Merry Christmas!

Remember the Reason for the Season!

See yall after the New Year!

sushi salad

My boys love sushi.
It's amazing how, if you offer your one year old, then toddler, then four year old, new things to eat all the time, what good eaters they will become :)
We always make our own sushi at home.  Cheaper and alot easier if you have little ones.
And we always offer it to our kiddos.
And they always love it.
They love dipping the sushi into their own little bowls of soy sauce, spiked with a couple red pepper flakes.
But, it does get a little messy.
So, I came up with a sushi "salad" to eat in a bowl with a spoon!
All the same ingredients of your favorite vegetarian sushi in an easy, bowl form!
No rolling or fussing with wet hands and sticky sesame seeds.
Just a big bowl and a big spoon!
Easy peasy and delicious for mommies, daddies, and little ones alike!

Sushi Salad
Serves 2-4, if you include kids :)
One recipe sushi rice, warm or room temperature
2-3 sheets nori
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
3 green onions
2 carrots, washed and peeled
1-2 cups shelled and steamed edamame
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Soy sauce and sriracha or wasabi, to taste
Additional add-ins: smoked salmon, chopped cold shrimp, crab, chopped asparagus, cooled scrambled egg, chopped almonds or peanuts...whatever you like in your sushi roll!

Place sushi rice in a large bowl.
Slice nori into thin shreds and add to bowl.
Chop cucumber, green onions, and carrots into small dices, and add to rice and nori.
Add edamame and sesame seeds and toss to combine.
Add in any additional add-ins you might like.
Serve in bowls and dress with soy sauce and sriracha or wasabi, to taste, and enjoy!

roasted acorn squash with grapes

this sounds so weird.
grapes?
roasted grapes?
but it was way too interesting for me to pass up!
i tweaked and tweaked some more and the end result was actually really, really good.
enjoy this delicious, winter dish either as a light supper or next to a big grilled pork chop!

Roasted Acorn Squash with Grapes

Serves 2.

1 acorn squash, halved and seeds scooped out and discarded

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 big sprigs of rosemary

1 pound of red, seedless grapes, destemmed

2 cups of your favorite rice pilaf (or cooked quinoa, couscous, etc)

Preheat the oven to 425*F.

Rub the acorn squash halves with olive oil and then liberally salt and pepper the insides.  Place them facedown on a large, rimmed baking sheet.  

Spread the onions, rosemary, and grapes around the pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and toss with your hands to coat.

Roast for 20-30 minutes until the squash is tender when poked with a sharp knife.

Remove from oven and carefully turn the squash over onto a serving plate.

Fill with rice pilaf and mound onions and grapes on top and all around.  Discard rosemary.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and enjoy!

egg muffins

Need something easy to munch on as you run out the door for Christmas shopping??
Look no further!
So easy and quick and a bit hit with the whole family!
Enjoy!

Egg Muffins
Makes as many as you'd like!

No recipe needed...it's so easy :)

Sauté sausage, chopped mushrooms, diced onions, broccoli florets, minced jalapeños or whatever you'd like in a large saute pan, over medium-ish heat.

Cool slightly.

Spoon into the bottoms of a greased muffin tin. 

Top each with a bit of shredded cheese. 

Blend eggs and pour into prepared muffin tins, about 3/4 of the way full. 

Bake at 350* for about 20 minutes, or until golden and puffed.

Cool slightly then remove and enjoy!

Can be individually wrapped and frozen.

homeschooling wrap up: november!

this month was a week short because of our awesome trip to michigan for thanksgiving but we still got a lot done and had a great time doing it!

enjoy!

toilet paper tube "leaf" stamping

five little scarecrows felt song

working hard on a sticker mosaic

fun fall food!

pumpkin-scented homemade playdoh

beautiful leaf handprints

mv rocking some numbers tracing

a candy corn turkey (fail!) ;)

turkey toast!

jack's shape and color of the month was yellow star

mv and i did a little oil painting

we collected leaves all month and created art with them!

we handprinted some turkeys for placecards at thanksgiving but sadly, mommy forgot to pull them out of her luggage and no one got to see ;(

autumn sunflowers!

and more turkeys ;)

letter finds

beginning math

and scissor skills for the pre-schooler!

sight word search

sounding out words

and even homeschooling on the road!  or in the airplane...

another great month!

our michigan thanksgiving!

we had a great Thanksgiving in Michigan with Mike's family!

it was freezing cold but on Thanksgiving day, it starting snowing and flurried all day!

perfect for little ones to watch from the windows and build a tiny snowman.

it was a great week and we can't wait to go back :)

GMa with baby Gabe

playing puzzles on the floor

part of the fam by the lake

baby Gabe does not like the cold!

Daisy, Jack, and Gabe

making pumpkin praline cheesecake for Thanksgiving dinner!

afternoon jasmine tea

Daisy and Michael playing with Poppy

GMa and Uncle Keith

bedtime stories

sunrise comes late over the lake so we play by the fire and enjoy it!

sunrise!

we hung out in pjs for half the day...sign of a good holiday ;)

but we'd eventually get dressed (well, at least coats over our pjs) and went out to play in the snow!

Uncle Keith and Aunt Abby

Daisy and Michael

tasting snow!

GMa and the grandbabies

afternoon sun and snow over the lake

full house!

afternoon snow-ball making

....and a tiny snowman!

trying to get our tradition of daddy/son snow-angel making ;)

Memere, me, and GMa cooking...

...dinner!

after dinner playing

then, we had some extended family over for dessert!

Abby and Elena reading to Jack

and Addison!

the whole family!

my dessert plate.

yes, all four desserts on one plate :)

Memere getting to know Gabe

a great trip! 

we even got to practice with our South America backpacks ;)