As we begin another Homeschool Co-Op year, I am often asked many questions about how to get started homeschooling, is Louisiana a Homeschool friendly state etc, so I decided to address some of these questions:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is Louisiana law favorable to home education?

Yes, Louisiana law is favorable to home education. Two options are available: (1) the Home Study Law or (2) the Private School Law. This constitutional liberty is protected by the Private Education Deregulation Act (Act No. 828 which amends Section 236 of Title 17 of Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950). However, as with all freedoms, it must be guarded.

Although home study has been recognized since 1980, attempts have been made to repeal that act or chip away at this right.


Who may home educate?

Any parent may home educate their child. A parent's constitutional right to home educate comes from the fundamental constitutional principle of the freedom of parents to direct the education of their children. Parents with religious convictions also have the right to home educate as a free exercise of religion. These provisions are in the Louisiana State Constitution as well as the United States Constitution.

When can home education begin?

Home education may begin at any time during the school year, but the application form must be mailed within 15 days after the home study program begins. Only those children affected by the compulsory attendance law must apply with the Department of Education. According to the Compulsory Attendance Law (Louisiana Revised Statutes Annotated @ 17:236), all children from the 7th birthday to the 18th birthday, or until graduation must be in school. The law also allows parents to notify the state as a private school with the Superintendent of Schools, Department of Education

How To:
Registration under the Home Study Program

When home educating under this option, an initial application must be made within 15 days after the beginning of the home study program. Initial applications must include a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate. (A clear photocopy may be sent if the notary seal is readable. When the child is 11 years old, the parent must submit evidence that the child has been vaccinated against meningococcal disease unless they have a waiver for religious, personal or medical reasons. The Department of Education is not responsible for lost or damaged birth certificates.) Send the application by “certified, return receipt” mail to: ATTN: Sue Millican, SBESE-Approved Home Study Program, Louisiana Department of Education, P. O. Box 94064, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9064.

The Home Study Information Packet, which includes an application, may be printed from the Department of Education’s website. If you have questions or need further information, contact Sue Millican at 1-225-342-4776. Students enrolled in a SBESE-Approved Home Study Program may participate in interscholastic athletic activities at a public or state approved private school that is also a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. Participation at a private school is allowed at the sole discretion of the administration of that school. (R.S. 236.3)

Note: This does not apply to home educated students enrolled under the Private School Option.

Home education under the private school law:
A letter is sent to the State Superintendent of Schools informing him that you are starting a private school. Do not send the "Application for Home Study Program" form. Write the letter on your school letterhead. Include the following information: Number of pupils, when the school starts, and number of school days. This must be done by the 30th day after your school session begins.

The following is a sample letter:

 Name of your School
Your Address
Date

Division Director
Division of Educational Improvement and Assistance
P.O. Box 94064-9064
Baton Rouge, LA 70804

Dear Director:

In accordance with LA R.S. 17:235, (name of your school) began classes on (the date you began class), for the 2012-2013 school year. Our total enrollment is (the number of children in school).

Very Truly Yours,

Your signature
Your name
Principal

This notification regarding your school should be sent within thirty days of the beginning of the school year. It is recommended that this notification be sent registered mail for verification of receipt; mail to: Division Director Division of Educational Improvement and Assistance P.O. Box 94064-9064 Baton Rouge, LA 70804

How do I withdraw my child from public school?

 It is best to inform the principal of the school in writing that you are removing the child from school. Avoid meetings or phone calls. Tact is required in presenting a good Christian testimony especially if a school official is not familiar with home study laws. If you are homeschooling under the private school option, you must notify the school in writing that your child will no longer be enrolled there, but will be attending your private school. The letter must be sent within 10 days and must include the child’s full legal name, birthday, race and gender.

If you are registering under the Home Study Program, this letter is not required by law, but is highly recommended. How do I renew my application for the Home Study Program each year? A renewal application must be made by the first of October of the school year, or within twelve months of the approval of the initial application. Renewal applications are approved when parents submit satisfactory evidence that their home school offered a sustained-curriculum of a quality equal to that of the public schools at the same- grade level.

This can be done in one of four ways: (1) Verification that the child has taken the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), California Achievement Test (CAT) or another ap- proved standardized test and has scored at or above his grade level or has progressed at a rate equal to one grade level for each year in home study. A clear copy of the test results attached to the Home Study Application is sufficient. (2) A written statement from a teacher certified to teach at the child's grade level stating that the child is being taught with a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at that grade level, or in the case of children with mental or physical disabilities, a sustained curriculum at least equal to that offered by public schools to children with similar disabilities. (3) Verification that the child took the State Basic Skills Test and scored at or above the state performance standard. (4) A packet of materials may be presented including a complete outline of the subjects taught, list of books and materials used, copies of the student's work, test results, statements by third parties who have observed the child's progress, or any other evidence of the quality of. Most parents choose to send in a copy of their child's test results.

Whichever option you choose, proofread for spelling and grammatical errors; and be sure that all required information is included.

How do I renew for the Private School Option?

Send a letter according to the instructions given for the initial registration under the Private School Option, updating the information to reflect the new school year.

I hope that this helps answer a few of your questions regarding getting started homeschooling.

So how do you organize everything!?

I feel the key to great homeschooling is good organization.

Here are five of my favorite organizing items.

1. Binders, Binders & more Binders. I can not say enough about binders. You can buy these real cheap. I put my lesson plans, attendence records, calendars, and Bryleigh's finished work in binders.

2. File Folders...File Folders are great. You can use them to make Mini-Offices & Lapbooks and they make a great filing system for all your lesson plans for the whole year. Here is a picture of the way I organize my school year. I have 36 file folders. One folder for each week that we homeschool. I put all the lessons I want to go over for the week in each of the folders. The Saturday before the week begins, I pull out all of the lessons for that week and place them in the folders labeled Monday-Friday. This really works for me and I always have lessons on hand.

3. Labels!!! I label everything! Things are much easier to find if they are labeled. I recommend buying Avery Labels, if you have a printer. If you do not have a printer, you can purchase a label maker. The picture below is of a Brothers Brand Label Maker. It costs around $20 on Amazon.com.

4. Laminator.... I love my laminator!! I bought it for around $20 and I laminate everything from my homemade educational games to my educational posters! It is great!

5. Boxes...yes, boxes...every size & shape!! They make wonderful organizers...You can store paper, pencils, markers, crayons and many, many other things!

Just how do you do it??

I love when I tell people that I'm a stay at home mom & that I also homeschool because the expressions on their faces are priceless! When people find out what I do they always ask the same question "How do you do it?" I begin to explain to them how easy it is to stay at home & homeschool, however many times I don't have enough time to explain just how easy it really is. So I will begin to explain a few ways in my blog of how I am able to stay at home & homeschool as well. First thing I'm going to cover is finances. That is one of the biggest issues that people have. Well, God has blessed my husband & me. When I was in college, I ran up $32,000 worth of debt because I had no clue about how to manage my money. These credit card companies were sending me all of these pre-approved credit cards but, I did not understand the consequences of interests or paying back the money plus interest. I had to learn the hard way!When I met my husband, we decided to go to a Dave Ramsey course that was being offered at my grandmother's church.

I had never heard of Dave Ramsey so I was really amazed at the knowledge I gained through the course. He offers great money management information based on Godly wisdom. Every topic he discusses is backed up by a biblical reference. And he offers great products to order to help maintain a credit card free life. I highly recommend checking him out. I can honestly tell you that Dave's course changed our lives forever! You will not regret it and if you are considering staying at home, this will help you get off on the right foot.

We need Grammar in the House!!

So I was looking for a good Grammar program to start Bryleigh on and I didn't really want to spend a fortune on books. As I began to scan the internet for a good 2nd grade program, I ran across Scott Foresman's Grammar & Writing webpage. The site has online workbooks for 1st graders through 6th graders and the workbooks are absolutely free to download! So of course I am going to start printing these off and using them!

http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html

Looking for a good Reading Program??

Did you know that Chuck E Cheese offers free tokens for stuff such as good manners, sleeping all night, tooth fairy, etc.? They also reward kids for reading! All the child has to do is just read (since there're no guidelines on how long, I would just assume at least 15 minutes) each day. Complete the Reading Rewards Calendar as your child reads and bring it to the nearest Chuck E Cheese. They will then give you 10 free tokens with the completed calendar and a pizza purchase.

http://www.chuckecheese.com/promotions/rewards-calendars.php

Everyone loves Free stuff!

The first concerns that many homeschool parents have are I don't know anything about making lesson plans or planning schedules and how much is homeschooling my children going to cost me? Well, let me just say, lesson plans are easy to create and scheduling or planning your homeschool day is as simple as waking up in the morning. You do not have to search long and hard for lesson plans on the computer. They are everywhere and many of them are absolutely free! Here are just a few examples of the websites I have found that give away free stuff! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Enjoy!

Here is my favorite webpage for lesson plan examples.

http://donnayoung.org/f11/apologia-f/gen/dy-g1-2.pdf

You can find History & Science lessons on this website and they are absolutely free!! Love it!http://www.prontolessons.com/asian_americans.html

Now to answer the next question, homeschooling can cost as much or as little as you want it to cost. Many homeschooling forms, planners, lesson plans and charts are free, you just have to look for them.

