This is yet another meal I’ve made out of some clearance items from the deli. You could use biscuits or toast in place of the Croissants too.
I was lucky to grab one for myself before the kids devoured the double batch I made! These would also work well as a freezer meal! Continue reading “Cheesy Breakfast Croissants”
This can be a quick and easy lunch or snack. You can eat it on bread, toast, crackers, or even plain. You can also serve it with a salad, hard-boiled egg, and some sliced peaches w/cottage cheese for a cold dinner plate. Continue reading “Tuna Salad”
I made this last night and sent the leftovers to a neighbor. We had mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and some sauteed yellow squash with the chicken. Mr. Neighbor made sure to tell me how much enjoyed it when I saw him this morning.
Mr. Awesome also told me this evening that all he heard about today, all day long, was how good this chicken was. If you haven’t already given this recipe I try I encourage you to do so soon!
Cheddar Chicken
Ingredients:
- 2-3 lb package of chicken tenders
- 2 sleeves Ritz crackers, finely crushed
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/4 t pepper
- 3 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 t parsley flakes
- 1/2 mayo
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Grease a 9×13 pan or large baking sheet.
In a small dish or pan (I use a pie plate) mix together the cheese, cracker crumbs, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Coat each piece of chicken with mayo and then roll in the cheese and cracker crumb mix.
Place the chicken in the greased pan.
Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30- 35 minutes.
Remove the foil, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and crispy.
Enjoy!
**This post may contain affiliate links to products and/or services that we use. We may earn a teensy weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. You can find a full list of our affiliate links HERE.
–Thank you
Have you tried Norwex yet?
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This is a huge favorite here at our house. So much better than any chicken nuggets you can buy also. My kids love to eat them with ranch dressing.
Cheddar Chicken
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Grease a 9×13 pan or large baking sheet.
In a small dish or pan (I use a pie plate) mix together the cheese, cracker crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper.
Coat each piece of chicken with mayo and then roll in the cheese and cracker crumb mix.
Placethe chicken inthe greased pan.
Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Remove the foil, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and crispy.
Enjoy!
I was crying a little bit ago, not because I was sad or happy, but from slicing and chopping so many onions! This past week I have really pushed myself to complete a few things on my checklist like cleaning the bathroom and working on the porch. The kids are finally getting over this bug/cold thing they’ve had but I’ve been feeling a bit puny myself. I was so exhausted yesterday and looking forward to a peaceful, restful weekend.
Yesterday someone came to visit and he brought along a huge box of bananas along with a couple of grocery bags of things he had picked up at the produce market. Well, as it turned out the whole box of bananas was super ripe as well as the squash, peppers, and mushroom he had brought.
Yesterday was a super busy day and I felt overwhelmed at the thought of dealing with all of those bananas and vegetables. I admit that I didn’t really see it as a blessing. Part of that is because the upright freezer that I normally use was still sitting on the front porch, unplugged, and in dire need of a deep cleaning. It seemed like it was going to be a never-ending chore to clean and prep everything in the house and then tote it out to the chest freezer in the wash shed. I just wanted to cry but I carried the vegetables out to the shed and put them in the second fridge so they wouldn’t spoil before I could deal with them.
Early this morning I went to the flea market to pick up a vegetable order. (This was the first time I had done this but I was really impressed and will probably start incorporating this into my normal grocery budget when they start the new season next year.) As I was putting the veggies into the chest freezer I realized that it was going to be difficult for me to really do anything with them because it is so hard for me to reach anything. I knew I definitely needed to get that other freezer in working order.
That in itself just seemed like so much work and all I wanted to do was rest. I knew it needed a thorough cleaning but I was tired. I really wanted it moved to a different spot but that spot is still occupied with moving boxes. Deep sigh… I probably had a million reasons why I just couldn’t clean it out. But then there were several reasons why it just needed to be done like the bags of veggies I had placed in the fridge yesterday and that big box of overripe bananas sitting in the kitchen floor.
So after thinking about it I decided that the best time to clean out the freezer was now.
While the kids were down for quiet time I grabbed a water hose, a scrub brush, and a bottle of water and vinegar. After rinsing the freezer out I sprayed it well with the vinegar spray and then got to work with the scrub brush. A few minutes later I gave it a good rinsing and left it to dry for a bit.
