Homemaking Hunny

Learning to bake my own bread products was my main goal for 2023. I hope to (for the most part) be able to make the majority of our bread products at home instead of buying them by 2024. There are so many skills that I’d like to learn and grow in to benefit my family, save money, be more self-sustainable and to be healthier. I always have to remind myself that it’s okay to take it one step at a time, to focus on one skill at a time, and to make mistakes. It’s okay to be a beginner! It’s also so exciting to make progress and see how far you’ve come. Breadmaking has been an incredibly rewarding skill for me to learn. The smell ALONE is worth to effort! But I truly feel so pleased when I make a lovely loaf or nice dinner rolls for my family. I love that it’s a skill that I can use to serve others as well. I can share my breads and make them for others, I can teach others how to make bread and simplify the process for them. If I can do it, anyone can! I was sooo intimidated by the process in the beginning. But as you learn and practice - your confidence grows! I’ve had to learn to let my failures and mistakes encourage and push me forward rather than to deter me from trying again. It’s okay to make mistakes but don’t give up! New skills take time. What’s a skill you are learning in order to better serve your family, improve in your homemaking, to save money or for the sake of your own and your family’s health? 🥖 🧺

Lately I’m working on cutting down what we spend on groceries, making the most of whatever food we have and not wasting any leftovers. Something new that I’ve tried and that my husband and I absolutely loved was homemade gnocchi made with leftover mashed potatoes. It could also be made with a few boiled potatoes though if you didn’t have any leftover. It’s such a simple and delicious way to use leftover mashed potatoes! And all you need is potato, egg, flour and salt! ✨ easy homemade gnocchi ✨ About 1 cup mashed potatoes 1 egg About 1 - 1.5 cups flour 1 tsp salt Put your mashed potatoes in a bowl and be sure they are mashed well with minimal lumps. Even potatoes mashed with the skin on them will work fine. Crack the egg into the bowl and mix in with the potato until fully incorporated. Then add flour into the bowl, starting by adding 1/4 cup at a time. I find the 1 cup mashed potato to 1 cup flour to be about the right ratio but depending on the consistency of your potatoes you may need to add a little more or less. You want to form a soft dough that isn’t too sticky. Begin to mix the dough with your hands but be careful not to overwork the dough. Once mixed, cut dough into four equal sections, then roll each section out into a log on a lightly floured counter top. Cut the rolls into pieces about 1 inch wide. Shape each piece as desired. You can make them bigger if you’d like as well but I find them to be better if they’re a bit smaller. Bring a pot of water to boil and then drop your gnocchi in. Give a slight stir so they don’t stick to the bottom. Let the gnocchi rise to the top, this should take no longer than five minutes. Then scoop them out with a slotted spoon. You can then fry them quickly in a pan with butter and herbs and seasonings (I used butter, rosemary, thyme and Italian seasoning then tossed a bit of Parmesan and bacon crumbles on top) or you can add whatever sauce (like marinara, Alfredo, etc.) that you like. It’s so si

✨ sensory play ✨ I’ve been noticing more and more lately how my 14 month old daughter needs activities that engage her mind and that allow her to make things happen (cause and effect). She’s been getting bored of most of her toys. She’s a very busy and bright little girl. She wants to be involved in everything I do. I try to involve her in as much as I can but sometimes you just need an activity that will allow them to play independently for a little while. I’m on a mission to create fun and engaging sensory activities for my daughter. Activities that will engage her brain and her hands. Some may be more purposeful in how they are meant to be played with and others may be more open ended play. The activity I set up that she’s playing with in the video is a farm animal sensory box with cereal, stones, animals, a paper “pond”, etc. I didn’t know how she would play with it but when I gave it to her, within five minutes, she had come up with her own activity of scooping pieces up with the paper pond and then dumping them on the floor. As I watched her I gave her a smaller bin and asked her if she could put the pieces in the bin. I also gave her a slightly bigger piece of paper to scoop with. She went back and forth between both papers and played at this activity consistently for almost half an hour. What a WIN!!! I’m so encouraged and this just makes me so excited to try out new activities with her and to share them with you all. Please be sure to follow along for more!

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of rest I long for. Rest for my soul. For burdens that are light and someone to help me carry the load. I am weary. I am carrying heavy burdens. So often I find myself turning to the wrong things when I know I need rest. It’s so easy to binge watch Netflix and take a nap rather than slowing down, opening your Bible, and being vulnerable before the Lord. Now don’t get me wrong - there is nothing wrong with taking a good nap or watching TV and physically resting. But if that’s the only thing we’re turning to when our souls are in need of rest - we’re never going to get the rest that we truly need. You are not going to be any less weary or heavy burdened in your soul after binge watching your favourite show. Trust me, I’ve tried it. Recently, with this flareup of my chronic health issues that I’ve been going through I have found myself turning to worldly things to fill me and to give me rest. They may make you feel good for a little while and they may distract you from your heavy burdens and your weariness but they won’t give your soul the rest that it’s asking for, the rest that it’s craving, the rest that it needs. So I just want to encourage you to run to Jesus. And maybe you don’t have the mental stamina to run to him right now, but that’s okay, you can walk. You can crawl. All you need to do is call on him. He is waiting. His word is living and active and he will speak to you through his Word. Read your Bible. Pray about how you’re feeling. Ask God for wisdom and mercy and strength and and rest. God wants you to come to him to find your rest in him. Only he can offer you t