A Winter-time Week On Our Homestead - Sunday

This morning started off slow.  We woke up around 7:30.  I nursed Anna while the children did their morning jobs.  Shawn started some coffee.  Andrew let out the chickens.

We didn't go to church this morning.  Earlier we had gotten a phone call saying that they were going to cancel the potluck and afternoon service due to the weather and because the church's parking lot is still covered in ice.  Since they were only going to have morning service (and the fact that our congregation is 1-1/2 hours away one-way) we chose to stay home today.

So I made a nice big breakfast of pancakes.

Fluffy Pancakes (triple batch = approximately 35 pancakes)

3 cups milk

6 Tbsp. white vinegar =  approximately 1/3 cup white vinegar

3 cups organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour

6 Tbsp. sucanat =  approximately 1/3 cup sucanat

3 tsp. baking powder = 2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1.     Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour.”

2.     Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

3.     Whisk eggs and coconut oil into soured milk.  (drizzle oil while whisking to keep oil from hardening)

4.     Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

**Do not overstir.  Leave mixture bubbly to keep it extra fluffy**

5.     Heat griddle to 375 degrees.  Allow batter to rest while griddle is preheating.

6.    Pour ¼ cup of batter onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface.  Flip and cook until browned on the other side.

Of course I made some changes, but the original recipe came from here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fluffy-Pancakes-2/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=fluffy%20pancakes&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

If you ask Sarah, she'll tell you that her favorite food in all the world is..pancakes.  She was extra-happy this morning.

After our big breakfast the children went outside with Shawn.  He wanted to continue working on the bike building.  I stayed inside and started some laundry.  I needed to wash a load of clothes and diapers today.  Then I did some research on when to prune roses.  I was planning to prune my roses today, but I found out that I'm better off to wait another month or so.  I also researched companion planting in the garden.  I want to maximize our garden space as well as plant things that will provide some protection from pests like squash bugs and aphids.  After that research I made a few changes to our 2014 Master Garden Map.

Anna has been crawling for a week now.  She is really enjoying being mobile.  We're having to get in the new habit of keeping bathroom doors closed now.  Somehow she knows exactly where we don't want her to be, so crawling into the bathroom is right where she wants to go.  She's just cute no matter what she does.

While David was napping this afternoon Shawn took the oldest three children on a walk through the property and I stayed inside with Anna and baked some chocolate chip cookies.  Shawn and the children came back with a whole bunch of neat pictures from their walk.  I told Shawn that I would just do a totally separate post about their walk since they had so many nice pictures.  I'll try to upload those tomorrow.

In other exciting news...Shawn finished the children's bike building today!  He even moved most of the children's toys into the building.  That will be a separate post also.

The boys got haircuts this evening and everyone got a bath.  Then I started on supper while the children watched a VeggieTales video.  I had some leftover mashed potatoes, so those turned into Shepherd's Pie for supper tonight..with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Wild, hairy boys

Clean-cut, handsome young men

The evening ended with a family Bible time.  Shawn's reading to us out of Matthew.  Tonight we read about Jesus sending demons into a heard of swine.  The children had plenty of questions about that!

So, now the children are in bed.  I'm ready for my quiet time.  See you tomorrow!