I like to pass along useful freebies when I can...
http://allinonehomeschool.wordpress.com/
You can use this resource in so many ways, even if you do not homeschool. There are reading lists and words of guidance and encouragement.
Have a look!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Carrot Soup (or Sweet Potato)
Here's the recipe to a delicious, invigorating, nourishing soup. I thank my mom for the recipe.
Carrot Soup (or Sweet Potato Soup)
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1" fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup rice
2T oil
3-4 sweet potatoes or 2lbs carrots, peeled and cubed
10 cups water or chicken broth
Saute onion and ginger till translucent. Add rice and curry; stir one minute. Add carrots (or potatoes) and broth. Simmer for about half an hour and then puree till smooth.
I wish I had a picture.
Carrot Soup (or Sweet Potato Soup)
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1" fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup rice
2T oil
3-4 sweet potatoes or 2lbs carrots, peeled and cubed
10 cups water or chicken broth
Saute onion and ginger till translucent. Add rice and curry; stir one minute. Add carrots (or potatoes) and broth. Simmer for about half an hour and then puree till smooth.
I wish I had a picture.
A huge boost to morale
As many of my readers know, I am a 'regular' on the Well Trained Mind forums. It is there I've learned about new curriculum, new tricks, how to better manage my time, energy, and meals, and how to be a better homeschooler. It's the book of the same name that gave me the confidence I needed to commit to homeschooling, and the forums have provided tremendous support. The other day I opened up a topic that quickly caught my attention and brought tears to my eyes. It was just exactly what I needed to hear at that moment in time subhanAllah. I asked the poster if I could quote her, so here are her words... and she prefaced this all by talking about how 'not-perfect' she is, the normalness of her daily life. She goes by Valerie. Here is what she said:
"So now that we've established the "don't think I'm a supermom" context, here's my point: the "grunt work," the mind-numbing repetition of the essential skills, the patient and kind persistence in correcting until a skill is mastered, the effort put forth to ensure that their mental banks are well-stocked with needed facts, dates, and contextual data--all that effort is worth it for the eventual pay-off.
Please, oh please, do whatever you need to do to get through that part and move on with your day.
If you need to, set a timer and agree to book (i.e., run, sprint) through that skill-building work, and then when the timer is done, you're done: JUST DO IT. It will be enough if you do it consistently and with enough of a good attitude to enable learning. Take small steps day after day after day, month by month, year by year, and you'll get the job done.
Make time, too, for joy in your day: 30 minutes of a read aloud, 15 minutes of a tickle fight, making a habit of drawing a quick "I love you" on a small palm, a popsicle together, falling asleep with the toddler's sweaty head in the crook of your arm--find your joy with your children each day. Do that for yourself and for them. You'll be teaching them the essence of love: we're in this together, the good and the bad, the hard and the fun, the work and the play.
When you get to have big kids, even teens, you will reap the reward. Yes, some will have to "go their own way", whether it is related to academics or not, and they'll cause us to develop callouses on our knees.
But if you are still homeschooling, you may get the reward of studying George Herbert poetry together and watching your strapping 17 year-old man-cub get a bit misty at the mystery of Christ's righteousness enfolding us. The reward might be watching the lightbulb moment when that same teen studies Clarence Carson on economics and exclaims, "Mom, have guys really been talking about the free market since the 1600s?" He's beginning to understand in a visceral way--not just head knowledge--what it means to join The Great Conversation. And, if you have an early bloomer, you might have three or four years of that kind of mind-to-mind engagement, watching a beautiful, inquisitive young mind unfold and mature into something unique and delightful. Just as young parents can't bear the thought of having someone else be there for their baby's precious firsts, I can't imagine missing out on the joy of this journey with my teens. I'm privileged beyond measure.
Dear moms engaged in the trenches with little ones: I wish you peace and strength for today. I know you will need it. But I'm going to go all Stephen Covey on you: please reserve one ounce of strength for yourself to remember your dreams for your journey with each child. Or do it in your dreams after you've collapsed into bed. : )"
"So now that we've established the "don't think I'm a supermom" context, here's my point: the "grunt work," the mind-numbing repetition of the essential skills, the patient and kind persistence in correcting until a skill is mastered, the effort put forth to ensure that their mental banks are well-stocked with needed facts, dates, and contextual data--all that effort is worth it for the eventual pay-off.
Please, oh please, do whatever you need to do to get through that part and move on with your day.
