Last Week of Complete Freedom
Well, our school holiday hasn't exactly been completely free. :) My boys had some days lamenting about mine and dad's expectation to have them practice piano daily. Oh yeah, and read, and journal about it (which was actually Dad's idea). It worked out really well though. Time on electronics is a wonderful motivator for those little boys.
The kids have managed to keep themselves busy since mid-June, when we stopped school. I remember the first couple of weeks being the most difficult for them and me. But once we kind of got into a groove, and some expectations were laid down, it turned out to be a peaceful, creative, and free school break. I can't count how many hours all 4 kids have spent building Lego together. They have put up ramps in the driveway to ride on with their bikes. We have done a little painting, played a couple of board games, done puzzles, baked together, and even tweaked our chore plan. Which everyone seems to be doing quite well now. We have also been sick a lot. The flu season hit hard this year. Everyone had at least 2 colds, and a few of us suffered with a stomach bug.
Are we ready to get back to it?
Yes.
Monday, I haven't yet decided if it will be a "soft" start or full on shock to our systems to begin learning again... but school will hopefully happen on Monday.
As well, with fresh tomatoes we enjoy pico de gallo with tortillas chips, in wraps, or even just as a condiment for rice. I love pico de gallo. Super simple recipe too:
But back to the stewed tomatoes. To make them, I almost filled my 8qt pot with inch sized chopped pieces of tomato. I didn't even bother blanching to remove their skins. More fibre this way, right? I threw in a few roughly chopped red onions, and my daughter diced a couple of green bell peppers we had hanging out in the fridge. We put this on simmer until everything was very tender. And done! I took my immersion blender to it, just to break up the bigger pieces, then we let it cool before packaging for the freezer.
And then these happened :)
The kids have managed to keep themselves busy since mid-June, when we stopped school. I remember the first couple of weeks being the most difficult for them and me. But once we kind of got into a groove, and some expectations were laid down, it turned out to be a peaceful, creative, and free school break. I can't count how many hours all 4 kids have spent building Lego together. They have put up ramps in the driveway to ride on with their bikes. We have done a little painting, played a couple of board games, done puzzles, baked together, and even tweaked our chore plan. Which everyone seems to be doing quite well now. We have also been sick a lot. The flu season hit hard this year. Everyone had at least 2 colds, and a few of us suffered with a stomach bug.
Are we ready to get back to it?
Yes.
Monday, I haven't yet decided if it will be a "soft" start or full on shock to our systems to begin learning again... but school will hopefully happen on Monday.
In The Kitchen
The garden is bursting with tomatoes right now, and I had this last-minute epiphany to stew a bunch of them to freeze for tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, even pizza sauce.
As well, with fresh tomatoes we enjoy pico de gallo with tortillas chips, in wraps, or even just as a condiment for rice. I love pico de gallo. Super simple recipe too:
Pico De Gallo
3/4 lb tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2 TB lime juice
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 small hot pepper finely chopped. Jalapeno, or chili, or bell if you don't prefer spice
1 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
I could eat this plain, hence why the bowl is half-full.... it is that good.
But back to the stewed tomatoes. To make them, I almost filled my 8qt pot with inch sized chopped pieces of tomato. I didn't even bother blanching to remove their skins. More fibre this way, right? I threw in a few roughly chopped red onions, and my daughter diced a couple of green bell peppers we had hanging out in the fridge. We put this on simmer until everything was very tender. And done! I took my immersion blender to it, just to break up the bigger pieces, then we let it cool before packaging for the freezer.
Here we are: 4 x 1/2 litre amounts of stewed tomatoes, ready to go when we have a hankering for tomato soup or a quick batch of spaghetti sauce.
And then these happened :)
My son's birthday happened to be this week, and as per usual for my kids' birthdays, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. Last year we were in Canada for his birthday, and my mom made him these amazing ice cream sandwiches with chocolate chip cookies. They were incredible, and huge! I wanted to do a similar thing but make a bar instead. I didn't want to fiddle around with making matching cookie fronts and backs.. this recipe turned out amazing, and it wasn't even that difficult.
In the Garden
My poor clay pot... I keep meaning to pick up a new one.
Aren't these amazing. They greet us at our front door, and their colour is so bright contrasting the brick of the house.
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