iSonto #17

Elnathan was thrilled to take a trip with Daddy to Queensland to see Uncle Woo and his family. Dave had an interview in QLD to see if he continue with his present projects down here, or if the end of his contract on November 30 will be the end of his employment with CSIRO. 

Natey's memory verse was "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good" from Ps. 118:1.

Mercy was a rapid and determined climber.

From garden to tummies . . .

Spinach quiche  was made with our own fresh spinach. I washed the spinach from three plants (which took at least 20 minutes), steamed it, and it added up to about 210 grams. I am sure this recipe would be super quick with bought spinach and pastry. It certainly takes a lot of spinach to make your own equivalent. I made our own pastry, partly wholemeal, courtesy of Tammy's recipes. I usually blind bake, but skipped it this time and it turned out beautifully none the less.We also revisited double peeled broad beans which were delicious along with our best ever fresh lettuce.

A book we enjoyed together was First Picture Word Book. "Please read words" was a frequent request.

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from I was wrong . . .  "a moving documentary of women affected by abortion".

We are thankful for the two new chooks we purchased a few weeks back. They Highlines and are great layers so far, and also have a generally gentle disposition. They let us pat and hold them! We did have one nasty incident where they pecked Mercy Joy, but it has not been repeated and we are careful to only let them out in the evening.  With a total of four chooks, we now have heaps of eggs.

  Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put out each Sunday.

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iSonto #15

Elnathan was thrilled with his new stack-a-peg, but he had to deal with some serious competition.

Natey's memory verse was still Psalm 23.

Mercy was adorable while eating spinach or silverbeet (swiss chard). We have lots of both. She likes it steamed warm or cold, chopped for her to pick up and shovel into her mouth!

From garden to tummies . . .

Our last two mini-cauliflowers were delicious with white sauce. The children love cauliflower, and so do we.


A book we enjoyed together was Streaky to the Rescue: A Tasmanian Story by Joanna Stronach. This library book was read and re-read this week! It is the story of a fairy penguin who, with the aid of a dog, alerts a man to rescue two boys who are holding onto their capsized boat for dear life.

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from Teaching Our Girls to Cry . . . about the right things, the things that grieve God as well. It is a comfort to know that it is OK, even right, to cry over things like oppression, injustice, apathy and death.

We are thankful for. . .

* fewer disturbed nights as some teeth have emerged
* savings in the bank and no debts as we face employment uncertainty
* the promises of God, which we need to learn to hold onto better
* a new favourite song, "Shoot Him up an Arrow Prayer"
* the fact that our children are continually excited about each other!
* I am thankful for a new daily plan that schedules in time to research education. Even 15 minutes a day can be inspiring and allows me to plan little "lessons". 

Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put out each Sunday.

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iSonto #13

Elnathan had fun with the box in the backyard.

In this picture the "house" is about to topple over.

Natey's memory verse was Psalm 23, along with other children at church.

Mercy was posed for a picture on her great Grandad's grave in Sydney on the weekend, when she and I went up for a wedding. He would have loved her!

Here she is at the wedding.

From garden to tummies . . .

Heaps of silverbeet in a "Chickpeas and chard" slowcooker dish, and pies.Mercy loves silverbeet, so I just fish it out of whatever we are eating and chop it up for her.

 
A book we enjoyed together was Grow It Eat It, which an aunt gave us while we were away. It was fun to read it with Natey when we got back. It is always exciting to receive lovely books to read together!

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from Ps. 23. At a difficult moment I was reminded that yes, I am in the right place because I am with the good Shepherd who gently leads those who are with young. That is the most important thing!

We are thankful for . . .

Dave's great time with Elnathan while I was away on the weekend.

Nate's quiet reading time coming in very handy when I needed to be in public and he needed to be quiet.

Nate packing up all his toys by himself - the fruit of lots of hard work beginning to be seen :)! That is one job I don't have to do at the moment!

Beetroot seedlings are popping up despite a toddler trampling on them!

Our beautiful new coat hook that Dave made, which is now up on the wall and in use.

  Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put out each Sunday.

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iSonto #6

Boxes were turned into a house.

