Simple Joys At Home

So, I was compiling a list of some of our favorite THM recipes for some friends of ours, and since I went through all the work of doing it (which I enjoyed) I thought I'd share it with y'all too. So, here goes, in case you wanted to know everything that we ever eat, and then some. *Note: All the foods with page numbers beside them are from the Trim Healthy Mama book , and can be found on that page number in the book. So, one thing that we eat about once a week, that there isn't actually a recipe for (at least that I recall coming across.) Naked Burritos. We eat this so often that once Leah asked if we could have burritos with clothes on them. Basically, we cook up a big pot of rice, and a big pot of black beans. We also marinade a bunch (as in, however much your family would eat) of meat (chicken breasts or a beef roast) n Italian salad dressing. We normally at that point cut it up, and cook it an electric skillet. Traditionally, it would be grilled, but o

         Starting tomorrow evening (11/28/2013) I'll be having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday SALE in my Etsy shop !  I sell all sorts of fun crocheted items, such as hats, cowboy boots, and doll shoes.  I also have a few little girls' aprons for sale. All items will have between a 15% and 50% discount in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This ONLY applies to my Etsy Shop , and NOT my Facebook page .  This also does not apply to custom orders, although I will still be taking custom orders during this time. Sales will start Thursday evening, and end either Monday night or Tuesday morning.  Four+ days of savings!  Keep in mind that this is the perfect time to purchase Christmas gifts!  Hope to see you there!  Visit my shop --->  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

This is week six of a six week Menu Monday trial period.....I've gotten very little feedback, which means no more Menu Monday! Sad, I know, but also somewhat of a freedom for me. rest assured though, I'll still post some recipes, they just won't be as regular. In fact, I'm in the middle of creating a super duper yummy THM approved recipe.... Today's Menu Monday is super simple, because we've been sick, and I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food. In fact, this picture was taken of the leftovers from this meal, that I just pulled out of the fridge and arranged on a plate for the picture. There wasn't any leftover broccoli,  which is why there isn't any in the picture. This is real life y'all. Oh, by the way, this is a THM approved 'E' meal. Baked Chicken: Ingredients: Chicken breasts (however much your family will eat) Salt Pepper Garlic Powder Chives Place chicken in a pan, and sprinkle with spices. I use dried chives,

 As many of you may know, I have an Etsy shop that I opened back in January. You may wonder what that has to do with you... I'm now offering a coupon code to all my blog readers! Yay for you! You can now use the the coupon code "BLOGFRIEND" to receive a 15% discount off anything in my shop. To top it off, right now is the perfect time to start ordering Christmas gifts. Everything in my shop is handmade, so if you wait until too close to Christmas, you may not get your package in time. Here's a sneak peak of some of the things you can find in my shop: Oh, I also do custom orders, so if there's something that you want, and can't find in my shop, be sure to send me an email! Here's a link to my shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

You may have noticed that I didn't post a Menu Monday last week...the week before was super busy, and I forgot to take a picture of anything to share with you.  I sincerely hope that you forgive me. Well, okay, I unsincerly hope that you forgive me.  I really truly do hope that you didn't mind too much though.  I'll stop while I'm ahead. The recipe for this week is designed to only serve two people. Or one person twice. Normally I post recipes magnified greatly, because that's how much food that I actually make. For those who don't know me, I have 8 siblings. 3 of them are boys between the ages of 11 and 15. They eat. A lot. This recipe is different because it's a thm recipe, and only two of  us are are doing thm..The last Menu Monday post had adaptations included to make it a thm S meal.  If you are wondering what in the world thm is, it stands for Trim Healthy Mama . Look it up. I've included a link. Maybe someday I'll do a whole p

It's  finally  starting to feel like fall in our neck of the woods, and hot, yummy foods like these are the best when temperatures drop below 80 degrees. Yes, that's what I mean by it feeling like Fall. No more 100+ degree weather. We hope. For all you THMs ( Trim Healthy Mamas ) out there: You will be happy to know that this meal is thm "S" approved, when using the alternative ingredients, listed in italics.     You're welcome. Meatballs: Ingredients: 5 pounds of hamburger 5 eggs 2 cups of breadcrumbs or 1 cup rolled oats, (ground/chopped), and 1 cup almond flour 1/2 cup dried, minced onion 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce or 2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon each of chili powder, garlic powder, and cloves 1 tablespoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper Mix all together well, and form into ball of desired size (mine are 1 1/2-2 inches). Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees until inside is no longer pink. These work very well for fre

This is my brother Caleb's favorite meal. He would be happy if we served it once a week, and always wants to hog any leftovers. Santa Fe Chicken: Ingredients: 4 cups black beans, rinsed and drained 6-8 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed 4 cups corn 2 cups of salsa 2 8oz. packages cream cheese (this could be left out, and it would still be very yummy, but we always add it in.) Combine all ingredients in a large skillet and cook until heated through. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Serve over brown rice. Brown Rice: Place 4 cups of brown rice in a large saucepan, along with 8 cups of water, on high. Bring to a boil. Stir, cover with a lid, and turn heat down to low. cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Cantaloupe: Cut 1-2 cantaloupes to serve along with this meal. Other fruits would be good too, or this can even be served by itself.

