Ideas for feeding a largish family - Improvisational Pancakes!

Whenever my parents come to visit, they are always surprised how well we can feed our largish family. I really can't say "large" family, because our family currently only has 7 members, and I know lots of families that have 10 or more. Not that I'm judging, just comparing my largish to their large. I digress, back to food.

I have several techniques to keep the food budget manageable, and still provide a decent variety of meals. First is meal planning. There are several schools of thought on this. One is to plan out meals, by day, as I've seen loads of bloggers do for "Menu Plan Monday." Another is to have a decently stocked pantry, and fly by the seat of one's pants, deciding on what to make as the spirit moves you. Yet another is to make the same or sorta the same foods every week. I sorta do all of them.

Breakfast at our house follows a very (almost painfully) predictable pattern.
Sunday - bacon or sausage, eggs, and toast. Yes, EVERY Sunday. It is the only day of the week that we have meat for breakfast, and the eggs provide enough protein that the kids can make it through church without STARVING before lunch.
Monday - Oatmeal. Nearly always oatmeal for Monday. Occasionally, I'll make Cream of Wheat or Quick-cooking steel cut oats, but that's how far I vary from that.
Tuesday - Pancakes. Here I like to have a little fun. I consider pancakes as my way of using up leftovers. Got leftover squash? Throw it in the pancakes. Leftover rice? Throw it in the pancakes. Overripe bananas? Banana pancakes. One apple rolling around the fruit drawer? Apple pancakes! My pancake recipe to follow this post. It is endlessly variable.
Wednesday - Cold cereal, and/or toast and/or yogurt and/or get it yourselves, because this is the one day I don't feel like cooking.
Thursday - Scrambled eggs and toast.
Friday - Usually pancakes again.
Saturday - Whatever I'm feeling like making. This is the one day we might even make waffles, if I'm feeling really motivated. Also, if I've purchased bagels, we'll do them on Saturday.

My Improvisational Pancake Recipe
Makes enough for a hungry family of 7

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour, or combination of flour and wheat germ, leftover rice, etc.)
1 cup rolled oats (regular or old-fashioned, not instant. If you are mixing in leftover cooked oatmeal, you can use a little more.)
2 teaspoons baking soda (or 1 tablespoon baking powder but don't sour the milk later on.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk, soured with vinegar. (unless you're using baking powder, in which case, don't sour)
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or melted butter, margarine, I've even used shortening when I've been low on everything!)

Directions: Mix up the dry ingredients. Mix up the wet ingredients (and any moist stuff, like squash, bananas, leftover rice or oatmeal, etc.) and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir together. Look at the batter. Does it seem over-thick? Add a little milk. Does it seem runny? Mix in a little more flour. You can decide, because it will vary depending on the ingredients and humidity of the room.

While mixing the stuff together, start getting your skillet hot. You want it pretty hot before you start putting batter on it. Once its hot, and your ingredients are mixed, spray with oil, or just dribble a little bit on and spread it around with your turner, and make your pancakes. I use 1/4 cup (a little on the shy side), but you can make them big or tiny, or in the shapes of little people, or turtles, or whatever.

Serve with butter, syrup, applesauce, or whatever you like.

Some other things you might mix in: blueberries, other berries, cornmeal, chocolate chips, pretty much any non-citrus fruit, dried fruit (make sure to soak it first to soften it if necessary), spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, anise, cardamom, etc., mashed potatoes, yogurt (can sub for some of the milk), cottage cheese, just use your imagination, and the contents of your cupboard and fridge for inspiration.

Next time: What about lunch??

Getting to the nut of the issue

My 13 year old daughter, Ace, asked me today while we were in the car: "Mom, what is the point of cheating? I mean, lets say you pass something by cheating, you will just have to do the next course, which will be harder. If you don't know the material, how will you manage, other than to cheat more?"

I think this gets to the nut of the homeschooling issue for us. My kids are taking subjects to master the knowledge. G-school students (and most private school students) are taking the subjects to mark time, and gain grades. Testing is paramount importance to schools. Schools are judged by how well students do on tests; teachers are judged by how well students perform on tests; students are judged on how well they perform on tests. Without good grades on tests, students can't join the sports teams, be in band or other extra-curriculars. Many kids get monetary rewards from parents, relatives, and even from the schools themselves for getting A's or B's on the report card.

With all this pressure to perform, and the relative ease of cheating, is it any wonder that it is so rampant in the institutional school system?

I thought Ace's question was very relevant. If a person cheats their way through elementary, junior and high school, and then into college, how is this really benefiting them in the long run? They haven't gained ownership or mastery of the course material. So what's the point, then?

In our homeschool, we don't use "grades" as such to mark progress. Either the kid knows it, and can move on, or doesn't, in which case, we go back, review the trouble spots, and learn the material. When well-intentioned people ask me how I can be sure my kids are really learning without grades, I really want to know, how can you be sure that their kids are really learning if all you have to go by is a letter on a piece of paper.

