What We Are Eating - Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak

Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
 adapted from Sidetracked Sarah 

At the beginning of the summer I mentioned that I wanted my crock pot to become my best friend this summer to help keep the kitchen cooler.  I've also wanted to try a recipe for a Salisbury Steak for awhile so this seemed the perfect fit and, guess what?  It was!  Talk about comfort food at its finest.  The flavor was perfect and the gravy was rich.  I think if I were to do one thing differently next time it would be to go with ground sirloin instead of ground chuck just to cut down the grease in the gravy.  In reality because of all of the seasoning in the meat itself, I might even try ground pork since it is super lean.  This would also be a fabulous Sunday-after-church meal because it only needs to cook for about 5 hours so I can throw it in the crock when I get up in the morning and it would be done by the time we got home and made biscuits ;-)  

• 2 Pounds lean ground beef
• 1 Envelope of Onion Soup Mix
• 1/2 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs (can use crushed crackers if you prefer)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 Cup milk
•  Flour (enough to dip your patties into)
• 2 Cans cream of mushroom soup (or use cream of chicken, like I did)
• 1 Package Au Jus mix

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together beef, onion  soup mix, bread crumbs, egg, and milk.
2. Form beef mixture into 8 patties.
3. Dredge the patties in flour to coat
4. Brown the patties on both sides (You don’t have to fully cook them if you don’t want to since they’ll be cooking for 4 or more hours in the slow cooker, too)
5. Place the browned patties into the slow cooker, layering them if you need to
6. In a medium bowl, prepare the Au Juis mixture according to package instructions.
7. Mix in both cans of cream soup
8. Pour the mixture over the patties.
9. Cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or until beef is done.

 

Teaching Tuesdays - Making a Change

Over the past two weeks we've made some decisions that will impact how we will do school this fall.  Yes, we are still homeschooling but, I've done some chatting with a few friends about another option.



                                                                                                  Connections Academy is a homeschool option that allows the parent to be the lead at home but the curriculum is planned and provided by the academy.  Each family also has the opportunity to get a desktop computer to use along with a few other benefits as well.  I've been busy over the past week gathering the required documentation and filling out the on-line application. 

This was a slightly difficult decision for me because I was excited about the curriculum that I had picked out for the boys this fall and was looking forward to planning out our year as well as executing all of our activities.  I also was concerned about losing the control, and therefore freedom, to plan our "year" and our weekly schedule.  I was concerned that I would be tied into a regiment that would be difficult to follow.  Darryl, on the other hand, loved this idea from the beginning because it is all planned out; grades are kept and testing is required each year.  He viewed it as the perfect blend of both worlds - teaching at home but with everything else planned for us. 

So, why the change?  One main reason.  The Cost.  The cost is totally 100% free.  Everything is provided from that computer to the textbooks and work books.  Due to some unplanned financial things this year such as a root canal for Darryl, car repairs and more, I have been unable to put away the funds I had planned to purchase books for the fall and was starting to feel the "stress" of needing to get things ordered.  I was praying about what we would do when I heard a commercial for the Academy and remembered two friends who used this option.  I spent a few days asking them lots of questions via messages and they calmed every single concern I had and, on top of that, raved about the program, the teachers, and the overall layout. 

What Now?  I'm waiting for our paperwork to be approved and to hear that we got in - the academy takes a certain number of students each year so I'm hopeful that we will get in since we are applying fairly early for the fall.  I'm 100% on board with this idea despite my initial concerns and am actually excited to NOT have to do all of the extensive planning for K-5 and 1st grade.  I was also encouraged when Josh took the placement test for first grade and got 100% on the math portion and 96% on the Language Arts which proved to me (not that I needed it) that he is where he needs to be at this point.  This commitment is for one year.  We'll try it this year and see how it goes.  If I don't love it; if the boys don't excel with it then we will evaluate what to do next year.  Ultimalty though, we are still homeschooling - just using a different format. 

Make It Monday - Tornados

My boys have become enthralled with tornado's over the last few weeks.  They actually got to see the aftermath of a tornado that struck not far from our house which has heightened their interest.  We get all kinds of questions from "Where do we go if there is a tornado on the "big road"?" to "Where do you go if a house doesn't have a basement or a bathroom or a middle of the house?"  We've talked alot about how a tornado is formed and watched videos on You Tube about all kinds of storms.  So, this past weekend we also made this:

Yep, the classic "Tornado in a bottle".  All it takes is a couple of two liter bottles and some duct tape.  I added blue food coloring to the water for the effect but it isn't needed. 

To be honest, the boys were not that impressed.  It took about two times of making the "tornado" before they walked away.  Oh well, at least we tried!

Things My Kids Say

It's been awhile - maybe my kids have been quite lately or maybe they just aren't as funny (or maybe I forget to write things down!).  What ever it is  - here's a few gems from recent weeks.

