Trim Healthy Mama Menu Plan

Something Yummy...

This weeks super tasty find was Chicken Bombs, for my husband who likes it hot,hot, hot!

from the Blog Dishing with Leslie!

Yes, this mess is on my diet! Hooray! These were very very good! I did not make any changes to her recipe but the next time I make them in an oven I will crisp my bacon first. Other then that they lived up to there name because they were the bomb! 

Here's the ingredients

5 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
5 jalapeño peppers
20 strips of bacon
4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup grated colby jack or cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)

Since I am not the creator of this yumminess it's only fair that you head over to Dishing with Leslies! for the Directions after all she did the hard work of making this bit of tastiness!

Counting the cost

$4 chicken (skinless boneless breast from Sam's Club)

.50 Jalapenos 

$2.89 John Morrell Bacon

.62 1/2 a thing of cream cheese

$1 for cheese

.25 Paula Deen Sugar Free BBQ Sauce

Total Cost $9.26  for the main my potatoes were free and we ate 1/3 of Sam's Baby Greens which cost $1.44 total cost of feeding my family  of 7 dinner was $10.70. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get 7 orders of bacon wrapped chicken for 7 for less then $10.70 ...Yeah! Still this is .70 over my $10 maximum meal cost excluding birthdays and special occasions. 

Although I served it to the family with oven baked french fries and salad, I did not partake in the white potato french fries but my high metabolism kiddos loved them. I did enjoy my salad with homemade Italian dressing it was super yummy. 

Our Trim Healthy 2 week meal plan for the week

(Bold items are for the high metabolism kids!)
Friday Lime Chicken Tacos, refritos & Mexican Rice (E or S or FP...go here for how)

Saturday: Pizza (from Pearables Homemaking Curriculum made by my lovel daughter) - OFF PLAN I ate a whole piece of saucy pizza and was going to pick the tops off of a couple of pieces but she did not use enough cheese for me to do this.  I was too tired from painting to even consider making anything else. 
Sunday: Rosemary White Bean Soup (E)
Monday: Hamburger with fixins, white french fries & sweet tater fries (E)
Tuesday: Beans Rice & Cornmbread (E)
Wednesday: Ham, Augratin Potatoes & Cauliflower, peas, butter rolls (S)

Thursday: Trim Healthy Mama Chile Relleno, homemade fat free refried beans, Mexican rice

Friday: pulled pork tacos, refritos & Mexican rice (S)

credit: The Prudent Homemaker.... Rosemary White Bean Soup

Saturday: Paula Deen Cheeseburger meatloaf, mashed taters & cauliflower (S)

Sunday 4 Bean Soup and homemade bread

Monday: Peanut Crusted Chicken (from Trim Healthy Mama), salad, brown rice (S)

Tuesday: Beans, Rice & Cornbread (E)

Wednesday: Trim Healthy Mama Hamburger Casserole, peas, potatoes & Cauliflower (S)

Thursday Oven fried Chicken, mashed taters & cauliflower(S), salad, butter dipped rolls

Friday Bean & Cheese Burritos & Mexican Rice (E)

I tend to eat S all day long so it's easier for me to switch gears at night and get some less expensive e-meals into the mix!

My Trim Healthy Tip...If you make potatoes for the kiddos you can easily substitute Cauliflower for the potatoes without much effort for you & the hubby. 

For more menus check out Org Junkies Menu Plan Monday! 

Homeschool Mother's Journal: Ideas for organizing your Homeschool Part II

This week in our life...

.

 This week we started our homeschool year.  And this year we are trying a staggered start for school. The kiddos won't start all of their courses for a few weeks. We celebrated our third daughters 8th birthday and had her official birthday party. It  is just unbelievable to me that she is 8. Speaking of birthdays, It was a rough summer with the oldest turning 15, the 2nd one hit double digits at 10 and the twins are out of diapers...oh the despair. 

 Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Montessori Style Preschool

1. Get as organized as you can before the school years starts.Also make a list of everything that you did and what still needs to be done. Keep that list so the next year you can hopefully accomplish even more and do it more quickly. 
2.  Try to buy any new curriculum you've decided to use for the new school year, as soon as you can. This way you have as much time as possible to familiarize yourself with the 'proper' use of the curriculum. Reading the Teacher's Manual before the school year can sometimes save you lots of tears! (Proper use of the curriculum is ultimately it's up to you! But I like to know how they meant it to be used before I start changing it up.)
3. Try to buy used and save the difference; we look for everything used and try to buy things either used or discounted. 
4. Try to stick with the same curriculum every year. I know it sounds so boring but the more familiar you are with a curriculum the better you can teach it,. You will know what field trips pertain to the curriculum if there are extras on YouTube or Netflix, which books in the library were fruitful etc... Additionally, more information will be placed on the little hooks the child created the first time they went through it, thus creating a deeper understanding and the retention of more information.
5. Finally, don't overwork the little scholars (as is my habit).

In my homeschool this week.....

So far the biggest hit for everyone is xtramath . XtraMath is basically a computerized math drill for the children. They race the teacher and practice facts and they are really enjoying it. I like it because it produces easily understandable reports that quickly show me a students shortcomings and their strengths.It takes about 15 minutes each day. As far as I'm concerned for Grammar age kids that is 15 minutes well spent.

History Notebook 

 Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… 
This week we went to our Homeschool Encouragement and Academic Fellowship for our first real session.

My favorite thing this week was… 
 My favorite thing this week was being on a more regular schedule. Next summer I am going to be sure to create a summer schedule to keep us on track. But I've also really enjoyed listening to the biography on Newton.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was… 
Surely my children's favorite activity this week was going to co-op to see their friends.Unfortunately, only two of the five families were there but we still had a great time. My kiddos were talking about their science experiment all the way home and for the rest of the week.

Things I’m working on… 
I am still working on finalizing each students checkoff lists  and making sure I have check-off lists for each subject. Each year, I find I have forgotten to add this or that and spend a week or two making adjustments. These checkoff lists have revolutionized our homeschooling and they are well worth the effort.

What I'm Reading…
For me this category really should be what I'm listening to, which is still Isaac Newton by Gleick. I became interested in the life of Newton after previewing one of the children's biographies. Did you know that he was basically abandoned by his mother on her first husband's estate as a teenager when she went to remarry in her early 30's. That when he entered the University although his mother could have provided support for him, she again choose not to do so. It makes me wonder if these things made him more hungry for knowledge.

As a Mama of many I have found that audio books have enabled me to keep on learning! ;) Plus, I sound so sophisticated when I tell folks I'm reading an  autobiography of Issac Newton.

This post is linked to:

Pretty ,Happy, Funny ,Real

{Pretty}

Our adorable Sugar Pie a junior glass doll collector was thrilled about her birthday gifts. It's so hard to believe that she is in 8 and in 3rd grade it seems like just yesterday she was 2 years old and sitting in a mud puddle by the pond.

{Happy}

Sugar Pie's Birthday party closes a summer of birthday parties at our dear friends pool. We were all very happy celebrating our 3rd child. And frankly after 4 birthday parties in 5 months I am happy to take a break from birthday planning. 

{Funny}

This is the nap area that the youngest of our twins finally settled upon after a long battle against napping.

{Real}

These are the bags with the supplies that mostly one gal from our co-op has been organizing for our 18 co-op classes. As I was helping I was frankly amazed at her attention to detail. We are going to have a very fruitful and well organized year!





For More {Pretty,Happy,Funny,Real} check out Our Mother's Daughters!

Conquering the Co-op Morning!

If you participate in a Homeschool Co-op or Classical Community then you know that the morning of co-op is the most hectic morning of the week. There are always the things that you you CANNOT forget which just add extra stress.Then of course for our family it's always a challenge to find shoes for everyone especially for the 3 year old twins.

