Field Trip to the San Diego Zoo!

Summer time here in the desert is the time we hibernate and hide indoors until the temperatures are bearable again. But, occasionally, we get a chance to escape and go somewhere like San Diego. A couple weeks ago, we went on a field trip with our homeschool group to the San Diego Zoo and had a wonderfully mild and enjoyable day! The temperatures were only in the 80s (much better than our 110s here!) and it was such a nice day!
We also got to take a photo of our kids in the same spot we took one about 10 years ago - by the polar bear sculptures. I have to dig out the old one and put them side by side, but I am sure it is a remarkable amount of change in these precious gifts from God!

It was fun to see them feeding the apes - that one in front is a good catcher!
Taking time to enjoy field trips with our kids is something we love to do in the summer (at least if it gets us out of the heat!) and they are growing up so fast, I don't want to miss any opportunities to connect with them. How about you? Are you enjoying any summer field trips? Tell us about them, please. We would love to share your adventures, too.

For more interesting and encouraging articles about homeschooling, go visit the Carnival of Homeschooling hosted this week by Life on the Road.

How We Are Saving on Gas

With gas prices around $4.00 per gallon, I know this is on everyone's mind right now. And, no matter how much I hope, I really don't think we will see low gas prices again. It just seems that when the prices pass another dollar benchmark, they never seem to go back down again. I sure hope things change, but I guess I am a little skeptical about this one.

Well, we have made one drastic change that is saving us money on gas (besides driving less, I mean:-). We are now buying our gas here in Mexico. It is only about $3.00 per gallon (after doing the double conversions which can get a little tricky) even though it isn't the highest quality and you can never be absolutely certain about it. But saving about $35.00 per tank full is worth it for now. We can put an additive in every so often to help with the quality.

Apparently, we are not the only ones doing this. Someone told me the other day that they think the long lines at the border are in part due to folks coming down to fill up their gas tanks. I can't imagine the long wait in line to get back into the U.S. being worth it, but perhaps that is because I have to do it a little too often. It gets really old! Usually, the summer months bring much shorter lines, but we haven't seen that at all this year. And I have noticed that there is hardly ever anyone at the gas stations on the U.S. side of the border. So perhaps they are correct.

Here in Mexico, all the gasoline is owned and sold by the government. They drill for the oil right here in Mexico, refine the oil and sell the gasoline, thus creating a stable gas price. Usually, in the past, it has been higher than in the U.S., but now it is about 25% lower since their prices haven't changed much at all in the last year while it has skyrocketed in the U.S. I just hope that this doesn't cause a gas shortage here in Mexico, though. This has happened a few times since we have lived here where they have run out of gas at the stations and it was over a week before they got any more.

Oh well, for now it is helping us out. We will just have to see what happens. One other thing we have been doing is not exceeding 65 mph on the highway even though the speed limits in AZ and CA go up to 70 and 75mph. So I hope this is helping as well.

What are you doing to save money on gas? I would love to hear your ideas and tips.

For more frugal ideas, check out the Festival of Frugality hosted today by On Financial Success.

Nature in Your Own Backyard

No matter where you live, there is always something interesting to be found in your own backyard. That's why nature is such a great thing to study in homeschooling. Every place that we have lived, there has always been some new creature to learn about. Like tree frogs in Myrtle Beach, hummingbird vines in Memphis, and now Desert Iguana Lizards in San Luis. We have a multitude of these guys in our yard, which is great because they eat spiders! And we have had lots of them, including black widows. But these two are the largest and they are obviously in love:-) and I think the female is pregnant (or just ate something rather large).

Don't miss the opportunities right in your own backyard to explore some of the wonderful creatures and plants that God has made. Take time to study nature in your own backyard! Let me know what interesting things you find.

Also, for more great homeschool ideas, check out the 133rd Carnival of Homeschooling hosted over at the Red Sea School.

Cool and Refreshing...Ahhhh!

It is so hot and humid here (and we hardly ever have humidity!), that I made up a cool and refreshing icy fruit drink yesterday to enjoy. First I made some sun tea using Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea. Then, into the blender, I put 3 kiwis, 1 T Agave Nectar, 1tsp. vanilla, 1 cup frozen blackberries (that I picked fresh in May), a tray of ice cubes and one cup of that sun tea. Then I blended it up and it was cool, tangy, refreshing and very purple! I don't have a photo because I let my kids take my camera on their missions trip - sorry! But trust me when I say it hit the spot!

Do you have any cool, refreshing drink recipes you could share with me? It seems about the only thing I am hungry for most days and I just don't have much experience in this category:-). Please share your ideas with me.

For more great ideas, check out The Homesteading Carnival: Southern Sunsets Edition over at Walking Therein.
Also, you can find lots of things at Make It From Scratch hosted by Country Magpie.

