Magic in Rainbows

A couple of days ago, my son came home from school excited to show me something. He always makes me close my eyes, and tells me no peaking; however, I turn into a big kid again and I squint, so I can still see a bit. He pulled out a piece of construction paper with a drawing, and then yelled "You can open your eyes now!". He had this picture.....

He didn't even allow me to ask him about the picture before he exclaimed "Mom, it's me and you next to a rainbow!". He proceeded to tell me how "rainbows are magic", and wanted to know if I had ever seen one. I told him I had, and then he talked about one that he saw last week with such awe and amazement. We hung his picture on the refrigerator, but I started reflecting on his concept that there is magic in rainbows. 

Think about the first time that you saw a rainbow. It was magical, right? Magical may not be the word that you would use to describe it now, but you may choose similar words like fascinating, breath taking, awe inspiring, beautiful, etc. A rainbow doesn't happen every day, so it's rarity holds some magic. Every time I see a rainbow, it brings back a childhood light and a smile to my face.

The rainbow that Malachi drew was no different. In it, there is "magic", or divine power. When he was just two, a doctor diagnosed him with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). After many years of therapies and interventions, a lot of patience and acceptance, and loads of love, Malachi produced this picture. He is seven now, and in this picture, I am part of his world. I smiled like a child, in awe of his rainbow's simplicity, yet knowing how complex the picture is. The picture tells so many magical stories, of first words, complete sentences, learning to read, learning to love, showing affection, and conquering mountains to see the rainbows! So, there is magic in rainbows.

“Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.” ― Nora Roberts

Bountiful Pantry Cookies

I usually clean out, sort, and reorganize my pantry once a month. When I do, I make Bountiful Pantry Cookies! Basically, this cookie consists of whatever I have on hand that can be thrown into an oatmeal cookie base. Today, I have dried organic blueberries, dried organic cherries, and raw slivered almonds. This is what our cookies are going to have in them! The wonderful thing about this recipe is that it can use almost any dried ingredient that you have a little extra of (i.e. raisins, cranberries, walnuts, pecans, coconut, peanuts, dried apples, etc.). Obviously, fruits and nuts are better in cookies, but feel free to experiment!

You have to have a good cookie base, and this is my favorite recipe:

• ½ pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1½ c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• ½ tsp. salt
• 3 c. oats
• Up to 3 cups of your preferred dry ingredients (chocolate, nuts, fruits, etc.)

**For this recipe, I used 1 cup almonds, 1 cup blueberries, and 1 cup cherries** 

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. 

                                                   

 Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

 Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon (optional), and salt; mix well. 

 Add oats and dried ingredients. 

 Continue to mix well, until combined.

 Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

 Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.

Enjoy!

Our Goat Adventure...and our homemade goat feed mix!

On February 12, 2014, we welcomed home Lil' Tex (Nubian doe, red hair), Rueger (Nubian buck, white hair), and Hope (Nubian doe, black). Here are a few pictures of them making it home:

  

The reason I call it an adventure is because we weren't planning on goat ownership. As of the day we brought them home, I bought over $300 in goat supplies, and housed them in a large dog kennel because we hadn't built our goat fence and had nothing for goats! Within three days, I had our fence built and our goats felt more comfortable. Below is a picture of my nephew and his buddies building our goat fence!

Do I recommend starting out like this? No. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret the way we did it, but I do wish we had been a tad more prepared. As a result of the craziness, our main milker, Lil' Tex, lost a majority of her milk production, and we have since had to dry her up. Now, within two weeks of obtaining our goats, Hope gave birth to a buckling, who we named Slingshot! We did know she was pregnant, but we had no idea she was in labor! Slingshot was a complete surprise, because when we went out the night of 02/23/2014 to feed our goats, Phillip thought he stepped on a cat, but it was in fact a baby goat! So, I prepared and stressed about delivering a goat, and God took care of it for me! 

Now, we have four goats! We love them all! Malachi loves to move the kennel so he can use it to reach limbs for them.

 As a family, we made the decision to take our children's old playhouse to make our goats a little goat house! The goats love it, and it is the perfect size for our four goats!

 Now, we are unconventional when it comes to goat ownership. We don't vaccinate our goats, and we feed them an all-natural diet. They are given lots of plant based kitchen scraps, and I will admit that I sometimes make them special salads out of love! At least once a day, they are given two large scoops of our homemade goat feed mix (recipe below) and I make sure they have alfalfa hay and water all of the time. One website that I use for a lot of helpful information is www.fiascofarm.com. (They have the best goat wipe recipe!!!)

So, you probably didn't want to hear our story, but you probably did look at this to find a feed recipe! So, here you go:

Camp Family Ranch Goat Feed

Ingredients: 2 - 50 lb. bags of Rogue Feed Alfalfa pellets, 1 - 25 lb. bag of green peas, 1 - 25 lb. bag of black oil sunflower seed

 You will also need a large storage container. We use a galvanized trash can!

 Place several scoops of alfalfa pellets in the can.

 Add a large scoop of blackoil sunflower seed.

 Add a large scoop of dried green peas.

 (This is what it will look like)

 Now, using your scoop, mix it until it is combined. You will want to do layers to make certain that every scoop has a good mix!

Obviously, all four goats love this! I hope yours will too!

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

The past couple of days, I have been feeling sick...congestion, sinus pressure, upset stomach, etc. Anyway, when I am feeling under the weather, I try to prepare a nutrient dense soup to bring my body back to normal. Not only that, it is quick and easy, and doesn't require me to do a whole lot of planning. Tonight, we are having homemade vegetable beef soup.

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground beef
1 whole onion
1 head of cabbage
1/2 stalk of celery (I prefer the inner stalk, so I can cut the outer for snack dipping)
1 bunch of carrots (approximately a pound)
2 cups of green beans
2 cups of whole kernel corn
1 pound of small tomatoes
1 TBSP Salt
1 TSP Pepper
1 TSP Granulated Garlic
1/2 TBSP Parsley
15 oz. Tomato Sauce
6 - 15oz. cans of water

First, dice your onion and place in a large stockpot with one pound of ground beef, over medium-high heat.

 Brown the onion and beef until it is mostly brown. Don't worry, it will still have plenty of time to cook.

 Dice an entire head of cabbage and add to your mixture, and stir.

 Add 1 TBSP of salt,

 1 TSP of pepper,

 1 TSP of granulated garlic, and stir well. Lower your heat to low, to prevent burning.

 Next, cut one pound of  mini tomatoes into quarters, and add to your mixture. I use Trader Joe's Mini Heirloom Tomatoes, because we love the colorful variety. You could also substitute canned tomatoes if you must.

 Then, add two cups of whole kernel corn (fresh or frozen).

 Add two cups of chopped green beans (fresh or frozen).

 Add 1/2 TBSP of dried chopped parsley, and stir well.

 Grab your celery heart and carrots. Wash them both thoroughly, and dice/chop them to your liking.

 After all of these things are in the pot, stir to combine well. It should look similar to this.

Now, add a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce. Then, use the same can and put 6 cans of water into the pot. Stir to combine. 

 

Now, return the heat to Medium-High and allow the soup to simmer. **Note: If you would like to add chopped potatoes, rice, or pasta, this is the time.**

After about ten minutes, or when all vegetables are tender, the soup is ready to be eaten.

This is so simple, and is full of ingredients that are good for your body! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.