My Run In With The THW

This is the first year I have ever had this major problem in my garden. My husband says he thinks he remembers us having issues like this before, but I do not. 

It all started at the beginning of last week. I noticed my plants were looking really rough. 

They had looked like they were actually coming back after the heat of the summer and then it looked like many of the leaves and branches had been eaten off. And there was quite a bit of dead branches. 

I looked over the plants and did not notice any bugs on them and just did not know what was going on. Then I decided to go through and cut off all the dead branches and such. I was hoping that once I pruned the dead stuff that it would help the plant to recover easier. 

That is when I found them! 

Tomato Horn Worms

These are just several of the worms I found. 

I looked up information about them and found out the name of them - Tomato horn Worms and that they turn into Hawk Moths. You can look up images for Hawk Moths and they are really a cool looking moth. But what ever - I was very tired of them gobbling up my plants. So I got busy...looking and killing Tomato Horn Worms. By the way ~ They are awfully gross to kill. 

I watched a video to learn more about this worm and found out that they double in size daily - no wonder I had some big, fat worms. It was also said that your chickens would enjoy eating the worms. Oh good! I thought - that would stop me from having to kill them. Only problem is that the bigger the worm was the less likely my chickens wanted to eat them. Even some of the smaller ones some of my chickens peck at them a bit and then go the other way like they must not taste good. But thankfully one of them will usually pick it up and take off with it. I have to pay attention because I do not want to let them live. 

Every single day I have had to check my plants and what I have found is that it is hard to see these worms unless you are really closely looking at the plants. 

They tend to like the top, fresh foliage - because it is new and tender. But I have found them all over. 

I also learned that they poop green pellets- they were even shown on the video - but I have looked around my plants and I haven't seen the poop myself here anyway. 

So I have just become vigilant and really checked on my plants very carefully every day. And I have usually found at least 1 or 2 worms a day. Some of my plants are looking so pretty - other than the areas where the damage is and I would like to keep these plants doing well. I should have another good crop of tomatoes soon! 

I don't remember ever having and issue with these worms before, but I will never forget them and what damage they can do if they are left to do as they please. 

Oh! And by the way - these little buggers do have horns - little orange horns! I will see about getting a close up so you can see them better. You can kind of see it in the photos - but I would love to get a close up photo to share! 

Do you guys have gardens going and how are they doing? 

 

Learning New Skills

I bought a couple of boxes of apples and a box of peaches from Idaho. Once I got them I had to get busy. I had lots to do. Thankfully my husband helped me with the first batch of apple sauce. I was a little intimated with the process and with a new tool for my kitchen(see below). 

Washed all the apples and we got the apples cut into sections 

We used several different varieties for one of the recipes that I used. It is suppose to give the applesauce more depth by using different apples. I also found a great recipe for Honey Crisp apples sauce so I did a couple batches of it as well. 

Next step was to cook them until they were soft enough to use in my new toy. 

By the way - I love this pan - I will probably share a post about it in the coming days. It is a great quality pan. I am hoping to get the smaller size as well. 

Here is my new toy. My friend told me about how this made making apples sauce so much easier! I love it - once I got it put together correctly. lol 

Here is a bowl of the skins, cores, and seeds that was pushed out the end of my new toy. 

I ended up making 2 batches of applesauce, 2 batches of honey crisp applesauce, 1 batch of apple butter and 1 batch of peach butter. 

The peach butter recipe that I used had more spices in it than I will use next time. 

I like to use recipes the way it is the first time then taste and see what tweaks we need to make the the recipe. So changes will be made to this recipe for sure. 

Here is what the two different batches of apples sauce look like. One recipe calls for cinnamon one does not. Love them both! 

And here is the reward for all of the work!! 

Peach butter on my homemade raisin/walnut bread!

Yummy!!!! 

 

Rogue Plants

This year I have noticed something that has never happened to this degree before! I am so thankful for all of the rogue plants that I have found in my garden this year. These are plants that I did not plant but that have started to grow on their own. 

Most of them are tomato plants. 

