Tricia

Menu Plan Monday–Week of August 12

August 12, 2012 by Tricia 1 Comment

This week starts our first full week of school. The first two days went well. Here’s to another week!

With homeschooling and SoldierBoy still away, I decided to keep meals pretty simple again this week. Waffles are a favorite dinner when he’s gone, so I’ll be making them again this week. Today I spent some time prepping parts of this week’s meals–made the barbecue sauce, the Mexican rice, taco meat, chicken marinade and the sesame pasta salad. If I don’t spend time on Sunday prepping for the weeks SoldierBoy is away, I end up relying on frozen junk way too much. It makes for a tiring Sunday but an easier week.

Lunches
Sesame pasta salad with chicken
Taquitos
Chicken strips
Sandwiches
Leftovers

Dinners
Hamburgers, oven fries, carrot sticks
Taco pizzas, jicama, Mexican brown rice
BBQ-grilled chicken, potato packets, salad
Pineapple-soy chicken, rice, stir-fried veggies
Kids–Pizza or sloppy joes, salad for me
Whole-wheat waffles, bacon, apple slices
Italian beef sandwiches, chips, veggie tray

Filed Under: Homemaking Tagged With: menu plan

2012-2013 Curriculum

August 9, 2012 by Tricia 1 Comment

School was to start yesterday but, unexpectedly, we had friends come into town Sunday. We saw them Monday & Tuesday mornings as planned. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, though, so I invited them to do a picnic at a park Tuesday night. Last minute plans plus total procrastination on several items I needed to do before we could start meant that school would be a day late. Its times like that that make me glad we homeschool! The schools here are already in session, so our time together would have been already more limited. The freedom to delay school in order to spend time with out-of-town friends is a freedom I certainly appreciate.

This year I didn’t change many of our choices.

Outside of a two-month period where I mistakenly switched to Right Start math, we have been devotees of Singapore Math Standards Edition. Elizabeth is really good with mental math and the curriculum fits my teaching style. She is using 3A & 3B this year. I’ve not previously purchased the tests or word problems but I was able to purchase them inexpensively from a friend. So we are adding them as well. Sadly, I don’t think Singapore will fit my middle child’s learning style, so I will probably have to find a different choice for him next year.

Of all the subjects, spelling is the one I am most excited to use. Last fall, Elizabeth (newly 7) wasn’t reading more than basic cvc words. SoldierBoy had mild dyslexia at her age and I was growing concerned she may as well. I chose All About Spelling for her. We did it sporadically through the fall and more regularly in the winter. Within weeks of getting regular about it, her reading took off. I was learning spelling & phonics rules I always assumed were just quirks of our language rather than actual rules. We both looked forward to it each day and quickly completed level 1. We began level 2 in April, right as end-of-the-year blahs were hitting. We only half-heartedly worked it, so we are starting back at step 1 of level 2 this year.

Writing with Ease is a book we started last year. Elizabeth loves the stories and I love the quality of copywork in it. I have very much neglected reading good chapter books with Elizabeth thus far, something I am working hard to change, so I appreciate this exposure to quality literature.

In years past, we haven’t followed a formal science curriculum instead focusing on whatever topic was of interest. After looking over a copy of Apologia Astronomy that my sister owned, I decided to give this a try this year. I have been hesitant to use it because we lean towards an Old Earth philosophy while Apologia is decidedly Young Earth. After studying it, I decided that, at least for now, I think I can work with it. I appreciate that suggested lesson plans are included, activities are easy and include mostly items you would have at home, or alternates are suggested. I decided on the Junior Notebook to go with it which is recommended for grades K-3.

Handwriting is going to be A Reason for Handwriting again. Last year I purchased level B and then, when she was done with that, I purchased level T. Had I to do it again, I would have skipped B and gone straight with T. T (transition) has both print & cursive letters in it, a detail I missed. We started T at the end of the year and I quickly realized EGirl needed a little while longer before she was ready for cursive. So we will do T this year and then I have C for after that. I love the copywork Bible verse with each lesson and she loves to mail them to out-of-state family.

Our first actual curriculum purchase was Explode the Code’s Get Ready, Get Set, Go! series. We moved from those to their numbered books and, this year, will finish them up. We are starting with Book 7 and should move to Book 8 by January. These books are self-contained (I’ve never purchased a teacher manual) and lessons can easily be split up. We aim to finish one 8-page lesson a week. There is a review every 3-5 lessons and a whole-book review at the end. Knowing what I do now about All About Spelling, I am not sure I will use ETC with my boys and, instead, will just wait until they are ready for AAS.

