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Saturday, October 31, 2015

DO IT YOURSELF HOMESCHOOL JOURNALS



Recently I stumbled upon these GREAT "Do it yourself homeschool journals" from Dyslexia Games.  Sarah Brown, the author, specializes is Dyslexia Therapy.  She is a homeschooling mama to 10 (like me!) and started creating these journals to  help guide learning in her home and then decided to share them with others!
  These journals can be used as the base of your childs learning or in edition to (which is how I plan to use them).  On my blog I will be doing a LOT of reviews and give aways with these journals.  I bought a BUNCH for my kids and then talked with the author to do some reviews (Because I was THAT IMPRESSED), she offered to send me some more things to keep and review and even more things to giveaway to all you all!!!!  Talk about generous!  Anyway, Here is a preview of some of the things I have to stir your interest!
  One last thing:  I am not the only one impressed and excited!  My Kids CAN NOT WAIT to dig in to these journals!  They are excited about filling them in, tracking their learning with their own interests independently and just having "FUN SCHOOLING" as my 12 year old son called it after looking through his journal!  So FEAST YOUR EYES and hope over to the facebook page as well!







About the books:
     Now your child can turn any stack of books into a homeschooling curriculum. This handbook is an activity book and daily journal that allows your student to have a customized education without creating a lot of extra work for parents.
Choose the Journal with your child's favorite cover to get started, they are all a little different on the inside. We have 20 to choose from!
We have over 20 Homeschooling Journals to choose from! Start with your child's favorite cover, all the books are a little different on the inside so you can use them year round.
Many students are more interested in real books than in textbooks! This is an excellent way to help your students to develop their talents, interests and deepen their knowledge of topics that are meaningful to them. Just visit the library and bring home 6 to 9 great books!
Each workbook includes 30 Lessons, with 10 pages for each lesson, providing four hours of guided learning time.
This homeschooling handbook was created by Sarah Janisse Brown, a dyslexia therapist and game designer with ten children. Sarah has over 25 years of homeschooling experience.
This curriculum handbook is wonderful for busy families. If you have babies and toddlers who need a lot of attention the older children can use this journal for all their subjects!
This workbook is appropriate for dyslexic students, it includes Art & Logic Games to help with dyslexia, and uses the Open Dyslexic Font for easy reading.
This book can be used as a handbook for: Delight Directed Learning, Documenting Your Unschooling Journey,Charlotte Mason Inspired Homeschooling, Eclectic Homeschooling, Classical Homeschooling and Fun-Schooling.

Want to read more about these journals?  Go here!










Monday, October 5, 2015

Help Zoie!!!!

This is my 3rd daughters BEST FRIEND! 

We live in a very small town and there are no other girls around 

here that share this part of Zoie's life. This conference would be 

HUGE for her and her family! Zoie has scoliosis due to being 


micro preemie. Please consider helping her reach her goal 

and share, share, share!


https://www.gofundme.com/CGZ2NY

Sunday, October 4, 2015

5 days of overnight, crockpot breakfast's

Okay folks!  Here we go!  We have been talking about this on the "it's a good full" facebook page!  
Here is our menu and ingredients needed!  I will update THIS POST every day with recipes, updates and pictures!  And, um, I am not really a measurer, I am a "dumper" so bare with me on directions stuff.  Anything with amounts indicates "normal family" sizes.  I will double on my side to fill up my crock pot.  So if you are a family or say 5 people, you prolly won't need to adjust =)  If you are more, double and or just fill up the picking crockpot like I do until you are satisfied =) !!!

To EAT on the day listed you need to make the meal THE NIGHT BEFORE =)

monday: pumpkin pie oatmeal

tuesday: rice cereal (or pudding, whatevs =) 

wednesday: French Toast 

thursday: breakfast cobbler

friday: tater tot egg casserole.




PUMPKIN PIE OATMEAL


1/2 a can (or a full can, whatever)  canned pumpkin

oatmeal (doesnt matter what kind)
pumkin pie spices
sugar
water
nuts (optional)

Rice Cereal/pudding

1-2 cups dry rice. (1 cup will make about 4 cups cooked so adjust to the amount you need)
8-12 Milk OR water.  I have done both and have no had a really issue with one or the other.  I will be doing water. (you can use coconut or almond milk) 
about 3/4 sugar
cinnamon
 ground nutmeg
 raisins
2 teaspoons grated orange zest (only if you want it orange-y flavored)
vanilla
2 eggs (optional if you want to add some protein)


FRENCH TOAST

1 or two loaves of some type of break.  I used sourdough because me make it.  Can you french.  I do not recommend sliced bread but many people use it and like it just fine.  Stale-ish bread or "harder" bread is totally use able!