 

I had two very nice rogue tomato plants that grew right up against a 3rd one and so I pulled them and replanted them. This is one of them: 

Then I also have several of these squash, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe looking plants that have just started growing on their own. 

If this plant looks familiar to you - and you know what it is please leave me a comment and let me know! 

One more things about a week ago I noticed some damage to my tomato plants - and this week I found some big, fat, green caterpillars eating my tomato plants- I had to dispose of them. It is NOT a fun job - but I was tired of them destroying my plants. I hope my plants are able to make a come back now. 

This is the first year that I have tried a fall garden and I am so excited about it. I have a few other things planted and hope to get more things planted soon- maybe by the time this post publishes they will be planted :O) 

My Best Deal

Today's Best Deal is a little different than usual. Usually I find great deals at thrift stores. But as you know I have not been able to get to thrift stores lately. So today's best deal is actually coming from Amazon. We have a credit card that is linked with the Amazon account and we acquire points and $$ money off ever so often. Well these ended up being 2 of the 3 things that my husband and I picked up for a total of $3.50. 

 So each thing cost us about 1.00! 

I sure hope that I am able to get to a thrift store or Antique mall soon and maybe I will have more Best Deal posts to share. 

Oh did you catch the clues of one of the reasons I have been so busy lately?! 

Canning :O) 

Sabbath Praises

Happy Sabbath my friends! I hope you guys have a great week end! :O) 

Alternatives to Dry Oven Canning

Today I wanted to share a youtube video about different ways to vacuum seal canning jars. This is a great alternative to the dry oven canning. And I wanted to share this information just in case some of you would be interested as well. 

During these crazy times - there is so much negativity on the news and all - But there are so many great youtube channels to check out and learn from. So much information to glean from!  

By the way - just in case some of you are concerned - I do have a new washer so I can continue to do my laundry here at home! We got a top loader washer this time - with an agitator. I think we will really like it. And I seem to be healing up from my injuries. God is good! :O) 

Green Onions, Over and Over Again

Yesterday I shared about tripping and how I know that God watched over me. Well this week has been a rough one. In fact, falling was not the first of my mishaps for the week - but by that time I was thinking I might need to get me some bubble wrap to wrap up in for protection. lol But seriously, on Sunday I hurt my ring finger on my left hand. I was afraid I had broke it because when the basketball hit my finger it twisted and made a weird noise or two. Then Monday when I went to run a load of clothes my washer would not work. We had Maytag Neptune washer and dryer for over 15 years - probably closer to 18. Anyway we had done a few repairs on the washer over the years but this time it was dead. Then I fell on Tuesday. I am being very careful because after so much going wrong in one week gives you reason for pause. But I expect a good rest of the week. 

How about you guys~ How are you all doing? 

On to our post for today.... 

See these green onions? 

Yes, I really should have already processed these onions but a few things came up. 

Anyway the last batch of green onions I bought - I took the ends that I had cut off and I planted them in one of my herb gardens. 

Less than a week later this is what I found: 

I am so excited to see the growth. So every time I get these onions I will be planting them and then I will not have to buy them as often!!! 

This is something that I learned from Homestead Tessie- but I just can't remember which video I saw it in or I would share the video as well. But I wanted to give her the credit. 

When I went to try to look it up I found some other videos - that show this long drawn out method- of regrowing green onions - that includes leaving longer ends and putting them in water and letting the root system grow out some and then plant them. But it seems that it is just as successful to just take the ends and plant them!! 

I wanted to share to share this just in case someone else is interested, who knows some of you may already do this! :O) 

 

What the Prayers of Others Can Do!

Yesterday morning I got a text from a sweet friend, letting me know that she was praying for me. Within an hour - I fell. I was organizing some canning stuff and working in my sun room and going back and forth between sun room and other places in the house. On the 3rd time doing the same thing- I accidently tripped over some things in the sunroom and fell- I had a box with 12 canning quart sized jars that were filled in my hands when I fell. And I was worried that I was about to bust all my jars into a door facing. Thankfully I fell before the door facing and was able to get the jars down to the ground- although that made all sorts of noise they did not break. I landed on my left knee (the same knee that I had injured a year or so ago - by falling down a couple of step in our RV landing on the exact same area of my knee and below the knee. 

