Pour two cups of borax in the jar, add the lemonade packets, then a little more borax (you don't want the soap and lemonade to touch), add a couple drops of dish soap and finally add two cups of washing soda. Put the lid on, shake it all up and its ready to use. We put about an eighth of a cup in for one load. Just half the recipe for a pint. Some of the reasons we make our own detergent is; it's cheaper, and we know the ingredients in it. So that's what we do for dishwasher detergent. If you try it, comment and tell me how it works for you :). Blessings, Lydia [A note from Bethany: Mmm... :) Doesn't that look like powdered sugar?] |
Our family has been using this recipe for about five years now and it works great! It's very simple and easy to make. [A note from Bethany: Before we started making our own, we bought a creamy yellow detergent that was lemon scented. One time Naomi and I told Emily that it was lemon frosting and she tasted it! This was, of course, several years ago. Needless to say, it didn't taste as good as it looked or smelled :p]
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Hey ya'll! It feels like a lot is changing here in our household and family. I am "in kitchen" for a couple months. So, sometimes when the mornings are busy, I need something quick for breakfast. Overnight oatmeal (oatmeal parfait) is great. One of the great things about this recipe is you can change it to fit just about everybody's taste. Ingredients: 1/2 of oatmeal 1 cup almond milk or milk of your choice or water 1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla, and or cocoa powder, cinnamon, etc... sweetener of your choice Chia seeds yogurt or cottage cheese bannanas, peaches, blueberries..... Here's how you make it! Heat oats, almond milk and water in a pan until almost cooked. Mix in vanilla, sweetener, cocoa, cinnamon, etc... Now layer- oatmeal, cottage cheese or yogurt, fruit and chia seeds. We usually layer the ingredients about three times. Put the lids on and place in refrigerator until ready to use. This is enough to satisfy a large appetite, so you may need to adjust it a bit. You can change the order of the layering if you want. Most of my family likes it when we put fruit at the bottom of the jar. Sometimes we use peaches and others bananas or apples. Be creative and have a good time! Comment and tell me the combinations you come up with! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Blessings! Lydia :) Gluten. Did any of us even know what gluten was ten years ago? But now gluten-free foods seem to be popping up everywhere and many books promote the gluten-free diet as a cure for headaches, bloating, or even excess weight. I don’t find any advantages in the diet (I’ve gone gluten-free for a few months without much noticeable difference) but I have friends who have had great results in going gluten-free. Perhaps you are gluten-free for health reasons. Maybe you can eat gluten but you cook for family members who can’t. Or maybe you like to try gluten-free recipes because you enjoy exotic textures and the challenging adventure of cooking with unfamiliar ingredients. I come from the latter group. I was first introduced to gluten-free by my older sister Naomi who, like many other women, likes to follow health trends (Vegan, gluten-free etc…). I appreciate this about Naomi. She likes to follow health trends but I’ve always been the one who gets caught up in false “health” trends- Low-carb, vegetarianism (the kind high in SOY), using artificial sweeteners etc… Thankfully I’ve had a change of mind when it comes to what constitutes “healthy”; Whatever God gave us as food, as close to the way He made it as possible, with variation and moderation. It’s been about two years since Naomi introduced our family to the highly addictive qualities of Brazilian Cheese Bread. These little breads are actually more like biscuits. I honestly don’t know why they’re called ‘bread’, because they’re not a solid loaf. It would probably make more sense to call them ‘breads’… but let’s just call them biscuits. These are fairly fast and easy to throw together, in fact, my brother (Clayton) made a batch of these the other day and they turned out great- and, having four older sisters, he’s not the most experienced cook in the family. Let me tell you more about the breads themselves. They are a pretty golden color when baked. The texture of these biscuits could best be described as a mozzarella stick with a crusty exterior when hot, and a slightly dry, tough biscuit when cold. For this reason our family prefers to eat these hot and fresh. If your breads do get cold you can to throw them in the toaster oven until hot- but they are best fresh. One good tip to remember- Don’t forget the tapioca flour! Naomi made these once and completely forgot to add the tapioca… thankfully she put them into muffin tins because when she took them out of the oven they were little puddles of greasy cheese. The worst part of this story is that we ate them anyway! We rarely throw food away here. For example; we’ve eaten sugarless brownies, burnt pancakes and stony, dry biscuits. Thankfully we don’t have to endure this type of food too often but it does happen. I tried to track down the recipe source online and I couldn’t find it! I did alter the recipe and re-write the directions so it’s not exactly like the original. I don’t claim to have created this recipe and don’t take credit for it. If I knew the author of this recipe I would certainly give the credit to them. Brazilian Cheese Bread
