I’m still trying to use of up some of the big Tom we did up a couple months ago. I used my last jar of canned green beans and my last jar of canned carrots. Just in time for spring.
This is an adapted recipe from my mom.
For the Pie Crust: 2 c. flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 c. oil, 3 Tb water.
For the Filling: onion, 4 Tb flour, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth around 2 c., turkey, some vegetables.
The pie crust needs to be rolled out on something, I use wax paper. I’m assuming that if you are reading a recipe then you probably know to divide the pie crust in half etc. So I won’t go into excruciating detail.
Fill the pot pie with whatever you want. I used turkey, carrot, and green beans. For the sauce, saute onion, when it’s ready add 4 Tb flour, a little pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Slowly add chicken broth until it gets to the consistency you want. Around 2 cups. Pour into the pot pie and then add the rest of the crust. Bake at 425 for 25-30m.
Henny Penny, March 31st 2010 |
Posted in recipes
Last summer we added onto our garage to make room for a new school room. We have been schooling in a room a little bigger than a hallway for over 4 years now.
I really like all the school materials out of sight when we are not schooling. And I think having a separate room where we “get to work” helps with the focus. Besides, we have enough trouble finding things outside of “school.” I have nightmare visions of what it would be like to spend all day looking for the reading book! That is how the rest of our life goes.
Here’s a side view.
I love the decks.
Construction was finished in the fall. I didn’t start thinking about furnishing until the end. And I didn’t budget for that either. Luckily, stores were trying to unload the last of their lawn furniture. 5 yr old has been vacuuming with that little thing since I bought it. In her perfect world, it would be silent. And then she would never need to turn it off so that people could talk.
Here’s the other end of our seating area. We have been enjoying bible studies and such there. The heat is wood. My main reason for not pushing to move in faster. I waited patiently for my husband to put together the desks because I didn’t look forward to keeping 2 fires burning. It’s very cold in the mornings still. As you can see, we just moved in a couple weeks ago. All the cardboard is packing material waiting to be kindling.
I work with the kids at the table. Previously we always did our work together on the floor. That is 5 yr olds little desk. She had a little plastic preschool table and was waiting for the other kids to move out and make room for her to take over a desk.
The only furniture I previously had was: white boards, chalkboard, 5 yr old’s desk, and the table against the wall.
Here are the other kids hard at work. : ) They really wanted their “own” desks. The big request was lots of room to be able to have a bunch of books open while writing. 9 yr old and 7 yr old have been passing notes back and forth through the computer chord holes in their desks.
As you can see, my poster got wet in the move. The roof was dripping at the time. The chart is for checking off memorization work.
You can just barely see the french doors where we walk in.
Hope you liked the tour.
Henny Penny, March 23rd 2010 |
Posted in homeschool
I decided to try hatching eggs. I happen to have fertilized eggs, anyway, so I put in an order with my hubby to build an incubater. He found one that cost less than all the parts…that was easy.
Here are some eggs I collected from my girls. You can store them up to a week at room temperature, before incubating. Make sure not to wash them.
Here are my eggs in the incubator. Before putting the eggs in, adjust the incubator to the right temperature. We spent about half a day adjusting the temperature. If you look closely there is a little nob above the red light. The temperature needs to be between 99 and 101.
Here everthings all lined up. We poured a little water in the middle channels to keep it humid. My husband wrote numbers on different sides of the eggs, so that the children could turn them. They turn the eggs 3 times a day. By the end of the day the eggs should be back to the number 1 if nobody forgot! OOOooops I forgot to tell hubby not to use marker! The marker can go through the shell. 5 days in. I can’t wait to see if it works.
Henny Penny, March 18th 2010 |
Posted in chickens, homesteading
Leftover birthday cake for breakfast. At least it’s carrot.
Henny Penny, March 16th 2010 |
Posted in family
Happy Birthday to my new 5 year old.
Henny Penny, March 15th 2010 |
Posted in family
Surprise!
I normally make a high rising wheat and white mixed bread. It’s light and fluffy. This time I wanted a meatier loaf. So I added half as much more to my regular 4 loaf recipe. Then I let it rise in the cold, cold kitchen to the same height.
Here is someone anxiously waiting to test the results.
He must be saying the the bread pledge.
“I pledge allegience to eat the very last drop.”
Henny Penny, March 12th 2010 |
Posted in recipes
I’ve been craving some fresh greens.
This is what my yard looks like.
I don’t have a lot time, so I started scheming about what I could whip up.
Dirt
Tubs.
I went with the tubs because I don’t plan on transplanting. I wanted something a little deeper than planting trays.
Lettuce and Spinach
Hay Bales.
Storm Windows.
Ta da!
Henny Penny, March 10th 2010 |
Posted in gardening, homesteading
b and d are hard for beginning readers. Here is a neat little trick to discern the two:
Hold up the hand and use the thumb and first finger to make the ball on each hand. The other fingers are the stick. When you do this it spells the word bed. So that if you know the word bed you can figure out which letter is b and which one is d.
My little one is too little to think about the word bed, so I modified it like this. She holds up her hands to match them to the letter. Then she can read if it is b or d. After a couple days she memorized it to her hand. Now if the letter matches her left hand she knows that it is B and if it matches her right hand she knows that it is D.
Henny Penny, March 8th 2010 |
Posted in homeschool, preschool
We ordered show birds. Last year little hands had trouble maneuvering full sized birds in 4h, so we decided to try some bantams. Our poultry 4h is not very competitive so we ordered chicks instead of full grown show birds.
black silkie bantam
dark brahma bantam
cochin bantam
buff brahma bantam
Next month we will be getting Turkeys. My favorite. And then the month after that Cornish-X.
I’m also planning on trying to hatch some eggs for the first time! I’ll post as it goes along.
Henny Penny, March 2nd 2010 |
Posted in chickens, homesteading
