Our 2013-14 Homeschool Philosophy and Curriculum

We are a few weeks into the new school year, so I thought I'd share our current homeschool philosophy and curriculum.  Currently, my daughter is 6&1/2 and in 2nd grade, and my son is 3&1/2 doing preschool work.

 

Big Changes in our Homeschool Philosophy

Previously, we were doing a rather rigorous Classically-based curriculum (described in The Well-Trained Mind), with a few ideas from Charlotte Mason Companion thrown in (such as incorporating Nature Study for science). But I knew I needed to change something towards the end of spring when my daughter mentioned extra schoolwork as a good punishment for the kids who stole her bike. This made me realize that I was pushing way too hard, and killing her love of learning. At the same time, I was reading Thomas Jefferson Education (TJED), and a light-bulb just clicked on.

TJED is kind of like a mix between classically-based schooling, unschooling, and Charlotte Mason. It is more structured than unschooling, but much less rigorous than Well-Trained Mind. (You can read about the 7 Keys to Great Teaching on the TJED site here.) There is also a huge focus in TJED on the parents furthering their own educations, and focusing on that, which serves as a great example for the kids to want to further their own educations. And that has really worked in our house. The more the kids see me doing my own reading, studying, and writing, the more they naturally want to do those things themselves, without any of the pressure that I was putting on them before. They are getting to learn lots of things that are interesting to them, and I am getting to learn lots myself rather than focusing so much on their curriculum. And overall we are spending less time on school than before. It is just what we needed.

We are still using some of the ideas from Well-Trained Mind and Charlotte Mason Companion, mixed together with ideas from TJE.  Our school is now much more relaxed and the kids are getting to focus more on their own interests within that framework. We are all thoroughly enjoying the changes we've made to our homeschool.

Preschool Curriculum for 3&1/2-year-old

The methods and topics I'm using for preschool with my son are the same as described previously in this post. My son is allowed to choose whether or not he'd like to do any school work (and he usually
chooses to do school once or twice a week). The specific books he is using right now are:

• Bob Books Alphabet Books (you can read more about the methods I use to teach reading here)
• Kumon books are great because they use a very gradual progression to teach basic coloring, pencil skills, cutting, and gluing. I love the Kumon workbooks for preschool work; I don't like them at all once they get into grade-school type work as they are too repetitive and suck the fun right out of school.
• Let's Sticker and Paste!
• Amazing Tracing
• My Book of Coloring
• My First Book of Cutting
• My Book of Easy Mazes
• My First Book of Uppercase Letters

2nd Grade Curriculum for 6&1/2-year-old

We've been using these resources for a few weeks, and my daughter is really loving it all. No fighting or whining about doing school. She actually now calls it "Awesome School".

In keeping with the TJED philosophy, my daughter is allowed to choose what school work to do (and I make suggestions each day). She (and her little brother) never say "No" to Life of Fred, Story of the World, or science read-alouds, and about twice a week my daughter also chooses to do some work on paper.

• Virtues and Morals - According to Thomas Jefferson Education, the main learning focus for ages 0-8 should be learning right/wrong, good/bad, true/false.  Previously, I didn't feel like I had much time to teach my daughter the everyday activities around our home, as we needed to spend so much time doing school. But now that we are focusing somewhat less on academics, it has been great for me to be able to focus more on teaching my daughter to be a helpful, courteous member of our household.  She has more daily chores now than previously, and she is given plenty of opportunities to help out with other daily activities as well.  This has enabled my daughter to become a nicer, more considerate person. Right now as I am typing this, both of my kids are washing up our lunch dishes with minimal adult assistance. 
• Reading - We are no longer doing any formal reading lessons since my daughter's reading level is well above her age. She chooses to read for 1-2 hours every day on her own. To help in learning the correct pronunciation of complex words, I allow my daughter to read aloud to me whenever she asks to (which is typically once or twice a week). I also provide lots of varied reading materials for her through library books that relate to our history and science lessons, as well as fiction books. 
• Math - We are using several different resources for 2nd grade math.
• Life of Fred - My kids LOVE Life of Fred, which is a series of math books that tell stories about Fred, a 5-year-old math genius who teaches classes at a university. The chapters are nice and short, and the end of each chapter gives a chance for us to practice math from the chapter (which we usually do on a lap-size dry erase board). In addition to teaching math, Life of Fred also teaches much more. For instance, we learned about the Orion Nebulae in Life of Fred: Butterflies. My daughter gets to choose whether or not she wants to do the problems at the end of each chapter, and she usually chooses to do a few of them.

