Weekly Wrap-Up for the week ending January 13, 2019

So this week, we resumed some semblance of normalcy around our home.  String, Band, and Tennis also resumed.  So once again, people are practicing their instruments.  Also, it meant I am having to drive people from point A to point B, since we only have two vehicles currently and our oldest son needs to drive the truck to get to and from work.

For Thursday being the first time our youngest son went back to tennis, I felt he did really good.  This afternoon he went out with some friends to practice tennis for about an hour so we will see how that goes.

Our family became the proud owners of two Instant Pots in the last two months, so we have been using them for cooking.  Last night, we attempted to make cubed steak in the Instant Pot.  However, we ran into technical difficulties.  We coated the meat with flour and added flour to the beef broth to make a gravy.  Unfortunately, it wanted to try to burn, so we wound up restarting twice before putting that meal on hold and fixing something else.  But, we plan on trying again, with just browning the meat and putting the beef broth in the Instant Pot and once the meat is done, we will make the gravy.  I will let you know how it turns out.  One thing we made this past week in the Instant Pot that turned out really good is Georgia style, Brunswick Stew.  I love how the pork, chicken, lima beans, and vinegar-based barbecue sauce all come together to make a really tasty dish.  Of course, the potatoes, onions, and corn and okra we put in it helped also.  Using a whole chicken we cooked into the Instant Pot and some of the leftover Pioneer Woman Dr. Pepper pulled pork made it really good.  Also, we added some extra vinegar to kick it up a little.

During the last month, we also acquired an Air Fryer, so be watching for me to share what we are cooking in it.  If you have any favorite recipes for an air fryer, I would love for you to share them with me.  Part of what took so long for us to purchase one was trying to find one large enough for our family.

So what is going on where you are?  I would love to hear from you.  Also, if you have an Instant Pot and have any favorite recipes, I would love to hear from you about them as well.

The 8th Day of January

Here is our meal from today.  I made homemade Brunswick Stew.  I used tomatoes, tomato sauce, pork, chicken, corn, potatoes, lima beans, okra, Chicken Stock, a vinegar-based Barbecue Sauce, salt and pepper.  It turned out really good.

We used our 8-quart Instant Pot to cook the stew, and it turned out pretty good. It just needed a little more vinegar to make it perfect.

So what have you cooked or ate recently that was good?  I would love to hear from you.

 

 

Tasty Tuesday – August 28, 2018

Today for dinner we had steaks cooked on the grill, carrots, wild rice and grilled pita breads.

Another meal we had was homemade Alfredo sauce over pasta.

Stay tuned for upcoming reviews for Grammar Planet and Roman Roads Media.

Thoughts for Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Last Thursday, we had to take our youngest son back to the hearing doctor.  While there we went back to the waterfront.  Here is a picture from our first visit of the flags we saw from one part of the waterfront park.  The second picture is one we took from right beside the flags.

This past week saw our family get a new to us freezer that did not work when we plugged it in.  So we are trying to see if we can get it to work. It will be so nice to have two freezers again.  We like to have one for meat/poultry/pork/fish/shrimp etc. and then the second freezer we like to use for vegetables, fruit and other items.

We have started using the program “Plan to Eat” to help with grocery shopping, meal planning, and even with grocery shopping lists.  I am trying to incorporate some variety into our meals and menu planning.  With that, I want to move into our Tasty Tuesday portion of the day.

For our Tasty Tuesday meal for this week, I want to share the Shrimp Scampi we had on Friday night.  We used frozen shrimp we bought at the military commissary in Corpus Christi, olive oil, fresh parsley, diced onions, minced garlic, butter and some cooking white wine.  I found the original recipe online and then tweaked it to meet our family’s likes.  We chopped the onion very fine because I have some children who are not fans of onions.  Then I added the white wine for flavor and body even though it was not called for initially.  Finally, we served it over mini bowtie pasta.  The meal was served with a baguette.  I have to say we all enjoyed the meal.

Here are some photographs of the meal.

Then for dinner tonight, we had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn.  Here is a picture of a piece of fried chicken and the mashed potatoes.  My husband does an absolutely amazing job of frying the chicken.

I would love to hear what is going on in your world.  Click here or on the graphic below to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about this week.

