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Roasted Vegetables and Chicken

It's delicious. It's tasty. It's a keeper recipe!

Please let me declare this dish's glory to the ends of the blogging spectrum and beyond. This meal was so easy to prepare, required only moderate cooking time, and is very adaptable for the crockpot. You could also take this recipe and make your own version of roasted vegetables and chicken. My husband and I developed this particular recipe together. Which... speaking of that... we also developed a new version of salsa that is so fresh tasting and delicious! I need to post that as soon as possible, too.

But without further ado... 

Preface: You are welcome to add more of any of the ingredients to better feed your family. This recipe follows what I used, but even I could have added more gold potatoes.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Servings: 8 (or however many pieces of chicken you choose to cook)

Ingredients:

• 3 small-medium gold potatoes
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 2 carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 8 chicken thighs (or another cut of chicken of your choice)
• 1 one-inch sprig of rosemary, plus 8 half-inch rosemary sprigs
• ** coating of organic (brown) sugar for each chicken thigh
• ** liberal amount of Worcestershire sauce for each chicken thigh 
• 1/2 stick butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil spray

** I do not have exact measurements for these ingredients. See the procedures below.

Procedures:

*I've really broken it down. It looks like a lot of steps, but its super easy! Also, please be aware that if you use a smaller or larger cut of chicken (or a whole chicken), your cooking time may differ.

1. Slice onion into half inch pieces.
2. Cut gold potatoes and sweet potatoes into bite-size chunks.
3. Slice carrots into somewhat thin slivers.
4. Mix onion, gold and sweet potatoes, and carrots in casserole dish (of your choice to fit the amount of food you are cooking).
5. Slice a half stick of butter into four sections and strategically place on top of vegetables in pan.
6. Shake salt and pepper to taste on the vegetables.
7. Lightly spray the vegetables with olive oil. (Not much is needed because of the added butter.)
8. Separate the one-inch sprig of rosemary and disperse it randomly on the vegetables.
9. Place the eight chicken thighs on top of the vegetables in the pan.
10. Moderately spray the chicken thighs with olive oil.
11. Spread a coating of brown sugar on each chicken thigh. The brown sugar should sufficiently cover the top of the thigh, but not be stacked in a pile on top of the thigh.
12. Place a half-inch sprig of rosemary on each chicken thigh
13. Pour a liberal amount of Worcestershire sauce on each chicken thigh. The Worcestershire sauce should saturate the brown sugar.
14. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake at 400* for 45 minutes.
15. Uncover the dish after 45 minutes, and continue cooking for 15 more minutes.
16. Enjoy!

I hope you try this dish and enjoy it! If you have any questions or comments, please post them in the comments below.

God bless you and keep you,

~Raquel

P.S. Worcestershire sauces can be found less processed and with fewer chemicals. Here is a picture of the ingredients in my Worcestershire sauce. I am sure even better versions are available!

Eating Whole Foods: Grocery Run- June 2014

My husband and I LOVE to eat!! We love to eat GOOD FOOD. We firmly believe that "you are what you eat," "let food be thy medicine," and all those other quotes that mean: we feel good when we eat nutritious foods!

Our Diet

Our ideal diet is one suggested by Weston A. Price, although we cannot accommodate all of our "ideal" dietary guidelines at the moment. For the most part, we eat a natural, whole food diet-- with occasional "cheats" here and there. Our thought is to eat 80-20: 80% of our intake is natural, whole food and 20% is the I-forgot-to-pack-a-lunch-let-me-pick-up-something-super-cheap type food.

A book I recommend for understanding your nutritional needs, as well as hundreds of recipes to accommodate those needs, is Nourshing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

We also are on a very tight budget, although next to gasoline, our grocery budget is the largest bill each month. For two people eating three meals a day, plus snacks, we spend about $250. I will break the cost effectiveness down at the end of this post. 

Although I would love to buy more farm fresh foods, sometimes its not always possible. I do what I can, and we eat well. For cost sake, we eat a much smaller portion of meat in comparison to fruits and vegetables.

