Arkansas State Capitol

My children and I were blessed this week to be able to visit our beautiful
state Capitol!
Arkansans can be proud of this incredible building that holds so many
symbols of our history!

Beautiful architecture!

Mike Huckabee's Portrait
(our previous Governor)

This sign above both the House and Senate doors.
It was also found in stone monuments on the grounds of the Capitol.

Our Representative, John Burris.
My children prayed this man would be elected and now we pray
for him by name quite often. I was able to share this with him.
He seemed, I'm not sure, maybe surprised, but thankful.
So far there are several things I appreciate about this young man.
Chiefly, he personally responds promptly to any e-mail I send to him.
He has also worked on the new law to make partial birth abortion illegal in Arkansas,
even if our federal government reverses this law.

So Simple, Incredible Soup!

Simple Cauliflower Soup

There is no way for me to describe how wonderful this soup was! Just amazing! I will make this again and again! It takes mere minutes, uses only a few ingredients, all of which are very good for you! What could be better?

Treat yourself!

Daniel Boone

I find our current read-aloud, Daniel Boone by James Daugherty, quite fascinating, as do my children. Here's a couple quotes:

Being good members of the Quaker faith, the Boone family gave and took among themselves and their neighbors with an easy kindness that brought a quiet sweetness to the stress and strain of heavy tasks. Out of the ponderous Bible they daily read and listened and believed, striving to walk with a wise and gentle God in love and truth.

Father and Mother Boone with their eleven children were an average-sized American family of that day.....

Raw Kale Avocado Salad

We love the salad! And I'm so glad. I plan to grow lots of this stuff this summer and I'm so thankful we've found a way that we can eat *lots* of this green, raw!

Sara at Happy Food has a great post about this salad, along with a video that will even show you how to make it!

This is what we put in our salad. I think next time I'll cut back on the lemon juice a bit. Zeke said, "This is spicy!" I think he meant very tangy! :) All of the kids agreed that it was good.

• 1/2 pound baby kale
  
• 1/2 cup tomato, chopped
  
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or hemp seed oil (go for less if you can)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• Real Salt sea salt, to taste (1/4 - 1/2 t)

Grocery Cart Challenge ~ Share your recipes here

First Harvest

I picked half a pound of kale today. Doesn't sound like much, but that is a big bowl of kale! I'm so excited to be trying a new kale salad for supper. I'll let you know how we like it.

Today, we planted more peas, sugar snap this time. We still need to plant the plain old garden pea. While cleaning out a bed and raking up the leaves I found 5 beautiful romaine lettuce plants that had self seeded. I did a happy little squeal an dance. And then explained, "I'm so excited." My soon to 13 year old smiled and said, "We can tell!" I loved that red speckled romaine that I had last year. I've already started some in flats here in the house but it was a great surprise to know that I have some a couple of inches tall already in my garden!

We're debating whether or not to till up a "field garden". I've told so many people that I'd never do it again, but I'm wanting more space. I'd love to plant long rows of peas. We can never get enough of them, even from the Farmer's Market. I often buy everything the man brings and we go home and still eat them all raw. My poor husband never gets to enjoy any of them. They are like candy to the kids and I. I've heard gardeners say they are their appetizer as they stroll through the garden.

I'm looking for wonderful ways to eat kale raw. Do you have a favorite way? I enjoy it stir fried but I really hate to do that if I can find a way my family will love it raw. Why cook it? We like a little bit of it in salads but not a whole salad of just kale. Actually the recipe I'm trying tonight is
made using kale as the only "green". I'll let you know how it turns out.

Do we need another reason?

For years we've tried to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diet. We don't purchase pancake syrup, sodas, or baked goods that contain this ingredient. (I won't say that we *never* do. But it is certainly not the norm in our house.) We already have many reasons. Now, there is another.

• Coca-Cola Classic
• Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
• Smucker’s Strawberry Jelly
• Nutri‐Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
• Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup

The above list of products was found to not only contain high fructose corn syrup, but also mercury! You can read about it at Small Notebook.

One Million Pounds

Path to Freedom is hosting a challenge and we're going to participate! Want to join us?! You can find all the information you need right here. Together can we grow a million pounds?

I agree with this man, again.

Ron Paul spoke in Congress on something I'm passionate about. Might seem silly to many or even scary (why, I'm not sure) to some, but to me it is just "freedom" and common sense.

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul

Introducing Legislation Allowing Interstate Shipment of Unpasteurized Milk

January 29, 2009

“Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation that allows the shipment and distribution of unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption across state lines. This legislation removes an unconstitutional restraint on farmers who wish to sell or otherwise distribute, and people who wish to consume, unpasteurized milk and milk products.

My office has heard from numerous people who would like to obtain unpasteurized milk. Many of these people have done their own research and come to the conclusion that unpasteurized milk is healthier than pasteurized milk. These Americans have the right to consume these products without having the federal government second-guess their judgment about what products best promote health.

If there are legitimate concerns about the safety of unpasteurized milk, those concerns should be addressed at the state and local level. I urge my colleagues to join me in promoting consumers’ rights, the original intent of the Constitution, and federalism by cosponsoring my legislation to allow the interstate shipment of unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption.”

When to plant?

I'm getting very anxious to put some seeds into my gardens! Yesterday I purchased some seed potatoes along with some red and sweet onions. Mmmmm... makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Today, I found this great resource concerning planting times.
Outdoor Planting Table
You can personalize it for your own zip code.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company has a wonderful website with very informative forums. Their seeds are awesome and their newest catalog just beautiful! Order one if you haven't yet!

Stonewall Kitchen

I've always enjoyed flipping through the Stonewall Kitchen catalog. I've never placed an order, everything seemed very much out of my price range! Browsing always inspired ideas of what I could do in my own kitchen, though.

Well....yesterday at one of our favorite discount stores (Duffy's, if you are from around here) I found Orange Zest Pancake and Waffle Mix from Stonewall Kitchen for 89 cents, plus I had a 20% off coupon! This morning we enjoyed a big batch of these pancakes. And they are very yummy! I'm continually amazed at all the good things God gives for me to enjoy!