Learning to Plan, Planning to Learn

Some of you may be shocked at this, but going into our eighth year of homeschooling, this is the first time I'm going to make a lesson plan.

*GASP!*

Pick yourselves up off the floor. I'll explain.

I've never been particularly pushy with my girls when it comes to their education. I want them to want to learn, not because I say they have to but because they have the desire to do so. I don't want to re-create public school here at home, turning out cookie-cutter minds that retain things only long enough to pass a test without any real understanding of what they've been taught or why. I love watching the girls dig for information they want to know more about, like what makes blood types different, or who invented paper. Don't think for a minute, though, that we don't use textbooks or have tests. I've got a book (or several) for every subject we study; I've just never felt it necessary to be bound by the publisher's syllabus. My approach isn't exactly "un-schooling" or student-led education...I tend to think of it in terms of "relaxed" homeschooling. If we don't finish chapter 14 on such-and-such day, I'm not stressing about it. We don't move on until the concept is mastered, not just memorized.

For the most part, it's worked. After picking up Romeo and Juliet because, "I've heard about it, I wanna know how it really goes..." my "reluctant reader" is now a budding Shakespeare enthusiast and currently enjoying Hamlet.

The truth, though, is that I'm not the most disciplined mother in the world when it comes to making sure my "students" are following through on their lessons. I could makes excuses for myself...I went from pregnant to nursing to pregnant again to nursing again to pregnant yet again to nursing yet again with barely a break between, had my world turned inside out by moving to the country and finding myself suddenly turned into a farmer's wife without a clue of what to do (talk about on-the-job training!) and oh yeah, there's been that whole depression thing added to the mix.

But it's high time I got a little tougher with myself and excuses don't cut the mustard. I've got two high-schoolers and a kindergartner on my hands, and it's my job to shape, mold and guide their young minds now while they're still in my care. If I want to turn out responsible members of society, I need to model responsibility for them.

Besides, I'm going to need a game-plan for this little guy. 'Cause if he ever figures out that his smile can melt me into calling off school for the day? I'll be sunk.

Holding Me

I came to the end of my rope and cried out, "Lord, what do I do now?"

And He answered.....

"Let go. I am already holding you."

photo credit

Are you worn out from holding yourself up? 

Or are you resting in the Hands that are already holding you?

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me..." Psalm 18:16

Trying New Things - Grinding Our Own Meat

Last week, I shared how I overcame my fear and canned tomatoes for the first time. This week isn't about overcoming a fear, but finally getting off my duff and doing something I've been meaning to for some time now.

Ever since Marye told the world about an additive in hamburger meat known industrially as "pink slime", I've been determined to grind our own beef. But this is coming from the same woman that's been determined to finish getting rid of the boxes sitting on my upstairs landing since we moved here.

Procrastinator? Me? Nooo...

It just takes me forever and a day to get around to doing things.

Ahem.

Now, you may be wondering what the big deal is about grinding your own meat. Well, aside from the health and safety aspect outlined so eloquently by Marye in the link above, there's another benefit that simply can't be argued with...

It's cost-effective.

I would love to have grass-fed beef, and we still plan on adding a cow to our farm someday, but right now it's just not feasible. Even if I could find someone in the near vicinity selling, I simply cannot afford it right now. I can afford to buy chuck roast when it's on sale, though, and it's undeniably cheaper than ground chuck. And seriously, why should I pay some grocery-store butcher extra to grind my meat when I've got eager and willing hands right here at home anxious for the chance to do it for me?

Using the meat-grinder attachment to our KitchenAid stand mixer, it took an average of two minutes for every five pounds of chuck, give or take. For healthier eating, peace of mind and saving money, who can't afford a few minutes for that?

Now it's your turn! Have you tried something new in the past week? Link up your stories here or (if you don't have a blog) share your story on my Facebook page so others can come by and be encouraged to try new things. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've been up to!

In Honor of Bees

"One can no more approach people without love than one can approach 

bees without care. Such is the quality of bees..."

~ Leo Tolstoy

The careful insect 'midst his works I view,

Now from the flowers exhaust the fragrant dew,

With golden treasures load his little thighs,

And steer his distant journey through the skies.

~ John Gay

"Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don't they should, 

for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers."

~ Ray Bradbury

Bees work for man, and yet they never bruise

Their Master's flower, but leave it having done,

As fair as ever and as fit to use;

So both the flower doth stay and honey run.

~ George Herbert

"The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams."

~ Henry David Thoreau

“The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, 

but because she labors for others.”

~ Saint John Chrysostom

"If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, 

man would only have four years left to live."

~ Albert Einstein

Trying New Things - Canning Tomatoes

Seems like I do a lot of confessing on this blog, so if you'll forgive me (you will, won't you?) I'll share another one with you. If you are what you eat, then it's no wonder I eat a lot of chicken, because that's what I am when it comes to doing new things. One big ol' scaredy chicken. I guess when your childhood accomplishments are received with statements like "Well of course you got straight As...of course you won the talent show...." you tend to start thinking that failure is not only not an option, it's completely unacceptable.

My parents meant well. They really did.

So when it came time to start canning last year, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. After reading "Putting Food By", a book which warns about the risks of botulism due to improper canning on almost every. single. page. I was convinced that I'd surely do something wrong like, oh I don't know, maybe leave a speck of dirt inside the canning jar and kill my entire family with food poisoning! It didn't matter how many times friends or family would say, "It's not that hard, you can do it!" I was completely convinced I'd make some tiny mistake that would prove fatal.