about a cup or two of milk
vanilla
about 4-8 eggs (really it's that flexible)
sugar

cinnamon

breakfast cobbler


4ish apples, sliced, and peeled if desired 

2 cups granola (gluten-free if needed)
1/4 cup honey
melted coconut oil (can substitute butter)
cinnamon

Tater tot, egg casserole
(8 servings as is- I just throw "more ish" in to make, well, more)

1 (30 oz) pkg Tater Tots
6 oz diced Canadian bacon or some reg bacon or sausage or whatever
2 onions, chopped
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (if you don't have this- don't worry about it)
12 eggs
1 c. milk
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper



AND NOW!!!  THE FOOD ITSELF!!

 MAKE ON SUNDAY for MONDAY:
OVERNIGHT OATS =)   (pumpkin pie oatmeal)

So, this is pretty easy.  I snaged all these pictures from my post on "feeding the people" so some of the pictures do not line up with the ingredients.  It DOES NOT MATTER, just go with it =)


YOU WILL NEED:

  • crock pot
  • oats
  • 1/2-1 can of PUMPKIN ( or applesauce or canned fruit if you do not want pumpkin)
  • optional: raisins or craisins or berries or nuts, if you want
  • spices like PUMPKIN PIE SPICE or whatever.
  • vanilla
  • sugar if needed (if using applesauce or canned fruit you may not need any)

ASSEMBLE:
  • Dump in your pumpkin, fruit, spices, and any other add ins, like nuts or raisins.
  • If you are doing something like peaches, you will want to take some food scissors and cut them up smaller.
  • pour in a dash of vanilla

NOW:

Dump in a bunch of oats.  You really can't go wrong here.  Just don't fill it all the way up!
(DO NOT add water before oats.  Always oats first)
NEXT:

ADD Water until the Oats are covered and then stir!
You want the  Oats "stew like"  if its too "soupy" add some more oats.  If too "chunky" add some more water =)

Taste the liquid and if its not sweet enough, add some sweetner =)
NOW COOK IT!

Before you go to bed, turn your crock pot on the lowest setting.  On my Crock Pot, That is WARM.

LAST:

Put the lid on it and let it do its thing.  You will be ready to eat this yumminess in the morning!

(I usually turn my CP on warm around 10 p.m.  we eat it when we are ready in the morning.  7 am if we have to be out of the house but more like 9 on a regular day)


MAKE ON MONDAY for TUESDAY:
RICE CEREAL/rice pudding    



YOU WILL NEED:

  • crock pot
  • 2-4 eggs (I fed 10 kids and used 4)
  • 1-3 cups rice (I used 3 for 10 kids)
  • 3/4- 1 1/2 sugar (I used 1 1/2)
  • raisins
  • cinnamon and nutmeg
  • orange zest (optional)
  •  8-12 cups of water or milk (8-12 normal, def 12 if making it to feed as many as I am- lol)

I poured my rice in first BUT normally I put all the wet stuff in and mix it and then pour in the rice.  NO WORRIES!  It just meant I did it in a bowl but for future reference, just change that ;)

We continue....

pour rice in

In a bowl add and blend (i used my stick blender):

  • eggs 
  • milk or water
  • vanilla (I did two cap fulls)
  • sugar
  • spices:  I am "very generous" with my spices.  I might have done about a tsp (or more) each.  I just shake the stuff in untill I think it looks good ;)


 NOW, add your milk or water.  I add water as the rice cooking creates it's own "rice milk" so why use so much cows milk.  Water will do!
At this point you can either:
A)call it good and add other "goodies" later or
B)add the "goodies" now.  That is what I do 'cause, yo, whose got time for that in the morning!

I threw in about a cup of raisins (because that's how much was left in my raisin bag) and stir once more.  There will seem to be A LOT of water in your pot.  This is what you want!  This way, you will not have dry burned rice.  Instead you will have a creamy bowl of happiness!

Set your crock pot on LOW (not warm this time).  It will need 7-9 ish hours to cook.
I let mine cook for 9 1/2 hours.  (10 p.m- 7:30 a.m.)






 I scooped out our rice cereal into bowls, added some milk (because I can.... and it sounded good) and fed it to the minions.  They LOVE rice cereal and this is one of their favorite ways to have it.  "DELISH!!!", they cry from their seats in the "Corey Cafe".

Enjoy!



(note: because I could careless about precise measurements with the water; sometimes my rice cereal is more firm- like rice and sometimes its creamier like the pudding.  It taste great either way and my kids love it no matter what.)

