Things My Kids Say

* We were teasing about snoring the other day when Nate pipes up with, "You should hear Papa and Nana snore." We all burst out laughing and of course we had to keep asking questions so we asked the boys if they really snore.  Josh said, "Yes, Nana snores like this  . .. " and proceeded to sound EXACTLY like her HA!  Than Nate said, "They must be really tired because they snore ALOT.  It was the funniest thing ever!!

A few of my (current) favorite things

I haven't done this in awhile but I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things as of right now:

So, a cook book like this one has become very important in our house.  Josh saw one similiar to this in the store last week and we bought it.  They boys have looked through it so much that pages were bent an curled; they looked at it every night and picked out all the cakes they want to make.  Josh even carried it to Pizza Hut and  showed the waitress the cakes HA!  Sadly, the boys were cleaning up the yard after we got back from the eating and Josh left it outside . . .and then it down poured.  Needless to say, we will be heading back to the store today to buy another one so that we can (attempt) to make 2 cakes.

I bought this last week because it reminded of college and I was not disappointed.  One of my favorite Saturday evening meals (because the dining hall on weekends - especially Saturday evenings - was gross) was to order a Pizza Fry from the Rec. Hall and take it back to dorm to eat while reading or studying.  Really, they are just cheese breadsticks with sauce to dip but they are just so good!  I will be stocking my freezer  with them again HA!

Ok, I seldom buy Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  It is pricey and you don't get alot but it is premium ice cream and very good.  It just so happens that it was on sale AND I had a coupon so I was able to get it for under $2.00.  I picked out this flavor since I love pistachio's and it did not disappoint.  Yum! 


I don't have a picture of this but I love my kids VBS CD.  Why?  Because THEY love it.  They ask to listen to it, sing it, and dance like crazy.  Nate has memorized words and loves to tell us those words he knows. 

Food Friday - Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Sour Cream Noodle Bake
adapted from: Pioneer Woman

A friend of mine brought two freezer meals of this meal just before Darryl had surgery and I really liked it.  It was something simple, different, inexpensive to make and similar to lasagna. It just so happened that this recipe showed up on Pioneer Woman just a week or so later so then I actually had the recipe!  This would be an easy recipe to cut in half OR once your family has eaten its full, individual servings could be frozen to use for lunch or for a quick dinner later.  I will admit that I totally did not read the last set of instructions so I did not layer mine - instead I dumped in all of the noodles, put the meat mixture on top and layered the cheese.  Personally, it tasted great and was SO much easier than trying to layer!  I also added the traditional lasagna seasonings to the meat mixture to add a little more flavor (I felt the meat was a little bland). 

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.
Serve with crusty French bread.

 

Weekly Menu

This past week was "fun with food" and by that I mean that we had good food to eat all week.  Some new recipes and some old favorites.  I'm actually enjoying cooking this summer because 1) it has been unseasonably cool this summer and 2) We have three a/c units set up that keep even the kitchen cool.  My parents were here last Sunday and my dad cook thee best steaks ever.  Yum!  It was just plain awesome

Guess what starts this coming week?  Football!  Saturday night brings the Hall of Fame fun and the Hall of Fame game will be played Sunday evening kicking off preseason games.  C.a.n.'t. w.a.i.t.!!

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Saturday - I think that we will use the Boy's "Free Pizza" coupons from Spring Soccer.  They each got a free personal pan pizza.  Now, this is how we roll - Josh loves pizza so he will get his, Nate does not so I will use his, we'll get breadsticks for the whole family which Nate will  eat many (haha) and Darryl can pick whatever he wants :-)   Fall soccer starts in a few weeks so I figured I had better use these up first!

Sunday -Marinated Flank Steak, Corn on the Cob, Mashed potatoes and Rolls

Monday -Tomato Basil Chicken, Rolls, Salad

Tuesday -  Chicken enchiladas, Savory Rice, Chips and Salsa

Wednesday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, Blueberry coffee cake, and Hashbrowns

Thursday -Stuffed Shells w/Cheese, Salad and garlic bread

Friday -  Tacos - I might try a recipe for "SoCal tacos" which are street tacos.  It's just a different way to cook the meat.  OR I might just do regular tacos.