•  Miquon Math Labs - Miquon is a math curriculum for grades 1-3 that uses wooden blocks of 1-10 cm to aid in learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. My kids are really enjoying playing with the wooden blocks (called Cuisenaire Rods), and my daughter is enjoying using the blocks to figure out the answers to math problems. The Miquon program includes workbooks, which my daughter can use as she chooses. Unlike most workbooks, the Miquon books are designed to be done with the parent assisting the child, and this really seems to motivate my daughter to want to do the workbook sheets. The workbook sheets can also be done in any order (rather than from the front of the book to the back), and my daughter enjoys the freedom of being able to flip through the book and work on any sheet that she wants to.

• Math games are a wonderful way to learn math while having fun. We play the following games: 

• Addition or Subtraction War is a great way to learn math facts without having to do lots of worksheets. 
• 21 (also known as Blackjack) is a great way for kids to learn addition and strategy as they try to reach 21 without going over. Both of my kids love to play this game. I've made this game even better for teaching a real understanding of what the numbers mean by using a number line. (I made a number line on the wall using painter's tape and a permanent marker.) We each select a colored token (which are really poker chips) and with some masking tape we show how many we have on our cards. As we get more cards, we move our tokens along the number line. This way it is easy to tell how close we are to 21 and also to see what happens when we bust (and go past 21).
• Yahtzee is great for teaching addition, number recognition, and writing.
• Monopoly is a great game for teaching larger numbers and the concepts of buying/selling. Since it can be such a long game, I typically limit the game to one hour long and we each start the game with two properties. 
• Milles Borne is a great game for learning to recognize larger numbers, understand which numbers are greater, and add numbers together. 
• Khan Academy - Once or twice a month, my daughter asks to Khan Academy. This is a free site that has short arithmetic demonstration videos and it allows my daughter to try her own arithmetic problems as well.

• Writing - I've stopped requiring my daughter to do writing lessons. I can tell that I was pushing way too hard in this area because she did not want to do ANY writing at all for several months once I stopped requiring it. Now she has passed that period of high-reluctance to write, and she chooses to write about twice a week. I am amazed that, by simply letting my daughter choose when and what to write (and giving her plenty of opportunities to do so), she is writing almost as often as I was forcing her to previously. This method of letting her choose is so very powerful, as she now loves school.
• I give her lots of options, such as writing in her Nature Notebook, writing letters to friends/family, and writing poems. She most often prefers to have me write out the words for her and then traces over them herself.
• One writing project my daughter is very excited about is creating her own book. We have put together about 20 pages of colored cardstock paper, and she can write about anything she chooses in her book. She also enjoys drawing pictures to go along with the words in her book.
• Writing games - My daughter also enjoys writing games such as the following: 
• Hang-Man - One of us comes up with a word or phrase, and the other person has to guess the right letters to solve the puzzle before the man gets hanged.
• Writing Conversation - We pretend we cannot hear, so that we write to each other to have a conversation. To make this work, my daughter uses a chart of words to know how to spell the words she wants to write.

• History and Science - We use the 4-year-cycle outlined in The Well-Trained Mind for history and science. There cycle starts with 1st-4th grade, and then gets repeated again from 5th-8th grade and again in 9th-12th grade, with more detail and rigor each time.

• History
• For 2nd grade history, we are using the audio book of Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages as our history backbone. We are all much enjoying using the audio book for Volume 2 this year (as opposed to the hardback version we used for Volume 1 in 1st grade). 
• In addition to Story of the World, we supplement history study with relevant books from the library. I am using All Through The Ages: History Through Literature Guide to aid in finding books that apply to the topics we are studying.

• Science

• For Earth Science, we are using Usborne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth as our backbone, which is supplemented by books on specific topics of interest from the library. We are using More Mudpies to Magnets for science experiments related to Earth Science.
• For Astronomy, we are using H. A. Rey's Find the Constellations plus specific topic books from the library.
• Once or twice a month, we do nature study. This may be as simple as collecting and studying Fall leaves or paying close attention to the changes in our yard throughout the seasons. We also take nature walks, looking at the flora and fauna in our neighborhood as well as the nearby desert landscape. Each of us has a Nature Notebook, where we can write about our observations or draw pictures of creatures and plants we encounter.

