Who doesn't appreciate some tried and true 'large family' recipes?  Here is a complete meal we enjoy around once in a while around here.  I might serve this (doubled, perhaps) when company visits or for a special occasion.  All of these dishes are easily made, but taste extra special!

Chicken Parmigiana
5 chicken breasts, butterflied into 10 pieces
1 can tomato paste
1 1/8 cup water
2 (or more) cloves garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp parsley
1 1/2 tsp EACH salt and Pepper
3/4 tsp EACH Italian seasoning and oregano
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Lightly grease an 11 x 15 baking dish. Add chicken. In a saucepan, combine the tomato paste, water, garlic, and spices.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Pour over chicken.  Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheeses and bake 10 minutes longer.

Makes 8-10 servings

Garlic Parmesan Rice
2 cups prepared brown rice
3 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
 
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the garlic in the butter until tender. Add the hot cooked rice, the cheese, milk, parsley, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir until heated through and the cheese is melted.


Italian Cheese Bread
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. EACH salt and pepper
1 Tbsp quick rising yeast (regular works, too)
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4-1/3 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
1/4 tsp. EACH salt, garlic powder, thyme, oregano
a dash of pepper
1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients.  Combine water and oil and add to flour mixture.  Add additional flour if needed, to form a soft dough.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead 1-2 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Place in greased bowl and allow to rise 20 minutes. 

Punch down.  Place on greased pizza pan and push down to fill pan.  Brush with salad dressing.  Combine seasonings and sprinkle over dough. Bake at 450 for 13 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake another 2-3 minutes till cheese is melted.  Serve warm.

Now, don't forget to make a great big bowl of green salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, etc and serve this dressing on the side:

Creamy Italian Dressing
1 cup mayo
2/3 cup white vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup Parmesan AND Romano cheese, finely shredded and chopped tiny (though I usually just use 1/4 cup Parmesan and it tastes just fine)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning AND Parsley
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all together well (even in the blender if you'd like) and serve beside greens.  Store in the fridge, but bring to room temperature before serving (if you have time).

Visit Ship Full O' Pirates for more tips on raising a large family!
 

 

Celebrate National Handwriting day
by writing a letter to our new Commander in
Chief. If you use Handwriting without tears
you might want to stop by their site to learn
about the new writing to the president
campaign.  All handwritten letters will be delivered
to the president on January 25th. Stop by
the HWT site to find out all about it. There is
also writing paper for download for this project.
www.hwtears.com/handwritingday

Nikki

For Today...
It is cold and cloudly although the forcast
looks clear for the future.
I am thinking...
About www.puppetools.com I have a chance to
review this site. I am really enjoying it. This is right
up Superboys Alley and I know that when I show
him all the fun paper puppets the children made thathe will be all for creating some of his own puppets.

From the learning rooms... 

Princess:

Math
Long Division
Muliplication tables once and for all
with Times tales... I hope

Reading and literature
American Literature heros
like Ben Franklin, Philis Wheatly
and seveal others

History
Salem Witch trials and Colonial life..

 Science
We are learning about Oceans
and their water currents etc..
We will finish this unit I hope this week.

Art
In art we are continuing a little with our
native american studies through Art.

Music
Learning about the Broque period,
notes and keyboarding

Superboy-

Math
Learning how to regroup with
large numbers in addition
and subtraction


Reading
Long way to a new Land, The long way
westward , wagon wheels and other
American tales

Science
Animal habitats

History
The Renaissance, People, food,
wars, etc...

Art
 Renaissance Monarchs
and making music


Music
Learning how to play the recorder
with a DVD we have.

Spirit-
Exploring Christmas activities, Gingerbread
Jesus birth, Counting christmas bows,
Making ornaments, reading holiday stories
and other fun activities for December..

Bible for all....
Enjoying the Advent season with special daily
readings. Looking at the names of Jesus, and
paintings of Jesus and Mary. Will also be
creating some fun Art.


I am creating... 
Puppets for some books we are doing.
Thank you puppet tools. :)

I am hearing... 
Princess and Spirit singing..

Around the house... 
Most of the household chores are completed
From the holiday. I do need to make dinner this evening
but basically I am back to my cleaning schedule on
my side bar. Hoping to keep up with things for
the next holiday. I do have a small list of
tasks to complete.

