Squash Tea Bread

This is beyond good!  D12 and T made it this afternoon using pumpkin since I have LOTS.    I copied the recipe then adjusted for size.   The measurements on the left will make one loaf.  The measurements on the right will make 3 loaves.  I didn't notice it being very large loaves though.  It was hard to tell as they scarfed them up.   I hear from one of the cooks of this recipe that you should wait 10 minutes to dump it.   Maybe that was why it dumped into crumbs.    Then the hoard swept through and it was gone in about 4-5 minutes.   I haven't dumped the other two.  I am afraid that there wouldn't be any left to share.  

MN decided after one bite this is going to be her wedding cake down the road many years.  

T decided this is the cake she wants for her birthday.  

D12 said the texture was like corn meal, but it sure was good as he was scarfing crumbs.  

I only had two tiny bowls of crumbs.   Probably because there wasn't any more crumbs.

Squash Tea Bread

• 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour  3 ½ cups
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder  1 ½ teaspoons
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda  ¾ teaspoons
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 ½ teaspoons
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1 ½ teaspoons
• 1/4 teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoons
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 3/8 teaspoon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 3/8 teaspoon
• 3/4 cup squash puree, (see Tip) 2 ¼ cups
• 1/2 cup sugar 1 ½ cups
• 1/4 cup honey ¾ cup
• 1/4 cup canola oil ¾ cup
• 1 large egg 5 eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, allspice and cloves in a medium bowl until combined.
3. Beat squash puree, sugar, honey and oil in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in egg and egg white. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until combined. Scrape into the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake the bread until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes more. Serve warm.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 6 months. Unwrap and thaw on a wire rack at room temperature for 4 hours.

• Tip: To make your own squash puree, halve and seed one medium acorn or butternut squash. Place, cut-side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until soft, about 50 minutes. Cool, then scrape out the flesh with a fork. Or simply use frozen (thawed) or canned squash puree. Find frozen squash puree near other vegetables in the freezer section and canned squash near the canned pumpkin.

My day and it is only 9:30

Still battling the ear thing, but it IS better.   Thank You Jesus!

I got one cup of coffee.  Kids took the rest before I got a second cup.  

Kids yet again waited until MN said chore time to get ready for chores.  This is getting old.  I brought it up to them.   God really gave me a good analogy.  I pointed out that satan really doesn't want them to learn to think.  His goal is for them to be followers and do what they are told without thought or question.  Then when another Hitler comes along they will follow his orders and do what ever without ever giving it a thought.   They have all watched them move, 180. If you haven't watched this youtube video take the 30 minutes to watch it.  It is life changing.  

As I am in the middle of this discussion, the dogs start to bark.   I send MN to see.   She rushes back with the news.  Pepper and Yeller have a skunk under the pool deck.   Joy!   So discussion is canceled.  As I head to my room I tell them I'm done for now.   

Here is your mental picture for today.  Me all decked out in my bright pink with orange flowers night gown, socks and crocs.  Topped off with my blue shooters ear muffs.   Gun in hand out the door I go with two girls hot on my heels.  One very upset skunk, two stinky dogs.  Yeller has called it quits.  MN said he was foaming at the mouth when she first saw him.  By now he is just muddy from rolling around in the dirt trying to get the skunk spray off and out of his mouth.   Pepper hasn't given up, just barking from about 1-2 away. 

Next order of business was to figure out how to shoot him.  I finally decided that the only safe shot was off the pool deck.  Ever try to shoot straight down?  It sounds easy.  I missed!   More than once.  Then the skunk moved back where I couldn't get a shot.  So we are chunking rocks under there to get him out.  Finally I look up and I have 2 girls helping.  Dogs went poof when I went bang.  Boys?    I have no clue!

Finally skunk makes a wrong move and heads toward the house.  This is away from the pool.  Girls get on porch, and I have a clear safe shot with nothing in the line of fire.  I hit him the first time at this angle.  One more shot to make sure he is done for and I am done. 

I come back in the house to find boys right where I had left them.  Seems they missed the memo about me being done.  

Just think this was all before 9 AM!  I may find more interesting things to post about later.

Life

Life around here is going.  Today I brought all my plants in off the porch.  This is a very sad time to me.  I hate the dullness of the porch.  This summer was so hot we didn't get to enjoy setting outside much.  Now that it is cool enough to enjoy it, my plants have to be downsized.

