Happy Bday to Maleah and Joshua!

We have celebrated two birthdays in the last few days. Maleah turned 2 on the 9th and Joshua turned 6 today. December is obviously a month of celebrating for us and will continue to be so when this new little one decides to come! We are still waiting. I had an apptmt. today with our midwife and she told me that at some point the average length of a pregnancy was 41 wks. and some odd days. It is harder to tell now with so many c-sections and planned inductions. Women just don't want to go a day over their expected due date.

I really am trying not to say that I am late. I have just gone past the date that was calculated for me. She also told me that in all ob/gyn textbooks you will see that a full-term pregnancy is anywhere from 37 wks. to 42 wks. Doctors just don't practice with that mindset. The baby is in perfect position and everything looked great. I have had no swelling except for sometimes at night after I have been up on my feet all day. But, it does make me a little nervous about having a BIG baby! And so we just try to be content and enjoy all that we have been given in these little birthdays and a special day tomorrow as well.

I thought I might share some pictures of these two blessings in our lives and their big day. We don't do anything big. Usually it consists of them picking out their favorite food and desert. I will cook that for them and Keith will take them out on a special date. After we eat the birthday meal they open their gifts. I pray that they know how much they are loved without the big bday party. It just became too much on us financially and sometimes physically exhausting. Maleah got homemade whole wheat chocolate cupcakes with a buttercream frosting that was colored pink with a little beet juice. Didn't change the flavor at all. And, actually they were very good cupcakes. I was surprised. Joshua chose a summer favorite....homemade chocolate popsicles. He loved them.

We love you Maleah and Joshua! We are very thankful for you both!

Nichole

Love Them With Organic Popcorn...and a addition to our chocolate package

We have been popping our own popcorn now for over a year. We have also been buying organic popcorn kernels to do that. Corn is one of the top grains that are genetically modified. We try real hard to steer clear of anything that has been genetically modified. Something in my gut just says something is not right when we begin to mess around with the genetic makeup of a seed. I believe science is proving and will continue to prove that. I would encourage you to do some research on gmo foods for yourself and help protect you and your family.

I would like to introduce our "Love Them With Organic Popcorn" trio.  In the trio package you will receive a homemade caramel popcorn made with raw honey, butter, and sucanat (molasses granules), homemade sweet and spicy popcorn made with different organic spices that create a very interesting and tasty snack, and homemade popcorn made with sea salt and cracked pepper.

"Love Them With Organic Popcorn" trio package

             $9.00

Organic Caramel Popcorn

             $3.50

Organic Sweet and Spicy Popcorn

             $3.50

Organic Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper

             $3.50

Standard Shipping

             $6.95

Also, in addition to our Chocolate Package we want to offer an alternative chocolate syrup that uses organic raw cacao powder and sucanat (molasses granules).

Homemade Chocolate Syrup made with organic raw cacao powder

                                            $8.99

Please contact me by email and let me know if you would like any of the packages we have offered so far. We also sell individual items as well. If the package is going to someone you care about, then we will send a personalized card along with an ingredients card with recipes and cooking tips as well.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Nichole

nicholeboggs@gmail.com

Perfect for a rainy day

This is what it looked like yesterday outside our back door. This is what is has looked like for the last couple of days.  Come to think about it, this is what it has looked like half the time we have been here! Lots of clouds and rain. But, there is something cozy and comforting about cloudy days and being stuck in doors...if your kids having something to do.

So, we made some homemade play dough yesterday. I have made it before with okay results. This was a new recipe and it worked fantastic! They played for hours. I had to make them put it up last night after church. Some are already opening theirs this morning. It was great. I have a feeling it is what they will be doing a lot today. From Maleah on up to Madison, it was a success. Pretending they were creating cupcakes for a cupcake challenge helped keep the entertainment going. It is soft and squishy, just like play dough from the store. I would recommend buying cheap flour and salt before making this. Not your good stuff. Like we did.

I mean, you are not going to eat. I hope.

Mallory, Joshua, and Stephen mixing it up. The others did their own as well.

Working on their masterpieces

Just a few of the finished products

Homemade Play Dough

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tbsp. vegetable oil ( I used peanut and it worked fine)

food coloring (4 drops to as many as you need to get it the color you are looking for)

Put all the ingredients into a medium pot and give a good stir making sure it is all incorporated. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. As soon as the ball is formed, remove from heat and dump onto counter or wax paper. Wait for it to cool and then knead until nice and soft. I noticed that the color deepened after we kneaded it. We made 6 different colors.

Hope you give it a try.

Thankful for inexpensive entertainment on a day we all have to stay inside,

Nichole

Baby Countdown and Maternity Pics

Well, today is our due date and the baby countdown will continue.....

Any signs? That is what most are asking. Not really. Just waiting on God's perfect timing. He knows when the date will be and we are trying hard to trust that.

In the meantime my good friend, Andrea, has really encouraged me to let her take some maternity pictures of me before having this baby. I have never had maternity pictures. If she had not persisted, I probably would not have done them.

