Food of the Gods

Today was a fitting day to do THIS hands on project. ::snort::


We studied the Mayans last week; but never quite fit this project in. Chris told me about the kit from Home Science/Training Tools. This kit included everything we needed to make ORGANIC chocolate.

First we examined cacao beans. Arielle was skeptical.
Next we melted cocoa butter....strange stuff. It SMELLED like chocolate (duh!) and looked like butter. It tasted like fatty chocolate.
We added the grounded cacao beans and stirred....a lot. (This was first thing in the a.m. so the kids are NOT greasers - they have shower hair. ::snort::

We called Jamin in to whip the little bumps I couldn't get.

The kids INSISTED on adding peanut butter (off course it's organic). ::Snort::

Now the chocolate had to temper.....cool to 94*. I didn't trust the little indicator they sent (though it went off at the same time as the digital thermometer.
They formed the candy.
What's THIS???

Our finished product (which we'll enjoy tonight when all are home).
Zander liked clean up best.

Verdict: This reinforced the children's opinion that hands-on projects are better than assembling lap books. Several times I heard, "I like this project better than making fish prints." So it did. It smelled better - tasted better too. ::snort::

We talked about growing practices, the Mayan's diet, worship, bitter chocolate drinks (you can buy Mexican Hot Chocolate drink down here, and I think it is very close to the drink that they drink in Central and South America), and how we agree that Chocolate is the food of the gods.

Our Anniversary!

It's our 24th anniversary. Last year, Mike was overseas; this year he is home....but not until 9:45 or 10:00 p.m. ::snort:: I DID drive the kids up to Burger King so we could have dinner with Mike. We had the place to ourselves! ::snort:: We plan to do something together tomorrow.
I could wax eloquent about all that Mike has meant in my life and how much I value our love, marriage, family, and life together, but if you've read my blog long or know me - you know that I passionately love and respect my husband. God picked 'em good....so good, that I regularly pray he will send such men for our daughters. Life is too busy right now for me to write much else.
This year there aren't a lot of fancy gifts - we bought a freezer. ::snort:: Yippee! The biggest gift this year has come through my health challenges. I've seen anew how deeply Mike loves me and how much he desires for us to grow old together....it's actually amazing to me how love and respect continue to grow in a marriage. This is a great plan God had. Sometimes a lot of work - but a great plan nonetheless. ::snort::

GOD and KETCHUP - Now You Know!

Continuing on in our quest for accurate science experiences.....Zander informed me this a.m. that Ketchup is blood. 
"God put ketchup in our bodies for our brains."
Now you know.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Someone asked if we were able to get school done in the midst of all our celebrating. Yes.....Illness, however, has thrown us off this week. I simply don't have heart to make a sick child do school....and since the younger ones do school together this presented a problem.
Arielle and I decided to spend Monday and Tuesday working on her writing. She is still trying to skip ahead, and I can't keep her busy with the current assignments. Math and LA are the two areas that she has to catch up before she can officially skip ahead. Not that any of this matters in the REAL world.  I mean there is no reason she can't do 4th grade math and 8th grade history/lit, but she wants to be able to say she's in 6th grade next year.
Today, Nolan was able to join us, and we decided to move ahead with our "books" and continue to work in our hands-on projects as we can....in other words we're still doing hands on projects from China and the Mayans....but we're starting Greece anyway. LOL
Arielle, Zander, Stacia and I made it to the gym today. I also did 20 minutes of a video here at home. I forgot yesterday and so did 95 minutes today....I'm not sure that is EXACTLY what they meant by 40 minutes most days of the week. ::snort::
Just the same ol' life....nothing totally new and fascinating, but it's my life, and I love it. LOL
Ah, the younger four children do NOT like Arthur Loops! ::snort::
I tried a pecan encrusted chicken salad at Carinos the other night and tried to recreate it here tonight. It was GOOD, Heather.

