Our newest toy

Jim and I love second hand stores.  We love to save a dollar and we love random things.  It's really a win win.  And the best part is that it's something we like to do together.  Where we live now, there are mostly Goodwill stores.   The great part about Goodwill is that the money they make from the store goes into job training programs.  So we also like to take our gently used items and donate them.  So really, we clean out our closets, donate the items, go shopping and fill our closets.  It's a cycle that we enjoy.  Anyway, on a recient trip to the Goodwill we found this:

It's a go cart!

Asked taking it for a spin.

Joy was the speedy one. 

Asked and the neighbor's grandson.  They were actually pushing Joy right before this because the battery was almost dead.

Treasure taking a leisurely jaunt.

Life absolutely LOVES to ride on it.  The battery was just about dead and Jim helped her take it for a spin.  She was glowing she was so happy.  I'm afraid that she will be my daredevil.  Only time will tell.

Today I came home from work to find all the kids outside sweeping the road, so they could drive it.  It has such low ground clearance that it gets can get stuck pretty easily.  So they were getting rid of any debris so they would get in a good ride.   What must the neighbors think?  I will tell them that my house is SO very spotless, that I just had to get the road tidied up.  Unless they come over, they will never know the truth.

Gutsy menu 23... kind of

I was so very excited to try this weeks Gutsy Menu (English Muffins pg. 76 and Eggs Benedict pg. 138.)  I tried my hand at Holindase sauce early on in my Gutsy Cooking and was really impressed with the result.  I had never liked it before I made my own.  I was also excited to make English Muffins since I had never made them before.  
I got home from work all geared up and ready to cook.  But then... my family said "What's for dinner?"   And I excitedly responded "Eggs Benedict!"  They all groaned.  Even Jim.  Oh dear.  If he's not on board I know that I'll never get the kids to even try it.  I was so devastated.  
So I tried to make the best of the bad situation, I made the English Muffins and then browned some sausage and scrambled some eggs.  Egg McMuffins!  HUGE SUCCESS!  So, no hollandaise sauce, but happy family.  So I guess it was a good meal in the end.
I have never made English muffins before, or even thought about how they were made.  Instead of baking them you make them in a frying pan!

Balls of dough in the frying pan.

All risen and ready to flip.

Flipped and browning on the other side!  GENIUS!

These were SO yummy.  The kids all devoured them.  Definitely a new favorite in our house.  They were more dense then the store bought ones and mine weren't very porous, but I think if I did it again, I would let them rise more before cooking them.  

Not pretty, but very happy, egg and sausage muffin sammy. 

Encouragement from Dr. Seuss

Our homeschool has been very lackluster lately.  I'm not a good teacher and the kids are not excited students.  It happens.  I know.  Until yesterday I felt just hopeless about the whole situation.  The passion was gone.  We're in our 5th year and I just felt... eh.  Just... eh.

We follow a curriculum, My Father's World.  I really really like it.  This year we're working on  Exploring Countries and Cultures.  I think it's a great program, but the kids don't really like it so it's been a struggle to get though.  And if I'm being completely honest, we started it last year and only made it through week 3 and I think we've just finished week 8 this year.  That brings about more of an UGH than an eh, I suppose.

Yesterday I decided to have a Dr. Seuss day in celebration of his birthday.  We read a biography, several books and I printed a few worksheets. 

But then a beautiful thing happened.  All the big kids started READING... on their own.  Asked never ever wants to read, but he picked up this book voluntarily and made a good effort.  

Both Treasure and Joy picked up books and read as well. It was so very wonderful to see and it reminded me why homeschooling is so great.

Then, to make the day even better, the weather was super beautiful.  I hung out the first laundry of the year and the kids all played outside for a long time.

AND the flowers are coming into bloom.  I bet tomorrow I'll see some daffodils! 

Then, to bring the great day to a close, we had a Dr. Seuss inspired dinner.

Asked helping to make the green eggs.

We had both 'dippy' and scrambled eggs.  Joy noted that the scrambled eggs looked very 'Grinchy' in color.

Green eggs, ham and Cat in the Hat biscuits.  I added cantaloupe just so we would have a fruit, Treasure thought that they kind of looked like some of the houses Dr. Seuss created.  I was glad that it all came together.

I won't say that I have a renewed passion, but, I don't feel hopeless about our homeschool anymore.  Joy and Asked both were excited to read again today and that makes me happy.   Maybe, just maybe, they'll all graduate after all. 

February

Well.  I have been a blogging slacker lately.  Just not feeling very motivated, I guess.  But it's a new month and I have lots of things to share.  So!  Let the blogging begin!

First, I need to update you on my Gutsy Cooking.

I made the Spicy Shrimp Gratin and Key Lime Pie scheduled for week 17.  While the Gratin was in the oven I got the call that my Grandpa had passed away.  So I cried when my Shrimp Gratin was super soupy.  But Jim was very understanding and told me that it would make a great soup.  What a nice husband.  Sometime I'll tell you about my grandpa, he was a great guy.  He also appreciated a great meal (see how I transitioned there)

I think I would make the shrimp again, but it was really soupy.  I'm not sure how it's supposed to be, but I don't think I succeeded.  It tasted good, though.  The Key Lime Pie was super lime-y.  It was really easy to make, but I think I would tweak the amount of lime in it. 

I forgot to take pictures so you'll have to use your imagination on that one.

I missed week 18, because we were home for the funeral.

Week 19 was Lamb Kebabs and Sticky Lemon Cake.
The Lemon cake called for almond meal, which I could NOT find.  Ugh!  I was frustated because I LOVE lemon cake.  Last week I found some at Whole Foods for $13!  Yikes!  I guess the Lemon cake is not in my future.  But I made the Lamb Kebabs with beef.   Yum!  My kids loved the meat on a stick.  I don't know why I don't serve it more often.