I attribute the fact that I did not get any more hurt than I did and that none of the jars broke to the fact that my friend had prayed for me and I had my angels watching over me. As I think back over the fall it seemed as though some how I was able to set the box of jars down on the ground and it seems so unnatural to happens so smoothly as I was falling but I truly believe that my angel helped me. I am so thankful and grateful that my friend followed through with the prompting from the Holy Spirit to pray for me. My left knee is awfully sore, but it could be so much worse.  I truly believe that this prayer protected me from being seriously hurt.

It's a lesson for us all- if you feel prompted to pray for others-DO IT - you may never fully realize what awesome things your prayers did but know that God is always at work for YOU and ME!!

More Important Dehydrating Tips

 I may not be able to have a post about dehydrating every single week - it has just worked out that I have dehydrated enough things lately that I have something to say about every week so far. But I am not a one minded tunnel vision type of homesteader. I have many different interests going. I am learning a whole lot of things. And as I learn things I will be sharing with you all. Just in case the things I have learned can help you along your journey through life. 

So last week I dehydrated something that not only surprised me but taught me a few things and I wanted to pass these things along to you as well. 

So as I was doing some dehydrating I decided to start dehydrating some marshmallows. I had watched a youtube video so I was prepared for marshmallows not to shrink like many other foods do when you dehydrate them. But I still ran across something that surprised me. 

So once you have had the marshmallows going for a while and it is time to check them - you will not get an accurate idea of if they are done for not unless you let them cool off. So where I went wrong was once the timer went off and I went to check the marshmellows I would find them not done. This went on for a few hours. Finally it we time to go to bed and I did not want it going all night nor did I want the 20 beeps going on sometime during the night and waking me up, so I just turned the unit off. The next morning before I started the dehydrator again something nudged me to try a marshmallow and sure enough they were done. You can just squeeze them between your fingers and it should crumble- it is firm and takes a good amount of pressure but it will crumble.  

So this same concept also happens with bananas. 

So when you test them - you may want to let them cool off - especially if they have been dehydrating quite a while. This photo of course is the before photo - I did not realize that it is a good idea to put your bananas in a mixture of lemon water prior to dehydrating to help them not brown so much. So my bananas browns a bit. They are still delicious. Oh and something awesome I learned about bananas I want to share. So I love to eat bananas when they are just turning yellow - nice and firm and wonderful. Once they start getting all sorts of spots and brown and mushy - I don't like to eat them unless baking with them. Well I was amazed that when I dehydrated some bananas past their prime they were SO good once they were done - the banana flavor come out so strong and they were tasty!! 

So if you dehydrate marshmallows or bananas - you may want to let them cool down to test them to see if they are done before you add more time. There is no telling how many extra hours I ran my dehydrator than I needed to. Hope these tips help you in your dehydrating journey! :O) 

Money Saving Idea - Homemade Taco Seasoning

There are many benefits to watching youtube channels. They inspire me to learn new things and to think outside the box. And today's post is just one thing that I have done as a result of watching youtube. 

As someone was showing all the things that they dehydrate and such and had them in canning jars - I thought about my homemade taco seasoning that I make. I have a set of these Tupperware Spice containers, which I love! So here is my taco seasoning: 

I believe it holds about 1/2 cup or so of seasoning so I had made my recipe fit this container. Well after watching some youtube videos and being inspired - I decided to increase my recipe so that I could fill up a pint jar. This way any time I run low in this container I can go get my pint jar of it and refill it. This will save me time. 

So I added all my seasonings to this jar and this is what it looked like, minus 2 tablespoons of cumin. I ran out and had to buy some to finishing this batch up. 

Here is my recipe: 

1/2 C. Chili Powder 

6 T. Cumin 

7 T. Paprika 

1/4 C. Onion Powder 

3 T. Garlic Powder 

So I measured everything out and put it in my jar. Then I put the lid on and shook it up really good. 

There you have it a pint of Taco Seasoning! I am so happy to have this all made up waiting for me. It will save me time in the long run instead of sometimes having to make up a batch when I am needing to make something. I may eventually make enough to fill up a quart sized jar, but for now I am happy with this amount made up. 