• Art - At least once a week, my daughter gets to work on art projects. Sometimes, these projects are as simple as freeform painting, and other times they are full-blown craft projects. Once a month, we have a family drawing class using Drawing with Children as a guide. This is a great activity for our whole family. My daughter also likes learning to draw on her own using Draw Write Now.
• Music - At her own pace, my daughter is learning to play piano at Free Piano Lessons 4 Kids. She typically practices piano 2-4 times a month.

What changes have you made to your homeschool for the coming year?

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The Easy Way to Tell if Your Butter is Nutrient-Dense

Left - Conventional Butter, Right - Grassfed Organic Butter

Butter is one of our most prized, health-promoting foods. Butter is a great source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2 (referred to as Activator X by Weston Price).  In the article The Skinny on Fats, Mary Enig and Sally Fallon describe that butter is a great source of "true vitamin A or retinol, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E as well as all their naturally occurring cofactors needed to obtain maximum effect...Vitamins A and D are essential for growth, for healthy bones, for proper development of the brain and nervous systems and for normal sexual development."

Nutrient-Dense Butter

To make sure that we are getting the most nutrition from our butter, I make sure to buy nutrient-dense butter.  The best butter is from cows that have been grazing on their natural diet of grass, rather than grains.  The easy way to tell if butter is nutrient-dense is to look at the color. 
While conventional butter looks almost white, nutrient-dense butter has a beautiful yellow color. This color indicates the presence of nutrients, especially carotene and vitamin A.  In Weston Price's studies, he found that Activator X (now known as Vitamin K2) "was only present when the animals were eating rapidly growing green grass. In most regions, this occurred in the spring and early fall."  In addition to having more nutrients, grassfed butter also has superior flavor.

Why We Eat Pasteurized Butter

I am sure that raw butter is nutritionally wonderful, but it is hard to find locally and extremely expensive ($14/pound). We consume lots of butter, and buying raw butter just does not fit into our budget. Additionally, I use a significant portion of our butter for cooking and baking, so the raw butter benefits would be lost in those uses anyway.

However, I feel confident that my family is still getting great nutrition from our pasteurized grassfed butter. The nutrients in butter are largely heat-stable. For instance, according to Chris Masterjohn, "everything I have read indicates that vitamin K is very heat-stable (though it can apparently incur losses from exposure to light)".  So we are still getting lots of nutrition from our butter, even though it is pasteurized.

Seasonal Differences

There are seasonal effects in the nutrient content of butter.  Butter has a deeper yellow color (and therefore more nutrients) in the warm months when the grass is growing rapidly. During the cold months, butter tends to have a lighter color, indicating that there are fewer nutrients present.

The three brands of grassfed butter I typically buy are Kalona Supernatural, Organic Valley, and KerryGold. During the winter, I find that KerryGold butter has the most dark yellow color, followed by Organic Valley and finally Kalona Supernatural.  From late-spring through Fall, all three of those brands have a nice yellow color, but the Kalona Supernatural butter has the deepest yellow color. 

Is your butter nutrient-dense? Do you typically use raw butter or pasteurized butter?

Can Too Many Toys Do More Harm Than Good?

As parents, it is natural for us to want our children to have everything they need.  Beyond the basics of love, food, clothing, and shelter, we also try to provide our kids with plenty of books, toys, and games.  But can there be too much of a good thing?

Even when my eldest child was an infant, I was amazed at how many toys, games, puzzles, and books were accumulating in our home.  Well-meaning gift givers generously gave us more and more, and soon I was wondering where to put it all. We bought toy organizers with neat cubbyholes, under-bed storage boxes, and closet shelving units, but soon even all of those were full.

Even with all of these organizing tools, I started to feel overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of kid-stuff accumulating in our home.  I began to regularly purge toys from our home, sometimes with the help of the kids and sometimes when no one was around.  There were so many toys that most of the time, no one even noticed when some were removed. Every birthday and Christmas, another large influx of toys, books, and games would flood our house.
 

Were our kids any happier for having so many things to occupy their time?

No, the kids weren't happier for having more and more things to play with.  I noticed that our kids had no respect for their belongings.  When they were too rough on their toys and broke them, there were always more to play with. Our children often fought over toys.

We spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning up the toys that had been gotten out, played with for only a few minutes, and discarded as they went to look for something else more stimulating. My kids seemed to spend more time trying to set up their many toys than actually playing with them. How can a child enjoy playing with 50 matchbox cars at once, when it takes many minutes just to get them all lined up perfectly?

What is wrong with having so many toys?

In the brilliant book, Simplicity Parenting, Kim Payne writes,

"Too much stuff leads to too many choices... As adults... we love the notion of choice. And we love to give our children choices - like gifts - about everything they see, want, or do... We think that these choices help them on the road to becoming who they are...

I strongly believe the opposite is true. All of these choices are distractions from the natural - and exponential - growth of early childhood... Children need time to become themselves - through play and social interaction. If you overwhelm a child with stuff - with choices and pseudochoices - before they are ready, they will only know one emotional gesture: 'More!'

...To a child, a mountain of toys... means 'I can choose this toy, or that, or this one way down here, or that: They are all mine! But there are so many that none of them have value. I must want something else!' ...

The number of toys your child sees, and has access to, should be dramatically reduced... As you decrease the quantity of your children's toys and clutter, you increase their attention and their capacity for deep play.... A smaller, more manageable quantity of toys invites deeper play and engagement. An avalanche of toys invites emotional disconnect and a sense of overwhelm.

The overall purpose of toys in our home is to stimulate creativity, not to overwhelm our kids with too many options.  I realized that there were really too many toys in our home and this led to:

• our children not appreciating or taking care of what they have,
• our home being cluttered, and  
• our children being robbed of their imaginations when they felt they had to have specific toys in order to pretend (for instance, not being able to "cook" without a play stove).

How have I reduced the quantity of toys? 

Over the last few months since I read Simplicity Parenting, I've made more of a concerted effort to reduce the number of toys and games in our home.  I've reduced the number of toys coming into our home by requesting "no presents please" for our birthday celebrations.  While my husband has looked on with a doubtful eye, and most often while my kids were not watching, I've systematically dug through all of our toys to get rid of the excess. 

Broken toys have been discarded, and many toys in good condition have been donated to a local shelter.  Some toys have been put into storage bins in the closet, such as the majority of my daughter's stuffed animals. Those toys get traded out periodically. We now have roughly half the amount of toys we had a year ago.

How have our kids reacted to having less toys?

By and large, the kids have not even noticed that there are less toys in our home.  With less toys, there are more opportunities for the kids to use their imaginations instead of relying on structured toys that must be played with in a specific ways. My kids often now come up with their own play scenarios that keep them busy for 30-60 minutes, such as making a store where they go shopping with their baby dolls.

With fewer toys, there is less mess in the house to deal with.  The kids seem to bicker less, and their attention spans for playing with individual toys have increased.  Since we are now rotating some toys in-and-out of storage bins in the closet, my kids seem to really engage with the toys for longer periods.  Toys that were mostly neglected when they were always available now receive lots of focus during the time they are out of the closet.

Interesting observations from a vacation with almost no toys

We recently went on vacation for a week to a nearby small town in the mountains. For a week, the only toys my kids had to play with were a handful of matchbox cars, a few pony figurines, crayons with a few coloring pages, and two card games (Uno and Mille Bornes). There were also no electronic distractions such as TV, videos, or internet. Rather than being bored by the lack of selection, my kids thrived with such a small amount of toys!

One striking observation for me was that there was almost no bickering the entire week we were on vacation.  The small amount of bickering that did occur was related to the few toys we had brought with us. Because there were less toys to play with, my kids naturally gravitated to the outdoors.  They watched the birds outside.  They played with rocks, sticks, lizards, tarantulas, and dirt. They were happy and I never heard any complaints about the lack of toys. 

This experience has inspired me to reduce the number of toys in our home even further. I am once again going to dig through the toys we have and send some on to new homes.  I would especially like to reduce the number of toys now being stored in our closets.

Do you feel overwhelmed with too many toys? What strategies have you used to reduce the number of toys in your home?

 

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Juicy Pan-Seared Steak with Rosemary and Thyme (GAPS : grain-free : Primal : gluten-free)

This is one of my favorite ways to make steak.  Rosemary, thyme, and garlic combine with beef for a fabulous taste.  We enjoy our steaks medium rare and beautifully red inside. Pair the steaks with a simple side salad and perhaps crispy fried potatoes: dinner is served!

