Roast Beef

I've just learned a new way to cook a roast and my family likes it a lot! This method makes it very tender.

Coca-cola Roast

One roast, any cut, any size
1 tablespoon oil
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
Black pepper
1 can of Coke
Flour to thicken gravy

Quickly brown roast in oil in a hot skillet. Place browned roast in crockpot. Pour in package of soup mix, season with pepper, pour in can of Coke. Cook on low for 8 hours or until done. Thicken juice with flour to make a beautiful brown gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes.

For Today (June 29, 2009)

Outside my window.....
it's sunny and cool.

I am thinking....
about 4 of my girls who are gone today.

I am thankful for...
my little (and big) helpers at home.

From the learning rooms...
our last week to prepare for school, which will begin next week.

From the kitchen...
enchiladas today with plenty of cheese. Thinking about the 4th and what I can cook to welcome 3 of the girls home for the weekend from music camp.

I am creating....
some fun for Carrie, Thomas and Abby this week while the older girls are gone.

I am going....
to mostly stay home this week.

I am reading....
Heart and Mind by Ruth Beechick, which I just bought at the homeschool convention.

I am hearing...
nothing. Carrie is still asleep, Thomas and Abby are outside, David is reading.

One of my favorite things....
old books!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

I'm really missing my girls this week.

Homeschool Convention Tips

One of our favorite times of the year - the homeschool convention, coming up this weekend!

Here are some tips from the old veteran homeschool mom.

1. Above all, wear comfortable shoes!
   
2. Take some chocolate for those times when you're feeling rather tired and overwhelmed.
3. Make a "to buy" and a "look at" list before you go so you will have a greater chance of avoiding spur-of-the-moment purchases.
4. Take some chocolate - you'll be glad you did!
5. Be sure to have a sturdy tote bag or a rolling cart for purchases.
   
6. Chocolove bars are the best, Dove ranks right up there near the top, but Hershey mini bars or Kisses will do.
7. Talk to some veteran homeschoolers before you make a major purchase. Perhaps they've been there, done that.
   
8. Print out the online schedule ahead of time so you can plan which workshops you want to be sure not to miss.
   
9. Take some paper and a pen for making notes in the workshops (you won't remember all those great ideas later!) and for comparison shopping in the vendor hall.
10. Have fun learning new things, hearing great speakers, shopping and eating chocolate in between!
    

Look, Mom, No Teeth!

http://theparsonsdaughters.blogspot.com/2009/06/all-i-want-for-christmas.html

For Today (June 22, 2009)

Outside my windown...

It's still dark. But I'm pretty sure it will be sunny and hot today. Need some rain for my garden!

I am thinking....

About the rest of my plans for school (only 2 more weeks!).

I am thankful for...

The father of my children, who is also my best friend.

From the learning rooms....

Planning for the first 6 weeks of school.

From the kitchen....

Lots of leftover fried chicken from a church social. No cooking today!
New potatoes and cucumbers in abundance from the garden.

I am creating....

Meal counts for the state homeschool convention, which begins on Friday. And packing lists because we're leaving on Thursday morning.

I am going....

to Sam's today and to drop off a couple of girls for a fun week with one of my very close friends and her daughter.

I am hearing....

The fan on the computer. Nothing else.

Around the house...

Lots of washing and ironing and packing going on.

One of my favorite things....

Antique linens.

A few plans for the rest of the week....

Out of town today to run some errands. Groceries and a house-cleaning job on Wednesday, plus clean our own house and finish up the packing, with a eye dr. appointment for Emily thrown in. Off to the homeschool convention on Thursday. Our oldest son is preaching on Sunday and we're having some yummy food for lunch, then we're taking 3 girls to music camp for 2 weeks.

A picture thought I'm sharing....



Hanging in my dining room are these ladder-thingys that my dad and I created to hold some of my antique linens.

Ice Cream!

Last night we had company and made Cherry Ice Cream for the first time. It was really good!

