Busy Days!

I haven't updated in so long, and I don't even remember how far back I need to catch up!  I thought I'd pop in here though, say hi, and solidify my commitment to blogging (for a while until things get too hectic again, anyway!).

Soccer season ended today {Praise the Lord!}, and I look forward to being at BLESSED HOME SWEET HOME for most weeknights for awhile.  We also had our church's spring revival meeting with Bro. Jim VanGelderen & family a few weeks ago.  The meetings were excellent; but it's tough getting five little ones fed, dressed, and off to church every evening.

How to Make Homemade Syrup ~ EASY!

It is super easy and cheap to make your own homemade syrup; and better yet, it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, or weird unprounceable ingredients.

I make my syrup by simmering equal parts sugar and water with a dash of salt sprinkled in.  It's *that* easy!  Bring it to a boil (a typical family would probably use like a cup of sugar, a cup of water, and maybe an eighth teaspoon of salt), and then turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 3-5 minutes until thick.  Whisk it every now and again to keep it from burning or sticking. 

When it has thickened, pour in a teaspoon or two of whatever extract you like ~ maple, vanilla, orange, etc.  Sometimes I also plop some butter right into the syrup to melt together.  It's good, easy, and cheap!

Awesome Pancakes

I've gotten to be a pretty lazy breakfast cook, now that I regularly have five little starving kidlets biting at my ankles as soon as I walk out of my bedroom in the mornings.  We usually stick to the basics like steel cut oats, grits, and bagels with cream cheese.  However, this past Saturday I decided to be a little more adventurous and stir up a batch of pancakes; and they were YUMMO!  It does take me forever to make pancakes for this clan, and I always make extras to have leftover the next day; so I make them huge enough to feed two kidlets with one flapjack while the others not-so-patiently wait their turn.

These are buttery and delicious, so try them soon!

Mix the following in a 'very large' mixing bowl:  6 1/4 cups bread flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 cup of baking powder, and 1/4 cup of sugar. 

In a separate bowl stir together 1 quart of milk (I used powdered reconstituted milk in the picture above -- it works fine), 4 beaten eggs, and 2 tablespoons (yes, TABLESPOONS) of vanilla. 

In the meantime, melt a stick of butter in the microwave.

Carefully stir the 'wet stuff' in the smaller bowl into the 'dry stuff' in the big bowl.  Slowly combine it with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula without overstirring.  Then slowly drizzle the melted butter in as you continue to carefully combine.

Heat your griddle/skillet to medium low (I put mine on '4' out of 10) and butter/grease it.  Spoon the batter on (it is super thick) and spread it a bit with your spoon or ladle.  When the top side does its bubbly thing, indicating that it's ready... flip it over and cook the other side!  Serve with whatever you like to spread/pour/drizzle on pancakes.

Finally Got the Carrots In

Well, according to my Clyde's Garden Planter, I should have planted my carrots on April 5.  I finally got them in on Saturday (the 10th), so that was much more "on time" than I have been with pretty much any other gardening project that I've accomplished this year!

(No, by the way, I wasn't leaning sideways when I snapped this photo.  We live on a very hilly lot, so we have to garden on a slope.)

When I pulled out my carrot and radish seeds, I was kind of irritated that 'someone' had gotten into my seed box and strewed cilantro and lettuce seed everywhere; so I came up with a revolutionary method that would probably make me a millionaire if I would package it up and market it craftily on the World Wide Web (but for all those 'special' people here who actually come to read anything I have to say, I'll let you see for free!):

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You're welcome!

P.S.  We don't even like radishes, but I read that you should plant some radishes among your carrots (I don't even remember why ~ I think it repels some kind of bug?), so I just bought a cheapo pack of WalMart radish seeds for 20 cents to scatter among my carrots & squash.  I normally buy high quality heirloom seeds from Baker Creek; but we're not going to pull the radishes, so... who cares?!

I Had a Yard Sale...

... which is my only explanation for disappearing off the face of the world wide web for the past two weeks.  Ugh, ugh, UGH!  There are a lot of easier ways to earn three hundred bucks (and spend two weeks... one preparing and then one *recovering*)!

We sort of spontaneously decided to go ahead, take the plunge, and have a yard sale with about a week's notice.  We had already been setting junk aside in the corner of the basement, and the first weekend in April looked very promising weather-wise and schedule-wise.  Although a few wrenches got thrown in there (like my husband ending up working six days last week and couldn't be home on yard sale day!), praise the Lord that we *did* get rid of a ton of junk, made enough to reserve our mini-vacation hotel room; and the storm didn't show up until right after we hauled all the leftover clutter out of the driveway to the church for our youth group to use in their yard sale next month!