SHOCKING Discovery

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU WOULD NEVER DISSECT AN ANIMAL!
Every once in a while, Mike still shocks me. I was rushing around last night, grabbing all I needed to head out for Bible Study....when I was stopped DEAD in my TRACKS.
There on my coffee table was a cat. Mike dislikes cats. He's said we'll never have a cat in our home, BUT there on my coffee table was a cat - a preserved biology specimen. The cat is quite fascinating. All his inner parts are labeled. If you can just get over the shock of seeing him, he's quite educational.
Betsy, one of my Bible Study ladies, teaches Biology. What a great thing for the kids to see in "real" life....because you KNOW I've managed to graduate 3 children with NEVER dissecting a worm, a frog, an eyeball, or a pig..... It took me months to work up to making fish prints and that only became "ok" when Mike pointed out we'd caught lots of fish and cleaned them and this was no different.
Mike had the kids close their eyes and come into the living room for a SURPRISE...I'm only posting photos that don't show vivid details.

The looks on those faces are - priceless...

Variations on Oatmeal

Instant Oatmeal "packets"

Jared discovered that he really liked the ease and taste of these on vacation. I've been meaning to come up with a recipe. I asked on Support4HomeSchool and wa la - several recipes which I combined and tweaked. In place of Rapadura brown sugar may be used.

Homemade Instant Oatmeal packets
· 6 cups quick-cooking oats, divided
· 1 cup rapadura (added ½ C maple sugar - too sweet)
· 1 ½ tsp sea salt
· 1 tsp cinnamon
In a blender, grind 2 cups of oats into powder. Add to 4 cups oats.
Stir in rapadura, sea salt, and cinnamon; mix well. Divide into 16 small Ziploc bags (or place all in airtight container and use as much as needed each time). To serve, add ½ cup boiling water to ¼ C oatmeal mix. or microwave until it explodes. Let stand 2 min (good time to clean microwave). Packets = ¼ C oats, 2 T oat mixture, 1/8 tsp salt – I just mixed it all up.

Variations: (assuming above recipe has no sugar or cinnamon)
Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal- To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp. chopped dried apples.

Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar & 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Oatmeal w/Raisins & Brown Sugar - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. raisins.

Health Nut Oatmeal - To each packet add 2 Tbsp. any kind of wheat germ

Fruit & Cream Oatmeal - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 Tbsp. dried fruit

Fun Fruit Oatmeal - To each packet, add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.

Confetti Oatmeal - To each packet, add 1 tsp. decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.

S'More Oatmeal - add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 Tbsp. Milk Chocolate Chips to each packet.

Cookies n Cream Oatmeal - add 1 crushed Oreo cookie and 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer to each packet.

Exploding Oatmeal - add 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. 'Pop Rocks' candy to each packet. This one is fun for celebration days, such as birthdays.

Bart-man Oatmeal - add 2 Tbsp. 'Butterfinger B.B's' candies to each packet.

I've Been Tagged

 (and I really don't WANT to keep with my set schedule today)
I've been tagged by Kristine. Alas, my nearest book is not a hugely profound book.
Here are the rules:
~Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages
~Open the book to page 123 and find sentence number 5.
~Post the next 3 sentences
~Tag 5 people.
The nearest book is, "A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays". (I really wanted to go find my cozy mystery and post - but rules are rules). The 6th - 9th sentences are as follows:
"The meal induces the experience of going from slavery to liberty through the food experiences and story as the meal turns into an elaborate feast. There is no right way to conduct a seder. The seder is usually a family dinner but can also be held with your family or with a church group." BTW, I AM enjoying this book. I have found several type o's that drive me batty...and spots like the sentence above where I go "huh?" It's usually a family dinner BUT can also be held with your family? Um? OK - I'll let it go. ::snort::
I tag these 5 -
Chris
Dorothy
Kristine - hmmmm she may have had to burn all her books to stay warm during that recent storm.
Kelly
Michelle