Corn, Corn, Corn...Nuthin' but Corn

The title is from one of my ALL time favorite movies, Second Hand Lions. If you haven't seen this movie, rent it! It's a good one and I won't ruin it with explaining the quote.
SO, after buying a crate of corn from the Dallas Farmer's Market on Saturday, I was beginning to feel that there was "nuthin' but corn!"  My husband and I shucked it on the back porch, this part is messy. Then the fun began. After blanching the corn for 8 minutes, then placing in a ice water bath for 8 minutes, we made 5 packages with 3 ears of corn, and vacuum sealed them for the freezer...that was the easy part. Continuing the blanch and ice water bath process, I placed them in a roasting dish with a towel to help absorb the extra water. As I was doing this, the MR. starting cutting the corn off of the cob. He is always engineering something, so he used a bundt cake pan to help stabilize the standing corn and then the kernels feel into the pan as he cut them off the cob...GENIUS!! I followed the Ball Blue Book recipe and pressure cooking instructions for Whole Kernel Corn and it made the process pretty easy, but it took ALL afternoon. Our pressure cooker only holds 9 pint jars at a time, so we had to process twice to get all 16 jars done. 
The six half pint jars contain Corn Cob Jelly. We have been watching some canning videos on YouTube and found the idea HERE. Like she says in the video, it does have a taste like that of honey...surprisingly good!
We did have one mishap, but I guess if you aren't breaking jars, you aren't trying. We opened up the pressure cooker after the first batch to find corn floating everywhere and then realized that one of the jars did indeed break. Hopefully it was just an imperfection in the glass and not the fact that the MR. kept telling me,"Don't overfill the jars! Be sure to leave the right amount of headspace!" And of course, we left out some to enjoy for dinner! 
I encourage you to get to the farmer's market and get some fresh corn to enjoy this winter...Happy Canning!

College Prep

College Prep? Oh, I have plenty of time for that, right?

As we all know, time flies when you are having fun, and as my grandad would say, even when you're not. Preparing kids for college seems like a daunting task if you ask me. Starting the home school journey a little later than most, we have had no time to waste when it comes to preparing for the college exams. 

Here are a few of the resources we have found to help her prep:

1. Princeton Review  

 After attending a seminar at a local community college, we were on a mailing list for this company. The best part about getting on the mailing list was when they sent us a notice about an opportunity to take a FREE ACT, SAT, OR PSAT. I realize this is a tactic to get your money in the end, however, we took advantage of the opportunity. Having a daughter with test anxiety, it was nice for her to take the test when "it didn't matter."  She got to experience the test without the normal pressure and it proved to really boost her confidence. She returned a week later to get her score and a 1 1/2 hour review of test, along with tips for taking the test in the future. 

2. Flash cards     

 Barron's flash cards have proved to be a great resource. We ordered ours HERE. Each test section has a set of cards devoted to test strategy and a set of cards devoted to sample questions. The sample question cards have explanations for the right answer, as well as why the other answers are not correct. Having these flashcards has helped my daughter feel like taking this test is a game instead of testing her for knowledge, which is exactly how they are designed.

3. Books of the tests

 We were fortunate enough to have a former co-worker of mine give us a test prep book that her daughter had only slightly used. The Kaplan SAT test prep book has 12 full length practice tests. It contains detailed answer explanations, similar to the flash cards. I am sure there are many others, but this is the one we happen to have and use.

Keep in mind the learning style of your teenager when considering which source or sources to use. One or even a combination of the resources may benefit you, while some of the options may be a waste of time. This is by no means an exhaustive list of college prep material, just a few of the ones we have found and have used. 

I would enjoy hearing what you have done for your college bound student! I can NEVER have too much help in this area.  Thanks for stopping by.

Make Once, Freeze Many

 

 
My family likes to have this lasagna with a green salad and garlic bread if we are really hungry! It is super EASY to make and it makes A LOT. The original recipe says it makes 2-9x13 pans of lasagna, each having a serving for 12. For our family of 3, a 9x13 pan of lasagna is too much, so I started making it in 8x8 pans. This makes 3-4 lasagnas, so time spent making this is VERY PRODUCTIVE.  I have also made this as one HUGE lasagna for family and friend gatherings and it is always a hit. I sometimes get a little over zealous with the meat sauce and run out...NO PROBLEM...just make lasagna rolls to freeze. The lasagna rolls just need marina sauce over them before baking.   

