Yippee! New Recipe!

Millet and Sunflower Seed Muffins

(A Crunchy, salty/sweet muffin, but OH so good!)

2 1/4 c freshly milled flour (hard red)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 c buttermilk(I use the powdered from the store, because we don't drink it)
1 egg
1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
1/4 c millet
1/4 c sunflower seeds
sprinkling of brown sugar Sucanant

Measure dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add liquids an mix until well blended. Drop into muffin pans. Bake 400 for 15 min. Sprinkle brown sugar on top, while still hot.

Sewing Tip of the day!

I have a few sewing projects going on at the moment, that I will post at a later date. But I am all the time loosing my sewing pins on my carpet. They are VERY difficult to find, even feeling and looking for them. My children have a box drawer where they keep their magnetic things, including Magnetix. With some of our stuff, we have a Magnet Stick or bar from our Explorabook. Through goofing off and fun, my boys thought it was funny to spill my pins and pick them up with the Magnet bar. So when I couldn't find my pins, I got out the magnet bar and was able to find my pins. Also, when I am sewing my project, I put them back on the bar, so I won't lose them.

Also, when in Sears the other day, I was exchanging an item for a different size. We realized that they have a large number of their winter clothes marked WAYY down. LOH, the oldest will probably be in a Mens Small by winter. We found him long sleeve dress shirts and t-shirts for $4.99 EACH! We also got daddy a few shirts, but $4.99?? That is considered Thrift Store pricing and there is a thrift store that is closer to us, that would be MORE than the $4.99. We stocked up! Keep a look out for winter clothing!!

PROJECTS, PROJECTS AND MORE PROJECTS!

International Day 2007

Our local homeschool group has an International Day every year, where you can go and "visit" a country and even taste some food from that country. Since we were already into different countries in this house, we decided to go with it. They all did boards, reports, lapbooks, displays for their country, food and was dressed in character. There were all kinds of countries there. Here are some just to name a few (not including ours): Honduras, Africa, Romania, Ecquador, Canada, Germany, Venice, Italy, United States, Russia, a few states, Scotland and Ireland. And now, on behalf of our family, come with us as we travel to:

ANCIENT GREECE (presented by Lover of History)





Close up view, in our kitchen:


His display, up close:



Here is his report with the recipe:

Greece began when the Mycenaeans discovered the land. When Greece started to flourish, it broke from the Mycenaean Empire. Greece began with no just laws and a corrupt government. The only good law was, that Greece elected their rulers. In Greece, it was okay for everything like stealing, murdering, adultery, and all other bad stuff. Greece realized that what they were doing and stopped everything. They made a senate, made good laws, and changed their lifestyle. Greece’s golden age began and philosophers started to teach and buildings were built. The golden age didn’t last long though, and the Dark Ages began and lasted for four hundred years. During this period of time, Greece separated into four city-states called Athens, Sparta, Thebes and Corinth.
Athens and Sparta were constantly fighting war against one another. Greece’s power was weakening. Many countries started taking bits and pieces of the Empire. One day, a new king of Macedonia captured Sparta in a week and Athens in two weeks. His name was Phillip II He loved Greece and it’s teaching. He had the greatest mind of that time to teach his son. His son’s name was Alexander the III or Alexander the Great, and he was taught by Aristotle. Aristotle taught Alexander, science, warfare, tactics, riding and may other things. Young Alexander, especially loved the Illiad and the Odyssey. He had everyone read it. It is because of him that we have those books today. King Phillip II was assassinated by his own bodyguard. Alexander became king. Aristotle was sent home where he lived, peacefully. Athens and Sparta started fighting again, but Alex kept the peace. He conquered most of modern day Europe and Asia. During his conquest, he sent different plants, animals, and dissection bodies to his best friend and former mentor, Aristotle, whom was now rich. Alexander died and was buried. His tomb remains undiscovered, but we think he is in Babylonia (Iraq, today). This was the beginning of the Hellenistic Age. Greece fell to Rome and remained Italian, until it broke off during WWII. It began as a monarchy and is a republic today under President Karlos Papoulous.

Recipe: Kourabiethes (Butter Cookies)
2 ½ c flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
½ c sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl
3. Combine wet ingredients until light and fluffy
4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients
5. Add extracts
6. Form dough into ½ moon or S shapes and put 2” apart
7. Place in the middle rack of oven and bake 15-18 minutes, barely brown
8. Remove and cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar onto cool cookies

Now since we have visited Ancient Greece, it is time to take a trip to the Ancient city of Rome. Now off we go......





