Seizing the Moments

Origami Symmetry Art

 

Origami Symmetry Art

Lesson found on Art. Paper. Scissors. Glue!

"N" Week

A sweet boy with his dog... 

"N" Week

 Noodles, Nativity, Necklace

    Science experiment showing convection  

    Positional practice... Put any figure above, on top of, inside, behind, in between...etc.      

You know, it's been a good week. We were home Monday and Friday with appts./lessons in between. The week seemed to fly by. I was thinking today, it's time to do a new assignment sheet, already. The kids really adapted back to our regular schedule easily. Michael got more hands-on attention this week. Everything feels more normal. Trying not to get bogged down with our de-clutter project...I've got a few more "spots" that I need to clean out, organize and purge. I'm looking forward to a great weekend!!!

Pinto Beans- From the Old South to South of the Border!

Let's just jump right in with the how-to:
 

If you are asking yourself.... 

What do if I do if my kids hate BEANS????

Skip to the bottom of this post for some great tips!!!

 

Prepping your pinto beans-

Soak beans using one of the method on the bag.  

There are two ways: 

1.  Quick Soak Method-  Cover the beans with water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat.  Cover and let sit for 1 hour. Drain. 
2.  Overnight Soak Method-  Cover beans with water and let sit overnight or at least 8 hours.  Drain.

I almost always use the overnight soak method when cooking pinto beans. 

Day 1:  Pinto Bean Soup

Ingredients:

Soaked and drained pinto beans (2 lb. package)
3-4 medium carrots chopped or baby carrots.  (I will omit carrots sometimes.)
1 onion chopped
1/2 lb. of ham or country style pork ribs (any type of pork will do)
bouillon (enough for the amount of water added to the beans)
salt/pepper/garlic powder/cumin (season to your taste--I hardly ever measure spices)
water

Put all ingredients into a 5 quart crockpot and cook until meat is done and beans are tender. (High for at least 5 hours, Low for 8-10) You may have to add more water, if the level goes below the beans as they cook. 

Serve with hot cornbread or the bread of your choice. 


Day 2:  Bean Dip

Ingredients:

Bean soup
cheese
salsa, if desired
tortilla chips

Warm up individual bowls, smash beans and add cheese/salsa. 

Serve with tortilla chips, raw veggies and fruit.


Day 3:  Bean, Cheese and Salsa Quesadillas

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of beans smashed
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup salsa
tortillas

Mix the first 3 ingredients.  Spread on a tortilla and cook on medium heat in a pan.  (I usually spray the tortilla with cooking spray before putting in pan.)  Cook until brown. 

Serve with raw veggies and fruit.

Day 4:  Haystacks or Bean Chalupas (inspiration found here)


Ingredients:

rest of beans
tortillas
toppings:  cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, guacamole, assorted bell peppers, chives, onion, salsa, etc.

Smash the rest of the cold beans you have in the refrigerator.
Warm in microwave.
Spray cooking sheets and lay out tortillas.
Spread beans on top of tortillas

Cook on 425 degrees until tortillas are brown and crispy.

Top with tons of veggies and cheese.

Here's what we used:  cheddar cheese, black olives, green onions, red, orange and green bell peppers, lettuce, avocado and salsa. 


Here are some other recipes you can use with leftover pinto beans:

Seven Layer Taco Dip 
(substituting your beans (smashed) for the refried beans)

Bean Enchiladas- use your beans instead of refried beans in tortillas with cheese.  Top with enchilada sauce. Bake in oven until warm.

Beans and Rice- serve bean soup over rice...top with cheese.  

Freeze leftovers for later use.

Here are a couple of recipes I haven't tried yet, but look like great possibilities:

Pinto Beans and Cheese Patties

Spicy Bean Burritos

Southwestern Pinto Bean Burgers

What do I do if my kids hate BEANS????

Tips when serving children:

• Pair a new food with something they are familiar with (bread, cornbread, chips)
• Presentation is everything---a little cheese on top goes a long way when serving a new food.
• Texture is important-sometimes grating or smashing an unfamiliar (or disliked) food before adding it to recipe makes the difference.
• Don't assume if you child dislikes something, they'll refuse to eat it if presented differently.  (I have one child who just does not like salad at all, but he asked for seconds on lettuce when eating the Haystacks and Seven Layer Taco Dip).  This goes back to "presentation is everything".
• Sneaking healthier ingredients into recipes is NOT A CRIME!!!!
• Give smaller portions
• Research says that "Children need to be offered a new food as many as 10-15 times before they will eat it."   Don't give up after the first time!