Ground Beef Recipe - Chili Beef Stack

I have been very busy, so I have not been blogging as much as I would like to. But next week, I should be able to make up for it - my kids will be away for about 10 days on a missions trip to the Apache Indians in the White Mountains of Arizona. I know, it seems a little silly that missionary kids are going on a missionary trip to another place, but it is good for them to reach out to another different culture on occasion. (In case you are new here, we are missionaries serving in Mexico.)

The other day, I was reading through a ground beef cookbook (Sunset from 1965) that I got from my great aunt Rachel who is moving to PA. We went up to help her with her yard sale last weekend and she let me have as many cookbooks as I wanted! I was in cookbook heaven - I just LOVE cookbooks! I will share more about some of the really old, really fantastic ones I got on another post.

I came across this recipe and it sounded so unique and different that I just had to try it. And it was really good! My family voted that I make it any time! That is high praise here!

Chili Beef Stack

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (I used ground turkey, though:-)
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 Tbl. butter or oil ( I used coconut oil)
2 cans (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder (I make my own mixture)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Pancakes:
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cups whole wheat flour (I used a little more because it seemed thin)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. baking powder
1 Tbl. olive oil
Grated parmesan cheese (I used mozzarella cheese)

Saute' onion, green pepper, ground beef, and mushrooms in melted butter, stirring occasionally with a fork until meat is browned. Stir in tomato sauce, chili powder, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make pancakes as follows: Beat egg lightly and beat in milk. Gradually, stir in cornmeal, whole wheat flour, salt, and baking powder, and beat until batter is smooth. Blend in oil. Cook pancakes on both sides on a hot, greased griddle until golden brown. Makes about 12 pancakes, 4-5 inches in diameter.

For each serving, spoon meat sauce between and on top of a stack of three pancakes. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Makes 4 servings.

For more ground beef recipes, go on over to Frugal Upstate: Frugal Food - Part Four! She is featuring recipes with a different ingredient each week.

It's Carnival Tuesday, So Check Out These Carnivals!

My favorite two carnivals are on Tuesdays, so don't miss out on any great ideas:
Festival of Frugality over at Broke Grad Student
Make It From Scratch! Carnival over at chezartz.com

They are loaded with wonderful tips, recipes, and such and I always seem to learn something! have fun browsing through and let me know if you find something helpful!

Recycled Newspaper Purse

Well, we (Penny, our intern, and I) finally finished our clutch-style recycled newspaper purse! It took way more time than I would have thought, but I think it turned out quite cute. I had been trying to figure out exactly how to do the wrist strap for the clutch-style for quite a while and it finally came to me early one morning - use a ribbon! I just happened to have this cute green ribbon, so I used it, but I could substitute it for a black and white or gray print, too.

This purse will be for sale in my Etsy store, so check it out along with some other candy wrapper purses and a rag quilt that are also available. All proceeds will go to support our mission work here in Mexico at Hope House International, which is a place of refuge and training for single moms and teen girls.For directions on how to make your own recycled candy wrapper purse (to make the newsprint one, just use newsprint and clear celophane on the outside), go on over to this blog to see a great tutorial with photos.

Hope House International -
Creating a Refuge, Equipping for Life, Preparing for Eternity!

The Carnival of Homesteading - Tribute to Fathers Edition

For this edition of the Homesteading Carnival, I would like to pay tribute to my wonderful husband who is the love of my life, and all the fathers out there. Take time to love them extra special this week and let them know what they mean to you!

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." - Unknown

My husband and I were married for 12 years before our son came to be part of our family. That gave us a lot of time to grow our friendship and do things together like working on cruise ships for several years in both Alaska and the Caribbean.

Tipper presents Appalachian Tea It's Good For The Garden posted at Blind Pig & The Acorn.

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. - Jim Valvano

HowToMe presents How To Dry and Use Dried Lavender posted at HowToMe and says, "Our neighbor kindly offered to let us collect some of their lavender before it died back. She suggested that we might want to make some potpourri and an eye pillow for headaches. What neat ideas! "

Any fool can be a Father, but it takes a real man to be a Daddy!! - Philip Whitmore Sr.

When our son, Cody, entered our lives it changed our world! And my loving hubby became Daddy.

Here is a wonderful recipe for Easy Parmesan Potatoes that my family just LOVES!

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. - Clarence Budington Kelland

I learned to make these German Paper Stars from watching my Grandmother, and I am hoping my children will also learn to make them to pass it on to their children, too.

HowToMe presents How to "Line Dry" Discretely posted at HowToMe. "Hang to dry" laundry tags (especially on unmentionables) have historically left me searching for a way to rope items over a shower head, hanger or shower curtain rod to drip dry. Well, not any more. :-)

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. - Johann Schiller

Since our children are both adopted, we can tell you how true this is! Two years later, our daughter, Alissa, came into our family and again, our lives changed forever.

