Egg Scramble

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

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

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.

Flour Children Get Shrinky

We participate in Halloween at our house.  I know some people feel convicted that it isn't for them.  I respect that.  We like to carve pumpkins, dress up and decorate the house for Halloween.  Today we made a Shrinky Dink Halloween tree from a kit.  We had a GREAT time.  I know the kids loved it, but I think Hub was most excited.  He is 34 and it was his first Shrinky Dink experience.

Note Hub's intense coloring concentration.

 

Ooooooh!  They're shrinking!

Before:  please note giant size of scary green vampire guy in middle.

After:  See that tiny green blob?  Yeah, that's vampire guy.

We tried to guess at how they work.  The kids knew it had to do with heat, but weren't sure what was going on otherwise (I was with them).  Hub thought it may have been 2 types of plastic.  We researched it and found out it is just polystyrene (like a meat tray) stretched thin that shrinks and thickens with heat.  We also learned, much to our excitement, that you can use things like a take-out container from the salad bar to make your own Shrinky Dinks!  Just color with a marker and bake.  How exciting!

Goofy just sat and admired it for some time afterward.

Close up of the tree after we were done.
I colored that cool red spider all by myself.

Week in Review--Weeks 9 & 10

I was sick last week and so have little to report about it.  Scrappy learned to start the washer.  Funny really has had a helpful attitude.  There was a lot of cooking and dishwashing.  Everyone's been helping to take care of the house.  And so, I feel some of my goals are still met, even though I have no worksheets or similar to show for the week.  Character and life-skill development is what it's all about anyway, right?

This week definitely was more "normal," whatever that really means.  Lots of math, reading, science, etc. was done.  This is the first week I really pushed their AWANA verses and they really responded by reciting many of them at the meeting on Wednesday.  We spend a lot of time talking about what they actually mean, rather than just memorizing them.  That's important for us.

I spent a lot of time at home this week, but managed to entertain a few days and still get things accomplished.  This was a pretty balanced week for us.  Let me tell you, I'm normally quite unbalanced!

Some books read:  Football (Blastoff! Readers: My First Sports), Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl (3 times, by a former reluctant reader; I think it's her "gateway book."), Anglerfish (Underwater World), The Saturdays (Melendy Quartet) -- We really loved The Saturdays.  It's about 4 kids who pool their allowances in order to each spend one day doing the one thing they really want to do.  I definitely recommend it!

Some foods cooked (by the Flour Children, with my help):  garlic bread, cream cheese icing, chicken & veggies with pasta

Some academics covered:  telling time, doubles plus one addition, PA geography, the letter C, parts of speech, multi-digit addition, the difference between true seals and sea lions, rugby vs. football

Goofy tells time to the hour.

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This week's Weekly Wrap Up is hosted here.