More Than Just a Mama

I had a conversation with a friend today that "inspired" this poem. I love all my mama friends and hope you know you are AWESOME! 

More Than Just a Mama

You often feel forgotten

Your identity seems gone

You feel you have no worth

And your life is not your own

You long for recognition

You hope someone will see

You for who you are

Not only as “Mommy”

My friend, you are worth more than rubies

He makes no mistakes

God made you a Mama and

You’ve got what it takes!

He trusts you with His child

To whom He knew you’d care

For thru the good and difficult times

None to be compared

Live worthy of your calling

You are precious in His sight

That little one that calls you “Mama”

Says it with such delight!

You are NOT at all forgotten

Numbered are the hairs on your head

Your worth is not measured by people

But what God desires instead

I love you, little Mama

I pray you’ll always believe

Your heart means more to God

Than the world will ever see

Sea Island Shrimp (pickled shrimp)

This stuff is seriously GOOD! I don't know who to give these particular recipe credits to, but we first tasted it at Sea Captain's House in Myrtle Beach, SC. Try it. You won't be sorry!

Sea Island Shrimp (pickled shrimp)

1 bag frozen, peeled, raw shrimp cooked according to package with lots of salt, pickling spices and celery leaves in a tea ball. 
Mix 2 cups wesson oil, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp celery seed, thinly sliced onions, 1 bottle capers (juice and all), salt to taste, tabasco and bay leaves to taste.

Add everything together and refrigerate for 24 hours before eating. Give it a shake every time you open the fridge door to help marinate and coat. You can just put it in a ziploc bag if you don't want to use a container with a lid. 

I Look Like You With No Make-up

These were the words that would haunt me for days. STOP what you are doing and listen to yourself say this next statement. MY SELF-IMAGE IS IMPORTANT TO MY DAUGHTER. Think about that.

Suddenly, everything I had ever said about myself was brought to the forefront. "I hate myself without make-up." "I feel ugly." "I wish I was pretty." "Why can't I have that kind of natural-born beauty?" When my 8-year-old said these words to me, "I look like you with no make-up", I was left speechless, immediately thinking of all those times I had said negative things about myself in front of her. What kind of mother am I?

Of course, I think my daughter is the most beautiful 8-year-old in the world, but how can she feel "acceptable" if she hears the negativity in my words? Since she looks like me, she thinks I have those same thoughts of her, right? Heartbreak. How could I, the person she looks to most for guidance, plant that self image in her head? How could I, the person who loves her more than life, make her think she needs more than her cute little nose and big brown eyes to be acceptable?

In what seemed like hours, those few moments of clarity after her statement made me see things in a different light. God must have been with me because I was so broken from how I had failed her that I had no words at first. I showered her with all the words I had never believed of myself before. I DO think she is beautiful, but why do I see myself as down-right hideous? I began by saying, "That is the best thing anyone has EVER said to me!" "Thank you for that, Emma, because I think you are the most beautiful girl in the world!" I continued by saying, "You don't need make-up! You are beautiful just the way God made you!"  I spit out all the positive compliments that I truly believe of her and saw her face light up like the sun. Kids take in more than they admit.  My words might not have affected her the way the pain of my realization had, but nonetheless... I have a job to do.

I need to focus on the good about me. I am not hideous. I do not need to look like Angelina or sing like Susan Boyle. I need to be a better mama and feel "acceptable" and confident. I need to give my daughters that confidence and POSITIVE self-image by saying good things about myself. Otherwise, they will feel like their flaws make them "unacceptable". She will remember the times I slept in the fort with her, played barbies or danced like crazy people in our living room. She will not remember the fact that most of those days, I had no make-up and crazy bed-head.

So, with this new epiphany, I vow to be better to myself and in turn, teach my children to love themselves the way I love them, the way God loves them. No more self-slandering! I LOVE ME!

Canned Applesauce with Koolaid

Decided to do a little experimenting today!  Turned out pretty and I don't think it will hurt us! LOL  I added a half packet of black cherry dry kool-aid mix http://www.koolaidworld.com/en/130-black-cherry.html  to the applesauce right before canning. Tasted pretty good! I was reading some things about canning applesauce at  http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/news/2012/secrets-for-canning-applesauce and it said some ppl add lemon juice to give it more of the ascorbic acid. Guess what ingredient is in Kool-Aid?? What can it hurt? We will see how well it preserves when we open up a jar later!

Mom's spaghetti sauce

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

makes 10-11 quarts or 21 pints

My mom, Judy Hannah Forbes and step dad, Jeff Forbes are always canning and putting up food out of their garden!  This is their recipe (passed down from Ann Phillips) for canning spaghetti sauce! 

Of course, you tweak to your liking and always TASTE before you seal! I changed this a little because I am not a huge fan of oregano and I could wear a basil necklace and smell it all day long! Ok, maybe that wasn't funny. Seriously though, I love basil! I love the smell and the sweetness it adds. This recipe is not "sweet" but it is on the sweeter side, so if you prefer otherwise, add garlic, more salt, italian seasonings... whatever your taste buds love. You really can't go wrong if you use this as a base recipe!

We seeded our tomatoes, but mom does not. She also makes it chunky but we pureed everything. Whatever texture you like, go with it. You cook it down for an hour so the water cooks out and it will thicken up with the paste. 

Ingredients:

1/2 bushel tomatoes, peeled and cored

3 pounds onions, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

4 hot peppers, chopped (we used hot bananas)

1 1/2 C sugar

1/2 C plain salt

2 C vegetable oil

2 TBSP oregano

2 TBSP basil

4 (12 oz) cans tomato paste for later

Directions:

Mix all of the above (except 4 cans tomato paste) and cook 1 hour. 

