23 January 2007
Since this is my first day posting, I'm trying to decide what would be a good format. I've been fascinated with blogs since I first saw one on CSI Miami. Lately, I've been reading quite a few knitting blogs, and decided it was time to jump in.
Not that what I do is that interesting, mind you. But I do feel an obligation to keep a journal and failing miserably at a hand written account has led me to other alternative. How much better would I do at this? Well, no harm done, right?
There really are a lot of things going on in my life for which I would like to have a written account. For example, there's our great homeschool program, Deseret Academy. We registered with the State of Florida in 1994 as a private school where students do their work at home, but we have been homeschooling since 1976. Of course, our own children have all graduated from homeschool and college, but we continue working with other people's kids as they attempt to become educated in an alternative fashion. Our own children are working with us in the school now as we attempt to back away so that we can "retire" and serve missions for our church.
We joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1976 (that was a big year for us), and have thought of serving a mission ever since. We are very active in our church, and presently are serving an at-home mission which means we commute from our home to serve at the Home Storage Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Being more prepared in the face of adversity will always be one of our passions. Besides our mission, Roger, my sweetheart of almost 35 years, serves as young men's president, and I am currently the Relief Society President. We are members of the Crescent City Branch in the Jacksonville Florida West Stake. It was formed in November of 2002. I'm sure you'll hear more of our shinanigans as we go along.
Our children are the light of our life. We have always enjoyed being parents and have been blessed with 3 wonderful boys: Dorian, Darius, and Orion. They are all married now as of last year to great daughter-in-laws: Bonnie, Alicia, and Jac respectively. Dorian and Bonnie have three children: Kayla (11), Wyatt (8), and Angelina (5). You can only imagine how much we love them. Darius and Alicia are expecting; they have put in their papers to adopt a baby, so it is exciting to think that is coming up soon.
As far as interests in our lives, Roger and I both enjoy gardening. Living in NE Florida gives us the opportunity to garden year round. Currently we are growing lettuce and cabbage. We still have peppers growing from our 2006 spring garden. The plants are quite large and able to withstand what little cold weather we've had. Our cauliflower and broccoli have gone to seed as it is way too warm this year for them to thrive. Either that, or it wasn't a very good variety. I bought them at a nursery. I picked up some herb plants at the fruit stand last week that I am hoping to get in the ground: sage, thyme, and parsley. I think I bought a few more cabbage plants too. I can never grow too much cabbage as I like to can a cabbage slaw that we eat all year long. I make sauerkraut occasionally too, but we don't eat that as often as the slaw. I have been reading about drying cabbage in my yahoo group on food drying, so I may try that this year as well. Supposed to be good in soup.
Which leads me to my other passion: canning. Last week I put up 25 pounds of dried pea beans in the form of baked beans. I think it was close to 96 pints. I did 8 with hotdogs to make a beenie weenee, and I think it was a hit with Roger. He ate a pint last night before going to bed. I am anxious to put more beans up, as we are a lot more likely to eat them if they are fast and easy. I also like to can meats. This is the only way I will put meat in my food storage as I don't trust the freezer for large amounts and don't like meat dried. We had some pork loin I canned in Sept of 2004 for our dinner today (Sweet and Sour Pork), and it was still delicious.
I don't have an electronic camera, but I will try to get my hands on one soon, so I can add photos to my blog. I can't imagine how boring this would be to read without pictures.
Another passion, sewing. I own 4 sewing machines! Unfortunately, I have not sewn for a while as I have not organized a sewing area, so that is one of my goals this year.
I also love to knit. I used to crochet before a bad car accident in 2001, but damage to my wrist prevents the twisting that crocheting requires. Knitting fits the bill perfectly and is even more interesting I have found. Previous to my car accident, I had not knit very much though I had completed a sweater. I wasn't very good. I decided to start knitting socks, and all that has changed. You can't knit socks without getting better! I knit my DDIL Jac a shrug for Christmas and Dorian got a cap, Angelina got a cap and matching cape, Wyatt some fingerless gloves. My Mom got socks for her birthday. All in all, I've knit about 50 pairs, I think. I'm not sure why those of us who knit socks love them so much, but we do. They truly become a passion if one is so inclined.
We had our monthly Trunk family FHE on setting goals Sunday at Darius and Alicia's house. One of the points brought up is that we seem to do better when we share our goals with others. I am a terrible goal maker as I am an awful chicken when it comes to failing. My goals this year include the following:
1. Memorize the Articles of Faith in Spanish. I continue to struggle to learn Spanish so that Roger and I might be able to serve a mission in Mexico. Since Darius' stint there and our subsequent visits (2 times), we are totally in love with the Mexican people. My two counselors in RS are Spanish and my secretary is fluent in both English and Spanish, so they all help me a lot. (Thank you Maria, Graciela, and Kitsy).
