Flour Children

Candyland

2011-12-31T15:23:00.000-05:00

I almost never bother to make candy. My kids get way too much of it from AWANA, and I'm pretty happy with the occasional bit of dark chocolate. Every time I've made fudge, it hasn't turned out. And so, maybe I'm a little afraid of candy. But that never stops me from trying again. It's handy to be stubborn.

This is from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson. I adore the way she writes about food. She likes food. A lot. Plus, the book is very pretty to look at.

Cinder Toffee (aka honeycomb)
from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

3/4 c. sugar
4 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tbsp. baking soda
8 inch square pan, well-greased

Grease that pan. Seriously. With some butter, in fact.

Mix the sugar and syrup in a heavy-bottomed pot. THEN turn the burner on, to medium heat. Let it heat up and you can stir it a bit to make sure it doesn't burn and that the sugar is dissolving. It will begin to bubble and just start to change to a yellowish-brown. (Mine took about 5-6 minutes, Nigella says 3-4) You are not looking to caramelize this to a dark color.

Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the baking soda. This part is exciting, and next time I am going to let the kids do this. It fills the candy with air and the whole thing puffs up. Fun! Quickly pour into the dish and let it harden for a few hours.

I used my meat mallet to break this right in the middle and the whole thing split into 4 big pieces that I could then pull out of the dish. Then I broke them further (with the mallet) into bite-sized pieces.

Our friend Nigella suggests we dip them in chocolate, if we feel so inclined. I like the way she thinks. I'm going to do that next time too. All the little bits you can save for an ice cream topping.

Home is where the school is

2011-12-08T11:10:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted too much about school this year. We are still homeschooling, and we've been having a bit of a difficult year. This is largely due to personality conflicts, which exist in families. No amount of sending them away to school will change that. I don't need "a break" from my kids, as if they are some horrible burden in my life. They are my life (along with the ever-supportive Hub).

This year Scrappy is in 4th grade, Funny is in 3rd, Goofy is in 2nd, and Silly is in K, but mostly doing 1st grade work. Here's the summary up to this point:

We tried Wordly Wise with Scrappy, and it turned out to be the thing we fought about most often. It was pure misery. I would become exasperated, he would become frustrated, and we always ended up screaming. So we chucked it. I'm back to my old methods of teaching vocabulary, which pretty much means I stop and ask if they understand a word, or I define as we go. Who wants to do vocab flash cards? Well, I do, but I'm not like other people.

We have lots of traditional homeschooling materials again this year. The kids have an assortment of workbooks for language arts and math. Scrappy is about done with MUS Gamma, we're almost finished with Apologia's Swimming Creatures book (we can't ever seem to get to this). Story of the World is still the favorite for history.

The kids are still using games to learn a lot of different things. We've started playing Bananagrams, and we use that for spelling and vocab practice. The kids love to play Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, chess, Uno, Stratego, and even some math games on the iPad. I think if all their practice/drill can be done through game playing, then that's good. And even better, a lot of the games they like require strategy and critical thinking. Yeah, I am okay with that.

We've already gone on 15 field trips this year! My goal is 20, and I think we should manage to make that. We have one or two more scheduled for this month, and I know come February, it's all I will want to do. Gosh, I hate February for homeschooling. Only you other homeschoolers understand that. Alas, no worrying about it now! Here are some highlights from our most recent trip to the Heinz History Center:

Flour Children and friends. The museum is currently hosting an exhibit on the history of the flag.

Goofy makes pickles.

Funny preps her tent.

Silly and her friend taking a turn at packing pickles.

Flour Children and friends with statue of Franco Harris.

So, in the end, I suppose we had a rocky start. Each year I find it easier to embrace our less traditional version of education, but every year I still fight myself on it. We do a lot of reading, playing, and exploring. We even do worksheets and book work. Everyone here would rather read a book about homophones (which we did, Dear Deer) versus filling in a worksheet on homophones. That's just how we roll. It might not be your way, but it's our way, and it works for us.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

2011-11-22T18:15:00.001-05:00

I own very few cookbooks. I mean, for someone obsessed with cooking, anyway. Less than 10, I think. Instead, I keep a giant binder full of recipes. This is one of them. I have no idea where the original came from. But I am oh-so-glad I have it.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

4 c. flour
2 c. sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 c. melted butter
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. chocolate chips (I used combination of chocolate chips and a giant semi-sweet chocolate baking bar)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used pecan chips)

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Combine pumpkin, butter, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate and nuts.

Drop dough by tablespoonful onto cookie sheet. Space about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 375 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Let cool a couple minutes on pan, then move to rack to finish cooling.

Quitters Never Win

2011-10-04T15:23:00.003-04:00

Every now and again, I have one of those homeschooling days when I remember why we're all doing this. Last week, I wanted to send my kids to school, wholly convinced that I was ill-qualified to teach them anything. This week, I can't imagine not being with them. Funny how that works.

It was field trip day today. We went on a free (thank you, taxes) tour of PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a thorough tour, and we got to see the press box, batting cages/pitchers tunnel, dugout, and even walk out onto the field. The tour guide was excellent, and obviously loved the Pirates. He also knew a lot of history of the team, which the kids found especially interesting.

The rest of school looked rather untraditional, I suppose, but it works for us. The kids watched an episode of MythBusters. We read about echinoderms. We talked about the purpose of the nose, and how to stop germs from spreading (cover your sneeze, please). Scrappy read to us about taking care of our teeth, while Goofy begged for his turn to read to us. The five of us snuggled under a blanket and read a book about maps, another about nouns, and a third about the military alphabet.

Right now they are all upstairs measuring their rooms so they can map them out. FOR FUN.

See? This is what I call a good day. I'm so glad I didn't throw in the towel.

Enoch Wright House and Museum of Westward Expansion

2011-09-20T14:03:00.001-04:00

You know how we love a field trip! Today we went on our 7th field trip of the year. This time we traveled about 20 minutes away to the Enoch Wright House and Museum of Westward Expansion in Peters Township, PA. Enoch Wright's father, Joshua Wright, settled in the area in the mid-1700s on a land grant. At the time that he settled here, the Pittsburgh area was a vast wilderness. You can visit the log cabin that Joshua Wright built for his family, as well as the larger house that his son, Enoch, had built in the early 1800s.

Here's Scrappy's perspective:

I went to the EnochWright house. He was born in 1776. He lived in a cabin in themiddle of nowhere. There were trees all around the cabin. His dadhad to cut down all the trees to build the cabin, which was probablyhard work. Then, years later, he built a big house, which was donein 1816. He traded his goods and became a rich man.

The big house ismade of brick. Two families lived in it. It had one main staircase. Both sides of the house were exactly the same. One of the oldbedrooms has been turned into a room where you can learn about coaland coal mining. I thought it was strange that coal miners wore gaslamps on their helmets because the mines were full of gases and itcould have exploded. I don't think that job would be very fun.

Another thing Ilearned was that young boys learned to shoot a rifle, use a bow andarrow, and throw an ax. A lot of boys had knives to skin animals. When boys turned sixteen, they had to help fix the road. I'm glad Idon't have to work on the road.

Such a nine-year-old boy, isn't he? And just for fun, here's Funny's five-year-old girl perspective:

Today I went on afield trip. I went to the Enoch Wright house. There were a lot ofsteps there. It was a big, fancy house. There were a lot of dressesin one of the rooms. They were pretty. There were two kitchens. There were two of everything because two families lived in the house. In the kitchen, there was a big fireplace for cooking. There was ahook and a bucket was on it and it hung over the fire. The cook hadto pull the hook away from the fire so the food didn't get burnt. Ialso saw some weapons. There were axes and a bow and arrows.

There was a cabinthere, too. The cabin is older than the house. They built a ladderso everyone could get up to the beds. The cabin was small. It wasmade of logs from trees that were cut down where the cabin was built. There were American Indians nearby. The people in the cabin werenot friends with the Indians because the Indians didn't want them todestroy the land. The people who lived in the cabin had to hunt forfood. They had to hang the meat up to dry so they could eat in thewinter. It was a hard life.

New School Year

2011-09-10T12:34:00.001-04:00

We're three weeks into our homeschool year. I've been way behind on my blogging (obviously). I am going to try to get back into doing the Weekly Wrap Up posts, probably next week. My camera is broken, so I have no pictures, and I'm sorry for that. I know pictures make blog posts way more fun. Eh. My dearly devoted will read this anyway. I think.

So this year has been going pretty well. I would say it's our best kick off so far. I chalk a lot of that up to my gaining experience and confidence. Sadly, this doesn't mean I never question what we're doing. I've had to hide myself away a little bit. I have been hiding from Facebook ("Look, here's a picture of my kid going to school. Yay!" "My kid went to school and I went home and cried." Either way, it's hard to look at when you're so obviously thumbing your nose at the whole system.). I've been really trying to immerse myself in my family, and surround myself with people and information that supports our decision to homeschool.

Anyway, let's talk about the kids and their materials. I know what you homeschoolers like: curricula!

These are the materials everyone is using:
Apologia's Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day (finishing up from last year)
Apologia's Land Animals of the 6th Day
Story of the World, Book 2: Middle Ages (our 2nd year for this. Thankfully, I knew we couldn't complete it in one year and I don't feel like we're behind at all.)
Orchestra unit study
Lamb's Book of Art
Around the World coloring book
Abeka's Health, Safety, and Manners

Scrappy, age 9, 4th grade

Math-U-See Gamma (he started the year in lesson 11 and I am planning for him to move onto Delta after Christmas)
Steck-Vaughn's Language Arts Handbook, 4th grade
Wordly Wise 3000, book 1
IEW: Writing Structure and Style
Sequential Spelling

Funny, age 8, 3rd grade

Various Steck-Vaughn Early Math workbooks
Various grammar workbooks (right now using Writing Sentences from TCR)
IEW: Writing Structure and Style
Sequential Spelling

Goofy, age 7, 2nd grade

Various Steck-Vaughn Early Math workbooks
Various grammar workbooks (right now using Writing Sentences from TCR)

Silly, age 5, Kindergarten

Come on now. I don't have a Kindergarten curriculum. She's kid #4. She just magically knows stuff! Though, she does use a few things:
Bob books
Various Steck-Vaughn Early Math workbooks
Explode the Code

We also have a ton of supplemental materials. Being part-time unschoolers, we have a house filled with all sorts of fun, educational things (and a well-loved library card). Some of the highlights I'm looking forward to using this year:
Math Shark (handheld electronic math drill game)
Cooking Up Sentences board game
Math wrap-ups
Spellominoes

I also set a goal this year to take the kids on at least 20 field trips. We went on 18 trips last year. So far we've gone on 6 trips. Once I get my new camera, I'll be back to posting more field trip posts with pictures.

Hola, Deliciousness!

2011-08-21T19:03:00.000-04:00

Here's a recipe from the archives...

Mexican Mac & Cheese
adapted from Fast, Easy, Fresh

2 c. elbow mac
2 links fresh chorizo, removed from casings and browned/broken up
1/2 c. salsa verde (from a jar)
1 c. (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
3 c. (packed) shredded cheddar, plus 1 c. for sprinkling (4 c. total)
4 tsp. flour
1 c. 1% milk
3/4 c. heavy cream (don't see why you can't use all milk, but cream is tasty)
1/4 tsp. (scant) ground cloves
1 c. corn chips

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cook macaroni until al dente, about 6 minutes and drain.
Meanwhile, blend/process the salsa and cilantro until smooth. Toss 3 c. cheddar with the flour in a bowl to coat.
Bring milk, cream, and cloves to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cheese mixture. Stir until cheese melts, a couple minutes. Mix in macaroni and cooked chorizo. Season with pepper, if you want.
Spread half of mac & cheese in 13x9 dish (spray first). Pour half of salsa mixture over top. Sprinkle with 1/2 c. cheese (more cheese!!!!). Top with remaining mac & cheese, and another layer of salsa. Sprinkle chips over (I used the little ones from the bottom of a bag), then top with remaining 1/2 c. cheese. Bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Chicken Soup with Cheese Ravioli

2011-08-18T19:09:00.000-04:00

Here's a super easy, kid-friendly dish! Yay!

I cooked my chicken in the crock pot with one quart of water for about 6 hours until it started to fall apart, and then shredded it. You can skip that by starting with a rotisserie chicken.

Chicken Soup with Cheese Ravioli

1 whole cooked chicken, diced or shredded, however you like it
2 boxes chicken broth (or 1 box plus the broth from cooking your own chicken, if that's what you did)
1 onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
3-4 cloves garlic or 1-2 tsp. garlic powder (or more!)
pepper to taste
1 tsp. oregano
olive oil or butter
1 package cheese ravioletti (small ravioli), or ravioli/tortellini (I used a 9 oz. package of Buitoni brand ravioletti)

Saute onion, celery, and garlic (if using fresh) in oil or butter about 5-8 minutes, until onion is soft. Add garlic powder (if using). Stir in chicken and broth, and bring to a boil. Add ravioletti, and cook according to package directions (3-5 minutes). Season with pepper and oregano. Eat! If you want something more soupy, you probably want to add more broth. It was close to being a stew, really, and we were happy with that.

We ate this with some really good garlic bread. All of my kids LOVED this.

Menu Plan for the Week of 7/18

2011-07-17T16:14:00.000-04:00

Well, I mostly stuck to last week's menu. This is a new week. I bought a ton of junk today at the store. It's VBS week, and it's also going to be hot, which means trips to the pool. Look, I'm not perfect, okay?

You might think it's pretty weird to post all the breakfast and lunch ideas, but it helps me. So there.

MONDAY
B: pb toast
L: ham & cheese sandwiches, bananas
D: buffalo chicken lasagna (I didn't make it last week, since I forgot to cook the chicken. I bought a rotisserie chicken today. No excuses.)

TUESDAY
B: cereal (really, breakfast is such a nightmare for me. I hate spending all my money on cereal, esp. since it doesn't fill anyone up.)
L: out (running between church and the doctor's office)
D: hot sausage sandwiches

WEDNESDAY
B: cereal, yep, again
L: mac & cheese OR leftover lasagna
D: spaghetti (that's a lot of pasta. Hm)

THURSDAY
B: yogurt
L: leftover spaghetti
D: summer squash casserole, beet bread, hot & sour pickles, cherries (yes, cleaning out the fridge!)

FRIDAY
B: granola bars (another useless breakfast, but we'll survive)
L: grilled cheese, pretzels, carrots
D: hot date with Hub!!

SATURDAY
B: eggs w/potatoes and veggies
L: at the in-laws' house
D: garlic shrimp, CSA veggies

SUNDAY
B: granola bars
L: leftovers
D: pizza

Menu Plan for the Week of 7/11

2011-07-10T20:08:00.000-04:00

It's been about a year since I last posted a menu, and I admit, I've been very hit or miss about even planning one. Hub announced today that our household is starting an austerity program. That's code for "not spending money." Like many people, I am going to start by shaving the food budget. However, that doesn't mean sacrificing quality. It means no more going out to eat or ordering take out. Even Indian food. WAH!