Juicy Pan-Seared Steak with Rosemary and Thyme
Serves 3 

• Three 1-inch-thick beef steaks, such as Rib Eye or T-Bone, preferably grassfed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 Tb refined coconut oil (NOT unrefined coconut oil, as the taste of coconut would not be welcome in this recipe)
• 1 Tb coarse Celtic sea salt
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp dried OR 1 Tb fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp dried OR 1 Tb fresh thyme leaves
• 2 lemon wedges

1. Combine the garlic, coconut oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme in a small chopper.  Pulse to combine and chop it all together. (If you don't have a small chopper, chop the garlic roughly, and then mash it all together with a mortar and pestle or even just using the back of a spoon.)
2. If your steaks are a bit tough (as grassfed beef can sometimes be), use a fork to tenderize the meat by piercing it repeatedly all over.
3. Squeeze lemon juice over the steaks and rub it around.
4. Rub the coconut oil/spice mixture over the front and back of the steaks.  If you have time, put the steaks back in the fridge and let them marinate for a couple hours, pulling them out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you will start cooking them (the coconut oil will solidify in the fridge).  If you're in a time crunch, just season the steaks and let them sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before cooking.
5. Heat a very large (12+-inch) heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat for several minutes.
6. Add the steaks to the hot skillet, and cover with a splatter screen.
7. For medium rare, allow the steaks to cook for about 3-4 minutes without moving them around, then use tongs to flip them over and cook for another 3 minutes. [Increase the cooking time by a minute per side for medium (pink-in-the-center) steaks.]  You may need to reduce the heat after a few minutes if the skillet starts to get too hot.
8. Turn off heat, and move the steaks to a plate or platter to rest.  It is very important to let the steaks rest for about ten minutes prior to cutting into them.  If you cut into the steaks when they are still very hot, most of the delicious juices will run out, resulting in dry meat.
9. Serve!  A side salad or crispy fried potatoes make a great side dish.

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Maple Brown Sugar Cookies (grain-free : Primal : gluten-free : unrefined sweeteners)

The flavor of maple syrup partners well with brown sugar and butter in these tasty cookies.  Everyone in our family loves these cookies, and I like having such a healthy, homemade treat on-hand for the kids. Since two of us like our cookies with nuts and two like them without, I added nuts to the second half of the batter before scooping up the cookies for baking.

Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
Makes 40-50 cookies

• 1&1/2 cups (3 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup organic Grade B maple syrup (cold from the fridge)
• 3/4 cup sucanat
• 1 cup plus 3Tb coconut flour
• 4 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
• 1 Tb plus 2 tsp organic vanilla extract, or use homemade
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup chopped crispy pecans (optional)

1. Set your oven racks so that none are in the bottom third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the salt, baking soda, and coconut flour. Whisk well to combine and break up any lumps of coconut flour.
3. In another bowl (or stand-mixer), beat the butter, maple syrup, and sucanat together for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. If you are using a stand-mixer, make sure you scrape the sides and bottom a couple times with a spatula to get everything incorporated well.
4. In a small bowl or pourable glass measuring cup, combine the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Don't worry about stirring this up.
5. Pour the eggs into the sweet butter mixture one at a time while the mixer is running.  Let each egg get incorporated before adding another one. (Note: the batter may look curdled during this process, but don't worry about it!)
6. While the mixer is running, add the dry ingredients a little at a time.  Since coconut flour does not contain gluten, there is no worry of over-mixing it.
7. Stir in the optional pecans. 
8. Scoop the cookies onto greased cookie sheets (or line the cookie sheets with exopats, which are wonderful since the cookies never stick and are less likely to burn).  I like to use a 1-Tb scoop for consistently pretty cookies, but you could just use a spoon. Press/flatten the cookies slightly using your fingers or the back of a spoon.
9. Bake the cookies at 325 F for about 15-18 minutes (or a few minutes longer if you are cooking them on stoneware). They are done when they are golden brown on top and a little darker brown on the edges.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes.  Then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack.
11. Once cool, store these cookies in an airtight container.  They can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer if you won't be eating them all in the next few days.  They are nice and chewy straight from the fridge, and even soft enough to eat straight out of the freezer!  Storing them in the freezer will also remove the pressure of having to eat them all in a week or so, as they will last for months in the freezer. 

