Burger Pockets

This recipe is a favorite of ours. It was passed on to me from a friend and I changed it up a bit to suit the preferences of my family. It is fairly easy, less messy than Sloppy Joes and they are just so tasty.

2T yeast

1/2 cup warm water

3/4 cup warm milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening (nonhydrogenated, please! Hydrogenated fats are terrible!)

1 egg

1 tsp salt

2 cups unbleached white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 pounds ground beef (If you can get grass-fed, locally grown, that is healthiest and has the best flavor!)

1 can 15oz tomato sauce

1 can 6oz tomato paste

1/4 cup chopped onion (or dried if fresh isn't available, or if that is easier)

2-4 garlic cloves (or dried works fine)

Cheddar cheese, sliced or shredded.

I will tell you how I make this, but the instructions can be adapted to suit the preferences of others. Put flours, salt, sugar and yeast in Kitchen Aid mixing bowl. Mix briefly. Then add shortening, egg, milk and water while mixing on low. I use the dough hook. After ingredients are added, I let the machine knead that dough for about 5+ minutes. Until it looks right. After kneading, set aside with a towel over the bowl. Let rise. This dough rises quickly. It should be doubled in 30-40 minutes, but it is a patient dough that can wait a touch longer than that if it has to.

While the dough is rising, cook up the ground beef. Add the onion and garlic plus a dash of salt and pepper to the beef as it cooks. After it is all cooked, add the tomato paste and sauce. Mix well and let simmer a bit. Then lower the heat or turn it off.

After the meat is cooked and the dough has doubled, divide the dough into small balls. I usually do 16 balls of dough. Roll out each ball of dough and place some ground beef into it. I guess on the amount. If you want to be accurate you could divide up the beef too. Then you can add cheese on top of the beef, fold the dough around the meat mixture and place on a baking sheet. I put the folded dough side down. Often I forget to add the cheese. They taste fine without cheese or a slice of cheese can be placed on each pocket right after removing from the oven. The cheese gets all melty and that is pretty yummy.

After the pockets are placed on the baking sheet, let rise again for about 20 minutes. This is a good time to preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When the oven is heated the pockets are ready or close to being ready. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

We Can Do This!

k, so homeschooling is wiping me out this year. it is getting better. it is. but, it has felt crazy around here. of course there are other things going on as well, but doing the school routine is where i feel it the most. i adore our cc community. i really do. i am convinced that cc is an ideal fit for our family and my gratitude for it is immense. without it there would be a number of other frustrations. but implementing a whole new structure to our schooling...well, it has been less than beautiful to get into a workable routine.

yesterday another mom told me, "well, they say it takes about 3 weeks to really get settled in with a new school routine." really? i hope so. i mean, i have been homeschooling for, like, how many years now? ummmm, almost 8 years minus 2 years when c was in a homeschool co-op that met 4 days a week and was basically like regular school, except that parent participation was required and she was in school all day and did homework all evening. i still felt very much like a homeschool parent when she was there. so, 8 years of homeschooling. and this fall has almost felt like starting all over again. that isn't all bad. it just feels overwhelming at times.

the up side is that some areas where i have been weak are being addressed. i am figuring out how to incorporate more memory work into our school routine. i am learning some fun ways to drill math facts. i feel like the education that i have envisioned and longed for is taking shape. i love the accountability and fellowship we experience at cc. i love the new moms i am meeting and the other moms that i get to see on a regular basis. i love seeing my kids learn among peers from families who are committed to classical education.

and my kids are happy. really happy with school. they are being challenged. they are learning. and they are energized by it all. so, in the moments when i feel spent, like i have nothing left to give. like there is no way i will be able to get a workable schedule set up. a schedule that incorporates all the subjects we want to cover and that allows me to have some time to write, read, cook and do the things that bring me joy. then comes a day like today. a day where things seem to be coming together. a workable routine isn't this elusive thing, but rather something that i can almost grab onto. today brought hope and encouragement. we can do this homeschooling thing. the kids can get the type of education that i long for them to have and i can keep my sanity in the midst of it all!

Oh, and on another note...I adore the bag in the picture at the top of this post! I so want one or maybe two. I couldn't get the picture of the tote to post down here at the end. But I just had to share it. The photo shows it with ammo and man stuff in it, but I think my favorite lipstick, cell phone and sunglasses, plus a book or two would look fabulous in it.

Las Vegas

In Our Yard

It certainly isn't a rarity to have deer in our yard, but it is unusual to have two in the yard in the middle of the day. This one, in particular, was not afraid of us. I wish it had been a bit more afraid. I don't care for wildlife that is overly friendly.

Get to Know Fanny Crosby

Did you know Fanny Crosby...

• is thought to have written more hymns than any other human in history?
• wrote under at least 200 different pen names?
• composed the hymn "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" in 15 minutes?
• didn't start writing hymns until she was in her 40's?
• as a child, through the instruction of her grandmother, memorized entire books of the Bible?
• was the first woman to address congress?
• was blind from infancy due to a treatment given to her by a man claiming to be a doctor when he wasn't?

Want to learn more? Read this. Or watch the movie pictured above. The cover isn't so appealing, but the story of Fanny Crosby is incredible and the movie, which is available through Netflix, conveys it very well.

