Complaining. Ugh.

As I'm journeying through the O.T. I'm just overwhelmed with the Word of God and how it still relates to us, to ME today!

I'm all the way into.... Numbers! haha I know, if you've been reading my blog, you know that really... I have taken a LONG time to get here. But I love spending plenty of time reading and then journaling. I do not want to rush through it! (Unless they're 'begetting', of course). LOL There's so much that the Lord spoke to me through His Word this morning.

The first is, in the entire chapter 10, there's an awful lot of complaining going on. Is it ever good to complain? Complaining leads to results but are the results always what you had hoped for? For me, no, they are not.

The Isrealites complain about their situation, their circumstances. I'm so glad I never do that! LOL kidding! (Let me tell you, this was totally convicting.) I highly dislike compaining but I'm guilty of it, for sure. God REALLY does not like it. Why do you suppose that is? Because we are not trusting Him? I think it's mostly because we are just not letting Him be God in our lives, our everything! Well, let's see what He thought about it... In Numbers 11:2, after hearing them complain, it says, " His anger was kindled and the fire burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp." So how did He feel about it? Well, He wasn't excited- that's for sure!! O, and by the way, they're "circumstances" are much better than being slaves in Egypt! Well.... you'd think they were!

Now, the 600,000 plus Isrealites have been miraculously blessed with manna, food from heaven, but of course, that is not good enough either. They wanted meat! And we can't really blame the Israelites, can we? Would we not do the same thing? I know I get sick of the same food after 2 meals, maybe 3 at the very most... (and that's if it's SO GOOD tasting)! They were remembering the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and flavorful fish that they at least had in Egypt to eat freely of. Does this make you smile? Does it seem a little ridiculous? Well, I'm still feeling a little convicted about my own life complaints.

So, let's look at manna. Just because I like food and love to learn. :) It says it is like coriander (cilantro seed), and it's appearance like bdellium (an oily gum or a white pearl; a valuable mineral). Mmm tasty. So.. was it kind of chewy? LOL They would gather it, grind it and make cakes with it. And I'm just guessing that these cakes don't have cream cheese frosting! ;) So, OK, they SHOULD be grateful but I could see how the same old thing to eat could get old.

And then of course, their leader, Moses, complains about them complaining. haha Seriously? This is so much like life now. Plus he wonders how in the world God could possibly find enough meat to give them! Moses wants to know, would they have to kill all of their animals? Or should all the fish from the sea be gathered together for them? (Remember there are over 600,000 of them!)

God listens to him and actually answers him with meat. It says, "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow and you shall eat meat...You shall eat not one day, nor 10 days, nor 20 days, but a whole month..."

I have to be honest. When I got to this verse I was like, "Are you kidding me? He's going to reward them by giving in to their complaining?" Well, not totally. (wink wink) It's always good to read the whole context! The rest of that verse says "...until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you..."

So, Moses asked, where will this meat come from, Lord? That would be just too many people for you to feed! How is that possible? "And the Lord said to Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not."

So do you want to know what happened next? O you probably already know. But go ahead and read through it. Numbers 11:31-35.

God is so much smarter than we are. LOL He knows what we need. He knows what is good for us. Can you believe He even knows the appropriate time for the appropriate action? He can even feed 600,000 people! Maybe you're thinking, of course He can because He did that kind of stuff all of the time in the Bible. Have you forgotten? How has he shown His power in your life? He can even help you get through the month's budget. He can even get you through a hard winter. He can even give you patience, or the tools for it during those hard days with the kids. He can even guide you in your relationships. He can even be near you when you're afraid of what's to come.

Are you listening, Kristin? Are you listening to? Is there something that you complain about too much? Give it to the Lord. That is my desire anyway. When something comes up that seems so difficult to bear, to go through, I want to see it through His eyes. Not to see myself as the victim of a circumstance, but as a willing vessel for the Lord to use.

I am SO thankful for the hope that I have in Him. I can complain, to my friends, my husband. I can even complain to the Lord but will it give me the results I'm looking for? How did it work out for those 600,000? Rest in him. Realize that He wants you to to trust Him! Instead of complaining, find a reason to be truly grateful.

