Cookies, Candies, Treats, and Super Cute Cakes, Oh My!

During the holidays, my wonderful friend Bobbie brought us this wonderful and delightful treat filled jar! It was SO yummy and all handmade. My favorites were the peanut butter balls...superb! And now I have my corn mill in the jar and it just is great to have a reminder of her all year round!

The girls and I made cookies one day. It was nice. We only made enough (not a whole batch) for us to enjoy. It was simple and fun not trying to make dozens of things and being exhausted!

 

My Aunt sent us a HUGE yummy tub of popcorn. The flavors sounded crazy to the ears, but the pallet said they were splendid! It was a blessing!!!! And the box was so cute as you opened it!

 

 

 

My birthday cake this year. It was the best chocolate cake I have ever had. I got it at Whole Foods. The size is PERFECT. It was "tiny" (6") and was more than enough. And I was overjoyed with how cute it was.

 

 

 

Toys for Tots Race

A great side effect of home education is allocating our time for unique experiences for our children. We get to go to many museums and historical sites (we did a lot of these also when they were in traditional school, but this just gives us more opportunities). So recently my son was able to run a race to support Toys For Tots! I was thrilled he got to do this with his daddy (something that we treasure because he travels extensively for work). He completed the race & had fun! The girls and I sat this one out and just watched. I am so thankful for he had this opportunity!

Kids Cooking...

My kids have always helped me to cook. Some days I have to pass on their help, but theydo frequently help me to stir, mash, strain, or open. It is part of our simple life mentality...to teach skills needed to be self-sufficient to our little ones, so they can provide for themselves and their family, no matter the income limitations. Some have more interest in cooking than others.

My son has been asking to cook more. He was a little bored by only being able to cook Mac and Cheese and Pasta. So I gave them some cooking lessons, as a group..like when I was in 4H! We did beef veggie soup and a roast.

Then today I got the blessing and joy of seeing him make our meal for dinner....a roast with all the trimmings. It is such an elegant and easy meal, I thought it would be good for him to do. He was proud by the time he got it in the oven. I sat in the kitchen and oversaw the preparation, talking him thru it. It will be just wonderful to sit down tonight and enjoy our first ever whole meal provided by my almost 12 year old!

Here is what we prepared in case you ever want to try this one pan wonder..this is for older kids who can safely use a kitchen knife.

Roast
Seasoning Salt
Garlic Salt
Pepper Grinders
Carrots
Celery
Potatoes
Onion

He cut his veggies up into fork sized pieces, added the roast to the pan & seasoned it, added the veggies all around, and popped it into the oven at 325. I later turned it down (it was a frozen roast) as we put it in just after lunch. Slow and low will make almost all meat taste yumm! I will have him take the foil off about 30 min before it is done so it can get a bit of a crust on the top of it (we like that).

A whole meal of meat, veggies, and starch in just one pan!