My mom is here right now, helping and waiting for the little one to arrive. Sunday she watched the children while Keith and I headed out to a nearby field to get some shots of this great-with-child mama. Andrea was great. It took maybe 30 minutes and she did a fabulous job!

I do have to say that it was a little awkward. I have never really had pictures taken of me, except family pictures. It felt odd. But, I am so glad I did it. And, so glad that Keith is in the pictures with me. Because, even though I am the one carrying the baby, it is just as much about him as it is me. God chose both of us to bless with a new life. We have done this thing together 7 other times. I am so thankful that it has been with the love of my life and my soul mate. He is a great and godly husband and father.  I am a very blessed woman to have him. What a gift!

I thought I might share a few of the pictures. It was fun :) .  I will treasure them always.

Thankful for Andrea encouraging me to do something I probably would have never done,

Nichole

Love Them With Spices

We are very proud to introduce two of our very own creations of spice mixes that we have been tinkering with for over 2 years now. We have found a combination that we really like and have successfully used them for quite some time.

Our motivation for the spice mix was my husband's love of the taste of a juicy steak from Longhorn. How could we come as close as possible to taste he loved so much? So, we began to google and play around with different spices. We use the spice mix and add a couple of liquids to make a marinade and we are pretty happy with the results. I am not claiming it is just like Longhorns (may be better :), but it is has met the satisfaction of Daddy Boggs! We have also used this mix to rub on roasted chickens, fried turkeys, roasted potatoes, and additions to soups. All ingredients are organically grown. No preservatives.

We love spicy food at our house. Tacos, fajitas, burritos, chili....you name it. I had to create a taco seasoning that we all liked that I could feel good about feeding my family. This mix has been tried and true. With the combination of different chili spices, garlic, onion, etc...along with arrowroot as a thickening agent, we have loved the way our dishes have turned out with great flavor. Just this past weekend I added it to chili for the first time. It was fantastic. All ingredients are organically grown and no preservatives.

So, if the one you love and care for likes spices as much as we do, how about sending them a "Love Them With Spices" package? Oh, and there is nothing wrong with ordering this for yourself!

A package will include one of each spice mix, along with a personalized card, and a card with ingredients, recipes, and cooking tips. The more spices you buy, we will take off a buck or two or three.

Love Them With Spices Package

Organic Spice Mix: $4.99

Organic Taco Seasoning: $4.99

Total: $9.98

An extra $6.95 will be included for shipping

Tax included in price

Buy 3 spices for the price of $14.00

Buy 4 spices for the price of $18.00

Buy 5 spices for the price of $22.00

Buy 6 spices for the price of $26.00

Until we can get payment set up on the site here, please send me an e-mail with your name, address, and quantity. Also, let me know if this is going to someone you would like to send a care package to and we will be glad to include a personalized card for you.

My e-mail is nicholeboggs@gmail.com

Hope to hear from you soon,

Nichole

We are excited!!

Keith and I have been working on something for several weeks now. Something we both are excited about. Something that is not entirely complete in all the details, but we couldn't wait any longer to introduce a small part of it to you. Being unemployed during those weeks, we both began to try to think of what our family could offer that might bring in some income for us. With Keith's encouragement, marketing skills, and computer knowledge, we actually went through with it! 

Over the last 7 years our family has switched from white flour to freshly ground whole wheat flour, white sugar to raw honey and sucanat, packaged snacks loaded with preservatives to homemade snacks made with all natural ingredients, body care products filled with chemicals and too many ingredients to homemade all natural body care, etc.... We try to go organic as much as we possibly can. There are just too many things to list right now and too many benefits to talk about in this post.

What I do want to show you today is the first of our new "product" line that includes something that is dear to our family's heart....chocolate!

It is our "Love Them With Chocolate" package. It includes organic raw chocolate syrup made with raw organic cacao and organic agave nectar, hot cocoa made with raw organic cacao, organic dry milk, and sucanat with honey (a natural sweetener), and all natural chocolate wafers made with freshly ground whole wheat flour, raw cacao, and sucanat (a natural sweetener).

Organic Raw Chocolate Syrup

Organic Hot Cocoa

All Natural Chocolate Wafers

Chocolate not only brings pleasure to the palate, but there are actually healthy benefits to eating it in its raw form. The sweetener that we chose for the syrup is made with agave nectar. It has a low glycemic index and many diabetics can tolerate it. It has a delicious taste and makes excellent chocolate milk or a topping for ice-cream, or an addition to a good cup of coffee. We desire to only use organic whole grains that have been freshly milled to preserve as many nutrients as possible. We love to eat, but we don't want to just live to eat, but eat to live.

You can purchase this package for someone you love and care about. We will send a personalized card, directions and ingredients card, and a recipe or cooking tip included in your package. It will make someones day when they receive a box addressed specifically for them from someone who wants them to know how much they care and appreciate them.