Simply Live, Therefore Live Simply

This is a picture from the shop Mom and I used to own. Imagine life so simple that you could sit on a bench in the warm sunshine, reading through a book. All the while your laundry is drying on the line in the gentle breeze...

Tonight's blog is inspired by an old friend and old recipes from pre-1950 through now. This friend has inspired 2 of my blogs now. She encourages me to write about some of things we talk about so that I can encourage others. I love it!

This afternoon I went through an entire box of old recipes that belonged to a well-dressed, simple, Finnish neighbor lady. I say 'well dressed' because her garments are now mine and I intend to wear them as my own...with pearls, of course. ;) She was "simple" in the way that she brilliantly lived. Some may think that the desire to live frugally comes from having very little money. I don't know what her financial status was but she used what she had and lived simply, I can tell. That's my dream! In her old recipes were many types of paper that were used sometimes more than 3 times. It might be an envelope with a recipe and each one included who they were from and what date it was given, or written. (I wish I could read all of the hand-written ones but she barely spoke English and I do not understand much more Finnish than "sokerie" which is translated: sugar. It was in so many sweet recipes that I figured out that much!) I'm sure you know of many older people who live this way. They save gifts like new hand towels for years because the old ones are still able to soak up water... maybe not much but... they are still useful. They also used every bit of what they cooked. To me, this is an art. I'm slowly 'getting it' but I have far to go. In my opinion these ladies are wise.

So besides telling you about this fine lady and how she lived, I wanted to share with my readers some simple-living ideas I use or at least some that I know about. These ideas help me to get dollars to stretch but also make me feel good about not wasting.

1) Taco Meat: When I'm making taco meat, I add the seasoning, some water or tomato sauce and 1-2 cans re-fried beans or whole canned beans plus fresh garlic and onion flakes. This greatly adds to the meat amount and makes it stretch quite a bit farther. I also love the taste and that it's not dried out. Thanks to my mother-in-law for the idea of adding beans!

2) Dryer Sheets: I rarely use these anymore because I prefer liquid (it's easier on your dryer..), but anyway, for goodness sake, cut the sheets in 1/2! There is plenty of softener for one sheet to become 2!

3) When whole chickens are on sale (especially non- hormone added, organic) buy them to use instead of plain breast meat. Cook it one night for dinner, but leave a little left on it. There's plenty for our family of 5 (with 3 small children) to have dinner and then I take off the rest of meat that I can find and store it in the fridge for use with broth/stock. Usually that night or the next day I put the carcass in a 20 quart stock pot and fill it up to about the 14 quart mark with water. Add your favorite seasonings, whole garlic, just flatten the cloves, chunks of onion (or the green tops of garden onions), celery. For seasonings this last time I made it, I used about a dash or 2 of almost every spice in my pantry, it seems. Parsley, 2 bay leaves, coriander, celery seed, oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and paprika. Those poor spices don't always get used anyway so you've got to not play favorites. ;) I then strain this and put it in pint size jars to can. Before I seal them I add salt and about 1 tsp of those reserved chicken pieces. I must say that when I labeled this batch I was so excited to write "Organic Chicken Stock" on them. It's fun to be able to use up the whole chicken too!

4) Picking up:I am by no means the best housekeeper, but I do try. When I'm leaving one room to go to another I pick up something that needs to go that direction. There's always something that needs picked up with 3 little ones and 2 big ones.

5) Saving gas and time: Limit trips in the car. Plan ahead. Make out a list of places you need to go and plan a day to get lots done instead of many small trips. I used to do way more small trips before I had kids but now I've learned. Gas is expensive and it's just plain wasteful to not try to combine at least a few things together. And before you leave home at least pack some snacks like almonds, dried fruit or cheese and crackers, if you don't pack a meal. It helps when you start to get hungry and give-in to that convenient bad-for-you but o-so-good food.

6) Raise Chickens: Get some chickens to use up scraps that would otherwise get thrown in the garbage, down the disposal or tossed out! Plus chickies give you eggs!

7) Use a clothesline to dry your laundry: It saves many dollars in electricity! It's simple to do too! If you don't have a line already made, string up some strong cotton clothesline rope or plastic covered line from one tree to another. String it between two posts on your porch or use an old-fashioned drying rack.

