Homemade Deli Roll Recipe

We are big fans of grilled sub sandwiches. We used to purchase the rolls pre made from the deli at Walmart or Krogers. But I got tired of them getting moldy or stale within a day or so.
So I decided to make my own. Plus it is cheaper and better for you than the store bought stuff.

We already had a dinner roll recipe that we liked. So
I just decided to try making them bigger than usual and they turned out really good. These rolls are sweet like you can get at Ponderosa, Golden Corral or Bob Evans.  

As much as I would love to be hard core and make all of our bread by hand, (mixing, kneading etc) I have had to admit that I do not really have time for this all of the time. Between school, kids, house, business and husband...I am thankful for my bread machine.

Bread Machines are serious time savers.

We do not really like the flavor of the bread if it has baked in the bread machine, so we compromise. I let it do the mixing and kneading for me and then do the last rise on the top stove and bake in the oven. Tastes much better that way!

~HOMEMADE DELI ROLL RECIPE~

- 3 cups flour
- 3 tbsp sugar (you can also use honey, but will need to add a little more flour)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup dry milk powder
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp butter softened
- 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp for those that purchase it in bulk)

-Put all ingredients in bread machine in order recommended by the manufacturer. Set on dough cycle; press start.

Remember to smile at it fondly as you walk past.

- When dough cycle has completed, remove the risen dough from the machine. deflate and divide into 8 balls. (If we are having dinner rolls, we would divide into 16) Form balls or dough into rolls, pinching the back.

Then place on a greased baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 40 minutes, or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.

-ENJOY!

Science...Fueled By Curiosity!

I have always struggled with science in the past. Mainly because growing up, in public school and homeschool, it was flat out boring! The textbooks that we used were so dry. I can remember just going through and memorizing the highlighted portion so I could pass the unit test and move on.
I did not develop a love for science from these books.

When I set out to find a science curriculum, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to find. However, I knew it had to be different than what I had used as a child.

We use every opportunity to learn.

Lots of hands on...the dirtier the better!

Bub and Sis are both very, very interested all things science. Especially animals! If Bub can find someone to listen to him, he will sit for an hour telling facts about this animal or that animal. He loves it. His favorite car game is for us all to take turns asking animal fact questions, and to see if we can stump each other. We did it for over an hour on our way home from the zoo last week.

Tree Frog that found his way into our yard last Summer.

So, when I went looking for a science curricilum, I knew it had to be a good one. One that would capture everyone's interest and not squelch the budding love of learning that these kids have. I am personally a fan of the Charlotte Mason approach to education. The kids have down well with this approach. If you go to the Simply Charlotte Mason Website they have some recommendations for science.

Through that site and a couple of suggestions from others who had tried it...I decided to give Apologia a try.

IT IS AMAZING!

We bought our first book in September and have purchased 3 more of the 6 elementary science textbooks. I plan to purchase the last two within the next year. The price for these textbooks are not bad. Especially if you catch it on sale at Christian Book Distributors. There are also experiment kits to go along with the textbooks for an extra price. But at this age and science level, I have had no issues with pulling the items together on my own. Of course when they get older and start more advanced courses then the kits may be a different story all together. Thankfully I have a good 5-6 years before I have to worry about it!
You can also purchase Science journals to go along with each text book. Or you can make your own. That is what we do!
Apologia uses the immersion technique. I am a huge fan of that over the more 'traditional' science textbooks.  


The children absolutely love these books. They do not stay in the school box or on the book shelf. I often find them on their bedside table, in their backpacks, left open on the kitchen table. All of them have multiple pieces of scrap paper sticking out for bookmarks. We rarely leave the house without at least one Apologia text in hand. All of the books are hard backed and seem to be holding up very well to the abuse of daily use.
I think one of the main reasons the kids like them so well is the pictures. They are very well illustrated. I often find Bub (our avid artist) sitting on his bed, hunched over his Zoology 3 textbook, drawing a copy of the image he sees.
Sis is very interested in Astronomy right now and loves to pour over all the pictures. Last week she had me read her the chapter about the Earths moon. She can't wait for the weather to warm up outside so we can break out the telescope she got for Christmas.
In our daily lessons we have been reading through Zoology 2, the kids are loving the experiments.
When we first purchased these books, I tried to make them pick one to do first. That did not fly well. They are both so interested in different topics and we are forever moving to something different to learn about. So we have one science book in our school box, but I give them the option to do that or a different book or each of them their own time with me separately to pick what they want. In other words...we do a LOT of science!

Bee hive at the Fruit Farm, they loved watching the Queen!

I am so thankful to have found a science curriculum that has captured the kids love of learning and helped to push them along. Heck..I have even been known to pick one up and read. Most of the time if Hubby is in the house during science I will find him sitting nearby listening in.

So long as things continue to go so well with this curriculum, we will stick with Apologia straight through high school. I have heard they have an awesome high school chem course.


We of course try not to just stick to textbooks for any of our subjects.That would be boring. If the kids express an interest in a certain item/animal/topic...we look it up in Apologia, Google it, YouTube it, try to get out hands on the real thing, or any other form of information that we can get our hands on. 