Cherry Ice Cream

6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/1/2 cups milk
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 quart heavy cream
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Scald milk; slowly pour into egg mixture, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Strain. Cool. Chop the cherries by hand or in a food processor. Combine cherry pie filling with egg mixture and all remaining ingredients. Freeze in ice cream maker per manufacturers instructions. Yield: about 1 gallon.

Southern Fried

Over the weekend, I made fried chicken, which I don't make very often because it's very time consuming. But it sure is GOOD!

Southern Fried Chicken

Thaw chicken pieces the day before you plan to cook it. Soak in salt water overnight, covered and stored in refrigerator. This tenderizes the chicken and flavors it.

The next day, drain and pat chicken pieces dry.

Make a mixture of plain flour, salt, garlic powder or salt (cut down on salt if using garlic salt), black pepper. I like to add seasoned salt or Greek seasoning to my flour, too. For spicy chicken, a little ground red pepper may be added.

It's best to use an iron skillet for frying chicken, but any skillet can be used. Pour in oil to a depth of about 1 1/2 -2 inches and heat on high until oil bubbles when tested with a pinch of flour.

Pour some buttermilk into a pie plate or bowl. Dredge chicken in flour, then over in buttermilk, then back into flour, then into skillet. If using chicken breast halves with bones, put it bone-down in oil to "set" the crust on top. Cover with lid or foil. Turn heat down to medium and fry until chicken is golden brown and done all the way through, turning once with tongs. Drain on paper towels. Enjoy!

Strawberry Jam

Freezer jam. Yum-o!

Mashed strawberries...

...empty containers...

...sugar and Sure-Jell...

...voila! The finished product. Those on the left have been frozen and the center and right are setting. It tastes oh so delicioso! Much better than store-bought.

An important reminder for us

Read it here.

For Today (June 15, 2009)

Outside my window...

It's overcast and hazy.

I am thinking....

About strawberry jam, which we made last night.

I am thankful for....

A husband who helps me make decisions and is the head of our home.

From the learning rooms....

Rachel and I are still working on The Door in the Wall unit study. She has her part pretty much finished and I'm going through The Story of the World activity book, looking for some book and craft ideas to put into it. We're excited! I would like to finish up my grades for the year this week, too.

From the kitchen....

I'm in charge of supper for the Men's Meeting tomorrow night at church and I need to start cooking today. Here's the menu: Jambalaya, slaw, buttermilk rolls, angel food cake, and homemade peach ice cream. How does that sound?

I am going....

to stay home a lot this week. Yea!

I am reading....

The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald, the most hilarious book I've ever read.

I am hearing....

Thomas kissing Abby (he's our resident lover-boy), Katie ironing her clothes. David is reading on the front porch and everyone else is still asleep.

Around the house....

I want to clean the oven and take inventory of the deep freezer this week. I have two more batches of strawberry freezer jam to make today. And I need to check my housecleaning list and see if there's anything else on it, but I think I'm almost finished.

One of my favorite things....

Strawberries!


A few plans for the rest of the week...

Today is cooking and perhaps lunch out with Katie. Tomorrow is my very busy day: dental appointments for 4 kids in one direction, haircuts for Anna and me in the opposite direction, plus working on the rest of supper to deliver to the church by 6:30. And perhaps I could fit in going to see a friend's new baby that's being born today???

Here's a picture thought I'm sharing....

Abby playing in her "vent-tent" (thanks, Byron!)

The Garden Chronicles

Ice Cream!

I have this mixed and all ready to freeze tomorrow. I'm making it again on Tuesday night for the Men's Group and I'm planning to add fresh peaches then, but for tomorrow it's vanilla to go with apple pie that Katie is helping to make.

Peggy's Ice Cream Recipe (from my great mother-in-law)

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons flour
Mix together. Add:
4 egg yolks, beaten and strained
4 cups milk

Cook in a double boiler, cooking and stirring over medium heat until mixture coats a spoon (it will not be as thick as pudding, but you will be able to tell it is somewhat thicker).
Take off heat and cool.

Add 2 Tablespoons vanilla
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half (hey, I never said it was fat-free!)

Freeze in ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions.