* Recently, the boys and I were driving into town and it was raining.  Nate says, "I wish we lived with Papa and Nana that way Papa could drive."  I asked him why and he said, "Because Papa can drive in anything and never stops even when it is raining hard.".  This stems from one time several years ago when, on the way home from my parents, I had to stop on the expressway due to severe weather.  Well, I was tired of hearing that "Mom can't drive in the rain" so I told them the truth - the reason I had to stop was because we were actually in the middle of a tornado so all of the cars had stopped on the expressway - I had no choice but to stop.  (For real - the tornado went above us and touched down on the other side of the expressway)  I figured this would nip that story in the bud.  NOPE!  Josh states, "Well, if Papa had been driving, he would have just driven right out of that tornado!!". 

* The boys were discussing their future jobs.  Josh wants to be a State Police and has stated that he will tell his boss that he cannot work Saturday and Sundays.  Nate is going to be a City Police and said he will never work Sundays because he loves church too much AND he will tell his boss that he won't work on rainy days.  They won't be as busy anyway and won't need as many people.  HA!

* Nate has decided that he also wants to be a storm chaser; and on days he isn't working, he'll be a father.  hahaha

Family Fun - Camping Trip #2!

In the middle of June, we took off for our second camping trip; this time to one of our favorite places, Muskegon. 

 Once we uploaded, set-up, and unpacked, we headed to our favorite Pizza Place for dinner - Bernie O's . . .only to discover that it was closed on Sundays!!  So, we drove a little farther to a Chicken place and got dinner.  We headed back to camp and stopped at the beach.  It was amazing - totally covered in Fog.  I've never seen it like that - even standing by the water, you couldn't see further than an arm length in front of you.

 Nice.  Darryl is crazy.

 The boys love bubbles so we set up a full-out bubble station this time. 

Of course, the fire is always a favorite activity for all of us.

 On Monday, we enjoyed the park all day long.  The boys had seen a trail going up to a sand dune so we had to check it out.  Josh climbed the dune and walked around the entire "bowl top". 

 We then rode bikes out to the pier.  We all love the water and the pier. 

Plus, if you look in the distance, we were able to see the Lake Express leave the channel heading to Wisconsin.

We headed to the beach again because it was clear but, by the time we got to the beach, it was totally encased in fog again.  It was so odd to sit on the beach in the fog HA!  The boys had a blast though. 

Despite a little rain we had another great trip and are looking forward to heading out on our third camping adventure . . .tomorrow! 

Weekly Menu - A weekend of Camping and then no kids!

Do you have any idea how quickly picnics empty your fridge?  Trying going to two in two days!  Whew!  Chips, drinks, salads and sweets are all quickly eaten up thanks to lots of people sharing!  It's always fun but the rest of the week brought some slim pickings :-)

Now, we are heading out camping and then leaving the kids with my parents at the camp ground for the rest of the week.  Should be a great week!

Saturday - Pizza.  Again, we've found our local pizza place has a great price on a 3 topping large pizza ($10.00).  We'll be spending the day getting ready for camping and attending a wedding reception in the afternoon followed by getting the dog to the kennel so I know that even if I planned something - we'd end up grabbing dinner anyway.

Sunday - And we are off!  We will eat sandwiches for lunch just before we leave for the campground.  Dinner tonight will be marinated steak, potato salad, baked beans and rolls (store bought).

Monday - Breakfast - Pancakes and bacon.  Last time we camped Nate asked for pancakes so I'm going to make sure it happens.  Lunch - Sloppy Joes, Salads, and Chips.  Dinner - Marinated Pork Chops, Loaded Baked potatoes, Mac and Cheese (for real) and Rolls

Tuesday - Breakfast - Sausage McMuffins and Cereal.  Lunch - My parents are arriving in time for lunch so we will have Brat's and Hot dogs, salads, and chips  Darryl and I will be heading home so for dinner - I'm not sure - we'll either eat something we didn't cook up while camping or we will grab Taco Bell.

Wednesday and Thursday - It will just be Darryl and I.

Friday - Tacos, of course. 

"Confessions of a De-Cluttering Junkie" - A Book Report

I recently picked up a book that caught my attention solely based on the title "Confessions of a De-Cluttering Junkie".  I found it just a few days prior to starting my big basement clean out so the timing was perfect.

This story is a great "real life" story of how one woman conquered the clutter in her home despite dealing with the negitive attitudes of those around her about her new hobby.  She addressed getting her family on board, dealing with the fact that her "hobby" consumed her life and made her cause her family heartache, to the huge garage sale they had that funded their summer activities.  I loved all of the tips that the character gave throughout the book and the account of how hard it is to get rid of things at times.  

This book would not appeal to everyone - if you have a perfectly organized, non-cluttered house, you might think this lady is crazy.  But if you are in the midst of trying to simplify your life - you would enjoy the humor throughout the book.