2. Read the _Articles of Faith_ by Talmage.
3. Eat better. We continually struggle with this one and have reached a point in our lives when we realize it is a necessity if we wish to have a good quality of life. To accomplish this goal, I would like to do the following:
1. Eat more fresh vegetables from the garden and kitchen (sprouts).
2. Eat more homemade bread and grain products. I have made noodles a few time, but am still relying heavily on purchased pasta products. We are eating a homemade whole grain cereal product every morning.
3. Eat legumes daily (sprouted and home canned).
4. Only eat homemade sweets. We figured if we had to bake them, we might not eat them as often. We need to cut down on our sugar consumption.
4. In our missionary calling, we are going to start doing "date nights" in the areas served by our HSC. We would also like to visit wards on Sunday to spread the word about services offered there. Many members have not participated in this aspect of preparedness.
5. Attend the temple at least monthly for a session besides our work assignment there. (We are ordinance workers at the Orlando Temple.
I know these are pretty wimpy goals, but I already told you I was a wimp! I will be very happy if I can accomplish even these limited things.
That is about all there is about my life and passions except I should mention sports. I can't describe that as a passion, but it certainly is a large part of my life since marrying Roger. In fact, we started dating because of a football game, and sports has been a part of my life ever since. The 2 older boys are also pretty passionate about sports, so we do spend time watching the various teams play. None of us are too much on the participation end, unfortunately. The super bowl is coming up soon, and Jac and Orion are hosting the family that day for FHE first, snacks, and football. It should be fun. If it's a long game, I'll get a whole sock done! I actually won the adult pool last week when the playoffs were going on with the Bears and the Colts! That was a first, believe me. I have a horrible record when it comes to guessing the winner. Angelina and Kayla both won for the children, so that was exciting too.
11 comments:
How are the "Artículos de Fe" coming along?
"Creemos en Dios, el Padre Eterno, y en su hijo...."
Nice work on the blog. I am interested to hear how you like writing in a blog that anyone can see compared to writing in a journal or keeping a "journal" in Wordperfect.
I have gotten through numero quatro and most of cinco. it is a lot easier than i thought, but they are written very logically.
in answer to your second remark, i thought about that when i was thinking about a blog. but i figured that something written is better than nothing written. i suppose if i have something of a sensitive nature to work through, i can still use the traditional journal process for that.
i used to use my journal a lot for that when i was a young mother. my journal was my refuge. then i got teenage sons. as you know, i drove orion around a lot, and he loves to talk about "stuff", so he became my outlet. when he left for his mission, i never got back into the habit of journaling.
i really believe in journaling. at least for me, writing my feelings is a way of sorting them out. i don't seem to do that so well out loud.
so i am going to look at this as an opportunity to journal. because i will feel obligated to do a daily entry, maybe when all is said and done, it will perform its function as a journal should: to let my posterity know who and what i am. we'll see. thanks for commenting.
I like the idea of a blog, I have just never thought that anyone else would be interested in anything I had to say. I have thought about it from time to time, and this may just be the inspiration I need.
A few questions and comments. First, what is the advantage to eating legumes (pronounced lěg'yōōm) every day? What do they do for you?
Second, I like how you shared your goals with us. It gives us the opportunity to support you in them as we discussed at our Family Home Evening.
Third, what do you, or anyone else who is reading this, think about all of us posting our goals, so that we can support one another and have a successful 2007? It might work, it might not, but I thought I would throw that out there.
Overall, this is a good start. I look forward to reading some more.
I'm so surprised you are interested. I think it would be a great idea for those who want the help a family support group could bring would post their goals (I don't think that last sentence is gramatically correct...does it make sense?).
Here is an excerpt from walton feeds web site on legumes:
http://waltonfeed.com/self/beans.html
Introduction
What distinguishes beans from other plants? Beans have pods with
seeds inside them. Aside from beans this includes peas, lentils and some people even include the peanut in this category. All legumes are able to take large amounts of nitrogen from the air and convert it to protein in the seeds. They also return large amounts of nitrogen to the ground and because of this the green plants are sometimes plowed under; as an organic fertilizer.
Right along with the early grains, legumes were among the first crops cultivated and date back to the Bronze Age. Beans have been
discovered in the tombs of the Pharaohs and Aztecs. The ancient
Egyptians considered beans to be an emblem of life and had temples
dedicated to them. Later, the Greeks and Romans used them in
festivals to worship their gods. The Roman's four most distinguished families were named after beans; Fabius (fava bean), Lentulus (lentil), Piso (pea), and Cicero (chickpea). Early discoverers learned that Indians scattered all over the Americas grew and ate numerous kinds of beans. And from the very beginning, beans were carried back and forth, traded and planted as explorers and nomads wondered the earth. In the Middle Ages beans were one of the primary foods of the peasants of Europe. And in more recent times because of their great storage ability, beans were a primary food for sailors which is exactly how the Navy bean got it's name. Beans have fed the armies of the world from ancient times to the wars of recent history. From the Great Depression right up to the present, beans have been recognized for their high nutritional content. At a small fraction of the cost of meat protein, one cup of cooked beans
provides 25% of the daily requirement for the amino acids.
Nutrition
During the lean years of the Great Depression, beans were also tagged "poor man's meat" because of their protein power at pennies per pound. Beans are a source of Niacin, Thiamin, Riboflavin, B6
vitamins and many other nutrients as well. They are also rich in
complex carbohydrates and fiber. All of these nutrients are necessary for normal growth and for the building of body tissues.
Beans are high in potassium which is required for the normal functioning of nerves and muscles. A cup of cooked beans contains more potassium than a banana. In fact, beans have more calcium and iron per cup than three ounces of cooked meat but contain no cholesterol and with less calories.
Beans are the best source of folate and are excellent sources of minerals and vitamins. High in fiber they have good cancer fighting characteristics and have been specifically linked to lower the risk of colon cancer.
Recent research has brought to light that beans have 'anti-aging' agents or antioxidants found in the seed coat. There are eight flavonoids in the outer bean layer, six of which are particularly strong antioxidants. Because of new research, we are learning that beans have a perfect nutrient base for people interested in weight loss. They also aid in reducing cholesterol, improve digestion and, as already mentioned, are an aid in cancer prevention.
Cooking Beans
Beans can be eaten raw, sprouted or cooked. Unknown by many, they can even be ground into a flour and in this form beans cook up in two or three minutes into a hearty soup. But this is not all, for the more adventurous among us, beans can be juiced into milk, curdled into tofu, fermented into soy sauce or made into transparent noodles called vermicelli. Truly, beans rival the versatility of wheat in what you can do with them. Let's look at some of the different processes in preparing beans for eating.
Soaking: This step isn't completely necessary, however, there are some real advantages. A shorter cooking time is probably the biggest advantage. Figure about an extra hour of cooking time for beans that are not pre-soaked. Beans should be soaked for at least 6 hours.
During this time, the beans will absorb water until they have increased in volume and weight about 3 times. You should add 5 times as much water as dry beans. Soaking also leaches some of the gas producing properties out of the bean. But for this to work, you need to discard the soaking water and replenish it with fresh water before cooking. The longer you soak them the less gassy beans will be. You can also drain the water after 12 hours, then rinse and re-drain them every 12 hours for 2 to 3 days until the sprouts are as long as the bean. This not only dramatically increases the vitamins in the beans but also removes some of the gas producing qualities. After you have sprouted them as described above, cook them like regular soaked beans. You can also quick soak beans by boiling them for 10 minutes first, then setting them aside for two hours. As with a cold soak, you should discard the soaking water and replace with it fresh water before cooking them. Boiling the beans kills the seeds so don't expect them to sprout after you've heated them.
One lb. dry packaged beans = 2 cups dry = 6 cups cooked beans.
Cooking: After soaking, most people cover the beans with water then boil them. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hrs, depending on the bean. You should check them for softness every 15-30 minutes then pull them off the heat when they've reached their desired softness. But you can also throw them in a crock pot in the morning and let them go until the evening. And we've already mentioned that beans ground into a flour cook up almost instantly into a soup or paste, depending on how much water you use. If you've boiled your beans for several hrs and they still haven't softened, it's probably because they are old. Old, air stored beans 5 or more years old get 'hardened' and may never soften up. There are two ways of getting around this. You can put them in a pressure cooker for 45-60 minutes and this should do the trick, or you can grind them.
Incidentally, normal beans that aren't 'hard' cook in about 20 minutes is a pressure cooker. Hardened beans still contain much of their nutrition.
After your beans are cooked, add your flavorings, meat, vegetables or whatever you are adding to make the bean dish you are preparing.
