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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!:  Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 1:29:38 PM
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Cyrie Wilson (Pixiedustdevil, #6941) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning an Intermediate Level Let's Get Physical Merit Badge!
“I've been on a diet change for the last month. Even though my blood pressure and cholesterol are perfect; one of my doctors recommended that I go on a diet. She recommend that I stay under 1,700 calories a day. The doctor said that I should be able to lose weight with minimal effort. I still have injuries in both feet so exercise (and working on merit badges) is limited.
I can eat what ever I want, but I have to not go over my limit. I have to pay more attention to portion sizes, and whether something is worth the calories.
It's a challenge, especially when you're craving one of your favorite foods, but it's too expensive calories wise. Like today, I wanted pizza, but a regular slice can equal 400 calories or more! So instead I made my own pizza using a tortilla wrapper for the crust. So a slice of that was only 147 calories!
I'm also finding that homemade meals have fewer calories that anything store bought.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 1:35:29 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Expert Level Aprons Merit Badge!
“Frilly and ruffles are not "my thing", especially around my waist, as I am pretty frumpy without them. With that said, I designed an apron that I was quite pleased with. I sent a version to my partner for a swap as well, and hopefully she enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed creating it! Due to the heaviness of the material, I actually put wide elastic in some casing on the top, rather than gathering it.
I was pretty happy with how my apron design turned out. I enjoyed finding the fabrics and putting it together. My children thought it was pretty funny that I put on lipstick while wearing an apron. :)”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 1:47:54 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning a Beginner Level Collect It! Merit Badge!
“For the last approximately fifteen years, I have been collecting Willow Tree Figurines. Susan Lordi, an artist, created these figurines in January of 2000. Generally speaking the figurines are angels and faceless people. They are made from hand painted resin. Generally speaking, I receive figurines that represent something in my life, for example I own the figurine of the pregnant mother.
I collect Willow Tree figurines simply because I love them! They have no purpose except to bring joy :)”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 1:49:00 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning an Intermediate Level Collect It! Merit Badge!
“Earning this badge was a threefold process. First, I was to search local stores and online for pieces of my collection. As of yet, I have not found any Willow Tree Figurines in the local stores!
Secondly, I was to make a list of all the pieces I have of this collection.
Third, I was to make a list of the figurines I would like to eventually add to my collection. There are eight pieces that I would like to eventually add to my collection. These pieces are called Angel of the Kitchen, Anniversary, By My Side, Chrysalis, For Always, Hero, Little Shepherdess, and Zampognaro. The last two are actually part of the Nativity set.
I absolutely adore the Willow Tree Figurines. There is something so beautiful and peaceful about them. I am hoping to enlarge my collection over the years.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 2:08:03 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Her-story Merit Badge!
“Laura Bush, former First Lady of the US, has always been a woman that I have looked up to and admired. I read her memoir, "Spoken From the Heart," to learn more about her.
Laura Welch was born on Nov. 4, 1946, in Midland, TX and grew up as an only child. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in early education. She became a second grade teacher and after a couple of years received her Master's Degree in Library Science from U of Texas and became a public school librarian.
She and her husband, George W. Bush were married in 1977 and they had twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara in 1981. While she was the First Lady of Texas, she worked on improving literacy, state funding for early reading and early childhood development programs. She also raised $1 million dollars for public libraries.
After becoming First Lady of the US in 2001, she continued to support education, childhood development, teacher training and higher teacher salaries. She created the national initiative called Ready to Read, Ready to Learn, which promoted early reading. She lobbied for continued work on saving America's national treasures and supported the Preserve America campaign.
After the 2004 election, she lead initiatives in health, literacy and gender equality. She traveled to Afghanistan to promote a new teacher training institute for Afghan women. She also traveled again to the Middle East in 2007 in an attempt to promote women's health and breast cancer awareness. The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health was also founded at Texas Tech University in 2007. ”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 2:20:39 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Expert Level Her-Story Merit Badge!
“To earn the expert badge for Her-Story, I needed to read about two influential women, one from the 1900s and the other from the 1800s, then share five things for each that I learned. This is what I wrote...
For the woman from the 1800s, I read about Clara Barton. Perhaps Clara's biggest influence was her father. He had taught her "...next to heaven, our highest duty is to serve our country and support its laws. ("Clara Barton Courage Under Fire," by Janet and Geoff Benge, pg 75).
