Peas the reason for the freezin'

So my son called and offered me a bushel of peas....Cream 40's or cream 12's.  There are so many variations of peas in Georgia.  There are cream 40's, cream 12's, zipper, purple hull, white acre, field peas...and the list goes on.  I have yet to really become a connoisseur of peas, however.  The ones I like are small and green. :)  I have tried several kinds but now it is time to really get down to doing more than eating them.
Last year I went by a local place called P & P Hardware and Garden center to pick up the peas I ordered.  Armed with instructions from my mother-in-law, I successfully blanched and froze 10 bags of peas.  Not bad for about $23.  This year I was offered a more ambitious lesson: a bushel of unshelled peas! 
Honestly, prior to last year I have never seen these peas in any form except on my plate or on my fork so this was going to be a new adventure.  I had no clue about shelling much less what they looked like but I say yes to the challenge!  So, how would I do?  Well, today there are 6 quarts of peas frozen in my freezer awaiting fall meals.  My fingers and thumbs have healed nicely, thank you.  But the process was so foreign that I thought it made for good blogging material.
First of all, have you seen a bushel of unshelled peas straight from the farm?  Take a peek:

Don't be fooled by those innocent peas....they weighed about 30-35 pounds, however, it wasn't the weight of the peas that were going to be the burden.  It took 3 full days of shelling ( by hand) to get the reward of 6 quarts of peas.

We broke off one end of the peas and pulled on the slender strings that were left to open up the pod.  Sometimes it worked.  Sometimes it required more effort to get the pods opened.  We shelled for 6 hours...it was morning and evening the first day.

Two of my children tried the "slice the pod open with a knife" trick.  Sometimes it worked but many times it was tricky to get your slit straight down the pod.  For an impatient soul like me, I quit the knife pretty quick!  If I couldn't get a slender string to pull it open with,  I tried to rip it in the middle.
Once it was open, I slid my thumbs along the pod to get the peas out ( hence, the sore thumbs).

After 8 hours of shelling, we took a break but these pods have a short shelf life so they have to be kept cool and dry. The peas have to stay cold if you aren't going to blanched and dry so they won't sprout.  One veteran friend told me to keep the pods cool and dry so they don't start sprouting even within 24 hours....people, this is serious business.  By this time I was asking her if she knew of a shelling machine we could use  There was one but I was not quite ready to pay the same price to rent as it took me to purchase these green veggies. It was morning and evening, the second day. 

I now know that I will try things differently next time ( like getting them shelled mechanically) but hypothetically speaking, if I were to get these pods again, I would need a better plan for keeping them cool and dry.  My novice plan was to put them on butcher paper under my ceiling fan. 

The next day I was shelling with the help of Ethan and a few loyal family members who were willing to suffer along with me.  I noticed that some of our pods were already drying out so we had to pick up the pace. Tired but not defeated, the plan was for me to help shell but blanch and freeze when we had at least a quart's worth while my "support team" (Thanks Ethan and Sophia) courageously put thumbs on the line!

Along with the pods, there are clear shell linings inside.  Not sure what they do or if you keep 'em but I didn't.  I rinsed my batch of peas thoroughly and picked out any peas that looked like the bugs had enjoyed them already.  Once I had them clean, the peas entered the pot of hot water to boil.

Once those peas get to boiling, its time for some quick work.  You know how when potatoes boil, there is a white foam ( the starch) that rises to the top?  Well, I am not sure of the starch content for these peas but a similar white foam comes to the top so it has to be skimmed off. With more peas comes more skimming!  I was doing these in small batches so it was a smaller amount but still evident.

                                                                    Nasty, huh?
O.K., so we are not cooking these peas (that's later for Thanksgiving!) so blanching takes about 3-5 minutes.  These beautiful kidney shaped veggies start to get a little darker green color and then you got to get them off the heat and into an ice bath.

I move my fingers around in that ice water so that ALL the heat gets out.  Then its time to drain them and put them in freezer bags.

Six of those beautiful bags await our tummies!  Was it worth all the pain in the thumbs and the back?  When I consider the cost, I won't say its cheaper by the penny comparison but I will say the bonding we had over pods and the bonding we will do over mashed potatoes and peas will be worth it.  My mind has to be set on those things or I don't think I would have EVER attempted this project.

One of my friends laughingly said they just weren't country folks so they had never done this before and I would say I am a citified gal...with a little country in her!

