Mega Meal Monday - Super Tasty Ranch Turkey Meatloaf!

In a rush and need a quick and tasty meatloaf?  Try this recipe....and while you are at it, make one or two extra to freeze.

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To make ONE loaf:

1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs beaten
1 cup crushed ranch-flavored tortilla chips
3 Tbsp ranch dressing
1 tsp chili powder
cumin to taste (optional)

Mix all ingredients together.  For the loaf that you will eat that day, bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour.

Tasty served with gravy, or salsa & sour cream.

For the loaf (loaves) you will freeze, divide evenly into gallon sized freezer bags.  Flatten bags and squeeze out all the air.  Freeze flat.  On serving day, thaw, place in meatloaf pan and bake as above.

It's not pretty, but very tasty!  This is ingredients for 2 loaves!

Each loaf costs approximately $3 to make!

Weekly Wrap Up - Counter Reformation: French Huguenots & The Netherlands

Another reason why I love teaching my kids with Tapestry of Grace is the ability to simultaneously teach literature, history, art and music centered around one historical time period.  This aids tremendously in depth of understanding AND retention.  Plus, it's just plain fun!

My high school student, in addition to these books, read The Taming of the Shrew on his own.  I in turn, read a "modern" version of this Shakespeare story to my younger kids.  You know you've got a hit when the kids ask you to keep reading even though they have earned computer time and can play!

We also took in the 1960's film of the same name.  It met with mixed reviews and made for some interesting conversation!

Utilizing the "An Introduction to the Classics" cd's, we learned more about Vivaldi and enjoyed his pieces!

And in other news, we think we finally have a name for our rescue cat.  He came with the name Rodger.  But, he wasn't a Rodger.  Then we tried D'artangun, Oscar, Kitty, Fargis.....nothing stuck.  As of this week, we believe he's firmly Napoleon!

Next week is a Sabbath week.  My oldest will be serving the community during Week of Hope and the rest of us will be resting and enjoying some well deserved free time!

How Do We Know God Is Really There? Book Review

Written in conversational tone between Father and son, How Do We Know God is Really There? is a great tool for teaching K-3rd graders how to answer the "God nay-sayers" with concrete examples from Edwin Hubble (think Hubble Telescope) that "something exists outside of time that has the power to cause and create."

     "God has created some magnificent things, hasn't He, Thomas?"  his dad said.

     Thomas paused to think about this.

     Then he asked, "Dad, how do we know God is out there?  I mean, I know the Bible says He's there.  But how do we really know that's true?"

     "That's a very important question.  What made you think of it?"  his dad asked.

Though I don't have a child in the K-3rd grade range, my youngest enjoyed this introduction to the cosmos with a Biblical Worldview read to him by his oldest brother.

I can see that this book from Apologia will become a bedtime favorite!

How Do We Know That God is Really There? retails for $16.



See what other Mosaic Reviews are saying about this product! (Link coming soon)

The Reading Lesson Review!

I've been working on this particular review for awhile.  When I first received it, my non-reader was a very rambunctious 3 year old.

I introduced The Reading Lesson Book to him, but he was more interested in playing.

Ok, no big deal.  We will just put this away for awhile and enjoy The Sounds of Letters DVD also from Mountcastle Company.

Fast forward a few months and my non-reader is an almost 4 years old.  We've enjoyed learning our letter sounds and he's shown some interest in the 'big book'.

We start at the beginning working in short increments.  Though he's willing, he's not retaining much.

So....it's back on the shelf for a wee bit longer.

As a mom of four who's first three kids each began to read at different ages (1 early, 1 'average' and 1 late), I know that when he's ready, it will be the right time to learn!

