The Walnut Acre Daily - Tuesday May 8, 2012

Walking With the King

Now we ask you brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13

MORE HERE

We Are Learning

We are continuing with the Pretty Bugs theme as we will all week and possibly next week as well. We read our stories, songs and reviewed our memory verse that goes with this theme and then played a Pretty Bugs memory game.

We also worked on our Bb worksheets from here.

We Are Reading

Two of the books the kids chose for me to read to them today are 

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss 

and Read to Your Bunny by Rosemary Wells.

Homemaking Joys

Once again not much to report here. So far this week I'm barely keeping up with the basics. In fact, this evening Doug cleaned up the playroom for me because I just couldn't seem to get to the end of the work. Thank you, Dear.

And my kitchen still needs help. I should run another load of dishes in the dishwasher. But I'm too tired and it's not going to happen. And it's okay, they'll still be there in the morning.

In the Kitchen

We had pizza bread and fruit for lunch.

For dinner I made baked chicken with cheese sauce

salad with lettuce and radishes from the garden

 boiled radishes with butter

and macaroni and cheese. 

The boiled radishes were a new dish for us and both Doug and I really liked them. I had read a suggestion that putting a little lemon juice in the water when I boil them would help them keep their color but I forgot to do it. I simply boiled them with water and a little salt until they were tender. After I drained the water I added some butter and let it melt before I served them. This simple recipe is one I will definitely be making again. 

In the Garden

I finally got to work in the garden again today. 

I cut some of the lettuce that is growing like crazy.

I also pulled a LOT of radishes and also thinned out two rows of radishes that are coming along.

Now if I can just get to some of the weeds that are growing almost as fast as the lettuce and radishes I'll be glad. 

On Our Nature Walk

We continued our bug theme today on our nature walk. Khristian picked up several rocks that had interesting ant nurseries underneath them. We watched them for awhile and then carefully placed the rock back over them so they would be safe. It was interesting to watch the ants scurry to carry the larva somewhere safe as soon as the rock was moved.

We also found a spot we hadn't explored before and had fun finding the little "secret clearing" and "secret doorways" in it.

Other Outdoor Fun

We had a lot of other fun outside today as well.

Like climbing trees . . .

. . . finding caterpillars . . .

. . . and robin's egg shells . . .

. . . and just simply running as hard and fast as possible.

Doug even had the "fun" of changing the oil in all three vehicles this evening after he got home from work. He has recently become an AMSOIL dealer and since the vehicles were due for oil changes he ordered AMSOIL.

Out and About

Since my parents are on vacation this week they asked if I would gather the eggs while they are gone. This morning Amanda and I took the little kids down there and let them watch the chickens and play while I gathered eggs.

Oh, and Amanda told me that she'd better not be in any of these pictures so, like any good mother would, I took one while she yelled at me to stop!

Here are the eggs I gathered today. The six in the top row are duck eggs. We've never had duck eggs before and I'm looking forward to trying them.

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Today's Adventures - Monday September 19, 2011

Verse of the Day

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. John 15:9

Quote of the Day
For when I know the love God has for me, then my mental confusion disperses lik fog on a summer's morning. ~ Malcolm Smith

Creating

I'm working on the curtains for the playroom now. Like the kitchen curtains these will be patchwork curtains but these will have fun things appliqued on them for the kids to enjoy. Here are two blocks I finished today.

From the Kitchen

Austin made us scrambled eggs with sausage and swiss cheese for lunch.

Amanda made Tuna Cheesy Pasta and corn for dinner.

I baked two loaves of bread. My favorite recipe lately is Traditional White Bread.

Critters

Pepper the dog and Little Red the not so little guinea pig have become friends. They are so funny - touching noses and jumping around excitedly when they see each other.

Working Together

Michael and I tackled a couple mountains of laundry today.

 

Playing Together

On My Mind

 We were reminded yesterday in Pastor Jim's sermon not to try to put  God in a box that we've imagined He should fit in, based on our own comfort zones. God is God and will do what is best in His timing and His own way. And although it is usually not the way we would think it should be done it is always the best way.

Tonight I am Grateful For . . .

. . . the fact that Doug was able to fix my computer today. I'm almost ashamed to admit how much I missed my computer today after one of the kids spilled cereal on it and several of the keys quit working. Doug replaced my the keyboard on mine with a keyboard from an old computer and now it's as good as new.

Every day is an adventure and I never want to forget.