For chocolate: Add 2 Tablespoons cocoa and 1/4 cup more sugar to first step.

I love this!

I'm No Super Mom by Danielle Bean.

Good Things I've Done This Week

1. Deep cleaned the kitchen (haven't gotten to the oven yet, though), the girls' room, and the living room.

2. Helped Rachel write a unit study using The Door in the Wall. We're pretty excited about using this with Thomas! Pulled out a couple of art studies to go with it and made a file to keep all of the materials together.

3. Pulled out all the books for Carrie's geo unit study, Thomas' Door in the Wall unit, Anna's Beautiful Feet American history, and Abby's TruthQuest History. Re-arranged the bookshelves to fit all these together on two shelves.

4. Finally got around to making a couple of appointments for the kids. I hate making phone calls, so this usually stays on my daytimer to-do list for several weeks.

5. Started back my Bible study. I have to admit I've been off track for several months, what with the holidays, my Lenten Bible readings, and another book I've been reading. But the study that feeds my soul the most is one my husband and I developed a long time ago.

I first choose one verse. That's right ONE verse. I have a worksheet that works on the same premise as Five in a Row. On day one, I write the verse and figure out the context (CIE= Context Is Everything). For day two I find the parallel passages. My Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible has the parallel passages marked, so that's pretty easy. The third day has a place to write down all the key words and meanings, which I get from either my Strong's Concordance or my Old/New Testament lexicon. The work for the fourth day is a background analysis using a Bible encyclopedia. Then I usually combine the 5th and 6th day and write an interpretation and application, using all my research. Then I think about how I would communicate this information to someone else.

6. Started reading B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood to Abby, which is great fun!

The Garden Chronicles: Potatoes!

Our very first potatoes!

Late Breaking News!

Before breakfast, Daddy was wiggling Abby's tooth, when he gave a little tug and out it came! She had a surprised look on her face, wondering whether to laugh or cry. She washed out her mouth and had a big smile on her face when she came back!

For Today (June 8, 2009)

Outside my window...

It's sunny, warm, and the birds are chirping their little heads off! Hubby and I have been sitting on the porch talking together this morning in the quiet.

I am thinking...

About the week's happenings. About ordering the rest of my school books. About some people I've been praying for.

I am thankful....

that God sees into the future and the ending of the story.

From the learning rooms....

I've finished all the school planning that can be done until the week before we start school (July 7th). I'm going to order a few things today and finish up at our state hs convention later this month.

From the kitchen....

We're going to make biscuits in a few minutes and have a big breakfast. Later this week we're having company and we're planning our cooking-fest for that event (fried chicken and homemade ice cream figures heavily into this!). In the middle of the week, Katie is planning to figure out a recipe and make cherry limeade sorbet to take to a church party. If it's good, she'll post the recipe!

I am wearing...

Green capris and a floral shirt. Sounds better than it looks, I assure you. lol

I am creating....
I bought some cloth so that Carrie and I can make notebook covers. I found some cute cloth with states and state birds and flowers to use for her geo notebook and some retro floral for her Bible notebook. Fun! I'll post pics and directions when we start working on the project.

I am going...

I hope nowhere for a couple or three days! My husband is adding a second church to the mix and they are having a welcoming party for us on Wednesday night, so we will be going to that, but it's mostly a stay-at-home week. Yay!

I am reading...

Nothing because I've been too busy for the last week. But that won't last for long - I'm going to look through the shelves today and find something and then curl up in the swing and read.

I am hoping...

to continue to read good news about Jessica Hulcy's recovery. We are continuing to pray for her and hope you are, too.

I am hearing....

The two younger kids playing house. Carrie making biscuits. Anna typing on the computer next to mine. Everyone else is still in bed or gone to work.

Around the house...

Hoeing the garden because not only does chicken litter grow great vegetables, it also grows giant weeds! I'm planning to do some major cleaning this week, too. Still have to do the girls' suite, the kitchen, the dining room and the family room, but slowly and surely my to-do list is almost to-done.

One of my favorite things....