I gave my bougainvillea a super size hair cut this morning.  It was a jungle in it's self.   I hope some of my cuttings root.  I probably had the girls dip in root hormone and stick in pots about 100 cuttings.  Think every pot I have plants in that came in has all these little wooden sticks of various sizes sticking out of them. I only have 2 colors of pink and white in this pot.  The "pot" is about 1/3 of a 55 gallon plastic barrel.   I do want some apricot to add next spring.   I had one but the dogs un-potted it this summer.   We will see if any of the cuttings root.

I have been battling an ear ache since Sunday morning.  It just won't go away.   I have used all my ear ache tricks at least twice.  It goes from horrible pain back down to feeling like I have a super air tight ear plug in it.   This morning it wasn't as sore to the touch and didn't hurt just stopped up.  It won't break loose and pop.   It has made for a long week.  It is better and will be much better by tomorrow, when I have to go to town.

I wanted to brag on how super D9 was doing in school, but his super good was cheating.  :(  That is such a bummer.  I really know he just figured out the pass word this week.   So the cheating hasn't been going on long.  Mom's rule though is you have to retake all your test for the year.  He is doing pretty good at them.  Those he fails, he will have to redo that section.   He knew the rule when he made the choice to cheat.   Some times it is hard being tough.  I do know he needs tough and same rules.  He has a mind set if he is _____  you will change your mind and do what ever he wants.    Doesn't work that way here.   I also know it won't hurt him to review his school work that he didn't do as well on.   I really do have a built in allowance on time for this so they can do stuff where I extend the year to keep them from being overwhelmed with school.   I have 2 others that are stuck on dish duty since they can't pass their test.  I am seeing a lot more effort in school this week.  They may be getting tired of dishes.

MN is enjoying her Internet freedom.  It is highly monitored, but it is Internet.  She is reading up on donkey training.  She loves a challenge and lets face it a donkey will be a challenge.  

Other news, washing machine died.  It developed a leak.  Dh said he could get it fixed but bottom line is this machine has been fixed and fixed and fixed.  It sounds like an airplane landing when it spins, has a dasher missing, has had that a long time, but not as long as it sounds like an airplane.  So after some research on Sunday and Monday Dh decided to go with an Asko.  His company sells them.   They don't have them in stock.  They have to order it.  It should have been in today, but :)  you guessed it it didn't get here.  Maybe I will have a washing machine by Friday.  That will be a nice cold day to hang clothes on the line.   Yes, I do hang jeans and pants out every week, unless it is raining.  So maybe 1 time this year I had to dry pants. 

On the DIL front, still no baby!   She missed this Tue, maybe next Tue.  Both the other two she went into labor Tue afternoon right after her dh got his 18 wheeler out of pocket with a load of sheep and goats that have to be delivered.   With the first on he made it back before grand son arrived. Grand daughter was a bit more speedy and dh missed her delivery.  The joke is she will again go into labor when he makes the Hill Country run.  Her Due date is Nov. 4th. 

Found out some sad but not unexpected news about S.  She no longer is involved in her daughters life.  She is letting the daddy and his parents raise her.  I am very glad for the baby.  Every baby deserves to be loved and cared for.  My "source" said that daddy and grandparents are good parents and just glow when they show her off and talk about her.   S according to FB is engaged, but not it seems to the daddy of this child.   My, source who is S's former foster parent said that this relationship isn't healthy either that S is playing games with him.   She really needs prayer to understand she is worth and that God loves her.  Pray also for her to figure out how to grow up and be an adult.  I still have no regrets, just sad that she couldn't accept what we offered.   We tried!  I would still adopt a teen again.  I would just look at different red flags.   :) 

T is making a quilt for grand daughter. She finished the top today.  We will get some batting tomorrow and show her how to do that part.   I may go by a thrift store and just look for a blanket instead of batting since she is going to tie it not quilt it.  

Guess that is an update on my week.  Not much going on, but never dull either.  All have a blessed week.  Next week will be a better week.  

Oh and just saying, I'm ready for spring.   :)   Friday night we have freeze warnings.   I know about 90% of the rest of W. Texas is looking fwd to the "cool" (COLD) weather, but for me, I'm ready for spring.    

She's Two!

A very sleepy 2 in this picture.   She didn't nap, then napped late.  She didn't want to wake up and party.

 Yes, it was a zoo in my house.   This didn't picture doesn't show all the kids running around outside.

