Our Favorite Waffles

We had waffles for dinner tonight. When Evan and Amy were little we used to have waffles for dinner quite a bit. Sean was working long hours and not home for dinner, and it was an easy, well liked meal. But it evidently confused them because at one point, I served waffles for breakfast and they asked why we were having dinner food for breakfast!

At that time, this recipe was our all time favorite. If you can handle wheat and dairy, it is a good recipe. But it also takes a long time to make. Fortunately, I found a waffle recipe that is just as good, gluten and dairy free, and is so fast and easy that I usually make it for Sunday morning breakfast. And we go to early service!

The reason it is so easy is that you do most of the work the night before. At first I was skeptical about leaving a batter out on the counter overnight. Wouldn't it spoil or get funny bacteria growing? But the more I researched soaking grains, the more I saw that it was different than just leaving food out (which would spoil). There are health benefits to soaking grains, but a big benefit for me is how quickly a recipe comes together after it's been soaked. I think it works much like the way yogurt works, and the soaking softens the rice and makes it more easily digestible. You don't have to do this step. It works just fine to blend it up and then make your waffles, but I like to soak it the night before and be ready to go first thing in the morning! I originally found the recipe here but have modified it to meet our needs.

Blender Waffles

1 1/2 cups rice

1 can full fat coconut milk

water

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

The night before, blend the rice, coconut milk, vanilla, and oil in your blender for 3 minutes at the highest speed. (Or 1 1/2 -2 minutes with a vita mix.) The batter should always swirl about a vortex in the blender. If it doesn’t, slowly add more liquid until the hole reappears. (I usually fill the can from the coconut milk half way and use it to pour the water.) You don't want it to get too watery, but the recipe is also very forgiving. I usually use 1/4 to 1/2 can of water added. Cover blender; let stand at room temperature overnight or 12-24 hours.

The next morning, plug in your waffle iron and add to your blender:

1 egg

Blend again for a minute. Then add:

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

Blend again briefly to incorporate the ingredients. You can use a spatula to mix it a bit more and wipe down the sides. Don't over mix the baking powder.

When you iron is ready, grease with butter or oil and cook for 4-5 minutes. I set my iron to 5.5 out of a setting of 8.

We like to serve these with homemade fruit sauce that cooks while the waffles are baking. The kids also like Justin's Nut Butter in the hazelnut/chocolate flavor. Of course, maple syrup is wonderful too!

Evan's 9th Grade Year

Evan's first year of High School! We started school this year in the summer to get a jump on things before we took a trip back east. If you'd like to see pictures of our summer trips just leave a comment asking to see Evan's blog. (It's password protected, but we'll share with you if you ask.) He took most of the pictures, and has done a great job blogging about it all.

I on the other hand, have been reading and reading some more about high school! Here's the line up.

Bible: Long Story Short with the girls and working on memorizing Philippians. Evan also has 5 books to read and write about, roughly 1 per quarter. Right now he's reading Practical Happiness by Bob Shultz. The others on his list are What He Must Be if He Wants to Marry My Daughter by Voddie Baucham, Humility by C.J. Mahaney, Knowing God by J.I. Packer, and a biography of someone from church history.

Evan is also doing a study of great books that corresponds to the time period of history he's studying. We're back at the beginning with ancient history, and of course the Bible is the great, Great Book. He's starting off the year reading Genesis through Job as his first "Great Book".

Math: Evan really likes Teaching Textbooks. This year he will be studying Algebra I.

