, sausage, arch supports, and spaghetti sauce) because they have: coupons, store coupons, manufacturer's coupons, double coupons, and a deal with the devil. After an all day trip to Kroger, they load up their U-Haul and schlep their loot home where they methodically stock it on shelves into their new bunkers they've built to store it all. Oh yeah, and they get it all for free. 

I'll admit I am a little jealous that they are able to accomplish this amazing feat. I can barely use a single coupon correctly. I would hopeless at a magnum opus such as this. Which is just as well because I have nowhere to put all that junk anyway. And most of it is junk, too. Most of it is processed foods, chemical cleaners, and other stuff I don't use. I don't see a lot of extreme couponing for organic produce or sustainably raised meat. I don't see extreme couponing for natural cleaning agents (may I have 2,000 gallons of vinegar and 65 boxes of Arm & Hammer, please?). 

And yet somehow, now when I do find a sale or use a coupon (correctly) somehow I feel guilty for having to pay for it at all...or not making money back for taking it off the store's hands. Because, come on! It's ridiculous to feel guilty about that!  I just don't have the extreme couponing super power.

So I need to find ways I can make a difference. I am interested in buying healthy foods and products for less. I am interested in putting healthier meals in front of my family. I am interested in having a smaller footprint (and I'm not into foot binding). I also am very interested in learning to do for myself, in being as far off grid as I can, and in preserving the old ways. 

So far, I have learned to:

• Care for and milk a goat
• Grow at least one successful garden
• Pressed apples to make cider
• Learned to can using a steam bath (my pressure canner scares me...I have yet to try that one)
• Make my own natural cleaning agents
• Keep chickens 
• Heat my home with wood

I think there is more...but that's all I can remember now.

I also try to buy as much local as I can and buy products that will have a long life and come with little to no packaging. Oh yea....and just buy less (unless it's shoes or books, which I mostly buy used anyway).

Several years ago I participated in a fresh produce co-op that was run by a local Christian homeschooling family we met through Boy Scouts. It was awesome! For like $29 every two weeks we got a huge banana box of fresh organic produce grown predominantly on the West Coast. The co-op ended for winter and we enrolled our kids back in school and it seems that group was a figment of my imagination as no one seems to remember it but me. And that's really a bummer because I really really want to do that again. 

I also have wanted to get in on Azure Standard. Let's face it, we all need to start stocking up on our the-whole-world's-going-to-heck-in-a-handbasket stockpile, right? I have a dear friend whom I jokingly refer to as a militant survivalist (which is more truth than joke.....but only in the best way possible) who sends me links from time to time regarding how much food, water, and supplies I should be stockpiling for a family my size.....you know....in my bunker. I'm on it.....slowly. I do want to store up staples (mostly because I'm laze and hate having to decide between buying at the overpriced local grocery or taking the time and using the gas to go to town frequently). I am not very good at planning ahead and buying a lot at a time. You'd think I'd be better at it living out there, but I guess I'm not far enough away from town to have developed that skill. I completely refuse to buy cheese here, though. It's like $9 a brick. John and a friend had a whole comedy routine worked about my reaction to seeing that price for the first time. 

So my goals for now are:

• To start buying from Azure
• To figure out how to make the gallons of coconut or nut milks my son uses instead of dairy
• To get into a cow-share (I've nearly done this)
• To set up my kitchen in a way that makes room for storing large amounts of staples and using them efficiently
• To raise my own beef (and maybe lamb if I like it...)
• To slowly add to my collection of non-electronic household goods. (Have you seen the Lehman's catalog? It rocks!)
• Find and buy a wood burning kitchen stove for a reasonable price 
• To get chickens again....and maybe turkeys (yumm!)
• Be organized enough to cook more items from scratch and rely less on canned goods (even organic canned goods)
• Change our diet to include more healthy fats and better overall nutrition

What are you doing to lower your bills, be more green, or get off grid? What cool old craft or skill have you learned? How are you simplifying your life? Doing more with less? I'd love to hear your stories.

I'll leave you with this yummy summer salad recipe I've been enjoying lately.

Summer Berry Salad

Organic mixed baby greens

1 pint strawberries washed, hulled, and sliced

1 pint raspberries

1 cucumber, diced

1-2 tomatoes, diced

1 cup jicama, diced

1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds reserved for garnish.

Strawberry Dressing

1 pint strawberries, hulled

light olive oil 

balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

To make the dressing, put all the strawberries in your blender, place the lid on the blender but allow a way to pour oil in slowly. Turn on the blender and begin adding the oil slowly until you create an emulsion. Add a tablespoon or so of balsamic vinegar to taste. Add a little salt (1/2 tsp or so) and some ground pepper. Pour over your salad just before serving and garnish with about 1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds.

Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day! My family is always amazing to me. I am so blessed! Here are some of the special gifts I was presented.

Uh....yeah.....you may be noticing the plaque. It's just a joke. My house wasn't clean last week either. But look at all the precious gifts from my sweet family! My heart is full. 

A sweet little plant and picture from my birthday girl. I love school projects!

From my sweet husband. :)

Nothing beats a hand made Mathr's Day card!

Or a note laboriously crafted by someone for whom writing does not come easy...

