Clean Eating

Eating as fresh as possible! 

Good afternoon everyone. I hope you have had a safe day indoors. During this rainy, stormy time of year, it's a great time to cook up some fresh farm stand produce to put up for winter! 

I am asked all the time how to eat healthy, on a budget, and feed a family that is picky. Here are some starters, get them all in the kitchen to help.

1.  Kids will eat more of what they prepare, they take pride in what they do themselves! 
2. Make gardening, grocery shopping, going to local farm stands, orchards a family affair. 
3. Plan your menu for the week, don't eat on impulse.
4. Buy in bulk, it's cheaper and it will last you a lot longer. 
5. If you have picky eaters and they don't like veggies- sub hamburger meat in any casserole or sauce with "Morning Star" Meal Starter, tastes like beef, cooks like beef. Great substitute for tacos, spaghetti, etc. 
6. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Stay away from anything processed, in a can, or "easy, convenient" foods such as frozen dinners, boxed meals, snack foods. 
7. Be careful of "diet" foods- it's filled with stuff you don't need, nor should you consume it. It's a HUGE marketing tool and people spend millions of dollars annually for the quick fix. Eating healthy is eating what God provided us. Lean meats, fresh produce and fruit. If you stick to those foods, you should do okay.
8. My last advise- STAY AWAY from margarine! You are better off eating a small amount of the real thing! Also use real sugar, there is nothing wrong with these things in moderation. 

Here are some great places to shop in the DFW area

1. Farmer's market- 5507 E Belknap Street, Haltom City, TX, 76117-4614. Phone: (817) 838-8526
2. Dallas Farmers market- 1010 S Pearl Expy  Dallas, TX 75201 (214) 939-2808
3. Hamm's Orchards- 11939 County Road 309 Terrell, Texas 75161972-524-2028

Things that freeze well, place all in freezer safe bags and label with the date

Summer squash and Zucchini, boil lightly and allow to cool. 

Tomatoes- dice and freeze or blanch and freeze

Peas and Beans

fresh corn- take off the cob, cook lightly in seasonings and a little butter

Vintage Style: Craft Coach: The Big Reveal

Vintage Style: Craft Coach: The Big Reveal: Craft Coach: The Big Reveal

Craft Coach is coming to Richland Hills on Memorial Day

 Craft Coach with Maggie Hamlin and Billie Long

I am so excited that Craft Coach "Rambling Rose" is on the road finally! Billie and Maggie have been working hard over the last couple of months restoring this beauty!  It's been a lot of hard work, long hours and sacrifices by their families, but they are done. 

Craft Coach will be coming to our Memorial Day Tea Party at my home at 4:00. I hope you all are able to stop by, have some tea or lemonade and work on a great craft project designed by the two of them. 

The project will be $5.00, bring scissors, adhesive, and a paper trimmer if you have them. I will have some of these items on hand for  those that don't. 

I can't wait to see what they have created for all the ladies to make at our tea party, I know it will be a fun project no matter what it is. 

Craft Coach will also be making visits to Whitworth Ranch Retreat to show their merchandise and to create projects for your group if desired. Contact Maggie at 817-360-4825 to make request your groups project. They will also come to your home, birthday party, girls weekend, shower, reception, etc. Any event that you would like a hands on class for a girls craft project. 

Also watch for Craft Coach and Whitworth Ranch Retreat at this year's Scrapbook Convention, we will be located next to Melissa Frances. We will be giving away a weekend to the retreat, and who knows maybe even something special with "Craft Coach"! 

More pictures coming soon, stay tuned. 

Joy~ A wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother

Virginia Joy Demarest, better known as Gma  passed away this week.  This is Ashley's Paternal Great Grandmother. She was the true definition of "Classy". I had several wonderful years as part of the Demarest family and still feel that way today. She taught us no matter the circumstances we are all one big family. 

Joy taught me so many life lessons, ones that I try to instill in my every day life as well as pass along to Ashley. She was one of the most humble people I know and a wonderful role model to anyone that knew her. 

