Kaake Family Blog

A friend made mention not long ago that onion soup is great for colds. I knew eating onions and garlic was good for them but never put two and two together. I LOVE French Onion soup but had never found that one recipe....TILL NOW. Here is my yummy adapted French Onion Soup recipe. The recipes I saw online mostly had sugar or wine in them. Since I don't want to use sugar and I don't have wine in the house, here's what I came up with. I think it turned out very nice. Ingredients: 4 cups thinly sliced vidalia onions 1/4 cup butter 4 cups beef broth pepper to taste french bread swiss cheese Directions: 1. Melt butter in pan and add onions. Cook slowly over a medium/low heat for 20-30 minutes till almost carmalized. 2. Add in pepper and beef broth and bring to a boil. 3. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. 4. If desired, slice french bread and put on baking pan. Top with shredded cheese and broil till cheese is a bit bubbly. Add on the top ...

Borrowed picture :) I wanted something yummy, dessert like and sugar free. I have a book called Harvest Cooking by Keith Snow. His recipes all look amazing! He has a rice pudding recipe that looks good but I wasn't in the mood to put dried cherries in mine. I also wanted to add some cinnamon. Here is my altered recipe. I hope you like it as much as I do. I'm thinking it will serve at least 6 people. Rice Pudding 1 1/2 cups short grain rice - dry not cooked. 2 cups milk 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 3/4 cup organic raisins - Meijer has HUGE and very tasty organic raisins. MUCH better than the regular. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. If not using pure, use 2 teaspoons. 1/2 cup maple syrup Directions: 1. Cook rice according to directions. 2. Add in milk, cinnamon, raisins and vanilla. Cook on a medium low heat (or lower) till milk is absorbed and you have a creamy rice pudding. 3. When done add in maple syrup and stir. You can heat a bit more if it gets too coo...

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. Sore throat, tired, runny nose - yeah a cold. I wanted something yummy, soothing and healthy at the same time. I found this wonderful recipe on My Years Without Sugar . In it she had a lovely recipe that I will post below. In the future, I would add a bit more honey and a bit less cacao. I also used 1/3 cup coconut milk (thai canned coconut milk) and 2/3 cup boiling water. Another thing to mention is coconut milk, raw honey and cacao are all so healthy for you and touted as superfoods. Drink up to health and tasty goodness! Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate 1/3 cup coconut milk 2/3 cup boiling water 2 heaping spoons of pure cocoa 1 small spoonfull honey (or more for sweeter) dash of vanilla To my french press I added the coconut milk then stirred in cocoa and vanilla. After pouring in the boiling water, I stirred in the honey and then pumped my French press to mix and make it frothy.

What is going unplugged? Well, each person's definition varies. Some people say it means unplugging everything! Not even using electricity at all for things like the stove, etc... for the period of time they are unplugging. Others, like myself pick and choose. Why unplug? For our family, a time of unplugging will be to reconnect with one another. Don't get me wrong, I love my gadgets, the online arena, etc.. as well as get great info from it that is actually helpful to me and my family. However, it's easy to go overboard. You know it's bad when your husband is in one room on his laptop or ipad and you're in the den chatting away - online. So, what is our plan? Well, Matthew and I are still in the planning phases. This is something I have longed to do for a very long time. Ideally we'll be unplugged for set times during the day and then for one whole day, we'll be totally unplugged (to our standards). No tv, no computer, ipad, ipod, radio, ...

What a gem! I went to pick up some books today that I planned on purchasing from a fellow homeschooler. She said she had a book she thought we might be able to use and she'd throw it in for free. THe book is called Natural Wonders by Jan Thurman-Veith. I've been homeschooling for over 7 years now, so it takes something for me to get excited. I've pretty much seen it, done that, etc... Well, I have not seen this book till today and it's amazing! Very easy to use, great concepts, lots of fun for the kiddos, etc... The first page got me hooked. Now of course the whole book isn't about mushy feelings. However, being a mushy mom, I loved this! Here's what it says. Animal Affections Each child chooses an animal to be and then shows the affection the animal might give. Bear Hug - wrap arms around someone and give the biggest, strongest, tightest hug bearable. Butterfly Kisses - Flutter eyelashes on someone's neck Caterpillar Squeeze - Wrap someone tig...

She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet. Proverbs 31:21 I read a lovely blog the today about preparing for winter. What a lovely idea! It's kind of what we've been doing freezing fruits and veggies, but this took it to a whole new level. Here is the link to that article. For me and my family, things are a bit different here so this is what I"m hoping to do/have on hand. 1. plenty of blankets 2. flashlights with batteries 3. clean small room heaters and have them in a handy place. 4. clean humidifiers and put them in a handy place. 5. take winter clothing out of storage for the kids and myself and see what we need to get/get rid of. 6. get out the cover for in front of the fire place. 7. clean the basement for those long winter nights so the kids can play/exercise (yes us parents too). 8. have herbs, raw honey and spices on hand for the herbal remedies we make. 9. have kool-aid packets on hand for m...