7 TBS butter 1/3 cup and 2 TBS water 1/3 cup milk 1 tsp salt 2 cups tapioca flour 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 2 beaten eggs Preheat oven to 375* Place butter, water, milk and salt into medium sauce pan, and place over high heat. When mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat immediately and stir in tapioca flour until smooth (However I can never get it smooth, so no worries if you can’t either). Set aside to rest for 10 minutes. ***SPOILER ALERT*** the texture of the mixture is very much like the finished biscuits! Stir cheese and eggs into rested tapioca mixture until well combined; it will be chunky- think yellow cottage cheese. Drop by the spoon full onto an ungreased cookie sheet or into mini muffin tins (We prefer the cookie sheet method best). Bake until tops are slightly golden (15-20 minutes). This batch makes about 12 biscuits. I like to prepare these to accompany our Mexican Black Bean Soup. Actually, I like to make these to eat with any type of bean soup. Eat and give thanks! Bethany Matthew 4:4 “…Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God” So I was looking for something to have for dinner one night and I found this on www.food.com. It sounded really good so I decided to try it and it was good! Below is me modified version of the recipe, I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients: 6 cups vegetable broth 2 Tablespoon tomato paste 4 cups chopped cabbage 1 cup green beans 3 cup chopped kale 1 yellow onion 1 cup carrot 8 garlic cloves (or more!), minced 2 cups navy beans, cooked 1/2 teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon oregano salt and pepper to taste 1. Spray pot with olive oil and saute kale, onions, carrots and garlic for 5 minutes. 2. Add broth, tomato paste, cabbage, green beans (I used our home-canned ones), navy beans, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. 3. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes until all vegetables are tender then add Zucchini and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Serves about 12 We also really liked putting milk or plain yogurt in each bowl when it was ready to serve. . Be happy and Healthy! Lydia This past week-end our Family and two families from our fellowship went to United in Worship. United in Worship is a conference where people from all over the country come and are united through worship.
They have worship leaders come from all over the country. Here are the names of the Worship bands, Teshuva, Elisha, Ross, The Zion’s Sake band, Mishkanim, Mason Clover, Heather Porch, and Steve Manning. They were all great worship leaders. They had people leading dance during the worship. It is called Davidic Dance (This is a type of worshipful dancing.) “Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.” Psalm 149:3 (NASB) “Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.” Psalm 150:4 (NASB) It was a lot of fun getting to know other people and building stronger relationships with the people we already knew. Here is a list of my siblings favorite parts of the weekend: Naomi- She liked Teshuva and For Zion’s Sake band. Bethany- can't decide. But she enjoyed the dancing and singing. She especially liked Zion's Sake Band's "Come Rule Over Me" song and all Teshuva's new songs. Getting to hear Mishkanim was really great because she'd never heard of them before. Me (Emily)-I liked spending time with friends, dancing and I pretty much liked all the worship bands. Lydia- She liked getting to spend time with friends, getting to see old friends ones, getting to meet new ones, and listening to Teshuva, Ross and The Zion’s Sake Band. Sherman- He liked it all. Clayton- He liked spending time with friends and getting a shofar. I loved going and would recommend it to anyone wanting to go to a Worship Conference. I hope you have a great week! ------Emily------ This past month our family went to Family Week during Passover/Unleavened Bread. "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread." Leviticus 23:5-10 (NASB) Family Week is a week-long camp centered on family, modesty, purity, Israel and zealousness for the Torah. Our Family loves Family Week. We went last year and loved it so much we came back. I love Family Week because even though everyone does not agree on everything we still have unity. The people there are all zealous for