Every 4th Monday is full of Co-op thoughts, chores and such. {G} Yesterday was especially full. I typed up instructions on how to do everything and laminated them. Mike came up with a better system for unloading and sorting (this involved rearranging the kitchen for the night). I made up nametags for those who ordered and laminated them as well. I expected everything to go seamlessly. It was the most stressful co-op night I’ve had to date. LOL

The truck was scheduled to be 15 minutes later than usual – that meant that it was a later night than normal. We did fine with the sorting and such but there were a LOT of out of stocks this time. Usually, when items are out of stock they deduct them from personal invoices before I download the invoices…this time they didn’t. This meant that I had to adjust many invoices….and I’m still not sure I got it all right with taxes and fees and such…but its close enough. LOL I think this stress of trying to be sure everyone was paying only for items they received is why the night was overwhelming to me.

BUT the noise of the children was certainly a noticeable factor as well.I don’t think we usually have as many children here….and I appreciated all the help we received….actually the noise was during the pick up phase and not the work phase…and my children were a big part of it…though certainly not all of it….Mike thought about taking kids to the park in the future or arranging something for them to do other than throwing toys at ceiling fans and windows…..I think if the order hadn’t required so much THINKING; the noise wouldn’t have seemed so overwhelming?????

It’s been suggested that we do this at a local church….but then we would have to stay longer to clean up after folks are gone….and if the kids break something we’d be responsible….and we’d have to get keys etc…..and it would plain ole TAKE LONGER. It would mean that my young children would be at home and I prefer working where I can keep an eye on them myself.

I like having folks at my house. I like folks being comfortable to bring their children. I love children thinking our home is fun. I like people associating our home with healthy food. It usually doesn’t bother me but I was on edge last night. It could have been PMS, it could have been the need to THINK and do math in a noisy environment and yes, the kids were also not being well supervised. They’ve never been quite so rowdy in the room before…..Maybe it was the moon??? LOL I was on edge. Heather noted and gave me a hug. Cathy did as well and then told me that I looked like I needed some sleep. I knew it wasn’t just me though when we couldn’t find Mike after the last folks left. He said the noise had gotten to him and he had to hide out for a bit. I may add ear plugs to the co-op kit??? :::snort::::

We discovered that Dr. Becker tastes very, very much like Dr. Pepper. The Cream Soda is wonderful as well! I don’t know what we’ll do with so MUCH in our home (had to buy in 24 can cases) but we now have everyone’s favorite at home. I’m hoping this makes it easier to say NO to the junk at the chapel and restaurants…..because they’ll know they can have the healthier version at home. It may last until we move….since we tend to divide a can three ways…..it’s very sweet when you aren’t used to eating a lot of sugar.

Something that's made me go "hmmm".....if good vinegar has the "mother" still in it.....is their any food with a "father" in it? Are they saying that the mother comes first? As in "which comes first the mother or the father"? And are you supposed to shake the vinegar and mix the "mother" up before you use it or leave it undisturbed looking funky at the bottom of your vinegar jug????

Another Monday morning….

I MADE 250 miles last week on my bike. My goal for the Bike is to hit the 300 mile mark this week. I’m really aiming for 500 miles by the end of July. There - I was supposed to make 3 goals for Thin Within and not tell anyone; but I did. They were to be goals that *I* couldn’t achieve on my own….in other words I’d need to depend on “Him”. I’ve begun reading through the 30 day Thin Within “devotional” again this month. I do this periodically. I love how it is dovetailing so well with the recent health changes we’ve made.

Ah well – before I go further – here’s the weekend in review:

SATURDAY
Bright and early Mike, Stacia and I went into the chapel. We had a 4 hour annual PAC planning meeting. This is where reps from all the services and chapel wide programs meet to plan a schedule (which is always changing) and a budget (which usually doesn’t). I think a lot was accomplished and we all left feeling a sense of accomplishment and confidence that the world is not ending and we can continue to function and minister in the “new Air Force”. {G}

We spent the afternoon working on a few projects. Mike and I both have our very own individualized lists that we work from in spare moments. {G} I tackled our bedroom. It’s looking pretty good. I hope to finish it this a.m. (rehang curtains etc) and begin work on the living room….the room of choice for THIS week’s goal.