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Thoughts for Tuesday, July 24, 2018

So over the last two weeks, my husband re-enlisted for what should be the last time.  We only have about 4 years until he reaches the mandatory retirement age for the US Army Reserves.

We also took our youngest son to see an Ear doctor in Port Lavaca, Texas – which is about 30 minutes away from where we are living.  One of the fun parts of being the military is constantly having to find new doctors and traveling to new places to find ones that are willing to take the military health insurance.

After seeing the doctor, we drove down to see the water.  You see my husband and all four of our children were born in Jacksonville, North Carolina – which is roughly 30 minutes or so from the Atlantic Ocean.  So all of them have great ties to the water.  Here are some photographs I took using my iphone.

And her are some more photographs.

We want to take the entire family back so we can have a picnic by the water.

For this week’s edition of Tasty Tuesday’s, here are some photographs of some food we had:

On rare ocassions, my husband and I have the opporunity to eat out alone.  This past Friday was one of those times.  Dennis, my husband, had to go to renew his military id and I rode along with him.  While in Corpus Christi, we stopped to do some grocery shopping, which included one of favorite stores – Sprouts.  But before wetry tackled our grocery shopping, we decided to try a new place to eat called Jason’s Deli.  Upon walking in, we went to place our orders and found a fantatstic variety of items to choose from to eat.  We had options ranging from soup, sandwiches, salads and more.  We both decided to have the half-sandwich and one-trip to the salad bar combo.  In addition to our California Club sandwich and salad bar trip, we also had the option to have fruit, chips or something else that escapes my mind right now.  We both selected the fruit and it was fantastic.

So what is going in your world?  I would love to hear from you.  If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about this week, click here or on the graphic below.

Thoughts for Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Lately I have been on a real recipe cooking kick.  I want to eat different things and add some variety to our meal plan.  So over the last 7 days, I tried two different recipes that were new to our family.  The first was Brunswick Stew, which I made using a recipe I found online and then tweaking it.  As part of this recipe, I also experimented with making a Carolina-style Vinegar based barbecue sauce.  Now normally, I would not need to do this becacuse my father-in-law makes the absolute best homemade barbecue sauce ever.  However, livng in Texas for the past two years means our supply had ran out and we have not have the means or opportunity to restock.  I have to say it turned out really well.  I used a mixture of pork and chicken along with lima beans, corn, potatoes, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, the barbecue sauce and some spices.  I have to say it turned out amazing.

The second new recipe I tried was stuffed shells, which we had for dinner last night.  They turned out really delicious.  We served it with spagetti and meat sauce.  I just wish I could find an amazing lactose-free mozzarella cheese, so our oldest son could partake of the amazing tastes with us.  Here is a picture.

 

On the subject of our oldest son, he did his orientation on Friday and began working as a Nursing Assistant on Saturday.  He works four days on and then has off two days.  So he worked Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and will have tomorrow (Wednesday, July 4th and Thursday, July 5th).  He seems to really like it.  So we will see how things go.  With him leaving the house at around 5:15 to 5:30 in the morning and not getting home until around 3 in the afternoon, I have not gotten a picture of him in his new scrubs yet but I will.

So what is going on in your life?  I would love to hear from you.  If you would like to see what other members of the Home School Review Crew are up to this week, click here or on the graphic below.

Thoughts for Tuesday

 

Here are some pictures from our meals for our Tasty Tuesday thoughts.  We recently bought a new grill called a Cowboy Grill from Sam’s Club.  We finally assembled it this weekend and decided some ribs we had would be perfect for the first cooking on the new grill. I love  how it can hold a dutch oven, has the extra round surface for either warming or cooking on and the large main surface area can hold a lot of food.

Our youngest son even decided to help his father with the cooking.

In addition to the ribs, we also grilled some Naan to go with our meal.  Grilling it, makes Naan absolutely delicious.

So what have you been cooking this week?  Stay tuned next Tuesday for our next Tasty Tuesday post.

If you want to see what other members of the Home School Review Crew are posting about this week, click here or on the graphic below.

Tasty Tuesday’s – March 20, 2018

This past week, I discovered an amazing place to buy fresh produce. It is called Bountiful Baskets. Unfortunately, it is not available everywhere, in fact, we had to drive two hours to San Antonio, which is the closest site to us. Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op where people pay a contribution fee for a basket or can pay more for certified organic.