Our small  co-op is working it's way through Mystery of History II and AIG Heaven & Earth we are  in the 2 year of a 4 year cycle and our 5 families come together bi-weekly to do the Art,  History projects, and science experiments.
co-op instead of my normal reusable grocery bag. In my co-op bag I packed Mommy scissors, ruler, single hole punch, sharpies, pens & a Red Wallet Expanding Art Portfolio envelopes (the large brown items sticking out of the back of the bag), these items never leave the bag. I also have a few transient items I take to co-op: my Homeschool Planner, my daily planner  and any curriculum books I need for the week. I never unpack this bag and it enables to easily get everyone's work home without worrying about getting glue or paint on me, kids or the bag. I put each child's name on their portfolio and I did buy ones for the twins because they participate in the nursery program at our co-op.

So this year I purchased a bag from Wal-Mart for $9.99 so I could have a cute dedicated bag just for

At our co-op we can leave a tote of supplies at the church. But if we couldn't I'd probably do something like Jamie did at The Unlikely Homeschool and have individual boxes for each child. And, it looks like she may have bought her nifty co-op bag from ThirtyOne.

My suggestions for a co-op bag:

Credit: The Unlikely Homeschool

1. Have a dedicated co-op bag!
2. As you think of/remember things you need to take to co-op put them into your bag. I mean as soon as you think of them. If you are anything like me you won;t remember later and you definitely won't remember in the morning in the midst of that chaos. 
3. Have separate supplies that you can take back and forth to co-op without having to load and unload the box.
4. Put your transient supplies into your bag as soon as you can .
5. Keep it well stocked

Whether it's ThirtyOne , Wal-Mart or Goodwill your bag will be a blessing to your busy co-op/community mornings. I'd love to know what you keep in your co-op bag or what I'm missing in mine. 

This post is connected to Living & Learning at Home's Trivium Tuesdays & We are that Family's Works-for-Me Wednesday

The Homeschool Mother's Journal(week 1): Ideas for Organizing your Homeschool Part 1

       

Hopefully helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… 

As our family grew and more children entered homeschool it was both exciting and scary. As we have gone along we instituted more family friendly homeschooling methods. It is my hope that these are a blessing to you:

1. Purchase curriculum that allow children to work independently. For instance we use Christian Light Math  which is a self teaching program. The children complete their work and check it themselves and continue advancing forward. I review their work and grade their tests thus keeping abreast of  progress. When there is a problem we return to the page with the original explanation. If they still don't get then Mama/Tutor sits with them to explain. We have experienced wonderful success with this method in our independent studies. 
2. For those of us that tend toward the Charlotte Mason, Classical or literature based eclectic you may want to purchase curriculum that allow you to teach appropriate subjects to multiple children simultaneously. Programs such as the following: Mystery of History, My Father's World, Tapestry of Grace, Apologia Science, AIG Science etc... This could help keep you sane.
3. Buy any CD's that allow you print as many copies for your family. At first I thought this was a waste of money but now I gladly use my printer ink to avoid trips to the copy store or trying to bend a book to fit onto our printers copier. 
4. . I always feel like I am in a time crunch so I look for things that help me teach well but cut corners. Buy any CD's where the curriculum is read aloud. We use Mystery of History and I have purchased the CD's so we listen to them as we cruise around town. We are able to stay on schedule because we rarely  miss hearing or reading a chapter, because of the CD's. Additionally, I am more prepared to teach our history lessons because I am already familiar with the information, having already listened to it. 
5. Print out all of the papers on your handy dandy copier or buy your pre-printed worksheets if you can you will need for the entire year. Buy worksheets  and/or make copies of anything you need prior to the start of the year.Yes you read that correctly print it all out or copy it and then file it according to weeks or group it together in one file. For example you could make folders for each week 1,2,3... or by groups of weeks such as 1-3, 4-6 etc.or you could have all maps in a file, all science etc... I like to have my files by groups of weeks so I can keep them at the desk with me.When I did not do this I would invariably run out of ink at the most inconvenient times and wouldn't be able to print the needed documents. If you do not have enough funds to print everything at once then print your first semester/quarter/trimester etc... and print the next one at the half way mark.

What suggestion do you have that have helped your family's homeschool....

