Home Home on the Range...

Where the deer & the antelope play...

This herd lives in the foothills just a few miles from our house. They come out onto the fields to graze & pose for a photo every now & then.

(some day I will have a super duper fabulous near enough to see the flea on a dogs back tele-photo lens but alas not yet. So squint a little...)

Blessings.

Roses are Red Violets are Blue...

Happy Hearts Day!

We had a yummy heart healthy breakfast & enjoyed the beautiful (if unseasonable) weather with some tree climbing & squirrel shooting.

We considered going out for a romantic dinner but being as it's Valentines Day and a Saturday it just sounded...not fun.

So we stayed in, had a nice roast & now we are watching....you ready for it?

Beauty and the Beast.

Yep. That's us. Party animals to. the. core.

Our Valentine table.

Heart bacon. Heart eggs. And heart pancakes. Notice the theme? Hmmmm?

NJ claims that is a smile...

After breakfast we climbed some trees...

And shot some squirrels. DIE! Commie squirrel! DIE!

And one sweet little princess who just needed her daddy...

We also went to the dump but I didn't take any pictures of that...

Remember:

We love Him, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Blessings.

An Ode to Coconut Oil

Years ago when I was first introduced to Coconut Oil I was skeptical.

 I am not a fan of coconut.

Not fresh. Not milk. Not shredded. Not nothing. Coconut is ...gross.

Especially the shredded stuff people cook with. It's really chewy. And...gaggy.

<<shudder>>

I digress.

So I first started using coconut oil for non-food uses.

I made GOOT.

 I used it for sun screen. (it is the best sunscreen!)

Used it as a moisturizer.

Then I read about using it for frying.

I was hesitant because what if it made my food taste like ...well, coconut? <<shudder>>

So I was still using the totally gross & unhealthy hydrogenated oils like corn, safflower & canola.

Which I knew were unhealthy & yucky & gross but change is hard!

First we used it to make popcorn. Oh my! So good! (and not coconutty!)

Then I finally worked up the nerve to fry potatoes in coconut oil & guess what?

They came out awesome NOT coconutty at all!

Wow! Who knew? (okay so everybody knew but I'm a little slow sometimes okay?)

So we started frying with it & were pleased ~ although honestly bacon grease is the best for frying :)

But I was still using the evil hydrogenated oils for baking because well...what if my cookies came out tasting like coconut ((gag)).

A few months ago I was making cupcakes & we had no evil hydrogenated oils so I was sort of forced to use coconut oil...

And you know what?

Those were quite possibly the best cupcakes ever. People actually got into physical altercations over those cupcakes. No lie!

So then I tried it in cookies & in cakes & in quick breads & in muffins & you know what?

Coconut oil makes everything delicious!

And moist. Like really moist.

And NOT coconuttty!

Hallelujah!

The moral of this story is that you have absolutely  NO reason to continue to feed your family evil hydrogenated oils.

Use coconut oil in a 1/1 ratio instead of cooking oil or shortening & your recipes will come out delicious, moist, & best of all NOT coconutty!

And so much healthier!

See? Now everybody is happy!

(except the guys who sell the evil hydrogenated oils but eventually they will see the light...)

Blessings!