4 Sweet Sisters

  For the past 20 months I have dilegently followed Implusive Keto. It's a super simple plan my doctor suggested because quite frankly, nothing else was working. Basically it merges a healthy keto diet with intermittent fasting. Have you tried either?      When I say healthy keto here's what I mean. I normally eat 2 meals a day with at least 2 cups (per meal) of liver loving, inflamation busting veggies. No corn, peas etc allowed. I also eat a palm size portion of protein including, eggs, fish, beef, chicken. You get the idea. You may be asking where's the fat? In this plan you eat good fats to taste. So I use all the good oils, avacados etc within reason. I do not do bullet proof coffee but I do use cream in my iced coffee with my meals. I drink lots of water with lemon eo and herbal teas. That's were Hibiscus Tea comes in.     Hibiscus tea is a great source of antioxidants and vitamin c. I make it weekly for our family and oily friends w...

We've been making water kefir soda (WKS) for a couple of months now and I've learned a lot. 1. Make a fermenting container . Really important if you plan on making WKS! check this out 2.Play with the types of natural sugars out there: a) Sucanat - It was our sugar of choice because of the being rich in minerals. We found that it has to pungent of a flavor for making WKS. It actually ends up tasting more like a beer. We even tried adding more fruit syrup but it became over carbonated and we would ended up with exploded bottles! ** We do use it whenever we think our kefir needs a little extra feeding.** b) Sucanat with Honey - Much lighter flavor but it does have honey in it which can kill your Kefir and it's price is well to pricey now. c) Turbinado or Raw Sugar - This seems to have just the right amount for daily use. We tend to taste more of the flavor of the fruit syrup and less molasses. WKS taste like a sparkling fruit cider with this sugar. 3. Leave a good 3 inch head ...

I'm not sure if I should show you the picture or not. I tweaked a recipe from Tammy's Recipes and it is quite tasty. BUT (and it's kind of a big BUT) the color is just not right. So the pepperoni looks a little grey (gross) but again taste SUPER! So here goes nothing.... nitrate free pepperoni See how gray it looks? That's because I used Real Salt (sea salt) instead of curring salts which have all the nitrates and fake pink color (they do this so people won't mistake it for table salt). That pink dye also gives sausages of all types that nice color we are all so used too. All the flavor was still in there and I figured if I'm making this homemade I want it to be as healthy as possible for my family. So why would I add the nitrates? Because I didn't use the pink salt I can't just leave this out in my pantry like you could with some of the store bought stuff. If you do to try this recipe and decide to go "all natural" please make sure that you ...

For some reason I've been thinking there is sunflower seeds in 7 grain mix. Anyhow I finally looked it up and here is what is really in 7 grain mix. Hard wheat, soft wheat, oats, triticale, barley, rye and spelt. I like using this mix for granola/cereal bars. Here's my recipe. 1 1/2 sticks butter (melted or softened) 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 cup honey 1/2 raw sugar, sucanat etc. 2 eggs 1 cup of re hydrated coconut (very wet) 6 cups 7 grain rolled cereal mix or rolled oats 1 cup raisins 1 cup sunflower seeds 1 (scant) cup chocolate chips 1 cup (approximately) oat flour (grind up oats quickly in blender) You can add or exchange all these ingredients. When I'm going Gluten Free I just use oats and seeds. The mixture should be wet. Pat into a large cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cut bars, let cool in pan. Wrap individually or box up. I love them out of the freezer! Enjoy, Julie

I know I'm getting behind in updates again, but the Great Room Swap of 2011 has wiped me out. I've almost condensed 3 room into 2! I'll show pics once I finish getting this next school year wrapped and ready to go. That being said I wanted to share with you what happened this Sunday. As you know from my last post we have been testing and taste testing kefir soda and water. Friday night Superman and I put together a batch of each. Tinkering with the flavor of the soda. He was excited to have a taste on Sunday after church. As you can see from the first photo things did not go as planned! Sunday after church we opened the front door to the the stinky smell of sweet, cherry cheese. My first thought was, "wow that kefir is really fermenting strong this time". Until I reached our kitchen and found this..... Praise the Lord no one was in the kitchen when it happened. The bottle as you can see was shattered with shards strewn into the dining area. What a stinky me...