A normal grocery run looks somewhat similar to this:

Our Food Priorities

When I buy groceries, I have a general idea of what I will need before I even walk into the store. I do make a grocery list, but only with items that are specific for a meal I am planning to make. I usually just write "vegetables" or "fruit" or "chicken," otherwise. These are the things I buy regularly:

Vegetables

• spinach
• sweet potatoes
• potatoes
• carrots
• zuchinni/squash
• eggplant
• cabbage
• broccoli

Fruit

• apples
• bananas
• strawberries
• mangoes
• lemons/limes
• other seasonal fruits: blueberries, cantaloupe, peaches, oranges, watermelon

Bread- I like to make my own bread OR buy Ezekiel bread. If neither one works for the moment, I spend a few minutes looking at the back of bread packaging, reading ingredients. I usually choose the bread with the least number of ingredients and with ingredients I recognize. I usually buy a smaller loaf to have more natural bread. In the picture of my latest grocery run, you can see I bought a larger loaf (and therefore, less natural bread) this last time.

I also usually buy corn tortillas for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and the like.

"Dairy"

• Coconut milk (non dairy, but it's in the dairy section)
• Plain yogurt
• Monterrey Jack cheese

As you can see in the picture, I also bought ICE CREAM!!!! Mmmm.... Everyone has a down fall. My darling man and I happen to feed off of each other's down fall,  which means we are voracious ice cream eaters. I do not usually buy ice cream when I go to the store by myself, but when my husband and I do go to the store together-- we cannot resist the ice cream aisle.

Meat

• a whole chicken
• eggs
• grass-fed beef
• ground turkey

Although I did not buy any meat in this picture, I do buy meat about once a month. In another post, I will detail how I use and "stretch" a whole chicken. The chicken and eggs I buy are as "organic" as possible-- cage free, antibiotic free, etc. Less often, and when it is on sale, I will buy grass-fed beef and ground turkey.

Other Items- Of course, I buy other items as the need arises. Such items include:

• local, raw, unfiltered honey
• dry red kidney, black, and pinto beans
• coconut oil and olive oil (as "clean" as I can get them)
• ginger root/crystallized giner

The Cost

I mentioned earlier that I spend about $250 a month on groceries to feed two adults 21 meals and 14 snacks a week. To break that cost down for you, that's:

• $125/adult a month
• $31.25/adult a week
• $0.89/adult per meal or snack (obviously, the snack will be less expensive than the meal)

On Thursday, I will publish a post about five grocery shopping tips that have helped me score whole food groceries for as inexpensive as possible.

Until then, God bless you and keep you,

~Raquel 

A Tale of Two Zits [Plus Many, Many More]

A friend asked the other day, "Raquel, do you mind if I ask what you have been using for your skin? It looks really clear." Wow.... It's still great for someone to notice my clearer skin, even if I do have some acne scarring to heal. In this post, I would like to share a few pictures and comments about my "journey" with acne and what I've done to bring it this far.

Here is a recent picture of my face:

In this photograph, you can see a clear forehead, nose, and left cheek. On the right cheek and chin, you can see some spots and redness. These are acne scars; thankfully, they are no longer active acne zones! At the end of this post, I will share my plans going forward to work with these acne scars.

Disclaimer: Lack of Pictures

I am surprised that I do not have many pictures to show the full extent of my tale with acne. In middle school and high school, I took many photographs, but do not have many of myself. The acne has been camouflaged in many other photographs by the lighting or the angle. Because I have such an inadequate stock of pictures to share my story-- please believe my words.

A Tale of Two Zits

Middle school is when it all started.... My bubble forehead started seeing a pimple pop up here and a zit situate itself there. These pimples were large, painful, and extremely inflamed pores. They were the kind that would throb if accidentally poked or touched.

