Menu Monday

Another warm weather meal that my family enjoys is Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches.

Roast beef, from the deli
Provolone cheese slices
Peppers and onions, sliced
Sub buns
Cheese Whiz, optional

I stir fry the veggies first, then fry the beef on our big, non-stick, electric griddle. I serve it all up family style so everyone gets to choose what goes on their sandwich. Most of the time, I leave off the cheese whiz. 

I throw together a big salad to go with it and dinner is served!

This is a very fast, easy, and tasty dinner that is great for summer days when we would rather be outside than stuck in the kitchen.

Projects

We have now added a second, sweet little Nigerian Dwarf goat to our "herd." His name is Reese and he and Snickers are getting along well. Reese loves to cuddle and whenever anyone of us is in the yard he sticks really close to us. He cries when he realizes he's lost track of his person and comes running when you call him. Such a sweetie!

Daniel and I finished the pen in the barn so that Snickers and Reese have more space inside. Daniel and the boys started it, then it rained for two solid days so we had to wait until the rain stopped before we could finish it. There is now a 6 foot high pen with a big, wide gate into a walkway that leads to the door to the outside. We have a small spool and the dog house in the pen to give them something to do when they can't be outside.

The outside fence isn't up yet since we are still working out how to put in a gate. The yard right outside the barn door slopes down dramatically so fencing and putting in a gate is going to be challenging. Our hope is that we can get the fencing finished so the goats can go from the yard to the pen at will.

Menu Monday

In our family we don’t have a lot of bread lovers. We get really sick of sandwiches really fast! That makes packing lunches rather challenging. One of the things I have started packing instead of a sandwich is a wrap. These are much more popular for some reason.

My current favorite wrap:

1 tortilla shell

2 T. cream cheese

A small handful of raisins

A pinch of slivered almonds

I spread a very thin layer of cream cheese on the tortilla shell then sprinkle with raisins and nuts, roll it up and it’s done.

These are especially good in hot weather when you don’t feel like eating anything heavy.

Menu Monday...on a Tuesday

Due to the class schedule that two of our children have this quarter, we need crockpot meals one day a week. So, today I thought I would share an easy, tasty crockpot recipe that takes very little time, effort, and ingredients.

Crockpot Meatball Subs

Ingredients:

enough ground beef to feed your family (we use 3 pounds because we have 2 teenage boys who consume a LOT of food!)

jar of spaghetti sauce (we use two jars because we use so much beef)

sub buns – homemade or store bought

cheese (optional)

Simply roll the ground beef into meatball. I make mine about bite-sized so they are easier to keep in the buns. Throw them into the crockpot and pour the spaghetti sauce over the top. The fat in the ground beef will prevent the meat from sticking but I do try to stir it up once about half way through the cooking time. I put them on after lunch and they are ready when dinner time rolls around.

We add a little shredded mozzarella cheese to the bottom of the bun and then fill them with meatballs and enjoy!

Teaching Responsibility

Through blurry eyes, I peered groggily at the clock on the bedside table to find that it said it was 3:00. After forcing my foggy brain to think for a minute, I realize it must be afternoon since the bedroom isn’t dark. As I dragged myself out of bed and made my way to the kitchen, I tried desperately to keep my stomach from revolting again. Upon reaching the kitchen I find two of my children there chatting while one has started working on that night’s dinner and the other is mopping the floor. My daughter sent me back to bed after checking to see how I was and asking if I needed anything. I was able to meander my way back to my bed, secure in the knowledge that everything was under control and I could focus on getting better.  

How did we get to this point?

We started out allowing our children to be beside us while we worked. They “helped” wash dishes, folded washcloths, and picked up their toys when they were big enough to walk. Back when they thought sweeping, dusting, doing laundry and all those other mundane tasks were fun, we had them beside us doing as much of the job as they could. Whenever they wanted to do more we let them try it, with us standing right there making sure they were safe and offering advice and encouragement.

Gradually, over many years, they learned to do everything we could do, plus a few things they learned on their own. Now I have a daughter who has been in charge of cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, taking care of chickens and goats, cleaning the barn, helping with house cleaning, and doing her own laundry for several years. Our son takes care of the dogs and cats, does his laundry, helps with cleaning when asked, can make dinner, keeps his bedroom immaculate, takes care of the rabbits, and mows the 2 ½ acres we own every week.

Is it too late to start?

We adopted a son when he was 18 years old. He had never had a chore or been expected to do anything, even his schoolwork, in his entire life. While he still has a very long way to go in learning to be responsible he does empty the kitchen trash every day and take the trash can to the curb every week without being reminded to do so. He also, usually, remembers to do his own laundry on his assigned day each week. He also helps (for a short period of time) with push mowing if you catch him in the right mood. While the process is taking longer and is a lot more work and a lot more stressful for everyone, he is learning!

While not one of our children, or their parents, is perfect, our two birth children are very reliable, hard-working and responsible adults. Our third child is getting there, with a lot of patience and reminders. It has taken years and a lot of time, effort, patience, and starting over to get where we are but it has been so worth it!

Goat Pen and Chicks

Maaa! Maaa! I am greeted every time I leave the house and every time I come home with the lonely cry of our pygmy goat, Snickers. You see, Snickers was given to us when his owner passed away and he is the only goat on our farm. Goats are herd animals and need friends to keep them company. Right now we do our best to keep Snickers from feeling too lonely while we wait for the Nigerian Dwarf whether that we are getting to be ready to come live with him and keep him company.

In case you are wondering, as my husband's friend was, "What's the point of the goat?" We have him because I like him. He makes me happy! I like hearing his little voice calling out when we are outside and having him follow us around the yard while we are doing farm chores. We aren't breeding, milking or eating goat. He is a pet that does his job of making me happy very well!

In preparation for Snickers' friend's arrival we will be building a goat pen. Snickers currently resides in a dog house that is inside a dog kennel. He is tethered out in the field when the weather is nice enough. There is not enough room for two goats to live in his current arrangement. We will be building a goat pen inside our big building. It will give them room to sleep snuggled up together and they will eventually have a fenced in yard so they can come and go as they please. It will also give us room for goat supply storage and free up that space in the chicken barn.

We also plan to start saving eggs to hatch out some chicks. The plan is to eat the roosters and extra hens and to increase the size of our flock of laying hens. We will also be getting a new rooster so that our flock doesn't get too closely related and because our current rooster has started getting aggressive even with our daughter who is the one who cares of them on a daily basis.

Snickers

Snickers is a new addition to our small farm. He is a cute little pygmy goat who came to us when his owner passed away unexpectedly. Snickers is really more of a pet than a part of the farm since he is our only goat and we have no plans to ever eat him and, quite obviously, can't milk him. He is very friendly and "talks" to us whenever we are outside. When he is out of his pen he follows us around the yard tasting the landscaping.

Housing
He currently resides in a dog house inside a fence. When the weather permits he is moved out to the field on a line so he can get more exercise. We have been told that goats are herd animals and he will need a friend to keep him company. There isn't room for a friend in Snickers' current accommodations so we have to figure out how to make room for a friend for him. It's possible we might be able to make space in the RV garage for goats. Our barn is small (12x16?) and currently houses 6 rabbits and our small flock of chickens so there is no room in there for goats, even pygmy goats!