SCD Chicken Stir-Fry

Sorry!  No picture!  I'll take one the next time I make it.  Trust me, though, this is delish!

My whole family loves this, and everything is Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal except the corn starch and the rice.  What I do for my son, who is in remission from Crohyn's, is dish some out for him just before adding the corn starch for the rest of my family.  And, of course, he doesn't eat his on a bed of rice.  He could care less.  :p

Ingredients

 (Approximately 10 servings)

1 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces

4 or more cloves whole garlic (I always use about 6!  Garlic is a natural antibiotic!  No one has ever complained about me using too much garlic.), crushed

4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 large onion, cut into wedges

1 cup sliced carrots

2 cups SCD chicken stock

1/3 cup SCD soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

4 cups fresh broccoli florets

1 cup bell pepper, sliced

4 teaspoons corn starch (NOT SCD legal...this doesn't even add flavor, just a thickening)

Rice (NOT SCD legal)

• Heat 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, garlic and gingerroot; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until chicken is brown. 
• 2 Stir in onion, carrots, 3/4 cup of the broth, the soy sauce and sugar. Cover and cook over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 3 Stir in broccoli, mushrooms and bell pepper. Cover and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center and vegetables are crisp-tender.
• Serve -- unless you are adding the ingredients below for folks who don't have to have an SCD friendly meal. 
• 4 In small bowl, mix cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup broth; stir into chicken mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened. Serve over rice. 

Steps to eating real food...

Remember how Jesus told us to clean the inside of the cup first?  (Matthew 23:26, "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."

I think of that verse a lot when it comes to the healthy eating changes I am making for my family.  When I started going "all natural" a few years ago, I started with cleaners, shampoos, and soaps, etc.
I can honestly say now that I should have started with food.

All of those all natural products are important, but I don't think they will mean crud if I'm feeding people-made poisons to my family.

Don't say, "I can't do that!  It's too hard!"  Yes, you can!  Just don't try to all at once unless you can handle that big of a change.  I don't believe you have to suddenly panic and change everything unless you have a serious health issue happening right now.

However, if you wait until it is too late...(and I am seeing more and more and more of my friends getting seriously ill from processed foods)...then, yeah, you are going to have to be "shoved" into this.  My now 8yo son was shoved into a drastic diet change (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) when he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in November 2011.  He's now very healthy!  I'll post on that story someday.  

Don't wait for that.   Let's start making small changes now!

Here is a great blog post I found about taking baby steps toward eating real food.  I haven't even done all of these steps, yet.

Baby Steps to Nutritious Eating: 12 Steps to a Real Foods Diet

What step will you take this week?  :o)

SCD and Gluten Free Cheddar Bites/Cheddar Crackers recipe

These.  Are.  Awesome.  I've made homemade cheese crackers before, but they never turned out right.  I thought it was me.  These, however, are easy and awesome!

SCD and Gluten Free!  THESE ARE SO GOOD!  I'm having to make myself stop eating them because they are really for Jaden (our son on the SCD diet to keep the Crohn's away).  Oh man these are awesome.  Yeah, I can't stop saying that.  I put bacon bits in them, but didn't have the "herbs de provence" it called for.  No matter.  These are great AND healthy for you!

I got the original recipe from this blog, but I made a few adjustments that, to me, made making these easier.  Anyway, enjoy!!!  These rock!  Did I mention that they're awesome?

Cheddar Bites

 

3 cups almond flour
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup water
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp herbs de provence (I've never used this)
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 or 2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
and a pinch of red pepper flakes

1 cup of chopped bacon (optional - but awesome.  I just put in a small bag of real bacon bits.

Mix all of your ingredients together in a big bowl.  Add more water if you need to. Shape into a big ball, divide in half. and place each half on top of a piece of parchment paper the size of your cookie sheet. Place another piece parchment on top, and roll the dough until it is very thin, less than 1/4 inch, the thinner the dough, the crispier the crackers will be. 

Make sure your oven is preheated to 300 F.

Remove top piece of parchment paper.  Using a pizza cutter, cut through dough making squares about the size of saltine crackers.  Leave on parchment paper.

I like a good, salty cracker.  Not tons, but I ended up sprinkling a bit more salt on these just before baking.  I use Himalayan salt, so I don't feel too guilty about it since it's so healthy!

Bake the crackers at 300 for 30 minutes.
Take the crackers out of the oven, and turn the temperature down to 210 F.

Separate and flip the crackers over (use pizza cutter again if necessary) and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Bake the crackers again at 210 for 30 minutes.

Make sure you store the crackers in an air tight container. You can freeze them as well.   I hope you enjoy!

Proof that God is real...to me, anyway...

I was going to title this another way, but then I thought that maybe someone searching the internet might someday find this...and maybe it will help them believe.