I could not understand why I had acne. My diet was mostly homemade-mom's-cooking and cafeteria food. I did not drink sodas and drank mostly water. I was active in excerise, running track, jumping hurdles, and lifting weights. I washed my face, maintained good hygiene, and yet nothing seemed to help. I was told my father had terrible acne as a teenager and into his 20's. I resigned myself to the fact that my acne was a result of genetics and that *nothing* could help.

And Nothing Did

My forehead was a mess. I tried almost every over the counter acne medicine in many different forms available at the time. I tried different lotions, bars, spot treatments, morning/daily washes-- even toothpaste. It was a no-go.

I thought perhaps I should see a dermatologist or try prescribed acne medicine. My family nor I could afford the expense, however, so I learned to be content in my skin.

The First Lesson I Learned About Having Acne Really Bad Acne

Resigned that I would have to "wait out" my acne for clearer skin, I choose not to dwell on it. Of course, I still maintained good personal hygiene and skin care. At the same time, often I would not look directly at my acne in the mirror. I did not try to cover it up with powder or make-up, and I did not make apologies for a "gross" face. When little children would ask what all the "bo-bos" on my face were from, I would gently reply that they were part of growing up for some people.

I have always been a rather confident gal, also. With all my confidence, I rarely remembered my acne when I was out and about. I felt confident in myself and in my achievements. I knew that a temporary (or what I hoped would be temporary) skin issue would not affect my ability to do well in school and in life. A smile always made the acne less apparent, in my opinion.

Then I moved....

From Texas to Idaho, my family packed up and moved. My acne cleared up very quickly. This picture is the best I have to show that my face was clear.

Washing my first car! A 1981 Honda Civic hatchback

I thought the change in my skin must have been the cleaner air of Idaho or the water without all the limestone of Austin, Texas or something related to the different location. I was happy with clear skin, finishing my last few months of high school, transcribing radio programs for a little money, and planning for college.

A Little Bit Here and There

Toward the end of my 6 months in Idaho, I started having some acne showing up on my chin. I thought the stress of getting college figured out, packing up to move back to Texas for college, and leaving my family at 18 was causing the breakouts on my chin.

At my going away party June of 2011.

As you can see in the picture above, the acne was gone from my forehead, and a little redness from a few pimples was on my chin. I thought my face was pretty much clear from here on out....

The Return with a Vengeance

Was it the change in climate? Was it the pollution of Houston? Was it the stress? My acne came back with fiery red vengeance-- but not on my forehead. The acne returned on my chin and cheeks, especially my right cheek.

I noticed that my acne was now going in a "V" shape from one cheek to my chin to the other cheek. As I looked this acne up, I realized I was dealing with a different kind of acne from my first bout as a teenager. These acne could become large and painful, but that was rare. They were mostly several small to medium, angry red blemishes that would appear on my face.

The Second Lesson I Learned About Having Acne Really Bad Acne

From eighth grade to senior year of high school, I dealt with one kind of acne. After a six month reprieve of all acne, I dealt with a "V" shaped-- and much angrier, though less painful-- kind of acne. There are different kinds of acne. If you have acne, research how your skin feels, what patterns you see in your acne ("T" shaped, "V" shaped, on sides of face/temples, etc), what the acne looks like, and the like. Having the information about your skin will give you an advantage when determining your course of treatment.

Changes in Views on Skin Care Products-- Third Lesson

After living in self-sufficient Idaho and becoming more and more interested in the natural lifestyle, my views on what products I put on my skin began to change. I no longer wanted to put chemicals on my face that might solve one problem but cause another. I started looking for natural treatments for acne. For many months, I used only soap because I could not find any other "clean" skin care products at an affordable price.

With my then-husband-to-be. You can see the acne on my face.
In a color photograph, you could have seen the glaring red dots all over my face.

Three Natural Treatments that Turned Things 'Round

Sometimes I would actively look for treatments. Many times, I would just wash my face with soap and water. (Remember that confidence lesson I learned?) Some natural treatments I tried included: apple cider vinegar, honey, and egg whites. Though I had a good response from my skin with these treatments, I did not see a significant improvement in my acne.

