Perfect Hobbies for Kids

by Meghan // September 11, 2019 // dating in spain vs usa vs france

When young children adopt new hobbies, they discover all sorts of new skills and learn some important life lessons. Through hobbies, children can find what lights them up and excites them at a young age, as opposed to doing it later on when they feel it’s ‘too late’ to do anything about it.

My husband and I are both huge hobby lovers- crafting, journaling, sewing, embroidery, painting, woodworking, gardening, leather work, and animal husbandry … the list goes on! We have enjoy distilling a love for handicrafts and hobbies in our children, and watching them grow in their skills.

Here are just a few hobbies children of all ages could test out!

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Reading And Writing

Reading to children is essential for language social, emotional, and cognitive development. Reading aloud to children will improve their listening and speaking skills, and they might even become good writers themselves, as it can help them to develop their own imagination. Once children have learned to read on their own, cultivating a love for reading is one of out biggest jobs! A child that loves to read loves to learn, and from there they will grow into unstoppable, teachable, curious adults. Loving to write often comes when a child enjoys reading, because they are driven to write their own stories.

Visiting Places of Interest

Traveling to visit a historical site, a history or http://quietinthechaos.com/ang-dating-daan-songs-playlist/, a well loved author’s home, and other sites of interest can be a brilliant hobby for a child. As well as having fun and exploring, they will learn plenty from immersing themselves in culture. It gives them a base to build plenty of other hobbies on – writing, crafts, and reading, for example. Anything you can study in science, history, art and literature can be turned into a field trip, or family road trip. There is so much to experience no matter what your child loves to learn about-get out there and explore!

Building and Engineering

Children love to build- what they can build and create with blocks, legos, and Magnatiles is endless. From model bridges and giant towers, to cars and boats, they can have an incredible amount of fun building just about anything that takes their fancy. Expand their possibilities by providing a child-friendly tool kit which allows them to build whatever they like-a small hammer, screw drivers, age appropriate nails, nuts, bolts, washers, screws, zip-ties, etc can be kept in an old tool box near some scrap wood, so kids can easily create!

Painting

Painting is an excellent way for children to learn to express themselves. Open ended art-meaning, no defined assignment, no rules- allows for the most creativity. If they paint the sky green, let them have a green sky. This again goes back to helping them develop their imaginations and having confidence in their abilities. You never know – you may have the dating for parents in your family! =)

Gardening

Gardening not only helps children develop an interest in nature and stay active, but it also strengthens their immune systems. Why not give them their small plot of garden to play with and grow things? You could let them grow things inside the house if space is at a premium. A plot of land, or a potted plant, either way we are cultivating a sense of responsibility and nurturing in our kids!

Cooking & Handicrafts

Cooking is an essential skill for anybody to learn – after all, everybody needs to eat! Let them cook with you from a young age, and maybe start letting them use cooking kits when they are old enough. Children of all ages can help in the kitchen-prepping oatmeal, mixing, stirring, browning meat, poor liquids, measuring ingredients. Get them involved and enjoy your time together!

Handicrafts are anything children can do with their hands- sewing, knitting, crocheting, whittling, calligraphy, cross stitching, dyeing yard, quilting, bead work, wood working, pottery, mosaics the list goes on and on and on. We do handicrafts while listening to audiobooks, while I read aloud, or while watching an art video.

Let your children find a hobby that they enjoy and you’ll notice a vast difference in their confidence. Starting them off while they are young gives kids the chance to know what excites them and can help them find their passion in life later! Most any hobby requires a skill, and those skills can mean enjoyable work later in life.

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Easy Dairy Free Quinoa Breakfast Mash

by Meghan // August 8, 2019 // No Comments

We have been in a breakfast rut for a few months now. We have tried so many breakfast recipes for oats and quinoa, and my kids haven’t liked any of them. Today I mashed together a few different ideas and came up with something they did like. Well- my daughters liked … my son still prefers oatmeal and an egg sandwich. *sigh*

The struggle of feeding 4 children real, nutritious food is real, y’all.

