Go-To Meals for Busy Days

I really love to cook. If I can cook undisturbed and have someone else clean up the kitchen, I find it very relaxing. This is all theoretical, of course, because I have yet to experience such a delight. However, I have been tossing around the idea of sending our kids to the grandparents or auntie's house for one evening a month so I can cook up a fancy supper meal for an at-home date.  This way I can experiment with some fancy and expensive ingredients and avoid all the complaining about things like scallops and crab and hopefully not waste much food or money from picky eaters.

In reality, most days I just do not have the time or energy to cook the way I would like, so fast and frugal meals that don't require much effort are what it's at right now.

Here are some of our current favourites that frequently appear on our table:

Spaghetti with Creamy Tomato Sauce (I don't follow the recipe exactly...I also usually leave out the artichokes to save money, but I do really love them in this)

Tuna Stroganoff over Egg Noodles & Cooked Mixed Veggies
(1 can of flaked tuna - not drained, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1-2 tsp lemon juice, salt & pepper, parsley, a few sliced sautéed mushrooms, and cooked diced onions simmered together for a few minutes and served over cooked egg noodles) I know it doesn't look or sound very appetizing, but this is surprisingly good. My husband really loves this meal, and I love how cheap and fast it is to throw together.

Crispy Southwest Bean & Rice Burritos with Salsa & Sour Cream (Basically I toss together cooked rice, black beans, salsa, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. I mix it all together in a bowl, sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on a tortilla, spoon the rice mixture overtop, wrap it up, spritz with olive oil or cooking spray and cook it on a cast iron grill pan until it's nice and crispy.) This is probably our #1 family favourite cheap and quick meal. Served with salsa, sour cream, guacamole if I have avocados in the house, and veggies and dip on the side.

BLT Sandwiches (sometimes on their own or with soup or potato wedges on the side)

Middle of the Week Menu Plan

We are taking this week off of school since everyone in our house is feeling a bit under the weather (head colds and sore throats). So far I am the healthiest of the bunch and am still feeling pretty good, so I'm trying to get a few things caught up in the house. I am terribly behind on going through pictures and updating baby books, but I think that will have to wait until next week as I have been going through the kids clothes again and have several things I need to get ready to sell online.  Overall, Brielle has been sleeping so much better, and unless she eats something that bothers her stomach, she is now sleeping through the night. This has made such a difference, and I am so grateful.

Monday: Thanksgiving meal with family

Tuesday: Burrito Bowls/Wraps (rice, beans, cheese, salsa, sour cream, lime juice, cumin and chili powder mixed together)

Wednesday: Honey Sriracha Sesame Chicken, Rice (Cauliflower rice for me), Broccoli

Thursday: Frozen Pizza (Thursdays are typically our busiest days activity-wise)

Friday: Tuna Stroganoff, Egg Noodles, Mixed Veggies

Saturday: Turkey Noodle Soup (using leftover turkey from freezer)

Sunday: Leftovers

Menu Plan Monday

I am keeping it very simple this week, and we will be eating lots of leftovers. 

Monday: Crockpot Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Cooked Mixed Veggies, Cabbage Salad

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Birthday party supper

Thursday: Mennonite Style Turkey Soup (using leftover turkey from the freezer)

Friday: Leftover soup

Saturday: BLTs

Sunday: Thanksgiving

Breakfasts around our house are very basic. My husband eats bread with jam pretty much every single day for breakfast, and he never really gets tired of eating the same things day after day. The kids usually have cereal (rice krispies, honey nut cheerios, or frosted flakes), toast, or oatmeal with whatever fruit we have around. Occasionally they eat scrambled eggs if I make them for myself. I eat the most variety for breakfast, depending on what I feel like eating. If I'm low-carbing it, I usually have 1 or 2 eggs, 1-2 slices of bacon, and coffee with cream. Other times I have oatmeal, or Greek yogurt & berries, or toast. Sometimes I make up a batch of muffins the night before, and we have those for breakfast.

Lunches are also very simple. The kids and my husband usually eat sandwiches (pb&j, egg salad, tuna, or ham and cheese) with veggies & fruit or leftovers. Lately I have been making a big pot of "skinny borscht" (cabbage, onions, celery, canned tomatoes with chicken broth and a package of lipton onion soup mix, dill, and sriracha) and eating that for my lunch most days.

Reason #146...

 Reason #146 why I love home schooling (most of the time!)...
 I get to hear all sorts of funny comments from my kids.

When Elianna was practising printing her letter "q"s today, she said, "You know, a q looks just like a seahorse except that instead of a pointy head, it has a round head, and I guess its tail needs to be a bit curlier, too."  That kid has animals, critters, or sea life on her mind all.day.long. I love her. :-)

Grade 1 Homeschool Curriculum Plan

I wasn't planning on starting "school" until next week, but yesterday Elianna was really wanting to "do school", so we did. Today we took the day off to go to a "not back to school" party and meet some fellow home schooling families.

 Here is the plan for this year (Grade 1) in case you were interested. I also want to do a few "day in the life" posts this year with pictures as I personally love reading those kinds of things.

For the most part, we are using Heart of Dakota's Little Hearts for His Glory as our main guide/lesson plan and supplemental activities.

