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