Author Archives: Shesourceful

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About Shesourceful

I want to empower women to use our God-given intuition and wisdom to creatively steward our most valuable blessings.

RECIPE: Grain-free Pancakes

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Pancakes!

I realize that grain-free is all the rage right now but, though I’m gluten-intolerant, I am not morally against all grains.  (Too many bread references in the B-I-B-L-E, for one…  And I do realize that the bread was a completely different beast back then than our SAD Wonderbread, but I am happy to report that Jack Bezian is making Old Worlde bread that he ferments for up to a month and are amazingly delicious and easily tolerated by many a gluten-hater.  I digress, but it was so worth it…)

So I’ve been looking for grain-free recipes that are a compromise between the almond flour pucks and the coconut flour egg hogs.  Couldn’t find one, so I made one up.   Continue reading →

BOOK BITES: Black Beauty

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Quarter Horse

As a kid, horses were my favorite animal.  My mom told stories about growing up on a horse ranch, I had a collection of vintage plastic horse statuettes, and I still think they are one of the most beautiful animals in the world.  But somehow I managed to grow up without reading Black Beauty.

Recently, I came across a copy of the book (published in 1877) and decided to put it on our summer read aloud list.  My two younger kids were intermittently interested, but my 7 year old was, after an initial hesitation, completely enthralled.  We look forward to comparing and contrasting the movie with a couple homeschool families while devouring a big bowl of “healthy popcorn that tastes just as good as the artery-clogging theatre stuff.”  I love a good film and lit combo…

The author, Anna Sewell, who depended on horses because of a disease that made her lame as a child, wrote this (her only published work) in hopes that it would “induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment of horses.”  That it did – I cried through the ENTIRE last chapter.  (To be fair, I am pregnant.  But still.)  So after a short soapbox paragraph below, I will leave you with some of the inspirational quotations from the book.   Continue reading →

The Sugar Manifesto

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In 2008, after almost 5 years of membership, I wrote the following letter to our awesome church after a wonderful but sugar-filled retreat.  I questioned the disconnect between wanting to nourish our kids spiritually while pumping their little temples full of crap food.  I challenged the church to view food as a justice issue.  I gave suggestions for alternative snack options.  And, to the credit of the leadership, they took me up on my suggestions… and promptly put me in charge of kids snacks for the next retreat.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease – and sometimes the responsibility.  =)

Though (as a whole) we’re a little late to the party, Christians in large numbers, are starting to notice that food matters to God. Continue reading →

The Great Compost List

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In all of my adult life, I’ve somehow managed to live in places where I’ve never had me own plot o’ land to tend.

 After four years in a concrete college dorm, I moved with 5 other girls into a charming condo where we unknowingly planted sun-loving flowers in our shady 12 foot square dirt patch.  That led to five years of “black thumb discouragement” which got me through more years in the college dorm where gardening didn’t even enter my mind as a Resident Director at Biola University.

Once my hubs and I moved to DC and started having kids, fresh green stuff growing out of the ground started to sound more appealing.   Continue reading →

RECIPE: Fermented Blueberry Chutney

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Image

I just submitted this to a Whole Foods original recipe contest.  Here’s hoping!  (Although I can’t imagine that they would ever pick a recipe with the word “bacteria” in it… Scaredy cats.)

FERMENTED BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY

Note:  Fermented foods tend to be easy to throw together, but require time for those friendly bacteria to do their glorious work.  Fermentation preserves foods naturally while also providing healthy probiotic bacteria that aid in digestion.  Because of the benefits, traditional cultures ate fermented condiments at every meal.  So they are delicious AND nutritious – it’s a win-win!   Continue reading →

Uniquely Frugal Finds: Swaps, co-buying, and a change of perspective

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I pulled together a (long) list of money saving tips that we use in our household to share with my new MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group here in Santa Barbara.  Some of them are obviously specific to our area, but you may have similar resources in your neck of the woods.  And some of them are a little “outside the box,” so be prepared…

(Note that my husband is a school teacher, I stay home with our 3 – soon to be 4 – kids, and we were just able to purchase a {foreclosed} home in one of the most expensive cities in the nation.  In addition to God’s ultimate provision for us, we have been able to do this because of all the ways we have been creatively frugal over the years.  Be inspired – you can do it too!)  Continue reading →

Free Reads

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After receiving an email on our homeschool listserve from a former homeschooled missionary kid who now sends books to international missionaries who homeschool (cool, no?), I sent her the list of online resources for free e-books and free audio books that I had been gathering over the years.  And I thought, “If I’m going to take all that time to write an email to this one great woman, I might as well share it with my Shesources.”  Get reading and be sure to add your favorite “free reads resources” in the comments below.   Continue reading →

Traditional Remedies for Healthy Homes

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After the great time with my DC Mops moms talking about Real Food for Real Families, we entered into the winter season ready for some remedies.

TRADITIONAL REMEDIES FOR HEALTHY HOMES 

“Let your food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”

– Hippocrates (460-377 BC, Greek Physician and founding father of medicine)

DISCLAIMER – I am not a medical practitioner, but I have been reading, thinking about, and practicing natural healing alternatives for over 7 years.  I have 3 children with no cavities, antibiotics, or emergency room runs.  We’re all responsible for our healthcare choices.  Check with doctor if pregnant/nursing. This is not an exhaustive list (homeopathy, herbs, essential oils, etc.).  I’m going with “food as medicine” with a few other interesting goodies thrown in.

My purpose is to breathe new life into our God-given intuition about how He has designed our bodies to heal and created natural things to heal them.  Just a reminder that we have options… Continue reading →

Grieving Through Miscarriages

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Since the 2nd miscarriage I’ve been doing surprisingly okay, I thought.

As soon as the first baby passed, I cried instantly.  It triggered a deep sobbing that lasted longer than I can remember ever crying.  But with the 2nd I seemed to feel more resigned to what was happening – not a lot of bitterness, questioning of God, etc.  After the first, God had spoken very clearly to me, “I am going to use this miscarriage for My glory.” And He has – in numerous ways.  And I believe that is still true with this one.

But the grieving has felt different.   Continue reading →

The Boredom List

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I like to make lists.  It’s not because I’m organized, but because I’m visual.  I have so much going on in my head that if I can’t look at a list of things that are specific to what I’m dealing with, then I won’t remember the great thoughts I once had about this particular circumstance.  Is this making sense?

Anywho, I decided to make “The Boredom List” for the moments when I’ve checked email/Facebook more than once within 10 minutes, or I’m looking around the house at all the things to do and get mentally paralyzed, or I am just straight motivation-less.

I knew I needed a list of things made by my “responsible self” to remind my “paralyzed, computer-numbed self” what is truly important before I fall into a time-sucking black hole. Continue reading →