This video is over an hour long, but it is all the members of the South Georgia Strings Project playing a various times. My kids and husband are at the beginning, you should check them out.

 

South Georgia Strings Project Spring 2014 Concert 

 

Toward the end, the Valdosta Youth Orchastra plays two pieces and I think they are pretty amazing, if you don’t watch the whole video, check out the beginning and starting at the one hour mark! The pieces in between are really good as well, so if you have time, check out the whole thing!

I have had a small obsession with making Chocolate Chess Pie recently. So much so that I made three of them in a week. (Don’t judge, I shared. The first one I made just for dessert, the second one I made because we had company, and the third one I made to show my friend how awesome it was.)

Joshua told me that I should start working on something else, since I managed to perfect the pie, I should move on to something else. (Sure, I will, after I make this one last pie, dear.)

I created this recipe by mixing a few recipes I had found and for the first time out of the gate, it turned out pretty well. It’s also nice because it is a smaller recipe, it only makes a dozen cupcakes, so there aren’t a lot in left overs. If you don’t have Coconut Cream Concentrate, I’d say you can go without it, just make sure to add just a bit more butter. To add the coconut flavor, sprinkle some toasted coconut flakes on top before eating.

Chai Tea Cupcakes

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup Coconut Cream Concentrate

1 cup sucanat (sugar)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup fresh milled hard white flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup brewed chai tea

½ cup whole milk

 

1. Cream together the butter and the Coconut Cream Concentrate for 2 minutes.

2. Scrape the bowl then add the sucanat (or sugar) and continue creaming for 3-5 minutes.

3. Scrape the bowl and add the egg and vanilla, and mix until blended.

4. In a small bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Mix with a fork.

5. Mix the tea and milk together.

6. Add the flour and milk/tea to the batter in two installment, mixing until they are incorporated.

7. Fill cupcake holders to about 2/3 full and bake at 350 until finished, about 20-25 minutes.

 

Icing

 

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons coconut cream concentrate

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons milk

1. Cream the butter and coconut cream concentrate together.

2. Add the powdered sugar and mix together until it is a incorporated into the butter.

3. Scrape down the sides and bottom then add the spices. Mix to combine.

4. Slowly add the milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

 

If you’d like to order Coconut Cream Concentrate, you can do so here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I do get a small compensation from Tropical Traditions if you order through the referral link posted.)

Karol, Margaret, and Joshua are taking violin lessons through the South Georgia Strings Project. I am very thankful for this option here in South Georgia for my kids to learn a musical instrument, especially at such a low cost. Take a look at this video from the Strings Project:

 

 

 

The video was from the day they had “Bow Olympics”, that is why Karol is wearing an oversized Detroit Red Wings Jersey (hockey) and Marg is wearing her swim floaties.

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

A friend of mine recently made a comment in passing about some of the things I do to keep the cost of running a family down. I started pondering the things we do around here to keep costs down, like buying in bulk or finding the store that has the best prices and wanted to share them. As with most families, your model will vary, but these are things that have worked for us.

I will start with the bathroom and how we save money on toiletries and other bathroom items.

• Shampoo: A while ago we wanted to get away from harsher chemicals in our soaps and shampoos but still use a product that got us clean, so after some searching, we found Cal-Ben shampoos and after one use, we were sold. It’s been two years since we started using it and it still works the same as it did on day one. We also use that soap in our foaming soap dispensers, mixed with water  and use it as a body wash as well. I’d say a gallon which costs $36.00 lasts us about a year.
• Face-soap: A few years ago I started using Vitacost (which by the way has a nice referral program) to order the soap for our face, since Joshua has a preference for a certain kind and this was the cheapest place. I have since found them to be a good source for vitamins and vinegar (that’s another post).
• Toothpaste: I also turn to Vitacost for toothpaste and I order the Jason Powersmile. I was looking for something that was fluoride-free and this fits the bill. It is also sugar free and it is lacking what ever chemical that makes food taste horrible if you brush you teeth then try to eat something or drink citrus. Also, since we made the switch to it, I no longer wake up feeling like “I need to brush my teeth NOW!”.  I order this in bulk and usually have 2 boxes in the linen cabinet.
• Razors: Well, you can go cheap on these, you can spend a lot of money, or you could just forgo shaving all together. Well, we were in the second camp, spending money but making them last a long long time, even it meant someone had knicks on his face. Joshua did a lot of research on the subject and found Dorco. We’ve been using razors from there for a few months now and they are holding up very well.
• Cleaners: I use vinegar for most of my cleaning in the bathroom, it really works well on smells that creep in when you have seven people using the same one. Once a week I also clean my toilet with a standard toilet bowl cleaner to keep the rust (we have hard water) away.
• Toilet paper (because we all need it and I’m not ready to go to family cloth yet): I have found that Bounty Basics works just fine around here, I buy it in the big packages about once a quarter.

