Sunshine from Miracle Acres

Zuppa Tuscany soup

2010-01-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

On this cold wintery day nothing is better than sitting before the fire with a good book and a cup of your favorite hot drink. (ahhh) Well as we can't all do that as life tends to go on even on cold snowy days like today...I thought I would share a warming recipe. Its called Zuppa Tuscany soup and if you've every been to Olive Garden you might have tried this soup. This recipe is just a version as I'm sure Olive Garden wouldn't let out the real thing, but this is a very close comparision.

Zuppa Tuscany Soup
6 hot Italian sausages, casings removed and broken up (I use just a pound of bulk
1 Large onion, chopped sausage)
2-3 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 c. chopped kale or collards
6 red potatoes, diced (I just use regular potatoes, peeled and diced)
1 large can white cannolini beans
1 c. vegetable broth
1 c. chicken broth (or I just did all chicken broth)
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 c. warmed light cream or half & half

Brown sausage in oil. Ad onions and cook till tender. Add garlic broths and potatoes and cook till potatoes are tender. Add beans, basil and parsley. stir in warmed cream. Then add chopped kale. Heat thru. Serve and Enjoy!!

Serves 6-8 Prep time 20 min Cook time 30-40 min.

This has become one of our families favorites!!! Hope you enjoy!! =)

2010!!!!

2010-01-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in plan for my life in this next year!! I hope and believe its something good and exciting!!

Well Long Time No Type. =)

2009-12-30T11:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!!! You all probably thought I fell off the face of the Earth..well not yet I'm still here.
To do a little recap on my life since....well whenever it was i last posted something. I worked all summer at an older friends house doing WHATEVER! And thats no understatement. =) They live on a little farm with a few animals, and I've done everything from feeding animals to building fence to helping build thier solar efficient shop. I also helped plant, weed, harvest, and put up her garden. Lots of hard, tiring work..but I enjoy it. (Most of the time) :-)
I'm now done for the winter. Which I'm very glad of as I now get to be at home. My parents are glad to even though my Mom still thinks I should be working only as I'm very low on cash. But thats life.
The most exciting thing that has happened to my in the last month is that I totaled my parents big 15 passenger van. Maybe exciting isn't the right word...try terrifiying, scary, unnerving, or just plain...well you see what I mean. Here's what happened...I was just running to town on an errand with my little brother Peter..I had gotten a text on my phone and was answering it (which i had done before but will never do again!!) I was on a back road and knew there was a curve coming up looked back down at my phone and next thing I knew I was going faster than I thought and Peter called out my name and I looked up and went thru the curve and hit a telephone pole. When we got out, the pole was knocked forward, and the wires were on fire..well anyways pete got a mark on the side of his face where the airbag hit him, and I just had some bad bruises and a slight whiplash. Then we found that the van was totaled and we now have a suburban. That was the most exciting thing that I can remember.
There's an update on most of my life since the spring. I'll try to keep posting as I'm home now.

Updates...

2009-04-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything in..like forever. Part of that is because I am pretty busy helping Mom with Hope and the rest..another reason is because I don't really have anything interesting to post. None the less here is what I've been doing lately...
I started working some again. I work for some old family friends and they have a little farmette. So I get to help with chores, make fence, gardening, and in the fall canning what we pull out of the garden. They are also building a eco-friendly shop. It will have solar panels, which will help heat the building. it will also have straw-clay in the walls which will further help the heating and other things. Its a very interesting process and I can't even go into all of it, it is so extensive of a process.

Other than that I'm just at home helping my Mom with Hope and everything around the house..pretty big job!! My Mom is recovering well from the c-section and Hope is growing faster than I thought posible. She is very cute and I think we'll keep her and add her to the family. :)

Thats about it...I'll try to post something a little more often even if its nothing profound. :)

New Sister, Hope Namoi

2009-03-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here is my new baby sis!! Hope Naomi. She very cute, isn't she?

Its A GIRL!!!!

2009-03-06T04:48:00.001-08:00

My Mom had her Baby!!! Its a Girl, and ger name is Hope. Thats all I know now, I will post more and pictures later!!

Great truths..

2009-03-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

Great Truths that Little Kids have Learned:
1. No matter how hard you try you can't baptize cats.
2. When your Mom is made at your Dad don't let her brush your hair.
3. If your sister hits you, don't hit her back, they always catch the second person.
4. Never ask your 3 year old brother to hold a tomato.
5. You cant trust dogs to watch your food.
6. Never sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7. Never hold the Dust-Buster and your cat at the same time.
8. You can't hide your broccoli in a glass of milk.
9. Don't wear Polka-Dot under wear under white shorts.