And speaking of changing your lives, I think remodeling the kitchen floor might fall in that category. Jacque presents Homeschooling 201: Remodeling the Kitchen Floor posted at Walking Therein.

A father carries pictures where his money used to be. - Unknown

Alex presents Make Your Own Free Printable Wedding Invitations posted at Home Life Weekly. Wedding invitations can be very expensive, so why not make your own printable wedding invitations. These are really easy to make.

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. - M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter

Grandma Rosie presents Grandma Rosie's Texas Home - Garden Plans for Birds & Butterflies posted at Grandma Rosie's Texas Home.

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. - Charles Wadworth
Children look up to their Dads and want to be like them. It is very important to us that we be godly examples for our children so that in emulating us, the are becoming more like Christ.

Jennifer in OR presents Of Deer Sheds and Eggshells posted at Diary of 1.

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.- Sigmund Freud

As our children are growing up and entering those teen years, it is more important than ever to be there for them. I am so grateful to God for giving me the gift of a man who stands by my side, walks with me every step of the way, and loves me and our children unconditionally!

Card Blogger presents The Best Gas Rebate Credit Cards posted at Credit Card Blog.

I just want to say "THANKS A MILLION" to my amazing husband and the father to my dear children whom I love with all my heart. I love you, Joe, and wish you a Happy Father's Day!

Don't forget to submit your articles for the next Homesteading Carnival hosted over at Laura Williams' Musings.

Very Easy Parmesan Potatoes

This recipe is SO simple, but we just love it! Although the thought of using the oven today is a little hard (it is almost 100 degrees at 10am!!!) I am not quite ready for these blistering desert temps, but I guess I have no choice!

So here is the scrumptious recipe:

Take 1 stick of butter and place in a 9x13 pan. Put this in a 425 degree pre-heated oven until all the butter is melted. Then sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the bottom of the pan (I would guess about 1/2 cup).

After scrubbing your potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and place cut side down on top of all that buttery cheesy goodness. Put them into the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes (until the bottoms are crispy brown and the potatoes are tender). Then serve with a dollop of sour cream for dipping and you have an elegant and yummy side dish to complement any meal.

German Paper Stars

When I was a little girl, my grandmother taught me how to make these German Paper Stars. All my life, we have had these on our Christmas trees and when I grew up, I decided to continue making them to pass on to my children and share with many others in my life.

I was very happy to find a tutorial that someone had already put on the internet, so that I didn't have to figure out how to explain the folding process!Our Christmas tree is so beautiful covered in these dainty paper stars!

Check Out This Cookbook Giveaway!

I just found this over on 5 Minutes For Mom and wanted to share it with all of you! You, too, can enter to win Rachael Ray's new cookbook Yum-o: The Family Cookbook. My kids are helping out more and more in the kitchen and I would love to help motivate them along those lines. They are getting old enough to cook some meals on their own now, so this would be a great guide for them. Check it out and enter for yourself. Let me know if you win! You will KNOW if I do:-)

Recipes for Eggs

I just found a new blog Frugal Upstate that is running a Frugal Food Series with Part One being Eggs! So I thought I would share about our Chilaquiles breakfast that we enjoy every so often. It is frugal, yummy and uses eggs. So go on over and add your own egg recipes to the Frugal Food - Part One: Eggs!

Finding a hole in an inflatable pool

We have one of those Quikset pools where you inflate a ring at the top of the pool and as you fill it up with water, the sides rise up. Well, several weeks ago, our cat decided to lay on the side - and apparently fell off! She poked several holes in the ring with her claws! Well, I found several of them right away and patched them. But the ring has had a slow leak (which causes problems with the skimmer and pump) since then. I have tried several times to find the leak - I mean I have spent ALOT of time searching. I was sure it was close to where the others were, but could NOT find it.

Well, today my dh told me to try using the soapy scrubby thing that we use to wash dishes to rub soap over the ring and see if it bubbles up. I was desperate, so I tried it. And voila! I found it - about 3 inches left of where I started, but, you guessed it, I went to the right!!! Well, now the edges are all nice and clean ALL the way around:-).

So, as you begin setting up your swimming pools and other inflatable things for the summer, remember this tip and you will save yourself alot of aggravation and time. Use soap to find the small holes. It actually bubbled up in one big bubble, kind of like bubble gum. It was actually pretty cool and much easier to find than all the previous times I had tried. That sure Worked For Me!

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips and ideas, check out Rocks In My Dryer.

Kitchen Tip - Subsitute for Evaporated Milk

Yesterday, I was making a recipe for macaroni and cheese (using whole grain macaroni, of course) that called for evaporated milk. I didn't happen to have any and it is too expensive to buy here in Mexico. I knew there had to be a substitute for it. I did a search online and sure enough, you can used dry milk with only 40% of the water called for in order to make the equivalent of evaporated milk. So there you go! I DO happen to keep dry milk on hand for making hot chocolate in the winter, so it was a very easy substitute.

