Oil Of Joy: January 2015

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Thursday, January 15, 2015

S - Breakfast - egg free, dairy free, yet full of delciousness! Warm Chia Porridge!

 
 

On my perpetual hunt for filling and delicious S breakfasts that are egg free as well as dairy free, I remembered I should share with you all Jennifer Griffins Warm Chia Porridge! This is such a wonderfully quick and easy breakfast, making my busy homeschool life a little easier. Today I made mine chocolatey delicious by adding in a heaping Tablespoon of cocoa powder, a pinch of salt and a doonk of stevia. If I am not making a protein side of any kind I also add a scoop of protein powder. I mix all the dry together in my bowl then add hot water. Which is wonderful, since I am also warming that hot water for my morning cup of tea.

This particular morning I added a few frozen strawberries I warmed in the microwave, smashed and poured on top. I rounded this out with some chicken breakfast sausages I made up on Monday morning. Fun tip, make the whole package and be ready for the week! Then I only have to wash the pan once! My mason jar is filled with my yummy London Fog healing tea. This fabulous breakfast is a wonderful satisfying S meal, loaded with protein and healing foods.

With joy~ Tina

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Homeschool - My favorite things...

We are currently in our 15th year of official homeschool. Over these wonderful, amazing, stressful, happy 14 years I have tried A LOT of curriculum. I was even blessed with a season of reviewing homeschool curriculum. Now that I am winding down our homeschool as our daughter is in 9th grade, I am looking at clearing out our materials we no longer need.

It's kind of sad. It's also good moving on and looking forward to what God has for me.

I wanted to make a list of some of my favorite homeschool things and share them with you.


1. First up is a book from Heart of Wisdom.... The Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays.


This book has blessed my family so much. This might be one of the most used books in my library, as well as a number one book loaned out to friends and family. It's just that good. I always recommend it to others and if I could afford it, I would send it to everyone I know. For reals. It's just amazing. WHY?!

This book does a beautiful job teaching about the biblical feasts, first from what it says in the Bible about the feast day and how it is to be celebrated. It then teaches you how traditional Judaism observes the holiday today. Then it goes in depth to show the connection between the feast day and our beloved Messiah, His life, death, resurrection and return as conquering King are all foretold in the biblical feasts. This book helped grow my faith and draw my family closer to the Lord and deepened our understanding of His ways. If you can afford it, buy it, be blessed, grow in His ways, learn of His promises through a very hands on, family bonding approach.



2. Another Heart of Wisdom, they produce some amazing curriculum. Biblically based, Charlotte Mason approach unit studies. CHECK, CHECK, CHECK! All my boxes happily checked off! To top it off, very Messianic friendly! Which, we are Messianic believers so I am thrilled with this excellent curriculum.

 
 
Ancient History: Adam to Messiah is a curriculum we used for one year in our homeschool adventures. I learned so much! That's one of my favorite things about homeschooling, I get to learn right along side my children!! It's truly fantastic!

Through this curriculum you will use the Bible as your core history book, how cool is that!?! This is an in depth guide to understanding biblical history that will bless your entire family. This is a guide that includes study ideas and covers most every topic! We learned so much history and I really felt like we were much more grounded in our biblical knowledge after our year long study. I no longer need this particular curriculum but I keep it because I love it so much, I am just not ready to part with it yet.

3. I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for both of our children. I just loved the simplicity of this book. 100 daily lessons that were about 20 minutes in length each day. Easy, efficient, and worked incredibly well for us.



I have this theory, if you can teach your children to read, you've accomplished one of the hardest parts of homeschool. Once someone can read, the world is now open to them. They can learn anything they want, that coupled with the knowledge of how to access information and there are no limits. As it turned out, this curriculum not only taught our children to read, but they also read very well and loved it! For a quick, easy to follow guide, I highly recommend this wonderful book.

4. Learning Adventures! I used this curriculum for years! Very few pieces I bought actually made it through several years, but this one just worked so well for our family and we all loved it. Biblical based, unit studies, living books, Charlotte Mason style. It fit all our loves.


Adventures abounded with this curriculum. Excellent historical fiction selections, I had the blessed opportunity to read some of the most amazing books with my children! We started our homeschool day cuddled up in my bed, still in jammies cuddling up with a fantastic book, finding out what happened next in our literature adventure. What a blessed season that was. This curriculum is filled with creative hands on ideas, cooking, literature, excellent and STRONG language art program, it includes everything but math! Truly an all inclusive curriculum I could not recommend it more. Grades 4-8.