Yahweh and His Ways. This makes the camp have an atmosphere of shalom (peace). Every year we've been to Family Week there has been a Wedding. This year we went a few days early so we could be there when the bridegroom came to get his bride. Let me explain it to you so that you know what went on. Nate is the bridegroom and Katie is the Bride. Nate represents Yeshua and Katie represents us (The Bride). Nate and Katie got betrothed and then they had a time of separation. During this time of separation, Nate is preparing a place for his bride.The bride does not know the day or hour when her bridegroom will return for her. "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” John 14:1-4 (NASB) Only the Father of the Bridegroom knows the time the bridegroom will return to get his Bride. We were there when Nate came to get his bride. After that we followed the couple to the place where they held their ceremony. After a short ceremony they went to the wedding chamber for seven days. When the seven days were up they came back and there was a big wedding feast with dancing and celebration. They danced until midnight! We left the celebration at 11:00pm and slept-in the next morning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every morning at Family Week there is a time of Worship at the Tennis Center which they call Tabernacle of David, it is not the real Tabernacle of David they just call it that because it is a practice for the real Tabernacle. After Tabernacle of David there are two teachings and then everyone goes to eat lunch at their campsites. Some days having a pitch-in at the Tennis Center. After lunch it is quiet time so people can fellowship with others, play games or just relax and take a nap. We kids played at the park. Then at night you can have people over at your camp site for dinner. While at Family Week we met a lot of great people and were encouraged in Deepening our walk with Yahweh. My favorite part of Family Week was the wedding feast where we had a feast and celebrated with dancing. The Bride and Bridegroom hugging after not seeing each other for a couple months. Here is Hayovel telling what happened in their words. The Bridegroom and Bride walking to the place where they had the ceremony. What took place here was the Bridegroom came and got his Bride and then everyone followed them to where they had the Wedding ceremony. Here is everyone waiting for Nate and Katie to return for the Feast on the eighth day. Here is some food from the Wedding Feast. Matzah! The wedding feast was during Unleavened Bread :) Chocolate moose that the bride's brother made. It was very good! Dancing was hard to get pictures of because they started dancing when it was dark, so I did not get very many good ones. We had Passover with a big group of people in the lodge because it was to cold to have it at our campsites. Here are some pictures from our Passover. My grape juice Matzah with horseradish. Hot and spicy! My brothers waiting for the sedar to start. Here are some pictures of perfectly cooked (KOSHER!) marshmallows by Bethany. Here are my siblings and some friends standing around the fire while it is snowing trying to keep warm. One of the days Bethany, Lydia, Sherman, Clayton, and I all went on a long hike and saw some pretty views and had a great adventure. Here are some random pictures! A flower I took a picture of while we were on a walk. An old rusty oven we found on our hike. Clayton by a big, dead fish we found on a walk. ewwww A beautiful view. Overall Family Week was a great experience and I can't wait till next year! I hope you all have a great week! ~~~~~~Emily~~~~~~ P.S. Here are what the people who put on Family Week said about it. Hayovel. In my last article (Click here for Part 1) I addressed some of the issues that surround so many of the popular fictions books. So, what about good books? What are some books that cause us to focus on “pure, right and noble” thoughts? In this post I hope to offer some good fiction books that help you exercise your imagination and “provoke [you] to good works”. I’ve read all these books (or had them read to me!) at some point or another and I’m pretty sure I still agree with them, however, don’t take my word for it! Perhaps my beliefs have changed or maybe we believe differently. So let's start... “The Miller Family Series” by Mildred A. Martin Most of the books in this series are geared toward children ages 6-13. I can still remember my mom reading these stories aloud to us kids. We were able to relate with them and learn from their mistakes (sometimes we laughed because we had already made the same mistake). Even though most of the stories are fiction they are very similar to real life events that do happen. (Click here to read more about the Millers series) “Crown and Covenant Series” by Douglas Bond These are some other books that my mom has read aloud to us kids. We were older for these books and they are recommended for 10-14 