 The tomato dressing on top was ok.  It was kinda flat, which I think was due to the bland store bought winter tomatoes.  So it made me really look forward to summer when I can use fresh homegrown tomatoes.  But I will make it again and cover meat with it.  mmmmmmmmmm

Week 20 Scallop and Pesto Crostini and Mediterranean Lasagna.
I didn't make the Crostini, I'm not a fan of scallops.  I did make the Lasagna.  YUM-O-LICIOUS!  It was full of veggies.

The only thing about the recipe that I didn't like, was the way it said to slice the eggplant.  The pieces were too big and weird.  Next time I'll cut everything the same size.  But other than that, a real winner in my book!

Now, I've missed weeks 21 & 22, but this week is Homemade English muffins and Eggs Benedict!  OH BOY!  Stay tuned for that.  I remember early on in the gutsy cooking, I attempted my first Holindaise sauce and it turned out so super delicious.  I made some last night and it didn't work so well.  I'm hoping I'm back on my 'A' game when I make these eggs!
Just in case you're interested, here's the link for the Gutsy Cooks.  See you next week!

Gutsy Cooks week 16

Our menu for week 16 was Hungarian goulash soup pg 111, Potato and Parmesan cakes pg 245, Profiteroles pg 439.

I was excited to try all these new dishes.  I'm not really familiar with goulash in the Hungarian fashion, so I don't know how authentic this one is.  It called for spices I never use, so I was worried that the family might turn up their noses at this new dish, but I was also interested to see if it would be accepted.

I only changed two small things about this recipe, I added more meat (2 pounds instead of 1 1/2) and I added some frozen carrots for a little extra veggie.

It was pretty well received, Jim said he liked it way more with the sour cream.  I will definitely make this again.  Now, my potato cakes were another story.

They sort of disintegrated in the oil and the light flour coating peeled off.  They were pretty ugly and only just a tad tasty.  I've tried to make potato cakes before with very minimal success.  Perhaps they're just not my thing.  Which I suppose is alright, since I'm the only one in my family that really likes potatoes.

Now last, but by far the least were Profiteroles.  These were little cream puffs drizzled with chocolate.   YUMMY!

Here are the little pastries fresh from the oven.  The recipe said to use a pastry bag to make them, but I just used a small scoop and it worked super well. 

The finished product.  They're piped full of fresh whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce.

These are such an impressive little treat!  I will make these again for sure.  But I think I'll double the pastry part.  I had a bunch of whipped cream and chocolate left, which really is a big pity. (wink wink)  I ended up making brownies a few days later and topping them with the extra stuff.  So having the extras wasn't so painful after all.

Rupture and repair

Jim prefaced the discussion with "Remember back to when you were a kid living with your mom and dad.  How did they resolve a fight?"  After the kids stopped laughing, it was kind of nice to hear them say that they don't think we fight that often.  We think that about ourselves, but it was reassuring to to hear it from the other people in our house.
We're participating in marriage enrichment program called Marriage Incubator.  This week during our class time, we discussed 'rupture and repair.'  Sometimes we fight.  That's a rupture.  Our attempts to make things better are the repair.
 So we decided to talk to the kids about this at lunch the next day.  What are some ways to work to repair a 'ruptured' relationship?  They came up with this list:

1)  Be nice to them
2) Say sorry
3) Give them something
4) Have dinner together

They decided that saying sorry was part of being nice to the person.  But other examples of being nice were: to help them, give them complements or make them laugh.

The most amusing category (according to me) was "give them something."   It was my favorite because their suggestions were: give them pie, bake them a cake, give them jewelry, ladies like chocolate and boys like sports cars.  I think I would like to fight with them and see if i could get some pie, jewelery or chocolate out of the deal!

The topic of having dinner together led to a good conversation about discussing your problems and not using harsh words.  Harsh words are definitely a struggle in our house and even more so is the issue of a harsh tone WITH your words.  We talked about the fact that it's not just words that can hurt the other person but how you say those words.

What a great springboard into conversation with our kids.  I hope we can use some of their insight next time we have a small rupture.

Gutsy cooks week 15

I fell off the Gutsy Cooks wagon at the end of last year, I must admit.  With work and planning for our holiday back in PA, I was just glad that my family ate dinner most nights.  But after a great two weeks at home with family and friends (and very little cooking on my part) I'm excited to get back in the cooking saddle again!  So, I'm starting with week 15, our menu is:  Pizza four seasons pg 99 (dough on pg 98), Ginger cream sauce with fresh fruit pg 447.

I decided not to make the ginger cream sauce it called for anise and I'm not a big fan. 


I make pizza dough from scratch quite often, and have a regular dough recipe I use, but I decided to use the one in the book just to see if it was any better.  Pizza four seasons is called that because the toppings are arranged separately to represent the four seasons. This recipe called for 1/4  mushroom, 1/4  roasted red peppers and anchovy, 1/4 pepperoni and capers, and the last 1/4  artichokes and olives. 

I didn't do all that, we had 1/4 mushroom, 1/4 roasted red peppers, 1/4 pepperoni, and 1/4 artichokes.  I also made a second pizza with cheese filled crust.

The four seasons in pizza!

Here it is again with it's cheesy crust sister in the background.

The pizza was well recieved, as usual.  Jim said he prefered my usual crust and the kids were upset with all the vegetables involved, but overall a good meal at our house.  But I must say that my favorite part is what happend the next night.
There were a ton of the vegetables left so the next night I made some alfredo sauce and then sautued the mushrooms and added the red peppers, marinated artichokes, and some left over roasted rabbit.  I served it all on top of fettichini with some garlic toast.

It was super duper yum-o-licious!