• English/Language Arts:  
• Pathway Readers & Companion Workbooks. There are 3 readers and 3 workbooks for reading comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling practice. The books are called First Steps, Days Go By, and More Days Go By. This will be our main phonics/reading curriculum for the year. Elianna is an early reader, so this is just to build on what she learned last year. This is my own phonics choice, not part of Heart of Dakota.
• Using Heart of Dakota's lesson and activity ideas, we will also be reading through these 8 classic children's stories, including some Beatrix Potter and Thornton W Burgess animal stories
• Printing & Fine Motor Skills
• A Reason for Handwriting Book A
• Rod & Staff Going on Eagerly & Just Thinking and Choosing workbooks
• Math 
• Singapore Primary Mathematics 1A and 1B Textbooks and Workbooks

• Science
• Our Father's World
• Social Studies/History
• History for Little Pilgrims
• History Stories for Children
• Canada, My Country curriculum (not part of Heart of Dakota, but this is a necessary supplement because Heart of Dakota is more American-history focused. I wanted to add in Canadian history/social studies)
• Bible
• Reading through the Bible plan for Heart of Dakota
• Devotions for the Children's Hour (as outlined in Heart of Dakota)
• Hide em' in Your Heart cd 
• Music/Art/Drama/French/Phys Ed
• I will be teaching Elianna piano lessons using Music for Little Mozarts
• Draw.Write.Now Book 1 for drawing lessons
• Arts/Crafts activities that correspond to daily lessons (as planned in Heart of Dakota)
• Dramatic play as outlined in Heart of Dakota guide
• French youtube videos & free resources
• Phys Ed - free play, extracurricular sports, etc.

That is the plan for this year. It takes only about 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day, 5 days a week of  actual "school work" to get this all done in 35 weeks or so. The biggest challenge is keeping the 18 month old and 3 1/2 year old out of trouble during "school." I am also working through Little Hands to Heaven (prek) with Nathanael to try to keep him somewhat involved and occupied. 

Milk Allergy & a Rough Day

Last night I got 3 hours of sleep. This is not all that unusual, although it is a bit worse than usual. I *attempted* to nap this morning as I wanted to be as coherent as possible for the kids' paediatrician appointment. Well, the first 2 hours were spent breaking up fights between my oldest two. Then, Elianna informed me that Brielle (who was in her playpen) had gone "number 2" and ripped off her diaper and had thrown it on the rug. It's her newest skill. Nice. So I spent the next hour cleaning that up and bathing B. At 11 am I still hadn't drank my coffee and thus was feeling the ill-effects of my caffeine withdrawal. I feel like a bit of a bear-cat before my morning coffee. Just keeping it real, here.  I took a minute to scarf down my coffee with a piece of cake for breakfast since I was too lazy/tired to make toast. I hopped in the shower because, well, the combination of my greasy 3-day hair and the morning's unpleasant events made it necessary. At this point, I was starting to run late for the appointment, so I quickly fed the kids a couple of leftover biscuits to tie them over until after the appointment. Our appointments were running late, but thankfully the children managed to refrain from acting like a bunch of hooligans in the waiting room. They saved all their hooliganism until after we were in the doctor's office, and I was trying to have an important adult discussion, which I have little experience with these days. Okay, it wasn't quite that bad...I'm sure he's seen it all. During the doctor's appointment, Brielle managed to fall off a chair (a toddler chair) and scream, bang her head on the corner of the doctor's desk and scream, make strange at the doctor and scream, all while Nathanael and Elianna argued over whose turn it was with some dinky toy. I hate dinky toys.

 "Oh, and is Elianna going to be going to school. Grade 1?"

"No, actually we are home schooling this year. Nah, make that road-schooling. We figured we should take our circus act on the road this year..."

Okay, so I didn't respond quite that way. Oh, but I wanted to.

All this to say Brielle will be entering the ranks of the dairy-free. I have long suspected a milk allergy may have something to do with her major sleep issues. I had cut her milk way back, especially in the evening, but it still didn't seem to be helping that much. Today at the pediatrician's we found out that her blood test showed a milk allergy. Thankfully, it's not too severe, but it is definitely enough that we need to go dairy-free for her. I cook with lots of dairy, so this will definitely add a bit of meal planning stress. However, if this fixes her sleep problems, I will happily welcome some minor inconvenience in the meal department. She didn't show any issues with eggs or wheat, so that's good.

Annnnnd...

We'll live and learn and life will go on.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm am still lamenting the star of the end of summer. I can't believe that we will soon officially kick off a new homeschool year. Most public school kids are back to school in one week around here. I am not planning on officially starting until after the long weekend (later than public school kids). We may fit in some school here and there in the meantime, but I'm mostly focusing on getting some character charts and chore charts/routines in place. We also want to take some time to just hang out as a family, enjoy the last of harvest, take some combine rides, etc. The flexibility of home schooling is definitely a major plus, so we will try to make the most of the remaining warm weather.

Monday: Tuna Stroganoff (a new frugal and fast favourite), corn on the cob, green beans

Tuesday: Homemade Pizza, carrot sticks

Wednesday: Southwest Chicken & Rice Wraps (another frugal & fast favourite) using leftover chicken from the freezer, Corn on the Cob, Veggies & Dip

Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner (pancakes, eggs, bacon or a frittata)

Friday: BBQ turkey (I'm going to attempt to bbq a turkey for the first time), Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Veggies

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Something simple or out to eat