Picture Time!

A pic of me with my oldest daughter, Echo Jade.

Monday Means...

Preparing for the week ahead by making breads, tortillas, and granola bars for my family.

On this most recent Monday, (last Monday) it meant making 38 flour tortillas, 18 sandwich rolls, 16 almond dark chocolate chunk granola bars, and 1 loaf of whole wheat flax seed bread.

I feel so grateful when I look in my fridge and pantry and see freshly made tortillas and breads that will last my family a good portion of the week. The granola bars, well, they are usually gone the same day. :0)

Our Family Portrait by Mahan Media!

They are making a new church directory at Valley, and we were told that we should bring the family and have our picture taken for it. When we got there, I was surprised to find our worship leader, Jessica Mahan, behind the camera lens. This woman is talented! She not only beautifully leads worship at our church, and gives voice and piano lessons, but also, apparently, takes stunning, professional portraits as well! This is our family portrait for the church directory. It's the first picture we have had taken all together since the wedding and I just love how it came out!

For more examples of Jess's handiwork, you can visit her website here.

Spring Break Fun!

We were supposed to spend a day picnicking at San Antonio Falls near Baldy summit during spring break, but it rained just about the whole week. The one day it didn't rain it wasn't warm enough to take the girls up there.

A cold day demands hot chocolate! We decided to have a "tea" (hot chocolate) party. The girls and I made homemade biscuits to go with our hot chocolate. Gwennie had hot herbal tea. The girls did a lovely job setting the table with all kinds of mismatched dishes and teacups, and some cute, cheery placemats with a cherry motif. All stuffed animals residing in the household were invited to partake of our festivities.

The bottom plate of biscuits were large and round. The top rack of biscuits were little heart shaped biscuits. They were super cute! The recipe we used had half white flour and half whole wheat. The biscuits rose beautifully, and they came out absolutely delicious!

Hubby bought me a variety pack of Knott's Berry Farm jams on our trip there last month, so I kept them in my bedroom until I could make homemade biscuits for the whole family. (When you have teenagers, if you open up all that jam it is gone very quickly! I wanted to make sure everyone in the family got to have some.) The jams were so yummy! We had strawberry, grape, apricot/pineapple, blackberry, and apple cinnamon to choose from. My favorite was the apple cinnamon, followed by the sweet, dark blackberry. All of the different flavors were really great! Jenna decided the gold bow from the wrapper would look nice around our jam display... :0)

We had a lot of fun on spring break, but I think my two favorite things out of the whole week were our tea party, and when we all went to see "Mars Needs Moms" in 3d. It was an excellent movie with a great family theme! It's too bad spring break couldn't last longer...

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Well, this is not an innovative or new recipe by any means, but split pea soup can be a frugal and deliciously healthy dish. Dried split peas are very economical and have a long shelf life. (I like to buy mine in the bulk section at Winco.) I got my potatoes for 99 cents for a 10 pound bag, my baby carrots @ 79 cents a pound, and the celery was pretty cheap, too. Add half a brown onion, chopped, and some leftover ham from a meal a few nights before and we had a big pot of pea soup for a very low price per serving. (I didn't actually work out exactly what that price was, i'm too lazy, but, trust me, it was a cheap way to feed a big family + some guests.)

you'll need:
*2-3 cups dried split peas, rinsed and rained
*8 to 10 cups water, plus more for replacing evaporated water while pea soup boils
*1/2 medium onion, chopped
*20 baby carrots, cut into 4ths
*4 celery ribs, halved and then sliced
*5 to 8 potatoes, peeled and chunked (amount varies depending on how much you like potatoes. We like more rather than less in our soup.)
*ham steak (optional, I make this vegetarian style quite often by omitting the ham), diced, or you can just throw in a ham bone for flavor without having chunks of meat in your soup
*salt & pepper to taste

1.Throw your split peas, water, and diced onion into a large stockpot. bring to a boil. Boil for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. DO NOT ADD SALT until later, because if you are using ham in this recipe the ham will add a bit of salty flavor on its own-if you salt now you may end up with very salty pea soup.

