Good Soil

This made me physically ill today.

2009-11-02T11:27:00.004-06:00

Watch the video in the upper right corner.

Advent Conspiracy

Ten billion dollars would solve the world's potable water problem.

In the U.S., we spend $450 billion per year on Christmas.

What a way to honor to the Prince of Peace.

I said I'd be back.

2009-06-03T13:52:00.003-05:00

Hey, it's that time of year again - time to get the school plans down for the fall. I thought I'd give you a run down of what we're planning, and I would love to see the links to your plans, as well.

The curricula listed are for both Luke and Peyton unless otherwise noted. Luke will be 11 and Peyton will be 9. WHAT!? That's crazy to write.

Bible - We're going to use the Veritas Press Bible cards, the Gospel series. These cards give a good, clear understanding of the content and chronology of Biblical events. We have Victor Journey Through the Bible that we will use alongside the cards and Bible reading.

Math - Luke will move on to Math U See Zeta with Life of Fred Decimals and Percents as a supplement. I'll be giving him some real life math problems to work on as well.

Peyton is about halfway through MUS Delta, and when she finishes that she'll move into MUS Epsilon with Life of Fred Fractions as a supplement.

Grammar - We're going to be using Analytical Grammar, with the recommended three year course. I love the thinking behind this program, which is thorough and rigorous, but doesn't review part of speech definitions until your brain pours out of your ears.

Peyton will not be doing a formal grammar program this year, but will have plenty built into her writing program.

Writing - Luke will be using Classical Writing, Homer A this year. We will wait to start it until the ten week course of Analytical Grammar is complete. The grammar in Homer along with the biweekly AG review should keep his grammar skills sharp while he focuses on writing.

Peyton will be using Classical Writing Aesop B this year.

Spelling - We've been using Spelling Power. Luke took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills this year and while he did pretty well overall, he pretty much stunk up the spelling section. This surprised me, because when he writes he is not prone to many spelling errors. I'm rethinking how we use SP vs. changing to a different program. Peyton hates Spelling Power (thought she spelled very well on the test) and I need to change her program for sure. Thoughts?

History - Luke will be going from the end of the Revolutionary War as far as we can - maybe stopping before WWI? - as recommended in The Well Trained Mind. Each week this will include reading a section in the 1994 version of Kingfisher's History Encyclopedia, making a list of pertinent facts learned and adding important dates to the timeline on Day One, doing mapwork and delving deeper into areas of interest from Kingfisher at the library and outlining a particular topic of interest on Day Two, and writing a summary of this topic of interest on Day Three.

Peyton will be covering the same time period, though her core text will be Story of the World last half of 3 and first half of 4, with written narrations each week. She'll also use the Story of the World Activity Guide for coloring pages, maps and other activities, and additional library books along with Usborne's Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History for digging deeper.

Literature - Luke will be reading through many of the logic-stage recommendations for this time period from The Well Trained Mind. Peyton's list will come from the grammar stage recs.

Latin - We'll be using First Form Latin. This was a tough piece. Luke and Peyton have now worked through Latina Christiana II, and Luke could move on, but Peyton is not ready for a higher level Latin. Fortunately for us, Memoria Press is publishing First Form just in the nick of time. Much of First Form will review LC I&II, but they dig deeper into the grammar with more exercises. So this year will be a reinforcement year for the two of them. I just don't want to commit the time to teaching two different levels of Latin. Unlike math, it's not as if they have to be able to do a certain level of Latin in 8th or 9th grade, so I'd rather keep them together in this subject.

Science - We'll be using Exploration Education for physical science this year. It looks like a lot of fun. I imagine we'll throw in some other experiments as we go along.

Art - Our Handle on the Arts program sat on the shelf all year and, by golly, we're going to use it this year!

Other - Luke will be playing select soccer this year pending tryouts the first week of July and continuing guitar lessons with Bud. Peyton will continue with drama and learning keyboard if Bud can force her to do it. He he.

Our plan is to devote Mon-Thurs to the core subjects, leaving Friday for art, science experiments and community service/mission projects. I think it's shaping up to be a good year.

What I've been up to...

2009-04-16T18:22:00.003-05:00

Planning next year's curricula (more to come).

Laundry.

Feeding people. Wouldn't it be great if kids were more like camels? We could cram them full of food once every couple of days and then shut the kitchen down!

Trying not to spend money. Hate that.

Exercising. (Go Amy!)

Started going through the house, one room at a time, making it the best it can be without spending a penny. The bedroom is done. After we finish the whole house, we'll go back and make spending decisions.

Getting the garden in. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, cantaloupe, a variety of herbs.

Enjoying the fits and bursts of springtime.

Reading John Adams, A Reason for God, and Life Skills for Kids.

Watching The Brady Bunch, the entire series, with the kids and Slumdog Millionaire with Bud and some friends. If you haven't seen Slumdog, don't waste another second, see it now.

Facebook. Crazy addicting.

How about you? What have you been up to?

Weekend Warriors!

2009-02-12T20:57:00.002-06:00

It's time once again for

This week I have a lot of little projects all over the house that would bore you out of your mind. It's also Mardi Gras weekend here, which means gumbo, red beans and rice, an adult beverage or two, and good friends. It also means nothing productive will happen on Saturday. Except for a good time with good friends and it doesn't get more productive than that in my book.

