Homeschooling

I am a homeschooler, I am a very proud homeschooler. I love what I do, I love all of my curriculums and I adore my student.

If you are not a homeschooler or if you are thinking about homeschooling let me introduce you to Classical Conversations. This is part of my love! It's all about classical education. I have and currently still pay good money for an education on education. I adored my classes and my teachers and everything I learned and did for my education. It all seemed great at the time. I then picked up Susan Wise Bauer's books the Well Trained Mind and the Well Educated Mind, and had an ah-ha moment in which all the expensive education that I continue to pay for never gave me.
What was that ah-ha... it's HOW we learn. Not how to teach, but hot to learn. Why don't we spend more time teaching the way children learn, because we don't know how children learn, we were too busy learning the newest methods in which to teach them we neglected learning how they (and all humans) learn.
Want to know the secret?

We learn in 3 parts.... We first need to learn the vocabulary, the definitions, the parts of what we are learning. Let's do a subject I love... Scrapbooking. If I started to teach you scrapbooking by just giving you my tools (I have a ton) and telling you to take the blade and put it on the inside track of the shape cutter and press down as you move it around, you might look at me crazy. The reason being you don't know what the blade or shape cutter are. However if I start by showing you the tools and really going over each one and  what they do then and only then can you move to step 2...
Now that you have the vocabulary then it's your turn you get to try things out. I can give you a page to "copy." You will make mistakes you will "argue" with the materials asking them to do what they can't or not fully understanding their capacity, but eventually you will be able to copy the page with the materials.
Last you will create your own, you know the materials you have pushed and pulled and really figured them out and last you can go and do.
Those are the 3 stages. This is a linear example, in reality you won't necessarily do these things in a linear fashion, in reality you may be in all 3 stages with different materials at any given time. Let's step back though and really look at the 3 stages in regards to children's development...
Childhood... children have an amazing ability to memorize things. Before they can read or write they have language through memorization. That favorite book... memorized! Random facts that interest them... memorized! Why don't we exploit that tool more? If they can memorize the Bill of Rights, why not? Do they need to understand it to memorize it? Could it possibly be of use in their adulthood to know their rights? This is what the classical education does, it gives children then information that one day will be useful. Classical Conversations specifically designed their foundations (memorization) program to be useful in the upper level classes.
Early Teens... what are these children known for? Arguing, stretching the boundaries, etc... That's what the next step in our classical model is. The child has the information they memorized, and now they are going to get dirty with it. The Bill of Rights is in their head now what exactly did the forefathers mean when they gave us that right. Did they really mean for us to always have that right? Your opinion is different than mine, let's debate or argue about this. Let the teens do what it is they are already so good at argue their points (they know it all anyway, right).
The final step is to take that information and now what could you do with it. Create your own Bill of Rights for your family. Because you know the Bill or Rights, you have argued it to really learn about it now you can take that knowledge and apply it to a new creation. Judges do this all the time, they write their opinions on cases.
That's the classical education, simple succinct and so obvious, but yet so neglected.

Life

Life is a funny thing, you can make great plans, but rarely do they all come through as perfectly as they are made.
I planned on having a second child when my 1st was 3. I planned on going back to teaching in the public school when both kids were beyond 1st grade. I planned.....
My plans are nothing.

You can call it what you like, but I say it's God's plans that matter. God planned for me to have one child. God planned for me to fall in love with homechooling. God planned for everything to happen as it is happening. If I can praise God for the God why can't I believe he also has a hand in the bad, or what I perceive as bad.

Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world. I am not saying that God wants bad things to happen to people. Let's put it in terms parents will understand...

Your child has been told 100 times not to rock the 4 legged chair. Your child is again rocking the 4 legged chair. You see the child is about to fall, but unlike the other 100 times, you decide to just watch. Their is a big pillow under the chair today, it's not going to fall far, but it will fall enough and possibly hurt enough to startle your child into understanding why you say don't rock the4 legged chair. The chair falls. The child cries. You comfort the child, and love on the child, but also admonish the child. I told you not to do that, do you understand now why I ask you not to? Hopefully your child is a quick learner. Maybe they aren't, but you allowed the pain to hopefully learn a lesson.