We topped the day off by going to the pool. I know the kids and I do that a lot during the week but it’s always a special outing when Mike comes with us. Jamin came too. Josiah was working.

SUNDAY
*MY* day began with a grand adventure. Determined to get at least 6 miles in and make the 250 mile mark, I got up early for a bike ride…and rode straight through a thunder, lightening and quite heavy rain storm. I had a blast. I also had profound thoughts which I’ve not had time to capture…..this seems to be the story of my life lately. LOL

I spent time working on the PWOC newsletter while Mike slept in and answered duty calls. Yes, duty calls. Three of them on Father’s Day. This threw our plans for the day off but we had a good day anyway. Jamin made Dutch Babies (German Pancakes) for breakfast. We gave Mike his new power washer. We hung around…..We watched Pink Panther – the new one from Netflix. We enjoyed it and laughed a lot. The girls both called. They were playing on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. They are enjoying Boston but Bre has decided that, contrary to her former thoughts, she is NOT a big city girl. LOL

Once again we left our chapel service feeling refreshed and happy to have been there. We went out to eat at IHOP afterwards with some friends who were in the service.

While putting Stacia to sleep – which only seems to work in front of the computer screen – I researched more about dehydrators and elliptical machines. I’d love to know if any of you have experience with either of those things….things you like, didn’t like, brands that were good, places to buy that were cheap but had good service….

And here we are on MONDAY morning: Josiah will work. Mike is already at work. Jamin has a yard lined up to mow. I need to do a lot of work on newsletters (co-op and PWOC) and I need to get ready for co-op tonight. I also want to spend the day taking care of some Domestic Goddess goals. It rained really well yesterday so I don’t think we’ll go water at Ian and Becky’s today. That will give me that 1 ½ - 2 hours to WORK – though I think I’d rather go read some more. LOL

I just received notice that the book *The Excellent Wife*, which was coming my way from PaperBack Swap, was lost in the mail or not sent. I had begun to fret that I had no more book credits in my account and if I was offered a really good book from my wish list I’d not be able to swap it…so I’m o.k. with this.

Once again my little ones are up before my older ones on a Saturday morning....it doesn't look well for getting a 6 mile bike ride in. {sigh}

Here Stacia and Zander get an up close view of our baby Grackle. How do we convince him without touching him and moving him that the door step is not a suitable new home? Should we name this new pet...the odds are against him making it, though the other two that fell out of the nest were fed by mama bird until they flew away....

Posted this on SHS but I want as much input as possible with this purchase! {g} Thinking I may get some kitchen appliances and computer monitors instead of an elliptical machine! :::snort::::

I'm looking into a new dehydrator. I currently have the American Harvest Snack Master....6 trays, 500 watts of power. The movers destroyed the shield that sits over the heating element. There are no screws left (so it sits but not attached) and it is cracked. I've been using it daily for months but now that I'm using it a lot.....I need to buy more trays.....and to spent $30 on more trays when the bottom is cracked doesn't seem wise. I'm considering a new one. I have some questions for anyone who has one of these.....or has researched it.

1. Is 1000 watts really needed?

2. Is a potential of 15 sq feet or 30 square feet going to be used most? Currently I have six trays - 6 square feet.

3. Would the feature of being able to dry big and bulk items be used?

Here are the ones I'm considering:

American Harvest Garden Master - can expand to 30 trays (30 sf), 1000 watts, on/off switch (I think) - I like the free shipping and gifts at Urban homemaker. Maybe you need the more watts for the 30 trays?
http://www.urbanhomemaker.com


The Excalibur - 9 trays, timer 600 watt motor, 26 hour timer, can remove trays for things like cheese etc., on/off switch; wanted to buy from Urban Homemaker but direct you get all the mesh screens and fruit leather trays and such too.
http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/cat7.htm

L'Equip - 6 trays only (can't grow), 500 watt motor, on/off switch
http://www.breadbeckers.com/dehydrators.htm