And FYI, you could also use cream, but evaporated milk has much less fat and calories and does a great job of thickening as well. Just though I would share that Kitchen Tip for Tuesday. For more tips, go over to Tammy's Recipes.

Wow, WOW Hits 1!

I just cruised over to Rocks In My Dryer and found out that she is giving away 20 huge bricks of 17 CDs just for blogging about WOW Hits 1! As she says, that is a big honkin' bunch of music! And she has 20 TWENTY to give away!! I can hardly believe it, so you bet I want to enter to win, too. So if you blog and would like to enter, too, go on over the Rocks In My Dryer and check out this giveaway. If you don't blog, you can check out the WOW Hits 1 online and buy it for yourself. It is the best of all the WOW projects and you will just love it!

Coloring STILL Works!

Well, I thought the days of coloring books were past, but I was wrong! Even though my children are almost 12 and almost 13, they STILL like to color! Most of the time, the coloring books are more "educational" and "challenging", but to my amazement, my son (almost 14) actually requested a Garfield coloring book and both of them share the pages. They love to color while I am reading to them (yes, we read aloud every day and I plan to continue until college:-).

My son recently showed me his philosophy of life through the eyes of Garfield. I thought it was a pretty creative way to express himself. Now my daughter is "dying" to get a coloring book I told her about that is very detailed and has "hidden" animals in the pictures. I saw it at Michael's a couple weeks ago and thought my son would like it. But, alas, no. He just really wanted Garfield!

So when they are bored, don't discount the power of the old faithful coloring book, no matter how old they get.

Oh, and one other thing that my kids have discovered recently - Radio Disney! They love to play it while they do their chores or other times when they are playing. We actually listen via our DirectTV, but cable may have it also. This way, the TV is off, but the music motivates.

This is what Works For Me! For more ideas on keeping your kids from being bored this summer, go over and visit Rocks In My Dryer with her "Mom, I'm Bored" Edition of Works For Me Wednesday.

Make It From Scratch - Ode to Grandmothers Edition

Today, June 3rd, is both of my grandmothers' birthdays, so I am going to dedicate this edition of Make It From Scratch to them and grandmothers everywhere.

My dad's mother was your typical little German grandmother with her long white hair in a bun at the back of her head. She wore old-fashioned "house coats", baked her bread from scratch, and still spoke in German with her siblings. We called her Muchen Grandma, but I am not sure of the translation of that word from the German. She was the grandmother you went to for cooking instruction, to learn to make bread, to make grape juice, she canned all of our vegetables and kept them in the root cellar down off of her basement. So for all things relating to cooking and food, here are the entries:

ChristineMM presents Hot Chocolate Souffle Recipe posted at The Thinking Mother.

Amy Allen Clark presents Adventures in Breadmaking: Artisan Bread in 5 posted at Amy Allen Clark.

Stephanie presents Crockpot Mexican Lasagna posted at Stop the Ride!.

MamaBird presents Dem Bones: Beef Broth posted at Surely You Nest. Making beef broth is easier than it sounds...and the French Onion soup you'll be able to make is out of this world.

Teresa presents Platanos Maduros en Caldero posted at Changing Seasons.

Maria presents A new recipe-- MIFS posted at Life on Both Sides of the Pond.

Deborah presents The Easiest, Cheapest Dinner Ever posted at Pennies To Nickels.

Jimson Lee presents 111 Egg Recipies and Egg White Recipes posted at SpeedEndurance.com. A free cookbook of over 100 Egg Recipes! Just right click and save to your computer.

Linda presents Cooking : Coconut milk rice posted at Mes crazy expériences. She wants us to try to see rice differently.

Robbyn presents Trying Moroccan Part 2: Tagine of Moroccan Chicken posted at The Back Forty. This is her second Moroccan recipe experiment...yum!

Suzanne presents chocolate happiness cake posted at Adventures in Daily Living.

Kate presents Our Red House: Mix'n'Match Cooking: Honey Oat Bars posted at Our Red House.

Mother Hen presents I'm Feelin' th' Heat posted at Ship Full O' Pirates. She has some great recipes for when the temperatures are rising.

GP presents Travel Lean and Green posted at Innstyle Montana- Your Home on the Range. GP gives us some "green" tips, as well as a great scone recipe.

HowToMe says, "My Mom used to buy Vidalia onions in bulk. When one does that they have to be stored well and for a long time. This storage tip works for both onions and potatoes. Enjoy!" as she presents How to Store Onions posted at HowToMe.


My Muchen Grandma was also pretty "crafty". She taught me how to make German Paper Stars when I was very young, and I still make them today. Unfortunately, she died shortly after I was married and my children never got to meet her. But I am teaching my children to make German Paper Stars to carry on the tradition.

