Pancakes....Oh So Good!

I am making these pancakes as I type, just took my first bite, and oh my are they good! For a whole wheat pancake these turned out fluffy and moist, thanks to the buttermilk. I was reading the reviews, and one person said sour milk just doesn't do. It made her pancakes have a bad sour taste. So she substituted with yogurt, and 2% milk and said they turned out much better. If you want my opinion, nothing beats buttermilk so make sure you buy some before you make.

So how do you take your pancakes? I eat mine with vanilla yogurt, and grape jelly. If I am being spoiled at the moment I will buy some pure maple syrup and indulge! I really hope you make these, and enjoy them as much as we did!

Pantry Cleanse

It dawned on me the other day that I couldn't find one thing in my pantry without digging around, and removing food. It is so frustrating when you are in a hurry to make dinner, and you can't find the one single item you need. Of course, the thing you need is always in the back, in the far corner you never would have thought it to be! GRRR!


So, I cleaned that mess, organized all the food, threw some stuff out, and voila!, a clean pantry!

Isn't it pretty? The top shelf is the food I buy for emergencies. You know, the months when something unexpected pops up and demands all your money? Yep, that's what it is for. The second shelf is my canned food, and the food I store in jars. A couple months ago I found these tiny moths all in my food, so now I store in jars. It took three garbage bags of bad food to learn the glass jar trick! The third shelf holds breakfast foods, and the little extras I need. The glass jar on the right is brewing buttermilk for tomorrow. The fourth shelf holds our extra food when we buy in bulk. I also store my jam and jellies here, as well as the sugar, and popcorn. The fifth shelf is.....empty! I cleared a whole shelf, and I have no clue how I will use it yet! How great is that! There is a sixth shelf, but my camera couldn't fit it. It pretty unspectacular anyway, and just holds some pans.

Hope you enjoyed my pantry! Next up, the fridge....duh duh duh!! Have a great day!

Blog-illiterate!

So, I knew that October was going to be a crrrazy month for me, and I had scheduled some posts to pop up, and well.....I guess THAT didn't happen! I have no clue what the heck I did wrong! I am good at that sometimes! Maybe someone can chime in and let me in on this scheduled post secret? I would be much appreciative!

Here is some of what we did for the month of October. Hope you enjoy!

This is what has been stealing ALL my time. I started a Girl Scout troop. You may be thinking how crazy I am, but it really is a lot of fun. I get to plan activities, go camping, make pretty things, and have fun with my girls! It makes all the hard work worth it!

I took my Girl Scouts to the pumpkin patch, and my little pumpkin in blue received her first patch! She was so excited!

I decided to go all out this Halloween year, and be a 1950's housewife! It was a blast dressing up! I actually have real pin curls under that fancy scarf, that were NOT easy to do....at all! You wanna know what else wasn't easy to do? That red lipstick. It was a pain right down to the last stroke!


This little dear wanted to be an angel for Halloween, which meant Mom had to get creative. We found that cute velvet dress on the bottom of her dress up box, and those wings, and that halo were made by yours truly.


So, after waiting all day for those pin curls to set I took those babies out. The curls were literally stuck to my head, and I had a moment of panic! It's a good thing I found this video on Youtube, because I probably would have given up and started over. Or just went as "Mom" for Halloween. Yipee!


I also did a ton of cooking. I'm talking, every single day cooking. See the above picture? Do not make that! It is NOT good! Lasagna in the crock pot should never be done! What a mushy mess it was!


This on the other hand was super good....and fattening. Butter makes everything better! That, my dear readers, is a Tuna Potpie with a home made crust. I will post this recipe later on. I think you will love it!


Baking is what I do best. I made this Banana Bread and it was gone the next day. I have a secret to tell you about this bread, but you cannot tell my husband. It is low fat....and HEALTHY!

So there is a fraction of my October that I can share with you. All the other stuff is boring, and I doubt you would want to read about it. Like, who would want to read that my kids vomited three separate times last month? I know I wouldn't!

