Homemade Italian Guacamole Dip and Garlic Crackers

One of our favorite places to go on a date is a great little Italian restaurant just down the street.  We have our favorite appetizer and dessert that we ALWAYS order.  But, sometimes we want those yummy treats without having to get a sitter, dress up, leave the house, and pay restaurant prices.  So, I have tried to recreate one of our favorites here.

This is an Italian style guacamole dip with crispy garlic crackers.  I searched all over the internet for over an hour trying to get a recipe for this with no success.  So I thought I would share what we made here for anyone looking for this treat.

Here's what you will need:
double recipe for crackers - I just made biscuit dough and then added additional flour:)
1 chopped red onions
minced garlic
olive oil
1 cup grated Italian blend cheese
Italian spices (oregano, basil) to taste
6 avocado
1 chopped tomato
salt and pepper to taste

The crackers:
I have never made crackers at any point in my life...bread, yes...but crackers, no.  So, I searched the internet for a while and not finding a recipe that I loved, I decided to just make a double batch of biscuit dough.  I then kneaded in as much extra flour as I could.  Rolling the dough as thin as possible (the thinner the better), and cutting two large circles, I placed the dough on two round baking pans.  I especially like baking them round to get the great pizza style triangular shape for dipping when sliced. 

Next, I drizzled olive oil on the dough and topped with Italian spices, minced garlic, Italian blend cheeses, and chopped red onion. I baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until I could see crispy browning on the edges.

Here is the cracker before I placed the onions on top. I actually forgot them and took the picture and then thought something was missing and realized it was the onions. 

Here is the picture with onions.  It just truly looks so much more appetizing with the onions.  

This pan was my friend when it came to getting the crackers crispy:)

The dip:
I chopped 3 avocados  and massed 3 more.  I then added chopped tomato, garlic, Italian spices, salt and pepper folding over until all ingredients were combined well.

The final product.  Yum!

The crackers didn't get as crispy as I would have liked so next time I will try to use a roller to get them thinner and maybe cook just a bit longer.  Other than that, this was a fantastic appetizer and the kids loved it, onions, avocado, and all:)

Marble Races

As the heat of summer is full upon us and we don't have a pool at our house, I have started looking for some cheap summer fun on Pintrest.  So, I thought I would try things out and then post about them here for you all to enjoy...haha.  I have a board on Pintrest dedicated to "summer fun ideas" so feel free to check it out.

The first thing that we tried this summer was a marble race.  This was so easy and cheap.  I bought two pool noodles and a bag of marbles at The Dollar Store totaling $3.  Then I cut each noodle in half and taped the four halves together with a little Duct Tape making four "race tracks".

Then we found a container to catch the marbles at the end.  And...let the races begin!

Keep checking back for more cheap summer fun.  To see all of the "cheap summer fun" posts click on that phrase in the "labels" below.

Homemade Puppet Show

Sometimes in the heat of the summer, we all need some fun and entertainment.  My kids love putting on puppet shows and today we made one by hanging pool towels over the baby gate at the bottom of our stairs and using stuffed animals for puppets.  Hours of fun for kids!

Large Family Organization...the homeschool cabinet

Large families take an extraordinary amount of organization.  I feel like I am still in the early years of the large family and still learning the most efficient way to organize.  I thought I would do a series on the ways that I organize our large family.  Everyone is different in preferences on this sort of thing and there is no one right or wrong way to do it.  But this series will share some of the things that I do to make life easier around here. I will attempt to do a "Large Family Organization" post every Wednesday...we shall see...haha.

Today, I thought I would share how I organize all of the little things that we use on a daily basis for our homeschool.  I have tried so many different things over the years to organize but, it never seemed smooth and efficient until I did this.

A neighbor gave me this cabinet as they were preparing to throw it away.  It had no knobs, paint was scratched off in several areas, and the inside shelves were broken.  I invested in a little hardware and paint and refurbished this little unit for about $15.  It now sits in our kitchen eating area right by the table where the kids do their book work.  Easy access and doors that close were both essential for me.  Above is a picture of the outside and below is the inside.

On the top shelf, I put the workbooks and Teacher's manuals for individual work that we use daily along with a plastic box in which the kids place their completed work. This is mainly the Math and Language books.