Gas-powered Grace

When my son, Jordan, headed off to boot camp with the Army, there were some adjustments to make in the family.  One particular adjustment was in the way of household duties.  Our family holds to the belief that everyone makes a mess so everyone can help with some chore so that our household can continue to function at some level of normal :).
Over the years we've discussed whether to pay our children for those chores.  Focus on the Family and Dave Ramsey both mention this in their books when it comes to kids and money.  In the end this is what we decided: each person will be responsible for some chores....without pay, however, for additional jobs that are outside of the "norm" we can work out a deal.  For example, my husband has paid our boys or gave them some sort of deal when it came to painting the house. 
Back to the problem: Our new season with one less laborer in the home. :) After some discussions, we came up with some ideas to cover Jordan's chores...even dad is getting into this act!  So, one of Andrew's regular chores is to mow the grass.  Since the riding mower is not working, its back to the gas-powered mower. Not only is it a bit more work, but it definitely takes longer to do.  With all the rain we have had here, the yard has been noticeably rough.  Fireant piles are leaping up seemingly overnight and the weeds are spread throughout the yard.  It was time to remind our son that this job was needing to be done.  Where was he?
Well, this week he is a volunteer Jr. camp counselor so he has been gone from 8 ish to 5 ish everyday.  Sounds like a long day?  Last night he went to bed 1 hour earlier than usual!  Yes, it's a long day! :)  So should we still expect him to do the lawn this weekend even though he is losing his voice, has soccer tryouts in a couple days out of town, and will be doing soccer camp all next week (also out of town)?  But here is where the story gets to the point....(you were wondering, huh?)

"Gas-powered Grace machine"

After working out yesterday, my legs were really feeling it so I got the idea that I could mow some of the front lawn and work out some of the soreness.  I got up.  Hubby got the mower ready for me and away I went! 
So I'm trucking right along, feeling pretty good about myself (even mentally patting myself on the shoulder for coming up with such a creative work out!).  About 20 minutes into my job, I start to wonder if this was such a great idea....I mean, really this is Andrew's job, right?!  Am I bailing him out?  Shouldn't I be teaching him responsibility? 
That's when a still small voice in my head said, " You love Andrew.  This is grace."  WOW!

 So, yah, I was getting a workout but my motivation was now shared by the idea that I get to be a picture of God's grace to my son as well as a reminder of the great Grace that our Father in heaven extends to me on a daily basis.  I don't deserve the abundant life that I have but God gives it to me because He loves me!  And I love Andrew so I can teach him about grace with this gas-powered lawn mower! 
Hear me clearly though: I am not saying do away with kids' chores!  Seriously?!  I didn't finish all of the mowing portions today simply because : 1) I am so out of shape that it would take me days to get it all done and by then it would be time to start over!  2) I have some other commitments that prevent me from being able to do it all in one day  3) God didn't tell me to do it all. 
No, I am not planning to take on mowing on a regular basis! ( I only hope I can walk tomorrow....my legs already feel like rubber!) I know he will notice the lawn when he comes home.  He is a good kid so I know he will say, "Thank you," but that will just be gravy for me.  When he asks me why, I won't tell him it was because I needed to work out (although I do) or because I felt sorry for him ( which I did).  Instead, I'll tell him, "Because I love you."   And probably that will open the door to talk a little more about grace...

Lapbooks

Lapbooks are the bomb!  Although we do not do lapbooks regularly, they are such a fun way to illustrate information we are learning.  The kinestetic and visual learners will enjoy this format but you can easily incorporate other learning styles so it lends itself well to unit studies.  And it is not expensive!  My daughter made a lapbook for one of the U.S. states and used it as a visual aid for her oral presentation.  The images gave her quick "keys" so she could do her presentation to the class rather than read it off a paper. 
My boys are older so they do not appreciate them :)  anymore, but I have fond memories of building various lapbooks throughout the years.
 Recently, my daughter and I decided we would do a lapbook along the lines of the orchestra theme for Classical Conversations Cycle 3 content. 

You can view the progress here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/60810737@N08/sets/72157629229065784/ 
Mine is complete for a sample but she is adding to hers weekly.

One of my favorite sites for templates for lapbooks is: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/lapbooking_resources.php

Would love to see your creations!