Note:  Our rule is you don't have to have seconds on new foods, you just have to eat your portion.  (The very first time I give ridiculously small portions)  We also allow reasonable "pick-outs"---picking out one ingredient you don't like.   

Beans...

Growing up, we were pretty poor. After my parents divorced, my mom moved us in with my grandmother and aunt. They grew beans and purple hull black eyed peas in the field. If we didn't grow them in our field, we went and picked in other people's field. Then, we laid them out on floor on newspaper to dry...while we frantically tried to shell them.  Grandma would blanch them and freeze them, so we'd never have to buy beans for a whole year.   Everyday my grandmother had butter beans (huge lima beans--3x the size of normal lima beans)  or black eyed peas cooking on the stove. Most days that's what we ate...plain or with cornbread, onion or tomatoes. (We did have other things, but I remember that pot.) Beans and peas were the everyday staple. We were poor, but I don't ever remember being hungry. 
 

When I grew up, I guess I associated being poor with eating beans.  I remember telling my kids when they were younger, something along the lines "you'll know we're poor, if we eat beans all the time."  Or some nonsense like that.  There came a time when I got past that view of beans.  We're obviously not anywhere near poor and we eat beans all the time.  My kids enjoy them (most of the time) and as far as I know, don't remember my adage about beans.  Thank goodness!  (Note:  My husband hated all beans when we got married.  Now, there are only a few that he just doesn't eat.  So, I don't prepare those for the entire family.)

Beans are great for your diet:

• High in fiber
• Low in fat
• Great source of non-meat protein
• Help regulate your blood sugar
• Help with weight loss
• Great source of vitamins 
• Inexpensive 

 

You are really missing out if you don't add this great versatile food into your diet! 

There are so many kinds of beans to choose from...here are a few of our favorites:

• pinto
• navy
• chickpeas
• black beans
• lentils
• kidney 
• red beans
• split pea

It's been a dream of mine for a while to be able to cook a big pot of beans at the beginning of the week.  Then, eat from that pot all week long.  Cook once and eat all week.   Busy weeks when I'm prone to stare at the open refrigerator or pantry wondering what to make. 

1 Pot= A week's worth of meals!

I've been looking for a post somewhere that told me exactly how to do that.  When I realized that with just a little bit of thinking on my part...that I could do that myself.  This week, I sorta tried out my theory.  I cooked one pot of beans and actually got 4 meals out of that one pot.  

Each meal, different. 

Each meal, edible.  

Each meal, my kids asked for seconds.  

Each meal, enjoyed immensely.   

Check back tomorrow!  I'll share how I took 1 pot of beans and prepared 4 meals using it as the main ingredient! 

   

Some updates

Daniel started physical therapy before Christmas for range of motion issues in his legs and toe walking.  When he was evaluated he had a 2 degree (I think that's the right PT term) in one leg and 10 degrees in the other.  Her goal is that he will have a 20 degree/percent when they are done.  As of last Friday, he was at 16 in one leg and 17 in another.  I can tell he is able to stretch his legs so much easier.  He was measured for shoe inserts that will address his tendency to bounce off his toes as he walks.  The toe walking was a lesser concern for her, than how tight his legs were.  

Tera went to the orthodontist today for molds, so that she can be fitted for braces in the future.  My husband felt so much better about the treatment plan after seeing the orthodontist today.  He and Michael especially enjoyed the hot drinks in the waiting room. 

Our de-cluttering is coming along nicely.  We get rid of a lot of unneeded items and we are able to benefit our local community in the process.  Everything we donate will be sold at a yard sale in May.  The proceeds fund the food basket/toys that our town puts together for needy families at Christmas.  I'm hoping to count everything before we donate it, if I can.  I've lost count at this point in time and the piles just keep growing. 

I've been keeping up on my daily devotion time pretty well, getting my steps in, and we haven't had any fast food/delivery/take out in over 2 weeks. 

This was our first "real" week back to school.  Last week was a half week and the kids worked solely on their science fair projects. So far...so good.  Daniel and Tera are doing great in math this week and we've gotten back to the routine pretty smoothly.  Michael has been more of a challenge though...I need to prep activities for him the night before, like I've done before.  We have tons of things for him to do, I just don't think clearly at a minute's notice.  Cheerios have been a lifesaver the past two days.

We finally got the kids out on their bikes for the first time since Christmas. (That's a long story for another time.)  I was wondering if it would ever stop raining around here.  They played outside this afternoon for a while.  The sun felt so good...until it started setting behind the house.  

I got a basic Kindle for Christmas...I really like it!!!  I'm going to the library tomorrow, because I still like to read physical books, too.  

 

This and that...

