T.G.I.F.

I feed my used tea leaves to my plants...
apparantly, someone thought the plants needed a little popcorn, too!

Please excuse me, I have a little cleaning up to do today.

Update on Sonya...

I am so so SO happy to report that Sonya should be going home today!
Finally, after over a week in the hospital, she is up walking (with the help of a walker), is tube free, and eating solid foods. We are all so thankful!
She is still very weak from her ordeal but being home is just the medicine she needs!

We plan on going up to see her on Saturday and stocking her fridge with meals, helping with any housework that needs to be done, and thanking the Lord for his merciful healing!

Lots to do....

Tea Time

I usually get my teas from Chinatown (in west Houston) but this week I was making an order to Rose Mountain Herbs for some elderberries to make more cold and flu tincture and decided to try some of their herbal teas.

I was not disappointed!

I ordered a small sampler of their 100% organic loose herbal tea blends:
Dream Tea
Peace Tea
Fairyland Tea

They came packaged in these lovely reusable tins and the fragrance coming off of these was amazing! You can visibly see the chamomile, lavender, spearmint, flower petals, etc...

I immediately brewed up a cup of Peace Tea with a little raw honey and a toasted bagel!

Early in the morning before everyone rises or late in the afternoon when they are out and about, those are MY times alone to ponder, reflect, and relax with a good cup of warm tea.

It soothes the soul.

What do you do to relax?

My weekend D.I.Y. project

We've had some cooler days in these parts and the Fall bug has bit me! I got out all my decorations and set about putting them around the house. I thought a nice Fall wreath would look pretty on the side door and checked some out at Hobby Lobby. I almost had a heart attack from the sticker shock! I knew I could make my own for less than 10 bucks.

I went to Walmart for a grapevine wreath ($2.50),
a wooden letter "C" ($1.00),
one bunch of silk flowers ($3.00),
and some ribbon ($1.00).

Clip off all the branches on your silk flower bunch and paint your lettering.

Start from one point on your wreath and build outward on both sides. Weave flower stems through the grapevine and secure with hot glue if needed.

Hot glue some ribbon onto your lettering and secure to a branch on the wreath.

String the wreath up with ribbon and nail/staple to the top of your door!

Voila! A pretty little Fall accent for less than ten bucks!
Come Christmas time, I'll take it all out and substitute poinsettias and red velvet ribbons.

Menu Plan Monday

Busy weekend for me. Spent sometime in Houston sitting with my sister at the hospital, rushed to get laundry and household chores done, dealing with kiddo drama...but I DID manage to get my meal planning and grocery shopping for this week done!
On the menu are easy prep meals for the days that I work and then I hope to cook some extra meals to stock Sonya's freezer with for when she comes home. A busy week ahead, that's for sure!

Monday: Turkey and dressing. Will put a large turkey breast (you can get them for a really great price "off-season") in the crock to cook all day. Will make a pan of cornbread dressing Sunday night so that all Doug has to do is pop it in the oven right before dinner. The turkey makes it's own gravy, it will be a little taste of Thanksgiving a few months early! Will make an extra pan of chicken dressing for the freezer for Sonya & Mason.

Tuesday: Enchilada casserole. Will fry up a pound of ground beef Monday night and assemble this easy dish before going to work the next morning. Doug can pop it in the oven about an hour before dinner. Will serve with chips and homemade salsa from the freezer.

Wednesday: Turkey pannini and fruit. Will use leftover turkey meat from Monday to make turkey/spinach/tomato/swiss pressed sandwiches. Will use lots and lots of our hot pepper butter on them! Serve with fresh fruit.

Thursday: Pasta primavera. Whole wheat bow tie pasta tossed with a homemade alfredo sauce and fresh veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, red pepper, and julienne carrots). Will make a double batch and freeze half for a meal for Sonya & Mason.

Friday: Minestrone soup. Will serve this comforting, vegetarian meal with whole wheat artisan bread. A double batch will go into the crock and half will be frozen for Sonya & Mason.

Saturday: Chicken and vegetable kabobs over brown rice. Doug is really loving his new grill and what could be easier than kabobs? The kids will have fun making these!

Sunday: DINNING OUT! Just typing all of this is making me tired and a night off from cooking will be well deserved by all!

In addition to the three meals from our own menu, I'll be making two more soups for the freezer for Sonya (easily simmered in the crock pot while I'm at work) and maybe a vegetable dish or two. Sonya's stomach was greatly insulted during a routine medical procedure and she has a long haul ahead for recovery. All of my meals for her are going to be made with bone broths and organic vegetables. I'm also sending her some kefir, kombucha, and lactofermented vegetables in an attempt to help her regain the healthy flora in her gut which will, in turn, help the rest of her body to heal. I ask for continued prayers for her and her family.

Joe Wilson is my new hero!

It's TRUE!

Victoria Jackson's blog post at Big Hollywood
sums it up quite nicely!

Sonya update...