I have one project that might interest you, though. We are starting our tomato seeds so they will be ready to put out in the garden at the end of March.

The pellets expand when wet, and then you just drop your seed into them and it grows. Like magic. When you are ready to transplant you just put the whole deal into the garden. They are made of coconut husk. Pretty groovy.

We have several heirloom varieties that we are trying this year, mainly because I can't stomach the idea of giving Monsanto my business, but also because we are making self-sufficiency a goal. It will take a while to achieve it, but if these guys can do it in Pasadena, then we can do it in the Dallas suburbs. One of us is eventually going to have to be the president of the HOA to remove some of the ridiculous restrictions, but for now we're changing what we can, and when nothing is left to change legally, we'll start working on that end of things.

Wow, that's probably more than you wanted to know. How about I start over.

We're planting tomatoes this weekend. The end.

What's your project this weekend? Post the link to your Weekend Warrior post so we can come encourage you. Please link directly to your post and not your blog, and then edit that post with your follow up pictures. That will make it easy for everyone to find your entire project.

Get to work, Warriors!

2009-02-11T09:00:00.001-06:00

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

Thomas Jefferson

Meal Plan Monday - A Week in Review

2009-02-09T12:09:00.004-06:00

I thought I'd throw a twist into the Meal Plan Monday thing by telling you what we ate last week, along with some tips/critiques about the meals. Maybe it will be a little more useful to you that way. Or you can laugh at my folly. Which is likely. Just don't do it to my face.

So here we go ... last week's menu.

Saturday
breakfast - oatmeal
lunch - lunch at Dickey's BBQ; this is a recurring theme because KIDS EAT FREE!
potluck dinner with friends - I made tortilla casserole and this was a delicious and easy dish. I had never made it before, and the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gave it a yummy flavor. The link is Cook's Illustrated, so if you want the recipe and you don't subscribe, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Plus, I'm getting all crazy and experimental with it and making soup this week instead of cooking it in a casserole.

I'm nutty like that.

Sunday
breakfast - toast and jelly
lunch - at Petra after church, our favorite interior Mexican food restaurant
dinner - Superbowl snacks at a friend's party

Monday
breakfast - french toast and sausage
lunch - leftover tortilla casserole
dinner - grilled sausage with caramelized onions and marinara sauce on big bread (that's what we call french bread around here)

Tuesday
breakfast - biscuits with honey
lunch - leftover sausage
dinner - takeout pizza (Bud was out of town and I don't cook so much when he's gone)

Wednesday
breakfast - cinnamon toast and bacon
lunch - buttered noodles with veggies
dinner - at Bud's mom's house

Hmmm. It doesn't seem like I actually cooked that much this week. How come I was ALWAYS in the kitchen?

Thursday
breakfast - cold cereal
lunch - ham sandwiches
dinner - baked ziti - this is a GREAT recipe, however, as I assembled it I began to realize just how large a portion of my grocery bill went to the ingredients for it. And doesn't it seem that one should be able to make a meatless dish of pasta, sauce and cheese with some seasonings without sacrificing a child's college education? I am going to try this again soon, substituting some of the more expensive ingredients and see what I can get.

Crappy pasta probably.

Friday
breakfast - cold cereal; there was quite an uproar that not only did my children have to eat cold cereal, they had to do it two days in a row. Poor things.
lunch - leftover ziti
dinner - chili and cornbread. Now this recipe turned out really well. And it prompts me to share an embarrassing story with you. I am occasionally a sucker for marketing. Actually, it's pretty rare, but sometimes I fall for a good marketing plan.

In the fall of 2007, when the air was just getting crisp...scratch that. We don't get crisp air in Texas. When Texans were imagining crisp air, I went to the grocery store. And there on display was a beverage that I was sure would transport me into a world of brightly colored trees, cozy sweaters, and crunching leaves under my feet.

Pumpkin Ale.

I excitedly brought it home and didn't even unload the groceries before I opened a bottle from my six pack.

In my life I'm not sure I've ever been so disappointed in a purchase. It was disgusting.

Which is why, up until last week, I still had 5 of the nasty brews in my refrigerator.

Then I made chili. And the chili turned out good!

I certainly wouldn't purchase this for making chili, but if you have it on hand, it turns out pretty good.

In my chili recipe I also used a 27 oz. can of pinto beans and 1 lb. of ground buffalo instead of 2 lbs of ground beef. Plus, I cut the chili powder by about half. One third cup of chili powder would scar my children for life. But I bet it would be good with it in there.

Enjoy the recipes. And, I'm always looking for good suggestions and recipes, so leave 'em if you got 'em.

Weekend Warriors!

2009-02-06T13:50:00.005-06:00

Okay everybody, it's Friday. Time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

For us it's a busy weekend. Peyton has play practice in the morning, then she and Bud have the Daddy/Daughter Dance tomorrow evening. That means much of the afternoon will be taken up with primping, etc. It takes a lot of work to get Bud ready for a date.

On Sunday after church, a local organization is holding a Cut-a-thon to benefit a children's clinic here in town. If you are in the North Dallas area, you should participate. It's quite a deal and for a good cause, too. And, let me tell you that it could not be more timely for this shaggy family. Those hairstylists may rethink being so charitable after they are done with us.

