Homeschool Challenge

So yesterday we did something new. I had gotten a news paper from Sunday for coupons, and D had been messing with it and looking at it for a while. So yesterday I decided to use it for a tool. I got out the colored pencils and he marked the proper nouns with yellow pencil, acronyms with green, contractions (there was only one) with brown, and words he knew with blue. He then wrote down the words he knew on a different paper.

We also went on a nature walk in the woods (didn't even think to bring the camera for that). We listened to the sounds and named the animals we heard, names the types of trees, named the rocks (pebbles, stones, rocks), watched how squirrels jumped tree to tree, held nuts in their mouth, and saw a beaver dam. The kids loved it. 

Food Challenge from 10/8

So yesterday  I forgot to post but we got a lot done. I made some pumpkin soup (that was great before I over cooked it), roasted some pumpkin seeds, and made a WONDERFUL apple dessert.

If you would like any recipes let me know and I would be glad to share. 

Food Follow Up

Sorry it took me so long to post the finished product, but after dinner, clean up, walking to the store, and the kids it just did not happen the other day. So here is the finished product. 

Everyone loved it. I made some baked beans (from the can) to go with it as well, and there were no left overs :)

Food Challenge Part 2

So the chicken cooked till about 2pm. It came out beautifully. I removed the crispy skin and shredded the chicken for dinner. I got out my large pot and added 7 celery stalks, a bag of large carrots, 2 onions, 4 cloves of garlic, the skin, the bones, and the renderings to make a stalk. I am going to use some of the stalk to make chicken and rice tonight the rest I will use to make pumpkin soup tomorrow. Then I will make the next chicken and figure out what to do with it. But here is how everything stands right now.

Food Challenge

Yesterday I went shopping and found a alb bag of onions on sale for $0.79, a bag of carrots for $0.79, and two organic free range whole chicken for $10 each. So I got them all and a bag of celery and I'm going to mass cook some. First I'm roasting the chicken and then shredding one and seperating the other. I am then going to make stock with the bones, onions, carrots, and celery.
For roasting I put some aluminum foil to cover a 9x13 baking pan. Then put in the chicken and took out the gizzards, and added about an inch of water. I seasoned it with cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, white pepper (since discovering this product I have fallen in love), and paprika. I put it in the oven at 250 and will cook and till a pretty golden brown.

Cleaning Challenge

I finally finished the kitchen, though it is already in need of basic clean up but what kitchen is not when there are so many people in the home. I will take pictures of the other side in a bit and post them. I am going to work on the living room and the girls room today. The living room is mainly pickup kids things and fold clothes (my least favorite thing ever). The girls room is another story. I have things (boxes and such) still in there and I have to get them out and put of the girls dresser and such.

Shopping challenge

Yes that's right shopping. Oh the joys of shopping esp when you have four kids and you know at least one of them is going to go with you. So how do you plan shopping? Well what I have been doing doesn't seem to be working so I have to change it again. So here I am doing it all out in the open.

So how is that going to work you ask? I'm honestly not completely sure. I have recently purchased a membership to Sam's Club hoping to aid in my shopping. We are starting to follow actual serving suggestions instead of just what we want to eat. I have been buying the paper again, clipping coupons, and taking my reusable bags where it will help (Target and Whole Foods). Yet still with the allergies we have to avoid it makes it very hard to make the budget last the whole month.
So what do I do now? Our foods to avoid are dairy, soy, oats, gluten, chocolate, and eggs. We are waiting to see if there our other allergies as well.
I know that I can go to Whole Foods use one of their coupons and a manufactures coupon on the same product. I can also get a case and get a discount for it. I can also apply both coupons to every item in the case and that help. But I do not have many items I have found that are going to get used in case sizes or that I can get coupons on. So even with this knowledge what do I do?
I am going to be working on it and brain storming. If you have any ideas please comment with them below.