Quick Meal Stretch: Taco Meat for a Crowd

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Our hamburger comes in 2 lb frozen logs.  It barely feeds my family of 7 for a meal of tacos.  Once a week we add 4 extra mouths to our table and I knew it wouldn’t stretch.  I added 2 cups of cooked brown rice to our meat once it was browned and then added my taco spices to flavor it all together.  I loved the flavors and the children ate it well.  We had enough for lunch the next day.

3 Ingredient Taco Seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1-2 Tablespoons chili powder

Mix spices and sprinkle on 2 lb cooked meat with 1/4 cup water.  Cook and and stir until most of the water has evaporated.

Freezer Lunch Idea–Mini Pizzas

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Like convenience foods?  I do!  But I like them best when I make them from scratch.  For these little pizzas, I put my favorite pizza dough ingredients in the bread machine and let it do the work for me. 

Then we rolled out the dough and cut it into circles using a jar lid from gallon sized penny candy jars.

A quick topping with jarred spaghetti sauce, turkey Italian Sausage (recipe to follow), and mozarella cheese.  I put veggies on some of them, because I like it that way.  Then bake at 400 for 15 minutes.  Cool and Slide meal portions into gallon size freezer bags and freeze.  To reheat, put frozen pizzas on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  They are great with veggie sticks or a tossed salad.

Pizza Dough

1 2/3 cups warm water

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon sea salt

4 cups whole wheat flour

1 Tablespoon yeast

Put all ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed and start a dough cycle.  This makes 2 extra large pizzas or 18-20 mini pizzas. 

Turkey Italian Sausage

1 lb ground lean turkey

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon whole or cracked fennel seed

1/4-1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed basil

Spread turkey in a skillet, sprinkle with spices, cook and press the spices into the meat as you chop it into fine pieces with your spatula.  Easy and Yummy.  It is less expensive and less calories than buying traditional Italian sausage.

3-Step Homemade Chipolte Peppers

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The only thing my garden is producing right now is jalapenos.  That’s just fine with me.  I love southwest flavors!  We roasted our own jalapenos for a smoky chipolte flavor.  Here’s how.

1.  For a mild flavor slice the peppers in half and and remove the seeds.  Wear rubber gloves to protect your skin.  If you like them hot, skip this step.

2.  Pour a quart of cool water in a bowl and add a Tablespoon of sea salt.  Soak the peppers for a few hours or overnight.  You can put them in the fridge, I didn’t.  For extra smokey flavor, add a Tablespoon of liquid smoke.

3.  Remove peppers from water and place on a broiling pan.  Broil on high for about 3 minutes watching for the skins to bubble and brown.  You can use immediately or freeze for later use.

33 Lunch Ideas

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My family is big, sort of. When I’m in public people stare, but when I’m at homeschool coop I can say I “only” have 5 children. Most of them have 7-12. The point is, leftovers are becoming scarce. Leftovers used to be my lunch stand by, just warm it up and eat. Lately, I’ve been cooking a brand new meal for lunch. Now that our homeschool has started, it needs to be fast and filling. Here are 33 ideas for lunches that I can make quickly or start the night before in the slow cooker. Do you have any ideas to add? Please add your favorite lunch as a comment.

1 Egg Sandwiches with fried egg, bacon, and cheese
2 Egg Salad Sandwiches on bread, pitas, or buns
3 Egg Burritos plain or with sausage
4 Creamed eggs over freezer biscuits
5 Frittata
6 Breakfast casserole
7 Southwest grilled chicken salad pitas
8 Chicken salad in cheese puffs
9Tuna salad on bread, buns, or pitas
10 Banana dogs, banana with peanut butter and jelly on a whole wheat hot dog bun
11 Hot Dogs
12 Macaroni and cheese, plain or with tuna or hot dogs stirred in
13 Chili over baked potatoes
14 Baked breaded vegetable nuggets
15 Crumb coated cheese and rice balls with marinara dipping sauce
16 BBQ meatballs and baked fries
17 BBQ beef baked in biscuit dough in a muffin tin
18 Pizza toppings baked in biscuit dough in a muffin tin
19 Hamburger bun or English Muffin mini pizzas
20 Homemade chicken nuggets
21 Ham and cheese pockets (with small rounds of pizza dough folded in half and baked
22 Jack Mackerel Patties
23 Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
24 Grilled burritoes
25 Tostadas
26 Quesadillas, cheese, bean, pizza, or ham and cheese
27 Ranch veggie pizza
28 Croissant roll chicken pockets
29 Sausage gravy over freezer biscuits
30 BLTs
31 Submarine sandwiches, baked
32 chili
33 Potato soup

I Made Roman Shades

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After months of drooling over the instructions at Little Green Notebook, I made my own shades!  I modified the instructions a little because I was worried about keeping the slats straight.  I also took a chance on hot glue, since I didn’t have fabric glue on hand.  It worked pretty good, but it is easy to pull everything apart when you want to.  So far it is staying put for normal use.

 

First I had DH hang the blinds, and then I took scissors and snipped groups of 6 slats.  By leaving the ladder threads intact everything stayed nice and straight.  This left my spaces 6.25 inches apart which is pretty close to standard for Roman Shades.

I did do a little sewing.  After measuring the length and width of the blind, I cut my fabric that size plus 1 inch all the way around.  Then I serged and hemmed all the raw edges.  To make the ruffle trim, I cut strips 3.5 inches wide, sewed them together in a very long strip and hemmed it with a rolled edge.  Then I ran it through my ruffler with a 1/2 inch seam allowance down both edges.

