Homemade Pancakes

My family loves pancakes! But when we have them it's from scratch. I feel more comfortable serving them to my family when I know what actually went into them. And as I tell my girls "When we can pronounce all the ingredients!"

So today the recipe I have for you is one that I make for my family. You can add extra things to change the flavor a bit. It's simple, straight forward, and can probably be made with things that you have in your own kitchen.

When making the pancakes I usually use 1 cup of flour for every person that we are feeding. That usually gives us some left over pancakes that we freeze. The recipe that I am giving you should feed 4 people.

Susen’s Homemade Pancakes

-4 cups of flour (I usually use half whole wheat and half unbleached all purpose).

-8 teaspoons baking powder (I use aluminum free varieties like Rumford)

-1 teaspoon salt

-8 tablespoons canola oil (can use any cooking oil except olive oil due to the strong taste).

-4 cups soy milk (you can use milk or water for this or a combination of both).

I mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Then gently stir in the canola oil, and soy milk. I add it a cup at a time. You may need another ½ a cup of water or so for the batter, it depends on how thick it is. That is why I add it a cup at a time. Remember with pancakes you don’t want to stir the batter a lot. The more you stir the less fluffy they will be.

Have a hot skillet ready for the pancakes. Cook until nicely browned on each side.

Enjoy!

All purpose flour. I like to use unbleached flour.

 

Whole wheat flour. This batch is more coarse ground but you can use
whatever you have. Often I use the "Pie and pastry" whole wheat flour
that is very finely ground.

Mixing up the dry ingredients.

Organic sugar

Pancakes cooking in a nice hot skillet.

All done and ready to eat. Yum!

Some favorite add ins: chocolate chips, chopped nuts (pecans are one of our favorites!) peanut butter chips, coconut, blueberries, the options are only limited by your taste. One of our children likes to have sliced bananas and pecans on their pancakes.  To make them like this I simply put the batter into the pan, then slice bananas and drop them on top of the batter and sprinkle on nuts. Then flip the pancake like you normally would when ready. Delicious!

Some healthy toppings: homemade applesauce (will cover how to make this in another post when we get to applesauce making season. J ), pureed peaches (take a quart of peaches, we use home canned, put them and the juice in the blender and blend until smooth, thickened fruit, peanut butter, almond butter, or maple syrup, homemade/store bought jams or jellies. Again, just like the add ins, there are many options for things that you can put on your pancakes.

This is like everything else on this blog. Don’t get caught up in feeling like you can’t make it because you don’t have “homemade” or exactly our list of add-ins or toppings. This is a “no guilt” blog. Take what you can use and enjoy it. The point is to make something healthy and delicious for your family. Let me know what you think after you try them! J

The Convergence on a street called "Straight"

Going to meet a murderer, one who had gone around and happily dragged men and women off to prison would not be something that I would be anxious to do...

And yet, that is exactly what God asked a man to do. Let's back up. The story of the conversion of Saul, from hater and persecutor of Christians to one that was chosen by the Lord to take the gospel to the gentiles (those of us Christians who are not of Jewish heritage) always grips my heart.

Saul's story is brought to us in Acts 6:58. He is first introduced to us as a young man, who is present during a gruesome murder. The man who is being murdered, by stoning (not a great way to go, if you can imagine people throwing rocks at you until you die) is guilty only of being a Christian. The religious rulers accuse him of "blasphemy" but that is their "catch all" so to speak for imprisoning/getting rid of anyone who doesn't share their views on a certain subject. In this case the man who is being murdered is named Stephen. In fact though the Christian church is still very young, he has been appointed to an important post. That of a deacon. There were 6 other young men chosen as well that were "...full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" according to Acts 6:3. The deacons job was to make sure that all the believers, Jewish and Gentile alike had their physical needs taken care of. Some were widows and lacked food, maybe others needed clothing. The deacons job was to help take care of these needs. This freed up the apostles to preach the good news of Jesus love, without being interrupted constantly to settle squabbles about who had gotten more food. 

During his short time as a deacon, Stephen "...full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people." Acts 6:8. Apparently the religious rulers got wind of these "great wonders" and "signs." Still remembering Jesus and His followers, they had no intention of watching history repeat itself. They decided to try to squelch this new movement. These same "religious" authorities still operated under the same influence that they had when they pushed for the crucifixion of Christ. They were under the influence of Satan. They had no qualms with lying. Sad but true. So in Stephen's case "...they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” Acts 6:11-14.

At Stephen's "trial" he recounts how God has taken care of His people from Abraham to modern day Israel. This only angered them further, "When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God! 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Acts 7:54-58.