Playing together is just beginning. 

Elnathan was genuinely helpful with putting nappies into the washing machine - and he finds it exciting!

We got out his set of farm animals which can be strung onto a thread. No threading happened, but he did line them up and said they were going on a walk to the community center!

Mercy was kept busy while we attempted to start a quiet reading time after lunch.

From garden to tummies . . .  
  
Kale is one of the few veggies that have thrived in our winter garden. All the seeds came up in summer so we had plenty to transplant, and it has grown well. Our silverbeet has been picked within an inch of its life, so kale is being substituted for it in some recipes. This week I made spinach pies and substituted kale for some of the spinach/silverbeet. There are lots of health benefits to eating kale. In this picture you can see our silverbeet in the foreground and kale behind.

A book we enjoyed together was Spot Goes to a Party. This book has been read and re-read and quoted at the dinner table.

It has also been acted out with little pretend letters from Helen appearing in our house. Elnathan is a great fan of parties!

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from Heart-tenderizing words. Having personal pity parties is one of things I am aiming to overcome, so this was a welcome additional reminder.

We are thankful for the fact that Dave has Saturdays off paid work so he can work in our garden. 



Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put ou
t each Sunday.

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iSonto #4

Mt Wellington, as this view from our home shows, has been covered with snow. We even had some snow flakes falling here this morning.

Elnathan made us laugh a lot. He has a sense of humour and a dimple when he laughs, saying "Natey funny" or "I'm funny". One funny comment this week was "I want to go to school on a bus with a bag full of food". One day we are going to have to break it to him that he is going to go to school at home!!


Natey's memory verse was "Even a child is known by his deeds" Proverbs 20:11. 

Mercy was so sweet as she sat up much better on her own, although still well protected against falls. Mercy can now roll from back to front. She also seems to say "Da Da Da" about her Daddy.

Mercy likes to play games with balls, letting them go and and loving it when they are returned for her to let them go again.

Here she is in a grown-up looking coat an aunt gave, on the quilt top I finished piecing together for her this week.


From garden to tummies . . .

Silverbeet leaves were yummy when steamed to eat with fried eggs, mixed in with scrambled eggs, and included in a beetroot risotto.


A book we enjoyed together was Fred the Firefighter.We have been making use of the local library and this was one of our finds.

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from the Barnabas Fund's housing projects. It is so exciting to think that we may be able to provide a home for a Christian family for as little as $1,000.


We are thankful for. . .


* A delightful date to the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. 

* Memories of the love and friendship that surrounded us on our wedding day, as we sorted through cards for recycling. Dave's Melbourne church, work at Monash, friends from South Africa and America, family, Crossroads church, and more!


* The children's conjunctivitis has cleared up!

* The ministry of Creation Ministries International, and the visit of some excellent speakers. We are encouraged and challenged.


Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put out each Sunday.

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Dave's 34th birthday

It was fun to make a chocolate beetroot cake for Dave's birthday on Saturday. I wanted to continue with the challenge of making a cake with ingredients from the garden, and we don't have much left at the moment! Thankfully Dave said the cake was deliciously decadent.

You can taste the beetroot a little, so this cake is only for those who like beets. I reduced the amount of sugar in the cake to about 180g, and replaced corn oil with sunflower. 300g beetroot is about 3 of medium size.

The icing was simple. Just melt a 200g block of dark chocolate with 1 cup of cream and pour some over the cake just before serving. Use the extra as a sauce.

Dave's birthday was cold with lots of snow on the mountain. Thankfully the next day was glorious and we spent lots of time outside. Mercy enjoyed her first swing.

The season is beautiful with glorious bright orange leaves on the tree at the front of our home. I am enjoying the reduced intensity of vegetable gardening in late autumn. In the picture above you can see cauliflower plants, lettuce, some lonely last tomato plants with fruit slowly ripening, and some kale. We have enjoyed harvesting broccoli as well as silverbeet, beetroot, carrots and spring onions planted in summer.The gem squash and pumpkin we harvested in April have been great as some of Mercy's first solid foods! We also have tiny seedlings of broad beans, peas, turnips, silverbeet, spinach and broccoli. Our chooks are still laying although a reduced amount.