This is one of my favorite websites! I could spend all day on it because you can find tons of information on just this one site. You can find many different homeschool forms on this page, as well as free Lesson Plan forms!

http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/index.htm

Forms, Forms & More Forms....absolutely Free!! This is a wonderful site full of homeschool forms that you can download absolutely free! http://www.newbeehomeschooler.com/moreplannerforms.htm

I absolutely love this webpage! We are constantly looking for paper to write on!!! So now we have to look no further than this page....Free Notepad & Notebook Paper
http://www.fuzzimo.com/free-hi-res-notepad-and-notebook-textures/

This one is from Five J's and it is awesome! If you need a gradebook, look no further. This is from her site: "Gradebook+ is a free gradebook and record-keeping spreadsheet template for homeschool." http://fivejs.com/gradebook/fivejs-gradebook-plus-v1-excel.xlt

Free books are everywhere! The greatest resource is your local library, however, here's a great link for online audiobooks that I found!http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/genre/Children/all

Finally, here's a website you can not pass up!! You'll find here a directory of free homeschool curricula, literature and text books organized for the use of homeschooling families. http://oldfashionededucation.com/

Our Daily Schedule Revised! New Lesson Plans are coming....

Our Daily Schedule Update *Tenative* - notice I said "tentative" because although this is my goal - life happens LOL! =0 ) We are trying something new...we are schooling year-round this year. So far, I am reallying enjoying schooling year-round! It seems to be a lot less stressful and less demanding.

Mon-Fri
Bible Reading - 15 mins every morning- We read a story out of the Beginners Bible or a lesson out of the book, Leading Little Ones to God.

Mon-Thursday
Spelling - 20mins-30mins- We go over Dolch words for her grade level & complete one worksheet out of the Scholastic Week by Week Homework Packet Spelling workbook, Grades 1 and 2.
Grammar-10m- We go over a Grammar Rule each day and Bryleigh has to write the rule in her composition notebook. Not only is she learning the rule, but she is also using her handwriting skills and spelling skills as well. She also works Grammar/Phonic worksheets that we bought from Sonlight.com.
Writing - 10m- We write more than 10 mins a day, however, I do not require her but 10 mins a day. She volunteers more time because loves to write.
Math - 40m- we do visual Math. She watches the Mathtacular video that we got from Sonlight.com and then does worksheets that correspond with that days' lesson. We also use real life events to enforce math skills. Ex. Grocery shopping & cooking

Monday and Wednesday
Science - 20 mins- 30 mins - we also do visual Science. She watches the Discover & Do video from Sonlight. com and then we do experiments & worksheets using real life events. She loves learning Science in the Kitchen. I also just received new Science Lesson plans that I will be intergrating in with her current lessons.

Wed- Thursday
History - 20 mins - 30 mins- We acquire History Readers from the library. And we read a book each day about a current event that is going on. I also print out worksheets from Enchantedlearning.com to help with the lessons.

Tuesdays
Piano Lessons - 30 mins
Library time- 20 mins- 30 mins

Weekend
Art - 1 hour

Home Economics - daily- She folds clothes, dusts, vaccuums, and helps me cook each day. I have bought a curriulum called Keepers at Home. When I get that in the mail, I will begin the lessons in it. http://thegreatestcallinginlife.blogspot.com/2012/01/keepers-at-home-little-keepers-at-home.html

Quiet Time- I will begin to implement a quiet time for 30 mins to an hour each day. During this time, Tracee will lay down for a nap or go in her room to play while Bryleigh goes to her room for required reading, to finish up any work that she did not complete or to have some playtime. (Also I found some great audiobooks that I thought she could listen to while she plays). This will give the girls a break from me & each other - you know we are together all the time and we all need breaks! lol This will give me time to get my lessons together for the next day or finish housekeeping.

Mon-Wed-Friday
Piano practice -10mins- 15 mins

Co-Op
We have 40 days of CoOp each school year (We actually attend 2 Co-Ops, one on Tuesdays & one on Wednesdays). Bryleigh is learning Phonics, Geography, Art History, Reading, Kitchen Science & Magic School Bus Science on CoOp days. Also she is learning social skills & is able to interact with other children during this time. Let me add this: When we have CoOp days the CoOp lessons will replace the lessons on the days indicated above.

Mini Offices? What's that?

I've always wanted to lapbook but after my second daughter was born, it just never seemed that I had enough time to cut out all the things that I need to make a lapbook out of and my oldest daughter didn't really seem interested in helping. So a friend introduced me to a Mini Office.

Mini Offices are an ideal method of keeping all the charts, facts and lists at hand in a lapbook folder or file folder or reference file. A mini office is a particular application of lapbooks. Each child can make his own mini-office -- a lapbook filled with reference pages for his own learning. The sky is the limit on what you can include. With a mini office, you have an individualized reference tool for each student! Cater it to your child's level and needs. Make a new one each term if necessary or make several -- one for each school subject. Pull out the math mini office when studying math. Or use a language arts mini office when doing a writing assignment.

How do you make a Mini Office? Depending on how long you want your mini-offices to be, choose 2-3 file folders and glue them together side to side. Download the sheets you want to use and a cover sheet. Cut your sheets and start placing them on your panels of your mini-offices until you have it organized. This could be challenging if you have a lot of sheets you want to add. I had to cut down some of the charts so that they could fit on a panel. Glue and let dry. (You can laminate them if you want)

What do you put in your Mini Office? The sky is the limit. You can make one Mini Office for each subject you are teaching or you can make a mini office for all the subjects. Depends on what you want.

Where do you find all of these charts? Simple. Google it. If you want a Math Mini Office, simply google Math Charts. The internet is full of examples of Mini Offices & charts or reference sheets to put in your Mini Office.

The best part about the Mini Offices is that they are easy to store & don't take up much room. My daughter made the one below. She loves pulling it out and opening up all the panels.

What is a Homemaker worth?

I was reading this article from a friend's blog & I had to share!

How Much is a Homemaker Worth?

“The life of a homemaker is one that includes an endless amount of demands and to-dos. Depending on the size of the home and family, the position of homemaker can go well beyond the usual nine to five. We examined some of the tasks that a homemaker might do to find out how much his or her services would net as individual professional careers. We only take into consideration tasks which have monetary values and use the lowest value for each calculation.

Private Chef – Meal preparation is one of the major tasks of most homemakers. From breakfast to dinner, there is plenty of meal planning and cooking to be done. The American Personal Chef Association reports that its personal chefs make $200 to $500 a day. Grocery shopping is another chore that needs to be factored in. A homemaker must drive to the supermarket, purchase the food and deliver it to the home. Grocery delivery services charge a delivery fee of $5 to $10.Total cost for services: $1,005 per five day work week x 52 weeks = $52,260 per year.

House Cleaner – A clean and tidy home is the foundation of an efficient household. Typical cleaning duties include vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, scrubbing sinks as well as loading the dishwasher and making beds. Professional maids or house cleaning service providers will charge by the hour, number of rooms or square footage of the home. For example, bi-weekly cleaning of a 900-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment with five rooms, costs $59-$124 . A 1,300 square-foot, single-story home with seven rooms runs $79-$150 . A 2,200 two-story, three-bedroom home with nine rooms averages $104-$180 . Additional tasks such as oven or refrigerator cleaning and dusting mini blinds can run an extra $20-$25.Total cost for services: $118 per week X 52 Weeks = $6,136 per year.

Child Care- Homemakers provide full-time, live-in child care. This type of service from a professional provider would usually come with a host of perks including health insurance, paid vacation and sick days, federal holidays off, dental and vision coverage, and bonuses. The International Nanny Association’s 2011 survey found that nannies make $600 to $950 per week in gross wages, on average.Total cost for services: $600 a week plus perks/benefits x 52 Weeks = $31,200 per year.

Driver – A private car service might seem like a high-end luxury to most, but the beneficiaries of a homemaker get this service on a daily basis. Companies like Red Cap, which provides personal drivers that use the client’s own car as the means of transportation, offer a glimpse into the cost of this homemaker task. An elite membership which includes 365 days of unlimited, round-trip service is $1,000 a year plus 33 cents – $2.03 per minute.Total cost for services: $1,000 per year + [(estimated miles driven 8000 miles / 50 MPH) x 60 min/hr x $0.33 per minute] = $4,168 total per year.

Laundry Service – Clean clothes come at a cost when you have to pay for the service that most homemakers do for free. Professional laundry services charge by the pound. For instance, Susie’s Suds Home Laundry Service, Inc. in Texas charges 90 cents to $1.00 a pound to wash, dry, fold, hang and steam your clothes. Items that take longer to dry such as comforters, blankets, rugs and winter clothes are assessed at a price of $12-$15 each.Total cost for services: $0.90 per pound x 4 pounds of clothes per day x 5 days per weeks x 52 weeks = $936 total per year.

Lawn Maintenance - Basic maintenance of the exterior property is a less common, but possible duty of a homemaker.This could include things such as mowing, debris removal, edging and trimming the lawn. These services cost about $30 a week on average.Total cost for services: $30 per week x 52 weeks = $1,560 total per year.

The Bottom Line – Total for a year of all services is: $52,260 + $6,137 + $31,200 + $4,168 + $936 + $1,560 = $96,261 per year.

The daily work of a homemaker can sometimes be taken for granted by his or her family members. However, these services could earn a homemaker a considerable wage if he or she took those skills to the marketplace. Homemakers in general contribute a lot more to the home in addition to these tasks, and no amount of money can fill those needs.”

