Menu for the Week of June 30, 2008

MONDAY
Cereal/Berries and Yogurt
Beans and Rice/Watermelon
Grilled Hot Dogs, Baked Beans and Grapes

TUESDAY
Banana Muffins/Berries and Yogurt
Macaroni and Cheese/Grapes
Shredded Pork Quesadillas/Spanish Rice/Salad

WEDNESDAY
Waffles/Berries and Yogurt
Ham and Cheese Rolls/Chips/Carrots (in Estes?)
Spaghetti/Bread/Salad

THURSDAY
English Muffins/Berries and Yogurt
Bean Burritos or Cheese Tortillas/Watermelon
Omlettes/Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

FRIDAY
Toast/Berries and Yogurt
Sandwiches/Apples
Pizza Night *4th of July ... Cherry Pie?

SATURDAY
Donuts
Left-Overs
Sticky Chicken/Twice Baked Potatoes/Green Beans/Salad

SUNDAY
Bundt Cake/Bacon/Berries and Yogurt
Kolaches/Grapes
Nachos

Potato Salad

This was my grandmother's recipe. I like it because it isn't sweet or mushy like store bought potato salad.

6 potatoes, peeled
1/2 onion, diced
6 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 cup of real mayonnaise
a few splashes of apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until cooked but still firm. Drain water and return potatoes to pan. Splash with apple cider vinegar and let cool. Once cooled, drain off any excess vinegar and add onion, egg, mayonnaise and salt/pepper. Refrigerate until cold and serve.

Mike likes to add a bit of mustard to this but I like it the way it is.

Pork Loin

This is my versatile recipe because I can use it for so many different things. I like to make something like this on Monday and use the meat for as many different things as I can come up with during the week (and even freeze some).

1 Large Pork Loin
1 sliced onion
1 T Salt
1 t Pepper
1 t Garlic Powder
1 cup water
1 - 3 bay leaves

Put half of sliced onion in bottom of crock pot or roaster. Set pork loin on top. Rub pork loin with mix of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour 1 cup of water in bottom of pan. Drop bay leaves into water. Put other half of sliced onion on top of pork loin. Cook all day on a very low temperature. Here are the things I use it for:

Pork Loin with Mushroom Gravy
BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Pork Burritos, Tacos, Quesadillas or Enchiladas
Pork Fried Rice or Noodles
Italian Pork Sandwiches
Wonton Soup with Pork Wontons

Patio Beans

1 large 32 oz. can or 4 cups of baked beans
1 small 16 oz. can or 2 cups of kidney beans, drained
1 small 16 0z. can or 2 cups of navy/great northern beans, drained
8 pieces of bacon
1 medium onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
1 T mustard
2 t Worchestershire sauce

Fry bacon. Remove bacon from pan and crumble. Cook onion until translucent in grease. Drain excess grease and add remaining ingredients. Stir together well and either place in 9 X 13 pan or crockpot and heat until hot all the way through and bubbly on the top. About 30 minutes at 350 or 4 hours on low in crockpot.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 of a cup) butter, softened
1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/8 cup white flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/2 can of pumpkin
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla and then eggs. Alternate adding dry ingredients, pumpkin and buttermilk. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a skewer stuck in comes out clean.

I always double this since I have 2 bundt cake pans. One isn't enough for our family. I also use plain yogurt instead of buttermilk sometimes.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

1 3/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 t salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white or bread flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 T yeast

I layer this all in my bread machine and put it on the dough cycle. Once it's done I knead it one more time, put it in a large bread pan and let it rise while the oven heats to 350. If it's kind of sticky I knead more flour into it. Then I bake it for 30 minutes. Sometimes I use all whole wheat flour too.

Summer Weekly Schedule

Summer Weekly Schedule

*We all still do our regular daily chores even if there is an event.
*I try to schedule my appointments on Wednesdays when I can.

Monday-

Mornings - Regular Daily Schedule
Afternoons- Library Story Time at 2:00
Evenings- Every other week Mary's Book Club and Barnes and Nobel in Loveland at 7:00

Tuesday-

Mornings- The Letter People with Jaylee at our house
Afternoons- Barnes and Nobel Story Time at 2:00
Evenings- Date Night with a Child

Wednesdays-

Mornings- Regular Daily Schedule
Afternoons- "
Evenings- "

Thursdays-

Mornings- The Letter People with Jaylee at the Boxes
Afternoons- Regular Schedule
Evenings- Highland Dance every other week at 5:00
CAP at 6:30/7:00

Fridays-

Mornings- Friday Chores
Afternoons- Field Trips
Evenings- Family Pizza Night


Saturdays- Hiking, Dance Competitions, CAP Service Projects, Yard Work

Sundays- Church, Rest, Time together as a family

Pictures from our garden ....

After a disasterous year in 2007, we decided to move the location of our garden, change the crops and, since I haven't just had major surgery, be more diligent in its care. The soil in our new location is much better and is where the previous family had a beautiful flower bed. Because of this our produce is surrounded by Iris and Roses. Honestly, if it wasn't for my brother Patrick planting my garden, my brother John donating things, my Dad having an enormous green thumb and my neighbor replacing what died early our garden would be pretty pathetic. Our neighbor heard me lamenting one morning that our tomatoes were doing terribly so he handed over beautiful, foot tall plants that he said were "extra". What a nice guy. And to think, all I contribute to the neighborhood is noise and lost balls in neighbors yards. Our tomatoes are not looking very good yet. We've had cool, rainy weather and the tomatoes need dry heat. Not that I'm complaining. I'd rather buy tomatoes from Texas and enjoy my cool weather if necessary.