Random Ramblings and Jumbled Thoughts

More homeschool books came today! You would think it was Christmas with all the excitement! My eldest can't wait for tomorrow, just so she can start her new books. Isn't it wonderful how exciting learning can be, when you make the environment a positive one? They are constantly doing something worthwhile with their time, whether it be Legos, crocheting, or sit down work. Their little minds are always working and learning!

The books we bought are the Rod & Staff Spelling workbook, and her Bible workbook. We really like this curriculum because of the simplicity of the books, and how reasonable the price is especially when you buy from Ebay. That is my secret tip of the day! Ebay is great for discounted homeschool books! I always check there before going to the publishers website. The savings really add up, even if it's a few dollars here and there.

I have been at a loss for what to do about history. I have read that living books are great, but where do I find them, and how do you know they are good books? I was thinking curriculum, but which one do I choose? It's all overwhelming! So, what am I doing in the mean time? Watching a lot of National Geographic shows, History Channel shows, and letting the girls watch Liberty's Kids. I cannot say enough about that cartoon. I am not sure on the accuracy of historical events, but I know they are learning the basics. After each cartoon, I ask them questions, and they can answer them pretty well. Right now they are watching about the Boston Tea Party, and when they are finished I am going to do a project with them to reinforce what they learned. Homeschooling at it's finest!

Great Blog I Found

I was surfuring from blog to blog, and found myself at Simpler Living. This blog is chock-full of tips, articles, and sites for living simpler. From eating healthy, to owning only 100 items, this place has it all! I am particularly interested in the articles teaching about purging the possessions that seem to be weighing me down. I have gotten rid of quite a bit, but there is still so much around me. Especially in the girls' rooms. So, tomorrow I will be purging for the second time this week, and hopefully will get rid of more. Quite a bit more. I have a good idea where I will start (6 year old's room), and I am gonna have to be sneaky about it. She is not fond of purge day! The last time I went through her room, she was crying in the front, agonizing over her departed toys. When the time came for her to check out her room, she couldn't figure out what was gone! Yep, she has that much!

After the 6 year olds room I am going to go into my room and start. It seems that is where our dumping ground is. Right where I lay to rest and sleep! Doesn't sound like a very relaxing environment to me!

When all is done, I am going to make a conscious effort to stop accumulating stuff. I am not a shopper, whatsoever, but I do enjoy the thrift shop every now and then. I pair of shoes for 1.00 seems too good to pass up, but then I know I will never wear them! This is my downfall, and I fear that I am passing it to my eldest daughter. I better stop now while they are all still young, or I might be in for some trouble later on down the road!

Menu Plan Monday

A new week is here! What are all of your plans for the coming days? Tomorrow I will be spending time with a great friend, and her adorable children. Hopefully later this week I will have a location for our Girl Scout troop to be meeting. I have a particular place in mind, so keep your fingers crossed that I get the go ahead. My girls are getting super anxious for their first meeting!

Here is my menu for the week.

Monday- Crockpot Vegetarian Lasagna

Tuesday- Taco Casserole

Wednesday- Pear Prosciutto Pizza (make sure your pears are ripe, or you will have a dry pizza)

Thursday- Sweet Potato Chili

Friday- Split Pea Soup

Saturday- Stir Fried Rice

Sunday- Leftovers. I deserve a day of rest...Right?

Easiest Snack On Earth!

I was hankering for some garlic. Lots and lots of garlic! So I decided to do this...

-Roast a whole head of garlic
-Toast 8 baguette slices in 1tbs butter
-Rub one roasted garlic clove on each piece of bread
-Drizzle olive oil over all bread slices
-Sprinkle Basil and Pepper over the top

That's it! There was nothing to it! The only step that took 30 minutes was the roasting of the garlic. Everything else was a cinch! I hope you enjoy what I made, and if you alter the recipe and find it better, let me know!