RHOK MckLinky Monday - Crockpot Recipes

Mrs. Priss at RHOK is asking for crockpot recipes this week for MckLinky Monday. I use my crockpot(s) once or twice a week and on very busy weeks, I might use them three or four times. I have many recipes and still want to try new ones that I come across but one of the kids' favorites is from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook on page 116.

Tator Tot Casserole
Makes 6-8 Servings

32-oz. bag frozen tater tots
1 lb. ground beef, browned
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 14 1/2-oz. cans green beans, drained
10 3/4-oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1 Tbsp. dried onions
1/4 cup milk

1. Line slow cooker with frozen tater tots.
2. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over potatoes.
3. Cover. Cook on High 3 hours.

Note: Sprinkle individual servings with your choice of grated cheese.

Menu for Feb. 28th - Mar. 6th

Monday: Fish Sticks, Mac & Cheese and Veggie
We possibly be gone all day so I needed something easy & quick.

Tuesday: Spaghetti, Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread
I don't have a recipe for this. We all love my mom's spaghetti sauce and I have tried to duplicate with no luck. I have even watched her and tried to "write a recipe" but still is not the same. So now, we have to wait until she makes a large pot of sauce and she freezes some for our family. We were excited to see it when my parents came to our house on Saturday.

Wednesday: Sandwiches
This is Legs' 13th birthday. I am in denial that I will have a teenager in my house. I am NOT ready for this stage of parenting. I have to say we are blessed that at this time she hasn't shown attitude towards her parents and is always willing to help when needed. Anyways, she wants to be at church in the evening so we are taking her out for a birthday lunch for Italian. We need a lighter dinner since lunch will be a big meal.

Thursday: Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
Pioneer Women Cookbook pg. 142

Friday: Papa Murphy's Pizza
Legs and I will be at a local hotel with four of her friends for a birthday slumber party while JB is home with the other three. I can buy a few pizzas, leave one at home and have the rest at the party.

Saturday: Ground Beef 'n' Biscuits and Salad
Taste of Home Dinner on a Dime pg. 30

Sunday: Leftovers

Review: Download N Go - Expedition Ireland

Our family just got back from another fun trip from across the ocean, Ireland.

Ireland is one of the places on the top of my list to visit so when the review team was asked to use this unit, I jumped at the chance. I love anything I can get my hands on about Ireland and I was hoping that my kids would enjoy the adventure too.

As you might have guessed, this was another great Download N Go unit by Amanda Bennett full of great links and activities that kept my kids' (ages 6 & 8) attention and even drew in my seventh grader because of the animals studied. I was even taken back to my childhood with the study of Irish Setters because I used to have two as a child.



This unit covered history, measurement, geography, reading, rituals, animals, legends and more all in just five days. There is so much included, you could easily stretch it out into more days if you like. We were able to accomplish our daily goals through the following objectives:

Day 1: Where on Earth Is Ireland?
Day 2: Some of the Special Places in Ireland
Day 3: A Bit of History
Day 4: Cool Things to Know About Ireland
Day 5: Fun and Games in Ireland

I was disappointed that our local library system did not have but one or two of the books Mrs. Bennett recommends but we did find others to substitute and quite a few films on the animals discussed.

Expedition Ireland would be a great unit to have to use if you are studying geography in your home. You can purchase the unit for instant download here for $7.95.

If you would like to see what others on the review team are saying about Expedition Ireland, then you can go over to our Blog Tour.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that Mrs. Bennett has developed and now has available 4-week unit studies for K-12. My family has already picked out a few they are interested in but the most popular is Auto Racing because we are huge Nascar fans. Where else can you buy a unit full of activities for 20 days for all ages for only $10.95? There are 19 titles available at this time.

Disclaimer: I received Expedition Ireland absolutely free in return for my honest review of the product. I received no other compensation for my review.

Menu Plan Feb. 21-27

Monday: Pizza In A Bowl and a salad
pg. 173 in Fix-It and Forget It Lightly

Tuesday: Southwestern Chicken and a salad
pg. 11 in Fix-It and Forget It Lightly

Wednesday: Beef Enchiladas, chips and guacamole
From the Menus4Moms site. You will have to scroll down a bit to get to the recipe.