God doesn't like seeing His children injured. He doesn't like seeing us in pain, but he sees the bigger picture of what that can mean for us in the future. His Plan, not mine.

Opportunities....

Yesterday on facebook I posted "Overwhelmed with the possibilities in my life right now. Some good some scary, all potential for growth!" I think this sums up my life at this point. It seems like I have opportunities where I can choose to go down different paths and some I don't want to go down, but I travel as a sense of duty to family. Others I am excited about and want to travel, but also think it might be best to wait until the other paths show where they are going. 
In an effort to not say too much, but also not be too cryptic here's a little of what's going on.... 

Family: 
My family member is having some memory issues and I have become the point person in this process of figuring out what is going on, is it strokes, is it Alzheimer's, is it reversible, is it permanent, is it ongoing, is it progressive.... So many questions and so many doctors needed to help understand this. Oh and the family member does not see the need for alarm that the family or the doctors see. 

My husband's family member's spouse is quite ill, we got a call this week he has lost his color. This might not seem like a big deal maybe a few days off to go to a funeral, but this spouse is the primary caretaker of one who has memory issues from a previous cancer. It doesn't help they are far from any family because the spouse has pushed everyone away. When the spouse passes away it will be a big mess of dealing with many things of the family member's health and getting her to a better location, probably without her wanting to move. Last time we visited because the spouse was going to die it was not a happy ending. 

In addition to the above I feel the need to care for others who are in my family when they have problems. My husband (wisely) says I do too much for them, but that's who I am the nurturer and caretaker. I do what I would want done for me. 

School: 
The other opportunity which I am excited about is I belong to a national co-op. This year I have tutored and I love it. I had thought last year that this next year I might take on a bigger role and try and direct at a campus. However, with the family stuff looming I fear taking on too much, but I also really want to do this. 

Church: 
I love volunteering with the church on a regular basis. I have in the past done a little of everything, and since moving and getting to know our new church I am working on trying to find my volunteer positions that work for both me and the church. I had tried teaching at a special program on Wednesday nights, but the timing was different than the regular kids programs and became too much. In addition our co-op meets on Thursdays so Wednesday prepping for church and school was a little much. I am helping with an upcoming special event, and have been asked to help with greeting in the children's area on Sunday mornings. I like the idea of that as it takes no prep! I will check it out this Sunday and see if it works. 

Is that enough? I might have said too much in some places, but I need to share with people and bounce ideas and lament happenings. I am woman! I also like things with clear direction and the top two family situations are definitely without clear direction and I can't predict what will or won't happen next week. Prayer is the answer for now. I pray God will lead me in the right direction and I won't take on things that are not for me at this time.

facebook keeps asking me questions...

I have noticed recently the little questions facebook is asking me... How are you feeling, Donna? How is it going? What's on your mind? I realize these questions have been there awhile, but it has struck me this week as I stare at my empty status bar. Does anyone on facebook really care how I am feeling, how it's going or what's on my mind? If I truthfully answered those questions what would people think? You got a small piece of my crazy with my last post. Here are some of my status updates that never made it to facebook....

How am I feeling?  I am feeling kinda crappy because facebook is the only one to ask me how I am feeling. (By the way if you know me and I know you read this asking me how I feel anytime soon will not seem genuine even if you mean it to be)

How is it going? Well my car was totaled, a family member is sick and doesn't see it, another family member needs help, and I have done all I can but I don't think it's enough, my husband is neglected because of all of the above, and we have only done 3 math lessons this year.

What's on my mind? My mind is full, full of the what if's and the how do I, and the what have I done wrong questions that plague us when things aren't perfect, it's all a hug jumble up there.

I could go on all day with truthful answers to these questions, but they get more detailed and that's where I have to stop. That's why nothing actually makes it to facebook I filter the truth, because I am friends with friends of not only me but those I want to talk about, but it's not public information yet. Until then the filter must remain.

The Straw that Broke this Camel's Back...