MONDAY
B: bagels
L: leftover pasta
D: brined pork chops, cauliflower, watermelon

TUESDAY
B: cereal
L: pb&j, carrots
D: chicken legs, baked potatoes, corn on the cob

WEDNESDAY
B: fruit
L: crock pot mac & cheese
D: pizza (church)

THURSDAY
B: toast
L: meatloaf, fruit
D: veggie fried rice

FRIDAY
B: yogurt
L: eggs, fruit
D: buffalo chicken lasagna

SATURDAY
B: pancakes, fruit
L: leftovers
D: steak, homemade fries, broccoli

SUNDAY
B: leftover pancakes
L: bacon & egg sandwiches on bagels
D: Mom's house

It is Finished...For Now

2011-06-16T17:17:00.000-04:00

We're done with school! Yippeeeeeeeeee! Scrappy and I (mostly) wrapped up the portfolio today. He was short an art page but only because he has a psycho mother who needed an even number of art pages. I need help. Anyway, I am very pleased with how it has turned out, and am very happy to have a great memento of his third grade year. A portfolio really is a great idea, vs. saving random bits.

Our 18th, and final, field trip for the 2010-2011 school year. These young elephants
were wrestling and it was very entertaining.

Art project: color blending. This was a great way to see how secondary colors
are created when primary colors are mixed together.

A little "getting to know you" page from the portfolio. Not required, but totally counts
as a writing sample, and I will love reading this 10 years from now.

This was a pretty good year. I had those days when I wanted to quit, but I figure that I'll always have them. As I've said before, these are days when I want to quit mothering in general. I think it happens to every parent, no matter where their kids go to school. I am working on my attitude here, as I do believe that my children are a blessing, not a burden. I want my words and actions to reflect that belief.

I really feel like this is the first year when I figured a lot of things out. I decided that if I have to label myself, I would go with Charlotte Mason/unschooly-ish, with a tad of Classical thrown in. Well, and the field trips. We love a field trip. It sounds like an odd mix, but it works for us. The end of the year saw us doing more and more notebooking, and I am really looking forward to exploring that more next year. We were weak on music this year, so I need to think about how to fit that in. Will we study one composer a month? Will we just do a unit study? The state requires it, and besides, I LOVE music, and so do my kids.

As for what the kids have accomplished, they amaze me. They are such sponges, and it's awesome! I am very proud of them all. Scrappy's attitude has really changed and there was way less whining about doing school this year. He wants to play all day every day. Well, who doesn't. I remember mid-year when I was freaking out about his reading, and now he reads every day...for fun! Silly is more than ready for Kindergarten. Funny and Goofy have been reading a lot, too, especially Funny. It's not unusual to catch her with her nose in a book. Everyone has a little dream of what their homeschool might look like, and mine is just that--noses in books! It's so encouraging to see a glimpse of it every now and again.

Yep, I'm pretty content. We've had an amazing week. We went to the park, library, and zoo. We snuggled on the couch and read books. We watched many episodes of MythBusters and we all want to blow something up (still thinking about what). And besides the little tab dividers, the portfolio is done! Scrappy's evaluation is tomorrow, and then off to the district.

What will we do after that? Go to the pool! It's summer break, man!

Mammoth Cave National Park

2011-06-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

My dear readers know how much this family likes a field trip. It really is one of the best ways to learn about something. On our recent vacation to Kentucky, we were lucky enough to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. If you have never been there, then I am a little sad for you. I really recommend the trip to see it. It was beautiful! I always thought caves were sort of interesting, in more of a historical sense vs. science sense. I think it's fascinating to think about who used to live in caves, and what their lives may have looked like. Did American Indians live there? Did some bank robber hide out in there? Anyway, now I know that caves are also very nice to look at. I was really just delighted by the whole experience.

Here's a paragraph Scrappy wrote about our trip:

Mammoth Cave is really big. I had to walk down a whole bunch of steps to get inside. The walls were made of rocks. There were a lot of big puddles and pools. My favorite part was the Frozen Niagara. I was surprised that there was only a tiny waterfall there. It was mostly made of rock. I thought it was going to be like a regular waterfall, and maybe as big as Niagara Falls. But it was very small. It was cold in the cave. I had to wear a jacket. I didn't expect it to be that cold because it was so hot outside. I also saw cave crickets. They look kind of like spiders, except smaller. The ones that we saw were brown. I saw a giant spider, too. At the end, we had to walk across a giant sponge full of chemicals to wash our shoes. This is because of a special disease that bats can get. When we washed our shoes, we were making sure we don't spread it around to other bats.

You can see the layers in the rock here.

You do not want this to fall on you.

Pretty rock formation.

Everything inside this cave is big. BIG.

Fried Chicken Tenders

2011-05-26T13:24:00.000-04:00

If you eat meat, you like fried chicken. It's true. And if you comment and tell me you don't, I will just call you a liar, so don't bother.

This is an easy, quick fried chicken. It makes little mess, since you don't need as much oil as you would if you were using bone-in chicken pieces. My measurements are ballpark figures and can be adjusted to suit your own tastes. I always err on the side of too much breading mix, and that is reflected here.

Meat just isn't that pretty in pictures. But there it is, anyway.

Fried Chicken Tenders

1-2 lbs. chicken tenders, depending on how many you want to eat

Breading mix:
1 c. flour (any kind is fine)
1/2 c. bread crumbs (mine were wheat, but any kind would work, even Italian if you wanted that)
a generous shake or 5 of garlic powder
pepper to taste
a few shakes of season salt if you want

vegetable oil

In a ziploc (because we're working smart), combine the ingredients for the breading mix. Close the bag and shake it to combine. Open your chicken package(s) and rinse the chicken with water and just throw them in there. Close again and shake to coat. Let it just sit there on the counter for 5 or 10 minutes.

In a large frying pan, pour oil so that it will go about half-way up the side of your fattest piece of chicken. That is probably only about 1/2 inch or so. Heat your oil up on medium-high heat. It's ready when you sprinkle some water in there and it sizzles like crazy. This should take about 5 minutes or so, to be good and hot. What makes for gross, greasy chicken? Oil that isn't hot enough.

Once the oil is ready, add the chicken one piece at a time, shaking off excess breading. Don't crowd them in the pan or they will steam instead of getting crunchy on the outside. You might have to do two batches; you'll use the same oil. Depending on the thickness of the chicken, it could take 3-5 minutes per side. You can pull one out and cut it to check it. Mine took about 3 minutes on each side for the ones that I didn't let get real crispy because I was impatient. It was about 4 minutes for each side for the ones that were nice and brown. It's up to you.

Since you're the cook and you cut one open to make sure it's done, you can eat that one. Does it need salt? If it needs it, sprinkle a little salt over the top of the plate of cooked chicken. This is good hot, but is also good cold. Mmmm.... If you've never had cold fried chicken, you should start.

I'm Just in the Way

2011-05-25T09:35:00.000-04:00

I often find myself disappointed and discontent. I just spent an entire year studying contentment using Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment. Great book, by the way. She really emphasizes that my failure to set my eyes on things above is leading me to discontentment. So true. It's very easy to do in the busyness of life: keeping house, teaching kids, ministering through MOPS and at church, rinse, repeat.

I don't know how to correct this failure in myself other than reading my Bible and praying. Even making myself busy at church doesn't necessarily mean that I am focusing on God, and not on myself. Lately I am doing it on autopilot.

I find myself frustrated by this answer, like it isn't somehow going to work. I haven't made any time for reading my Bible in a long time. I have been praying almost every day, but my prayer life really is suffering and I know it.

I have also noticed that my expectations are often WAY too high. I am a perfectionist. Not that I will work at something until it's perfect, but that I have a vision of how it should be and if it isn't that way, then (a) I won't even make an attempt so as to avoid failure or (b) I'll be miserable because it's WRONG. See, that is just expectation. Someone wise once told me that if I use the word "should" a lot, especially about myself, it means I am expecting way too much. I have high expectations of myself that I can never realize, and so I am disappointed in myself, frustrated, and discontent.

In this scenario, it's all about me.

There's where I've gone wrong. I'm focusing on self. What can I accomplish? How can I change? Instead, I need to focus on God, which would turn my questions into: What can God accomplish through me? How will God change me? How can God be glorified through me?

I think that is exactly how I want to pray. I know that I am called to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let my requests be made to God. There's the answer. I have to share my heart and soul with God (even though he knows, he likes to hear). I have to pray about my needs. And do all of if with thanksgiving. It turns out that time with God really is the answer.

I really over complicate things sometimes.

Vegetarian -- We're Done!

2011-05-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

Silly was the only one who remained vegetarian for the entire week. Well, it was 6 days, because on day 7 we went to a funeral luncheon and there was meat, meat, everywhere meat, on the buffet. On day 6 I caved and had some fish. Oh well.

Things I learned:
1. I don't actually want to be a vegetarian. It's more than my love of bacon that stops me.
2. If I had to be a vegetarian for health reasons or similar, I could. I think.
3. Indian food is really easy to cook. I am going to make more of it.
4. Most of my friends are quite supportive of my random schemes and plots. That's nice.
5. My kids are adventurous eaters. Okay, I knew that. But it is worth pointing out.
6. We were in a food rut, mostly because I claim to be busy, but really it's because I've been lazy.
7. We ate SO MUCH fruit this week. A lot more than usual. We should always eat that much fruit.
8. We need to eat more veggies. There are lots of places to throw them in while cooking, or ways to make them super tasty.
9. It would be nice if people thought about what vegetarians might like to eat at their events. And at restaurants. Gardenburger? For real?
10. There's going to be cauliflower pie in heaven.

Vegetarian -- Day Five

2011-05-14T18:03:00.000-04:00

Day Five
Breakfast: bagel/cereal bar choice (Really, I can't believe I haven't made one breakfast yet. Sad.)
Lunch: spaghetti, sauteed cauliflower and broccoli, garlic bread
Dinner: aloo gobi, samosas, pita (yes, wrong bread, I know)

Aloo gobi, samosa, chutney and pita

I love Indian food. For real. I think I might've died of food boredom without it. It's so delicious. If you've never had it, I'm sad for you. The best thing for a first-timer is to head to your local Indian buffet and try some of everything. Be brave. You will love it.

One of my favorite buffet staples is aloo gobi. Mmmm. I love cauliflower. But you know that already if you've read this blog lately. Anyway, it turns out that this dish is very easy to make at home. It only took about 20 minutes, which is a bonus. I forgot to make rice, but you don't really need it. I wanted naan, but we didn't have any. I thought about whipping up some chapati, but opted instead to just have pita. I had samosas in the freezer, so we had those too. And do NOT even get me started on how good coriander chutney is. We dipped the samosas in the chutney, and some of it got on the aloo gobi. So tragic. Yum. If you like cilantro, you want to try to get your mitts on a jar of this little piece of heaven on earth. You cilantro-haters...well, you're weird. But I love you anyway.

Aloo Gobi
adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian

peanut or canola oil, or ghee for shallow frying
1 lb. new or red potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
1 head cauliflower, cut into small flowerets (small, they only fry for 4 minutes, then steam for 4 more)
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric (I subbed curry powder here)
3/4-1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander (I left this out)
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped cilantro

Put the oil or ghee in a large frying pan and set over medium heat. (Remember, I said large.) When hot, add potatoes and fry until golden and almost tender, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Turn head to medium-high and add cauliflower, frying about 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Turn off heat. Remove all oil but about 2 tbsp. from the pan. Turn heat to medium-high and add ginger. Stir 10 seconds. Return potatoes and cauliflower to pan and turn to medium. Add turmeric, salt, cayenne, cumin and coriander. Stir to coat veggies. Add 3 tbsp. water. Stir once and cover the pan. Turn to low and cook about 4-5 minutes. Add cilantro, toss, and eat.

Aloo gobi. So pretty you could eat it.

I'm categorizing this as thrifty only because I had all the spices already. If you had to buy them all, it would add around $10 to your cost. But cauliflower and potatoes cost less than $5. We are getting two meals out of this.

Weeks in Review

2011-05-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

The end is near!

I made an appointment for Scrappy's evaluation this week. That means we are almost done! This is our first time being evaluated, as the school age in PA is 8. So we've been collecting things for the portfolio and I have been thinking about the last few weeks of school.

Goofy enjoys a nice day.

Baseball season has started again! Funny got co-MVP at her first game.

Silly turned 5.

Scrappy rides his bike.

The race is on!

Fun with Bendaroos.

I tried really hard to get back on track this week. We did do some math and everyone has been reading. We haven't touched our science in a while, but we've been watching Mythbusters and The Jeff Corwin Experience. I mean, it's something, right? I am feeling the pressure to finish things up, so I suppose I better come up with a plan. That I probably won't follow.

Vegetarian -- Day Four

2011-05-14T07:32:00.000-04:00

Day Four
Breakfast: toast w pb and fruit (me), pineapple and banana-chocolate chip bars (Hub and kids)
Lunch: mac and cheese with veggies
Dinner: pancakes and onion rings (me) I know that's not healthy, cheese pizza and cottage cheese (Silly), meat (everyone else)

We ended up going out to dinner with the family, and so most everyone ate meat last night. Eh. Silly and I are the last hold-outs here.

I love homemade macaroni and cheese. For real. I don't usually add veggies, but I think I will from now on. It's an easy way to increase our veggie consumption. I mean, they are covered in cheese. Yum.

Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb. pasta of choice (I used wagon wheels)
1/4 to 1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp. butter
up to 1/4 c. flour (or so)
1 lb. cheese, shredded (I used cheddar, and a few slices of cojack that I needed to use up)
1 1/2 c. milk
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
pepper to taste
veggies of choice (see below)

Preheat oven to 350. Put the pasta on to cook. Be careful not to overcook it. In fact, because it bakes a little, I usually drain it just before it's done. That's me. In a skillet, melt butter (you could use less, and then you need less flour). Saute onion and garlic until opaque. Add flour to soak up the butter, stirring with a wooden spoon. Oh look! You've made a roux! Now you want to add the milk and let it warm up. Add the cheese, and stirring frequently, let it cook and melt (this takes about 5 minutes). You can add some pepper here, too. Once it is just about all melted, turn up the heat to a brief boil, stirring constantly. That helps it to thicken.

For the veggies, I used a bag of frozen mixed veggies (broccoli, corn and red peppers). You could just saute some of whatever you have in your fridge, or use a whole bag of broccoli or whatever. It's up to you. I did saute the frozen veggies for a little bit in a pan to thaw them out most of the way. I also put a very light sprinkling of salt over them.

Put the veggies, cooked pasta, and sauce into a large bowl or right into the casserole if you want to wash fewer dishes (who doesn't?). Stir to coat everything with the cheese.

Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Vegetarian -- Days Two and Three

2011-05-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

Cauliflower-Cheese Pie, I love you

Day Two
Breakfast: granola bar/cereal/yogurt/fruit choice
Lunch: nachos with madras lentils --I need to make these from scratch, because they are so delicious and taste like chili (me), leftover peanut noodles (Hub), pb&j with veggies and popcorn (kids)
Dinner: cheese pizza (me), roast beef sandwich (Hub, he forgot), spaghetti (kids)

Day Three
Breakfast: granola bars (yes, I have not made a single breakfast this week)
Lunch: leftovers, fruit, pretzels
Dinner: cauliflower cheese pie

We had a death in the family this week, so we're all a bit mopey. Hub's meat-relapse occurred at the hospital, and is certainly forgivable. I mean, we're not doing this for any reason other than because we can. No one signed a contract or anything. I am not surprised to learn that baking the cauliflower cheese pie actually made me feel a lot better. You know I am passionate about, well, everything, but I really love cooking and it helped me channel some nervous energy and taking care of my family in this way was comforting.

Now onto the recipe for the cauliflower cheese pie.

This is a Moosewood recipe. I really love this cookbook. It's full of tasty recipes and is all hand-lettered, which makes it extra nice. It's full of exotic things (for the time--1970s) such as hummus and guacamole. It is one of the books that I would never get rid of, and would love to pass down to one of my children one day. See how much I love it?

Sample of the art in the book. Lovely.

Cauliflower-Cheese Pie
adapted from Moosewood Cookbook

Potato Crust:
2 c., packed, grated raw potato
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. grated onion

Heat oven to 400. Let the shredded potatoes sit a few minutes and then squeeze the liquid out of the potatoes (you can use a cheesecloth, colander and your hands, or paper towels). Combine potatoes, salt, egg and onion. Pat it into a well-greased 9" pie plate, building up the sides of the crust with your fingers. Bake 30 minutes and then brush with a little oil and bake 15 more minutes.

Filling:
1 medium cauliflower, broken into small flowerets
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 tbsp. butter
dash thyme
1/2 tsp. basil (I happened to have fresh, dried is fine)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 heaping, packed cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
pepper to taste
paprika to taste

Turn the oven down to 375. Melt butter in skillet. Saute onion and garlic in butter for about 5 minutes. Add herbs and cauliflower and cook, covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread half the cheese into the baked crust, then top with the cauliflower filling, then the rest of the cheese. Beat the eggs, milk, and pepper then pour mixture over the pie. Dust with paprika. Bake 35-40 minutes until set.

I have had this cookbook for years, and am a little bitter I never made this pie until this week. Hub and I agree that it goes on the list of the best things I have EVER made. The recipe claims it feeds 4 people. And my vegetarian friend also agrees, 4 people, though that is with a salad. I feel pretty confident in reporting that it could feed 2 people. I'm just saying. Next time I am doubling it for sure, especially since I only used 1/2 of my head of cauliflower. It's quite addictive.

Vegetarian -- Day One

2011-05-10T17:19:00.000-04:00

It's only seven days. I know some people are always vegetarian. We have friends who were vegetarian for a month. There's some movement to get people to go meatless on Mondays. I'm feeling optimistic. It's not like I am worried about Hub and myself. We're grown adults (technically). It's the kids. I have one kid who doesn't really like to try new things. I have a meat-loving child who has been dreading the day he ever suggested trying out vegetarianism. But he has survived today, and even liked what he ate. A lot.

Breakfast: apple with peanut butter (me), yogurt/fruit/granola bar/cereal choice (them)
Lunch: veggie wrap with lettuce, tomato, carrots, cukes and ranch (me and Scrappy), leftover mushroom pizza (Hub), pb&j (everyone else)
Dinner: carrots with garlic & thyme, peanut noodles
I admit that I hope my evening involves a scoop of ice cream.

Noodles covered in peanut butter sauce are not very photogenic.
However, those pieces of garlic are gorgeous.

Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme
adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

2 lbs. baby carrots (or regular carrots, cut into chunks; baby carrots were cheaper at my store)
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
10ish little garlic cloves, unpeeled
generous tsp. dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the carrots in a 13x9 casserole and toss with oil and season with salt and pepper. Stick the garlic here and there in the pan. Sprinkle with thyme. Add 2 tbsp. water and cover tightly with foil. Bake under they are as tender as you like, 25-45 minutes. Check them a couple times to make sure they aren't drying out. Uncover for the last 5-10 minutes so they can brown a bit, if you want.

These were SUPER good. I love this cookbook; it is one of my favorites. I had never made this recipe before, and I will definitely make it again. As a bonus, the garlic pops right out of the skin and you can eat it and ward off vampires.

Peanut Noodles aka Gado-Gado
adapted from Moosewood Cookbook

1/2 c. chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. natural peanut butter
1 tbsp. honey
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. grated ginger
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
3 c. water
1 tsp. salt
dash tamari or soy sauce
couple dashes sesame oil
2 tbsp. butter
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (or less, up to you)
1/3 c. peanuts, crushed with the side of your knife
cooked noodles, such as spaghetti or soba (about 2 lbs.)

In pot, melt butter. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, and ginger. Saute until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients except peanuts, cilantro, and noodles. Simmer on low for 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally.

Pour the sauce over your noodles. Chill at least an hour (more is better). Before serving, stir in peanuts and cilantro. You could eat this hot, too. I just wanted mine cold. See, it's flexible.

Now I totally admit that gado-gado is not meant to be served this way. You're supposed to serve it over an assortment of veggies and hard-boiled eggs. But I really wanted peanut noodles. So I made this work for us.

Three out of four kids liked these noodles (in fact, one loved them). One kid made horrible faces and told me peanut butter doesn't belong on noodles (yes, the picky one). The meat-lover told me that they would really be good if I added some chicken. Sigh.

Vegetarian Recipes Needed!

2011-05-05T11:50:00.000-04:00

A while back, I was talking to the kids about lobsters, and somehow, that turned into a conversation about factory farming and vegetarianism. I know, things are kind of odd here sometimes. Maybe all the time. As a result of this conversation, we decided we would take a stab at being vegetarian for a week. Now, I love many, many vegetarian dishes. I don't really need meat, except for the occasional slice of bacon.

I thought I would ask any of my faithful readers if they have a favorite vegetarian dish they would like to share? Some considerations: we have baseball a few nights next week, so I need a portable dish or two that would we can eat while watching the game. Also, we might be going to a cookout, and I could use a suggestion there, as well. I know we could just eat massive amounts of side dishes, but there has to be a better way.

Eggplant/Zucchini Parmesan

2011-04-23T10:43:00.000-04:00

Before I started this blog, I used to post recipes in the "notes" section on FB. Here's an oldie, but goodie.

I started with one of those horribly overgrown zucchinis and an eggplant. They were organic, so I did not peel them. Peeling is optional. The eggplant has a slightly thicker skin. It just depends what you like.

Slice into rounds of uniform thickness. Mine were probably about 1/4 inch thick. Maybe 1/3.

I had A LOT of vegs so I beat 4 eggs in a bowl for dipping.

In a 13x9 I mixed about 1 cup. flour, 1/2 c. (at least) parmesan cheese, garlic (probably a couple tsp. because I like garlic), and some pepper.

Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Dip the pieces of eggplant into the egg, then into the flour mixture. When you have enough coated to fill your pan, fry 'em up. You are just browning them, not cooking them through. Maybe one minute each side? If that.

Drain on paper towels.

For my giant family, I greased a 15x9 casserole. Put a smidge of your favorite tomato sauce in the bottom. Layer with cooked eggplant/zucchini. Top with cheese (I used sliced provolone; it's what I had, and I am a GENIUS for it). Continue layers, ending with a sauce layer. Then, because we are gluttonous and I only make this dish once a year, I topped it with more cheese. Parmesan this time.

Cover with foil and bake. I did mine at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

Ta-da!

Easter Traditions

2011-04-21T13:52:00.001-04:00

Back around Christmas, I posted about some of our family traditions. We don't really have many Easter traditions. I don't know why. Is that common for most people? I put out a handful of decorations. I buy all the candy for the kids' baskets. We go to church. We eat a big dinner.

In the past 2 or 3 years, we've added Resurrection Eggs to our tradition. We usually go through them as a family on the night before Easter. One year I am going to finally break down and make resurrection cookies, too. If I were some other mother, I probably would like to do something crafty for Easter. Once, we baked cookies in the shape of crosses. That was nice. We decorate eggs, but then only two people eat them. I'm glad they're still pretty cheap, because a lot of them end up in the trash.

I am not really lamenting here. I see now that we do have some traditions. Most importantly, we do attend church. I have heard of some people staying home on Easter to let the irregular attenders have a place to sit. That's so odd to me. Of all the days to stay home, Easter isn't one of them. I'm really happy that my kids know that Easter is about the resurrection of Christ, and not bunnies. I like bunnies. But a bunny won't get me to heaven.

Week in Review--We're crabby

2011-04-15T14:19:00.000-04:00

Remember last week when I fantasized that I would have some sort of perfect, traditional homeschooling week?

Bwhahahahhahahahahaha.

Seriously. I'm so funny. I admit that I only hinted at the fantasy, but I knew what I meant. You know, lots of boring worksheets and evidence of education. I think about the evidence a lot because my state requires portfolios. Exhausting.

We had a wonderful week. There was a lot of sunshine so we played outside a lot. I forgot how much I love to play softball with the kids!

One of the talks I went to at the homeschool convention last month was about notebooking, and I am really working to integrate that into our way of doing things. The kids all drew pictures of crustaceans. They each produced a "serious" work, but then started inventing their own crustaceans. I think that's pretty awesome, as they all were decapods, arthropods, etc. They were applying what they've learned, so that is good.

Silly's rainbow crab.

Goofy's, well, goofy crab.

Scrappy's rock star crabs, and audience.

Funny's Christmas Island crab invasion. That's a car running over the crabs.
That's what they do there. There are that many crabs.

The kids spent an entire rainy afternoon reading all sorts of books to one another. I look back on how stressed I was over their reading at the beginning of the year. I wonder why I keep worrying so much? I totally know better.

I am hoping to wrap this year up in mid- to late-May. Whew. What a fun journey!

As usual, I am linking up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Potato Chip Cookies

2011-04-14T16:57:00.001-04:00

I know, weird, right? That's what I thought, too. I like cookies. I like chips. Why not give it a try? These cookies are super buttery; they remind me of shortbread. And that, my friends, is a good thing.

Potato Chip Cookies
from The Spiced Life

1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. coarse salt (optional--depends how salty your chips are. I left this out, but probably would add it next time, if using the same chips.)
2 c. flour
2 c. coarsely crushed potato chips, divided
coarse salt and sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 325. Line your cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. (Add salt if using.) Mix in vanilla, then flour and 1 c. potato chips. Mix well to incorporate chips, but don't overmix.

Using cookie scoop or spoons, shape dough into 1" balls and roll in remaining crushed chips. Put on the cookie sheet 2" apart, and flatten slightly. Sprinkle salt or sugar over the top (both are good, but I preferred those with salt on top). I fit 12 cookies on my first sheet and 10 on the second.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 325. These cookies don't really brown. Let cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Lemon Bread

2011-04-14T07:46:00.000-04:00

I love a quick bread. You know, they're quick. They're bread. What's not to love? This is easily my favorite for a couple reasons: it's easy and it makes everyone happy. Lemons are like some kind of cheap Zoloft. Everyone loves something lemony. It's a fact.

Lemon Bread
from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 c. milk
1/4 c. oil or melted butter (you know I used butter; it's worth it)
2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice (for topping)
1 tbsp. sugar (for topping)

You only need one lemon for this recipe, FYI.

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a loaf pan. Mine was a 9" one; an 8" probably would've looked nicer, but it was fine.

Combine flour, sugar, powder and salt in a medium bowl; make a well in the center and set aside. Combine your beaten egg, milk, butter, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Your microplane grater is perfect for zesting the lemon. Don't buy the stuff in a jar. For the same price, you can buy a microplane. Just don't zest the pith (the white part). Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (a little lumpy). Pour into your loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set pan on a rack to start cooling. Meanwhile, combine the 1 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. lemon juice in a bowl. Spoon or brush this over the top of the warm bread. Trust me. You want to do this. Let the bread cool about 10-15 minutes in the pan, the remove it to finish cooling on the rack. This is best if you can wrap it and eat it the second day, but really, a few hours wrapped up is fine, too.

New to zesting a lemon? Here's a handy video.

Week in Review--the week of slacking

2011-04-08T16:12:00.000-04:00

Someone once told me, "I don't read homeschooling blogs. They make me feel like a failure."

While I am not responsible for this person's reaction, I admit that sometimes it does look like most people have it together while the rest of us do not. The fact is, I don't always want to admit to how long I fought with Funny over math. Or how many episodes of Avatar my children have been watching. Or that I just don't feel like it anymore and really need summer vacation already.

This is a non-post post. I have decided to call this week "spring break." And why not? Everyone else gets one.

I've been sick, yet again. Yesterday I took the entire day off. We did one educational activity. Scrappy and I snuggled on the couch and watched an episode of The Story of India. Yep, that's all. The kids have spent the week playing and fighting, and I have spent the week sneezing and yelling.

This is real life, people.

Yes, they did things that we relaxed homeschoolers consider school: played baseball, explored the neighborhood, ran around, built with Legos, went to dance, went to AWANA, read a little, and helped around the house.

I don't have any pictures of the cute and/or fun things we did, because there aren't any. It's a good thing I know that's okay. Next week, when I report on all our goings-on, please know that while things may look good (I am feeling optimistic), they are completely balanced out by a certain amount of power struggles, exasperation, and exhaustion.

But these kids are so worth it.

For more homeschooling stories, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Come to the Dark Side

2011-04-05T18:22:00.002-04:00

I am trying really hard to like dark meat. I thought I would start with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, because they are easy, and they were on sale. This is actually supposed to be a beef recipe (hence the beef broth, and not chicken) but I have a cold and I was confused. It happens.

The chicken cooked very nicely and fell apart, which is always lovely. Be careful that you don't overcook your broccoli, because that's just gross. The original recipe called for thawing the broccoli first, but I don't see why that's necessary. Plus, it would affect the texture, I think.

I served this with some brown rice, and a smile.

Asian Chicken and Broccoli in the Crockpot
adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen

3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 c. beef broth
1/3 c. soy sauce
2-4 cloves garlic or 1 tbsp garlic powder
1 onion, chopped
pepper to taste
1 tbsp. brown sugar
16 oz. bag frozen broccoli (you know, or more; it's your dinner)
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Chop chicken into 1"-ish cubes. Combine broth and soy sauce in slow cooker. Add chicken, garlic, and onion. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. One-half to one hour before this is done, combine the water and cornstarch and stir it into the pot. Add the broccoli at this point, as well. Add pepper to taste.

I would make this again, because it's freakishly easy. And I LOVE that. It definitely needs something. I think next time I will add some honey and ginger, at the very least. But I didn't hate it, so that's a win! Everyone else in the house really, really liked it.

Turkey & Lentil Chili

2011-04-04T21:13:00.000-04:00

So my kids suddenly think they hate beans. And this makes me so sad, because beans are (a) cheap, (b) good for you, and (c) pretty tasty.

I thought I would try lentils. I mean, they cook to mush if you let 'em and they fit all the bean criteria listed above. Plus, I had this ground turkey and needed to do something with it. Hub won't eat meatloaf (I know, right!?) and it was only a pound so not enough for really much else anyway. Have I told you that there are a lot of us?