We decided to purchase one regular basket along with several of the additional offerings, We purchased 50 pounds of potatoes, an herb basket, and a St, Patrick’s Day basket. With those, we received carrots, celery, potatoes, kale, a butternut squash, cabbage, pears, and even two grapefruits,

 

I wish I had taken pictures of everything, but that did not happen. However, I know we will participate again and I will be sure to take pictures and share with you all.  Here is one picture of some of the produce we got including the box of potatoes, the herb basket and the St. Patrick’s Day basket.

Here is a picture of the potatoes. We were very pleased with the quality of our food.

Also, this weekend, my husband and I discovered a new place to eat called Zoe’s Kitchen that serves a blend of Mediterranean and Southern food combined. I had their steak stack sandwich with a Greek salad. Dennis, my husband, had the steak stack and their marinated slaw. The food was fresh, flavorful and very satisfying.

So what have you been eating?  I would love to hear from you.

If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew have to say this week, click here or on the graphic below.

 

Tasty Tuesday’s – Homemade Ginger Sauces

 

Have you ever gone out to eat somewhere and developed a craving to have that certain food prepared exactly as that particular restaurant could make it.  Then you go other places and find yourself being disappointed over and over again.  We have such a food from such a restaurant.  When we lived in Jacksonville, North Carolina, we had one of the best Japanese Steak Houses.  We would go in every year for Valentine’s Day, typically with my husband’s brother, his wife, my husband’s best friend along with his wife and typically one other couple.

Dennis and I always ordered two separate meals – one of us would get the Hibachi Steak and the other would get the Hibachi Chicken and we would share.  My favorite part of the meal was the Ginger salad dressing and the ginger dipping sauce.  Since we left North Carolina, almost 9 years ago, we have not been able another restaraunt that is as good.

As a result, I have been on the hunt for a good recipe online to make the salad dressing and the dipping sauce.  This weekend, we made both using fresh ginger root.  The two recipes I tried (one was from Allrecipes) and the other I found on another site online.  They came out amazing.

 

We planned on fixing sushi, however, my husband is not a fan of the seaweed used.  So we thought about using cucumbers to wrap them.  However, we did not have a sushi mat to roll the sushi with, so we made a “sushi” bowl instead.  I used the basic ingredients of a California roll – including sushi rice, avocados, carrots, cumbers, imitation crab sticks, and cream cheese.  I was pleased with how they turned out.  We used the ginger salad dressing for this.  Also, we had egg rolls, Teriyaki chicken, Stir-fried cabbage and Zucchini stir-fried with onions.

So what have you been cooking at your house?  I would love to hear from you.

If you would like to read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew are posting about this week, click here or on the link below.

 

Tasty Tuesday – For February 20, 2018

 

I am back again today with another Tasty Tuesday installment.  This past Friday my husband had off for a long weekend for President’s Day.  We had to drive to Corpus Christi for a doctor’s appointment for me.  When we do day excursions like this we tend to take one of our children with us for one-on-one time.  Our youngest son who is seventeen went along for the ride this time.  We tend to try to pick places to eat that suit the personality and tastes of the child/children we have with us.  So this time, we saw a sign for CiCi’s Pizza and decided that was a good place to stop.

With three sons in our family, we have found buffets tend to be the perfect place to come.  Unfortunately, this time, a school bus full of other teenagers arrived at the same time we did.  Now having three sons of my own, I know teenage boys can eat a lot! I repeat teenage boys can eat A LOT!  The food was okay but not as great as we remembered.  Our son loves to get the Hawaiian pizza from CiCi’s that has ham and pineapple on it.  They had a Hawaiian pizza, but unfortunately, it did not have one of the two required ingredients, which mad our son disappointed.

For one of our other meals, we had my husband’s fried chicken.  This is something he has mastered the art of cooking.  We take a pack of drumsticks, all-purpose flour and some cornmeal for the coating.  He mixes it together, coats the chicken and proceeds to fry it in a cast iron fry pan.  It comes out amazing.  We served it with Western Beans from Aldi’s, mashed potatoes (that I added some of the sauce from the beans to my potatoes), and green beans.  All in all, it was a really good meal.

Tonight we are having Mexican for dinner.  What are you cooking at your house?  I would love to hear from you.

If you would like to see what other members of the Home School Review Crew are posting about this week, click here or on the graphic below.