2. Boil about 20 more minutes. If you keep it at a medium high boil, your peas will start to disintegrate. After your second 20 minutes is over, add your diced ham. I like to cut mine fairly chunky so that my pea soup will be hearty with good sized dices of meat. You may want to add more water at this point to replace the water that has boiled down. Depending on how thick you want your pea soup to be, you can add as much water as you'd like.

3. Boil for another 20 minutes. Make sure you stir often because this will begin to thicken and the bottom could burn. I like to use a good, heavy bottomed pan so that it doesn't burn so easily on the bottom. Keep on checking the water level and adding water to suit your taste.

4. Add your carrots, celery, and potatoes. Taste the broth to see how salty it is. You may add a teaspoon of salt to give some flavor to the potatoes so they don't end up tasting flat. You can also grind some fresh pepper into the mix if you'd like. Boil for 40 more minutes, stirring often. You should end up with a thick, hearty soup, with nice chunks of potatoes and ham and some dices of celery and carrot for flavor and color.

This soup is high in fiber and iron, making it a hearty and healthy choice for your family-you can also sub the ham for turkey ham, it is still very flavorful and has less fat and calories. I usually use regular ham but I trim it very well before I dice it for our soup. We like to serve ours with whole grain bread and Smart Balance margarine-this tastes delicious dipped into the soup. This is great on a cold fall or winter day and the leftovers are awesome for lunch for hubby the next day, too!

Note: If you soak and rinse your peas for several hours before making this, it shouldn't give you gas.

Heart of the Home

We don't own a home. We live humbly, but I try to make our surroundings pleasant. This is my kitchen window. It has (unfinished fabric) curtains that I got for less than 2 dollars per yard a while back to line my bread basket with. I liked the fabric better as curtains and it really brightens up the room so I hung them up-they aren't hemmed yet, that's on one of my UFO lists. Clock above the window was a gift from mom. Veggies on either side of clock, and rocks on windowsill with the words "Believe", and "Love" were from the 99 cent store. Little cherry candleholder in the middle was part of a set ordered from a dropshipping site for a business I had on Ebay a few years ago. I liked them so much I ordered myself a set-this is the only one that survived the years and children. :0) The large candles on both edges of the window are gifts from my husband. Each fall he buys me a large candle with a fall or holiday type scent. It's kind of a tradition, he has done it every year since we met.

The plaque, left of the window, was my grandmother's. It says:

My Kitchen Prayer

God Bless my little kitchen
I love its every nook
And bless me as I do my work
Wash pots and pans
And cook.

I love it, it's so homey and old fashioned. I should probably hang it somewhere else, but I have it by my stove so that I can look at it often while i'm cooking and ask God to bless the food I make for my family.

I'm in my kitchen for at least a few hours each day, and it isn't too fancy. I like it simple so that it is easy to clean up when it looks like a bomb went off after i've made a huge meal and dessert. I think everyone has their own decorating style, but it is possible to decorate nicely on a very limited budget. I stay home and take care of my home full time and I find it much more enjoyable when it is pleasing to the eye.

Titus 2:3-5
³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Fried Rice Recipe

When it comes to frugality in the grocery budget, using up leftovers tops the list. This recipe uses some leftover rice and meat, and if you have leftover peas and carrots you can throw those in here as well. (Personally I like using frozen peas and carrots in this because they retain their texture as they cook and don't become soggy.) I like to make mine in a large heavy bottomed nonstick 12 inch skillet-it gives me enough room to stir everything in without it spilling over the sides and onto the stove top.

I don't really measure the stuff I throw in this, but i'm going to include measurements because I know some people rely on them. Please remember that they are approximate.

