Chancho!

Well, Kate lived up to her nickname yesterday by PARTYING DOWN at Habaneros. We took her there for dinner after a day of shopping and it was Mariachi night! We were seated and they were playing at the table next to us. It was tenuous for a moment as she stared wide eyed at the incredibly LOUD music.
Which way would this thing go?
I mean, if you wanted to say something to someone you literally had to YELL.
Well, thankfully she decided she loved it and proceeded to stand up on the seat and dance her little bootimus off. She waved her hands and shook her thing and clapped and clapped when they finished each song.
Now just WHO do you think the star of THAT show was??
She ate guacamole, spanish rice and a bunch of carnitas. (pork)
On the way home she let out a big (ahem) burp and smiled and wiggled all the way home.
She needed a bath and a good nursing and off to bed she went.
She's learning to keep up with Grandma!

Lunch

Lunch today was homemade vegetable soup and the kids loved it. We also had club sandwiches which they asked if I could make EVERY day from now on. Ha! It took almost an entire loaf of bread! But I am glad they liked it. It's hard to switch things up now and then and I really want to expand our pathetic menu around here. Soup and sandwiches may not sound much different but it was. Usually I make chicken soup and never have they had club sandwiches! (replete with little tooth picks)

Tonight a new mexican casserole recipe...that won't be hard to please around here.

Baking the Bread

German Bread...YUMMO!!!!!!!!! Ok, that was good except it had a little too much of a fermented taste. Cannot figure it out. It was not the Carraway seeds but perhaps it rose too long? Is that possible? I loved the dense chewy nature of it which I must asssume was the gluten. I am going to add some to my wheat bread next time and see if I cannot get a chewy consistency there too.
But alas, wheat, honey wheat and the cinnamon bread is still the favorite.
I put so much butter and brown sugar in the breakfast cinnamon loaf, when the bread was done it had leaked out of the bread and the bread was sitting in an inch of juice. After taking it out of the pan and letting it sit, it carmalized on the bread. OMG, I have to find a way to do that ALL OVER the whole thing. Fantastic.
They are asking for it again the little sugar hounds. NO way, said the Mom. Only occasionally!

German Dark Rye (better than Outback?)

I've gone Bread Baking CrAzY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's specialty is German Dark Rye: a new recipe so DON'T laugh if and when I can post a pic. Just as soon as I can access my 2007 pics again. AARRHGG!

3 cups Bread Flour
2 cups water
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup honey
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp. caraway seeds
3 & 1/2 cups Rye Flour
2 tsp. salt
8 tsp. Wheat Gluten

Place white flour, cocoa, yeast, c. seeds, gluten and salt in large bowl. Stir to mix. Place water, honey and butter in a saucepan and heat until butter just melts. Add it to dry ingredients and mix until moistened. Then beat very hard for three minutes. (see Mike Pearl for further instruction on this, haha JUST KIDDING M!!) Stir in rye flour, enough to make soft dough. Knead 8-10 minutes. Roll out and shape into two loafs. Brush tops with oil and let rise in undeated oven over a an of hot water for one hour until doubled. Punch down and let rise again until almost doubled. Take out of oven and preheat oven to 400. Bake 25 minutes. Remove immediately from pans and cool on wire racks.

How will I spend it?

When talking to a friend yesterday, she was telling me about how her husband equated any money she spent to her "spending his life". In other words, "If you spend that ten dollars, you've spent 1/2 hour of my life, is it worth it?" It spoke SO much to me and I am so convicted as my dh has told me the same thing for years but I always heard it as irritating. He didn't speak it so eloquently as I heard it yesterday but I know that is what MY dh meant! I am spending his very LIFE away every time I spend. When I overspend, I am causing him to spend more time away from his family. I have become more frugal since we moved here, but I can tell you, I will never spend again without thinking I spending the life of the man I love.
How will I spend it today?

Does it Glorify?

I have been visiting many issues that are considered "touchy" or "controversial" lately. (who me?) and each time it begs the question,, "Why is this such a question?"

They are (usually but not always) very easily answered. Now, it is easy to cry "legalistic" everytime you want to do something that you shouldn't but legalism aside, it is simple. First you must put your cry of "Freedom in Christ!" aside and want to hear from the Holy Spirit. That book, snack, word, show, sweater, behavior, addiction or discipline problem can surely be condoned all in the name of "freedom" but if you were going to answer honestly...

Does it glorify God?

If you REALLY want to know, if you REALLY are open to correction, if you REALLY want to strive to live a life of holiness ask, Does it glorify God? and then be ready for the answer.

This has been an eye opener for me and everytime I go to do something I am unsure of, I am asking, Does it glorify God?
Even if I'm "right", it does not often mean I should do anything about it.
Recently a woman used me to further her agenda and I was angry and rightly so! Righteous indignation, I cried! I wanted to tell her the truth.
But...would it have glorified God? Grrr, NO! (thanks for reminding me Fearless)

So this is for me as well as anyone else who proclaims the name of Jesus Christ!
(what? you don't yet? email me privately)
But if you do, before you do the "thing" whatever it may be, be sure it glorifies our Lord and Savior. The question will be gone from your mind and you'll be on to more holy living. God will bless you for it!

Master of Disaster!

We had a friend over for fun yesterday and had a great time! Lauren had a little playmate which I was glad for. She doesn't have many friends she can play with like that for so long. Actually, she doesn't have any friends that play so well for so long. The girls had all spent the morning cleaning her disaster of a room and it was spotless.

So it was no surprise to go up afterwards and see the upheavel.
Now, this is NOT a commentary on the always well-intentioned parent who says "Did you help clean up". I mean, that is nice but not realistic if you are trying to get out the door. I fully never expect help cleaning up a room like that. It cannot be done in 5 minutes. Nor of course, can it be done right so why bother?

What it IS a commentary on though, is how easy it will be to clean today because it was already mastered beforehand. I really cannot imagine what it would be like had we not cleaned it first! Now it is a 10 minute job because we already had the hard work done.

When it comes to kid's rooms, be MASTER of the disaster and then the new mess will be much less!