Our peppers are the first fruit we've seen. Uncle John grew these from seed and donated them to our garden.







This is our beautiful kale that Patrick planted. I wouldn't have thought to plant kale but it's been a delight to have. I've been sauting the leaves with garlic and red onion and then sprinkling them with balsamic vinegar. Really tasty!






Our lettuce is really lovely but the cottonwood has made it almost impossible to eat. No matter how hard I try to pick it all out any bits left turn to cobwebs in the lettuce when I wash it. I keep trying though. I may even try having the boys blow it off with the big leaf blower before I pick it.




Pumpkins! These will most definitely be our best crop. They are growing huge and everywhere. I've told the kids that if we get a bunch like last year we'll sell them on the corner and do something fun with the money we earn.





Our strawberries are doing beautifully as well although I doubt we'll get more than a few. The next tenants here will reap the benefits of this crop I guess. Our neighbor's Crabapple tree hangs over our back fence and we planted the strawberries under the branches. They seem to love this environment. Notice the crazy cottonwood ... yuck.



Timothy took this picture of one of our roses. The previous family planted amazing roses. Right now we have four different types blooming: long stem, bright pink; yellow with pink edges; white and corral. They are beautiful!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups warm water
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
2 t salt
1 egg
2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 can pumpkin (about 1 cup)
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white or bread flour
1 T yeast

I layer this all in my bread machine and put it on the dough cycle. Once it's done I knead it one more time, put it in a large bread pan and let it rise while the oven heats to 350. If it's kind of sticky I knead more flour into it. Then I bake it for 30 minutes. Sometimes I use all whole wheat flour too.

Whole Wheat Waffles Recipe

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4cup white flour
1/2 t salt
2 T baking powder
6 T butter
6 T oil
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk

Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, mix well, bake in waffle iron.

If you mix the dry ingredients ahead of time and make a Waffle Mix then you would use 2 cups + 2 T of the mix with the above wet ingredients to make one batch.

Menu for week of June 23, 2008

MONDAY
Cereal/Berries and Yogurt
Peanut Butter and Cinnamon Tortillas /Watermelon
Chicken Nuggets, Fries and Apple Sauce

TUESDAY
Toast/Berries and Yogurt
Noodles with Butter & Parmesan Cheese/Grapes
Turkey Green Bean Casserole/Rice/Salad

WEDNESDAY
Waffles/Berries and Yogurt
Sandwiches/Apples
Taco Salad

THURSDAY
English Muffins/Berries and Yogurt
Bean Burritos or Cheese Tortillas/Watermelon
Omlettes/Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

FRIDAY
Toast
Macaroni and Cheese/Apples
Pizza Night

SATURDAY
Donuts
Grilled Hot Dogs/Chips/Carrots (in Estes?)
Pork Loin/Egg Noodles with Mushroom Gravy and Succotash

SUNDAY
Bundt Cake/Sausage/Berries and Yogurt
Left-overs/Sandwiches
Nachos

Laundry

How we do laundry:

Each room has a large hamper.
On that room's day I wash the clothes and towels for those in said room.
I wash one kids rooms worth of sheets and the baby's every Friday.
I wash Mike and my sheets on our laundry day.

Josiah does his own laundry on Wednesdays. )
Mary does her own laundry on Thursdays. ) When my laundry is finished.
Luke does his own laundry on Fridays. )

Monday - Little Boys Laundry, they fold and put away
Tuesday - Mike/Kathryn Laundry, fold and put away & our sheets
Wednesday - Little Girls Laundry, fold and put away
Thursday - Laundry Room Basket (kitchen towels, rugs, misc.), fold and put away
Friday - Little Boys Laundry, they fold and put away & one kids room sheets/Baby's sheets

The reason I like this system is because on any given day I only have to wash/fold/put away to one room. I only have up to 3 peoples laundry to sort into piles and it all goes back to one room. I also only have one rooms worth of sheets to put back on beds although I wash the baby's sheets ever week.

Friday Chores

We do a big clean-up on Fridays. It helps us prepare for our weekend and allows me to focus on homeschooling and basic maintenance during the week. Here is what we do:




1.) Everyone to their rooms for a complete clean-up
*under beds
*book cases
*put all toys away
*dust
*vacuum

2.) Everyone cleans their assigned bathrooms
Mary-Upstairs kids bathroom
Mom-Master Bathromm
Josiah-Little Main floor bathroom
Luke- Basement bathroom

3.) Mom vacuums entire upstairs

4.) Mary sweeps and mops hardwoods

5.) Little boys collect all trash

6.) Big boys clean-up basement

7.) Josiah picks up family room and vacuums (under everything too)

8.) Luke pickss up front room and school room and vacuums (under everything too)

9.) Little boys clean out and vacuum van

10.) Mary makes Sunday Bundt cake

11.) Mom or Dad irons church clothes

12.) Fold all laundry that remains unfolded and put away