15 minutes to Home Organization

Anybody can do anything for 15 minutes. It really is not that long of a time period, but a lot of progress can be made in 15 minutes of total concentration. If you are having problems with organizing your home then the 15 minute clean is for you. Pick something that needs organizing and in 15 minute increments concentrate on purging, cleaning and organizing that area. It may simply be a drawer and that is fine. That is one less drawer that is out of control. I suggest setting a timer and when the timer goes off, then stop. Come back later for another 15 minutes if necessary. Total concentration is the key and focus on the task at hand. It really can make a difference in getting and out of control home under control. Remember purging is the key, get rid of what you don't need and throw out what needs to be thrown out. Doing this makes organizing what is left a breeze.

This Week's Deep Clean

Living Room
Sweep down all spider webs
move furniture and vacuum
clean baseboards
polish/oil furniture
dust paintings and clean photo frames
wash all glass/knicknacks
straighten and dust books
vacuum furniture
clean carpets
scrub fireplace hearth
tidy drawers

Front Porch
sweep down cobwebs
sweep front porch
sweep/dust furniture
sweep front walk
clean up toys
clean windows
beat rug

Chicken House
This used to be a real good chicken house clean and raking the yard, but since out chicken house fell apart and chickens killed, this is a rebuilding. I am rebuilding a new chicken house and predator proof fencing around the yard so that we can restock our chickens. Unfortunately we have a wild dog pack that lives in the area as well as the neighbors dogs. They kill chickens and will stop at nothing to get to the chickens. We have had two flocks, both lost to these predators with the exception of one hen that was killed by a snake. So this week I am working on the rebuild.

Ham, Egg, Potato Cheesy Casserole

This is a great casserole for Saturday morning breakfast.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. ham diced into bite size pieces
2 tbls. olive oil
1/2 onion diced small
1 large potato diced small
1 1/2 c. grated colby or cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1/4c. sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
place olive oil, ham, onions, and potatoes in a skillet and cook on medium high heat until onions are soft. Stir often to ensure all of them get cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.This takes about 10-12 minutes. While this is cooking put eggs, milk and sour cream in a bowl and mix well. When the ham mix is finished place in a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, layer the cheese on top and then pour the egg mixture on top of everything. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with hot biscuits or toast and you have a complete filling meal for breakfast.

History of the False Rapture Doctrine

Today I want to take a look at the false rapture doctrine being taught in the churches today. In this first post I would like to look at the history of this relatively new teaching. This teaching began in the 1830s and prior to that time had not been taught in the churches. This doctrine originated with a mentally ill young woman named Margaret McDonald in Glasgow Scotland. She had a series of visions in which it was prtrayed that the church would be whisked away. Twp priests learned of these visions and coined them as their own. Thus the rapture doctrine was born. This doctrine teaches that the church will be whisked away from the earth before the tribulation of the end times. It is not biblically sound and the scriptures are twisted and taken out of context. Ms. McDonald said herself that her visions of this doctrine felt wrong:


"I felt this needed to be revealed, and that there was great darkness and error about it; but suddenly what it was burst upon me with a glorious light."
-- Margaret MacDonald (Spring of 1830)
(Source: The Incredible Cover-Up by Dave McPherson)

It seems people love this doctrine and much money has been made from these falsehoods. There are more books in Christian bookstores teaching these books than there anything else. Why do people fall for and love this doctrine? Because it is what they want to hear. They don't want to hear that they may have to go thru some difficult times and actually make a stand for Christ. That is work and the current generations are lazy and don't want to work. The rapture doctrine is the easy way out, we don't have to make a stand because Christ will wisk us away in the nick of time. The rapture doctrine is the cowards way out. We have two warnings by God against these sorts of doctrines an knowing the history of this rapture doctrine it amazes me at how well they fit exactly. Let's look.

Ez.13:17 Likewise, thou son of man, set they face against the daughters of they people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them. (KJV)
Ez 13:20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. (KJV)

Is it coincidence that God warns us of doctrines to make our souls fly and that is exactly what the rapture doctrine teaches, that we will fly away. No this doctrine is a false feel good doctrine. However as we will see in future posts it is a very dangerous doctrine indeed. May God bless you in your studies.

Cheese kept out of the cold

Continuing on our journey towards no refrigeration we now take a look at cheese. Most of us go to the store, take the cheese from the refrigerated section, and come home and put it in the refrigerator. Does cheese need to be refrigerated? Or is there another way to store cheese? Well there are a couple of things that you can do.
Waxed cheese stores for a month or so if kept in a dark area away from heat. An unheated basement would be good in the summertime. In fact, root cellars were for storing food and escaping tornadoes back in the day. If it is hot summertime, cheese will not keep as long.
Unwaxed hard cheese, like cheddar, can be stored by wiping with vinegar and wrapping with wax paper. It will last for a couple of weeks like this if kept in a cool dark area away from heat.
Hard cheese can be kept on the counter wrapped in wax paper if you plan to use it within the next week.
Soft cheese doesn't fair so well. It can be kept out, but will only last a day or two.
Another way to store hard cheese is in olive oil. Take a clean, sterile, and cool mason jar, large enough to hold your cheese. Cut the cheese up into chunks or large strips, place in the jar. Then pour olive oil to fill the jar of cheese. Again hard cheeses can keep this way for quite some time depending on the heat of the days. Cold weather they keep longer, hot weather only a few weeks.
The thing to remember is that cheese softens as it ages, so I always recommend start with hard cheese. Soft cheese use within a couple days of making or purchasing.
Processed cheese like American and Velveeta don't need refrigeration. Just place is the cabinet and use.
Just one more thing we don't need a refrigerator for.

Homeschool Tracker

As everyone should know by know I am a little obsessed about organization and staying on track. I apply my need for organization to our homeschool as well. I use a free program called Homeschool Tracker. They have several programs but the basic is a free download and easy to use. I spend two weeks out of the summer organizing our homeschool year and gathering the materials that I want to use. I then enter everything into Homeschool Tracker basic and periodically I can take a look to make sure we are on track. This program is also a great way for those parents that need to keep records to do just that. You can keep attendance, reports, books read, field trips, assignments, resources, and teacher notes. Anything you need, this program can do. However, they do have a Homeschool Tracker Plus which will do more than the basic. I don't need to get fancy and we are not required to keep anything other than attendance records so the basic works for me. I know some states require a lot more so you may want to check out the plus to see if it would suit your needs better. I highly recommend checking into it. If nothing else it keeps you moving in a forward direction.

Garlic Herb Bread

This recipe is for a 2 pound loaf of bread made with a bread machine.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 tsp. margarine or butter
1 tbls. minced garlic
4 cups bread flour (I use whole wheat)
2 tbls. honey or sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbls. dried herbs (herb de provence or Italian herbs work well)
1 3/4 tsp. yeast ( I use yeast for bread machines)
Instructions:
1.Measure and add liquid ingredients to the bread pan
2. Measure and add dry ingredients, except yeast, to the bread pan
3. Use your finger to form a dry well in the flour. Be careful not to get any of the wet ingredients in this well. Then add the yeast into the well that you made. The yeast cannot come in contact with the wet ingredients so pour carefully.
4. Place the bread pan in machine and choose Basic bread setting.
5. Choose your crust color and press start button.

This bread is a great addition to Spaghetti, Lasagna and soup recipes.