We discovered Grapevine Studies last year and I fell in love. I came across their Esther series and chose it for our first study. While I know a little about Queen Esther, her story isn’t one I know well, so I’m looking forward to it. The Ester books have recently been updated and are on sale this month! I prefer the printed book for the student version and the e-book for the teacher edition. We use our tablet for school time frequently, so this saves us a few dollars.

Not getting caught up in whether the images look ‘right’ or not by using stick figures keeps Elizabeth (and myself!) from getting stuck on that. I love the freedom of being told I HAVE to use stick figures! Art has never been my strong subject, so the freedom is welcomed. We completed the Resurrection study last spring and, after Esther, we will move onto the Old Testament studies.

Grammar and history I am still undecided on. Yes, school started today and I haven’t made much progress on choosing these two subjects!

Amazon and Grapevine links are affiliate links. Links to christianbook are NOT affiliates.

Filed Under: Teaching in PJs Tagged With: curriculum

Menu Plan Monday–Week of August 5

August 5, 2012 by Tricia Leave a Comment

A long summer break and I’m back. Back to school this week. Schools here start so early and, with a busy fall, I decided to start us back early as well, so we have time to take off later.

Do you read the 100 Days of Real Food blog? Or another real food blog? We have gradually worked to move to all real foods. Its been slow going but we are getting there. A few weeks ago, a friend send me this blog. I love it! She has so many EASY ideas. I considered doing the full 100 day pledge. But ~~things~~ excuses kept coming up. Truth is, I’m scared to commit to 100 days. If I start it and we don’t make it, I’ll feel like a failure. So I’ve put it off.

Then I stumbled on her mini-pledges. A week? Just SEVEN days? With just one focus? That I can do! I debated which pledge I wanted to do first. The no fast-food pledge is pretty convicting for me right now. But, for that exact reason, I chose not to do it. SoldierBoy is away training, school is starting and life is picking up. While I don’t want to turn to fast food, reality is that we’ll probably eat it at least a few more times in the next month. After his return, it’ll be easier to do that pledge.

I decided on seven days of 100% whole grain. Honestly, the major reason was because we are basically 90% there. I still like my white rice when I cook Asian foods. Our pancakes are usually white flour and then muffins & scones are about half white flour. Save the occasional doughnut and fast-food, I can’ think of anything else we eat that is not a whole-grain already. Oh, and our cereal, maybe? They almost always eat frosted mini-wheats. I’ll have to look at the label for that. Easy success leads to confidence that I can do the full 100 days!

As I was typing this out, I realized that my cinnamon roll bread recipe is only partially whole wheat. I need to find a new recipe, I guess!

Breakfasts
Smoothies
Oatmeal
Cinnamon roll bread (for first day of school)
Toast & fruit

Lunches
Peanut butter sandwiches, fruit
Pizza joes on whole-wheat buns, carrot sticks
Quesadillas on whole-wheat tortillas
Salad with grilled chicken

Dinners
Lunch meat sandwiches w/fruit plate
Taco salad
Whole-wheat pasta with marinara sauce & grilled chicken
Grilled barbecue chicken, salad, grilled potatoes
Whole-wheat waffles, bacon, apple compote
Out to dinner (me)/popcorn chicken (kids w/sitter)
Leftovers

Head over to I’m an Organizing Junkie for more menu plan ideas!

Filed Under: Homemaking Tagged With: menu plan, real food

Menu Plan Monday–Week of April 23

April 23, 2012 by Tricia Leave a Comment

Four out of the five of us spent the weekend sick, so I am in recovery mode today. Combine that with needing to stock my freezer for summer meals and I decided to make this week a out-of-the-freezer week. Then I can defrost the freezer and work on filling it up with some summer meals!

Monday	Sonic	Leftovers	Grilled chicken, smashed potatoes (FZ)
Tuesday	Smoothies	Red mystery meal (FZ)	Arrachera (FZ), Mexican brown rice
Wednesday	Peanut butter baked oatmeal	Out to eat	Tacos
Thursday	cereal	Hamburgers (FZ)	Mongolian beef (FZ), rice, stir-fry veggies
Friday	Whole-wheat waffles		Grilled chicken sandwiches (FZ), fruit & veggie tray
Saturday	Pancakes	Hamburgers & hot dogs on grill, chips, fruit	Dry-aged steaks, salad,grilled potatoes
Sunday	Smoothies & cereal		Pulled pork (FZ), coleslaw

Check out Menu Plan Monday @ orgjunkie.com for more meal ideas!

Filed Under: Homemaking Tagged With: menu plan

Moldy Tampons…what’s a girl to do?

