Cookies on demand!

My 3yo has been asking me to bake him cookies for a few days. I meant to, but between breakfast, chores, schooling, lunch, diapers, naps, dinner, baths and a sleepless baby, there hasn't been time. This makes us both sad :(

Today, I carved out half an hour to mix up a triple batch of cookie dough. I chose a basic sugar-cookie type recipe, cleaned out my candy drawer, and got creative.
I divided the dough into 3 large bowls, added mini malted milk balls to one, chopped raspberry Hershey's Hugs to the second and a chopped dark chocolate, peppermint swirl bar to the last. Stirred each and divided    it into 3 logs. I wrapped the logs in plastic wrap and popped them in the freezer.

I baked one right away. Yum. Fresh cookies.

But then I wanted another cookie or 2 (or 6, maybe), so I pulled out another log, sliced it up and baked it. Raspberry, this time.Yum. Fresh cookies.

The time consuming part of baking cookies isn't mixing the dough. It's waiting around to switch out the trays, move cookies to the rack and reload the tray to go back in every 8 minutes.

Baking one batch at a time makes fresh baked cookies so much more accessible. You control the ingredients. Homemade yumminess in under 10 minutes.

Built in portion control prevents anyone from going completely overboard. I know if I put 4 dozen cookies in front of my kids they will happily each eat a dozen. If I put 8 cookies in front of them, they will happy each eat 2 cookies and go back outside. Much more reasonable.

Quick and melty club sandwiches

This is a standard after-grocery-shopping lunch or dinner. Club sandwiches are my oldest son's favorite food in the entire world. This smaller, more packable version is perfect to make a big batch and wrap up for quick dinners and lunch boxes for the rest of the week.

1 package sliced bacon
2 packages rolls-these are ciabattas
1/2 pound sliced cheese of your choice ( I like swiss)
1/2 pound thinly sliced ham
1/2 pound thinly sliced turkey
1 bag prepared garden salad
mayo, to taste

Spread bacon on a baking sheet with raised edges in a single layer. Broil till crisp.

Slice rolls in half, and arrange on another baking sheet. Layer one side with cheese and the other side with turkey and ham. Broil till cheese is melted, meats are steaming and bread is toasted.

Break each bacon slice in half and place 2 halves on each roll. Spread with mayo, if desired. Place a large pinch of salad in the middle of each sandwich and close.

Serve. Makes approximately 10 sandwiches.

Oatmeal Bake

I never know how much my kids will eat in the morning. Oatmeal is a favorite breakfast, but on their less-ravenous mornings, I'm often left with a full pot of mush, all dressed up with nowhere to go. Recipes using cooked oats are few and far between, and reheated oats don't do much for me, so I got myself to work.

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2  cups cooked oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter), melted
1/4 tsp salt
6 eggs

Beat everything together. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes until fluffy and golden. Cool slightly. Cut into squares and serve with syrup.

Sausage Hootenanny

A Hootenanny, or oven pancake or Dutch baby, is often referred to as the world's easiest breakfast. With good reason. Total prep time for a plain Hootenanny is about 30 seconds. All ingredients are readily available in nearly every pantry and fridge. Nothing fancy here, just good, hearty tummy-fillers.

I love a good Hootenanny. Not only is it fast, easy and wholesome, but also makes a great base layer for goodies. Apples, blueberries, and now, sausage. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Really, anything you like will enhance the yumminess of this warm breakfast treat.

8 sausage patties
1 cup flour-I used white whole wheat, but you can use gluten-free, all-purpose, or whatever you like. This recipe is very forgiving.
1 cup milk-I used almond
6 eggs-I don't usually bake with eggs, but this is more an egg dish than a pancake. Very similar to a souffle.
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter


First, precook, thaw or warm sausages. I used precooked, frozen sausage patties, warmed in the microwave for 1 minute.
Cut into quarters and spread in the bottom of a large baking pan.

Blend all other ingredients, except butter in a blender or with a whisk, until well combined.
Pour into pan, over sausage. Sausages may float a little. That's ok.
Top with chunks of cold butter. Do not stir. This will melt and give the top a gooey, melty, golden top.

Bake at 400 degree for 25 minutes, until light golden brown. Hootenanny will fluff up very tall in the oven, then fall all crinkly and ruffly as it cools.

Cut into squares and serve warm, topped with powdered sugar or syrup.

Makes 9 large servings.

Our Homeschool Year

We school more or less year round, but this year, I'm schooling 2 full time and one part time. I decided to put everyone on a more traditional schedule.