So this is where we find Saul. Standing in the presence of men being led by the influence of Satan to kill the very one who was saying things that convicted their hearts. Interesting isn't it? Often when we hear things that convict us we want to fight back. At least internally. Now, back to Saul. As the stoning was in progress the "witnesses" laid their clothes down at Saul's feet. So he was very much present during the murder. Watching. I wonder what he was thinking. It doesn't take long for us to find out. The bible tells us in Acts 8:1 that Saul was "consenting to his death." So he had no problem with the murder of innocent Christians. In fact, he liked it and fully supported it. 

Acts 8 tells us that there was a "great persecution" that rose up against the church. And Saul? Well he was in the thick of it. "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison." Acts 8:3. So exposure to murder at a young age has only inspired him to further persecute the Christians. 

It's interesting that every time the Jewish leaders tried to "squelch" the Christian movement that the little church only grew. We see that time and time again in the history of the church. Remember the persecution by the Romans? Christians fed to wild animals and put on poles and lit on fire? The church only grew. So while Saul is busy persecuting the Christians as they fled Jerusalem and moved to different parts of the world they took the gospel went with them. 

Saul decided to pursue some Christians who were not in the area of Jerusalem. "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." Acts 9:1-2. The followers of Jesus were called "the Way." It should be frightening to note that religious authorities were in agreement with people being arrested or murdered to begin with. 

So Saul, and the men who were traveling with him headed to Damascus. But that's where God stopped him. As he's finally getting close to Damascus a bright light shines down from heaven. He falls to the ground and hears a voice speaking to him. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?...” Acts 9:4-5. It's interesting to me that he says "Who are You, Lord?" Almost as if he is suddenly aware of who is really talking to him but he's just trying to make sure. The conversation continues "...Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”" Acts 9:5 A goad was a sharp, pointed stick that could be used for driving cattle. A goad can also be described as provoking someone to stimulate an action or reaction. Apparently the Lord had been trying to get Saul's attention. But now he had it.

As Saul lay there in the road to Damascus he heard Jesus voice. The men who were traveling with him heard the voice as well. But they couldn't see anyone. Saul finally gathers himself enough to respond, "...“Lord, what do You want me to do?..." Acts 9:6. The Lord instructs him to proceed to Damascus and then tells Saul that he will be instructed what to do. So Saul gets up off the ground, and is led by the hand to Damascus. The once proud man, on a mission for the religious rulers to seek and imprison the Christians is now blind. He no longer is in control, he can't even see to walk.  So the men with him lead him by the hand into the city. How embarrassing for Saul.

When he enters the city he is taken to the house of a man named Judas who lived on Straight Street. And there he sits in physical darkness for three days. He doesn't eat or drink. That is a lot of time to think. While he sits in darkness the Lord speaks to another man, a Christian, named Ananias. "...and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

So here is the beautiful part. Ananias is being called to go help Saul, the one who has been throwing Christians into prison. Only the Lord could call him to do that. Only the Lord could give him the strength to do it. Ananias is not convinced about going. Even though the Lord himself has asked him to go in a vision. Still he is fearful. "13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” Acts 9:13-14. 

It's okay to question sometimes. In fact that's normal for us as humans. We don't always understand, in fact most times we probably don't. But Jesus has a special mission for Ananias. He wants to use Ananias as a conduit to heal Saul. Both physically and spiritually. The Lord is patient with Ananias, and explains why He wants to use him. "“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15-16.

And when God says "Go", we should always go. And Ananias did. Not only does he go, but he recognizes Saul as his brother in Christ, and calls him that. When he lays his hands on Saul his sight is restored. Then Saul is baptized. After eating, he spends time there with the disciples in Damascus. Not hunting them down, to haul them back to Jerusalem in chains, but spending time with them learning about Jesus. The ultimate one that Saul was persecuting. And the bible tell us that immediately he started preaching about Christ. You see he had received the good news of the gospel for himself. He had learned that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life, died a perfect death, and then was resurrected. And that after his resurrection he met with his disciples, then went to heaven to prepare a forever home for us.

Realizing where we are is important. I hope that if I were called like Ananias that I would be willing to go. What if Ananias refused to go to Saul? What if Saul heard about Jesus and didn't believe? Because of that convergence on Straight street, the world came to know about a man named Paul. Once Saul, but after his conversion known as Paul. But more importantly the man named Paul took the good news of Jesus to the world.




All texts are taken from the New King James version of the Bible.