In order to help her country during the Civil War, she first wrote letters to her home state of Massachusetts telling of the horrors she had seen in DC. This resulted in receiving boxes of supplies. Desperate to help more, she started going to battlefields to get the wounded men to a hospital quicker, so that they could receive medical attention prior to infection setting in. She also started caring for the men there on the front line.
Eventually it was Clara Barton that introduced the Red Cross to the United States. At the age of 83 she resigned as the president of the American Red Cross, but continued to work relentlessly to life for others up until she passed at 91. Ironically, she was born on Christmas Day and died on Good Friday. A wonderful life that exemplified the heart of Christ.
Corrie Ten Boon was another war hero, but this time of World War II. As a Christian in Holland, Corrie did everything she could to help the Jews in an underground rescue attempt. It was not just her, but rather her entire family that was involved! In their house, they had a special room that was perfect for hiding. It was called the Angel's Den.
Found out to be aiding the Jews, Corrie Ten Boon, at the age of 54, and her extended family were taken as prisoners, with Corrie being extremely ill. Her father died in prison only ten days after his capture. Corrie and her elder sister Betsie were kept in the prison. They were eventually moved to a German concentration camp. Corrie's older sister Betsy eventually died at the concentration camp. Only three days later, Corrie Ten Boon was told she was to be released, as soon as she was healthy enough. She ended up spending about eleven months in prison.
After her release, Corrie spoke about her past in homes and churches. About five months later, Hitler was dead and Holland was free of the Nazis. She later was given a 56 room home that she used to house victims of World war II - Jews that had hidden, Dutch that had lost their homes, and orphans. She turned her own home into a home for members of the National Socialist Bond. She continued in her work to help others, as well as telling her story, with the greatest emphasis on God's forgiveness. She too passed at 91 years of age.
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed reading these biographies! I actually have bought "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boon and intend on reading it as well. One of the biggest impressions I got from these books is that you can do great things for the Kingdom of God, as a woman.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 2:23:18 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Intermediate Level Her-story Merit Badge!
“For the intermediate level of the Her-Story badge, I read the biography, "Bird Woman (Sacajawea), the Guide of Lewis and Clark: Her Own Story."
I remember being fascinated with Sacajawea when I was in elementary school and I really enjoyed reading about her life. I have shared some things that I learned with my Chapter.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 2:28:37 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Expert Level Her-story Merit Badge!
“For the EXP level of the Her-story badge I decided to read "Mush On and Smile", the story of Kate Rockwell, also known as Klondike Kate and "Pioneer Girl", the new annotated biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Kate Rockwell was a local celebrity in our Central Oregon area back in the 1940s and her story had always fascinated me.
I grew up reading the Little House books and found this new autobiography recently which went into much greater depth about her life than the previous books did.
I enjoyed reading both of them very much and learning more about these 2 very different women.
I also posted in our henhouse about some things that I learned about each one.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 2:54:05 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Bustin' Out Merit Badge!
“New Years is a time to set goals, personally and as a family. Our family decided to embrace trying new organic foods each week. For our first month, we tried new (to us) organic vegetables. We tried turnips, rutabagas, horseradish, and shallots. We also started purchasing organic corn taco shells. Some of these we have had before - just not organic.
This was actually difficult for us to do. Our family tries to eat new foods all the time. Additionally, finding organic versions of some foods is more difficult here in Wyoming than it was in South Carolina.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 2:54:53 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Bustin' Out Merit Badge!
“In order to earn this badge, we needed to try new organic foods once a month for an additional two months. For the last two months, due to what we have been studying in Geography, most of our new foods were Asian in ethnicity. These included Thai basil, fresh lemongrass, Thai chilies, galangal, bean sprouts, and coconut cream. Not of Asian influence, we also tried organic ketchup and organic habanero peppers.
I think the biggest "find" for us this past two months was the organic ketchup. In the past, I have made my own, but with not having the excess amount of tomatoes, that has not been feasible over the last year. For this reason, we had started eating regular ketchup again, which in turn means high fructose corn syrup. Finding the organic ketchup, that had NO HFCS and was gluten free was a delight!
On the flip side, I will say that habanero peppers - whether they are organic or not - are just not for us! Those bad boys are HOT!!!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:05:18 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Forage for Food Merit Badge!
“Since arriving to Wyoming the end of October, my eyes have been searching for places to forage. While living in South Carolina, we found a lot of pick your own orchards, but foraging wasn't too much of an option due to the large amount of car exhaust fumes and pollutants in the area. Here in Wyoming, there are barely any pick your own orchards (in fact, we have not yet found any!), but foraging is beyond plentiful! We have found locations to forage watercress, plantain, wild sage, juniper berries, mullein, cattails, gumweed, wood sorrel, bull thistle, dandelion, and rose hips. There is also an abundance of pine needles!
