Isn’t it lovely?  Mine isn’t red, though.  It’s stainless steel.

My eldest son and I got it set up to make ravioli tonight.  We should have started earlier, I think.  I finally got the dough right and proceeded to do the ravioli.  It was a disaster.  I think my filling was too wet.  It’s also possible I did not understand the directions very well.  They were not very comprehensive; it’s one of those instruction books that is in several languages.

So, after wasting about half of the dough, I put the rest through and made fettucine, instead.  I then cooked up my filling and tossed it with the cooked Fettucine as a sauce.  It made a decent appetizer.  I cut the fettucine too thick, but I know exactly what to do next time.  Beloved called in pizza for dinner.

As for the ravioli, I think I will be hitting youtube this week to see where I went wrong.  We’ll keep playing with it and let you know how it goes.  If we find success, we will definitely share recipes.

Until then, buon appetito!

I find when I actually have a meal planning system, we eat better.  The lack of stress has helped me put more love into our meals.  This equals more interesting dishes and even better nutrition.

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Monday: Addictive Sweet Potato & Bean Burritos (oh. my. goodness.  SO GOOD.  I’m not sure Pumpkin agreed, though, EEK!), Spanish Rice, Refried Beans, Chips & Salsa

Tuesday: Scalloped Potatoes with Smoked Sausage (usually with Beeler’s Ham, though)

Wednesday: Ravioli, Bread & Salad

Thursday: Baked Eggs, Toast & Smoothies or Leftovers if we have them.

Friday: Crockpot Lasagna (because we are pizza’d out, I think) Check out Jessica’s site, complete with video instructions.  Great info!

No plans yet for the weekend meals.  But my little guy is turning three this Sunday, so he gets to choose what we’re having that night.

Hope your week is going well.

Blessings today, Kris

Recently, I’ve been in kind of a meal planning slump.  I stopped planning my meals ahead about a year or so ago (probably about the time the morning sickness hit, lol) and it hasn’t been pretty. 

I mean, for the most part, I can throw together a pretty good meal without thinking ahead about it.  But it’s pretty stressful on me and a meal like that doesn’t have much of the best ingredient of all in it, LOVE.  When you’re in a rush, it’s hard to do the extras that make cooking for your family a joy.  Not planning ahead and making a meal out of panic steals the joy out of it for me.  So I am pulling myself up from the gooey mud and trying to right the situation.

A friend of mine shared with me years ago how she does her meals and I am taking my inspiration from her.  She made the same thing the same night of each week, as her family was extremely picky and that was the only way to please everyone.  She just served what they like only: spaghetti, tacos, etc.  It made it easy for her to shop every week, as she always had to buy the same exact things, etc.  And that worked really well for her.

Okay.  For someone like me, that is a bit too simplified.  For one thing, I really do like to cook.  I also enjoy trying new recipes and my family is really not that picky, either.  But I find a lot of merit in this idea.  So I have streamlined how I am going to do things and here is my plan:

Mexican Mondays

Crockpot Tuesdays

Pasta Wednesdays

Egg Thursdays

Pizza Fridays

Okay, so this gives me a guideline and makes it easier to plan.  But this gives me a lot of wiggle rooms and we can keep a variety going, too.  Obviously, there are a lot of Mexican dishes to choose from, as well as pasta, egg, and crockpot dishes.  Fridays have pretty much always been a pizza night for us, or stromboli as an alternative.  Have I ever mentioned that Friday nights are my favorite?  That’s because pizza is my favorite food.  Oh. Yum. Me.

I will be keeping you posted about how this works out for us, and I may even have to do something like this on the weekends, too.  We’ll see how it goes.  So this streamlines weeknight dinners for me, which is only one meal of the day.  But it’s a start!

UPDATE: Some have asked what I cook on the weekends.  Currently, on Saturdays we eat leftovers, unless I crockpot something.  Sundays I usually make a grilled sandwich.  I want to get back to making a big Sunday dinner.  But since we started going to church on Saturday nights, I haven’t been planning a big dinner on the weekends.  I’m not sure why.

What’s for dinner at your house? 

Monday: It’s bean tacos for us tonight.