Spam issues

I take a little break, and trolls get in and spam my comments.

Maybe I would get more traffic if I kept the nudie comments, but I think it is in much better taste to simply remove the garbage.

I'll get around to a real post soon. There's much to blog, but little creative motivation here.

Taco Week - Day Five

The best so far. Seriously, I was thinking that "Must Have Mushroom and Cheese" tacos would be, at best, weird. They are really delicious!!! My kids thought so too, and they are NOT mushroom fans. However, the pan was nearly licked clean after they had dinner! The recipe is posted over at the Penzey's website, so let me tell you a few things before you go over there and download this utterly fantastic recipe.

1. I have no pictures, because the tacos were eaten before I could get my camera out - yes, even mine. YUM!

2. the Chihuahua cheese is an absolute MUST, it is so mild and creamy, it really elevates the dish.

3. This taco doesn't really taste like Tex-Mex, or anything else you might order at a Mexican restaurant, but don't let that stop you from trying it out.

4. The mushrooms really are good. Even if you don't like mushrooms, and I have some kids here who really don't care for them tell me that these were good.

Tomorrow I'm going to try some dessert-type tacos, with any luck. Yum!!

Taco Week - Day Four

Today's tacos come complements to the Penzey's Spices catalog. I made the turkey tacos with Penzey's Arizona Dreaming spice mix, but I wasn't super impressed with these. Maybe the turkey was a little blander than the steak, it certainly seemed dryer. Fortunately, we topped these with guacamole and chopped red bell pepper, and that boosted the flavor right up to yummy. Next time I make tacos with ground turkey, I think I'll stick to a regular taco spice mix, for the extra flavor.

Tasty Turkey Tacos

1 lb. ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. Arizona Dreaming seasoning mix
1-2 cups guacamole

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and onion and cook for about 8 minutes, until nicely browned, breaking up the turkey into chunks and stirring it to brown on all sides. Shake the Arizona Dreaming seasoning mix and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Served topped with guacamole.

Taco Week - Day Three

Welcome to day three of Taco Week at the Heart household!!

Continuing the theme of TACO, is a classic, Steak Tacos. These tacos are really delish, getting thumbs up all around. What's new about them is the seasoning isn't my usual Penzey's Taco Seasoning, but rather Penzey's new Arizona Dreaming seasoning. The current catalog has an offer for a free bottle of it, so get a catalog, QUICK!

Arizona Dreaming seasoning mix has a different aroma than the normal taco seasoning. It smells like spice, of course, but also cinnamon and cocoa, and other savory things. The aroma really pops when it hits the heat, like nothing I've smelled before. Really good.

The recipe, is from the Penzey's catalog.

Steak Tacos

1 lb. boneless rib-eye steak, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (at $9.95/lb, this was too dear, so I substituted cheaper sirloin. It was still really good!)
1 Tb. canola oil
4 tsp. Arizona Dreaming seasoning mix

Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Cook the steak in small batches until it is crispy brown and rare. Return all the cooked steak to the pan, and shake 1/2 of the Arizona Dreaming. Toss the steak around, and add the rest of the seasoning. Serve in your favorite shells with shredded cheddar if desired.

I used crisp corn shells, and topped mine with shredded Mexican blend cheese, and prepared salsa. I served it up with a bean salad with sweet and sour dressing, the kids preferred left over Mexican rice from yesterday.

My photo is a little odd. Nearly every one looks like carnage, thanks to the salsa. This one is the least gory.

The Arizona Dreaming

Taco Week - Day Two

Well for the second day in our week of tacos, I made a Tomato, Avocado and Black Bean Taco from the Weight Watchers in 20 Minutes cookbook, along with Knorr Mexican Rice mix. The kids were okay tending towards meh on the tacos, but they really liked the rice. I thought the tacos were pretty good, with the main bonus being that they were really quick to make. I'm not sure on the size of the tortillas. The recipe called for 6-inch tortillas, but there was way more bean filling than would fill 6 tortillas of that size. But, the extra will be good on a salad, I'll bet!

Tomato, Avocado, and Black Bean Taco

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon taco seasoning (like that from Penzey's)
1 (15 1/2-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 plum tomatoes (I used 2 regular ones from the garden!)
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
2 cups finely chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 small Hass avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced
6 Tablespoons prepared salsa
1/4 cup light sour cream

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and taco seasoning and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the beans and the tomatoes, toss to combine.

Sprinkle the center of each tortilla with 1/3 cup of lettuce, 1/3 cup of beans, 1/6 of the avocado, 1 tablespoon of salsa, and 2 teaspoons of sour cream. Fold the tortilla to enclose the filling.

Serves 6