You can adjust it to what ever matches your taste better. 

Being a Keeper At Home

This is from one of my favorite Youtube channels. This video blessed me and I wanted to pass the blessing along. 

I have been very, very busy this week. I am hoping to be able to get some posts typed up to let you know what I have been up to lately. I hope you all are doing well. May God bless you and keep you close to Him! :O) 

Benefits of Sprouting

So I was wondering about how nutritious sprouting can be and I found some interesting things.  First of all I was surprised at the fiber content of sprouts - it is actually pretty high for a small amount. And since it is very healthy to get a lot of fiber in your diet - just this one fact makes sprouting a great idea!! 

I was happy to see how eating sprouted alfalfa can help lower cholesterol! That is awesome - you can bypass the meds that have side effect and go for sprouts instead!!  

I don't think I got a photo of some great information about broccoli seeds and sprouting them - broccili along with all of the cruciferous family - which are all very good for cancer fighting! So when you sprout broccoli seeds - you get a whole lot of cancer protection!! I am thankful that I ordered a pound of broccoli seeds already. This will be something I eat a lot of! :) 

So I have started lentils - but I am guessing it will take a little bit longer to sprout lentil seeds. By sprouting the lentils it makes it easier for the body to absorb the vitamins and minerals. Sprouted lentils are a great source of Vitamin C, B vitamins, and carotene! 

There are many benefits- you can look up more if you are interested. I just wanted to share a few. You can eat them straight up, you can add to salads, sandwiches, wraps, and add to smoothies.

 I did read if you cook them it takes away from the nutritious value. So keep that in mind! 

We have just touched the edge of the iceberg in information on sprouting. I hope this helps you along your journey. :O) 

 

A Monster Created? You Decide...lol

 In July my husband and I celebrated our 32 wedding anniversary. Little did my husband know what a monster he would create by getting me a nice dehydrator! The first week I dehydrated carrots and potatoes. I posted about that last week. Well about the same time that I began dehydrating the carrots and potatoes a friend sent me a link to this youtube video:

 She had no idea that I was getting into dehydrating! So I watched it and knew that this was something I wanted to try. So the next time I was at Walmart I picked up a large can of peaches and pears! 

These 6 pound cans of fruit made 2 pints of dried fruit. And believe me this these are so delicious! I am so happy to have gotten into this great way of preserving food! It took these 2 large cans of fruit that there is NO way that we would be able to eat through before the stuff went bad. And I would have never bought these cans otherwise. 

By the way - Now I am looking for different ways to use these awesome cans!  I know there must be great ideas and ways to use them! I will be holding onto them and researching what I can do with them! 

Be sure and come back next week - I already have a great project to do with my food processor lined up!! I can't wait to share it with you!! :O) Yes~ I believe my husband was right - a monster has been created!! LOL :0) 

Money Saving Idea

So today I want to share a little tip that has helped save me money. I used to buy these small jars of garlic until one day when I was shopping on the canned veggie aisle and just happen to notice this large - 2 pound bottle of garlic. So I bought it and now I always buy the large bottle and just refill my small jar when it gets low. It is a great way to keep garlic on hand and saves money. I just ran out of this big bottle so this will go on my next walmart grocery list. 

Hope you all are doing good and taking good care of yourselves. :O) 

 

My Best Deal

 It has been quite some time since I was able to do a My Best Deal post. And certainly hardly any over the last 5 months. To be honest, I have not gone to hardly any thrift store of place to get a great deal. 

As you probably know I have had to take a break from volunteering at my favorite little thrift store because they are requiring masks - and I can not wear one. So I have not been able to shop there either. On Tuesday I had a box of movies we were getting rid of and I stopped by to see if they would take them and come to find out they are still having a few things outside and then they have some boxes of free stuff. Well I certainly could not leave there without looking through the free boxes. 

They had a box of books - several of them still had the plastic wrap on them indicating them to be new. This book that I got from an author I know I like was in new condition. Pricing on the back of it said it would have cost me 9.99 brand new! I got it for FREE! What a deal!! 