Also a mother who educates her own children would be worth either a tutor or a teacher’s salary. One who grows her own produce, raises animals, and sews clothing also adds to the family income. As you can see, the article really just scratches the surface!

Stepping away from the monetary aspect of it reminds us of a homemaker’s greatest contributions, namely the tender love, Godly wisdom, and careful nurture she imparts to her husband and children (if the Lord has blessed her thus). This is worth far more to the Kingdom of God than we could ever put a dollar amount on. It makes one think, when considering the value of what we do. What am I pouring my energy into? What is really important? What will last eternally?

Being a chef is of little value if we do not demonstrate hospitality and nourish souls.

Taxiing across town is a worthless effort if we do not drive others to Christ.

Washing clothes only helps to clean up the outward appearance; we must be about washing with the Word.

The bottom line is this: Only God can place a real value on homemaking. Proverbs 31 makes that infinitely clear. A Christ-honoring homemaker who is industrious and is about the business of serving her King is worth far more than money can buy. Her worth is far above rubies. She is working to build Christ’s Kingdom! When done unto the Lord, wiping noses, cleaning up spilled milk, and speaking wisdom into the lives of children is the kind of work that lasts forever and ever. That is one thing the world will never understand, try as they might; you just can’t place a dollar value on something as noble and beautiful as homemaking.

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”-Proverbs 31:10
Do you have anything to add?

Keepers at Home & Little Keepers at Home Series

I have been looking for a great Home Economics curriculum for Bryleigh and a friend recommended this to me. After looking over the information, I instantly fell in love with it! I decided to order both of these handbooks. I highly recommend checking this out!

The "Keepers at Home" manual is 380 pages and for girls ages 7-16. The Keepers at Home handbook for young ladies is perfect for girls 7 through 16. The handbook is designed to teach and prepare girls to become godly, competent keepers of the home, Christian wives, and mothers. It includes Bible reading, Bible memory, extensive skills for practical living, and creative handiwork. Give your daughter the skills she needs to succeed at the calling God has given her. Whether your daughter is a member of a club or uses it as part of her education, this book combined with a little teaching will prepare her for life.

For smaller girls, they have the "Little Keepers at Home" which is geared to girls ages 4-6. This Little Keepers handbook makes a great start for your little girls to begin learning to be keepers of the home. The book has a very simple design so that your girls, ages 4 to 6, can begin to be little keepers and future Christian homemakers! The handbook includes sections on Godly Girlhood, Basic Skills, Homemaking, and Nature. Girls will learn to begin, work on, and finish projects.



Here's the table of contents for Keepers at Home: http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/product/category/KeepersatHomeTableofContents

Here's the table of contents for Little Keepers at Home:http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/zk/ProductArticles/Little_Keepers_TOC.pdf

Here's some examples of what you will find in the Keepers at Home handbook.


You can order these book at http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/product/KeepersatHomeHandbook.html

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that they have Contenders for the Faith for your sons ages 6 to 16! It provides guidelines for 89 different skills, each an important component to preparing our sons to be Godly men.

I want to but I just don't know how!

I believe everyone has a calling in life. Everyone has a purpose for doing what they are doing. I realized a few years ago that my calling is to be a stay at home mother, wife & a homeschool teacher. After I began homeschooling my children, I began to talk to other mothers who would love to homeschool their children but who did not know how to get started. So after much prayer, I decided to create a blog on many of the questions and concerns that the mothers mentioned to me.

Many of the mothers' first concern was how do we do it on one income. Many were under the impression that homeschooling families live on one income. But, this is not necessarily true. There are many that live on one income, however, if you are considering homeschooling, remember this, you can homeschool at anytime and at any place which gives you the freedom to work if you choose to do so. I know several ladies right now who work part time. One lady is a nurse. She works at night and homeschools during the day. Another lady started her own home based business and yet another lady I know bakes breads, casseroles & desserts and sells them. I'm sure I could list many more examples but I think you get my point. A great place to learn how to live on one income is at http://christianpf.com/learning-how-to-live-on-one-income/ Pray about this and if God wants you to homeschool, He will make it possible!

Many of the ladies worried about being able to afford the curriculums. You do not have to buy a big expensive curriculum. The local library is a wonderful resource! You can also check with other homeschoolers that are your children's ages and plan curriculum swaps. Also, don't forget to do Field trips! For example, you can have a field trip to your local grocery store. While you are getting groceries you can be teaching your children social skills, math skills, spelling skills and science skills. The field trip didn't cost you a dime (except for the groceries you were getting) and your child was able to have class! To know more about how to get started you can go to Cindy Downs' website. It is a wonderful FREE resource that gives you more information that you would ever imagine. Everything is included on this site! From "What is Homeschooling" to "How long do I need to homeschool a day". It also includes free printable forms, schedules, planners and more. http://oklahomahomeschool.com/index.html

Also, I would like to add that Book Samaritan can provide you with books you might need. The Book Samaritan is a non-profit orginization that helps homeschooling families who are in need. They ask for no money but, they love donations. http://www.thebooksamaritan.com/

The next big question was I don't have time to do that. Yes you do! Homeschooling can be done any time & any place. You are the boss and you decide when & where you Homeschool. You will decide and organize what your children will study each year, unless you use a boxed curriculum which has each lesson planned out for you. You will decide how much time you will devote to each subject too! You can do it...if I can do it, there's no excuse why you can not! Here's a great blog about a couple who homeschool their children on the road! http://www.ourbigearth.com/2009/01/04/homeschooling-car-school/

Okay, sound good so far, well, it gets better...the next topic we are going to discuss is: Is Homeschooling Legal? Yes it is! When I first started in homeschool, this was my first concern. I was constantly worried that some police officer would knock on my door and take my kids away but, that concern faded as I was directed to the link below. Once you click on it, click on the state that you live in and it will give you details on the laws for homeschooling in your state. http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

The next thing I need to explain is "Will I need to homeschool under the "home school law" or the "private school law"? That is up to you! Remember you are the boss and you get to decide which one you want to do. Also, let me point out that you need to make sure that your state doesn't have a "required" way to do it. If they do, you need to go with what the state's requirement is. To learn the difference between these two types of laws, go to the link below to find out more information: http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/201103100.asp

I had one lady ask me "How do I know I'm doing it right?" The internet is full of examples on how to make lesson plans, how much time to spend on each subject, and what your child needs to know at a certain age or grade level. Also, there are many homeschoolers that you can ask. I promise you, you will be doing it right, even if you think you are not. I found this website which gives wonderful information on how to homeschool. It also gives you forms to use and lesson plans. http://donnayoung.org/index.htm

Another question I was asked: How do I know what subjects I need to teach for each grade level? Each state has a Department of Education website. If you go on this website, they will list Grade Level Expectations. You can follow this list or you can go to your local bookstore or library and get the What Your____________ Grader Needs To Know book series by E.D. Hirsch Jr. The books outline what is taught in each grade in Core Knowledge. I personally have 5 of the books that E.D. Hirsch Jr. has written and I highly recommend them.This book supports most everything they cover in school, including math, science, literature and social studies. The format is easy to follow and the synopses of historical figures and subjects are very helpful. It's been recently revised and updated to stay current with today's children and their learning styles. Go to this link for more information: http://books.coreknowledge.org/home.php?cat=298

I also want to mention that I have allowed my kids to join a Homeschool CoOp. This is a wonderful way to meet other homeschool families in your area. A homeschool coop is a group of homeschooling families that join together to share in the education of their children. Homeschool Co-ops involves parent participation by nature. Don't expect to drop your children off at classes or activities. Parents teach classes, care for younger children, help with clean up or other tasks. Sometimes outside teachers are hired, which usually means a more costly program. Each state has a CoOp that you can join up. Just look up on the internet and see if one is in your area and if not, start one!So I hope this blog has helped you to understand a little more about homeschooling and to help answer a few of your questions.

And if you are thinking of homeschooling...just do it!! It's wonderful and the benefits are too many to list!

I'm so excited! I am now an independent distributor for The Gourmet Cupboard! I have prayed for many months for God to allow me to find a Christian Based work at home job that I can do while I'm homeschooling my girls. I was introduced to this company by one of my friends & after tasting the food, I was hooked.

Gourmet Cupboard offers handmade gourmet desserts, meals, soups, coffees, teas and dips at very affordable prices! Each mix is handmade using only the finest ingredients. Each mix includes all the dry ingredients, and you simply add one or two other ingredients such as sour cream, water, cream cheese, ground meat, etc. The products are individually handmade in Southeast Texas and most contain no msg or preservatives. There are even mixes for those people who are gluten free or diabetic! With Christmas right around the corner, these mixes make great gift ideas too!

Also, if you are like me and need a little extra income, The Gourmet Cupboard offers an excellent business opportunity with FREE signup, low product purchase requirements, and great training! It is a wonderful opportunity for a work at home business for mothers, retirees, or anyone wanting to make some extra money and enjoy our tasty products!

Just visit this website for more information:
http://www.thegourmetcupboard.com/

To look at the products, click the tab on the right that says Our Products. And if you find something you like, feel free to order it...when ordering please include my Rep ID number 6361 at the top of the page.

If you have any problems ordering feel free to email me and I will order whatever you need!

Thanks for looking & pray for me as I start this new adventure!

This book was so hard to put down!