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The Houseplant That Will Keep All Your Other Houseplants Alive

My History With Houseplants Is Littered With Dead Plants

My mother seems to have been born with a green thumb.  She has the most beautiful yard I've ever seen, despite the fact that we live in the hot, dry desert. Her house has always been filled with thriving, beautiful plants, and she even still has some houseplants that she has owned since the early 1980's! I aspired to have the same when I began setting up my own home.

Back in the late 1990's and early 2000's, I had terrible success in keeping houseplants alive.  I seemed to buy a new houseplant every month or two, yet they mostly looked awful and would eventually get tossed into the trash.  I tried many different types of plants, but they all failed to thrive.  I would forget to water them - their leaves would turn yellow or brown - I would remove the dead leaves - soon enough the whole plant would be threadbare and unattractive - bound for the trashcan.

Enter the Peace Lily.  When I bought this plant, I figured it was just another in my long string of houseplant failures.  Little did I know that this little plant would single-handedly keep the rest of my houseplants alive and give me a chance at having healthy, long-lived houseplants. 

How Does the Peace Lily Keep the Rest of My Plants Alive?

The Peace Lily keeps the rest of my houseplants alive because it comes with a built-in watering signal.  When the Peace Lily starts to dry out, its leaves start to droop.  Day by day, the leaves start to droop more, and more, and more, until I finally notice and realize it is time to water houseplants.

A drooping Peace Lily. It can droop much more than this if neglected.

With other houseplants, the leaves start yellowing and dying if deprived of water, but the Peace Lily is different.  Its leaves start to droop, and can get downright flat if I still keep forgetting to water it.  But then, once it gets watered, the leaves perk right back up. Keeping my plants watered is now just a matter of waiting for that characteristic droop in my Peace Lily. 

Peace Lily all perky and happy after getting watered

A Few Notes About Caring for Peace Lilies

• My Peace Lilies (and all of my other houseplants) do best when planted in pots that have a hole in the bottom. The hole allows for drainage in case of over-watering.  I also make sure there is a saucer under each pot to hold the extra water, and this allows the plant to suck up the remaining water as the dirt starts to dry out.
• If you wait for drooping leaves to signal that it is time to water the Peace Lily, beware that the water may travel very quickly through the pot when you water it.  If the saucer under the pot is small, it can very quickly overflow in this scenario. For this reason, when my Peace Lily is drooping, I make sure to give it just a bit of water at first, and then water it again in a few hours once the water in the saucer has been soaked up.
• Peace Lilies are one of the few houseplants that bloom indoors.  I keep my Peace Lilies in areas of moderate sunshine (and never in a very sunny spot), and they both bloom periodically.  The flowers are white and pretty, but they do drop little bits of pollen around.  I often just snip the blooms off with scissors rather than deal with the pollen mess.
• Over time, a few leaves near the bottom of the plant will slowly die.  I just remove these periodically, and that keeps my plants looking attractive.
• It may sound obvious, but Peace Lilies can only help your other plants if you make sure to water all of your plants whenever you water the Peace Lilies.  On busy days, I have sometimes been tempted to only water the Peace Lilies due to their obvious distress, but I have to make sure not to forget to water the rest of my plants as well.

I've had my Peace Lilies for over 5 years now, and the rest of my houseplants now have a fighting chance at living a long time in my house.  In fact, I haven't had to buy any houseplants in the last couple of years!

Do you have success in keeping houseplants alive and thriving?

Quick and Easy Sausage Links (GAPS : grain-free : Primal : gluten-free)

I made up a batch of these sausages today, and they were super tasty.  My 3-year-old finished his serving and called out "More, please!" I'm excited to have a recipe that for sausages that is so easy to make and tastes so delicious.

This recipe comes from the Beyond Grain and Dairy eCookbook by Starlene Stewart.  My notes are in RED.
 
Quick and Easy Sausage Links

• 1 pound fatty ground pork (you could also use beef, chicken, turkey, separate or mixed, and you can also sneak in organ meats!) (I used grassfed ground beef.)
• generous scoop of leftover bacon grease (Since my meat was not very fatty, I added some leftover bacon grease. This added a wonderful flavor to the sausages.) 
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic OR 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon granulated onion OR 1 Tablespoon onion, crushed
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (I doubled the amount of salt to 1 tsp since we like our sausages nice-and-salty.) 
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, optional (I left this out.)