This blue organizer caught my eye. I have some shelving units in my sun room and I am trying to be organized but it is a challenge at times. This came in handy on the top shelf of one of my shelves. 

Again - free to me! 

This thrift store has been getting SO many donations that it is seriously doing them a favor for people to take the free stuff so that they don't have to dispose of it. Plus who wants to throw stuff away when people could use it. That is why I like to donate things I am getting rid of instead of just throwing it away. 

I will probably start going up there to look at the stuff outside and the free boxes. It will help me not miss thrift store shopping as much. Plus help me get things that will help in projects I have going on around the homestead! 

Hopefully next week I will have another post to share about another best deal! :O) 

** Good News! I have did get a Best Deal last week - a little different way than usual but it is still a great deal so I will be sharing that next week!! :O) Yay! 

Sabbath Praises

I know that I have shared this song before but it is such a great song that I had to share it again. Join me as we praise the Lord! 

One of my favorite Youtubers - How to make homemade Neosporin

Good morning~ Today I want to share a video with you all. This is the youtuber who got me into loving youtube videos. Homestead Tessie. I have shared about her before I am sure. I am so thankful that another blogger shared her video because I may have never come across her videos. So that is one reason I will share some of my favorite videos - so that you are able to discover new youtubers that you may not have been introduced to before. 

This video actually shows how to make neosporin and also a first aid spray on. 

I am in the process of gathering ingredients so I can make some neosporin. I need to get some containers as well. 

**************************************************************************

Can you believe that it has been 19 years since 9/11 happened?! It has flown by. Do you remember what you were doing that fateful morning? I am sure we all do. After it happened I remember everyone coming together as a country. I hope that going past this day will help remind us of those feelings and help people be more patriotic. We have a great country and we need to keep it that way. This destroying our own country is crazy... Praying that God will bring peace to our country - and if that doesn't happen -then at least to our hearts. 

I Struck Gold!

As you all know that I have just recently gotten into canning. 

My husband and I started making strawberry jam about 6 years ago or so. We have not made any in the last several years. Still eating on what we made! 

Well recently I have been learning about how to store food in canning jars and getting into canning more. As you have noticed from recent posts I am storing my dehydrated things in canning jars. You can use a food saver several different ways in order to pull the air out of the jars and seal the lids on. 

If you are a canner I am guessing you have noticed it has been increasingly harder to find canning lids. I have found the lids and rings sold together, but for the past month that I have been looking for canning supplies I have NOT seen lids at all until last week. I was so excited to find them at one of our local Walmarts stores. . They were $3.18 a box. I am guessing that is an increase in price but I went ahead and bought 2 boxes just to have. 

My best advice for you is to check out the canning section of our stores every time you go in - you may be surprised as was I! Just keep checking back!! :O) 
 

By the way - I actually have a "My Best Deal" post coming up Sunday - don't forget to come by and check it out! :) 

Update on the Sprouting

So last week I shared how I had bought one of these seed sprouters and how I had finally started using it. I regret waiting so long to give it a try. It has been so easy to use. Basically you put about 1 1/2 tsp. I think the directions said a Tablespoon but I felt that was way too much so I only went with 1 1/2 tsp or so per level. Then you stack them up. The green lid goes on top and you are able to pour 2 cups of water into it. The water will slowly drain down to each level and end up in the bottom green section. Three times a day you are to pour a fresh 2 cups of water over the top.

 And in a week I had a great harvest. My flash on my phone washed out the color but you can still see. 

Now if there are several of you eating the sprouts then maybe you would want to put more seed in each level - but since I am the only one eating the sprouts my 1 1/2 teaspoons was a great amount. Now a little secret that I have since learned from my Mom is that you may want to start a level one day and then start the second level the next day and so forth so that they will stagger on when they are ready. 

Oh!! I forgot an important step - so each time you water - you will move the top level down to the bottom level of clear sections. So you are always rotating them. This is very important. 

So once they get to where you want them - you can take that section and put saran wrap over it (or not - your choice) and put it in the fridge to eat on. 