I will have to say, I don't read much. Seriously, I don't read much because I don't have time to read...but I really liked this book. It was a very quick read- only approximately 160 pages long. And very easy to get wrapped up in. I read the whole book in one night! I felt that in many ways it related to real life. We all have some kind of unforgiveness against someone. It's always hard to let go of it. But after reading this, I realize how it stunts our own healing and spiritual growth. I liked Jonathan's journey. I liked that it was a story about finding healing, forgiveness and redemption. I felt that it was very moving and I would definitely recommend this to anyone!
At the end of the book there is a brief history regarding the stories that the book was based on. As well as a "Solitude and Discussion Guide" that could be helpful to those looking to find healing and forgiveness in their own lives. I think that anyone that reads this book will enjoy it.
I am a member of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Program "BookSneeze". I received a copy of this book free of charge in order to review it. I was not paid for this review. And I was not required to give a good review.

If you have liked what you have read and would like to buy this book, go to this link:

http://www.booksamillion.com/search?id=5144614313126&query=The+Encounter+Sometimes+God+has+to+Intervene&where=All

Homeschooling in the Kitchen

I love cooking! I love it more now because I found out that I can homeschool Bryleigh while doing everyday activities! This includes cooking in the kitchen.

There are so many things that children can learn in the kitchen.

Today Bryleigh learned:

1. How to Follow & Read Directions: She learned to read the directions to see how much of each ingredient that we needed.

2. Simple Arithmetic & Measurements: We compared amounts. We also compared measuring cups. Which was bigger, what is a half cup, what is a whole cup?

3. Sensory Awareness: I allowed Bryleigh to taste test all the ingredients that we used for tonight's supper (except the raw beef.)

4. Vocabulary Enrichment: We talked about solids, liquids & gases. We even talked about water's boiling point & evaporation.

5. Concept Development: I allowed Bryleigh to feel the beef before and after we defrosted it to find out the texture. I also asked her to pad out the meat to compare sizes.

6. Cause and Effect Relationships: We talked about what would happen if we put too much water in the pot and it boiled over. We also talked about what would happen if we left the water boiling too long.

7. Cooperation: This was not hard at all. Each one of us had a turn to pad out the meat, stir the peas & stir the rice.

Now our homeschool day is done & so is our supper :)

Once A Month Cooking/Batch Day Cooking

I love Once a Month Cooking or freezer/batch cooking as it has been called too...in fact, I'm very passionate about it and I love sharing the things I have learned. Since I began cooking like this, many people will stop and ask how I do it so I thought I would post this to give you an idea of what it is all about and show you that it is not hard to do.

First of all no matter what your food budget or your grocery means, there are lots of ways to do once a month cooking. When I found Once A Month Cooking, I was really intrigued about the concept of once a month cooking. I had heard about “freezer meals” through friends, but it had never really sunk in as a beneficial time- and money-saving opportunity. That is, until I started reading different blogs about their once a month cooking experiences. A light went off: You mean I can save time? I can save money? Really? I was hooked! You can cook for a month or for a week or for 2 days...it's up to you. There's no "right" way to do it.

So how do you get started? It's quite easy...just start with dishes your family likes to eat. Just make double or triple the amount and divide it into meal size portions. I highly recommended "Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 day gourmet" book. I bought their book and it gives plenty of instructions and recipes. What I have cooked so far was great and their instructions were right on. They also have a web site where you can get all the basic information and some free recipes. It's 30daygourmet.com. Also, I like the book because it breaks everything down into service sizes too.

After several years of doing OAMC I found several recipes & plans that I love...I have several plans but I have listed 2 of my favorites below.

Here is the Hamburger OAMC plan that I use (by Kim Tilley). You can use all the recipes or select the few that you like:

Since hamburger is loose and you don't have to cut it up into different sections (such as chicken and turkey), it is much easier to handle in large quantities and very versatile. I make master recipes of some things that can be used in many recipes.

Here are many ideas pertaining to hamburger, "master recipes" are on the left, "secondary recipes" are indented - you assemble these from the master recipes. You can also freeze the portion of the master recipe that is required in the secondary recipe and assemble the secondary recipe on the day you want to eat it. I do this a lot when trying and/or learning new recipes.

Hamburger Plan Recipes:
1. Hamburger Patties(use raw hamburger)
2. Perdenales River Chili, (make a BIG batch), also used in:
taco meat
5-way chili
burritos for the freezer
ravioli filling
South of the Border lasagna
Deep Dish Mexican Pizza
chili pot pies
empanadas
3. Freezer Stash Meatballs and
4. Lean Meatballs, used in:
Italian meatball subs
spaghetti and meatballs
easy meatball stew
school night meatball soup
meatball minestrone
baked ziti and meatball casserole
chili meatball supper
Scandinavian meatballs
sweet and sour meatballs
5. Beef Porcupines
6. Italian Meatloaf
7. Italian Meatloaf sandwiches
8. Mexican Meatloaf
9. Bierrocks
10. Cheeseburger turnovers
11. Maid rites (crumbly hamburgers)
12. Simple Salisbury Steak (Campbell's soup recipe)
13. BBQ Beef (Beanless Sloppy Joes)
14. Easy goulash
15. Tortilla mini Burgers

Hamburger Patties
Using raw meat, I added some onion powder, garlic powder and some seasoning salt, or sometimes I put in a half packet of onion soup mix for each pound of hamburger. I use rubber gloves to handle the hamburger (I hate trying to get that stuff off of my hands!) Anyhow, I made about 40 patties from six pounds of hamburger. I stacked them between waxed paper and froze on a cookie sheet. After freezing, put in a Ziploc bag.

Perdenales River Chili
I think this one could be adapted to a crockpot recipe. I am going to tinker with it, let you know how it turns out!

4 pounds coarsely ground chuck (I use lean hamburger)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
2 cups water
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine meat, onion, and garlic in a large Dutch oven; cook over medium heat until meat is browned, stirring to crumble.

Drain off pan drippings. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well.

Cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Yield: about 12 cups. (May want to double if you want to make all of the following recipes)

Taco meat
Use the chili as is! It makes a great taco meat! I serve it in "soft tacos" (burritos!) with cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa and sour cream. MMM

5-way chili
Serve Perdenales chili over cooked pasta. Top with cooked kidney beans (canned is fine), cheese, and chopped onion. Just like the Hard Times Cafe (a great chili restaurant out East!)

Burritos for the freezer
Perdenales chili
flour tortillas
cheddar cheese
refried beans (optional)

Put about a 1/4 cup of meat (eyeball it) in the center of the tortilla, top with cheese and beans. Roll up tightly and place seam side down on a cookie sheet and freeze.

When frozen, put in Ziploc bag.

To reheat, microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.

Ravioli
I have a half-moon shaped press I use to make these called the "Pocket Gourmet." Here is the recipe from the booklet, with my modifications to make if you don't have this press (has three sizes, really neat to do turnovers, pastries, all kinds of stuff!)

for the dough:
3 cups flour
3 eggs
1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil

Beat eggs. Add flour and salt, mix together. Use hands to press into a firm ball of dough. If too moist, add more flour.

Place ball of dough on a lightly flourd surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth. Cover with a towel and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Roll dough with the rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until paper thin. Dough should be used immediately to avoid drying out.

How to assemble ravioli:
If you don't have the press, place the filling in small mounds (according to the size you want) about an inch apart from each other on HALF of the dough.

Take a basting brush and lightly brush water between each filling mound but not on it. The water is your "glue" to stick the pasta together.

Fold other half of dough (with no filling) over top the half with filling on it, pressing AROUND each filling mound to seal in the filling. Cut into squares between the sealed filling mounds.

Place on waxed paper or greased cookie sheet and freeze (make sure they don't stick to the cookie sheet and rip!) When frozen, place in ziploc bag.

To serve, bring water to a boil. Put in frozen ravioli and cook 3-5 minutes or until al dente. Top with hot tomato sauce, alfredo sauce, whatever you like! Enjoy! I have also just cooked them in sauce instead of water and they cook up fine.

(If you have the press, cut out the circles of dough with the bottom of the press, place one circle in press, add a little filling and brush water on one half of the dough edges. Press closed, making sure the filling is sealed in. Freeze on cookie sheet)

South-of-the Border Lasagna
1 pound ground beef (or perdenales chili)
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, divided
4 (12-inch) flour tortillas
1 (8-ounce) container refrigerated guacamole dip
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced and seeded (optional)

(Don't have to do this step if you use the Perdenales chili) Brown ground beef in a skillet, stirring until it crumbles; drain.

Bring tomato sauce and taco seasoning mix to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and reserve 1/4 cup mixture.

Add beef and half of green chiles to remaining tomato sauce.

Place 1 flour tortilla on a greased 12-inch pizza pan.(I would use a casserole dish or cake pan, lined with foil so you can lift it out later to freeze) Layer with half of meat sauce, 1 tortilla, guacamole dip, half of Monterey Jack cheese, and remaining green chiles. Top with 1 tortilla, remaining meat sauce, remaining tortilla, and reserved 1/4 cup tomato sauce.

Bake lasagna at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with remaining half of cheese, and bake 5 more minutes. Top with jalapeno slices, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Kim's note: You can skip the guacamole if its presence causes a riot at your house. I love guacamole, but not the mutiny it inspires in the rest of my crew! Mild salsa would be a delicious substitute. I am going to tinker with this recipe, I will post the results.