English:
-Spelling: Spelling Power is proving to be a great fit for our family. I bought it with Evan in mind, since spelling is a weakness for him (like me). But everyone is doing well with it and liking it.
-Grammar: Evan is finishing up Easy Grammar Plus. It seems we have a tendency to not finish grammar books around here! I also have him doing a short lesson a day out of Easy Grammar Ultimate Series 9th grade. It's a one page summary of grammar rules to practice.
-Great Books: I'm planning on having Evan read through 10 great books. We're starting with the Bible (Gen-Job), then the Epic of Gilgamesh. I know Evan is looking forward to reading the Iliad and the Oddessy, but other than that there is some flexibility within a longer list based on what he's interested in and what's available.
-Writing: Each of the Great Books will have a paper due at the end. This along with the papers from his Bible class, and the numerous notes and outlines he'll be taking in History and Science should be enough writing for this year.
-Other books: Since I'm not following a curriculum per say with English, I'm having Evan read a couple of other books for reference and guidance: How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler, Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White, Study is Hard Work by William Armstrong,
and sections of The Well Educated Mind:A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer

History: He's reading The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer. After reading each chapter he takes notes on the events and dates. He'll use the Timetables of History by Burnard Grun and The Annals of the World by James Ussher for context and reference when writing papers.

Science: Evan is doing a class with friends also. They are using the Apologia Biology book. He is also taking a class on anatomy and physiology through our school called Body of Evidence by Answers in Genesis. The Apologia biology book doesn't go into human biology much, so I was glad that our school was offering the class.

Foreign Language: If we can get our Rosetta Stone program to work again, he'll continue on with Spanish. I think we're just having some technical difficulties.

Art and Music Appreciation: We spend a couple of hours each week looking a different composer and listening to his music while doing some art. I'm hoping to focus on painting this year.

Electives:
-Logic: We're going through the Fallacy Detectives by the Bludorn brothers. At church, the youth group is doing a study of logic and how it applies to us a Christians.
-Eagle Scout Project: Evan is on track to finish up his work to earn the Eagle Scout rank this year. Our school requires two semesters of community service. His project will count as one full semester.

P.E.: One of Evan's boy scout merit badges is Personal Fitness. He has to make a 12 week exercise plan and evaluate his conditioning before and after he initiates his plan. That along with the hiking, jogging, backpacking, walking, tree chopping, fence building, and tree climbing he does with his friends and family are his P.E. plan so far.

Amy's 7th Grade Year

Amy is starting her first year in Junior High. Seeing that my kids can hardly remember what grade they really are in, I suppose it doesn't matter that much, but it seems a big milestone non-the-less. She, of course, would rather be outside than in, but this year has really taken off with her reading. She started "War Horse" this morning and finished it just before dinner. She has a tendency to not ask questions if she doesn't understand something so this year we will work more at vocabulary and dictionary skills. Here's her curriculum line up for the year.

Bible: We will be going through the book, "Long Story Short" as a family and memorizing the book of Philippians. I will also have time for Amy to read her Bible in the morning on her own.

Math: Amy really likes the Abeka Math series, and we will be continuing with Math 7 this year.

Language Arts:
-Spelling: I was going to have Amy do level B of the Phonetic Zoo since we own it and she liked level A. However, when she saw me reading the Spelling Power book, she was really interested in it and asked if we could do that instead.
-Grammar: Last year we started Rod and Staff's 6th grade spelling program but only got half way through it, so we'll just pick up where we left off and keep going. It's very through so it does take her a long time, but I'd like her to finish.
-Handwriting: We started with Italic, but Amy wanted to learn "real" cursive. So I started her on a book that teaches traditional cursive and we'll keep going with that then move on to Classically Cursive.
-Reading: I plan on getting library books that pertain to the period of history that we will be studying. I also like looking at the reading lists from Veritas Press and Sonlight to pick up a few extra literature books that are at her reading level. If they have horses or heroines all the better!
-Writing: I'm going to have Amy start doing more writing with her history curriculum, but we will also use the book from the Institute for Excellence in Writing that goes along with Ancient History.
-Vocabulary: We'll be working through Word Roots with Evan as a supplement. Last time I tried it with her it was over her head. But I think she can do it now.

History: We'll read Story of the World together with Emily (and who am I kidding, Evan will probably stick around too!). Then, I'll have her look up the pages in the Kingfisher History of the World Book, write dates in a timeline, and do some map work in the Geography Coloring Book that I brought for her.

