My Day In Pictures

I love to read blog posts that show pictures of what the author does. It makes me feel like they have invited me into their home, and I get to experience the way they live, and what is important to them. They have inspired me to grab my own camera and document my almost every movement. I hope you enjoy my day, and hopefully are encouraged to share yours.

The first thing I do when I get up is check on my garden. The caterpillars have devoured my tomatoes, but my bell peppers are doing pretty good!




I also had to add algaecide to the pool this morning. Looks cool and refreshing, doesn't it!



Next I have to start breakfast, and clean the kitchen. Today for breakfast is peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs, and grapes.



Clean, clean, clean!!



After breakfast is when we usually start our lessons. We are using Rod & Staff for my 5th grader, and 1st grader.



While they are working on their lessons I get started on some salsa. This snack is so fresh and yummy!

These are all the ingredients I need to make this...



and here is the final product. Doesn't it look wonderful?

After the salsa was done, I got the girls started on their lapbooks. Lexi is doing TheHuman Body, and Cadyn is doing The Ants Go Marching.

While they are doing their lessons I made a batch of Banana Chocolate Chip muffins. Let me just say that they did not last very long!


Then I have to clean the kitchen.....again! It never seems to be clean! Do you see our science project up on the window sill? It is a Venus Flytrap! It currently has one fly in it's trap, and we are eagerly waiting to see what happens when it opens back up.

After I cleaned the kitchen we decided to go outside for a little while. You know, to get our wiggles out!


The girls were worn out by this time, so we all laid down for quiet time until it was time to make dinner. Dinner was Spaghetti with home made noodles, and french bread. Sorry, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I was too hungry!

I hope you all enjoyed my day! It was a lot of fun to put together for you, and maybe I will do it again. You will just have to keep coming back to see!

Whole Wheat Bread in the Bread Machine

This is a re-post from last month, but it is so good that I had to put in my favorites! This bread comes out moist and stays that way. Just what I like!

Perfect Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm water

1 TB milk

2 TB oil (vegetable, olive, canola...it all works fine)

2 TB honey

2 TB brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp yeast

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a bread machine in the order according to your manufacturer's instructions (the above list is how I add mine).

Set your machine to the Dough cycle (my machine takes 90 minutes).

After the cycle is complete, remove the dough and place it into a well-greased loaf pan.

Brush the top with a small amount of oil (optional, but gives the bread a nice shine & crust).

Cover the pan with a dish towel and place in a warm spot of your kitchen. (I put mine in an oven that I preheated to 200 degrees, then turned off).

Let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes.

Remove the towel and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Rosemary Bread in the Bread Machine

I love the way this bread smells while cooking! It is my favorite snacking bread, but it goes well with soups and other saucy meals.

There are a lot of spices in this bread, but do not skimp! I promise that you will love the outcome! The pepper lends it a slight (very slight) spice, and the rosemary is perfect. I hope you enjoy this bread, and comment below letting me know what meal your paired it with.

-1 cup water
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
-1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning or Basil and Oregano
-1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1/2-1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (dried will work fine, but the rosemary will not be as strong)
-2 1/2 cups bread flour
-1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. Place ingredients in your bread machine according to the manufacturers recommendations. Select the white bread cycle, and press Start. That is it!

Chocolate Cake In the Bread Machine

When I first made this I did not anticipate it even turning out OK. I have made home made cake before, and I know the process is a little more than dump and go, which is what you do in the bread machine. So while this is baking I am thinking, "This is so not going to work", then "OK, that smells gooood!", and , "Wow, I really want to eat that! I hope it works!". Now, even though it ended up not looking like cake, and the texture was nothing compared to cake, the end product was something more! It was a not too sweet, chocolate bread that was to DIE for! You will love this bread, your husband will love this bread, your kids, your aunts, uncles, everyone!

This recipe will say to choose your cake setting, which I have on my machine. If you don't have this feature I would still give it a try on the regular setting and see how it works.