This makes about 4+ servings, depending on how much your children eat. This would last us about 2 days in our house, with 2 of 4 kids eating a bowl.

Quinoa Breakfast Mash

20 minutes

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Quinoa Breakfast Mash

Ingredients

2 cans coconut milk
2 cups uncooked quinoa
4-8 TB of Pure Grade B Maple Syrup
1 cup water
salt to taste
your choice of topping- dried coconut, craisins, raisins, sliced banana, etc

Instructions

Add all ingredients (exclude toppings) to a pot
Bring to a boil
partially cover and turn down to a simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes
Serve with dried coconut sprinkled on top

This recipe is prepared dairy free, but I imagine it would be even more delicious with a pat of butter on top. =)

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Applesauce Teriyaki Pork Loin {a favorite}

by Meghan // August 1, 2019 // No Comments

I am always looking for new recipes to add as staples into our recipe circulation. I had a pork loin in the freezer (actually, a 2-pack) and wanted to cook it for dinner, but wanted something different than our normal pork loin. I found a recipe for applesauce pork loin, and tweaked it a bit for our tastes (read: added flavor!)

Applesauce Teriyaki Pork Loin {a favorite}

1 hour, 30 minutes

Number of servings: 6

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Ingredients

1 boneless pork loin roast 2-3 pounds, or 2 small pork loins
pink salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons (expeller pressed) coconut oil or olive oil
1 cup applesauce
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 tablespoons of Teriyaki sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Instructions

salt and pepper each side of pork loin to taste (I am generous here)
brown each side in oil using large skillet, over medium heat
mix all other ingredients in a bowl
place pork loin(s) in a baking dish, or on roast pan
using spoon, ladle applesauce mixture over pork loin(s)
**note** I reserve some applesauce mixture to glaze the pork after it comes out of the oven. You don't have to do this.

I usually serve this with mashed potatoes and salad, or roasted veggies and salad. My family devours it! As a matter of fact … it was so delicious I forgot to take an “after” photo before they ate it all, so I had to use a stock photo. (sorry about that)

I would love to hear your favorite pork recipe, tell me about it in the comments!

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Dairy Free, Real Food Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Frosting

by Meghan // July 24, 2019 // No Comments

I always find myself trying to convert recipes for our family’s health needs- real food ingredients and dairy free- for special occasions. So, I wanted to share a new favorite recipe for yellow cake cupcakes with chocolate frosting!

A few tips: To make a real food powdered sugar, just grind your sucanat in a blender or food processor to a powdered consistency. You can of course use regular powdered sugar, it is up to you! I prefer real, pink salt but use what you have on hand.

Also, expeller pressed coconut oil will have NO coconut flavor, that is the kind we prefer in our family. (coconut flavored eggs in the morning are not popular here! haha)

Looking for a chocolate cake recipe? See my post HERE

Dairy Free, Real Food Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Frosting (gluten free options)

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Dairy Free, Real Food Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Frosting (gluten free options)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat or all-purpose flour (I like to do about 3/4 freshly ground whole wheat and 1/4 all purpose flour)
1 1/4 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon pink himalayan salt
1/2 c expeller pressed coconut oil
1 cup sucanat
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup rice, almond, or coconut milk, at room temperature
Frosting
NOTES: if you are gluten free as we are now, using a gluten free mix will work well here. I like to do 3/4c gluten free flour, and 1.4c almond flour)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with nonstick spray.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl
Beat the coconut oil and sucanat in a mixer using the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed
Beat in the vanilla
Reduce the mixer speed to medium low; beat in half of the flour mixture, then all of the milk, then the remaining flour mixture until combined.
Pour batter into the muffin cups, filling about half full
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15-18 minutes
Let cool and top with frosting!