Great truths Adults have Learned:
1. Raising teenagers is like nailing jell-o to a tree.
2. Wrinkles don't hurt.
3. Families are like fudge mostly sweet with a few nuts mixed in.
4. Todays mighty oak is just yesterdays nut that held its ground.
5. Laughing is good exercise, its like jogging on the inside.
6. Middle-age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

I thought these were cute.

just for laughs! :)

2009-02-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

Its my Birthday!!

2009-02-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe its my birthday today!! I didn't think I would make it this far. 19 WOW! I shal just have to see what the Lord has in store for me this year. My Dad asked me the other day if I thought I would where I'm at to day a year ago. Honestly no. I never thought I would have worked at two restaurants and than for a friend, doing alot of outside work. But through all of that I believe I have grown up some and became a little more sure of myself. 19..I'm a little scared! :-)

2009-01-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

Its FREZZING!!! So I'm not going outside for anything (thats what my younger brother is for
:-) I stay in and help my Mom with the little kids school, stay in our living room, (as thats were the wood heat vent comes in and is therefore the warmest room in the house). I am working on a cross-stitch blanket. Its a very cute Suzi's Zoo pattern that I'm trying to finish before my Mom has her baby. Which is not long off, and I'm not even half done yet : / But with these bitterly cold days I've had alot of time to work on it. I'll post pictures when its completed.

I'm very thankful for a Father that likes to do wood in the fall and summer so we can keep our wood heater going. Which not only keep the heat bill down, but it definently keeps the house warmer throughout the day. With all the snow we've had, we'd be shoveling it all out of our driveway if it wasn't for a man that we found to plow. (By we I mean my Dad, and my brothers Steven and peter.)

Hope you stay warm!!

Red skies

2009-01-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

I was reading Matthew 16 the other day and ran upon this verse: (I have to start at the beginning to get the context of it)

The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign from Heaven.

He answered and said unto them, "When it is evening, ye say, 'It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.'

And in the morning 'It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring.' "

Jesus goes on to call them hypocrrites, that they can discern the skies but not the signs of the times. And that there will be no sign except for the sign of Jonah.

Anyway what stuck out to me was the fact that even in Jesus' time they knew that little saying; 'Red sky in the moring saliors take warning, Red sky at night saliors delight.'

I had always known that saying was old but just the fact that is was over 2,000 years old just stuck out to me.

What if I Give All?

2008-12-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

I use to hear this song on the radio all the time. Then they stopped playing it for some reason. Well I always remebered the chorus but could not remeber the verses:

What if I give all?

What will that do?

My child a gift like that could change the world,

Could feed the multitudes.

He didn't close his eyes or turn away

I could see him standing tall

What if I give all?

That was all I could remeber and even just that line is so powerful; What if I give all?

What if I did give all? How would that change the world and would it chang my outlook on people? I don't have an answer yet, but I am praying that God will change my heart so if I do need to give all I will not hold anything back.

Here is the song I found it on YouTube:

Snow

2008-12-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

IT'S FREEZING!! This morning we had to go somewhere and our driveway was drifted over and plowed shut. And on top of that we couldn't get our van out of the garage because one of our cars were parked in front of it and we couldn't get it started because it was so cold. Thankfully my Mother found someone to plow us out and he was also able to help us move the frozen car. Then we went to the Mall in Rockford, IL. with my Aunt. It was a mad house! We could hardly find a place to park. Then inside was just madness. But we finally got out, and the traffic was crazy even at four o'clock. I guess 'Tis the Season'.

2008-12-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

I Updated the sayings on the side. I get them from the stories for a teens heart book I have.

Wall-e

2008-12-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

I just watched Wall-e. It was O.K. I thought it was funny but I didn't see a point in it. The funniest part was the Hello Dolly songs and clips that he plays. I just resently watched hello Dolly and it has turned to be one of my favorites.

The Seasons

2008-12-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

I was re-reading "The Last Sin Eater" last week and I came across this quote that really made sense to me. Cadi is thinking about what her Granny used to say to her before she died.

'I remebered how we'd sit on the porch, melting and waiting for the hot summer day to end in the relief of nightfall. I the thankful cool, we'd stare up into the infinite black sky with glitters twinkling while the lightning bugs sparkled like fallen stars in the woods round about us.

