Tag: experiment

Mister Baker

April 8, 2020

Mister Baker

Part of our lifestyle is creating healthy recipes or healthier versions of favorites like chili, marinara, applesauce.  We prefer natural, less sugar, more healthy food options to serve, but our budget is limited.  I try to stay at $50 per person or less. 

About 10 years ago, we had a bread recipe and baked 6 loaves once a week (this ended when we lost the big oven) but Louis wanted a better-than-sliced-bread recipe that tasted better than Publix fresh. 

A few weeks of experimentation cumulated in these:

Beautiful artisan French loaves.

And gorgeous “regular” white bread in loaf pans that Louis slices to perfection and stores in our Tupperware bread box to keep fresh. 

He has to bake a set every day to keep up with our demand, but at $0.36 per set ($0.18 per loaf!), it is well in our budget. 

Sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, water, and bead flour.  That’s it.  Of course, Louis is a special kind of baker in that nothing is every measured.  (He says some of this and some of that and it always comes out great as it’s “all in the proportions.”)  For super soft bread, (dinner rolls) he will use bacon grease instead of olive oil (not as healthy, but way better than crescent dinner rolls and so much tastier!) or for “French,” he’ll reduce the sugar and shape into logs brushed with butter.

The original recipe came from somewhere on google that he modified bit by bit.  Temperature of the yeast and rising time are the most vital parts for chemistry. 

I challenge you to experiment!  Find ready-made foods your family loves and research how to make them and try it!  You can make small batches and try them out today – added hint: homemade bread makes great inexpensive croutons and stuffing too!

Thank you for reading.

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Jaquline the Confident

September 4, 2019

Jaquline the Confident

I watched my little girl exude confidence for the first time in public.  At our gymnastics show on Mother’s Day, my Jaquline performed her practiced routine with a cloud of confidence I’ve never seen in her before.  She LOVES gymnastics.  She feels beautiful and strong doing her routines.  She stood up on the mat and told everyone she wants to be an Olympic Gymnast. 

Wow. 

So much for “maybe they’ll have fun” – my thoughts when I was blessed to get them into classes. 

For my family, discovering the sport of gymnastics has improved and amazed us.  In brief, I answered an ad which I thought was part-time clerk help at a gymnastics facility; nope, was a coaching job and I am so totally in amazement that I get to work a dream job in a sport I always wanted to do but my family was unable to afford.  From there, my girls (less Christina, who laughed and said “CAP is enough for me.” – oh, but  she’s now a coach) joined classes.  Kimberly came with strength and pushes to work her way up to the amazing skills she watches the team girls do.  Becky and Jaquline had no interest in fitness before gymnastics but now are working out with determination.  Jillian and Lucas have fun.

Jaquline’s new semester includes her gymnastics classes, reading everything she loves (She graduated up from the Magic Treehouse books to A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and The Princess and the Swans the last couple of months!), practicing gymnastics outside (no jumps or flips – that’s mom’s rule, but I watch her do her floor routine from the show over and over and over…), learning nutrition (what builds muscle?  I need x grams of protein before workout), and playing word games with her super increasing vocabulary!  Louis says he’ll glance at the table after breakfast and everyone is sitting around doing work except Jaquline.  He’ll go looking and she’s curled up in her bed with some fat book in front of her so he leaves her until she comes out.  She’s sometimes not wanting to do regular schoolwork (it seems every child goes through at least one “I don’t want to do school” phase), but we aren’t worried because right now is a nutrition, fitness, grammar, literature, and vocabulary focus semester.  A few more books in that level and she’ll either be scanning the library for more like them or moving up a notch! (And she thinks she’s “not doing schoolwork” by reading unabridged classics!)

Sometimes we all need a “break” from the ordinary (yes, mom and dad still ask, “did you finish your math, history, and science?”) and our focus shifts to what we find fun.  Jaquline is doing math she doesn’t realize while planning her savings goals.  She’s stepping into real history and culture with “Little Women” and “A Little Princess” (1860 – 1880 United States and 1800s English Empire, respectively).  She’s learning science by watching Becky and Kimberly’s experiments, reading her nutrition books.  She’s doing practical learning by watching how Dad prepares food and analyzing the nutrition in her meals (plus, math and science here too). 

