Sprouting grains

This is my results at experimenting with making sprouted wheat bread. To the wheat grains, I soaked them over night, drained them, rinsed them several times that day, the next day I rinsed them and dried them in the oven at 170 degrees by turning the oven off and on every couple of hours. then the next day I put the dried grains through my grain mill and then made the bread. It turned out ok, better than the last time I tried two years ago, but I don't think I will do it again. It just isn't near as enjoyable as my regular bread that isn't sprouted.

Now for my 10 grain mix. I did the same procedure with my ten grain mix and made pumpkin muffins with the sprouted grain flour. They turned out sensational.


I had some of the sprouted grain flour left so I made shortbread cookies with it and some raw butter and a reduced amount of raw sugar. We really liked these too. My little kids got into it before I could get the picture taken.

All in the same day, I made pizza too with a wheat crust, not sprouted. These are our favorites: 1 ham, 2 Chicken and bacon, 3 chicken and vegetables with a mix of pesto sauce and homemade ranch salad dressing. We had a lot of dishes to do the next day!

Safia's 5th birthday

Yesterday was Safia's birthday. Because I knew I would have Jileigh here to help me, I gave Safia a birthday party. She did a great job with playing games with the kids. First she had them play with shaving cream and make shapes in it. Then they played Musical chairs, and Red light green light. We had to stop playing games because some of the kids kept throwing fits if they didn't win. So Jileigh brought out the guinea pigs and they enjoyed petting them. Then we had custard filled crepes and Safia opened her presents. Then I sent them outside to play until their parents came to get them.

The day before yesterday, Matt's mom came to bring Safia her present. This is quite the interesting story. I had to take Jileigh to the orthodontist here in town at 3:45 and Elody fell asleep just before that and she REALLY needed a nap. So I left Talon home with her here, took Beau and Safia over to Candy's house and made arrangements for Jaren and Angelique to go to my neighbor's house since she has kids their age. So to her appointment we went. After we went she was done there, we went back to Candy's to get the kids, visited for a few minutes and went home. There we found Matt's mom holding Elody. I didn't know she was coming over to bring Safia's present to her, but I was certainly glad she did. She told me that when she drove up and got out of her car, she could hear Elody screaming. She came in, look around for somebody to be here and also followed the cry. I had nursed her to sleep on Beau's bed because it is closest to the ground and it is a queen size bed. Just as she walked in the bedroom, she saw Elody falling between Beau's bed and Talon's bed frame while screaming bloody murder. NOT A GOOD SITUATION. She quickly picked her up, calmed her down and put her back to sleep and again, searched for anybody in the house. She finally found Talon glued to the computer, playing a game, completely oblivious to Elody's screaming or that Grandma was even there. So she called Matt at work and told him the situation and he told her where I was and that I should be home soon. So she just sat and rocked Elody until I got home. I posted on Facebook, "God sent me an angel today." He was truly watching out for my baby that day. Talon is permanently grounded from playing computer games or even video games at other people's houses. We now know that we can't trust him to babysit, even for a few minutes.

Sunday with Uncle "D" (My brother)

Sunday we went to church and then came home and made dinner, the Sunday usual. While Matt and I were working on dinner, DeLane took the kids for a joy ride in his rental car. Then after dinner, he handed Matt the keys and suggested that we take a turn to go for a spin. My kids thought it would be funny if I modelled the car.

It was a nice afternoon. The kids enjoyed themselves playing on the front lawn spending time with their favorite Uncle D.

Saturday at the dunes with Uncle "D"

Saturday at 1pm, my Brother DeLane came to spend a couple of days with us. We decided to go to the dunes for the afternoon. It was supposed to be a sunny warm day. Instead it was a little windy and cold, but we still went. Two of Matt's brother's and their kids went with us too. The kids had a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks and playing in the sand. Then we built a fire and roasted hot dog. I think they thought they were starving, because the all had two hot dogs each. We had quite the enjoyable time. "D" as we call him, was so sweet with my kids, especially with the little ones. He either had Elody or Beauchene in his arms. They took right to him. When we got home, we bathed kids, had a little dinner and we all were in to bed by 10 pm.

Elody's sleeping arrangements

Elody has discovered my night stand. My water, carmex, and lotion are no longer safe.

Wednesday night soup - Ham and Vegetable soup with bread

I have made my own cookbook, but eventually I would like to add pictures in the book. I think that's the main reason I keep taking pictures of my meals.

Jaren has lost his two front teeth

Jaren has lost 3 teeth in the past month. He was pretty excited about loosing both of his two front teeth. Jaren is in 1st grade and is doing really well. He doesn't like to do his homework, but who does. He likes to please his teacher and get his work done. He doesn't like to do his chores, but he likes to hold his baby sister. He is very tender-hearted and doesn't like being repremanded, so we try to be sensitive but firm with him. He is very easy-going and is an all-around happy kid.

Elody and Hannah

Today I babysat Sariah and Brandon while Candy took Austin to the orthodontist. When they came back, I want to get a picture of Elody and Hannah together. Elody is 7 1/2 months and Hannah is 10 months old. Beau is 2, Sariah is 3, Safia is 4 and Brandon is 5. They all really enjoy playing with one another. I wasn't able to get both babies to smile at the same time so I posted one of each of them smiling.

Monday night - Potato Soup with fresh homemade wheat toast

So as you can tell, I have been in the mood to take pictures of my dinners and posting them. Food is a part of my life. Making good food and eating a lot of it to produce milk is a major priority.

Sunday night dinner - Orange chicken and brown rice

I made one of my most favorite dinners tonight with the help of Matt and Angelique and Jileigh. We made Orange chicken on brown rice with a side of mixed veggies and spinach salad.

I don't know how to upload a document from my computer, so I am always happy to share recipes by email them.

Dinners - Meatball sub sandwiches and Cauliflower soup

I try to be a humble person, but I have a passion for great tasting food. This past week Matt and I made a big batch of yummy meatballs and cauliflower soup. One night I made meatball sub sandwiches on homemade wheat hoagie rolls and the next night, teriyaki meatballs. Beau insisted that I take a picture of him and his sandwich. He's a cutie!

Who put who to sleep?

At night, Beau takes a g-pig out of its bin and sits with it on the couch to watch t.v. Every time he does that, he falls asleep. Its too cute not to take a picture of. (These are two different times)

There's also a picture of Elody grabbing and pulling herself up Jileigh's pant leg( It was one of the first times she's done that) She did that while Jileigh was taking pics of Beau.

(Jileigh put this post together.)