Homemade

I love to cook and bake from scratch. Yesterday I made homemade french bread. I only made half a recipe and the loaf is almost gone. I should have made a full recipe! Last week I made my own tortillas and they were fantastic. I like them much better than the ones at the store. And we have baked goods that I make several times a month. It is fun for me and it helps to keep our grocery bill down.

The problem with baking from scratch is that it takes more time. Many would think that as a stay at home mom I have more time. In some ways that is true, I am not running in the door at 5 or later to make dinner and feed everyone before bedtime. I am not gone all day at work, I am at home (most days at least). However I have a husband, three kids, a part time job and a house to take care of. This makes finding time to make things, even with being home most of the day, is not always easy. This is why I batch cook when I can. This satisfies my want and need to make things from scratch and helps with the time issue. The tortillas will be perfect for this. I have many frozen dinners from my batch cooking. These are very helpful on the nights where Ben won't let me put him down or we have been out and about most of the day. They keep me from running up the bill on fast food (which isn't healthy either!)

The positive from baking from scratch is that it is healthier and less expensive. We use less processed foods this way and my grocery bill doesn't increase as much. And many of the things taste much, much better. My kids like to help out as well. Yesterday that helped me to knead the bread as well as measure out the ingredients. They had fun and were learning about how our food is made as well.

But again we come back to the time factor. With fresh bread in the house I am reminded on how much I love it. I want to make it more often but I just don't have the time. So I am looking into buying a bread machine. If you have any recommendations please tell me. I have never used one before, and never even heard of one until about 3 years ago! But I like the idea of having fresh bread for our sandwiches and I am looking for something inexpensive but that will last.

What is your favorite thing to make?

Better Days

Even though I am tired from staying up too late last night today was a good day. Jon got up with the kids (I love that man!) and I got to sleep in. We went to church, went to a house showing (no go, they already have an offer that will most likely be accepted) and then Madeline and I made oatmeal cookies. It was a laid back, relaxing, happy day.

We went to church again today and Madeline is already behaving SO much better. I know that if we continue to go each week and are consistent in how we expect her to behave she will continue to do much better. I would like her to sit through an entire Mass at some point, but for now I am happy if she sits through the gospel.

I am thinking of packing a "church" backpack filled with things she only gets to use at Mass. I want to make them church related, not just toys, so that even if she isn't paying attenting to everything we are doing she is getting something. I just need to figure out what to put in there.

I also want to buy some stories, or get some at the library, that teach her why we go to church. I know I can talk to her until I am blue in the face, but she really seems to get it when we read stories. She just likes them better than listening to mom I guess! I know there are some coloring books that teach the different parts of Mass (I used them with my first graders) but I don't know how appropriate they are for a three year old. Any suggestions?

Summer Fun

Today we spent part of the morning doing one of my favorite summer activities- picking strawberries. I LOVE strawberries and both my children have inherited that from me. We went over the a local pick your own farm and spent about 45 minutes eating and picking strawberries. At $1.49 a pound they were way cheaper then the grocery stores plus they are fresh.

When we got home I washed them and put them into the refrigerator. I am hoping to make jam either tomorrow afternoon or Sunday. I have never tried before but I have been told while it is time consuming it is not complicated. I think big rugrat will enjoy helping me in any way that she can.

The rugrats had a blast picking and eating strawberries the whole time. Everyone loved little rugrat because he was walking around alwyas with at least two strawberries in his hands and COVERED in red juice. This is not an activity to do in your good clothes. When we came home the kids were such a mess I through them in the bath before lunch.

We may go back after our Maine vacation next week and pick again before the season ends.

We had breakfast for lunch with french toast, hardboiled eggs, sausage and of course strawberries.

Unplugged Project- Homemade

This project (actually last week's project, I am just late posting) was something homemade. We do a lot of homemade cooking around here and this week we decided to make cookie dough. Big rugrat loves to make chocolate chip cookie dough, especially since her daddy taught her how to lick the beaters at the end (I know a big no-no with raw eggs, but it is something I have done since I was a kid).
So Friday when I ran out of refridgerated (homemade) cookie dough and it was rainy we decided to make some more.
First I got out all the ingredients (before telling big rugrat) to make sure I had everything I needed. I usually do, but every once in a while Jon cooks and forgets to tell me he used this or that up.
Then we started mixing. Big rugrat is a big help when it comes to dumping things into the mixing bowl. She wanted to crack the eggs, but I wasn't feeling that brave this particular day.
Little rugrat decided about halfway through that he was tired of pretending to cook with his bowl and spatula and climbed in the chair to help up. He and big rugrat were hysterical standing their together (I need to get one of those kitchen helpers for kids to stand in like I saw on chasing cheerios) and watching the mixer spin around and around.
Then we added chocolate chips in. Big rugrat and little rugrat both tried a few to make sure they tasted okay before we added them in. I also checked =)
Afterwards big rugrat licked the beater to help clean up. I cooked about 1 1/2 dozen cookies and then refridgerated the rest of the dough in one of my tupperware bowls. During the week I will pull out the dough and make 6 or 8 cookies each day for snacks. I love the smell of baking and this is an easy way to do it. Jon also eats spoonfuls of dough during the week, this is his favorite way to eat cookies. I am guilty of eating a spoonful as well, but I LOVE fresh out of the oven cookies even more.
We had a great time making cookies. It may become a bi-weekly activity. SOOOOOOO much cheaper than buying packages of cookies. And soooooo much more fun!