I've been a believer in Jesus Christ, and by that I mean I believe that He is the Son of God and I trust Him...the Jesus of the Holy Bible...for about 25 years.  I was saved one day while attending church with a friend back in 1989.  It was awesome.  I sat in that church crying my eyes out over my sin and wanted God's love more than anything.  What an awesome God we serve.

However, there is one day in my life that cemented that He truly is alive, cares about, and is watching over me.  I have no doubt that the event I am going to describe to you could in no way have been a "coincidence."

This happened while we lived in Virginia.  My husband was in the Navy at the time, and we were stationed there.  We, well, let's just say that we didn't used to get along very well.  We had two children at the time, and I was pregnant with our oldest son.  I would get so frustrated at times that I would storm out of the apartment, get into the car, and drive off.  I didn't do this often, but if I did then it meant I had to leave before I would end up screaming my head off and destroying something in the house.  Yeah, I had quite the temper, and little tolerance for being treated unfairly.

So, off I went, driving to a nearby park to sit in my car and cry and try to figure out how to make this marriage work, and basically go on with life.  I started crying out to Jesus and was screaming something like, "If you REALLY exist and are REALLY hearing me then let me see you!  I can't stand this anymore!  Just come down here and tell me what I should do because I'm so sick of it!"  I ranted and raved for a few minutes, sat back in the car exhausted and bawling...calmed down, never expecting anything "miraculous" to happen, looked at the clock and saw that it was now 1:30pm (I had been there for about a half hour), and then drove home.  I went to my bedroom to lay down.

After resting for about an hour, I checked my email to see if I had any messages.  I had a message from a woman that I knew from a homeschooling forum that I used to go to a lot.  I barely knew her.  She had never emailed me before in the two or three years that we knew of each other on the forum, and I never really heard from her since.  Her email shocked me.  It said something like:  "Hi Tracey, I just wanted you to know that I felt very led to pray for you today.  I hope you are alright."

I sat there just staring at the email.  I thought, "Oh, this is just a coincidence, I'm sure...but I'm glad she told me."  I did, however, have a small ray of hope in me that maybe she felt led to do this while I was at that park.  So, I asked her, "Can you tell me about what time it was that you felt led to do this?"

She responded, "Yes, it was at 1:00pm..."  I couldn't believe it!  I responded and told her the miracle that she had just been a part of.  This small, little bit of "proof" that Jesus had given to her and I.  It still makes me smile.  Whenever I hear people trying to disprove the existence of God...my mind goes back to that moment.  Of course, reading the Word of God daily feeds me more and more with faith and love and just knowing God...but that moment...that personal moment that I can look back at and say, "Yes...that was a sign for me."  Well, it means a lot.

Of course Jesus has done way more in me and my family's life than this.  He's doing things all the time!  However, that moment is undeniable.  No one can ever say it was anything else but Him.  Ever...

I will go to my grave believing...trusting...following...abiding...and obeying.

Benefits of Himalayan Salt - Never Buy The Nasty Stuff Again!

Bleh!  Now that I have watched this video and the article under it, I will NEVER use regular table salt again.  Wow!  I've heard about how sea salt was better for you, and started purchasing it (pshhh...but I was buying "white" sea salt...which is also processed)...but I never heard any of THIS!  Holy crap!  (sorry)  What a difference!  WATCH this...(please excuse the look on Dr. Mercola's face ;o)

Anyway, watch...read...learn...then buy Himalayan salt.  I got two pounds for $9.25 on Amazon.  Two pounds of salt is a lot!  Why would I pay, what $1 for nasty stuff that is killing me instead of $9.25 for something that is good for me?!  Plus, this amount should last me a good 3-4 months at least.  Don't blow $10 on a couple of fast-food meals (which are awful for you, anyway), and splurge on this stuff.   Your body will thank you!

Read all about how nasty table salt is and the benefits of Himilayan salt here: Himilayan Salt vs. Table Salt.



All Through The Ages - What A Treasure!

My Book Basket - bought this one at WalMart

One thing I really loved about My Father's World curriculum was their "book basket" list.  Book basket is a big pile of books that you keep in your home (in a basket or whatever you chose) for your children to peruse while you are exploring certain subjects in your homeschool.  We used ours for chosing readers as well as just having it for great books to look through or read.  I didn't want to let go of this idea when I changed over to The Mystery of History.  However, the resources that most curriculums have are either included, or they only have a minimal list.  That's fine, I'm not complaining, but I wanted a bit list.  So, I set out to gather resources from various sources (Sonlight, My Father's World, Veritas Press, Tapestry of Grace, etc.) and come up with my own list.  I wanted to know about every single living and interesting book out there! 