Turkey & Lentil Chili
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 lb. ground turkey
1 32 oz. box chicken broth
2 c. lentils, rinsed (I used red but any kind would work)
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 medium onion, chopped
3 or 4 stalks of celery, chopped
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
pepper to taste

Brown the meat with onions and celery in a skillet. Toss mixture into crock pot. Add rinsed lentils and remaining ingredients. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

You really don't need any salt here since you're using canned broth and canned tomatoes. But I suppose if you want, you could add some salt at the end. Just taste it first.

This went over way better than chili with beans. It was more soupy than stew-like, and I have adjusted the broth amount accordingly so that you might avoid that problem.

I've Got It Together

2011-04-04T13:59:00.002-04:00

I find myself often frustrated by the lack of transparency amongst those I know (including myself). I wonder, why don't people want to be who they are? I think that sometimes we are afraid to admit our problems and struggles. We can be afraid that the person who we are pouring our hearts out to will look at us blankly. Or worse--in judgment.

I am a person that people tell their stuff to. I have wondered how this happened to me--that people started telling me their problems. I don't think it's because I am some kind of all-knowing advice-giver. I don't think it's always because I am a good listener (still need some work there, too). It isn't because I am extra-spiritual or godly or holy (if only).

It might be because I am imperfect.

You heard me right. I am not perfect. I can easily admit to you that I struggle with controlling my words. With more difficulty, I admit that I struggle with all sorts of temptations. If Hugh Jackman brought me a giant plate of bacon right now, I would have a hard time remaining calm.

There is value in being real.

We are all longing for someone we can talk to. It's wonderful to think, This person gets me! And...still likes me!

Isn't that what we all want? I am like everyone else, and I hold things back. I don't necessarily want everyone to see how messy I really am. It's scary. But I do know that all of the genuine friendships I have are full of messiness and imperfection. Confessing things to one another really does help adjust our perspective. We are ALL struggling. Some people are good at hiding it. But no one has it together. And isn't that when God can get in there and do some of his best work?

Special thanks to Dan for the link to this song.

Sanctify!

2011-03-29T16:48:00.000-04:00

So I've been thinking a lot lately about a lot of things. The word "conviction" has been floating through my head. In all honesty, it's a very scary word. It means change is coming. It probably means it might be uncomfortable. On the upside, it's a necessary step toward sanctification, and that's a good thing.

Ah sanctification. I confess that I had never heard this word until I jumped denominations into my current church, which is a Christian Missionary and Alliance Church. Sanctification, as far as I understand it, is our growing into Christ-likeness. It is the process by which we are refined, where iron sharpens iron, and where we are set apart from others for the purpose of serving God. It is our journey toward holiness. It's not just a CMA idea; it's in the Bible.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Hebrews 10:14

And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:24

I recently gave a talk at MOPS where I mentioned this topic. I became a Christian in high school, and for so many years, I thought my way was wrong. Where was my magic genie Jesus? Why was being Christian so hard? What was I doing wrong?

I had surrendered to Christ, in that I accepted his free gift of salvation. I let him be my Savior.

Now I was ready for him to be Lord of my life.

For me, these are two different steps. They are two different acts of surrender.

Once I began to surrender, he began the process of sanctifying me for HIS glory, and not my own. As I have grown into Christ-likeness (which hasn't always felt good or been easy), I have seen the difference in me. Those who are close to me have seen the difference in me. I ABSOLUTELY do not claim to hold any secrets, nor to sit around and sing Kumbaya, nor to be perfect. I am far, far from perfect. But I know that God is growing me into who I am meant to be, and that is what matters. I have flirted with moments of peace and contentment. I have seen what happens when I am obedient to what God wants from me. And I want more of it.

Week in Review--Hastings and Hailstorms

2011-03-25T16:48:00.000-04:00

We had two days of field trips this week. We spent a little time in Baltimore, MD. You can read more about our trip here.

Other than that, we've had a low-key week. I admit I am not horribly motivated, even though I was delighted to see that Scrappy only needs 35 more days of school to meet the state-mandated 180 educational days. You'd think that would light a fire under me to "get 'er done" but it doesn't seem to be the case.

I blame the weather.

It's obviously spring, and I have a nearly overwhelming desire to clean out the house and organize things. It's been too cold to spend a big chunk of time in the basement. The house is still a construction zone (*sigh*) but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Hub's brother is coming to finish up the last bedroom and then we can rearrange all the Flour Children. Well, their rooms, anyway. So I just want to clean. Let's face it. I should go with it, right? I knew you would agree.

There has been some traditional educating going on here, despite the obscene amount of kids' clothes I've been sorting through. We had a great discussion on Vikings (wrapping up with that topic) and we've moved into the beginning of the English kingdom. We learned about Alfred the Great and his battle to keep the Vikings out of southern England. We studied Harold vs. William in the showdown for the crown (aka The Battle of Hastings).

By the way, I love homeschooling. I learn so much more than I ever learned in school. I did take a British Isles class in college, but dropped it after we spent 3 periods watching Braveheart. It's a huge hole in my History knowledge and I love that we're studying it in elementary school! I mean, really, battles and kings and castles are very interesting at this age. Okay, they're always interesting.

It also hailed this week. Hooray! Most of it was just slightly larger than pea-sized. We were in the middle of schoolwork when it started and we all ran outside! We studied weather in detail two years ago, and it doesn't really hail here too often. It was very exciting to see some hail.

Hailstone collection.

The boys built everything from this Lego book, all week long.

Funny helped me bake a cake.

Get some ideas at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Lazy Cream Bundt Cake

2011-03-25T15:44:00.001-04:00

Generally, cake isn't exciting. Frosting, yes. Cake, no. You know why I think that? Because most of the cake I've had in my life has come from a box. I totally think that cake mixes have their place. There is something comforting about their odd lightness and fluffiness. But, generally, for me, that's not really what I want from a cake. I want something a little denser, and definitely more interesting. That's my personal preference.

This is an extremely easy cake to make, especially if you are first-timer and a little nervous. The main trick with this one is just to be sure to grease and flour the pan really well, or it'll stick. Plus, someone you know has a Bundt pan you can borrow, and so you don't have to buy your own.

Lazy Cream Bundt Cake

from The Spiced Life

3 c. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

6 large eggs, room temperature (just set them out at the beginning of prep time and they'll be fine by the time you need them)

2 3/4 c. sugar

4 tbsp. vanilla or 1 tbsp. vanilla plus 1 tsp. lemon or orange zest (I totally forgot about the vanilla. So my cake just tastes like cream. I'm not really complaining.)

2 c. heavy cream (the package might say "whipping cream"), room temperature (again, just let it sit on the counter a bit)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar together in a mixer on medium speed for about 5 minutes or so. The batter will start to thicken up a little and turn a lovely pale yellow color. While mixing, slowly pour in 1/3 of the cream, followed by 1/3 of the flour mixture, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl after the flour addition. Do that two more times and then beat the whole thing for a minute on medium to combine well.

You can't really tell, but I promise this is yellow.

Scrape the batter into the pan. Bake one hour, checking at 45 minutes to see if it's getting too brown. If so, tent some foil over the top. Mine was fine, so I just baked it the whole hour with no foil.

Ready to go in the oven.

When the cake is done, it'll start to pull away a little from the sides of the pan. It'll be puffy and beautiful (it will deflate some after you take it out).

It's done! You can see how much it rose and how it's pulling away from the sides.

Let it cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack, then invert it onto the rack and slowly (and wiggly) remove the pan. Let it cool completely. Then eat it!

Don't tell the raw egg police, but we actually argued over
who got to lick the bowl. Super tasty.

I'm linking up with Sweets for Saturday here. Check it out for more tasty treats.

Tortellini with Asiago and Bacon

2011-03-24T19:15:00.001-04:00

Yes, I did say bacon.

Now that I have your attention, this is one of the best things we've ever had at our house. I would've payed $10 for a plate of this at a restaurant. As it was, it wasn't that cheap, but for about $25 I fed the Flour Children plus two of their friends, Hub, and myself. And Hub has some for tomorrow's lunch. So that's pretty good.

And, yes. This is pretty easy to make.

This is my version. You can find the original here. I had to double it to feed all of us.

You can't really see any browned bits from the broiler because I didn't leave this one
in long enough. But I broiled the second one enough to brown it. We just couldn't wait. It happens.

Tortellini with Asiago and Bacon
adapted from Cooking for My Peace of Mind

12 oz. bacon (about 8 slices), probably better make a little extra for noshing while cooking
1/2 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or about 2 tsp. of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste (I skipped the salt, what with the bacon and the cheese being salty)
2 tbsp. flour
3-4 c. milk (depending on the consistency you want; I opted for 3)
2 lbs of refrigerated cheese tortellini, NOT cooked
1 c. grated asiago (or other hard cheese, like parm or romano)

Heat broiler. In large skillet (I used two; this is a lot of food), cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Set aside to drain. You can pour off a little of the grease, but not too much. That's right. We're gonna eat it. You'll be okay. In fact, it's why it's so good. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.

Slowly whisk in the milk. Add the tortellini. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Reduce heat to low until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and crumble the bacon over the pasta and add half of the cheese. Stir to combine.

You could eat it now, but why? Top with the rest of the cheese. Stick it under the broiler for about 3 or 4 minutes and let it brown a bit. It's just so pretty. Well, make sure your pan can go under the broiler (I made mine in cast iron skillets). If not, transfer it to one (or two) that can.

You are welcome, my friends.

Taco Soup

2011-03-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

I love my crock pot. I love it because it's hands-off cooking (mostly) and sometimes I am just too lazy to cook. I know you relate, otherwise, we wouldn't all order so much take out. This is SUPER easy and there's really no excuse not to make it. My version is pretty simple and the original is even easier. Give it a shot. Ole!

Taco Soup
from crockpot365.com
See original recipe here.

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 large onion, diced (about 1/2 c. or more if you want)
2 cans (I used home-canned pints) diced tomatoes with liquid
2 generous handfuls of frozen corn
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (any beans that you like would work)
1 c. water
1 packet ranch dressing mix (seriously)
1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp garlic powder OR 1 packet taco seasoning

Brown the ground beef with the onions and drain. Add to the crock pot. Sprinkle the ranch mix and taco seasoning or spices over top (feel free to adjust the spice amounts to make yourself happy). Add tomatoes with juice, corn, beans, and water. Stir. Cook on low for 8 hours.

We topped our's with some freshly shredded cheddar (you know how I feel about pre-shredded cheese) and sour cream. And we happened to have some tasty cheddar-jalapeno bread too. It's good to be us. This was so very tasty and I will make it again.

Baltimore

2011-03-21T22:59:00.000-04:00

The Inner Harbor near the National Aquarium.

We just got back from a trip to Baltimore, where we visited with some dear friends. It had been years since we'd seen them, and it was a great visit. We drove around a few different neighborhoods and got a bit of a feel for the city. (Okay, sometimes we were lost.) There were A LOT of boarded up old brownstones, which was sad. But then there were also gorgeous buildings, and a lot of very nice homes for families.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum

We loved the B&O museum! My dad is a bit train-obsessed, and I grew up around model trains. We also went to visit a number of train museums/rides (Strasburg, Cass) during my childhood. Somehow, we never made it to this one. I was really wishing he was there with us, but we took a ridiculous amount of pictures to show him until he can get there.

Ridin' in style, right here. Unless you had to ride on top, I guess.

It's nearly impossible to get anything resembling a good
family photo. But here we all are.

Scrappy with an early engine. See how big he is compared to the wheels?

Ooooh, bigger train, bigger wheels.

Another attempt at a family photo. Goofy makes that face in most of his pictures.
This is in front of an Allegheny, which, according to my dad, is a BIG deal.

Outside shot of the workshop. It's been in continuous operation since 1869.
I guess if you have a train that needs fixing, this is the place to go.

This was great for kids. We got to see the history of engines in a nutshell, from horse-drawn passenger cars to modern diesel and electric trains. I think that anyone who likes trains, transportation, engineering, or history would really enjoy this museum.

National Aquarium

We were smart enough to go to the aquarium on a Monday, which greatly increased our chances of having a good time, according to the Internet reviewers. There were a few times where it felt crowded, but for the most part, it wasn't too bad. Having read the reviews, I knew that I had to lower my expectations, but I forgot to tell Hub. In the end, we were disappointed. I really would like to know why it's called "The National Aquarium." I think other aquariums are nicer. And cheaper. (Price for three soft pretzels=$11.50.)

There were some exhibits that I thought were especially well-done. They have an exhibit on the massive growth of the jellyfish population and its impact, which was really interesting and different. They have a great collection of sharks and stingrays. The Flour Children liked the dolphin show best. There is also a huge coral reef tank which the kids really loved. The Australia exhibit is also pretty good.

They were shooting pictures for their website,
so the dolphin was up close and personal.

These jellyfish are called Upside-Down Jellyfish. Seriously. Clever, right?
They were working hard to stay down at the bottom of the tank.

Rays. I want one as a pet. Hub says we would need a much bigger
fish tank. Too bad.

Fun in the gift shop.

Overall, it was a good visit. We discussed a lot of the things we have learned about in science class. You know how it's always nice to know the darlings are actually retaining things now and again.

After all that, we were too tired to do anything else, but we'll go back again. We were told a couple times that we should go to the Babe Ruth Museum. Anyone ever been there?

Brined Pork Chops

2011-03-18T19:21:00.000-04:00

I had some pork sirloin chops that I got for a good price. Hub merely tolerates the pork chop. I think he wishes I never bought them. Fact is, every one else likes them and they're cheap. So now and again, it's pork chop night.

Now, I do take Hub into consideration when planning meals. This was no different. I rooted around to see what I could do to make the chops extra tasty. And I found the answer. Brining. According to the cook book where I found this recipe, in the past 20 or so years, most of the fat (ie taste) has been bred out of pork. Brining is a great way to add flavor. Brining just means something is soaking in salt water.

Brined Pork Chops
adapted from It's All American Food

Brine:
4 c. cold water
4 tbsp. coarse salt
2 tbsp. sugar
10 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. celery seeds
1/2 orange, halved again

That's what a bowl of brine looks like.

Mix all brine ingredients, squeezing orange juice out of orange before adding peels to brine mixture. Stir a bit to combine. Then add your chops. Brine the chops for an hour in the fridge.

pork chops (I used 5 1/2 inch-thick sirloin chops that I cut in half; you could use any type you like)

For frying:
3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, shortening (whatever you like)

Remove the chops and let the liquid drip back into the bowl. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Toss the chops (a few at a time) to coat and set aside on a plate (don't stack them).

Heat your oil. A word about olive oil... if you are using a low-quality olive oil, it will have a lower smoke point and will not be suitable for this recipe. Once your oil starts to smoke, it starts to taste gross. I used a combination of olive oil and butter for frying my pork chops.

Add the chops to the heated oil and lower heat to medium. Cook 5 minutes (don't touch them, they're browning). Flip them over and cook another 5 minutes. Cover your pan and turn the heat down to low, and cook for 6 more minutes.