Thanks to everyone for the prayers for my sister and her family...please keep them coming!
I was very blessed to be able to sit with her yesterday. The short story is that she went in for a very routine endoscopy. Her stomach was punctured and the gases from the procedure leaked into her body. It caused a collapse of both her lungs and gases being trapped in her subcutaneous tissues (a condition called subcutaneous emphysema). Needless to say, she is in terrible pain and so are her husband and daughters who have to watch her suffer needlessly.
The next few days are crucial to make sure she doesn't develop sepsis, that her gut can rest (with the presence of an NG tube) so the puncture can heal without additional surgery, and the air in her tissues will resolve so she can regain lung function.
There are LOTS of readers of this blog (even though your comments are few!) so please storm Heaven for her and her family!!! Put her on every prayer list you can find, I beg of you!

Thanks to all who have already prayed and expressed concern. I hope to be able to go back up this weekend to help where I can.

Requesting prayers again!

My dear sister went in for a very simple procedure but ended up having some very serious complications. She is in ICU and is not well at all. PLEASE offer prayers on her behalf today as well as for her husband and 3 daughters.

Three ingredient peanut butter cookies

Yes, you read it right!
I was looking for an easy cookie recipe and found this one on www.alllrecipes.com:

One cup of peanut butter
One cup of sugar
One egg

THAT'S IT!

As usual I had to jack with the original recipe:
I used:
One cup of natural peanut butter
One cup of organic cane sugar
One farm fresh egg
1/2 cup of oats
2 T. ground flax seed
2 T. wheat germ
1 tsp. baking powder (just to lighten it up)

This is a very dangerous recipe to have. I mean, what if you're sitting around watching a movie late at night and get the urge for something sweet? There's nothing to stop you from making these simple cookies....batches and batches of cookies!
Very dangerous I tell 'ya!

What's for lunch?

It's bento, baby!

This week it's my four back-to-back 12 hour shifts.

It's rough.

Seriously.

Here's one way I like to perk up my day:

It's such a great pick-me-up unpacking a cute little bento for lunch!
Here I have some homemade Pad Thai with fruit.
I'll even pack my chopsticks to go with it!

I've also started having a little "tea time" mid-afternoon:

Here I have some peanut butter oatmeal cookies with a delicate jasmine tea.
This is going to be so good about 3:30 in the afternoon.

You know the time...

It's the time when you either need a power nap or want to raid the vending machines!

(Or in Doug's case, a Bucee's run for jerky and Dr. Pepper Icees.)

Snip...snip...

We took Abby to be spayed last Friday.
It was traumatic for all of us!

The poor baby just laid around as she recovered
from the surgery and anesthetic.
The boys were great with her.

Such gentle touches, such loving kisses...

...and a Space Shuttle landing or two!

Boys and their toys...

Thanks so much, Popo, Doug LOVES his new grill!
You and Nana are going to have to come by for dinner much more often!

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Apple-Honey Challah

Apple-Honey Challah

slightly adapted from Martha Stewart Living, September 2009
makes 1 9-inch round loaf

4 tbl unsalted butter, melted plus a bit more for bowl & pan
3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour, plus more for surface
3/4 cup warm water
2/3 cup raw honey plus 2 tbls
2 large farm fresh eggs plus 3 large egg yolks
2 tea active dry yeast
2 tea coarse salt
1 1/2 tart green apples, preferably Granny Smith, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 1 3/4 cups)

1. Melt 4 tbls butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; let cool. Combine 2 tbl melted butter, the flour, water, 2/3 cup honey, the eggs and yolks, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Mix until dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes.


2. Transfer dough to a buttered bowl, and brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Cover with plastic. Let rise in a warm place until dough almost doubles in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.


3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Pat into an 8 1/2 by 14 inch rectangle. Top with apples; knead to incorporate. Return to bowl. Brush with remaining tbl melted butter (keep saucepan out for last step); cover. Let rise again in a warm place until dough almost doubles in volume, about 1 hour more.


4. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan. Roll dough into a rope (about 24 inches) on a floured surface. Coil into a circle, and transfer to pan. Cover dough with plastic wrap. Let rise again until dough almost doubles in volume, about 45 minutes more.

5. Preheat oven to 375, with rack in lowest position. Heat remaining 2 tbls of honey in pan you used to melt the butter over low heat. Brush dough with half the honey. Bake until golden brown and firm, about 35 minutes.


6. Once out of the oven, brush challah with the remaining honey. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Turn out loaf from pan, and let cool.

Also makes for excellent French toast the next day!

Enjoy!

*SWOON*

3...2...1...

BLAST OFF!

Space shuttle mission STS-128 launched last Friday night and the boys stayed up to watch it. There is a sudden fascination with all things rocket and moon related in the Creamer household lately. The boys just can't get enough of model building, pretend space missions, and the NASA Channel.

It's a nice change of pace from Sponge Bob and the Power Rangers!