Making Homemade Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are delicious, can be nutritious, and are something that is often used in many different recipes. After reading the ingredients on some of my favorite breadcrumbs, I decided to try my hand at making my own. Ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, dough conditioners, lactic acid...have no place in my families food. I can do it so much simpler, cheaper, and most importantly healthier at home with homemade bread. That being said if you choose to use store bought bread, make sure you are okay with the ingredients that are in the bread itself. 

So let's get started. Use whatever bread you have in your kitchen right now. Sure, you can go to the store and buy a loaf, or make a loaf, but why not try using what you already have. In my case I had extra bread left over from our camp out last weekend. Being homemade, it wasn't moldy, but wasn't the freshest anymore after 3 days. So I dried it. Some people prefer to chop it up and then mix it with seasonings and then dry it. Normally I just dry the bread, grind it up in my food processor, and then season it. That is what I did this morning. I dried it for several hours in my oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Some of my bread after it was dried in the oven.

After the bread was dry I placed it in my food processor to grind it up. I ground my breadcrumbs pretty fine, but you can make yours however course or fine you would like.

Bread in the food processor.

Looks like it needs some more grinding...

Looks pretty good except for those pieces that got missed...

Then pour your breadcrumbs into a large bowl or dish. I put mine in one container and then measure out the bread crumbs so I can make sure there is enough seasoning per batch. Now it's time to add the spices!

I like to put all the breadcrumbs in a large bowl or dish.
Then I scoop breadcrumbs out of this pan and add them to
the other dry ingredients so I can measure them
accurately. 

So for the spices/seasonings...I add 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to every 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs. 

Carefully measured ingredients. 

After you mix the ingredients together put them in a container of your choice. I like to use my glass canning jars as they help keep things fresh. All the other bread crumbs I put in a bag in the freezer and will bring them out as needed.

Fresh homemade breadcrumbs!

Try it and let me know how your homemade bread crumbs turned out!

"Peace Be Still"

This past weekend my husband and I spent camping with the Pathfinder Club from our Church. For those of you who may not be familiar with Pathfinders, it is an international ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and provides character building activities for young people ages 10-16. This particular Camporee was for all the Pathfinders Clubs from the Adventist churches across the state. The weather reports had gone back and forth ahead of time. Rain vs. no rain. We prayed that the Lord would hold His hand over the camp so that it would be dry. The prospect of a wet and rainy weekend spent in a tent was not enticing.

Friday morning arrived, and with it a sun drenched day. We had optimistic hopes about the weekend. In addition to our high hopes we had continued to pray that the Lord would hold the rain off. After we were packed, we headed to the camp to meet the rest of our group there. The Camp was pitched without incident, and we had a clear, cool, dry night for sleeping.

Sabbath morning dawned as bright and sunny. Again we breathed a prayer of thanks while continuing the prayers that the storms that were projected to arrive that very afternoon would pass us by. The Camp Inspection, Pathfinder Club Parade, Sabbath School, and Church passed without incident. After lunch the wind picked up a bit, but the sun continued to shine for the most part. Don kept an eye on the radar throughout the day. It was only during supper that we were notified that there was still a strong band of storms headed our way and to make sure that our campsite was secure. Since we had spent the time the evening before when we pitched the tent, and properly secured everything then there was nothing more to do. As soon as the supper dishes and food were cleared away we headed for vespers. During our outdoor vespers I watched as the clouds passed swiftly overhead.

The sky during vespers.

The sky looked a bit ominous to the right, but over the camp itself you could see the
beauty of the sunset.

The sun is starting to go down.

The sky is growing darker to the right.

The Camporee staff were watching the weather radar on a laptop. Then the call was made for us to move inside. In just a matter of a few minutes over 400 children and adults quietly and calmly made their way into the lodge and settled down on the benches. It had all happened peacefully. No one was wet. We were all still safe and dry. A few minutes after we were all safely inside the rain started. And it poured. But we were safe and sound inside, and dry. We waited out the storm inside. It was short lived. Once it had spent it's fury we headed back to our campsite. We found our tents (and everything inside) safe, sound, and dry. As we climbed into our beds that night I thanked the Lord again for His provision for us. We had a dry place to sleep and enjoyed a gorgeous, warm sunny day for our last day of the Camporee.

You see the Lord had known all along that week that it would rain. He always does. But He heard and answered our prayers. We had seen him do it. More than one storm system that came through that day and had been kept away from the camp. When the last one came our way He let it come on through. But He knew that we had a safe, dry place to wait the storm out.