A Spelling Rule changed me

Over the years I have come to appreciate some of the schools and teachers I had throughout my own schooling.  As a self-confessed Classical educator (who is still learning the ropes) for the last 7-8 years, I can look back on my schooling and recognize some of those methods employed in my own school.  Take for example, Sioux Fall Christian High School.  I attended during my 7th and 8th grade years.  I can distinctly recall every teacher in every subject having us outline our work for the full semester....we thought it was a conspiracy...it was!  I believe they were purposefully giving us the tools to organize our thoughts.  I also realize that I have some gaps but homeschooling has given ME the opportunity to begin to fill in some of those gaps.  Let's look at spelling....
I was never a poort student and I loved to read so my spelling wasn't too bad but that "e" on the end was such a tricky letter!  I knew the vowel-consonant-vowel pattern in words like cake, bike, and tire, but when the first vowel wasn't "long," I was stuck!  Words like ice, love, and Bible didn't follow that v-c-v pattern.  My aha! moment didn't come for at least 20 something more years. 
By this time I was a mom of 2 and struggling to help my own children with the same challenges but I didn't have the tools.   My friend, Corina, invited me to a Teaching Reading at Home and School workshop (now called Spell to Write and Read).  In one of the sessions, the trainer began to discuss this tricky rule....and broke it down not only into interesting jingles, but also showed me the beauty and logic of the English language when it came to this "silent final e."  I want to give you a sneak peek into those rules here:
1) Strongman E.  The most common and the one I knew best.  Strongman E helps the other vowel says its name.  So words like bite, broke, cake, and tire fit into this category. They also follow the v-c-v pattern.
2) V and U take 2.  This second rule actually overlaps with another rule that says that English words do not end in I, U, V, or J so words like lov, tru, and blu need an "e" to fulfill the complimentary rule. Still close to rule #1 but in words like blue and true it does not follow v-c-v so this brings clarity and reason to this spelling rule. And words like spaghetti?  Not an Enlish word!
3) C and G take 3.  This third rule also pairs up with a common rule that C and G have  a "soft" sound when followed by e, i, or y.  Of course G is not always that way but C is.  So letterss like "ic" become "ice" and "larg" becomes "large."
4) Wanda Sanseri, author of Spell to Write and Read, calls this fourth rule "Sidekick E."  Of course if you know that every syllable must have a vowel this rule will make sense when you consider words like Bi ble, syl la ble, or ta ble.  See that silent final E stuck on the end to fulfill the rule but its still just a Silent Sidekick.
5) O.K., Odd job E is probably the one that I am still learning more about!  If I see a word like "awe" or "ore" I realize it is giving length to a short word or distinguising it from its homonym counterpart.  These are just two reasons for Odd Job E although I know there are a few more reasons.

When I took the plunge Mrs. Sanseri's program, I knew it would require some effort on my part since I couldn't just pass the book to my kids and let them run with it.  I have never regretted it!
http://www.bhibooks.net/swr.html

Lazy Girl Cake

So you need a quick dessert for a potluck, dinner with the family or whatever.  The point is you want something quick, guaranteed to taste great and easy to make.  I have your solution!
You need:
1) Box of cake mix (I usually try white, yellow, or vanilla)
2) I stick of butter (I use unsalted)- melted
3) 1 cup of water
4) 1 can of pie filling (even the cream ones like lemon and key lime are fine)

1)Pre-heat at 375. Grease a 9 X 13 glass pan.  Pour half the dry cake mix into the bottom of glass pan.  Spread evenly with back of a spoon.

2) Next add your pie filling.  I usually spoon out "blobs" so that it most of the cake mix is covered.  You do NOT have to spread it out.

3) Pour the rest of the dry cake mix over the top of your pie filling.  I usually try to make sure there are no "chunks" in the bag before spreading the cake mix over the top of the pie filling.

4) Almost there!  The water and butter should be poured over the top of the entire thing but make sure you try to cover as much of the top layer of the dry cake mix as possible.

Pouring the butter over the top of the cake/pie filling mix

So this is what it looks like before cooking it in the oven at 375 for about 30-40 min. until its golden brown on top....not much, huh? 

I dare you to try and when you taste it you won't be saying that!
We call it Lazy Girl because its just so easy and foolproof that even a lazy girl could make this cake!   There are so many variations too!  Some would liken this to a Pineapple Dump Cake but there are not so many in my family who prefer pineapple. 

I usually keep at least one cake mix and one can of pie filling in my pantry as staple items so that I can make this at a minute's notice.

Enjoy!  Would love to hear the different versions you come up with.  Our latest was yellow cake mix with key lime pie filling which we brought to a fundraiser for my daughter's contribution.  There was none left so I assume it was enjoyed by all!

Part 2 Polish dumplings & eggs

Hey gang!

I finally took some time to whip up a Nawrocki family favorite using the dumplings from the last post.  I decided to cook a half a dumpling so I set it out to defrost in the fridge overnight. 