Although her semester finds her trying to be stubborn and “skip regular lessons” this time around, we know she’s still learning.  God is working on her heart now too – “Heidi” is a story of forgiveness, redemption, and return to reliance on God. (Just one example… I LOVE the unabridged versions of classics.)

Don’t be discouraged, parents!  Even if they are “refusing” to learn, they are learning anyway!  Find something they love that is natural learning and encourage that!  They’ve got plenty more years to get “lessons” on track… build relationship and understanding. 

This doesn’t mean we as parents aren’t constantly reminding her to “finish her math” or whatever lessons, it’s just that we don’t fight over it!  Life has taught us that she will come back to “formal lessons” soon.  We had a teen freak and slam forward in her algebra once her sister below her was “catching up” – Jaquline did the same last year when Jillian “graduated” into the same math book Jaquline was using.  Our philosophy is never to alter one person’s progress because of another’s lack; instead we encourage self-growth.  Thankfully, human nature among our children includes a fierce competitive spirit!  They will learn.  They will grow.  Sometimes, though, a sidetrack on a different path is needed.  (Don’t you ever feel that way as an adult? – I do!)

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

First Try at Makeup

First time I “madeup” my whole face & poked my eyeball many times… Giggle Girl Time

October 3, 2018

First Try at Makeup

So, Sunday afternoon, Louis and I went “out” (with our current budget that means a couple games of pool or walking on the beach or downtown, you know, zero cost but couple time!) and I’d received my Younique package in on Friday. (You are supposed to let the makeup “sit” at room temperature for at least 24 hours after shipping if you live in a hot climate… 96 degrees might be hot.) So I figured this was as good a time as any to try out makeup.

Let me see… (digging around in this really cool purple bag that Becky claims “is so hers” once I’m done with it.) I didn’t use everything in this try, but the pieces in the picture are mine. (Becky or Christina claimed the other goodies that came in the set – the value of the “starter set” and my realization that my girls would be buying makeup from now on were two of the reasons I signed up.)

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I knew the hardest part for me would be mascara. I hate anything going near my eyes. Period. Probably, another reason I’ve only tried makeup once before. I used the Epic Mascara and managed to get it on my eyes after only poking my left eyeball three times and smearing it all over my nose, cheek, and eyebrow like five times. I honestly wasted more than I put on.

This brings us to Younique’s Cleaning Stick – it looks like a glue stick but goes on and removes makeup in strategic spots. It is perfect for this newbie. (And I was glad I did mascara first.)

Foundation was easy enough, (I got both the liquid and the cream foundation, this try was liquid because it appeared to be easier!) Younique’s liquid foundation has a dropper applicator so you drop it in a few places across your face and blend in. I used my finger because it felt like lotion going on. I used the setting powder on top lightly – that got rid of the slightly shiny afterglow of the liquid foundation.

I discovered that I didn’t have blush so I used bronzer (I thought “probably not what it is really for”) to highlight my cheeks lightly.

I have done my eyeshadow two or three times before – between that and a few lipstick tries, that was my only “adult” experience with makeup prior to this.

I was opting for a natural look this time, so instead of deep blue, which I’m sure, will be my favorite eyeshadow, I used a nude pink with smoky accents. I think it turned out okay. Next time I’ll use the eyeliner pencil (never done that before!) and the deep blue cream shadow with smoky accents. (Becky was like, “that would look awesome, I’m going to help.”)

I’ve never used liquid lip color either, so this Younique lipgloss in “lovesick” (the name sent Becky and Christina into rivers of giggles!) – I told Louis it was “pink” – was a first. It lasted all night, a first for any lipstick I’ve ever tried.

I was rather pleased with the results. The only “downside” (actually a great thing!) was washing it all off before going to bed. (It was easy enough, warm water, cleanser, scrub, rinse) I’d just never worn makeup that didn’t wear off after a couple of hours. My research told me this would be good, and I’m super pleased! (Plus, I’m allergic to lots of stuff but nothing in this ensemble irritated my skin at all!)

(Oh, and I’ve probably taken just two or three “selfies” ever, and not very good at it because I had the girls trying to give me pointers and giggling along with me at the hilarious pictures that landed on the camera for mere seconds; so the picture was taken by Becky.)

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Next order, I’ll remember to get concealer, blush, and lipstick to try!

I have to admit, I’m totally enjoying this experiment with makeup! (AND loving the “giggle girl time” with my little women – should I call this “art class?”)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

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