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

Leftover Cornmeal Mush: Tamale Pie

This recipe is for a 1940's Tamale Pie that you can use your left over cornmeal mush to make! Since we are using left over Cornmeal Mush from Breakfast you can skip the first part of the reicpe and proceed the Tamale pie filing.

***Cornmeal Mush***
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup cold water
3 1/2 cups boiling water or chicken stock
2 teaspoons salt
***Tamale Pie***
8 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper
1/3 cup chili powder or to taste
3 tablespoons butter or oil
4 cups cooked ground beef
2 pimientos, chopped
1 1/2 cup black pitted olives (or less), roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

To cook cornmeal mush: stir cornmeal into the cold water to moisten it, in the top of a double boiler. Then add boiling water or chicken stock and salt; mix well. Set the top over the bottom of the boiler, filled with 1 to 2 inches of boiling water, put a lid on the top and steam the cornmeal for 30 to 45 minutes until the water is all absorbed.  I do not cook cornmeal mush like her this seems overly complicated and expensive a pot, water & cornmeal is all that is needed.

For tamale pie: Beat butter into hot cooked cornmeal; set aside. Fry onion, garlic and bell pepper with chili powder in butter or oil until vegetables are just slightly softened, 2 or 3 minutes. Add cooked meat, pimientos, olives and season to taste. Put a layer of cornmeal mush in a baking dish, add the layer of meat filling and cover with another layer of mush. 

Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven until the mush is crusty on top, about 30 minutes.

This si from CDKithcen

Uses for Left Over Cornbread

Normally, when we make cornbread we usually have some left and you know I HATE to waste so here are some links & ideas for left over cornbread...
#1-8 are via 9 uses for left over cornbread

 Corn Bread Stuffing – I chose a random corn bread stuffing recipe to link to on Food Network, but there are thousands of variations of corn bread stuffing to choose from online. With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, this is a great idea for using up leftover corn bread.

1. Corn Bread Pudding – One way to use up any leftover bread is to make a bread pudding. This one is sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar.
2. Cornbread Crumbs - Leftover cornbread makes easy homemade breadcrumbs. Just crumble or cube the cornbread, place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F until dry and crunchy. Whirl in the food processor or blender and store in an airtight container. I keep mine in the freezer. (Via Wholesome Homemaker)
3. Corn Bread Panzanella – ... is traditionally an Italian peasant dish, but this recipe by Giada Di Laurentiis for using up stale corn bread has a 5-star rating from 60 users. 
4. Cornbread "Migas" - Cube some up and brown it with a little oil, stir in some beaten eggs, chopped green onion, cooked sausage or mushrooms, and when the eggs have set, sprinkle with grated cheese. Sort of Southern-style Migas. (Idea from Angela, blogger at Seasonal & Savory)
5. Mexican Sausage and Corn Bread Strata – An overnight breakfast dish where corn bread and the other ingredients are covered with an egg mixture. In the morning, pop it in the oven, and you’ve got breakfast.
6. Corn Bread Croutons – Make great toppings for soup or chili.
7. Slice, spread with butter, pan fry and drizzle with maple syrup. (idea from Stephen Wilson of The Sweet Life Bakery in Vineland, N.J., and one of MNN’s 40 chefs under 40)
8. Corn Bread Crusted Chicken Nuggets – The corn bread instead of regular bread crumbs gives baked chicken nuggets a less crispy texture but a unique flavor.
9. Cornbread & Milk - break up cornbread in a glass and pour milk over it for a snack or breakfast.
10. Split in half heat and serve like pancakes with syrup.
11. A Savory Cornbread pudding

Do you have any ideas of how to utilize left over cornbread, if so please leave it in the comments. I hope some of these ideas help you to better utilize your left overs and bless your family with your prudence!

The Frugal Breakfast Cornmeal Mush

If you like Cream of Wheat you will probably like Corn Meal Mush which is much the same as Cream of Wheat except it's corn instead of wheat.

• 6 cups water
• 2 cups cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons molasses (optional)

cook and stir constantly for about 10 minutes until the cornmeal has absorbed all of the water. Serve with honey, butter on top and a splash of milk.

This serves about 8 folks and we normally have a little bit of  fruit with it.

Fried Corn Meal Mush

Rinse a 9"x13" pan with water and pour the cornmeal mush into it. Rinsing pan and leaving the few water droplets inside help keep the mush from sticking to the pan. Smooth mush with the back of a spatula. Refrigerate overnight.

Next morning cut into ¼" slices and fry in skillet where you have already melted several Tablespoons of margarine. Fry until beautiful golden and crispy. If most of margarine has been absorbed add more before flipping and frying other side.

Serve with eggs, or enjoy plain. Every once in a while I also make a tomato gravy to spoon over the top but I like it better without.

This recipe is from Joyful Chaos