Doodle Acres

Yesterday we had a fun afternoon picking over-priced apples (3 bushels worth) to make lots of homemade applesauce.  Yum!!!

Peter helping Dad with the first batch of applesauce…

Who doesn’t enjoy a nice meal at dinner time?  I can’t think of anyone!!!  I’ve rediscovered my crock-pot recently.  Getting dinner on the table had become a real chore of late.  I was bored with my menus and uninspired to change things up.  Then I stumbled onto Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker.  My family and I have been enjoying the recipes and I have been loving the freedom that the crock-pot affords me!!! Why not rediscover your crock-pot and check this wonderful cookbook out at the library!!!

We found a great recipe at Heavenlyhomemakers.com for Onion rings made with Whole Wheat flour.  We have made them twice and they were a big hit in our household.  The recipe is simple and very tasty.  Thank you Laura!!!

I’ll admit it.  I have never much liked cooking.  My signature dish has always been my famous Chocolate Chip cookies.  That being said, over the last six months, I have been trying to expand my dinner repetoire.  My foray into more “cooking from scratch” was born mostly out of my desire to lower my grocery bill.  After I got comfortable with that, I started trying to improve the quality of my meals - more fruits and veggies, more whole grains.

Well recently, I started watching “30 Minute Meals” with Rachael Ray.  Her can-do attitude has inspired me to become more creative and adventureous with my cooking.  So today for lunch (hubby is on vacation), I made Artichoke bites (which can best be described as muffin shaped artichoke quiches) to go along with Chicken salad on homemade whole wheat bread and carrot sticks.  Boy, were they yummy!!! The crushed red pepper added a surprising kick to them and everyone except Peter(3), who is objecting to everything these days, enjoyed them.

So here’s the link to the recipe which I got from FoodNetwork.com:  Recipe for Artichoke Bites (by the way, I doubled the recipe).  Enjoy!!!

P.S. I know that I have been a very inconsistent blogger of late.  I hope to remedy that.  However I would suggest subscribing to my RSS feed through a blog reader like Bloglines or Google Reader so that you won’t have to check back to Doodle Acres until the reader tells you I have updated my content.  Just a suggestion!!! ;) 

Well I did indeed have a busy day in the kitchen. 

1-  I ground my own whole wheat flour (this is new to us - I just purchased a Nutrimill from the Country Baker).  It is amazing how much better the freshly ground flour tastes in my homemade bread - which leads to #2

2-  Homemade bread in our bread machine

3-  Four dozen whole wheat pumpkin ginger muffins

4-  Sweet potato puree made from at least 10 lbs. of sweet potatoes - I’m a huge fan of Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious.  I freeze the puree in ice cube trays so that adding the puree is very easy and convenient.  Two cubes equal approximately 1/4 cup.  It is a painless way to add veggies to our meals - which leads to #5 

5-  A big, big pot of chili for dinner and to freeze - I added carrot and red and green pepper puree.  This was a new recipe that I played with a bit and I found that the addition of apple cider vinegar really added a lot of flavor. 

Well it was a busy day in the kitchen but a yummy one!!!

I have been reading many posts lately about not sacrificing nutrition in the name of frugality.  As I have mentioned before, my family has never eaten better since I undertook the task of bringing our grocery expenses under control.  Menu planning and cooking from scratch are the solid foundation on which my savings have been built - NOT on eating low quality, low cost foods. 

In an attempt to continue our journey towards better nutrition, I have been trying to eliminate many of the convenience foods that have a list of unknown, unpronounceable ingredients.  Here are some of the changes that I am working on over the next month or so:

• No more breakfast cereal.  Weekday breakfasts are largely self-service at our home so this is a bit of a sacrifice for me.  It means making oatmeal, homemade pancakes and waffles, and eggs on mornings when I’d rather be checking my email.  In the past, I have proposed this change; but I find that as long as I have cereal or PB and crackers around, I tend to rely on these lower quality breakfast choices.  So I’m not going to buy any more cereal!!!
• No more crackers.  Ritz crackers have truly become a staple in our home.  They say that they have no trans-fats yet they list partially hydrogenated oil in their ingredient list.  They are also high in calories given the nutritional value (I believe 5 crackers are 2 pts. in the Weight Watcher system - the equivalent of a slice of Whole Wheat bread.  And I certainly find whole wheat bread to be more healthful and filling than Ritz crackers!!!)  So we will be buying and making more Whole Wheat bread.
• Home-made salad dressing - this will be the hardest adjustment as I begin to try some simple recipes.  Any suggestions???