ANCIENT ROME by Mr. Athletic

Rome started with two orphans, Romulus and Remus. Legends say that a wolf took care of them when they were little. When they were older, they were building cities. But, Remus jumped over Romulus’ wall saying, “Your wall is too short. It should be higher.” Romulus was so angry, that he killed his brother. Then Romulus became the first Emporer and started what we know today as Rome in 509 B.C.
After Romulus, there were different emporers that built great buildings in Rome. There were emporers like Vaspasian, who built the great Colesseum, Hadrian, who built the famous Hadrian’s wall, Julius Ceasar, who built the temple of Venus, and Nero, who built the Golden Palace.
Julius Ceasar was a very ambitious emporer and general, but he was great in battle. Soon, some Romans became jealous. Janius Brutus led a group of Romans to assassinate Julius Ceasar. In 44 B.C. Julius Ceasar was assassinated.
Nero was the worst emporer of Rome. Nero destroyed buildings to make room for his Golden Palace. Nero was thought to catch Rome on fire and it even burned some of the Colesseum. Nero didn’t want to be hanged, so he committed suicide, instead.
Augustus Ceasar was the nephew of Julius Ceasar. Augustus was the emporer during the time of Jesus and Paul and was emporer during their deaths. Augustus was one of the best emporers that Rome had seen.
Rome had a lot of enemies, like Gaul, Greece, Britain, Vigoths and the Vandals. The Vigoths and Vandals later destroyed Rome.
Later Constantine, the Christian Emporer, who started Roman Catholicism, later built the city of Constantilope.
Rome then split their empire in two. The two empires were the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire. The Western Empire (Rome and Europe) was destroyed by the Vandals and Vigoths in the year 410 B.C. The Eastern Empire lasted a thousand more years, but was destroyed by the Otimin Empire in 476 B.C. The Eastern Empire was later named the Byzantine Empire. That ended the Roman Empire.
Recipes:
Grape Punch
2 dates
1 qt or 1 L white grape juice
4 tbsp honey
crushed bay leaf
pinch of cinnamon, ground pepper, and saffron (optional)
Lemon slices
Remove seeds from the dates and ask an adult to chop the dates finely (we found dates already seeded and chopped at the store).
Put all the ingredients, except for the lemon in a saucepan. Ask an adult to stir over low
heat for a half of an hour. Leave to cool and pour into jug.

Crustulum
Loaf of Italian or French Bread
1 garlic clove
½ c olive oil
Toast bread. Rub olive oil and garlic on the bread. Slice as needed.

Now that we have been to the Ancient City of Rome, we cannot forget the enchanting Country, filled with knights, castles and most of all King Arthur, himself... The United Kingdom. So get on a plane with me and here we go..............





UNITED KINGDOM (GREAT BRITAIN) BY Traveller

The United Kingdom is a large group of islands in the continent of Europe. The countries that are in the United Kingdom are: Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, Great Britain, and Northern Ireland. Their type of government is a Constitutional Monarchy and it is run by Kings and Queens. The Queen today is Queen Elizabeth II. She has ruled since 1952. Her husband is King Phillip. The live in Buckingham Palace, right next to Big Ben. The Parliament is called the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Prime Minister of England is Tony Blair.
I like the United Kingdom because the Legend of King Arthur. King Arthur was from Wales. The United Kingdom also has lots and lots of Castles. The Legend, King Arthur’s castle was Camelot and he was born in Tintagrel, near Cornwall.
Some of the major battles that the United Kingdom (Great Britain) were involved in were the 100 year war and the American Revolution.
The main language in the United Kingdom is English, but some people in Wales speak Welsh.
Great Britain’s participate in lots and lots of sports. Some of the sports that they play are: rugby (like our football), soccer, polo, and curling.
Great Britain (England) is the largest country in the United Kingdom. Their capital city is London. They are the fourth largest populated city in Europe.
I would like to go and visit one day, and see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Castles, and anything to do with King Arthur

Recipe British Scones.
1 c self rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ c butter
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 egg (and enough milk to make ½ c)
handful of dates or raisins

1. Sift flour and powder in bowl
2. 2. Add butter and cut into flour, add in sugar
3. add enough egg mixture to make dough (you won’t use all of it)
4. add raisins/dates
5. preheat oven to 425
6. Roll out to ¾ in. thickness
7. cut scones
8. brush scones with egg mixture across top
9. bake 10-15 minutes

I hope you have enjoyed your trip to these wonderful places. We are all so proud of their accomplishments.

Southern Belle

I have been messing around with recipes again, specifically bread recipes. Here is what I have been doing and it has been working. I have combined, tweaked and gotten it to being doable. Here it is:

Whole Wheat Bread
Wheat mix:
1 cup soft white wheat
1 cup 7 grain wheat
3 cups of hard red wheat

Add these ingredients first and in order:
2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1/4 liquid lecithin (optional)
1 egg

Then:
1/4 c vital wheat gluten
4 cups freshly milled flour
3 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup milled flour
2 tsp salt

Mix together in Bosch for 10 minutes. Let sit for 45 min-1 hour in Bosch to rise (watch to make sure it doesn't overflow). Pull out and divide in 1/2. Roll and put into loaf pans. Put into greased pans. Let rise for 1 hour again. Bake at 350 for 29 minutes. Makes two 1 1/2 lb loaves (or a little more)

Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat Bread
Wheat mix:
1 cup soft white wheat
1 cup 7 grain wheat
3 cups of hard red wheat

Add these ingredients first and in order:
2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1/4 liquid lecithin (optional)
1 egg

Then:
1/4 c cinnamon
1/2 c raisins
1/4 c vital wheat gluten
4 cups freshly milled flour
3 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup milled flour
2 tsp salt

Same directions as above, just adding the cinnamon and raisins. ENJOY!

