Genealogy, I am Doin' it!

These are Rob's great-grandparents. I can definitely see Rob in these people! So fun! They had 11 children, the youngest was born when James was 67 and Adina was 48. Love it!

Memo to self

Memo to self:

Next year, start the garden seeds around the end of February/first of March. They will be the perfect size for transplanting in May.

Do NOT set the trays of seedlings on the trampoline. Even on a beautiful 65 degree day, the trampoline heats up enough to cook the poor little seedlings to death in a few hours.

Seedlings from the store are expensive. It really IS worth the effort of growing your own.

Get some craft sticks to label rows.

Save grass clippings to mulch between rows.

Edited later to add: Broccoli was ready July 12. Grow more next year.  It needs almost as much room as a tomato plant.

Success!

I made some cooked carrots the other night to go with dinner. Olivia ate 3 helpings and announced "I *LIKE* cooked carrots!" Success!

I am a slob.

Actually, it's not *ME* that's the slob, it's the rest of them. I feel like I'm always cleaning the same 100 things over and over and over. And yet I can't seem to get on top of things! Here is my great idea for trying to get a handle on the mess around here. A schedule. NOT an anal, rigid schedule, because that is *so* not my style, but more of a loose guideline for what I should focus on each day. Each day I'll try to do the normal stuff (dishes, laundry, pick up main areas, etc.) PLUS concentrate on a specific area of the house & try to get it presentable. Even if I just manage a few minutes in this "extra" area, over time it should make a big impact. That's the theory, anyway! (And I know I need to train my husband and children, and I'm working on it. But this is a concrete plan that I can try to focus on for now.)

Monday - Family Room/Eating Area/Kitchen
Dinner Helper: BEN

Tuesday - Kids Rooms/Organizing/Garage/Hotspots/Laundry caught up
Dinner Helper: NATALIE

Wednesday - Bathrooms, Entry/Hall/Stairs, Laundry Room
Dinner Helper: OLIVIA

Thursday - Kitchen/Eating Area/Family Room
Dinner Helper: BEN

Friday - Living Room, Playroom, under stairs, laundry caught up
Dinner Helper: Natalie

Saturday - chores need to be done by 10 AM.
BEN - Room, downstairs bathroom, own mess in computer room, cars when dad asks
NATALIE - Room, upstairs kids bathroom, cars when dad asks
OLIVIA - Room, playroom, cars when dad asks
ROB - Computer room, cars
ALISON - Master Bedroom, bath
Dinner Helper: OLIVIA

Sunday - Planning/Organizing - Plan preschool, plan family home evening, plan menu & shopping list, organize/file paperwork, bills, coupons, clean out purse/diaper bag, etc. Make sure Ben cleans out his exploding school binder.
Dinner Helper: DAD

Our Daily Bread

I started making all our bread around December, 2007. Since then, I've bought bread exactly *once*. The rest of the time, I've made it. Yes, even when it was 105 degrees outside. Even when I was 9 months pregnant. Even with a newborn. Why? It's MUCH healthier, cheaper, and a batch takes, oh, maybe 10 minutes (of hands-on time). Honestly, it takes longer than that to go to the bread store. A 3-loaf batch usually lasts us 5 or 6 days, and costs far less than $1 (for 3 loaves). Plus there's something really satisfying about making your own bread. (Not to mention the yummy smell & taste of freshly baked bread!) I make 100% whole grain bread - freshly ground whole wheat (I use hard white wheat which I get from the LDS cannery - white wheat has a milder taste than red wheat), oats, and ground flax meal. Lately I've been experimenting with adding other whole grains, like millet and triticale. I use fresh local raw honey, sea salt, olive oil, water, yeast, & wheat gluten. No high fructose corn syrup. No partially hydrogenated oils. No unpronounceable ingredients. And it is G-O-O-D!!

100% Whole Grain Bread:
3 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
4 teaspoons yeast (I use bulk from Winco)
5 cups whole wheat flour

~Mix this together in my Kitchenaid, cover, and let sit for about 20-30 minutes, until double or so in bulk. This is the "sponge" and it helps to soften the bran so the whole wheat bread is light and fluffy.

Then add:
another 1/3 cup honey (lately I've often been replacing this with 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce)
1 Tbsp salt
4 Tbsp wheat gluten (really helps whole wheat bread become light and fluffy / -bulk from Winco)
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 more cups whole wheat flour (or a little more/little less - adjust til it's the right consistency) / (For this, I actually use 1 C old fashioned oats (bulk from Winco), 1/3 cup ground flax (bulk from Winco), and the rest whole wheat flour - enough til it's the right consistency)

Mix on speed 2 on the Kitchenaid for about 10 minutes. You want the dough to be slightly sticky. Cover with a towel and let sit til doubled in bulk. Divide into 3 pieces, make loaf shapes out of them, and put them in large bread pans sprayed with Pam. Cover with the towel and let sit til double. (Or about 2" over the tops of the pans). Cook in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Take out and bang pans on sides til the bread falls out. Put on rack or breadboard to cool. Once cool, put in bags. I put 2 bags in the freezer, and we use the 3rd. It's easiest to cut them the next day (or after thawing the frozen ones). Use a long serrated knife. I get 16 slices from each loaf.

Yes, it *sounds* like a lot of work, but as I said this is like 10 minutes of hands-on, and the rest is letting it mix or rise or bake. If you're home for a few hours anyways, it's honestly no big deal. Give it a try!

I use a Nutrimill Grain Mill and a Kitchenaid Professional 600 mixer. Both of them should pretty much last me for life, but if the Kitchenaid dies, I will replace it with a Bosch, which can handle a bigger batch.

This is my brain.

My brain is very tired. It keeps forgetting stuff. Important stuff, not-so-important stuff, stuff I wanted to remember, stuff I wanted to do, stuff I was going to cook for dinner, whatever. So... I am going to try to organize my brain here, and write down all my profound thoughts. (Don't worry, that shouldn't take long!)