October Meal Planning Week 1

October Meal Planning Week 1 (squash is in season!)

Breakfast..........................  Lunch................................. Dinner............................... Snack
Oct/5th-11th

M.  Over Night Oatmeal /  Egg Salad in a Pita/ Butternut Squash Burgers on whole wheat buns  and parmesian green bean fries  / String cheese  and a tangerine
                                                                               
T.  Scrambled Egg and Fruit Salad /Left over Squash burgers / Roast Pork Cuban sandwich w/ Delecata squash and onions/ Veggie Chips

W.  Smoothie (use left over fruit from yesterdays fruit salad)/ PB&J/ Roast Pork w/ Rice and mixed Veggies, and cooked beans/ Carrots and hummus

Th. Cereal/ Leftover Rice /Pork Bone Soup with home made bread  /Apple slices and Cheddar cheese

F. Toast with Cream Cheese and Jelly/left over soup with crackers  / Ribs, homemade Mac and Cheese, and Asparagus/ Home made Trail Mix

S. Pumpkin Corn bread/Chicken Quesadillas / Apple Sauce

U. Breakfast with Nana/ left over Chicken Quesadillas/ Celery and Cream Cheese


Recipes

Egg Salad

Cook Eggs 12 min in boiling water.

After they cool remove shell and dice.

Add Mayo, Mustard, Salt, and Pepper all to taste.


Butternut Squash Burgers 
(make the night before or a few hours before cooking so mixture can set)
I followed this website mostly but made a few tweeks (and it made like 6-7 burgers)
http://peasandcrayons.com/2014/11/butternut-black-bean-burgers.html

• 1  egg
• 1 cup mashed pinto beans [refried  beans work too!]
• 1 Med butternut squash pureed 
• ⅓ cup diced onion
• ⅓ cup diced celery
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
• 1 TBSP olive oil [or butter]
• ¾ tsp salt-free Italian seasoning blend [like mrs. dash]
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp dried parsley [or fresh if you have it!]
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1.5 cups bread crumbs

Grill or pan fry till browned

• 
  
• the toppings:
•  burger buns 
•  cheese
• romaine lettuce
• fresh baby spinach
• mayo, ketchup, or mustard

Green Bean Parmesan Fries
http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/oven-fried-garlic-parmesan-green-beans/

Roast Pork
(has to sit over night)

Brine
1 C sugar
1/2 C Salt
1/2 C OJ
fill the rest of the bowl with water so meat is soaking
5 cloves of garlic
sprinkle some peppercorns, cumin, oregano

Following day wash and dry pork

season with
salt
garlic
oregano
lemon
onion
cumin

Cook all day on low in a crockpot

Cuban Sandwich
Bread toasted in the oven with olive oil and garlic
roast pork
ham
swiss cheese
dill pickle
mustard
and pressed in a sandwich press

Roast Pork and Rice

I boil my rice with a cup of water to every half cup of rice, I also add achote oil (I make this by cooking achote or annato seeds with olive oil this gives the rice color and flavor) and salt.
After it's finished the rice is nice and soft not mushy. I season it and  mix in some saute vegetables that I cook with butter, garlic, and salt. Then mix in your roast pork.

Cooked Black Beans
Make a sofrito sauce with olive oil, garlic, tomato, onion, and green pepper, cook this in a fry pan. Season with salt, and then let your black beans cook on low in the sauce till they absorb the flavors.

Delecata Squash and Onions

• 
  
• delicata squash sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• cook on a cookie sheet till browned
• 
  
• Pork Bone Soup
• (save the pork bones from making the roast pork)
• I got the original recipe from here
• http://cooknshare.com/recipe/gamjatang-korean-pork-bone-soup/

these are my changes

• 
  

 pork bone 

2 tbsp srichicha
1/2 head  napa cabbage (if you like cabbage if not I did celery)
3 carrots
3 medium potatoes, peeled cut in half (or you can do pasta)
1 thumb size ginger, sliced 
3 garlic chopped 
1 onion, sliced 
1 tbsp rice wine 
1 tbsp salt (to taste) pepper to taste
 6-8 cups water

Ribs
http://www.southyourmouth.com/2014/08/fall-off-bone-baby-back-ribs.html

Chicken Quesadillas
http://www.jocooks.com/healthy-eating/chicken-fajita-quesadillas/

Pumpkin Cornbread
(I got the mix from trader joes, but here is a recipe that sounded good if you want to make it from scratch)

http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/10/01/pumpkin-cornbread/#_a5y_p=1030935

Free Time Activities Ideas

Free Time Activities:

Free time is a great time as a mom to get some peace of mind. I usually set Dash up right before I start to make dinner, so he is not under foot, and I can concentrate on what I need to get done.

I use free time for many reasons.

1. As I mentioned, to give myself a little break from being a teacher/classmate, and get household duties accomplished.

2. It's a reward after a day of schooling to do something fun. I also use it to help him to follow rules. If he doesn't do what he supposed to, he uses his free time to correct that instead of playing (I have to say his room has been sparkling, and his chores get done every day).

 3. I want Dash to grow up independent.  By giving them an activity, I expect him to do on his own, shows him he doesn't need my help for everything he wants to accomplish. It teaches him to be independent. 

Dash often wants me to do everything with him, or to watch as he does it, which is great, but unrealistic if I am to get things done in my home. He knows the rules during free time he is to pick what he wants to do and go do it on his own.  Last school year I learned for Dash he needed structured free time activities. I thought I could just say, "you are done with school go ahead and play", but I found he couldn't keep himself occupied for very long, before he would be complaining of being bored, hungry, and in need of tv time lol. To keep myself from repeating that mistake this year, I came up with this bin idea! Check it out!

These four bins contain different activities (I bought them at the dollar store and just wrote on them). I put one activity in each one. Every week I swap out what is in it, so Dash doesn't get bored, and it's an exciting thing for him to find out what he can play with for the week. Along with the boxes come rules, so I don't have a big mess on my hands. He can look through all of the boxes, but only choose one to play with for that day(this way I don't have pieces of this and that all over, and if he plays with every box in one day the next day he will be bored of it already). The rules also state he must take the box to a table before beginning, and clean everything up once he is done. 

Here is what I put in these boxes if you're looking for ideas:

Building Supplies

Snowflake builders (found these online, they are pretty cool, and Dash loves to build)

Mini Legos (he has regular legos in his room that he can play with whenever he likes)

Lincoln Logs

Kinetic Sand (I found this at Five Below for a great price)

Art Supplies

I pick up different dollar crafts, at the craft store,  or random art supplies and let Dash decide what to make with it.

Play-doh

of course in this box I keep many colors of Play-doh, but I mix up what to do with it each week, here are a few things we have tried and enjoyed:

Play-doh and pasta

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/235805730465718334/

Play-doh and toothpicks

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/132785888988586143/

Play-doh mats

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358599189052948370/

Coloring

I keep your basics, of markers, crayons, and color penciled in this box always.

Coloring books  (I get cheap ones at the dollar store, craft store, and Five Below, so we have a nice variety that I can switch out )

 Stickers 

Stampers and an ink pad 

If Dash doesn't want to do anything in the boxes, or he tires of it quickly, he is free to go in his bedroom and play with any of his toys, play with the dog, listen to a book on CD, or read during free time (he loves comics).

Free time usually lasts from 4pm-5:30pm (dinner time).

I hope these ideas have been helpful

Fun field trips to plan for!

Fun field trips to plan for your home-schoolers or to do with your kids on the weekend.

Our field trips for  the fall  will be:

All day trips:

Apple picking

Pumpkin picking

Christmas tree chopping

Locally:

The nature preserve

The nursery

Fall festivals

Children's museum

To get the most out of your field trips, get your children excited about where they are going to be going, and give them knowledge to fully appreciate what they are going to be doing.

The lesson plan for apple and pumpkin picking, and Christmas tree chopping:

 If you can't go apple or pumpkin picking due to location or budget, you can always head to your local grocery store and get a good price on these items while they are in season, and still do the following activities. And whether you get a real tree or do a fake tree, there is plenty of fun activities to do before and after you put it up.

Closer to the end of September, apple season begins. No matter your child's age this can be a fun topic with fun activities. Come October, pumpkin picking is in full swing. Some places offer more then just pumpkin picking, some have hay rides, petting zoos, and other fall activities. Christmas tree chopping usually starts around Thanksgiving, we have made it a tradition to go the day after.

A few days before the trip we will start reading about our up coming trip.

For our apple picking, I have planned to read about Johnny Appleseed. I find Johnny Appleseed's story to be so interesting and entertaining for children. Although you may find your child then wanting to plant all of their apple seeds around your yard ha ha.

For our pumpkin pickings, I want to read "From Seed to Pumpkin" by Wendy Pfeffer. This will give us a little idea of where pumpkins come from and how they grow. And then we will read other silly books about pumpkins.

For our Christmas tree trip, we plan to read "Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect" By Richard Schneider (I just love that story). This story can open up conversation, on what does perfect  actually mean.

All this reading can be done before bed as a bed time story (it doesn't need to feel like added school work), or during free time.

Below I pasted a link you can read facts about Johnny Appleseed, if you can't find any books at your library, it also includes a little cartoon. Also a link to learn facts about pumpkins, and a link for facts about Christmas trees.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/239394536414103062/

http://www.pickyourownchristmastree.org/facts.php

http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/varieties.html

http://mentalfloss.com/article/62113/9-facts-tell-true-story-johnny-appleseed

Apple Activities:

1. Make apple journals. Print out pictures of different types of apples, label them, and bring this with you when you go on your trip. See if you can identify all the different apples you see.

2. Check out these activity sheets in the link below. Make poems, test your child's knowledge of Johnny Appleseed, and practice some mapping skills.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/usa/people/Appleseedindex.shtml

Coloring pages

http://www.bestapples.com/kids/teachers/coloring.shtml

3. Once you get back from your trip here are some ideas.

Bake apple pies, apple turnovers, apple crisps, make candy or caramel apples. (don't have a recipe, pinterest does!)

Educational apple themed games

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/209487820142315114/

Art apple stampers.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/571816483911983377/

Pumpkin Activities:

1. Pumpkin Baking

pumpkin pie, pumpkin waffles, and  pumpkin bread. (don't have a recipe, pinterest does!)

2. Art

pumpkin carving , painting, or decorating.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/231935449535650270/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/522628731731591663/

Christmas Tree Activities:

Decorate your tree of course!

Make your own ornaments

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/197595502378301333/

Make your own wreath (either collect extra branches while your out there, or use the ones yu prune off your tree)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/184647653449253418/

 Local trips and ideas:

Fall Festivals

Most towns do fall festivals (go online and find out what is happening near you), this is a fun day out, they often have pony rides, and pumpkin painting, and lots of fall inspired treats and crafts.

The Nature Preserve 

This is a beautiful time of year, with the scenery and weather, to take your kids out for a nature hike. Have them photograph or collect and scrap book the leaves and plants they see.

The Nursery

Our local nursery has animals, which are fun to pet and feed. They also set up a fall display which is fun.

Children's museum

On days when it is raining or too cold, and you need to get out check out your local museums. Our library has a program where you can get free passes.

I hope this has given you some ideas to make the most out of your fall!