5. As my children grew, we had to move out of Learning Adventures and find something that still offered fantastic inspired education for high school, yet also helped prepare them for the next phase of life, the possibilities of college. After much research I found Notgrass History. In depth, strong curriculum. Perfect prep work for moving up into college level studies. Honestly, I feel my son learned more in his Notgrass studies than he did in his college level history class!!

There is a lot of essay writing, reading and even tests are included. I was not a tester throughout our years homeschooling, however this was excellent preparation for what would be expected in a college setting. I highly recommend Notgrass for a thorough well rounded look at history from a biblical perspective.

6. My last for this post (although I have many more, which I may share another day) is the newest item we just tried this year. Queen Homeschool is a Charlotte Mason approach written by the Queen family. Excellent materials. Our daughter was more interested in a workbook style approach. It about killed me to think of MY child using a workbook in homeschool! We would be SHUNNED! However, my priority is to allow her to learn in a way that works best for her and makes her happy as well. If she wants a workbook style, then let's find one. Which we did and I am so happy to report about this series: Discovering Nature Series


Summer by the Sea is a year long, high school curriculum in a workbook style. It's also Charlotte Mason, so this mama is very happy. Guess what, so is her daughter, which makes this mama even happier! Each weekly lesson begins with a story which teaches about the topic in a fun way. So much more interesting than a typical textbook format. The days following have workbook pages with assignments to draw, research, explore the concepts brought up in the story. Tying everything together beautifully. The unit study, story telling approach increases retention of concepts learned as well as making it fun to do!

PS - If you are just learning about homeschool or are a veteran, I would also recommend this book about homeschooling. Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach If you are wanting a biblical approach, a biblical, godly mindset to your homeschool, this book is invaluable. I simply love this excellent book.

What are some of your favorite homeschool things?

Do you have any questions about the items I shared today, or about homeschool?

With joy ~Tina













Egg Free S Breakfast "Scramble"

Chicken Zucchini Scramble S Breakfast
Previously I mentioned that I am trying to switch up my morning fuel type from E to S. Satisfying breakfast meal. I ventured into my vegetable crisper and found zucchini....I figured I would give it a try. One of my favorite breakfast sausage is Isernios chicken breakfast sausage. Sometimes at the beginning of the week I will fry up the whole package so I have something ready to go.

This particular morning I diced up my zucchini and tossed it into a pan with a little coconut oil. Just enough to keep the zucchini moving around the pan. On top of the zucchini I added a generous serving of the breakfast sausage that was already cooked, it just needed to be warmed up. I like my zucchini tender crisp, so it just took a few minutes.

In the morning I always have tea. Always. Lately I have been adding a doonk of stevia, a heaping teaspoon of beef gelatin and a small pat of butter. When my tea is done brewing I pour this over the dry ingredients and mix it all up with my handy dandy immersion blender. I love that kitchen tool.

So here are a few ideas for a simple and quick morning S breakfast. To make it quick and easy, pre chop some veggies at the beginning of the week as well as cook up a package of breakfast meat that you enjoy.
Some ideas I use:
  • Isernios Chicken Breakfast Sausage
  • Trader Joes Breakfast Links
  • Beef Breakfast Sausages
  • Turkey Bacon
  • Hamburger Patty
Veggies:
  • Zucchini
  • Turnips
  • Onions
  • Bell Peppers
  • Green onions
  • Garlic
  • Radishes
  • Mushrooms (not my personal option, ew)
Or any other favorite low carb/starch vegetable of your choice. This is a very quick breakfast when you have all the parts prepped and ready to go.

With Joy ~ Tina



Saturday, January 3, 2015

Strawberry Shortcake!! A delicious E!


**Please note, this post contains affiliate links! Any purchase made through them helps support my blog and my family. Thank you for blessing us with your purchase!**

I love strawberry shortcake....especially with a little whipped cream on top. Truly a favorite. It is something my mom made for me when I was a child, so I suppose it's a bit of a nostalgic food for me.

I have been trying to switch my fuel types up in a new way, I used to start my day with E and end with S. I have been reading lately that eating a few carbs in the evening might be a better option for many with blood sugar issues. It can also help with weight loss if you are stalled. I am not sure this idea works, but I figured I would give it a try. I do have to say, I am really enjoying having an E later in the day.

