Family
Recipes: Homemade Apple Dumplings
Homemade Apple Dumpling Dessert
Jake made recently made this delicious fall apple recipe for dessert! Sometimes we go apple picking and other times we just enjoy the stores having some of our favorite apples on sale during this time of year. Every year we like to try different apple dishes. I am thankful for a husband who cooks and who will random surprise us with a tasty treat. The homemade apple dumplings would go very well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream too if you have some at the house!
Apple Dumpling
Homemade Apple Dumplings:
- 1 3/4 cups Water
- 1 1/4 cups Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons Butter or Maragine
- 2 1/4 cups Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2/3 cups shortening
- 7 tablespoons Water
- 4 Apples (small to medium size)
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
In a saucepan combine 1 3/4 cups water, 1 cup of sugar (save the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar for later), 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (save the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon for later), 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (save the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg for later). Mix together, simmer with it covered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter or margarine. Set the syrup mixture aside.
Combine flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until all the pieces are about the size of a black bean. Add water a little at a time and mix until all is moist. Form the dough into a ball. Roll the dough onto an approximately 16 x 12 inch rectangle, cut into four 4 inch squares.
Wash, peel, and core your 4 apples. Place an apple on each of the 4 pastry squares. Mix together the brown sugar and raisins and put a small scoop in each apple where the core was removed. Mix the remaining sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and sprinkle over the fruit. Moisten the edges of the pastry with water and fold the corners to the center on top of the fruit and pinch to seal it (see picture below). Place dumplings in a greased pan and pour the syrup mixture over the top of the dumplings.
Bake the dumplings on 375 degrees in the oven for 45 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the pastry is slightly brown. Prior to serving spoon syrup from the pan over the pastries and serve with vanilla ice cream.
The recipe is a delicious fall apple dessert! I recommend serving with ice cream or a glass of milk! Enjoy!
Ready to go into the oven!
The apple dumplings not only smelled delicious, they tasted amazing too!
Inside the apple dumplings!
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The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading). The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.
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Life’s Little Hiccups: An Apology Letter
An apology letter written by Karlie and Brina
The other day Jake went into the garage and noticed one of his boards had a letter written on it from the girls. They also included a diagram and frowny face. Next to the letter was a broken board. The letter said:
Daddy I am very sorry we broke your board. We were trying to carry two water buckets.
Love Karlie and Brina
The girls were bringing water to the goats. Instead of carrying one bucket at a time they decided to use one of Jake’s “boards” to carry two buckets together and save time. They were thinking creatively, however, the board they chose was not strong enough to hold two full water buckets so it broke. They tried to fix the board by taping it together, but with no luck. After some discussion they decided to write a letter admitting their mistake and apologize to their Dad for breaking his board.
The board they broke. They tried taping it together with painters tape!
The good, bad, and ugly:
Bad – they used a board without permission in the first place
Ugly – something was broken in the process
Good – they admitted their mistake and apologized for it
Even though they did something wrong I was happy to see they confessed to their mistake. Although, we teach the girls right and wrong you never know what they will do. Thankful for those moments when they admit when they are wrong and apologize. It makes a parents heart happy to know the kids are trying. What they did wasn’t horrible and they were trying to find a more efficient way to take care of their animals, but they still needed to let us know about it.
School Projects: Science Current Event Articles
The kids recently did a school project for Science Extra Credit. They had to compile a variety of science current event articles. The articles were cut out of current local newspapers, Wall Street Journal, magazines, and more. They read the articles, glued them to construction paper, and wrote a summary about each one.
The articles were on the following science categories – Animals, Electricity, Plants, Space, and Weather. All the subjects are ones that the kids will be studying this year in school. The kids had one week to put together all their articles for science extra credit. The girls worked on their articles every day after homework, before school each morning, and even gave up some of their free time to do more articles.
We are so proud of how hard they worked all week. By the end of the week they learned a lot about the various science subjects they will be studying in school. They did more articles than we realized too. Between the two girls these are the number of science articles they completed in one week:
- Animals – 9
- Electricity – 7
- Plants – 8
- Space -10
- Weather – 8
Way to go kids! Thrilled that they love learning so much! It will benefit them throughout the entire year!
My Little Chef: Making Blue Raspberry Cookies
Mixing up the cookie dough!
