Julie & Artisan Bread?

I have always wanted to learn how to make really good bread from scratch. Whenever I want fresh bread I have always to run to the store... but wouldn't it be great to just whip up a pizza crust or dinner rolls to complete a meal from the comfort of your own home?

In the early married years, and I was not working, this kind of dream might have actually been possible... had it not been for my extremely awful bread making abilities! Now that I'm working part time I definitely have a lot less time to devote to perfecting this skill, and it is becoming less and less of a possibility.

Until I found Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day which is the perfect method for making bread when you only have a little bit of time to devote to bread making. Rather then the traditional way; which requires a lot of time proofing, kneading, covering and rising, punching down and letting double; you start with a wetter dough that will rise on it's own, and store several loaves worth in the fridge at a time. You CAN have bread whenever you want it.

I can't wait to start making bread! I can start up our Wednesday night bread and cheese night again, except instead of store bought breads I'm going to make it from home! Inspired by the Julie & Julia movie & blog, I am going to work through this cook book and make a new recipe for every Wednesday night. I'll be posting about our findings about each recipe.

One of our favorite Lost Characters Jorge Garcia (Hurley) has also gotten into the art of bread making.

Junior High Retreat 2010 - Day 3

On the last day in the morning we talked about God's perfect solution; we could not live perfectly according to God's standard, so Christ had to come to live it for us and pay our penalty for sin by death on a Cross. For those that believe in Him, His righteousness will be counted on their behalf, and will receive a new glorified body in heaven.

Later in the afternoon we had free time for the obstacle course...

and canoeing or paddle boating....
 

Then it was time to pack up and go home.

Junior High Retreat 2010 - Day 2

The next day after breakfast we went to the high ropes course were they had a rock climbing wall...

The Power Pole...

and the Quad...

After getting all hot an sweaty on the ropes courses, we got to cool down in the lake!

The boys played football...

some of the girls played in the sand...

we went on the water slide...

and blobbed each other....

During our lesson and discussion time that day, we talked about how the destination for unrepentant sinners is Hell. We looked at passages in the Bible that showed what Hell is like. We talked about how there is a great separation between Heaven and Hell; once you're there, you're there. Nothing you or anyone else can do can provide relief. Not being from a Christian family, or doing good works or even going to a good church will save anyone. (Luke 16:19-31) Only trusting in Christ's righteousness, His taking the punishment (God's wrath) for sin on the cross and dying in our place and believing that God raised Him from the dead will save you.


That evening before we played capture the flag, we played a game so we could get to know everyone's name better. Everyone had a lot of fun... and were exhausted when the day was over.

Junior High Camp 2010 - Day 1

This past weekend we went to Junior High Camp at Timberlake Ranch Camp with our Junior High youth group at church. My husband and I were 2 of 9 leaders that went with the 27 kids present on the trip. There were 2 girls cabins and 2 boys cabins inside a big fort.

The fort and surrounding area served as the perfect location for football in the mornings and capture the flag late into the evening; something that the kids looked forward to doing when the sun had gone down. Some wear black from head to toe, to sneak around members of the opposing team.

We had a lesson each day and time for small groups afterward to discuss the lesson and answer any questions the kids might have had. The main focus of the trip was living in light of Eternity. 

The first night we talked about our problem... that someday we will die, and we don't know when that will be. God has numbered our days and we should count each day as if it were our last, so that we might be living wisely. (Psalm 90:12) "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Junior High Retreat 2010 T-Shirt Design

Sara and I helped design the t-shirts this year using an illustration that metaphorically represented Psalm 90:12.  "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Here's a picture of the front of the t-shirt.

The back features a tree with numbers (representing numbering your days) in the branches and in the middle of the tree is a heart of wisdom.

Here is a picture of some of the boys wearing their camp t-shirts.

Seven Days of Salad Challenge...

For the Month of July I challenged all of my friends to eat salad for dinner every day for one week of their choosing.

The purpose of this challenge was to share seven of their favorite salad recipes with me and other participants, so that I/we could have a bunch of great salad recipes on hand for whenever a summer potluck came up and a salad was needing to be made.

For this challenge, they were to make a different salad every night as the meal... the main course... this time the salad was NOT a side dish. I was looking for salads with dressings that were are homemade (easy to replicate), and should also include some kind of protein in it, whether it be nuts, chicken, tofu etc. to make it a complete meal.

They weren't limited to green salads only, but rather had the option to make salads with grains, beans and lentils as well. At the end of the week they were to send in the recipes with a rating 5 stars being the best.

Here are the seven salad recipes our family made during our Salad Challenge Week:

Eggless Ceaser Salad (add roast Chicken) *****

Recipe courtesy of Rachel Ray

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Chinese Chicken Salad *****

Recipe courtesy of Barefoot Contessa

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Roasted Corn and Avacado Salad *****

Recipe courtesy of Celebrate the Rain Cookbook (pg 95)

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Lemon-Garlic Shrimp with Greens *****

Recipe courtesy of Celebrate the Rain Cookbook (pg103)

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Italian Antipasto Salad ****

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

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Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad ***

Recipe courtesy of Celebrate the Rain Cookbook (pg 97)

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Beef Taco Salad with Chunky Tomato Dressing *****
Recipe courtesy of Ellie Krieger

Our absolute favorite pick from the week was the lemon-Garlic Shrimp Salad, it was so light and fresh tasting. The dressing was not over powering and it was the perfect compliment to the shrimp.