If you need to, set a timer and agree to book (i.e., run, sprint) through that skill-building work, and then when the timer is done, you're done: JUST DO IT. It will be enough if you do it consistently and with enough of a good attitude to enable learning. Take small steps day after day after day, month by month, year by year, and you'll get the job done.
Make time, too, for joy in your day: 30 minutes of a read aloud, 15 minutes of a tickle fight, making a habit of drawing a quick "I love you" on a small palm, a popsicle together, falling asleep with the toddler's sweaty head in the crook of your arm--find your joy with your children each day. Do that for yourself and for them. You'll be teaching them the essence of love: we're in this together, the good and the bad, the hard and the fun, the work and the play.
When you get to have big kids, even teens, you will reap the reward. Yes, some will have to "go their own way", whether it is related to academics or not, and they'll cause us to develop callouses on our knees.
But if you are still homeschooling, you may get the reward of studying George Herbert poetry together and watching your strapping 17 year-old man-cub get a bit misty at the mystery of Christ's righteousness enfolding us. The reward might be watching the lightbulb moment when that same teen studies Clarence Carson on economics and exclaims, "Mom, have guys really been talking about the free market since the 1600s?" He's beginning to understand in a visceral way--not just head knowledge--what it means to join The Great Conversation. And, if you have an early bloomer, you might have three or four years of that kind of mind-to-mind engagement, watching a beautiful, inquisitive young mind unfold and mature into something unique and delightful. Just as young parents can't bear the thought of having someone else be there for their baby's precious firsts, I can't imagine missing out on the joy of this journey with my teens. I'm privileged beyond measure.
Dear moms engaged in the trenches with little ones: I wish you peace and strength for today. I know you will need it. But I'm going to go all Stephen Covey on you: please reserve one ounce of strength for yourself to remember your dreams for your journey with each child. Or do it in your dreams after you've collapsed into bed. : )"
February Meal Plan
Side note: I always make sides, so just because they're not listed doesn't mean we don't eat greens.
February Meal Plan
1.
Hamburgers
Friday
2.
Koshari
3.
Grilled Salmon, veggies, rice
4.
Shepherd’s Pie
5.
Broccoli Soup w/ Cornbread Tue
6.
Broiled Chicken, Veggies
7.
Crockpot: BBQ Zesty Chicken Thurs
8.
Lentil Curry
Friday
9.
Kafta Waraq
10.
Roast Leg of Lamb Sunday
11.
Whole roasted chicken in crockpot, salad, rice
12.
Molokhieh (when Abed is travelling) Tuesday
13.
Mujaddara
14.
Chicken Paprika
Thursday
15.
Kafta Balls with veggies Friday
16.
Chicken Nuggets in skillet Saturday
17.
Malfoof
Sunday
18.
Musaka
19.
Fasulia, Rice
Tuesday
20.
Chicken Burgers
21.
Broccoli Rice Casserole Thursday
22.
Baked potatoes
Friday
23.
Roast chicken pieces, potatoes, carrots, any
other veggie Saturday
24.
Spaghetti and Sauce, Salad
25.
Roasted veggies over pasta
26.
Italian chicken with rice (crockpot)
27.
Sloppy Joes
28.
Curried chickpeas, rice
this is a picture of my rice cooker with an attempt at making makloobeh in it. i cooked the meat separately, oven-fried the eggplant separately, then combined everything in the rice cooker to cook. it turned out great! (makloobeh wasn't even on my january meal plan)
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Day 15's Crock Pot dinner
Right in the middle of my monthly meal experiment and things are going swimmingly. Even though I'm not going in the exact order of the list, I am still following it along. Yesterday I made the meatloaf that was originally slotted for the 9th, and today I got out the chicken leg quarters for the BBQ Chicken Pieces in Crockpot which was for day 10. The leftovers of the meatloaf went to work with my husband, and we still have a little bit left.
