a Teacher's Favorite things...

I have fallen in love with a great Blog called . I encourage you to check it out! She has great DIY ideas and is also a past teacher. Today she blogged about a back to school idea which I love. She created a "Favorite Things" survey to give to her child's teacher at the start of the school year. It's precious and we will definitely be using it this year!

Powerful food for thought

E-Mealz, What's for Dinner?

I heard through a friend that E-Mealz was a great, affordable option for planning weekly meals. I decided to give it a shot. It costs $15 for 3 months but if you use the word "DAVE" (as in Dave Ramsey, who endorses this program) it will take $2.50 off your bill making it $12.50 for 3 months. I'm going to give it a try. We are trying the "Low Fat 7-Day Meal Plan" and we'll see how we like it before we renew in three months. Check it out, from what I can tell it seems to be worthwhile.



E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families

http://www.e-mealz.com/

Taco Night!

Here is an awesome and easy recipe I found for delicious tacos! This recipe eliminates the prepackaged Taco seasoning for a MUCH healthier more flavorful taco!

** I use a rotisserie chicken from Costco instead of Lean Ground Beef**

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Onion, minced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander
½ tsp Oregano
¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
Salt
1 pound Lean Ground Beef (or chicken)
½ cup Canned Tomato Sauce (I Use Hunt's)
½ cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 tsp Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Light Brown Sugar
8 Taco Shells


Directions:
1 Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until simmering.
2.Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3.Stir in the garlic, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt.
4.Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5.Stir in the ground beef or chicken.
6.Cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
7.Stir in the tomato sauce, broth, vinegar, and sugar.
8.Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
9.Season with salt to taste.
10.Divide the filling evenly among taco shells and serve, passing any desired accompaniments separately.

Crock Pot Cookin'

Crock Pot Cookin' tonight!

Today has been an extremely busy day with the Global Leadership Summit (hosted by Christ Community Church) sandwiched by shuttling the little one to and from his last day of Summer Camp. As he catches his daily afternoon nap, I am anxiously awaiting our return to the Leadership Summit Conference this afternoon. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, check out www.willowcreek.com. It's incredible leadership wisdom and a call to action. Bill Hybels was the first speaker this morning and he challenged his audience with 5 reflection questions about themselves as leaders. Words that have stayed with me from his opening session are "Are you making excuses or creating solutions?" There are very detailed summaries on the WCA blog. Visit it at http://www.wcablog.com/. You won't be disappointed!

Anyway, we are very much out of our normal routine. The gym has been put on hold for the last two weeks and cooking has been as well. Though I am anxious to get back into our routine I've enjoyed the company we've hosted and events/activities we've been blessed to attend! However this post this is for Marti! My HCS teacher friend who asked me today, "What is for dinner?" I thought on her first day back to school I couldn't leave her empty handed. So, Marti, we are having a fancy-free, crock pot masterpiece with ingredients pulled out of the freezer and pantry early this morning. If you hadn't asked, my family probably would be having cold cut sandwiches at 7:30 tonight after we get home from the Summit. So, they thank you! And, I thank you! Hope you and all my other dear HCS friends had a wonderful first day back! Today is the first year out of the last several that instead of Staff Development I was enlightened with spiritual and personal development through the Global Leadership Summit event. It felt very strange today not being in a classroom but - also very purposed - that I was instead sitting, 4 months pregnant, at a Leadership Summit, listening to God's prompting of my heart for His purpose as I learn how I can be a leader outside of the walls of a classroom and beyond my identity as a teacher. I am so thankful to Him.


So, here is What's for Dinner tonight! Marti, thank you again for asking!
Boneless Pork Chops with Vegetables adapted from: The Busy Mom's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups lowfat cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup nonfat chicken broth
1 lb boneless pork chops
1 tsp. pepper
1 10oz bag of frozen veggies (I used peas because it was what was on hand)
6-7 small red potatoes

Cook on low heat 4-5 hours. Stir mixture and serve!

Works of Art!

One of my summer projects has been to showcase some of my little one's art work from his preschool last year. We do not have a magnetic fridge so I've had to be more creative in displaying his work. I decided to frame some of his work to hang in our home and also to display around the house. Earlier in the year, I had the idea to buy cork boards and cover them in fabric. Then, use tacks to hang up his work. It's worked great for us! Here are a few pictures of his little gallery .