All Through The Ages - 3rd Edition

One of the lists I paid for was an eBook called, "All Through The Ages."  I figured I would have to basically purchase a bunch of instructor guides from various curriculums so that I could piece it all together chronologically.  I know, nuts.  That would have cost hundreds of dollars.  When I received my link to download All Through The Ages (ATTA), I was amazed that it was over 350 pages long!  I paid less than $20 for this!  I started looking through it, but for some reason I set it down and went on to look at other sources.  My mistake.

As I was going through some of my gathered lists, I started getting discouraged and aggravated.  Ugh.  This was going to take forever.  I was determined, however, to have tons of books to choose from, and make this list!

About a week later I remembered ATTA.  As I started going through it, I realized that each and every book that I saw on the other lists was on this one, too!  I started looking for books that I loved that this list might have missed, just to test it.  I was like, "Okay, but did she include Usborne books? Yep... Okay, but did she include missionary stories? Yep..." 

Her list is all I need.

This list is amazing.  It is listed chronologically, and you can also see the list by country.  Amazing.  The author (Christine Miller) even talks a bit about the time periods.  Lovely.  You can read more about this list here.  Be sure to read that page so that you can learn the great way she organizes this list! 

I also like how she puts a brief description after each book title.  She even says what source she found them at.

Now I just grab my copy of ATTA and get on my computer and start borrowing from our inter library loan system.  No more missing out on great books!  My children and I get a choice!

Thank you so much, Christine Miller.  Now if I could just find a list where great supplemental movies are listed chronologically.  If you know of one, please comment below and let me know!  :o)

How I Organize Mystery Of History

 

****CLICK HERE FOR NEWLY UPDATED POST ON HOW I 

ORGANIZE THE MYSTERY OF HISTORY.***

Even though I have just started using The Mystery of History in our homeschool, I have already organized it into a system that I believe will work for us.  Sure, Mystery of History (MOH) is basically an "open and go" curriculum for the most part, but I have found in my 13 years of homeschooling that if I don't have everything (or, at least, almost everything) set up ahead of time and easily accessible, then I tend to get bogged down with finding, copying, cutting, and looking for supplies.  Projects and activities that I wanted to get done and that I know my children would have loved get skipped.  No fun.  My children don't want time wasted doing this, and neither do I.  I want to keep the flow of learning going.  The excitement of discovery!  The train of thought!  Okay, so this is almost impossible with the normal interruptions that come daily (baby, doorbell ringing, phone ringing, children needing things, puppy pooing/peeing on the floor, kids bickering, etc.), but it still sounds good.  Being organized and prepared will at least make up for those unplanned interruptions a bit.

File Crate

Locker Crate (more slim than the file crate)

So, here is what I have done.  I use basically the same supplies that I used for organizing My Father's World Kindergarten that I spoke of in this post.  I use the locker crates from WalMart for younger children's work (about 7th grade and younger -- they don't have as much stuff), and I use the larger crates (also from WalMart -- or wherever you can find them) for about 8th grade and up.  I put each subject into a 10" x 13" envelope, and put one pendaflex folder in each child's crate to hold loose papers, miscellaneous stuff, etc.  I also use one large crate for the "correction" or "inbox" sitting on my kitchen counter.  When a child has completed a subject, they place their envelope into this crate for me to correct or review later.  There is a pendaflex folder in this as well for loose tests, etc.  The nice thing about these crates is that I can leave them on my kitchen island (or wherever it most convenient) and then move them out of the way into my bedroom or a closet during the weekend when we don't want them "in our face." 

Now, how about all of those notebooking pages, maps, quizes and such that Mystery of History is famous for?  No way do I want to be printing out and/or copying those at the last minute.  I do that all way ahead of time.  I could do a whole year's worth at once, I suppose, but I didn't this time.  I just did the first 9 weeks worth.  Then, I make up a pendaflex folder for each week of Mystery of History and place them in some sort of file crate (I had this one that I got via a free rebate from Staples).  Week 1 has it's own pendaflex and holds every loose item that I will need, including but not limited to:  Timeline figures, Challenge Cards, Notebooking Pages, Coloring Pages, Pre-tests, Quizzes, etc.  I used to think that doing that would be strangely time-consuming and ridiculous...boy am I glad I gave it a try!  I love it now.  It's definitely worth it.

We like to sit on the coach while doing our reading and such for Mystery of History, so I have a clip board for each child to use for mapping and such.  It has their name right on it.  When they finish their map, notebook page, or whatever, they put the whole clip board into the correction box with their papers on it.

Well, there you have it!

***12/19/2013 - SPECIAL NOTE -- Holy cow, this is NOT how I organize Mystery of History anymore.  I will be posting my new, easier-to-maintain version very soon.