Saturday, December 22, 2012

Crockpot Cooking

Well after being inspired by +Mama and Baby Love  to get those crockpot meals prepped and frozen, I now have 9 meals ready to go... During the first day of prep, I made the Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken and Chicken Curry, while cooking taco filling in the crockpot. 

The next morning I quickly knocked out the Goulash and with the rest of the chicken I purchased, I made up a Chicken Fajita freezer meal pack- and started a roast, which I modified from this recipe- I used Sweet Potatoes instead of regular and omitted the celery and onion soup mix- replacing it with my own zesty herb seasoning mix. I loved it.

My almost 11 year old wanted to make the gravy so I taught her how and I thought it came out great too- we gathered around the table (after a short scuffle about who would sit where- nobody puts G-pie in a corner, apparently!) she took one bite and said, "Well it smells way better than it tastes" and I burst into tears (we are both hormonal right now, methinks!) ... although once I was able to compose myself and discuss it, it turns out she and Sugar Daddy were surprised by the sweetness of the meat & gravy. They were expecting something more savory- I guess the sweet potato infused it all too well!!

Having used my crockpot twice this week, I noticed it seemed to be cooking hot, so after a little searching I found these answers:


So now I have a bit of trouble shooting to do. Especially since I have a freezer full of food ready to dump in a crockpot!!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Love

My husband is amazing. He is such a patient father and willing partner. He puts so much into everything he does, and gives his heart openly in shared wonder to his students and I am so happy that he is living this Learning Barefoot life with me.

As he was regaling me with the tale of his Science & Drawing classes today, baby M-cube awoke and he calmly assured me that it was OK and left me to a little much needed alone time. Time to reflect on the beauty of my life, the blessings that I have- the fulfillment of dreams and promise of a lovely future.

The pictures of my day are gathered in a digital trail from my morning post here, scattered on Tumblr, Facebook and Instagram- as is the fashion of our time. A beautiful summary of a day well lived.

Look to this day,
For it is life,
The very life of life.
In it’s brief course lie all
The realities and verities if existence,
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power-
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today, lived well,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.

And here are some pictures of the time my partner-in-life shared, with children we both love at Learning Barefoot... being about the business we are building together. He makes things fun. It is after all why I married him.

Carnivore, Herbivore or Omnivore?

Eco-system discussion notes...

Group built food web.
Hungry "seed" (bead) eating "birds"...

The pollination race begins... "birds" eat "seeds".

...Kai is bringing "seeds" to the "soil"... while Grace drops "pollen" at the flowers...

Composters slowly creating "soil".

Frenzied action shot!!

Pollinated (paper clip) flowers and their attracting "bee". (last class was on magnets- love how he reinforces that concept)
 Science was so much fun that the kids who came for drawing wanted to play this game that he made up too...





We both had a great day doing things we loved, and loving the people who did them with us. 

It's a Wonderful Life.


Fresh Frozen Crockpot Family Food

It took me all weekend to clean and rearrange the cupboards in my kitchen. Monday I shopped.

Today is Taco Tuesday. I will have all the 3 littles home with me all day, while Sugar Daddy teaches make-up Science & Drawing classes at Learning Barefoot.



So I searched for a crockpot taco recipe- let's see how it goes, simmering all day while I chop and sort and store for the coming busy weeks. Found these great fresh to freezer to crockpot to table recipes on Pinterest... where it looks like this mama got a lotta love for this brilliant idea and has recently written a cookbook.

It is now 11:07 am. The middles are playing Dr with their stuffed lovies. The littlest is sleeping- here we go on the tacos... and then it is time to start chopping!!



Posting to Tumblr throughout the day... http://barefootocmama.tumblr.com/





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