Tater Tot Casserole

This is great "comfort food". I also think this will be a new kid favorite. I recently read somewhere about this dish and thought, "My kids would probably really like that." Doesn't everyone like tater tots? I was surprised how many recipes you'll find online when you do a search of this one. Then I remembered seeing this on the Duggar's website. Read their version of the recipe here.
I came up with my own version and it turned out really tasty.

Tater Tot Casserole
2 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef, (browned and drained of any grease)
season the beef with garlic, salt, and pepper
1 can of green beans drained
1 can of corn (drained) save the liquid
1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk (after you dump in the soup, fill up the can)
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese
32 ounce bag of tater tots

While you browning the ground beef, spray a 9x13 glass casserole dish. Preheat oven to 375*. Layer corn, green beans, and ground beef in the dish. Whisk together the soup, milk, sour cream, and most of the liquid from the corn. Pour over the meat evenly. Add a layer of cheese. Add tater tots. I put them in one at a time to get a "full dish". Bake covered for 40 minutes and 15 minutes uncovered to brown the tater tots.

Our 2009-2010 School Year

School will be starting here next Monday, August 17. We never really stop school. Well, we do take breaks, sometimes quite lengthy breaks. I like having time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to bake and be crafty! But we try to continue reading and math year round and play a lot of catch-up after a new baby arrives. I love having this flexibility as a homeschooler.

This year is especially exciting because we have decided to participate in a homeschool co-op. We will meet on Mondays and the parents each teach and assist one class. The rest of the week our work will be completed at home. It's going to take a lot of organization and effort on our part to be successful. But, the payoff of completing so many classes for all of my children will be huge. I really need the help this year!

Here is a run down of the classes that we will take either in co-op school or at home. Anything marked with an * will be taught at home. I will be glad to answer any questions in the comments.

Jacob (16yo)
Saxon Algebra 1 *
Apologia Physical Science
Bob Jones American Government
Bob Jones Economics
Virginia History
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Abeka Geography

Samuel (14yo)
Saxon math *
Apologia Physical Science
Abeka Geography
Abeka Health
PE
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Spelling and Grammar review *

Abigail (12yo)
Saxon math *
Apologia General Science
World History
Geography Through Art
Logic
Institute for Excellence in Writing

Anna (10yo)
Saxon math*
Shurley English
Apologia Astronomy
Virginia History
PE
spelling review*
required reading*

Wendy (5yo)
Children's literature Five in a Row (I'm teaching this class at co-op)
Math*
PE
Science
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons*
Handwriting*

Lily (soon to be 4 yo)
number and letter recognition *
as much paint and markers as I can stand :) She loves to paint and create art! *

Blueberry Desert

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh blueberries

half a box of graham crackers made into crumbs (approximately 2 cups of crumbs)

1/3 cup of sugar (omit this if you want less sugar)

1 stick of butter melted

8 ounces of cream cheese brought to room temp.

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 large container of cool whip

8 ounces of chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven at 350*. Mix the cracker crumbs, half the walnuts, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl. Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick spray. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of your pan. Bake for 10 minutes and cool. Refrigerate until cold and set.

Use your mixer to combine room temperature cream cheese and powdered sugar. Mix well. Spread this over your graham cracker crust. This will be a pretty thin layer. Spread your blueberries over the cream cheese. Top this with cool whip. Sprinkle with remaining chopped walnuts. Refrigerate and serve cold. This is a great desert to make a day ahead. It tastes best the next day.

This is one of Tommy's favorite deserts. We used the blueberries from our bushes to make this for his birthday last weekend. I make 2 9x13 pans for my family.
*Note: You could buy graham cracker pie crusts from the grocery store. Homemade is better though!*

A testimony of faith...

This sweet baby has stolen my heart! Read this and be encouraged.

18 Months!

One serious pose, so you can see what she looks like without her cheeks about to pop! Rose is one big, sweet, happy baby. She loves to play inside and especially outside. She is an active, curious little one. Her favorite things:

Daddy (of course)

kitchen stuff, she would much rather go through cabinets than toys

baseballs :)

DeeDee and Dylan (our dog and cat)

shoes, especially her crocs

climbing and running

toy phones and real phones

milk, cheese, eggs, most any food....ice cream too

nursing :)

playing with brothers and sisters, of course!

We are enjoying our sweet Rose. She is such a blessing.

Menu Plan And Low Carb Update

I'm excited to say that I've lost 11 pounds. After the first week or so things really slowed down, but I expected that. The weight is more likely to stay off with a slow and steady loss. That's what I keep reading. I know it's going to take time.

• There have been other good things happening to report with the loss and positive changes in my diet. Here's a list of a few things I've noticed:
• a huge improvement in frequency of headaches
• skin rashes have improved or healed completely
• less aches and pains and general morning stiffness has improved
• stomach issues are much improved
• hypoglycemia (blood sugar highs and lows) are gone
• major sugar/carb cravings are gone (if I "crave a piece of cake" it's because i want to enjoy a piece of cake, not because of a constant physical need for sugar for energy) I enjoy desert. That will never change. It just needs to stay an occasional pleasure!

I have discovered through my low carb dieting that I am gluten intolerant. I notice an instant recurrence of most of my list if I have bread or some other wheat item. I especially notice stomach problems. I need to do a little more research about how to handle this long term, but the proof is in the "pudding" or in this case my symptoms make it very clear.

I have also figured out that sugar substitutes like splenda and whatever they put in diet drinks do not agree with me at all. I just can't tolerate it. I've tried to eat sugar free ice cream and diet soft drinks for an occasional treat only to be left with a headache and tummy ache. They taste really good, but the side effects are not worth the temporary treat.

For now, fruit has become my sweet of choice. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy a great variety of in season fruit! And here's what's for dinner!:

Monday-BLT's, slaw , fresh pineapple (salad for me)

Tuesday- roast in the crockpot, rice, garden veggies, cantaloupe

Wednesday-taco salad, honeydew melon

Thursday-chicken, rice, salad, watermelon

Friday-dinner after VBS at church

Our Garden

Everyone helped plant tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, and cantaloupe!

We're still patiently waiting for a constant harvest of tomatoes. We've eaten a few...mmmm.

Abigail and Anna planted sunflowers. They have been the most fun to watch. They are growing like my oldest kids:)

We have a small fenced are in our large back yard. We planted alternating tomato and cucumber plants instead of your traditional row type garden to preserve the grass and limit weeds.

This picture is beautiful! I told Abby we should make cards with prints!

Abigail's container flowers are beautiful!

Anna's sunflower right before the glorious bloom.

Still patiently waiting for the blueberries to ripen too. We can hardly wait for these. We have two large bushes in the bottom of our yard.

Our little Rose is growning and blooming too:)

Wendy and Lil's....my sweet little mud makers and eager gardeners.