Tuesday Talk

Homeschool went well yesterday and today. Princess Belle realy enjoyed learning about shapes such as cubes and cylinders using wooden blocks we have. She doesn't like repetitive math though. So, I have to find ways of keeping it interesting.

I got out of the house yesterday. I went shopping and bought all of 2 items at the grocery store, but I liked getting out by myself. I never get to do that. Prince Charming has really been doing his best to try to help me lately. He can see that I have been feeling stressed and he has been trying to help relieve it.

I also got more library books and a few movies on Canadian History to share with Princess Belle. She likes learning about where she lives. I can't wait until we get to the provinces, I am going to do a focus on each province but I am looking forward to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as we have both lived in those provinces so it will really bring it home for her.

After the library, I came home, cleared out the melting snow off our bridge and walkway. It was hard work, but it was nice to finally see bare wood on our veranda again.

When I came inside, Princess Belle and I cleaned and vacuumed the house. I swear these kids are like little tornadoes leaving chaos and crumbs where ever they go. I have to get out to our van soon and clean out a full winter's worth of mess.

We made bread too. I tried a new recipe, it was nice, but I would like a little more salt in it next time. We made a big batch which resulted in three loaves of bread with enough extra dough to make two big pizzas and one little one. Princess Belle made the little one all on her own. She flattened it and put the toppings on in. She had great fun and was really proud of herself.

For lunch today we were going to be having pancakes to celebrate pancake day. I thought I would make Apple Oatmeal pancakes for something fun but they asked for sandwiches instead, go figure!

Supper tonight is Chili Con Carne with cornbread muffins. It sounds like it will be good. I have never made a chili quite like this one before. Apparently it is closer to a traditional chili con carne which means stewed chilies with meat (or something like that).

Chili con Carne

8 servings
Ingredients

3 lb stewing beef cubes
vegetable oil
2 onions , finely chopped
4 cloves garlic , finely chopped
4 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp salt
Beef stock as needed to cover beef
8 oz pkg mushrooms, chopped
1 or 2 cans kidney beans
1/2 corn
2 tbsp cornmeal

Preparation:

Cut beef into 1 inch pieces. In Dutch oven, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; brown beef, in batches and adding remaining oil as needed.

Remove from oil. Add onions, garlic to pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Add beef back to pan along with spices. Cover in enough beef broth to submerge. Cook on medium for about 1 1/2 hours. Stirring to keep from sticking on.

Add remaining ingredients and cook until thickened.

Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 1/2 cups milk (I used water)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup cream-style corn
1/2 cup corn

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. Grease muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs, oil and remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour batter into muffin tins.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.