The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.137: Homesteading 101 // Make Your Daily Bread (Part Four!)

I live in a farmhouse on five acres in the country.  It’s time for this suburban girl to learn a few things!  
Welcome to my self-taught Homesteading 101.

Round four of bread making!  (For more bread recipes, see Post #1, Post #2 and Post #3)
Guys.  I started working with sourdough starter last week and I’m not sure I’ll ever go back!  I have never been so in awe of the miracle that is bread.  The ritual of it, the time and attention it requires…it’s all amazing to me.  Mark and I just re-watched the “Air” episode of Cooked (on Netflix) and I’m even more inspired to bake the best I can for my family.

Below are four new recipes that I’ve tried:

  • Oatmeal Bread
    • A new mix of two types of flours plus the addition of old-fashioned oats.   
    • Consensus: Delicious!  
  • Flour Tortillas
    • My friend Shelly makes her own tortillas and I finally made the time to try it too!
    • Consensus: So easy and SO good!  There’s really nothing like a taco made with a warm tortilla right from the skillet.  
  • French Rolls
    • I randomly found this recipe on a new-to-me blog and knew I needed to make these right away!
    • Consensus: Delicious!  My kids were big, big fans of this one.
  • Easy Sourdough (using instructions from Artisan Soughdough Made Simple)
    • I was so intimidated by the sourdough process but decided that the lazy days of summer are the perfect time to learn!  I read the directions over and over, texted my mom a bunch of questions and hoped for the best, hah!  
    • Consensus: Amazing.  I’m hooked.

Fun fact: Today is my blog-iversary!  I started this little blog seven years ago today and have written 865 posts since.  I’m so thankful for this little space on the web!

No.136: A Year in Africa // A Literature-Based Geography Study

This post contains affiliate links.

World geography has always been a big interest in our home.  We’ve done general overviews of the world in the past, but this year, I really wanted to dive deep into one continent.  Africa seemed like a great starting point!

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this study was one of the biggest highlights of the school year.  We all loved immersing ourselves in African literature and cuisine.  We pored over photographs and listened in awe to musical talent.  In all, we spent 22 weeks in Africa.  This allowed us to take a break throughout December and have a little wiggle room if I wanted to include a few weeks of zoology.

Since I’m on a mission to make our bookshelves really diverse, I purchased most of the books used on Amazon.  (Tip: look for hardcover “former-library” copies for cheap!)  Below I’ve tried to link to everything we read and ate and watched, although I’m sure I’m forgetting something!  I hope it will be helpful for you too. 

Spines & Important Resources:
+ Big printable map: we printed ours as a 3×3
+ Lonely Planet’s The Africa Book
+ Maps atlas: this book doesn’t cover every African country, but it’s worth the investment for the gorgeous illustrations

INTRODUCTION TO AFRICA
Read Africa is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight and Anne Sibley O’Brien
Make a big printable map of the continent and hang it on the wall
Color a picture

 NIGERIA
Read Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria by Aaron Shepard
Play Dara, a Nigerian three-in-a-row game with a twist
Listen to groovy 70’s music from Fred Fisher Atalobhor and his Ogiza Dance Band
Eat a traditional Nigerian meal: West African peanut kabobs, rice jollof, and Chapman cocktails 

 GHANA
Read Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa by Niki Daly
Make a kente cloth weaving project
Drink watermelon lemonade
Eat Ghanian meat pies

 LIBERIA
Read Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia by Won-Ldy Paye & Margaret H. Lippert
Learn three different clapping games
Bake plantain gingerbread upside-down cake

 SENEGAL
Read Kofi and His Magic by Maya Angelou
Learn about Lake Retba, a lake that looks like a giant strawberry milkshake
Watch Aziz Faye, a master drummer from Senegal
Bake cinq centimes, a peanut butter and peanut sugar cookie

 MALI
Read The Hatseller and the Monkeys by Baba Wagué Diakité
Eat maasa, gluten-free “pancake doughnuts”

SIERRA LEONE
Read Counting Chickens by Polly Alakija
Play “football” or soccer like the children do in Sierra Leone
Eat West African peanut bites