When I was ready to assemble the meal, I realized I was going to use a new recipe for this BBQ chicken in the crock pot, but I couldn't remember where I saw it. I started looking things up on my pinterest board and on the homeschool forums I frequent (and from where I got this terrific idea). I couldn't find it. But that was OK with me because I know my family has had enough BBQ flavored food (they're not hot on it in the first place), so I browsed pinterest (more specifically, the blog of the lady who cooked for 365 days in her crockpot) and decided to sprinkle the leg quarters with a packet of dry italian salad dressing like this one:
I added a little more garlic powder and onion powder, about a cup of water, and turned it on high. Once it started to smell good (not longer than an hour later) I decided to put some veggies in. I put some cut carrots (like 6 big carrots since my peeps like 'em). I walked out to the garage where I have a big bag of reddish potatoes from Costco sitting in the cool temperature and grabbed only 3 of those because my peeps aren't so in to those. So I just cut those up in big pieces and threw them in. Then I whipped out my new BFF, remember who that is, yes, my rice cooker! Set that baby up for 6:40pm and got ready to head out for the afternoon. Oh, my 10yr old and I made a tray of brownies first, so we all had a little yummy snack before finally walking out the door. :)
Verdict: the chicken was falling off the bone when we got home at 7pm. Rice was steaming hot. The seasonings and spices were fantastic and we all loved it. I used two forks to take the meat off the bone, but I did not add it back to the crockpot. I kept it on the side and then we just served the rice, then chicken, and a spoon of the saucy vegetables. It was great, and I'll make it again.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Day 12 of Monthly Meal Plan
Last week was our first week back to the full school routine, and I wasn't sure if the January Meal Plan was going to be stressful or a relief. It turned out to be a relief. I wasn't burdened with not having the right meat or veggie to complete a meal, nor was I stumped trying to decide what to make. On the contrary, I made good use of small pockets of time here and there to prepare the ingredients that I would finally assemble at the end of the day.
What ended up being a tremendous help is my rice cooker with timer. I set it up with rice and it was ready at dinner time. I used the crock pot a lot, too, and I even prepared the Musa'ka like I normally would (all parts separate) but assembled it into the slow cooker and turned it on before leaving the house for the afternoon. It was warm and bubbly for dinner, and the rice cooked on the timer and was ready too.
A huge bonus, too, was that my husband was able to take lunch to work from our leftovers. He was very happy about that, and so was I, actually!
Making the grocery lists was easy this weekend. I didn't buy anything I didn't need, and I was confident in what the plan was. Our weekly schedule changed from what I expected it to be, so I won't need Thursdays to be crock pot nights like I thought I would. Now I'll need Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday to be crock pot nights! It's been easy to arrange for that, though, because I can also put my oven on a timed bake and have it turn on and off on a timer. (thank you automation!)
So, all in all, the list is working out well. I've been going in order, mostly, with just a switcheroo here and there. When I made the list I didn't pay much attention to the distribution of chicken and beef, but now I see that I have a some days where it is beef, beef, and then beef. So if I do this for February I will be a little more careful about that. Also, don't forget that I plan on some type of salad and/or side veggie to go along with the dinners.
I've enjoyed this experiment, and I hope it's encouraged any of my readers to find a way to simplify their routines or to at least make them easier!
What ended up being a tremendous help is my rice cooker with timer. I set it up with rice and it was ready at dinner time. I used the crock pot a lot, too, and I even prepared the Musa'ka like I normally would (all parts separate) but assembled it into the slow cooker and turned it on before leaving the house for the afternoon. It was warm and bubbly for dinner, and the rice cooked on the timer and was ready too.
A huge bonus, too, was that my husband was able to take lunch to work from our leftovers. He was very happy about that, and so was I, actually!
Making the grocery lists was easy this weekend. I didn't buy anything I didn't need, and I was confident in what the plan was. Our weekly schedule changed from what I expected it to be, so I won't need Thursdays to be crock pot nights like I thought I would. Now I'll need Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday to be crock pot nights! It's been easy to arrange for that, though, because I can also put my oven on a timed bake and have it turn on and off on a timer. (thank you automation!)
So, all in all, the list is working out well. I've been going in order, mostly, with just a switcheroo here and there. When I made the list I didn't pay much attention to the distribution of chicken and beef, but now I see that I have a some days where it is beef, beef, and then beef. So if I do this for February I will be a little more careful about that. Also, don't forget that I plan on some type of salad and/or side veggie to go along with the dinners.
I've enjoyed this experiment, and I hope it's encouraged any of my readers to find a way to simplify their routines or to at least make them easier!