It helped to steam iron everything flat before top-stitching it place on the shade.  The final effect was a puffing strip with a ruffle on each edge.  I love it!

Once the shade was stitched together, I hot glued it to each slat and across the top (leaving the top edges free so I can take it down.)  I glued it while it was hanging and gravity made everything hang straight.  I love how it looks except that I can see the slats though the shade.  I didn’t want to use black out fabric because I like plenty of light in the room, but I wonder if I should have done it anyway.

Quick Veggie Tuna Melts

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8 slices of whole grain bread

2 cans of tuna, drained

1 shredded carrot

1/4 cup shredded zucchini or cucumber

1/4 cup shredded onion, optional

1 cup shredded cheese (colby jack, cheddar, mozz–whatever you have.)

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup mayo

1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, salt and pepper

Mix all inredients except for the bread.  Spread filling on each bread slice place under the broilder for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.

It’s my birthday!

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I don’t mind growing older much.  Each year brings me a little more secure in who God created me to be, a little bolder in my belief, a little wiser with my decisions, and a little happier with my life.

While I’m thinking of it, my friend Twylene shares my birthday today.  She is the sunniest, sweetest person there is and she is fighting stage 4 cancer.  Will you pray for her and her family?

I have so many plans and dreams for the future, but if I never accomplish another thing, I’m satisfied.  From a child I dreamed of being a teacher, wife and mother.  In my adult life I followed my dreams and started a sewing pattern company, been on TV and the radio, and in the National Enquirer.  (Should I be proud of that last one?)  I’ve been blessed to travel to all 50 states, Canada, Bahamas, Honduras and Mexico.  I’d love to see Europe, England and the Orient someday, but if I get to stay in the United States for the rest of my life I can’t think of anything better.

What more important thing could I accomplish than raising my beautiful babies, creating a home that allows my family to be the best they can be, and living a life of service for God? 

This blog lets me share what happens as I go about the 3 most important things in my life and I appreciate you for being a loyal reader.  Knowing someone might read and be encouraged makes me reach a little farther, try a little harder, and learn a little more.  You inspire me to be better, Thank You!

Tag Team Chores

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I am washing a bathtub full of dishes right now and it seems to fill up so fast.  The task soon becomes overwhelming and the longer I put it off the worse it gets!  If only I could work for 15 minutes and stop that would be great!  I can do anything for 15 minutes.  But then again, 15 minutes a day won’t get all my dishes washed and pretty soon I would be in a big mess again.

But what if I set the timer for 15 minutes and when it rang, someone else (like a child of mine 🙂 would come take over?  They could work for 15 minutes and trade again.  No one would feel they had to be stuck there until the job was perfect.  I would get to stop in every so often for my turn to make sure it’s done well enough and the job would eventually get done.

What if everyone worked in some area of chores for 15 minutes,  someone in the bathroom, someone in the kitchen, someone in the laundry etc. and when the timer rang we just switched jobs picking up exactly where the other person left off?  The object would be to do your very best, fastest work in the time allotted, so when the next person came they would notice and say, “Wow!  You’ve gotten a LOT done in just 15 minutes.

I’m going to try it in the morning.  If you try it, let me know how it goes.

Make a beautiful salad

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There’s nothing like a  lettuce salad made with crisp, green, Romaine lettuce.  Really all you need is lettuce, but start adding stuff and the salad turns really special.  Some salad veggies add up fast in cost and don’t last very long in the fridge.  Here are some alternative options that will keep long in the fridge.

Craisins or raisins are beautiful additions for color, sweetness and a chewy texture.  A sprinkling of sunflower seeds or chopped almonds ($3 a lb whole at Costco) adds just the righ crunch.  Carrots are long keepers in the fridge and add fantastic color and nutrition.  Home grown sprouts are so easy to make and turn an ordinary salad into a gourmet salad bar creation.  I like to keep mini colored bell peppers and sugar snap peas from Costco on hand too.  What a salad treat!

I’m trying not to freak out

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Our homeschool starts next Monday and I’m not feeling ready. 

I have 3 kiddoes school age, but thankfully only 2 are old enough to record hours.  My youngest 2 are showing a real interest in learning to read and I need to spend some time with them too.  I might feel better about it if our house wasn’t such a wreck construction wise, but it is what it is. 

I’ve made up a schedule and it feels like I’ll never get a breath.  Do you want to see it?  I made a  pdf Coffman Homeschool Schedule 2010 2011 and don’t mind sharing.  Keep in mind I haven’t tried yet.  My day is on the first page, Heidi and Claeb’s pg 2, Heather and Dub Pg 3, and Brandon Pg 4.  

I’d love to see your schedule.  It helps me a lot to get ideas from what works for other people.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we will spend 2 hours in the afternoon at the ballet studio and I’m not sure how to fit all of school in on those days, but other than that we should be home. 

I’m looking at my schedule and realizing that if I’m going to be able to exercise and supervise chores in the morning, I will need fix ahead breakfasts.  If I’m going to be able to work at my businesses and give time to my preschool boys I’m also going to need fix ahead lunches and dinners.  Yea for the Grocery Shrink Slow Cooker book :).  And you’ll be seeing many more fix ahead options in the future.

I have an idea list going and as I test and modify recipes, I’ll share the ones that work with you. 

 Have you started school?  How is it going?  How do you stay sane?  Do you have a favorite make ahead recipe that I can share with my blog readers? I’d love to hear your encouragment and ideas.