Take a look at the results of our first try at making Kefir Cream Soda. So simple and only to 2 days to go from kefir water to soda. Have you ever made Kefir Soda and do have a favorite recipe? Julie

I was reading over at Heavenly Homemakers yesterday about using coconut flour in place of whole wheat. Hmmm . I am wheat grinder from way back and the thought of trying new lower carb flour substitutes wasn't very appealing to me until about a year ago. (I mean why fix what isn't broken right?) Then some close friends of ours had some of there children diagnosed with wheat gluten intolerance and now I've been thinking of ways to make healthy treats for them. I'm a baker at heart. Anyway, Laura at HH was discussing how much she loves Coconut Flour. (She's a wheat grinder also) So I was wandering if I could take my unsweetened coconut shreds and grind them into flour? I googled it and found some amazingly looonnng process. Not for me! So I went for it ( because I really didn't want to go and clean the school room out). Here's what I did: -I place about 1 cup of shreds into my blender and blended and blended. *I had thought about my wheat grinder because...

Whew! What a day. I've haven't been doing much baking lately. I've just needed a break. I've made the occasional batch of cookies and granola bars but nothing like today. Yup, my family has been eating bread from the bakery store. I've been able to get the $4.50 loaves of good bread for a dollar per loaf. So I took a much needed break. But alas the prices are going up and my Husband has really needed some home baking. His favorite, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. He really likes the with dark chocolate. I used to make up 14 dozen raw cookie dough balls and freeze them, but I found that we(I) like to eat frozen raw cookie dough. hmmm A small batch of whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffins. I want to get some millet ones done and coconut. Bread rising in the background and breakfast biscuits. Here's a list of everything I accomplished: 7 dozen chocolate chip cookies 1 1/2 dozen banana chip muffins 6 loaves of whole wheat bread ( about a 50 cents per l...

I can't believe it, then again I can. I remember when Superman and I would sit on the couch trying hard to imagine the day when I our two year old would be this old. Starting the end of her official schooling in our home and moving into the next step that the Lord has for her. Pray for her if you know her. She has many wonderful choices and options to consider . She'll be helping me teach our youngest two anatomy next year and helping out in many different churches with VBS programs this summer. School Girl and I wanted to surprise her with a themed "cake" this year. It's actually cereal treats. Here is our first try at making chocolate modeling clay. I'll post a recipe soon. We used white and colored it. Molding the cereal treats into body parts. See the person with it's legs sticking up? Here's a half a person. Actually a replica of school girl. Here's the finished product. It's supposed to be Urban Girl and Superman on a Kayak trip....

Last week we had the opportunity to go to our local hydro farm. This past fall we had taken a field trip Co-op there and really enjoyed ourselves. They let each child pick a basket of strawberries as gift. They were delicious. Now they were opening there farm to everyone in our community for one last day of picking and it was free. What a way to be a blessing to so many! Here is some of what we picked. Hot peppers (before) Here is a bunch of chili peppers. Some purple, red and green bell peppers and jalapenos. After the hot peppers were done dehydrating I popped them in my blender. Pretty huh? Mid grind. I should have done three batches because I had to take off the top a couple of times to jostle them around. Needles to say I had burning lips and nose by the end. The end result. A sweet, very spicy, smokey flavor. I decided to mix the habenaros and the chilies.I can't wait to cook! Urban Girl will be turning seventeen this week and we will be having stuffed jalapenos to celebra...

Tempation has befallen us! This whole wheat pretzel recipe was the easiest I've ever made. And the tastiest! Thanks to Heavenly Homemaker. Here in Central Florida we have been experiencing some mighty fine weather and the baking bug and my spirit is renewed. It has been absolutely gorgeous and we've been able to turn the air off for almost a whole week. Ahhh, but alas the heat will be back on Friday and will be pulling the pool out and trying to keep the heat out of the house. But for now we will enjoy our baking... Here's the Little Chef with some of her cinnamon sugar delights. All buttery and sweet. Farm Girl and the L.Chef rolling out the dough. Wah La! A perfect pretzel. The finished product. There all gone! Have you made anything different and just for fun lately? Blessings, Julie