 

 

Ash Wednesday was a day of fasting, so there isn’t much to tell about what we ate around here. The kids ate full meals at each meal time, oatmeal with peaches for breakfast, bread, butter, cottage cheese, and fruit at lunch, and leftover fish and peas for dinner. For my full meal (which Joshua and I had when we got home from Mass that night) was an egg salad sandwich with celery on the side. Simple yet nutritious.

Yesterday was a bit of a crazy day, as we had our grain co-op pick up at 1215. For breakfast I made coffee. Okay, the kids had fresh fruit (strawberries and bananas) with bread. Lunch was a quick one, so we could leave to pick up the grain. The kids had cottage cheese, tomatoes and a slice of bread*.

Dinner was scheduled to be  Salad with shredded chicken, hard boiled eggs, and home made dressing. We did have a salad, but I cut up the chicken in to small pieces, “soaked” them in a lemon-mustard sauce, then Joshua breaded them in a cornmeal-flour mixture and fried them. The salad had lettuce from our backyard, romaine hearts from Trader Joe’s, spinach from Trader Joe’s**, roma tomatoes, green peppers, shredded cheddar cheese and hard boiled eggs. I made a honey mustard dressing (recipe below) to go over top.

The salad was served with a side of Ezekiel bread (recipe also below). The bread was a hit, the kids call it “honey bread” and they asked for seconds.

*I serve a lot of bread in this house, however, I think the bread I make is healthy. I use fresh ground wheat, so none of the good stuff is taken out then I use basic ingredients like eggs, water, salt, vinegar (or yogurt). No additives or preservatives.

**Yes, I drove to Tallahassee for Trader Joe’s last weekend. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. It’s a nice trip with my friend, kind of like a girls day out, plus a chance to pick up foods I can’t get around here.

 

HONEY MUSTARD RECIPE:

• 4 oz Rice Wine Vinegar (I had a bottle, we seldom use it, so I finished it off.)
• 4 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 3 tablespoons good quality honey
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all ingredients in a container with a lid (or a blender) and shake to combine.

 

EZEKIEL FASTING BREAD 

Combine the following whole grains:

• 2-1/2 cups hard red wheat
• 1-1/2 cups spelt or rye (Biblically spelt was used, Ezekiel 4:9, I used rye)
• 1/2 cup barley (hulled barley)
• 1/4 cup millet
• 1/4 cup lentils (green preferred)
• 2 Tbs. great northern beans
• 2 Tbs. red kidney beans
• 2 Tbs. pinto beans

Stir the above ingredients very well.  Grind in flour mill. (NOTE: all of these grains and beans can be ground in WonderMill or NutriMill with no problems).
Measure into large bowl:

• 4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup oil

Add to liquids:

• freshly milled flour from the above mixture of grains
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. yeast

Stir or knead until well kneaded about 10 minutes. This is a batter type bread and will not form a smooth ball.
Pour dough into greased pans. You may use 2 large loaf pans (10x5x3) or 3 med. loaf pans or 2-9×13 brownie pans. Let rise in a warm place for one hour or until the dough is almost to the top of the pan. If it rises too much it will over flow the pan while baking. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes for loaf pans and 35-40 minutes for brownie pans.

*For fasting divide bread into 8 equal parts weighing 1/2 pound each. Eat a 1/2 pound cake and drink a quart of water every day. For fasting I do not alter the recipe.

This is a very sweet, moist, cake-like bread. For a more traditional bread texture I have used this combination of grains in The Beckers Bread and Roll recipe. Replacing the 7 cups of flour with the 9 cups of flour from the milled grains in this recipe. You may also add fruits and nuts or use the flour made from this mixture in other favorite recipes. This healthy combination of grains and beans is worth experimenting with. Combining grains and beans makes a complete protein.