I am one of those that holds her emotions. I don't recommend it, but it's how I do it. In 1993 my Grandfather died on January 3rd, the next week I had reserved the dance room to practice my solo for my final. When I got in the room a group of girls were practicing in there. Not a big deal, but it was the straw that broke the camels back. I wept! It wasn't about not getting to be alone in the dance room, it was my grandfather had died, my sister went back to college, and it was almost finals week, and then on top of all that this little thing (and easy to fix) was what finally broke me down.
Today is my birthday. Saturday at midnight while my car was sitting in it's usual parking spot under the window of my bedroom outside my garage it was hit. Not in a normal easy way just a parking lot bump, the accident was labeled as major by the sheriff's officer. My car was pushed 3-4 feet from it's parking spot into the pilar which holds up my balcony, into the garage and also broke the outside wall around the garage door. Monday I took a family member to a doctor to get answers to some lingering questions about her health. I didn't get answers, but I got confirmation something's wrong now to figure out what and where to go next. Things are also crazy with a few other things, but I've already said too much. Just know that as I sit here tonight I feel no matter which way I look I see chaos.
My birthday is the straw that broke this camels back. I don't care about age, I'm 37 today I have no fear to say that. I have a dairy allergy and because of that I didn't get to have a cake or a special sweet today. I had plans last week to make something for myself, but because of my life it didn't happen. That's the straw this time. It's ridiculous compared to the way more important things happening in my life, but it's what sent me to tears tonight. Today it was the straw. Tomorrow I will go back to being strong and taking care of everyone, but today I am going to cry about not getting my birthday sweet. That's not really what I'm crying about, but it's what I'm going to say if you ask me, it's nothing, but really it's everything.
That's me being real...Don't feel sorry for me I am not in despair. I have Jesus, I know how the story ends, and I know I am an alien in this world. I have hope in Christ and I know I was not promised an easy life, the Bible doesn't tell me this will be an easy life in fact it tells me Satan will attack me. My hope is I know I must be doing something right because Satan won't leave me alone. I keep trucking on and praying for respite, but then again if Satan's not attacking you aren't a worthy enemy.
Just my thoughts now before I chicken out hitting publish....

Nothing and everything to say.

I have stories. Life is happening this month! They aren't all my stories to tell. My life is intertwined with my sister's and my mom's but I don't have the right to tell their stories. Maybe sometime I will get permission to tell you all about my extended families lives. Until I can tell you their stories (if ever) all I can say now is life is happening.
I am an Aunt again, although it feels more like a first. My first niece is my husband's sister's daughter. She has been my niece since I got married. I didn't meet her until we went to visit his family in Missouri and then it was a short visit with them. I really don't know my first niece. She is expecting her own child later this year. I also have 2 nieces from my brother. I think I can claim them, I have never met them, they also are much older girls. My brother is really a step brother, and the girls are his step daughters. If they were closer I might claim them more, but it's hard when they are so far physically and distant from my bloodline.
My new niece is my sister's I knew of her 7 months ago. I saw her (from afar) on her birthday. I held her the first day she came home. She will be the cousin my daughter knows best. This is the part where I wonder what I should and shouldn't tell. She was born early, and although she and my sister were fine I was at the hospital and my sister's house to help/be company for my sister 4 days last week. This week I had to choose to limit myself. The help isn't not needed this week, but I needed to live my life and take care of my immediate family.
The stories are out there, but they aren't mine to tell. Next week I have another big one, but I can't say anything. Sorry like I said everything and nothing to say.

Still not here....