Diatomaceous Earth

The first natural treatment I tried that actually worked was diatomaceous earth. Food grade diatomaceous earth (D.E.) is rich in silica, which is an important trace element necessary for mineral absorption among other things. You can read more about the health benefits of D.E. at Earth Works Health here and here. I read that D.E. could help clear up acne on the skin, and so I tried it....

In order to treat my face with D.E., I would mix about a tablespoon of D.E. with just a few dribbles of water to make a paste. Having already rinsed my face with water, I smeared the D.E. as a mask over my face (avoiding the eyes, nostrils, and mouth). I let the mask sit for about ten minutes, or until it was dry. I then rinsed my face with warm water, and patted my face dry.

Zac joined me one day, as I finally convinced him it was working with my results!

My skin did begin to clear up, but I continued to have several outbreaks of two or three pimples at a time in a month. My skin was also still very red. I also noticed less white heads and inflamed pimples and more black heads while using the D.E.

Eating Changes

I also started eating differently than I once ate. I did not eat white breads or white flours. Although I love bread in general, I started limiting my indulgence in bread items like biscuits and pancakes. I ate a lot of vegetables and fruit, peanut butter :-), a smaller portion of meat, and limited my processed food intake as much as possible. I rarely ate out, and I rarely bought food items from the aisles in the grocery stores. I know that these eating changes did affect my acne because when I would have to eat fast food or processed foods for lunch every day for a week, for example, my acne would flare up.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Sparingly, I will use hydrogen peroxide with a persistent pimple or with an area that seems to be working on a pimple. This article is not very thorough, but it does contain some information about the advantages and disadvantages of using hydrogen peroxide. This article is a bit more indepth about using hydrogen peroxide to treat acne. My acne definitely began to clear up even more, as I used hydrogen peroxide strategically. Upon application of the hydrogen peroxide with a q-tip, I noticed my skin would be whitened in that area. After a few minutes, the skin tone returned.

On our honeymoon, as you can see, my face was not nearly as red.
I also only had one pimple at the time on my left cheek. The rest of my face was acne scars.

Moving Forward

To further improve my skin from the scarring of the acne and the damage to my skin tone, I plan to use baking soda as an abrasive, honey as a softer, and lemon juice as a toner. I also will continue to use D.E., unless I notice it giving me more black heads. As I see the results in my skin (hopefully progress), I will update the blog.

I hope your tale of two zits is a successful journey to skin healing! If you like, you may share or provide a link to share in the comments below.

God bless you and keep you,
~Raquel

Update on the Newlyweds'

Hallo, my friends and family! As I said in What a Wonderful World, a more thorough update on me and my precious husband was in the works-- and here it is! Things have been HAPPENING 'round these parts.

Mein Mann

My man is finished with his course work in SAP! Congratulations, my dear love! He has been in class for the last few months, and he just recently finished his last day. He is now on the job search, praying that the Lord will direct him to the place he needs to be. I am so proud of his efforts in his classes, and I am excited that he has an idea of what he wants to do as a career. He is interested in business consulting and improving business processes. My darling's experience in this area has been mostly with small businesses. With his training in SAP, he is looking into the corporate side. He is also planning to pursue training in six sigma, which will make him even more qualified for his field of interests. My prince is so good at making companies more efficient. He really enjoys the interaction with people, as well. We'll see what the Lord has in store for him!

For side work, he has been building a website for the academy he attends. He is also transferring many of their processes to free programs and applications from Google. His many skills amaze me continually!

Also, my husband was in a car accident last month. A man rear ended him and totalled one of our cars. My husband has been going to the chiropractor for his neck and lower back. We also received recompense for our lost car. Thankfully, we had three cars at the time of the accident.  (We were about to sell one of them.) We lost a car, but the Lord had already made provision for us with a third vehicle. Now we have two working vehicles and payment from the car that was totalled.