For the Dairy Free Frosting:

1/4 c coconut oil
1/3 c rice, coconut, or almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c cocoa powder
3 1/2 c powdered sugar

Frosting Directions:

In a large bowl beat coconut oil and cocoa together until combined
Add milk and vanilla; beat until smooth.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved.
Adjust with more milk or powdered sugar if necessary for right consistency.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

{Instant Pot} Quick and Easy Potato Salad Recipe

by Meghan // July 17, 2019 // No Comments

Summer is quickly approaching- and oldie but a goodie

—-originally posted May 2018—-

Today, for the Menu Monday Linky, I want to share a wonderful recipe for potato salad. I just sorta threw it together one day. I know, it’s hard to mess up potato salad, but this really good. It also makes a lot. So you can have it for one meal, and probably have enough for a lunch or two during the week, depending on how many people you are feeding.

I don’t have a picture of the final product! I know. But trust me, it is beautiful and creamy.

For an Instant Pot version of cooking the potatoes:

peel and chop poctatoes into quarter or halves
place 1 cup water in instant pot
insert steamer basket/rack
add potatoes and salt
close lid, adjust valve to closed and press Manual, high pressure, 4 minutes
**NOTE- you can add eggs to the instant pot and cook with the potatoes if you like eggs in your potato salad. They will cook perfectly!

Potato Salad

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Ingredients

3-4 lbs of red potatoes
1/3 c mayonaise (homemade or store bought) more to taste
2-4 tbsp mustard, more to taste
1/2 c sweet pickle relish, more to taste
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped (optional-we prefer it without these days)
1 clove of garlic (trust me!), minced
1/4 red onion, chopped (I can no longer eat raw onion, thank you last pregnancy ... but most enjoy it!)
1-2 tssp paprika, sprinkled in
real (pink) salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Wash and halve red potatoes (if you like them peeled, peel here)
Cover potatoes with water, covering with about 1" of water
bring potatoes to a boil for about 10 minutes
*the secret to perfect potato salad is the potatoes! You do not want mushy 'taters! when you can stick a fork in and they are still firm but no longer solid, take them off the heat
Drain potatoes
Spread potatoes out on a cookie sheet to cool
After they have cooled, dice
Place in large mixing bowl
Add salt and pepper to taste
Then add remaining ingredients

Notes

This is a super easy recipe, and our absolute favorite side item for stuff like the Super Bowl. We had it last night, and it was wonderful!

Enjoy!

Traditional Foods: Making Milk Kefir with a Video (or two …)

by Meghan // June 17, 2019 // 3 Comments

This is a repost from 2013. We are still making kefir, using our goat milk and love our kefir cheese!

I wanted to explain how easy it is to make Kefir. I read and read about doing it, but having a friend actually show me in her kitchen made it much less intimidating.

Kefir is like a tangy, drinkable yogurt. It’s a probiotic, naturally cultured, enzyme containing yogurt-like dairy product that is amazing for smoothies, in place of yogurt for snack, can be used for soaking grains, and the list goes on. You can also use it to get whey.

Did I mention it is delicious? Especially with a little
Organic Sucanatand fruit on top? =)

Lexie’s first time trying kefir- she LOVED it!

First, what you need to make kefir is some milk kefir grains

Kefir grains look like little cauliflower or tapioca grains, that turn milk into kefir!

You can have a wonderful friend give you some (because they multiply ….) or you can buy some dried kefir grains from Cultures for Health. There are also some sold on Amazon

For about 2 teaspoons of grains, I use about 16 oz of milk. We use raw milk from a local farm (raw milk is healthier and can actually aid in healing the gut because all the beneficial enzymes and bacteria have not been killed off via pasteurization), but any milk will work. (2019 update- we use our fresh, raw goat milk now.)