Deep Dish Mexican Pizza - from "Fresh N' Easy Cookbook" pamphlet from Wyler's Bouillon)

For Crust:
2 1/2 cups biscuit baking mix (use bisquick or following recipe)
1/2 cup cornmeal (any kind, masa harina is best)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl (or food processor) , combine above ingredients, mixing well.

Grease a 15 x 10 inch baking pan/ casserole dish (this recipe makes a lot, you could use two smaller dishes, like pie plates)

Pat dough on bottom and up sides of well greased pan/casserole dish. Bake 10 minutes, remove from oven.

For Pizza:
1 pound ground beef (or Perdenales chili)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (8 oz) your favorite tomato sauce
1 can green chilies (optional)
2 tsp or 1 cube beef bouillon
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
chopped tomatoes
shredded lettuce
slice pitted olives
any other toppings of your choice

Prepare beef filling as follows or use your own (leftover chili works great!): brown onion and beef in large skillet, pour off fat. Add tomato sauce, chilies, bouillon, chili powder and cumin.

Cook and stir until bouillon dissolves.

Spread beans over crust, spread meat mixture evely over beans. Top with cheese. Bake 10 minutes.

Garnish with tomatoes, lettuce and olives (or other toppings). Serves 6-8, refrigerate or freeze leftovers (this recipe is even better after a day or two in the fridge!)

Notes: I use whatever I have on hand for this recipe. I have use the following homemade biscuit mix, but I have even made biscuit diugh and added the cornmeal, and then done the recipe. For the beans, I have used all kinds, they all work good as long as they are kind of thick for spreading. For the meat, I have used leftover chili, goulash, ground turkey, Italian sausage, whatever you have on hand! The cheeses can be any kind, a little cheddar can go a long way if mixed with other cheeses. Do not worry if you are missing a few spices. It tastes great even if you don't have cumin or (heaven forbid!) if you run out of chili powder.

Basic Biscuit Mix
10 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup baking powder
1 tbsp salt
2 cups shortening

Mix dry ingredients in a huge bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender, OR (this is what I do), combine 2 1/2 cups of the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup shortening in the food processor, gradually combining all of dry mix with shortening.

Keep tightly sealed. At room temp, it keeps a few months, longer in the fridge. I usually use all of my mix up in a month so I keep it in my baking supplies.

Use the mix to make the following:
Pancakes: 2 cups mix, 1 cup milk, 2 eggs
Waffles: 2 cups mix, 2 tbsp veg. oil, 1 egg, 1 1/3 cups milk
Dumplings: 2 cups mix, 2/3 cup milk
Other ideas: use in place of Bisquick in recipes

Chili pot pies
Prepare a double recipe for the cornmeal biscuit crust (from Deep Dish Mexican Pizza). You can make one large pot pie or individual ones (those pans to make jumbo-sized muffins are perfect for this).

Grease the muffin pan (or cake pan, whatever you are using), line bottom and sides with half of crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, fill with Perdenales chili, add top crust, bake again another 10 minutes or until top crust is done.

When cool, carefully take out of muffin pan (you can use liners if this is too difficult, or line big pan with foil if you are making one large chili pot pie).

Freeze.

To serve, microwave for a few minutes on medium or reheat in oven for 1/2 hour at 300 (I am guessing here) degrees.

Other suggestions: Fill with ground beef and cheese, shredded barbecued chicken, shredded bbq pork, bbq beef (beanless sloppy joes).

Empanadas (ehm-pah-NYAH-dahs)
This is not the "authentic recipe" but it is good and not too labor intensive.

You need:
One recipe of your favorite pastry dough
Perdenales or other favorite chili

Make up pastry dough. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick. Using a cup or biscuit cutter, cut out small circles.

Place a small teaspoon or less of chili in the middle of each one. Brush one edge with a little water. Fold edges together to seal. Bend to resemble a crescent moon and crimp edges with side of fork.

At this point you could freeze them or you could bake then freeze them. Bake for whatever your pastry recipes indicates, 400 degrees for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. Freeze on cookie sheet. Serve as an appetizer or main dish with other Mexican/Spanish accompaniments (ie refried beans, spanish rice, etc)

Freezer Stash Meatballs
(all of the next 7 or 8 recipes came from Busy Cooks and links from there. Please check out Lynn's site, she is a wealth of information!)
Makes 48 meatballs; 8 servings
3 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
3 eggs
6 tablespoons minced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, mix beef, crumbs, eggs, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Shape into 11/2-inch meatballs. (A miniature ice cream scoop makes fast work of shaping.)

Arrange in two 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pans. Bake in preheated oven until meat is browned, with no trace of pink and juices run clear, 10 to 13 minutes.

Drain, let cool to room temperature, divide into thirds and freeze each portion in vapor-moisture proof containers or use in one of following.

Lean Meatballs
Work Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 to 45 minutes
3 slices firm white bread, diced
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground turkey
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 15 1/2" by 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan with foil; spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In large bowl, combine diced bread and 1/3 cup water. With hand, mix until bread is evenly moistened. Add ground beef and remaining ingredients. With hand, mix until well combined.

Shape meat mixture into twenty-four 2-inch meatballs. (For easier shaping, use slightly wet hands.) Place meatballs in jelly-roll pan and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned.

Each meatball: About 70 calories, 9 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 3 g total fat (1 g saturated), 24 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium.

Note: To thaw meatballs for use in recipes, place frozen meatballs in refrigerator overnight. Or, unwrap frozen meatballs and place on microwave-safe plate. In microwave oven, cook on Medium (50 percent power) 2 to 4 minutes until just thawed.

Italian Meatball Sandwiches/Subs
Makes 4 servings
1 teaspoon oil
3/4 cup EACH: bell pepper strips, thin onion wedges
1/3 Freezer Stash Meatballs, thawed in refrigerator
1 14-ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce
4 hoagie rolls, split
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high until very hot. Add peppers and onions and cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add thawed, cooked meatballs and spaghetti sauce.

Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 5 to 6 minutes. Divide among rolls and, if desired, sprinkle with cheese.

Nutrients each without cheese: 457 calories, 19 grams fat (37.4 percent total calories), 126 milligrams cholesterol, 1,073 milligrams sodium.

Spaghetti and Meatballs - pretty self-explanatory!

Easy Meatball Stew
Makes 4 servings
1 12-ounce jar brown beef gravy (I would use homemade, or thicken some beef bouillon)
1 8-ounce can stewed tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 16-ounce bag frozen vegetables with potatoes
1/3 Freezer Stash Meatballs

In a large saucepan, bring gravy, tomatoes, water, thyme and pepper to a boil. Stir in vegetables. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in thawed, cooked meatballs and heat through, about 5 minutes.

School-Night Meatball Soup
1/2 cup regular long-grain rice
2 cans (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
3 medium carrots, sliced
3 medium celery stalks, sliced
5 ounces prewashed spinach (half 10-ounce bag)
8 frozen Lean Meatballs, thawed and sliced
shredded or grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

In 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup water to boiling over high heat. Add rice; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is tender.

Meanwhile, in 4-quart saucepan, heat chicken broth and 2 cups water to boiling over high heat. Add carrots and celery; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Stir in spinach, rice, and sliced meatballs; heat through. Serve soup with Parmesan cheese if you like.

Each serving without Parmesan cheese: About 300 calories, 25 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 7 g total fat (3 g saturated), 51 mg cholesterol, 1010 mg sodium.

Meatball Minestrone
This hearty, flavorful main dish soup is ready in about 20 minutes using freezer meatballs.
24 cooked meatballs
15 oz can navy or other white beans, drained
1 pkt beef bouillon
1 tbsp dried minced onion
1 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
4 cups water
1 cup ditali, orzo or other pasta
16 oz tomatoes, cut up (undrained)
10 oz frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 tsp sugar
grated Parmesan cheese

In a 4 quart saucepan combine meatballs, beans, bouillon, onion, basil, bay leaf and water and bring to a boil.

Add pasta and cook for 15 minutes. Add undrained tomatoes, vegetables and sugar and heat through. Serve in individual bowls, topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Yield: 6 servings

Sunday Baked Ziti & Meatball Casserole
1 package (16 ounces) ziti or penne pasta
4 cups Big-Batch Tomato Sauce (your favorite sauce is fine)
1 large egg
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
8 Lean Meatballs, thawed and sliced
1 package (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (1 cup)

In saucepot, prepare pasta as label directs in boiling salted water; drain. Return pasta to saucepot.

Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, heat tomato sauce, covered, until hot over medium-low heat. (If tomato sauce is frozen, add 2 tablespoons water to saucepan to prevent scorching.) Add 3 cups sauce to pasta in saucepot; toss well. Reserve remaining 1 cup sauce.

In medium bowl, stir together egg, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Into 3 1/2- to 4-quart shallow casserole or 13" by 9" glass baking dish, spoon half the pasta mixture; top with all the sliced meatballs. Drop ricotta-cheese mixture by spoonfuls evenly over meatball layer. Spoon remaining pasta mixture over ricotta-cheese layer, then spoon remaining 1 cup sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake, uncovered, 25 minutes or until very hot and cheese browns slightly.

