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What a wonderful holiday weekend. We spent 5 days traveling the state of Indiana to bring to life some of the history we've studied this past year. The children are determined to become re-enactors to really re-live it!
We're looking forward to a relatively quiet week at home. Hopefully there will be some serious accomplishment in the 4-H department!
Here are some of our favorites we will enjoy this week:
Monday – Sweet & Sour Sausage, Rice, Broccoli
SWEET-N-SOUR SAUSAGE (5 servings)
•1 (14-oz) can pineapple tidbits or chunks, undrained
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•2 tablespoons cornstarch
•1/2 cup water
•1/4 cup cider vinegar
•1 teaspoon soy sauce (or more to taste)
•5 smoked sausages, cut into slices
•1 (5-oz) can water chestnuts, drained and thinly sliced
•1 green pepper, cut in strips
Drain pineapple tidbits, reserving syrup. In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Blend in reserved syrup, water, cider vinegar and soy sauce. Cook and stir over low heat until thick and bubbly. Carefully stir in meatballs, water chestnuts, green pepper strips and pineapple. Heat to a boiling. Serve over hot cooked rice.
Tuesday – Turkey Ranch Wraps, Potato Wedges
Wednesday – Bratwurst Potato Skillet
Thursday - Black Beans, Cheese & Chips
Friday - Bible Study
Saturday -
Stumpf Chili, Cornbread
Our menus for last year can be found at our website. Breakfast menu is here; lunch menu is here.
Find more menus at orgjunkie.com.
Last week I had a big baking day. I made 8 batches of granola, with other things in between as the mixer and oven allowed.
For our homeschool program last Friday I made up a batch of these wonderful cookies. They were sent out from Large Family Logistics about 3 years ago and have been our favorite ever since! I usually only make a half-batch which is still a ton of cookies. The dough also freezes beautifully.
Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!
The "Bestest" Oatmeal Cookies - Ever!
Cream together in large mixer:
3 Cups Butter, softened
1.5 Cups Sugar
1.5 Cups Brown Sugar
6 Eggs
1 16 oz. Jar of Peanut Butter
Mix, in order given, with the creamed mixture. Be careful not to over mix the flour and oatmeal.
3 tsp. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Powder
2 Cups Flour
9 Cups Oatmeal
Mix in:
12 oz. Bag of Chocolate Chips
Drop by heaping tablespoons (these babies need to be big!) onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 or until done. Eat one warm from the oven with a glass of milk!
The real title of this post should be: How to get your children to eat oatmeal and be a cool mom at the same time! But that's a little long.
When we eat oatmeal or cream-of-wheat on our "Hot Cereal Wednesdays," I've long-since let the children drizzle on honey or maple syrup. The other morning while looking in the too-packed fridge, inspiration struck. Why not let them use up the ice cream toppings that need to move on from my fridge shelves?
They were so excited to gobble-down their oatmeal. Pineapple sundae topping on oatmeal is soooooo yummy. Many liked strawberry, but I felt the color was beyond unappetizing (think raw hamburger).
Now everyone knows how much I like clever organizing tips. Here's a new one for you:
If you don't want to walk the MILES to the mud room to put away the clean socks, just store them in the piano.
This is what I discovered when I was dusting the living room the other day. Clever. Has anyone seen Caleb? I think he has a job to finish.
One of the changes we've made with the new chore system is to have Emelie (14) cook dinner twice a week. She's often helped me in the past, but now it's all up to her for the whole meal to be ready when Dad walks through the door.
After the first night, I asked her how she liked it. She said it was tiring but better than scrubbing toilets (which I'm now doing in exchange!). I'm excited to teach her everything that goes into feeding this crew: the adaptations we make for our tastes and budget as well as the quantities we need.
This is a short week for us since we'll leave on Thursday to enjoy a weekend of Indiana State History Field Trips! Here are some of the favorites we will be having:
Monday – BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Potato Wedges
Tuesday – Dried Beef Gravy over Toast, Eggs, Fruit
Wednesday – Pinto Bean Casserole
Thursday- Sunday - On the road!
Our menus for last year can be found at our website. Breakfast menu is here; lunch menu is here.
Find more menus at orgjunkie.com.
Literally!
So Caleb has to try, too!
All the cuddles!
Emelie can hardly sit down without someone climbing on her lap, and I've never heard her complain!
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