Well it's official again, I am not so great at this blogging thing. I love reading blogs where they post weekly little tidbits into the lives of the family and ideas and creations they have done. Me I am too busy living to write about it. I never was good at keeping a diary I have quite a few with 2-3 entries then a few months happened without and then 2-3 more entries then another few months or a year or more and then maybe one final entry. I have just never been that person to write things down. I want to be that person.
I want to be allot of people I am not. I want to be the homemaker with a perfect home anyone could visit at anytime with a home made snack ready with the floor vacuumed and the toilet paper full. I want to be the mom whose child(ren) always do amazing projects, science, art whatever just fun amazing projects. I want to the the homeschooling parent whose child does their lessons on their own because they are that smart and can learn on their own (with some parent teaching but mostly self taught). I want to be the family who has it all together, the parents are in love and the children behave with a look. Then again do I really want to be fictional?
I have done some looking at who I am this month. This past month I have had the opportunity to see who I am as an adult. I am the volunteer at church not afraid to do a job that is familiar, but uncomfortable. I am the daughter who climbs in the garage storage to find the Christmas stockings. I am the sister who when you break your foot becomes your taxi no matter what that does to her schedule. I am the granddaughter who decorates your house for Christmas, come over on the 22nd to set the table and make sure the dishes we need are easily available. On Christmas day I am Santa, I am the decision maker, I am the dishwasher, I am the cook, I am the one people ask for an answer. After Christmas I again am the granddaughter who makes sure everything is cleaned up and put the decorations away. I am the mom who likes to take her daughter places. I am the friend who makes sure when I am in the area I try and see you. I am me.
My house is not clean, my family is not perfect, my life is a mess at times, but I am me. I like that I am the one to call when you need something done. However I also need to prioritize and limit my time away from my immediate family.
Next month my husband comes first, I will ask if he thinks I should or should not do something for someone in my family.  I will look to see what doing something means to our school schedule. I will again be the parent/teacher I need to be for my daughter. One lesson we will be learning together is how to prioritize and make time for our necessities over others. It might mean school on the road, or saying no to something important but not more important than school. We will see who I will be next month...

Quiver full...

I wrote this post awhile ago.  I didn't publish it for various reasons one being I felt petty. However the more events that happen in my life the more this issue of being a mom of one comes up. As my daughter gets older it gets harder to think about starting over, but I also would be so happy to have more so with that intro here is an old post... 
It's no secret I love kids. I love playing with them, teaching them and generally being around them. My husband is okay with them. Before we had Joy if anyone asked how many kids we wanted I would tell them I want no less than 2 and my husband wants no more than 2. So sounded like 2 was the answer.
When we started "trying" in 2004 after my graduation it was less trying than just not preventing. Then in September 2005 we learned we were pregnant only to learn less than a week later we had a miscarriage. After that we "tried" and got pregnant fairly quickly. Joy was born in September 2006.
I knew I wanted an age difference of about 3 years. So we waited the 3 years to start "trying" again. Again it was less trying than just letting things happen and not preventing. I suspected I was pregnant in August 2009, but also knew within a couple days I was having another miscarriage.
I was certain after the second miscarriage that it should happen like before we would soon start trying and have our 2nd child 9 months later. God had a different plan.
Why am I sharing this now, well it is an odd story, but something I want to share. I am still wanting another child. We are still not preventing. However, we don't have our second child. I am the only one from my mom group in Clear Lake with only one child. My homeschool co-op has one other family that I know of that has only one child, but they are currently working on adopting more.
The real trigger is today is a friend's daughter's 2nd birthday.  What does this have to do with me? It was a girl's night out and this friend, another mom and myself were talking, and this friend (who at the time was the one of two other moms in our group with only one child) stated she wasn't sure what she would do if she did not get pregnant in 2-3 months like they did with their first child. So I knew she was trying and had the thought in my head, how nice it would be to share my pregnancy and have kids close in age with her. Fast forward 2 years and nine months... She has a daughter who turned 2 today. I still have one child.
Jealousy stinks. I have to be honest I am jealous. I am jealous of everyone with more than one child. I am even jealous of those with one child who are happy with the one. I want to be happy with one. I love my one, and I am happy with her, I just feel I would be happier with more.

Not so good at this...

If you haven't noticed I am not so good at this. It's something I want to do and want to be good at, but in reality it just isn't a priority for me to blog.
That being said I do want to have a record of things in my life and this seems like a good medium. The downfall is it's a public medium so as many will tell you don't publish anything private. So that is where I am today in this in between of wanting to share something happening in my life and keeping it a private matter. It's not something that is solely about me (that I have no problem publishing). It is about someone I love. I want to tell the world what is going on so that I could possibly get some help or support. Then I think I don't want this person to be embarrassed over my sharing her information.
That is where I am today. I can't say more, but I want to shout it out so I can have support! Just pray this will all turn out in a way that I can deal with.

