Tasty Tuesday - Cauliflower Ham Casserole

I know it's been a while since I've shared a recipe, but I really haven't been doing too much baking/cooking with any new ones lately, so I haven't had much to share. We have a huge abundance of cauliflower in our garden this year that is just starting to be ready for picking so I thought I would try out a new dinner recipe tonight. I wasn't sure how it would go over with the kids since they aren't the most willing to try new stuff, but Sweetie loved it and kept asking for more and Buddy even said it tasted better than he thought it would!

Ingredients
4 cups chopped fresh cauliflower
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups Twin Brook Creamery whole milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained

TOPPING:
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Directions
Place cauliflower in a large saucepan; cover with 1 in. water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, in another large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese and sour cream until melted.
Drain cauliflower. In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, ham and mushrooms. Add cheese sauce and toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish.
Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until heated through.

The No Shampoo Experiment

I've started a new experiment yesterday. I have decided to quit using shampoo. No that doesn't mean I am going to smell and not be clean (at least I hope not!) I have come across quite a few bloggers lately that are trying the no shampoo experiment, mostly because of all the weird ingredients in shampoo, but some to save money. Well, I'm Dutch and saving money is something I am always looking to do, so I was a little interested. I did a little research and found a few helpful websites including this one and this one on making your own shampoo.

Here is what you will need:

Yep, that's it. Pretty cheap, huh? That's what I thought, so I thought it was worth a try. All you need to do is dissolve 1 Tbsp of baking soda in 1 cup of warm water and apply to your scalp. Let it sit for a minute and then rinse it out. Then do the same with the apple cider vinegar. I have to say, I thought the vinegar was kind of a weird one, but it is an amazing detangler. I am going to start using that for Sweetheart as well since it is always so hard to comb through her hair after we wash it. Yesterday was the first day I tried it, so I haven't noticed a huge difference yet. I normally wash my hair every other day, and on the day I don't wash it, it can be kinda flat. Today, however, I think that it still feels and looks fuller. Hopefully that is a good sign that things will keep going well, but I will try to remember to update you all in a few weeks and let you know how it is going! If you are interested in trying for yourself and want to know more about what's in your shampoo (instead of just doing it to be cheap!) you can check out this site to see how your current shampoo and conditioners rate.

An Update!

WARNING: Long post with no pictures! (Sorry!)

I know it has been a while since I posted anything, so I thought it was time for an update on what has been keeping us so busy around here! Between all the berry picking, jam making, and berry freezing we've been doing, we have been trying to get out and do a few things with the kids. Last week my parents and relatives went camping and I took the kids for a day to go visit them. We spent most of the day at the beach and the kids played with cousins and had a great time. On Saturday we headed to town for the Raspberry festival and car show. Buddy loved all the cars! This week, I feel like I've spent most of my time at the doctor's office. On Monday I had my regular check up and the doctor said it was time for my glucose blood test. That requires a 4 hour fast and since I had a couple hours down already I decided to do it that afternoon, so I went back in later for that. On Tuesday the nurse called and said I failed, so I needed to take another blood test that took 3 hours after fasting again. So I waited 4 hours and went in for the test, but the lab girl told me I needed to fast 12 hours this time! So that ended up being a waste of fasting time and driving to the doctor's office. So yesterday morning I didn't eat any breakfast and went in for the test. It takes 3 hours and they have to draw your blood every hour so I spent quite a bit of time there again and I have to say, making a pregnancy lady fast for 15 hours is just cruel! I was so hungry all morning! I haven't heard back from the doctor yet, so I don't know the results, but I really hope they come out normal.
Buddy has been begging to start school again, so I have also been trying to get everything together for the coming year. I am trying to get as much prepared as possible so I won't have to do too much prep work when the new baby is here. I have a lot done, so we started our first day this morning. We are trying out a new workbox system this time and the kids really liked it. I think it will also help me be better prepared each day by getting everything ready and into their boxes the night before. The only trouble is keeping Lovebug out of them. Maybe I will have to get him is own boxes to help with that. (And I am in need of a nice globe and old National Geographic magazines if anyone has any they would like to donate to our school room!)
In a couple weeks, we will be having a shower at our house for my future sister-in-law, so I decided that it was about time to get some curtains put up in our living room (after living here for only 3+ years!). So I have been working on some like the ones I found in this post over at A Soft Place to Land. We'll see if I can get them to turn out half way decent and I will post pics later if they do.
Most of the people working on the farm are taking vacation time this month, so Hubby has been busy filling in when people are gone. He is out mowing the fields today and hopefully we can chop the grass tomorrow. He also wants to bring cows to the fair this year so he has to start working on getting them picked out and ready.
Well, now that you are all up to speed with life around here, I better go get something done!