As much as I try to stick with the 'program' in one science book. We tend to skip around a lot. That used to bother me. Then I realized that, even as adults, we all do this. We find something we are interested in and pursue it until we are satisfied with what we have learned..or until something else strikes our fancy. Turns out, the urge to skip around and study different things, is just plain old human nature. We have a lot of fun skipping around. Plus we are learning a lot more than if I was forcing them to learn about Sea Cows when what they are really curious about is Racoons!

We are becoming science nerds, and I love it!

Tell me about your Homeschool Science Curriculum! 


Never stop learning! =)

HM

~Over breakfast this morning we were discussing pigeons and their use for war tactics. That was one heck of a discussion to have over eggs and bacon!~ 

Changes

Well it has been 5 months since I have blogged.
The last 12 months have been interesting for me. Heck the last few years have been interesting.
To quote my husband 'We are not who we used to be.'
In that fashion I felt that I had outgrown this blog..or maybe that it had outgrown me. Not really sure which one. I am not who I used to be. Even as an adult with 3 children and having my dream job I am still growing and changing and God is clearly not done with me yet. But then again..He says He is never finished with any of us.
In this season of change, questioning and transition I have had to ask myself a lot of questions. Questions about myself, who I am, who I want to be. Who God wants me to be.
Questions that I frankly do not have the answers to yet.

I tried to come back to this blog in December and just didn't know where to start. Wasn't sure if I should start over, change everything...trash the whole thing??? But it took me 4 years to build this blog..and it hurt too much to take it down.

So I am back..I am different, but I am back.

There will be a lot more homeschool stuff...a little more weight loss talk....a little less homesteading...but a lot more baking, sewing and crafting..and a heck of a lot more of my thoughts on life and God. It is a shift, a big shift. I understand if anyone feels the need to leave. I understand that we do not all walk the same path. There are a million shades of gray between black and white and I do not think that God uses the same shade twice.
So here I am a slightly different shade of gray than before but still a sinner saved by grace and washed white. 

Welcome To The New,
 HM

Fruit Loop Math! Let's Get Fruity! :o)

Sis is in Kindergarten this year. She has done amazingly well and so far has been very far ahead of the learning curve for almost everything thing we have taught her. She just turned 5 a couple weeks ago and she was reading before her birthday! GO SIS!!

She has done well with her Math as well. We are using k12's Math plus blue with her. I am not a huge fan of k12 but I got the book for free, so no complaints here! 

She is doing great with all the concept of math but she (like bub) has hit a little snag with recognizing and remembering her teen numbers..11-20 has taken a little effort.(I am curious if this happens for most kids?)

Any who..We went the usual path of just practicing writing them and saying them and me asking which was which. It still wasn't clicking. So i called up my SIL (She is always handy for a fun way to learning a new concept) She suggested doing Cereal Math! 

We had Fruit Loops on hand so that is what we used. Plus it made it super fun and colorful! 

We wrote out the number, she told me the number, I helped her outline it with glue. Then she lined the glue with fruit loops. She had a blast and Little Bit 'helped' by stealing cereal to eat when Sis wasn't looking. 

I think this has really helped Sis to commit these numbers to memory. I know it is always best to incorporate all the types of learning when teaching a new concept. Sis has not been the type of child to need very much hands on learning for memory items up until now. I think once she gets these down she will be good to go!
She gets very frustrated when something doesn't come easily for her. (I have no idea where she learned that. **sheepish grin**)
Now I need to come up with a game for her to practice these numbers with next. I am thinking a good old fashioned game of Match will do. She loves that game!

Happy Friday!

Homestead Mommy

Open House At The Fruit Farm

Over the weekend we went on a field trip to a local Fruit Farm. They had horse rides, Make your own scarecrow, horse drawn wagon rides, pick your own apples, face painting, local bee keepers, hay rides through the apple orchards etc. It was a really fun day!

We took a lot of pictures! :o)

Waiting in line to ride the horses. It was their first time!

Bub Age:7

Sis Age:5

When I told Sis there would be horse rides, she was so excited. Once we got there I was afraid she was going to back out. I'm so glad she changed her mind!

I asked Little Bit if she wanted to ride..she said 'No WAY!'

When Bub saw this sign he couldn't wait to make a scarecrow!

My Family. 

Waiting to make our scarecrow.

There were some local bee keepers set up nearby. They had a hive of bees with  a Queen! We got to watch her lay an egg. So cool! I also scored some awesome honey and a business card. I have been trying to get my hands on some local bee pollen!

Here everyone is stuffing our scarecrow....who by the way is now sitting in the rocking chair on our porch and has since on more than one occasion made me jump when I step outside.

Who needs school pictures?? All you need is a sunny day, some straw and some smiling kids!

ARRR Matey's! Did you know that talk like a pirate day was this past week? 

They were even canning apple butter over an open flame. While I find this very cool in theory and I think it is great that they are allowing hand on learning for the public. There was no way I was buying it. :o)

My camera messed up on the wagon ride. :o/

We had fun riding along and talking about what it must have been like for Laura Ingalls to ride in a wagon everywhere she and her family went. We are reading Little House In The Big Woods right now.

