New Kitchen Gadgets

While looking over my pictures, I realized that I hadn't shared the amazing goodies we got for the kitchen..... from Christmas. Oh my, and it's almost Easter!! Well, there's no time like the present. Here we go:

~ Kitchen Gadgets ~

Kitchen gadgets are my favorite!! I am so thankful and blessed that my family doesn't get tired of finding interesting pieces for me. I wonder if I will be sharing more after the Easter holiday......

~ Pioneer Woman Casserole Bake Set ~ 

I love them all but these Pioneer Woman casserole dishes are my favorite. I didn't even know this type of thing existed. Since receiving this gift I've seen it in stores and have picked out several other pieces that I'd love to have too.

I've had the pleasure of using them several times already and the only thing that holds me back from saying that they aren't perfect is that they aren't lidded. I prefer baking dishes to have their own lids so that I don't have to use aluminum foil. I would imaging that creating a lid to fit a beautifully scalloped edge would be a feat, so I don't blame them for not offering one.

That scalloped edge is part of why I love them so much...I'm a sucker for scalloped edges. I also like the design printed on the outside. It adds a nice splash of color. I look forward to continued use and additions to my newly started collection.

~ Kitchen Aid 2.8 Quart Lidded Casserole ~

The next item I wanted to share is from my sister-in-law. I don't know how she found a gift that could be more perfect for me. I can never have enough lidded casseroles and this one is a heavy hitter. It holds an amazing amount of food and is beautiful. I'm not sure if she asked my husband what my favorite color was or if picking yellow was a lucky guess. Either way, I love this gift. I've used it several times and have plans for taking it to pot-lucks and picnics.

~ Bambooworx Sushi-rolling Kit ~

This gift may seem out of the ordinary for our kitchen, and I suppose that it is. Believe it or not, I asked for this one. It's another gift from my sister-in-law. You see, we love going out for sushi. Even the kids love sushi. So, I had the bright idea that if I had a sushi rolling kit, then I would be able to make sushi at home. We have tried it with some success but practice is definitely in order.

~ Farberware Ice Cream Scoop ~

I can assure you that this little ice cream scoop from my mother went directly into the drawer... after being washed of course. Since ice cream is a must at our house, this little guy has gotten a lot of regular use. I'll let you know when it stops working and has to be replaced. We go through scoops almost as quickly as can openers around here.

~ Christmas Cookie Cutters ~

These cute cookie cutters from my mother are adorable. However, they went from under the Christmas tree directly into the decorations box until next year. They will be a cute surprise to find when I get out the seasonal things in the winter. The children will have great fun using these with our favorite sugar cookie recipe.

~ Clever Cutter Pro ~

We have already used these interesting scissors for cutting vegetables and they work surprisingly well. I can imagine that they will get used up by the end of harvest and processing season this coming fall. I'll let you know if they make it through the heavy demands and if they are worth trying out.

~ Anchor Hocking 2 Quart Lidded Batter Bowl ~

~ Fillables 8 Cup 2 Piece Cake Cone Pan ~

~ Gotham Steel Crisper Tray ~ 

These last three we haven't used yet but they look very interesting. I'm thinking about getting back into bread making again and that huge, lidded, measure cup sure would come in handy. My mom's birthday is coming up in April, so perhaps we can try out the ice cream cone cup cake pan. As far as the crisper tray goes, I'll have to look into it. It doesn't come with a recipe book and I'm guessing that you use it to prepare frozen items.

Thant's all for today.
Until next time,
May all your gardening adventures be a blessing!

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"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

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Awesome Outlining Curriculum

Outlining (Grades 5-8) by Remedia Publications promotes itself as a "Step-by-Step Outlining Instruction and Practice" workbook. We used this great workbook last year and everyone loved it.

Outlining ~ Grades 5-8 ~ by Remedia Publications

I was originally looking for a workbook outlining how to write a book report and stumbled onto this little gem. While only the last page covers book reports, the rest of the 44 pages teach outlining in a very easy to understand way. Each page builds on the information already covered. My, then, 5th and 6th graders found it very easy to understand and complete one page a day. Since then, they have had few issues regarding writing an outline or writing a paper from outline notes.

