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Menu Plan Monday: For Elyse and Stacy :)

Feb 2nd, 2010 by

Monday:  Eat Out

Tuesday:  (Freezer Meal) Chicken Noodle Soup, Bread, Fruit

Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Fajitas, Green Salad (Recipe Below)

Thursday:  Dinner with Friends

Friday:  Crockpot Meatloaf (Recipe Below), Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes

Saturday:  Crockpot White Bean Chicken Chili (Recipe Below), Cornbread, Green Salad

Sunday: Leftovers

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
1.5 lbs. chicken cut into 1 inch strips
one green pepper, choped
one yellow pepper, chopped
one red pepper, chopped
one small onion, chopped
1 4oz. can of green chilis
1T. lemon juice
1/4t. vegetable oil
2t. chili powder
1t. cumin
salt to taste
pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
1/2 can/bottle beer (I use Corona)
Place first six ingredients in crockpot.  Mix remaining items in a bowl and pour over items in crockpot.  Cook on low 4-5 hours.  Serve on warm tortillas with sour cream, guacamole, and cheese.

Crockpot Meatloaf
1.5 lb ground beef ( or do a ground turkey/ground beef mix)
1 med. onion, chopped
2 eggs
2/3c. dry quick oats
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1t. dry mustard
1c. ketchup, divided

1. mix meat and onion thoroughly.
2.  combine remaining ingredients, except for 2T. ketchup
3. Spray crockpot with cooking spray.
4. Shape into loaf and place in crockpot.  Top with remaining ketchup.
5. cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours.

Serves 8

White Chicken Chili
Makes 6 servings

1T. olive oil
3/4lb. uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1c. fat free chicken broth
2 15.5oz. cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
1t. dry mustard
1t. ground cumin
1/2t. salt
1/4t. black pepper

1. Warm oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2.  Add chicken and cook 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.  Stir frequently.  Remove and set aside.
3.  Add onion and garlic to skillet.  Cook 5 minutes or until tender.
4.  Spoon chicken, onion, and garlic into crockpot.
5.  Add broth, beans, mustard powder, cumin, salt and pepper.
6.  cover.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
7.Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream.

Toppings: tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream or plain yogurt, green onion

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Field Trip: National Automobile Museum

Jan 29th, 2010 by

If you ever find yourself in Reno with a couple of boys, definitely visit the National Automobile Musem.  It contains many cars from the private collection of Bill Harrah, the casino mogul.  An avid collector of cars, Mr. Harrah was embarrassed to discover that while at a car show, he learned that one of his restored cars contained parts that were not authentic to the car.  He decided to build a library containing the specs of all collector cars, and also build an assembly line in Sparks to facilitate the authentic restoration of collector vehicles.

When he passed away, he left an estate of over 200 million dollars.  This included something like 1200 cars.  The cars were sold to the Holiday Inn chain, who planned on selling them.  The people of Reno found out and were outraged.  A non profit organization was founded and Holiday Inn donated 175 of Harrah’s cars to the organization.

The museum is arranged in about four or five galleries, each dedicated to a particular time frame.  I am providing you with just a small sampling of the cars, and had a hard time deciding which ones to post; the boys wanted me to take pictures of so many!

The first exhibit we saw was dedicated to Alice Ramsey, the first woman to drive across America.  She drove with three of her friends.  I think it would be fun to recreate this trip some day with three of my girlfriends!  Of course, it would be much easier today!

The boys in front of the 1981 DeLorean,,,

Modeling in the Model ‘T’.  This is the only car that you can touch.  They had a bunch of hats and props for picture taking…


Movie starlet, Mary Pickford’s car.  Check out the rumble seat!

Other celebrity cars present include Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Al Jolson, John Wayne, John F. Kennedy, and a few more I can’t think of…

The 1921 Ford "T" Lamsteed Kampar.  Seats six, sleeps four, predated the RV craze by 50 years…

1921 Rolls Royce…

1938 Phantom Corsair.  This car was the inspiration for the comic book illustration of the ‘Batmobile’.  This museum actually used to have the real Batmobile, but when the owner moved from the area, he took it with him…

James Dean’s car from the movie, "Rebel without a Cause.."

The "Shagmobile" from "Austin Powers" The Spy Who Shagged Me"

From the movie, "Easy come, Easy Go" with Elvis Presley…

I bet you are humming the tune right now…

This is the famous American ‘Thomas Flyer’, the winner of the Great Race of 1908!  The race began in New York, across America, Asia and Europe and ending in Paris!  Of the six cars that started, only three finished.  Great story and would make for a good unit study.  The museum has a whole exhibit dedicated to it.

This was ‘A’s favorite mobile.  It is the 1960 Flying Caduceus, shown in the 2005 movie "The World’s Fastest Indian", starring Anthony Hopkins.

Cool race cars…

‘R’s favorite, The 2003 Mcmillin M/D 1, an off road race car that had a video that kept ‘R’ absobed for quite a while…

We spent an easy two hours and could have spent more.  Three thumbs up.  We will return.

Posted in HOMESCHOOL | 1 Comment »

More Reno Fun

Jan 29th, 2010 by

On our first night in Reno, we had dinner at Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse, inside the Grand Sierra Resort.  This was one of the best meals I have ever experienced.  I ordered the special of the evening, Bison with a blackberry port reduction.  AMAZING!  The service was above and beyond and we were treated with extra courses.  We left with one phrase on our lips…"we were spoiled!"

Working off the heavy steak dinners, we all went bowling, also at the same resort.  This was the first year the kids could hold up the balls to roll on their own!

