40 years ago today, my handsome husband was born! 🙂
Thank You, Lord for blessing me with him. I couldn’t ask for a better man to walk alongside me as we grow closer to You each day. I especially love catching glimmers of “Mike” in our sons – what a joy it is to be surrounded by all of them! AMEN
For every pound of ground beef we add:
1-1/2t sea salt
1t garlic granules (or several minced garlic cloves)
1t coarse black pepper
1/2t fennel seed (or a little more than that…I love fennel seed!)
We mix it in while it’s cooking. That’s it! Super easy, and tastes great! 🙂
Yesterday, we made barley stuffed green peppers – here’re some pics – perhaps I’ll get that recipe up next…
Whew. What a week. Yes, the picture in the poem is actually Mike’s thumb. Part of the reason this poem was inspired was because of watching him deal with this nasty splinter. Another reason was watching Michael deal with food poisoning the past couple of days. As a parent, there’s nothing worse than watching your child suffer. Another thorn, another thorn…
Mike’s thorn is dissipating, but not removed. Michael’s on the road to recovery – but may be gun-shy of a certain restaurant’s sandwiches, lol! 🙂
Apparently during a drought, tomato worms also eat green peppers, hot peppers, and potato plants – grrrrrr!! Here’s a pic of a baby one Mike just found – he’s already had his last meal, lol! 🙂
And the second pic is what happens when a groundhog is dumb enough to enter a garden where 3 boys know how to take care of business!! 🙂
4 pounds grass-fed ground beef
2T sea salt
1/3c chili powder
2t garlic granules or several minced garlic cloves
1-1/2t fennel seeds
4t coarse black pepper
1t dried hot pepper flakes
3T wine of choice
Mix well and form into 4 “rolls”. Wrap in foil and set in refrigerator for 24 hours. Next day: poke holes for drainage in various spots on the rolls with the tip of a pointy knife. (I used to use a fork, but it left tiny bits of foil in the meat – fyi.) Place rolls on top of a broiler pan with a bit of water in the base to catch any drippings. (Makes it MUCH easier to clean the pan when done, lol!) Bake for 1 hour at 325°. Once out of oven, carefully remove foil and allow rolls to cool. We like really thin slices, so we’ve found that a large serrated bread knife works the best – especially if the rolls have been in the fridge for awhile so they’re nice and cold. Once sliced, I freeze stacks of slices. It doesn’t take long for a stack to thaw enough to separate slices for a “salami” sandwich.
For “pepperoni”, we bake it on our sourdough pizza crusts.
For “bacon”, we add it to coconut oil in a skillet & fry it until crisp . Here’s a pic of the frozen slices in the coconut oil:
Here’s a pic of Paul’s favorite way to eat it – crisp & dipped in ketchup, lol! 🙂
These recipes have been such a blessing to us. We do our best to avoid lunch meats/processed meats. It’s been fun using what we have to create healthy substitutes! 🙂
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L 🙂
4 pounds grass-fed ground beef
2 cup bread crumbs
1/3c raw milk
4 free-range eggs, beaten
3t sea salt
1/2t pepper
2 cups organic ketchup
Grease two 9×13 pans with coconut oil. Combine above. Make four loaves. Bake 1 to 1-1/2 hours at 350°.
ENJOY! 🙂
**We like to make a big batch, because we freeze the leftovers as individual slices for future meals.**
This weekend we sold 4 of the calves: Bondini, Butternut, Macadamia, & Snickers.
It didn’t take long – within an hour of posting our ad on Craig’s list, Mike got a call from an interested family! They are fellow Christians who homeschooled their 3 boys & want to grow a small dairy herd with these calves. They already have one calf at home, and these 4 are the same age, which is exactly what they were looking for! They came back out on Saturday and took them to their new home. 🙂
Thank You, Lord, for leading this family to our ad. May these calves be a blessing to their family & farm. Help them to mature into strong dairy cows who produce many offspring and healthy milk as they age. Place a hedge of protection around this family, Lord… may Mr. Farmer be granted healing from his medical issues, strengthen his wife as she cares for him and others in her nursing career, and guide their 3 sons down the path You have already prepared for them. Amen
Yesterday, friends of ours rescued an abandoned kitten left under their bedroom window. It is unknown what happened to the momma – but what was left was a VERY sad and hungry (not-to-menti0n ADORABLE) kitten. They brought him here…
…and we took care of him yesterday through this morning.
The level of commitment necessary to nurse kittens this young is HUGE, and the thought was a bit daunting to all of us as we considered our overflowing plates right now. But, his tiny cries were enough to melt our hearts to do our best to take care of him. 🙂
Then, this morning, some other friends of ours were over and FELL IN LOVE with him! He is now a new addition to their very large family, lol! 🙂
What a blessing that You sent us help, Lord! While we do not know how long this little guy will be around, what we DO know is that he will bring many moments of joy and laughter to this loving family. We pray for patience, endurance, strength, and wisdom for this family as they do their best to take care of this kitten. AMEN
We were gifted 2 very nice recliner chairs last week. 🙂
This was completely unexpected, so that made it really exciting! It also created a little game of musical chairs… 🙂
Right after Mike & I were married (almost 16 years ago) we purchased an overstuffed chair and couch. Over the years, they have racked up many hours of use, but the older Mike & I get, the less comfy an overstuffed couch feels to sit in. Actually, it’s the getting IN & OUT of that’s been trickier, lol… It’s also been very difficult to move things around for a change of scenery once-in-awhile, because they are just soooo large, and we have just a tiny space. We had often daydreamed about replacing the couch with some-type-of chairs, but that thought never went beyond a thought – until last week. 🙂
So, we removed the couch, re-arranged the room, and added the new chairs. We have really been enjoying it! 🙂
What to do with this ginormous couch now that doesn’t fit ANYWHERE else in our home…?
Well…
As of yesterday, Mike’s sister & her husband are the proud owners of an unfinished rental house! Isn’t that fun? Today, Mike & the boys are taking our well-loved couch over to this new house. What a blessing that because we were given a gift, we can also give a gift! 🙂
Lord, I thank You for the gift of our two new chairs. I also thank You for the many years of activity this couch has endured in our home. I pray for the new home it is now joining. May it serve as a haven of rest for many, and may this couch be a comfort for each person who uses it. As they sink down into those overstuffed cushions, may it remind them of the enveloping love You are always willing to surround us with. Bless Jenny & Matt, Lord, as they begin this new chapter in their lives. AMENÂ
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