I am determined not to make any other major changes until we have fully incorporated these three.  I tend to backslide when I bite off more than I can chew!!!

Well today is Tuesday so that means it’s “Training Tuesday” at our house.  Recently I added a job wheel (I read about it in the Complete Tightwad Gazette book I’ve been reading) to divvy up the dinner meal preparation tasks.  As I’ve mentioned before, I have done a good job training my two oldest children but have slacked off with the younger two.  This job wheel is an attempt to create a better division of labor.

Last week Lily learned how to set a proper table.  Today she learned to make salad.  She had used the salad spinner before but this is the first time that she cut the carrot herself (with supervision, of course!!!).

Peter even got in on the training today when he spilled his water on the floor.  I directed him to the rags and he cleaned it up himself.

Around here, someone under the age of 18 always seems to be breaking a dish.  And we had gotten down to an insufficient number despite using Corelle (which are breakable in our home!!!).  I personally hate to eat off of plastic dishes.  Well I was lamenting to a friend recently about the my dish situation and wondering whether I should invest in another set of Corelle or just go to paper plates.  Both “solutions” were not floating my boat!!!  Then my friend gave me a great idea.  He suggested buying second hand plates at a thrift shop.  It turned out to be a great idea.  I got a nearly complete set of dishes for 8 (dinner plates, luncheon plates, bowls, tea cups and saucers) for $4!!!  Now I can eat on real plates without worry!!!  God is good!!! Thanks Don!!!

Often times when I meet someone and they find out that we home-school, I get the inevitable question: “Well are you a teacher?”  I tell them “yes”, but usually explain that a teaching degree is not a necessity in this home-school journey.  However, in spite of my explanation, it is plain to see that they are more comfortable with my home-schooling, knowing that I am a teacher by degree. 

Well after nearly nine years of home-schooling, I have come to the realization that my teacher training is more of a hindrance than a help.  I have bought into the lie that learning has to be planned, scheduled, documented, and taught in sequence.  There has been a lack of spontaneity on my part and many lost opportunities because of this mentality. 

For example, I have a wonderful home-schooling friend, Barbara, who doesn’t have a college degree but yet is a better teacher than me.  She taught my then six year old daughter, Lily, how to tell time (to the hour) because she wanted to know.  My answer would have been, “Don’t worry, you’ll get to that in your math book soon.”

Well today I did two spontaneous things - Do I hear some applause??? 

First after Lily’s oral reading, I gave her an impromptu grammar lesson on when to use “a” and when to use “an”.  I’ll admit that my first reaction was to think, “Oh, I’m sure that we’ll get to that soon in our First Language Lessons.”  But the teachable moment was then when she puzzled over the use of “an” before the word “apple”, not when we get to it in a month or two.

My next captured opportunity came as we were looking through last year’s notebook.  Lily saw the picture that she drew of the “Gingerbread Baby“.  She was very excited and asked if we could read this wonderful book.  Once again, my first inclination was to think, “Advent hasn’t even started.  We should wait until December to read that book.”  But I told my internal party-pooper to be quiet.  I pulled out the book and enjoyed reading for 10 minutes with Lily on my lap.  And then when she asked to make gingerbread cookies, I said, “Yes!”  Oh the delight on Lily’s face!!!  Hey I guess that’s three spontaneous things - hopefully I didn’t burn myself out!!! LOL

Today at the library I picked up a copy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn.  I periodically take out books on frugality and simple living.  I never read these books cover to cover but am happy to glean a few hints/tips to incorporate into my life and budget.

Well as I lazily read the book from the comfort of my armchair this afternoon, I came upon an article which referenced the USDA’s ”Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels“.  Now the article was written in 1993, so I decided to check on line for the current levels of spending for American families.  Recently, I had shared that I spend $120 a week on food for my family of 6.  I wanted to see whether this put me in the Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate-cost, or Liberal plan.  I was thrilled to see that we were on the Thrifty plan.  Of course the author of The Tightwad Gazette spent about 1/4 of the Thrifty plan amount!!!  But you have to start somewhere and I’m happy for the gains I’ve made (although I know that I have more work to do in this area).  If you have any money saving tips, I’d love to hear them.  And I’ll post any ideas that I come across in my reading.  Let the sharing and savings begin!!!