The Great Adventure: An unexpected purchase

Shortly after my thoughts on transforming our home environment, a friend was telling me how she was "milling" her own flour.  Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was her turning a crank of a mill as the grain was mashed into flour, outside in the backyard and I thought, "How in the world does she have time to do that? and "What a silly thing to do when you can buy flour at the store."  Whole grain flour had not been introduced to me up till this point and here she was, making her big debut and I shut her down.  I did not know the benefits of whole grain yet but I was semi-interested in the whole "milling" process. 

As the weeks went on, I thought more about how neat this was...I could make my own flour (and it was alot cheaper too!)  So I priced out the good ole' Nutrimill from a good friend locally who sells them.  God's timing is always so perfect and unfortunately this was not the time to buy the mill :(  So I waited patiently and wondered when the day would come.  I waited longer and still no extra money for the mill.

Christmas was just around the corner and I thought just maybe, someone "might" get me the mill.  Christmas came and went....no mill :(  (I know, I know.....bear with me....most people want big glorious things and here I am wishing for a flour mill....its just me.....I never thought in a million years that I would ever dream of getting a flour mill :)  Then, very graciously, one of our family members allowed me to return some gifts and use the money toward the mill !!!!!!! I picked it up in January 2007.  It was glorious and now I could forever use whole grain, non-processed, no bleach, free from chemical flour from my very own kitchen.

I love the mill.....how much do I love my mill?  I have not used flour from the store in this home since January 2007....cheaper and much more healthy.  I use the flour from our mill for everything.....cinnamon rolls (actually rising right now as we speak for Easter tomorrow), waffles, pizza, bread, muffins, cookies (yum)....you can substitute the whole grain flour for flour in any of your favorite recipes.

Whole grains have shown to be better for you than white flour.  I have had two pregnancies now since switching over to whole grain everything (except the occassional white bread at restaurants and fast food) and they were both amazing.  I really think that switching to whole grains helped my body get the extra nourishment it wasn't getting from store bought bread (basically dead food...nutritionally I mean) to nourishing and nutrient dense whole grains. ( I have lots of recipes I will share but they will come later on)

I was excited to provide good food for my family and I felt better about what I served them.  I learned how to plan better (with 4 kids you have too!) and it has in turn made me more disciplined.  The kids love to mill the flour too and Little Bub knows exactly how to work the machine....its precious.

This was quite an adventure for me but that was still about 3 years ago, so the story goes on, but I have not yet scratched the top.  What was in store for me down the road I would have never forseen even if I could see into the future :)  Stay tuned............

The Great Adventure: The Story Begins

I have been pondering many days how to appropriately communicate to you our change.

I think I need to give you alittle background trip through the past three years and some little tidbits about how I am wired these days.

To start with: I LOVE EVERYTHING TRADITIONAL/OLD FASHIONED!  I have many people tell me, "You were born way past your time" and "You should be a farmer." and "Little House on the Prairie is calling your name."  I fully agree with everything that has been said :)  I love the old way of doing things....I don't know why...but I do.

I love the old days when the man would ask the father for his daughter's hand in marriage,  when you wash your clothes by hand (yes...I know its nuts but I have actually had a desire to do this even with four kiddos....nuts I know), make your own clothes, know who your neighbors were because you all had a front porch, when no one knew what a gummy bear was, when people spent more time together than on the computer and phone, when living together for the first time was the night after your marriage, when commitment actually meant "till death do us part", when all of our food and such were clean and free from processed chemicals.....all these beautiful things that get so lost and clouded in a culture of busyness and confusion. 

I love to make my own things with my hands.  About three years ago, I watched a video that talked about all the chemicals in our house and how much indoor pollution we live in.  It sent me search for new household cleaner recipes which I actually love.  With so many kiddos in the home, I was alittle fearful of them getting near the cleaners I had.  One of my favorite is listed below:

1 spray bottle
filtered water (enough to fill the bottle)
20 drops of essential lemon oil

I use this on everything and even my windows (no streaks either).  If you want to make it alittle stronger, you could add 1/4 cup of vinegar for alittle more disinfecting power. 

This is one tiny piece of the adventure to come..............

Book Review: Dinosaurs for Kids

Dinosaurs for Kids by Ken Ham is by far my favorite dinosaur book I have come across in the two years my little boy has been interested in them.  I enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book.  I was most impressed with the high quality information presented, in 64 colorful pages, that you do not get from other dinosaur books.

Ham focuses on the Seven Ages of dinosaurs: Formed, Fearless, Fallen, Flood, Faded, Found and Fiction.  Each section focuses on information about dinosaurs based on God's Word.  Ham consistently draws the reader back into Scripture.   I appreciate that he states facts based on the Bible and says that some things about dinosaurs are truly uncertain.  I have never heard other authors state that many things about dinosaurs are still a mystery.  Many books will tell you everything about them like it is fact, where in fact, it is just an educated guess or fiction.

I have really enjoyed reading this book to help answer some of the harder questions about dinosaurs and also finding out that the discovery of dinosaurs is still very young and scientists still do not know very much about this amazing creature.  I love being able to incorporate God's Word into teaching my little ones about every aspect of life....including my son's beloved dinosaurs.

I would recommend this book as  a "must have" for your library especially if you have a dinosaur lover.  This book gives you a great picture of dinosaurs on the whole.