Does anyone have personal experience with any of these models? Or has anyone "heard" or researched any of these models? For shear volume it seems the Garden Master would have the most potential...but with the American Harvests you can't dry anything like cheese that isn't FLAT. All have temp controls so the wattage doest affect that.....I think I'm really leaning towards the Excalibur or Garden Master now that I typed it all out...because I have 6 trays now and am constantly using it.....for instance I do 4 loads of apples a week....and could cut that down to 2 loads if I had more trays....LOL

The Excalibur seems like a good thing...but I don't want to get something that seems "good now" and find out later that I wish I had bigger! For example....I had a great kitchen aide but our use of it outgrew its capabilities and I bought a Bosch. I love my Whisper Mill but now that I have a Bosch the mill doesn't grind enough to do a full batch of bread and I wish I had the Nutri Mill which will mill more - of course I didn't have this need until I got the Bosch. LOL That is the sort of thing I want to avoid with this purchase...but I can't tell which of the above would be the best and which would be "settling".

Thanks for any input here, on the blog or in my in box. LOL
De'Etta

Heather’s Wholegrain Granola

And here's the recipe I promised to post when I received it. {g} Thanks, Heather.

Combine in a LARGE bowl:
1/3 cup expeller pressed coconut oil (melted if solid)
½ cup pure Raw honey
3 Tbsp Dark agave nectar or maple syrup
1 Tbsp unsulfured, blackstrap molasses
3 tsp pure vanilla extract (no sugar added)

Add to top ingredients:
4 ½ cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup Uncle Sam Cereal or more oatmeal
½ cup hard white wheat flour (King Arthur or Hodgson Mills)
2 Tbsp Freshly ground flaxseed (optional)
1 Tbsp Freshly ground Unhulled sesame seeds (optional)
½ cup dried Unsweetened coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts Raw almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, raw pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.

Mix all well with a large spoon. May need to smoosh the ingredients together a bit. Turn all out onto 2 jelly roll type cookie sheets. Bake in oven @ lowest temp with oven door open at least 12 hours to maintain nutrients & enzymes or @ 300° for aprox 20 minutes, changing out pans from top to bottom. (Keep an eye on the granola; it shouldn’t get to dark brown.) Remove to cool & spread ½ cup to 1 cup dried fruit over top of granola while cooling. (I use dried pineapple, usually) Once cooled break up with a spatula into bite size chunks & distribute fruit evenly. Store in an airtight container. (Depending on the humidity level, you may need to increase all liquid type ingredients just a bit.)

To make as a hand held snack increase all wet ingredients, more nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews) & more dried fruit (banana chips, cut up dried apricots, raisins)

De'Etta's Granola (Kristine in SA - it only APPEARED that I'd forgotten)

*12 C Oats
1 C Grape Nuts (we like the clumps and crunch but if you don't use more seeds/nuts or oats)
1 C Wheat Germ
1 C Flax Seed
1 - 2 C of Cashews (I get these raw and in bulk from the co-op)
1 - 2 C Almonds

I use 4 C of crunchies (nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds - whatever I have)

**1 1/2 C Oil
2 C honey
1 T pure vanilla flavoring
2 T pure almond flavoring

I heat the oil and honey in the microwave until boiling. Meanwhile mix all else but the flavorings. Add the vanilla and almond to the liquid mix. Pour the liquid mix over the dry mix and combine well. Pour onto two greased cookie sheets (big ones) and bake at 350* for 20 - 30 minutes stirring every 10 min....OR dehydrate for 12 - 14 hours......Cool and store in an air tight container.

Comments:
This is good to snack on, eat cold or heat up with milk in the microwave.

*This makes enough to fill a big Rubbermaid cereal keeper with a couple of bowls left over...guessing most would want to 1/2 it?

**I used olive oil and it is fine - coconut oil would be really good in it. We like crunchy and this hasn't been turning out as crunchy as we like it down here....so I plan to decrease the oil to 3/4 - 1 C of oil next time.

I don't put dried fruit IN the granola because some in my family like it plain. You could add coconut, raisens, dates, pineapple....

I love Golden Temple Vanilla Almond granola and am aiming for that. Like that infamous Andes Mint Chocolate Cheesecake - it's a recipe still in the creation stage. BTW I plan to tackle THAT recipe before the summer is out and see if I can make it healthier. I bought the real peppermint oil last month....need to try some honey substitutions out.