My prince also asked me to share that he loves me on the blog. <3 He loves me!!! And I am so grateful.

My dearheart and I were walking through a park, and he suddenly said, "Wait. Stop for a second. Look! We can make a heart." What a sweet man I have in my life!!

He also saw the sign in the picture below at a local park. His sense of humor is hahahahaha:

Die Frau

As for the woman writing this post, I have been busy, but enjoying life. I am taking my last class before graduation. My last class is a music for children class. In this class, I am taught the basics of keyboard. I am so thankful for the learning because being able to play the keyboard is a goal of mine. My sweet man has a midi keyboard that connects with his Mac laptop, so I've been using that to practice on when I have the time.

I have also been working on plans for my classroom this coming school year. I will be teaching fourth grade English language arts and social studies. So much preparation goes into having a classroom. My plan is to organize as much as I can-- and even overplan-- so that I am prepared for the school year. I want my students to have the fullest year of learning and loving learning that they've ever had. I am so blessed to be at a school whose demographics are similar to my own childhood demographics and is progressing toward higher standards. I am excited to be apart of a team that cares about children no matter what circumstances they may have in life.

Us

We are doing well living at my mother-in-law's home, but the desire to have our own home is very real. We are also living far from our church, my place of work for this coming year, and my husband's school (although he just finished). Our desire is to find a home in September-October of this year. We will see what happens, but we are trying to be content with all that we have!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have been going to a lot of parks and green spaces in the Houston area. We love being outside among God's nature.

We have also been loving our church and fellowshipping with the church body. Since we live so far away from the church, we have been hanging out with people from the church inbetween services on Sundays. My aunt and uncle have been generous enough to invite us to their home several Sundays for lunch and to rest. Another couple in the church has been a lot of fun to hang out with at Starbucks.

We are excited about what the Lord is doing in us!

Hopefully, I will begin to post more often. I noticed that after our precious puppy Rhylee passed away, I only made monthly posts. We really miss her, even still. :-( But I do want to post more often and share some of my tips for being frugal, cooking, and thoughts on faith, marriage, and being a godly woman. The Lord is faithful to bring us through difficult times.

God bless you and keep you,

~Raquel 

What a Wonderful World

As my darling man and I visit parks and green spaces this summer, I am amazed at God's creation. I have also been purposing to reach out to people more. At the bus stop, in my music class, at the grocery store-- just to stop and recognize that they are a person worth noticing and connecting with. What a wonderful world of creation He has designed!

Temperatures are rising!

Summer is in full swing here in Houston. With temperatures reaching the high 90's, 100% humidity, and 105-115 degree "feels like" temperatures, we are enjoying the sweltering sun. Actually, that's true. My darling husband and I have been exploring the parks around our new area. We live near the coast, so most of the parks we have gone to have water-- so beautiful!

My favorite park as of right now has several walking trails (cemented and beaten paths), wooded bridges leading to overlooks, large hills, and a little lake. Oh, and it has snakes! Yikes! We were walking on one of the beaten paths, and a snack slithered across right in front of us. I screamed and lovingly pushed my husband around me. haha :-)

Animals taking over!

We have also experienced an animal take over. Since moving to our new home, we have had the privilege of living in two cats' and, until recently, four dogs' home (three dogs now). ;-) They have been so much fun to pet and play with, though.

Mia was recently given away. :-( She was our favorite.

Wait a second....

That's not right. We're not living with bison! These bison live on a natural preservation site near our home. They were obviously extremely uncomfortable in the heat. We were surprised that, although the preservation site has hundreds of acres of land, these bison were confined in a relatively small area. The only shaded area is where they are in the picture.

Other fun things:

My darling man and I have been outside a lot the past few weeks. The other night we grilled chicken, a vegetable medley, and wild boar sausages. We usually do not eat pork, but good friends of ours gave us a package of the sausage and said we had to try it. The pork was actually very delicious!