Chili Meatballs Supper - A Tex-Mex flavored dish that goes together fast with meatballs from the freezer.
1 onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
16 oz can tomatoes, cut up
16 oz kidney beans, drained
8 oz can corn
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
24 cooked meatballs (frozen or thawed)
Cheddar cheese, grated
Corn chips

In a saucepan, combine onion, pepper, tomatoes, kidney beans, undrained corn, tomato sauce, salt, chili powder and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil. Add meatballs, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove bay leaf. Serve in individual bowls, topped with cheese and corn chips on the side. Yield: 4 servings.

Scandinavian Meatballs - This rich and creamy dish, seasoned with dill is made in minutes by using cooked meatballs from your freezer. Serve with egg noodles.
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
3 Tbsp flour
1 pkt beef bouillon granules
1/2 t dried dill weed
24 cooked meatballs (frozen or thawed)

In a medium saucepan blend sour cream, water, flour, bouillon granules, and dill. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally.

Add meatballs to sauce. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are hot, stirring occasionally.

Serve over hot egg noodles. Yield: 4 servings.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - This is not that sticky red sauce, but a sophisticated contrast of sweet and sour flavors and various textures. Serve these Oriental inspired meatballs with white rice.
20 oz can pineapple chunks in juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 small green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch squares
5 oz sliced water chestnuts
20 cooked meatballs

Drain the pineapple chunks, reserving 3/4 cup of juice (if there is not enough, add water to make 3/4 cup).

Combine juice, additional 1/2 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir until sugar and cornstarch dissolve.

Cook over low heat until thick and bubbling, stirring constantly.

Add green peppers, meatballs, water chestnuts and 1 cup of pineapple chunks (use the rest elsewhere). Heat until meatballs are hot, stirring frequently. Serve with white rice.

Yield: 4 servings.

Beef Porcupines - This is another great recipe from The Kids Cookbook, by Patricia Barrett and Rosemary Dalton. I got this book for my eighth birthday and still have it! I LOVE it! It is probably not in print anymore, but if you see a copy, pick it up! This was the first dinner I ever cooked (with lots of help from Mom!), and I have loved cooking ever since.
1 pound hamburger
1/2 cup cooked rice
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 8oz can marinara sauce (or 1 cup your favorite tomato sauce)
1/8 cup salad oil
1 can beef consomme' OR 1 cup hot water plus one beef bouillon cube
1 cup water

In a medium bowl, mix ground beef, rice, onion, salt, pepper, egg, and ONLY 1/2 of the marinara sauce. Make into 8 meatballs.

Put oil into the frying pan. Add meatballs. Fry in oil until lightly browned.

Add the rest of the marinara sauce, consomme' and water. Cook until tender, about 40 minutes, with the pan covered. Or bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Serves 4

Italian Meatloaf - (crockpot) This is a wonderful and easy recipe! This keeps well in fridge or freezer. If making a lot, you can cook in the oven at 350 for 1 hour, but I enjoy doing this one in the crockpot. I do this one off of the top of my head, so I hope I get the ingredients right!
2 pounds of ground beef
1 egg
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or sprinkle in some basil and oregano)
salt and pepper to taste (I think I use 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper)
2 tbsp spaghetti sauce
aluminum foil

Mix together first seven ingredients (everything BUT the 2 tbsp spaghetti sauce and the aluminum foil!)

Shape into a round loaf to fit into crockpot (or put in loaf pans if baking in the oven).

Take a long length(2 feet) of aluminum foil, folding in half lengthwise, so it is long and thin. Line the crockpot with the foil, making sure the foil sticks out of the crock pot on both sides (you will use this to lift the meatloaf out).

Place meatloaf in crockpot. Top with the remaining 2 tbsp of spaghetti sauce. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours. You can also bake this for 1 hour at 350 in the oven. (It is best slow cooked, but good any which way!)

Italian Meatloaf Sandwiches - Save leftover meatloaf (or make extra!) and slice and serve on Italian bread, top with some spaghetti sauce .

Mexican Meatloaf - This rich, flavorful meatloaf was another prize winner from the Miami Herald. (I got this from a link on Busycooks)
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 1/2 lb bulk sausage
16 oz can Mexican-Style stewed tomatoes
8 oz canned green chopped chiles
2 eggs
3 tbsp + 2 tsp tapioca
1 1/2 tsp dried minced onions
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 cup shredded jack or Cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients except salsa and cheese in a large bowl until well combined.

Divide in half and shape into loaves. Place each in a 9" x 4" loaf pan. Top each with 3/4 cup salsa.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. If the sausage makes a lot of grease drain it once or twice while cooking.

Top with cheese and return to oven until cheese melts.

Remove to serving platter and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

This one might make a good sandwich too!

Bierrocks - (Another winner from the Busycooks site.) - These pastry pockets filled with beef, cabbage, onions and cheese can go straight from the freezer to the oven. They're great served with a bowl of hot tomato soup. My husband has nicknamed these "Irish Cheeseburgers." We love them!
2 c milk, lukewarm
1/4 c oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 pkg yeast
1/2 c sugar
1 t salt
6 c flour

2 lb ground beef
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
18 slices American cheese
1 egg, beaten (optional)
sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

Mix together the lukewarm milk and oil in a large bowl. Add the eggs, yeast, sugar, salt and 5 cups of flour. Mix well and add remaining flour as necessary to to form a kneadable dough. Knead a few minutes. Cover bowl and let dough rise one hour in a warm place.

Meanwhile, brown beef in a large skillet. Do not drain. Add onion and cabbage and continue cooking until onion is soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.

After dough has risen, roll out hunks of dough (about the size of a tennis ball) as thin as possible. Place 1/2 slice cheese on dough, top with some filling, then the other half slice of cheese. Fold over and seal like a turnover (moistening the edges with water may help seal them).

Place on a baking sheet, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional) and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden.

Serve immediately or cool and freeze. To reheat frozen, simply bake until hot. Yield: about 18 Bierrocks.

Kim's note: These are delicious, even for non cabbage lovers! The secret is the American cheese; do not substitute other cheeses, they just don't make it taste the same. This dough is rich and wonderful too. It would be great to use for "hot pockets" and calzones.

Cheeseburger Turnovers: The idea here is the same as the empanadas, just bigger. Use chili or browned ground beef and American or cheddar cheese as the filling. You can make half-moon shaped turnovers or square ones, with your favorite pastry or biscuit recipe. They are almost identical to the ham and cheese hot pockets I posted in the ham plan.

Maid Rites - (crumbly hamburgers)
1 pound ground beef
1 onion chopped
seasonings of your choice
toppings of your choice
hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls

Brown the beef and onions, drain off fat. Add the seasonings to taste.( You can freeze this at this point if you like, or use it as a "quick and easy" dinner)

Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls with toppings of your choice (lettuce, tomato, whatever)

Simple Salisbury Steak - (Campbell's soup recipe)
1 can of mushroom soup
1 pound of ground beef
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of the soup, beef, bread crumbs, egg, and onion. Shape firmly into 6 patties. (If you are using raw meat, you can freeze it now and brown the mushrooms and freeze them too, or you can freeze everything after cooking)

In a skillet over medium heat, cook patties, a few at a time, until browned on both sides, spoon off fat, set aside.

Stir in remaining soup and mushrooms, return the patties to the skillet, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until done, turning patties occassionally.

(You can freeze it cooked. To serve, thaw and put on top of cooked pasta, serve with steamed veggies and salad. MMMM)

BBQ Beef - (beanless sloppy joes) - This is a recipe from my mother-in-law. I have made it and frozen it plenty of times, it always turns out great! I make triple batches (one batch is 2 meals for us) so I always have lots on hand!
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can corned beef
3/4 cup ketchup (try Maul's barbecue sauce, it's wonderful instead of ketchup!)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 cup beef broth (I use 1 cup water and 1 bouillon cube)
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp white vinegar

Brown beef and onion, drain off fat.

Add remaining ingredients, making sure to break up corned beef. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until thickened.

Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.

Easy Goulash - Another recipe from the in-laws, very easy and versatile, we use whatever is on hand. I have added TVP to this recipe (and the barbecue beef), substituting up to half of the ground beef, but remember - tvp expands! use a half cup, it will grow to a whole cup (or a little less). I have not frozen this one before, but in the fridge it gets better by the day! By the way, the men in our family love to make this, even dh!
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can V-8 or other tomato juice
1 can kidney beans (if you want)
1 cup pasta (if you want)
your choice of veggies (sometime we put in leftover corn, sometimes nothing)
a few hot peppers (optional)
2 tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
other seasoning to taste-cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.

Brown beef and onion. Drain off fat.

Add remaining ingredients except any pasta, bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-60 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking, add the pasta and cook for about 5-10 minutes. Serve with quesadillas or bread. Leftovers are great!

TORTILLA MINI-BURGERS - This recipe calls for grilling, but you could fry these up easily and freeze. You could also broil them.
2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (8-ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 24 slices
24 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 (8-ounce) jar picante sauce
1/2 cup ketchup

Combine first 6 ingredients; shape into 24 small patties.

Place in 2 grill baskets coated with vegetable cooking spray.

Grill, without grill lid, over medium-high heat (350�° to 400�°) 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until done.

Open grill baskets, and top each burger with cheese. (Do not reclose grill baskets.) Cook until cheese melts.

Heat tortillas according to package directions; keep warm. Combine picante sauce and ketchup. Spread 1 tablespoon mixture on 1 side of each tortilla, and place a burger, cheese side up, near top edge. Fold bottom edge up, and fold opposite sides over. Makes 24 mini-burgers.