After drying, I plugged it up right where it stands. Is it the best place for it? Probably not. Is it where I had intended it to be? Definitely not. Is it easily accessible? Definitely! Will it make my life easier? Yes!
While the freezer was drying I went to work in the kitchen. I pulled out a knife, a cutting board, some Ziploc freezer bags, and my KitchenAid Food Processor. I bought this food processor a few months ago and it has definitely come in handy for food prep and I love the fact that it is so big! It made the slicing and chopping go so much faster. Too bad it couldn’t peel bananas too.
I started with the veggies in the bags as I was really not looking forward to doing the bananas. (Bananas are definitely not my favorite fruit.) First were the sweet peppers which got washed and then I cut the bad spots out. I sliced them thinly and placed them into a thin layer in a gallon size bag.
Then we had some mushrooms that I had no idea were in the bags. I washed them well and sliced them thinly. Next, I placed them in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and put them in the newly cleaned freezer which was starting to cool by this time. I made another cookie sheet up with some store-bought mushrooms and placed them in the freezer as well. Once they are frozen I will place them into Ziploc bags. This method makes it easier to separate what you need from the bag without thawing out the whole bag.
Next came some corn on the cob that I didn’t know was in the bag either. I washed them and then cut them in half. We will be eating the corn with dinner tonight.
After the corn, I tackled the yellow squash. I washed them one small bag at a time and then cut the ends and the bad spots off. I then placed them into the food processor and sliced 2 batches on the thick side so that they can be used for squash casserole and such. One batch I sliced thin so I can saute it up to go with dinner tonight.
Once the squash was bagged I rinsed out the food processor and went to work on some onions that I had. I managed to fill a one-gallon size bag with sliced onions and a one-quart size bag with chopped onions. I also did a small bag of green onions, thinly sliced. Normally I like to use the cookie sheet method for the onions but I just didn’t have the room to do this today but I’m hoping I will be able to separate the frozen sliced onions without much effort thought.
After cleaning up this mess and carrying everything out to the freezer it was time to tackle those bananas!
I grabbed a couple of plastic grocery bags to put the banana peels in and then got to work. One bunch at a time. Peel, bag, peel, bag, peel, bag and so on. We put 6-7 bananas in each bag. This should be enough for a double batch of Banana Crumb Muffins, banana bread, banana smoothies, or some other banana treat we may think up.
I then carried these bags out to the freezer which is starting to look a bit fuller now. Later this evening or maybe tomorrow I will start moving and organizing some of the items from the chest freezer into the upright freezer too.
This project took me longer than quiet time lasted so I did end up enlisting a little help. As they say many hands make light work… I laugh because I don’t think whoever said that had as many little ones running underfoot as I do… but it did make the kids feel important.
This is also teaching them important lessons about taking care of what we have and not letting things go to waste. They even offered suggestions for things we could make with all of those bags of bananas.
My five year old who is an aspiring time-traveler /dinosaur explorer is now interested in becoming a chef also so he has been watching YouTube ‘Cooking for Kids’ videos. He asked me to write down ‘Frozen Banana Recipes for Kids’ in his notebook. When he gets on the computer Monday he will most likely be looking that up on YouTube as well. Y’all better be ready for some kid-inspired banana recipes!
While preparing these veggies it started out feeling like a burden but that feeling changed as I realized just how blessed I am. It was a bit of work to get all of this stuff ready. This was work that I had not planned on doing today but it will benefit us for at least a couple of months and it will definitely make life a bit easier too.
So I challenge you to take a second look at things around you. Is there something in your life or your home that seems like a burden? Think of ways you can turn that around and make it a blessing for you!
Updated picture of our freezer:
Those big bags of veggies came from our Southwestern Produce order that we picked up yesterday. Farm fresh veggies at a great deal! I’ll be doing a quick post about them in a few days so keep checking back!
**This post does contain affiliate links to products and/or services that we use. We may earn a teensy weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. You can find a full list of our affiliate links HERE.
–Thank you
Did you know?
Well today has been a good day so far. It’s been very busy with everything that comes along with running a household, homeschooling six kiddos, managing the social media for a couple of clubs, and just keeping up with stuff.
My four year old has been begging for something to cut and glue while the five year old is preparing plans for a time travel trip and questioning about what foods would be best to take along and how many clothes he should pack…lol.