For years my Babcia has been relaying stories of my Father and Aunts childhoods. One thing that usually comes up about twice a year is the snacks she would make for them after school. One of their all time favorites being doughnuts. Yum! Today I was thumbing through MaryJane magazine (thank you Lora for passing it my way) I saw a recipe for Chocolate Aebleskiver . Basically, an old fashion, unfried doughnut. Well this month I've been trying really hard to find cooking experiences with my little chicks. Ones were it doesn't have to be perfect (a first born mama problem) and it's something we've never tried before. One stipulation. You must be done with your school work if you would like to help! So here we go Babcia. My take on your yummy fried doughnuts! 3 egg whites (called for yolks also mixed in separate with the milk err half and half - I didn't read the directions well enough) 2 cups whole milk (didn't have any half and half) 2 cups whole wheat flour (1/2...

The week before Thanksgiving and the weather is balmy 78 degrees. What's a Mom (who dreams of real falls and mild winters) supposed to do? Make Ginger - Lemon Slushies ! Actually the ginger in these slushies is the gift that keeps on giving. Last year we had a couple of weeks of fresh ginger in our kitchen basket. So I needed to figure out what could be done with it. I made candied ginger. Yummy! I had a small jelly jar of the candy and a 3/4 jar of dark, rich syrup left. Yesterday we attended a Pioneer Harvest Party. We needed a dish to share from the time period. The day before we were reading in a Plymouth Cookbook that the Pilgrims would make ginger tea regularly . Perfect! Here's what I did. I put the candied ginger in the blender with some water and pureed it. I pop it on the stove and simmered it until all the pulp rose and clung to the sides. I then scraped that out added more water, the ginger syrup , and a bit more dark sucanat . The Pilgrim's were said to ...

The apples are about done and I miss them already. I feel like I need another case or two. Crazy? I'm seriously starting to think that I need to open a seasonal bakery. Here's the totals for 5 boxes of apples: 30 apple pies 4 apple crisps 13 quarts of applesauce 7 quarts cinnamon apples (these were supposed to apple filling, but I didn't like the recipe) 10 gallons of dried apple chips 50 apples for eating lots of cores and peels for chicken food I'm hoping to get one more pie out of them tonight! This weekend I'm moving on to a case of pears that are ripening on my kitchen table. Date night with Superman. Outdoor Movie Night with the chickadees. Oooooo and making baby burp clothes for a cutie pie that will be born in the new year! I also probably should clean up craft room which looks like a bomb exploded in it and help make 4 Sweet Sisters Pumpkin Bread! Have a Great weekend! julie

School Girl By my tally we have made approximately 27 apple pies and 2 large apple crisp in the last week! I know what you're thinking, "She's nuts. Doesn't she already have a full to overloaded plate?" The answer is a resounding YES! We Mom's tend to do what we have to do and what we probably don't have to do also. Ahem. The Little Chefs friend Well there were some hectic moments. Like the small fire in the oven that only got bigger when I opened the door to throw in salt. SCARY. Or the black smoke streaming out of the ovens. I'm so thankful we have had a patch of cold weather so the windows could be open! First timers! Some fun times were teaching a gaggle of preteens how to bake their first pies. They were so excited. My own little chickadees and I even had a chance to bake some big ones! Farm Girl's friend. We made 3 different types of crust: -Whole Wheat with butter -White flour with butter -White four and vegetable shortening Flakiness Fa...

Bakerella and the Cake Boss we are not! But we sure enjoy pretending we are and acquiring some new skills a long the way! I really have to make an effort at times to just let my chickadees do it their own way. So I set a morning a aside a couple of weeks ago for them to practice there cake decorating skills. The white and chocolate cupcake pictures are from that day. Farm Girl concentrating... Isn't she sweet! Farm girl learned to make this and the flower cookie below. She had a great time at a birthday party with friends creating and decorating. I thought she did a terrific job on these little flowers. This was the Little Chefs first experience. It was all about squeezing hard and getting as much on the cupcake as possible. More chocolate please! Some of the finished product. Here is a beautiful cake that was created by a friend at Country Boy's . She loves to make cakes like the Cake Boss. What neat birthday gift for the Little Chef who really wanted a Pink Castle Cake ...