8)Make your own laundry soap: It's a mere fraction of the price. And even if you don't do that, you can save on stain remover by buying a bar of Fels Naptha soap and using it. I keep mine in a canning jar near the washer and when something has a stain, wet the bar and then rub it into the fabric. It has removed even blood soaked pillows from when one of my kids woke up with a bloody nose. I was amazed! And it's cheap too! It doesn't have that toxic smell like some stain removers either. I think it's like $1-$2!! There are lots of ideas online. Mine calls for washing soda, grated Fels Naptha and Borax. It works well too! I haven't taken the few minutes to make this for awhile but I really need to get back into making it. It's so much cheaper!

9) Your Cell phone: If you don't need a fancy camera phone with all the bells and whistles and things to distract you, get a free one when you update your plan or better yet... I'm planning on using a pay-as-you-go phone. That will save us more than $25 per month at least and now we have just a basic plan!

10) Make quilts: out of old clothing or fabric with special memories. Many women in the past have made quilts this way. Way back when, women didn't go to a fancy store to buy specially matching pieces of expensive fabrics to make blankets for their beds. They would cut up old dresses, men's shirts...whatever was still useful. I have the 'new' fabric to use up but I really do like this idea. I guess I do a little of that when I make the borders. I usually end up sewing all of the scraps from cutting out the quilt pieces and make a randomly-colored border. I use up most of those extra pieces doing this.

I know there are more ideas but how much time do you really have to spend here? It's wasteful if it takes you too long! haha!

I hope you learned something that you don't already know or just that you are reminded to live simply. I believe that we are such a spoiled few generations of folks that it's actually kind of ridiculous! It's fun to be creative and come up with meals from your cupboard and not just go to the store for something that sounds good. If you mixed up some flour, milk and some other on-hand ingredients you can have biscuits and make a white sauce with sausage and sage and you'll have biscuits and gravy! Or, when your garden abounds in lettuce, make meals that include it! Taco salad, green salad, chef salad, or use it for tuna sandwiches.

Live simply because you can, not because you have to.

Garden Goodness for Dinner!

There is nothing like walking through the garden gate to get fresh food for my family.

I've also been getting so much use out of my bread machine. Today I used my usual oatmeal Bread recipe but added many other grains in exchange for the wheat flour.

For dinner I made a casserole of sorts to go along with the bread, by layering cooked ground beef with veggies into my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker. First I cooked the ground beef. Then I dug up white potatoes, carrots and onions and sweet talked my husband into helping with the washing and slicing of the veggies. These were layered with a homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup that I made up tonight too. (This is a great and easy recipe! You'll especially like it if you're not a fan of MSG.)

Here's the yummy bread. It seemed even better than usual too! It could be the added grains but my husband even commented that it reminds him of what his grandma used to make.... and now I'm Mrs. Ramsey too, of course.

Here's the recipe for the bread. It's from the cookbook, Bread Machine Magic and it's called:

Honey N Oats Bread

"The egg and oats lend a wonderful, rich, creamy flavor to this bread. Serve it with a crock of sweet butter and homemade preserves."

1- pound loaf

1/3 cup old -fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 T honey
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Red Star brand active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan [by order listed], select Light Crust setting and press Start.

After the baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on cake rack, and allow to cool one hour before slicing.

Notes from me: I exchanged about 3/4 cup of the wheat flour for a few tsp each of 7 grain cereal, barley flakes, triticale, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds. I also always add about 1 T flax seed and I double the honey to 2 tablespoons. What a great recipe! This time instead of letting it bake in the bread machine, I just used the dough cycle and then set it in a stoneware bread pan in the oven. (Turn your oven on warm till it gets heated and then shut off till the bread has risen double. )Then bake for at least 25 minutes at 350. the texture of doing the bread this way was similar to an english muffin bread. It had lots of holes.

Here is the Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup before it was thickened. I even added Italian Parsley from my herb garden.

I made a double batch of the soup so that I could put 1 "can" of it in the freezer.

The potatoes and carrots were sliced up and layered between this saucy delight.