Drain the chops on paper towels, and let them rest a couple minutes before serving.

These do not come out tasting all salty and gross. Instead, they are DELICIOUS. Seriously. Hub had 2 of them. That's a record for him.

I did take a picture for you but pork chops are not very photogenic.

Week in Review

2011-03-18T15:21:00.002-04:00

Spring is finally springing around here, thank goodness. I spent most of the week laying on the couch as I've been suffering with an ugly cold. Headache, chills, exhaustion. I seem to be (mostly) on the mend, which is great. As a result, there wasn't much in the way of "traditional" (you know, for our house) schooling. My throat hurt too much to read aloud, which really is quite tragic.

Scrappy managed to squeeze out a couple lessons of spelling. We've been so hit-or-miss with Sequential Spelling, but it's nice that when we get back to it, he remembers the patterns again. He and Funny both did some work with cause and effect. It's early logic, right? Right. There's been some math, and they are both working on writing stories. Goofy and Silly have both done some workbook pages this week, too. Everyone has read to me, which is nice. But mostly, we had a relaxed week. We had a park day and a couple field trips. I squeezed what I could out of the week, and that's the best I could do.

On Saturday, we went to see 46 Circus Acts in 45 Minutes, which was really fun.

Fun in the sun. I played on this, too, until I thought
I was going to vomit and fall over.

Silly and Funny getting in the swing of things.

I can barely watch this kid climb. He's scary.

Scrappy really liked this replica of a church entrance
in France and made me take a picture.

Scrappy thought this sculpture looked like the first gate on The Neverending Story.
Good thing we weren't doubting ourselves when we passed by.

Very pretty twisted columns with mosaics. Original is in Rome, 13th century.

Top of the twisty columns. More mosaics.
We wondered if this was a Byzantine influence.

Replica from Notre Dame. I figure this is as close as I'll ever get.

Goofy and Silly contemplate this art installation. (It's a loop of Diana spinning into
Wonder Woman and then running. Yes, from the TV show.)

We picked up Hub before going to the museum. Here he is discussing fossils with the Flour Children.

Funny took it upon herself to fix this loose piece of decking.
Don't worry. She has her safety goggles on.

She's awesome. And helpful.

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see how others are homeschooling.

Pancakes

2011-03-16T10:44:00.001-04:00

I love pancakes. I didn't use to. I merely tolerated them. But all of the sudden, they are like manna and I am filled with great joy at the sight of them. They are just what I want!

You could make pancake-like substances from that weird mix where you just add water and shake. Or from that other weird mix where you open a box and add an egg or something (I forget). Those aren't as tasty as the real thing. And the real thing is actually easy to make.

This recipe reflects the fact that I have 4 pancake-loving children and a husband who also likes pancakes. You may want to halve it if you are humans. Then again, I should note that pancakes keep nicely in the fridge or freezer. I always make extras so we can just microwave them the following day. Bam. Pancakes.

Pancakes
adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

4 large eggs
4 c. flour (I used white with the bran added back in, but wheat is fine, too)
3 c. milk (more for thinner pancakes)
3 tbsp. sugar
3/4 stick of butter, melted (if you use the whole thing, I won't tell)
3 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs in large bowl with whisk, hand beater, fork, or sheer will. Mix in remaining ingredients just until smooth. Let it rest while you heat up your electric griddle (375 degrees) or frying pan. You can grease your pan if you have to, but I don't. If you can drop a few drops of water on the pan and it dances, then your pan is hot enough. I use a 1/2 c. ladle (or just use your 1/2 c. measure) to scoop the batter onto the pan. Let them cook until the edges start to look a little dried out. Flip and cook the other side (it won't take as long).

You can keep them on a plate in a warm oven if you want to serve everyone at once.

You can adjust what you put in these little gems. When you pour the batter out, you can sprinkle with frozen or fresh blueberries, chocolate chips, crumbled bacon, perhaps? I am doing the bacon thing next time. I've been dreaming about it for long enough.

I think it's pretty common practice that the pancake chef often jacks up the first pancake (too dark, too doughy in the middle, maybe both). So don't be sad if it happens to you. I have only recently gotten to where the first one is consistently good, and I have been making them since 1995, when my lovely friend Brenda taught me the ways of pancake-making.

What, you want a picture? We ate the picture.

Weeks in Review

2011-03-12T10:08:00.002-05:00

We had two great school weeks. I chalk most of that up to having a less-stressed attitude (something I've been working on all year) and embracing those days that feel more unschooly. I still try to direct them (to a game, or outside, or whatever) but I have really relaxed. I still have those days where I freak out and think I'm messing them up, but I am pretty confident every parent thinks that at some time or another, no matter where their kids go to school! Those days of insecurity are getting less and less. Or maybe they just aren't as loud anymore.

Goofy and Silly play Stratego.

Scrappy is flying through his MUS Gamma book. I think he may finish it by the end of the year, which would be wonderful! He's been reading everyday, and I have seen a huge improvement in his fluency and comprehension as a result. I am so thankful, because reading has been a struggle this year. He struggles a little with reading but mostly it's my struggle with patience.

Funny has been doing addition flashcards all week. She needed to memorize her facts. Her lack of memorization had been slowing down the rest of her math, so we're on a break from Saxon. We're back to it on Monday. She's been reading a lot also. She LOVES books, which is great. It's better than great, actually. She loves to read to Silly. That's handy for me, and it gives me the warm fuzzies.

Goofy has been reading a lot, as well. He picked out a box of Spider-Man readers at the local Borders during its going-out-of-business sale. They are a little above his level now, but he wants to read them so we've been working through them. Superheroes are the best. He is about halfway through his little subtraction workbook.

Scrappy and Funny build their own electric circuit. It didn't work.
They kept working until it did.

We've all been studying Vikings this week. We are Viking it and liking it, my friends. We've had a great study where we've read a number of books and used the map and globe A LOT. They were a busy people, those Norsemen. By the way, Vikings really didn't wear hats with horns on them, it turns out.

We started our Apologia chapter on crustaceans. We haven't gotten very far. I was reading them the section on lobsters, and we were talking about omnivores (which lobsters are). That got us onto the fact that people are also omnivores. Funny piped up with, "But our cousins are vegetarians." So then we talked about a variety of reasons why people would want to be vegetarians. We are going to be vegetarians for a week, probably in April. And then, even better, we got into a great discussion about factory farming vs. traditional farming and why it is important to Hub and I that we eat "good" meat (meaning organic, kosher, local, or hormone & antibiotic-free). As a result, we don't eat a whole lot of meat, and now they understand why. It really was a wonderful conversation. I am so happy that I am fostering that back-and-forth with them.

Books read: Viking It and Liking It #12 (Time Warp Trio), On the Go with Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe! (Viking Easy-to-Read), Hi! Fly Guy (Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards)), Buzz Boy And Fly Guy,Poppleton Has Fun, Phonics Volume I (DVD), Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, The Missing Monster Card (My First Graphic Novel), How Many Fish? (My First I Can Read Book), Yo, Vikings!, Viking Explorers and Settlers (The Viking Library), Elfwyn's Saga, Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City, The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale, I Read Symbols (Mulberry books), Pizza Counting, The Last Battle (Narnia)

Last Friday we went back to the Science Center, which you can read about here. We also went bowling with Hub. I am longing for a hike. It won't be too long before spring finally gets here and we can get outside. I just want to be with the trees. Yes, I might just hug one.

Read about how other people are homeschooling at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

2011-03-07T22:39:00.001-05:00

You may recall that I am doing a Victorian Reading Challenge in 2011. I have finally finished my first book of the challenge (after a little detour into a different book). Sadly, it took me about 8 weeks to finish The Picture of Dorian Gray. It wasn't that I wasn't interested (quite the opposite), but more that I have book ADD. I cannot remember a time when I wasn't in the middle of 2 or 3 books at once.

As for my thoughts on poor, sad Dorian... (yes, there will be spoilers)

I love this picture. I am planning to watch this movie
version later this week. I can't wait.

Well, I suppose that's it. He's poor and sad. I am of the school of thought that no matter what he (me?) may try, his (my?) sins always catch up with him (and me!). I thought it was interesting how Dorian hid away the ugly picture of himself, and even covered it. But every now and again, he liked to pull down the fabric and take a look. I guess he liked what he was doing--the power that he had over others. It got me thinking...is there something I like about doing the wrong thing? I keep on doing wrong. I wonder.

As for the character I most identified with, I would have to say Lord Henry. When I started reading this book, my first thought about Henry was, "This is what I would be like without Jesus." Which might give you a little more insight than I might like into my thoughts. I am ashamed to admit that I "get" Henry's fascination with pushing buttons and creating his own amusement. An argument could be made that Henry is the real villain of this story, who preys on young, naive Dorian. That may be true at first, but Dorian has plenty of time to learn to think for himself. He just chooses not to.

I know some people don't like Oscar Wilde, for a number of reasons. I have always found him amusing. I actually want to read An Ideal Husband this year if I can. I've seen The Importance of Being Earnest, so I'm going to skip reading it for now.

I have all kinds of thoughts about this book, some of which I am still mulling over. For those of you that have read it, what did you think?

You can read here about what others are reading for the Victorian Reading Challenge.

We love science

2011-03-06T18:31:00.001-05:00

Yet another trip to the Carnegie Science Center. I love our Carnegie Museums pass and I'm so happy it was on Groupon so I could afford it. We've been putting it to great use this year.

This time we went to see a show at the Buhl Planetarium called "Stars Over Pittsburgh." It's all about the current night sky. We learned how to identify a variety of constellations and planets. The astronomer asked all sorts of questions and the Flour Children loved answering them. They were so enthusiastic that after the show, she took us all up to the roof to see the big telescope. It was pretty cool! We were all very excited and can't wait to go back on a night where the weather is good so we can look through it.

Scrappy and Silly with the telescope.

View of our city from the roof.

There was a new interactive exhibit there as well. It was all about air! We studied birds and flight last year and so it was interesting to see all the things about drag, pressure and lift. I just read a book to Silly about air, too, so it was well-timed for her.

Scrappy getting ready to see if his parachute will open.

Goofy shooting off a rocket.

Silly sees that air can hold up a ball. Pretty exciting.

Funny trying to figure out how wind affects these objects. Depending on direction,
the wind either causes them to hit each other or pull apart and to be still.

Experiment with drag. Which shape will move fastest?

Visit Live the Adventure for more field trip reviews!

Gettin' Crafty

2011-03-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

My lovely sister-in-law gave Funny a bunch of crafty things for her birthday last week. One of them was a "learn to knit animals" thing. Well, I inwardly groaned at the sight of it. But I'm a good sport (mostly) and I decided to try to tackle it.

Yeah.

Um, what?

I've never knitted. I used to crochet, because I'm simple like that. I never wanted to knit because, well, I just didn't. And thanks to a dear friend, I dodged the bullet. My wonderful friend Jill agreed to help Funny with her crochet project, and even better, to help her learn to sew. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes Funny! The girl lives to be crafty.

In exchange for teaching services, I get to watch Jill's youngest. It's a good deal, if you ask me.

Here she is being ridiculous under our dinner table.

Here's Funny with her first knitting project.

No, I can't tell you what she's doing. Casting on? Is that a thing?

Weeks in Review

2011-02-25T17:15:00.002-05:00

I haven't done a wrap up for quite some time.

We celebrated two holidays in February, Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day. This was the first year that I really made a point to do something for Presidents' Day. Of course, being us, we read some books. I wanted to make a craft, but that just didn't work out. I have only seen preschool crafts, so if someone has a great idea for next year, please share!

We went back to the Carnegie Natural History museum. This time we went through the polar life exhibit, which was pretty fun. The kids really loved the giant igloo. We also looked at animals and plant life. We've seen everything there now, so next time we're going to get one of the museum-provided kits. It comes with a scavenger hunt. That's pretty fun.

Goofy finished his Math-U-See Primer book. Hooray! Right now he's working through a subtraction workbook, and then he'll move onto Alpha. Or maybe he'll switch to Saxon. I don't know, in all honesty. I better make a decision about that.

Funny's new favorite school subject is grammar. She has her own book of Mad Libs, and she's using them to practice parts of speech. I picked up some Star Wars Mad Lib books for Scrappy to start soon.

Books read: March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed The World, What Presidents Are Made Of, Running Backs (Playmakers), My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, D.C., Madam President, King Kong: Journey to Skull Island (I Can Read Book 2), The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia)

Check out more wrap ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

The Flour Children do Valentine's Day

2011-02-21T08:45:00.000-05:00

I figure that before it's St. Patrick's Day, I better post on Valentine's Day. There are a few good things that I lament my children missing because they are homeschooled. The big valentine exchange is one of those things. (Although, then I read this. And it made me sad.) Another homeschooling mom is kind enough to organize a party at Chuck E Cheese's every Valentine's Day. There's no clean up and the kids have a blast. She breaks the list of kids down into grades (this year I think it was preK-2nd and 3rd-up). That way, the kids are not writing out a ton of valentines. That makes me tired thinking about it. Anyway, it was our first year participating, and we loved it. We'll definitely be going again next year.

Sampling of boxes.

Goofy giving out his valentines.

I loved this pink box. You can't tell from my picture, but it's a purse made out of a cigar box.

More boxes. Very creative.

I liked this Harry Potter box.

Feed him! My personal favorite.

This one was a computer. All the keys are in the right spot, even.

Moorish Feast

2011-02-05T18:35:00.000-05:00

We got this idea from our Social Studies book, Story of the World. For those who lament their lack of creativity, this book really helps get over that hurdle. You just have to be willing to try the activities. I am definitely partial to the cooking activities, as I've been teaching Funny how to cook this year. This one was super fun, and the whole family participated.

In the 700s, Spain was inhabited by Visigoths (and Romans, too) and their king died. Power struggle! The sons of the dead king thought they were so clever, and they asked Tariq bin Ziyad, a famous Islamic military leader, to come help them defeat Rodrigo, who had been appointed king. Now Tariq and his troops had worked to spread Islam all the way to what is now Morocco. And Spain was conveniently right there, just across the sea. How nice of Spain to just invite him to come! He, of course, accepted, and invaded Spain. Muslim Spaniards became known as Moors. The Muslims introduced all kinds of things to Spain, such as apples, cherries, cooking utensils and lawyers. Too bad about the lawyers. The point where Tariq landed is named after him, and is now called "the rock of Gibraltar."

For dinner, we ate arroz con pollo, grapes, and naan. I doubt there would've been naan there, but surely there would've been some kind of flatbread. We ate by candlelight, and sat on pillows. The closest music I could find was SAHARA LOUNGE. (Sorry that's all caps; blame Amazon.) We all really, really liked the music.

Funny browning the rice and onion.

Funny working her knife skills.

Silly is dancin' on the table.

Funny decided to dress like a hippie (she lamented her lack of admiral costumes) and
build a telescope so she can see Spain and where she would land the boats.

My super lazy, fake version of arroz con pollo. It was tasty.

Dinner time!

Goofy is mesmerized by the fire.