Science: Amy and her friend are going to study Biology with their sisters. They will use the Christian Kids Explore Biology curriculum. Since Evan is doing Biology too, I'll try to work it out so they can watch the movies that the big kids see and observe some of the dissections and microscope work.

Logic: When Sean is at work, we're going to read a chapter of the Fallacy Detective. Evan worked through The Thinking Tool Box a few years ago and loved it. He's been wanting to go through the Fallacy Detective ever since. Coincidentally, our youth pastor is doing a study of logic at church as well. Hopefully this will be a good introduction for her.

Fine Arts: Amy loves being in the local children's choir and will continue that this year. We will also keep reading "The Gift of Music" together as a family and listening to classical music. For Art this year, I'm thinking we'll work on painting. I sure wish the kids art teacher still taught classes! This is one area that I really don't know that much about.

Home Economics: Last year Amy went through a formal Home Ec class with a friend and just loved it. This year, I'm planning on reading through "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" with her and maybe doing some projects that relate to each chapter.

P.E.: Amy will continue with her horseback riding lessons. If she took her horse out every day, I suppose that could count for all her PE, but since that doesn't happen, we'll be trying to get in some walks. I'm also trying to find a used rebounder for her to use when the weather is bad.

She has been a big help with all the chores too. We are working on a solid morning routine and working quicker so the jobs are done before school starts.

Emily's First Grade Year

We'll be starting up school soon. This year, I have one in High School, one in Junior High, and Emily just starting out. She is so different from my other two. She loves workbooks and is one of those kids who makes the mental leap from basic phonics to reading. I honestly don't know how she did it, but she'll take on any picture book we have and start reading getting it mostly right! She also doesn't like to play by herself much, so being with us and having more school work to do will probably be a good thing. Here's what we're hoping to study this year.

Bible: Long Story Short by Marty Machowski - We'll go through this as a family and work on memorizing the book of Philippians. Then while I work with Evan on some English, Amy will read to Emily some of the great Bible devotion books we have for little ones starting with God's Mighty Acts in Creation.

Math: Saxon 1- I love Saxon for grades 1-3, we already have the teacher's book and all the manipulatives, so this was a no brainer choice for me. Emily loves the Kumon books though, and we have several on math subjects, so we'll probably supplement with them as well.

Language Arts:
-Phonics: She finished up Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year and just loved it. I'm going to follow it up this year with Phonics Pathways just to make sure she doesn't have any gaps in the phonics and to help her with the more complex words.
-Grammar: We love First Language Lessons. Evan can still chant the list of helping verbs and linking verbs that he learned from this book.
-Handwriting: We'll continue with the Italic series.
-Writing: We're going to try Peace Hill Press's Writing With Ease book 1. I like having a lesson all scripted out for English so I bought the workbook as well.
Spelling: I bought Spelling Power for Evan then realized that it would be perfect for Emily too! She has been asking how to spell out words, so I think she's ready to start a spelling program.

That looks like a lot of language arts for a 6 year old! But most of the lessons are super short and we'll just keep working a little at a time. That's the plan anyway. If God has a different one, we'll change it up.

Science: Amy is studying Biology with friends using Christian Kid's Explore Biology. I'm going to have her follow along and do the coloring pages and experiments with Amy and her friends. If I was just homeschooling Emily, I'd go back to the section in the Well Trained Mind for first year Biology. I loved looking up a different animal each week, studying and reading about them. But I don't thing with everything else going on, that I'll really have time to do that. Plus we already own the CKEB book.

History: We'll be going back to The Story of the World. I loved going through it with Evan and Amy when they were little. Amy was so little that I doubt she remembers much. She'll sit in on it too, and then do some additional work that's more challenging. But I'm hoping that Evan and Amy will sit down with her and read library books about the ancient world.

Fine Arts: She'll be going back to choir and piano lessons. She loved both of them this past year. And we'll keep reading through The Gift Of Music and listening to Classical music. I'd like to have the kids do some painting this year. Since I have no training in that area, I'm not sure yet what book to use. Emily I'm sure would be happy just to paint wooden boxes! She loves to get out the paints.