And here is the Chicken Plan (created by Kim Tilley):

My "chicken plan": (I broke it down to 6 at a time)

Out of 18 whole chickens, I used:
6 whole roasted chickens: Roast Sticky Chicken, 2 Rosemary Lemon Chicken

With the 12 other chickens:
cut breasts for Chicken Strips, Fajitas, and Forbidden City Chicken
cut legs and thighs for Simmering Chinese Chicken
cut wings for Teriyaki Chicken wings and Hot wings
save backs for All Purpose Chicken
save breastbones (after deboning breasts) for chicken soup
save giblets for who knows what!

My Strategy - When dealing with meats that have different parts, you need to think about how you will use each to get the maximum amount of food for your dollar. Here is how I handled chicken (the same approach can be used for turkey and many of these recipes will work for turkey)

First, I marinated 4 Roast Sticky chickens and put them back in the fridge, stuck two Rosemary Lemon Chickens with potatoes and green beans in the oven for three hours. Then I prepared all of the other marinades and mixes in advance (the recipes follow) before cutting up chicken. My five year old enjoyed helping with this part. I saved the messy stuff - the cutting until after my kids were asleep and dh was home and could answer the phone. I prepared the work space the best I could, making sure all of the knives were really sharp, had lots of Ziploc bags and bowls on hand, and my "chicken plan" in front of me and turned up the rock 'n roll! Yeah!

I put 6 chickens at a time in my sink, then opened all the wrappers and used an "assembly-line approach." I washed the first one, scooped out the giblets into a nearby bowl, cut the wings off and put in a wing bowl, cut the whole legs off (easier that way) and put in the leg bowl, and then cut off the back. I put the backs in a bowl, and the breasts in another. With 12 chickens, this didn't take but a half hour. On my second "cutting" I took all of the legs and cut between the drum and thigh and put them back in packages of 8 to a Ziploc, counted wings and put them in two Ziplocs, and put the chicken backs in Ziplocs. I also put giblets in Ziplocs. The giblets and backs went right to the freezer. At this point I felt like falling over, but the smell of a bargain (and all of those chickens!) kept me going.

I poured the marinades for "Simmering Chinese Chicken," "Teriyaki Wings" and "Hot Wings," then froze all of them. By this time, I was late for chat! Oh no! So I cleaned eveything up, reserving the chicken breasts for the next night. I disinfected everything too, which took a while!

The next night, I suited up to do battle again! Donning my rubber gloves and sharpening my knives, I prepared for the biggest pain, deboning all of the chicken breasts! I cut them from the bone on the first pass then cut them all into strips. I put the breast bones into a soup pot with water, some garlic powder, onion powder and seasoning salt. The broth was excellent and I got about two cups of additional white meat! I prepared the Oven Fried Chicken Strips and Fajitas, saving the rest of the strips for the next night.

The next night was pretty easy. I prepared all of the Deep Fried Chicken Strips and some chicken noodle soup which I need today because we are all sick! It took three or four days, but I found that if you do one motion repeatedly, you get really good at it and kick some serious chicken butt! I felt like "Jackie Chan" in the kitchen! I just followed the butcher cuts I see in the store. By mass producing, I saved money and time (I used rubber gloves to save my hands too!)

Here are the meals I got out of my 18 chickens:
4 Roasted Sticky Chickens with potatoes
2 Rosemary Lemon Chickens with potatoes and green beans
2 Simmering Chinese Chicken
4 bags of chicken legs/thighs for Shake and Bake chicken
1 Teriyaki Wings
1 Hot Wings
2 Forbidden City Chicken
2 Fajitas
1 gallon bag of Oven Fried Chicken strips (cooked)
2 gallon bags of Deep Fried Chicken Strips (raw)
2 gallon bags of chicken backs for All purpose Chicken
1 gallon bag of giblets (ideas wanted!)
1 big pot of chicken Noodle Soup (from breast bones)
more stock and soup from leftover whole roasted chickens after they are eaten

I only spent about 36 bucks! This is a really economical way to do chicken, and I think with practice, it won't be so daunting (remember, we all had a first oamc! THAT seemed daunting too!) Do you think I am crazy yet? I am just preparing for gardening season, when I will want to be outdoors rather than cooking.

Here's how I would've handled 18 more if I had the room:
freeze 6 whole

cut up 6 and freeze by type of piece: breasts, legs/thighs, wings, etc.

cut up the rest and freeze each as cut up chicken packs (each having two wings, drums, thighs and breasts)

The only reason I did them in sixes was because that was the store limit and a good size to work with. Nothing strange going on here, folks! No satanic chickens here! I kept going back for the chicken and people started to recognize me. They kept saying "Back again?" I thought about going undercover but the baby and the five year old would give me away. Oh well, I guess I'll have to save the "Mission Impossible" theme for the next adventure! Here are the recipes:

Roast Sticky Chicken (from busycooks)
4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 large roasting chicken - as big as you can find
1 cup chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels.

Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours (yes, 250 degrees for 5 hours).

After the first hour, baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

Notes: This recipe is a great way to roast a large chicken for planned leftovers. It is reminiscent of those rotisserie-style chickens that are so popular now, and it is very easy to make. The meat comes out very moist and flavorful, so it is as good leftover as freshly cooked. Please try it and you will never roast chicken any other way. You need to start this the night before serving.

Update: This one freezes well; take care because the chicken does start to fall apart, especially the legs and wings. It still tastes fantastic! I froze these in Ziplocs, next time I may freeze in a box type container so it doesn't fall apart. The leftovers were great as soup and chicken salad.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken (Good!)
1 5-6 pound roasting chicken
2 large lemons
1 bunch fresh rosemary (or use dried leaves)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds small red potatoes
2 packages 9 oz frozen green beans, thawed and drained (I use fresh, sometimes canned)

Prep time: start 3 hours before you want to serve this.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove giblets and neck from chicken, reserve for something else. Rinse chicken, drain and pat dry. Working with chicken breast side up, fold wings toward neck, then fold up and under back of chicken so they stay in place.

Cut lemon in half, squeeze enough juice from one half of lemon to make one tablespoon, cut remaining lemons into large chunks (I have used reconstituted lemon juice and substituted limes for the chunks of lemon with no problem)

Place lemon chunks and 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried) inside body cavity of chicken. With string, tie legs and tail together. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of meat between breast and thigh (I don't do this) being careful not to touch thermometer to bone. Place chicken, breast side up, on rack just large enough to hold chicken in large open roasting pan (I just put it in a bigger, metal roasting pan! Metal seems to work better than glass, more juices)

In a cup, mix 2 tbsp frsh minced rosemary (or 2 tsp dried), 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. With a pastry brush, brush chicken with mixture.

Cut each potato in half. Place potatoes around rack in roasting pan, drizzle with the 1 tbsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with 3/4 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper. Toss to coat well.

Roast chicken in 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting chicken and potatoes with pan drippings occasionally. When chicken turns golden, cover loosely with a tent of foil.

Add green beans to roasting pan, toss with potatoes. Roast 1 hour longer, basting chicken and veggies occasionally with pan drippings, or until meat thermometer reaches 175 to 180 degrees (I find the times to be pretty reliable; add 15 more minutes if you want to be extra sure). Remove foil during last of roasting and brush chicken again with pan drippings for attractive sheen (this chicken is GORGEOUS!)

To serve, place chicken on large platter, remove string. Arrange potatoes and green beans around chicken. Garnish with rosemary before serving. Makes about 8 servings. 465 calories per serving. From Good Housekeeping Magazine, Sept 1988.

Notes: This chicken is beautiful, easy, and also easy to cook in quantity. If you are going to make one for a special dinner, why not make a bunch? I have not frozen and then thawed this one yet, but I'm guessing it will still be good. Don't know how the potaoes will turn out - we'll see!

Update: they were fine!


Simmering CHinese Chicken - (from the Online CookBook, by Dawn Wise)
1 (4 lb) chicken, cut apart (I used thighs and drums)
1 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. catsup
1/4 cup sherry, apple juice or orange juice
1/2 to 3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, sliced
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Place the chicken in a 1 gallon freezer bag. In a bowl mix together the oil, water, soy sauce, sugar, catsup, sherry or juice, red peppers, garlic and onions.

Add the sauce to the chicken and seal the bag. Freeze.

To prepare, thaw the chicken overnight in the refrigerator. Place the chicken in a 3 qt. casserole and cover. Microwave on high for 5 minutes then, for 15 minutes on medium high.

Turn the chicken pieces and return to the microwave for 15 to 20 minutes on medium high. Remove the chicken to a platter.

Blend the cornstarch and the water and add to the remaining sauce. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes or until thick. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the chicken and serve the sauce on the side. Serve with hot cooked rice and steamed broccoli.

Note: This dish may be baked at 350°F for 1 hour, stirring once.

Kim's note: the marinade smelled INCREDIBLE when I made it, I think this one will be a winner.

Update: This was excellent! We decided that next time we make it we would debone the chicken and then throw it in. The marinade would be awesome in stir fries too. I cooked the chicken on a bed of uncooked rice in the oven and covered with foil for an hour. It was wonderful, the rice absorbed the sauce, which was too spicy for the kids but great for me and dh. Mmmmmmm


Teriyaki Chicken Wings - (also from the Online CookBook by Dawn Wise)
1 bag of frozen chicken wings (I did 12 wings from my chickens)
1 cup of soy sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. ginger

Divide chicken wings between 2 or 3 one-gallon bags. In a 4 cup measuring cup assemble remaining ingredients and stir.