Don't add these ingredients while the beans are cooking as there are
many ingredients that will increase the beans' cooking time before they become soft. This includes the acidic foods which include tomatoes, lemon juice, vinegar and similar ingredients. Adding a bit of cooking oil, butter or margarine to the cooking beans will help to keep the foaming down as they cook. Consider cooking a double batch and freezing the beans not used immediately. Beans soaked for 12 hours or more often have a more uniform shape than quick soaked beans. You may need to increase the cooking time if your water is overly hard or you live at high altitudes.
Cooked beans will store nicely in your refrigerator for a week and they freeze nicely for a minimum of 6 months.
What Are The Different Beans Used For?
Adzuki: Japanese dishes.
Anasazi: Can be used in place of Navy, Pinto, Great Northern, or Kidney beans.
Black-eye: Used with rice dishes such as Hoppin' John.
Black Turtle: In Latin American dishes, soups, refried beans, salsas.
Garbanzo: Most often used in soups, salads and Mexican dishes; main ingredient in the popular Middle Eastern dishes hummus and falafel. Coffee substitute.
Great Northern: Soups, baked beans.
Kidney: In soups, salads, sandwiches, chili, dip, or over rice.
Lentils: Soups, raw sprouts, stirfried sprouts, meatless patties, Ethnic food.
Lima: Popular as a vegetable side-dish or added to soups and casseroles.
Mung: Sprouts, vermicelli or transparent noodles.
Navy: Baked beans, soups, casseroles, ethnic dishes.
Pink: Often used to make chili. Good substitute for pinto or kidney beans.
Pinto: In chili, refried beans, dips.
Small Red: Chile, salads.
Soy: Soy milk, tofu, soy flour, TVP, sprouts, tempeh, mise, soy sauce (shoyu or tamari), natto.
Gas:
Beans have somewhat of a bad reputation because of their gas producing characteristics. However, there are several things you can do to minimize or eliminate this. The easiest thing you can do is pick a bean that is not as gas producing as the others. Gas is produced when the intestinal tract doesn't adequately digest beans.
Wouldn't it be great to have a list of beans sorted according to their gas producing qualities? Here it is... The beans on the bottom produce the least gas.
1. Soybeans
2. Pink beans
3. Black turtle beans
4. Pinto beans
5. Small white beans
6. Great northern
7. Baby lima beans
8. Garbanzo beans
9. Large lima beans
10. Black-eyed peas
11. Anasazi beans
The most likely reason for this is caused by a lack of enzymes needed to digest this food. As your body gets used to eating beans, the needed enzymes are introduced and this problem disappears.
There's also a way of introducing these enzymes through a product called Beano. Beano contains alpha-galactosidase, an enzyme that helps digest the complex sugars that beans contain. (They also work on broccoli, cabbage and other gas producing foods.) There are a couple of herbs that also reduce or eliminate the gas from beans.
From personal experience I've learned that a couple of '00 gel caps' stuffed with nutmeg will also do the trick and that peppermint, spearmint, marjoram, anise, basil, caraway, carrots, dill, ginger, onions orange juice, parsley, savory, thyme and ginger are also reported to have gas reduction properties to one extent or another as well. We've been drinking orange juice with our bean meals for years with good results. That old wives tale of throwing a carrot in with the beans as they cook then throw it out is also founded on successful experience.
As mentioned already, you should throw out the water you've been
soaking your beans in before cooking them and it's also reported that fruits shouldn't be eaten at the same meal.
Why would you be surprised that I was interested in this? I love the internets; I will always be thankful to Al Gore for inventing them.
Thank you for the great detail you gave me on the legumes. It will take me some time to get through all that you posted, but I will be better off for it.
Interesting stuff about the beans. I learned a lot!
I am ok with this blog thing. I think most of you will know I am not a fan of the chat crap. I like talking to people in person it is easier sometimes. U can see peoples body language. I will try really hard not to write confusingly, meaning confusing the tone with the topic. I hope we all have fun with this.
glad you decided to join us. i'm more comfortable writing my feelings than i am talking, so it comes more naturally to me. I do understand that it is easier to be misunderstoon though, so we should be careful how we say things. Of course, if we have a record of saying things that hurt peoples' feelings, it will be more likely that it is taken the wrong way. Conversely, if people know we usually try to be nice, they will hopefully take it that way. Sometimes we are too sensitive too and assume people are out to get us. hopefully none of us feel that way, and think of this as a secure place to share our feelings.
Plus, I heard on TV this morning that it is almost impossible to be sarcastic in writing.
i do believe that sounds like a challenge!
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