Meatless Monday--not so much

We decided to start eating meatless dishes on Mondays.  It is said to be healthier and we view it as a way to try new recipes and enjoy more fresh foods.


Tonight-Black bean burgers--Tim remarked as a boat drove down the road, "They got to go to the lake, and they probably ate real burgers too!"  All I can say is bless his heart-please turn him away if he comes begging for dinner at your door!

burgers before cooking

The black bean burgers were easy to make,  but not such a big hit.  Ours turned out dry and rather flavorless.  Not a success, but we did not run screaming from the table-either!

We paired this new recipe with a home-grown tossed salad and home made croutons topped with dressing from the Olive Garden (YUM)!

We also tried a new recipe for Ya-Ya.  It is a sweet potato bread using very little four.  The breads turn out tender and are great topped with pumpkin seeds!

The Alphabet Quest-Pickens County Museum

Braelyn's curriculum for the next few years is call the Alphabet quest.  It is a reading, writing, spelling and phonics curriculum that also incorporates actual art from various famous artists. 
The "quest" is going through the museum and finding one piece of art that starts with each letter of the alphabet.

We had some extra time and the Museum in Pickens was free, so we decided to play.

Loved this one-the goat is a BIG problem but she keep on pulling!

The girls loved several of the pieces and bounced from one exhibit to another.  We did find every letter, however "X" proved to be rather illusive and we tweaked the rules so that any X would do.  We found the X at the end of the Lynx. 

We loved the denim piece with the mother and child--the denim is actually cut in various shades-there is no paint!

It was sad to see the jail part now sectioned off-I remember being allowed to enter the cell-I was hoping for a few good pictures there!


Here is our video and the letters we found:

A apple on the desk
B  bell
C cotton
D dolls
E eagle
F fort
G guitar
H hat
I iron
J jacks
K kitchen
L logs
M mill
N necklace
O operation
P piano
Q question mark
R rocks
S stamp
T television
U uniform
V violin
W water
X Lynx
Y Yarn
Z Zebra

Waste Not Want not

It seems as many in my generation and those younger have an attitude of "disposability".   In the past, one would make use of resources to the fullest extent.  For example if there is a bumper crop of lettuce then you have a million recipes and ways to use it.  If you have a few peaches, instead of simply eating them you can use them in ways that waste nothing (or at least very little).  This is just one example, but the heart of the matter can easily translate to other areas.

Here is what we accomplished with a small gift of peaches from a friend.


1 small bag of peaches ($5)


First we looked up recipes to enjoy with the treat!  Trying new things can be a great form of entertainment.  Often it works out and a new family favorite is born, and some times we just learn a few lessons from the mishaps--(quite in keeping with life).

I peeled the peaches and the kids had a few slices as part of their after school snack (USE #1)


The peels were then placed in a small saucepan with some sugar and 1/2 as much water (simple syrup) and boiled for 10 min.  after cooking the syrup now tinted red naturally from the peels was put in a squeeze bottle and refrigerated ( great in ice tea or on ice cream).  (USE #2)

1/2 of the peaches went into a peach cobbler and right into the oven. (USE #3)

cooling syrup

 

bottled syrup

 The previously boiled peach skins (now candied in the syrup, were drained and rolled in sugar and place on our dehydrator. These natural gummy worms are a family favorite (USE #4)   Yes, they have sugar in them, but there are no colors or preservatives and the chemical load is greatly decreased.  If kept cool and in sugar they keep for months-then you can use the sugar in tea too-it has a slight hint of the peach flavor.

dehydrator

gummy worms almost finished

Scott's Crisp-minus one sample bite!

The last few peaches were made into a peach crisp-simply chopped peaches topped with a crisp topping using AP flour sugar and our home made butter.  Our butter adventure. (USE #5)  This Crisp will actually be sent to the bearer of the bag of peaches-Thank you Scott, we will enjoy these for several months!

So the break down becomes from 1 gifted bag of peaches:
1 afterschool snack for 4 little girls
1 peach cobbler
1 quart peach flavored syrup
4 cups peach gummy worms
1 peach crisp (gifted back to the giver)
and a few contributions to the compost pile--plus a few duck treats

How to make Butter

Brealyn will be covering the letter B again this week and the curriculum suggested making homemade butter. 