Friday, January 4, 2013
Day 4 : Shepherd's Pie
Dutifully following along, today was Shepherd's Pie. I've made something similar only once before, so this is almost the first time I've ever made this. Thanks to the plan, the ingredients were ready to roll this morning. I assembled the dish... here is a peek:
I covered it, put it in the fridge, and left the house till almost 5pm. Popped in the oven for an hour, and dinner was ready. What I didn't tell you earlier is that I also chopped up a big green salad this morning and kept IT in the fridge (tomatoes separate, of course) until dinner time. Here is the after (I do not even pretend one of those glamour bloggers with gorgeously-lit dishes on clean surfaces with the afternoon sun artistically streaming in through the window... you get my kitchen counter.)
I think we should have sufficient leftovers to cover for tomorrow. I'll take that time to prep a little for the following day and for anything coming up during the next week. We'll see how this pressure holds up once I start back to homeschool on Monday.
This whole 'plan' is an experiment to see if it will help me or not. What I might try next month is, let's use Sheperd's Pie for example, make two of them at one time and either freeze one for later, or keep it to bake the next day. Then I could freeze those leftovers. It will be more clear after another week or two.
I think we should have sufficient leftovers to cover for tomorrow. I'll take that time to prep a little for the following day and for anything coming up during the next week. We'll see how this pressure holds up once I start back to homeschool on Monday.
This whole 'plan' is an experiment to see if it will help me or not. What I might try next month is, let's use Sheperd's Pie for example, make two of them at one time and either freeze one for later, or keep it to bake the next day. Then I could freeze those leftovers. It will be more clear after another week or two.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Day 3 Meal Plan
So here we are on day 3. I learned my lesson from the frozen chicken fiasco yesterday and pulled out the beef for stew yesterday for today (at the same time I took out the chicken). It was ready to go this morning, and since I knew I'd be out of the house from 10am-6pm I got to work while still sipping my first cup of coffee (this is not something I like to do, but it was an unusual circumstance).
I cooked up the beef stew in the pressure cooker and had it cooling around 9am. Before I left the house I set up the rice in my new rice cooker (my new BFF), and I pulled out the beloved crock pot.
In it I put a bag of frozen french style green beans, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, and all the broth from the meat I just cooked. I shook in a little garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, closed the lid, and set it to low. I put the meat in a bowl in the fridge since it didn't need to be sitting in the crock pot all day. I popped in the house for about 1 minute around 4:10pm at which time the meat got dumped into the crockpot to warm it up in time for dinner.
Side note: my husband went home around lunchtime while I was not there, so I asked him to set the crock pot to "warm" instead of "low" because I know it cooks too hot. I will probably do that again when I will be gone that many hours with the crock pot since it really doesn't need to be on 'low'.
One glitch in today's dinner.... turns out my rice cooker is on a 24 hour clock and not a 12 hour one. So when I set the timer to be ready at 6:00, it was thinking AM and I was thinking PM. Silly rice cooker..... I got a phone call from my husband who was home (while I was not) asking me what's up with the rice. It was 6:08 (pm, haha) and it sure didn't look like it was ready. I was bummed, but we both laughed when we realized the mess-up. He was able to successfully press the "Cooking" button which activated the rice making magic, and we ate a hot meal eventually, just not at 6:00, or should I say, not at 18:00.
Look at the picture. Again, notice how un-messy the kitchen is? Nice. Alhamdullah, the food tasted great, and leftovers will be going to work with my husband tomorrow. I was able to get a few ingredients prepped for tomorrow night's dinner which I will assemble after breakfast tomorrow and bake once I get home at 4:00 insha'Allah. Nope, I'm not telling what the dish is (ok, you could scroll down and read my other blog entry), but I will say it won't be in the crock pot. Are you relieved?
I cooked up the beef stew in the pressure cooker and had it cooling around 9am. Before I left the house I set up the rice in my new rice cooker (my new BFF), and I pulled out the beloved crock pot.
In it I put a bag of frozen french style green beans, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, and all the broth from the meat I just cooked. I shook in a little garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, closed the lid, and set it to low. I put the meat in a bowl in the fridge since it didn't need to be sitting in the crock pot all day. I popped in the house for about 1 minute around 4:10pm at which time the meat got dumped into the crockpot to warm it up in time for dinner.
Side note: my husband went home around lunchtime while I was not there, so I asked him to set the crock pot to "warm" instead of "low" because I know it cooks too hot. I will probably do that again when I will be gone that many hours with the crock pot since it really doesn't need to be on 'low'.