Responsibility Chart

The teacher in me loves positive reinforcement and concrete ways to measure "desired" behaviors. With my own two year old son, we decided to introduce Melissa and Doug's Responsibility Chart to him. I chose 6 goals that we are currently working on with him. His six are:

1. Put toys away.
2. Potty when asked (Potty in the potty)
3. Show Respect
4. Listen the 1st time
5. Say Please and Thank You
6. Help with chores

Every evening before bed we go over his Responsibility Chart. We talk about if he met his goal and why or why not. The first several times we did it his response to every goal was "Yes Ma'am" (gotta love Southern living)....so it's taken him some time to realize the difference between meeting his goal and not. For example, he knows if he has an accident now he doesn't earn his magnet for the board. But, if he goes in the potty, he earns his magnet. To make it even more meaningful for him and to begin teaching him about money, each magnet he receives is worth one nickel. Therefore, he can earn a $0.30 allowance every day for meeting his goals. Now he has his own piggy bank (which he LOVES). After several weeks when we feel he has mastered these goals and does them automatically we will move on to some new goals. It has been a really positive way to reinforce desired behaviors in our house. I found my Melissa and Doug Responsibility Chart at Tanger Outlet at Osh Gosh. The sent a $10 coupon in the mail which I used on the board - so I was able to buy it for around $11. Otherwise, many places sell them (including Bob Evans, AC Moore, Barnes and Noble, etc.) or you can find them online. Amazon has them on sale for $14.99 right now. It comes with a big set of "goals" and a ton of colorful smiley face magnets. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Magnetic-Responsibility/

I did attach velcro to the backside of the board so mine would hang as one piece instead of two separate pieces. I also took all the other goal/smiley face magnets off the board for now. It was too much of a temptation for little hands and also kind of distracting to him.

Snack Short Cuts

Now that I have time to actually read and research many other things outside of what I am teaching (because I've decided to stay at home this year), I'm enjoying the world of teaching and parenting blogs. Today I came across a blog with some interesting snack time ideas.The blog that I found is: www.michellescharmworld.blogspot.com.
On this blog, the author shared timesaving tips on keeping single serve snacks in the fridge. Now, I know this isn't new news to anyone however I've never done it. After seeing her suggestions and thinking about the amount of food we were letting go bad because it wasn't convenient or quick, I decided it was time to cut up the fruits and veggies in our fridge. Here's what I came up! I used some awesome tupperware that I found on sale at Costco a few months back and I lined the bottom of each one with a piece of paper towel because I swear it magically makes things last longer :). Cherries are always difficult to give to my little one because of the seeds (he doesn't get how to eat it without biting the seed - then what to do with the seed) so I just cut them up! My little project was time consuming today (about an hour) but it's raining outside and the next time we want a snack there are all kinds of fruits and veggies washed and cut!

Wordless Wonders in the Kitchen

Noah loves to help his mommy cook. Over the last few days we haven't had time to upload recipes, however we have been cooking! We've made Rosemary Pork chops, Steak and chicken Kabobs, Fresh Peach Cobbler and many other great recipes! Enjoy the pictures!

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
3 pounds Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
2 medium Onions, halved and thinly sliced
8 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
16 Thin Slices Peeled Fresh Ginger (About 1 Ounce)
2 Tbsp Curry Powder, preferably Madras
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Ground Cumin
Coarse Salt
2 Packages Frozen Green Peas (10 Ounces Each)
2 cups Unsweetened Coconut Milk
½ cup Toasted Cashews (Optional, for serving)
¼ cup Cilantro Leaves (Optional, for serving

Yield: Serves 8
Attribution: MarthaStewart.com


Directions:
1.In a 5-quart slow cooker, toss chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, coriander, and cumin to coat. Season with 2 teaspoons salt. Cover, cook on high setting until chicken is fork-tender, about 4 hours (do not uncover while cooking).

2.Stir in coconut milk and peas; cover, cook until peas are heated through, about 20 minutes.

3.Transfer chicken to a large bowl; shred with fork. Return to pot; toss with sauce.

4.To serve, garnish with ½ cup toasted cashews and ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, if desired.