There won't be a time when I am preparing a family meal, cooking for my clients, or entertaining a group that I will forget the things she taught me in the kitchen. I found my passion for cooking, baking and entertaining from Joy. Every family occasion was a decadent celebration! From the place settings, decorations, fine linens and outstanding meal. Everything Joy did was out of love and admiration for her family and friends. 

She will be dearly missed by all. Please keep all of the Demarest family in your thoughts and prayers. 

Obituary 

Virginia Joy Demarest, 83, was called home to be with the Lord on Saturday, May 4, 2013. Service: 2 p.m. Friday at New World United Methodist Church in Arlington. Interment: Following the service, she will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband, Tom Demarest, in Greenwood Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Greenwood Funeral Home. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, donations are welcomed at Arlington Humane Society or a local society. Joy gave her gift, her namesake, to those around her every day; she truly lived a life filled with joy. She was born Aug. 15, 1929, in Fort Worth to David and Tommye Wilson. She attended Riverside High School, TWC, and graduated from NTSC with a bachelor of science degree in nutrition and home economics. Joy met the love of her life, Tom Demarest, when she was 15 and the couple married on May 19, 1951. Joy adored her family and friends and spread her gift through food and song. She loved to bake and more times than not, would break out in a song. She had a song for every situation. And if she didn't, we are fairly certain she would make one up to fit the occasion. Joy owned a catering service, A Touch of Joy at Westbury Manor, and enjoyed entertaining and baking for others through this service for many years. She loved the Lord and was a member of the New World United Methodist Church family. An avid bridge player, she achieved life master in the American Contract Bridge Association and was a member of Arlington Woman's Club for many years. She and Tommy loved to travel and they traveled the world. Later in life, they decided to cruise worldwide. She was an avid Texas Rangers fan and season ticket holder for 40 years. Her seats are marked with Joy "GMA" Demarest. She was fortunate to attend two World Series bids by the Rangers and was honored on the field during the Texas Rangers' 40th celebration. She was preceded in death by her husband, Tom Demarest Jr.; parents, David and Tommye Wilson; in-laws, Tom and Muriel Demarest Sr.; her sister, Betty and Cecil Brewer; and brother David Wilson. Survivors: Children, Carol Coady and husband, Buzz, of Arlington, David Demarest and wife, Linda, of Dallas, Vicki Gustafson and husband, Jay, of Mansfield and Will Demarest of San Francisco, Calif.; grandchildren, Ken and Rhonda Demarest, Justin and Rachel Gustafson, Sarah and Cameron Allen, Alyssa and Kevin Lawther, Josh Gustafson, Emily Demarest, Nicole Demarest, Ember and Josh Altimus, Stevie Demarest, Jeff Coady, Thomas Demarest and Jeremy Demarest; great-grandchildren, Ashley, Kenzie, Zanna, Lexi, Wyatt and Luka, and will have two more, Nate and Reagan, in June; and beloved doggie, Missie.

Cranberry, White Chocolate and Almond Cookies

Hello everyone, Here is one of my favorite cookie recipes.. Sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Some baking tips; If you want thin crispy cookies use butter. If you want soft, fat, chewy cookies use shortening.
Always use a stone and parchment paper. This makes sliding them off onto a counter top to cool very easy!

Now for this yummy recipe~

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup butter flavored shortening
2 TB milk
1 TB vanilla
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup slivered almonds

Heat oven to 350. Line your stone with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat on medium speed sugar, shortening and egg until creamy and light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla, continue beating.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda- add into the creamed mixture until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips, cranberries and almonds until all combined.

Place spoon fulls of dough onto the lined stone and bake until golden brown. Approximately 13 minutes.

Enjoy~

Under Construction

Hi Everyone,

I can't wait until our new addition is completed. We are getting very excited about the progress and can't wait to start moving in beds, vanities, bed side tables, works tables and chairs!

Have I mentioned that we are adding on a new kitchen, dining area, 2 bathroom and 2 bedrooms along with another craft room?? A total of 1600 square feet addition. This is very exciting news for all of us!

I can now book 2 small groups or 1 large group. This also gives us ability to have open crops on un-booked weekends or big events like National Scrapbook Day.

We have also been asked if we would do family reunions, wedding receptions, birthday parties and more. This would give us a little more flexibility to do these things.