Silly looking contemplative.

Grapes and candle.

Scrappy takes a break from hogging all the grapes.

Week in Review--Tourists in Our Own Town

2011-02-04T13:10:00.001-05:00

We've just been hunkering down trying to get through some workbooks and what-not. It's that time of year, I guess. I did take one evening and gather a few items for Scrappy's portfolio (that's what's required here in PA) so I have much less anxiety over all of that. I see where the gaps are, and I am working to fill them. Yippee!

We have really been having a good time with school. I'm not all wigged out, which really helps keep everything calm. And since it's getting to be spring, that means it's convention time! I am very excited to attend (I hope) two homeschool conventions this year. One of them is local, and the other is the big one in Cincinnati. Will you be there? Let me know! We are blessed with supportive family, and thanks to my aunt, we've purchased nearly everything we need for next year already. I hope I remember that when I'm at the vendor fair!

All of the kids have been working on reading. Even Silly has started reading! I am amazed at what she picks up just from being around the other kids. It's been so much easier to school Goofy and Silly, since Scrappy and Funny have come before them. They both seem to magically know things. It's nice.

For science, we're done with fish (in general) and have moved onto cartilaginous fish (sharks & rays). It's time to start planning our big end-of-year field trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

For social studies, we've studied Australia's indigenous people, as well as the arrival of Europeans. We've also talked about the Franks invading Gaul and the emergence of France.

Scrappy will be taking his state-required standardized test in the upcoming weeks. I'm trying to prepare him for that by giving him some bubble worksheets. As for the information, he knows it or he doesn't. I'm trying to relax about it, especially since there's no minimum score dictated by the state.

We went on three field trips. We returned to the Carnegie Science Center, listened to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and also went to the Heinz History Center.

Shot of the orchestra before the show started (and the no photos rule).

This is a powder horn from the French & Indian War. They would carve maps on the outside,
which is what you see on the right.

Pittsburgh is very famous for its glass.

Scrappy driving the trolley.

Steel workers uniform. Safety first. Or third.

There's a great Pittsburgh sports museum within the History Center.

Silly as Honus Wagner.

Goofy is ready to stop the puck!

Funny with George Washasaurus.

Scrappy tries lifting a steel worker's wrench. It didn't budge.

Scrappy and Goofy on a Racer car, from Kennywood.

At Science Center, Scrappy played air hockey against a robot. And lost.

Funny does the local weather forecast.

Books read and videos watched: Dingoes at Dinnertime (Magic Tree House, No. 20), I Have a Dream (Voices of Freedom), Rabbit Ears Heroic Bible Stories: Jonah and the Whale, Joseph and His Brothers, Children Just Like Me, Let's Count Goats!, Australia (Rookie Read-About Geography), Bill Nye the Science Guy: Architecture [DVD], Bill Nye the Science Guy: Heat, Medieval Paris (Journey to the Past), The Inside-Outside Book of Paris, Shark Week: The Great Bites Collection [Blu-ray] Mythbusters episode

Are yinz guys nebby n'at? Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more. And...Go Steelers!

Chicken Tikka Masala

2011-01-30T19:01:00.000-05:00

I really, really like Indian food. A lot.

So I learned that chicken tikka masala was actually invented in London. That's the story, anyway. At any rate, they serve it at Indian restaurants, and it's tasty. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that although there were a couple steps to making it, it was really easy!

Funny.

Scrappy and pita.

Chicken Tikka Masala
from Cook's Illustrated Magazine 10/2007

Chicken Tikka
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander (I left this out since I didn't have any)
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used tenders)
1 c. plain yogurt (I used Fage Greek)
2 tbsp. olive or veg oil
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. fresh ginger

Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt. Sprinkle over chicken (both sides), lightly pressing onto meat. Cover and let sit for 30-60 minutes (I left mine on the counter, don't tell the food police). For yogurt sauce, combine yogurt, oil, garlic and ginger. Stir to combine. I left that to sit on the counter, too.

Masala Sauce
3 tbsp. veg oil (I used half olive oil and half ghee, because I could)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. fresh ginger
1 serrano chile, finely chopped (remove ribs & seeds if you don't want it too spicy)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. garam masala (essential, people)
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

For the sauce: Saute onion in oil about 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add garlic, ginger, chile, paste, garam masala. Saute a minute or two until your kitchen smells like heaven. Add tomatoes, sugar, and salt. Cover and simmer on medium-low for about 15 minutes. Stir in cream and bring back to simmer. Turn it off and cover to keep warm.

Uncover your wrapped chicken. Turn on the broiler. You need to line a pan with foil and set a rack inside. I am sure you could get away with crumpling the foil and then opening it if you didn't have a rack. Point is, you want air circulating underneath. I used a cookie sheet and cookie rack. Coat chicken in yogurt mixture. Be generous. It should go on pretty thick. Broil it in the broiler, turning, and letting it char a little, until done, 10-15 minutes. Let it rest a couple minutes, then cut into 1" pieces and toss into the masala sauce. You're not cooking the chicken in the sauce. Top the whole thing with the chopped cilantro and wow your family.

I served mine with pita that I wrapped in foil and warmed in the oven while the chicken cooked.

The Flour Children LOVED this. (Hooray!)

Silly. She made her's into a sandwich.

Goofy. He made his into a taco.

Butternut Squash Bisque

2011-01-21T15:07:00.000-05:00

Butternut bisque, get in my belly!

More snow. That means more soup! Well, it does here, anyway.

I was reading my email this morning, and stumbled upon this recipe from Saving Dinner. If you've never heard of this site, I'm a little sad for you. There's a book, too, that your library might have. She sends an email every weekday, and once or twice a week a recipe is included. Here's her thing: she wants us to be eating healthy foods that are easy to cook. Holla! (Can I say "holla"? I did.)

This is her recipe, with slight alteration. I added 1/2 tsp. more curry powder and had to use full-fat evaporated milk since it's all I had.

I have been collecting butternut squash, it seems. So I poked some holes in about 4 of them (with a steak knife) and put them on a pan in the oven at 350 for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I lost track; I was doing other stuff. That's what's nice about roasting squash. You can leave them. It's not exact science. I only used about 1 1/2 c. of squash for this recipe; the rest I think I will bake into a tasty pie.

Mmmm onions & apples.

Butternut Bisque
from Saving Dinner.com

1 medium butternut squash, cooked (I mashed mine, but cubes would be fine.)
3/4 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 apple, cored and diced (I used a gala.)
2 tsp. butter (yes, only 2 tsp!)
2 tbsp wheat flour
1 tsp. curry
1 tsp. nutmeg
4 c. low-sodium veggie broth (I used College Inn brand.)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 c. evaporated milk (She suggests the fat-free version.)
1/2 tsp. sage

In soup pot, melt butter and add onion, garlic, and apple. Saute until onion is translucent. Add flour, curry, and nutmeg and cook until apple is tender. Saving Dinner says at this point, you should blend these ingredients with your squash and 1 c. broth, then return to the pan. Instead, I added the squash and all of the broth, and then blended it with the immersion blender. Pick your method. Add tomato paste, milk, and sage. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and then simmer a few minutes. Then eat!

If you have to use regular milk, instead of evaporated milk, don't boil it.

Week in Review -- Sea snakes and Chinese writing

2011-01-16T18:15:00.000-05:00

I have been so hit-or-miss with my weekly wrap ups. But you're okay with that, right?

This week we studied medieval Asia. We learned about the Sui dynasty uniting China, and the Tang dynasty. The Flour Children took a stab at some Chinese writing. We also discussed Japan and Korea, and their relationship with China during the medieval period.

Practicing Chinese character drawing.

We had a great week of science! We read about ocean-dwelling dinosaurs. There were 4 main types, and the kids drew pictures of them at the end of the unit. We also talked about sea reptiles, specifically sea snakes and sea turtles. The Flour Children made some turtles and snakes out of Model Magic.

Scrappy is making a sea turtle out of Crayola's Model Magic
(which I cannot say enough good things about).

Goofy with his sea turtle and sea snake. Note the flattened tail on the snake.
That's a good way to tell a sea snake from a land snake that just happens to be taking a swim.

Prolific as ever. Funny's sea turtles and sea snakes.

Funny wants you to know that sea snakes are mostly venomous.
But you're probably safe, as you don't normally find them near North America.

This is an experiment we did to determine why it can be difficult to find good fish (such as the now-extinct ichthyiosaur) fossils. We had 2 cups; 1 had a shell in it representing a clam, and the other a Cheerio, representing the dead fish. (The Cheerio works because fish and Cheerios are mostly air.) We put a little water in the cups, and then mixed up some mud and poured it over top. The kids discovered that the "clam" still was at the bottom of its cup, but the "fish" floated! So it would be more susceptible to scavengers and the currents, and therefore, less likely to become fossilized.

Scrappy mixes up some mud for our science experiment.

Funny covers our ichthyosaur (aka the Cheerio) with mud.

Goofy drawing a picture of the 4 sea dinosaurs we studied.

Goofy dug out our formerly abandoned dino dig kit.
He says he's going to be a paleontologist when he grows up.

There were a few inches of snow this week, so the kids played outside everyday. I even went out one day and played tag with them, and made a snow angel. But only for a little bit. It was coooold.

Goofy climbs a giant snowy pile of rocks and logs.

We also studied a bit about Vincent Van Gogh and I have plans for the kids to take a stab at painting their own picture full of dots, dashes and swirls. We were at Red Robin one night and Funny actually noticed "Starry Night" hanging on the wall and could identify it! She then told her dad she didn't think it was a good idea for a man to send someone an ear. She's so right.

We had a field trip this week. It was our first trip in many weeks. We went to the Carnegie Natural History Museum. I was so excited (I am a geek, yes) because they had a mosasaur skeleton and we could identify it! Long neck, body like a turtle, swimming dinosaur=mosasaur. I love it when things stick! We also toured the bird section and that was great fun. We studied birds last year, and it was great to see so many of the species we had discussed, as well as the different types of eggs and nests.

Be careful, Silly!

Some nice dinosaur fossils.

That's a mosasaur!

Goofy is STILL digging for bones.

Fancy plumage.

Some raptors. These are kestrels.

Books read: Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars (Smart About Art), Long Is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children, Misty of Chincoteague, Arabian Nights

Foods cooked: carrot cake cupcakes, cream cheese icing

Weeks in Review -- Christmas school

2011-01-07T12:10:00.000-05:00

I am afraid to go out on a limb (is it a limb?) and say we are straight up unschooling. Mostly because it isn't quite true. But we definitely have been doing a lot of unschooling in December, and it has been wonderful. The best thing is that I am not consumed with guilt, lamenting my failure to teach and their failure to learn. We have done a lot of things in December, and life is pretty educational, when you think about it.

Silly learns about physics when she is turned into a giant yo-yo.

Funny races Hub.

Funny climbs a wall.

The Flour Children dress themselves like presents.

Christmas countdown. I wrote a Bible verse on each one.

See? A Bible verse a day.

Scrappy and Funny help put up the tree. You don't see me doing it.
What subject is this, you may wonder? Patience.

Even Silly helps.

Christmas ornaments made by the Flour Children.

We baked a lot of cookies.

K uses this for math and reading.
Hub caught Silly teaching herself to read with this the other day.

Silly does a look and find, with counting.

Learning about the winter solstice.

Books I Read on my Christmas Vacation

2011-01-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

Since my blog is ADD (covering homeschooling, cooking, etc.) I figure why not add more about the books I'm reading? It's my blog and I can do what I want.

Easy by Emma Gold
I really hated the unnamed main character in this book for a good 150 pages. In the end, I didn't abhor this book, but it was close.

How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky
A very cute story about Santa's prior job experience (mail carrier, baker, etc.), which prepared him for becoming Santa Claus.

Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin
I really love Click, Clack, Moo. In fact, I would say it is one of my favorite children's books of all time. This was just okay for me.

13 Words by Lemony Snicket
Excellent. I love vocabulary. I love Lemony Snicket (who also loves vocabulary). A great book with wonderful art.

Snow is My Favorite and My Best by Lauren Child
I adore Charlie and Lola. They have a great brother-sister relationship that is missing from a lot of books & shows (since it's also been made into a cartoon). I especially like the cut paper illustrations.

The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis
We listened to the audio version of this, from Focus on the Family radio theatre. It's a pretty close adaptation, and it totally counts as being read, for me.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Audio. Excellent.

The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis
Audio. I don't think I even really heard of this story until we got this set of CDs, but I really liked it. It had a nice, tidy, happy ending.

I also started Cheap and The Burning Wire, but didn't finish them yet.

Victorian Book Challenge

2011-01-02T10:44:00.000-05:00

So originally I had posted that I was doing an urban fantasy (think "Supernatural") reading challenge. And I got to thinking about that, and decided that one of my goals is to read more...classical/difficult/challenging books this year. I couldn't choose an adjective. Anyway, so I stumbled along this challenge at books, books, books and it better suits my personal goals for 2011.

My desire to read more classics is directly related to my reading of A Thomas Jefferson Education. How can I best educate my children? By educating myself. I love that philosophy. If I could've just stayed in college forever, I would have.

I think it's best for me to choose some titles. Whether I stick with them or not is another thing. But I need something to start from. I see a lot of people doing this challenge have listed Austen books, but being a stickler (she's Regency, not Victorian), I am not listing any of her's. Which is a shame, because I still need to finish Emma, and I am currently reading Persuasion. Oh well.

Because I am a chicken, I am reading at the Sense & Sensibility level, which is 1-4 books.

1. Bleak House (Dickens) -- My friend Mike gave me this book in 1995. I still haven't read it. But that all changes this year.

2. Wuthering Heights (E. Bronte) -- One of my all-time favorites. I might read it first, for momentum.

3. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde) -- I have always wanted to read this one. And I want to see the movie. Which means I have to read it first.

4. The Princess and the Goblin (MacDonald) -- Because I just know I should read this book.

Cheddar-Ale Soup

2010-12-28T13:31:00.002-05:00

I don't care too much for beer. But I do love to cook with it.

I found this recipe in an ad from Williams-Sonoma a few weeks ago. And then I got an immersion blender for Christmas (trust me, I was extremely excited), and I knew my dream of eating this soup would come true.

You don't have to have an immersion blender. I have let many a soup cool a bit, and then blended it in batches in the regular blender. There's a fear of burning with the regular blender that I don't have with the immersion blender.

Celery, carrots and onion waiting to go into the soup pot.

Cheddar-Ale Soup
adapted from Williams-Sonoma

4 slices of thick-sliced bacon
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 large onion, diced (because Hub is an onion-hater; if you are normal, you could use a whole onion)
3 carrots, peeled & diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced (I only had one clove, so I also added some garlic powder)
1/3 c. flour
1 c. pale ale (I used Boddington's because Hub has to drink the leftovers; it's the milkshake of beers)
1 tbsp. worcestershire
2 c. milk
2 c. chicken broth
1 1/4 lb. sharp cheddar, shredded
salt & pepper to taste

W-S also suggested toasted croutons and olive oil for garnish. I did neither.

