Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

Here’s a Sweet n’ sour cabbage soup I invented. If you’ve ever had cabbage rolls, it’s very similar in taste

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

In a skillet, cook up:
1/2 - 1 lb ground beef
1 med onion
S&P

In a soup pot combine:
1/3 of a head of cabbage chopped or grated
1/2 cup rice
2 cups water (or enough to slightly cover the cabbage)

bring to a boil and turn down until cabbage is tender, but not limp

add:
meat mixture
1- 1L can of low salt tomato juice
2tsp Worcestershire sauce (not wheat free) or gluten free Soy sauce
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp (gluten free) chicken soup powder mix (or chicken Oxy cube - sorry not gf!)

Cook on med low heat until rice is cooked through. Serve! If it looks too thick for your liking, add more water while cooking.

And apparently you can sub golden raisins for ground beef if you like meatless meals! I saw a recipe on recipezaar that used raisins for ground beef in soup.

So tired, but happy!

I'm so tired of being sick. For 6 weeks now it's either me or one of the children. On a positive note, although my eyes are watering and the Kleenex box is my closest friend today, I have made tremendous progress on my very first knitted project!! For that I am happy! I have finished the back of the Weasley Sweater after 3 tries. Try one was fine, until I realized with 4" left to go, that I wanted a bigger sweater for my son. The chest measurement was right, but it would have been too short to continue following that pattern. So I recast on, started again and after 2 more inches I borrowed my moms #8 circular needles to have to do the neck in round, and realized that my needles were British and not the same 8 as US 5mm/8. So because I'm a perfectionist, I frogged that attempt and re-looked through my stash of thrift store needles for a needle gauge and found a pair of unmarked bamboo needles that were the right size. So now the back is done, and I am 1/3 done the front. Dear son reassures me I will have it done in time to wear to Chinese on Thursday night for his birthday supper. I wish I could share his optimism!

Faith in Life Here and Now

Hebrews 13:5
...be content with such things as ye have for He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Last Sunday I posted on believing God sends us protection, which include angels. And in that post I made mention that I had not always trusted God to protect my little ones. Here is a very personal part of my life story. I believe other moms with postpartum depression, or with a founded fear of SIDs can relate to it. So I share it to let them know there is hope!

As and aide on a palliative care floor in a private nursing home, I have sat and witnessed more than my share of death. I have felt the presence of a soul leave a room. I have also walked into a room that feels completely empty, and found that the resident had passed in their sleep. Some went peacefully and some with a fight. But I had never been prepared for what I had witnessed, to affect the rest of my life.

It was with our first born, our daughter, that my faith as a Christian was really tested. Within the year of her conception and her birth, I lost two most important grandparents in my life from heart related illnesses.
Perhaps someday I will share more my experiences with Postpartum depression. But what anchored PPD in me was that our daughter had a pulmonary heart disorder. And I felt very alone trying to come to terms with it. I was so afraid to ever leave her alone. I don't fear death itself, but the fear of being left alone while my loved ones were passing on ahead is what gripped me.
Moms know what it is like the first time your firstborn sleeps past their usually feeding in the night. You wake with a start and rush to check on them. For me it was that and worse. I would wake up and completely panic. And I was so afraid to go check on her because I did not want to come face to face with the absolute worst possibility. And then I would beat myself up for not being there for her. At first I would wake my husband, and when he brought her in safe and sound I would nurse her and cry quietly with relief, so not to disturb my husband sleeping again, or my daughter eating. I was just plainly full of fear, and I didn't trust God not to take her from us. I eventually learned to force myself to check on her. But I still cried and would hold her for ages before putting her back in her bed. But God had a lot of work to do on my heart, as well as hers. And it was actually the day of her surgery (she was 11 months old) that I felt at peace for the first time since she had been diagnosed. I know that the peace I had that moment was from the many prayers from my church family and family members that were being offered up that day for us. But I knew I wanted to keep that feeling of peace. I didn't want to fear anymore. And that gave my soul the strength to accept answers to my problems, which I hadn't allowed in before.

I have learn to trust God, although I am not perfect and there are still times my faith teeters. And I had to come to terms with my depression, and with the life experiences I had been through, witnessing death.
My mom who was still grieving the loss of her parents, shared with me one of her mothers favorite verses.

John 14:27
I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid.





c CEJTM 2009

Blog Scheduling

I am trying to blog every day for the entire month of March, along with my fellow yarnies from Ravelry in Kristen's Reclaiming the home group. But I figure I may stay on task better if I schedule a specific topic subject per day. So here is my t.v guide version of my blog, and like any t.v guide, subject to change without notice! I'll list by my favorite tags....

Sunday - Lessons in Faith.
Monday - Crafts
Tuesday - Gluten Free Recipes, Main Dishes
Wednesday- Gluten Free Recipe, Bread and Desserts
Thursday - Family Life
Friday - Crochet Projects
Saturday - Anything Goes!

I Just Might Make It!

It has been a tough couple of days. Very little sleep mixed with testy relationships and a very busy and sick with flu family. But despite the fact that I barely feel sane, I have successfully cast on my very fist knitted project....EVER! I am making a simple sweater for DS#1, and I have a week to finish it (it's small, he's 5 in 6 days!) So despite all my frustrations, I do feel proud, and that I finally figured out that all the times I ever tried to knit, I've just been casting on backwards! (Silly me!) If I really do figure out this knitting thing,watch out!

Dress for Dolly

I should have been house cleaning today. I should have taken a nap this afternoon, as I was up all night(really, ALL night) with two sick boys. But I am the most creative when I procrastinate! I did actually start to tackle my sewing room that has been ignored since our last baby bundle arrived almost 3 years ago. But I found a box of thrift store pillowcases and some pink ribbon, so I allowed myself to be distracted instead!!
I had bookmarked the Red Instead Blog on her pillow case dress and when I found a pure white pillow case I went to work! Here's how it turned out.......






DD loves it and wore it all afternoon, she can't wait to show it to Grandma! She wants a matching sun hat, time to dig through my patterns (Oh DEAR!)
I also had some old, REALLY old pillow cases, so I used them to make a nightgown with sleeves today to. I love the crochet lace on the bottom!



So I'm ready to tuck everyone in bed. I'll try to ignore RTH chat room so I might actually accomplish something today! But one more picture of my little model! She is reading for Awana next week!

Apple Cake

Here is my sons very favorite cake. It is an GF adaptation of my moms old standby that has been made in my family for at least 4 generations. I will write it with my Basic Gluten Free Flour with Xanthan gum. See the recipe in labels at the side. If you want to try it with regular flour, I suggest cake and pastry in the same amount.



Apple Cake
5-6 cooking apples cored, peeled and sliced apple pie thin into a large mixing bowl
Set aside.

In a second bowl beat together
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar

Add
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup Basic Gluten Free flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt
Beat well. Add apples and stir gently until all apples are covered. Pour into a greased 9x9 cake pan. Level out.

Bake at 350* for 30 - 40 min