Constantly Cooking - Home Grown

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I hate to say it, but  I've NEVER, well, until today, done mission work.  I was invited by a church member to join the young girls in our church doing mission work in our community.  So, yes, not knowing what to expect, I joined in.  
    We arrived at the local Headstart in a poorer section of town promptly at 7:30 am.  Barely having had breakfast, and not quite awake, I found myself stuffing sweet potatoes into plastic shopping bags.  Six taters per bag, to be precise.  After the potatoes had been put in bags, we began loading paper sacks with can food items, and dried goods.  It was a bit like walking down an assembly line, or trick-or-treating... open bag, drop in the goods.
    My two daughters (5 and 11) were with me, filling their bags and depositing them in the holding area.  Some of the canned items were peaches, blackeyed peas, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and spaghetti sauce.  The dried goods were potatoes, then we had prunes and pieces of chocolate candy.     
    After all the bags, and boxes were filled with canned and dried goods we began handing out the food.  The people would either drive through or walk up, usually with a wagon.  A number (letting us know how many households we were providing for) was placed on each windshield.  We'd grab the number of bags/boxes of food items needed and load the car, truck or suv.  It was a very humbling experience for me and my two girls.  I was elated, and feeling as if I had provided a much needed service, just by being there. 
    I am praying another opportunity to serve becomes available soon....

God bless,
Constantly Cooking 
      
 

    Sometimes you don't realize how thoroughly blessed you are until you've either come across difficult times, or walked a mile in the shoes of someone who has.  I think back in my life, and I've always been greatful for everything I've ever had.  To many, it may not have been much, but to me, it was everything.
    I make bracelets, because it's something I really enjoy.  I took several to church on Wednesday to show my dear friend Carolyn.  While looking at them, another lady (Marcel) chimed in about how beautiful they were, and how she'd like to have one.  My heart is generous, so it was nothing for me to give her the bracelet she admired.  She paid me!  I wasn't expecting that at all.  I don't like to sell things at church, but ended up taking her money because she refused to take it back.
    Feeling bad, I came home that evening and created a nicer bracelet, plus a set of earrings to match.  The bracelet I'd given Marcel wasn't even worth the money she paid for it, and I wanted to give her something nicer.  In my mind, these bracelets aren't worth much to me, but they are worth something to those I give them to.  So, there... I do get something out of these bracelets, I get to build a connect with someone and a beginning of a friendship.        
    Well, here's a picture of the bracelet.  I hope she receives as much pleasure from wearing it as I did in making it and giving it to her. 

God bless!
The Constant Cooker
    
    

YUM!  The kids, especially my son, love this dish!  It's a hit with me, and the other moms!

1 LARGE FROZEN Pkg. of Vegetable Medley (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower) thawed
1/2  to 1 cup Soy Sauce
1 to 2 tbls. oil

Get oil HOT!  Slowly add thawed vegetables to oil (use common sense, don't splatter oil!).  After vegetables begin to slightly soften, add Soy sauce.  While stirring, allow vegetables to blacken slightly (not all over, just in areas).  Cook until tender, NOT OVER COOKED!  I also use this method of cooking with fresh cut or whole green beans (FRESH, NOT frozen!).  My kids love the green beans a little parched, and the Soy Sauce makes it extra YUMMY!

Boy is this refreshing!  I like to serve this with the Kielbasa Cabbage meal, as a side! ENJOY!

1 Med. box of Wheat, or Regular Spiral Noodles
1 large bunch of FRESH broccoli
1 Peeled and chopped fresh onion (Vidalia or White)
1 Small can of pitted, drained black olives
1/2 cup of Italian Dressing
8-9 RIPE, RIPE FRESH Cherry tomatoes cut in halves

After cooking the noodles until tender (not overly cooked, you don't want them falling to pieces or breaking apart), drain noodles and combine them, along with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste, serve cold.

Recently, my family and I decided to take a camping trip.  My husband purchased a LARGE heavy cast iorn pot which came with a heavy cast iron lid.  He came up with this brilliant idea of cooking over the fire a meal of FRESH cabbage and kielbasa.  Here's how it went:

1 LARGE WHOLE Cabbage
2 Pkgs. of Kielbasa Sausage
1 Whole Onion
1 Whole Green Bell Pepper
1/4 cup water
1 tbls. canola oil
Cajun Spices (We used Weber N'Orleans Cajun)

Obviously, you peel the onion, and remove seeds from the bell pepper.
Chop the onion into 1/4's, dice or slice up the deveined, seeded pepper, cut the cabbage into 1/4's and the kielbasa into 1/2" thick pieces.  Put oil and water mix at bottom of pot (before adding to heat!), place the rest of the ingredients into the pot and season to taste (the more you use, the spicier it will be!)  We cooked our first serving of this delicious meal over an open fire, and it took appoximately 30 minutes.  I tried it again in a conventional oven, and at 425 degrees, it took 45 minutes.  Please use caution and common sense when removing the lid, the steam WILL BE HOT!  This meal is QUICK to make, and EASY!  I call it "Chop it Plop it style cooking!"  You chop, and plop into the pot, wait for it to cook... and WAAALLA!  It's done!

Well, we just returned from our vacation, and to insure we continued our new way of eating packed all natural and carb free choices!  I lost five pounds, so that's super exciting.  The feeding schedule the kittens are on has tired me, so exercising has been put on the back burner for NOW.  Thank the Lord we were on an Island without a lot of dining choices, it made sticking to the plan that much easier.  BUT, I must say, Jekyll Island was one of the most serene and quiet vacations... most relaxing vacation that my family and I have ever taken.  The beaches were empty, and we felt as if we were on our own private island.  We enjoyed a wonderful place to stay; Days Inn.  There were two pools, jacuzzi tub, and childs pool.  Many hours, and evenings we had the pool to ourselves.  What a way to exercise; swimming laps in an almost empty pool!

Early in the mornings as the fishing boats would sail past, you could sit and drink your coffee while watching the dolphins, and birds.  My children are the type of children who enjoy nature, and absorb their surroundings, so this trip was a magnificent get away.  We found horseshoe crabs, a small shark, a stingray, jelly fish, hermit crabs, a bank load of sand dollars, and a variety of seashells, all along the beach.  We cannot wait to back again, next summer. 

Welllll ... he he, today was much better!  I cannot believe all we were able to accomplish.  We worked on Language Arts (Nouns), Phonics, Reading, Social Studies/Geography and many other things.  At least we are headed in the right direction.
LESSON, for me, be better prepared with materials for the kindergarten/preschool children.  We did our mini books, math worksheets, practiced writing our name, and did some other fun things.  The day goes by so quickly... so a timer is definitely required for the lessons. 
1.  Plan better
2.  Prepare materials
3.  Set a time limit on each subject
4.  Use "lunch prep" time for reading, writing, and other self studies... or just to study.

I've learned over time; you jump out of bed in the mornings in run mode and you don't stop until you hit the sheets at night!  That's how you get it all done! 

God bless,
Constantly Cooking

Today was officially the first day of our homeschool!  WOW!  I was super excited and all my plans went out the door as soon as I began.  No matter what you plan for, when a 4 and 5 year old are involved there is NO telling what direction you'll take!  LOUD... wow!  Thankfully my eleven year old daughter Ree was able to help out, but the noise really interfered with the fourth grader's reading.  I'm not worried... today was just an introduction and we will eventually figure out a rhythm... and THEN we'll beat to our own drum!  

God bless!  I've got some week old kittens to bottle feed, and laundry to stash... toilets to clean, assignments and lessons to prepare... whew, woman's work.  I only wished I got paid what I was worth!  :D  he he!