Tuesday: Crockpot Cassoulet, Spinach Salad

Wednesday: Homemade Macaroni & Cheese, Hamburger Patties, Broccoli

Thursday: Migas

Friday: Vegie Pizza

Blessings, Kris

What on earth have a I been up to?

Well, you mean besides having a baby, right?

I’ve been planting a garden, planning our homeschool year, cleaning my house and getting it ready for my first homebirth (which went awesome, by the way), having a baby, enjoying my baby, trying to keep a garden alive, ordering homeschool books, getting organized for school, canning….and on and on. 

Then, in August, my father in law passed away suddenly.  So that has taken up some time and energy, too.  We all traveled to California for the funeral.  But mostly it has taken time for my Beloved, as he has traveled to California several times since.  But it looks like he is home for the winter (we hope).  And, although we are saddened by his Dad’s passing, some good things have come of it.  The Lord really does work in mysterious ways!

Now we are into full on school and all of the normal things that go with it.  We are actually supposed to be living on a schedule; still working on that one!  We are enjoying fall field trips and crisp mornings, hot cocoa and learning together.  And I am looking forward to sharing it all with you once again.

So, keep reading.  And please don’t forget that I heart comments.  Happy fall!

So I planted what I have had success with in the past, and what I know I can deal with when it’s ready.  Here’s what I planted this year:

Tomatoes, of course!  I like to plant a lot of sauce tomatoes and then dehydrate them.  I can handle dehydrating this year.

Sweet Peppers.  I haven’t had a lot of luck with these, but I’m going to keep trying.  I like red peppers okay.  I just don’t like the store price, and forget about organic!  Whoa.

Jalapeno Peppers.  These can be frozen, no problem.  Can also be dried, but I prefer freezing.

Broccoli.  We’ll freeze whatever we don’t use fresh.  It’s a popular vegie at our house.

Pickling Cucumbers.  They will probably be the most time consuming.  Whatever I don’t pickle, we’ll eat fresh.

Zucchini.  Enough said.  So versatile and what we don’t use fresh can be made into relish, pickled and or shredded and frozen for zucchini bread.

Shelling Peas.  We eat these all w inter.  I plan to freeze them, but may try dehydrating some, too.

Green Beans.  We also eat these all winter.  Will freeze them like last year.

And some melons.  Never had good success with these here, as our season seems to be a bit too short.  But I keep trying.  I got cantaloupe on my own.  Two of my boys wanted to plant a watermelon each and my Mom was accidentally sent some honeydew, which she passed on to me.  We’ll see what happens with those.

Don’t mistake me for a green thumb.  My thumb is closer to brown in color.  Honestly, I am not a great gardener.  I just keep trying every single year and I learn my lessons the hard (and sometimes costly) way.  But I think it’s important to try to grow what we can and it’s great for the kids to see that we can raise some of our own food.  It helps the food budget, too.  I like organic produce, and this is a good way to get it. 

I will keep you updated on how my garden grows this summer.  I would love to hear how yours gets along, too, and I love comments.

Blessings today, Kris

In celebration of this holiday (which is part of my husbands heritage) I would like to share my salsa recipe with you.

KRIS’ SALSA in the VITAMIX

1 -15 oz. Can Organic Tomatoes

1 Clove Garlic

Cilantro

Green Onion

Kosher Salt

Crushed Dried Red Pepper Flakes

Tapatio (or Tabasco is fine, too)

Olive Oil

Place tomatoes, garlic, a dash of olive oil, a few dashes of Tapatio (or Tabasco) sauce, about 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes in the Vitamix and blend briefly until mixed and garlic is small.  Slice 1-2 green onions and tear off a handful of cilantro and wash both.  Then add to blender with the Kosher Salt (start with a teaspoon > to taste) and blend briefly just until combined.  Serve however you like.

Makes 1 Pint.

Enjoy!

That’s a loaded question.  There is SO MUCH OUT THERE!  Too much, really.    But that is a better problem to have than the homeschool pioneers of the ’70′s and ’80′s who had almost nothing to choose from.

What I can share is what we do, and share the resources we use with you.  I feel this is a great way to educate your upper elementary and junior high school students in a low cost way that will stretch your school supply dollars well.  I think this is an extremely economical way to provide an education for a larger family with many children, like mine.