 Birthday girl and mommy.  

 Mommy made the cake.  It was so good.  

See she even thinks it is good!  

 Yes, that is a watermellon!  It was one of her presents!  She was very excited about it! 

 Littles checking out the gifts.

Pumpkins

This is one of those note to self.  Do not order produce when you are battling a cold and feel yucky and can't think straight.  You may come out with more or different things than you want.   I wanted 5 lbs of pumpkin to make pies and such for Thanksgiving.  Yes, I am starting to cook and plan ahead for Thanksgiving.   Instead of 5 lbs I got 5 LARGE pumpkins.   One pumpkin would have been enough.  

Yesterday we cooked the first pumpkin.  I peeled it this morning and MN made pumpkin pie filling or pumpkin pudding, what ever you want to call it.   I made a carrot  pumpkin cake. I used my carrot cake recipe.  

I had been wise and remembered to preheat the oven.  When I went to put the cake in the oven it wasn't hot.  Panic!   I called my dh and told him.  He was working on the road.   Sent MN to retrieve him off the skid steerer.   While she was gone I discovered that the 2 larger roasters I was cooking in were off too.   Then I knew what the issue was.   I had managed to put all three on the same circuit.  I threw a breaker.  

I had one roaster cooking brisket, and one more pumpkin.  I would have never dreamed the two places I had them plugged in were also on the same breaker as the stove controls.   After rearranging roasters to different rooms and circuits we were in business.  

We have 1 pumpkin cake and 2 pumpkin custards or what ever.   My bunch does like pumpkin pie stuff so it won't be a problem getting rid of them. 

The pumpkin in the roaster will be peeled and vita-mixed and put into zip-locks for Thanksgiving or what ever.  Some one mentioned pumpkin stew, so that may be the use of another pumpkin.   Maybe church tomorrow.   Haven't planned that far in advance.

Now to figure out how to use about 5 lbs of jalapenos and 4 bags of romaine lettuces.   Seems like there was something else that came in that I was like ?????    I ordered winter squash.  Usually if I order 4 kinds I might get one.  This time I got all 4!  So I have butternut, acorn, spaghetti, and >>>> I think one more.   Enough of each for a couple of meals.   I guess we will be eating good in the country!

Quick Little Girl Dress

I really wish I could take credit for this idea.  I found it on the net.  I did tweek it just a tad.

Find a ladies t-shirt.   I think this one was a medium.   It was her mommies.   Sew from the neck down the shoulder seam all the way to the bottom of the sleeve with elastic thread in the bobbin.  Make several passes back and forth.  Do both sleeves this way.  Find about where the waist would be on a small child.  I guessed since small child had went home.  You want to go just a tad below the waist so it can blouse up.   Sew a couple of round around the middle.   The picture I saw I didn't like the way the sleeve was to big.  I fixed this by making two passes around the sleeve on the hem.  We tried it on and decided the neck was to big so I sewed around the neck a couple of passes.  Next time I think I will just sew a section in front and in the back, not a circle.  

This took maybe 20 minutes from start to finish including several oops as I sewed where I shouldn't.

Passive verses Aggressive

 have come to realize that these personalities lend themselves to very different children.  As much as most people are thinking I’ll take the passive child, I am not sure I would agree.  First by aggressive I don’t mean exactly violent or hurtful, even though both of those can be a part of their behaviors.  These are the children that embrace life.  They fight tooth and nail for life.  They have a never give up attitude, even when what they are fighting for is wrong.   Let me explain what I see in my children that have me considering this in the first place.

I have two passive, and two aggressive children and 1 that is really not in either category.  I would have to put her in the aggressive, if I had to choose.

MJ and D12 are passive.   MJ is really struggling right now with lots of things because he won’t take hold of his past and fight through the gunk and be free of it.  He is stuck making some stinking choices because the old way is the “easy” way.   That said I am working very hard to make his easy way hard.  He is on my radar and being held very accountable. He is very uncomfortable with this.   He wants to fly under the radar, go unnoticed and continue with his shallow life.   I want much more for him.   He doesn’t want to feel.  Passively living what is dealt him without ever really experiencing life or even protesting what is dealt him.  God has much more for each of us than just allowing the world to run over us.  For MJ to get in trouble is “OK”.  He will just take the consequence, and never try to understand why he got a consequence or how to fix it.   He has a beaten down view of life.  He deserves what he gets and that is just how it is.   Sad way to live. 