And finally, on Sunday evening we host our Bible study. The best night of my week.

So it's a busy weekend, but not completely jam-packed. During the inbetween times I plan to install toe kicks.

Also, at some point in the weekend, I intend to get that game of Sleeping Queens put away. That might be shooting too high, though.

So what about you? Add your link here on Mr. Linky so we can see what you are going to be up to. I know I'll come by and ~~give you a hiney kick~~encourage you to get to work. I bet there are others like me who would love to be inspired by your projects.

Please be sure to link to the specific post instead of to the main page of your blog. That will not only make it easier today, but in a few months when someone wants to see how you faux-painted your dining room, it will be alot easier to find.

Update: Finally I got on Blogger. It was being mean to me. We had a full weekend and completed our list. The toekicks are in:

You'll notice the Sleeping Queens have been put to bed.

Rimshotthankyouverymuch.

The plan is to install toekick drawers and a pullout stepstool by the baking area (for Peyton) and use the toekicks as drawerfronts. But that's probably a summer project. I just need to get the place looking put together right now. Translation, I'm tired pressing my face against the floor and the base of the cabinets to reach all the stuff that rolls under there. It's getting old.

Bud was also a Warrior this weekend:

Please ignore the green sponge. It's not even there. It's your imagination.

He installed the casing around both pantry doors, and the hallway to the laundry area. AFter a few pieces of baseboard are in place it'll be time for filling/sanding/painting and it's really going to start to look finished.

Be sure to check out Dy's link below and see her fabulous futon!

I hope you join us next weekend and be a Weekend Warrior!

And don't forget to comment after you leave your link! Happy Warrioring!

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Let the flakes fall where they may

2009-02-04T22:18:00.006-06:00

This post is part of Randi's Recipe Box Swap!

After you're done here, go check out some of the other great recipes!

Over on the GSCI post, Dy suggested that perhaps I left out a unit on lard. I totally get that Dy is embracing the whole Alabama thing, and that shortening or lard is often used to make a nice flaky pie crust.

But we don't do lard around here. We just don't do lard.

I'm sorry, Dy.

Like Dy, though, I did have my concerns about the whole pie crust thing. You want it flaky, not crumbly, and lard or vegetable shortening are a surefire way of making it flake.

The thing is they don't taste like butter. And if you want to know my philosophy of cooking it goes something like this:

Make it taste like butter.

So, if you are like me, and not prepared to forgo the butter for the flake, I present to you the Best Pie Crust Evah, in which you shall have both.

When you make pastry with butter, the key is keeping it cold. When rolled out, the cold butter makes layers of sheets between the dry ingredients. Like little sheets of happiness. If you let the butter get warm, it will just melt into the dry ingredients and you'll have a tough crumbly crust. Keep your butter cold!

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes and chilled
6 tablespoons sour cream

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, and combine till mixed. Add the butter, and mix until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Now you want to chill your mixture for about 15 minutes to keep that butter cold.

Add the sour cream to the mixture and mix until the dough comes together in the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it several times on a lightly floured surface. Divide into two pieces and form each into a disk about an inch or so thick.

Now wrap it up and chill it for 30 minutes up to a few days.

You can make this in a food processor, being careful not to over process the mixture - stop at that coarse meal stage. You can also do it by hand with a pastry cutter thing or two knives. I can't do that. I stink at that.

This makes two pie crusts. So you should make two pies and send one to me.

It sort of works for me...

2009-02-03T18:58:00.007-06:00

It's Works for me Wednesday and today I'm wondering about chores and allowance.

My 10 yr old and 8 yr old have always had chores. But I've been of the mindset that you don't get paid for chores, you do them because you are part of this family. You also get some spending cash because you are part of this family. But Bud has a different opinion and we've recently changed over to a chore-based allowance system. It's still in the early stages, but working pretty well. It just needs some fine-tuning I think.

The thing is, I can barely get my own chores done. What do I know?

The basics:

Everyone has to keep their own room tidy, fold and put away their own clothes, and generally be responsible for their own messes. The payment for these chores is room and board. Also, no getting paid for other chores if these things aren't taken care of to the boss's satisfaction. Lucky for them she's not really that particular.

The following chores are mandatory:
- setting the table for dinner
- clearing the table after dinner
- keeping the bathrooms tidy with full soap dispensers, clean hand towels and tp on the roll (setting it on the back of the toilet tank does NOT count)
- keeping Romy's toys organized
- cleaning out ~~Mom's diet coke cans from~~ the minivan
- keeping the media room tidy
- keeping the gameroom tidy
- keeping the front porch tidy
At the beginning of the week each child chooses four of the chores and is responsible for them all week.

Both kids are required to work in the yard and garden as part of their daily chores.

The above is all mandatory. If they want to earn more, they can ask for additional jobs for more cash.

Ten percent of their earning must go to church and an additional 10% must go to long term savings. We will match anything they save or give over that initial 10%. Unless they become particularly frugal or philanthropic, then they'll learn that parents aren't to be trusted.

So we're off to a slow start. Things are being forgotten. They are learning what needs to be done. But it's getting smoother.

I'm wondering: How old are your kids and what chores do they do? Do they get paid for chores or just for being in the household? What do you expect for your children to pay for with their money?