Hamburger Chow Mein

1 lb ground beef

1 1/2 cups rice

3 cups water

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 onion, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until rice is tender and meat is cooked through.

Serve with a sprinkle or two of soy sauce and topped with chow mein noodles if desired.

~Linking Here~

SUNDAY – Strut Your Stuff, Creative Bloggers Party and Hop, So Sweet Sundays, Sunday Showcase, Not “Baaad” Sunday , Think Pink Sundays, Sunday Linky Party, DIY Project Parade, Savory Sundays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Sew Darn Crafty,{K.I.S.S.} Blog Bash, MONDAY – I Made It, Inspire Me Mondays, A Marvelous Mess,More the Merrier, Made By You Monday, Making the World Cuter Monday, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Market Yourself Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Motivate Me Monday, Unwasted Homemaking Linky, Sharing Monday, Making a Home, TUESDAY - Titus 2sdays, Domestically Divine, One Project at a Time, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, Simply Homemaking, Tuesday Time Out, Tuesday Confessionals , Teach Me Tuesdays WEDNESDAY - Homemaking Link-Up, Living Well Wednesdays, What's Cooking Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Reader Link Wednesday Foodie Wednesday THURSDAY – Full Plate Thursday, Delightfully Inspiring Thursday, Creative Juice Thursday, It's a Party, FRIDAY – Feasting in Fellowship Fridays, Fridays Unfolded, SATURDAY - Weekend Wrap-Up Party,

Menu Plan Monday 3.14 - 3.19.11

Breakfast

As usual, simple breakfasts - cereal, milk, and juice.

Lunch

Monday - Crackers with Turkey and Cheese, Grapes, Carrot Sticks with Dip, Milk

Tuesday - Lasagna, Pears, Garlic Bread, Milk (Austin cooking)*

Wednesday - Bacon, Eggs, Toast, Hash Browns, Fruit Cocktail, Milk (Austin cooking)*

Thursday - Homemade Pizza, Pears, Milk (Austin Cooking)*

Friday - Bologna and Cheese Sandwiches, Green Beans, Applesauce, Milk

Saturday - Pizza Rolls, Green Beans, Strawberries, Milk

Dinner

Monday - Popcorn Chicken, Pears, Bananas, Sugar Cookies, Milk (Amanda cooking)*

Tuesday - Italian Chicken, Green Beans, Blueberries, Butter Bread, Milk

Wednesday - Taco Pie, Corn, Bananas, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Milk (Amanda cooking)*

Thursday - Chef Salad, Strawberries, Garlic Bread, Milk

Friday - Beef Stroganoff, Corn, Peas, Cinnamon Rolls, Milk (Amanda cooking)*

Saturday - Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Fruit Cocktail, French Fries, Milk

Snacks

Apples

Grapes

Bananas

Graham Crackers

Popcorn

Oyster Crackers

Animal Crackers

Milk

Juice

*These meals have been planned by Austin or Amanda and they will be in charge of cooking and serving them.

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Kids in the Kitchen - Amanda's Triple Cheese Bacon Macaroni (With a Side of Chocolate Chip Cookies)

The kids went all out planning their menus this week and today was Amanda's day to cook. As she's becoming more comfortable in the kitchen she's gotten reached the point where she's ready to experiment and trying new things.

One of her favorite food is macaroni and cheese and she has made it many times from the box. This time she wanted to make homemade mac and cheese and she didn't want to follow a recipe but to make it her own way.

So, with no recipe and no exact measurements here is what she did.

Boiled about 24 ounces of macaroni until it was somewhat tender but not soft. To the drained macaroni she added a lot of grated cheddar cheese, nearly a whole 16 ounce package of american cheese, a 16 ounce container of cottage cheese, several large spoonfuls of sour cream, and a pound of bacon, baked and diced.

 Over this she poured enough milk to keep it moist as it baked and added salt and pepper to taste. 

All this makes a very large batch of macaroni and cheese but we feed a lot of people around here. It turned out wonderful and we ate nearly all of the large pan of it. The smaller pan we will eat either tomorrow or Wednesday. It's always nice to have a quick meal ready on days when we're extra busy or just want to be able to spend most of our time outside.

She also made a delicious batch of jumbo chocolate chip cookies.

  Add some peas and applesauce and we had a wonderful dinner this evening.

Thank you, Amanda.

For more fun and delicious recipes check out Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff.

Also check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

For a wide variety of articles on homemaking visit Raising Homemakers.