Teaching Tuesdays - Look what Arrived!

So this arrived this week:

What is it?  School!  Our computer arrived followed by a box of school stuff for Josh and a box for Nate.  We are all very excited! 

We are now waiting for the delivery of two desks on Friday then I will set up their new school area.  The desks are great - one is a desk that was my mom's and then has been passed on through several of us (I used it through 4 years of college in my dorm room) and now gets to be used by my kids.  The second is one my mom picked up at a garage sale a friend was having.  I can't wait to get their little desks all set up!

Make It Monday - Strawberry Shortcake Scones

I love Facebook for many reasons but one of those reasons is that friends post recipes that they find and either want to try or, even better, have already tried!  I mean, whats better than a recipe tried by a friend who you trust to actually have tastebuds :-)  So, when I saw a friend post this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Scones (adapted from Very Culinary) I knew I wanted to try them.  Originally I was going to make them for our camping trip a few weeks ago but I ran out of time to get them made so one day last week, on a whim because there was nothing sweet in the house to eat, I made a batch. 

They turned out pretty good.  A few things - They were actually better cold rather than still really warm.  There is something about the glaze that adds a lot of flavor once it had hardened.  They are even better the second day, heated up in the microwave for just about 20 seconds.  The dough, at least from my experience, was a lot looser than other scone dough I've worked with so I'm not sure if that was just caused by the juice in the strawberries or if I needed to add more flour.  They still cooked up well.  Also, I never, hardly ever have half and half in my fridge so I just used the fat free milk that is always there :-)

Here's a recipe for you to try :-)  These would actually be great to take to a brunch because, as I stated, they are better cold/at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 12 strawberries, hulled and diced
• 3/4 cup half and half

For the glaze

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender (or your hands) until mixture resembles crumbs.
3. Toss in strawberries and coat lightly with the flour mixture. Add half and half and fold together gently until the mixture just begins to come together and form a soft dough. (Do not knead or over mix the dough.)
4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 1-inch thick rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 6 squares, then cut the squares on the diagonal to form 12 triangles. Place scones on prepared baking sheet and bake 16-18 minutes or until cooked through and golden.
5. Place a sheet of parchment on a work surface, then place a cooling rack over top of parchment. Remove scones from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
6. In the meantime, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, vanilla, and half and half until smooth. (If glaze is too thick, add a bit more cream. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.)
7. Generously drizzle scones with the glaze. (Glaze will firm up when scones are completely cool.) Eat and enjoy!

Weekly Menu - It's August

So, this is the end of our self-inflicted spending freeze and it's gone very well.  I'll share details for later but, ready, we aren't stopping just because it's August.  The freeze will continue  . .  my goal is the month of August :-)  So, with that being said, this weeks Menu is B.O.R.I.N.G. because the grocery budget is near its end for the month :-)

Saturday - I've been enjoying making various homemade pizzas the last few weeks so I'll continue :-)

Sunday - Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Rolls

Monday - Chicken Thighs, Amish Butter Noodles (Josh's Request), Green Beans, Homemade Bread.

Tuesday - Pork Chops on the Grill, Roasted Zucchini, Fried Rice and Rolls.

Wednesday - Chicken on the Grill, Mac and Cheese, Fried Zucchini and Rolls

Thursday -  Ham and Scalloped Potatoes in the Crock pot (I didn't end up making this last week), Applesauce, and biscuits

Friday - Tacos of course :-)

July Goals and Accomplishments

You may remember (or probably not HA) That I had one main goal in July and that was to clean out the basement.  I am happy to report that I accomplished that goal (almost!)!  And, well, even a little more!

1) I emptied all of the containers and "junk" from the basement into the garage and set up a sorting station where I sorted stuff out to either keep it, sell it, or give it away (oh, and trash it!).  I am happy to report that I threw out about 8 bags of trash and took about 4 boxes to Good Will and have a good box worth of stuff to try and sell.  I took back into the basement about 1/4 of what went out.  The basement is clean, organized and everything has a home.  Now, I'm about 95% done but need to finish up stuff in the garage - we ended up with a 90 degree week so I focused more on the inside than stuff that was outside!

2) Thanks to a very hot week this week, I spent more of my "basement time" working on totally cleaning/organizing the "other" side of the basement too.  This allowed me to accomplish a lot more than planned.

3) I have sold a few things.  I'd like to sell more.

4) I also focused on things in other rooms too.  I cleaned out and cleaned the entire kitchen from top to bottom including cleaning out some things we didn't use/need.  I cleaned the entire bathroom too and cleaned out a lot of stuff that has been stuck back in cupboards since we moved here :-)  Plus our bedroom got a nice deep clean and I totally cleaned out the playroom and that included getting some toys the boys have truly outgrown out of the bins!

Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak

Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
adapted from Side Tracked Sarah

I have put my crock pot to good use this summer.  It's been a great way to keep the kitchen cooler yet have some great food.  We are big comfort food eaters so this recipe for Salisbury Steak fits the bill.  It was really yummy and I will make it again . . .in the middle of winter.  HA  It's really not a summer recipe ;-) 

• 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 - We're In!

I posted a few weeks ago about our change in direction for homeschool and I just wanted to post that we got into Connections Academy starting this fall.  We are now anxiously awaiting our shipment of school books and computer so I can get everything set up. 

I'm still "anxious" to see how the planning will work and how we will get our work done but I know once I figure it out it will be good.  I'm also curious to see if the boys like their work books as much as they liked what they did last year. 

This year is a true trial.  If I don't love this system or don't think it is working for the boys, I will go back to planning our own curriculum and do our own thing.

Make It Monday - A Wrap Station

I have a love/hate relationship with gift wrapping.  I have tried various ways to have a "gift wrap" station but through the years have learned that the one place I wrap gifts is in our bedroom.  We have a high bed that is the perfect height for wrapping plus it gives me plenty of room.  I came across this great idea on pinterest from A Casarella and actually had the supplies I needed to create it.

This was my old storage idea:

This actually has worked well - it's just a laundry basket that I kept in the basement and it held all of the gift bags, ribbons, bows and tissue paper.  It just wasn't convenient. Plus, I really needed the basket to use to put Josh's stuffed animals in so they weren't always strewn all over his bedroom floor. :-)

This is the new idea:

The whole cart idea is awesome.  The top drawer holds wrapping supplies like scissors and tape.  Drawer two holds tissue paper; drawer three is ribbons, bows and tags and the bottom drawer holds gift bags. This cart rolls nicely into my closet for perfect, easy storage.  I had already stored wrapping paper in the bedroom behind a nightstand where it fit perfectly so this just completes the whole concept.

A note on gift bags.  Years ago, gift bags cost so much money so we all saved them forever.  Shoot, I had gift bags that were from our wedding 14 years ago!  Now, though, gift bags can be purchased at the Dollar Store for, well, $1.00.  I kept the really big ones and a few really cute ones but otherwise, I plan on keeping my gift bag collection to a minimum.