Our year in review...

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Look what came in the mail today!

Seed catalogs!

It's better than the Toys R Us Christmas Wishbook, I tell ya!

French Bread (in the food processor!)

This recipe has changed the way I bake my dinner breads! No more kneading and double rises with this method! You can have a delicious loaf of hot, crusty french bread in under two hours (rather than two days) start to finish.

The original recipe appeared in Bon Appetit Magazine, April 1979!

Food Processor French Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water, 110-115 degrees
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water, 110-115 degrees

Directions:

Combine 1/2 cup cup water, 1 1/2 Tbls yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar in food processor bowl, let sit 5 minutes to proof.
If you are using instant yeast you can skip the proofing time.

Add 3 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, process for 30 secs.

I wanted a healthier version so here are my changes: Out of the 3 1/4 cups of flour I used 1 1/4 cups whole wheat. I also added 2T. of ground flax seeds and 2T. of wheat germ.

Slowly add 1 cup of water with the processor running, once dough comes together process mix for 1 minute.

I've made this bread several times and have NEVER used the whole cup of water. I usually end up only using 3/4C. by the time the dough comes together.

You can divide the dough in half for two small loaves or you can make one large loaf. Press the dough out in a long rectangle. Starting at one of the long ends, roll the dough into a log and place seam side down.

Make 3-4 slashes with a sharp knife along the top of the loaf. Let rise for 40-60 minutes until doubled.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Just before putting your loaf in the oven, throw 3-4 ice cubes in the bottom of your oven or you can spray your loaf with water before going in. The steam that is created makes a nice chewy crust!
Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees then lower the temperature to 400 degrees bake 15 minutes more.

Resist the urge to cut this right out of the oven!!! The heat inside the loaf helps to steam the crust to make an awesome french loaf!

This really is a no fail loaf!
Try putting in fresh herbs, olives, cheese etc...
Enjoy!

Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful, but busy Christmas! On Christmas Eve we had an early dinner and opened presents with just our little family. It was quiet and peaceful and the kids enjoyed all the presents and fun. At 9pm we went to Mass. It was lovely, there is just something so holy and solemn about Christmas Mass!
Christmas day Santa came and the boys got up at the crack of dawn to meet him. Nana and Popo came over for breakfast and to check out what Santa had left behind. We got dressed and made our way to Baytown to see my side of the family. It was a relaxing afternoon with lots of good food and company. It made me realize I don't see my family near enough! We made it back home very late and were eager to get to bed.
The next morning we all slept in but Nana was busily preparing yet another Christmas meal! We went to Doug's parent's home and had a great visit with his family. It was so nice to have everyone together. JP says it was the best Christmas EVER...I agree!

Still life by Kyle...

Thanks for the art supplies, Nana & Popo!
My artist has been creating masterpieces all day.

Menu Plan Monday

We've all got the post holiday "Blech" and are getting back on the wagon to eating better. I'm slowly cleaning out the fridge and pantry of all our prepackaged and processed stuff. I hope the "withdrawl" won't be too terribly painful!

Monday: Mediterranean Pasta with Greens I know, I know, I said I'd never cook chard again BUT I did cook some the day after Christmas and it was really good! I just cooked it wrong that first time (and now I'm really glad I didn't pull it out of the garden!) Will use whole wheat pasta with this recipe.

Tuesday: Spinach Chickpea Curry Will sub cauliflower from the garden for the tofu and serve over quinoa.

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chili It's new year's eve and I want something easy to fix so I can spend more time with the kids popping fireworks! It'll be the one day we splurge. I'll buy individual serving bags of Fritos and laddle in some chili, top with cheese and stick in a spoon. The kids will be in Heaven and I won't have any dishes to do!

Thursday: Black Eyed Peas and Cornbread. It's a tradition here in the south to eat this on new year's day!

Friday: Fish tacos with homemade sprouted wheat tortillas

Saturday: Broccoli Beef Will serve over whole wheat linguine (and omit the part where you cook it in water and FIVE bullion cubes!) and use broccoli from the garden.

Sunday: Spinach Frittata and fruit.

Have a wonderful week and happy new year!
For hundreds of other meal plans, check out www.orgjunkie.com

Need to get organized in the new year?

If you feel a need to get organized in the new year then check out Springpad!
Springpad is a fantastic FREE tool for creating online notebooks to help manage your life and the best part is that it’s fun and easy to use too. They have notebooks to cover just about everything you can think of including menu, holiday, trip and chore planners. Springpad can also help you organize your calendar and to-do lists and you can even give other people access to your notebooks.

This site is FANTASTIC! Take the meal planning section for example, you can add recipes from your computer or online in one simple click! You can also bring up your meal plan and click on the items you need and it will compile a very nice shopping list for you! It keeps your recipes organized and you can bring them up in a simple click!


Check out this video to learn more about Springpad!

I knew there was a reason I liked this stuff!