We are pre-booking weekends now for the new addition. We are calling the new rooms "Pretty in Pink" and "Beauty in Blue" each are going to be decorated in a shabby chic vintage style in either pastel pink or blue of course. We have purchased lots of really cute bed side tables, dressing tables and beds.

Along with the new amenities we are adding space for a massage room upstairs. It will  be nice, quiet and peaceful for your massage treatments.

We will host an open house sometime this summer with booking incentives. Watch for our posts on our web page and Face book for upcoming events.

Getting up and Moving Forward~ Go DiAnn, you got this!

For those that know me and my family then you know that I am very blessed to have my Mother-in-law reside with us. DiAnn is the most gracious, caring, supportive mother-in-law I could ever ask for!

DiAnn has been in a wheelchair for 10 years now, due to some unfortunate circumstances. She detached her Achilles Tendon several years ago. She underwent surgery that ended badly in her case. She is diabetic and ended up with an open wound for 8 years. It's now completely healed up and she is well on the road to recovery!

We stared OT and PT about 3 months ago. She went from hardly walking at all to 200 steps today. I am so grateful for the care she is receiving and the supportive and encouraging therapist that have come into our lives. I am so blessed and honored to think that my daughter, Ashley will be helping people much like DiAnn one day. God Willing she gets into PT school with a lot of determination, prayer, and support. She also may be helping people walk again!

Like so many people, I never stopped to think of my surroundings, and the handicaps that people have. I am more selective with where I dine, movie theaters I go to, stores I shop at etc.. While they should all be handicapped accessible, they are not! If you can't get a stroller through an isle way, guess what, you can't get a wheel chair through one either.. Please don't place us at the back of a restaurant, while you have an empty table at the front. Please don't use the only handicapped stall in the restroom while there are others vacant. These are the things that happen daily to us on our outings. Never thought about them before, but now I do.  I think about all of these things now before I leave the house. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone did too.

Be courteous and respectful of others misfortunes, you never know what they have endured or if some day it may be you or a loved one going through it. Open doors, offer to help with a bag of groceries. Say a kind word and smile. It goes a long way!

Always remember, life  is short, don't take your good health for granted. We never know when an accident may occur, an illness may become devastating, or some unseen tragedy becomes a reality. Take care of yourself while you can, exercise daily, eat healthy, and see your doctors regularly.

I am so fortunate in my family to have very few illnesses or bad health. My grandparents are both in their 80's and in good physical health over all. Not until now did I ever give so much thought to my future and what I need to do to sustain good health.

Eat well and go walking~ Justin and I are starting now!

Mother Daughter Tea Party and Craft Coach Debut

I am looking forward to our Tea Party and Craft Project featuring Maggie Hamlin and Billie Long with Craft Coach. This is an event you won't want to miss out on. I have created an events page on FB. Please  let me know if you are interested in joining the fun!

I will be making all kinds of pastries, tea sandwiches, hot tea, iced tea and other yummy things.

Billie and Maggie will be putting together a selection of Father's Day Cards and maybe a few other things for purchase. They will be teaching us some fun Father's Day Cards and the price is $5.00 per project.

You will want to bring basic card making supplies- adhesive, scissors, paper trimmer.

Date- Monday May 27th (Memorial Day)
Time- 4:00
Place- 3601 London Lane, Richland Hills TX 76118
RSVP to Stacy- text or call 817-706-8118 or email Whitworth.ranch@yahoo.com

New addition coming along nicely

We are so excited about the progress of our new addition! It won't be long now before it's all done and ready to start decorating and filling it with all the new furnishings we have found. Alisha Munden from Kaufman is helping us with some of our new decor along with some other great vendors at Canton First Monday!

I will post some pictures of the great finds we have found very soon.

We are hoping to have an open house sometime this summer once the building addition has been completed. I will get the details out as soon as we are ready for the grand tour.

If you are in need of some great home decor, furniture, and clothing stop by and see our friends this weekend at Canton! Gypsy Pearl (ask for Alisha), Jackie with Urban Gypsy Rags and Cathy with Girls Gone Junkin.