Outlining ~ Grades 5-8 ~ by Remedia Publications ~ Back Cover

I see that they also offer Beginning Outlining for 3rd and 4th graders. I'm seriously considering picking up a copy for my youngest who will be in 3rd grade next year.

I hope this post has been helpful to you.
Until next time,

May all your endeavors be a blessing!

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"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
 Proverbs 22:6

Favorite Gardening Books

Over the years I have come to lean heavily on the great information found in my gardening books. I'd like to share my all time favorites with you today. I have been using these books for years and they are compilation books covering enormous amounts of knowledge.

Vegetable Gardening by Robert J. Dolezal

This first book is the first gardening book that I ever owned. I purchased it at Ollie's years ago for just a couple of dollars. At the time I knew nothing at all about gardening and had never grown anything except some spider plant clippings. I read this book from cover to cover and it has stayed my go-to gardening book ever since. It's called Vegetable Gardening, Your Ultimate Guide by Robert J. Dolezal. 

This book gave me a general look at everything gardening related. It covers types of gardens (like raised bed, intensive, and row gardening), provides charts for growing zones, site location, soil preparation, pests and diseases, and so on. The part that I keep using over and over again is the extensive vegetable encyclopedia at the end. This was the first book I grabbed when I started my garden plans for this year.

Seed To Seed by Suzanne Ashworth

This second book is an amazing encyclopedia type book. This alphabetical book covers, in great detail, every vegetable that you could ever want to grow. Each listing gives information about botanical classifications, pollination and crossing, seed production and harvest, seed statistics, how to grow from seed, and regional growing recommendations. This is a must have book for anyone wanting to harvest their own seed for future planting. I can not recommend Seed To Seed by Suzanne Ashworth enough. 

Organic Gardening by Geoff Hamilton

Organic Gardening, The Essential Guide To Growing Flowers, Fruit, and Vegetables the Natural Way by Geoff Hamilton is the third book to share today. This book seriously covers so much that it would be impossible to mention it all in one or two paragraphs. Each page is filled with color photographs of everything gardening related. I grab this book the most when I want an organic way to deal with garden pests, diseases and weeds. There are also amazing sections on garden design spanning ornamental, container, vegetable, fruit, herb, and greenhouse gardening. 

Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte

This well worn gardening book was picked up for $.25 at a book sale and well worth much more. This Gardenway book is another encyclopedia style book with very few pictures and those that it does have are in the form of sketches. Companion planting is a major part of my gardening. This is the practice of planting different vegetables, herbs, and flowers together in the same plot. In some cases one plant will add a needed element into the soil that will be used by it's companion plant. In other cases, one plant will repel insects from it's neighbor. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my favorite gardening books. 

I'd love to hear about yours.

Until next time,

May all your endeavors be a blessing!

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"The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness; but of every one [that is] hasty only to want." Proverbs 21:5

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Soup & Crackers ~ Organic Review

Today was a soup and crackers sort of day. However, since the garden is nowhere near producing what I need to make homemade vegetable soup, I opted to try some things from the pantry.

I had picked up a few boxes of Annie's Organic Vegetable Soup with Farm-Shaped Pasta and thought that I'd see how we liked it. I was happy to see all of that beautiful corn. I'm a big corn fan and that is something that I really miss in the winter. The children ate it but didn't rave about how wonderful it was. I didn't mention that the pasta was shaped and no one seemed to notice. All in all, it was a nice, warming soup for a chilly day.

I wanted to have some crackers to go along with our soup and these Organic Classic Rounds from Full Circle Market were a big hit. Everyone loved them so much that I had to put away the box before they were all eaten. These are buttery and salty and so, so good. We will definitely be picking more of these up whenever we see them.

I hope that this review was helpful. 

I'd love to read your thoughts on these items. 

Feel free to comment below.

Until next time,

May all your endeavors be a blessing!

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"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
 1 Corinthians 10:31

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Gluten Free Pizza Oggi Review

I picked up one each of the three varieties of this Gluten Free Pizza at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market and we had to try them as soon as we got home. The packaging makes these wheat free pizzas look so good. Amazingly enough we couldn't tell, by the taste, that they are wheat free. In fact, I never told the kids that there was anything different about these. 

