I grew up eating wild mushrooms called Morels.  They are some of the most delicious things you will ever put into your mouth!

They grow better in the Northern states, but we still find a few in Middle Tennessee.

This is Matthew, our son, holding a Morel mushroom we found in our yard last year.  One of two…not quite enough to eat!

I had been doing some research on edible plants and mushrooms in our area, so Matthew and I went on a search in the woods around our house to see what we could find.  We found a tree that had fallen, but the large stump was still standing. On that stump we found… Oyster Mushrooms!  There are no look alikes in the US, so we were sure that we had the real deal.

This is what we harvested…about four pounds of free, tasty, gourmet mushrooms!

The best way that we have found to eat Morel and Oyster mushrooms is to gently pan fry them in butter.

After we harvested them, I put them in salt water to get rid of any bugs.  I rinsed them off gently and carefully.  Next I put them into a zip-top bag and coated them in flour.  Then I fried them in butter and salted them to taste.  They were so good!

The next time you go to the grocery, look at the gourmet mushroom mixes.  I bet you’ll see small oyster mushrooms in there!

For more information check out these sites:

General Mushroom Info

Edible Wild Mushrooms

(Time for the disclaimer:  Do your own research. Make sure you are harvesting in a clean area, not by a road, because mushrooms absorb heavy metals and toxins.  Don’t eat any mushrooms that you aren’t ABSOLUTELY  SURE are safe.)

For more real food fun visit REAL FOOD WEDNESDAY!

“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Matthew 7:14

Today I’m celebrating the simple pleasure of picking blackberries.  This is the first time my children got to experience the joys of watching your berry container fill up and your hands get stained pink from juicy berries.  We had the thrill of popping the first berries of the season into our mouths, while they were still warm from the sun.

Want to see more ways this day is being celebrated?  Go to Tuesdays Unwrapped to see more.

My Baby Girl Holding Hands With Her Daddy

“He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…”

Happy Father’s Day!

Malachi 4:6

Whew…this has been a busy, but great, week for L. Herbert Designs!

Today Sandy at 4 Reluctant Entertainers is showing how she used my egg prints to give her bedroom a new look for less!
While you are there you can enter to win 2 prints.

Tip Junke is also featureing my art at day three of her Going Dot Com Birthday Bash!

You can win five 5×7 prints or 2 8×10 prints from L. Herbert Designs.  I’m also offering all 10% off your entire order from June 17-19th, just use coupon code TIPJUNKIE.

So, if you are wanting some great art for you or for a gift then this is the perfect time to get your favorite prints…don’t forget to use the coupon code: TIPJUNKIE!

Saving money and still having a lovely home, that Works For Me!

Nester from Nesting Place is having a wonderful giveaway day!

L. Herbert Designs is being featured as well as other fabulous businesses.

You can see the giveaway post about my art here and there is other good news about my artwork…I have my Cafe Press shop open!

I’m adding new products this week as well as lots of new summer art so stay tuned!

Here is a little taste of what’s to come!  (These prints are already in the shop and ready to come home with you.)

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.”

Psalm 19:1

I just finished reading some wonderful books…I have limited time to sit down and read, so I usually stick to topics I’m trying to learn more about.

(If you read this blog very often you’ll not be surprised at my list!)

The first book I’d like to recommend is Crunchy Cons.  As I read this book, I was so glad to know there are others like me out there!

You see, I’m usually walking this narrow road between the right and left wing politicians. For example:  As a Christian I believe we are to take care of our earth because we are to be good stewards of God’s gifts.  But, we also need to remember that all we do is for people…for their good.  If we plan carefully, the earth can be kept clean and people can be well taken care of.  (stepping off of soapbox now)

Even if you don’t see eye to eye with me (and that’s okay) then you will still learn a lot from this book.

Now for a classic…Nourishing Traditions!  This book changed the way I fed my family forever.  I have seen some amazing changes happen in our family since I started feeling them whole, real foods, made in traditional ways.

By the way this “traditional” doesn’t mean your Grandmother’s condensed soup filled, topped with fried in trans fat onion pieces, canned green bean casserole that showed up at the Thanksgiving table every year!

Tasty, yes.  Good for you, nope. Sorry.

By “traditional” I’m talking about things that healthy, “primitive” cultures have been eating for thousands of years.  Like butter from animals fed only grass, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, etc.

Now for the benefits we’ve seen by eating this way:  Since October 2008, my husband has lost over 20 pounds, I’ve lost 30, my children have had an easier time doing school work, their behavior has improved, they are growing well and we are all really healthy.

I could go on and on…go ahead, take the plunge into traditional, nourishing foods and see what good things happen in your family!

For those of you who have already seen the great things eating healthy foods can do, please share your comments!

Want more? Then head over to Fight Back Friday to see what’s new!

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

John 15:5

The first time I read Nourishing Traditions I was shocked.   I thought I was feeding my family a healthy diet…like the food USDA pyramid says.  Wrong.

One of the ways we have improved our diet tremendously is by switching to raw milk. This change has only been made after much study and prayer.

My main concern was with e-coli.  My young niece was swimming in a local river and doing what kids do…she swallowed some water while she swam.

There was only one problem…cows.  This river runs along cow pastures and the cows come down to drink…and go potty.  There in lies the problem.

These cows are your regular grass and grain feed cows and obviously carried e-coli.  My niece almost died, her kidneys were shutting down and if it hadn’t been for the healing power of the Lord, she would have died.

I couldn’t think about my children laying in a hospital bed, with their kidneys shutting down, just from drinking raw milk! It just wasn’t worth it!  So, we just kept drinking our “ultra pasteurized,homogenized, organic milk” from the grocery. Until the day we visited our local farm store…

You see, they had cow shares available, which was the only way to get raw milk in TN at the time.  I told Debbie, our farm store owner, the concerns I just shared with you.  She wasn’t upset at all, in fact she said she wanted people to be asking questions and doing research.

This was the day that my thoughts about raw milk changed forever.  Debbie told me about a piece of information that I hadn’t heard …the difference between grain fed cows and grass fed cows.

This is the summery what she said:  When you feed a cow ANYTHING but grass, their naturally alkaline stomach environment will become an acid environment.  So, if a grass fed cow does pick up e-coli, that bacteria will die in the acid environment of our stomach. No problem.

The problem starts when cows are fed ANYTHNG but their natural food…grass. (This includes grain at milking time.) This changes their stomach environment to acid, instead of alkaline.  If they do pick up e-coli, then the e-coli adapts to live in an acid environment…like our stomach!

Debbie also milks her cows in a closed system, into stainless steel and chills the milk immediately. She also tests the milk for any indications of abnormal cells.

By ONLY feeding a cow grass and milking properly,  then you virtually eliminate the danger from e-coli.

You can read about our farm store’s milk share story here and here is more info on raw milk.

Here is a WONDERFUL article about raw milk!

Visit Food Renegade for more healthy info at Fight Back Fridays.