In 4-5 quart pot, fry bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Throw out all but 2 tbsp. of the bacon fat. Over medium heat, add butter and melt. Add onion, carrots and celery; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are softened (about 20 minutes). Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Add the ale and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up all the bits on the bottom of the pan, for 2-3 minutes. Add worcestershire, milk and broth. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer. Do not boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10-12 minutes. Remove pot from heat and blend with immersion blender (or regular blender--please let it cool a bit first!) until smooth.
Over medium-low heat, add cheese by the handful, stirring constantly. Do not boil! Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with crumbled bacon.

Soup, pre-blend.

Giant pile of cheese.

Finished soup. Get in my belly!

Williams-Sonoma says this makes 6 servings. We had it for lunch, and I would say it's more like 8 servings. Well, unless everyone likes it as much as Hub and I did... The Flour-Children mostly rejected this. I think they don't like the beer taste. Funny liked it, but she loves every soup I have ever given to her. Silly also found it tolerable. The boys...well, you'd think I'd given them something horrid. Fools. I cannot even begin to tell you how delicious this soup was. I will definitely make it again, and just let those punky kids eat something else. I hate to waste perfectly tasty soup on whiners.

That sounds a little harsh. But I know all you parents out there know where I am coming from.

Beer + bacon + a mountain of cheese = LOVE.

Need more soup recipes? Check out Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-12-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

I bake two different cookies that make people swoon: ginger cookies and chocolate chip cookies. I didn't even make up this recipe for chocolate chips cookies, but everyone I know that tries them LOVES them. I think it's because there isn't any vanilla in them, which frees you up to really taste the delicious combination of chocolate, butter and salt.

Try not to eat all the raw cookie dough.

Thanks again to one of my two favorite cookbooks, Betty Crocker's New Cookbook (the other being Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 15th Edition (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid)), for the making and baking of basic foods. If you are new to, or afraid of, cooking, I highly recommend either of these books. They are like the blankie of cookery.

Many cookies were harmed during the photography process.
I had to eat this one.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 egg
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet)

Mix sugars, butter and egg. Stir in flour, soda and salt. The dough will be stiff. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons (I use a cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 until light brown. Cool slightly and remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Do me, and everyone you love, a huge favor and DO NOT USE MARGARINE. I am begging you. And, I think today is the day you should splurge for a better quality chocolate, while you're at it. You will taste the difference.

Fall into Reading Wrap Up

2010-12-18T18:05:00.001-05:00

Well, I did a so-so job at meeting my goals. I really have a problem with distraction. I am really good at setting a book aside and reading an entire other book. I read Immanuel's Veins and Muppet Robin Hood (Muppet Graphic Novels), which were not on my list. Oh, and Jane Austen Ruined My Life and Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart: A Novel (Modern Contemporary Fiction Po). I started, but haven't yet completed, Jane Austen's Persuasion. I feel like there might've been others, but they escape me at present.

I really suffer from book ADD.

See my comments after each title, below.

Visit the wrap up post on Callapidder Days here.

I'm participating in Callapidder Day's Fall into Reading challenge. Some of these are books I need to finish, and others are books I want to read.

1. When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul, Jr.

I started this book about two weeks ago, and just need to finish it up. I love that he is helping to remind me why I want to remain faithful to the call to homeschool.

I really liked this book. I could definitely see why some people wouldn't like it. I don't think it would change my mind if I wasn't already committed to homeschooling. But I did like it; it worked for me.

2. A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century by Oliver DeMille

This book describes ways that parents (whether homeschoolers, public or private schoolers) can help their children become leaders.

This book is full of great ideas, and offers a different way of looking at what constitutes a quality education. It also includes a few book lists, which I always like, and some tips for leading book discussions. One thing I took away from this was that I need to be reading more challenging books and exercising my brain. Darn. I started Persuasion because I read this book. If I finish it and then find someone to discuss it with me, I will be so proud of myself.

3. How to Pray: The Best Of John Wesley (VALUE BOOKS)

This is a very short book. No excuses for not getting this one done!

Pretty funny that I wrote I had no excuse for not getting this done, as I didn't finish it! I lost it for quite some time. I will finish it, and I find a lot of what Wesley says to be helpful. There are some good nuggets of wisdom in here.

4. Toward the Sunrise (Daughters of Fortune, Book 3) by Judith Pella

This is a fictional story of 3 sisters during WWII. I am really enjoying this series.

Hey, I finished this book! When I started this series, I hoped it would be free of the typical traps of Christian romance (ie, someone has to become Christian for the plot to resolve). Yeah, that didn't work out. I enjoyed it anyway and it helped me remember how much I love Russia.

5. Homeward My Heart (Daughters of Fortune, Book 4) by Judith Pella

Really, I am going to finish the whole series.

Yep, see above.

6. Ezekiel in Life Application Study Bible NIV

I've read it before. We're studying it in Sunday school. It kind of makes my head want to explode.

I quit Sunday school. Man, I'm lame.

Okay, I am going to just stop there. I think this is a manageable list. Yay for books!

Ginger cookies

2010-12-16T16:47:00.002-05:00

This is my favorite Christmas cookie, for a couple reasons. I only make them at Christmas. I only make one batch. And if Christmas had a taste (besides pine, I guess), then this would be it.

I find that this recipe is just perfect. I might add a little more cloves than they call for, but that's because I am all about the cloves. They are definitely ginger-y and molasses-y. And yumm-y.

Giant Ginger Cookies
from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. shortening (I know, I know, it's not butter. Shhh.)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses
sugar to roll the cookies in (1/2-3/4 c.)

In bowl, combine flour, ginger, soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside. In mixer, beat shortening for 30 second. Add 2 c. sugar; beat until combined. Beat in eggs and molasses until combined. Beat in flour mixture. Shape dough into 2 inch balls (they are called "giant" cookies, after all!) and roll in sugar. Place 2-2 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and tops are puffed. They will look undone, but they are done. Don't overbake them! Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely. Log onto this blog and thank me.

UPDATE
I've tried these with butter instead of shortening. Yes, switch to butter, because they are FABULOUS with the butter.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-06T14:22:00.001-05:00

Christmas is nearly upon us. Hooray!

I had a little meltdown this weekend over the stress of the Christmas season. I hate when that happens to me. I fully admit that I am super good at being self-centered, and I took my eyes off the real point of Christmas.

What was that again?

Presents? Cookies? Trees?

Well, anyway. I certainly hope you know why you are Christmas-ing, and I also hope you are smarter than I am, and finding joy in each moment.

I had a little moment of clarity, post-meltdown, where I just stopped and looked around. Some of the kids were watching Barbie's Nutcracker. Funny was setting out her 900 gifts that she has been crafting. Hub was playing with the train set, trying to get things to work. I was sipping a cup of super tasty hot chocolate. And I was just....

content.

I wanted desperately to cling onto that, but it was gone so quickly. *sigh*

Until that great day comes, when I am completely consumed by praise for our amazing God, I have to keep looking for these little blessings. It is so easy to lose them amongst sales, wrapping, and untangling lights.

And so, I want to share some of our Christmas traditions, because there is something so comforting about them. Obviously, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our savior, and I think tradition is a nice way to express that hope that comes with Christ.

We always take a night to go look at the tackiest light displays we can find. There are few great ones around here, but by far the greatest is in Granby in Norfolk, VA. I miss those crazy people. When my parents lived in Virginia Beach, we would drive to see the lights. It was just a few people, and they decorated their whole cul-de-sac. We'd also head over to the Navy base and check out the ships all decked out with their lights. This is something I did with my parents, and now Hub and I do it with our kids (well, minus the ships).

I always baked cookies with my mom and sister and then decorated them. We have continued that tradition as well. We always spend Christmas eve with Hub's parents. He always spent Christmas eve with his paternal grandparents growing up. The kids don't get to open anything besides their stockings until after breakfast on Christmas. That is thanks to my dad's parents, and he passed it along to us.

I love how tradition helps me feel connected to all those who have come before me, and connects me to those who are yet to come. I pray that I remember that during this month, and that I don't get caught up in the "have tos" and "should haves." Just being is enough.

It doesn't have to be fancy. After all, Mary and Joseph didn't have to have a 6 foot pre-lit tree with 50 presents under it, right?

What are some of your traditions?

Weeks in Review -- who knows!?

2010-12-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

I have really been slacking here lately. I don't know if Thanksgiving threw me off, or what. I might be the only person who loves Mondays because it's a new start and a new attempt at being organized-ish and productive.

This is definitely going to be short, because I barely know what we've been doing, besides eating copious amounts of sweets and watching Christmas movies.

We did 1/3 of the Thanksgiving lap book from Journey Through Learning. We couldn't seem to finish it before Thanksgiving, and rather than freak over getting it done, I put it away in my "Thanksgiving" file folder (yes, I have one) for next year. Maybe we'll finish it next year. Maybe not. If they would just know that the Pilgrims weren't giving thanks to the American Indians, then I'll be happy.

We've been reading a bunch of books. Some of our books were: Twister on Tuesday (Magic Tree House, No. 23), The Hallelujah Flight, and Rain School. Funny and Goofy have been reading all kinds of books this week. It's so wonderful to see them wanting to read. I'm still working on instilling that love of reading in Scrappy. I just have to find the right book.

I hope next week to have a real post about our week!

Until then, read about how others are homeschooling at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

I probably should take my own advice

2010-12-02T21:30:00.000-05:00

I have a terrible habit of turning to my friends for advice. I'm not saying that it's bad to ask for advice. Or that it's bad to ask your friends for help. I do think these things are important. My problem is I go to them before I go to God. That is a bad habit to be in.

I have to think out loud. I'm an "outward processor." Hence, this trusty blog that helps me figure things out. That's a big part of why I talk through things with others. But I realized, I was never talking about these things with God. I've been whining all week to everyone about how long my to-do list is (why I am psycho over the list is another post!) and how I can't get anything accomplished. I'm recovering from a cold. The house is extra messy. I'm tired. Blah blah blah blah complain complain blah blah.

Then it hit me this morning.

Why don't I stop and pray about all this craziness?

Well, duh.

And so I did. I specifically prayed for strength and self-discipline in accomplishing my tasks for the day. And then I went a step further, and prayed that I would accomplish what God wanted me to accomplish. (Scary!)

I definitely kept procrastinating. I am really lacking in the self-discipline department. But even amongst my Facebooking and wandering in circles, I managed to cross a number of things off the list.

Whew!

And even better, I made a delicious, healthy dinner for my family. I talked to two of my closest friends on the phone (while doing items on the list). I watched two beautiful girls show me their Christmas dances. I laughed hysterically with my husband.

I am so thankful that I had my perspective adjusted today. I still want to accomplish my list. I just do. I have issues, okay? But I am trying. The dishes were still dirty 10 minutes after dinner, after my custom dance show. No one combusted. Rats didn't come to my kitchen. And I didn't have a panic attack.

You know what's nice about God? He loves me even though I am a work in progress, and He's always helping me grow into who I am meant to be.

Peace on Earth

2010-11-29T07:45:00.001-05:00

Courtney at Women Living Well is hosting another challenge this month, and I'm going to get in on it. I participated in her fall challenge, which really did work wonders for my attitude. I was actually just thinking about the peace candle she had suggested, thinking, I really need to do that again. Lo and behold, here it is! Hooray!

This week I have to write a Bible verse on my calendar: Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (I Peter 5:7). I actually think that I will put this on my calendar and on a sticky note on my computer. I really need this reminder right now.

The second half of the challenge this week is to light a candle, just like during the fall challenge. Every time I see it, I am reminded to pray for peace for my home. I noticed a big difference in the tone of our home when I did this a couple months ago and am looking forward to doing it again.

Scheduling & Time Management

2010-11-21T19:15:00.000-05:00

I have always struggled with time management. I excel at procrastination. I am pretty laid-back. I like to enjoy life and leave the work for whenever. I am the grasshopper, and come winter, I am begging the ants for food.

I have been thinking for a few months about schedules, routines, and structure. Structure, especially, is a scary word to me. Rigid. Boring. Structure. Blah. I guess I am beginning to have a change of heart, because, my friends, I have a schedule now. And I like it.

The schedule itself is from a number of sources I've read and explored over the years. There's some FlyLady. There's some Managers of their Homes. There's fun and games, and school, and rest. It's really been working for us.

I made an actual schedule with half-hour time blocks (as per MOTH), but I am way less structured than is recommended in that book. For example, it suggests that child 1 play Legos with child 2 from 2:30 to 3:00. We're not that regimented. I learned two big lessons from MOTH.
1. When making a schedule, build it around the things you already do. I have 3 different schedules: day at home, evening away (dance, AWANA nights), and morning away (MOPS mornings). I plugged these events and our meals into the schedule, and then built the rest of it around those things. This is the first time I've done it that way, and I have stuck to this schedule better than any other. There was too much behavior and routine modification with prior schedules. This works so much better.
2. I am wasting too much time. I looked at all the sample schedules and was amazed at the amount of work these women were accomplishing in a day. How were they doing it? I tried to not be hateful and jealous about it, but rather, to try to figure it out. I realized that, because of the schedule, they have their times for errands, computer, phone calls, etc. and the rest of the time they are doing work in the home. I have made a conscious effort to improve in this area. I can't spend an hour on FB every day!

Like FlyLady dictates, I have different rooms I sort of deep clean each day of the week (she calls them "zones"). For example, once a week I will pull out the couch (it's light) and sweep under it, but only twice a year will I move the TV stand. I know what means "clean" to me. Each day, twice a day, we do a 15 minute clean up. The kids and I both have a morning routine and a before bed routine. The kids do a job each morning, and another after lunch. I have certain jobs I do every day, as well.

So, here are some examples, because I know you like to see something concrete:

Kids' Morning Routine (completed by breakfast at 8:00):
get dressed
make bed
brush teeth
wash face
brush hair

Kids' Morning Jobs (completed after breakfast, but before school):
Scrappy -- sweep dining room
Funny -- clean upstairs hall and vacuum
Goofy -- food and water for cat
Silly -- wipe breakfast table (and chairs, because she likes it)
Each of these jobs takes less than 5 minutes.

Kids' Afternoon Jobs (completed after lunch):
Scrappy -- dust bookshelves (just the fronts, nothing has to be moved) and vacuum attic bedrooms
Funny -- sweep living room, clean TV stand (putting movies away)
Goofy -- dust dresser tops, sort laundry
Silly -- wipe cabinet fronts, sort plastic containers
These jobs take about 5-10 minutes.

Kids' Before Bed Routine (completed 1/2 hour before bedtime):
pajamas
pick out tomorrow's clothes
wash face
brush teeth

You may notice that most of these jobs are not terribly difficult. That's because I am working more to foster a sense of responsibility. I want them to understand that we are a unit. We all live in this home, and so we all work to care for it. I took the time to teach them how to do these things. They are going to keep these jobs for the entire school year, and then train the next kid down in how to do their job. Everyone will move up, and the jobs will get tougher as they get older.

What do I do?