Thursday: Chicken Spaghetti, garlic bread and a salad
From Sarah's blog. She has a lot of recipes on one post so you will have to scroll down to see this one and the one we are having Friday.

Friday: Crunchy Beef Bake
From Sarah's blog

Saturday: Chicken Alfredo, Lasagna, garlic bread and salad plus cake and ice cream
We are having a party for Chubbles (3) and Legs (13). All this is store bought freezer items or produce/bakery.

Sunday: Leftovers

RHOK MckLinky Monday - Valentine's Day

It is MckLinky Monday over at RHOK. This week they are asking what we do for Valentine's Day. Our family does not do much because we focus more on Chubbles' birthday three days earlier.

This year I decorated the table with red placemats, confetti and a wooden "love" thingy I found at Hobby Lobby. Then I put a box of candy at each place. We are huge Nascar fans so I found a Jimmie Johnson one for JB, Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Legs and Jeff Gordon for Little Man. I found cute animal boxes for Chubbles (dog) and Little Red (elephant). I also fixed pink pancakes with sprinkles for breakfast.

Our homeschool Valentine Party got canceled earlier this month due to the snow so we are supposed to have our party this Friday. The kids and I will be working on signing their Valentines and decorating their boxes. I also found shirts that are either red or have something to do with Valentine's Day for the kids to wear to the party.

Saturday, JB and I went out to eat Saturday at P.F. Chang's with 18 of our friends from church. It was romantic but it sure was fun and yummy.

Come over to RHOK and add your Valentine traditions.

Stylish Blogger Award

I am still very new to the blogging world and yet I just received an award. What a surprise when I got on tonight to post my menu.

Marcy at Ben and Me was kind enough to give me the award. Thank you so much Marcy!

Here are the rules for receiving this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

1. Already done.

2. I am an only child of parents that will be married 40 years this June.
I was born overseas due to my dad being in the Air Force.
I used to be a licensed nail technician.
I had three different majors in college before graduating.
I love to sew!
After high school, each time I moved, it was to a smaller town the one before.
My guilty pleasure is watching Desperate Housewives.

3. I have selected the following 15 bloggers to receive this award:
Smockity Frocks
Wayzley Academy
6 Happy Hearts
Tatortots and Jello
Montage
Just Wedeminute
First Is A Fairytale
Little Moments
My First Blog Ever...Not
My Brother's Basement
Sutton Grace
Blessed Little Quiver
Adventures in Serendipity
The Fruit of Her Hands
Mom Of 2 Girly Girlz

4. I will be contacting each blog in the next day or two.

Menu Plan Feb 14-20

Monday: Chicken Tostadas
I got this one from Mommy Hates Cooking

Tuesday: Stuffed Beef Shells
Another Mommy Hates Cooking recipe

Wednesday: Cheesy Crockpot Chicken
I found this one at Lots of Kids

Thursday: Meatball Calzone
Mommy Hates Cooking is definitely a Godsend this week.

Friday: Tuna Casserole
This is a family staple as I was growing up and I am so glad my kids like it to. Easy and very inexpensive.

Saturday: Elk Chili or Banquet
JB signed up for another chilil cook-off but we also want to go to a couples banquet at a local church so we will see.

Sunday: Sandwiches or Leftovers

New Affiliate Program with Download N Go

I am now an affiliate with Download N Go. You can order through me here on my blog. I will add the link below each time I post about DNG.


Click here to visit Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

Menu Plan Feb 7-13

Monday: Waffles
I originally had this planned for last Friday but that was the first day we were able to escape the frozen tundra we currently know as Oklahoma. I went to the grocery store so I decided to pick up some things to make pizza instead.

Tuesday: Lasagna
This is one of the very few things I buy the whole thing frozen and do not make from scratch. I have tried many recipes over the years and have either not liked the taste or it comes out too runny.

Wednesday: Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
This is a new recipe I am trying from here.

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff
This is a recipe we have tried and enjoyed from E-Mealz.