The Lil' Shop

Ahhhhhh, the joys of storage! We have wanted a small outbuilding to store M's tools, camping gear and my assorted projects in. M built this lil' shop. Yup, his construction skills continue to bless our lives and to reinforce my passion to have our boys learn to build. M no longer supports our family, financially, through building, but he regularly uses the skills he learned to meet needs and wants we have.

Not only do we have a bit of outdoor storage, but he built this out of loads of recycled materials. I just adore that! The metal siding looks perfectly aged and like something I would have chosen had cost not been a factor, but it happened to be used and leftover and thus free! The doors were originally on our house before the remodel. The plywood for shelves were given to us by friends. The window was leftover from some other past project. It is a joy to to look out my window and see this quaint building and know that our things are well stored before winter.

Soccer Camp!

Soccer camp took place back in August. The boys LOVED it! L didn't get to join in, she wasn't old enough. But she started saying saying, "When I am 4, I am going to get out there and PLAY SOCCER!" I just think she might. And she may give the boys a run for their money in her pink cleats.

School, Apple Butter and a Bit of Wilderness

Yup, it has been an enjoyable week.

In which I sum this up with a brief letter to my children

Recently we celebrated the baptism of our oldest child. As I write the word, "child" it strikes me that she is hardly a child any longer. C is quickly growing into an adult. As part of growing up she has come to hold, as her own, a faith in Christ. The Christian faith of her parents has been passed on and she has owned it. It is not just the faith of her ancestors. It is her faith as well.

I love sharing life with my children. There is deep joy in watching them grow and develop. Sometimes it feels like I am walking a tightrope of holding onto my children, to provide security, and of stepping back, to help them become independent. This coming close and stepping back is a dance, of sorts, that never seems to go away, it just adapts to the ages and needs of each child. I suppose it will always be that way. Even when they are adults I want them to know that I am here to support and love on them, but I also want to step back. I want to embolden them to try out life for themselves, form their own conclusions, meet God and to test themselves.

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! "

2 Corinthians 13:5

"For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load."

Galatians 6:3-5

So sweet ones, I love you. I am glad to be your mom. I praise God for the gift that each of you are. I am humbled that God saw fit to bless my life with such beautiful and amazing people to parent. Each of you delights me. You, along with your Daddy, are my favorite people. You are my best and dearest friends. And you all know that Dad is my absolute favoritist. ;-) I pray that I will be the parent that you need. I pray that you will see Jesus in my life. I pray that I will give you an anchor of stability with one hand and a push forward toward independence with the other hand and that God will grant me the wisdom to know which hand to emphasize, the holding one or the pushing forward one, at different points in your lives. I love you all the best! Each of you is my favorite! xoxoxo

One Change Per Month: Packing A Lunch

It is a new month and time for a new post on One Change Per Month, but this week has been absolutely full! Full in a good way, but none the less, there hasn't been much extra time. I am posting photos from the last couple weeks, that makes for easy posting, and trying to get us back into our school routine. Which reminded me that some months all we can do is maintain. Sometimes it is best to not add something new to our "To Do List."

We started Classical Conversations on Monday and so far it seems to be as good as I had hoped it would be. I think it will be a great fit for our family. But, as with anything new, it is taking some adjusting to a new way of doing school. This program is helping me to be a better teacher in some areas where I needed to improve and it is providing a structure that is very workable for our family. It also means that I get to pack lunches one day a week. Now, the kids have packed lunches for past homeschool groups and we aimed to pack a good lunch and create minimal waste. But since it is a new school year, I am again looking to fulfill those two goals.

So, for the change this month I want to emphasize boxed/packed lunches. First of all, everything that can be packed in a reusable container should be. This cuts down on garbage from plastic baggies and, while baggies aren't expensive, it is more cost effective to not have to buy them so often. A friend of mine made us some of these and they work well for cookies, sandwiches and things like that. Instead of juice boxes, consider backing juice or water in your own water bottles. Once again, it is cheaper and creates less trash.

As much as I love a lunch in a brown paper bag, lunch boxes or baskets are the way to go. They are reusable and they tend to protect the food a bit more. No one likes a smushed sandwich or cookies. Well, my younger kids don't mind smushed cookies, but that is not what I am referring to here.

Keep your eyes out for creative lunch containers. We have found used, but in excellent shape, lunch boxes. We don't buy new lunch boxes each year, so a used lunch box isn't a big deal to my kids. I guess that is a benefit of homeschooling. If my kids were in a school and there was peer pressure to have a new lunch box each year, I might get them one. A good way to avoid buying a new lunch box each year, if you want to avoid that, is to avoid boxes with trendy designs and cartoon characters on them. Those tend to get outdated pretty quickly. You can also pick up baskets at thrift stores and paint and line with cute fabric or even a cute dish towel for a creative lunch tote. In looking for lunch boxes, think outside the box. A lunch can be easily and effectively transported in any number of containers, not just those designed to be a lunch box.

A Bunch of Hot Air

Watching the hot air balloons at a local event has become a summer tradition. We get up early, wake up the kids, hop in the van-in our sweats and jammies, go get hot chocolate and watch the balloons take off! Then we take the long way home and follow the balloons for awhile .

Chickens at 2 Months

The chickens are now 2 months old! We are still a few months out on getting eggs from them. It is great fun to watch them grow and we finally have a handy place to put our windfall apples. Rather than feeling like I was wasting all those apples, I now view them as free chicken food!