On the middle shelf I placed several baskets (that I happen to already have from another organization project in another house).  I always try to utilize things that I already have in these types of projects...sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.  This time it worked...aahhh.  These baskets hold the crayons, pencils, colored pencils, glue, scissors, and paint.  There was even a place for the pencil sharpener (high enough to be out of the reach of the littles).  And, there was a media cut out in the back of the unit so I could plug in the pencil sharpener without having cords hanging out the front...icing on the cake!

 

On the bottom shelf are baskets holding white and colored paper and stencils, stamps, etc..  My kids do quite a bit of drawing/sketching...especially when I am reading aloud to them.
 

The three drawers on the bottom are where my three older kids can store their personal school items when they are not doing book work.

 

On top of the cabinet, I placed three more baskets with items that we use a little less frequently like Math manipulatives, extra art supplies, and larger bottles of paint.

Before, I had these things organized in our "homeschool closet" in a bedroom with all of the curriculum that we are not using this year but will need in future years.  The problem was that if someone broke a pencil, it took a trip to the other room to remedy the problem and chances of being distracted were high.  Now, everything that we need is right at our fingertips without having to leave the room. 

I am SO pleased with the result...especially for the price.

I keep all of our "unit study" books (Bible, Art, Music, History, Literature, Science, Geography, "read aloud", etc.) in a large crate next to the couch where we all lounge in the afternoons to learn while the babies are napping.  Here is a picture of this...not so lovely but what works at the time.

I then keep our school music cds in a little basket inside the entertainment center where they are handy and yet out of the reach of the littles.  Here is a picture of that.

Now, to organize the shoes and socks...haha!  Actually, that will be my next post in this series:)  Look for it next Wednesday!

In LOVE with reading

February is "In LOVE with Reading" month in our home...and school.

Quite a few years ago, a homeschool mom shared with me how she would combine reading with their Valentine's Day celebration. I love to celebrate and I love to read so...what could be better than celebrating reading?  I took her idea, re-arranged it, added a few things, and made it our own tradition.

Here is how we celebrate reading in February.

Prep:  I paint a tree trunk on a poster board and cut out lots of little hearts.

I am obviously no artist, but my kids don't know that...yet...haha!

The Plan: For every book that a child reads, they get to write the name of that book on a heart and tape it to the tree.  We set a goal of reading for the month and then choose a reward.  I like to make it a combined reading goal to cultivate unity:) This year I am making the hearts go along with our color coding (blue, green, pink, yellow, orange, and red).  This way, the kids can easily find the books that they have added to our "tree".  I also let the older kids read a book to the little ones and put up a heart for them.  The idea is to read as much as possible for the whole month.  I'm not so concerned with the reading level...just want them to fall in love with reading!

Here is a picture of our reading tree in progress.  We have a goal of 200 books for the month of February.  This has truly inspired them to read...even my one who struggles.
This is the tree after the first week of the month.

Here it is after the second week of the month.

On Valentine's Day:  I read to them a short history lesson on St. Valentine and we discuss his life.  Then we have a day off of "regular" school and they get to read all morning.  They choose what book and where they want to read.  It's fun to see all the places that they come up with.  

Here are a few of their favorite reading spots that I found as I looked back through some of my pictures.

On the trampoline out back...

Under Peter's desk...

On the couch...

In bed...just before falling asleep...

In the hallway...

On the couch with Daddy...

 

On the couch with the baby...

In the wagon...

 And so many other places.

Later that day, I take the kids to Bookmans or Half-Priced-Books and they each get to pick out a new book.  Some years we will cook a special dinner together and decorate...some years we will go to a favorite restaurant.  During our family time just before bed, we will read 1 Corinthians 13 and discuss what love truly means.

Even after February 14th, we continue to read, read, read...until the end of the month.  The kids always reach their goal.  Maybe that says more about the prize at the end than it does their love of reading...haha.  But the goals are to cultivate a love for reading, give them a feeling of success, and foster family unity not to crack the whip and make them read. 

This year the kids choose a day trip to visit some friends that we rarely get to see.  (I sure hope they make it this year!) 