Don't forget to come by this Friday for

I'll put a Mr. Linky up on Friday morning so you can link us to your blog and we can read about your weekend plans. That way we can follow one another's progress and encourage eachother over the weekend. I can't wait to see what creative and talented things you'll be getting done this weekend!

Culina!

2009-02-02T20:37:00.003-06:00

Well, we got the doors up. You'll have to use your imagination here, because I'm showing you a lot more of the kitchen than I intended to this early on, but the doors are so cool I couldn't help myself.

We have quite a few things left on our punch list.

1. Install trim molding around the openings of the pantry doors
2. Install the toekicks. After I remove all the produce.
3. Install lighting. It was a sad day today when I received my pendants for over the island and the breakfast table. They looked like disco balls.

I had to send them back.

4. Install lighting on the open shelves - you can't see it from this picture but it's on the end of the kitchen to the right of the picture.
5. Change all the outlets and light switches from white to black. Very poor planning that.
6. Install some filler pieces in the cabinetry, above the fridge and below the cooktop.
7. Install side panels on the cabinets flanking the hood.
8. Install backsplash. Nine weeks and counting.

Now don't forget to get ready for this weekend! It's the comeback of

Plan out your projects and get your before pictures taken. Then you will have no excuse but to get 'er done.

Do you wear an apron?

2009-01-31T09:37:00.005-06:00

I've never been an apron wearer, but it seems that in my old age I'm becoming a very messy cook. Just yesterday I went to put on my favorite eggplant t-shirt from Athleta, and it's got a big grease stain right in front.

It was my go to shirt. You know the one - if it's clean you put it on. It made me very sad.

There are a few other shirts in similar shape.

So I've decided I need to start wearing an apron.

Some of you have put pictures of darling aprons on your blogs, and I'm looking for your recommendations.

I'm looking for a an apron with a bib, because I need all the coverage I can get. But I need something that is sassy, because I don't want Bud to see me in it and be thinking "mother." I want him to see me in it and think, "How you doin'?"

He's from New Jersey and can totally pull that off.

So please, hit me with your best apron suggestions. Thanks!

What up wit dat kitchen?

2009-01-29T20:07:00.009-06:00

Once we started remodeling the kitchen, we lived in a construction zone for a couple of months, and then - like magic - we had a kitchen that functioned! All the appliances in place and operational. Plumbing that runs but doesn't leak. Countertops. Storage.

After all that time eating ~~Sonic~~ salads from the local market's healthy salad bar, I was thrilled to get into the kitchen and start cooking again.

In fact, I hardly notice all the things that aren't complete anymore. Like no toe-kicks. I found a sprouting potato under there the other day.

Also, two of the cabinets need sidepanels, but I've got to find someone with a planer wide enough to plane them from 5/8" down to 3/8" or they won't fit.

Then there is the back-ordered backsplash.

And these:

They are my pantries. No, pantRies you goof. The first is in the heart of the kitchen and holds the food. The second is in the breakfast area and houses all our school stuff and my cookbooks. They're great aren't they? I've become so accustomed to the rustic construction zone look that I hardly notice that there are no doors or trim.

Besides, the doors are in the garage, waiting for me to finish painting them.

And it's like 18 gajillion degrees below zero right now.

But I have a deadline. Finish painting the doors and install them in pockets this weekend or bust... A gut? A seam? A move? I don't know what that means but I'm getting them done this weekend.

And I'll show you pictures on Monday.

Which reminds me of this fun little thing I used to do before I stopped doing it. Weekend Warriors! Remember that? It was all the rage for about 3 seconds.

I think I'm going to revive it, and we'll start NEXT weekend. So you're off the hook for this week, but get ready because you've got work to do next weekend. And I'm a slave driver!

So with all this home improvement talk, tell me, what's your favorite project around the house? Gardening? Painting? Digging out sprouted potatoes from under your kitchen cabinets? Do tell!

The GRP

Romy and the floor had a bit of an altercation today. The floor won.

Every man's memory is his private literature. ~Aldous Huxley

2009-01-28T21:22:00.007-06:00

Update:

Rhonda pointed out in the comments that this system is recommended over at Simply Charlotte Mason. Click over there because they do a better job of explaining it than I do, PLUS they've got a lot of other great info. Thanks Rhonda!

Over the years in homeschool, church and Community Bible Study, the kids have had a lot of memory work to do. Lots of Bible verses, of course, mixed in with poetry and other literature readings.

What I found, though, was that they would memorize the passage, move on to the next one, and promptly forget the one they just learned!

It's enough that they forget to do their chores and trim their nails, but forgetting all that memory work that we spent hours on was driving me a leetle beet crazy.

So last school year I devised a system, that I'm sure some much wiser homeschooler told me about, but I promptly forgot who it was. No, the irony is not lost on me.

Here it is:

Now some of you crafty folks will be able to make this much cuter and fun than I did. But I used what I had on hand so it was FREE. Ha.

This is how it works:

When we learn a new passage, or group of latin vocabulary words, or poem or whatever, it goes into the "daily" file. We work on it every day at breakfast. Once it is mastered it moves into the "odd" or "even" file, and whatever was there gets bumped to a Monday through Friday slot, and the item bumped from there gets put into a dated slot.

So everything we memorize gets practiced until it is firmly in our brains, and from then on it comes around at least once a month.