I'm looking forward to finding more wild edibles and medicinal herbs! From the research I've done, we should be able to also find purslane, jewel weed, and elderberries. Yesterday we harvested quite a bit of mullein.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:17:09 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Know Your Food Merit Badge!
“There are five parts to earning this badge. The first part is to make a pact to increase how much organic food we eat by 25%. Since moving here to Wyoming, the amount of organic food we were eating went to very little, as we started shopping at Walmart. Over the last month, however, we found a new grocery store called Albertsons. This store is much like the Publix we enjoyed in South Carolina. While it costs us more than Walmart did, we figure it will cost us less in the long run :)
The second part of this page is researching the local CSAs. We had been faithful members of a CSA in South Carolina, so we were looking forward to doing the same here. I looked up the CSAs on local harvest.org There are a couple within a two hour drive, that we are getting further information on. With it being such a distance, however, it may not be feasible!
The third part of this badge was replacing a dessert a week with an unsweetened fruit dish. This was the highlight for my children!!! More often than not, we do not have a dessert at all. So for them to have fruit after dinner was quite the treat!!!
The fourth portion was to eliminate ALL high fructose corn syrup out of our diet. For the most part we have done this in the past. However, we had gotten lazy over the last few months and I quit making my own ketchup. This means we were once again purchasing high fructose corn syrup! Then we discovered that the Organic Great Value brand does not have HFCS!!! We have started buying that now until I start making our own again!
The final part of this badge was to read "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen (since we did not already do everything else). I borrowed this book from the MJF Library. What an AWESOME book!!!!!
I am pretty bummed that the CSAs are all so far away! We are looking to possibly still buy into one, with a drop off in Gillette, though that is still about a 45 minute to an hour drive. We are excited, though, to be eating organic foods more, once again, as well as getting HFCS out of the house! As for "Omnivore's Dilemma" - I recommend EVERYONE to read that book!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:42:47 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Blogging Merit Badge!
“Many years ago I started my blog... Everyday Blessings. it focuses on the everyday occurrences, be it homeschooling, homesteading, or home life. All of which are my everyday blessings. Unfortunately I seem to go in sprees as far as posting. Life gets overwhelmingly busy and posting takes the back burner, but for the most part I enjoy blogging. You can check out my blog at http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com
I'm thankful for being able to borrow the book from the MJF Library, I recently also read the book required.
Blogging is a great way for me to capture and journal about the things going on in our family and homeschooling. No one knows how short or long we will be on this earth, so I want to leave pictures for my children to see of their childhood - and memories made, no matter how insignificant or small. If I'm not here five days, weeks, months, years, or decades from now, I want my children to be able to see how much I love them!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:45:00 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Intermediate Level Blogging Merit Badge!
“In January 2010 I entered the world of blogging. What an adventure it has been!!! That year I only posted three posts!!! Since then, the number of posts have gone up and down! My highest was 87 in 2013. Shortly after joining MJF, I added my blog to GirlGab.com. I love looking at my statistics of visitors and seeing all the traffic that generates!
Because of my topics (primarily homeschool), blogging can be quite time consuming! I want the children to be able to go back and see what we have done. I also want others to have the ability to use anything they desire as suggestions for unit studies in order to school their children. I'm not always timely in my posts, but I enjoy documenting our days!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:45:54 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Expert Level Blogging Merit Badge!
“So far this year I have posted 14 posts on my blog, almost all with pictures. In fact, I stopped posting posts due to my computer dying, and therefore losing all my pictures. :(
It has only been within the last month or two that I have started leaving my blog address when I leave comments. For some reason, it never occurred to me to do that beforehand! Since doing that, I've had other bloggers come to my page, which has been really neat and uplifting! My blog is written primarily for my children, but to know others enjoy coming and reading what we are up to is pretty neat!
Within the next year, I would like to accomplish two things. The first is to do reviews. I read all types of books and use all types of products for schooling my children, and would like to share with others what has or hasn't worked for us. Secondly, I would like to figure out how to link up to other blogs!
Networking has been FUN!!!! I love visiting and commenting on other's blogs and I enjoy seeing comments on my own!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:47:17 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning a Beginner Level Mindfulness Meditation Merit Badge!