And here is the finished product! I could have used less soup, I suppose but my family does love saucy foods, instead of drier ones. This pan was FULL so I had to bake it for about 1 1/2 hours. The texture was similar to scalloped potatoes but the taste was more like a creamy, beef flavor. Try it sometime for a simple, delicious "homey" meal!

My daughter just saw the pictures for my post and said, "That's yummy!" I guess you now have her opinion. :)

Amazing Muffins! "To-Die-For Cherry Almond" and Cream Muffins

Tonight I tried a great new recipe so I wanted to share it with you! It will be included in my Family Favorites album , for sure!


Here's the recipe! On the website it's called "To Die For Bluberry Muffins" and I'm sure blueberries would be just as wonderful! I'd maybe decrease the amount of sugar for blueberries though. I made these muffins with Almonds and Cherries because that's what I had and it sounded SO good! Reminds me a lot of the sour cherry muffins that Costco makes during the holidays!


So, start with clean, fresh or frozen cherries... and pit them. Make the batter.. I added 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond flavor PLUS I added 1/2 Cup chopped almonds to the batter. You could also get creative and exchange some or all of the flour for brown rice flour or a little bit or others like millet, white rice flour, or spelt. I also added 1/2- 1 tsp of cream cheese (because it was on a closeout). And I the last thing I changed was adding 1/4 cup chopped almonds to the crumble topping plus a bit of Pampered Chef's Lemon Sprinkles.

And here they are! Fresh out of the oven!

You did want to see the gooey cream cheese right? I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to bite into a bit of crunchy topping, warm cream cheesy goodness, a tart cherry and the fluffy cake-like muffin! Add these to your list of recipes to make and you wouldn't be dissapointed!

Cherries Jubilee!

I'm sitting down after many hours of quality time spent with... cherries. There's the picking, hauling, washing, sorting:

Then there's the pitter! This is the most time-consuming part, of course so you NEED a good cherry pitter. This is a Pampered Chef one. I also used, just a cheap plastic one from a grocery store. Either way, you don't want jam with pits!

Speaking of jam.... I made 5 batches of Cherry freezer jam! These containers from Ball work great! Just twist, open and with some fresh bread and peanut butter!

I also made 3 canner-fuls of cherry pie filling! Yum! It even has cinnamon and nutmeg!

Cherries. They are jubilicious!

ps. this is by no means the full process of canning cherries! For that info, look for up -to- date canning recipes and guidelines from Ball!

Oh Bloomers, Dresses, Hats and Coats, How I Love Thee!

I just thought I'd share with you something fun. I've browsed the internet for a few years now trying to find ideas for patterns; adorable pieces of clothing that I could replicate. Here's some pictures from my personal "Sewing Ideas" folder. Enjoy!

I love these sheer, lightweight bloomers! They would even be adorable... unseen. Just knowing they are under your little girls dress, for fun, modesty and cuteness! Or add a longer shirt with them...

This dress was found on etsy.com. I'm sorry I don't know the name of the seller. I should have kept track of that. You can barely see the small black buttons trailing up the bodice, but they just "make" this dress! My daughter needs one of these. :)

I'd love this red and white top for myself, I believe it was also found on etsy.com awhile back.

Isn't this pretty? It looks like silk. One of my dreams is to sew these vintage/antique pieces of clothing and sell them! I'd even crochet little delicate bits around the arms and neck... FUN!

I'm not sure about the coat AND hat, but this pattern is adorable! I've made one with the little strap on the back and it turned out just right!

I'm really thinking I should have been born before my Grandma's! I would have worn these.. I would still if I could! LOL

Someone else beat me to it! (Not surprised!) This style is just so delicate and sweet.

Not so sure about her hair... but this photo gives me an idea of what the average child might wear back then.

I think this is the same girl as in one of the above photographs. Hats and heavy wool coats with large vintage buttons! Perfect-ness!

I don't know... I just love some of the style from the early 1900's! She needs some pearls and a flapper hat, maybe??

What a great family portrait! ! The textures in it are so different from the staged, perfect studio pictures that people take now.

Again, I like this style. I'm not sure about the print but I love how it drapes and the

femininity of it!

