Category: feeding the clan

Patchwork Post {September 2021}

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

So much to share! I’m popping in with some various links, ideas, and news!

Rise and Worship Album

We’ve listened to this album countless times since Joshua brought it to our attention early this year. Refreshing, convicting, artfully done, worshipful, Christ-honoring. I want to fill our home with this kind of soul food.

An idea for children’s artwork

Children go through (sometimes lengthy) stages of wanting to create various types of art. What to do with all the masterpieces? You hate to throw them away, but can’t line all your walls with coloring pages held up by painter’s tape, either. (Side note: Painter’s tape does work well for temporarily hanging art work.)

I have ended up stashing the artwork papers in a “file” (using that term very loosely) and then going back to the collection on various occasions. Does someone need a letter sent to them in the mail? Or a birthday card? Do big brothers need a care package? We pull out the stash and look through. Such cries of delight as my young ones find treasures they had forgotten about. They select the perfect one, we write some words on it, and voila! Ready to go! Now to gather up the artwork spread out all over the floor…

~a small sampling of our current stash~

History Recommendation
In my February Patchwork Post, I recommended a history book. Unfortunately, I will have to retract that recommendation, since the denominational and doctrinal ideas ended up being just too distracting from the history we were setting out to learn.

Now THAT’S a fish!
Sammy has been fishing as much as he possibly can, lately. Here’s a 4 pound bass he caught while out with his Uncle Tim. (Uncle Tims are just the best. Everybody needs one– and we are blessed with one on each side of the family!)

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7 Days of Supper Menus

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

With my older boys home (and the leaf back in our dining room table), meal prep has recently become even more of a focus for me than it was before. Also, Katie, who had been helping me with supper prep, is now away most evenings putting her cooking skills to work elsewhere, so I’m back to being the main cook again.

Here’s what we’ve been eating for our main meal each day, for the past week. All of these are tried and true crowd pleasers at our house. Feeding a family is such a big job, and it never ends. I hope this post (lacking in photos, but not in links and recipes) will give you some new ideas.

Friday: Summer Salad, Homemade breadsticks, Snickerdoodles
A summer salad is basically a chef salad made on a platter.

How I make a Summer Salad: I use a circular platter like a pizza pan. First I make a bed of lettuce, and then on top of that I start making rings of various toppings. I always boil eggs earlier in the day so they are ready to go as a topping. Some kind of meat topping is a must when feeding growing boys. Chopped chicken or ham are a good choice, or baby shrimp as a special treat. Other topping possibilities include: chopped tomatoes, celery, sweet peppers, carrots, nuts such as sliced almonds, cranberries, cheese, croutons or crushed buttery crackers. It looks so pretty when it’s finished!

Katie made the Snickerdoodles and they were exelente!

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5 Flavorful Recipe Ideas! (to get you out of that cooking rut)

Published on by Jennifer2 Comments

This weekend we are celebrating another 16th birthday. Somehow it has been sixteen years since Katelyn Noelle made her appearance, and we brought her home on a snowy December morning.

I seem to have a tradition of doing food posts on teenage birthdays, so here’s another one, this time a guest post from my sister Rachel, who is an excellent cook! She has shared five of her favorite, tried and true recipes with us, along with her comments. I have made most of these and they are delicious; quickly devoured by the clan. (I should say *we* have made… since Katie is my right arm in the kitchen these days!) When I made Rachel’s focaccia bread recipe [below] recently, Joshua took one bite and said, “What’s different about this focaccia bread?” I answered, “It’s a new recipe.” He said, “Oh. Well, make this one from now on.”

Author: Rachel Contreras

About Rachel: She is the youngest of my three sisters. She is married to Joey, an engineer, and they make their home up near Lake Michigan. They have three girls, Emma (6), Grace (3), and Anne (almost 3 months). We all adored tiny little Anne over Thanksgiving and I just couldn’t get enough of her sweetness!

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Precious little Anne Harmony

I asked Rachel to tell us a little bit about herself. She replied, “I enjoy cooking, reading, thrifting, and homeschooling. My dislikes include exercising, a messy house, suspenseful movies, and when my kids destroy my bed three minutes after I finish making it.”

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Rachel & Grace

From Rachel: Cooking is one of my favorite things. As a homemaker, I count this as a blessing, since so much of the work of homemaking involves food. I love trying new recipes, and my girls have fun voting on if the new dish should become a regular. Continue reading “5 Flavorful Recipe Ideas! (to get you out of that cooking rut)” →

Lemon Pound Cake for a 16th birthday

Published on by Jennifer4 Comments

In honor of another teenage boy’s birthday, here’s another recipe!

Our second born, Ethan, turned 16 years old on Tuesday; another milestone to be celebrated. We are so thankful for this young man who blesses our family every day with his many talents and his cooperative spirit. We enjoyed a family dinner together (squeezed in between various other happenings) and then had Lemon Pound Cake for dessert. I thought I would share the recipe for the cake we all enjoyed in honor of the occasion. Continue reading “Lemon Pound Cake for a 16th birthday” →

Feeding Teenage Boys (including three recipes)

Published on by Jennifer1 Comment

This boy right here is 18 today. We are celebrating the emergence of our firstborn into adulthood. As a mom, I can’t help but reflect on the experience of raising this young man. I have learned so much. I have enjoyed the journey these past 18 years, immensely. So much to be thankful for.  Continue reading “Feeding Teenage Boys (including three recipes)” →

Homemade Caramel for those Fall Apples

Published on by Jennifer1 Comment

Every fall brings crunchy, tasty apples, sometimes boxes of them! We eat them whole. We eat them cut up into slices. I like them chopped up in vanilla or plain yogurt, or on cereal. We usually make a few pans of apple crisp to eat with vanilla ice cream. After doing all that this year, we still had some apples Continue reading “Homemade Caramel for those Fall Apples” →

Making Bread, in Pictures, with Recipe

Published on by Jennifer9 Comments

This little nip of fall in the air puts me in the mood for baking. One of the great things about starting school this coming week is that homemade bread is part of our daily school routine. We made some bread the other day, and subsequently realized how much we had missed it over the summer.baked loavesOne of the unavoidable little details about raising a family Continue reading “Making Bread, in Pictures, with Recipe” →