Fast, Delicous, Kid-tested Lunch...

When the weather cools, I love to make soup. I could eat soup every. single. meal. but my kids would not put up with it. They like soup, but not every meal.

Anyway, today I made this super-fast, delicious soup. I served it with quesadillas on jalapeno and lime flavored tortillas from Trader Joe's.  The kids could either use the quesadilla wedges to dip into the soup, or eat them plain. My son ate 5 bowls of the soup. No you did not read that wrong. I said 5 bowls. I had hoped to have leftovers for tomorrow, but no. He emptied the pot. Oh, and yes, he still ate meatloaf for dinner with second helpings.

I found this recipe years ago in Cooking Light magazine, and I don't even know if I have the original paper anymore. My current version of the soup is the almost exactly the same, so I'll give credit there, just in case. Anyway, it goes something like this:

Instant Black Bean Soup
 
2 cans black beans (I used homemade crock-pot black beans that I had frozen)
1/2 jar of organic salsa (I used spicy--that's how we roll)
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1 TBS chili powder
1 cup chicken stock (I used 3 cups stock because my daughter loves broth)
leftover cubed chicken (optional)
green onions, cilantro (chopped, optional)
shredded cheese
sour cream
(Cooking Light calls for fat-free stuff but I don't believe in fat free food. There. That is a discussion for a different day.)
Simmer all the ingredients together for about 15 minutes, serve topped with shredded cheese and sour cream. Present with quesadilla wedges or organic chips and guacamole, and you have a delicious and healthy lunch!

Gluten-Free Pancakes

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes

Makes about 12 pancakes

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 TBS honey
1 tsp vanilla

6 TBS melted coconut oil

coconut milk or whole milk (approx. 1 cup)

1/2 cup buckwheat
 flour

1/4 cup almond flour

6 TBS coconut flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder



Instructions:
1. Using a wire whisk, mix together eggs, melted coconut oil, milk, honey, and sea salt.

2. Continuing to whisk, add the dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
 (I found that I needed to add extra coconut milk because the batter was too stiff.)
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter (or coconut oil) in a skillet on a medium flame.

4. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto skillet making pancakes about 3-4 inches in diameter.

5. Serve with lots of butter and real maple syrup, or honey! Yum!

This was my first foray into grain-free cooking. I started with a basic coconut flour recipe for reference, and by the time I was done I had made my own completely different concoction, and (perhaps it's beginner's luck) it turned out perfectly! I have at times found there to be a sort of bitter aftertaste to many gluten / grain - free baked things, but I think this may be due to garbanzo flour, so I did not include any garbanzos. There was absolutely no bitter taste at all. The pancakes were denser, of course than nutrition-free buttermilk pancakes, but they still turned out fluffy due to the baking powder, and the flavor was nutty, buttery, and very filling. Everyone gave it a big thumbs-up!

Week 6, Already? Pausing to Reflect...

Wow. I cannot believe we have been doing lessons for six weeks already. I am usually ready for a break at the six-week mark--it seems to be the point at which I teeter on some form of burn-out, but thankfully, that is not the case right now. This year I spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to homeschool MY children. I have given considerable attention to our reasons, philosophies and methods of educating our kids, but these always have had the effect of leading me into the trap of striving to meet some schedule set out by a curriculum or comparing my kids to others who seem to be further along. I have to remember what it is exactly that I am doing for MY family.

As I look around the world in which we live, I see lives that are completely out of balance. There is a particular tendency toward striving and busy-ness here because we live near a major city. Everyone here wants to pad their resume. There is this intensity that makes you feel you will never succeed unless you are running in the same rat race as everyone else, even amongst homeschoolers. This year I decided not to participate in the race at all.

Despite all the plans, all the philosophies, all the methods I have contrived for my kids, they don't address the heart of what I really want to do, and that is to raise healthy, whole individuals who love the Lord, each other, and His people. It really doesn't matter if for some reason they don't finish every week of their TOG curriculum or complete their grammar on the same schedule as the experts say it needs to be done. And yet, it seems that the more I let go the more we get accomplished.

One of my favorite verses says this:

What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil--this is God's gift to man.

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it so that people fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 3:9-14)

In my children I want to establish a heart of rest and joy and goodness--that they can enjoy this gift God has given to man. I want them to be participants in the "whatever God does," not the rat race to D.C. power and politics.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
Psalm 127:1-2

So, we accomplished a fair amount in lessons this week--science and writing and geography and grammar, etc, but what stands out to me more this week is that we made it to the pet store for some new fish. We also enjoyed a wonderful dinner with friends and a hilarious time on the new patio, enjoying a fire and roasting marshmallows. We did not strive. We worked, but we played, too. We ate all our meals at home in fellowship with each other. We prayed. We marveled at God's ways in the life of Amy Carmichael and those she touched. We pondered the uselessness of war. We butted heads, overcame challenges, tried again. It was a good week. A very good week.

A New Take on Oatmeal

I have one oatmeal lover and one who is not so big on it, but in the fall and winter when a hearty, warm breakfast is called for, there aren't too many things that satisfy quite as much. I've been feeling inspired to try some new things by the food network, so in an attempt to make oatmeal more appealing, I gave it a new twist. I think it's the best oatmeal I've ever tasted! I'm sharing the recipe, but if you try it, give credit to my little ol' blog here, please.

2 cups water boiled with a pinch of salt
1 cup oats
8 oz. pumpkin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
maple syrup to taste
vanilla stevia (to reduce the amount of maple syrup needed)

Cook until oats are tender, serve topped with butter and milk. YUM!

Toothless Wednesday

Beautiful Feet Giveaway

I'm a TOG lover and a Beautiful Feet Admirer. I look forward to using some of their curriculum next year with my daughter, as my son moves deeper into middle school and my daughter moves firmly into the heart of the elementary grades. Meanwhile, I signed up for their Medieval Studies giveaway. You should too!