Morning:
exercise (if I'm up early enough)
shower & dress
make bed
unload dishwasher
empty hamper
start laundry
devotion
check email/FB
make breakfast so it's done at 8:00

Evening:
dinner
dishes, clean kitchen
hang out with family
supervise kids' before bed routine
read stories
kids to bed
fold laundry (I don't fold anything until after the kids go to bed)
free time

The afternoon is not quite running according to schedule right now. That is something else I picked up from MOTH. Instead of trying to do the whole schedule at once, work on chunks of it, then add more. So I started with the morning, then have added in the evening.

There it is. It's a schedule, but it isn't rigid or boring at all. In fact, it's been liberating.

Weeks in Review - 13 & 14

2010-11-19T17:46:00.001-05:00

So things here have been freakishly lovely. Seriously. My faithful readers know that I am not even one iota of the perfect homeschooling mom. Of course, she's a myth, and I hate her. She's so nervy with her perfect kids, and perfect life. Good thing she's made up. But I digress...

I have finally settled into this homeschooling life. I had a few posts in the late summer/early fall dealing with my acceptance of the differentness that comes with homeschooling. I have finally embraced it, and better yet, I have........

A SCHEDULE.

Okay, more like a routine.

I am going to post in more detail soon about the awesomeness of our new pseudo-scheduled life. So check back early next week for that. I know, baited breath, right?

Some books read these past two weeks: Ed Emberley's Jumbo Color Drawing Book, The Wall (Reading Rainbow Books), Daniel Boone's Great Escape, Germs Make Me Sick! (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) (Reading Rainbow book), Kat's Mystery Gift (Trucktown Ready-to-Roll), Merry-Go-Round (World of Language), Saving the Liberty Bell, Nim and the War Effort (Sunburst Book)

Some videos/DVDS: Mouse on the Mayflower [VHS], Peanuts - This Is America, Charlie Brown

I know we cooked, too, but I forgot what we made!

Goofy found an Ed Emberley book at the library book sale.
He's been churning out some nice drawings! This is a witch.

A work sample from Lamb's Book of Art. I seriously LOVE this book.

Funny plotted the wake up times of over 30 of my friends on Facebook.
Social media isn't all bad!

Silly spins at the playground. We had a few nice
days and went to play after our work was done.

Goofy on a slide.

Scrappy. He's a happy kid. I like that.

Need to know how others are doing it? Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Thanksgiving -- Yes, I do want cranberries with that

2010-11-10T15:44:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I mean, I like Easter and Christmas. But Thanksgiving is my favorite.

I noticed today that my local town has hung up their Christmas decorations. Each light pole has a tacky light-up angel or a wreath stuck to it. My kids said, "Mom! Is it almost Christmas?" You'd think so. I was at Lowe's before Halloween, and they had Christmas decorations out already. It was frightening.

Poor Thanksgiving. It's like nobody cares.

I love Thanksgiving because it is a great day to remember God's blessings on my life. I love that I get to see my dearest friends and family. I love that there are no presents. No lights. No tree. No stress. I love that there's a great feast to remind us how rich we truly are.

And so I stubbornly refuse to pull out any Christmas decorations. I don't want to hear Bing Crosby or Andy Williams or Nat King Cole crooning to me about the wonders of the season. I don't want to think about whether I remembered to buy ornament hooks last year. I don't want to bake cookies. I don't want to wrap gifts (ever). I don't want to watch It's a Wonderful Life. Yet.

For now, I just want to slow down and be thankful. And eat some pumpkin pie.

Week in Review--Week 12

2010-11-05T16:04:00.001-04:00

We had a normal-ish week this week. Whatever that means!

Scrappy is still working on grammar. He has to take a standardized test this year, so just like the public schools, we are teaching to the test. I hate that. But I want to make sure he knows it. Blech. I'm glad my funding doesn't rely on him getting high scores. Whew! He did some reading and some math.

Funny did some grammar work too, because why not? She is seriously obsessed with all the Fly Guy books. We were at the library yesterday and she wanted to take all of them. I had to limit her to two. I hope that after she reads all of these that she can find something else that excites her! I welcome your suggestions.

For the first time, Funny asked if she could take a book to bed because she wanted to read it before she fell asleep. She's taken many, many books to bed, but only because she wanted to look at pictures, or put off going to sleep. I was so excited.

Goofy also worked on reading and math. He also lost his first tooth! He's getting quite big.

We all read a book about Scotland, just because we could. There was a lot of art this week, and some discussion of nutrition as I HAVE to put away some of their Halloween candy! It was election week, so we discussed the voting process. Everyone came with me to vote. Field trip! All of the kids drew pictures of what they saw, and Funny's was definitely, well, funniest.

This week they also had Homeschool Happenings at the local library, where they learned about Pennsylvania American Indian tribes, parts of speech, letter writing, and migration. I really love Homeschool Happenings, because I love the time I get to spend with all the other moms! It is so wonderful to be somewhere where people understand and support our decision to homeschool.

Some books read this week: Scotland (Enchantment of the World. Second Series), Fox in Socks, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy, Voting and Elections (Let's See Library - Our Nation series), Mayors (Community Workers)

Sadly, the kids and I didn't cook anything together this week.

Also, I finally found some drawers on sale that will work for our workbox system. When it's all set up, I'll tell you all about it. The kids are all super excited about it. They said that they like that they'll know how much work they have in a day and that there's going to be a drawer for snacks.

Want to see how other people are homeschooling? Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

I've Got a Friend in Jesus

2010-11-05T12:46:00.002-04:00

This is the talk I gave at my MOPS group this morning. It turns out, after I re-read it, that this pretty much sums up everything I have learned through my 7 year tenure in MOPS. It has truly been a blessing to me and my family. If you are looking for information on your local MOPS group, click here.

I was asked to talk to you about friendship. The steering team asked me to speak because I've made some good friends here at MOPS. I don't really have a magic formula for friend-making. I don't have a step-by-step plan for you.

All I can do is tell you the few things I know on the topic, and hope that it helps you.

My dad was in the Navy for 20 years. I went to 4 schools in the 4^th grade. From that, I learned how to make a friend in 5 minutes. I'll go right up to you, and I probably have, and say, “Hi, I'm Carrie” and most likely follow it up with too much personal information too soon. Because, you see, I didn't have time for slow-growing friendships when I was little. I had to make a friend, and quickly, before I moved away. I made a decision at an early age to just trust people.

My sister, on the other hand, took the opposite approach. She thought, I'm only here for 6 months so why bother? She didn't even bother trying, but then lamented her lack of friends.

Unlike my sister, I had faith that I could make a friend everywhere I went. I continually put myself out there, and had faith and trust that it would work out.

I did an informal poll on what stops us from making friends—from putting ourselves out there.

One thing I found that can stop us, and definitely has stopped me in the past, is perfectionism. Maybe my kids aren't always angels. Maybe my kids aren't even the same ages as your's and so why would you want to talk to me? Maybe my house wasn't as fancy as someone else's. I might say the wrong thing. I wouldn't invite people over because I didn't want them to see how I lived.

Who do I think I'm kidding here? If you come to my house, are you really checking my bathtub for mold? I doubt it. I realized if I kept waiting until things were just so, then no one would ever come over. I learned that true hospitality isn't about how things appear, but how comfortable a person feels. I can be sitting in a cluttered home where there are kids yelling (only because that's a kid's normal volume) and be completely at ease. That is hospitality.

Honestly, this is a constant struggle for me. I guarantee that the next time I have a gathering of people over that I will still burst into tears about an hour before people arrive because things aren't going according to my plans. I want it to be just so. I know it's wrong. I know that nearly everyone doesn't care about the state of my house, and that those that do can just bite me. I know that. But it's hard to overcome. I have to keep reminding myself that my best is good enough. That my best isn't your best. We don't all have the same circumstances or skills. We don't even have the same standards of what “clean” means. No matter what we do, we are never going to make “perfect.” I'm never going to be “perfect” on this earth.

According to my highly scientific poll, the main reason we have a hard time making friends is because of fear. We're afraid. I'm afraid too. I might appear confident, but it's an act. I'm horribly insecure.

Every time I meet someone new, or stand here talking to you, or even after knowing someone for months or years, I am afraid. I am full of fear. Fear of saying the wrong thing. Fear of rejection. What if this person figures out I'm not really laid-back, cool & confident? What if they see the real me? I mean the core of who I am. Not who I put on everyday, but the real me. The me who thinks I'm a fool. I'm unlovable. I'm ugly. I'm a slob. I'm mean. I'm judgmental. I'm impatient. I'm inappropriate. I'm a filthy mess?

What if you find out I'm not perfect?

Would you still be my friend?

We all struggle with the same things. We just want to be known, and loved. I don't care how together you might appear to be, you're a mess. We should not sit here and think, “oh that so-and-so, she has it all together. Things look peachy for her!” Yeah right!

Why are we all so afraid? Why do we let fear dictate our behaviors? Do you know what the opposite of fear is?

Faith.

I don't have all the answers here. I can say that as my faith has grown, I've been less controlled by perfectionism and fear. I still struggle with them, but they don't consume me like they used to. I still want to be liked, but I know now who I really need to please. It isn't you or my family or even myself.

Think about your closest friend for a second. It might be a friend, sister or your husband. I suspect that person knows you pretty well. That person has probably seen you all blotchy and puffy after an ugly cry. That person knows you think some ignorant thoughts. That person knows you are not perfect. Yet that person chooses to love you. In fact, that person probably gets upset if you say something negative about yourself! This person doesn't see those ugly things. That person just loves you.

Every single one of us, at our core, thinks we're a mess. We wouldn't need Jesus without it! But the truth is, even though I have all those negative thoughts about myself, they are not the truth. Because I have faith, what I really am is strong, confident, loving and lovable, and becoming perfect in Christ.

Egg Scramble

2010-11-01T11:39:00.001-04:00

I'm quite fond of the egg scramble. Veggies plus eggs. If I'm lucky, there's cheese. Yes, it's easy. Oh-so-easy. And delicious. And cheap! So get to making it already, okay?

This is today's scramble, but I vary it based on the types of veggies we have about. Peppers, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, greens, asparagus--YES! Whatever.

Egg Scramble with Potatoes, Greens & Cheese
an original recipe

1/4-1/2 stick butter
2 large-ish potatoes, chopped into small cubes
1 small green pepper, chopped finely
1/4 onion (mine was gigantic), chopped finely
1 c. chopped greens (Whatever kind you have or you could leave them out. But seriously, this is a good introduction to greens, if you need one. I used kale.)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced OR 1-2 tsp. garlic powder
1-2 tsp. curry powder (optional, but I am on a curry kick)
salt & pepper to taste
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. shredded parmesan

Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat. Add potatoes, peppers and onions. Add garlic if using fresh. Saute a little bit then leave them to sit for about 5 minutes or so. Season with garlic powder (if using), salt & pepper and curry powder. Stir around again, and let them sit again for about 5 minutes. I won't judge you if you want to add more butter. No one is looking.

These potatoes are resting. See how no one is stirring them?
That's what I'm talkin' about.

Taste a little potato and see how they are. If they are just a little crunchy, that's okay, because they still have some time to cook. If they are a lot crunchy, please note that I did say "chopped into small cubes." I wasn't kidding. Add greens. Maybe you want to add more butter? I don't know. Just throwin' it out there.

Let the greens cook about 5 minutes, then push the veggies to the edges of the pan and add the beaten eggs. Scramble, people! They'll cook up very quickly. You can throw the cheese in now, too. The scrambling should only take about a minute or two. Take a taste. You can adjust the salt & pepper if you want. My kids ate this with hot sauce. I thought it was perfect without.

Note: I went to get seconds of this only to discover, to my horror, that Scrappy had eaten 3 servings and had left nothing but tumbleweeds behind.

Make Your Home a Haven Weeks 4 & 5

2010-11-01T07:37:00.000-04:00

I'm combining two challenges with this post.

Week 4's challenge was to treat the family with tenderness. I am so glad the focus on peace and gentleness preceded this one! It felt natural and easy. Hooray! Courtney suggested I rub everyone's back, and I admit I didn't do that. But we've had some nice family snuggles and been doing a lot of family fun activities. I think that, in general, showing tenderness might be a bit unnatural to me at times, but it is something I have been working to change for a few years now. I already see a huge difference, so I know it will only get better.

Week 5's challenge is to cook something tasty. I feel like I already have a pretty good attitude about cooking. For me, it's a very comfortable, easy way to show my family how much I love them. We are challenged to make something special this week, so I might break out the Martha Stewart hot chocolate recipe or some homemade pretzels (I like this recipe from String Theory). Oh, maybe I'll just do both!

The other element of this challenge is to practice giving thanks. What a great reminder, because it's so easy to forget how bountiful things are here. I mean, I can buy something alleging to be a tomato in February! Okay, not the finest example, as they're gross. But you get my point. Thanksgiving is coming, anyway, which is my favorite holiday. It's all coming together, people!

I have really enjoyed this challenge. It has helped me be more intentional at home, which I really needed. Nothing like a gentle kick in the pants to motivate. Well, besides a swift kick.

Happy homemaking!

Week in Review--Week 11

2010-10-29T17:38:00.003-04:00

Where is the time going?

We had a pretty good week this week. Did it look exactly how I thought it should? Oh no. But I am okay with that! We learned all sorts of things. We finally have a house cleaning routine. (What's that? Angels singing?) Hub was off a couple days this week so we chucked the schedule in order to spend time with him.

On the topic of schedules, I have been reading Managers of their Homes. It's been quite convicting, along with a few other messages I am getting about being proactive with my time, as well as getting up early in the morning. Have I fully embraced these ideas? Nope. Will I? I hope so. We shall see. The good thing about the schedule is it will give me direction when I need it. I think the kids would absolutely love it. They've been begging for a schedule. I have been writing down what we're doing each day, but I think a blow-by-blow list with times would really excite them. Is that normal?

Also, I've been thinking about workboxes. I wanted to do them at the beginning of the year but the scrapbooking carts I had my eye on were so pricey. They're all on sale now at Joann's online. So I might just bite the bullet and do it. I've discussed it with Hub and he likes it. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Oh yes, now onto what we did this week. That was my point, wasn't it?

It was mostly a nice week, weather-wise, so there was lots of time for playing outside before we're all forced to huddle up inside.

Funny raked all the leaves and then built a fort.
She's standing at the entrance.

For Social Studies, we wrapped up a study of the Byzantine empire with a mosaic. We talked about the Hagia Sofia, which is elaborately decorated with golden mosaics. You can see some examples here. We were fresh out of gold, and so used glass stones (I'm pretending that makes sense) from the dollar store.

Pattern for our mosaic.

Everyone made things out of the extra stones.

Completed mosaic.

Clearly, we're focusing on some important skills this week.

Everyone is reading. Oh happy day!

Some books read: From Seed to Pumpkin (Welcome Books, Level 12), Shoo, Fly Guy!, Chicka Chicka 123... and More Counting Fun (Scholastic Storybook Treasures), Fantastic Frogs! (level 2) (Hello Reader)Spooky Riddles (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Kids Can Read!: Level 3 Read Alone)

Some foods cooked: roasted pumpkin seeds, spaghetti

Visit the weekly wrap-up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.