1. Laundry
2. Address and write Christmas Cards
3. Work on plans for Youth Christmas party
(Which is next week but good to plan ahead)
4. Work on some review things
5. Wrap Christmas Gifts.
6. Shopping-Groceries, printer paper
and wrapping paper.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...

Tuesday- Grocery shopping
Wednesday- Choir
Thursday- Going to see a play A Christmas Carol
Sunday- Church services and youth



I am thankful for...
This day to get organzed. It feels good to have
time to sit and figure out our lessons. I love
adding in little fun things but don't do that when
we have busy weeks.

From the kitchen...
Monday- Chicken, pasta and peas
Tuesday- Smoked hot dogs and fries
Wed. - Meatloaf, baked potaotes and corn
Thursday- Pot roast
Friday- Broccoli soup and bread
Weekend- Leftovers

I am wearing...
Black pants and black shirt.

I am reading... The bible,
Books from Salem Ridge Press for Reveiw
and the Old Schoolhouse magazine.

I am hoping...
To do a bit of holiday crafting. Mix up
some fun smelling playdough and enjoy my
children.

Prayers..
I am adding prayers to my daybook today.
I ask for prayers for my dad who is trying
to pass a kidney stone. I also ask for
prayers for Vallies dad (my ex husband)
the doctors Believe he has thyroid cancer. We
are awaiting test results.

Thank you
Nikki

Whew!  I cannot believe Thanksgiving 2008 is already over.  I have a slew of pics and hours of wonderful memories....unfortunately all of you in bloggyville are about the receive the short end of the stick seeing that I am totally dragging booty this morning and have no intention of uploading pictures or even indulging you in my adventures...instead you get the highlights:

Wednesday:  I did most of my cooking ahead of time so the whole family took a long, hard butt kicking hike in Yellowstone

Thursday:  Typical Turkey dinner (although next year I am totally cooking a breast) and a wonderful conversation with my grandpa who was/is in the hospital recovering from an emergency bypass surgery

Friday:  Trimmed the tree, ate leftovers, decorated for Christmas, baked fudge

Saturday:  Black Saturday shopping with hubby...since we observe a consumer-free day on the other Black day

Sunday:  Christmas movies, haircuts, and packed hubby for Seattle

Time does fly and I cannot, cannot, cannot believe it is already Monday...screaming into Christmas.  I have much to do today...first on the list is slowing time down :)!  Although much of my morning has been spent trying to find one of eBay's Door Buster Deals to no avail.  No Juicy bag for me this year.  Probably a good thing considering I would have no where to use it without looking ridiculous.

Happy Monday!

For Today, Monday, December 1st, 2008

Advent starts tonight.  Today is the fourth Sunday before Christmas so the Advent readings start tonight. 

That meant I had to dig out the necessary items from the Christmas boxes. 
We'll do the real decorating next weekend but I needed the advent stuff. 

The book we're doing this year......


and the wreath....(notice I didn't get to the store to get new candles, we'll use these until I do) all set
up on the buffet and ready to go.


And the kids calenders all set for tomorrow.


The little two get the chocolate ones and the big kids get these.



Its an idea I got from here.  Mine is real simple but the kids liked it.

They open up and inside is gum.  A piece a day. 



So....Let it begin!   

Only 25 days till Christmas!!!


© Copyright 2008 Called Home

Ingredients in a McD's chicken nugget:

Chicken, water, salt, modified corn starch, sodium phosphates, chicken broth powder (chicken broth, salt, and natural flavoring (chicken source)), seasoning (vegetable oil, extracts of rosemary, mono, di- and triglycerides, lecithin). Battered and breaded with water, enriched bleached wheat flour (niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, modified corn starch, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, dried whey, corn starch. Batter set in vegetable shortening. Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil). TBHQ and citric acid added to help preserve freshness. Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an anti-foaming agent.

And the sauces to dip it in:

Hot Mustard: 

Water, high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, soybean oil, mustard seed, sugar, mustard flour, salt, egg yolks, spices, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, turmeric, sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate (preservatives), annatto extract, caramel color, extractive of capsicum, paprika, calcium disodium EDTA to protect flavor.

BBQ:

Water, high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, soybean oil, mustard seed, sugar, mustard flour, salt, egg yolks, spices, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, turmeric, sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate (preservatives), annatto extract, caramel color, extractive of capsicum, paprika, calcium disodium EDTA to protect flavor.