Dessert can be difficult, especially without egg. It occurred to me that my Oatmeal Scone Recipe
might make a delicious base for strawberry shortcake! IT IS FANTASTIC!! I warmed some frozen strawberries, added a few drops of liquid vanilla stevia, although a doonk of stevia leaf would work. Smashed them up with my potato masher. I allowed them to cool a bit before topping my scones, I didn't want my whipped cream to melt right off. Then a small dollop of whipped cream, or coconut cream if you are trying to make it dairy free.

I found this fun gadget on Amazon to try with coconut milk to make whipped cream quickly and anytime!! Do any of you have it? Does it work well with coconut milk? I've been told any milk should work....wouldn't it be fun??




I truly hope you find this as bowl licking good as I did. Seriously, I licked the bowl.

With joy ~ Tina


Friday, January 2, 2015

Guilt Gone Cranberry Pie by Trim Healthy Mama - EGG FREE!!! (S meal)

UPDATE!!!! 12/20/2015

**Note, this post contains affiliate links. By using them you help support my delicious baking habit and it costs you nothing extra! Thank you for helping me bring you more egg free delicious foods!**

While this pie was quite yummy as listed below, I have just tried it again today with a baking blend substitute and its even BETTER! I just knew when I saw the baking blend that it was going to make egg free S baking so much better and I was RIGHT!

Now, I cannot use the THM Baking blend because it contains almonds, so I use Run Amok Mamas homemade mix which compares pretty close to the original! So, here we go, my new and improved version of Guilt Gone Cranberry Pie - egg free!

1/2 cup THM baking blend (or homemade equivalent)
1 Tablespoon flaked unsweetened coconut
1 Tablespoon Coconut Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts
4 Tablespoons butter (coconut oil would work here for a dairy free version)
pinch of salt
2 gelatin eggs (instructions below)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons HOT water
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Get hot water going. (You'll thank me later) Make gelatin eggs and set aside. Combine dry ingredients including walnuts. Shred in butter and mix well. The Beef Gelatin will be thick, add the HOT water and mix until all is liquid again. Add in vanilla to this liquid. Pour liquid in and mix. Add in cranberries last and mix until combined. Put in a Pie Plate and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

ENJOY! :)










I love this satisfying S pie...I've been playing with it off and on for quite a while. I wanted it to have some substance and leaven. Each time I made it, it was more scoopable, not really cut a piece and plate it. BUT I DID IT!! I made a beautiful Guilt Gone Cranberry Pie!!
I have been working with egg free eating for sometime now, and honestly, THM has really put me to the challenge. So many baked goods require the egg to give it substance, it helps them rise and holds them together. Through diligence and a strong desire to stick to this incredibly health promoting plan, I have finally been having true success. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed many wonderful baked goods, but they were not quite the same as when I baked before with eggs. My baked goods tasted yummy, just didn't quite have the texture I was looking for.
But I managed to pull of something that I am quite happy with here! YAY!!

This is a recipe originally created by Serene
http://trimhealthymama.freeforums.net/thread/2248/guilt-cranberry-pie-serene-pearl

Now, here is my version, I sure hope you enjoy it as well! I am just thrilled to share it!!

Guilt Gone Cranberry Pie - S

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oat fiber (THM is Gluten Free)
2 Tablespoons protein powder (I used Nutribiotics Brown Rice Vanilla)
1 Tablespoon dried shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 cup sweet blend
pinch of celtic sea salt
1/2 cup walnuts
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 gelatin eggs (see notes below)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons water
2 cups frozen unsweetened cranberries (or fresh)
1/2 stick butter (or coconut butter for dairy free)

Make your gelatin eggs. Next, combine all dry ingredients well. I take a cheese shredder and grate my cold butter right into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add in liquid ingredients and combine very well. This will mix a little on the dryer side, but should not be crumbly. Add in cranberries.

I place in a pie dish, press down with my hands and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

ENJOY!! This dish is fabulous topped with a dollop of coconut whipped cream.

***Note: to make a gelatin egg combine a heaping teaspoon of beef gelatin and combine with 3 Tablespoons of cold water, stir well and as you work, check on it and stir it periodically.
If you try this wonderful dish, please leave me a note letting me know what you thought!! I would love a picture!!

I am thinking of doing a video tutorial on egg substitutes...what do you think, would that be helpful?

With joy- Tina