You could also purchase these items for yourself . They will be available individually or as a package.

At this point, in the first stages, the order would be by e-mail and on a honor system where we would send you the package along with a bill and you would send us a check. In the future, you will be able to pay online as soon as you order.

In the days to come we will continue to introduce several different packages that will include items that can be purchased individually as well. Be looking out for some natural body care items, flavorings, spices, snacks, etc...

Pricing

"Love Them With Chocolate" Package

                  $20.00

Organic Raw Chocolate Syrup (12 ounces)

                 $8.99

Hot Cocoa made with organic cacao and organic dry milk (12 ounces)

                 $7.99

All Natural Chocolate Wafers made with organic cacao (10-12 wafers)

                 $2.99

Standard Shipping

                 $6.95

If you would like to order, send me an e-mail along with your name and address, what you would like on your personalized card if the package is going to someone else, whether you want a package or individual item, and quantity.

You can contact me at nicholeboggs@gmail.com

So thankful for this opportunity. It has been fun.

Keith, Nichole, Madison, Morgan, Mallory, Meghan, Joshua, Stephen, and Maleah

Whole Wheat Doughnuts...yum!

Well, one thing our family knows for sure as of today is that we will not be having a November baby. The girls were counting down the hours yesterday and hoping that I would go into labor. Didn't happen.

A few days ago my friend, Andrea (your can visit her over a dreawood.com...she also posted her recipe a few days ago), brought over our family some delicious whole wheat doughnuts. I have always thought of doing them, but never took the time to actually give it a try. She told me how it went for her. It seemed easy enough. A couple of days after that it was time for me to bake some bread, so I just split the dough in half ( I make enough for 4 -2lb. loaves) and used one half for 2 loaves of bread and the other half for our doughnuts. I rolled  it out to about an half of an inch thick and cut them using a cup. I cut the center out using a bottle lid.  As I waited on them to rise, I began to heat up the oil to 365 degrees. Once the oil was ready I placed about 3-4 doughnuts in the pot at one time. I cooked them for approx. 30 seconds on each side. We then dipped them into a chocolate glaze made with organic raw cacao and sucanat, a sucanat with honey glaze, and powdered sucanat with honey. This gave our children 3 different choices and for a few moments I felt like I was running a Krispy Kreme!

They were fantastic. We had enough for a snack before bed and Morgan actually said she liked them better cold :). I am sure this is not the healthiest snack out there, but I felt pretty good about using freshly ground whole wheat and using a much more natural and less refined sweetener for the topping. I also was thankful that our kids (who never get doughnuts...Joshua didn't even know what a doughnut was until his Wed. night class at church last year introduced him to them....he is almost 6 years old :) ) got to indulge a little on a forbidden food that I felt okay with nutritionally.

We had fun with them and we will definitely be doing them again.

Whole Wheat Doughnuts

1 1/2 cups of hot water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup raw honey

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon Real salt

3-4 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour

1/2 cup freshly ground flax seed

1 tablespoon yeast

2 teaspoons of rice bran (optional)

Mix first 5 ingredients well. Add a couple of cups of flour and then all the flax seed along with yeast and rice bran. Begin to mix and knead. Continue to add flour until the dough is workable. Knead for 5-10 minutes.  Put into lightly greased bowl. Cover. Let rise until double in size. Punch down and lay onto floured surface.  Roll into large rectangle about a half of an inch thick. Begin to cut out doughnuts and let rise again (make sure dough is not sticking to surface or you will have a time getting them off).

Bring a quart or so of peanut oil to 365 degrees. Once the oil reaches 365, begin to carefully place doughnuts into oil and flip after about 30 seconds. Cook on opposite side about 30 seconds and then take them out of oil and place them onto a dish or cooling rack covered with paper towels. Once they can be touched, begin to dip them into desired glaze or sprinkle them with powdered sucanat with honey.

Chocolate glaze

1 teaspoon butter or extra virgin coconut oil melted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup or so of powdered sucanat

Tablespoon or so of sifted raw cacao

1 teaspoon at a time of cream or milk

Whisk all ingredients together and slowly add the milk, adding more to create the consistency you like best. We kept ours pretty thick.

Sucanat with honey glaze

1 teaspoon of butter or extra virgin coconut oil melted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup or so of powdered sucanat with honey

1 teaspoon at a time of cream or milk

Whisk all of the ingredients together and slowly add milk. You will want this to remain pretty thick, but add more milk to make the consistency that you like the best.

Powdered sucanat with honey

1/2 cup or less or more of sucanat with honey powdered

I used my little coffee grinder to powder the sucanat with honey and then sprinkle liberally onto the entire doughnut. Soooo much better than those little white things from Sunbeam! Most of the kids actually liked this way the best. Over chocolate....I couldn't believe it!

Thankful for...... doughnuts for lunch :),

Nichole

BTW, sucanat and sucanat with honey can be purchased over at the Bread Becker's website: http://www.breadbeckers.com