When I am in the kitchen and Brina is around she is always willing to pitch in and help. She is becoming more efficient cook as she gets older. Recently, she decided to whip up some blue raspberry sugar cookies as a “Welcome Home” goodie for Jake who was arriving home that day from a work trip.
When he is away on a work trip we always try to make or pick up something special for him to have when he comes home. It is important to us to make sure he knows how excited we are to have him back home again. It is always so much better when the whole family is home together!
I am so thankful for kids that enjoy helping out in the kitchen. The girls have fun helping out in the kitchen and learning some great lessons along the way too. Grateful for my girls!
A batch of blue raspberry cookies ready to go into the oven!
Cookie rolled is blue sprinkles!
She made the perfect cookies!
Ready to eat and delicious! Thanks B!
Love It – PrintrBot Simple Maker’s 3D Printer
So excited to watch him open this gift!!!
After a few months of saving my spending cash I was able to get my husband the PrintrBot Simple Maker’s 3D Printer for our anniversary. I was surprised that it came in such a small package! 3D printers are starting to become more popular and this one was a little less expensive because you had to put it together. Jake and the girls thought it was awesome being able to build a printer!
Several of the pieces inside the 3D Printer had “Point of No Return” stickers which was kind of funny! They read – “The option to return your PrintrBot will self destruct after opening this bag.”
It came in pieces that needed to be assembled! Jake thought it was great!
It didn’t take him long to get it together and start printing some neat stuff!
It is a neat printer! The whole family has enjoyed it! The girls have even been able to make a few items for their school projects too!
You can pickup one of the PrintrBot Simple Maker’s 3D Printer for yourself or someone special at Amazon or from PrintBot! If you have been saving some Amazon Gift Certificates from Swagbucks this would be an awesome gift for that tech person on your list! Never tried Swagbucks, that’s okay it’s easy and you can get started today! If you are looking for ways to earn gift certificates to Amazon, Walmart, Target, Starbucks, Cash via PayPal, and many other popular rewards check out my Swagbucks: Earning A Little Extra post to get you started!
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
A Couch Full of Books
Karlie has all her library books spread out over the couch so she can choose which one to read first. Not sure if the line of books are placed in random or specific order. She is very thoroughly in picking out what book she wanted to read.
She has been reading through the South Carolina Children’s Book Award Nominee list. For her Gifted & Talent class she is suppose to read at least four of the SC Children’s Book Award and pass an Accelerated Reading on them. We pick up several of the books from our local library and she has been working her way through them. A couple of the books Jake and I decided we didn’t want her to read for various reasons, but otherwise we want to encourage her to read as much as she wants.
Karlie loves reading! She was finished reading her four required books within a week. Now she is continuing to read just for fun and taking the tests. It is wonderful seeing her read and it amazes how quickly she can get through a book, sometimes one that is several hundred pages! If she really likes the book finish it and read it again the next day! Her stack of library books has been higher than mine lately!
Healthy Snacks: Grapes on a Stick
It is fun surprising the girls with healthy treats in their school lunch bags. The girls love it when I put grapes on a stick for their fruit snack. For an extra touch you can add eyes on the grapes and call them caterpillars. Every time we have grapes they request this simple treat to be added to their lunch bag.
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
It was a challenging week and it didn’t go exactly as I planned. Early in the week I had to go into the hospital for an epidural steroid shot for the herniated disc in my neck that has been giving me problems. I happen to be one of those “rare” people who reacted uniquely to the epidural steroid shot with nausea and vomiting. Thankfully, we got that under control and now just waiting for about two plus weeks to see if this shot worked. Although, the doctor did mention that it at times takes more than one shot to get the body to repair the disc, but it is better then the more evasive solution of surgery that would remove the disc and fuse the bones together with metal plates. Needless to say I spent more time recovering this week than I initially planned. I did get some things accomplished and praying for a much better week coming up even if it means trying to tackle the same items that were on my list last week!