One glitch in today's dinner.... turns out my rice cooker is on a 24 hour clock and not a 12 hour one. So when I set the timer to be ready at 6:00, it was thinking AM and I was thinking PM. Silly rice cooker..... I got a phone call from my husband who was home (while I was not) asking me what's up with the rice. It was 6:08 (pm, haha) and it sure didn't look like it was ready. I was bummed, but we both laughed when we realized the mess-up. He was able to successfully press the "Cooking" button which activated the rice making magic, and we ate a hot meal eventually, just not at 6:00, or should I say, not at 18:00.
Look at the picture. Again, notice how un-messy the kitchen is? Nice. Alhamdullah, the food tasted great, and leftovers will be going to work with my husband tomorrow. I was able to get a few ingredients prepped for tomorrow night's dinner which I will assemble after breakfast tomorrow and bake once I get home at 4:00 insha'Allah. Nope, I'm not telling what the dish is (ok, you could scroll down and read my other blog entry), but I will say it won't be in the crock pot. Are you relieved?
Adventures in my new meal plan
The paper listing the January meals hangs on the fridge. It's a delight, really.
A funny thing happened. January 1 came. We happened to have a lot of leftovers that I did not want to throw out, so I made everyone eat them without cooking the meal listed on day 1. Turns out nobody really felt like trying Koshari which was scheduled for that day, so we just went ahead to day 2 the next day which was Zesty BBQ Chicken Sandwiches. Maybe I'll try the Koshari next month.
Since it was the first time to try this, and it was the new year, and I wasn't really on my game, I forgot to actually pull the frozen chicken out of the freezer on that day. I also kinda thought I might be making that Koshari anyways, but I wasn't, so why I didn't pull the chicken out, I don't know. However, a few hours in a bowl of cold water defrosted those little bird breasts in no time, and I was able to put them in the crock pot around 1:30pm. My crock pot cooks really hot, so I wasn't worried about a few skinless, boneless chicken breasts getting cooked in time for dinner. I followed the recipe exactly, and I had to just help myself to dinner shortly after 5pm (instead of waiting till 6) because it looked and smelled too good! (if you do the math, you'll see that I did not cook the chicken the recommended 6-8 hours on low) It was a treat for me. I've been craving something with BBQ flavor, so this shredded chicken really hit the spot. By the way, I just pulled out two forks and shredded the chicken right there in the pot. The sauce mixed in with it perfectly and wasn't too messy once in the buns! Sadly, my husband wasn't too impressed, but I will be making it again whether for lunch or maybe as a backup on a "leftovers" night if we have a little bit of this and that but not enough for everyone. Look at my picture below. See how un-messy the kitchen is? It's beautiful. We had some salad in the fridge from the day before, in case you're worried about the lack of greenery. Also, I often serve raw carrots with meals since some of my kids prefer raw veggies to cooked ones. No problem!
A funny thing happened. January 1 came. We happened to have a lot of leftovers that I did not want to throw out, so I made everyone eat them without cooking the meal listed on day 1. Turns out nobody really felt like trying Koshari which was scheduled for that day, so we just went ahead to day 2 the next day which was Zesty BBQ Chicken Sandwiches. Maybe I'll try the Koshari next month.
Since it was the first time to try this, and it was the new year, and I wasn't really on my game, I forgot to actually pull the frozen chicken out of the freezer on that day. I also kinda thought I might be making that Koshari anyways, but I wasn't, so why I didn't pull the chicken out, I don't know. However, a few hours in a bowl of cold water defrosted those little bird breasts in no time, and I was able to put them in the crock pot around 1:30pm. My crock pot cooks really hot, so I wasn't worried about a few skinless, boneless chicken breasts getting cooked in time for dinner. I followed the recipe exactly, and I had to just help myself to dinner shortly after 5pm (instead of waiting till 6) because it looked and smelled too good! (if you do the math, you'll see that I did not cook the chicken the recommended 6-8 hours on low) It was a treat for me. I've been craving something with BBQ flavor, so this shredded chicken really hit the spot. By the way, I just pulled out two forks and shredded the chicken right there in the pot. The sauce mixed in with it perfectly and wasn't too messy once in the buns! Sadly, my husband wasn't too impressed, but I will be making it again whether for lunch or maybe as a backup on a "leftovers" night if we have a little bit of this and that but not enough for everyone. Look at my picture below. See how un-messy the kitchen is? It's beautiful. We had some salad in the fridge from the day before, in case you're worried about the lack of greenery. Also, I often serve raw carrots with meals since some of my kids prefer raw veggies to cooked ones. No problem!
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