Homemade Peaches and Cream Oatmeal

Goodness, goodness, goodness friends!  I have been so busy today trying to finish up some projects that have been on my to-do list.  I am exhausted, but the projects are done!  I will be sharing those projects with you throughout the week.

Today, however, I wanted to share this oatmeal with you.  I have been experimenting with homemade oatmeal.  Last week I made brown sugar oatmeal.  The children loved it and asked for again this morning, but I had already planned to make peaches and cream oatmeal.  That is my favorite flavor in the little pre-made packets.  I had no idea what I was doing, but it turned out delicious so I thought I would share, especially with peach season just around the corner here!

To begin, from a can of sliced peaches packed in 100% juice, I poured 1/2 cup of peach juice into a large measuring cup.  To that, I added 1 1/4 cup of water.

To that, I added 1 cup of half and half.

Then I crushed up 5 slices of peaches and added them to the measuring cup.

This mixture was poured into a large sauce pan to heat just to a boil while I gathered and prepared the remaining ingredients.

2 1/2 cup oats, 2 pinches salt, 1 t vanilla

When the liquid and peach mixture had come up to a boil, I added the oats, salt, and vanilla, and cooked it for about 5 minutes until it was at my desired thickness.  Sugar can be added to sweeten if desired.  The cooked oatmeal creamy, devine yumminess was then ready to be spooned into bowls and topped with peach slices.  :)

Yum, yum, yum!

Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can of sliced peaches packed in 100 % juice. 
1/2 c peach juice from canned peaches
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
5 slices of peaches, crushed
2 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 pinches of salt
1 t vanilla flavoring
2-3 T sugar, if desired for sweetening 

Directions:
Open and drain the peaches, reserving 1/2 cup of the juice.  In a large measuring cup or bowl (or directly into cooking pan), combine the juice, water, cream, and crushed peaches.  Pour the mixture into a large sauce pan and bring up to a boil.  Add the oats, salt, vanilla, and optional sugar.  When the mixture comes back up to a boil, reduce the heat and continue cooking for about five minutes or until oatmeal reaches desired thickness, stirring frequently.  When the oatmeal is done, remove from heat and serve immediately.  

I hope you enjoy!  What have you been creating in your kitchen?  No, a mess doesn't count!  :)

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

Crock Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

Good evening friends!  I hope you are having a good week so far.  We are busy here tying up loose ends with our official home school year.  I just wanted to stop by and share this super easy and SUPER yummy recipe.  Both of my children even loved it.  On his way to bed tonight, my little boy was asking if I would save some for him to have another sandwich tomorrow!  That never happens with my picky little man.  :)

I found the original recipe here on Pinterest.  True to me, I didn't follow the recipe given.  Here's my recipe.

Ingredients:
3 large chicken breasts with rib meat
1 can of cherry flavored soda
3/4 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced  (DeeGee, if you are reading this, you will be impressed to know I used the real thing!)  ;)
1/2 cup of brown sugar

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the crock pot, and cook on low for three hours until chicken is done and just starts to comes apart easily with a fork.

Remove the breasts and shred.  It is very easy to do with two forks.

Oh my stars!  I have never made chicken this moist in my
crock pot!

Return shredded chicken to the crock pot to keep it warm until you are ready to use it.  At this point, I added in a little more BBQ sauce.

Be prepared to do the happy dance when you take the first bite!

I hope you get to try it!  Thank you Pinterest for creating happiness in my kitchen!  ;)

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

Re-purposed Treasure

Hello again dear friends!

Oh how glorious the weather was today!  It was in the 80's and the sun was shining brightly.  It was so nice to take a few moments to enjoy God's goodness on my front porch after a very hectic morning.

I thought I would just stop in and share a little redecorating that happened in my home over the weekend.  Oh, it was nothing major, but sometimes just a little change can make a world of difference.  Do you remember the other day when I told you of a little wooden plaque with a couple of old coat hooks that I had found at a flea market?  Well, that plaque sat in my floor until this past Saturday.  I simply could not make up my mind where to put it or what to use it for.  As I was pulling everything off my counters in one of my cleaning frenzies, I finally figured out exactly what I wanted to do with that little treasure I had rescued.  I happily smiled to myself as I continued cleaning imagining the moment when my husband would come in the door and I would tell him my brilliant idea knowing he would probably try not to give me a crazy look as he complied with my wishes to hang it under our upper cabinets in the kitchen simply because he loves me and gives me reign over my beloved kitchen.  ;)  I knew he would cautiously trust me, and in the end he would end up loving the idea as much as me.