1) Once it is defrosted, slice it up so it can be added to the egg.  We like the pieces to be hearty but not too hearty.  Check it out here:

The pieces should be soft but firm. 

2) I took 3 eggs and scrambled them in a bowl.  Next, add 1/4 cup milk and mix this together.  Add your dumplings to this egg mixture.

3) If you know how to scramble eggs, then you will pretty much know what to do next.  I heat up my skillet and add my egg-dumpling mixture.  The dumplings do not fall apart but they will warm up with the eggs as you cook them.  Be careful not to try to smash them though and move them around just as you would the eggs so they get evenly warmed up.







4.  When the eggs are done, it's ready.  My dad always eats it with ketchup but not me!  A little salt and pepper and I am good.  A word of caution, though:  this is a filling meal!  For me this would be two meals but for my 22 year old son, a piece of toast and this is enough for a meal.  He has occasionally eaten one whole dumpling with eggs but we had to roll him away from the table!! Ha Ha!

Enjoy!  I would love to hear from some of you who try this and whether you liked it or not.

Finished product of eggs & Polish Potato Dumplings

Dumplings from the Old Country

My dad's heritage goes back to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Hungary.  I lovingly call him the "Bo-Hunk" :) His mom and most of the women on her side grew up making potato dumplings.  Over the years my dad has introduced the technique for making these dumplings with the family favorite recipe to eat them.  Not only do I know how to make them, but all my kids have been introduced to this "Old Country" meal.  My oldest child is the only one who seems to appreciate this tasty tradition besides me, my siblings, and the other extended family.  Winter season seems to remind us of this favorite so we decided to make a batch of potato dumplings but this time I chronicled making these family favorites with some pictures!  The recipe is simple but it takes a good bit of arm muscle to put these together so the comfort for eating this much starch is that I got a work out making them!  My next blog will be on how to use cook with them.  By themselves they are  not so great, however.  So let's get started!

Ingredients:
Potatoes (we use regular Idaho)
Flour
large pot of water
wax paper (optional)
2 measuring cups ( 1 cup or 1/2 cup size)

1.  Peel several potatoes.  As you can see here, I did about 10 potatoes.  These take several hours to make so I usually set aside a half a day or several hours, hense the 10 potatoes...because I probably will not make another batch this year!  I will freeze them and use them throughout the year and, since only my son and I like them, this should be plenty to keep us fat & happy for awhile!

2.  Cut up the potatoes in pieces and get them boiling until they are soft.  I usually stick a fork in them and if the fork will not stay in the potato, they are done.  The smaller pieces are just so it will cook faster.
3. When the potatoes are soft, drain all the water out of them.  Do NOT rinse them with cool water or add any other ingredients to them ( We add no milk or butter for mashed potatoes but if you end up giving up on the project, you may still have some potatoes left over to make into mashed potatoes:)).

4.  Mash 'em!  I usually put the potatoes through the mixer so they are smooth and without lumps.  Homestyle potatoes do not work for this recipe so be sure to get them smooth but do NOT add any liquid.

5.  Now its time to make our dumplings.  My mother-in-law gave me this cool Tupperware mat.  It's larger than a cookie sheet and heavier than wax paper but you can use any of these items to work on your dumplings.  It's kind of a messy job so this makes for easier clean up.  I am not sure what my ancestors did for this part of the project?!

    I store my flour in the freezer so now that trick comes in handy!  I place one cup of potatoes and one cup of flour on my paper.  The technique is to begin kneading these two ingredients together into one dumpling.  Usually the one cup ratio is difficult to begin with so try the 1/2 cup flour to 1/2 cup potatoe mash first.  This is still challenging to do so even my 10 year old daughter needed help with the 1/2 cup  ratio.  Start with a small amount of both and begin kneading them together. Slowly, add more and more of each until ALL the ingredients are fused together. The cool flour is a help to the hot potaoes.  No, you cannot skip any of the flour! 

6.  When you finally get one of these balls finished go back and make sure there are no "cracks" on the outside of your dumpling.  This is an important step since they will fall apart if you do not make them smooth.  My dad says that a "pro" like his aunts and mom could put together a 1 cup ratio dumpling in about 20 minutes.  That is one dumpling, folks!  So my son, who is naturally competive, set his timer and put together a 1/2 cup dumpling in 18 minutes, but he was not ready to keep that pace with the rest of them! :)

7.  Now its time to cook them once more.  In a large dutch oven, get your water boiling once again.  Put in 2-3 dumplings at the most.  The goal here is to have your dumplings float to the top.  It takes about 15-20 min for some of the dumplings to float on the top.