• 2 cups leftover steamed white rice, preferably chilled overnight
• about 1/2 c. to 1 c. leftover meat, diced small. (This depends on how much meat you like in your fried rice-also, if you are using fresh meat and not leftovers, using less meat can save you money.) For this pic I used some bacon ends (pork) but you can use leftover chicken, beef, etc-even shrimp if you'd like
  
• about 8 oz. frozen peas and carrots mix
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced-mostly white tips-you can cut off the green stems, chop and reserve to use for garnish
• 4 eggs, scrambled, with a dash of soy sauce-I use either Kikkoman or La Choy
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• dash of sesame oil
• vegetable or olive oil for frying

1. Heat skillet, add a bit of veggie oil and a dash of sesame oil. Make sure skillet gets good and hot. Fry cubed meat for 4 to 5 minutes to brown it up.
2. "Sprinkle" rice into the skillet with your hands. Make sure that they don't stick together in clumps, break them up into pieces of individual rice.
3. Fry rice for a few minutes. Make sure the heat is up nice and high, but don't burn your rice. Stir frequently and mix meat all up into your rice.
4. Add soy sauce to pan. Stir rice around so as to coat the individual grains with sauce. They'll turn kind of a nutty color.
5. Pour pea and carrot mix into the pan. Stir around to integrate the veggies into the rice.
6. With a spatula, slide your rice to one side of your skillet, leaving half of the skillet empty. Add a teeny bit more oil if necessary.
7. Pour scrambled egg mixture into empty side of skillet. Let set for a few minutes so that the bottom of the eggs can get firm-don't let your eggs get brown, that might add a funky flavor to your rice.. Mix and scramble until mostly cooked in the one half of your pan.
8. When your eggs are mostly set, stir your rice vigorously but gently to get all the egg mixed up into your rice. You want to use your spatula to break up the egg so that you have little pieces evenly distributed through the rice.
9. Toss in your scallions and stir into your fried rice. You can let it fry just a little more on high heat if you like your rice more firm and brown...

If you'd like, you can top this when serving with some of the sliced green scallions you reserved at the beginning. I like to throw some hot chili sauce on mine as well.

**This is probably going to sound weird, but when you initially make your steamed rice, let it set in the pan with the lid off for an hour or two before putting it away in the fridge. It will help it dry out a bit so that it doesn't stick together too much. Also, if you make your rice nice and firm it will work better for this recipe. Rice that is made with a higher proportion of water tends to get gummy in the pan and comes out clumped up and soggy. (Ask me how I know.) :-) I have found long grain white rice to work best for me.

This recipe gets better and better the more you make it. My first few tries didn't come out too well, texture wise. They tasted good but didn't look so great. It takes a little practice sometimes to get it down but the high heat is a must, it keeps everything frying and not getting soggy in the pan.

My Little Bugs

Love Nest...

Proverbs 31:12: "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."

As we go through the somewhat complicated process of moving William into our home, it has been a bit chaotic. First off, I had been sharing the master bedroom with Autumn and Echo, and Gwennie and Jenna had one of the smaller rooms. We decided to put all 4 girls in one room with 2 sets of bunk beds and William and I chose to take the smaller room. Not only are we moving his things into the house but we are moving my things out of the master bedroom and into the smaller bedroom and we are moving the girls' things out of the smaller bedroom and into the master bedroom. :-) It has actually been kind of a big project.

(wall across from my bed-no, the things on the wall aren't crooked, the pic was taken at an angle.)



Unfortunately, with all of the other things we have been focusing on, our room kind of fell by the wayside and became the place where we just went in to sleep and not relax because it was fairly messy. I decided that it was not fair for my hard working husband to come home to an unorganized, unwelcoming room each day after work. He really should have a place where he can relax and wind down from a long day. While he was gone on Tuesday I decided that I would be a blessing to him by giving him a restful haven to come home to. I set to work cleaning and straightening up our room and turning it into a teeny little Love Nest for us to retire to in the evenings.

Our bedroom isn't fancy, and most of the (mismatched) furniture that we have in it is stuff we have been blessed with, but I absolutely love it-right down to the walls we painted pink for our little princesses, long before we ever knew we would be moving into the room ourselves.

