Keeper of the Home Apprentice ~ in our Kitchen ~ New Skills

It has been a while since I’ve written about Leah’s time as Keeper of the Home apprentice in our home. We’ve been busily working in many directions. Now that Leah has started high school, her work load has increased and we are continually learning to refine our time management skills and be flexible at the same time. After all that is one of the reasons we chose to homeschool both or children, to be able to change our schedule if we needed to.

I am grateful that Wardeh from GNOWFGLINS has offered her Fundementals eCourse as course that can be taken at our own pace, as it is taking us much longer to get through the ecourse.(Note: since I wrote this, GNOWFGLINS has now changed their course payment policy). That is not to say that it is drudgery by any means. Leah and I actually really enjoy it. Good bonding time for mama and daughter.  Wardeh’s step by step process with reading, audios, videos and hands-on for each week is broken down really well. Other academic lessons and deadlines seem to take precedent though. But we are working through it, and with every lesson completed, Leah is feeling more comfortable taking initiative with more involved responsibilities in our kitchen. This pleases me because I know that when she is with her own family, I will have confidence that she is able to care for her family and implement positive habits from the beginning of that season in her life.

Pebble Crossing Recommends ....

If you've always wanted to learn to prepare naturally-leavened foods of all kinds and are looking for more instructions, then you may be interested in GNOWFLINS Sourdough eCourse. On July 13th, GNOWFLINS will be open for registration.. Lessons will be released week by week into December. There is no rush when being a member, with lifetime access you can come back to the lessons any time, at your convenience. This course is on donations based only. So you pay what you can.  If you would like more information, please be sure to click on the above photo

Leah and I are currently taking the Fundementals eCourse, which is part of her learning to be Keeper of the Home - in the kitchen. In this week's lesson, we are building on the importance of soaking grains.   It has been a blessing for me as we continue to bond in our mother/daughter relationship. This course is also based on donations only - pay what you can.  If you are interested in learning more on this course,  please click on photo below.




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Saving Naturally ~  Live Healthy, Spend Less,  recently new online and sister to  Keeper of the Home offers discounts and coupons for healthy living as well as helpful information on how to manage and organize coupons. Frugal living tips are also being added.   Stephanie Langford, owner of Saving Naturally.  recently published a new book Real Food on a Real Budget which Leah and I are currently reading.

If you have a few minutes, stop by at Saving Naturally, deals are posted daily!. 




Disclaimer: Although Pebble Crossing recommends the above sites to be very beneficial and hopes it may bless someone, we may not agree with everything posted on these sites.  Pebble Crossing is not affiliated with with the above sites,  however does have an affiliate with Real Food on a Real Budget and will receive a small commission from anyone purchasing this book.

Ifr you would like to receive more emails like this one, please subscribe!

Keeper of the Home Apprentice ~ in our Kitchen ~ Meal Planning

It’s amazing how much extra food we find when doing an inventory of the pantry, freezer and the refrigerator. Food tends to hide in corners and underneath something else. I was amazed what Leah and I found when we completed our kitchen inventory today. Although I buy groceries once a week, I’m sure I could go much longer in between shopping trips for most items. Leah and I are now in the process of putting our recipe list together for meal planning. A lot of our recipes are stored in memory. But we are scanning through our recipe collection and cookbooks. I’m hoping this stimulates some new ideas and more creativity, something Leah thrives on.

Our main goal here is to continue to eat healthy, to improve better nutrition intake as well as try to cut back on grocery expenses if possible. At times I feel we have to compromise something but the intention now is to re-establish this cost-cutting habit and still maintain our health convictions. I realized that when I planned my meals in the past, I always tried to keep costs down but still lacked the sense of trying to take advantage of discounts through coupon cutting. I’m glad Leah and I are conquering this together. She is learning a new skill and also learning from my mistakes.

Keeper of the Home Offers Homestead Blessings Giveaway!

I have recently posted about Leah our daughter's journey as "Keeper of the Home Apprentice in our Kitchen" and it just so happens that Stephanie of Keeper of the Home who is celebrating her 1000th post giveaway party, is currently featuring a giveaway through FBS Books for any five of the Homestead Blessing's videos.

This series covers many aspects of homesteading skills.  Homestead Blessings offers, Herbs, Gardening, Bread Making, Cooking, Quilting and Soap Making (and more). Homestead Blessings has ten videos in all, and each one features mom Vicki and her 3 grown daughters, Jasmine, Hannah and CeCe.

