Guest Post: Peach and Raspberry Galette

I'm thrilled that Andrea Green, aka The Greenbacks Gal, is here today sharing such an awesome recipe with us.  It sounds so delicious, we'll just have to give it a try. Thanks Andrea!

I'm so excited that Stacey is allowing me to guest post here at A Good and Simple Life! I love her dedication to real food, and I share that desire to feed my family wholesome meals. Every week I feature a quick and healthy recipe on my site. I love to share my ideas for Meatless Monday entrees or recipes that feature fresh, seasonal ingredients.

So this weekend I received a order for 36 pounds of peaches. A lot of them came under-ripe, so I have a few days before I decide how I want to preserve them, but a few were so perfectly ripe, I knew I needed to eat them straight away.

This recipe for Peach and Raspberry Galette looks impressive but is both quick and easy. There is very little added sugar, so the sweetness of the fruit really comes through. And it can easily be transformed with any fruit that happens to be in season.

Now, I'll admit, I cheat when it comes to crusts. I buy the Whole Foods brand pre-made whole wheat crust. If your culinary skills are better than mine, please whip up your own crust. For the rest of us, my no-fail trick is to buy two crusts and roll them together. It's quick, it's easy, and to me, it tastes really great! I don't feel like I'm sacrificing now that whole wheat crusts are readily available.

 

Peach and Raspberry Galette

serves 8

3 C peaches, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch wedges
1 C raspberries
1/4 C unsweetened, organic applesauce
2 T brown sugar
1 t lemon zest
1/2 t vanilla
1 T cornstarch
1 t salt
1 T ground almonds

1 T sliced almonds
1 ready-made whole wheat pie crust (or 2 rolled together if you like crust like me!)
1 T agave syrup

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a large mixing bowl, combine the peaches, raspberries, applesauce, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, cornstarch and salt. Stir gently and set aside.

2. Roll pie dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a greased sheet pan.

3. Sprinkle the ground almonds unto the crust, leaving about a 2 inch border. Fill the middle of the pie crust with the fruit and spread it so the 2 inch border remains. Sprinkle with the almond slices. Carefully fold the edges of the pie crust up and over the outer edge of the fruit.

4. Bake the galette on the bottom rack of the over for 50 minutes. The crust should be light brown when you remove it.

5. Remove the galette from the oven and brush the edge of the tart with the agave nectar. (PLEASE don't skip this part. My, oh my, how it adds to the final product!)

See, doesn't it just sound divine! :) Head over to her blog, The Greenbacks Gal, for more delicious and healthy recipes.

Guest Post: Small Changes for a Simpler Life

This is a guest post by Stacy at A Delightful Home.  Thank you Stacy!!

 

It all started with me standing at the front door, with two kids, a baby on my hip, and a bag on my shoulder. Juggling my load I tried key after key before finally finding one that would let us in.

I became irritated by the third key and thought, “Why on earth do I have so many keys?” Many of the keys had been passed down when we moved and I still don’t know what most of them are for.

Because of my cluttered key chain, it took me an extra 2 or 3 minutes to get inside the house.

If I did this every day, I’d be wasting at least 730 minutes a year! To put it another way:  that’s 12 hours of messing with keys at the front door annually! Who wants to do that? Not me! (And not you either, I expect.)

After this revelation, I took all the extra keys off the key chain. Now I can get in the house quickly and without frustration. Phew.

Removing a few keys was a very simple fix, with great benefits.  12 hours of benefits!

Thinking about this small change helped me see other ways I could make life easier. For instance, I want a bountiful garden, but I keep forgetting to water!

No water = no garden (at least not a very good one).

To remedy this situation, I bought a timer to attach to the hose.

I put off buying a timer for quite some time, thinking it was not worth the expense and I would surely get better at watering soon.

Well, as you can imagine, I have yet to improve my watering skills. In fact, I’m so bad my mother-in-law waters the plants on my porch when she visits!

I felt guilty about my ineptness for a while, but then accepted that I’m in a very busy stage of life right now.  With three kids at home, I just can’t do everything! (Forgetting to water doesn't equate to being a failure.) I also have a highly-distractable nature, so part of it is just me.

And that brings me to my next point . . .

Instead of feeling bad that we are not like other people who are say, good at gardening, it is more productive for us to work with our own unique personality. Sure, we can improve in many areas, but we can also develop strategies that help us where we are right now.