Braelyn Rae Photography

I was lucky enough to have Braelyn from Braelyn Rae Photography take pictures at my wedding. She is awesome, and takes the most beautiful pictures...I just wanted to post a couple of my faves, and post a link to her main site.

Me and my handsome groom!

My bouquet, a hand tied bunch of wildflowers. I thought it suited Tiny and I perfectly, as we love nature and doing things outdoors.

ETA: I don't know why the Braelyn watermark didn't stay on the photos when I downloaded them and transferred them to my blog...(?)

Kickin' off Summer!

Yesterday, we decided to take some friends up to Stoddard Canyon and kick off summer by playing in the water and going hiking. Tiny and I had a little adventure when we hiked up the middle of the creek and had to climb down a 20 foot log on our hands and knees to get back out.

I think the crowning glory of the day, though, was watching everyone go down the waterfall. Tiny went down first, and then he proceeded to be lifeguard while Leinani, Lai-ana, Patty (who is a teeny half-pint), and Jeremy all slid after him. Then, Christian, Kai-Kai, Marky and I hiked down and around the creek to get them Marky and I had our own adventure sliding down the shale cliff. Then we all piled into the back of Tiny's truck and flew back up the bumpy dirt road. Good ole country fun!

Wedded Bliss...

My friend Challice had this posted as her FaceBook status, and I thought it was beautiful.

~~Let the wife make her husband glad to come home
and let him make her sorry to see him leave. ~ Martin Luther~~

Thank you, Mom

Mom helps me get ready for my big day.

More pics to come!

On May 30th 2010

I officially became Mrs. William Figueroa. I thank God for sending such a wonderful man into my life. I'm so excited for the future, with my husband and our beautiful family!

**Above image courtesy Braelyn Rae Photography.





Yeah, I dunno why Christian's head is cut off in this pic. LOL

More pics to come!!

Cinnamon Almond Crusted French Toast Recipe

In the fall I like to make pecan crusted pumpkin french toast topped with a dollop of maple whipped cream. It's almost more of a dessert than a breakfast. I wanted something lighter for the summer months, so this morning I experimented with cinnamon almond crusted french toast. Please excuse my pic of breakfast, above, as I am certainly not a food photographer, haha. The little white lumps are powdered sugar. As an afterthought i'm sure breakfast could have done without it.


Here's what you need to make this:

*a sturdy skillet
*plastic ziplock/freezer bag
*rolling pin or other suitable almond smasher (for the fun part, you can even get the kids involved)
*spatula

*several slices of your favorite bread. (I use Milton's Whole Grain Plus bread-it has lots of fiber and a good supply of iron, which I need, because I struggle with chronic anemia.)
* eggs, I used about half a dozen for 7 slices of french toast
*a splash of milk to mix with your eggs to make them nice and fluffy
*cinnamon
*vanilla
*a handful of almonds
*Smart Balance margarine sub, or whatever type of butter/margarine you use

Now, here's what ya gotta do:

1. Put your almonds in a sturdy, sandwich sized freezer bag. Don't close it because then it will probably pop while you are trying to crush your almonds. Lay your freezer bag flat on the counter, try to lay the almonds in one flat layer. Now take your rolling pin and crush your almonds, still inside the bag. Beat them, roll over them, just make sure they are in small chunks with some that are almost powdered.

2. Pick up your bag of almonds and shake a little cinnamon in for flavor. As much or as little as you like. Shake the bag all around to mix the cinnamon and almonds together.

3. Get a small dinner plate and pour your almond/cinny mixture out in a flat layer on your plate.

**At this point you may want to turn the heat on under your skillet to medium-high. not too high, not too low. You want your skillet nice and warmed up for when you put your french toast in. If you have a good nonstick skillet, you may not need any butter or margarine. If not, throw a small dollop of Smart Balance margarine sub in there to add a nice buttery flavor and keep your french toast from sticking.