There it is, my little treasure!  I don't know what it was in it's former life, but now it has a very useful job and purpose.  It is simple, it is humble, and it does not scream, "Here I am!"  It quietly graces my kitchen and serves it's purpose.  I am sure it will be one of my favorite things in my kitchen for a long time, and yes, my husband did end up loving the idea.  :)

I am sure you saw it coming...the moral of course.  Aren't we like this little flea market find?  When we come to Christ rusted, broken down, beat up, neglected and tossed to the side, don't we become clay in the potter's hand?  Doesn't God, the master potter, mold us and shape us into what he wants us to be?  Doesn't he say our sins are as far from him as the east is from the west, and he doesn't recognize what we were?  He sees us for what he created us to be.  When he has us in our broken down form, then he can do his masterful work.  He makes the ugly beautiful again.  He gives us a new purpose, his purpose.  It may not be anything great or grand, but we do have a purpose in him.  When we come to him broken and ask for forgiveness, his spirit can move within us, and the life-giving flow can move through us.  Only when we humble ourselves before him and ask for forgiveness of our sins, admitting we were wrong, and turn from those ways, can his beautiful spirit, that life-giving flow, move through us.  Won't you turn to him today?  He has a purpose for you that is far greater than anything you can know and understand.  You are loved, and he can use you for His glory if only you obey.

You are loved my friends.

Until we meet again, may you be blessed.

Biscuits at Last!

Good day, friends!

We have been enjoying such beautiful weather here, and it has my energy levels in high gear!  I have been enjoying finishing up Alissa's second grade year, cleaning and organizing a few things, and trying my best to master a few recipes.

My husband was finally able to make it home Thursday night after being on the road for a couple of weeks, so I have taken the opportunity to work on a couple of bread recipes.  I can't make too much bread when he isn't here because I would eat it myself!  I am still having a hard time with my artisan bread, but I think I have finally mastered my biscuits!!!!  I have been trying for so long to make them well without very much luck.  Still, I kept trying and devouring everything I could read or listen to others say about making biscuits.  What a long journey it has been!

I posted pictures of my last two batches of biscuits on Facebook and a couple of people asked for the recipe.  I thought the easiest way to share would be with this post.  I hope you try them and let me know what you think!

Southern Flaky Layer Biscuits

Ingredients:
2c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t salt
5 T cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 c cold buttermilk
1/4 c sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the butter and cut in the butter until the pieces are no larger than a pea.  I use my fingers, but any method you choose is fine.  Place this mixture in the refrigerator for at least ten minutes to re-chill the butter.  This is the point I start preheating my oven.

While the mixture is chilling and the oven is heating, I make my own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of regular milk.

When oven is almost to 400, remove flour mixture from the refrigerator.  Gently mix in the sour cream and buttermilk until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 2 or 3 times to bring the dough together.  Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.  From the long side, fold the dough into thirds.  Roll the dough back out into a rectangle of 1/2 inch thickness, and fold it into thirds again.  This time, roll the dough into 3/4 inch thickness.    Using a biscuit cutter or a circle cookie cutter, cut out biscuits without twisting the cutter or dough.  Place biscuits about one inch apart on the prepared pan.  Scraps can be rolled together and cut at least once.  Bake for 11-14 minutes until golden brown on top.

My husband ate six of these before he stopped!  I don't recommend that for your waistline, but I do hope you enjoy them!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

Busy Day

Today was indeed a busy day, but it was a fun day.  We started our day doing a little school work.  Around lunch time we headed out to another auction.  This one was another annual auction to support the volunteer fire department.  Getting the details of the sale never seem to occur to me until I want to tell someone about it.  I believe our church and the Mennonite churches in our area are in charge of organizing it.  Regardless, it is a fun day for the older children to break off to themselves and play and for the ladies to relax and visit if they are not working.  I was so caught up in visiting and watching my curious and busy little one that I didn't pay too much attention to what the men were doing.  I think many of them were helping with the auction or gathering to bid on items.  I loved looking out across the field of colorful, simple cape dresses and kapps or veils of many of the women and children and the modest clothing of most of the other ladies and children.  I saw love and trust and acceptance among my sisters.  I am so happy being among my friends there.  There is such sweet fellowship and peace.  I don't feel the fierce competition I see and feel happen among many women of the world that corrupts what could be such beautiful friendships.  I feel a spirit of love and lifting each other up, a true joy for each other's triumphs and a strong support for the bad days.  What a blessing it is that God loved me enough to lead me "home."  I wish the majority of the world could experience what I have found.

