A New Perspective

Part of our 7th grade work is perpsective drawing along with our study of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages.

Though Greek and not Roman, Nashville has a great example of architecture right in the heart of the city in the form of The Parthenon.  

He completed a portion of the drawing.  We'll go back next week to complete the drawing.

Soul Food

I am catering a party in two weeks.  Here is the menu I came up with.  

This Is Why We Homeschool

Make Every Moment Count

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." - Robert Fulghum

Just Because

Mammaw's Fudge Sauce

Mammaw (AKA Nathan's grandmother) grew up with her Mother making a fudge sauce for cakes. She lost the recipe and was given this one by an acquaintance. It is just like her Mom's and it is nothing short of Divine!

1 12 oz. can Evap Milk

2 cups sugar

3 tbs cocoa

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 salt

Heat milk and sugar to boil. Stir constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add other ingredients. Sauce should thicken. Serve with cake (or alone if you are my husband).

A Simple Meal

March 6, 2012

So last night we had a very simple meal. Baked potatoes which cooked for 1 hour on 400.   I marinated a pound of boneless thighs in a mix soy sauce and  honey mustard dressing (no corn syrups or bad oils) which I purchased at WF.  After about an hour I cut the chicken into 1 inch size pieces and threaded them on 6 skewers.  I cooked them for the last 25 minutes that the potatoes were in.  Then I sauteed 2 coarsely chopped bell peppers and an onion that had been tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper.  They were sauteed on low as you do not want to cook olive oil at a high temp.  Also, you want the veggies cooked but crispy.  By cooking on low you will find they cook perfectly.  A healthy delicious meal!

Okay, so not the world's best instructions on dinner but sometimes it doesn't have to be hard.  Dinner can be both simple and delicious.  I know I tend to go for really hard recipes at my home - much to my own peril I have to say.  To be honest, I usually way overthink my meal planning and food plans and am in a very serious reevaluation process of how I have been doing things here at the homestead in regards to grocery shopping and meals.

So, grab a few fresh veggies, stick a whole potato in the oven and marinate some chicken and life will look much better.  Oh!  Don't forget the wine!  I am finding that wine is really such a superb way to get me through dinner prep time!

I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.  -Henry IV

Blueberry Muffins

September 21, 2010

We have needed a quick grab and go breakfast for the days we are running a wee bit behind. My husband - the one who is usually quite content to eat ANYTHING that I put in front of him - suggested muffins. What kind of muffins honey? Blueberry. I can do that. Piece of cake or muffin, that is. So, I went to my "go to" source - Pamela's Products website.

I've made Pamela's muffins before and they are tasty (as is everything using Pamela's). I had also been perusing other GF websites on the quest for a delicious GF Blueberry Muffin. I used Pamela's muffin recipe with a couple of changes for a delicious muffin!

I will say that my food photography is still in the works and they did get a little browner than I would have liked, but that was due to the brown sugar/butter mixture I put on top, which BTW I will not do again!

Enjoy!

2 cups Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix

1/4 cup melted butter, or oil

1/2 sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup frozen blueberries

Yield: approximately 6 to 7 muffins

Mix first 6 ingredients together. Add blueberries.  Mix gently.  Spoon 2/3 full into muffin pan using muffin cups. I STRONGLY urge you to use the cups. Pamela's baking mix turns out incredibly moist crumbly treats and you want the cup to keep the mess down! Bake in preheated 350º oven for approximately 25 minutes. Makes 10 to 12 muffins.

These may be the best blueberry muffins I have ever eaten. They are certainly the best I've ever made!

Chicken Korma

August 28, 2009

Last week when I was perusing the TINY organic section of our local Kroger, I came across a "new" item. It was a jar of Tikka Masala sauce by Seeds of Change.

Hmmm...I should try it. I did and we were not disappointed. Last night we had:

Basmati Rice (Lundburg - favorite)

Chicken Legs, Chickpeas and Onions simmered in the Tikka Masala sauce

Sauteed Spinach

Snowflake Rolls from Whole Foods

The "house wine of the South" - Sweet Tea.

Folks, this was such an easy dinner. In fact, the prep work was approximately 20 minutes total for the entire dinner. I did all of the preparation prior to our long and lovely walk down the Shelby Bottoms greenway. It was such a great night. After returning home all I had to do was turn on the stove, sit down with my guys to watch Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone and wait for it all to finish cooking.

So, here is how it went down:

In a large skillet, I placed 6 Trader Joe's organic chicken legs. I drained a can of chickpeas and poured them into the skillet with the chicken. I VERY coarsely chopped an onion (I used yellow) and added that as well. I then poured the jar of sauce over the entire creation. I placed a lid over the dish. To cook, turn on medium high for approximately 5 minutes to get the heat flowing. Once you hear the chicken begin to sizzle, turn it down to low and allow to cook with the lid on for approximately 25 minutes. Keeping the lid on will keep the natural juices in the the dish and tenderize the chicken.

I prepared the organic Lundberg Basmati Rice according to the directions. I usually saute the dry rice in butter for a few minutes prior to adding water, but I did not last night. So, measure your rice and water. Add them to the pot and turn on the heat.

The spinach was a last minute creation. Unfortunately for us, I am not cooking with as many fresh ingredients as I did prior to working/moving/ etc. and I am trying to get back to that, but last night I used a bag of organic cut leaf spinach. I melted a tbs of butter over low heat in a small skillet, then added the spinach. I then covered and allowed it to gently simmer. The spinach has so much natural liquid in it that adding additional water is not necessary. Once the other dishes were near completion, I added approximately half a cup of sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic and curry (all of the spices were "to taste.") Just before taking it out of the pan, I added a few cubes of mozzarella cheese. This was SO tasty.

All of the dished should be stirred once or twice during the cooking process.

I don't always want to cook fresh bread, so I keep these fab snowflake rolls on hand and they went well with dinner.

Have fun cooking and finding some simple dishes that offer a short prep/cook time for tasty, healthy dinners.