“In researching Mindful Meditation, I learned about the benefits of meditation for both our bodies and our brains. It can help us deal with pain, be able to connect with others better, and become a better listener. It also lowers stress, therefore lowering chances of becoming ill. It increases our ability to focus, reduces brain chatter, boosts creativity, strengthens our neural connections (which in turn boost our concentration, flexibility, and awareness), and it trains our body to thrive.
I practiced a couple of different kinds of meditation for the first week including mindful meditation, just breathing and being in the moment, and also contemplative prayer.
It isn't easy, but it isn't hard to practice. I think it would become easier the more you practice and I plan to continue to do so for the next couple of months. Already I can see that it helps turn off "brain chatter" and helps your thoughts to shut down. It's easier to get to sleep and not lay awake at night with thoughts just jumbling around in your head for what seems like hours!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 3:59:09 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Intermediate Level Know Your Roots Merit Badge!
“I had never used the National Archive online site before. At first, I thought it was kind of confusing. I kept at it and found some tips for beginners. I decided to look up some land patents from my husband's side of the family who have lived in this county since 1904.
Our farm has been in my husband's family since the early 1900s. He is the 4th generation to farm here, my son and his little ones are the 5th and 6th. They live and farm here as well.
I was able to find land patents for both my husband's paternal and maternal sides of the family. Pretty cool!
We had found an original letter, still in it's envelope, typed with a manual typewriter, from Washington DC, when his great grandpa applied for his land grant. I will put these new documents in with them for a reference.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:00:14 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, 5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Intermediate Level Home Insulation Merit Badge!
“Finding a windy day here in Wyoming to test the air tightness of our home is NOT an issue!!! Almost every day there is a breeze, and many days are windy. When we first moved in this house the end of October, we quickly learned how not air tight the house really was! The greatest tool we found was "Great Stuff" an expandable foam that fills the spaces and gaps. After sealing the windows, the fine issue was our front door. Though we tried just sealing it, cold drafts still blew in, as did snow! Up until the past weekend, we used towels to block the draft. This past weekend, however, we took out the old door and frame, and put up a new one, plus sealed around it with the Great Stuff. The old door will be used on the goat shed for the future milking room.
This was a much needed project and I love the results. While I am thrilled with our new door (it let's so much more light in since it has a bigger window), the absence of draft is equally, if not more so, exciting!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:05:05 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Expert Level Know Your Roots Merit Badge!
“Last spring when my father in law passed away, we decided that we wanted to do something special in both remembrance of him and his life and having a family gathering to celebrate those family members that are still with us.
We were able to wait a couple of weeks to have his service so that all of the family could attend. We were able to have all of the aunts, uncle and cousins together for the first time in YEARS!!!
Our son lives in the original homestead house on the property. My husband's great grandparents built it in the early 1900s. It was fun to listen to how many of the family had lived there at one time or another in their lives and how it looked back then.
We hosted a chuckwagon dinner and held it in the original barn. This was a huge hit!!! It just meant so much to the older generation to be "back home" and visit about days gone by and catch up with the younger generation. Younger members were able to meet others their age. Lots of pictures were taken.
Later that evening, most of the family gathered at the local hotel and visited some more with the oldest uncle, a wonderful story teller, sharing more of his family knowledge. We were so thankful for the special day!!!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:11:39 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Pay It Forward Merit Badge!
“To figure out how much our average meal cost us each day, I kept track of grocery spending for the month, plus figured in any meals that were eaten out each week and divided by the number of meals that we ate each week. I came up with around $5.75 a meal per person. It is much cheaper to eat at home!!!
For one week, I gave up eating breakfast. I picked breakfast instead of lunch or dinner because I know that there are too many children out there that don't get breakfast before they go to school. I can see how hard it would be to study and concentrate without food in your system. I'm so thankful that our school district provides breakfast for our students. I will use that $40 I saved to buy food for our local food bank and deliver it.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:28:04 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Know Your Food Merit Badge!
“I have kept a food journal for the past 4 years. It's an easy way to keep track of calories eaten, what you're eating, and what you're eating either too much of or not enough of.
I thought I was a fairly good label reader! But I learned that even some simple foods, that shouldn't have that many ingredients have things in them that just aren't necessary, not so simple!
I decided that if I couldn't pronounce something, I probably didn't need to be eating it! It also made me think about some of the protein bars that I had been eating. What WERE some of these things in that bar??? Was it really good for me, even if it was a product from a very reliable company? Maybe a hard boiled egg would be better and cleaner?