 8.  I know its hard to imagine these dumplings able to float since they feel about 1 pound each but if you have smoothed out the cracks and patiently wait for them to rise to the boiling surface, you will receive your reward!
9.  Place them on a plate to cool. Below is one that cooked and started to fall a part and another one that did well which I have cut in half so you can see the dense inside of this dumpling.

starting to come apart. 

  Cut in half.  Quite dense, don't you think?

9.  STORING YOUR DUMPLINGS:  The best or simplest way we have found is to wrap each one in cellophane or some wrap and put them in one large freezer bag that seals well.  The individual wraps allow us to take one out at a time to defrost rather than the whole batch.  Usually 1-2 dumplings is plenty for 2-4 people eat.  If you taste them as is, you might not like them...I don't!  Next time, a recipe with these dumplings.

What one thing does the church lack in order to be effective and what does it look like with "skin" on?

So, this was the question I sent out to a few folks just days into the new year.  And I have gotten some great responses, especially since my friend in Texas forwarded it on to a few folks.  It's been varied but everyone has given some thoughtful responses.
Here are some of the responses I received...and you are invited to join the conversation!

Love in the form of service....discovering needs (hunger, education, whatever), going where they are, doing what needs to be done. ~ Candy Reid

The key thing we are lacking is intentional, concerted prayer for growth of the  body and the kingdom.  Every great man of God and movement of God has been fueled with persistent, individual, and corporate prayer. ~ Bryan Haynes

I think in my church experience it would be true discipleship of the  believer- making the Word (both Christ and the Bible) relevant and the defining plum line truly in a believer's life.  So many walk around without their minute to minute life really impacted by their "church" life.  Instead we have a list of dos and donts that we check off.  I think that would be one.  Most of the women I interact with don't know/consider how to do this so Christ isn't their all in all, their passion. ~ Bethany Kimsey

Not making true disciples of Christ because most church member do not understand or  live out the truth that “All that Christ is ,He is in us and all that He is in us He desires to be through Us” Believing this would cause Christians to live by faith that they can do all things through Christ. It is what God does through us that causes the unsaved to be thirsty for Christ. – TD Hall

I would say .... Living in daily Christian community with each other. And bringing the lost into that community. – Marybeth Treece

A lack of applicatory preaching that creates genuine Christian community. – Pastor Doug Wilson

I would say, living in close community, valuing the sacraments, and the teaching of scripture with a reformed hermeneutic. – Garrett Treece

I think the church lacks purpose. We have become consumers who partake in a self-centered Christianity. Once we are saved we sit back and think to ourselves, "Great, what else can God do for me?" In reality we should be "a family of gospel centered missionary servants who make disciples that make disciples." But we are not a family, meaning we do not live in community or have any unity. We are not living gospel centered lives, meaning that we do not live out practical theology; we have a dualistic theology of "sacred" and "secular". We are not missionaries, meaning we do not live all of life as if we were sent out by God, even though the truth is that we have been sent by God, everywhere we go, even to the post office. We are not servants, we seek to gain from God and from others rather than follow Christ's example, "the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve," we should be serving so as to make the rule and reign of Christ tangibly known in the world around us. And finally we are not making disciples, meaning that most church growth is "sheep swapping" from one church to another. We are not doing the hard work of converting the lost and growing them into Christ like people, and in turn they don't go and make disciples either. The Church is better at squashing Godly ambition than harnessing it for God's glory and the growth of the kingdom.  I think from scripture these should be the purposes of the church, for God's glory, and the truth is that we have a difficult time showing up on time once a week. – Nicholas Rozier

A lack of intimacy with Christ himself, that's the thing that's lacking in the church today.  With skin on we would look like Christ.  Making time with Him needs to be a priority.~ Rose Daniel

 

 

What's lacking in the church today is Jesus. I suppose I should explain in terms of the church taking action, even though I don't think the church needs to take any more action than it already does. All of the answers I read in your blog are true, but none of them go to the root of the problem, which is that we don't have Jesus in our lives in the Church. If we had Jesus, we would have purpose. We would have evangelism. We would have passion. We would have service. We would have love. We would have direction and vision. We would have faith and hope. We would have power. Everything that we think we need or want as members of the church originates in the person of Jesus. As we seek first Jesus Himself, everything else is added to us. All these other things are merely fruit that He causes to grow, but for these fruit to grow the branch has to be attached to the vine. That is, we must be in Him and His Word must be in us. As this is the case we become more like Him, and are able to do everything He has called us to do. ~ Josiah Brewster

TO BE CONTINUED......