What things do you do to cultivate a love for reading in your home? 

Where are your kid's favorite reading spots?

The Tabernacle...Hands on Bible

We recently did a project (part of our curriculum) that I just loved!  We are studying the Israelites during the time of Moses and Joshua.  So, the kids were able to create their own "Tabernacle".  We used some old cardboard and some card-stock sheets that came with our curriculum to make the entire Tabernacle... mostly to scale.

 The Ark of the Covenant even had little toothpick poles to move it with and small gray squares inside for the Ten Commandments.

After this project, some of my kids used lego people as Israelites and set up a scene.  I refrained from posting pics as not everyone can appreciate the "Most Holy Place" with all of the naughty and now dead Israelite lego people lying all around The Ark of the Covenant...haha.  Oh the joys of five boys in the house! 

I think that I learned as much as they did, though...yet another one of my favorite things about homeschooling!  They know the parts of the tabernacle and symbolic meanings of the items and will not soon forget...especially since they now have their tabernacles in their rooms to play with.


We did eventually put up the curtain around the courtyard and removable curtain over the Holy Place so they could have access to it for roll playing. 

The whole time we were doing this project I kept singing Petra's "Take Me Into the Holy of Holies".  I am not a fan of most of their music but this one song stands out to me.  Here are the lyrics if you are too young...or too old to have enjoyed it..haha.

Take me past the outer courts
Into the Holy Place
Past the brazen altar
Lord I want to see your face
Pass me by the crowds of people
And the Priests who sing your praise
I hunger and thirst for your righteousness
But it's only found in one place

[Chorus:]
Take me into the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
Take me into the holy of holies
Take the coal, touch my lips, here I am

From fresh to frozen

Today I picked up tons of fresh veggies from local farmers hoping to make baby food and soups to stash away in the freezer.  I loaded up our little Prius with all the veggies that would fit and brought them home.  Now the work begins.  Here is a picture of just a few of the fresh veggies that we brought home.

I knew that I should act quick to use these veggies before loosing them so I got to work right away.  Being Saturday, Peter was home and it was much easier to take on a project like this.  This wouldn't happen on a school day.

So, I placed the squash in the oven to bake.

While baking, I washed, cut, and steamed some of the green beans.  

I pureed these two veggies into baby food.  Next, I put the purees into containers and in the freezer.  I have about two months of pureed veggies in my freezer right now...huge savings over buying jars of baby food...and I love saving!

Because I make my own baby food, I can also sneak some of the puree into the kid's meals.  This butternut squash is perfect to sneak into mac and cheese!  I have been doing it off and on for four years now and the kids have never caught on...whaahaha:)

Here is a picture of the squash ready for the freezer.

 

I decided to do something with the tomatoes other than baby food.  I usually don't feed my babies tomatoes until after 12 months.  

So, I made a double batch of our favorite tomato soup and froze it.  You can see how we make tomato soup in a previous post here.  Now I have two meals ready to go in the freezer:)

Three of my younger kids kept grabbing tomatoes and eating them whole...just like an apple.  I love that they eat veggies so well...wish the older two would!

Seth's favorite was the grapefruits. So beautiful with the leaves still attached.

I kept slicing them and he kept eating them.  I have no idea how many he ate before I finally cut him off...haha.  It did entertain him well though:)

The eggplant was more difficult for me.  I really had never cooked with it and had no idea what to do with it.  

 

So, I went to my favorite recipe website and looked for recipes.  We ended up making ratatouille...the kids loved the idea of this as they love the movie. Peter and the kids took this project on.  And as always, the kids had a good time helping in the kitchen.  In the end, Peter and I were the ones that really liked it with most of the kids just picking at it.  But, it was fun!  We have also made several recipes of breaded baked eggplant that we dipped in marinara sauce...yum!

All in all, I spent $20 on the produce and have two months (at least) of baby food, two meals of tomato soup, several meals of eggplant, and lots of veggies for salad and sides.  I also shared veggies with several friends and a neighbor too.  Great deal.  I will be frequenting this produce supplier...and learning how to cook with a seasonal harvest:)

Now, to get my kitchen cleaned up and back in shape for the new school week...