Eating Healthy this Week

Here are a couple kid approved meals that are healthy. The last couple months have left me with little motivation or consideration towards our diet. As such we have had lots of quick and easy, not so health conscious meals. This week has started off better.


Garlic mashed potatoes with French lentil/spinach cakes surrounded by sautéed tomato and onion puree. The kids love things that are shaped hence the approval of the lentil cakes.

Cheesy polenta topped with mixed bean (black, pinto, adzuki, kidney)paste with spinach. Lots of greens in this...I put spinach in the polenta and the bean paste. There is also garlic and tomato in the bean paste. Elias did the decorating on these, so instead of the cool looking spiral of bean paste we wound up with piles of it...not so pretty. :)

Normally we would serve these with a big green salad, but I have yet to make it to the store for groceries.

Why Homeschool?

Just a list of thoughts on why I would rather home school than public school. Midnight ramblings...

Testing: all kinds of studies that testing is superficial...yet they keep adding more.

Reality Based: most of the work done in a classroom setting is not connected to what you will use in life or at least the connection isn't readily apparent.

Age: kids are grouped by age...not skill level or comfort in a subject.

Development: schools under challenge...there is no push to do something interesting or important. You have to try things and make mistakes.

Choice: there is no chance for a student to choose what they want to learn. All the choices are meaningless and choosing is a motivation to learn.

8 hours!: sitting in a classroom environment for most a day is hard...for anyone!

Memorization: lots of the lessons in school are memorization. Some of that is needed, but otherwise you can Google it. I would rather there be discussion and understanding.

Busywork: who wants meaningless homework designed to keep you busy and frustrate parents who deal with cranky kids.

Focus: schools are required to hit all subject in a given day. At home you can focus on a subject without feeling obligated to move on to the next task.

Outdoors: spend more time doing in a home setting...not cooped up.

Social: instead of being with just one age group you can spend time with all groups and learn what the different views they offer.

Family: we can spend time with family and friends who care and love the kids.

Subjects: any subject can be explored...not just the basics.

Alright...off to bed. :)

Homeschooling Prep

The question Elias seems to be asked frequently of late is "will you be starting kindergarten this year?" To which he has developed a couple of replies: "I'm not ever going to school...(long pause, sometimes a prompt) I'm homeschooled." Or "My mom is going to homeschool me." I love when he uses the first one, you can see the question in peoples eyes as they try and figure out if he is serious and then the dawn of understanding when he finishes.

He is very happy with the fact he will be staying home and not going to a public school. I don't think he really understands the difference, except that we have told him he is very lucky to have parents who are able to provide the home schooling opportunity. The question of when are we starting is always hard to answer or at least its a vague answer. We have started - years ago, and will just continue in the same vein without a real start date.

Being a mostly unschooled structure we are just providing materials and opportunities for Elias to take. We recently added a couple new resources to our already accumulated stash. Hands On Equations, The Adventures of Penrose - The Mathematical Cat, more origami books...we have lots of other books for math (Singapore, Miquon...), many good reading books, he loves to write and is picking that up by practice and we also have some history and science books. Mostly we just go with an interest and incorporate all we can into it. All in all the hardest part is finding time (Eva free time)to sit and work with him. He has a ton of interest in so many things and we have lots of resources, we just have Eva who isn't able to sit with us and work on something similar because she always wants what he has.

So this years *kindergarten* is really just finding time to sit and help him through what he is already working on. He is just fine, I am the one who needs to learn how to handle our time. :)

Growing things

Our garden is doing better this summer, but still not as great as I would hope. We have sun screened the tomatoes since they were receiving too much heat off of the wall. The tomatoes taste good, at least the ones Eva lets me eat! The plants were a bit scorched looking, but are now starting to green up again.

We planted watermelon, cantaloupe, lemon and armenian cucumbers, yellow and zucchini squash, tomatoes (many types), sunflowers, peppers, eggplant, and lots of herbs. I have had an abundance of herbs and many of them volunteers from last year that seeded throughout the beds. We currently have one little watermelon started and have harvested several yellow squash and zucchini...hopefully more to come. Our cucumbers are fully flowered, but have yet to start any cucs. Overall, I am happy with this summers start, we have a bit more work to do to make all the beds productive. The kids are thrilled to watch bees pollinate, squash grow and tomatoes turn colors.

Blueberry Coffeecake

Coffeecake has definitely always been more like a dessert than a breakfast. Whole Foods Market sent me a recipe link to one they had changed to be more health conscious. This morning I decided to try their recipe Blueberry Coffee Cake with very little change. It turned out wonderfully and now I am contemplating apricot, peach, mango, apple coffee cakes in our future. This is a much more breakfast friendly recipe!

Changes I made: Used only WW pastry flour, added some almond extract, slightly short on the sugar in the mix, a pinch more soda and extra almonds on top.

Wheat Berry Salad

I recently had a friend who wanted recipes for wheat berries, this is a favorite around here. It can also be vegan (just don't sprinkle with cheese) and is good with other grains. A perfect summer dish... a great way to get rid of all that squash in your garden!

1 - 2 cups uncooked wheat berries, soaked overnight in cold water (I like a really grainy salad so I use the larger amount)
1 - 2 tsp salt
2 - 3 squash, sliced (both yellow and zucchini are good)
1 red onion, sliced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to saute
2-3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 red pear, cored and sliced thinly
Parmesan or Romano cheese to top
Pepper to taste

Transfer soaked wheat berries to pot add more water and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 50-60 minutes. Drain and set aside. Toss the squash with salt. Allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Drain the liquid and pat squash dry.

Heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and saute until almost caramelized. Add the squash and garlic and saute for about two minutes more, turn over and saute the other side for an additional two minutes, or until lightly brown. Dump over wheat berries in a large bowl.

Add up to 1/4 cup of olive oil to the pan and Balsamic vinegar. Stir to incoporate the brown bits into the warmed dressing. Pour over the sauteed vegetables. Add the pine nuts, spinach, sliced pear, and toss well. Sprinkle with cheese, fresh ground black pepper, and salt if desired.

Again, again

I guess I seem "start blogging" once or twice a year...so here we go again. Since Sam received her own MacBook for graduation and Craig's now resides on the kitchen counter, I can stand here and *maybe* blog more often without sitting in the office.

I imagine this will still be a mostly food blog, especially since I am in an emotional numb zone at the moment. The kids can be followed in images at the www.postfamilydigital.net website.