Shades of Morning - Review

I recently received Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky for review, and I LOVED it! It is one of those books that make you want to ignore the dirty house, fighting kids, and dinner that needs to be made just to keep reading! (Of course I didn't ignore my kids or not make dinner, but maybe the house didn't get as clean the last few days!) I thought Marlo Schalesky did an excellent job of writing this book. I love Christian romances and this is a good one. The main character Marnie must face the past that she ran away from years ago when her sister dies and leaves Marnie as the guardian of her son. Emmit, who has Down syndrome, helps her face her sorrows and regrets and begin to heal. But the story also has some suspense and a surprise ending, which make you want to read the whole book in one sitting!

Summary:
Marnie doesn’t know much about miracles. Mistakes maybe. Accidents, too. And monstrous mess-ups. She knows a lot about those. But miracles? Those are for other people. But, Marnie is about to discover that God can turn a past full of regrets into a beautiful future.

Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way away from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that’s nobody else’s business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church—they all think she’s the very model of compassion and kindness.

Then Marnie’s past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son—a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome—and that she’s woefully unprepared to care for him. What’s worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister’s attorney, a man Marnie once loved—and abandoned. As Emmit (and Taylor) work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must at last face the scripts of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

Author Bio:
Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University, Marlo also has a masters of theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, you can do so here.

This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah.

Homemade Tutu

Remember the tutu that Sweetie was wearing in the pictures from her birthday? Well, I made that for her and it was so easy! I thought I would share how to make one with you so you can make one for your little princess as well.

What you will need:
6 yards of tulle
Enough 3/4 or 1 inch elastic to fit around the waist
Scissors
Measuring tape
Sewing machine or thread and needle

I let Sweetie pick out the colors for hers. You could do it all one color or multicolor, but you just need a total of 6 yards. Then you need to cut it into 6 inch strips. I left mine the width of the tulle and it reaches the floor when Sweetie wears it, so if you are making it for someone under 4 you may want to also shorten the 6 inch strips to your desired length.

Then you need to measure the waist of your girl and sew your elastic in a circle to fit her.

Next, take a strip of your tulle and fold it in half and pull the folded end through the middle of the elastic making a loop.

Then pull the ends of the tulle through the loop.

Pull it tight so that it looks like this.

Continue doing that all the way around the elastic with all the strips of tulle.

And that's it! Give it to your girl and watch her twirl!

See this post for a list of the blogs that I link to.

9 Years!

Nine years ago today I married my best friend! I can't believe that it has been that long already! We have been so blessed by 3 (and soon to be 4) beautiful children and many happy memories together. I can't wait to see what the next nine years (and more!) will bring for us!

Berries, Berries, Berries!

I was beginning to think my little berry patch wouldn't produce anything but mold this year, but the week before we went camping they all started to ripen up! This was my biggest picking, but I have been out there about twice a week and have gotten a ton of berries. It ended up being a good thing we had to post-pone our camping, otherwise they all would have ripened and been moldy by the time we got home. There's probably only about one more picking of my strawberries left, which is good because my freezer is getting really full! It is supposed to be really warm at the end of the week, which should ripen up the raspberries and it will be on to picking those for a few weeks!

Camping!

We had a great time camping this week (except maybe Hubby who only goes because he loves us so much:))! We went to my favorite place, Deception Pass. It wasn't hot, sunny weather like we wanted, but it wasn't too cold either. It only rained on Thursday and even then it wasn't too much. The kids had so much fun exploring and playing and just being outside all the time. We hiked up to the bridge one morning. Being six months pregnant makes it a little more challenging, but I made it!

The kids loved throwing rocks in the water and I think Lovebug could have kept doing it until there were no more rocks left!

A wagon is great for hauling kids and stuff around!

Buddy loves showing off and being goofy!

Our camera died after the second day so we didn't get too many pictures. We also spent an afternoon swimming at the lake, an evening riding the ferry and getting dinner in Port Townsend, a morning playing at McDonald's while it rained, and lots of time going for walks and exploring the beaches. Even with an 18 month-old I thought it was a pretty relaxing vacation (I'm sure Hubby would disagree!) and I even got a book read during nap time and after the kids went to bed at night! Now I need to go finish the laundry and putting the tent trailer away!