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
Read the book Double Fudge by Judy Blume to read to the kidsPlan one special activity with the familyPrepare for Upcoming Fall Events & TripsSpend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with HomeworkAttend After School Activities- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before – the girls packed most of their lunches this week (my girls are the best)
- Play a Game with the Kids – the week did not go as planned
- Start Organizing the Kids Scrapbook Items – this did not get done
ENT and Eye Appointments for Kids
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day – the nausea did not help with this one as I was having problems keeping water down
Continue my YouVersion plan(s)Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – it took more than one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week – dinner was planned but do to Doctors orders we could not eat what I had on the menu, my husband was super sweet and pitched in to make our family meals. Plus my sister-in-law delivered a meal one night this past week too. Thankful for family!
Do at least one “Make 1 & Freeze 1″ Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat that day and one to freeze for later)- Clean out & Organize Refrigerator & Freezer – still needs done
- Clean House (Focus – Basement Floors) – no progress with this either, ugh!
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Storage Room) – storage room continues to wait as well
Put Spring/Summer Clothes in the Attic– my amazing husband did this for me- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Pool taken down and put away) – pools still waiting for take down
- Pet Care (Focus – Refill Goat Food Bin) – needs to be done
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails – made a little progress
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – fell behind on the day to day items
- Work completed for clients – had to put on hold this week
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch – house bound this week
- Prep for our Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child boxes – got it started
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt) – working on it
Pay Bills & File Paperwork- Make an extra payment on Outstanding Debt – working on it
- Earn some Creative Cash – working on it
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget – my husband did the grocery errands this week for me, thanks Babe!
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Read the book Wonder’s Promise by Joanna Campbell to read to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Prepare for Upcoming Fall Events & Trips
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Start Organizing the Kids Scrapbook Items
- Dr. Appointments for Kids
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Do at least one “Make 1 & Freeze 1″ Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat that day and one to freeze for later)
- Clean out & Organize Refrigerator & Freezer
- Clean House (Focus – Basement Floors)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Storage Room)
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Pool taken down and put away)
- Pet Care (Focus – Refill Goat Food Bin)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
- Prep for our Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child boxes
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Earn some Creative Cash
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.
Thankful for Family & Friends
Beautiful flowers from my brothers family!
A big thank you my sister-in-law Becky and my brother Lee for the beautiful flowers, dinner, and stopping by to see me this week! Their thoughtfulness brightened my day! It was great getting a chance to catch up, get a little fresh air, and see my sweet nephews play for a few minutes. Thankful for my family and friends!
It’s been a wild month, who knew how much a herniated disc in the neck clamping down on the nerves could cause so much pain in multiple areas of my body!? I am thankful for the doctors who figured out what was wrong, what was causing the shooting pains down my neck, back, left arm, and numbness in my left fingers this past month. I am not a big fan of doctors or hospitals, but praying that the epidural steroid shot in my neck earlier this week will fix it so I can get back to life as normal. I had the fun side effect of nausea, dizziness, and vomiting with the shot as well so that has been a challenge this week. The ceiling fans spinning, people walking by, reading, and even the TV would make me sick. A box of no-salt saltines, tums, a little bit of rice, and a couple of other bland foods have gotten me through the last few days. The good news is food is starting to smell good again and the room isn’t spinning anymore so hopefully that it is good sign.
I want to thank my family and friends who have been going through this journey and praying with me. Your notes, texts, emails, messages, and calls have been huge encouragement during this time. I am truly grateful for my amazing husband, Jake, who insisted that we continue going to the doctor until they were able to figure out the cause of the pain and who has pitched in helping me, driving me to the hospital/doctor appointments, helping around the house, cooking, cleaning, running errands, grocery shopping, taking care of the kids, balancing a very busy work schedule, and so much more. He has been such a blessing and encouragement during this time. I love him so much! The girls have been a big help around the house, pitching in when needed, giving me hugs, making their own school lunches, and taking good care of me too. I am a blessed!
Although, it has been a little extra crazy this past month it has made me slow down and reflect on my own heart and life. God is good all the time. We may never know why exactly we have to go through times of pain, but He ultimately is in control and can use it for His good. The medicines have helped some with the pain, but they have also made me a lot more tired and foggy feeling. Daily activities and multi-tasking have been more frustrating and helping the kids with homework has been very stressful while taking the meds. The kids especially have noticed a few things I missed or have not done correctly during this past month. I know that it has taken a toll on them too. Praying that the treatment I am doing now works so I can get back to taking care of myself and my family again.
Karlie told me a couple days ago “I am tired of you being broken Mom!” Me too kiddo!