First, I should probably share my philosophy of education.  I lean toward a more Classical Christian/Teaching the Trivium/Charlotte Mason type of education which teaches the three stages of learning and incorporates the study of Latin and living Foreign Languages and relies heavily on good, classic literature, the Bible and theological books.

If you are not familiar with Veritas Press, you should really check out their site.  I use their curriculum guide, which they provide on their website for free, in the hope that you will choose to purchase your books from them.  I also use the free curriculum guide at Ambleside Online, which is also linked in my sidebar.  Why do I use them both?  Well, they both have excellent information.  And Ambleside Online has many links to free literature online that they recommend in their curriculum.  So I combine my plan and choose from the lists on both according to what I want my children to read about or learn that year.  And I also consider what is free, what I have to buy, what I have to spend, what I already have, etc.

When I have my list together, I will order from a few different places, depending on what I need for my lower elementary aged children.  I like to use Rainbow Resource Center, because their prices are usually the lowest and they have a decent free shipping minimum of $150.00 and lots of other school supplies for arts and crafts, great gifts, and more. (Sometimes I do my Christmas shopping in April here at the same time and save myself a bunch on shipping.)  If I have Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble giftcards, I use those first, and then go from there. 

I try to support Veritas Press when I can, because they are a wonderful company and they give their handbook away.  They also have online, self paced classes and more available for your older children.  Those are not free, but worth looking into.  I highly recommend checking out what they have available.  Their  flashcards and songs are used in the Classical Conversations homeschooling program, which you might be familiar with.

How does this method save me money?  Well, most of my investment is going toward real, living books.  These books only need to be purchased once and used for every child I educate, at the same time expanding our home library with excellent, quality literature.  For Beloved and I, it’s big a win-win.

We do use some consumable items.  You really have to for younger children.  But everything we use is very affordable.  I would rather spend the money we are blessed with on living books and supplies to make our schooling a fun experience for the kids.  One year, we bought a nice microscope, another, it was extra art supplies.  We also have our children take specific classes throughout the year according to their gifts, talents and interests.

The choices out there are mind boggling and there are many ways to go.  This is just what we do and it works for us.  The most important thing to do is talk to your spouse, consider your teaching style and your child(rens) learning style and then pray and ask the Lord what He’d have you do.

Big-Batch Meatballs

Makes 100 Meatballs

• 5 pounds lean ground beef
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 Cups quick-cooking oatmeal
• 2 Large onions
• 1 Tablespoon of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon of pepper

You may use these meatballs with spaghetti sauce, a gravy like in Swedish Meatballs, or with a sweet and sour type sauce.

1. Pre-heat to 400 degrees F.
2. Place beef in a large bowl.
3. Measure eggs, oatmeal, onions, salt and pepper into a blender container and blend until smooth.
4. Pour blender contents over beef and mix well with your hands (It’s the only way to go.  It’s okay, you’re washable.)
5. Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch balls.
6. Bake on baking sheets in preheated oven for 20 minutes.  It makes things less messy to line your baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
7. Pour off any fat from sheets before using meatballs or freezing.

To freeze: Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before tray freezing.  When they are frozen, pack into food-safe freezer bags.  Label and use as needed.  (You may pack them into glass jars if you prefer to use glass.  Measure out how many your family will need for one meal and figure out which size jar best suits that amount.)

Variation: You can season half of the meatballs with Italian seasoning, grated parmesan, etc., if desired.

So, these are pretty good and everyone here likes them.  But I have found them to be a bit onion-y (is that even a word?), as in I am burping them up later.  I think the reason is that the onions are not “de-flamed” before use in the blender.  So I suggest, after dicing your onions, to put them in a bowl of water to “de-flame” them.  Then put them in the blender.  I think that will help.

De-flaming onions is something I learned from Rick Bayless, Chicago Chef & Restaurateur, Top Chef Master and famous for his Mexican cuisine.  I have one of his books on Mexican cooking and highly recommend it.  I did find more of his books at my local library, so if you are a Mexican food fan like me, check your library out and see if they have any of his cookbooks.  This method of his is used with raw onions to take the “flame” out of them so they may be used in raw preparations like salsa, etc.  But I think it may have merit in this recipe, too.