I have at least one cup of tea every morning and usually one in the afternoon. It's relaxing and quieting and doesn't make me jittery like coffee...in fact, it may be preventing cancer!

I'll be posting all about our wonderful Christmas as soon as I can get my camera to stop smoking crack and give me my pictures! Stay tuned!

Making Merry

We wish all of our family and friends a very merry and holy Christmas!

O Emmanuel

O Antiphon:
O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!

Gingerbread houses (almost!)

The boys spent Saturday evening making "gingerbread" houses. We cheated and used juice cartons and graham crackers. I think they turned out really cute and we'll use them as centerpieces for the Christmas dinner table!

O King of the Gentiles

O Antiphon:
O King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!

Funniest movie scene EVER!

We are watching ELF for the 56,843,839,507th time and it doesn't matter how many times I see it, this is the funniest scene EVER!
I just giggle every time I see it!



I just *heart* Will Ferrell!

O Dayspring

O Antiphon:
O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

Out in the garden...

We're supposed to get a hard freeze Sunday night so I harvested what I could out of the garden and will try to cover the rest!

The "salad bowl" is the most fragile in the garden. I'm going to pick a bunch and cover the rest with a couple of inches of hay to protect it from the frost. Lettuce stores incredibly well in the fridge...two weeks in the proper container!

We've had some beautiful broccoli harvests!
Once these main heads are cut, small tender shoots form for months.

John Paul was NOT pleased with the broccoli harvest!
I asked him to pose pretty for mommy's blog...this was all I got:

He was completely appalled he even had to touch the stuff!

We should have cauliflower this week! I hope to make Ina Garten's cauliflower gratin
to go with Christmas dinner.

And the collards and cabbage patch...

I know that collards like a bit of frost so I'll leave them uncovered, but I'm not sure about the cabbage. Those little heads are so tightly compacted that I think they'll survive ok. I might even clothespin some of those bigger outer leaves over the head to provide a little more protection. We haven't had any cabbage yet, but I sure planted a ton of it! I want to can some sauerkraut and kim chee with the extra!
Last are my brussells...

I figure by new year's well be eating some roasted brussells sprouts with our black eyed peas!

We brought our bounty inside and my sous chef, Danny, helped me steam some broccoli for lunch. He loves the stuff...plain, unlike the rest of my motley crew!

And eating a big ol sprig of broccoli makes me feel a little less guilty about all those sweet Christmas treats (of which we will be making loads of this weekend!)

O Key of David

O Antiphon:
O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

O Root of Jesse

O Antiphon:
O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles shall seek, come to deliver us, do not tarry.

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles shall seek, come to deliver us, do not tarry.

O Adonai

O Antiphon:
O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

Flu shot? No thank you!

Yesterday I was at work and harassed by the the infection control nurse to get a flu shot. I simply said, "No thank you" which released a torrent of questions from her! I had a choice to make...I could either kick her in the teeth or say, "Being a nurse, I am well aware of the risks and benefits of a flu shot. I am an adult capable of making such decisions for myself. NO THANK YOU!"
I chose the latter...

Did you know that 60% of doctors refuse to get the flu shot?
And that you can avoid flu shots all together and take vitamin D instead? (a rather lengthy article but FULL of very good and accurate information!)

Each day we all take a whole foods energizer/multivitamin, cod liver oil, probiotics and extra vitamin D twice a week (the mulitvitamin and cod liver contain vit. D). Doug also SWEARS by his apple cider vinegar/honey tonic he drinks 3 times daily! So far just a mild 3 day head cold swept through the family. We have not been ill with anything else since starting this protocol....we'll see what the rest of the season brings!

O Wisdom

O Antiphon
O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence!

The Magnificat:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

O Antiphon:
O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence!

The O Antiphons

Since the middle ages, they’ve been said or sung at evening prayer, one each per evening, the seven days leading up to Christmas eve. They are a plea to God from His people to send the Messiah and save them.
Each verse highlights a title of the Messiah and a prophecy from Isaiah:
O Sapientia (O Wisdom),
O Adonai (O Lord),
O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse),
O Clavis David (O Key of David),
O Oriens (O Rising Sun),
O Rex Gentium (O King of the Gentiles), and
O Emmanuel (O God-with-us).

What’s cool is what you can see when you get to Christmas eve! You’ve just sung “O Emmanuel” (O “God with us”). You look back at the verses you’ve sung each day the previous week, and if you read the first letter of each verse (in Latin), you see the letters formed:

Er o C r a s

Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia which mean:

“Tomorrow, I will come.”

The "Golden Nights" begin tomorrow, December 17th. Won't you join our family in preparing for the celebration of our Lord's birth? Each day for the next seven days I will be posting the O Antiphon for the day. Tradition has it that the O Antiphon is prayed, the Magnificat, then the O Antiphon is repeated. This is a new tradition for the Creamer family. We will say our prayers before meal time and light our Advent wreath.
To hear these beautiful prayers chanted in Latin, CLICK HERE.