Dairy Free....

I have been attempting a dairy free diet since September last year. I have my ups and downs with actually being able to do it, but it has made a significant difference in my original reason to go dairy free. My conclusion is I have a dairy allergy. Why because one of my symptoms is not listed on the intolerance symptoms. Simple right? Anyway that is not what this is about.
This is about your reaction. If I tell someone that I am dairy free, the first question is why. My answer is I think I am allergic (if I know you) or I am allergic (if I don't). Some leave it at that and some say why do you think you are allergic, and since I am not one that really like "bathroom" talk I just say it messes me up. Most are satisfied with this answer and still others press. I go ahead and tell them the problem if they press and I know them well enough.
The next concern is one of two choices. The person will then ask if I am taking calcium, or they will be concerned with making sure I can still have treats like ice cream.
Those that are concerned with my calcium are quick to tell me about viactive or other calcium supplements. I smile and nod, and know I should have been taking calcium for years I have never liked drinking a glass of milk. Honestly it will take a doctor to get me to take calcium supplements. I am sure to get extra calcium in anything where that is an option, and I know I probably need it, just haven't gone there yet.
The people who I enjoy the most are those that are so concerned with my ice cream and treats consumption. They are sure to tell me about various non-dairy ice creams. I smile look at them and say really it's a good thing I can't have ice cream makes the diet easier! You see I am also on a weight loss journey.
So if you see me and we happen to be on the subject of my diet, please know I have my reasons (of which I don't like sharing), I will be fine without ice cream, and I am waiting for the doctor to prescribe supplements. Thank you!

Church Hunting...

We moved in early November to a new side of town. It's far enough that places you want to attend on a regular basis must change. This includes church.
I have never been one who likes church hunting. It's hard, and it takes a long time. Add in the fact that we moved right before the holiday season, and that makes things even more difficult. One of my main requirements for a church is that the preacher preach from the Bible EVERY Sunday. That is hard to determine or know about a pastor when it's Christmas, if they aren't preaching from the Bible at Christmas then I am probably not in a church.
The holidays also make it hard because people vacation and people are visiting from out of town, so you don't know if the group you visited always has that dynamic or if it's a little different from someone who is in town or out of town that week.
So we have visited 3 churches in this area. The first is the closest in proximity to our apartment, we could walk if we wanted to. It's probably the most "hip" of the churches we have visited. The music is great. The preaching is good. The reason this isn't the church for us is that out of four visits two sermons were about sexual immorality. Not that I don't think this is an okay topic, and the pastor had great things to say, but one of those was on Christmas Eve?!? Also the pastor is whisked away or disappears during his prayer at the end of the sermon leaving the sanctuary for unknown places. He leaves the "Jones Road" campus pastor to finish up and actually be a pastor and not just a speaker. Also they pray the sinners prayer each week and then just ask you to go see someone in the hallway if you prayed the prayer, no actual invitation. These are all little things, but they are also odd to me.
Church number 2 is a church that I already know two families at from our homeschool group. My issues with this church are smaller. The first being they are currently without a pastor, not that a pastor makes a church, but he can make a difference in a church. The other issue is more that my husband doesn't love this church. I could probably settle here if he felt comfortable.
Church 3 we visited once last week. The church is huge, they only have one worship service on Sunday morning (if you don't count the one for those who work in childcare etc while the service is happening), but it is also the largest of the actual church buildings. This church had a million dollar surplus in their budget last year. They put it towards paying off the buildings they built recently. My husband made the comment that he could not see a younger grouping of adults in the whole church it was a sea of blue hairs. He was also overwhelmed by the size.
So this is where we stand with our church hunt. We are all tired of it, but feel no closer to a home than when we started.

