Jamin decided to let the younger ones help with pizza tonight. He made a meat lovers with my turkey sausage. Yumm.

We schooled today.

I am fighting a migraine. I knew I was "due" because I'm not sleeping much...but I can't sleep. The kids sent me to bed this afternoon and so, though I hurt, I'm sort of functioning. Stacia fell asleep over dinner - I'm thinking I'll go ahead and skip family movie night and go to bed too. I AM going to bed but don't fall asleep until 1 - 2 a.m. and then am up at 5 a.m. I'm surprised I've done this for a month without a migraine. LOL I've learned to function with migraines.....but really throwing up and such make family life interesting. LOL We had planned to do much more - but plans change. I suppose I'll have to quit being stubborn and take the maxalt eventually. I simply HATE meds.

My Sam's order is ready - but I'll have to do that tomorrow. I planned to pick up some paint markers so we could begin on our story quilts but we'll probably do that this weekend. It's a "terrible" thing when school is so fun you want to do it on the weekends. :::snort:::

Well my head has reached roaring status....

Breakfast Sausage

I miss sausage - though I know it's terrible for me. Here is the sausage I made this week and it is GOOD.

1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tspt thyme
1/2 tspt coriander (I didn't have)
1 t.sp sea salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 - 3 T water
1 lb ground meat

I used organic turkey. I could use beef. YOU could use pork, if you so desire. If you are going to do that I think I'd just go buy it on sale. LOL Well come to think of it - even with pork you would have less perseravtives. Also I doubled the spices - but thought I'd share the original, cause you all know I'm a "spicey gal" {thanks for the chuckle Jodi}. Also - you can put this in casings - but why? Yuck. I will make patties and freeze...or logs...this time I simply fried it as I had begun with frozen meat and wasn't sure about refreezing. Anyone know about that????

Sprinkle seasonings & water over ground meat; knead until blended. Refrigerate in airtight conainters for 2 or 3 days to allow flavors to blend. If you plan to use the sausage immediately, the spices will not be as strong.

From *Whole Foods for the Whole Family* by La Leche League

Do What You Can - Spiritual Disciplines

Do you feel swamped with your schedule? Do you feel too busy to enjoy the spiritual disciplines that you thrive on? Maybe you are working and raising children. Maybe you're a single mom. Maybe you're a homeschooling mom with lots of little ones. I found this article to be refreshing. It's a QUICK read but makes some very good points about these seasons in our lives.

One MONTH down....Five to go!!!!

Choosing Joy!

"Chicken" Divan (for Debbie)

I'll write this "as was" for those of you who want the quick and dirty version and then mention my adaptations below.

3 C cooked Chicken (optional {bg})
2 pkg Frozen Broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken soup or Cream of Chicken Soup
1 C mayo
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 T lemon juice
1 C grated cheese
4 T melted butter
1 C crumbled Ritz crackers

Place broccoli and chicken in a 9 x 13 pan.

Mix the soup, mayo, curry and lemon. Pour mixture over chicken/broccoli. {You can place this in a ziploc at this point and freeze - later thaw, mix butter and ritz sprinkle over top, then cheese and bake}.

 Mix the Ritz crackers with the melted butter. Scatter this over all, add cheese. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

*Adaptations

~OK - when I don't want meat....I simply use lots of broccoli and we don't miss the meat. I mix the broccoli and rice and place that in the bottom of the pan and then proceed.

~I steam fresh broccoli - however much I want {G}

~I make a white sauce and substitute it in all my old "cream of recipes". I can send that along if anyone needs it. I add a bit of organic chicken bullion or broth for the flavor.

~I use veganaise instead of mayo

~ I finally found an organic RITZ cracker that tastes right....and THIS is why I was so happy about that on Monday.

~ Here is a "recipe" for the cream of soup.....

Frankly...the kids ate the healthy version every bit as fast as the unhealthy. LOL

Packages GALORE

We received FIVE packages today. It’s like Christmas around here. Our biggest excitement today was the material for our story quilt. Yippee!!! I also got a book on making math folder games. Just in time! Jamin got a book on editing the first five pages of a book. {G} Let’s see…besides school and packages what did we do with our day?

Jamin and Jared had House of Faith. They continue to enjoy these afternoons.

It was such a GOD thing that Josiah’s work schedule was changed and he was home today. I’d forgotten that I wouldn’t have a sitter, and my fated mammogram appointment was today. For those of you who have never had one – they honestly aren’t that bad. They ARE uncomfortable. Let’s see it went something like: stand up tall, put this here, put that there, reach behind here….and just when I was totally contorted….put your feet flat on the floor. I looked at her and told her if she wanted my feet flat on the floor she was going to have to lower her little machine. What? Yep….there was no way said body parts were remaining on said slabs without either a chair or me standing on tip toes. I explained that I was very uncomfortable and that putting my feet flat on the floor as was would likely result in GREAT bodily injury. Relief was immediate when she LOWERED the machine. It seems the lady who endured the hall of horrors prior to me must have been at least a foot taller than I. THEN, all ready to go again – still gritting my teeth – and she says, “Take a deep breath and hold it”. I was thinking there was NO breath left in my body – but managed. :::snort::: Somewhere along the line I began to think of my Aunt Gin. Since I was in Junior High either my Grandmother or Aunt has been battling breast cancer. The whole thing left me very sad. Then I remembered that NOW Aunt Gin is reunited with her mother and that made me happy…but still in a sort of melancholy way. A funny at the center…I was by FAR the youngest woman there. They kept asking me all sorts of questions because of “my age”. I finally asked them how old they thought I was….30’s!!! Imagine a compliment in a situation like that. I informed them they were off by 13 years or so. LOL

I met my friend Tricia and her daughters at the park for an hour after the mammogram. It was good to get out in the air, play with the kids and visit with a friend.

We had Hawaiian Chicken tonight for dinner. I actually made the entire stock pot full of Hawaiian Chicken so that I can freeze a few meals of it.

I finished a Hank the Cow Dog book with the kids last night. We are well into a Great Brain book and will probably finish it tomorrow night.

I plan to put in another online Sam’s order and then go find a little one to sleep with. I need to cuddle tonight. :::snort:::

This and That

Liz, suggested Lotrimin for Stacia’s rash. Her doc had told her to try it after 3 days of a rash…and we’d been messing with this for longer than that. I was sure I HAD some and planned to use it this a.m. I could NOT find it. Heather and I were talking on the phone about spice orders while I looked for a tube. I kept finding “athlete’s foot” lotion but not Lotrimin. When Stacia went down for a nap, Arielle and I blitzed out to Target. I bought a tube of Lotrimin – Heather it IS for athlete’s foot after all. It’s HELPING. : snort:

At Target we also picked up clay for Nolan, big markers, a big pad of paper and big pencils. Thanks all for the tips.

We then ran to the post office to mail yet more packages to the girls….they gave me a big variety of priority boxes and a huge stack of custom slips. : snort:

I began fielding questions about our co-ops spice order. We are going to order from Monterey Bay Spice Company. This is a bit of an under-taking as I’ve never ordered from them before and so I’m really not sure how they work either. LOL

I spent a good portion of the afternoon in the kitchen. I made lasagna and pull apart rolls for dinner. This time I used lots of Italian spices as well as the garlic. {smirk} I also made sausage (turkey), cooked up 3 lbs of free range turkey and divided it into recipe portions, and de-boned 3 chickens. I’m set to make 3 batches of Hawaiin Chicken tomorrow. One for dinner and two for the freezer.

We went for a nice walk tonight and fed the deer. We enjoyed having Josiah home tonight.