I'm pleased to tell you that it works. We've been using this system for about a year, and we all seem to remember things as they come back around.

I'm off to put a toenail clipper in the Friday slot.

Works for me- Is it an ear infection?

2009-01-28T10:15:00.007-06:00

I haven't shared a Works for me Wednesday tip in a while, but this one is so fantastic and I just discovered it last night, so I wanted to share with you.

Sweet Romy has been sick for several days with an icky cold. You know the drill...cranky, nasty nose, junky cough, up at nights needing the nose vacuumed out. One of those colds. Well yesterday afternoon, Romy awoke from her nap in a horrible tantrum. It lasted for a long time and had us worried that her ear had joined the party. I wasn't sure because a) my otoscope is broken so I couldn't just look and see, and b) the girl knows how to throw a good tantrum.

She's gifted that way.

So it's 6 p.m., of course, and Romy needs to be seen because ~~I did not want to be up all night.~~ the poor dear was possibly in pain.

Our doctor is gone for the day, and DFW is braced for a major ice storm. "STAY OFF THE ROADS!" was being screamed from every radio station.

So I had only a short time to get her seen and get home before we'd be sliding off into a ditch somewhere.

Enter Minute Clinic at our CVS. Now don't get me started on why there is a bank and a pharmacy on every single corner, but last night I was glad to have a CVS right here in the cul de sac. I'm exaggerating, mostly. It was a 5 minute drive.

Walked in, saw a nurse practitioner. No ear infection. She faxed the record of the visit to our doctor and recommended some nasal saline.

Now here is the best part. Because they didn't do anything for us (her words, not mine) there was NO CHARGE! I thought they did a ton for a us and would have paid A LOT for the service they provided at that particular moment, but it cost me nothing.

Fifteen minutes later, I was back home with my suddenly sweet baby, safe from the ice storm that has shut the area down. Romy slept all night and is a new baby today.

CVS Minute Clinic. It definitely works for me!

GSCI - The Good Soil Culinary Institute

2009-01-27T16:09:00.003-06:00

I just made that up. I really don't know a lot about cooking. I mostly figure things out as I go along. However, for several years, this one

has declared she wants to be a baker when she grows up. I was sad that she gave up the idea of being a playground designer, because it sounds so fun with less potential of major weight issues. But, I think she'll be a good baker and she has a very cute business plan, but I've been sworn to secrecy so you'll have to wait 20 years to find out.

Anyhow, I've designed a baking curriculum for Peyton to follow and learn some of the basics of baking. She received the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book for Christmas, and we're using it as our textbook. What a great book!

We're on Week 3 - Leavening this week, and so far it's been fun and a success. So I thought I'd share our curriculum with you in case you would like to try it or, more importantly, point out the glaring deficiencies. I would really appreciate that, btw!

Do you have a favorite cookbook that you use for your baking recipes?

I'd love to hear about it.

So here you go:

Peyton's baking curriculum

Week 1 All About Flour
types of flour
storing flour
measuring flour
sifting flour
Recipe: Blueberry Muffins

Week 2 All About Flour continued
review
Recipe: Basic Pizza Dough

Week 3 All About Leaveners
yeast and yeast substitutes
baking soda and baking powder
cream of tartar
Recipe: Fluffy dinner rolls

Week 4 Sugar
types
measuring
Recipe: Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies

Week 5 Sugar continued
restoring sugar
Recipe: Carrot Sheet Cake

Week 6 Butter I really can't wait for this week!
buying
butter temperatures
creaming
Recipe: Banana Bread

Week 7 Eggs
sizes and weights
breaking and separating
storing
temperature
whipping
Recipe: Skillet Strata

Week 8 Dairy
types
substitutions
Recipe: Simple Cream Scones

Week 9 Chocolate
types
storing
chopping
melting
Recipe: Lunchbox Brownies
Recipe: Chocolate Croissants
Yes, there are supposed to be two recipes this week. Lots of critically important skills to learn in chocolate week.

Week 10 The Pantry
cornmeal
oats
gelatine
tapioca
cornstarch
Recipe: Corn Muffins

Week 11 The Pantry
Karo syrup
molasses
honey
maple syrup
wheat bran
shortening
Recipe: Honey Bran Sandwich Bread with Sunflower Seeds

Week 12 Final Test
Surprise recipe - I am helping Peyton as much as she needs during the 12 weeks, but this one she will have to do all on her own without my help.

What unusual subjects do you teach your children?

An attempt at being useful

2009-01-26T11:56:00.003-06:00

During all this time I haven't been blogging, I have been keeping myself busy. The kitchen is almost done (waiting on a backsplash - 10 week backorder). The cooking, it is happening a lot. The laundry is caught up. My children are being educated. I'm involved at church and two Bible studies. I'm the "greeter" for my homeschool support group. The seeds for my spring garden just arrived. And I'm reading a Hannah Coulter.

However, my children really need a toenail and fingernail trim. It's disgusting.

Ew.

I really don't have a lot of blogging time since getting my ducks in a row, but I don't want to quit blogging, because I sometimes have very important things to say and I don't want you to miss out on that. That would be so sad. For me.

So today, in an attempt to make this blog useful, I thought I'd share my menu plan for this week. I love to read menu plans because they always give me new ideas, and I have occasionally gotten into a slump with my cooking. Okay, if picking up a rotisserie chicken and steaming some broccoli several nights a week is a slump, then it's more than occasionally.