MAKE ON TUESDAY for WEDNESDAY:
FRENCH TOAST!!!


YOU WILL NEED:

  • One or two loaves of bread.  I use sourdough but any will do.  I do not like slice bread but I know other people who use it and like it.  Stale or hard breads work too. 
  • 1-3 cups of milk depending on how much you are making.  Figure about 1 cup per loaf.
  • 2 caps of vanilla
  • 4-8 eggs (really doesn't matter
  • 1- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
  • Cinnamon (to your liking)
  • oh and non stick spray

**Spray the inside of your crock pot
**Rip your bread up and throw it in the crock pot.  If using sliced bread you can just layer it.

I only used one of my loaves because 3 of my kids were not going to be here for breakfast the next day and my loaves were pretty good sized.

**In a separate bowl add and blend:


  • your eggs
  • your milk
  • your sugar
  • your spices










** Now pour the liquid into the crock pot, over the bread.
You prolly wont see the liquid above the bread- THIS IS CORRECT!
Push the bread down into the liquid.  It should kinda "bounce back up" but don't worry about that, it's suppose to.  Be careful not to "mash the bread".


** Put the lid on and set to warm (NOT LOW).  I started mine at 10 p.m. and turned it off at 8:30 a.m.  (we ate late).


**TA-DAH!  French toast!  I added sliced bananas and pecans to the dished out happiness and drizzled syrup on top.  Kids ate in breakfast bliss!!





MAKE ON Wednesday for THURSDAY:
Breakfast Apple Cobbler!!!

You will need:

  • 4-8 apples depending on size and amount you want to make.
  • 2-5 cups of granola
  • 1/4-1/2 cup of honey
  • 2-4 table spoons melted coconut oil (you could skip or use butter as well)
  • cinnamon and/or other baking spices


First, you will need to cut up your apples into "chunks" not diced; chunky, chunky.
The amount depends on how much apples you want to use/make.  I need enough for 10 kids.  I filled my crock pot about 3/4 of the way up. 







next put in a bowl your:

  • melted coconut oil (I used about 5 tbs). 
  • helping of cinnamon
  • honey (I used 1/2 cup)
  • and granola.  Mine was chunky and home made so I used 5 cups.  (The cute redhead in the pic made the granola earlier in the day)



Pour the mixture on top of your apples and pat down to an even consistency.



Put LID ON

Set heat to LOW (not warm)

let cook about 8-10 hours.  I turned mine on at 10 p.m. and we ate at 8 a.m.




We decided to top our Apple Cobbler with home made yogurt.  It was fine without it, we just thought it sounded good!

The apples cook down and the granola blend in with it into breakfast spectacular!

NOTE:  if you have very sweet granola, go light on the honey =)









MAKE ON THURSDAY for FRIDAY:
TATER-TOT breakfast casserole! 

YOU WILL NEED:
1 (30 oz) pkg Tater Tots
6 oz diced Canadian bacon- or whatever meat you want!  Bacon, sausage, ham, ect.
2 medium onions chopped
2 cups of shredded cheese
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
12 eggs
1 cups of milk
4 tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste.






FIRST:  Start cooking any MEAT that needs to be cooking.  In my case, I needed to cook sausage.
WHILE that is cooking chop up your onion and anything else that you are adding that needs chopping.  I added some black forest ham lunch meat I needed to use up




AS SOON AS ALL MEAT IS COOKED and ALL THINGS ARE CHOPPED you get to START THE LAYERS ;)  You can make as many layers as you want but make at least 2 layers.


LAYER ORDER:
Tater tot
Onion
Meats
Cheese





NOW:
In a separate bowl add and then mix:

12 eggs
1 cup of milk
salt and pepper
4 tbs flour
I used my stick blender to mix

THEN YOU POUR INTO THE CROCK POT =)









AND THEN THE COOKING:
so, you have some options, they are:
LOW for 6-8 hours OR
WARM for 9-12 hours THEN HIGH for 30min-1 hour depending on how much more cooking you need.  (This is what I do)

I turned my CP on warm last night at about 9:30.  At 7 a.m. is looked a little more on the "wet" side so I kicked it on HIGH for about 45 minutes.

When the food looks solid (use a spoon and scoop a bit to check) but is still moist and cheese liquidy on top, it is done!






THIS MEAL IS EASY and SUPER YUMMY!!!
If you fill your crockpot up, it will easily feed 12ish people.  If you want to feed less people, do not fill the crock pot all the way up and decrease your eggs/milk.

Enjoy!!












That concludes this week of eats!!  Did you like this little mini series?  If YES, LE ME KNOW!!!