Adventures of a Catholic homeschooling family in Alaska.
Like many moms I know, I enjoy coffee. However, I’m not a plain coffee gal who likes to drink it straight up. Rather, I like all the possible yummy concoctions you can get at coffee houses or make at home (hubby calls them milkshakes and glorified hot chocolates!) But, there are times when the calories [Read On]
With the help of my 8 year old son, we tried our hand at making homemade eggplant parmesan a few weeks back. The verdict was mixed as the boys decided the texture of eggplant was a bit strange. However, this mama and Mr. O loved it. It is super simple to make and a great [Read On]
One of the most economical ways for us to do chicken is roasting up a whole one. While the boys will eat a fair share of a chicken these days, I always have some left over that I try to stretch over other meals. This past month, I had a hankering for something with a [Read On]
After taking time to try a few chocolate goodies using Tropical Traditions Coconut Crème Concentrate, I’m finally ready to share about this product with you. Both recipes I mad called for Coconut Crème Concentrate, Cocoa Powder and Virgin Coconut Oil. The coconut crème concentrate is basically coconut finely ground up with a creamy consistency being [Read On]
Have you ever looked in your cupboard to find the potatoes are getting a little too soft for most uses? We’ve had that problem up here more than once and at first I was either making a ton of mashed potatoes or tossing them out. Well, with gas prices at $4.19 per gallon in our [Read On]
After a few contemplative posts, I thought I’d do a few ‘fun’ ones on the topic. With today being Friday, we abstain from meat. Usually, the younger boys abstain as I just don’t fix meat. They typically do not mind, but they will occasionally forget and grab some meat to eat. (An example is going [Read On]
Last year, we started participating in the EDGE program on Fort Richardson. Now that Ft. Rich and Elmendorf have been merged into JBER, the program is being marketed to all military and DoD families. Each day of the week has a different theme with participants signing up for particular packages for the month. Several of [Read On]
I love to bake! Sadly, we didn’t do much baking over the holidays as people took turns being sick. Nothing turns you off to baking like having a sour stomach. But, we are back on track now. I’m just not sure that holiday favorites (e.g. Russian Tea Cakes / Mexican Wedding Cookies) will be made. [Read On]
Last Fall, our family reviewed the Organic Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions. It was an interesting experience and confirmed that Mr. O is not fond of anything with a coconut flavor. This time around, I am featuring a product that has NO odor or taste to it and may be a permanent replacement for Crisco [Read On]
Today I wanted to share about baking cookies with the boys. For their Cub Scout pack meeting, there was a cookie exchange. Everyone brought 2 to 4 dozen cookies and the boys each picked about 20 cookies each to bring home. A few families forgot to bring anything, but there was no shortage of cookies. [Read On]
While I would love to say that I have it all together at home with a hot meal waiting on the table when Mr. O gets home, I can’t. Homeschooling the boys and getting them to different activities eats up a fair amount of my day. (Then blogging takes up part of my nights!) Probably [Read On]
Just the other day, P celebrated his 13th birthday. It’s hard to believe that we now have a teenager in the house, even if some of the moodiness was already here. Originally, the boys wanted to have dinner out at Sicily’s ‘all you can eat’ buffet for all their birthdays ON P’s birthday. Leave it [Read On]
A few weeks back, I mentioned that we’d be reviewing a product from CSN Stores. Well….after a short wait for delivery and a chance to USE the product, I am going to share about it now. The product? A deep dish pie plate from Calphalon! Now, the one we got is red (and no longer [Read On]
After a few not so successful attempts, I finally had success in making a whole wheat loaf using the Bosch that the boys devoured. Click here to read the recipe I found that gave us tasty, soft bread from whole wheat ground in the Nutrimill. Now to try her soaked variety and then try [Read On]
Earlier in the month, we received a phone call from the rep who sold us the Bosch mixer and Nutrimill. She was getting trained to do a class on making 10 meals from 10 pounds of hamburger meat and wanted to know if we were interested in attending. As we had a blast with the baking [Read On]
For years, our family has sought to live a healthy lifestyle. We like plenty of junk food, but realize that both our bellies AND pocketbook would be better served by eating a healthy diet as God intended. One thing that we have done on a regular basis is to make our own bread, pizza dough, and sometimes [Read On]
Like many kids, the boys LOVE mac and cheese. Unfortunately, they were also becoming mac and cheese snobs with the boxed mix by Kraft being their favorite with a few store brands being acceptable as a substitute. Some store brands do NOT come close to tasting like Kraft and they’d let me know if they [Read On]
Healthy eating is something that our family continually strives for in our lives. Like many, we enjoy the opportunity to eat out or partake of ‘treats’ on occasion. During the transition time of our move to Alaska, we found ourselves had us eating more processed food than usual, either with easy to make meals from [Read On]
Okay, I’ll confess! Somehow health is one subject area that does not always have a big focus in our homeschool. Two years back we used health textbooks specific to grade level for P and R. Last year it was more a matter of learning about good health through everyday living. Now, I have plenty of [Read On]
The Old Schoolhouse has been busily adding more ebooks to their collection. One of the newer series to hit the virtual shelves this year is under the pen name Molly Green. Molly’s the source for living frugally and surviving in difficult economic times. For some of us, the tips are things we have done in [Read On]
Now that the weather is cooling down, I am getting in the mood to bake. With a bake sale for Cub Scouts next weekend, I suspect we will try our hand at several items. Plus, holiday baking is practically upon us and the boys are clamouring to make different treats before Christmas. One of the [Read On]
