Why Modesty - Part 1

Most of you who read Home Joys know that I call myself a Mennonite. Although I dislike labels, I use “Mennonite” as a way to explain my lifestyle and choices. But from some of the questions I received, maybe it is time to tell you more about why I practice some of the distinctive traits that are considered “Mennonite”.

One of the questions I have been asked is why I dress the way I do and my beliefs on modesty.

To be honest, it scares me to write about modesty in a public forum like this. Christians have various opinions on how to put to practice the Biblical command for modesty. I don't expect everyone who reads this to agree with my choices and I don't want to start a debate. I hope we will each search the Bible for direction on what we choose to wear. You all have been so kind in your comments and questions, that I'll trust this is a topic we can discuss with love.

I was blessed to grow up with a mother who believed and practiced modest dress standards. Her example had a huge impact on whom I have become today. The church I have chosen to be part of also affected my clothing choices. But, whatever the tradition in my upbringing, ultimately I want to obey the Word of God concerning my clothing.

Dressing modestly is not an attempt to win favor with God or earn salvation. Christ's death on the cross was complete payment for my sin. I seek to obey God's commands, including the Biblical requirements of modest dress out of love for my Saviour.

We will continue this series to look at what the Bible says about a woman's clothing.

Why Modesty Part 2 

Why Modesty Part 3
Why Modesty Part 4

Book Review - Worth Remembering

Worth Remembering is a book full of fatherly stories. Robert Stauffer shares stories from his childhood, mission field experience and every day life, along with words of wisdom from the Scripture.

 










This book is a perfect read aloud for family's searching for wholesome reading material. I would put the target age at young teens and up. Some of the stories were over the head of our youngsters, but with some explanation, they still benefited from the discussion. My just-turned-eight-year-old begged for dad to read this book so apparently she enjoyed it despite the sometimes advanced subject matter.

Besides enjoying the stories and lessons from Worth Remembering, the book inspired me to share my stories with my children and to tell my children the ways God has worked in my life.

Worth Remembering is illustrated with line drawings and contains over 50 short stories. The book is available from Christian Light Publications.

I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher but all opinions are my own. 

Spring Gratitude

Counting my blessings...

The asparagus is up! With our unusually warm spring, it tried to come up several times, and each time was hit by a cold spell and froze at only a couple inches tall.

But the past week we've cut asparagus every other day which means lots of good eating.

Quiche

Pizza

Asparagus Stack

The first fresh vegetables of spring remind me that their is lots of good eating from the garden coming!


Saturday was an beautiful day - and Ed was home! We spent all morning working in the garden and planted green beans and corn. The children helped plant seeds by using their planting sticks.

We finished just in time. In the afternoon we received some much needed rain, and it continued for three days. To have our garden planted right before the rain was an extra blessing!

God is so good - why am I so slow to notice?

How To Make Chicken Broth

Making homemade chicken broth is simple with the help of a slow cooker.

Last week, I cooked a whole chicken in the slow cooker. You can also use chicken pieces. I added salt, pepper, chopped onion, and minced garlic. I added only a little water to the bottom of the slow cooker because I wanted the chicken to be roasted and not stewed. Slow cookers will vary but I usually cook on high for an hour or two, then turn to low for the rest of the day. By evening the kitchen was filled with wonderful aroma!



I pulled out the chicken and deboned it. All the bones and skin I placed back in the slow cooker. I filled the slow cooker up with water, added a dash of vinegar, and cooked on low all night.



By morning, it was full of good rich broth. I strained the bones and skin out of the broth.



The bowl of broth was placed in the refrigerator.

The next morning, all the grease had risen to the top. I skimmed off the grease and what remained was wonderful rich chicken broth. This broth was so rich that when I made chicken soup, I watered the broth down by half and still had very flavorful soup!

Do you make your own chicken broth?

Regina's Chocolate Chip Cookies

After reading Regina's Natural Sugar article I finally mustered up the nerve to try adapting a cookie recipe to natural sweeteners. I have adapted bread, muffins, and other recipes but I was scared to try cookies. I made two batches of my usual chocolate chip cookies - one I replaced the sugar with honey, the other with stevia.