The Homestead Blessings videos is a set I know Leah would love to learn from. It would definitely encourage her to want to be the Keeper of her Home one day. I've already entered the giveway.

So please visit Keeper of the Home to enter your name in this wonderful giveaway. Please click here to enter and learn more.   Giveaway ends Wednesday, June 23, at 4pm PST.  AND be on the look out for more giveaways at Keeper of the Home!

Also, if you have time, check out Stephanie's newly launched website Saving Naturally. Stephanie and her family truly believe in being a good steward and looking for ways to save anywhere possible without compromising her convictions to a healthy lifestyle. She lists great savings through discounts, and other methods.


I hope that this post would be a blessing to someone.

~Carmen

Zucchini Muffins Expanded

What a scrumptious muffin recipe! Our soon to be 14 year old daughter, "Keeper of the Home Apprentice in our Kitchen" (click to read post) is like her mom, she loves to experiment and change out or add new ingredients to her baking and cooking. Here we have an amazingly moist Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe and as Leah states it’s expanded with the yummy fillings and toppings!

Leah typed up the recipe for me. What a great helper and servant of the LORD she is. She baked this batch and they were gone in days with much self control.


Ingredients
2 cups sprouted whole wheat flour (or more)
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon (or more)
1 tsp salt approximately (or more)
½ cup olive oil
½ cup water
1 ½ – 2 cups zucchini, grated (unpeeled)
3 eggs
2/3 cup raw honey

Fillings/Toppings
½ - ¾ cup blackberries
½ - ¾ cup dried cranberries
½ - ¾ cup blueberries
¼ - ½ cup cut strawberries
¾ – 1 cup chocolate chips (or less)
nuts and raisins (optional)

Directions
• Grease muffin tins enough to make 18-24 muffins (I made 12 medium sized and 12 miniature muffins). You can use muffin tin liners instead of greasing the tins. Grease pie pans for a special cake/loaf.

• Mix in bowl, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt.

• Beat eggs and blend in zucchini, oil, water, and honey (or just put them into the mixing bowl)

• If you beat the wet ingredients first, add them to the dry ingredients.

• Add fruit and nuts.

• Scoop into prepared pans and top with extra fruit/nuts/chocolate chips if desired.

• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until fork comes out moist, but cooked. :~)

Give it a try and let Leah know how they turn out

May you be blessed 

This recipe is also shared at:
- GNOWFLINS ~ Tuesday Twister 
- KellytheKitchenKop ~ Real Food Wednesday
- The Nourishing Gourmet ~ PennywisePlatter Thursday  
- Food Renegade ~ Fight Back Fridays

Keeper of the Home Apprentice ~ in our Kitchen

Summer is here and our homeschool schedule has slowed down. What better time than now, for Leah, our almost 14 year old daughter, to continue pursuing her “Keeper of the Home” skills. A good foundation in the kitchen is an essential part of life skills that will benefit her later on as she starts her own family. Regardless of whether Leah pursues to further her education after high school, I cannot stress enough the importance of life skills both for girls and boys in their respective areas.

Zachary and Leah take turns helping in our kitchen. We have a weekly routine which gives each of them a turn in helping me with dinner and other kitchen duties. Breakfast preparation is pretty simple, vegetable or fruit shakes, raw granola, eggs, etc.. and lunch is easily prepared as it’s usually leftovers from last night’s dinner. As my helper, they get to be my “Assistant Chefs”. Not that I’m a chef by any means but it makes it more fun, and as Assistant Chef, there are privileges; they get input in meal planning! Being in that role allows them to assist with whatever food preparation is needed. They feel comfortable in the kitchen already for the most part and can prepare any meal I ask of them since I have included them for many years, but the value in being my “Assistant Chef” gives them an opportunity to also grow in servitude, especially when it involves doing something they don’t like. I have one who prefers to cook our son Zachary, and one who prefers to bake, Leah. There was a time when Zachary was considering pursuing some cooking classes, especially after watching many episodes of “Alton Brown” on the Food Channel. Alton Brown spends time explaining away the scientific relation of food--I guess you could say, the chemistry of food. Even though Leah is able to prepare many foods in the kitchen, including complete meals, bread making, yogurt, making soups, I still feel she would benefit from a more complete foundation.