My cousin (David’s business partner) Terry, and my hopefully-someday-cousin-by-marriage-to-my-other-cousin-(Terry’s sister)-Robyn-and our company’s sales guy-Dan…

Bowler Boys…

Our second night’s dinner was at another Charlie Palmer restaurant on the property, Buscola.  It was Italian and more casual than the steakhouse.  Service and food were still delightful.  I had the penne with wild boar ragout.  Reminded me of stew meat.

Reno, from our room…

A fountain inside the resort…

Lobby sculpture that memorializes the "Pony Express"

We also watched a movie at the resort’s movie theater and enjoyed some of the games at the arcade…

The beautiful drive back over the pass.  Reno is exactly two hours door to door from our home.

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Reno Convention with Daddy

Jan 29th, 2010 by

A perk of homeschooling is the flexibility to go wherever, whenever.  We decided to join David for a convention where his company had a booth in the vendor hall. 

The convention was for the Western Fairs Association and was located at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.  This property was pretty dark and the decor outtdated, the place had that old smoke smell, but the service was excellent all throughout and there were plenty of family oriented activities to enjoy.

We spent the first afternoon walking through the vendor hall at the convention.  Because this is the place where entertainers are showing their talent to Fair management, you can imagine the colorful characters we encountered.  It was a little bit of stimulus overload for the boys, because there were very few children and the entertainers were mostly geared for kids.  So, they were constantly plying the kids with treats, swag,  and experiences.

Here, the boys are battling it out with little robots…

Juggler, Balloon Artist, etc…

Our company booth, with my cousin (David’s business partner), Terry…

A very…ummm…short? cowboy…

This was a very nice man who made balloon animals.  He let us know that balloons will days if left in the fridge and even weeks if left in the freezer.  Good idea if the the kids want to keep it for show and tell or to share with the grandparents when they come to visit…

The highlight of our vendor booth visit…yes, it is real!


MONSTER TRUCK!

This was a robot that carried on relevant, personal communication.  There had to have been a remote camera or someone inside the robot, but no one shared the secret.  The kids loved talking to it…

This vendor created incredible  kaleidoscopes.  They also took a picture of the kids!

A good time was had by all kids, big and small!

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Monterey Weekend

Jan 29th, 2010 by

I was honored to be picked by my friend, Tina (http://www.tinacareymusic.com), to serve as her Powerpoint girl as she led Worship (Band name: Watergirl), for the North Conference Baptist Women’s Retreat.

There were about 500 women, and aside a few  technical difficulties, the conference was amazing!

This is Watergirl after the session the first night.  All of these women are from different churches throughout the Bay area…
L-R: Cleo, Jane, Tina, Sue, Sondra, Stephanie

Tina and me

We had a little free time on Satuday and went to Pacific Grove for lunch.  We had a terrific lunch at the Red House Cafe.  I am glad we ate out on the covered porch, because this little place would not have been able to handle this spirited group of women!  We shared desserts, and my fave was the chocolate cream pie (picture below.) YUM!

Full bellies after lunch…

On Sunday, after the retreat was over, we enjoyed another terrific lunch at Patisserie Boissiere in Carmel by the Sea.  Wow, all I have to say is that I definitely need to return and explore this lovely little town.  I wish we had more time to explore it.

Posted in MISC. | 1 Comment »

Science: Learning About ‘Fizz’

Jan 21st, 2010 by

We had fun exploring how things fizz!

For our first experiment, we poured a clear soda into a glass jar and added raisins.  The bubbles surrounded the raisins and lifted them up to the top, then the bubbles popped causing them to sink, only to rise again by the bubbles!

For our second experiment, we added baking soda to vinegar!  WOOT!!

For our final experiment, we mixed citric acid, baking soda, and powdered sugar.  We learned that we needed a liquid (like water or saliva)  to make it fizz…

Posted in HOMESCHOOL | 1 Comment »

Art: Minoan Art

Jan 21st, 2010 by

This art lesson focuses on the historical Minoan Art.  We learned that the Minoans on the island of Crete decorated their walls and floors with art depicting enjoyable activities.  The subjects were outlined with a strong black line and many pieces had decorative borders.

The boys did their own version of Minoan art, using a black oil pastel and watercolor crayons.

‘A’ made a manger scene.  When I reminded him that Minoan art occurred 1500 years before Christ, he said it didn’t matter.  He’s right.

‘R’s  picture includes a black sheep, a bat, and a flying snake…

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Our Own Legoland

Jan 21st, 2010 by

Posted in MISC. | Comments Off

Art: Journey into Pottery

Jan 21st, 2010 by

OK, major homeschool mom points for me…we did a project that was supposed to be a decorative bowl.  The kids were to take a ball of self drying clay and shape a bowl over a paper bowl.  After it dries, we were supposed to rip the paper bowl away from the clay bowl.

Well…the clay I have had around for about a year was incredibly firm.  I cut off a piece and kneaded it FOREVER with water.  Once it was pliable, I gave it to ‘A’ to make the bowl.  Then, repeat with ‘R’. 

My hands were tired and sore, the kitchen and the boys were a mess, the paper bowls collapsed and we ended up with paper plates. 

I know there are a few more pottery projects coming up and I am seriously considering Play-Doh…

This is ‘R’s plate.  He drew a Jedi knight…

‘A’s plate.  Guess…

Posted in HOMESCHOOL | 1 Comment »

Our Awesome Friends

Jan 21st, 2010 by

We are so blessed to have such good friends!  While in Washington for about three weeks, our friends, Eric and Crystal, took care of our cat.  Upon arrival home, late at night, here is what we found…

They gave the kids a ‘Sorry’ game, and in the fridge, a beautiful gift basket full of all kinds of edible goodies.  What a wonderful surprise and blessing!

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