1. Mix all ingredients together. I used my hands to mix it all together.
2. Form into sausage links. At this point you can refrigerate overnight so the spices can marry, or you can fry them immediately. I let mine sit for about 10 minutes before cooking them up.
3. Fry in your favorite healthy fat until well done, turning frequently to brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. I used a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Because of the added bacon grease in my sausages, I only melted a touch of butter in the pan before adding the sausages.  A good amount of the bacon grease did melt out of the sausages as they cooked, so a splatter screen was necessary to prevent making a huge, splattery mess.

This recipe and many more can be found in the Beyond Grain and Dairy eBook, which is part of this week's Real Foods eBook Bundle only until July 22nd. Whether you are new to real foods and looking for resources, or an experienced real foodie who just needs a bit more variety, this bundle of Real Food books is sure to help!

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• Nourished Cooking (121 pages / Retail Value: $11.95): My newest cookbook is a comprehensive cookbook that contains over 60 nutrient-dense, gluten-free recipes. This cookbook is perfect for those who eat traditional, real foods, as well as people on grain-free diets such as Primal, GAPS, and SCD. The recipes in this book are sure to please the whole family, and even people who don’t follow a traditional foods diet will rave over these foods. This cookbook includes recipes for:

• 8 Breakfasts, such as Lemon Coconut Muffins and Mushroom & Cheddar Crustless Quiche,
• 20 Main Courses, such as Italian Wedding Soup and Double Cheese Burgers,
• 10 Side Dishes, such as grain-free Cheesy Bread and Zucchini Spaghetti Noodles,
• 18 Desserts, such as grain-free Strawberry Chocolate Layer Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookies, as well as
• 7 Condiments/Sauces/Fermented Foods, such as Quick & Easy Pizza Sauce and Tartar Sauce.

• Beyond Grain and Dairy (166 pages / Retail Value:$16.97): This cookbook by Starlene Stewart contains 113 delicious recipes to tantalize your taste buds, made with no grains, gluten, dairy, gums, corn, soy or processed sugar. And even if you don’t need to avoid any of these items, the recipes are still delicious! Move beyond grain and dairy and you may find that you feel better than you have for years or maybe in your entire life! Photos included for every recipe, a clickable Table of Contents plus an Ingredients Index so you can easily find recipes by ingredient.

• Adventures with Kids! In the Kitchen (79 pages / Retail Value: $14.95): Author Chara Shopp encourages and teaches you when, how and why to bring your kids into the kitchen. Chara uses her sense of humor and practical experience as a teacher and mother of 3 to help you and your family succeed with real food cooking. Whether you are a gourmet cook or just learning, you will find practical ideas and suggestions for how to get your kids cooking, culturing, cleaning and celebrating their time in the kitchen! You will learn:
• Why you want your kids in the kitchen with you (more reasons than you might suspect), there are big benefits!
• When to train your children
• The step by step process for teaching culinary skills to your children
• How to pass on the skills used in a real food kitchen- soaking, sprouting, culturing, and more! (Don’t worry, she’ll teach you first!)

• Age appropriate ideas for things kids can do in your kitchen (printable)
• A printable list of over 140 kitchen skills to learn and practice!
• And more…

• Real Food Party Menus (22 pages/Retail Value: $7.95): Picking recipes to please a crowd can be difficult and time consuming. KerryAnn Foster has created three gluten-free and dairy-optional party menus, ranging from casual to more formal meals, that are only made with ingredients that non-foodies would recognize while staying on a real food diet. It’s the best of both worlds- they don’t complain about the food and you don’t have to go off of your eating style or be exposed to allergens.

• Just Making Ice Cream (113 pages / Retail Value: $12.00): This eBook by Marillyn Beard is more than just a recipe book! In this ebook, Marillyn offers practical ice cream-making tips such as choosing an ice cream maker, how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker and the basic principles of delicious homemade ice cream. You’ll also find more than 30 ice cream & gelato recipes, 9 cultured milk recipes, 10 sherbet recipes and 10 sorbet recipes along with natural sweetener & milk alternatives that will keep you busy taste-testing all summer long!

5 eBooks, retail value of $63.82, for only $13.95!