Birthdays are a great time to reflect on God's providence in a person's life. Dave and I face uncertainties in the next few months as Dave's work contract is coming to an end. It is faith building to think about what God has done in Dave's life so far and the way he has provided for us. 

Here are some things to be thankful for about Dave and his 34th year . . .

He is a loving and attentive Dad to a tiny boy who loves him and likes to "sit together" and "talk together"  - often about the moon and sky.

 

Dave has been delighted with his baby girl and her baby ways, and patient with disturbances to sleep and schedules. 

 He does things with the children that I wouldn't do, like getting out the jolly jumper . . .

and pushing an excited boy high into the sky!

Dave is always an encourager as I seek to help him through keeping our home, caring for the children, and more! He takes pleasure in all the growth in the garden and in our family culture. He has been faithful to continue to pursue spiritual growth even when he doesn't feel like it. His gentleness yet firm conviction is anther admirable trait. He is not one for online love letters, so I'll leave it there, praising God for Dave's life!

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Silverbeet with poached eggs

This morning we had a delicious breakfast. I copied some ideas from breakfast with friends a couple of weeks ago. I would not have thought of having silverbeet for breakfast but it was so delicious we decided it had to be replicated! This morning I steamed our few silverbeet leaves from our one plant (sliced finely), added some cream, salt, pepper and parmesan, and served it with poached eggs and toast. Surprisingly delicious, and Nate kept asking for more! In future years I hope to grow more silverbeet even in summer.

We poached eggs using a method a friend told me, where you break each egg into a separate dish before dropping them to the boiling water. This prevents the dripping egg from fixing to the pan like it does if you crack them against its side when it is hot. We may have poached eggs more often now since this makes washing up much easier!

The above picture is from last week when we had a yummy pie using garden vegetables (beans, carrots, potatoes) in a cheese sauce. The last two weeks have been busy with planting and welcoming guests, so I haven't had much time for Saturday's Backyard Bounty posts! Still, I hope you've enjoyed this short glimpse into just a couple of the things we've been able to do with our produce. In the past two weeks I have sowed seed for turnips, radish, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, silverbeet and spring onion.

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Pumpkin and spinach risotto

After making the spinach pie, we still had some silverbeet to eat. We often enjoy pumpkin and spinach risotto, so I used it to make this. I recommend this dish as a simple and easy dinner. We make many different risottos, sometimes just using whatever we have on hand. I will give you the basic risotto recipe and then the specific additions you would use to make pumpkin and spinach risotto.

Basic risotto ingredients: 
1 brown onion, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of alborio (short grained) rice, depending on how many people you want to feed!
3 1/2 cups simmering vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine (optional, add more stock if you don't want to use wine)
1/4 - 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
2 tbs fresh herbs

1. Fry onion and garlic in the olive oil.

2. Add rice and stir to coat it with oil. Continue stirring until rice becomes transparent.

3. Pour in wine (or 1/2 cup of stock) and allow it to bubble, stirring. When absorbed, add 1/4 of stock. Stir until absorbed. Gradually add the rest of the stock, a ladle full at a time. Stir and wait for it to absorb before adding more.

4. Once rice is al dente (tender but firm) add parmesan and herbs. Cover pan and stand for 5 minutes before serving. If you let it stand for longer, that is also fine.


Additions for pumpkin and spinach risotto:

3 cups chopped pumpkin - you can add this, chopped finely, with the rice at step two or (like we do) steam it and add it towards the end when you have a few ladlefulls of stock to go.

10 or so spinach or silverbeet leaves (you can use more or less to taste, but remember that it does cook down so what looks like a lot will look like much less in the finished risotto). Add silverbeet when you have a few ladlefulls of stock to go, or spinach with the last of the stock. Silverbeet takes a little longer to cook.

1/2 cup cashews (optional)

Oregano is a great fresh herb to use for this dish

Risotto can sound complicated when you read about it, but once you have made a few they are easy and you won't even need a recipe. Enjoy!!

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