Prairie Oak Homestead

Yay! Starbucks is introducing a gluten free option called Gluten-free Orange Valencia Cake with Almonds on May 5th! It sounds yummy. Now when we get a hankering for Starbucks, I can actually have a treat, too. It won't be very often, but at least I have an option now. I hope more restaurants do this. I know here in town in June a restaurant named Carlos O'Kelley's is going to have a gluten free menu. :) That will be nice. Having Celiac Disease is not that much fun. But, the result of eating gluten free has healed my small intestines and as a result I am feeling better. Getting glutened accidentally can cause damage again and can take weeks to heal up. I've been doing pretty good not getting glutened accidentally and I am happy about that. :) These restaurants that offer gluten free menus help people like us not be afraid of eating out so much. Thanks! It's nice to go out with friends and family and feel fairly normal. (whatever that is right? lol)

Some of you that follow my blog know my story. For those of you that don't, I'll give you a quick run down. About 2 years ago I wore jeans. :) I was convicted to wear skirts for modest reasons. I felt that my jeans were not modest at the time. I was loving the compliments I was getting and I let it go to my head. Well, God decided I needed to be humbled and asked me to wear skirts. I did. He then asked me to wear a headcovering, I did. After about 15 mos of people making fun of me, talking behind my back, and learning a hard lesson in humility, God said the season of covering for me was over. I still wore skirts. Well, a few weeks ago my husband and I were talking and he mentioned me wearing jeans again. He took a few weeks to pray about it and as of Saturday, I started wearing them again. I went from wearing jeans to cape dresses and headcovering to skirts and no headcovering to wearing jeans again. I have come full circle. But, this part of the circle is dif...

Our church has started small groups at people's homes. We are doing this for 6 weeks and the topic of that time is love. It has been very convicting and a bit difficult if I may be honest. I pretty much keep to myself. I usually don't start conversations. We are learning different ways to show love and it usually involves DOING something. lol. Love is an action and a choice. In our group last night we learned that if we don't have love, nothing I say matters, nothing I know matters, nothing I believe matters, nothing I give matters, and nothing I do matters. OUCH! That's rough. It's easy to love God because He doesn't hurt us or let us down, but it's hard to love others that do hurt you and let you down. But, we are given strength from the Holy Spirit to be ABLE to LOVE them anyway. Only by His power, not ours. Our flesh doesn't want to. But our Spirit does! I pray that I will yield more to the Spirit and love like Christ allows us. " ...

Here are the chickens in their new home. They seem to really enjoy all the space. Here is the outside. My husband and I put a fence in last Saturday. They enjoyed running around the yard and eating grass and such. I sat out there with them and two of them kept jumping into my lap to be petted. It was cute. We're waiting for some more nice weather to get them out again. It has been raining here since Sunday. Yuck! This weekend is supposed to be in the 80's, so that will be nice to get them out and about. I have a lot of cleaning to do today. With this weather the way it is, it's hard to get motivated! But, if I have to be inside, I may as well clean. :)

Good morning! It is chilly here in central Illinois today. It's not raining today and that's a plus! It rained all day yesterday. :( Being chilly is what sparked today's Frugal Tip of the Week. Tip # 4 Heating with a wood stove We heat our house with a wood stove. It keeps the house very warm, around 76 degrees. We do not use a furnace. This cuts down our bill tremendously in the winter. We also do not buy firewood. We get it free from friends or strangers. :) My husband then splits the logs into pieces that will fit in the stove. My son and I stack as much as we can. It is fun family time and we are working together for warmth and saving money. The heat from it is so relaxing and toasty. We had an ice storm a couple years back and lost power for 7 days. We did not have to leave our home. We got to stay in our own beds and be warm! I cooked meals on top of that stove. We had a wonderful roast one day. We had soups and stews also. The only difference betw...

Just wanted to drop a quick hello before I started supper. Had a busy day of cleaning up today getting ready for the chickens to go in the coop tomorrow! I will post more on that. I also wanted to say that I am so glad that God continually works in our lives. It is wonderful when the Holy Spirit pricks your heart and you finally wake from your slumber. You see the world and people differently and realize things you never did before. I love that our God is alive and can do these things in our lives! I'm off to make the rest of dinner. Hope you all have a wonderful evening. Give your husband a deep embrace when he gets home! :) I am.

Well, it's supposed to be! lol. The weather here has been cool and damp. Yuck! Where is the warmth and sunshine? We do have some sunshine here today and I am VERY grateful! The chicks are getting bigger by the day! They are now 5 weeks old! There is mostly females in this picture. The rooster is ooster. Named by my son. He will be here a short while longer. :) He likes to be the center of attention! Many of our plants have started popping up. Our roses are leafing out. Some flowers have come up, too. The rhubarb is coming up and so are the strawberries. When the sun is shining, this time of year is great. When it's not, it's hard to be motivated. :) But, I look forward to plenty of sunny days this summer! Can't wait for constant warmth! Since God is the giver of the weather, I shouldn't complain too much. He knows best. :)