To use these frozen meatballs, I just take out what I need and heat them (frozen) up in the sauce I am using with them.  There is nothing more convenient!

Enjoy!

Anyway, you might ask why I ordered this drug guide, when I am not even a nurse.  Well, because I feel we should all be educated, or at the very least, know where to get the information we need to keep our families healthy and to protect them from possible mistakes.

In this case, I want to know what is being prescribed to my family and I also wanted to look up some things that have been prescribed in the past.  So, what does that have to do with questioning authority?

Caution: Male readers might want to drop off now!

About 7 years ago, I had a baby who had a very difficult time nursing,  We pretty much went through the ringer before he was finally able to nurse on his own.  In the meantime, I had used a hospital grade breastpump, which was awesome!

But for the next several months, I had mastitis.  I had mastitis on and off for 9 months, to be completely truthful.  I was in and out of the ER (I got very ill with it, high fevers, vomiting, etc.  I was so ill that I had to be taken to the doctor’s office and the ER in a wheelchair.)  I could not function.  I also had my first and only UTI during that time, too.  I was a complete mess.

My doctor and nurse practitioners kept prescribing me Augmentin.  I would get better for a few weeks while on it and then I’d be sick again after three weeks.  This time was very difficult for me.  I had to hire house help, and be very careful about my immune system.  It was a real trial for myself and our family.  I think many people don’t really understand this kind of debillitating situation.

This went on for many months.  I’d go into the ER, where doctors would tell me to stop breastfeeding.  I refused to do that.  Talking to a lactation consultant/midwife in the meantime definitely helped!  My OB tried to send me to a surgeon, because he didn’t know what to do with me.  I never went.  I was convinced in had nothing to do with needing surgery.

The Augmentin made me quite ill, in addition to the high fevers I would get that already made me vomit.  I questioned the use of it several times.  But each time I was assured it was a good, broad spectrum antibiotic and it should work. 

Except it didn’t.  I also questioned whether it could be a strep germ and not a staph germ.  Staph is what usually causes a breast infection.  But it is not impossible it could be strep.  We had had strep throat in the house several times that year.  They debunked me there as well.

One Sunday morning in April, when my baby was about a year old, I had to go into the ER AGAIN because I did not want to wait until I was so ill that I could not walk.  The triage nurse gave me a hard time about not waiting until Monday.  I wanted to lay into her, but I did not.  I simply explained that I could come now on foot, or be wheeled in on Monday when my husband really needed to be at work.

The doctor I saw came in, looked at me and said, “That looks very painful, is it?”  YES!  It was painful.  But the pain I could handle.  Who cared about the pain?  I could not handle being so ill anymore.  He said, “I am going to prescribe you Dicloxacillin.”  Now I had had this prescirbed to me a long time ago and felt that it had worked back then.  I became so relieved that I said, “Finally, I get someone who knows what they’re doing!  Thank you so much!”

Guess what?  That was my last breast infection with that baby.

Through all this and since then, I have learned:

• I did not have 14 breast infections in 9 months.  I had one breast infection that was never killed off.
• OB/GYN’s don’t necessarily know that much about breast health.  When they are stumped, they will refer you to a surgeon.  I have heard this happen with other women.
• Question respectfully.
• Follow your gut.
• Do your own research. (I did not do this enough!)
• Get as much help and advice from as many different people as you can.
• Augmentin is Amoxicillin & Clavulanic Acid.  It is used for infections caused by H influenzae, S aureus & E coli.
• Dicloxacillin  is used for pneumonia, skin and soft tissue infections caused by staphylococci; streptococcus and S aureus.
• Be assertive.  I should have been more assertive.  I’ve learned my lesson.

I have never had any further issues like I had with my third child.  I know we went through that time of trial for a reason and we all grew through it.  But sometimes I can’t help feeling like I lost 9 months of my life unnecessarily because I did not research or question authority enough.  But I know that because of the experiences I had with my third born baby, I want to spend my “retirement” years in lactation support for the La Leche League.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Western medicine.  There is definitely a place for it (although it’s maybe not always the first place).  But doctors only know what they know.  They are imperfect humans as we are.  We must take responsbility for our health and the health of our loved ones.  Do the research.  Know what’s going on.  And don’t accept it just because your doctor says it.  Follow your gut.