Remember – this sale is for ONE WEEK ONLY! It disappears forever on July 22nd at 11:59pm PST! (This bundle sale has now ended.)

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you use these links, your price will be the same but I may earn a small commission.

Kid-Pleasing Beef and Red Pepper Hash (grain-free : Primal : GAPS : SCD : gluten-free)

Looking for a new way to eat ground beef (our go-to, easy dinner base), I came up with this recipe for beef and red pepper hash (based on this recipe for stuffed peppers).  This delicious meal was devoured by everyone in my family, and my 3-year-old even asked for seconds.  This pairs wonderfully with fried potatoes, but it would also be good with rice or even on top of cheesy bread for an open-faced, grain-free sloppy joe.

Beef and Red Pepper Hash
Serves 4-6

• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 pound of ground beef, preferably grassfed
• 3 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tb fresh or 1 Tb dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried allspice
• 1 Tb dried Hungarian paprika 
• 1.5 cups strained tomatoes or tomato sauce, preferably from a glass jar  
• Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper 
• Equipment needed: large, heavy-bottomed skillet with a lid (the lid to my stockpot happens to fit perfectly on my cast-iron skillet) 

1. Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sprinkle with salt.  Saute for about 10 minutes, until the onion is starting to soften and becoming translucent.  The onion will taste especially good if you let it get a little bit browned.
2. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet.  Sprinkle the chopped bell peppers over the top. Season with a teaspoon of salt and about 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper. Saute for 5-8 minutes, until the meat is mostly browned.
3. Add the garlic, parsley, allspice, and paprika. Stir to combine, and continue to cook just until the garlic is fragrant (about 1 minute).  
4. Add the tomato sauce, and stir. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 12 minutes.
5. Uncover the pot, and taste for salt.  Add more salt and pepper as needed.  Continue to cook uncovered for a few minutes to allow some of the moisture to evaporate.
6. Turn off heat and serve!  This pairs well with fried potatoes, white rice, or a side salad with homemade ranch dressing drizzled over the top.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you use these links, your price will be the same but I may earn a small commission.

Simple Yet Special: Real Food Afternoon Tea Party (grain-free : gluten-free)

I often find it hard to take the time to leisurely enjoy activities with my kids.  There always seems to be one more thing on my to-do list, yet I know that being present with my kids, really connecting with them, is something that should take precedence over most other things on my list. Today my kids were asking for a tea party, and I thought it was a great opportunity to slow down a bit. 

Since this was a spur-of-the-moment activity, I didn't have any fancy tea party foods.  Nonetheless, I pulled together several different items that were on-hand, and took the time to lay them out nicely so that it felt like a special occasion. The kids placed flowers on the table and set our places with cups, saucers, and spoons.

More Tea, Please!

• Passion Tea
• Add-ins:
• Sucanat or sugar
• Maple syrup
• Raw milk

I chose Passion Tea because of it's beautiful pink color and aroma.  Rather than heating up the house, I chose to make cold tea; Passion Tea is wonderful because it can be "brewed" by just placing a tea-bag in cool water and allowing it to sit for 5-10 minutes.

My kids delighted in pouring their own tea and adding in milk and sugar (or sucanat).  We sweetened our second glasses of tea with maple syrup, and it was delicious!

Savory Plate

• Kalamata olives (organic)
• Fresh cherry tomatoes
• Raw cheese, cut into little spears
• Macadamia nuts
• Grapes
• Crispy dried peas

My goal in putting together the savory plate was to combine lots of different flavors and textures: salty & sweet, crispy & soft, tangy & creamy, juicy & dry.





 
Sweet Plate

• Dairy-free, soy-free chocolate chips
• Homemade, grain-free maple brown sugar cookies, cut into wedges
• Banana spears

The sweet plate combined different textures and flavors that all complimented each other.  I included the chocolate chips as a treat that my kids would be very excited to see. Bananas dipped in the chocolate chips were superb.

We read from the Treasury of Children's Poetry during the tea party, and had fun trying to remember some of the poems without looking at the pages.  My 3-year-old astounded me by reciting most of a poem he only heard one night a few weeks ago. My daughter relished reading some of her favorite poems aloud for everyone.

After the first few minutes, I put the camera away and got down to the business of enjoying the tea party with my children. 

What special activities do you enjoy with your children?