Snacks and appetizers for 3

One of my favorite blog reads is when the 4 Moms and 35 kids team up and I get 4 opinions on one subject. The problem is they have 35 kids between 4 moms. I have one. So sometimes the advice is great for me, what applies for a crown should apply to one on occasion. Other times I enjoy the read and go on. Today they are doing a linky which means I get to participate. So to follow their rules I am linking to their site(s).
Raising Olives is talking about hot wings
Smockity is talking popcorn
Life in a shoe is talking Bacon wrapped jalapenos which she says aren't too spicy, but I would challenge that since I have 0 spice tolerance!
The Common Room has some uncommon Nachos

I would like to say I have some great snack ideas, but really we are bad eaters and snacks are the easy go to things in the pantry or fridge that have no purpose in cooking. This includes chips, cheese balls, yogurt, and a random assortment of bagged items. Currently in the pantry are some pretzel shaped graham crackers, tortilla chips, fruit chews, dried cranberries and who knows what that has been forgotten way too long. In the fridge is my daughter's yogurt enough juice to float a cruise ship, and various kinds of individual cheese snacks.

The new dilema in snacking at our house is my discovery of my body's dislike of dairy. So my favorite lower fat go to snacks are out. The replacement has been fruit! I am in the middle of a weight loss journey and this is my new love. An apple a day or every 2-3 days is helping me stay away from the high fat snacks. In addition we got a popcorn popper from my sister for Christmas. It's still a learning curve on how to get the flavor to the popcorn, but so far I am enjoying what I create when it is not burnt.

So a recipe for a snack? Go to the store find one thing for each family member that requires no prep or work on your part put it in the pantry and call it snack food. I understand for the large families might have to limit the choices to 5 or less. I do limit the large open bags to 2 in our family. It's what we do, how about you? What are your favorite snack foods? 

Joy started gymnastics!! Finally she is enrolled in a class! I have wanted this for her since she turned 3, which happened about the time Rob got a 10% pay cut at his old job. It is one of those things that I wanted for her. I want her to explore different options in life, like gymnastics and dance, maybe even a sport or two. Extracurricular classes are one of those things that I wanted as a child, and something I want for my child.
I want my child to have opportunities in life. I want her to be smarter than me, and I want her to be able to do what she wants and not be held back because she didn't get something in her education. This to me includes gymnastics/dance/sports. She loved her first class, I can't wait to take her to the second one!

Trying again?

If you didn't know I started a second blog about our homeschooling adventure. It's at Homeschooling1 hop on over if you are interested in that adventure.
I can't say I am great at blogging anywhere, but I am working on all the things in my life I feel like I don't do well. This includes blogging. It's something I like, it's something I admire when others do it well, and it's something I would like to say I do. So I am starting over (again). I don't know what this will mean. I don't have a vision for this blog, it's more of our family life share blog so here it is back up and running. I am sure you are all dying to see pictures of Joy so here you go her 5 year pictures by an amazing photographer Rosie. She is in the League City area, but her prices are great and she is a military wife and I like to support our military however I can.

 Above is the photo that is now a canvas and hangs above the piano! I love it, it's a natural smile with a carefree fun pose. Below is my favorite "Mickey" picture this year. If you don't know we take a picture with big Mickey each year as a record of Joy's growth through the years.

We will see if the blog continues or dies out again next week!

It's a party!!