D12 is the one that caused this to come to light.  He was bitten by a ????  maybe a spider.   This was Sat. two weeks ago.  Sunday he told me he hurt his ankle.  I hear I hurt something several times a day around here.  I didn’t think much about it.  Told him I was sorry.   Monday he said something again about hurting his ankle.  I ask him how he hurt it. He didn’t remember.   Again not unusual around here where boys are boys often.   Tue.  He was limping on that foot.  I did more questioning, still no real answer.   Tue. Night I demanded to see it since in watching him walk I discovered it looked swollen.   It was very swollen.   I then discovered what looked like a bite below the ankle bone.   I started taking aggressive measures to draw the poison out    Thursday it was still swollen and as a group at the park we prayed for healing.   That evening it ruptured.  That was an answer to prayer for me.

 

What I saw with D12 was him retreating inside himself.   I know it was hurting.  I allowed him one day of just setting and sleeping or staring into space.   I felt in my spirit that his vegging out wasn’t health.  Next day I gave him choices of reading, playing, anything but setting and staring.   Then if he didn’t I gave him something to do.   Amazingly it took very little of this for him to stop retreating inside himself.  I can see though that his passive attitude or failure would easily allow him to curl up and die rather than fight through a situation and not only survive but become a stronger person.  His ugly horrible bite is almost healed.  It healed amazingly fast.  It is still draining a tiny bit, but a band aid covers it.  Now my struggle is keeping it clean until it totally heals.    If I had allowed him to retreat I don’t think he would have healed as well.  His mental health was what was in danger. Like MJ he has this view of life that control is beyond his ability.

Now on the other side I have two aggressive children, D9 and MN.  Both of them embrace and fight to survive on their terms.  Yes, these children are tough!   Yet there is a depth of survival in them that isn’t in the other two.   They would go down swinging to the very last breath you would know they were there. 

D9 is labeled ODD.   That stands for oppositional defiant disorder.  Think stubborn and take it to about the 100^th power.   Everything can be a power struggle.  Choose carefully your battles, because the battle may last hours or days over something simple.  Remember the 9 hours to sweep?   D9 rages with his ODD.  Think 2 year old rages to the 100^th.   Imagine being screamed at for HOURS while he avoids doing what he has been ask to do.   Yes, this happens.   Not as often as it use to, but the past 2 weeks it has again been rough.   I finally, I think, figured out what is going on.  He has always been able to battle and win control of any person/situation.   Then he met me.  I am a brick wall.  He has spent 22 months trying to go over, around and under this brick wall to again gain control.   Remember he thinks he needs to be in control because the adults in his world that were in control didn’t exercise that control correctly.  He can’t trust adults to keep him safe.  He is coming to the conclusion that I am really in control and he can’t manipulate me or steam roll or badger me into letting him be in charge.  This is a very scary place for him.  It is a very tough place for me, but exciting as I foresee a breakthrough in behaviors soon.  Once we have breakthrough this child will be a leader of people.  He will be a power to contend with because he has staying power in the face of opposition.  

My other aggressive child while much like D9 in many ways was more passive aggressive in her stunts.  It was seldom a screaming match, it was just one brick wall (me) meeting another brick wall (her).   She was sneaky.  She would look you in the eye and lie.  In fact if she was looking you in the eye it probably was a lie.  She did LOTS of things to incite anger, but she did them under the table.  If you notice I use past tense with this as I describe her aggression.  She has spent the last year allowing God to truly transform her.  She is a new creation in Christ.  He has taken her fight for life and transformed it into an amazing young woman for Christ.   She now fights for things that He stands for with just as much passion and aggression as she fought first just to survive in an unbelievable abusive home, then for control from me for years.  

I often wonder what my children would be like if they had escaped the neglect and abuse.  How would they be different?   I do think each of us is born with some distinct personality traits.   I think that our environment takes that and forms it into who we become.  Some things we have control over, some we don’t.   I think we all have the ability to change to some degree the part of our personality that is formed by environment.   The God given part is just that God given. 

If you read this whole bog you may be wondering what the point is.  I don’t really have one.  I have been musing on this and decided to muse out loud.  I would love to hear others thoughts.  I don’t know that mine are right.  I am just observing what I see in my children.  I spend a great deal of my time trying to figure out what makes each of my children tick and how to take that God given gift and grow it while weeding out the environmental weeds from their past.