They are fast and easy to heat. Simply open the box and cut them out of the plastic wrapping before putting them into a preheated oven. I put them on cookie sheets because I didn't want to just put them on the oven grates, as instructed. They were golden brown in about 14 minutes. 

They are smaller than most frozen pizzas and the price is a bit higher. However, these are not ordinary pizzas, so it's all about the ingredients.  

~ Margherita ~

The first one is my personal favorite, the Margherita. The crust bakes up nice and golden brown, the toppings taste fresh. I especially like the pesto.

The box says that it's hand tossed and stone baked. The toppings are Italian cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Checking out the ingredient label, they also list Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese, and pesto made from basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper, among other things. I was a bit surprised to see sugar on the list but thankful it wasn't overly sweet.

The sauce was very good as well and (according to the ingredient list) contains extra virgin olive oil, brown cane sugar, sea salt, parsley, oregano, white pepper, onion and garlic, among other things. Again, they list sugar. If you are trying to cut out sugar this may not be the pizza for you. 

~ Quattro Formaggi ~

This thin crust, cheese pizza was the favorite of the boys. They are big fans of cheese pizzas and this one has four types of cheese; Mozzarella, Asiago, Romano, and Parmesan. The sauce is the same as the first one but there was a lot less sauce on this one..... or perhaps there was just so much cheese, that the sauce got lost. The box says thin crust but, honestly, I couldn't tell. It wasn't like pizza on a cracker, the way other thin crust pizzas are. 

~ Veggitaly ~

I really thought that this one would be my favorite with fire roasted vegetables and goat cheese. However, as it turns out, I don't like goat cheese at all. Thankfully, my daughter loved this one and she finished it off, almost by herself. 

This pizza has the same hand tossed, stone baked crust as the Margherita but it doesn't have any sauce on it. I didn't notice at first but the kids were quick to point it out to me. I was impressed with the vegetable toppings. It's got roasted red and yellow peppers, zucchini, grilled eggplant, diced tomatoes, grilled onions, oregano, sea salt, Mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Really, the only thing that put me off was the goat cheese. If I get it again, for myself, I'll just take those pieces off before baking. 

I hope this review was helpful. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts, if you've tried these yourself. 

Until next time,

May all your endeavors be a blessing!

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"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
 1 Corinthians 10:31

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Pancake and Waffle Mix ~ Annie's Organic

We love pancakes and often have "breakfast for dinner". Generally this includes pancakes, fried eggs, hash-browns, beef sausage and perhaps some fruit and yogurt. A few months ago, while at the discount grocery, I picked up a case of Annie's Organic Pancake and Waffle Mix at an extremely great price. I usually make my pancakes from scratch. However, I was curious to see if a box mix would be a lot faster and easy enough that the kids could make pancakes themselves.

As it turns out, the box mix is easy and the kids are able to follow the directions easily. I didn't find that the process was any faster, however. The only change that we made was to add cinnamon to the batter because we like cinnamon in our pancakes.

The pancakes looked and tasted relatively the same as the ones that I make from scratch. So, the real selling point for this mix is that it's less expensive to purchase the organic box mix instead of purchasing all the organic ingredients separately.

Until next time,

May all your endeavors be a blessing!

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"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
 1 Corinthians 10:31

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Orange Cinnamon Rolls

I suppose that I will be sharing a review, of sorts, today. I generally don't buy things like this but my youngest son saw these at the store and really wanted to try them. So, here we are.

Quite honestly, my only real difficulty was in opening the packaging. I have no experience in pre-made, tube packaged, items. Lol. I was expecting the packaging to just pop open but I actually had to  work to get into it.

The instructions couldn't have been easier. Simply place the rolls into a greased pie pan and bake for the allotted time.

Once the rolls are baked you top with the frosting that is included. I'm not a fruity dessert type of person but these turned out to be very yummy! If I were to make these from scratch, I'd cut back on the sugar just a bit but as a bake and serve item, I have no complaints. Great job Pillsbury!

Until next time,

May all your endeavors be a blessing!

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"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
 1 Corinthians 10:31

**This is not a sponsored post.