Friday: Chicken Taco Salad
I picked an easy recipe for tonight. Normally I would grill chicken breasts and then season with taco seasoning and then toss all together with the other salad ingredients but this is Chubbles' third birthday so we normally let the honored kiddo pick where they want to eat. If we get the predicted snow on Wednesday, we may be stuck at home so I wanted to be prepared. This can easily be moved to next week.

Saturday: Sloppy Joes
Another easy and kid favorite but I will have to run to the store for the seasoning packet. I just realized I forgot to get that on Friday. Since our big dump of snow last week, the stores have been running out of bread so I am sure glad I had put hamburger buns in the freezer earlier in the year.

Sunday: Leftovers or Sandwiches.

RHOK MckLinky Monday - 5 Pet Peeves

Mrs. Coco over at RHOK is asking for our top 5 Pet Peeves during MckLinky Monday. Really, only 5? I know I have more but I will try to limit that because I am sure not following the rules is another person's pet peeve. Except for #1, these are in no particular order.

1. Children not restrained properly in a vehicle. Even before I had children this was my biggest pet peeve and always will be. People, are you stupid? Children can not make a wise decision about safety so you have to be the responsible adult. There are reasons that the car seats and cars have warnings. This is for your child's safety. If they are upset and you can NOT wait to get to your destination, then pull over in a parking lot and take care of the upset child. I have personally had to pull-over to nurse a baby. Inconvenient, yes but safe! If they are old enough to unbuckle or throws a fit about being buckled, then you need to stand your ground and the vehicle should not be started. I have had a difficult child and yes, we have been late to more than one activity because I REFUSE to start my van until all people are safely and properly restrained.

2. Picky eaters. I have a couple in my house that try to be picky but I am not a short-order cook. They must at least try what is put in front of them on the table or wait until the next meal. If majority of the family does not like the meal, I make a note of that and I do not fix it again. Personally, I do not like peas but I fix them because they are JB's favorite and the kids like them too. I just quietly choke them down during a meal. It is a small sacrifice on my part to make sure my family gets a variety of food in their system.

3. Negative Nellies or Neds. I have bad days and need to complain but I strive to be positive and find the good in everything. I do not always find that good I am looking for but I sure do like the happy side of things better than the bad side. I get so tired of hearing the same person complain day after day after day after day... Ok, you get the idea.

4. Texting while driving. I have been guilty of it but not anymore. If I am by myself, my phone is not in my reach so I am not tempted. If the kids are with me, then I do allow my oldest to read and answer a text for me. I never want to be the reason that one of my family members or someone else is hurt or killed because I was distracted. I could not live with that shame.

5. Snow. At this point, my home has received about 19 inches in one day last week, probably a couple of more inches a few days later and we are predicted to get about another 9 inches again this week. I will admit it is pretty and I like watching it fall. We also were able to have some great family time all together, but enough is enough. We need interaction with others and need to see something other than white.

Review: Download N Go - George Washington

Our family just got done with a Download N Go unit study on George Washington. I think my son enjoyed this more than any of us because George was a general. Lil Man loves anything to do with the military.

Day 1: Who Was George Washington?
Day 2: People and Places in George Washington's Life
Day 3: The Accomplishments of George Washington
Day 4: Lessons to Learn From George Washington
Day 5: Remembering George Washington

Amanda Bennett did a great job with the research from birth to memorials after his death. We got to learn about his life growing up and beyond. Our activities included map work, fractions, coloring, cooking, reading, time lines and journals. It was a busy week and that was just a fraction of the activities we chose to do.



I really liked the suggested list of books in this unit. The selection had a wide variety of information that the kids and I all enjoyed. This unit does not have as many embedded videos as some of the other unit studies but it does not lack embedded links full of information. These links make it so easy to research our questions during the week.

I think my most favorite activity was part of the lapbook. The activity asked the children to think about what freedom meant to them and draw picture. I really did not think the six and eight year old understood but they blew me out of the water with their pictures. Lil Red drew a person giving a Bible to another person. This picture started a whole conversation about how some countries do not have the freedom we do to worship. Lil Man drew a picture of a Redcoat soldier and a Revolutionary soldier. The subject matter did not surprise me but the detail he put into the picture was by far one of his best.




Please go to the Download N Go Blog and read other reviews about the George Washington unit. I think this is one you will want for you own homeschool year.

Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this review.