March 27, 2012 by Tricia Leave a Comment

Tale of the Moldy Tampon

Have you heard about the case of the moldy tampon? Danielle from Parr For the Course posted this morning on a parenting board I visit about a tampon that she opened. She accidentally popped part of it out of the applicator and found MOLD! She was encouraged to contact Kotex. Know what they said?

In instances where it has been found, we conducted tests on the product involved and have found the mold to be a common environmental species that carries no health risk. The vegetative mold is similar in nature to mold on vegetables or in baked goods.

Check out the bolded parts. First, this isn’t the first time it has occurred nor the first time they have heard about it. I’m not sure I would have bothered to contact Kotex, honestly. And there are others like me, you can be sure. Secondly, when I find mold on my food? I toss it! I don’t put it into my body which, apparently, Kotex thinks would be fine to do!

Her blog post has gone viral! Over 100,000 hits today! Its all over Facebook, discussion forums and creeping through Twitter.

So what is a woman to do?

1) Switch to tampons without applicators, like o.b. Switching to a brand, such as Tampax, that has cardboard applicators and paper wrapper would be more breathable so, in theory, less chance for mold to develop.

2) Stick with menstrual pads.

3) Switch to Instead softcups. I first used them about 15 years ago and I love them. They have a learning curve to them but it was quick for me to master.

5) Still, I didn’t want to go full-time with mama cloth because I just don’t like pads. I’ve had a Diva Cup on my Vitacost.com shopping list for well over a year. I kept putting it off because, well…I’m not sure why. Tonight I ordered one. Moldy tampons pushed it up my priority list!!

Have you ever shopped at Vitacost.com? They have amazing customer service, great prices and just about every vitamin, supplement, green cleaner, natural baby product, organic packaged foods, personal care and other natural living item you can imagine. Shipping is free over $49 and they often run free shipping sales for all orders. Sign up at Vitacost.com through this link and you’ll receive a $10 credit towards your first order!

And to make it an even better deal, if you enter Vitacost.com through ShopAtHome, you’ll earn an additional 8% back on your order! Or shop Vitacost.com through Ebates to earn 4% on your order.

: Tale of the Moldy Tampon

In instances where it has been found, we conducted tests on the product involved and have found the mold to be a common environmental species that carries no health risk. The vegetative mold is similar in nature to mold on vegetables or in baked goods.

So what is a girl to do??
1) Switch to tampons without applicators, like o.b. Switching to a brand, such as Tampax, that has cardboard applicators and paper wrapper would be more breathable so, in theory, less chance for mold to develop.

2) Stick with menstrual pads.

3) Switch to Instead softcups. I first used them about 15 years ago and I love them. They have a learning curve to them but it was quick for me to master.

4) I’m going green. I first purchased cloth liners from Tree Hugger Cloth Pads, a.k.a. mama cloth, a year or so ago as backups to tampons or for lighter-flow days. I was instantly in love. They feel so nice, work great and are easy to care for. Really! If you want to try cloth pads, LunaPads is offering $5 off an order of $30 or more in response to the moldy tampon.

And to make it an even better deal, if you enter Vitacost.com through ShopAtHome, you’ll earn an additional 8% back on your order! Or shop Vitacost.com through Ebates to earn 4% on your order.

Free shipping if you spend $49 or more (you’re more than halfway there if you get a Diva Cup) plus a $10 credit plus 4-8% back through Ebates or ShopAtHome? Surely that’s a better deal than moldy tampons!!

Vitacost.com, ShopAtHome.com and Ebates.com links are affiliate links. All other links are for informational purposes ONLY.

Filed Under: Anything Else

Menu Plan Monday, Week of March 25

March 26, 2012 by Tricia Leave a Comment

We have a crazy, crazy week awaiting us. I tried to keep meals simple but I’m not sure I succeeded. My only exception, barbacoa on Friday, will be a reward for a long week. Barbacoa burritos, margaritas, quiet evening on the porch as the kids play and the sun sets. Perfect way to end the week.

Lunches
Hamburgers/hot dogs on grill
Leftover chicken & pasta
Sandwiches at SoldierBoy’s ceremony
Chicken bacon club sandwiches (freezer)

Dinners
Sunday–Homemade pizza
Monday–Tacos
Tuesday–Italian grilled chicken, salad
Wednesday–Baked pasta, garlic bread (freezer)
Thursday–Leftovers or fast-food
Friday–Barbacoa burritos, cilantro lime rice, chips & salsa
Saturday–Date night! Grilled chicken & rice pilaf for the kiddos.

Share your menu plan and check out others’ plans at orgjunkie.com!

Filed Under: Homemaking Tagged With: menu