(Passionate Homemaking has a recipe for COCONUT MILK KEFIR! I am so excited, because now I can make kefir for my little dairy allergy-havin’ Mister! Yay)

OK, back to milk kefir. There are two types of kefir grains: dairy and water. Be sure you get dairy for the yogurt-like kefir. (I want to try water kefir grains next! But that comes after I master sourdough bread!)

So, you need:

milk
a jar
a coffee filter
a rubber band
kefir grains

1) Put your kefir grains in the jar

2) add the 2 cups or so of milk.

3). Cover with the coffee filter, secured by the rubber band, and let it sit for about 24 hours (24-36 hours is average. (the purpose of the filter is to keep bugs, namely fruit flies, out but still allow the fermentation process the air it needs.)

Leave the jar sitting on the counter to do its thing- try not to have it near fruit or other foods you have that are fermenting. You can also put it on top of the fridge or something, but I would forget it up there ….

The longer you leave it after 24 hours, the tangier and fizzier it becomes! FUN! And, if ever you leave it too long (which I have done) you just sorta scrape off the top layer of really thick stuff, and continue on like normal.

You can sorta see the whey starting to form “pockets” in there … that’s how you know it’s working! Sometimes it will start at the top, other times at the bottom .. the grains sorta have a mind of their own. =)

4) After 24 or so hours, simply pour the kefir into a plastic mesh strainer
over a bowl, so you can separate out the grains.5) When you are done, you will have your little grains in the strainer, and in the bowl you will have kefir! Put your kefir in a jar and place in the fridge, or go ahead and use it.

6) Lastly, I take the grains and put them in a jar, add a little bit of the kefir I just made (this gets the good bacteria back in there and “boosts” the batch), and then pour in about 2 cups of milk, cover and do it all over again!

We like our kefir in smoothies, as a drinkable yogurt, and as “frozen treats,” (aka smoothie’s frozen into popsicle forms). You can also flavor kefir in a second fermentation (like you would kombucha tea). Learn more about that here: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/second-fermentation-milk-kefir

After they get acclimated to your milk (yes, I did just say that) they will do a great job turning the milk into kefir.

So, people joke about kefir grains being like pets … and they kinda are.

You have to keep them alive…. BUT HAVE NO FEAR! They are so easy to keep alive.

If ever you want to take a break from making kefir, just put them in a jar or bowl, in the fridge and feed them milk every few days or so. They need the sugars from the milk to stay alive.

They are a live organism, after all …

But with that kefir you can also make cream cheese and whey! That post is coming soon!

Here is a 6 minute video (how embarrassing …) on how I make kefir!

Elderberries {wordless Wednesday}

by Meghan // August 22, 2018 // No Comments

It is almost fall, and August here is telling us it doesn’t want to wait. Here is hoping the cool weather is here to stay!

We have been enjoying so much outside time, which has included picking and eating elderberries from our bushes planted this spring.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

First Steers on the Farm Go to Processing {a grateful feflection}

by Meghan // May 8, 2018 // No Comments

We have spent the last 2 years raising, loving, and caring for our big ole’ “baby cows.”

These ornery boys have been so much fun to learn the ropes of raising cattle on our little farm. They left with scratches, kisses, and lots of loves as they headed off to freezer camp this weekend.

When I think about the fretting, the tears, and the love that went into raising them from bottle babies- the 5am early mornings, the evening bottle feeds in the snow, the escaping every. single. time. my husband was traveling, I can’t help but feel sad, and thankful.

They gave me cold morning walks under the stars with my husband, at a time when we were both still homesteading-babies, learning so much (still are …), excited, and nervous.

They taught us about the first hard loss of an animal you try so hard to save (there were once 3 big ole cow babies).

They gave us endless laughter as the ran and played in the pastures as calves, and heart attacks every time they came rumbling up for scratches after they were 1500lb pounds.

They gave us something to do each day, something to look forward to (our first home raised, grass-fed beef), and something to look back on.

We gave them a lot of love, a lot of garden tomatoes, a lot of good hay, a lot of time. In return they will continue to give by feeding our young family.