The results were almost funny. You would never guess by looking at these cookies that they were the same cookie!

The ones on the left were made with stevia. To add bulk, I used mashed pumpkin.  My dough was too stiff and didn't spread out at all. My children said they tasted like pumpkin muffins - and liked them! Next time I'll try yogurt and see if I can get the cookies to spread out more.

The cookies on the right were made with honey. They baked as flat as a pancake but tasted delicious! I did not decrease the liquid as Regina recommended. Next time I'll cut back on the butter to make up for the liquid in the honey.

Because there will be a next time! My children didn't care if they were flat or rounded!  With a little practice I think I can improve the texture and have a perfect naturally sweetened cookie!

Maybe you were like me, you read about Regina's chocolate chip cookie experiments  and wished to try her recipe!

I asked for it...and Regina agreed to share it with us!

Regina's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter

1 1/4 c. Sucanat or sweetener of choice

1 t. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/4 c. flour

1 t. soda

1/2 t. salt

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and Sucanat.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Recipe may be doubled.

Are any of you attempting to try to use some natural sweeteners?

Natural Sugar - Part 6

This is the final segment of Regina's article. She shares some miscellaneous information and also some places that she has purchased natural sweeteners.

Natural Sugar and Spice - CAN Really be Nice! Part6

Guest Post By Regina

First read part one and part two and part three and part four and part five

 

ODDS AND ENDS

I use only stevia for canning my peaches, pears, and other fruit. I stir 1 ½ tsp of powdered stevia in my 3qt. pitcher of water; it dissolves easily. In my canned fruit, I have never detected an aftertaste. I've asked friends what they think after serving the fruit to them, and they are surprised to learn it was canned with stevia. The best part: my children can drink all the peach juice they want and get no added sugar!

I also use stevia to sweeten my pizza sauce and applesauce. Don't forget how potent stevia is. I almost ruined a batch of pizza sauce by adding too much stevia, (and we are talking about a ½ tsp!). You can always add more, but you can not take out!

Try mixing half stevia with another natural sweetener in garden tea and other drinks if the aftertaste bothers you. Liquid stevia by NuNaturals leaves virtually no aftertaste.

Xylitol dissolves easily so it works great in cold drinks and dressings. Just always keep in mind the side effects of it and don't try it on your guests! They might not visit again.

****

As you can see, using these types of sweeteners is easy and just takes “doing it”. Get familiar with the different choices, the textures and tastes; you will soon have a feel for what works best in your recipe.

Yes, all these sweeteners are more expensive than white sugar. But by cutting out white sugar, you and your family may enjoy better health and less colds and sickness. The money saved from one less doctor visit will buy a large jar of stevia from Berlin Seeds. With what our dentist charges to fill a cavity, each tooth saved will buy me a 75 to 100 pound bag of Sucanat! That sounds like a good deal to me! 

 

Finally, as I mentioned in the first article about the dangers of sugar, keep a good balance. There is no need to refuse a slice of coconut cream pie your friend offers you only because you know it was made with white sugar. Let your child enjoy a lollipop from the bank. If you have a busy week, don't feel guilty if you buy a box of granola bars for the children's lunches. By using natural sweeteners most of the time, it will help offset the few times you do consume white sugar. 

 

Do not think you are a health nut for using natural sweeteners. Remember, honey, Sucanat, maple syrup and stevia, are so minimally processed they are close to the original form God made them. Centuries ago, these were the only sweeteners available for use. Man is the one who has refined sugar to the point our bodies have become dependent on it. The American habit of being excessive has seeped into our way of eating and has turned sugar, which seems so harmless, into an epidemic of health problems. 

 

So why not teach our children better ways of cooking and eating habits? In turn, they can pass on grandmother's cooking legacy, only changed for the better!