Wow. This is major hard to narrow down. How about little kids playing in the sprinkler? Or how about a certain little girl with a very loose front tooth? Or how about bare feet in the grass? And we won't even list all the different summer foods we love. How about reading with a small child in the porch swing? Or playing with sidewalk chalk? See how hard it is to pick just one thing????

A few plans for the rest of the week....

The orthodontist today, but my husband is pulling that duty. Fiddle lessons at the end of the week. The aforementioned party, company, book orders, and housecleaning. And perhaps we can fit in swimming at a friend's pool one morning?

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing...


Thomas watching the men rake and bale hay in our yard.

David was ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church at a service this past Friday night. He has worked very hard to attain this and we're so proud of him!

Home Ec Ideas

Actually, I doubt that anyone calls it Home Ec anymore. But I'm pretty old and I still do. :)

I've been thinking about what I'd like to do for the girls' home ec next year and thought I'd throw out some ideas for you to think about, too, if you're interested.

First and foremost at our house is cooking because we love to cook and eat! I start the little girls out on baking with a simple mix, like Jiffy Mix. Then we move to baking bigger things like cakes with a mix and quick bread and cookies from scratch together. After that, the kids (boys, too, as I have time, but the poor boys don't get nearly as much kitchen time around here as the girls, just because of sheer numbers! lol) move to helping with breakfast and then become in charge of a day or two of breakfast every week. Every day the kids make the main breakfast food from scratch, such as muffins or biscuits or pancakes or several other things and I do bacon and eggs. They usually stay on breakfast for several years, but work on other things at the same time, too.

All along we're working on our baking skills and around 7th grade, we delve into cake decorating by planning and baking a birthday cake for everyone. We've made the spectrum from simple cupcakes with sprinkles to a pool cake that took 3 days to make and used Chicklets for the pool tiles, Jello for the pool water, Fruit Stripe gum for floats and bear cookies with swimsuits on around the pool. We've made a tiered anniversary cake and a small wedding cake. And Rachel even had a cake business for a couple of years.

After perfecting breakfast, the girls move to cooking lunch, which is our main meal, and making bread. My goal is that by the time they finish high school, they should be able to cook for a family and run a kitchen with no problem.

Since we are all short in stature, clothes always need to be hemmed. I like for the girls and boys to learn to sew on a button and hem, if needed. All the girls have learned at least a little sewing, starting with some sort of teach-yourself-to-sew book. Katie and Carrie actually enjoy it and have gone on to make several garments beyond ones we've made for school. We make pajamas, summer shorts, and skirts usually, as well as craft items, curtains, and table runners. We aren't terribly skilled, but I want the girls to have enough elementary knowledge to be able to go to a high level later if they need to for economy's sake after they are married and have children.

Managing a home, learning to manage money, and managing time are all important skills and the girls are required to read some books about those subjects during high school. Since my books are all old and probably out of print, I won't list any, but there are lots of good books available that cover those areas. We make a grocery store price book as a project sometime during high school, too, and the girls help me plan meals, make grocery lists, find bargains, and shop. The girls help me extensively around the house and learn many home management skills this way. And when they are 16, they must begin buying their own clothes, pay for 1/2 their braces and work toward paying their own car insurance, so they have to figure out ways to make money, hopefully by having their own business. My goal is for each girl to have some sort of skill they could use to supplement their husband's income while staying home with their children.

Hospitality is not a suggestion, but a commandment from God for leaders in the church. We read books about hospitality and ettiquette as part of home ec. Then we practice by having company.

We try to keep a clean house and as a part of that the girls read Speed Cleaning. The kids progress up through cleaning jobs so that by the time they finish high school they can clean anything, do laundry, and iron.

All these skills have paid off, both for the kids at home and my adult sons who are now able to help their wives by doing laundry, ironing their own clothes, cleaning house, and cooking meals. When I was expecting Thomas and Abby, Katie and Joshua had to buy groceries a few times to without my help and they basically ran the house for awhile. I know that my daughters-in-love appreciate what their husbands have learned and I have confidence that when the girls and Thomas get married, they will know some basic things about keeping house.