After taking them to the processor yesterday, we prayed for them at our family meal last night.

I didn’t cry, but I am now.

Not because they are gone, but because when I think about all we went through with them, what we learned, the friendships that grew just from their escaping (howdy neighbors!), the time my husband and I had together while caring for them, our kids learning about real life from these 2 huge animals while watching them grow…

I am just grateful.

First Steers on the Farm {a Grateful Reflection}

munching on sweet cubes after getting some scratches before heading off

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Traditional Food How To: Bone Broth {in the slow cooker}

by Meghan // February 8, 2018 // 5 Comments

I get lots of questions about how I make my bone broth.

I started out using a recipe from a book, but have adapted my own way of doing it since then.

Bone broth is FULL of nutrients that help heal the body and gut, & improve digestion. Do a quick Google search for the benefits of bone broth, and you will see what I mean-gelatin, proteins, and nutrients dense, it is a favorite in our home.

Our family used it as the base of a homemade baby formula {and part 2 here} for our son with a dairy allergy, and a very messed up gut. Every bit of me (and my husband) believes that bone broth helped heal our infant son’s gut, get him off medications, and get him healthy again, as an alternative to commercial formulas. {I am not a doctor and what I write here is strictly my opinion, not medical fact}

We now give bone broth with a pinch of real salt during illnesses, cold season, and share with the dogs, chickens, and cats.

So if you want to replace the store bought “broths” and sodium in a square bullion cubes for a real, nutrient dense food, that is easy to make, keep reading!

First, you have to get the bones by preparing a chicken, preferably from an organic grassfed chicken. So, I make (an amazing) whole chicken in the crock pot or using my 9 Qt Le Crueset in the oven.
Just cut up some carrots and onion, maybe some garlic, and any other veggies you like.
I rub my chicken down with organic olive oil, Himalayan pink salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic. But season yours however you like.
Put your chicken in the crock pot (I start mine frozen so I cook it all day on low, but if yours is thawed 4-6 hours on low will probably cook it through nicely) BREAST SIDE DOWN, so it doesn’t dry out.
Place your carrots and other vegetables in around the chicken.
Add about 2 cups of water, and let it cook on low for 4-6 hours, or longer if frozen.
About an hour before it is done, I flip it breast side up and season the breast really well.
Pull the meat off the chicken bones and serve as you choose. (by itself, in soup, on pizza, in chicken salad, on a sandwich … the possibilities are endless. And you can really make that meat stretch for some frugal meals!)

That is how you acquire your bones (and flavorful chicken for the week)!

{The great thing is, you can cook a chicken every week (say on Saturday, or Sunday), have chicken for recipes during the week (or freezer meals!), and make a new batch of bone broth every week for the freezer!}

Here is how you make (chicken) bone broth

You will need:

crockpot
water
aple cider vinegar
a fine mesh strainer (metal is better than plastic here, it is finer)
jars/plastic bags
funnel (not necessary but definitely helps the pouring process)

Your chicken has cooked and your house now smells good enough to attract passersby. You have removed all the meat from your chicken, and are left with the bones, skin, etc.

Place the bones back in the crock pot.
Add a 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. This will draw the minerals out of the bones.
Cover the bones with water, leaving 1 inch at the top.
Turn the crockpot on low, and let simmer all night. If you are feeling really froggy, in the morning add more water and let it go another 18- 24 hours. I usually let mine go about 2 days in the crockpot. This will cook those bones good!
When the bones are done, use a big spoon to pull out the bigger, obvious bones. Compost/trash them, or smash and feed to dogs/animals on the farm.
Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a big bowl
Pour your strained broth into plastic bags or glass jars for freezing.