Here is how we created our treat.

Begin with heavy cream-the more you use the more butter you will have.  We estimated that the 2 quarts of cream yielded 1 quart of  'butter milk' and 1 quart of butter

begin with clean mason-style jars and the heavy cream

 Be sure not to over fill  (more than 1/2 way).  It seemed as if our efforts found better results from jars with more room to move.  Be sure the lids are on tight and little ones are seated over a carpeted area in case the jars slip.  Shake the SEALED jars for about 10 min

 Check to see that your cream is progressing from liquid to a whipped look, then continue shaking-it takes 10 min. or more.

cream after a little shaking-whipped stage

 Let the jars sit unopened for five minutes after you see the separation.  (you will see solids butter in a liquid)

Butter and liquid separating

Drain the butter over a bowl to catch the liquid

Rinse the drained butter under COLD water, while mixing it with a spoon

Transfer the drained, rinsed butter to a bowl and mix or knead it with a wooden spoon.  you will start to see more liquid leave the butter.  Pour off this liquid and continue to work the butter until there is no liquid leaving 

Finished butter in the kneading bowl

We portioned our butter in to small dishes-it will keep a week in the fridge-or 6 months in the freezer

 

our favorite butter with a few tablespoons of local honey-the best ever!

The books says that the liquid or 'buttermilk' can be used in cooking but is not like the buttermilk in the stores.  We were just happy that nothing was wasted

Brusters--A Yummy Friday Treat

Bruseters offered a free tour for our home school group.   The kids were allowed to see the inner workings of the shop.  The tour guides showed us the machine named Ellie Mae, and  the steps to making Brusters yummy treats.

 

Each batch requires 2 gallon on mix resulting in three gallons of fresh ice cream.  This is a great introduction to volume for the older kiddos.

2 gallons of mix and a few ounces of flavor/color

The kids selected the flavor to make (Cotton Candy Explosion).  The tour guide showed us the recipe book that they must use to be sure every batch of ice cream has the correct flavor.  (We could not peak in the book--company secrets).  She told us that the ice cream is only kept for 6 days, much shorter than the 3-6 months for the ice cream fro the grocery store. 

The kids toured the freezer and waited while their batch finished.  Then they added the pop ricks to make the explosion portion and they all enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

Homeschool Day at Six Flags

Six Flags over Georgia hosted a home school day.  Tickets and parking were greatly discounted.  We planned a surprise for the older girls.

  They thought that Braelyn and Tricia were the only ones going.  We set all of the clocks in the house ahead one hour and woke them up in a panic, telling them they were late for school and that we would drop the off on our way out of town.  Just as we got to the school we handed them their printed tickets.  We told them to give the papers to their teacher to explain why they were late.  Both girls were very excited!  Mrs Frankie came to help with Tricia and enjoy the day.

Braelyn enjoyed her very first rides.  She wanted to know what amusement meant and why it was fun to be scared in a safe way. 

Six Flags was very accommodating to Miss Tricia who rode ALL of the BIG roller coasters-some even twice!  She loved the sensory input.  She asked to go one the rides again yelling "Fire in the Hole" as the ride started each time!

The park is rather 'hilly' and hard to push a wheelchair.  We visited Guest Services as soon as we entered the park for a list of ADA rides that Tricia could easily get on.  The Guest Services worker was very helpful and gave us a pass to get Tricia ahead in lines when possible.  One drawback is that the rides and handicapped entrances are not clearly marked.  We were often mis-directed by the workers we sought assistance from, leaving us wandering from the entrance of a ride back to the exit several times and repeatign our requests for assistance or information.  Six Flags needs to better inform workers of the assistance that parents with disabled children often need.

The park did allow drinks and coolers inside but no Coke products.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch brought from home to save on costs.  The Tram ride from the entrance was right beside our parking space.  The tram drivers and workers were a great help in getting Tricia on and off.  The ride back was made more enjoyable by the worker playing with Tricia over the intercom system-yelling "Fire in the hole!" as we got off.  

We are going to share our comments and blog with Six Flags.

  Hopefully they will repeat the Home school day next year. 

(PS we were studying the letter A a this week—amusement- and amuse-convenient huh?)