 MOROCCO
Read My Father’s Shop by Satomi Ichikawa
Play Moroccan bingo (to really make this work, you’d have to print and rearrange the pictures to make a few boards – not hard, but a little time intensive)
Learn a little Arabic
Eat a traditional Moroccan meal for dinner: lamb tangine with sweet honey figs

 SUDAN
Read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Learn about St. Josephine Bakhita
Drink cinnamon tea

 EGYPT
Read We’re Sailing Down the Nile by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson
Eat an Egyptian-themed lunch

 ETHIOPIA
Read E is for Ethiopia by Ashenafi Gudeta 
Play mancala
Bake hembesha, an Eritrean spiced bread
DIY an Ethiopian coffee ceremony

ZAMBIA
Read Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan
Eat spiced tilapia stew

 KENYA
Read Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin
Play shisima, a math game
Eat a traditional Kenya meal for dinner: spicy beef stew, stewed greens and chapati

 MALAWI
Read Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams
Check out a galimoto in real life and then try making one with recycled materials
Bake mbatata, sweet potato cookies

UGANDA
Read Beatrice’s Goat by Page McBrier
Pretend you’re visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park and research the animals you would see on safari
Learn how to make an egg rolex with chapati

MADAGASCAR
Read A Little Lemur Named Mew by Joyce Powzyk
Make a lemur craft
Eat Akoho sy Sakamalao (Madagascar chicken) for dinner

ZIMBABWE
Read Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
Bake chimodho, a form of cornmeal bread common in Zimbabwe

TANZANIA
Read We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs
Watch Tanzanian craftsmen create their batik designs
Eat gingered pineapple ice cream sundaes with toasted coconut

 CAMEROON
Read The Village of Round and Square Houses by Ann Grifalconi
Eat a traditional meal from Cameroon: fried fish, corn with plantains and peanut butter croissants

 NAMIBIA
Read The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett
Pretend you’re eating alligator (or try the real thing!) with bushmeat skewers

BOTSWANA
Read The Great Cake Mystery by Alexander McCall Smith
Eat a traditional Botwanan meal: stewed beef over cornmeal pap with a side of stewed spinach greens


 SOUTH AFRICA
Read Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa by Dianne Stewart
Learn about the African penguins at Boulders Beach in Cape Town (more pictures here)
Eat South’s Africa’s Yellow Rice with dinner

No.135: 20 Things I Love – A Gratitude Journal vol.8

waking up with the sun rising through my bedroom window
sneaking outside to drink my coffee and listen to the birds
the way the baby’s hair curls in the humidity
flip flop tan lines
the crisp, straight lines in the lawn when Mark mows
cutting into a loaf of homemade sourdough bread
the tender way the kids cared for me when I was sick
coming home from my mom’s house with a bag full of books
thunderstorms at bedtime
the explosion of words suddenly coming from TJ (such an answer to prayer!)
rainbow-colored fruit salads
dinners eaten outside on the back porch
brushing S’s hair while she talks a mile a minute
discovering a new park in town
an unexpected compliment that made my whole day
true crime conversations with my brother
discovering three new eggs in the porch fan nest
belly laughs from brothers who were supposed to be in bed
a new board game from the thrift store
important words that everyone should hear: you are seen.  you are known.  you are loved. (thanks for the reminder, Mary)

No.134: Homemade Vanilla Granola

This is one of our favorite snacks.  Easy to make and it feeds my crew for about two days.  We usually eat it over plain Greek yogurt, but it’s delicious by the handful too!

INGREDIENTS

8 cups oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup raisins (more or less, depending on your preferences)
optional additions: sliced almonds, wheat germ, dried cranberries, or coconut flakes
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup honey
3 tablespoons vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven 300°.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, raisins and any other optional additions.
3. In a saucepan, add the oil, honey and vanilla extract together.  Bring to a boil.  Let the mixture boil for about 1 minute, then pour over the dry ingredients.  
4. Mix until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.  Spread the mixture over two cookie sheets and then bake for 20-30 minutes.  (I usually go for about 22.)
5. After removing from the oven, leave the granola on the pans until it hardens a bit.  If you like your granola not chewy at all, let it dry completely.  If you prefer a bit of chew, break it up a bit earlier.
Serve plain, with yogurt or milk.  Enjoy!

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