Ah, Pickle Peach Pie. It's that crazy recipe, that when you mention it's name, everyone thinks that you must be going crazy. Or, if you're a female of childbearing years, that you must be pregnant, and have strange cravings. Unless, of course they are one of the privileged few to have tried this yummy dish. Then, neither of these thoughts enters their mind. Trust me on this one, it's good stuff. Ingredients: 4 tablespoons butter 2 onions, finely chopped 2 tablespoons mustard 2, 9" baked pie shells (yes, someday I'll share my gluten free pie crust recipe, just not today) 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 2 lbs hamburger 1 16oz. can of tomato sauce 2 large dill pickles, chopped 2 16oz. cans of peach slices, drained Melt butter, and saute onions and mustard in it. While onions are cooking, brown hamburger and drain. Add tomato sauce and dill pickles to hamburger. Place sauteed onions in pie shells. Put 3/4 cup cheese over the onions in each shell. Th

Welcome to the very first Menu Monday! This is a six week series sharing one meal from our menu, each Monday. I'm considering having this series extend longer than six weeks, but that will depend on the feedback that I receive during this initial "trial run." I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I do! Baked Ziti : This is a recipe that was invented after my parents had an Italian dish similar to this at a restaurant. Ingredients: 2 lbs bulk pork breakfast sausage Approximately 2 quarts (64 oz.) of your favorite spaghetti sauce 1 1/2-2 lbs penne noodles 3 cups mozzarella cheese 1-1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese Mozzarella or cheddar cheese for sprinkling on top Cook and drain noodles. While the noodles re cooking, brown the sausage, and add spaghetti sauce. Place the noodles and the sauce mixture in a 10"x15" pan, and mix together. Add cheeses and mix well. Sprinkle cheddar or mozzarella on the top, and bake at 350* until heated through and chee

Next Monday, September 16th, I'll be starting my very first blog series, sharing one meal off our menu each week, that will be called "Menu Monday". This series has been in the works for awhile, but I'm finally ready to launch it. Because our over half the family is strictly gluten free, all the recipes that I share will be gluten free. Some may also have conversions for doing it non-gluten free, and most have been adapted from regular recipes and can easily be made either way. One very, very, important part of gluten free cooking, especially baking, is what flour you use. When we first went gluten free, it was a royal nightmare trying to figure out how to cook with so many different flours, and what flours to use for what. Finally, we stumbled upon a flour blend that can be used in exchange for wheat flour in nearly any recipe. Because I'll use this in so many recipes that I share, I wanted to share it as a separate post that I can link back to anytime I call f

Today would have been my great grandpa's birthday.  In remembrance of the great man and farmer that he was, we dressed little Joshua like him today.  Although I don't remember it (I was too young at that point) his normal farm garb was blue and white striped overalls. I do remember however, the cowboy boots he always wore, and the hat that was never far from him.  He would be proud to see Joshua dressed like him, and growing up on a farm (of sorts).

I said in my last post that I'd share the most exciting thing that had happened since we moved, so here he is! My sweet little brother, Joshua. I had wonderful plans of posting sooner, but, we were/are on new internet, so I was limited as to how much I could do online, and after editing all the pictures for the last post, as well as other people using the internet, there wasn't much left. Needless to say, this didn't make top priority. But now, we've just started our next month's worth, so I can use a bit more :). Hopefully  I'll have another post this week, with some more random life, but I'm not making any promises this time :), For some strange reason, my life is just a bit busy just now.  One other happy bit of news though, is that we're finally closing on our house, so we'll no longer be renting!

This post is mostly pictures, mainly because is would take far too long to tell about all that has happen these first few weeks of living on our farm. I will, however, have captions for, and stories behind, many of the pictures, so come along for a little sneak peek of what our live looks like.  Esther enjoyed picking dandelions in in our huge yard  The front of our house  "Why hello there."  This was our lovely stable before  the animals. You'll see more pictures of it with the animals later.  We have some lovely rose bushes in our front yard, and I greatly enjoyed capturing just a bit of their beauty.  There's something about a bud, just beginning to open, that so greatly shows the handiwork of God  This tree is rotting, but shows such beauty still   No, she's not really driving the tractor...  Looks as some bugs of some sort, I believe.  At first we thought the fruit