year olds but I think they would be suitable for 12- up (they are great if you are looking for a fast read!). They can be a bit intense for some children but it depends on their personality (Lydia and I tend to get scared easier then Naomi or Emily). “The Crown & Covenant Series follows the lives of the M’kethe family as they endure persecution in 17th-century Scotland and later flee to colonial America. Doulas Bond weaves together fictional characters with historical from Scottish Covenanting history” (Description on back cover of the first book) Something I liked about these books was how Mr. M’kethe teaches Duncan (his son) about the difference between war and defending yourself. We only have the first three books but there are more. I would recommend these to boys and girls. “The Peleg Chronicles” by Matthew Christian Harding Unlike C&C Series (the first 3 books cover the span of a few years) the Peleg Chronicles only covers 3 days or so. I am looking at both stacks of books right now and they are nearly the same size! We read these aloud as a family just recently (if you haven’t guessed by now- we read books as a family sometimes, haha). My mom, dad, Naomi and I all took turns reading them aloud but everyone prefers my mom’s voice. These books were recommended to us by some friends and we all enjoyed the books (that’s ages 11-40ish). Another plus is that these books are interesting to boys as well as girls. The characters in this book offer a variety of beliefs, personality, age and “type” (some are giants, others are dwarfs and some are average people). Staged in the time of Peleg (Genesis 10:15) The main Character is Mcdoogle, a very kind, very tall man (not a giant- he's only 7') who believes in “The God of Noah”. The books do have “witch” in them but the whole idea is presented in a biblical way (God is still all powerful, no “good” magic, no details etc…). Yes the drawings on the covers are creepy but they aren’t bad. We all liked how the characters would quote scripture in their regular speech (even things that weren’t written at the time! But the principles were there and He IS the same yesterday, today and forever!) Overall, these books are enjoyable, thought provoking and great read alouds. But they are so hard to put down! You may be stuck reading for hours! (Click to read more!) Keepers of the Faith offers some good books (I’ve only read a few but Naomi has read more). They sell books that have been out of print for a while. The characters are Godly and strive to love God with all their hearts but they still make mistakes- they are still human. I have read: Ester Ried- “Ester Ried was originally published in 1870. It was one of Mrs. Alden's earliest books and became her most popular work. It is the story of a young woman (18) who claims to be a Christian, but shows a lack of love, patience, and concern for her younger siblings. The workload at home is heavy. She often complains, and is irritable most of the time. The story is about her spiritual awakening to the Lord, and what it means to be a servant with a sweet and willing spirit. After "awakening" she realizes what a different effect she might have had on her younger brothers and sisters had she acted like a real Christian. God expects certain behavior from those who claim His name. This is an excellent story and would be a great book for older sisters to read!” Jessie Wells- “[Jessie Wells] was Mrs. Alden's second book and was written in 1867. We think it is one of her best. It is the story of a teenage girl who has made a profession in Christ, but there seems to be no evidence of it in her life. She decides to get serious about her walk with Christ. Another thread woven into the story is Jessie's unbelieving brother. She turns her prayers and toward home and winning those closest to her. It makes a difference. This is an excellent story for everyone, but especially for young ladies.” “Least said, soonest mended”- “What a title! What a story! Some of the advice given by the wise mother to her daughter who loved to talk is: ". . . the main part of the good and evil that we do in our lives is done with the tongue." Mind you, it's 'least said, soonest mended,' in the long run." "What's said can never be unsaid." The dangers of too much talk are clearly pointed out, and the dire consequences which follow such talk are clearly shown in the lives of the characters, in particular, the main character, a sweet girl named Kitty. Idle words, passing compliments, and sometimes too much admiration and praise spoken by others may also be a source of trouble in a young person's life as it was in this story. "Least said, soonest mended" is a profound phrase you will not want to forget! We made a plaque to hang up as a constant reminder to say less rather than more. Great story” I’ve read a few of their other books but I cannot remember their titles! Sorry! I do remember the stories though… I noticed that a few of the books have