Sneaky Tuna/Salmon Salad and sides for lunch...

black beans, rotel, diced tomatoes, red onions, chopped zucchini, chopped green onions, sliced black olives, dill, 1/4 cup Italian dressing

(This is a favorite around here and I often sneak all sorts of things in it. From wheat berries to lentils!)

This is 3 cans of drained tuna, 1 can drained salmon, 1/4 cup finely chopped green olives, 1/4 cup chopped green onions, 1/2 of a medium red onion chopped fine, 1 medium seeded cucumber chopped, 1 T parsley, 2 small chopped pickles, and mayo is optional. This salad is great without mayo but we ate it in wraps with spinach so I added several tablespoons of mayo. (Its good served without mayo on lettuce with whole grain crackers too.)

Sliced cukes tossed in lightly salted sour cream.

Homemade Sour Gummy Worms...

My kids LOVED these- better than the other ones I made before...and begged for more!

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1 small box flavored jello

6 packets plain gelatin

1 cup of water

Heat slowly over medium heat stirring well.

Once dissolved-

Add 1 pack lemon flavored kool-aid OR 2 to 3 T bottled lemon juice.

Pour into 9x13.

Chill in freezer for 15 minutes until set.

Cut into strips- I mean worms! ;-)

How many boys do you see in the corn?

I think there's four in there, but I only see 2 1/2!

You know you're out in the country when?

When you sit out on the porch taking pictures of horseflies that land on your skirt!

It doesn't get much fresher!

Here was supper: green beans, swiss chard, onions, cornbread, sliced cukes, and zukes and yellow squash sauteed in home-rendered pork lard with onions and peppers. Yum!

And everything was picked right before serving, except for the cornbread ;-)

Talk about frugal- this meal was literally pennies!

Penny and Abby, or The Silver Fox and The Garfield Dog

Our silly puppies!

Penny has lots of silver and often looks like a fox. Abby on the other hand is always looking fat and sassy, like Garfield....oh and she would love lasagna!

(whole food)Fondue Dr. Axe style!

Josh Axe is a local to Nashville. He has a great radio program for those local to Nashville, and for those who are not, he's got a great website and has recently started putting up easy whole food video recipes! This is one that I've been wanting to try since I saw it. He uses one pack of stevia to sweeten however.

Here's how I made it:

1 can of coconut milk

1 bar very dark chocolate (like 70% cacao) (I used one made by Rapunzel)

2 1/2 T of real, raw rapadura sugar (Rapunzel again)

Warm the milk with the chocolate, broken into pieces. Add sugar and continue to heat until sugar and chocolate are well blended over medium-low heat.

Serve with fresh fruit!

(shhh, don't tell, but this ended up being my breakfast! Well, if a little chocolate is good for you, isn't a whole lot of chocolate even better?! ;-)

Oh bugger- beggars!- and lessons we learn from them

My dh has taught these two about the love of food. Now they harass him every waking minute of the day, especially if he is close to the kitchen.

It's amazing how different their personalities are and how different they are treated as a result. The bigger one, Penny, is a little- how should I say it- dysfunctional! Yeah, she has separation anxiety issues and she's apt to just 'flip out'.

Then, Lil Abby. Abby is our "eternal puppy" and she knows it! She looks like a puppy and acts just as playful as one. She's also called "my humble servant" too. When I call her, she will come and sit in front of me, bow her head and roll over on her back. (Everyone else thinks she's being so humble, but this is only a trick- to a belly rubbin'!)

Our family is learning some valuable lessons from these two. To have mercy and compassion on those who are more helpless and/or who may be vulnerable emotionally.

The other day I used Penny in a lesson with the children. She was really acting up as we had been in and out, going back and forth to the garden. She was crying, howling, and shaking. We are taking steps working with her, but she still has a ways to go.

Well, some of the children had been picking at some of the others. I asked them what did they think would happen to Penny if she was in a pack of dogs. They said they would destroy her. I asked them why. They said they would weed out the weak.

They were right. I then told them that often times there is a tendency in humans to act this same way towards those who are weaker. We often see bullies pick on the kids who appear to be the weakest and least likely to pick back in school.

I then reminded them that we are not animals and we cannot behave that way.

I then reminded them of the kindness and compassion that we show Penny, when she is weak, yet we try to take steps to help her be strong and overcome her weaknesses.

I reminded them that the Bible teaches that a wise man "regards" the life of his beast and how much more people are worth if they are made in His image.

They understood this lesson very well....and they've gotten much better with that behavior!

Prov. 20: 11Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

My Garden, and yard, becoming a pride and joy!

Four or five years ago, our yard was a barren wasteland! I'm not kidding. The ONLY thing growing in it was grass and it didn't even grown everywhere!

But now- there's a main garden and this year we added another in the back of the yard.

There's fruit trees and berry bushes growing.

There's willow trees that are big enough to house that wicker swing and shade a picnic table!

