The growing season

Sunflowers...

....and country boys

grow big and tall in Texas!

Painted pots

This week I decided to give the patio pots a
little face lift for summer...

It was really therapeutic sitting out in the backyard
(with a tall cold glass of limeade!) painting.
I might have found a new hobby.

Limeade

So refreshing on a hot summer afternoon!

Limeade

1 cup of lime juice (about 10-12 limes)
5 cups of water
2/3 cup of sugar (we used turbinado sugar)
2 T. of honey

Get your best Sous Chef to juice all those limes then
mix ingredients in a tall pitcher and serve over ice!

I could seriously get addicted to this stuff!

Reasons to ignore the laundry...

EpiCute: The Cute Food Blog

FAIL Dogs

There, I Fixed It.

READ your fruits and vegetables!

Grocery stores tend to do a good job of keeping organic produce separate from the conventionally grown (translation: grown with pesticides) produce but how can you be 100% sure that some of the conventionally grown produce didn’t end up in the wrong bin? Easy, just check the numbers on the produce sticker!

See, all of those pesky stickers you find on your apples, oranges, etc. is part of an international PLU (price look-up) system that grocers use to make check-out and inventory control easier. Now, you can use it to make it easy to buy organic.

Here are three easy rules to remember:

1. Organic produce always starts with the number 9.
2. Conventionally Grown produce always starts with a 3 or a 4.
3. Genetically Modified produce always starts with the number 8.

Learn something new every day, huh?

While the sun shines make hay

For the past several days they have been cutting and baling hay in the field behind our house. Dan thinks the tractors are there for his personal entertainment! Whenever he hears one he darts out of the house to go see what they are doing.

He LOVES big farm equipment!

I love sunsets over the field dotted with the "hay balls"
(as Danny likes to call them)

Me: "Danny, they're called hay BALES."
Dan: "No mommy, they're BALLS, see!"

...Yeah, I can't argue with that.

Just another *corny* picture of one of the kids!

First tomatoes of the season!

I LOVE picking the first tomatoes of the season!
The first ones to ripen in the garden are an heirloom variety called
Gold Medal.
I'm really excited about the tomatoes growing in the garden this year. All were grown from seed and are heirloom varieties. It will be neat to see all the different sizes and colors coming out of the garden this year...not to mention tastes!

This morning I made BLAT wrap bentos and now we're headed to the pool!

Yogurt cheese

I've made yogurt in the crock pot with wonderful results and thought it would be great to use our stash of raw milk to make some yogurt cheese!

The process is so simple and the results taste fantastic
(not to mention so good for you!)

You can follow this very easy guide for making yogurt in the crock pot.
All you'll need is 8 cups of raw milk and some plain organic yogurt to use as a starter.

One change I make to her recipe is that I use one whole cup of yogurt as my starter instead of 1/2 cup. It seems to make a thicker yogurt, but your taste may vary.
After letting the crock sit for 8 hours (longer for more tart yogurt) spoon it into a cheesecloth lined bowl. Use several layers of cheesecloth so it all doesn't ooze out!

Pick up the ends of the cheesecloth and squeeze......alot!
Get as much of the liquid out as you can. You can even tie the ends around your kitchen sink faucet and let gravity drain your cheese. Then set your bundle in a strainer elevated above a bowl and put the whole thing in the fridge overnight to continue draining.

Save the whey you get!
You can use it to soak beans and grains and add to lactofermented vegetables to reduce the amount of salt. You can even use it to make your own ketchup!
It is so full of beneficial bacteria and proteins.

The next morning unwrap your cheese:

I know! Gorgeous, right?
You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to ten days.
I scooped off a bit and mixed with sea salt and garlic chives.
The kiddos had theirs mixed with raw honey.
Even plain it's delicious!

I *heart* my country neighbors!

I sent one of my neighbors a basket of vegetables from the garden.
She sent me back this lovely decanter of homemade vanilla.
I just love my country neighbors!

Summer boredom busters

Sick of hearing the dreaded, "I'm bored!" once again? Here are some of our family's ways to bust the boredom blues! Yesterday we signed up for our local library's summer reading program.

Reading programs are wonderful because they offer some great bribes...er, incentives to get children to read. This year the boys are working towards the Astros game tickets and meal coupons from local businesses. Each program is scaled to the age ranges of the children so even little Danny (age 4) can even participate!

Also, take advantage of your local thrift store. There are lots of toys to be found for .75 and under! Start a bin with thrift store toys as rewards for household chores or good behavior. At the end of summer, box the toys up and donate to a women/children's shelter or church nursery. We've even donated them BACK to the thrift store!

Don't forget to check out the board game section! You could stock a closet with some great games and puzzles, most for 1-2 dollars.

Here's the summer boredom buster I found for myself...

A little vintage sewing anyone?

Check out tons of other boredom busters at
We Are THAT Family

We have an orchard...well, almost!

In case you were wondering...apples DO grow in Texas!
The apple tree that I planted a year ago has five of the most wonderful little apples growing on it with tons more blooms yet to come! I really didn't expect any apples for at least another two years so I was super excited to see these beauties the other day when watering the tree. These will be the most tended to babies in the garden (we spend a small fortune on organic apples!). I'm going out after lunch to the feed store to buy netting to protect them from the birds.

And Aunt Bonnie, this picture is for you:

The fig tree is producing mass quantities of little green figs! We'll have ripe ones by mid summer and I'll bring a bushel to you as well as some preserves. There would be more on the tree but JP and the neighbor kid like to play "war" with them...don't worry, I've threatened them both within an inch of their lives not to do it again!
My peach, pear, and golden apple are growing and loving these hot Texas afternoons. Surely they won't produce for at least another two years...but you never know!

Raw milk

You'd think that by living in the country that we would have a wonderful resource for raw milk right here ~ WRONG! I guess that was a blessing in disguise because I finally found a raw milk co-op in Victoria that sells certified raw milk from an organic dairy!
We just made our first pick up on Monday:

Do you see the color of that stuff? It's a beautiful golden yellow!
That's from the cows eating purely at pasture. I asked how recently it was obtained and the farmer said, "Oh, about four o'clock this morning!"

Besides milk they also sell raw cheeses, butter, and free range eggs.
But it is the milk that is liquid gold. So good and so good for you!

Guess what I made as an after dinner treat...

Homemade vanilla ice cream

JP ate his outside at the picnic table. Danny took the can and it's remnants and sat on the swing with the little girl from next door.

Nothing better than sharing a cool treat with a friend on a hot summer evening!

Danny is lactose intolerant but he can easily tolerate raw milk. The reason why is that during the pasteurization process enzymes that help the body assimilate and digest lactose are destroyed. With raw milk the protective enzymes remain intact. So eat up Danny boy, mommy will make some more tomorrow night...or maybe some yogurt or cream cheese, keifer or queso fresco, maybe even butter!

Read more about the health benefits of raw milk HERE.

Stryk dairy where we got our milk.

Find raw milk near you!

Feeling very blessed

Feeling very blessed this weekend due to some wonderful ladies (most of whom I've never even met in real life). Your caring, compassion, and prayers carried us through a very dark time lately. I am so humbled and grateful for your thoughtful gift, it's like a big hug from all of you!

My dear sisters at the DCF message board-THANK YOU so much for thinking of me!

Sooo bad...

...but oh so gooood!
Our Sunday lunch consisted of zucchini, squash, onion, peppers, and pickles
ALL DEEP FRIED.

Ummm...I guess it's ONE way to get the kids to eat their vegetables!