I took the boys with me to the store one day last week and Josh picked up one of those little cookbooks that happens to be all kinds of cakes.  He has "read" that book from cover to cover with Nate and they have picked out all of the cakes they want "us" to make.  So I do plan on making one cake this weekend.  I promise to share my success (or total failure HA!)

Homeschool Happenings - K-5

I spent the last week working on lesson plans.  After doing the first 6 weeks, I realized that I could fill in the basics for the entire year and figure out where each subject will end and also I discovered that to get through our Say, Sing Write and Read curriculum we will actually have to continue that about a month longer than our "school year".  Really, though, that's fine because the kids need a little review throughout the summer break next year anyway.  The other thing I have decided, after seeing the full extent of the SSWR curriculum is that we are not going to be doing Five in a Row. As I was writing the first 6 weeks of lesson plans I was not feeling FIAR - it seems a little, well, out dated.  I also feel that SSWR will give us plenty to do for reading and phonics and I will supplement with some books along the way.  Another reason is that I really want to have time to teach some basic US Geography and also use a couple of magazines for Social Studies and Science AND have time for some basic Bible including the review of the SS lessons and working on their AWANA stuff - we just don't have time to get everything in and FIAR seemed like overkill at this point.  Finally, FIAR is a lot of work on my part - with prep for the activities, discussion topics and needing to purchase so many books - it just was making me feel overwhelmed already. I updated my  calendar board, added the white board and just tried to refresh things.

 And I got a basket to house all of our books/workbooks to keep them nice and neat.

The lesson plans are a basic overview.  I plan on making time each weekend (maybe Friday afternoons . .. ) to review for the following week.  This will allow me to make a more detailed weekly plan IF needed, gather supplies for the week, set up their workboxes for each day and just make sure our week is ready to go so it DOES go smoothly!

I have a few goals over the next few weeks:
1.  Order the last supplies which include some workbooks (I only ordered one of each earlier this summer so I could plan but knew I needed to order a second one before school started) , two magazine subscriptions, and a few other little things.
2.  Do 4 weeks of solid lesson prep.  I have a file drawer empty in my 2 drawer filing cabinet so I can put file folders together for each week and be able to just grab stuff and go.  We are camping the weekend before school starts so I need to be 100% prepped and ready to go.
3. Take the kids school supply shopping.  I love school supplies.  :-)  I have already picked up some things to have on hand  but the boys will be able to pick out things too - new markers, crayons, pencils, a ruler, etc.

Things My Kids Say

* Recently Nate said to me, "Are we having chicken and fries for lunch?" I said yes to which he replied, "I knew that because I got inside your mind and read it."  How scary is that???

* We took a drive on Saturday evening and, while driving, the boys noticed the farms.  Josh stated that he wanted to live on a farm.  I told him he could do that when he grew up to which he replied, "That's fine but the farm needs to be in the yard by our yellow house because I love that house."  He and Nate proceeded to talk about what animals they want, what we needed to build and how to make the fence work for the cows. 

Food Friday - Chocolate Cobbler

Chocolate Cobbler
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

  Several times over the last few months a good friend of mine would mention "Chocolate Cobbler" and how great it tastes.  Well, I finally searched a recipe and decided to make it.  It's a rich, chocolatey (obviously) gooey dessert that really MUST have ice cream :-)  It is fantastic served still hot with the liquedy center serving as a great topping for the ice cream.  Once it is cooled, it becomes like a really, really moist, rich brownie.  

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 7 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder, Divided
• 1-¼ cup Sugar, Divided
• ½ cups Milk
• ⅓ cups Melted Butter
• 1-½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ½ cups Light Brown Sugar, Packed
• 1-½ cup Hot Tap Water

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar. Reserve the remaining cocoa and sugar.
Stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch baking dish. I prefer my small oval Corning Ware glass dish.
In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining white sugar (it should be 1/2 cup), the brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter.
Pour the hot tap water over all. DO NOT STIR!
Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set.
Let stand for a few minutes if you can hold yourself back. Serve with homemade ice cream using the gooey sauce to spoon over all.