We have also been working on cutting out bad oils and have never been users of artificial sweeteners.
I found some ways to include more fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Smoothies! It's so easy to throw 4-6 fruits and vegetables in a blender! Salads! Try 3 different lettuces or greens, add a variety of vegetables so you don't get bored. Fruit for dessert! Soups! It's a good way to clean out the freezer with little bits of different frozen vegetables. Pasta sauces! Chop or puree all kinds of green vegetables to put into a sauce. Fruit added to hot cereal or yogurt! Fruit added to a spinach salad (mandarin oranges, chopped apple, craisins)! I love to having raw vegetables cut up and ready to eat in the fridge! Adding vegetables to sandwiches (sprouts, peppers, lettuce, tomato)!
One of my favorites is vegetable lasagne. You can add so many vegetables, like chopped eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, and tomatoes!
I also learned how to sprout seeds. I tried sprouting black eyed peas, which turned out ok and radish seeds, which sprouted almost instantly!
I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and really enjoyed it. That was quite an undertaking for Barbara Kingsolver and her family to take on. I was really impressed!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:34:48 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Know Your Food Merit Badge!
“To fulfill the requirements for the INT badge level, I have done the following:
Increased the organic food that I eat by 25%.
Have a list of all local CSA's in my area.
Replaced a dessert each week with fruit of some kind.
Read, "The Omnivore's Dilemma".
And worked on eliminating all HFCS from our diet.
I really enjoyed Michael Pollan's book. I learned more than I probably wanted to know about feedlot raised beef, but it was good knowledge to have.
I found out that the 2 main culprits in our house for HFCS were ketchup and my husband's favorite BBQ sauce. I found a new ketchup to replace our old one that is HFCS free. I've tried other BBQ sauces but he really likes his favorite! We may have to keep working on that one!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:46:35 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Organic on a Budget Merit Badge!
“After purchasing a smaller package of Budget Mix and using it for a couple of meals, I decided that I would now start ordering it in a several pound bulk package! Over the course of a couple of months, I made several more things using the mix.
I have tried the mix in just about everything now...biscuits, a bakeOver topping, muffins, dumplings, tortillas (the family loved them), chocolate chip cookies (they stayed SO moist!), pancakes, several types of panbread and the recipe in MJ's book for orange walnut biscotti ... delicious!!! ”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:51:48 PM
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Ginger Dawn Harman (Ginger Dawn, 6451) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Food Allergy Awareness Merit Badge!
“This is a very new problem that our family has become aware of. My son has a friend who has food allergies. We have been very lucky to not have any of these issues. Yet, I felt this would be a good badge for us as a family to learn about.
According to Web Md. eight things cause about 90% of food allergy reactions:
1. Milk (mostly in children)
2. Eggs.
3. Peanuts.
4. Tree nuts, like walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, brazil nuts, and pecans.
5. Soy.
6. Wheat and other grains with gluten, including barley, rye, and oats.
7. Fish (mostly in adults)
8. Shellfish (mostly in adults)
My son's friend has issues with several of these. However, we made a list to avoid these gluten foods. We are lucky that our local market provides many items that are gluten free.
Gluten Containing Foods – foods to avoid
Biscuits
Beer
Bread
Cakes
Cereals (except a few from the good list below)
Chocolate bars
Cookies
Corned beef
Couscous
Crackers
Donuts
Gravies
Malt beverages e.g. whiskey
Malt vinegar
Monosodium glutamate
Muffins
Pasta
Pastries
Pies
Pretzels
Pizza
Sauces
Sausages
Salami
Sauces – many have wheat as a thickener
Soups – many have wheat as a thickener
Wheat flour
To be honest, I see no difference of taste with the gluten free items. I also would like to suggest that others visit https://www.foodallergy.org for more information. This site provides many wonderful links.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16267 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2017 : 4:52:20 PM
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Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Expert Level Organic on a Budget Merit Badge!
“While I was busy trying out different recipes using the Budget Mix, I shared several of them with family and friends.
One night I made 2 panbreads and shared one with my son and family. This one had pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese, cut into strips and dipped into extra pizza sauce. It was the perfect after school snack for the little ones.
I had family over for dinner and made chicken and dumplings. Everyone loved the "new" dumplings! At Christmas time, I sent a bag full of homemade bread and several jars of homemade jam to a best friend and her family. I have now inspired her daughter to come out this summer and learn to make jam with me!!!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!: Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees
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