Speaking of vacation, I thought I'd throw in a little note about my experience with Hotwire.  I was actually able to get a 4-star $150 room for $57 per night, which is awesome.  I can't review on the entire experience until the trip is over (obviously), but if I could start from scratch, knowing this past Monday what I know now... I would not even bid on a 4-star hotel for a family with five children!  We scored a Hyatt Regency that is pretty plush with lots of cool amenities... but most of them are business-traveler-friendly or romantic-getaway-friendly, not family-friendly.  No pool, no free continental breakfast, just some really overpriced on-site restaurants (Ruth's Chris, Starbucks, etc.) and... $19/day parking!!!    $25/day if we use valet parking!  So I kind of went into the deal with one eye closed, which is *so* unlike me.  I'm a total geek who likes to plan every minute detail of a trip from the itinerary to the hotel and every restaurant ahead of time.

The good news is that there is a parking garage a block and a half away that only charges $3 on weekends, so guess what, Beloved Hubby ~ you get to drop us off at the hotel and take a little stroll!  ☺  I'll keep you posted...

God Bless the Library

One of the biggest assets to a homeschooling family is the LIBRARY!

I actually don't like hauling five kidlets to the library all that often, but that makes them love it all the more.  Ours has an awesome little kiddie library with toys, games, a Thomas the Tank Engine table, weekly story hour/craft time/snacks, etc.  Sometimes we get to go see Ronald McDonald or puppet shows or other neato stuff. 

My library has an awesome website; and I am forever using it to see if they have books that I am interested in (from perusing online), to check the activity calendar, and to check my account/renew books.  I declare ~ that site has saved me a ton in overdue book fees!  I don't know how many times I've checked my account and said, "Oh my goodness!  I have 37 books due tomorrow!"  CLICK.  Thank you.  $3.70 saved.

A great thing about homeschooling is that you can go to the library during school hours when all the other kidlets are in public school, and your kids can totally rule and reign over the place.  I have even been known to let mine loose at the Thomas table while I sink into a plush chair with a book and a little suckling latched to the front of me.

My other "favorite thing" about the library is that, when my boys are bouncing-off-the-walls-driving-me-insane-full-of-energy (which is typically right about the time hubby is due home from work), I can put down my spatula and butcher knife and holler, "KIDS!  Sit your rear ends on that couch RIGHT NOW and BE QUIET!  Michael, go get the library bag and read to your brothers!!!" 

The library is such a wonderful, wholesome place for families.  ☺

Homemade Pizza

One of my "favoritest" really-quick-thrown-together-meals-because-I-didn't-plan-ahead-what-to-cook-for-supper is homemade pizza.  It is super easy and super yummo, and I promise promise PROMISE I can make one completely from scratch before you can get the Domino's guy to show up on your doorstep!

The pizza on the left is barbeque chicken, and the one on the right is taco.  I'll give you the crust recipe in just a moment; but let me just say that, as far as toppings go... anything goes!

Recently 3-lb bags of boneless skinless chicken tenders were on sale for $3.99, and I bought like six bags.  At least.  At one time.  I toss one whole bag of the things on a pan, sprinkle on some salt & pepper, and drizzle a little Sweet Baby Ray's over them.  I let that bake while I mix up some pizza dough and grate the cheese.  One bag of chicken can make several pizzas.

So basically, our favorite bbq chicken "recipe" consists of Sweet Baby Ray's (have you tried that stuff? ~ It's seriously YUMMO), cooked shredded chicken (as in method above, or leftovers, or store-bought rotisserie ~ whatever), chopped or sliced onions, and cheddar or some blend of cheese.  Tweak it to your liking; but let me say that, as much as I love mushrooms, they are just not a big hit on bbq chicken pizza.

The "taco" pizza pictured above doesn't have any meat on it, though I've been known to use leftover taco meat or ground beef.  I just mashed up some leftover pinto beans and smeared them all over the nekkid crust dough.  Then I sprinkled on some chili powder and cumin and cheese, baked, and topped with shredded lettuce and homemade salsa or pico de gallo or chopped tomato, either fresh or canned.  If I have a serious bounty of cheese (like I do right now because I bought 20 bags of Kraft for $1.00 each because they were going out of date), I sprinkle more cheese over the lettuce.  Yum...MO!

The crust recipe is really easy and can honest-to-goodness be made in five minutes.  I always make *at least* a double batch to make two pizzas or freeze crusts for later.  Actually, I got this recipe from Money Saving Mom, so I'll just send you over there for the instructions!