 In our homeschool this week…

Week 1 Re-cap

We started school on Thursday with a simple introduction to our curriculum for the kiddos. I had individual meetings with all the children to discuss the upcoming year. So they had fun looking at their books, supplies and cubbies. Then on Friday we headed to our Back to School Co-op Party, we ate lunch, played with friends and each child completed an 'All About Me' book.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was… 
Our favoirte thing this week is a toss up between the Co-op's Back to school party and watching our friends kids for a half day. A friend of mine and I swap out 1/2 day of babysitting each month. Our families are close and our kiddos have a great time together.

What I'm cooking...
I'm cooking Lime Chicken Tacos  from Gwen's Nest and eating Trim Healthy Mama Style! 

Things I'm working on...
We are getting our home ready to go on the market so I am weeding and mulching garden beds this week. I am also fixing any glitches on assignment sheets and making missing ones for homeschool. 

What I'm Reading ...
Isaac Newton by Allan Corduner...I became interested in Issac newton after reviewing one of my children's basic biography book. I found this book at the library and yes, it is an audio book. There may be better books on the subject regardless I've really enjoyed learning more about Newton. Plus since it's an audio book I don't have to stop washing the dishes to learn more about one of the worlds most incredible scientists. 

This week we are also linked to: 

 & So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

Learning to appreciate the simple beauty, humor & joy in the middle of real our very real life.

{Pretty}

I have been PRETTY impressed with how hard this kiddo works on his preschool. He absolutely loves it and is a joy for me to teach

{Happy}

Our Homeschool Choir has a registration swim party at the directors home. Our kiddos had loads of fun swimming their afternoon away and I had a great time visiting with many friends.

{Funny}

This picture fails to reveal that after these two little cherubs finished painting they started drinking their water. Yep, they are less then 15 feet from me, but they are outside the french doors where it is safe for 3 year twins to paint, or so I thought. Until our 5th grader suddenly hopped up swung the doors open and yelled at these two little rascals..."Stop you drinking that nasty paint water twins." Her angst was met with two sweet smiles followed by their favorite words: "why?"

{Real}

This is what it looks like when you are trying to get your house ready to sell. We've lived out here for about 6 years and we have decided to move back into town. So when 7 people live in 1600 sq. feet you pack up everything you can live without (which is apparently a lot in our case) and put it in storage. But before it goes to storage it rests in our breakfast room.

To see more {Pretty,Happy,Funny, Real} you can head over to Like Mother,Like Daughter

Trim Helathy Mama Recipe & Menu

We have Homeschool Co-op bi-weekly and I try to make something yummy to take with me so I won't be tempted and found in the corner of the room shoving a couple of PB&J's down my gullet. For the next couple of times I'll be taking this very tasty soup with me.

Low Carb Taco Soup

1 # ground beef
1/2 c onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T cumin
1 t chili powder
2 10 oz cans Rotel tomatoes, undrained (tomatoes with green chilies)
2 cans beef broth 
1/2 c heavy cream
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
salt, to taste

Directions

In a large soup pot, brown the beef with the onion and garlic; drain. Add spices and cook a couple of minutes before adding the tomatoes, broth and cream. Bring to a rolling boil and gradually add the cream cheese, stirring until completely melted and smooth. Season with salt to taste. Makes 8 1-cup servings.

Number of Servings: 8

recipie credit - http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=179572

One thing I tend to do is adjust the meals we are making for the parentals (THM) and the kiddos who do a modified version of THM as my children have extremely high metabolisms like their Dad. Additionally, I add additional THM menu items for some of our regular foods such as cornbread each week.

Monday: Lemon Chicken, mashed cauliflower (mashed taters for the kids) & squash(S)
Tuesday: Beans, Rice & Cornbread (no cornbread for me :) ) (E)
Wednesday: Cabbage beef stir-fry with brown rice (E with rice or S without rice)
Thursday: Meatball whole wheat Sandwiches/Meatballs with sauce (for Mom), fruit salad
Friday: Bean & Cheese tostadas/tacos(with (Joesph's) , brown mexican rice & corn (I'll skip) (E)
Saturday:Chicken Stir Fry with rice (E)
Sunday: BBQ Bean Soup (E)

Total Weight Loss 3 weeks 8 lbs...next week I am going to start adding in more fuel pulls because I have been stuck at this weight for a week.