Yes, I have dramatic tendencies. And a huge fear of failure.

So the only canning that happened last year was whatever my husband undertook. And between you and me, I got a tad bit jealous. And embarrassed at myself. Sitting in the living room with my little ones, I could hear him out in the kitchen, laughing and having a good time with the big girls. And guess what? Of all the jars of jams, preserves and apple butter he canned, not one gave us food poisoning.

This year, our tomato crop is coming in beautifully, and I've decided that I'd be dog-gone if I didn't get at least a few quarts put up. Bless his heart, my husband didn't bat an eye when I asked him if he'd walk me through my first time canning, he just smiled and said, "Sure thing, honey, any time you're ready." I think he must have known I'd ask eventually.

(Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband? And what a lucky woman I am to have someone so patient and understanding with my drama-queen, emotionally-challenged self? Because I so am lucky to have him.)

And, as you're about to see, it's really not that hard after all.

First, we get the jars and lids ready. (Sorry, I didn't include a shot of the lids simmering. I ordered a neat little gadget to hold the lids in the simmering water, but it didn't arrive until the day after we canned. Now that I've overcome my fears, I'll be using it and sharing my thoughts on how well it works soon.)

You need to have a big bowl of ice water nearby because you want to blanch the tomatoes before processing them.

I don't know who discovered "blanching", but they were a genius, I tell you. Put your vegetables in boiling water for 30-45 seconds, pull them out and put them in ice water to stop the cooking process. What do you get? Vegetables that retain their freshness and have an amazing color. Seriously, aren't those some of the most beautiful red tomatoes you've ever seen? (And they weren't even Photoshopped, honestly!)

Give the tomatoes a chance to chill, then core and peel.

Oh, did I mention that another benefit of blanching is how easy the skin comes off?

Lots of them just slid right off.

Tomatoes are a "high-acid vegetable", which means you don't have to use a pressure canner, but you do want to add an acid to your jar to raise the pH level. Two tablespoons of lemon juice for a quart jar does the trick nicely. (It's a good idea to put the lemon juice in the jar before the tomatoes, just so you don't accidentally forget it.)

Fill the jars with tomatoes and a little hot water, use a rubber spatula to make sure there aren't any air bubbles, put on the lids, twist the rings finger-tight, put them in your big pot of boiling water and put the lid on. Once the water returns to a rolling boil, let them sit in there for 45 minutes (40 minutes for pints). Pull them out, set them on the counter with a towel over the top of them until they cool. If you hear a "ping" sound, it's the lids sealing into place properly. If you don't, you can keep that jar in the fridge for about a week and use them right away.*

Basically, that was it!  We had one jar that didn't seal properly, so we used it the next night for pizza sauce and oh my goodness, it was delicious! (And no one got sick to their stomach, either!)

I'm so elated from this experience that I'd like to make a little proposal to you. I'm going to try something new (to me) every week and share my results, good or bad, here every Tuesday, and I'm inviting you to join me. If there are things you've always wanted to try but haven't, may I be so bold as to suggest that this is a great time to do it? Whatever has been holding you back, whether fear, lack of time or whatever, don't put it off any longer. It can be as big or small a project as you want to make it...it doesn't even have to be finished in one week. It just needs to be something you've always wanted to try but just hadn't worked up the gumption to do before. Ever wanted to learn how to knit? Make a quilt? How about something even simpler, like planting some herb seeds in containers and growing them in your kitchen? Or maybe something purely creative, like painting with watercolors? It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't even matter whether or not we "succeed". The real success will be simply in trying. I hope you'll join me.


*Please note that these are not fully detailed instructions on the proper method of canning tomatoes. For an accurate step-by-step procedure, I highly recommend Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.  

Work In Progress

If you follow this blog on Facebook, you might have seen me mention recently that I was going to be working on some videos to share here with you. Well, I did do some work on them, but I obviously have a lot to learn about the process.

I know, you're probably thinking, "C'mon, Wendy, it's not that hard! Millions of people put videos on YouTube all the time. Do you really expect us to believe that you couldn't accomplish even that simple goal?"

And to that, I offer you the following as proof of my attempts.

This first video is me trying to show you the home notebook I put together.



Less than six minutes of footage, and we killed the batteries in the camera.

This next video has me behind the camera, letting my husband attempt to give an honest demonstration of the differences between home-grown, organic tomatoes and the store-bought, hothouse variety.



Again, the batteries died. Just when he was starting to get comfortable with it, too.

Lessons learned? First off, it would've helped if we'd had a little better idea of exactly what we wanted to say before we hit the record button. Second, don't attempt to share more than one idea per video. (Cookbooks and home notebooks are two separate things, even if I did put them both together myself.) Third, and most important: MAKE SURE THE BATTERIES ARE FRESH!

I will have complete videos soon. Like everything else about my life, it's a work in progress.

A Homemade Soap Tip You Won't Find Anywhere Else

A quick search on Google will yield you plenty of results on how to make soap at home. Enter "making soap" on YouTube and you'll find plenty of videos there as well. But no matter how many tutorials you read or watch, I'm willing to bet none of them will give you the one crucial tip I'm about to share with you.

TIP: When making homemade soap, NEVER put your pot in the dishwasher without thoroughly rinsing it out first.

You can thank my 16-year old for this one.

*Just so you don't think I'm a hideous mother that delights in sharing my children's foibles with the world, not only did we all laugh about it, my daughter insisted that I blog about it. If nothing else, at least I can be proud of the job I'm doing instilling a good sense of humor in her.