My meal plan starts on Saturday. I find that if I try to make it begin on Monday, it's too much preparation going on on Sunday evenings between that and school. So I plan my menus on Friday afternoons when we've wrapped up for the week, and try to shop that afternoon, too.

Also, I always make a big salad for dinner. I try to put a lot of stuff on it - variety of lettuces, carrots, tomatoes, nuts, peppers, citrus fruit, etc. And if the main course doesn't have a veggie or two built in, I put a side of veggies on the table. Usually something steamed with lemon, salt and pepper.

For breakfast and lunch, if I don't have fruit planned, we just grab fruit out of the fruit bowl and have that as a side. I don't mention these things on the meal plan because I don't plan very precisely for them.

I know, words, words, words.

Here it is:

THIS WEEK'S MEAL PLAN
Saturday
Breakfast - Coffee cake made by Peyton (recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)
Lunch - out at Dickey's barbecue
Dinner - leftovers from Friday night (it was chicken soup)

Sunday
Breakfast - Coffee Cake again
Lunch and Dinner - Garlic Potato Soup and homemade parmesan flatbread. (Cooks Illustrated is a subscription website, so if you don't have a subscription and want the recipe, let me know. ;)

Monday
Breakfast - pancakes, bacon and blueberries
Lunch - buttered noodles with green peas
Dinner - pot roast - it's pot roast, I don't really use a recipe. But if you want one, The Pioneer Woman has one here.

Tuesday
Breakfast - cinnamon toast and fried apples
Lunch Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (I like Pacific brand soup - it comes in a box like broth)
Dinner - pot roast pasta - shred up the roast and serve it with alot of its juice over penne pasta. The pieces of meat will get caught up in the penne, so it's a good noodle for the dish. If you want a thicker sauce, put it in a sauce pan and cooke with some flour to thicken it. That's what I do.

Wednesday
Breakfast - cold cereal - some days I'm mean like that
Lunch - leftover pasta
Dinner - Jambalaya pasta- Bud's request - this is my first time to make this recipe so I'll let you know how it goes.

Thursday -
Breakfast - biscuits and sausage, berries
Lunch - leftover jambalaya
Dinner - pan pizza This recipe has a bit much olive oil taste for me, so I use half olive oil and half butter in the pan. This method makes a really wonderful crust!

Friday -
Breakfast - cereal - mean again
Lunch - leftover pizza
Dinner - And finally, enchiladas for both our neighbor who just had a sweeeet baby boy and for us. And we'll probably invite someone to eat with us.

So there ya go. What are you eating this week?

The Year of the Vegetable

2008-12-29T19:51:00.002-06:00

In honor of the new kitchen, the new year, the new president, and the new economy, we are introducing a new Vegetable Based Initiative here at Casa Good Soil.

In the past, 93.7% of our vegetable consumption has consisted of steamed broccoli, Caesar salad, and baby carrots (which are really NOT baby, in case you didn't know). In the summer we also eat a lot of tomatoes, avocadoes and summer squash.

I'm guessing there has to be, like, ten more vegetables out there that aren't cauliflower or beets.

So, in looking toward the New World Order, we have resolved to increase our variety of vegetable intake before the rationing begins. Kidding, I'm kidding. Tonight I made a delicious butternut squash pasta (which really falls more in the starch category, but still) that I got from the most recent issue of Cook's Illustrated that graced my stocking this year. I also made a salad with butter bibb lettuce, grapefruit, pecans and avocadoes and made a grapefruit vinaigrette for it. Yum.

Got any good vegetable recipes that you'd like to share? No need to submit cauliflower or beet recipes. I've btdt, and I've got the t-shirt, thanks. And you cannot fool me into thinking that mashed cauliflower tastes Just Like Mashed Potatoes, Really It Does!

Other than that I'm open to anything. We are ready to experiment here. Hit me.

Merry Christmas from the Good Soil family!

2008-12-22T23:50:00.002-06:00

And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, and savior is born to you. He is Christ the Lord."

A list of some stuff

2008-12-19T22:39:00.002-06:00

Not too many days left till Christmas, folks. Have you shopped? We have. We've wrapped, too. This is very uncharacteristic of us. I generally end up wrapping everything after the kids finally go to sleep at midnight on Christmas Eve. And Lord help us all if something has to be assembled.

So this is a banner year at Casa Good Soil.

Here are some random things I need to tell you:

1. A good many of the Christmas decorations are still in the attic. We have a tree and stockings up. But no tree topper. No wreath. No santas. I do have a fleece blanket from Target that has penguins on it out in the living room. I got it in a white elephant exchange a few years back. I'm not sure when it becomes pointless to get the decorations out, but I have hope that it is sometime AFTER December 20.

2. I'm hosting Christmas dinner. However, I have yet to determine a) the menu, b) the guest list, and c) whether we will eat it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Yeah. I'll get on that.

3. I think I broke my toe. That has nothing to do with anything, except that I need to tell you about it. It doesn't hurt as much as it did, but it does hurt. Particularly when I bump it into something. Then my eyes water and I think of cuss words.

4. Clementine Cuties are available in the grocery store.

5. Ordering doors off of the internet is not a great idea. I need two pocket doors for my pantries, but shipping is more than the doors. So I have to go to a real store. I hate that.

