stuffedveggies: February 2017

Monday, February 27, 2017

Lenten & Omnivore Week's Menu

As we enter Lent this year, I can predict that one or more people will tell me, "I'd really like to keep the Lenten fast but it's so hard when my Wife (or Husband, or Mother or Roommate) doesn't eat that way. It's just too hard to make two different meals every night!"

Lenten Fasting for Orthodox Christians traditionally means no meat, poultry, fish, dairy or eggs. Shellfish and honey are permitted. But, many Orthodox Christians are married to Christians of other Traditions who do not follow this practice, others may have an Orthodox spouse with a health issue that has caused the doctor to forbid the traditional Fast. Others have family members who, for one reason or another, choose not to fast, or whose Spiritual Father has advised against rigorous fasting. This menu is published with the hopes of helping those in these situations.

These menus make it easier because MOST of the meal is the same for everyone - simply add an easy-to-prepare item or two for the Omnivore.

I'm providing a variety of suggestions for additions to meals, but if you have an easy-to-please Omnivore, or one who is very fond of Chicken, you could easily buy a Rotisserie Chicken and serve whole pieces for some meals and shreds for others to fill out most of a week's menu.

To make these meals even easier, I'd recommend keeping a tub of ready-to-go Salad Greens or Chopped Snacking Veggies in the fridge at all times. And, when you do your grocery shopping, go ahead and portion the pork chops into individual zippered bags with Italian Dressing and pop them in the freezer. When you put them in the fridge to defrost, they start marinating automatically. (Of course, if you're serving them within a day or two of shopping, no need to freeze at all, just refrigerate : )

Enjoy!


Orzo Pilaf

For Omnivores, Grill a pork chop that has been marinated

in Italian Dressing. Add a Dollop of Yogurt or Sour Cream to the Pilaf


Pizza

Add the Omnivore's favorite toppings, such as Cheese, Pepperoni, or Bacon to his or her pizza


Baked Potatoes in the Slow Cooker

Have a Stuff Your Own Baked Potato Night

with the ideas in this link.


Skyline Black Beans and Rice over Spaghetti, Copycat

Add Skyline Chili from a Can to Omnivore's Portion,

along with Finely Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese


Indian Lemon Rice with Peas

Add Tandoori Chicken & Raita Sauce or Plain Yogurt to Omnivore's Portion


Peas & Artichokes Yachni

Serve with Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwiches for the Omnivores


Mexican Haystacks

Add Shredded Prepared Chicken or "Taco Meat" to Omnivore's Portion

Serve with Sour Cream and Shredded Mexican Style Cheese or Mild Cheddar

Samali (Greek Semolina Dessert)

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Monday, February 20, 2017

English: Homeschool Video Fun Day


English: Homeschool Fun Video Day

English (aka Language Arts), like every other academic subject, requires some memory work.
Memory work that might not always be fun. BUT, if you learn that material with fun videos over lunch, or on a down day, you can sail through English Memorization without unnecessary unpleasantness.

Here are some videos that we find both fun and useful for memorizing all that stuff. We like to watch them during homeschool lunch break, or on sick or down days.

I originally got this idea from Homeschooling Patriots
Check out her blog for several more Parts of Speech Videos. After I found her idea, I then made my own lists for several different subjects.

Unfortunately, on Youtube the commercials aren't targeted to the audience, and sometimes very inappropriate things are shown. Which means that there are times that I've had a h0rr0r film ad (or other junk I'd rather not see) pop up right before a preschool video with puppets. For this reason, and because I like to be sure that junk in general isn't coming into our school day while I'm folding laundry, I save the videos to a desk top folder for convenience. And, if a favorite video is "taken down," we still have it. It's also nice if the internet crashes while we're doing school : )

I like this site for saving my videos - it's free and I've never had any trouble from it. (ETA: as of Oct 2017, I discovered a problem in this site, and no longer recommend it without reservation - use it at your own risk)

If you like this, check out others in this series
Video Day: Science
Video Day: History & Geography

Video Day: Math

English Homeschool Video Fun Day

Similes and Metaphors by Bazillions

Prepositions by Bazillions

Noun Town by Grammaropolis

Action Verb by Grammaropolis

Adjective Song by Grammaropolis

Interjection Song by Grammaropolis

Adverb Song by Grammaropolis

Conjunction Song by Grammaropolis

Pronoun Song by Grammaropolis

Preposition Song by Grammaropolis

Silent e by Bazillions

Q & U by Bazillions

Parts of Speech, Classical Conversations Cycle 3, Weeks 1-12

Parts of Speech, Grammar Module 1, Classical Conversations

Six Ways to Start a Sentence by Nessy:

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Monday, February 13, 2017

Multiplication Quick Tricks Memory Song

Multiplication Quick Tricks

There are lots of quick tricks to make multiplication easier. BUT if you can't remember the tricks, they don't simplify things much at all!

Here is a little song that I wrote for my daughter to help her remember all these handy methods so that she can actually make use of them. I hope you find them useful, too! : )

When I was growing up, we sang "Oh Jack and Jill went up the Hill" not just "Jack and Jill went up the hill" (hitting the first note twice). This song is written to that tune. Though I cannot find the identical thing online, I posted the closest one I could find to jog your memory.

If you like this song, slso check out my

Divisibility Song

Hope you find this little song - and this post - useful!

Multiplication Quick Tricks Memory Song
(To the Tune of Jack & Jill)

To Multiply an Even Number by 5
Just Divide it
In Half then
Write Zero
There you have the answer!

To Multiply an Odd number by 5 You
Just Subtract One
Cut in Half
Then Write 5
There you have the answer!

To Multiply a Single Digit by Nine
Just Subtract one
That's Your First
Digit - then
The Other adds up to 9!

To Multiply any number by 10 is
Just so easy
Write the Number
Then Zero
There you have the answer!

To Multiply by E-leven
Write Zero in the Front
Add Each Digit
To the Next
Starting at the Right!

To Multiply by Number 12
Write Zero in the Front
Double Each One
And add the Next
Starting at the Right!

Fives Video (sorry, there's no great pic - but just click on the triangle as usual : )