Friday Funnies: 1st Grade

Student- Miss Cremer, is the hole in your nose hooked to your throat?
Me- Yes
Student- because I think I just swallowed a "burger" aka booger

On Mondays we share our weekends. One little girl said, "My step-mom found a bunch of my dad's movies and got mad. They were inappropriate and thats where he learns all his bad words."

As we were watching mens figure skating (the guy with the black and pink crazy outfit, with the single tassle) one of my kids asked, "Why is his butt so tight?"

As we were playing a chunking game, a kid drew sag. I asked if it was a real word. He said, "Ya, black people do it all the time."

Same chunking game, dick came up. I said it was a name and didn't count. One kid said, "Yah huh! Its a bad word instead of, you know." 

Lady GaGa dance party/sing along. One girl started singing Rah, rah, ro, ma, ma, and doing the GaGa one handed hip thrust back bend thingy.... then they all started singing.

Yellow & Grey

Here are a few pics of the finished room! 

Headboard & Pillow

Curtains

 Frame

Dresser & Lamp

 Curtains & TV stand

 Paintings

Details

A little paint...

Can really change something! 

I bought some ugly frames at TJ Max and painted them, found a free printable online, and framed them!  It is a great way to give old frames a new life. I used the same paint I used for the dresser for this one. But in the past I have used spray paint and it is super easy! 

Curtains

I ordered this awesome yellow chevron fabric from fabric.com to make some new curtains. I ordered 7 yards and used every last inch of it to finish off my guest room!

I cut 92 inches of fabric for each curtain. 

I ironed all of the edges and then sewed around. The top edge I folded down about 3 inches to make a pocket for the curtain rod to go in.

I had took a Facebook poll to help me decide what to do with the curtain. 

I love the door knob idea, but in a pinch for time I decided to make the tie to start off with. 

Solar Energy Unit

One of our first units in science is solar energy and heat conductivity.  We take advantage of the nice fall weather and get outside to do a few activities.  These are some of my favorites.



We use the information we gained in the Black and White on a Sunny Day to think about how we can build a solar oven.  Then we make a solar oven out of pizza boxes, foil, overhead transparency paper (or saran wrap), and tape.

Before we can cook we must figure out the right angle and how to use our solar oven.  This year when we did this it was about 80*F outside and our ovens reached 122*F (50*C)



Finally we make s'mores! They LOVE this and think it is the best experiment ever! :)

Friday Funnies: Life is Hard

Poblano-Italian Sausage Chili

It was a cold rainy day in September and I wanted chili & cornbread for dinner.  It just so happened that a new issue of Cooking Light was in my mailbox that day with a new chili recipe to try! We had almost everything we needed to make it, except for the peppers, beans, and cilantro.  So we ran up to the Mexi Chopper and spent $6.55 (we bought jalapenos for cornbread & chocolate chunks for cookies too!).  I love going to the Mexi Chopper for peppers and produce because it is so cheap! Cilantro was $0.50 and the peppers were $1.00.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
8 oz chicken/pork mild Italian sausage with casings removed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 poblano chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons chicken stock, divided
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes, not drained
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup light sour cream

*Adapted from Cooking Light- they call for a different kind of sausage, and salt free everything

Directions: 

1. Heat a large pan with canola oil.  Add onion & garlic and saute

 2. Remove casings from sausage, add sausage to pan.

 3. Stir in chili powder, oregano, cumin, poblanos, and bay leaf.  (Poblanos are big and green peppers, they took a while to dice! Thanks Erica!)

4. Cook until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble sausage. 

5. Add 1 cup stock, tomatoes, and beans.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes. 

6. Combine flour and 2 tablespoons of chicken stock, stirring with a whisk to form a slurry. 

Note: I used context clues and prior knowledge to figure out that word, but in case you were wondering it is defined as  semiliquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal, and water. I also used a spoon instead of a whisk, because I didn't want to dirty another dish.

7. Add slurry to chili, stirring with a whisk.  Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until thickened.  Remove from heat; stir in cilantro and black pepper. Discard bay leaf and serve with sour cream. 

Serve with cornbread! We added jalapenos and Mexican cheese to the Jiffy Mix.

What I've Been Eating...

Sometimes this blogging thing is hard work and it slows down my cooking! So I have compiled a list of a few of my favorites that I have made over the last few weeks. Why re-invent the wheel if something is good!

Pioneer Woman Restaurant Style Salsa this salsa is by far one of my favorite things from PW! It is so easy, and does not require fresh tomatoes, which my garden had very few of this summer! You don't need to cook it either!

Dinah's Dishes Enchiladas Casserole this is a mom from my school. She makes some great things! This casserole isn't as creamy as some and is probably a lot better for you!

Roasted Veggie Sandies I put my pesto to use and made these delicious sandies! The veggies would be amazing alone too!

King's Hawaiian Roll Ham Sandwiches we did half turkey, half ham and both were yummy! These however, are NOT healthy! They have a whole stick of butter, but man were they great!

Pesto Pasta

This is one of my favorite pastas to make in the summer, with all of the fresh veggies. I am more of a, little bit of this, little bit of that cook than an exact cook.

Sweet & Spicy Coleslaw

I have to give Kent credit for finding this coleslaw.  We were trying to find a recipe to make coleslaw where we had all of the ingredients on hand.  This one was the winner, and I have made it many times since then.

Ingredients: 

1 bag of coleslaw with 2 cabbages and 1 carrot
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
salt & pepper for taste

Dice onion and jalapeno and combine with coleslaw mix.  

Mix sugar, mayo, mustard, apple cider vinegar, Cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper together with whisk to make dressing. 

Add dressing to the slaw mix. 

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Enjoy! 

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Fall Wreath

Michaels had hydrangeas on sale, so I bought a few to make a fall wreath.  

I cut off the stems using wire cutters. 

 Then I just poked them into the grape wreath. 

Simple quick.  I can also re-use the wreath when I get sick of this one or when the season changes! 

I Can't Bake, But....

Erica learned how! Well, she produced some successful cookies! At my house we struggle with baking.  She needed to make some cookies for Craig's birthday, and these were in our new Cooking Light Magazine.  

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
5.6 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
3.3 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 5 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat; add oil. Set aside to cool. (this makes the recipe!! Don't skip this step!)

3. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt, whisk together. Place butter mixture and sugars in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until combined. Add vanilla and eggs; beat until well blended. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Drop a tablespoon full of dough 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 12 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Cool slightly.

Adapted from Cooking Light

Friday Funnies: Unicorn

I had a little boy who was obsessed with unicorns.  One of the first days he asked me can I write about  anything? Even Rainbows and Unicorns?! So from that day on his name was Unicorn. 

He was a very creative writer and loved doing Paragraph of the Week. I couldn't wait to read his every week! 

"My mom wears a women's small, and it fits me.  I love her sweater (Roxy teal blue zip up). I think I'm going to wear it every day." Unicorn