 Or a picture of a sparkly mother and daughter pair standing happily on a sparkly hill in the sparkly sunlight.

These beauties were given to me by my own mother.

Yes, I am a very blessed mama. I have some amazing kids and a husband I wouldn't trade for anything. It's been a beautiful weekend of celebrating family, cheering on my track star son, honoring my Grammy and my mama, dressing up in matching dresses and spending some wonderful time with my favorite girls, snuggling, and worshipping. I am so blessed. I hope your Mother's Day was amazing, too. If your day was difficult because you miss your mama or your little one(s) please know that you were thought of today as well. Space was held in our hearts today for all the mamas in waiting and the mamas of little souls waiting for them on the other side. 

Whoever you are, thank you for what you do for mothers and babies. Thank you for smiling at the nursing mama at the park. Thank you for encouraging the mother of the tantrumming toddler in the grocery store. Thank you for giving the teenage friends of your own kids a safe place to hang out. Thank you. Parenting is really hard work and we need you. We need you to share your experience and advice. We need your listening ear. We need your prayers. 

Thank you for caring and supporting. Keep it up!

So Far As It Depends on Me

It is only human nature to celebrate the death of an enemy, especially one who took so many innocent lives. One so covered in guilt got his just ending. Yes, justice was served. I will not argue whether this was right or wrong. I believe we have the right to defend ourselves. I support our service men and women. I do see a need for police and military. I do honor those who serve. I am thankful for the selfless service of those who keep us safe in our borders. Osama Bin Laden got what was coming to him, no doubt. You reap what you sow.

However, as a Christ follower, I am not called to live as those who do not know Him do, I am called to emulate Christ.I strive to be a peacemaker; I wish to live a peaceful existence in this world. I am not always successful, but I keep trying. I believe that ever since Jesus rose from the grave, as His followers, we have been called to a higher level of conduct. God is a God of Justice, but He is also a God of Mercy. If we live by Justice alone, then by all rights, we are all guilty and we all should die. I have not taken a life, but I have spoken words that wound the soul, sometimes to those I love the most. I am weak. I have failed. I have offended God Almighty with my personal sin. I deserve to die. 

And Osama deserved to die. He did, I get that. I have no easy answers for this situation. I'm not even prepared to say what happened was wrong, but it is sad. It's sad that these things happen in our world. Osama was a product of thousands of years of history. The story is so much bigger than one man. The U.S. has a long history of animosity with the Middle East. The story really started with some poor choices on the parts of Abraham and Sarah. One couple lacked faith and tried to creatively solve a problem outside of God's plan. And the world is still at war because of it. I am really no different, no better. I shudder to think that some of my missteps could affect future history in such a devastating way. 

If we're going to talk about right versus wrong. What is the ruler by which we measure? I believe the only unchanging ruler that can truly measure right from wrong is God's, and by it we all fall short. Romans 3:23 tells us that ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. There but for the GRACE of God go I. 

So when I see the celebration in the streets in front of our capitol and hear people rejoicing, I can't help but feel sad. When I hear other believers celebrate the death of this man, my heart breaks. We are called to more. We are called to be Peace in the World. I cannot see the difference between Arab extremist dancing and chanting in the streets in celebration of American lives taken and Americans dancing and chanting in the streets of our nation's Capitol celebrating the death of an Arab extremist. When we engage in the same elation over death, we are then no different than they.

Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [to return], as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Someone on Facebook shared the sentment, "An eye for an eye and the whole world ends up blind." You know what Jesus said will happen to the blind? They will lead each other off the cliff. (Matt 15:14)

I don't think it takes a theological degree to discern what God feels about such things. He is pretty clear. Here are some great verses shared by many of my friends, and some I know and love.

Leviticus 19:18

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

That is speaking directly to the Hebrew people but Christ expanded this directive to reach beyond His chosen people and to include the world. 

Matthew 5:43-45

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Proverbs 2:17 states

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; 

   when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice"

Our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We are only free from judgment because we are covered by Christ's sacrifice. 

I don't begrudge anyone the sense of added safety they feel today that this man who perpetratd so much evil in the world is dead, but I doubt this will bring about any real or lasting peace. Only the Prince of Peace can bring Peace that surpasses all understanding. His Peace never ends.

John 3:16-17

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

So ... there, but for the Grace of God, go I. And while earthly justice may have been served, an eternal soul lost is nothing to rejoice over.

I am so thankful that my God is a God of forgiveness, mercy, and grace. I am so thankful that through my faith in Christ's sacrifice, my offenses are not counted against me. Our choices have consequences. Abraham's fathering of Ishmael through Hagar has consequences, even today. But Abraham was saved on account of his faith. And God was with Ishmael as he grew into manhood. God desires for Ishmael to return to Him. 

Our calling is to go into ALL the world taking the message of Christ's love and sacrifice to ALL people. I don't read "except Arabs" anywhere in that. ALL are in need of God's Grace. 

" Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another.(...)

 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

   “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; 

   if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. 

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

(Romans 12:17-21)

I realize it is not a perfect world, but so far as it depends on me, I will try to live at peace with everyone. And you know, as I recall, most of the New Testament was written during a time of great persecution to Christians....so that should count for something, shouldn't it?