My mom's mother was the working woman. She had a great career with Mellon Bank and was in the department that created and launched the first Master Charge card (now known as MasterCard). She was very smart and had great business-sense. My grandparents lived in an apartment complex with many squirrels in the trees out front. So when we were little, we would say we were going to "Squirrel" Grandma's house when we were visiting them. She outlived my mom and became a very dear friend to my husband and me in her last years here on earth. She was an encourager and inspired so many women to great things. So here are a few posts to inspire your creative side:

Cindy says, "I have simply fallen in love with felting. Here is my latest bag which is a cute little felted handbag." She includes a free pattern to crochet this bag over at My Recycled Bags.

Grandmother Wren presents Little girls, dolls and doll clothes - make it from scratch with the Thursday thirteen posted at Grandmother Wren.

Lisa at Tissuepaper says, "I love turning what I have in my home into something fabulous. Here I show how to turn an old towel into a cute vintage-inspired Jiffy Beach Cover-Up. I include the pattern too. "

Melanie Rimmer presents Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn posted at Bean-Sprouts.

Patric Herber presents The Perfect Gift for Golfers - Golf Ball Carvings posted at Carved Golf Balls. He hand carves scenes on the inside of real golf balls!

Joanna presents The Story of a Daybed posted at keeping feet.

Julie presents Fun Family Crafts and Projects Made Easy with the Cricut posted at More4kids. There is a new product on the market that she has found to be extremely fun and productive when it comes to creating fun projects from scratch with kids.

Jane @ Kidzarama presents Bath Salts Recipe posted at Kidzarama. Wren loves adding nice~smelling, colorful stuff to the bathtub and having a soak. The problem is that she’s not that sparing with her sprinkling, and those sprinkles don’t come cheap.

A. Lee presents Why You Must Consider The Healing Powers of Colors When Choosing Color Schemes For Your Home posted at World Healing. Thanks to Home Improvement shows, home owners want their houses outfitted with just what they saw on television. However, perhaps before racing off to the paint shops, it may be best to take a look at color significance and their respective healing powers. An article for inspiration and insight into your world!

MBB presents Build Your Own Custom Capital One Lab Credit Card posted at Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog.

Both of my grandmas were great women and loved the Lord with all their hearts. I am so blessed to have such a great heritage on both sides of my family! Happy Birthday, Muchen Grandma and Squirrel Grandma! Here's a little poem I found that says it so nicely:

Grandmothers

What ever on earth, can a grandma be for?
She's older than dirt, with one foot out the door.
And what can she know about living today'
When nothing is done in her old fashioned way.
Oh sure, she's sweet, and you love her a lot.
But in terms of real life, what's an ol' grandma got?

Well listen, my sweetie, you might be surprised
To find that your grandma's a youngster disguised.
She still has her dreams, and her values intact,
She's just a bit wiser, yes dear, that's a fact.
Experience has put a few lines on her face.
And that's how she knows, what its like in your place.

I know this idea may seem baffling and new.
But honey, your grandmas "Been There, Done That", too.
So when your young life isn't going as planned.
Talk to your grandma ~she'll sure understand.
She's got lots of love and good counsel to give.
And she'll be on your side for as long as you live...

~Author Unknown~

Don't forget to submit your posts for next week's edition of Make It From Scratch which will be hosted over at Life on Both Sides of the Pond.

Breakfast On The Go!

Muffins! That's what works for me! When you need to leave early and there is no time to make a nice, hot breakfast, grab a muffin and go! We have had several mornings like this lately, going to pick blackberries and other things up in Yuma. We have to leave at least 2 hours before any event in order to arrive on time because of the delay in crossing the border (we live in Mexico). So, when we have something to do in Yuma, we don't have time for a nice breakfast at home.

Recently, I have made several batches of muffins that have come in quite handy for these early mornings. First, I made some Sausage, Egg and Cheese muffins that came out quite nicely. Then I made some Banana Oatmeal muffins (substituted bananas for apples in recipe). Both are great "grab-n-go" breakfasts and that is what Works for Me Wednesday! For more ideas, go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Mixing Fruit in Your Cobbler is Great!

This week, I had some peaches that were about to go bad, so I decided to make another cobbler. However, there weren't quite enough peaches, so I decided to add some blackberries. I didn't know exactly how that would work out, but it was REALLY scrumptious! The sweet peaches and the tangy blackberries made a great combination! I have been using a very basic cobbler recipe that I really like. And I use freshly ground whole grain flour and honey, which makes it even better!
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar (or 1/2 up honey)
1 stick melted butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix together and spread over berries. Bake at 350 degrees until crust turns golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

So don't be afraid to experiment by combining different fruit in your cobbler. You may come up with something great! For more great Kitchen Tip Tuesdays, visit Tammy's Recipes.

Don't Miss "Make It From Scratch" Carnival Hosted Here Next Week!