I know I am forgetful. I know I am easily distracted. So, I write notes in my cookbooks and use a timer to help me remember things.

I also started writing notes in my kid’s story books.

While reading a book about animals to my youngest, I decided to say “God made the (insert animal name)” at the end of each page. I wanted to say it at every reading. I knew I wouldn’t remember, so I wrote it in.

Now I don’t have to worry about forgetting and can say the things I feel are important to my child.

We are all different. Small changes in my home may not be helpful in yours. But there’s no doubt we all have areas where we can simplify.

I encourage you to find small tweaks that will make a difference to your home and sanity. Maybe it’s removing keys, or finding a new place to put the laundry hamper. It could even be keeping the kids toothbrushes in the kitchen instead of the bathroom. Whatever works for you!

Little changes can make a big impact on our home and take us one step closer to that simple life we so greatly desire.

What small changes have you made that make life simpler? What areas would you like to simplify in order to bring more peace into your home?

Stacy is the wife of a preacher and mama to three children. She strives to live a simple life but needs a lot of help along the way! She blogs about creating peace and joy for her family at A Delightful Home.

 

Top Image by Bohman

Be Nice to Yourself and Be A Better Mother

Last week I had a guest post up at A Delightful Home for the Becoming a Better Mother series.  I've really enjoyed that series and was thrilled to be able to participate in it as well.  

Reading the Becoming a Better Mother posts have been so inspiring and motivating to me.  If you're not following it, I strongly recommend going to back and reading through the older posts in the series.  They are excellent!  And while you're at it, go ahead and subscribe to A Delightful Home so you don't miss out on any of the new posts.  The series is that good!!  And I think you'll really enjoy the rest of the blog too.  :)

From the post:

I had an experience not too long ago when I found myself going through the day with an almost continuous dialog in my head about my value as a mother and homemaker.  And it wasn’t nice!  My thoughts were increasingly negative and I was starting to feel really badly about myself and my abilities.

Pretty soon I realized – gratefully – that I wouldn’t talk to anyone else that way, why was I talking to myself like that? I was able to snap out of it and tell myself that I was doing my best and my best was good enough.  It changed my entire mood and it ended up being a great day where I felt balanced in my responsibilities as a mother and as a homemaker.

 Head over to A Delightful Home to read more!

Top Image by epSos.de

Fun and Frugal Back to School Traditions

I'm over at Live Renewed today with a post on Back to School Traditions.

From the post:

Back to school is just around the corner.  Everyone shares a different opinion about going back to school: Some mom’s are excited and ready for a change of pace; other mom’s are disappointed that it’s coming up so soon.  Some kids are thrilled and ready for the new opportunities that await them, while other kids wish it could be summertime all year long.

Whatever the attitudes of your family members, reign in the new school year with some fun and frugal back to school traditions. These traditions can be a much anticipated part of the year for everyone in your family.

Squirt's still got a couple years before starting kindergarten but this post got me thinking about all the fun stuff we could do as he starts school.

What back to school traditions do you do in your family?

Top image by Woodleywonderworks

State of the Union: Our Prayers Are Needed!

Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"

-The Star Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key

Several weeks ago, while saying my prayers one night, I felt compelled to pray for our country.  I had seen something online that day that had upset me.  I don’t remember what it was but probably something to do with the national debt crisis.  I do remember feeling scared about my future and the future of my children.   

At first I resisted the urge to pray thinking it will do no good.   

But the feeling wouldn’t go away and so I finally did pray for our country.  And it felt good!  It felt good to be able to do something for our great nation in such great trouble.

Now weeks have passed and I continue to pray for our country.  

I pray that those elected officials will be able to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, to make wise decisions and to be able to work hard and compromise for the betterment of our nation.  I pray that we’ll be able to rise above all the differences of political parties and work together as Americans.  I pray that the proud will be humbled and be willing to follow the guidance and inspiration given to them to fulfill their great responsibilities.

If you pay any attention to the news, you’ll know that our country needs our prayers more than ever.

There are many things we can do to help our country, the most important of which is simply to vote.  We can also cast our vote by our actions and support others who can help facilitate positive action.  

Each of us is in a different stage of life; some have much time to give to political activism and some do not; however, the one thing that we can all do is to pray.  The issues are often extremely complex but, with certainty, God will know how to guide our country down the best path.

Will you pray for our country?  

Top Image by Robert Couse-Baker