Sweet and Sour:

High fructose corn syrup, water, fruit concentrate (peach and/or apricot), distilled vinegar, salt, modified corn starch, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), dextrose, soybean oil, xanthan gum, mustard flour, sugar, sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate (preservatives), garlic dehydrated, spices, natural flavors (vegetable source), cellulose gum, malic acid, onion dehydrated, caramel color, succinic acid.

Boy can the holiday be tough on all of us...

Just wanted to let my readers know that I set
up a feed on my sidebar for anyone that is interested
in subscribing. You can also type in your email
address and get email notification when I post something
new. Making reading my blog easier for you. :)
Watch out this week for several Christmas Crafty ideas.

How is everyones Holiday going and holiday weekend.
I finally got my digital camera to work want wanted to
show the the neat chessboard I found at good will.
I have never seen anything like this one. I searched
on the net seeing if I could find something similar but
could not find anything. Maybe someone else has
seen one like this before. This is the view from the
top of the board and pieces..



There these are some of the pieces close up..

We were going to keep the board as a special
gift for Princess since she is learning to play chess
but instead decided to enjoy it the whole month of
December as a special board we pull out for fun
family game nights. The holidays are always so busy
this will surely be a treat as the business continues..

 

Our local homeschool group had a unit study recently on "The Pilgrims:  The First American History Topic".  Classes were held every Monday from 1-3pm for 4 weeks.  If anyone is interested in making this a future activity for their own homeschool group, I've included the outline of activities.  Otherwise, enjoy the pictures.  J

 

 

Week One:  Introduction - Pilgrims leave England, travel to Holland, life in Holland, and leaving Holland.

 

·                     Hand out notebooks for unit study (includes a three-ring pocket folder that will hold handouts, coloring sheets and other info.

 

·                     Make a quill pen.

 

 

 

·                     Give out the Mayflower paper diagram that the students may design a presentation for the next co-op.  Younger students can make them by coloring, cutting & pasting.  Older students may make them as complex as they would like (build an actual model, do a diorama, a shadow box, etc.).

 

·                     Fabric dying - Please bring anything from nature that you think would dye cloth (blackberries, mulberries, cranberries, tea, etc.).  Each student will get a swatch of muslin.

 

 

 

·                     We will give out age-appropriate spelling lists for a spelling bee that will be held at the final co-op.

 

·                     We will give a book resource list for student & family reading.

 

Week Two:  Preparing for the journey to the New World, life on the Mayflower, landing & getting started.

 

·                     Corn husk dolls - We will have some fabric scraps for aprons.  Please bring any scraps that you want to use.  These can be for boys & girls.

 

 

 

·                     Tin can lanterns - Bring your own hammers.  Instructions will be given on week one.

 

 

 

·                     We will be starting our journals.

 

 

 

·                     The students will be presenting their Mayflower models.  Any student wishing to give a 2-minute presentation on their model may do that.

 

 

 

Week Three:  Life in the New World, meeting the Indians, learning a new way of life, and sickness.

 

·                     Planting corn the Indian way (add chopped up fish/sardines to one cup and see which seed grows more quickly).

 

·                     Making Pilgrim hats & Indian headbands.  Other artifacts will be on display.

 

 

 

·                     Writing stories on veneer (thin wood - free of charge donated by Old Threshers), using Indian symbols.  Bring your quill pens & ink.

 

 

 

·                     We will be planning our authentic Thanksgiving feast - who will bring what & we will be handing out recipe cards.  Talk about Pilgrim napkins & how they ate.  We will be talking about the different kinds of foods that were available.  Sorry, no pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce!

 

·                     The students will be presenting their Pilgrim/Indian hut models.  Any student wishing to give a 2-minute presentation on their model may do that.

 

 

 

·                     Hand out scroll for notebook & unit report assignment.

 

 

Week Four:  Thanksgiving feast by candle light & our own handmade lanterns.

 

·                     Student presentations over unit (wear appropriate dress for Pilgrim or Indian).

 

 

 

·                     Thanksgiving feast (turkey with onion gravy, deer, fresh corn soup & popcorn, succotash, Indian pudding, Bannock cakes, cornbread muffins, roasted pumpkin & apples, and other vegetables & fruit).

 

 

 

·                     Have the spelling bee!

 

 

 

·                     Play "pin the feather on the turkey".

 

 

 

~Connie~