4.Take a small, shallow dish that is big enough to fit your bread slices in and crack some eggs into it. Add some milk, a bit of vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon to your liking. Beat your eggs until they are light, fluffy and yellow.

5. Take your slice of bread, and immerse each side in your egg mixture. Make sure that you get the whole thing covered in egg.

6. Now, take your egg drenched slice of bread and press each side into the almond/cinnamon mixture. Make sure the bread is covered with yummy pieces of almond and flavorful cinnamon.

7. Lay your bread in the hot skillet. Keep an eye on it and flip it when it is a nice golden brown. I can't even tell you how long, you just have to practice a few times and get a feel for it. Cook on the second side until golden brown and crusty.

Note: This french toast is very rich, I only make one crusted piece per person. I pile their plate nice and high with regular french toast (same recipe sans almond mixture step) and then top it with 1 slice of crusted french toast.

You can serve this with butter/margarine/Smart Balance/whatever you use, and some maple syrup, or even a fresh berry reduction and a dollop of freshly whipped cream. If you use the bread and stuff that I did it has a good amount of iron and fiber, and it also has some added vitamins and minerals. It will have kind of a chewy, grainy texture. I love it this way but if you are a white bread kinda person it may take some getting used to.

I am eating this for breakfast this morning, even while I do my Biggest Loser contest. I love modifying recipes to make them healthier.

**If you have an aversion to egg yolks, just use egg whites (no yolks) in your egg mixture.

Princess Gwennie

Pics taken December 23rd, 2009

(Haha, I put the wrong date at first and my friend emailed me and asked me how I could take a pic of the future.) Thank you, Leigh! LOL!

Southern Red Beans and Rice Recipe

I made this for dinner tonight and it was yum! However, it was like 70 degrees while I cooked it. I think it would be great on a colder day. It's a very warming dish.

1 pound of small red beans
1 pound of sausage (less if you like less meat in your dish or are trying to save money by using less meat/many cooks prefer andouille but any good, firm sausage will do.)
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 medium sized green bell pepper, chopped
3 large celery ribs, halved and sliced
1 tsp. minced garlic (fresh is best)
2 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
*you can also throw a bay leaf in if you'd like. I do sometimes.

When serving:
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Louisiana style hot sauce (I like Tobasco, or Crystal for a milder taste)


1.Rinse and sort beans into a large stockpot. Add about 6 to 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Let set for one hour, covered. After one hour has elapsed, drain and rinse beans. Return to pan.

2. I use a 5 qt. stockpot for this recipe. I add enough water to hit the 5 quart line inside (i'm lucky to have pans that have measurements on the inside-yay
Ikea pots and pans! Disclaimer: I got my set for only $19.99, but I had to wait in a line that literally had HUNDREDS of people in it-SO worth it for great pots! /end crazy happy rant about pots and pans and back to the recipe.) Bring to a boil, and boil for about an hour, adding water as needed, and stirring occasionally.

3. While your beans are boiling, very lightly brown your sausage. I brown mine just enough to firm it up so that I can cut it more easily. Slice your sausage into rounds and set aside. Chop onion, bell pepper, and celery, and add your 1 tsp. garlic into a large mixing bowl.

4. After your beans have boiled for an hour, add your sausage and veggie/garlic mix. Give it a stir, add some salt to taste (not too much as the sausage will add some saltiness.) Add water, if needed-the pot should be almost full, about an inch and a half from the top. Bring it back to a boil and boil for an hour and a half to two hours, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed. (I like mine kind of like a stew, with broth.)

5. When your dish is finished, ladle it atop a heaping mound of white rice. Season with a hefty shake of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, and a few generous dashes of Louisiana hot sauce.

**Fresh french bread and a salad are also good accompaniments to this dish. (I'll have to post my favorite simple french bread recipe later.)

Little Footprints

I took this picture of Autumn's (4 years old) little footprints at the beach this summer. I just thought it was so cute, I couldn't resist posting it.