My children on Easter

I felt uncomfortable bidding without my husband there, so I didn't stay for a very long time.  I only stayed long enough to have a bright pink sunburn.  :)  On the way home, I passed the same flea market I go by all the time.  Ever since we moved and started going to our new church, I have been saying I was going to stop there and just look.  Well, today I finally pulled in.  The children and I had so much fun rummaging.  For $25 we got a doll, a metal Tonka dump truck, three or four skirts, a cornucopia basket like I have been searching for, and an old looking wooden plaque with a couple of coat hooks in it.  Everyone was happy.

Once we finally got back home, I started working on a batch of artisan bread.  I love watching bread dough rise.

When I finished mixing the ingredients for the bread, it didn't even cover the bottom of the bowl.  A few hours later, it had completely filled the bowl!  It amazes me every time!  I have no clue what I did to the dough last time, but the dough actually looked like it was breathing after I made it.  It was the craziest thing I have ever seen!  I can't wait to break of some of this dough tomorrow and make a loaf of bread.  I hope it turns out well!

After feeding pigs and exploring strange tracks in the yard, I came in and realized I had lost all track of time, and was totally unprepared for supper.  I was dying for vegetables, so we went to Yoder's Pennsylvania Dietch Haus and Bakery.  I love going there and looking out across the fields as I eat.

If one is lucky, a beautiful sunset can be witnessed through their windows.  I don't drive at night if I don't have to, so tonight was not my night to view a sunset.  I did, however, take a few pictures as I was leaving.

Before heading home we went just across the street and down a bit to pick up my mother's sewing machine from one of my church sisters who had fixed it.  The day was finally coming to an end, and as we were turning in to our road, we were blessed with a beautiful sunset.

Sometimes God brings us to a point where the world no longer matters.  He places within us a desire and love for the simple things, the simple joys.  Today was a day full of those reminders.  I am so thankful for the beautiful life he has given me.  I am so glad he has broken the worldly bonds that bind and strangle joy and peace.

Until we meet again, may you be blessed.

Little Boys, Little Girls and Little Piggies

So much has been happening here!  I have trying desperately to get my house back in order and cleaned.  When we had so much sickness over the winter months, my house went into total disarray.  Some days it feels it will never be organized and straight enough to do a deep cleaning, but I am slowly getting there!

Other than Alissa being given a brand new bike which we were out-bid on at a pig pickin' and auction for a local Mennonite school and

and Jacob learning how to ride without training wheels,

the most exciting thing that happened in recent weeks is the birth of our first litter of piglets!  Thelma Francine gave birth to eleven piglets, but only two made it.  I thought you might enjoy a little peek at them.  They are SOOO cute!

Eeeep!

Tell me that is not the cutest piggy face you have ever seen!

So stinkin cute!

Abbey loves the piggies too!

Since adding more protein to mom's diet, the piglets have gotten so fat!  In addition to nursing, they love to climb up in the trough and nibble along side of her.  AWW!!!  Today one of the little piglets found instead of jumping back from my hands, it actually enjoyed me reaching in to scratch it!  I love to watch these two funny babies rooting, running, jumping, playing, and learning about piggy life! AAhhhh!  I wouldn't trade my life for any other!

What exciting thing has happened in your life lately?

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

Bacon-Wrapped Breakfast Casserole Muffins

Hi friends!  Did you think I was gone forever?  I guess I did disappear for a while, but I didn't leave for good! :)

The other day I posted  on my Facebook page a picture of these muffins I had made for lunch/brunch.  I had several people ask for the recipe so I figured I better do a blog post to share it.  These are very easy and in the words of my children, "delicious!"


Ingredients:
12-15 slices of bacon, fried but still soft
6 eggs lightly scrambled
1 1/4 c. baking mix such as Bisquick or Jiffy Baking Mix
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. melted butter
2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 t garlic salt
1-2 t dried chives

Directions:
1.  Line lightly greased muffin cups with bacon slices.  Yes, greased.  :)  Some of the batter will seep around the bacon so the cups need to be sprayed lightly.

2.  Have the cutest, sweetest girl in the house mix the remaining ingredients together.

3. Pour the egg mixture into the bacon-lined cups.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Be sure to line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch any dripping grease.  (I even put baking sheets on the rack under the muffin tin midway through the cooking before the grease started to drip.)  Allow the muffins to cool slightly after removing from the oven.  This helps the muffins release from the side of the pan.

I hope you get to try them and let me know what you think!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!