Right now I have eaten 1 tray of sprouts and it is washed and ready to start tomorrow. I have started a tray of broccoli seeds. And I have 1 tray of alfalfa sprouts that I will move to the fridge more than likely tomorrow. 

A friend said that she was going to do some lentils - so I may actually start a tray of lentil sprouts the next time that I water my sprouter. That way I can see what they will do. 

I think this is an awesome way to get some great nutrition! 

There are many different way to do this - so if you are interested in sprouting do some research and find out what you think will work before for you. :O) 

Dehydrating - Hoping for the Best, Prepare for the Worst

So Tuesday morning I decided to dehydrate a 5# bag of potatoes that I needed to use up. 
Well a couple of things that I have learned - it works better if your pieces are uniform and it is challenging to make your pieces uniform. Many people use a mandolin - I will not - I think they are dangerous - I would rather have uneven pieces than a chance for something to get hurt. 

Another thing I learned as I listened to several different youtube videos about dehydrating that people don't like dehydrating only several trays. If you are doing to have the dehydrator going for most of the day - you, too will probably want to have your dehydrator full. After 2 hours of my potatoes in the dehydrator I prepared the 2#'s of carrots that I had so I could dehydrate them as well. Again I had a problem making pieces even. I will use another method to process my carrots next time and see if if works better. 

So another things I learned was a few ideas of how to use the dehydrated foods - So my first thought was to slice the potatoes- and to be honest I wish I had have went with my first thought. But then I was thinking what will I do with them. Well if you slice the potatoes you can re hydrate them and use them to make scalloped potatos and you can even fry them! Yum! Well someone had said that they dice their potatoes and use them in soups and stews - so I diced mine.  Next time I find potatoes on a good sale - I will get some to slice and dehydrate. 

So carrots? You can dice/cube them and use them in stews and soups. And you can shred them and use them in baking. I have even read that you can use the dehydrated carrots in place of coconut. And I am sure there are other things you can do like use shred or cubes in chicken noodle soups and such. There are other ideas - I am just giving some quick ideas. 

So to rehydrate - you take 2 to 1 ratio of the item you are rehydrating - for example - you want to rehydrate 1 cup of potatoes - you will take 2 cups of hot water. Let it set for 15-30 minutes - bigger pieces will take longer of course. 

Dehydrating is a great way to store things. One of the great reasons is that dehydrating takes 5 pounds of potatoes and breaks it down into a much smaller space to store. 

And another excellent thing I learned is you can take frozen, already processed things and dehydrate them. This helps you free up space in your freezer! You can also take canned things - like peaches and dehydrate them! So when your canned things are nearing the expiration date you are able to dehydrate it and help it last longer.  

I am telling you - there are lots and lots of youtube videos to show you what all you can do with dehydration! Lots of awesome information. I am so thankful for people who are willing to take their time to educate others at things they have learned. What a blessing it is to the rest of us!! :O) 

Here is a great video showing how to dehydrate. I hope you all enjoy!! 

Be sure and come back next week when I will share what I dehydrate next! :O) 

A Great Life Hack

Last week while I was watching some youtube videos - I saw something that I really wanted - a spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. What an awesome idea to have it in a spray bottle. How much hydrogen peroxide have I wasted by pouring it over a booboo?! The person said they found it at either Dollar General or Dollar Tree - so I went to both places looking for one for my home with no luck. I was disappointed. Then this week I decided to use the last little bit of the deodorant that was in this great bottle. I am using a different deodorant now so I just wanted to use this up and when I saw how nicely it sprayed I thought this is the perfect bottle for hydrogen peroxide! So I pulled the label off- it came off pretty easily but underneath it was quite sticky... 

Then when I was watching a youtube video from "At Home With Lynn Wilson" She was talking about reusing containers for storage and she gave the best life hack! 

Put several drops of Lemon essential oil on a paper towel and rub the sticky off. So I tried it on this bottle and it worked great! Then I put some duck tape on this bottle and labeled it -so we will know what is in this spray bottle. I am so happy. I have a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide and I did not have to pay any extra money to have it! :O) 

Some Great Posts Coming Up

Just wanted to check in for a few minutes and say I have some great posts coming up this week! We have a great life hack that involves lemon oil. Then I will share about my journey with my new dehydrator. I can't wait to share this with you all! I have a money saving post and a great tip. Lots of great things to share with you all. I hope that some of my posts help make life easier for you and more enjoyable. 