Where to purchase:

Berlin Seeds:

877-464-0892

Pure Organic Stevia - 1 lb. $64.00 + shipping

Xylitol – 4 lb. $18.00 + $7.50 shipping

- 20 lb. $80.00 + $11.50 shipping

iherb.com

Phone: 951-616-3600

• Fax: 951-616-3601

NuNaturals liquid stevia- 2fl.oz bottle $8.49 + shipping

Kal powdered stevia - 3.5 oz. $20.43 + shipping

( This size lasts me at least two years with canning several bushes of fruit)

Sucanat organic- 2lb. $6.20 + shipping

Dutch Valley Food Distributors: (located in Myerstown, Pa. They will be able to tell you of any bulk food store in your area)

toll free phone: 800-733-4191

toll free fax: 866-933-5466

Sucanat – 50lb. $85.33 + shipping

Xylitol - 10lb. $48.29 + shipping

Thanks Regina, for sharing all your research with us.

Natural Sugar - Part 5

Natural Sugar and Spice - CAN Really be Nice! Part 5

Guest Post By Regina

First read part one and part two and part three and part four

I've created a chart to make it easy to see and understand how we can use all the sweeteners we have discussed.

Sweetener            Ratio to 1 c. sugar      Decrease                   Add                    

Honey	2/3 to ¾ c.	Liquid by ¼ c.	¼ tsp. baking soda	decrease by 25 degrees
Maple Syrup	2/3 to ¾ c.	Liquid by 3 T	¼ tsp. baking soda	decrease by 25 degrees
Sucanat	Cup for cup	None	None	Keep same
Stevia	1tsp. liquid or 1/3 to ½ tsp. powder or check the back of your container to see what the company recommends.	None	Add 1/3c. of bulk per 1c. of sugar replaced. Use yogurt, applesauce, egg whites, smashed bananas, etc.	Keep same
Xylitol	Cup for cup	None	Absorbs a lot of moisture so add 1T of liquid.	Keep same

(Gina - Oops! The right hand column isn't showing up and I don't know how to fix it. The missing column lists the oven temperatures. For honey and maple syrup, decrease oven by 25 degrees. For the others, stay the same.)

Note: To replace corn syrup in baking or candy making, use a generous ¾ cup of honey plus 2-3 tablespoons of water to make 1 cup - for every 1 cup of corn syrup. 

 

These sweeteners replace white and brown sugar and corn syrup very well. In making icing and recipes that take a lot of 10x sugar, I have not found a good substitute.

****

Armed with these ratios, I did a test bake in the kitchen one wintry day. I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and made four batches replacing the white and brown sugar with honey, Sucanat, stevia, and xylitol.

The cookies made with honey baked beautifully. They were extremely moist and soft and had a delightful flavor. 

 

The Sucanat cookies baked flatter but crispier and darker. It is hard to tell when they are done because of the darker color; be careful you do not over-bake.

The stevia cookies baked fat and very soft. 

 

The xylitol was my flop. The cookies baked flat and lost all shape; I think I added too much extra water. They had a shiny appearance and after sitting a day or two, began to be crumbly. (Xylitol worked great when I made a chocolate cake.) 

 

Now came the fun part; I HAD to eat cookies; it was part of my homework assignment!

(Just remember, even though these sweeteners are natural and better for you than white sugar, that doesn’t give you or Tommy free reign to eat all the baked goods you want. It doesn't put them in the same category with veggies and fruits. Honey, maple syrup and Sucanat will still add calories to your food and will affect your blood sugar levels.) 

 

To me, the honey cookies won hands down for flavor and texture. 

 

My husband disagreed and placed his vote on the Sucanat. He liked the crispy texture and the deeper flavor Sucanat added. 

 

Even though they flopped, the xylitol cookies were surprisingly good. I detected a slightly cool aftertaste in my mouth, but others in the family could not.

Stevia cookies looked nice, tasted very sweet, and were moist and soft. The drawback was the slight aftertaste, but even with that, I enjoyed the stevia cookies the most because they were sugar-free and were missing the calories honey or sucanat would have added. If you don't need to worry about calories- count your blessings!

Thanks for following along on this series on natural sweeteners. I'd love to hear your experience with using natural sugars in baking.