For more meal plans you can go the OrgJunkies menu plan Monday

Weekly Wrap Up

An overview of our homeschool Curriculum

Before our family gathering and before breakfast we read the Proverb of the day and a couple of Psalms.

In the Morning we have a family gathering during which time we cover some subjects together:

• We are using Mystery of History Volume 2 along with History in the Woods Middle Ages projects.
• For Science we use Answers in Genesis God's Design for Heaven and Earth. We absolutely loved doing this series last year and I expect we will enjoy it again this year!
• Baptist Catechism we use Truth & Grace Books this covers memory verses, hymns & catechism questions based on the an adjusted Westminster Confession. 
• We also do IEW Linguistic Development in the morning and even our 3 year old twins have gotten in on the act memorizing poems. 
• Read Alouds- this is the time we have family read Alouds , we will start the Bronze Bow and Trial & Triumph next week. 
• US State Study Notebook 
• In the Spring (MOH Vol 2 is 28 weeks long) we will do Soli Gloria Deo Map Skills. 

After the Family Gathering we start on our individualized  lessons I try to meet the individual needs of our children without killing the teacher in the process. We basically have the curriculums that have worked well for us in the past and then if a child is struggling with that curriculum we look for something that is a better fit. For instance our 7th grader has mild autism and the repetitive, predictable nature of ACE is a great fit for her so she does several of their wonderful curriculums while our other children do other things.

Math

• Our 3rd & 5th grader are doing Christian Light Education Math along with Life of Fred Math for added depth.
• Our 7th grader is doing ACE Math she also does a consumer math. 
• All of them are doing Xtra Math  an online drill

Grammar 

• ACE English (7th)
• Our Mother Tongue (5th)
• Climbing to Good Grammar for (3rd)
• Daily Paragraph Editing grades 3rd & 5th

Writing

• IEW Writing SWI-A
• The Paragraph Book 

Spelling

ACE Word Building

Building Spelling Skills (3rd & 5th)

Handwriting

• Classically Cursive (3rd & 5th)

Home Economics

• Pearables Home Economics
• CLE Home  Economics

Foreign Language

• Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek.
• Latin - Might be added for the 5th grader who has decided she wants to be a vet and thus she informed me she needs to know Latin. 

Well, I hope you are all having wonderful start to the new year! 

For a peek at other homeschools check out Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real...

{Pretty}

A birthday gift from a good friend!

{Happy}

The happy little one is our third child and this is her 8th birthday.

{Funny}

Trying to take pictures of this very happy and energetic kid...

She is looking at her big sister who is in support sport because I was concerned there might be problems.

Hello-o-o?

Yes this is a picture of the ceiling of the porch, right in the middle of the pictures. I was most likely coming up to beg her to be a little more still.

She is blurry because she decided to use her grade card as a fan and was moving very quickly. We have SEVERAL more pictures but I'll stop here.

So we took away a few flowers and pinned the grade card to her and here is the final result. But this final picture  was worth the wait, capturing her little free spirit our youngest preschooler!

{Real}

Bubba started doing 'Big Boy Chores" he very proudly dumps all the trash cans into the big can in the kitchen! I think we'll put him on the tractor next. ;)

For more you can check out http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies

2 C. brown sugar 
1 C. butter 
3 eggs 
2 C. cooked oatmeal 
2 C. all purpose flour 
2 C. white whole wheat (or regular whole wheat) 
[Note: You can use 4 cups of all purpose flour.] 
3 tsp. baking soda 
1 tsp. salt 
3 tsp. vanilla 
3 C. chocolate chips 
1 C. coconut 
1 C. raisins
Cream sugar, butter, eggs and cooked oatmeal.  Mix in the flour, baking soda and salt; then the coconut, chocolate chips and raisins.  Scoop onto baking sheets by tablespoonsful about 1 – 1 1/2 inches apart and flatten slightly. Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are set and starting to brown slightly.  Allow to cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes before removing to racks.
(I put mine on parchment, so I had no trouble with them sticking.  I don’t know if the baking sheets need to be greased.  The original recipe said nothing about it, but it was a little short on instructions.)
These cookies freeze well. Recipe from the Cotton Apron