And green grapes growing on a vine! Wow!

A neighbor gave me these tiger lily bulbs years ago, when she thinned hers. They are growing in several places in my yard, and in the yards of both my neighbors on either side of me. Very pretty and we all match :-)

DD wanted one to bring in:

On one side of my house, in the front, I've put in a blackberry bush and four cherry trees. So far, 2 of those trees haven't made it, one looks like its struggling, and the other is very happy. It seems that there's too much clay in this part of the yard and it may be holding water, drowning them. This is also the side where all those pretty violets grow that I showed you!

On the other side of my house are two apple trees that are four years old. One is winesap and the other is golden delicious. The winesap has several apples on it this year. Its 2nd year it had a few but they all fell off right away and last year, we had a frost that dropped the blossoms. I can hardly wait to see what happens with these! (especially since I've been waiting for FOUR years!)

On the chain link, in front of the main garden, are the 3 grape vines, planted last year. There's 2 green and one red. I hope to get concord one day and have some sort of arbor, but for now, this is a great frugal way to grow them.

I'm shooting for a rustic (and frugal) look in the main garden. Think I've got it?

This side of my yard is in progress. It is becoming my "mini-orchard". This is a result of Brandy's suggestions! Fruit trees in the back yard: cherry, winesap apple, pears, one cherry, apricots, peach, figs, plum, and berry bushes.

A view from our back porch of the main garden and the back garden...and the monstrous 4 yr old willows! (or are they five now? I forget.)

We've cut about 4 huge heads of cabbage so far. We have about 4 or 5 more that are ready that we'll be eating soon. I also have 9 other plants growing that a friend gave me that I hope will begin to be ready when these are gone. I also have one strange loner, that I let go through the winter that has two small heads on it, another interesting experiment!

We had about 3 or 4 good-sized batches of sugar snap peas and then they were gone. We had to rip them up the other day. We replanted okra in that spot.

We've had 3 pots of green beans so far. I planted bush beans- oh the bending! I've got to try pole beans one day!

The first little cucumbers and I couldn't wait- I brought them in and ate them and gave a couple to the neighbors. I'm trying hard to get these to grow up, instead of out! But - they are about as unruly as my oldest yorkie!

Gasp! Would you look at that! Little yellow squash!

Little bell peppers starting to form. We've actually picked several banana peppers and chopped them up in salads- but still waiting on these. But bell peppers- once they start- they keep going and going until your start freezing, stuffing, stir frying, and everything else, to use them. But I love them!

My wild looking tomatoes. Some of these are heirloom and some I actually got to come up from sowing seed right in the ground this year; they were organic seeds. See my frugal "stakes"? We got some flats from our local newspaper company (free) and pulled them apart and split the boards and drove them in the ground and we tie the plants up with thread, breaking and retying as the plant grows.View of the back garden while standing in the main garden. A farmer was mowing hay behind our fence while I was taking some of these pics- ah the smell- if only I could share that! ;-)

I wanted to try these this year. They are purple hull cow-peas. The hulls are rich purple and the peas look like black eyed peas. I can hardly wait to see what happens!

This area of the main garden is prolly my fave right now because its so full of life. See that pretty cabbage?! (..then okra, brussel sprouts, more cabbage, squash, and green beans)

Young beets. It took me forever to get this area planted because it kept raining, and raining.. Here's some very pretty and colorful swiss chard. Its called 'bright lights'. I wish I had pulled back the leaves so you could see the stems. They are yellow, orange, and deep pink. Very pretty. See green beans? See hot sweaty little boys in the garden?

This is the back garden, originally just supposed to be a "corn patch"...but with much begging ;-)

...it now houses Big Max (I've had much fun teasing about Big Macs growing in the garden- enjoying the play on words) pumpkins, cantaloupes (praying the dogs won't tear them up AGAIN this year), watermelon, and a few potatoes just to see what happens!
This corn is extra special to me this year because I was able to get an heirloom variety, non gmo, yah!
These are blackberries and as you can see- they are picked as soon as they turn black! This bush is a year old and not bearing very much yet; just enough for a nibble here and there- but one day.....
Here are a few blueberries on the bush that was planted this spring. I have 5 blueberry bushes that I hope will one day bear more that we can dream of eating! (And I do dream of eating blueberries-yummy!)
This blackberry bush was planted early this spring. It has several cups of berries. I also have one other blackberry bush that was planted last year.

These pretty little beauties were growing wild right up the chain link fence- that is until dd had to have them. I haven't dug around to find out what they are yet. Anyone know?
There's pears in that there tree! :-) Woo hoo! This tree was planted last year and has really grown remarkably. It has several pears and so far, the tree seems strong enough to leave them and let them grow. I have a kefir and Bartlet pear tree.

This maple tree will one day serve as a little privacy as well as shade but the unique thing about this silver maple is that it started under our willow as a little sapling. The seeds fall from our neighbors trees- and well- here's junior!
We've worked hard, but we've come a long way- and now we're making our yard work for us!