That's right! I will be hosting the next Make It From Scratch right here next Tuesday, June 3rd! Since June 3rd was both of my grandmothers' birthdays, I think an appropriate theme would be "Ode to Grandmothers" in honor of Muchen Grandma and Squirrel Grandma (yes, that is really what we called them - I will tell the story next week). Now I have to get busy and come up with some great stuff for that theme:-)!

So start sending in your entries to the Blog Carnival, and then come back next Tuesday for a great time at Make It From Scratch - Ode to Grandmothers.

A Nostalgic Recipe for Me - Stuffed Grape Leaves

We were picking blackberries again yesterday and when I came around a corner I saw grape vines. I got very excited because there are very few places around here (in the desert) that have grape vines and I have not been able to make this family dish since we have lived here - over 5 years! I asked the owners if I could snip some of their leaves and they said sure. So I snipped about 65 or so leaves and last night made a very nostalgic recipe for me - stuffed grape leaves.
This recipe brings back so many memories - my grandmother was from Germany and we had a grape harbor. So every summer, we would make this recipe together, as long as there were young leaves on the grape vines. Most recipes for stuffed grape leaves are Greek in origin and do not include the tomatoes. I truly don't know the ethnic origins of this meal, but it is very different tasting from the Greek ones.

To begin with, I washed the leaves in a big bowl with some baking soda and patted them dry with a towel. Then I made a meat and rice mixture for the filling and rolled a portion of meat into each leaf. I found a step by step photo tutorial online for filling and rolling, so I didn't take pictures of those steps. However, I don't blanch the leaves first, but that would make it easier:-) Now, my grandmother cooked hers in a pressure cooker for about 20 minutes. I don't have a pressure cooker, so I decided to try my roasting pan in the oven and it worked great! Here is my recipe, slightly modified from my grandmothers:

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 cup white rice
2 Tbl. 21 Seasoning Salute (from Trader Joes) or any mixture of spices you would like
1/2 tsp. allspice

Mix this all together for the filling. Put about a Tablespoon of mixture in each leaf (depending on size of leaves) and roll up. Cover bottom of pan with flat grape leaves and then place the rolled ones on top of that, layering as you go. Then pour canned tomatoes over them (I used 4 cans - around 15 oz. each - of whole tomatoes and just broke them up with my fingers). Cover with another layer of flat grape leaves. Add a little water to ensure no burning and enough sauce. Cover pot and place in 350 degree oven for one hour. When they are ready, serve over mashed potatoes. Mmmm...delicious! You can also cook in a pot on the stove top (that is how I have done it in the past). Cook until rice is tender.

For more great recipes and ideas, visit Grandma Rosie's Texas Home for the 51st Homesteading Carnival and don't miss Make It From Scratch being hosted over at The Miller Way.

Kitchen Tip - Don't Throw Away the Paper Separaters

When you buy a package of foil baking cups (I mostly use mine when I make meatloaf cupcakes), don't throw out the paper cups that separate the foil ones. You can use those for regular paper baking cups, so you actually get twice the number of baking cups in one package.

I didn't hear this anywhere that I can remember. I just remember one time when I was using those foil cups (probably April Fool's Day:-) that I thought, why can't I just use these other paper ones for cupcakes? And I did and they worked just fine. So get double duty out of your foil baking cups by using the paper ones, too.

For more Kitchen Tips Tuesday, go on over to Tammy's Recipes, where you can find lots of great recipes, too!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE This Unit Study!!

Did I say I LOVE it? I have been so happy with this unit study that we are using next year that I decided I just wanted to share about it with you all. It is called A World of Adventures by Learning Adventures. It started with Ancient Egypt and continues through the Age of Exploration. It is so well laid out and so much research and information is included that you could just read what Dorian Holt wrote and get a great education. But when you add videos, DVDs, and books from the library, as well an online resources, you come away with an incredible amount of learning and adventures!! What an appropriate name!

You can go over to the Learning Adventures website and even view some Sample Lesson Plans just to give you a good idea of how much is included. She very adequately covers Bible, Literature (it is a literature-based unit study using some incredible classics), Language Arts (including Spelling, Grammar, Writing and more), Social Studies, Science and Fine Arts. The only thing that I supplement is Math and Typing!

This curriculum is geared to 4th-8th graders, but can be altered to accommodate youngers and even olders, too. I have used MANY unit studies over the years (because that is all that I use) and have never found such a complete package as this one is.

Each year costs about $90-$100 for the full curriculum! That is a great price, too! And for about $20-$26 you can also order the Student Pages which are a tremendous help with Spelling, Grammar, etc. This curriculum is worth every penny and we have had a tremendous year learning with Learning Adventures. We are going to continue with A New World of Adventure this coming year and we (my kids and I) are really looking forward to it.I also made up my own Lesson Plan pages to go along with this curriculum, and that has made it so much easier. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner (it didn't take much time at all). I have my notebook with the unit we are studying, plus my lesson plan pages, and each child has their notebook with their Student Pages, writing assignments, projects, maps, etc. It is so convenient and easy to begin our school day each day with this.If you decide to buy Learning Adventures, please let Dorian know that I sent you. I don't get anything from it, I just want her to know how much I appreciate the work she has put into this great curriculum. I am going to email her today and let her know how much we have enjoyed it, too!