Take off heat and add the tomato paste. 

Stir to a boil again. 

Fill jars, clean rims and place lids, rings.

Pressure for 20 minutes at 10 lbs

box of canning tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 bushel tomatoes, peeled and cored

3 pounds onions, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

4 hot peppers, chopped (we used hot bananas)

1 1/2 C sugar

1/2 C plain salt

2 C vegetable oil

2 TBSP oregano

2 TBSP basil

4 (12 oz) cans tomato paste for later

You can place tomatoes in boiling water and then icy water to make peelings come off, but we use a Sauce Master Food Strainer. http://www.norpro.com/store/products/sauce-master This makes it so much faster and less messy! It peels, seeds and all at one time. Not sure where all they are sold bc we got ours for Christmas, but I am sure kitchen stores would have them. Oh, and put the kid to work... they don't eat for free. LOL kidding...

Danny cored and quartered just to make it easier for her to crank.

We pureed all our veggies. Emma likes it "plain".

We used fresh basil. If you use fresh, use 3 times the amount that it calls for.

Cook 1 hour 

BIG POT... 

Get ladle and funnel with clean jars ready to fill. 

It's a little messy but worth it! Clean rims before placing lids and rings. Remember to boil the jar lids and rings about 5 minutes before placing!

We used a tall canner and stacked our pints in it to do one run. Pressure for about 20 minutes at 10 pounds

Remove jars and wait for the seal! 

Voila! This makes me feel so good!  I love seeing the end result and knowing WE made it!

Yummo! 

Cookie Monster 1st Birthday Bash!

Our second little girl celebrated turning 1 and we had so much fun! We got all kinds of ideas from Pinterest and a local gal, Ms Arty Pants provided the place and wonderful activity of painting a canvas for the littles.

Made cookie pops out of oreos and melted chocolate!

Our cookie bouquet...

Cut out construction paper and glued to outside of painted pots and buckets...

Anessa made the banner with her name and all the cute tissue flowers. I put the little memory board together with an old window (I LOVE WINDOWS) and added some special things from her first year to it...

We squeezed in to paint...

her hospital stuff, first paci, ultrasound pics, notes from big sissy, card from a family member who passed within her first year... 

Big sister...

A photo I took when she was weeks old...

A special gift from a special friend...

Some of the finished masterpieces...

Pressure canning new potatoes

I have never canned taters until this week so I am certainly no expert!  Not too bad for my first time, though! We opened up a jar to taste before canning our second run and while nothing beats fresh new taters, we will enjoy them this winter!  

So here we go...

After reading several things on the web and talking to many friends, this is the route we chose to go. 

Needed:

We gathered about half of a five gallon bucket of taters
7 wide-mouthed jars
lids and rings
1 tsp canning salt for each jar
pressure canner

magnetic lid lifter

jar lifter

Before getting started:

We wash our jars in the dishwasher and fill them while still hot. I have also pulled clean jars out of there that I washed the night before and put them in the oven just to "sanitize" before using. Not sure if it makes a difference but I never have a problem with jars sealing.

Boil lids (and rings) for about 5 minutes so ready to use when jars are filled.

Clean rag for wiping jar rims.

First, give your taters a good washing! We chose to scrape ours free of skins (although we love them when fresh) so that the water would not look "dirty" after canning. Several of our friends leave more of the skin on. We will try that next time!  (It sure would save a lot of time!) 

Wash them good and let them soak in cool water until ready to use. This just keeps them from turning brown and looking dirty.

Next, start cubing your taters up, trying to keep them all the same size. Fill your jars to the top, making sure your lids will sit flat when placed. I use a wooden spoon to kinda "push" them down and get more in there.  You do not have to cut your taters up. If you have small ones, throw them in there whole. I put all my bitties in their own jar and cut our larger taters up. Whatever you prefer...

After filling, place 1 teaspoon of canning salt in each jar and fill to top with water (tap is fine). I leave only a quarter inch or so. I read somewhere that others prefer to leave an inch or 1/2 inch. Mine came out fine.

Wipe your rims if needed to clear of any debris. Lids and rings should  have already boiled for at least 5 minutes.  Lift them out with your lid lifter and place on jars. Hand-tighten, but make sure they are snug. (Drying them off AFTER placing on jars will help you tighten)

Fill pressure canner with 2 quarts water and a little white vinegar.  Place all prepared jars in canner and turn heat on high. Place lid on canner after about 5 or 10 minutes.  Let it build up before placing the regulator (the little weight that goes over the steam vent).  Build pressure to 10-12 lbs and turn heat down (might have to even turn off). Pressure for 40 minutes. 

Turn heat off and let the pressure drop completely before trying to remove lid. Be VERY CAREFUL when removing lid bc you can get burnt with steam! Use your jar lifter and place your beautiful work on a towel to cool. As they cool, you will start to hear pops as the jars seal and you know it was a success!!  

I hope this is helpful to someone!  I have always tried to record things I do for my girls. I started in scrapbooks and made them "visual recipes" for years. Pics just make it easier to follow!  I started this blog last summer and neglected keeping up with it!  In my defense, I had a 7 year old and a 1 year old that got my attention  first! Anyways, with canning being a "dying art", I want them to know how!  It is really much easier than people think and it tastes sooooo much better than store bought!  I don't know if anyone even reads these things, but at least my girls will have something to see... maybe someone out there will find it helpful, too!