We started our new year in July, right after summer classes ended. I added a bunch of new stuff last year, so there was a ton of (largely unnecessary and VERY stressful) catch up work. I've decided to mellow things out a bit and skip Ben ahead to a more reasonable grade level. 

This year, I feel like we have a very comprehensive curriculum. I am an unschooler at heart, but I didn't find that approach to be working for my oldest. In researching resources to fill in the gaps, I found that the Classical Method, which I had previously dismissed as complex, overwhelming, rigid, and frankly, intimidating, though delightfully thorough and, well, classic, is not only a great fit for me, but also for my kids. I'm still in the process of adding and subtracting some things, but for the most part, our core curriculum is set, and it's working amazingly well. 

We use a block schedule. Core curriculum is done 3 days a week, and the other stuff is split between the other 2 days. 

Here is the line up as it stands right now. 
Ben:
MWF
Singapore Math/Timez Attack
Handwriting Without Tears cursive
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind grammar
Writing With Ease

Jeffrey:
MWF
Singapore Math
Handwriting Without Tears printing
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind grammar
Writing With Ease
Starfall reading
Explode the Code phonics workbooks

Jason:
MWF (as desired)
Donna Young Penmanship Readiness worksheets
Starfall ABCs
Assorted Kindle Preschool apps
Lots of picture books

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we all work together as a group.

Tuesday:
Story of the World, Volume 2, The Middle Ages, supplemented with a historical atlas, globe and videos
Spanish Vocabulary and Salsa videos with lesson plans
Donna Young Art 1a drawing lessons
Free classic audiobooks from Librivox.org
Crafts from my Pinterest board

Thursday:
Simple Science-each child working at his own level
Buddhist Tales
More crafts from Pinterest
Board games of their choosing
More Librivox.org



In addition to this, Jason has a home teacher who comes once a week to help with his cognitive skills and speech therapy once a week at the local public school. He is working one-on-one with his therapist now, but will soon be joining the preschool class and working with other kids his age. 

So far this semester, we have not signed up for any extra-curricular activities. I recently opened a new homeschool group in my area, which I'm hoping will lead to playdates, parkdays and field trips. I'm in the process of lining up music teachers for the kids as well. 

Everyone makes mistakes

In the interest of honesty, I thought I would do something a little different.

I have read a few different articles accusing bloggers like myself of presenting an unrealistic, unattainable image of perfection, there-by causing other, less perfect women to feel inferior. At the very least, blogs like mine have been labelled as brag fests.

The brag fest label absolutely applies to my blog. I think I do some fun stuff, usually inspired by someone else's brag. I like to share the fun stuff, record it for myself and my children in the future and maybe inspire some other women to do something fun with her own little blessings.

I confess that I carefully stage some of my pictures to hide the clutter and the hideous disaster that is my stalled-out kitchen remodel. I only post my successes. Because why would I post things that didn't work? So  someone else can replicate my failure? Eh. No thanks.

But this time I will.  Here ya go.

I wish I could say these were tasty in spite of the ugliness, but they weren't. I also wish that I could say that the second batch was better than the first, but it was worse. They actually look much better in the picture than in real life. They look a lot better than they tasted, too. My kids, bless their hearts, ate the overcooked, 8 inch wide, greasy embarrassments without a single complaint. 

Next time you find yourself browsing Pinterest and feeling like a crappy mom for not hand sewing personalized quilts for your children, or designing custom crafted wardrobes for yourself and your family, or having an amazingly decorated house, or packing cute bunny shaped sandwiches in your kids' lunches or whatever you perceive your failings to be, let go of that feeling. We are all imperfect. Success is the result of practice and love, not magic. Ease up on yourself and go something fun that you love to do. Appreciate the results for the experience they provide. If you aren't having fun, you are missing the point. 

Bottle Bubble Blowers

To make a bottle bubble blower, cut the bottle off a soda bottle, dip the open end in bubble solution and blow gently. Any size or shape plastic bottle will work. These toddler friendly blowers make huge, delightful bubbles. If you inhale instead of blowing, or blow and then remove your lips, the bubble will slide back up the inside of the bottle. I had as much fun with these as the kids did.

This bubble solution is one cup of dish soap, one cup of water and a bit of corn starch. I'm still working out the kinks in the recipe. The good part is that it retains the color and scent of the soap. I used the cheap, pink, flowery stuff. It smells good and I find the color appealing. At $1 for a large bottle, we should be all set for a long time. Also works as bubble bath.

My first attempt at embedding videos: