Manners Italiano!

Around Christmas I posted a picture on Facebook about an upcoming Italian Dinner happening at my house for 20+ kiddos.  I got a lot of questions about it so I thought I would take a moment to tell you about some awesome opportunities I have had recently with two special groups of homeschoolers.

When exploring class ideas a year and a half ago for the local homeschool group we are involved in, a few of us brainstormed a class for young men to get them exposed to Christian men in the community.  What resulted (and I became in charge of) was Men Mentoring Minors (MMM).  For each of our 7 meetings, I provided the opportunity for our junior and senior high boys to meet with a Christian man in our community for an hour.  During that time we asked that the men discuss with the boys-

-Their testimony
-What they did for a living
-How their faith affected their job
-How they decided on a career
-And anything else they wanted to share about their lives

In addition to leading some amazing discussions, many ended their time together with a great activity.  My boys have been on the college football field with our college head coach and the basketball court with the SDSU coach and a few players, learned about dairy farms and soil testing, done an obstacle course with Air Force cadets, shot with a retired army hero, and chatted with men who are everything from pastors to entrepreneurs.  Each one has had a wonderful story to share and opened new and exciting career possibilities to the boys.  It has been a blast for two years and one I pray will continue to be a blessing to this special group of boys.

This year, we added a new class for our high school aged girls, Growing Godly Girls (GGG).  The concept here was very much the same, but instead of taking them out into the local community, our goal was to have them exposed to a variety of moms in our own group.  Every other week was then reserved for a "book club" discussion on the book, It's Not That Complicated, in which moms and daughters alike participated.  The girls also learned self defense and Irish Dance and next year we hope to have a dad's panel.

And what does this all have to do with a fancy Italian Dinner, you ask?  Well, I decided to sneak in some good 'ole fashioned etiquette as well.  When we were stationed at the Air Force Academy, one of the things I loved was having cadets over for dinner and teaching etiquette.  While I am by no means an expert, it is something I feel is lacking in today's society and something I am passionate about.  Kids can't know what we do not teach them!

The first class was for our MMM and GGG classes only, which did leave out our middle school girls. That class was an hour with me and basic rules of etiquette-

-please and thank you
-show someone you are listening by looking at them when they talk
-opening doors for people
-when a man and a lady walk together, the man walks on the side that is closest to the traffic or street. (did you know that?)
-cell phone etiquette
-proper subjects of conversation in mixed company and more!

The second class was all about table manners and we added our middle school girls into the mix.  We talked about everything from silverware placement to passing the salt and pepper (together, of course!).

Then, to practice our skills, we had a fancy dinner.  Well, as fancy as we could get in the house we currently live in. None the less, it was fun!

Many of the girls came over early and set the tables, even down to place cards.  Adults fixed dinner and then served the kids, just like any nice, sit down restaurant.  They had salad first, then a choice of three entrées thanks to some amazing cooking mommas, and dessert.

After, of course, was game time.  These kids love to play games.  Well, Nerf too, but I have drawn the line with that one after being brave once.  Only once! ;)

Anyway, that's just a little of what we have been up to on the homeschooling front.  How about you?  If you have taken part in similar classes, we would love to hear about them.

Blessings,

The Great Cooking Experiment

Did you grow up cooking?  I did not.  Don't get me wrong, my mom cooked a lot - I just did not spend a lot of time in the kitchen helping her.  That was during a time when I was heavily involved with dancing and was happy to just come home and be served a good meal.  Sad, but true.

One of my most fond memories of preparing to get married was my mom and me sitting around the kitchen table trying to write down all of her recipes so I could feed my then husband-to-be.  The problem was she never used a recipe so we spent a lot of time laughing at her directions of "a handful," "just a little," and "you will just know."

Needless to say, I have spent the past years making sure I not only wrote down the recipes I love and use often, but also making sure the girls could follow those recipes.  (The boys aren't quite ready) Luckily, my girls cook.  One enjoys baking and one prefers cooking meals, so it works out quite nicely when they are both home.

