TALU- Tuesdays Archived Link up

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Kenya, author of Here's The Thing...
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

Homecoming at our church this weekend

Ah Homecoming! I'm not sure if this is a Southern thing, or what, but around here we have "Homecoming" at our churches. It is really just a way for people to come back and visit a church they may have attended as a child, then they moved away, got married, or just went to a different church. Today is our church's homecoming celebration and get this - we are celebrating 142 YEARS!. Our little church has some great history and wow if it could talk. It's more of a family reunion and it's always such fun. I'm excited as my children are getting old enough to start really appreciating how important this day is. There have been some hard times, they went through the Great Depression, several wars, and even now we are seeing shifts in what some churchs beleive in do. But our church is still standing and just as on fire for the Lord as I can remember. I love to hear the older generation talk about revivials that were held under an old Oak tree, with benches made from logs, that would bring in hundreds of people to our tiny community and have revivals that would last for 14-20 days, each night bringing a 4-5 HOUR service. How remarkable. We still sing songs of Zion that have been passed down through the years, Rock of Ages, Amazing Grace, I'll Fly Away are some of my favorites. Then we have "dinner on the grounds". Everyone brings in their favorite dishes to share and we eat and fellowship on long tables underneath the same oak tree that is so notable for those revivals of yesterday. I love it. I'm exciting just typing this. I have some food that was prepared last night, and some that I am just beginning to smell it's wonderful aroma wafting from the oven. I know the service will be a blessing and I just wanted to share this tradition with my readers ( few as there may be). Happy Homesteading Ya'll!

Wordless Wednesdays

 

TALU Tuesday Link Up Party

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Kenya, author of Here's The Thing...
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

Swiss Chard Quiche

Swiss Chard Quiche

 

I posted a recipe last week for Sauteed Rainbow Swiss Chard. I have more Chard in my garden, ( plus we always have tons of eggs) so I thought I would make this Quiche.

Start out by washing and taking out the stalks of the chard, then chopping it up. About 10-12 big leaves is what is below. I also added 2 small green onoins and a clove of garlic. And about a tablespoon of butter to sautee it in. Let it cook for maybe 4-5 minutes, until everthing is soft.

Then you have 6 eggs and 1/2 cup whole milk and add to a bowl. ( I had chopped my onions into that bowl before I sauteed them, which is why there looks to be a few green onions left, no worries). Then you add the Cheese! I shredded 10 oz of Swiss cheese, and about 2 Tablespoons of grated Parmasan cheese. Not the kind in the big green tubs, but the hard kind that you actually have to grate yourself. That gives it a nice little something extra. Stir really well.

Prepare a 10 inch pie crust. Store bought or homeade. Poke holes in it and bake for just a few minutes, about 5-6.

 

Pour everything into the pie crust, and then grate about 2 more ounces of Swiss Cheese on top. It looks like it has a lot of chard in it, but beleive me it will cook up nicely.

 And it did! You have to cook it for about 45-50 minutes or until a fork can peirce it and it's not all runny.

 

Even my 5 and 7 year olds like this. It's a great way to use up eggs and chard and it's a fun dinner that's a bit difference. Hope you guys enjoy!

Wordless Wednesdays

TALU Link Up Tuesday #42

Welcome to the TALU Tuesday!

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Kenya, author of Here's The Thing...
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest
 

Sauteed Rainbow Swiss Chard- Yum

We have Rainbow Swiss chard in our garden right now, as well as green onions ( I think other folks may call them "spring onions") .

My girls have always loved Rainbow Swiss Chard because of their beautiful colors. I've always loved the flavor as well as knowing how much wonderful nutrition is packed in each little leaf.

This is "spicy oregano". It's great to use as a little extra flavor in cooking. My kids don't complain that they are spicy at all.

 

 

A picture of one of our garden plots, you can see the muscadine and grape arbors around the back perimeter.

The green onions about to be harvested for supper.

 Our poor snow peas. We can't get more than a few before they get picked. My kids eat them as fast as they can grow....

 

My super cute helper. I love that he has a smudge of dirt on his face....

The rainbow chard and onions harvested for supper.

 

So below you will see the Rainbow swiss chard, a tiny bit of they spicy oregano and the green onions. Wash and chop those into very small pieces.

Chop up about 2-3 garlic cloves and get them sautee'ing in a hot skillet. I use olive oil, you could use flavored olive oil for a different flavor.

When they have cooked for about 1 minute, add the chard, oregano and onions. Add a pinch of salt and pepper .  Sautee for about 4-5 minutes, then serve warm. I'm telling you my kids love this. It's like a really nice fancy little treat. The colors are the most fun.

 

I have another recipe for the Rainbow Swiss Chard I hope to get up in the next day or two. Since that is in season for most folks, it would be great to get a few more ideas on how to best cook them up.

 

 

Until Next time- Happy Homesteading!!!

TALU Tuesday Archived Link Up #41

Welcome to the TALU Tuesday!

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Kenya, author of Here's The Thing...
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

Update- Year Without New Clothes

I have had a few folks email me and ask me about how my year without new clothes is going. You can read about it here and also my second update about it can be found here.



So it is May and I haven't updated. That's because I haven't bought anything new!!
It's actually a very successful feeling. I have never been a "high end " shopper, I never cared for expensive jeans or anything like that. I was frugal even as a kid.

I do have to admit though that it took me a little bit of time to realize that there was such a thing as too many garage sales, too many thrift store finds etc. for a few reasons.

1. Time- it takes time to run all over town to go to garage sales. It takes time to pop into thrift stores. And when you have PLENTY, like we do, I just saw that time that was being spent as precious time that could be spent with my family, at home , around the yard et.

2. Money- Even spending only $20-$30 a week at yard sales adds up to $80-$120 a month. That's a lot of money for items that aren't NEEDED. If you have something specific you want to look for, or something needed it's not a bad deal. But if you are content with what you have that extra money can be saved for something else.

3. Space- This wasn't such an issue with just my husband and I, but now with 3 little ones and a 3 bedroom home all of their stuff is getting to be too much to handle. We have small closets, we have little to no storage, and just trying to keep up with everything became  time consuming. Really scaling down what we have makes us feel neater, more organized and gives us a sense of tranquility in the house. Less laundry helps as well.

So with school about over, all the kids really are wearing are flip flops, shorts, summer dresses and big tshirts for night gowns. We have enough of those. And last week I hemmed up two dresses whose hems were falling out, giving us 2 more nice Sunday dresses. I think we are good for now.

We will certainly have to buy more clothes for next school season and into Fall. I'll do that at Rhea Lana's and thrift stores closer to time, but for now we are good.

Hubby and I are good as well. I got an early Mother's Day present ( a beautiful locket) I've been wearing to work that makes me feel like I've updated my outfits.....

Blessed

This morning was a peculiar morning. There actually wasn't anything different about this morning, but it made me realized how blessed we really are.

Breakfast was homemade biscuits with homemade strawberry jam. The oldest daughter prefers honey, which was of course local and was purchased last year from a local farm. Then we had fresh eggs our hens had laid and wild boar sausage we had processed ourselves last fall.

We ate breakfast around our table together, no tv this morning, no computer. Just family.

Then we all got ready to go to church. No new clothes, nothing fancy or expensive. In fact I think most things we wore this morning was from either a yard sale or thrift store. I see no need in purchasing overly priced new items, when used is just as good.

We got to church and got to visit with our church friends and family. We sang, we worshipped, we shared one another's burdens. And it was a great time.


We don't have a huge house, a huge car, we aren't famous. But we have a beautiful, blessed little life and I wouldn't change it for anything......