It's been a while....

Hey all!! So, I'm a slacker and I always have good intentions to blog weekly but they never seem to happen...maybe it's just that I don' really have much to say, or in comparison to other blogs I read I just don't lead that fascinating of a life! But here I am again!!

Week 6 of cosmetology school and it has been so fun! We are already practicing on "real" customers verses Kim who has been such a great customer for the first month, but I'm happy to move on to a real head!

Here is Ms. Kim in all her beauty, with painted on lipstick and a little extra eye makeup! I like to have fun with it ya know!!

SO I wonder if this ever happens to anyone else...

Last night I got home from school planning on a fun date night with my hubby. As we are eating the delicious dinner that had been waiting on us all day, (crock pot meals are my fave) Bretter tells me that we were gonna be having a few football guys over for dinner tonight. So I knew that he was planning this and that's why when I made my weekly grocery run, I got all the needed ingredients for ONE tater tot casserole. However, the latest was that it was up to 10 football player now, which means One wasn't gonna cut it. These guys aren't kickers here, we are talking about line backers...those boys can eat! Which meant date night included running back to the store and preparing all the fixins for tonight's dinner! Which consisted of :

TWO tater tot casseroles, 

Large batch of mashed potatoes (I know, your thinking exactly what I said, two potato dishes for one meal...but that's what he asked for, so I just went along with it) & Gravy

Green Beans and Carrots

Bread

and cookie cake for dessert (i got a little lazy with the dessert)

Now they are all here, eating happily in the other room and I am sitting in the bed room writing and praying that the Lord will use Brett, this time at our home, and this meal to draw them to Himself. 

Delish Banana Bread

So this previous weekend, Brett and I were in Memphis for two days for staff training. For his job we will usually travel to Memphis,TN about once a month for some developmental training. This is always something I really look forward to because I know this is an opportunity to see so many of my friends! So while in Memphis a few of the wives and I went to a little farmer's market just to check out the daily produce. And what do you know caught my eye...8 very ripe banana's for $1. SOLD! I decided I needed to make some banana bread out of these ASAP! And it was so tasty!

In bowl #1: It starts out with one cup of sugar and one melted stick of butter mixed well. Then in the same bowl mix two eggs in separately. 

 In bowl # 2: You will mash 3-4 ripe banana's, 1 tablespoon of milk, and one tablespoon of ground cinnamon.

Next in bowl #3:  I used 2 cups of freshly milled hard red wheat and mixed it with 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt. 

Finally you will combine all three bowls into your largest bowl and mix to combine throughly. 

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Pour your batter into a greased or buttered 9 x 5 bread loaf.  You will let cook for a little over an hour. Begin checking at an hour as all stoves are different. 

Sorry I don't have a picture of the finished product. It totally slipped my mind the night I made it and when it was served the next day there was none left to photograph. I always know if my husband like a loaf of bread I make determining on how much is left over after the first and second day. This one didn't make is past day 2!

* this recipe is from Food Network*

The mill...

Above, my sweet friend Fran came to visit me a few days ago, and a little lunch date we came back to the apt. to do a little baking! As some of you know I mill the flour for most of my flour foods that we eat. Things like our bread, biscuits, cakes, pancakes, muffins, and on and on. I first learned about milling your own wheat while in college from the woman who discipled me (Jen Devine). After Jen and another close girlfriend became so convinced of this being the only way to eat bread and many other flour products, I became very intrigued and decided to do some research myself. There is a wonderful website for any of you interested in why this is so important at www.breadbeckers.com.

"At The Bread Beckers, we believe one simple thing can change your life: real food. Our mission is to show you how easy real food is to make and how delicious it is to eat...Here's why. What passes for food today bears little resemblance to the living organisms God created. The only way to know what you're eating is to make it yourself. We'll teach you how to do it in just a few minutes a day and help you take the first steps to a healthier life. Fatigue, sinus problems, constipation, high cholesterol and even warts are just some of the conditions our customers and our own families have overcome by rejecting processed foods and fueling our bodies with the whole, delicious fuel they were designed to use."

This is basically their mission statement and after reading many of the articles under the information part of the website I really felt like the Lord was leading me into a healthier lifestyle for myself and my family one day by milling my own wheat to make my own wheat and flour products. If my body is my temple because the holy spirit lives inside of me then I want to be putting good nutrient rich healthy things in it!Above is Fran holding my mill. Now this was an investment for me and I saved money for about 3 months to buy it! But now that I own it, I am so happy that I do!
Here I am just pouring some what into the mill while it's grinding it into fresh flour...
Then, tadaa! Fresh flour!
So today Fran and i decided to make homemade bread and some chocolate chip muffins. Both jam packed of fiber and all the goodness that comes along with freshly milled flour.
Adding a little cinnamon to our muffins...
and the picture above is our bread dough after it had been kneaded in the mixer for about 7 minutes...
Here are the muffins getting ready to get popped into the oven!
And above is the bread dough getting ready to rise for about 2 hours. The bread can be quite a time consuming task so I only cook it on days when I know I have at least 3 hours to dedicate to it! But the good thing about that is that for about two of those hours it is rising which is great time to get some laundry done or do some reading!

Did you know that after a grain of wheat has been cracked it begins to oxidize (loose it's built in nutrients) immediately. If you don't use the flour it makes within 24 hours it is basically completely nutrient-less. Which is part of the reason I started making my own bread. I would love to go into great detail here but why not read it for yourself at breadbeckers website if you are interested! If you have any questions please feel free to post below or e-mail me at brett.kat.barton@gmail.com.