But, enough about my experience.  Here's why I really like this program:

"We found ourselves in this situation when our daughter was four years old.  She learned the alphabet, and we were waiting for her to start reading some simple words.  We sent for several commercial reading programs, the same ones you often hear advertised on the radio.  What we got back was a slew of cassette tapes and flash cards.  Our daughter would not sit and listen to the tapes, and the flash cards were all over the house.  We also bought software programs for learning to read and found them too shallow and haphazards.  disappointed, we began to make our own simple exercises and stories for her to read.  We read books on reading instruction for children, researched academic material, talked to parents and teachers, and began to develop a simple daily reading program.  Michael's understanding of child psychology and development, and my desire for a simple, easy-to-follow method, let to the program you hold in your hands."

What makes this 20 lesson program special?

* Goes from no reading skills to about the second grade level.

* Step-by-step, easy to follow instruction

* A child that is ready to read *should* work 15-20 minutes a day.  Each lesson takes approximately 1-2 weeks depending on the child.

*Each lessons starts with 3-4 sounds and introduces sight words along the way.

*Teaches the most common letters in the English language first (Lesson one:  c, o, s, a, t).  Does not go in alphabetical order.

*Uses only lower-case letters in the first half of the lessons AND uses special typography starting the book with large letters and ending with smaller letters.


Here's a glance at part of the Lesson One:

Check out the rest of Lesson One AND more from the Reading Lesson Here.

Compared to other similar phonics programs on the market that we've have experienced, I really like the layout, ease, and its' concentration with only reading (decoding) while going through each lesson.  Some kids just aren't good at writing while trying to decode.  Too much multi-tasking makes for many tears!



Disclaimer:
I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  No other compensation will be received.

Mega-Meal Monday! Chicken Broccoli & Meatball Soup

I've been privileged to do Once-A-Month cooking with my friend Jen over this past year.  (Visit Jen HERE!) Not only does it save on time, money, and sanity, it helps keep those trips to the drive-thru a thing of the past.

Since my cooking partner is Super Mom during the summer serving her church and community with Weeks of Hope AND Work Camps, this leaves me without a freezer full of meals.

OR DOES IT?

I admit that taking on the task of doing all that prep work and assembling by myself is daunting.  There is another way I can still stock my freezer with pre-made food.

It's called Mega-Cooking or Mega-Batch Cooking....

The basis is simple.  If you make one recipe for a meal that freezes well, why not make more than one??  One to eat the day of and the rest to freeze!

So with that, here's my first recipe of my Mega-Meal Summer!

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole (this recipe is for ONE casserole)

10 oz frozen chopped broccoli
4 cups cooked, chopped chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup OR 2 cups homemade (see below)
1/4 cup mayo
1 small can mushrooms, drained
3 Tbsp Sherry (optional)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated


Cook broccoli slightly and put on the bottom of greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Combine chicken, soup, mayo, mushrooms, sherry and half of the Parmesan cheese.  Spread on top of broccoli.  Top with the remainder of cheese, cover, label and freeze.  When thawed, cover and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  Bake another 20 minutes uncovered.

When adapting this recipe to make more than one, just multiply ingredients by the number of casseroles you want to make.

I set out to make two.  Using a whole cooked chicken, we ended up being a bit short on the amount the recipe calls for.  No worries, I just increased the broccoli --- everyone needs more veggies, right?!?

This meal cost me about $7.00 to make - that's $3.50 per casserole!

The finished product.  My camera doesn't make it look so appealing...
However, it does taste good!

To make my chicken, I baked it and then deboned the meat.  I took the bones, boiled them to make broth for the homemade Cream of Chicken soup AND had leftover broth to make Meatball Soup.


Meatball Soup is literally a throw it in the crockpot and come home to dinner recipe.  It's not fancy, but, it is easy!

Meatball Soup basics:
1 bag frozen meatballs (either beef or turkey....we like turkey. )
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1 container chicken broth OR make your own
Water to desired consistency
Season as desired
Optional - add sauteed onions and/or celery

Put above items in the crockpot, put the lid on, flip the switch and come back later!  Depending on your family's size will determine whether or not you use a big or small bag of meatballs/veggies.