Gummy Worms!

I made these last week for a slightly sweet treat for the kiddies. They played with them for half an hour before eating them!

I made them similar to the gummy candy but adding just a bit more water so they wouldn't be so tough.

1- 3 oz- box of flavored gelatin
7 envelopes plain gelatin
1 cup water
Mix together in a pot and heat slowly until melted.
Pour into 9x13. Toss in the fridge til set. Cut into strips.

Easy, fun, and frugal!

MENU PLAN MONDAY...

SATURDAY:
-kids choice
-breakfast burritos (eggs, sausage, onions, peppers, cheese), pears and raisins
-homemade hamburgers, ice cream
Snacks: chocolate chip spelt muffins, yogurt

SUNDAY:
-oatmeal
-sandwiches with all the fix'n's, blueberries, yogurt parfaits
-frugal steak, baked potatoes, spinach salad
Snacks:leftover muffins, apples

MONDAY:
-oatmeal
-skillet lasagna, spinach salad, blueberries
-grilled chicken legs, fried chicken liver, potato wedges, slaw
Snacks:cherries, popcorn

TUESDAY:
-kids choice
-liver loaf sandwiches (this is one great way to sneak some liver in!), cup of veggie soup, cherry crisp
-lemon-pepper baked salmon fillets, seasoned brown rice, sauteed broccoli, blueberries
Snacks:yogurt, guacamole and chips

WEDNESDAY:
-oatmeal
-turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas
-oven fried chicken thighs, dressing, slaw, green beans
Snacks:boiled eggs, fruit salad, popcorn

THURSDAY:
-oatmeal
-beef-n-cabbage bake, buttered asparagus, spinach salad, blueberries
-homemade pizza, cherries
Snacks: Double Chocolate cookies with walnuts, blue chips and salsa

FRIDAY:
-kids choice
-spaghetti, french bread
-fried cod fish fillets, potato wedges, slaw, cookies
Snacks: yogurt, popcorn, raisins

Be sure to check out MENU PLAN MONDAY!

A super cute site....

Here's a site with lots of cute ideas for LOTS of homemade goodies- from food to clothes!
She's also recently featured several links to different recipes found here!
Thought some of you might like to check it out for lots of great gift ideas!

Fun and frugal buzy-ness for summer....

Us too!

In May we worked very hard at finishing up our reading "book lists". We also had to turn in grades! (love paper work, grr) I'm also trying hard to get my oldest through 2 more credits in order to graduate in the summer and be in a class at our local college in the fall! (That's been a ride!)

But, as some of you may know, we don't quit school work altogether for summer. We do have lighter loads some days and we do take more days off for fun but, I usually use summer for more "group" learning/teaching.

Some (fun and frugal) things that we've done already:

- we've held "debates"
This has been a fun way to learn what the kids really think about different topics such as; gun laws, state vs. federal laws, stricter FDA regulations, pros vs. cons on modesty, and many other fun ideas! We did this on a simple level so every one, including the younger children, could participate. We used a huge dry erase board and wrote out pros and cons and listed them accordingly. Ever wonder if your comments about daily news events affects your children? This is a great way to find out!
-flash light nights
The kids have been allowed to stay up later than normal with their flashlights and a book. Some are reading library books, some The Hardy Boys, one The Boxcar Children, and another Nancy Drew. Sounds fun to me!
-trying to learn Spanish
As a group, we're using free internet sources as well as library materials to try to learn some basics in Spanish. Some aren't really fond of this- but when I offer for them to do their home work instead of joining us, they suddenly decide its not so bad! ;-)
-learning parts of speech
I loved this in school, but sadly it doesn't seem that any of my kids are taking after me on this one! But we've used cute read-aloud style books from the library and oral Q&A and its made this more fun as we use our "adjectives" to describe our "brother". This also helps to keep our "regular school time" more happy! They would lots rather just read a real book than have a text book course in English for 'school time'- so this is a happy, kid-friendly alternative to get them to learn- not to mention teaching them as a group sure does save time! (and I don't have to grade 6 different papers! woo hoo!)
-finding educational shows on our free trial of Netflix
This is an area they are loving but I've had to be careful to watch over their choices. They love Man vs. Wild and tell me all kinds of things that you can eat! -gulp- They also love Myth Busters but I've had to monitor a few of those. There's also some PBS produced documentaries on there that have been really neat. The boys love to watch anything about war history.
-gardening
The other day, one of them complained a little while we were out working in the garden. I told him; "you may not get it all now, but I'm teaching you something that is VERY important for you in your future and something that you will have good memories of when you are older. You are learning that you CAN feed yourself, no matter what happens in your life. Now- the Bible tells us to do things without grumbling and complaining (actually I think the words used are 'murmurings and disputings'), so get back to work and no more complaining!"

Anyone have any other fun, educational, free/frugal ideas?