My younger girls are always coming up with ideas for new games and often put their younger brothers up to mischievous shenanigans… while my fourteen year old special needs son is pretty much just into any number of things at any moment. He really loves building things with Legos and drawing on paper. This morning I found the spelling packet that I had searched all last week for in his cubby… he had ‘found’ it on the bookshelf and drew all over it.
Big sister is finishing up her high school year and trying to focus on different paths she wants to pursue after she finished her schooling.
The kids are down for quiet time at the moment and I am writing this as I submit some scholarship reimbursements… we are so thankful to have this Step Up For Students Scholarship that allows me to homeschool my special needs son and provide him with a very unique educational experience that is tailored to his specific needs.
We did our regular chores as well as our weekly chores like washing sheets and washing whites… one load of which is still in the dryer… did I set the timer? Hmmm…. well anyways I’ll check on those in a bit. My mind goes in so many directions at any given time it can be a bit scary. That is part of the reason I cling to my routines as much as I do, otherwise I’d have a half a dozen half started/half finished projects going all the time.
For school we are still using Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool for the majority of our studies. The younger boys finished up the Getting Ready 1 & 2 last year and are currently working on the McGuffey Primer section. My special needs son also works alongside the younger ones and I do give him a few other activities to work on and reinforce new skills.
The little boys crave knowledge right now so they are also using the Discovery K12 site as well for the Kindergarten and 1st grade levels. They really enjoy the videos and crafts. It is amazing the amount of information that they actually retain and can repeat back to me. Today they did a cutting craft to go along with the 12345 Once I Caught A Fish Alive song. This seemed to satisfy everyone’s artistic cravings and gave them plenty of fine motor skills practice.
The girls are also using Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool for the third and fourth grade levels. Both of the girls are doing the third grade math as the older one didn’t seem to be grasping all the concepts when we moved to the fourth grade level this year. Most of their other studies are pretty similar so I have been combining some activities like writing poems and such together. We also use the spelling lists and activities found here.
We are using Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool Year 3 – Level L for our group studies like History, Science, PE, and Music. I have started doing these studies on Fridays. Right now the kids are really enjoying our ‘travels’ and we will be visiting Greece this week. We are enjoying the ‘Top Secret’ magazines by Highlights to go along with these travels. I just purchased these passports, stickers, and stamps as well and I am really excited to use them.
As far as group activities we have began our Morning/Circle Time routine again. We do this as a group and it includes a variety of activities like the Pledge of Allegiance, Morning Prayer, and art studies. Right now we are learning about ‘The Maids of Honor’ painted by Diego Velasquez. This is from a Fine Arts Bundle I purchased a few years ago. It is surprising how easily you can expose your children to this information and they will learn it on their own. The laminated picture along with some facts is posted at eye level on a bulletin board above the toy storage.
We are also using Our Daily Bread for Kids as our Bible study right now. It has a daily section to read with a bible verse, fun fact, and short passage to read. We also have the coloring book to go along with it but honestly I am not sure where it is at the moment.
The kids are also learning some Shakespeare. We really enjoy ‘How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare‘ by Ken Ludwig. Even the four year old is able to recite it back to me!
I have been using ‘Manners Matter‘ as a guideline for teaching some manners and things that I feel need to be taught. A Word A Day is also in our Morning Basket and helps introduce the kids to new words as well as Brain Quest cards for the littlest ones. These help them develop logical skills and some problem solving too.
Sometimes I wonder if what we do is enough or is it too much… Are they getting enough information? Are they getting enough variety? Will they look back on this time and have happy memories? Will they even remember any of the lessons I am trying so hard to teach them?
Well, amidst my pondering, computer work, and blogging I have had one telemarketer call, a visitor, and a nice chat with a dear friend who is still dealing with hurricane aftermath. She also, unknowingly, let me know that God has been working and that he has answered one of my prayers that has been on my heart for the past few days.
Now quiet time is about over and the clothes are still in the dryer… I also need to get my Crockpot Tortellini Soup in the crockpot… one thing at a time and it’ll all get done.
My friend also reminded me that the best way to teach children is by example. They will learn what they need to learn. I don’t need to stress over what we got done or didn’t get done. Just worry about today and what is in front of you right now. Give your worries to God and he will take care of it and provide you with what you need when you need it.
I hope you all have a blessed day!
Note: I did go with a pink outfit yesterday, as pictured, because after getting a reminder from someone else and checking my calendar I saw that we had planned to wear pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness… and everyone looked so pretty in pink!
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