Two assignments in my music for children summer class are to attend classical music concerts. We love classical music, so the task is not too great. ;-) See the shadows in the picture? The shadow of the man on the left is my darling man! The shadow of the woman holding the camera next to him is me! Cool.... ;-)

My cousin Aarilyn was dedicated at church recently. She is such a sweet, happy baby. Every time I hold her, though, she seems to fall asleep.... *Boring, cousin Raquel.* haha

Finally....

I mentioned in my May update that I had walked with the Spring graduates during our commencement ceremony. Here is a picture from after the ceremony. We ate with family at Johnny Carino's for lunch. My grandparents, aunt and uncle, and Zac's grandfather, mom and step-father joined us.

I must "away" to my summer class. I have more pictures to upload and a more thorough update on my handsome husband and I to post tomorrow.

God bless you and keep you,
~Raquel

Life Update: Summer Break is Here!

I have been absent from the blog the past month because I've been....

Corny... yes, I know. But what has been going on with the newest Hiller family in Houston?

Life Update!!!

The Husband

Things have been busy and crazy, but the Lord is so faithful. I have many things to brag on Him about in this post! First, my darling husband is nearly finished with his coursework in SAP. His last day of class is June 20. I am praying and hoping that the Lord will supply him a position at a good company with possibilities to transfer to Ireland in time to come as soon as he completes his coursework. The Lord opened the doors for my handsome man to take the course; I have faith that He will complete that good work.

My husband has been working on our cars this past month. All three vehicles have needed something done to them. My car had been out of commission since January due to an electrical short that caused a wire and part of its box to melt, but now I am driving it!! Praise the Lord, and thank you husband! We are looking to sell one of the vehicles in the near future.

In addition to going to classes and working on our cars, my husband has been taking care of others matters for our family. For example, we both now have health insurance! Whoo hoo!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing man of God who leads our family as the Lord intended that a man and husband should.

The Wife (Me)

I have also been quite consumed the past month. School has been a wonderful whirlwind. In April, I was student teaching in a third grade classroom. I conducted research on multiple intelligences and presented it at our university research symposium. I also received the CREATE Quest for Quality Exceptional Teacher Candidate award for the state of Texas. Wow.... I have been blessed.

In May, I went to a couple of job interviews for a teaching position this Fall. I accepted a Fourth Grade English Language Arts position. I also walked with the Spring graduates during our commencement ceremony, although I technically have one class left before I graduate this summer. Yay! Really blessed....

Finally, I will be taking a music for children class in June. The flat rate for the course is $50, but with mandatory tuition and fees, that cost went up to $1200. I have $281 left of a scholarship that has partially paid my way through university. (I have two scholarships that pay my university bills completely.) My thoughts were, Lord, how am I going to come up with $1000? In my own logic, I thought I might substitute during the month of May (after school was out) and save the money for the class. The Lord knew that the school districts would no longer be accepting substitute applications during May, and He had the university give me a scholarship that more than covered my summer expenses. Praise God! I am so grateful for His goodness in our lives.

Us

We are still the newlyweds with lots of love and respect for one another. On May 23, we will celebrate our half-year long marriage covenant. Whoo hoo! How I love the man God has placed in my life.

We are no longer living at my husband's father's house. We are now living (temporarily) at his mother's house, as we await a housing opportunity. In fact, today is our first day in the new house. I have been working like... a busy bee... to make our room our home.

The stove and oven at my father-in-law's home is out of commission, and so it has been very difficult to eat fast food and junk the past two and a half weeks. (Eck!) Last night, I made rosemary chicken spaghetti and salad for dinner. This morning I made blueberries and coconut milk millet for breakfast. My darling is on his way home now from classes, and I am planning to make soup and grilled cheese for lunch. It's wonderful to have a stove again!!

Summer Break

I am definitely looking forward to this summer break! I have many goals and plans in mind. Perhaps I will share them at a later date. One of those goals is to definitely be more consistent with blogging.

Anyhow, I will go to begin lunch for my husband and I.

God bless you and keep you,
~Raquel