6. It's in the 70's here. Day before yesterday the public schools were closed because of the ice on the roads. It's going to be in the teens on Sunday. Welcome to Texas.

7. Classical Writing rocks.

8. Leftover pot roast and mashed potatoes on sourdough bread is an excellent sandwich.

9. My husband is teaching my children about classic rock. As in Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Clapton, etc. Luke can play Back in Black on his guitar. We may be banned from homeschooling.

10. I *heart* toddler tummies.

11. A giggling 8 year old is the best sound of the season.

Cooking

2008-12-02T00:28:00.002-06:00

It is good to have a functioning kitchen. I made chicken enchiladas tonight for dinner.

I can unload 90% of the dishwasher without taking a step now. That's what a good layout will do for you. Now I have to go to the gym.

The countertops get installed on Thursday. We still have a lot of trimwork to do, and the floors won't be refinished till January.

But we have a kitchen that works! WOOT!

Other stuff.

Luke is playing indoor soccer for the winter. Something set him on fire this fall and he has been practicing all. the. time. He's good. He is slated to be on two teams playing in three leagues this spring. That's four practices and 3 games every week. I'm not sure I can take it. But next fall if he goes select he will have to give up his rec team. That will be very sad for all of us, but the right thing. His club coach is just tremendous. He really teaches the boys, but keeps his cool. His personality is the perfect match for Luke's temperament.

However, the boy's math brain seems to have turned off. Like you are speaking in Greek when you ask a math question. Where did his math brain go? If you've seen it, please report it to me. He is doing great in everything else, and finally reading because HE WANTS TO. I never thought that would happen.

Peyton is in her first play on Friday. She has loved being in drama and wants to continue with it. However, tonight when we were practicing her lines, she started crying and told me she was scared. She'll be fine, but I do feel for her and her nerves.

Peyton sings. Nor formally, but if you come to our house and listen, it is likely that you will hear her singing. Today it was Galatians 2:20. Did you ever sing that chorus?

Peyton is just smart. She gets things. It's fun to watch that girl think.

Romy opens cabinets. All of the cabinets. She eats anything and everything that we adults eat. And asks for more. If you sit down for 30 seconds or more, she will bring a book to you and crawl into your lap to hear you read it. Oh, I do love that.

I know it's December, but I thought I'd show you our Halloween costumes. Because that's how I operate.

Luke is a hick (he now wears those overalls whenever they are clean), Romy is a sock monkey, and Peyton is Dorothy. Romy agreed to wear the costume for about 3 minutes. Then she sat on the front porch with her chicken nuggets greeting the trick-or-treaters. Notice she's signing for more in this picture.

Whiplash.

2008-11-24T09:23:00.002-06:00

Whiplash is an injury to the neck that occurs from rapid, abnormal change in direction of motion. I am suffering from it. It's what happens when you are trucking right along on your kitchen remodel, everything is hunky dory (a word of Dutch origin, btw) and then bam, you come to a screeching halt and your head bounces back and forth a hundred and seventy-two times.

It's when you have a beautiful schedule all set up on Excel, and you highlight each item as it is completed in a timely manner. Then, the Italians send you a rangetop that was meant for a German household, ie, the wiring is incompatible with U.S. wiring. And the drywallers show up, tape everything off, and disappear, never to return. And you don't get to highlight anything on your Excel spreadsheet for weeks. And it makes your neck hurt. And it makes you a little grumpy, too.

So, we've had a little slowdown in the remodel.

But here are the good things:

I love the new layout. It feels bigger even though it is actually about 16 sf smaller, simply because it is well planned.

My husband is smart. He figured out how to put a second pantry into the space for me. It will be ... wait for it... The School Pantry!

I really love my single bowl, 10" deep, 30" wide apron front sink. I can't wait to make cookies just so I can wash the cookie sheets. Well, sure, I won't have a problem with eating the cookies either.

Things that could be good or bad, depending on your perspective:

It makes me want to cook. Which is good, except I don't want to cook plain old food, I want to cook fancy food. Fancy expensive food. But we spent all our money on the kitchen. So I have to learn how to cook fancy cheap food. That's good, right?

The kitchen remodel is beginning to bleed into the other rooms of the house. Right now it's the baseboards. We want taller ones. And we want to paint all the trim. It'll look great, but it's a lot. of. work. painting trim. Then there's the new windows in the living room. But that's a remodel for another time. And another income.

The trash pullout is cool. But the trashcans are small. Which means we, er, the kids, will have to take the trash out more often. And because it's inside a pullout, we'll no longer be able to play the Teetering Pile of Refuse Game to see who will cave and take out the trash first. You always have to give up something in a remodel.

Pictures? Well we are further along than these right now, but I want to have a grand reveal when it's done, so these are just teasers.

Here's our granite, Delicatus:

And see this doorway?

It moved to the left where the framing is exposed, to make room for this:

Our refrigerator. It got the fridge out of a silly spot in the kitchen and gave us some valuable real estate to use as a baking center. And by using the old doorway, we were able to recess the fridge six inches into the wall, making it appear counterdepth, without spending extra money or giving up cubic footage for an actual counterdepth fridge. I love it!