So I had my first party Thursday night. I know a little slow getting started, I'm not a great salesman and not pushy at all! So This is my first party, and overall I would say it went well. My hostess cooked the host pack of Garlic Lemon Chicken, Taco Soup Dip, and Mini Pecan Pie Muffins. I didn't taste anything, but I heard rave reviews. I try and not taste something unless I know we have more than enough to go around I would rather the guest get to taste it than me. Plus I am fairly confident a guest won't ask if I have had something if it was on the menu that night! I can always refer to the hostess for questions on cooking those items too.
Are you familiar with a Homemade gourmet home show? If not let me do a run down! (If you are skip this paragraph!) The host is in charge of making the food for the party. This gives the host a chance to sample cooking the products and know how easy it is to do! This also saves me from being the only one who has cooked anything HG. The show itself can or does have 2 components if you so choose i can do 4 meals in 4 minutes for the hostess. I provide a shopping list and then at the party I do the prep for 4 meals in about 4 minutes. Since I am talking through this it might be a little longer, but you get the idea of how quick and easy these meals are to make! The other part of the party is typical of most home parties where someone is trying to sell you something, we talk and talk and talk about the product, my job and how you can learn more and get more! Then we end. My order form is super simple so anyone can fill it out! You list your product (by name please) and then how many and the price then add it all up add 10% for shipping and you are done! NO TAX!! No odd numbers to add up, I love it!!
So my first party hostess earned 2 meals (it was a January special) the leftovers from her party (which I don't believe she had any because she had a large group), 10% of her sales which at this time is a little over $40. A chance to purchase our host special dishes, and a chance to get 35% off this month's HG Preferred dinner meals, and since her sales are over $400 another item at 35% off! I would say she did a great job for one night and all she had to do was cook a couple things and clean her house! I even lent her my steam mop! (She wanted to try it out).
Are you interested in hosting a show if so let me know I live just south of Houston but will go anywhere in about a one hour radius!

Tacos!

Tacos are a staple in our house. Over the years I have done various things to season them. I have used different packets, my mom just uses Chili Powder. Mostly I bought the individual packets or when I find it a large container of the seasoning. Last night I was at a loss on what to cook, so I decided tacos, it had been awhile, and although it was 30 minutes from dinner and no meat was defrosted I decided I could do this. I have a packet of seasoning, but since I was looking through my recipe cards I decided to try the Taco Soup Seasoned Meat for our tacos. Once my meat thawed I cooked the meet with the seasoning, unlike packets where you drown the meat in water and seasoning at the end. The taste is not that bold taco flavor, so personally it was just okay. My husband also liked it as a good change of pace. My daughter (super picky eater who it takes much encouragement to eat a taco) ate her taco in a quarter of her usual time. She didn't even freak out when the shell broke (that usually ads 5 minutes to the taco eating time!) So another win for Homemade Gourmet! Bonus if you order now Taco Soup Seasoning is on sale!!

Soup's On!

This month the soups are 15% off so I decided that we would try a few. I asked my husband to pick some out and he picked the Chicken and Rice Creme Soup, Bonnie's Blue Ribbon Chili, and I picked the Taco Soup Staple (it was actually cheaper since the staple was on sale to get the refill and buy the container and the recipe cards separate).
Dinner tonight I decided I would try out the Chicken and Rice Creme Soup. I didn't have any meat thawed or precooked, so around 3:30 I put 4-5 frozen chicken breast along with a can of Chicken Broth in a pot on the stove. I let these cook for about an hour and then used the Pampered Chef Mix n Chop to cut up the chicken. I then poured it into a strainer saving the broth for my soup. The recipe calls for 6 cups of water, but like I have said before when you can substitute broth for water go ahead it usually turns out in your favor. The recipe for the Chicken and Rice Creme soup is the mix, 6 cups of water and 12oz canned chicken or 1 cup chicken. I ended up with 2 cups of the broth so I did 2 cups of broth with the mix and 1 cup of chicken. I put all the ingredients back in the same pot I had just cooked the chicken in (I took the other 2 cups of chicken and put them in the fridge for my next recipe). Then whisked as stated on the directions to combine, and then brought to a boil and simmered 20 minutes.
The verdict: I liked it, although it was a bit salty, probably from the broth, might go ahead with a lower sodium broth next time. Hubby liked it and got a second helping. My daughter did not want soup and so she opted for an Easy Mac. I did make her try one bite, she was already convinced she would not like it, so she did not like it (or so she says, she did not spit it out!).
In all I would say it was a total success! Dinner in 20 minutes if I had the chicken pre-prepared, which I do for next time. We also have 2 servings left for another day.

Another Opportunity...