I've spent a while looking at this "butt-ugly" ceiling in my laundry room-hanging down, stained and just plain horrible looking. They finished our roof and leaking problem a few months ago (FINALLY!!). Since last week, we've had a home repair guy coming and putting in a new ceiling. He finished today! Now, we get to clean up all the dust that is coating the plastic that we put on everything that couldn't be moved out. Then, we can move all the stuff out of the hall and office. My allergies are going crazy from something--the wood, the dust, the door being open a lot, who knows? The post nasal drip is making my throat raw. (I'm sure that was more than you needed to know)  It's a pain!   My life has felt upside down lately.   My ceiling looks awesome, though!!!

 

I did it...I went on a fad diet. (Unless you count the Cabbage Food Diet I did in the early 90s...I've never bought into the whole 'diet' thing)   I really needed to do something to kinda purge and detox a bit from the holidays.  I needed a jump start to get back into good habits.  So I tried the 3 Day Military Diet...below are a couple of my meals.  I could not follow it exactly because of my dietary restrictions with the IC.  I wasn't willing to cause myself a lot of physical pain.  

 

It was interesting...high protein/low carb, low sugar and no snacking.  Dinner (pictured at the left) was always pretty substantial except the last night.  By the last meal of the last night, I had had enough so I cheated and had a ton of raw fresh vegetables with my tuna.  Tsk...tsk!   Then, a snack later.  :)  I can't say I would ever do this again. I like changing habits/lifestyles instead of "diets".   This is my take on it for people who do the whole "diet" thing. 

 

 I like my fruit tea with sweetener...it's just not the same.  That was the only problem I had with the food choices.  I really liked the fact that this was easy...hardly any food prep whatsoever (boiling an egg was it).  I could do it without worrying about all the work required to make something separate for myself.   I did lose 4.5 lbs. in 3 days, which I sure was all water retention...but what's wrong with getting rid of that?  

       

Today, the kids finished up their boards for the science fair. They needed my supervisory attention--asking questions, printing things...poor Michael was having a rough time feeling neglected. I felt torn in so many directions and then I decided to have tacos for lunch. To me, that is the worst food to get on the table. So many things to cut, so many condiments. I've made the decision--tacos are for weekends. (I know that sounds weird...but I was snapping at people and almost burst into tears).  Next week, we'll be back on our regular schedule and he'll have HIS school time, too.

 
This weekend will be spent taking down our Christmas tree.  Hopefully we'll get the laundry room and the rest of the house back to normal.  I'm ready!  

For the past few nights, we've done bedtime different.  Usually it's brush teeth, pray, go upstairs and then I tuck Michael in.  Now, I have everyone brush their teeth and send them upstairs.  I can breath for a minute before I go up and pray with everyone and tuck in.  It's just a minute, but it feels awesome.  I don't feel rushed and can take a minute with each kid individually.  I think I'll keep this habit. 

Well, it's been a minute...better go and get those little ones tucked in. 

It's started....

I feel like we just cleaned up and de-cluttered, but it's a new year.  So, here we go again.  We made it a goal as a family to get rid of 1000 + plus things.  Not little trash- giveaway things mostly.  Tera was really gung ho, so we started in her room on New Year's Eve.  I have two different kind of kids...one who leaves dirty clothes and toys laying out and another that stuffs them away into drawers.  I'll let you guess which is which. 

JP and I are officially starting on Jan. 10th to get rid of things.  I've started a bit already. Since the rest of the house is still in limbo because of repairs, we needed the extra time.  The goal is to have everything out of the house by January 31st. 

Tera's room after we had just started the de-cluttering and reorganizing.

Before:

 

After: 

We went and bought a few organization things and she gave her primary colored things to Michael.  We went through and cleaned out her closet as well. 

 

 

 

 The boys' room before:

 

After:

We have transitioned Michael into Daniel's room very slowly.  With the new toy bins from Tera's room, they each have their own spaces.  I also went through and organized their closet, as well.  We bought a small mirror, train rug and a peg hook rack that are not pictured.  It really is "our" room now, instead of "my" room.  

      The beginnings of a big giveaway pile...    

New Year's Eve...family style

We usually have a big cheese dip party on New Year's Eve...but this year decided to go tons lighter with our cuisine. (Starting that purge thing a day early) JP made this great Seven Layer Dip. Everyone in our family loved this...that is saying tons since my kids are not the best salad eaters. This is a like a huge taco salad.

We had a quiet evening at home---eating, playing games and finishing up with That Darn Cat!!  2 of us didn't make it until midnight...Michael and me sacked out early.  It was nice!!!  :)