In life we don't always feel like we have a "safe, dry place" to wait out the storms. One of my favorite stories about Jesus is taken from the book of Mark. He has spent a long day talking to the people. The parables, or stories that He told them were practical, and easy for them to understand. After a day of teaching He and his disciples got into a boat and headed across the water. The Bible tells us that other boats followed them. Sometime after they left the shore Jesus went to sleep. As the boat was sailing into the night a storm came up. There was a very strong wind, so strong that the waves were coming into the boat and starting to fill it. Through all this Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat on a pillow. They woke Him up and said "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 

Maybe you are feeling like those disciples right about now. Feeling like the wind is whipping all around you, and that the waves are breaking over the boat and filling it quickly. We cannot always avoid these storms that come to us in life. And they will come. But what we can know is that the same Jesus who stood up in the boat on the Sea of Galilee and said "Peace be still" (Mark 4:39) wants to be in "our boat" with us today. And if Jesus is in "your boat" with you today, you have nothing to fear from even the fiercest storm that can be flung your way.

For more information about Pathfinders please visit the link below.

http://www.pathfindersonline.org/

Making a raised bed for growing Strawberries.

So for several years we have talked about the advantages/disadvantages of having raised beds. After planting close to 100 strawberry plants last summer, and then having to contend with weeds constantly and the compacted ground, I thought it might be time for a change. I didn't want to have to move the strawberry plants again this year as I wanted their root systems to be well developed so that they could produce well. Unfortunately many of the plants from last year did not come up. Strawberries produce "runners" or new little strawberry plants and I wanted those to be able to grow unfettered.  I didn't want to worry about them "running out" of their bed and into the garden pathway where they would be trampled.

Research began on what size of a raised bed to build, how long and wide it should be, etc. We finally settled on a 10x4 foot raised bed. Fortunately we had three boards already so we didn't need to purchase those separately. After waiting out the rainy days, finally we had a day dry enough to get it built.

Here is our first raised bed made out of 2x10 lumber from our local home improvement store, we used our other lumber at home to build a second raised bed.

Empty frame.

Don is cutting off the top of a support that we placed in each corner. The support is there help prevent the raised bed from bowing out from the weight of the dirt over time.

Don cuts off the top of the support.

My lovely empty raised bed!

All done and ready for dirt.

Filling the raised bed.

Adding lots of good composted materials.

I wanted to make sure that the bed had plenty of compost in it so that it would still have plenty after it settled.

Some old hay at the end of the raised bed that will be used as mulch
around the strawberry plants. It helps keep the weeds at bay.

Ready for the berry plants!

Ready for planting.

Some of the berry plants that were placed in this bed were from last years strawberry garden. The others came from strawberry plants that were ordered from a seed/plant company. The new plants are just starting to show their leaves.

I planted petunias around the outside of the bed to give it extra color.

Here is one of our plants from last year. It is growing quickly and already has little strawberries on it! 

Our first strawberries!

I will let you know how they taste!

Welcome to my blog!

I hope that you will find things here that will help to encourage you in whatever stage of your life that you may find yourself. As a wife and mom I am often looking for resources myself to help make things a little bit better for our family. Whether it is information on how to make my marriage better, raising children, gardening, or canning (I love to can produce from our garden that we can enjoy during the cold winter months). I'm always on the lookout for ways that I can do things better for those I love.

A little bit about me. I have a wonderful husband, Don, and we have been married for over 15 years. We have two beautiful girls who keep us busy as their parents. Being a full time wife and mom are my primary jobs and the dearest to my heart. Our girls are home schooled so that takes a majority of my time being their teacher. Having the privilege to teach your child to read and then watching them grasp concepts and move forward has been one of the most fulfilling things in my life. It's hard work, make no mistake. But worth every minute.

At home we share our hobby farm with 2 horses, 3 cats, 1 dog, 19 hens, 1 rooster, 2 bunnies, 2 ducks, and 2 fish. I love animals of all kinds and enjoy getting to see these wonderful creatures that God created on a daily basis. We've enjoyed getting to see some beautiful examples of our Creator's love and provision for us by watching these animals that He made. 

Don and I are passionate about marriage, and helping others to have the best marriage possible. Because of our passion for this, we host an annual Art of Marriage event at our church each fall. It gives couples a chance to "get away" and "get to know" or maybe even "rediscover" each other and God's plan for their marriage. I come from a divorced family, so know personally what that brokenness feels like. As an adult who is married, and has her own children, now we navigate what it looks like dealing with step-parents and siblings on both sides of the family. But I am always thankful for the Lord's grace and his provision in working out the various complexities of these relationships.

So that's a little bit about me. Thank you for stopping by. Hope that you will find something to be of help or encouragement to you.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”Joshua 1:9 (NKJV)