I have a friend who sells Creative Memories, and since I LOVE to scrapbook and Creative Memories is my preferred product I try and go to her events. I have been to one scrapbooking day with her and remember their being some snacks there, which is great while scrapbooking. She had another event coming up this past Saturday so I asked her if she and the other CM consultants would be interested in my providing the snacks. It could save them time and money. It was agreed that I could provide for them. So I decided on some BLT dip (my favorite and I have a pantry staple!), Mock Spinach (it sounded good and I wanted to try it), Jalapeno Bacon Cheddar (a friend had bought it and decided it was too spicy so traded for something of equal value something you can do with any HG product you don't like, burn or whatever) and Roasted tomato Salsa (I had a few on hand so I knew I could make one and possibly sell the others). For dessert I had a Cinnamon Sopapilla dessert and Apple Crisp.
The prep was super easy as always. The dips were all mix and chill. The Salsa was a can of Rotel and a can of tomatoes and the mix put in blender and blend for a little bit then chill and serve. I decided to go ahead and make the cinnamon sopaillas ahead and serve chilled. The apple crisp I did that morning and actually melted a part of my new rolling cooler (oops!).
In all I think it went well. The CM consultants were glad not to have to think of that portion of the prep and doings for the day, and I was glad to get my products out there!
If you don't already know the soups are on sale this month! I bought for myself the Chicken and Rice Creme, Taco Soup mix and Blue Ribbon Chili! I can't wait for it to come in later this week! I will let you know how those turn out!!

Enchilada Soup on a not so cold day

I live in Texas and if you listen to the complainers on facebook, it's a million degrees too hot outside. Personally I am enjoying it. I got to wear a polo today and didn't need my jacket, perfect weather. It's not really soup weather, but ever since I saw the Enchilada Soup Mix I have wanted to try it. I LOVE enchiladas and any way to get that flavor in my mouth makes me a happy girl. I also thought this would be a soup my hubby would like. He was not a fan of the Taco Soup made for the open house, because it had beans and corn in it. The enchilada soup has tomatoes, but he will get over it. So the recipe was 7tbsp of the mix, some milk, water, a can of tomatoes and some pre-cooked chicken, simple like everything else! I threw it together in the pot gave it a couple stirs and left it to heat up then simmer 20 minutes. I love it!! My husband approved of it, and my daughter didn't try it. The tomatoes I used I think took away from the actual soup texture and flavor. I think I will try some rotel next time! I think this soup really captured the enchilada flavor without being too much of anything. I also think I would have liked some cheese on top of it, because every enchilada needs cheese! In all I was a happy camper and will gladly have more for lunch tomorrow even if it is 80 outside!

Skillet Chicken and Rice

I received my package from the Christmas Open House to find that one of the products had spilled. Now I can't give that to a customer so I did a damage report to get a new one. It had not spilled so bad that I would deem it unusable though so I had to sacrifice myself and my family to try it out. This was a good idea, except that it's a Skillet chicken and rice and my husband recently discovered that my skillet's coating was coming off, so it's not going to be used again (don't worry my sister bought me a new one at her job for a great discount!). So luckily right on the Homemade Gourmet package they had an alternative recipe for casserole Chicken and rice! Awesome, even better I had all the ingredients on hand! It called for a cream of soup (I had chicken it asks for mushroom) and some water and some chicken. I mixed the water and the soup and the rice together put them in the 9x13 pyrex, then placed some frozen chicken on top. Now the recipe just said chicken and I am lazy so I tried the frozen, can't hurt right? I do believe it would be better to go ahead and take the 5-10 min while the oven preheats to thaw the chicken, so lesson learned. I put this all in the oven for the required 40 minutes (I am doing this from memory so forgive me if I am wrong!) When I checked it at the time it said the chicken was almost done, but the rice was still fairly raw, so I threw it back in for 20 minutes. That did the trick.
The opinions of my family on this new meal: My daughter liked it with some hesitation, so not real sure if she really liked it or was just wanting us to be happy she was eating it. My husband thought the rice was over cooked. I can blame this on my extra 20 minutes (maybe should have been less) or the loss of some rice in the original spillage. I loved it, and have had most of the leftovers myself! I did like the flavor of the rice more than the chicken, but since the chicken just laid on top it didn't really get much flavor. We both agree we will try it again, but attempt the skillet version with my new skillet when it gets to me! All in all it was a success! Go ahead try some yourself!