Wordless Wednesday - Mushroom House

Menu Plan Monday

I know that when I actually sit down and plan the meals, it not only helps us to eat healthier, but also gives us a break on our grocery costs.  We've really been trying to eat a more healthy diet that includes more made from scratch meals. Like most families, we're busy and need quick and easy in addition to healthy.  Here's what the week looks like for us:
Monday:  Breakfast - Leftovers from weekend brunch
                 Lunch  - Fish sticks, Peaches
                 Dinner - Roast and Mashed potatoes and Salad
Tuesday:  Breakfast - Oatmeal
                 Lunch - Rolled Tacos, Carrot sticks
                 Dinner - Pineapple Gingered Chicken, Rice and Broccoli
Wednesday:  Breakfast - Muffins, Homemade Yogurt
                       Lunch - Pizza Roll Ups
                       Dinner - Very Veggie Chili
Thursday:  Breakfast - Sweet Vanilla Polenta (recipe below)
                   Lunch - Homemade spaghetti-os
                   Dinner - Fish Sticks, Butternut Squash Fries, Celery
Friday:  Breakfast - French Toast
              Lunch - Broccoli Soup, Rolls
              Dinner - Joseph's Turn (Gets it's own post)
Saturday:  Breakfast - Biscuits and Gravy
                  Lunch - Sammies
                  Dinner - Nacho Potatoes, Refried Beans
Sunday:  Easter!!!!!!



Vanilla Polenta
4 Cups Skim Milk
Pinch of Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 C. Cornmeal
1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Strawberry Preserves

Combine milk and salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and add cornmeal.  Continue to cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and mix in vanilla.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Scoop into bowls and top with preserves. 

Yum!

Wordless Wednesday - Dr. Noggin, Scientist

Tea Time Thursday

It's a windy, blustery day today here.  (hm...that sounds perfect for some Winnie the Pooh, but we'll stay focused on the topic at hand)  The boys are looking forward to tea this afternoon, mostly because of what they are smelling in the oven right this moment.  

Today's treat is Strawberry Jam Crumb Cake compliments of Cooking Light Magazine.  So easy to make and looks absolutely delicious.  I used up the last of our strawberry jam from last summer to make the cake which makes us all a little sad.  Note to self...next year, make up at least 25 jars of jam.  Maybe that will last us until the summer. 


In honor of using up the last of our Oregon Strawberries, I found a book entitled Long Ago in Oregon. It's a collection of poems by Claudia Lewis that she wrote as a young girl living in a small town here.  The pictures are simple pencil sketches that seem to truly capture the simplicity of the lifestyle that Lewis led. 

Our tea time certainly won't be rambunctious as it was last week, nor deep and philosophical as the week with the star poems, but it will be the perfect combination for the rainy, dreary day today.

Wordless Wednesday - Sign of Spring

Beethoven

Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars 
you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas 

and listen to them for ten years.  ~William F. Buckley, Jr.

Ah...Beethoven. He truly knew what it meant to live big, to write big. His music takes over a person's soul and transports it to a whole new world. As I work with my students on some pieces by Beethoven, they are always amazed at how much he did even though he was deaf. They sit in amazement at the piano as they ponder the fact that he wrote some absolutely amazing works though the vibrations of the music. He lived, felt, breathed music. It was his life.

If you want a great resource about Beethoven. Check out this site. Schulz's Beethoven: Schroeder's Muse. If you are a fan of Peanuts at all, you'll love it. 


If you haven't listened to any Beethoven for a while.  I strongly encourage it.  Especially the works he wrote during the later years of his life.  An amazing combination of some of the saddest, most beautiful music I've ever heard.

Five Question Friday

Oh boy, what a weekend.  The nerves and excitement have been filling the air this week during lessons.  It's Solo and Ensemble time so a few of my students are performing for judges.  We've been having extra rehearsals, phone calls for advice and to calm nerves.  I'm sure they can hardly wait for tomorrow to be over.  As a teacher, it's a proud moment to see how far these students have come. 

It's time for the regularly scheduled Five Question Friday as posted by Mama M.  over at My Little Life.  I love how she refers to her 5 kids with 5 crooked halos.  Join in on the fun if you want.  It's a great way to get to know some new people. 

Here are today's questions:

1. What's your guilty pleasure?  I tend to vary my guilty pleasures, but they usually have something to do with some kind of coffee.  But wait!  It's March right now which means Shamrock shakes are back in season.  Yeah, that...that's definitely my current guilty pleasure.  I mean, I haven't had one yet, but definitely plan on it.  And savoring it to the very last drop.

2. What is your favorite TV series?  Oh dear, I think this might be one of my guilty pleasures because I'm loving Glee.  I know, it's bad, I'm in my upper 30's watching a show about high schoolers who sing and dance.  There's just something about it.  The Computer was actually playing football during the show when the football players all burst out in dancing.  It sure made the season more exciting to picture his 4/5th grade team out there busting a move.

3. Can you speak any foreign languages? I used to be fairly fluent in German.  Even spent 3 months there as a foreign exchange student, but that was 20 years ago.  Not so much anymore.  Ooh, Mama M. mentioned Pig Latin.  I once taught my 7th grade music class how to write and perform chants that were in Pig Latin.  Guess we better add that one into our curriculum, eh?

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own? I have 4 pairs of shoes I wear regularly during the winter months.  During the summer, I go between a couple of pairs of flip flops and sandals.  Oh, who am I kidding, I already wore the sandals here this February.  It's Oregon.  It's expected.  I do have some other nice shoes, but honestly, I so rarely dress up that they get very little use.

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.? Dark chocolate all the way!  Unfortunately though, I managed the get the boys hooked on dark chocolate also.  So now I have to share.  Oh the joy...

If you want to join in on the fun, jump on over to Mama M. 

 

Tea Time Thursday

It's that time again.  Time to gather around the table with a warm cup of tea, a goody which looks absolutely mouthwatering and a bit of poetry to make us giggle challenge our minds and expand our horizons. 

Because I only make one pot of tea, the boys take turns getting to choose which kind it will be for the day.  Today it was The Librarian's turn.  He spent all of about 2 seconds deciding on White Christmas from the Stash Tea Company.  If you like peppermint, you'll love this tea.  It's described as a blend of white tea, cool peppermint and a hint of ginger.  You'll notice that Stash tea is a regular in our household since we are rather close to their store.  It's a good place to be if you have tea lovers in your family.  Mmm...all this talk of tea makes me want to go make up a cup right now to warm up on this cool foggy morning.  Back to the coffee though. 

It was a toss up on the treat for today.  I had a nice jam cake planned, but now that the tea has been picked and we've got some Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies hanging out in the freezer, I think we'll go that route instead.  I don't think peppermint tea with mint cookies will be overkill do you?  Although we'll be eating the cookies straight out of the box from the freezer, I did find a clone recipe here.  Maybe on the Girl Scout Cookie Off Season, I'll give it a try.

I know you've all been wondering what poetry we might possibly be diving into for today.  Something so deep, so philosophical, something so challenging that we will come away from our time mentally exhausted.  For this week, we have chosen...(drum roll please):


All right, so all that buildup and we're just going to have a grand ole time.  Filled with giggles and chuckles.  This used to be regular bedtime reading, but now that the boys have graduated to chapter books, we rarely open our beloved Silverstein.  After the more challenging poetry of last week, they asked if we could alternate weeks between serious poetry and humorous.  We'll go with it.  We'll take turns reading the poetry today also to add a little more variety into it. 

I've got some wonderful resources for the more serious poetry.  Any ideas on other places to look for some humorous poems?

Wordless Wednesday - Boys