Chocolate Cake




-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-5 tbs unsweetened cocoa
-2tsp baking powder
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/3 cup oil or butter
-2 eggs lightly beaten
-1/3 cup water
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

When the sound beeps add in:
-1/3 cup chocolate chips (if you don't have this feature just go ahead and throw them in. Not sure why it's there anyway)

1. Measure all ingredients into the bread pan.
2. Insert baking pan securely into baking unit and close lid.
3. Select the cake setting if you have it.
4. Add the chocolate chips after about 5 minutes.
5. The bread machine will do the rest of the work for you, so kick up your heels and relax a little!

Enjoy, from my house to yours!

Bread Recipe Week......Foccacia Bread Using the Bread Machine

This week I am going to post my seven top favorite bread machine recipes. So gather your essentials, and stay tuned!


When I made this for the first time I couldn't believe how delicious it really was! We all ate both loaves in one sitting...no joke! The Triple Cheese topping will remind you of pizza, and may taste a little better too. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!


Preheat oven to 375
Baking Sheet lightly greased

-1 1/3 cups water
-1 1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp sugar
-3 3/4 cups bread flour
-2 1/4 tsp yeast

1. Add ingredients according to your bread machine recommendations.
2. Remove dough to a lightly floured board; cover with a large bowl and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
3. Divide the dough in half. Stretch each half into a 10 by 8 inch rectangle. Dimple with flour coated fingertips. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place for 30 min. Re-dimple. Cover with preferred topping mixture (recipe follows).
4. Bake on the lowest rack of the preheated oven or hot baking stone for 20-30 minutes or until golden.


Triple Cheese Topping

-1-2 tsp olive oil
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp dried basil
-1/2-1 cup prepared salsa
-1/2 cup shredded Asiago or Romano cheese
-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-salsa for garnish

1. Mix together olive oil and garlic for a more even coverage. Drizzle over the dough; allow to puddle in the pimples. Top with basil and salsa. Mix the 3 cheeses together. Sprinkle over salsa.


Parmesan Walnut Topping

-2 tbs olive oil
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts
-2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

1. Mix together olive oil and garlic. Drizzle over the dough; allow to puddle in the dimples. Top the dough with walnuts and Parmesan cheese.

Real Life Homeschooling

I was thinking how cool it would be to post every week a life lesson that I have incorporated into our homeschool. I think life lessons are important for every child and easy to teach with minimal effort. These lessons will stay with a little one for the rest of their lives, and will make living away from home easier. Can you imagine how hard it would be to move away for the first time without knowing how to cook, or wash your own clothes? I definitely don't want any of my children feeling lost, or calling me on the phone to ask for directions!

The first life lesson I am blogging about is cooking. My eldest daughter(10 yrs.) loves to cook, and bake. After watching her become bored after her lessons I thought of a great idea that would take up some of her extra time. Once a week she would have to find a healthy meal, make a grocery list, budget under $10, and prepare her meal with minimal help. To assist her recipe hunt, I unearthed an old Christmas cookbook that was never touched, but is now loved! It is Molly's American Girl cookbook, and has a lot of fun recipes that are perfect for beginners. This was just the ticket to get my girl going!

For her first meal she chose meatloaf (from scratch!), and lava potatoes. I never doubted in my mind that she would fail, but she did outdo my expectations! Her meal was superb, especially the lava potatoes that were filled with cheese! You should have seen her beaming smile, while her family told her what a fine job she did! We not only taught her a valuable skill, she also felt very good about herself and knows now that she is capable. Knowing that she can cook a meal a week, and allow me to rest a little, makes her feel important and needed. Something everyone needs!!

The last couple weeks have been real slow around here, and not much has been done. I was pretty sick, and we all know what happens when Mama is sick! The house goes, the kids go bonkers, and the hubby is stretched thinner than usual! It was not a pretty picture! However, I do need to give my hubby props for takin' care of business. I don't know how I would have done it without him!

So, I went to the cardiologist last week, and he doesn't think my symptoms are heart related. That's good news, but now I have to start at the beginning again. My family doctor thinks my hormone levels are out of whack, which would explain a lot of other things that I thought were unrelated. I have an appointment with my OB in a couple weeks, and I am hoping with all my heart that he can tell me what's wrong. Readers, I have been feeling like this for years! If someone can cure me I will be the happiest woman on the planet! Say a prayer for me!