Southern Belle

Last Friday was an interesting day to say the least. Mr. Athletic has a 12mm jet from his top jaw to his bottom jaw from sucking his thumb, since he was a baby. He has for the most part, quit permanently, but not 100% (probably about 99%). We were waiting until he started to loose some teeth before starting consultations for Orthodontia. We started getting estimates in January. There are 5 Orthodontists within a 5 mile radius of our home. Believe it or not, they ALL had differing opinions (which I question) and different prices. We got the specific plan in dental, because it said it paid 80% of Orthodontia. It wasn't until I started to get estimates, until we found out that it was 80% UP TO a $1,000 MAXIMUM LIFETIME BENEFIT! Boy, were we surprised, and not in a good way either. We chose the practice that was going to be the most AGGRESSIVE in his treatment, and the least amt of $$. When they realized that we were going other places for estimates, it was like the game show, "Let's Make a Deal!" I would say it was a deal, but it was the best one. This is for the FIRST phase of treatment, lasting 12-18months. He has a Nance device holding his molars in while, they pull the front ones in and close them, and railroad ties, which are basically brackets pulled out like prongs, so he will keep thumbs and lips from getting up in his mouth. We also found out that Mr. Athletic would be looking at another Phase of full braces after the adult onset (after he looses all his baby teeth. When we went in he had 9 teeth to loose. He has lost 4 already and has 2 loose.) Then after all that is said and done, it is very possible, when he is about 17-18, he will require jaw surgery, where they break his jaw, to realign it. OUCH! I wished I could say this was cosmetic, but it isn't. We are afraid that if we don't get those teeth in, when he is outside playing or playing ball, he will have his teeth knocked out. To replace those, with root canals, we are looking at $5,000 a PIECE! Here are some picts from our day (yep, took picts for the books, lol!) Some people never leave home without their mastercard..........I never leave home without my camera, lol!



Above is a before picture of Mr. Athletic



Above is a picture of Mr. Athletic in the doctor's chair, and not happy that I have the camera, lol



Above is Mr. Athletic with the hygenist, getting his braces on.



Here is the Dr. Checking him out and making sure everything is right.



Here is the finished braces.

He is a little tender from the braces. We will be going back in 8 weeks for head gear. Since we homeschool, he will have to wear it here, unless eating or playing outside. One thing in his favor, is that he is a late "bloomer" as far as his growth, so he is still what the doctor calls "moldable". We are in for an interesting adventure.

Southern Belle

I am setting on new things lately. The first one being, taking all this HUNDREDS of pictures and documents of my family genealogy and finally building a website. I tried renting a set of videos from the library and books on HTML and that became too daunting. Then we finally got FRONTPAGE 2003 from Microsoft. That is making it so much easier and I am trying to do one or two pages a night, which is going to take a while.

The other thing is I was recommended by my cyber friend, DeEtta at her blog , but I got the book Curves. I have lost about 3-4 lbs so far and I haven't felt hungry. I am having to make adjustments because we don't eat any pork. Also, I had heard from an Herbalist that I trust (and she is a nutritionist too) that you shouldn't eat fruit at the same time as protein. It will completely not give you the nutrition you need and cancel the benefits of one out. I am NOT full at all, which is good. The biggest thing I have learned is 1. portion control and the 2. eating 6 meals a day. I had heard that before but never knew what to do. I am doing the Calorie Sensitive plan and I am doing phase 1 for 2 weeks. I haven't had any headaches, which is good.

The next one is that we are exploring a small family business (with the kids too). I have started to make All natural doggie snacks for our sweet dog and would love to be able to have the kids have their own business (besides lawn care too). We are still exploring prices and types of snacks. We have started with one and of course Leia LOVES it. We make them all fresh here.

Hope you have a good one,
Southern Belle

Sorry it has been a while but we have been busy not only homeschooling, but genealogy and getting a website ready.

We have 10 acres and a house next door to us. The field has had really, really tall grass, since we moved here, 1 year ago. When Mr. Dowda, our neighbor mowed it, is let out some unwelcome visitors to our back yard. Leia wasn't too upset though, she had a "play thing". It was absolutely hilarious. I am going to put what happened into a story form with pictures. It is called:

"Leia and the Mouse(which looked more like a rat to me, lol)"

There once was a sweet bulldog, named Princess Leia, who was playing in her backyard.



All of a sudden, a mouse escaped from the tall grass and entered our backyard and Leia saw the mouse.



She chased the mouse, and it went under the gutter....



She then "pawed" it out and she flipped it and played it with and watched it.


Then it played dead.....




Then it scooted on to out basement patio and tried to climb up inside the siding (got half of its body and mainly its head)


Leia sniffs it and nudges it:



Leia chases it under the siding and tries to paw it out to come out:


Mouse plays dead and is tired:


Leia is tired, lol:


We then confiscated the mouse in a box and put it back into the field. I would say that mouse will think again before coming back. Hope you enjoyed our story for today.

Southern Belle