Well there you have it! Our fun filled field trip to the Fruit Farm!

They will be open again during strawberry season in May. We will definitely being going again!

Happy Fall!

HM

TeachYour Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons ~Book Review~

Homeschooling has been such a blessing to our family. We are still really just getting started, but I figured I would pass along any tips whenever I can.

When Bub was ready to start kindergarten..I was pregnant with Little Bit and honestly panicked. I ended up enrolling him with k12. While this is a wonderful online school option for many people..it did not end up being a very good fit for our family. We tried to stick it out for 2 years.
Bub had a lot of issues learning to read and the school even offered a tutor. But in the end it came down to them not being able to conform his learning style to their program. After many tears on his part and even more on mine..I finally just did it my way. It is the only way that worked in the end.

 Some time late last year, a friend recommended that I try 'Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons' (TYCTR). It was then that I remembered that I actually had that book setting at home on a book shelf gathering dust. I had ordered it sometime before we decided to try k12 and had put it away and totally forgot it even existed!
So the very next week we pulled it out and gave it a try. It has been a life saver for our family! It is quick, painless and the best part is..it taught Bub to read! It only takes about 20 minutes a day, there are no bells or whistles or extra books or pages to worry about misplacing. it is an all inclusive reading program in one book.
The absolute best part? Is the price! You can pick this book up for around $12 from Christian book Distributors (cbd.com) or even on Amazon.com.
Once Bub stared having success with this book, I then started Sis with it when she was 4 1/2. She is sailing right along with it as well. I will be using it with Little Bit when she is ready also.
This book has been a wonderful investment for our homeschool and I look forward to eventually passing it along to another family to use.

So..in review..(haha) Homestead Mommy gives this book
Two Big Thumbs UP! 

Happy Homeschooling!

Homestead Mommy

Upside Down Pizza Recipe

One of my personal favorites as a kid was Upside Down Pizza! I tried ir out on my family and we found it to be kind of bland (like most of the recipes from when I was growing up. My mother didn't go much beyond ground beef, salt and pepper. Fresh garlic was un heard of at our house. Then I met Hubby! He is an excellent cook)

So we revised this oldie but goodie into a new family favorite!

You will need:

-1 lb ground sausage
-1 jar pizza sauce
-1 cup shredded mozzarella
-2-3 cloves garlic
-1 bell pepper, chopped
-1 onion, chopped
- 1 can sliced mushrooms, or you can always use 1 cup of fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1 can sliced black olives
- 1 can crescent rolls
- Parmesan cheese


First off you need to brown the sausage, onions, bell pepper, garlic, and mushrooms in a skillet over medium heat.

Next add the olives and pizza sauce. ( I actually left the black olives out when I took these pics). Then dump the meat/sauce mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.

Top with the Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheeses,

Unroll crescent rolls and lay on top of cheese. top with more Parmesan Cheese.

Bake at 375 for as long as the crescent roll package instructs..maybe a couple minutes more..until golden brown.

We serve this with salad and cottage cheese.

YUM!

How We Lowered Our Electric Bill By $50!!

About a month ago I decided to make it my mission to lower our electric bill.


I wasn't sure if my efforts would be in vain or not but figured 'Hey, Why not!' We were already doing the usual keep lights turned off, unplug unnecessary items etc.

I had already stopped using this..

And started using this instead.

 You can read about that here.

So then we started doing more of this

and less of the other option..(This is our house on laundry day, which is Saturday. I wash throughout the week but Saturday is the day we wash the sheets and blankets etc. So it is basically overload day! lol I will be doing a post very soon on how to hang your laundry to dry when you can't do a lot of outside drying and in tight places. I have done it, it is definitely possible.)We now hang around 80-90% of our clothes. 

We have also started using more of these...

 and less of this.
 (yes I know I need to take that fan apart and clean it. We only run this one in the laundry room. I also had pictures of our ceiling fans but my camera apparently decided I didn't need it. Because it is gone.)
This is the one that is a little trickier at our house. On the days hubby is off work it isn't too bad. Actually it works really well. We run the a/c at night, shut it off in the morning and run fans, then toward the evening (depending on the weather) we either open the windows for a little while and then turn on the a/c or just turn on the a/c. We also turned the temp up on the unit to keep it from running as much. It hasn't been too bad, so far, it is only May. But some days it has been in the 90's.Plus it helps that the dryer and dishwasher aren't runner either. Of course it is a completely different ball game when Hubby is working. he works nights so I can not really leave the a/c off during the day, it gets too hot upstairs. We are currently considering some other options besides the central air for this problem.

With these three changes I figured it was probably going to end up being more trouble than it was worth..thought it would just be a small drop on the electric bill.
Imagine my shock when I looked at our bill this week and it was $50 less than usual! I was amazed, so much so that I am even more motivated to find more ways to cut out bill.

How do you save money on your electric bill?

Sincerely,
Homestead Mommy