In the fall, Granny'd send me off to capture one monarch butterfly from the thousand that migrated. She'd hold the jar a long while just looking at the pretty thing. "From a worm this came. Don't that just beat all?" And then she'd take the top off the jar and watch it flutter away.

First frost had been an event to Granny Forbe, for with it came the high mountains gold and the soft winds that stirred up blizzards of red, pink, orange, and yellow leaves swirling. "The maple's always last to give up its color," she'd always say. The maple that grew near our cabin was like a red blaze against the encroaching winter skies, its leaves like crimson spraks on the dead brown ground.

Granny would sit by the window during winter and look out ant the snow heaping or watch the icicles' slow growth fromthe eaves of the front porch. They'd catch the sunlight and cast a rainbow radiance. Granny was ever hoarding bread crumbs and sending me out to toss them about near the window so that she could watch the towhees, titmice, red cardinals, and the mourning doves foraging for the bits of food in the vast white. During the ice storms and the long bleak nights of winter, she'd tell me mountains were like sleeping giants that'd come awake again soon. "God'll see to it."

And God did. Those mountains always did wake up, without fail. Year after year, the earth came back to life again with what Granny called "God-green." She always said no matter how much you watered, you couldn't get the same color that came with a single rain if the life-bearing water of heaven.

Now I knew why it happened that way, what Granny was trying to show me in words she didn't have. It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year.

It was the Lord speaking to us all and showing us over and over again the birth, life, death and resurrection of his only begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It was like a best-loved story being told day after day with each sunrise and sunset, year after year with the seasons, down through the ages sinse time began.

I knew after hearing the word of the Lord, I'd never walk anywhere again without seeing Jesus as a babe in the new-green of spring. I'd never see a field in all its glory without thinking how he lived his life for us in the royal robes of evry summer wildflower. I'd ever see the greatness of his love in the beautiful sacrifice in the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows of fall, and winter white would always speak to me of his death. And then spring again, his resurrection, life eternal.

" Lo, I am with you always." '

This part about the seasons just really made sense to me.

2008-12-12T04:57:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite songs;

2008-12-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

Be Thou My Vision:

Be Thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

'Thou my best thought by day or by night

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word

I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord

Thou my Great Father and I Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

Riches I heed not nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance, now and always

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart

High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art

High King of Heaven, my victory won

May I reach Heaven's joys, oh bright Heaven's sun

Part of my young heart, whatever befall

Still be my vision, oh Ruler of all

I so desperately want that in my own life.

(how do I load a youtube video on to here?)

The Bullet

2008-12-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Some one gave me this book called Stories for a Teens Heart. I has many different life situations of teenagers. All of them are testimonies of their lives. I wanted to share this one that really touched me concerning the Awesome intervention of God;

It was a late march afternoon and Anya sat in the car memorizing Bible verses. She did this every week while her little brother, Zeek, had his piano lessons. Her turn would come next, but memorizing meant repeating the verses out loud and that worked best in the car. She was a part of her junior high Bible quiz team and that rewired knowing a psrt of one of the books of the Bible very well. No problem. Anya loved the competition!

Their music teacher lived in a two story house and the piano was upstairs. just before the lesson began, Zeek told his Mom "I want Sissy to listen to my lesson." Mom reminded him that Anya needed the study time, and besides, she had been listening to him practice his piano lesson all week at home. But Zeek was determined, he went down to the car and to Mom's surprise returned with his big sister.

The lesson began. Five minutes later the lesson was abruptly halted by a loud noise out side. Everyone stopped to watch a late-model car speeding away. The lesson rusmed after the teacher reassured them thatit was probably the cars backfire they had heard.

Zeek's hands were barely on the piano when the teacher's husband rushed in: " a gun shot...into the car...shattered the passenger side window in the front seat!" The lesson was over. They hurried down to look. sure enough, there was a bullet lodged in the backrest just where Anya's head had been five minutes earlier.

They all knew immediately. God had used seven-year-old Zeek to save his sister's life. It was a profound moment. Zeek had responded when it hadn't made sense to him or anyone else, and Anya had compliedwith his illogical request.

The two snipers who were driving through the streets of Salem, Oregon, randomly shooting at mailboxes, cars, and houses, were arrested and held on one-million dollar bail. The district attorney asked Anya and Zeek to come to court and tell their story. the young men were sent to prison for five years, but not without hearing how God had protected a seven-year-old and his big sister.

I found that just amazing!! Praise God!

New Blog

2008-12-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

My own blog!! We'll see how it turns out. Yippee!!