Check out the Carnival of Homeschooling hosted by Po Moyemu this week.

Frugal and Natural Laundry Soap

Well, I had heard of them before, but never tried them until I won a sample bag of these SoapNuts on the Spring Bloggy Giveaway.


I decided to give them a try, even though I make my own laundry soap. So this past week, all of our laundry was washed with these little strange looking berries (they are not actually nuts even though they look like them) from Laundry Tree. Surprisingly, they worked quite well! And it is my understand that a large bag that costs about $30 will last for about 300 loads of laundry. That's more than a year for me (we average about 5 loads a week). BTW, my homemade laundry detergent costs about $12.00/year, but if you don't want to make your own and still would like something natural, this would be a great alternative.

Here is what the site says about the SoapNuts:

Soapnuts are an amazing, 100% natural cleaning product.
Soapnuts are the fruit of a tree (Sapindus Mukorossi), found primarily in India, Indonesia, and Nepal. The fruit is harvested and de-seeded, then dried in the sun — and then it’s ready for you to use!

How do soapnuts work?
The outer shell of the soapnut contains saponin, a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash. (That’s what makes them so GREAT for cleaning your laundry!) In fact, soapnuts have been used to clean all kinds of fabric for centuries, but they are just recently gaining popularity in the Americas and Europe as a natural alternative to modern chemical detergents.

Soap nuts are organically grown and are chemical-free, so they are gentle on clothes AND skin. They are especially great for those with sensitive skin — including babies and those that suffer from allergies, eczema, and psoriasis! They’re totally biodegradeable, so they’re better for the environment than regular detergent, and they’re antimicrobial, so they’re even good for septic and greywater systems!

There ARE natural and healthy alternatives to harsh laundry detergents that can really save you money, too! For more frugal ideas, please check out the Festival of Frugality over at The Financial Blogger - it's the If I Had a Car Edition!
Also, check out more tips over at Works For Me Wednesday hosted by Rocks in My Dryer.

Changes You Can Make to Minimize Your Monthly Bills

With the rising costs of living (and driving) that we are experiencing in the U.S., I know many of you are desperately trying to find ways to cut costs without drastically reducing your quality of life. I just ran across a great article on a blog that I read almost everyday, and I thought it might be of help to some of you.

Over at The Simple Dollar, Trent wrote about some changes that can make a big difference in your monthly living costs. He said, "... I’ve compiled a list of sixteen great hardcore tactics for minimizing your monthly bills. Most of these won’t work well in your life - that’s fine. If you can choose just one of these, though, and run with it, you’ll find a lot more breathing room in your financial life."

Go on over to his site to read the rest of the article and find Sixteen Hardcore Tactics for Minimizing Your Monthly Bills.

I am going to be including more links to great articles about reducing your monthly costs as I run across them, to be a help to those of you out there who need more help living a frugal life and cutting your costs. Most of the time, I find that we already have implemented a great majority of these ideas into our life (mostly due to necessity as our income has been so limited for the last 3 years). I have found that God has led me into many of these things in a way that has seemed so natural to me, but since I have begun blogging this year, I have found so many sites on the Internet that address these frugal living ideas. What a resource of ideas can be found online!

If you have any questions about frugal living or ideas of things you would like to see information about, please leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know. I am more than happy to research things for you and post about them for all to share in the wealth of information available on the web. I am no expert, just learning along with you all as God leads and guides us in this life adventure.

Homeschool Field and Fun Day

Each year, our support group hosts a Field and Fun Day for the kids. This includes some events that require a little athletic ability and others that require none, so all have a great time and a chance to win a ribbon. The events are divided by age groups and a great time was had by all this year.I encourage every home school leader to consider having a day like this for the kids to have a blast and compete in some fun events. Over the years, our events have included things like 50 yard dash, obstacle course, softball throw, wheelchair race, long jump, limbo, basketball dribble and shoot, relay race and many more. We had about 60-75 kids participate this year and they all seemed to enjoy it.

For more great home schooling ideas, visit the Carnival of Homeschooling over at Mom It Teaching.

