Last Quarter of 2022 – Highlights

Well, hello there! We are still around!

While I do try to keep up with blogging as a digital scrapbook for our children, it’s been lower on the priority list here lately.

Everyone is doing well and growing, and today I’ll give a glimpse into our last quarter of 2022.

The guys spent quite a bit of time deer-hunting and trapping last fall. Shekinah also went hunting and shot her first deer! I’ll share more about that when I write the hunting season overview!

I discovered that I am allergic to grass, weeds, dust, mold, and cats. I had no idea that I had allergies — but I was having drainage into my ears that caused pain & infections. I did allergy testing, and now that we’ve discovered the cause, I’m now doing sublingual immunotherapy to build immunity to those allergens. I am *hoping* that solving this allergy problem will also diagnose and cure the cause for my migraines that I have 4-6 days/month.

I have also begun playing keyboard at church a couple Sundays each month. I really haven’t done too much with music since having children, so it’s been a blessing to get involved again. I’m learning so much through this experience.

Here are a few snapshots of our last quarter…

New haircuts for all of the girls! Kyndle requested to have her hair styled like the girls in the movie, “White Christmas.”

One of the girls’ favorite things to help make for dinner are pizza braids.

I love their imaginations! They’ve got their wagon, reins, and a horse!

Shekinah turned 11! She’s quickly approaching being as tall as her mother!

Birthday breakfast!

We’re trying a new tradition of doing portraits of each of the children on their birthdays.

Truman turned 10 the next day!

He looks so grown up!

The children all love getting to design and decorate their birthday cakes.

We closed up everything down at our lake lot… the fall foliage is beautiful down there!

When the guys are off doing guy-activities, we have girls nights!

Truman splitting wood for our wood-burning fireplace to prepare for winter. The girls all helped stack it.

Our November (including Thanksgiving) was dampened by a bad case of influenza. I escaped getting sick, but I had pretty sick patients for 12 days.

When they finally started feeling better, we made a special brunch and decorated for Christmas.

Kyndle loves her books!

We delivered maple snickerdoodles to 12 of our neighbors! We are so blessed to have great neighbors.

Liberty turned 9!

Our mother/daughter birthday lunch!

We were thankful to have sickness behind us and were able to have a wonderful Christmas!

We hosted Christmas for Trent’s family!

With my side of the family…

Truman received Realtree-o-poly for Christmas and that has been hugely popular. Countless hours have been spent playing that game already!

Merry Christmas!

We got 2 male kittens, Tom & Patch, to help keep the mouse population down in our livestock barn.

We’ve had a great start to 2023 so far — Stay tuned for updates & great recipes!

My Whole 30 Experience + Recipes

A year ago, I did my first Whole30. As long as I have food prepped and available, eating this way really isn’t difficult for me. Currently, I’m eating on-plan about 4 full days a week, take the weekends off, and then if we have company, I’m flexible.

Overall, I do feel better and am more satisfied. (When I eat “normal,” I feel much more hungry.) I had hoped that this would help me with balancing my hormones and reduce my migraines; but I still have continued to have migraines 4-6 days/month.

I’m continuing following it with flexibility built in because I KNOW it’s good for my body. I’m not losing weight (though I did last summer when I did 45 days straight).

It also has to be family-friendly, as I’m too busy of a lady to be cooking 2 dinners each night! Many of the following recipes are family-pleasing, and I can add bread, pasta, or rice for the rest of the family. If I make something that I can’t eat, I’ll eat leftovers or a salad. I buy minimal specialty foods; as they are just so expensive!

I try to keep it as simple as possible – because who needs more stress in their life?

Doing some prep ahead of time makes it SO much more doable. These are a few things I had on hand:

Sweet Potatoes roasted with coconut oil and Himalayan salt

Chicken breasts cooked with onions, minced garlic, salt & pepper

Having a large veggie tray in the fridge makes healthy meal-prep so much easier.

Homemade Mayo – this recipe always turns out when I make it in my Ninja blender.

Zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and garlic roasted in coconut oil with salt, pepper, and Nutritional Yeast.

I love having large containers of roasted vegetables in the fridge!

Quick veggie skillet using pre-roasted vegetables

Simple Meatballs – I would add BBQ sauce for the rest of the family and eat my meatballs with whatever veggies I had on hand.

Easy breakfast – fried eggs and pre-roasted sweet pototoes

Pot Roast – family friendly meal. Kroger has Simple Truth No-Sugar-Added ketchup which I enjoy having with my potatoes.

“I have nothing in the house” lunch – fried eggs and leftover vegetables. It works!

Chicken drumsticks seasoned with a mixture of: Salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Yum!

Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas – substitute avocado oil and omit soy sauce to make it Whole30-friendy. This was an easy one to make when we had company as it’s a crowd-pleaser, and I could stay on plan.

I’ve come to LOVE roasted sweet potatoes on salads. Leftover chicken and sweet potatoes make a salad so satisfying. (Sometimes I add roasted almonds too.)

My go-to salad dressing for Whole30.

Pineapple Beef Stir-Fry – served over rice for the rest of the family and steamed broccoli for me.

Leftover meatballs, pre-roasted vegetables, and a side-salad.

My favorite Banana Almond Butter Smoothie.

Beef & Broccoli – over rice for the rest of the family.

Crispy Roasted Potatoes – I love making this brisket recipe with these potatoes for a great company dinner!

I enjoy making chicken salad with chicken breast, tomatoes, celery, peppers, carrots, and grapes. Season generously with salt & pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add Homemade Mayo to bind together.

Asian Sesame Steak Kabobs – yum!

Sweet Potato Chili is definitely a family favorite. I make homemade cornbread for the rest of the gang.

Chicken Fried Cauli-Rice – I make this when I make Mongolian Beef for the rest of the family. They have it as their side; I have it as my main entrée.

Another good ol’ salad – this time with a couple fried eggs, pre-roasted sweet poatoes, and almonds.

Ground beef, Ragu Simply sauce & spaghetti squash. I add pasta and breadsticks to make it family-friendly.

Chicken & Leftover Grilled Vegetables – easy skillet meal for me.

One thing that I have appreciated about learning these different recipes/methods is that I can easily accommodate most anybody’s eating preferences/restrictions.

Since we love to be hospitable, that’s been a huge asset!