Here's the big view of things (and also the GRP!):

This is from the living room looking into the kitchen. The end where the cabinets are installed is the baking center. The back wall will be home to the rangetop. The two posts are supporting most of the second floor and roof, so as much as I wanted them to go, they are staying. They will have a big 9'x4' island attached to them. To the left of this picture is the second pantry.

Romy says hi!

2008-10-31T11:42:00.003-05:00

We are trucking right along. Things we have accomplished:

Demo'd the old kitchen and sold the old cabinets, countertops and sink on Craig's List for a tidy sum.

Framed the new walls for the new layout.

Opened the new doorway into the kitchen.

Plumber moved sink lines and drain, plumbed water for the refrigerator, and moved the gas line for the rangetop.

Wood floor folks are here right now patching all the holes in the floor.

You want to see how this all began?

Pretty nasty, huh? I can't tell you how bad it smelled when we pulled it up. Shudder.

And this we like to refer to as The Wall of Death.

It has water, 240V electric power, 120V electric power, gas, and it's load-bearing. If you let your imagination run wild you can come up with all kinds of ways for that wall to kill you. None of them are pleasnt, but some are quite spectacular.

Next up, finishing all the wiring. We didn't end up needing the electrician for any of it. It's Bud's favorite part of the job and the 240 ends up being a pretty small affair. We should have that done by Monday, then sheetrock and then cabinets!!!!

Wanna see my new rangetop? You can click on it to learn more about it.

On the homeschooling front, in addition to doing at least 2 of the 3 R's each day, the kids are learning Life Skills. A construction schedule waits for no homeschooling mama.

This weekend I get to go to the granite yard to look at slabs. I'm psyched. What are you doing?

Kitchen toys

2008-10-22T12:33:00.003-05:00

Okay. This kitchen stuff is kind of addicting. In between tearing out sheetrock and putting it back in I'm rushing over to the Dellow to browse the kitchen forums at Garden Web. There is more information about kitchens than you ever dreamed of in that place.

The construction is going well, and Bud and I are very happy that we've decided to DIY. It's slow at work for a him (a mixed blessing) so he's been able to really work hard on the kitchen. He's doing all the wiring and framing. We've both been sheetrocking, and I'm the cabinet assembler. Assemblyperson. Yes. At our current pace we'll have an operational kitchen again in about 2 weeks. Then we can relax the feverish pace while we put the finishing touches in place.

Tomorrow we go to see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, it's a day off of construction.

So, my first new kitchen toy arrived yesterday. Here it is:

It's beautiful and really beefy.

I thought I'd share a few other selections I've made for those interested.

The sink is from Lavello (not my kitchen, just a look at the sink I've chosen):

The cabinets are Ikea. I am going to enter some sort of Ikea cabinet assembly race. I'm that good at it. Again, not my kitchen, but those are my lovely Maple cabinets.

Oh, and hey, here's a GRP:

Is it October already?

2008-10-16T20:42:00.005-05:00

Wow. Time flies. It's nice to see you!

This post should really be titled "I'm a Terrible Mother." Here's why:

This was at the Texas A&M vs Army game. As in Army from Westpoint, New York. What kind of mother would allow her 10 year old son to leave the house in a gold "I Heart New York" shirt to go to the Army game, sit with 80,000 Aggies and then tailgate with Ags who bleed maroon at their RV? The worst kind of mother. Remember when Michael Jackson hung his baby over the balcony? Yeah. Like that. And we won't even get into what kind of an Aggie that makes me. As Bud watched Luke and all the other (maroon-clad)Aggie children play football after the game, he said, "Well that's a recipe for an a**-kicking."

Well, we had a great time anyway, and if you ever want to know where the real tailgaters are parked, I have the directions. The barbecue brisket and deep-fried jalapenos never stopped flowing.

Moving on.

This is likely to turn into a remodel blog for a while. We had a big old leak in our kitchen while we were in Tennessee. With the air off. In Texas. In August. For those of you who are math impaired: Water under the wood floor and behind the cabinets + 105 degree weather = mold. Which is less than or equal to: we're remodeling the kitchen.

Here are the plans. The first is how it is right now, the second is the new plan. We're doing most of it ourself, except for plumbing and the 240V outlets. We know when to call in the pros.

Professor Turnipseed (his real name) taught my drafting class in my short flirtation with architecture in college. He is rejoicing that I ended up going into medicine. Or crying. It's hard to say.

And here's something you've been missing, I'm sure: The GRP.

Her sister's name is Jurisprudence.

2008-08-04T16:48:00.002-05:00

My kids love to get the popsicles that have jokes printed on the sticks. And even more than that, they love to make us guess and guess until we get the right answer.

Last night Luke asked us this one:

What did the attorney name her daughter?

Bud and I tried to be serious (Court-ney was my best answer), but when he wouldn't tell us the answer, it turned silly. Well, Bud is pretty silly a lot of the time anyway, it doesn't take much. Names like Jury Box, Gavel, and Defendant were flying.

Finally Bud said, "Sequestered!"

Luke laughed out loud and said, "Daa-ad, it's a girl's name!"

___________________________

Here's a fun conversation to have with your kids. If you were living in the 1800's and travelling by covered wagon to someplace unsettled, what would you need to bring with you? We visited a farm in the National Park yesterday that was settled in 1883. It was fun trying to think of everything this settler would have had to bring with him.

Have a great day!