Spring!

February is usually a blah month for me. In March, the plum trees that line our driveway burst into flowers. It always makes me so happy to see them.

On Thursday I go to see a pain specialist for my neck. I'm still pretty limited in what I can do physically. But on the bright side, my kids have done a great job taking over the household chores that I can't do anymore.

Beef Stew

Picture credit: Benchland Blog

This is a super easy recipe that my mom passed on to me. The ingredients can be adapted to fit whatever size crock-pot you own.

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds of beef stew meat (I used to buy it from Cost-Co and use half the package, but now I buy it from the Farmers Market. You could also cut up your own cubes of meat from a roast.)

Carrots - cut up into thick slices or use baby carrots
Potatoes- peeled and cut up into big chunks

1 to 1 1/2 cups red wine

1 to 1 1/2 cups beef broth (homemade bone broth is best, but I used to use Better than Bullion)

Herbs de Provence

Garlic salt

Flour

Oil (olive or coconut is what I use)

Directions:

1. Brown beef in oil and sprinkle on both sides with flour (rice flour mixed with a little cornstarch works good for Gluten Free), garlic salt and Herbs. Or you can dredge the beef in flour first before you brown. Work in batches and as each batch is done, transfer to the crock pot.

2. Add to your crock pot equal parts of red wine (We like Meridian's Merlot) and beef broth. I usually use 1 1/2 cups each for my big crock pot.

3. Fill in the spaces with potatoes and carrots. If you fill up your crock pot half way, it will work, just check for burning on the sides. It works best if you fill it up almost to the top.

4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

2010 In Review July- December

July: We celebrated my 20 year high school reunion. One of my friends had a VERY nice camera that she let Evan use for the day. I don't have any of those pictures, just the one of Evan using her camera! We also celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner as a family on the coast.

August: We visited my parents so Evan and Sean could go backpacking in Yosemite with my dad.

September: We didn't take any pictures in September! We were busy doing school. But doesn't this one look like Mater from Cars? Evan is having fun with cameras this year.

October: We started up an airsoft group at our house. Evan and his buddies shoot at each other with our youth group leader. Then they talk about life while they reload. Amy and her friend Marie try to antagonize them whenever they get the chance.

November: Thanksgiving! With the cousins and third cousins. We took a tour of Mrs. Grossman's Sticker factory together as our gift to each other. A memory instead of toys.

December: The family photo shoot, the ones that didn't make the Christmas Newsletter.

Happy New Year!

2010 In Review January - June

January: The year started off with a bang and a crunch. I got T-boned on the way to CostCo. We now have a new car and I've been in physical therapy ever since. God has taught us some hard lessons through this one. We are so thankful that the kids weren't seriously hurt. Emily even got a new pink car seat out of it all and she loves it!
February: Sean took a trip up to Idaho to bring back the rest of his dad's belongings. And Evan got a good picture of Amy on her horse.

March: Sean's family got together to divvy up the rest of his dad's "stuff". Sean kept saying, "I can't believe I hauled all this back from Idaho!"

April: I think we were sick much of April. But here's a cute picture of the cousins. And Emily with her favorite treat (other than chocolate).

May: Our church camp out was the same weekend as Emily's 5th birthday. We brought (gluten-free) chocolate cake to the beach and had it for breakfast. Amy got to spend time with her favorite baby girl from church.

June: We were given some hens from friends who were moving. Emily was excited to find the first egg! We were also blessed with a visit from friends. PJ and I were pen pals in college and our families have kept up since then. But our kids had never met. God worked it out that we were able to spend a week together and our kids hit it off famously. Now they are pen pals! Amy also turned 11. We had a fun time with friends celebrating. But I have seriously fallen off the blogging bandwagon to have missed both my girls birthdays! (I didn't blog about Evan's yet either, but since his was just a few weeks ago, I think I can still squeeze it in.)