Divide teriyaki sauce between the 2 or 3 bags of chicken wings, and Freeze.

To prepare chicken wings, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Place wings in a large baking pan along with teriyaki sauce.

Heat oven to 400° and bake for 30 minutes turning once. Serve with rice and steamed broccoli.

NOTE: I add the chicken wings from the chickens which I have cut up to this dish.

Homemade Shake and Bake - (from the Tightwad Gazette)
4 cups flour
4 cups ground crackers (I get a box of saltines at Aldi's for 39 cents) or cracker meal
4 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp paprika
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix well and store indefinitely in the refrigerator in a covered container (I use an old ice cream bucket or coffee can). You can change the spices according to what you like, ie. Italian seasonings, Cajun, Mexican, Asian, etc.

To cook: Dip meat in any liquid (egg, buttermilk, milk, salad dressing) then in the shake and bake. Put on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 for boneless chicken or fish strips, an hour for chicken pieces with bones (i.e., drums and thighs, as long as possible for bone-in breasts).

Update: The oven fried chicken strips froze very well. We cooked ours first and then froze so we could microwave them. They were not as crunchy, but still delicious. They could also be frozen without cooking and then baked after freezing.

Kim's Hot Wings
chicken wings
mild pepper sauce like red devil (not tabasco unless diluted!)

Put raw wings in bags, put a few tsp of pepper sauce in and freeze.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (?). This was an improvised recipe! Don't know how it will turn out, you may want to dilute the pepper sauce with ketchup or barbecue sauce.

Forbidden City Chicken - This one was given to me by my mom recently; I have never tried it but she says it is easy and delicious. It is from a cookbook featuring the best of Junior League cookbooks. Mom is a romance writer and has little time for making dinner, but is a great cook when she finds time, so if she says it is good, I know it is good! (Will let you know how it turns out!)
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 small broiler chickens, split (I use 2 whole boneless skinless breasts)
sesame seeds

Arrange chicken halves skin side up in one layer in a baking pan. In a bowl, mix together everything but the sesame seeds. Spread the mixture over the chicken and chill for one hour (I froze it at this point. Remember, if you are freezing this raw, you must use FRESH chicken, not frozen, defrosted chicken!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the chicken and bake uncovered for one hour until chicken is golden (I would say less time for chicken breasts, may have to cover loosely to avoid drying out. This sounds like it would be good grilled too!)

Update: We tried this and liked it very much, but the sauce is a bit strong if you let it marinate too long. You can reduce the sauce, dilute or freeze it separately and marinate for 5-10 minutes right before cooking.

FAJITAS - (also from the Online CookBook by Dawn Wise)
5 tbsp. oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 lb boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips or 1 lb flank steak, cut diagonally across the grain, into thin strips
1 large red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
1 large green pepper, cut into thin strips
1 onion, sliced thin or 1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Guacamole

In a bowl, mix together 2 tbsp. oil, lime juice, cumin and cayenne. Add the meat and stir to coat. Place the meat with the marinade in a freezer bag.

Slice all the peppers, onions and mince the garlic and place in a large freezer bag. Freeze both bags.

To prepare, thaw the marinated meat and the vegetables.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil until very hot. Add the meat, with the marinade and stir-fry over high heat until the meat is cooked, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tbsp. oil to the skillet and heat until very hot. Add the peppers, onion and garlic and stir-fry till tender crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.

Return the meat to the skillet and heat through. Serve with warm tortillas and assorted extras.

Kim's note: I get a multicolored bell pepper 4 pack at Aldi for 1.19. I get several at a time, chop them and freeze each according to color, that way, I always have enough colorful peppers at a very cheap price!

Update: These were excellent! I will use a little less lime juice next time and less bell peppers.

Skewered Chicken: Here is another great recipe from my mom. I didn't have enough chicken to make this one, but it is so easy, it hardly seems worth the effort to fix ahead and freeze. This could be a "Quick and Easy" entree, when you want something fresh!
1 pound or more boneless skinless chicken breasts
soy sauce
bamboo/wooden skewers

Cut chicken into long strips and marinate for 15 minutes in soy sauce.

Put chicken strips on skewers, piercing in several places so they will stay on well (like sewing it on!)

Grill it! Great with grilled veggies and corn on the cob, or with an oriental style dinner, great for summertime!

Kim's Oven Fried Chicken Strips
Shake and Bake (homemade recipe above)
boneless skinless chicken, cut into strips
buttermilk

Soak cut up chicken in buttermilk for 15 minutes or longer (can be overnight if you like).

Dip each strip into shake and bake, coating well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Freeze on a cookie sheet, then put into Ziploc when frozen.

To serve, use directly from freezer. You can microwave these (not crispy but good) or reheat in an oven. Very convenient! Note: you can freeze these before cooking as long as you are using chicken that has not been frozen before.

Kim's Deep Fried Chicken Strips - This is not a low fat recipe! We do this one for special occasions. If you still want the taste and less fat (or want to stretch these farther), put them in a salad like the restaurants do! MMMM
1 pound boneless skinless chicken, cut into strips/pieces
1 cup of buttermilk
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tsp pepper
other seasonings of your choice
oil for deep frying

Soak chicken in buttermilk for 15 minutes or longer (use watered-down sour cream if you don't have buttermilk - just water down to buttermilk consistency).

Mix together flour, salt pepper and seasonings of your choice (I add red pepper for spicy ones)

Dip soaked chicken in flour mixture, coating well. (To freeze, put on cookie sheet and place in freezer. When frozen, put into Ziploc.)

Deep fry in hot oil until golden. The best chicken strips we've ever had, and the cheapest too! (messy though!)

Update: This recipe has become a favorite in our house. I now only do the fried chicken strips this way. It is far less messy and they come out great. The secret is to get the oil REALLY hot. We make extras for fried chicken salad, which is sliced up chicken strips on a bed of lettuces and tomatoes, topped with some insanity sauce (shown below). It's a lot like Steak and Shake's fried chicken salad.

Kim's Insanity Sauce - I serve this with my chicken strips. I also use it in place of mayo in chicken or tuna salad, and as a dip for chips or sauce for pitas and burritos.
1 cup of ranch dressing (we get the gallon size at Sam's)
one or two drops (yes, DROPS) of "Dave's Insanity Sauce," an explosively hot sauce (I found it at Kitchens store in the mall, the web site is called Dave's Gourmet)

Mix ingredients well. If the sauce is at all slightly pink, it will probably blow your mouth off! The pepper sauce is advertised as being "the hottest sauce in the world" and let me tell you, it is one of the hottest I've tried, but excellent if mixed with a lot of a "cooling" agent like sour cream, yogurt or ranch. I keep a container mixed up in the fridge at all times. It is truly wonderful and our friends love it too (we entertain a lot!)

By the way, my husband's name is Dave and I KNOW he is insane! We tease him a lot about the sauce!

Kim's ried chicken salad - I make this with leftovers of my homemade chicken strips. We eat those one night, cook extra and make the salads during the week, this is one of our favorites! Inspired by Steak and Shake, but now after a taste comparison, it is better!

Per person (big portions) you will need:
2-3 fried chicken strips
2 cups lettuce (use a combination,romaine and spinach are good, don't use iceberg, yuck!)
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
additional salad topping: shredded carrot, alfalfa sprouts, sliced onion, steamed veggies, whatever you like
insanity sauce for the dressing

Assemble by putting lettuces on plate, followed by tomatoes and optional other toppings. Top with cut up fried chicken strips (I cut them pretty small- bite size) and top with dressing. Yummy!

All Purpose Chicken & Broth (crockpot) from the Busy cooks website
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery rib, sliced
1 large Chicken, 5 lbs or more
1/2 c chicken broth or water

Place sliced vegetables in the bottom of the crockpot. Sit cleaned chicken on top, neck up. If you wish you may season with herbs, pepper, etc, but this is not necessary. Pour broth over, cover and cook on low 8 or 9 hours.

Remove chicken from pot and let cool until easy to handle. Meanwhile, strain stock and defat. This stock is double strength, so mix with equal parts water for use. Remove chicken from bones and cut into pieces sized appropriately for your recipe.

Yield: about 4 - 6 cups of chicken and 3+ cups double strength chicken stock.

Notes: This is not really a main dish, but a painless way to obtain cooked chicken for salads, casseroles, etc. An added bonus is the several cups of double strength chicken broth. Juicy, tender, flavorful chicken and a very rich broth for very little of your time.

Here's are some websites that you can go to and find more recipes...

http://jasmine1931.tripod.com/Cooking/Beef.htm#TATER_TOT_CASSEROLE_ http://www.fractured.net/article/beginners-guide-to-once-a-month-cooking.html
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/oamc/oamcprep.html
http://www.momsbudget.com/freezercooking/
http://www.thedinnertrolley.com/Mixed%20OAMC%20plan.pdf
http://www.frugalmom.net/blog/in-the-kitchen/freezer-cooking-in-the-kitchen/7-steps-to-once-a-month-cooking/

Well, I hope I haven't bored you all to tears or scared you off! Happy cooking!