I do not like wearing a mask so to be honest I am spending more and more time at home. And I have been having a lot of fun learning new things. It has really helped me deal with all of the stress in the world. Anyway I hope that I am able to contribute to peace in your life. I don't want to be one more thing that causes stress - I would like to share things that help bring peace and enjoyment of life. May God continue to bless you as you walk along this journey called life. :O) 

Sabbath Praises

Happy Sabbath. I hope you all are blessed. Take a few minutes to thank God for your all His blessings! I know I don't praise Him enough. :O) 

Sometimes You Just Don't Understand Till The Things Actually Happen Or Are About To Happen

 "God's dealings with rebellion will result in fully unmasking the work that has so long been carried on undercover. The results of Satan's rule, the fruits of setting aside the divine statues, will be laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The law of God will stand fully vindicated. It will be seen that all the dealings of God have been conducted with reference to the eternal good of His people, and the good of all the worlds that He has created. Satan himself, in the presence of the witnessing universe, will confess the justice of God's government and the righteousness of His law."

PP338-339

Wow! I hadn't caught that when I read through it the other two times. Glad i just happen to read through that section again.

Best Cookbooks for Bread and a Secret

So I have been making my own bread for quite some time now. I have been blessed with some great cookbooks with great bread recipes! Today I just wanted to share my 2 favorite cookbooks for bread - I am sure their other recipes are great as well. If the other recipes are anywhere as good as the bread recipes - the other recipes are awesome!!! 

This is the Herb & Garlic Bread this was my first time trying this recipe. It was very good. I will be making it again! :0) 

This cookbook has the recipe for the Banana Breakfast bread, Raisin Nut Bread, and Rosemary Olive Bread! I love all of these bread recipes as well. 

No - I did not forget that I was going to share a secret today. 

The way that Bountiful Health Cookbook says to make the bread is that you add ingredients in order- and yeast is towards the bottom of the list - just above the addition of the main about of flour. Well I have been making this bread like that but I have not always been happy with the outcome - not the flavor but the look of the loaves. They were delicious. I mean really, really good!! It was just the look of the loaf that I was disappointed. See how beautiful the loaf above looks? This is what I wanted my bread to look like. Well the way the Country Life Cookbook says to make the bread is different and I believe the secret to better looking bread. 

So Country Life Cookbook says to mix your warm water, yeast and sweetner and let it set for 10 minutes I believe. Well what I did was I poured the very warm water into the bowl then added the honey and stirred it around. Then I added the yeast and stirred it and let it set. And I could tell that the yeast was good because it foamed up good. Then I added the rest of the ingredients. So I really think that this is the secret to the much better looking bread. The great thing about this secret is once you understand the best way to go about making bread you can adapt any recipe. I am hoping to make on of the recipes from the Bountiful Health using this formula and I expect much better results. Now there may be something that I was just doing wrong when making the bread way that the Bountiful Health recipes says to but I had not figured out what I was doing wrong. Now I know a better way to do it. Yes, the way that the Country Life Cookbook says to do it will take a bit longer because you wait 10 minutes but I think that the results are well worth the little bit of extra time!! 

I hope that this secret helps you make better bread as well. I am sure many of you already understood and practiced this secret. But I am hoping that maybe someone reading will find help with this secret. 

Why I am now saving my dryer lint and so much more

This video is only 8 minutes long but has so much useful information. I love the very first ideas- it is what I am saving my dryer lint and toilet paper rolls for! Hope this blesses you and gives you some great ideas as well. 

So we ended up with 2 toilet paper roll card boards and 1 paper towel cardboard that I cut into three pieces. I used used paper towels for the paper towel card boards and lint in the toilet paper card boards. I am happy to report that I have 5 fire starters, getting ready for the colder months. 

I have always wanted to do something useful with my lint, happy to have something to do with it!! 

Anyone else do this and use these fire starters?

Hope for the best 

prepare for the worst