Greetings from this dreary drizzly day! April showers right? Right. Oh well. lol . Tip #3 Thrift Shops Thrift shops are a great way to be frugal! They often have more modest clothes than department stores and they are very inexpensive. I usually shop the $1 ones and the ones that have bag sales. If I don't make my clothes, this is where I go. Every Sunday you will find me in an outfit (skirt/sweater) that was $2 or less. The whole outfit is nice enough for Sunday dress. I also have day to day clothes that are sometimes cheaper, but still nice. When I make my clothes, I often buy fabric that is on sale or use a coupon. This is a great way to save money on items that we all need. I hope the weather near you is sunny, but if it's not, enjoy the rain with a cup of tea and relax! :)

I thought I would post this recipe. I hope you enjoy it with your family. We need to look to the resurrection for HOPE. God is soo good! I thank Him so much for Jesus. Resurrection Day Cookies You will need: 1 cup whole pecans 1 teaspoon vinegar 3 egg whites a pinch salt 1 cup sugar a zipper baggy 1 wooden spoon scotch tape Bible Instructions: These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F. *** (this is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe). Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read: John 19:1-3 Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read: John 19:28-30 Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life t...

"Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to 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." Titus 2:4-5 Yikes. I know this scripture. It used to be one of my favorites. Lately though, I have become lazy in it. It seems I have stopped striving for this. I have gotten lazy and it seems to be too hard a job to do. So I've been going about and doing what I want. Let me tell you, that doesn't work out so good! lol. Why? It's not biblical. It's not what God wants. What God wants is not always easy. In fact, it's down right hard at times. It's hard to put self away and look to the interest of others. God has been convicting me about this and has been whispering to me to go back to Titus 2. It worked beautifully in our family before these past few weeks I've gotten lazy about it. I may have had a hard time doing...

I made these yesterday and they were pretty good! Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies 1 c gluten free flour blend (I use Domata) 1/4 t baking soda 1/8 t salt 3/4 c white sugar 1/4 c brown sugar 1/2 c peanut butter 1 T oil 1 t vanilla 1 egg 1 egg white 1/4 c chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350. Beat peanut butter, oil, vanilla, and sugars together until blended. Add egg and egg white. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and blend. Stir in choc chips. Bake for 25 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Is this April?? This is what we woke up to this morning. Ugh. lol I want Spring back! Please! Ok, I feel better now. lol. Moving on... Tip #2 Compost Starting a compost pile is a great way to help your flowers and garden for no expense except that which was already spent on food. :) Find an area away from the house to start a pile. Mine is right next to the garden, which is a small walk away from the house. Pictured below. Granted it's a snowy mess right now, but it's the white pile. :) Not very big right now. Behind the small white pile are the blackberries. So get a pile started and start taking kitchen scraps out there. Things like old fruits and veggies, fruit and veggie scraps from peeling and cutting, coffee grounds, tea bags, leaves, grass clippings, chicken poo, etc. Don't put in meat scraps or bones. Eventually your pile will get bigger. Add moisture and turn the pile every now and then. Add this to your garden and till in for great compost.

One of my friends, Mellisa, had a surprise prom for her 3 0th birthday. She wasn't able to go to prom and so her husband arranged one for a surprise. Very sweet! They wanted us to wear prom attire, but I didn't have anything like that so I decided to make a dress. I couldn't find what I wanted at the store and didn't have a lot of money to spend. I bought this pattern for 10 cents and decided to make a prom dress out of it. I use soap to mark my patterns. Here I used it on the tulle for the outside of the dress. This is the front part of the dress and one side of the bodice. I'm not very good at taking pics when sewing. :) This is the bodice with both sides on. Here it is turned around with the straps being put in and also the facing. Putting the two sides of the skirt together. Putting the tulle on the dress. Edging it out. The finished product. :) The back of the dress. I probably won't ever wear this again, but it was fun to make it for my friend...

We are 3 weeks old now! We are getting a little noisier in the mornings! lol . We are definately getting dustier. The room we keep them in is very dusty! We dust in the morning and by the afternoon it's dusty again! It think it's because of the crushed corncob bedding we use. They will be out in the coop soon enough to enjoy out there. :) This one in Nutmeg. She looks to be the only female of the Buff Orpingtons . This is a roo . We haven't named him for obvious reasons. lol . I'm thinking this Barred Rock is our only male. We haven't named him either. lol This is Marshmallow. :) This is Pepper and Storm. Another hopeful female. We don't have a name picked out yet. Feel free to give suggestions! :) This is a Black Sex Link. Her name is Star. Feeding time! This is all 16 together. They are just so fun to have! We are enjoying them. I'm getting anxious to let them out in the coop and run so they can chase bugs and run around. I'll post pic...

I was in the mood for pizza last night and decided to make some! The flour I use is Domata Living flour. It is the best gluten free flour blend I have found. It already has xanthan gum in it. You can order it here . I order the all purpose flour. It is a cup for cup exchange for your regular recipes. The exception would be yeast bread. You use specific gluten free recipes for that. But as for muffins, cakes, quick breads, it's wonderful!! I hope you enjoy it! Pizza Crust 2 c gluten free flour blend (I use Domata) 1 T sugar 1 t salt 1 t baking powder 1 egg 1/8 c oil 1/2 c milk (total liquid will be 1 c) Pre-heat oven to 400 Put egg in 1 c measuring cup. Beat. Add in 1/8 c oil. Fill the rest of the 1 cup measuring cup up with milk. Put in bowl. Dump in flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix together with spoon until it comes together. Don't overmix. Remove dough and place on counter sprinkled with a little flour. Knead a couple times and for...