THE RECIPE:
1-16 oz pkg lasagna noodles
3 lbs. ground beef
3-26 oz jars spaghetti sauce 
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 1/2 lbs ricotta cheese (I use the entire 2 lb container)
6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (again, I use the entire 8 cup bag)
1 T. dried parsley flakes
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

• Cook noodles according to package directions.
• Brown meat until no longer pink and drain. Rinsing the meat with hot water will help remove some of the extra fat. Add spaghetti sauce and set aside.
• In another bowl, combine eggs, ricotta cheese, 4-5 cups or handfuls of mozzarella, parsley, salt and pepper. Get your hands messy in this step to really blend all of the ingredients together.
• Drain the noodles. Spray pans with Pam to help prevent sticking. Spread 1 to 1 1/2 cups meat sauce in each pan. Layer 3 noodles...cutting them in half for smaller pans...1 cup ricotta mixture, then 1 1/2 cups meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
• Cover lasagnas for the freezer with saran wrap or something similar to seal the edges, then cover with foil. Use a Sharpie to write Lasagna and the date on the foil. I put each lasagna on a cookie sheet, stack the cookie sheets in the freezer until lasagnas are good and frozen, then remove the cookie sheets and stack them up. These will stay good for about 3 months.
• Cover tonight's lasagna with foil and bake at 375* for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes or until really bubbly. Let it stand for about 10 minutes before cutting.
• TO USE FROZEN LASAGNA:  Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Take out of fridge about 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 375* for 60-70 minutes or until heated through. Uncover, bake 10 more minutes or until really bubbly.

Hope this recipe helps you get your freezer stocked for those busy days, days you just don't feel like cooking, and to help keep you and your family healthy and happy!

Thanks for stopping by...Happy Cooking :)

                                                               

Home School History

Where do I fall in this chart? I am a parent of one. I have an associate degree in dental hygiene. We spend over $600 a year for schooling...we pay to have my daughter's records kept by Bridgeway Academy. My husband and I were not home school. We began home schooling because we were not satisfied with the education our daughter was receiving at the local high school. We live in Texas, so the regulation on home schooling is simple. We have been home schooling for one year, about to start junior year of high school! If you have found this as a result of searching out information to decided if home schooling is the right thing for your family, I hope this has helped in some small way. The decision to school your child/children at home is a BIG ONE! The reasons are personal and only you can decide what is best for you and your kiddos...and remember YOU know them BEST. I was really the last person on earth that thought she would be a home school mom, yet it has been one of the best decisions I have made as a parent. My daughter is not only happier but healthier because of the decision. I would love to hear where you and your family fall in this chart! Thanks for stopping by!
Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

On Sale and Stocking Up

When strawberries go on sale for BOGO, how can you resist?? As usual with strawberries from the grocery store, they rarely last more than a few days in the fridge before they start to get moldy or go bad in general. We LOVE strawberry banana smoothies, so this is the perfect opportunity to put these in the freezer for future use. Freezing strawberries is EXTREMELY easy. 

• cut off the top leafy part of the berry...I didn't take time to actually hull the berries because it gets blended up and not a problem for smoothies
• cut berries in half or quarters
• rinse berries...a salad spinner can be used to remove the extra moisture. If you don't have a salad spinner,I would recommend you invest in one. Greatest invention EVER! OR you can pat the berries in a paper towel to get the extra moisture off of them.
• place wax paper on a baking sheet and arrange a single layer of the berries...I do this just to make it easier to get the berries off of the pan.
• place in freezer for a few hours...you can put berries into bags not frozen, but you may end up with a big glob. Freezing them first helps them to not stick together and easier for blending.
• once frozen, the berries can go into some sort of freezer storage...ziploc, freezer containers, or vacuum sealed. Leaving the berries on the counter while you prepare bags makes it easier to get them off of the wax paper. We purchased a Food Saver a year ago and I LOVE IT!! I precut the bag size needed for individual servings, wrote berries and the date, and then sealed them for the freezer! 

My favorite classic smoothie recipe is quick and simple!

1 cup orange juice (or juice of 2 fresh squeezed oranges)
1-2 frozen bananas (depends on the size of banana...as you can see in the pic, I freeze them in the peel and use a knife to remove ends and peel when ready to use them)
1 pkg of frozen strawberries

Blend thoroughly and ENJOY!

Hope this was useful...thanks for stopping by and happy smoothie making :)

Garden just about Anywhere

With a "For Sale" sign in our front yard this spring, it was advised that we not put in our garden. Apparently the garden might ward off potential buyers...I thought it would be considered an plus! I mean how often do you buy a house with the garden already started for you??? The reality is that most people don't garden and I find this sad in some way.
I had already started seeds in an egg carton and hated to just throw them out. Funny thing, the wind got to my light weight carton and took care of most of them for me. The few plants that were left got transplanted into a flower bed along the back of the house. This space is usually used for herbs, so why not just throw a few extras in there. 
I was beginning to think the idea of any fresh vegetable was doomed when the chickens then got into the flower bed and dug up just about EVERYTHING!! I managed to salvage two plants, that I thought were both squash. However, I was surprised to find that one was a watermelon! Just wanted to share a few photos of the plants in that bed and encourage you to garden just about anywhere!
The ONE squash has provided us with plenty for our family of three. I have not had extra to freeze, but have been thankful to not have to buy it in the grocery store. The watermelon has taken over!! We have harvested two of the five melons on the vine and they have been a treat...and the chickens love the left over rinds.
Hope this inspires you to plant a squash or two even when someone tries to squash your garden...Happy Gardening and thanks for stopping by!