What I'm Cooking
Navajo fry bread, to take to a friend's house for dinner last night. I didn't make the beans this time around, because she was supplying the taco toppings. We ate leftovers with cinnamon and honey this morning for breakfast. It's a lot of work, but soooooo delicious!
Mega scones. It's taken me a few tries to make this well, where the jam doesn't leak out all over the place. This week I finally had success! I don't have any real pointers, though . . . it was luck.
Roast chicken and vegetables. If you've never roasted a chicken before, don't be afraid! It's so easy, and so delicious. I never have twine on hand, so I never tie the legs back, and I'm fairly certain that I forget which side is "breast up" about 50% of the time. It never matters. With enough fat (I used coconut oil this time, but I have used bacon grease before!) and salt, the skin gets perfectly salty-crispy, and the meat is juicy. I use whatever vegetables I have on hand: this time, a few potatoes, the bottom of a bag of mixed frozen vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, orange and yellow carrots), and always red onions. Roasted red onions are sweet and wonderful. Don't skip them.
Pecan-crusted chicken and skillet lasagna. Both decent, easy family meals. I used ground beef instead of sausage and cottage cheese instead of ricotta in the lasagna.
What I'm Reading
The Pastor's Wife by Gloria Furman. A friend from Cincinnati and I have been reading this together over the past six months, discussing a chapter over the phone every 2-3 weeks. We're just about at the end, and planning on another Gloria Furman book to read together next! I have been challenged by many things in The Pastor's Wife, but I'll just mention one thing I found comforting in this season of great change:
If God always makes the first move and finishes what he starts, would he then leave the middle
up to us? Grace carries us all the way through. . . . Held in our Shepherd's unflinching grip,
we are safely his at all times and in every circumstance. Your constancy is Christ. (p54)
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield. Isaac gave this to me for Christmas, thinking I would find it interesting, but I didn't get a chance to pick it up until I went to the Gospel Coalition's Women's Conference in Indianapolis in June (time to read on the plane, hooray!). Butterfield spoke at the conference, but I did not get to hear her, and now that I'm halfway through her book, I'm sorry I didn't take the opportunity. To make a long story short, she who was once a staunch atheist, lesbian, tenured English professor is now a conservative Presbyterian pastor's wife who homeschools her four adopted children. I've been very struck by her no-nonsense attitude towards sin, healing, and sovereignty. I have lots of things underlined, but nothing that makes sense as a single quote out of context. If you're willing to put some thought into a serious book about hard issues, I recommend it!
What the Boys are Reading
Note: we read practically all day long, all varieties of books. These are just an example of what got read the most this week.
Levi: The Year of Miss Agnes, the Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie
Owen: Poppleton in Fall, Flat Stanley's Christmas Adventure
Silas: BOB books set three, Julius and Danny the Dinosaur, Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive
Toby: The Doorbell Rang, Runaway Bunny, The Going to Bed Book, B is for Bulldozer
What I'm Doing
Searching for the perfect long-term (not daily) homeschool planner. I've downloaded probably a dozen free ones, and nothing is exactly what I'm looking for. Isaac has even attempted a few varieties in Excel for me. I think I'm going to just have to decide on something for the 7-8 weeks of school we'll do before the baby comes, and re-evaluate after that whether it's working. If any of you have something free that you love, or a method that works for you, I'd love to hear about it! Everyone's different in what they need and appreciate in a planning system.
Weekly Snapshots
Navajo fry bread, to take to a friend's house for dinner last night. I didn't make the beans this time around, because she was supplying the taco toppings. We ate leftovers with cinnamon and honey this morning for breakfast. It's a lot of work, but soooooo delicious!
Mega scones. It's taken me a few tries to make this well, where the jam doesn't leak out all over the place. This week I finally had success! I don't have any real pointers, though . . . it was luck.
Mine don't look anything like the picture on the recipe site.
Roast chicken and vegetables. If you've never roasted a chicken before, don't be afraid! It's so easy, and so delicious. I never have twine on hand, so I never tie the legs back, and I'm fairly certain that I forget which side is "breast up" about 50% of the time. It never matters. With enough fat (I used coconut oil this time, but I have used bacon grease before!) and salt, the skin gets perfectly salty-crispy, and the meat is juicy. I use whatever vegetables I have on hand: this time, a few potatoes, the bottom of a bag of mixed frozen vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, orange and yellow carrots), and always red onions. Roasted red onions are sweet and wonderful. Don't skip them.
Pecan-crusted chicken and skillet lasagna. Both decent, easy family meals. I used ground beef instead of sausage and cottage cheese instead of ricotta in the lasagna.
What I'm Reading
The Pastor's Wife by Gloria Furman. A friend from Cincinnati and I have been reading this together over the past six months, discussing a chapter over the phone every 2-3 weeks. We're just about at the end, and planning on another Gloria Furman book to read together next! I have been challenged by many things in The Pastor's Wife, but I'll just mention one thing I found comforting in this season of great change:
If God always makes the first move and finishes what he starts, would he then leave the middle
up to us? Grace carries us all the way through. . . . Held in our Shepherd's unflinching grip,
we are safely his at all times and in every circumstance. Your constancy is Christ. (p54)
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield. Isaac gave this to me for Christmas, thinking I would find it interesting, but I didn't get a chance to pick it up until I went to the Gospel Coalition's Women's Conference in Indianapolis in June (time to read on the plane, hooray!). Butterfield spoke at the conference, but I did not get to hear her, and now that I'm halfway through her book, I'm sorry I didn't take the opportunity. To make a long story short, she who was once a staunch atheist, lesbian, tenured English professor is now a conservative Presbyterian pastor's wife who homeschools her four adopted children. I've been very struck by her no-nonsense attitude towards sin, healing, and sovereignty. I have lots of things underlined, but nothing that makes sense as a single quote out of context. If you're willing to put some thought into a serious book about hard issues, I recommend it!
What the Boys are Reading
Note: we read practically all day long, all varieties of books. These are just an example of what got read the most this week.
Levi: The Year of Miss Agnes, the Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie
Owen: Poppleton in Fall, Flat Stanley's Christmas Adventure
Silas: BOB books set three, Julius and Danny the Dinosaur, Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive
Toby: The Doorbell Rang, Runaway Bunny, The Going to Bed Book, B is for Bulldozer
What I'm Doing
Searching for the perfect long-term (not daily) homeschool planner. I've downloaded probably a dozen free ones, and nothing is exactly what I'm looking for. Isaac has even attempted a few varieties in Excel for me. I think I'm going to just have to decide on something for the 7-8 weeks of school we'll do before the baby comes, and re-evaluate after that whether it's working. If any of you have something free that you love, or a method that works for you, I'd love to hear about it! Everyone's different in what they need and appreciate in a planning system.
Weekly Snapshots
Brothers reading Flat Stanley books.
Owen reading upside-down.
Silas concentrating on his water-color trees.
Crazy, crazy police-man Toby.
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