These hairstyles crack me up! I wonder how that got started! Easy, home-haircuts? The girls' dresses are so cute! My daughter has 3 now that look very similar to these. An Emerald green one, and 2 salmon pink ones, lighter and darker. They go very nicely with white knee highs and black slipper shoes, or Mary Janes and a BIG adorable bow in her hair!

Some older girls wearing the same things. You can find reproduction fabrics at fabricdepot.com. This store carries good quality quilting fabric along with tapestries, patterns, notions and so much more! If you're in Portland sometime, it's near Sandy on 122nd. One of my favorite places.

Cute, cute cute! I don't like the arms on her coat so much but I love the little boy's outfit! I wonder where they were going?

I hope you enjoyed these! They are fun to look at every once in awhile and dream of my clothing line......... haha! Well, at least for my daughter to wear! If you know of any places to find great old- styled patterns, let me know! Oh bloomers, dresses, hats and coats... how I love thee!

The World's Got Talent

These are a few pictures of the area where I live. Beautiful country.

More on my Exodus reading....

I must have read this before, but you know how you read the Word and get one thing, then read again and get MORE? Well.....

Exodus 35 starting with verse 4, "And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, 'This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying, "Take from among you a contribution to the Lord; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the Lord's contribution: gold, silver and bronze, and blue, purple, scarlet material, fine linen, goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red and porpoise skins, and acacia wood..."

"Whoever is of a willing heart". Some people's view, (and sometimes even my own view), is of a God who demands that orders be done. Sometimes, I forget that He is this kind. He wants those with a WILLING heart to bring these contributions. And how does that make the people feel when it's asked for in that way? I know with my kids if I let them choose to do something special, it goes better than giving them an order to be kind and do this thing. How would YOU feel if God asked you to bring Him a contribution? And it was for building the tabernacle. It's even more than just doing something special for someone "famous", this is GOD! I would hope that I would have a willing heart to give away everything to my Lord!

"And everyone who's heart stirred in him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, came and brought the Lord's contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all it's service and for it's Holy garments." Ex 35:21 (I would think that anyone NOT giving would be feeling a wee bit awkward. ha ha!).

"Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the Lord's contribution." They all helped out - if they could. Of course some might not have the expensive things, but surely there was at least one way in which they could be of help.

So, what's this about talent? Let's see: Verse 25a "And all the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun."

Then God called Bezalel by name and filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship to make designs for working with gold, bronze, silver, for cutting stones and making settings, and in the carving of wood so as to perform in every inventive work. He also put in his heart to teach...he also filled [him and 2 others] with the skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer...and of a weaver as a performers of work and maker of designs, also construction.

"Then Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab and every skillful person in whom the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it." 36:2

As a side note, the people were bringing so many materials that they had more than enough so the Lord commanded them to quit bringing it. LOL Wow! Are we that giving? That God has to tell us to stop?

The Lord put the skill in these people. This was long before there were modern day tools. Long before modern looms were invented, jewelry -making tools..etc. Yet, I can't help but think that even people now, skilled people, have been given their talent from God, their creator. I'd like to give Him credit anyway. :) And what a thought that if they were using their talent for their Creator, how much more glorified He would be. :) It gives me shivers almost just thinking about it.

Here are things God has blessed me with the ability of doing, and not just doing, but having a passion for:

Cooking nutritious AND delicious foods.

I enjoy gazing (some would call it staring...)at creation, whether that is unique people, flowers, sunny skies, gray skies, other's talent...

Working with my hands, spinning wool, crocheting, sewing.

Express my passions, thoughts and emotions through music, singing, writing and drawing and prayer.

Working in the dirt, watching miracles grow in my garden.

Taking care of people and having compassion on the poor and generously giving.

Teaching others the things I have learned from others that have taught me!

Being a mom and a wife who loves and teaches her family about the Creator and Lover of all people!

Being a Godly woman and serving Him with my whole heart.

Now, before you're thinking that I'M thinking I have it all down... I do not and I know it. But these are my passions. I've failed miserably many times and also consider myself a Jill of All Trades, Master of None. :)

What passions and talents has God given you? What contributions could you give to Him? Could you use any of those to glorify Him? I have to think that yes, yes you can. God has not called me to live a super-fantastic elaborate life. He has called me to be the best that He has created me to be..... and I love that.