Before the broth is strained

remove the bones, fat, cartilage, etc from crock pot

**Tips**

Use a pastured chicken if you have a local source; we raise our own each year.
When putting your bones in the pot to cook, you can add in celery, carrots, onion … any vegetables you like (just like you did for the chicken meat). They will only add flavor and nutrients!
When freezing in glass jars, be sure you are using wide mouth jars, and you stop at the fill line. I never screw my lids on all the way until it is all the way frozen, because I lost an ENTIRE huge pot of {organic, grassfed} beef bone broth to my jars busting. Talk about devastation. So use the right jars and I’d suggest not sealing them air tight right away, because that liquid is going to expand up as it freezes and will need room to do so.
Make sure you freeze your broth in amounts you will use in a recipe. Rarely will you use an entire gallon zip lock full of bone broth, unless you’re making a soup. I freeze mine in pint and pint-and-a-half jars. The pint-and-a-half jars are the COOLEST jars ever. and so versatile.
I also add chicken feet from our pastured chickens. Chicken feet are full of gelatin, which is a nutrient dense food when found naturally from organic sources. This will absolutely improve any broth and make it gel so well! Bone broth done correctly should gel.
I suggest reading about the benefits of chicken feet in broth, because they far outweigh the weirdness of seeing chicken feet in your crockpot. =)

I use my bone broth in any recipe that calls for broth, and add it when cooking brown rice and black beans. Talk about FLAVOR (and nutrients!).

You can make delicious, from scratch soups like this.

Your family will thank you.

And drink every last drop from their bowls.

So there you have it- bone broth in the crockpot. When you or someone in the family is feeling sick this winter, thaw a jar and have them drink it, or make them a soup with it.

It is truly a real, healing food.

Next time I will post how I make my bone broth from organic, grassfed beef.

Have you ever tried making bone broth? If you try this method, let me know how it goes in the comments!

Crunchy Baked (dijon) Chicken with GF Alternative

by Meghan // January 9, 2018 // No Comments

I saw the original recipe on Rachael Ray . Her title for it was Baked Devil’s Chicken-I adapted it a bit for our family. You may want to look at the original recipe for other ideas.

It is a deliciously spicy, crunchy fried-chicken-alternative. The good thing is, even with the spicy dijon mustard and red pepper in the coating, my kids DEVOURED this. And, without anything to dip it in!

Before I share the recipe, I want to share something with you.

The secret to a crispy, crunchy baked chicken is getting it up in the air- lay a cooling rack in your cookie sheet. Place the chicken on the cooling rack so the bottoms can crisp up!

Crunchy Baked (dijon) Chicken

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Crunchy Baked (dijon) Chicken

Ingredients

4-6 chicken breasts (or any chicken pieces you'd like)
dijon mustard
For the coating:
panko bread crumbs
dried or fresh rosemary
red pepper
paprika
dried minced onion
salt and pepper
*I just eyeball my spices; add them to your taste. Remember you are coating several pieces of chicken. be generous =)

Instructions

Set up your "stations" first:
a bowl w mustard & basting brush
a shallow bowl with coating ingredients
Prep chicken:
using a basting brush, brush the spicy brown/dijon mustard onto both sides of the chicken
dip chicken into the panko bread crumb mixture
flip chicken and coat other side
lay each piece of chicken on rack over cookie sheet
Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is done in the middle
Enjoy!

For my spices, I use an organic minced onion from Azure, dried parsley from my herb-garden-pot, my favorite real, Himalayan salt. Also, I used panko bread crumbs because they do NOT have milk in them; the regular bread crumbs contained milk? I like the panko- they make for a larger, crunchier coating.

***** For a Gluten Free Alternative: I like to keep the heels of our Udi’s GF Bread in the freezer. When I need to make GF bread crumbs, I just toss what I need in a zip lock bacg and smash with a rolling pin. You can also use dried coconut, or GF oats!

I served this to my family with lima beans and baked sweet potatoes- there were NO left overs! My 20 month old absolutely loved it, as did everyone else.

Do you have a favorite baked chicken recipe? Please share in the comments!