dispensationalism type doctrine that is really weird…Example; one of the books uses the verse “May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if you, O Jerusalem, are not my highest joy” (from Psalm 137) was used to mean ‘if our church building does not bring us greater joy than any other place then we are doing something wrong’- this was from one of the books that I do not remember the name of. Thought it was strange. (If you want to browse the books they offer- click here) These are just a few suggestions- I would’ve liked to offer more but seeing as how I am already behind by 5 days in writing this post… this is as good as it gets! Maybe I’ll have time for more later. Happy Reading, Bethany (p.s. Part 3 will be suggestions for good non-fiction reading!) I made this recipe for the first time last year and it was really good. I got this recipe from food.com. I like this site because you can change the servings to however many people you want to serve. I doubled this recipe. When I make it I put extra vanilla in to make it taste even better. Simple Tapioca Pudding 1/2 cup tapioca 3 cups 2% low-fat milk (if pearls are soaked overnight, use 2-1/2 cups milk) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Directions: 1. I recommend soaking the tapioca pearls in 2 cups of water the night before as it reduces some of the excess starch and means less cooking time. 2. In a 1-1/2 quart saucepan, combine the tapioca pearls, the milk, and salt. Stir frequently on medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to minimum and simmer 5 minutes. Add the sugar gradually, stirring constantly. 3. In a separate bowl, beat the 2 eggs. A little at a time, add some of the tapioca mixture to the eggs and continue stirring. This is "tempering" the eggs and will bring them up to temperature gently, preventing the eggs from scrambling. 4. Add the tempered egg mixture to the tapioca. Gently bring the mixture back up to near-boiling. Reduce heat to minimum and simmer, stirring constantly, until desired consistency is reached. Pearls should be translucent and gelatinous. 5. Allow tapioca to cool 15 minutes before adding the vanilla. Serve warm or chill until serving time. Here are the pearls soaking the night before. Tapioca is an amazing starch made from the root of the Cassava plant. Cassava is the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics. Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for around 500 million people. It is one of the most drought-tolerant crops, capable of growing on marginal soils. You can do more reading on Tapioca here. Here is the tapioca in the pan with the milk. Here I am pouring in the sugar. Now I am tempering the eggs. The tapioca is very gloopy. This is the tapioca cooking in the pot with the eggs added. It is finished and ready to eat! Tapioca pudding is one of my favorite desserts!
Have fun! Emily *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* So, you might be wondering...
What's coming up in January? Well.... This week: Emily will be posting a yummy recipe for "Tapioca Pudding". Affectionately called "fish eggs" by some :) Next week: Naomi will be posting a recipe and review for homemade lip balm. Bethany will be sharing about the beautiful "Shema" Painting she is making for the entry way. In the second half of January you can look forward to: Fruits of the Spirit Part 2 by Lydia Bible Study/Game Night by Emily Set Apart Reading Part 2 by Bethany The Importance of Conversation by Naomi -Naomi- Dates and topics are subject to change without notice. ;) Nothing completes Shabbat dinner like a soft, warm out of the oven Challah.
On October 12th 2012, I made my very first Pumpkin Challah- We loved it so much that I kept it in the corner of my mind to do a blog post about this recipe. If you’re not a pumpkin fan- never fear! The pumpkin in this recipe is not overpowering. The best part about this particular recipe is that the recipe below it is called “Pumpkin Challah Cinnamon Sticky Rolls” and it uses a half batch of Pumpkin Challah dough. When I made this recipe I divided the dough in half in order to follow the Sticky Roll recipe. The entire recipe made a nice large Challah and a pan of Sticky Rolls. Sticky Rolls make a wonderful Shabbat Night dessert. If you want to try out this recipe (and many others, just as tasty!) it is found in the “For Zion’s Sake Cookbook” on page 91 (in the section titled “Bread and Breakfast” and the subsection "Yeast Breads”). As you can see from the picture, I am a challah braiding amateur! Plus, I sprinkled the top with cinnamon resulting in a dirty, dusty looking challah loaf! Oops! You live and you learn. Thanks for reading!! :) Bethany (Sorry, no picture of the Sticky Rolls, they were gone too fast ;) ............................................................................................................................................... |
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