All Natural Shampoo Bars and Body Bars

Several months ago, I ordered some samples from the Chagrin Valley Soap Company because I wanted to try some shampoo bars to get away from commercial shampoo products (which contain ingredients I would rather not put on my hair). I ordered three shampoo bar samples and two body bar samples and still have not used them all. I have been VERY pleased with the products. The first shampoo bar that I used was Chamomile and Citrus. I liked this very much - it left my hair feeling soft and very clean. The next one I tried was Rosemary Lavender, and I think my hair was a little more dry and had more static than the other one. I still have Olive & Babassu to try and I will let you know how I like that one. The first body bar that I tried was Honey Butter and I LOVE it! It has rich nutritious unrefined shea butter, unrefined cocoa butter, mango butter, honey, and aloe vera. I am sad that it is almost gone because I could even use it on my face and it left it clean and soft, but not dry at all (and I have really dry skin and live in the desert, too!) I will definitely be ordering another full size of that body bar. Then I tried Herbal Mist which is loaded with shea butter and sunflower oil, and although I like it, I still prefer the Honey Butter. I just read that the owner of Chagrin Valley Soap Company, Ida, has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is having surgery on May 12th. So I encourage you to go to their website and order some of their products. She won't be able to make any new soap for awhile, but there is plenty that they already have in stock and I am sure they would appreciate the business. Their son is working with them so their business will not suffer greatly. Also, go on over to The Breast Cancer Site and click on the button for giving a free mammogram. It doesn't cost you anything but a second of your time, and it will help provide free mammograms for those women who cannot afford them.

For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

Picking Blackberries and Reaping the Rewards

The day started bright and early (4:30am), but the sweet rewards are definitely worth it! We went blackberry picking today from 6am until 8am and picked over 50 lbs! That is a record for us - there are SO many huge blackberries on the vines this year!

There are only two things that I voluntarily get up before the sun to do: yard sales and picking blackberries! I guess that tells you something about my priorities:-)There is only one blackberry farm in this area, and since the daughter of the owner is part of our home school group, they let the home school families that want to come and pick the berries for them and then we get to keep 10% of whatever we pick. So today we went home with over 5 lbs of blackberries for two hours work! That would cost over $30 to purchase them, so I am very happy! And that is just the first time we are going to be picking. I am hoping to pick at least one more time (maybe two) before the short one month season is over.We will make blackberry cobbler, blackberry pie, and mostly just eat the berries with plain yogurt and honey (my favorite!). I will freeze some of them so they can last through the summer, too.

If we didn't have this opportunity, we surely couldn't afford to buy blackberries, so this is my Frugal Friday! If you have the opportunity to pick any kinds of fruits, I recommend you take advantage of this opportunity to make the most of your dollars and get some terrific and fresh fruit for your family. And go on over to Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Friday ideas!

Also, visit the Festival of Frugality over at Quest for Four Pillars for more frugal ideas (especially if you are considering a major purchase in the near future.)

Remembering a Friend...and a Legend

I am sure some of you have wondered what happened to me. I can't believe it has been a whole week since I last posted! I am sorry - I think I just had a little blog burnout and needed a break to get caught up on some things around here and get some new inspiration.

Last night, for some unknown reason, I began to think about a friend of mine who died back in 1990. I didn't know her for very long, but it was quite an interesting friendship. I looked her up on the internet last night and found a website in memory of her that is beautiful. I dreamed about her last night and woke up with her on my mind. So I thought I would share about my friend Emily.

Emily Remler is remembered as the greatest female jazz guitarist in the country (and some say in the world). I remember her as a struggling Christian who, because of being Jewish, was afraid to share about her faith. She was an incredible guitarist who would come and sit in my office to practice sometimes because she felt very peaceful there. What an honor it was to have my own private concerts from a very famous artist!

Emily met my mom before I ever met her and she found someone she trusted and could confide in. She shared with my mom that she had accepted Jesus as her Savior, but was afraid of being ostracized in her very strict Jewish community if she told anyone. She was from New York City, but had left there and moved to Pittsburgh to get away from the drug culture that had ensnared her in the entertainment industry there. She struggled daily to stay clean, even as she wowed the world with her talent and ability. We went to several of her concerts in the Pittsburgh area and just loved to listen to her jazz compositions. She played with some of the best jazz musicians in the country and opened our eyes to an incredible array of music.

It was a short friendship, as was her life. She died of a heart attack (most likely a result of her struggle with addiction) while on tour in Australia in May of 1990. I personally believe she really was a Christian and that God in His infinite mercy cut her struggle short in order to bring her home to be with Him. She was beautiful and incredibly talented, but her life was an ongoing struggle daily with her addictions, that stemmed from the passion she had for her music and the environment in which she found herself. I hope that for that short time while she was in Pittsburgh, that my mom and I were able to be a light and a refuge for her that strengthened her walk with God and secured her eternity with Him.

One day I will know, but in the meantime, the memory makes me more determined than ever to be a light to anyone God brings across my path and a friend and refuge to those in need of His peace.

There is an audio file of a radio broadcast in memory of Emily where you can hear many of her songs over at WFIU: Night Lights. If you are interested, take a listen and enjoy her incredible talent.