Comparing ourselves with ourselves

We're going to be very busy tomorrow, getting ready to go on a trip, then we'll be gone for a few days, so there probably won't be any new posts unless I have time to work on something tomorrow night. I asked Emily to ghostwrite this article for me after we discussed what I wanted to say. I hope you'll read it and give it some thought for a couple of days.

One of my favorite pastimes is reading other people's blogs. Blogs are so creative and inviting, which is partly why I wanted to start my own. They seem to offer a peek into other people's lives, providing an attractive online diary. I sometimes enjoy going from blog to blog and reading what other homeschoolers are doing and teaching their children, especially at this time of year when moms are posting the fun things they've done with their kids to wrap up their school year, what they're doing for summer vacation and what exciting and educational activities they are planning for next year's schoolwork. At times I get encouragement and fresh ideas from blog posts like these. Other times, they leave me feeling overwhelmed and discontented. Sometimes I can get to feeling like everyone else has it all together. They have more fun with their children and do better, more educational things for school. A heavy feeling of guilt sets in, and I find myself trying extra hard to do it all so I can match up with these perfect homeschool families.

It's a common and widespread thing among homeschooling mothers to feel that they are inadequate. So often we suffer from a sinking fear that everyone else's children are getting a better education, having more fun, and are better behaved than our kids. We hope that we can find advice and the missing ingredient to a perfect home by searching homeschool magazines, blogs and books, but all we are greeted with are more samplings of the perfect homeschool family managed by the perfect homeschooling mom who has it all together. You know the type you see on the covers of magazines: the mom, beautifully groomed and with a joyous and peaceful smile, sits with a picturesque stack of books at a cozy kitchen table. Gathered around her in a sort of group hug are a dozen or so children, each laughing happily over their assignments for the day and a plate of whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies. And look! Their matching outfits coordinate with the wallpaper in the kitchen! The cover story inside tells about this perfect family, how they all play three musical instruments apiece, speak Latin fluently, raise their own organic crops, and can recite the entire book of Psalms complete with sign language.

Something about these families gives us an uneasy feeling. While we struggle to give our children a halfway decent education and keep our houses from completely collapsing due to clutter and filth, these moms seem to be able to easily manage their households and give their children college level educations with little or no trouble. Even when we begin to feel proud of ourselves for getting in an entire week of school and a clean house, we're confronted with another perfect homeschooling mom who is doing the most exciting science field trip we've ever heard of. We panic. Somehow, someway we have to match up. So we add this and that to our already jam-packed schedules: science and art classes, music lessons, a new foreign language curriculum, an elaborate field trip. All of these things are nice to do, but they begin to drain us physically. We end up having to throw out the important things so that we can cram in all the extra activities we fill compelled to do. And then we find yet another homeschooling mom doing yet another “good thing” that we aren't doing, and the race continues. It's like a masquerade, where we try to fit in with everybody else and to look just like the way we see them: full of energy, never struggling with homeschooling or children, and having it all together 24/7.

Cycles like these do not only physically drain a woman, but rob her of her joy as well. She feels the need to constantly hide her real self for fear that if others saw her inward thoughts, struggles and problems, they would be shocked. She doesn't even realize that all those other women, with their great English curricula, fantastic summer vacation projects and family chamber orchestras, sometimes feel exactly the same as she does.

God made us all the way we are. He gave me the children I have because He thinks I'm the best person on earth who can raise and educate them, and it's the same with you and your children. The more we try to fit our kids into a mold of someone else's family, the more we are proving to them that they are not good enough until they match up to someone else's standards. We have to remember that God made some families with musical abilities and others with a love and gift for science and still others who can memorize poetry and scripture at the drop of a hat. But that doesn't mean you have to be that way. Find you strength. Maybe you are better at teaching art or history than any other mom in your school group. It's because God made you that way, and it means that you are a unique and special creation.

Jesus said in Matthew 11, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Take off the burden of trying to look and be like everyone else, and put on Christ's yoke. It is easy, and His burden is light.