But some reason, I recently had a mommy panic moment - had I actually taught my girls how to plan meals from start to finish?  Could they budget, shop AND cook for a week for a family?

Thus began, The Great Cooking Experiment.

They were thrilled.  Ok, not really, but at least they were pretty good sports.

Their assignment: plan a week's worth of meals, shop for the ingredients on their own, stay within my budget, and cook for our family of 6 for a week.

Now before you think that this momma got off completely for the week, I will remind you that we homeschool and that means those kids still have to eat breakfast and lunch here.  Darn them. ;)  I often dream of sending them to public school just for lunch hour.

Anyway...with the help of our favorite cookbook Supper's On the Table, Come Home, they chose a week's menu, checked to see what staples and meat we already had and made their list.  Off they went to the store and back again - under budget!  I was so proud.  And amazed since my budgeting for meals has not be stellar lately.  I would have loved to seen them going up and down the aisles with the calculator, but decided that would embarrass them too much.  We did talk later about how the next time they could use their excess money (again, wow!) to stock up on things we use regularly that were on sale.

And then there was the cooking part of The Great Cooking Experiment.  Not much to report here. As I mentioned, my girls are can hold their own in a kitchen so this was not really where they needed the practice - though it was a fun break for me at night.  We had a week of delicious meals, one special dessert and even a special snack.  One of the great things about Rachel Master's cookbook, Supper's On the Table, Come Home, is that she gives start times for each step of the meal. In my experience, getting everything on the table at the same is the hardest trick to learn, so the times listed are a great help to newer cooks.  If you have not checked this cookbook out, I encourage you to do so.  I am getting nothing in return for telling you about it, just passing on what we love!

So, the final word on The Great Cooking Experiment?  I would say it was a huge success.  The girls say I got out of cooking for a week.  And the boys were well fed.  Not too bad for a mommy panic moment!

Next time, I think we are going to have them budget a monthly paycheck - rent, utilities, groceries, car payment, etc.  Who knew Home Economics could be so fun?  shhhh, don't tell my kids!

Never a dull moment with homeschooling!

Blessings,

What's to Eat?

5:00...time to feed the troops.  (ok, not quite yet, but stay with me here)

If you are like me you often open the fridge and stare.  And stare some more.  Give up, close the fridge and call for take out.
If you are like me, you want to feed your family healthier food.  It just takes time...and planning...and creativity.  I am a little low on those things right now.  So I am all about simplifying these days and getting a little help.  You see, I can and HAVE made myself a little crazy collecting fancy recipes and shopping for insanely hard to find ingredients.  And you know what...my family is...not...impressed.  As in does...not...care.  In fact, I have found out that the more simple I go, the happier they are.  Who would have figured? So I am vowing to no longer try to impress the troops. (at least not with cooking)

Here are a few things that have worked for me lately...

1- Supper's On The Table, Come Home by Rachel Masters.  (You can find it here: www.schallertel.net/~rmasters)  I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK!  So much so, that I have given copies to a few young ladies in my life already.  It gives 13 weeks of simple meals with not only the shopping list for each week, but also a time chart of when to start each step.  My kind of simple.  Plus, a great way to teach our future homemakers in training time management in the kitchen.  Again, some of the recipes are very simple, but those are the ones my family liked best.  I promise!  The kids loved it because it also includes one special snack eack week as well as one dessert...which often became a homeschool cooking project and our Friday Family Night dessert.

2-  My own version of Supper's On The Table.  Not nearly as nice as Rachel's, but yep, I did my own version using all of my favorite recipes.  Now on my to do list: laminate copies for each of my children.

3- Phone a friend!  Seriously.  I have been known to call someone, you know who you are, and ask what you are fixing...and then follow suit.  Hey, I am not picky!

4- EMeals.  This one is new for me, currently doing it now, but I love how it combines recipes plus low cost items/sales with a store of your choice.  I promise to post soon on how I cut our grocery budget in half soon, but for now, this is one simple way to get started.

So, how about you...what's cooking at your house today?  Do share on the blog please, it just might be tomorrow's meal!