Italian Potato Casserole and Cream Cheese Brownies

This was one of our regular side dishes years ago, and I haven't made it in over a year or longer. Does that ever happen to you, where you stop making something for a long time because you just didn't think to make it?
Well tonight's menu is roast chicken, sweet corn, and italian potato casserole.

Easy Italian Potato CasseroleSide Dish

4 to 6 potatoes
1 onion sliced thin
2-3 tomatoes sliced
mozarella cheese
parmesan cheese
dried oregano
dried basil
salt and pepper

Peel potatoes and slice thin, I use the Cuisenart to make this dish super fast! Slice onions. In a deep dish pan that has been sprayed or buttered, layer (one half of ingredients) potatoes, onions, oregano, basil, salt, pepper,parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and then mozarella, then repeat the layers. Cover with aluminum foil that has been sprayed. Bake at 400 degrees F. until tender. About 40-45 minutes. Uncover to brown.

I will also make some cream cheese brownies for dessert. They are super easy!

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

1 pkg. brownie mix
6 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. sugar5 eggs
2 tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. water
Cream cheese mix: soften cream cheese, butter, sugar, 2 eggs, flour, vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Brownie mix: mix according to direction on package using 3 eggs.
Spoon half of mix in pan. Top with cream cheese, add other half and swirl through with spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Snapshots

A Day at the Museum

We had a fun time at the museum. Yesterday we had the homeschool group over for lessons on Picasso and Margritte. We did some fun art projects reflecting "Cubism" and "Surrealism". The next morning we all woke up with art on the brain. So after lessons we went to the Montgomery Art Museum. We were able to see paintings and other art work that reflected cubism and surrealism.

Here is Luther with the view of the lake behind him. Those sculptures at the center actually turn and the birds like to sit on them. It was a gorgeous 75 degree day in Nov.

This is a tile wall that Peter is enjoying looking at.

The boys are actually in the art. There is a painting of this in the museum.

Here is Sara posing in front of the museum.

Long time no write...

Daddy and Peter preparing for thier Thanksgiving Feast.

Hello everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I updated. We have been busy as you can imagine. With doctor/dentist appointments, homeschool activities, home-schooling, baby care, pet and house care, laundry etc.... You know what I mean!

Our Thanksgiving was very nice and quiet. We enjoyed a lovely meal here at home together, just the seven of us and of course Kia catching all the droppings and leftovers that she could. We decided we wanted a quiet simple day of thanks giving. We went around the table and we each gave thanks for something.

Today is a very rainy day, which we need. So we will probably do a lot of extra reading, and laundry, and eat homemade turkey soup that I made with what was left of our turkey. I just boiled the bones in water with whatever meat was left on the bones. I added celery, onion, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. I simmered for an hour or so. Then I removed the bones, and picked the meat off the turkey. I added a bag of bow tie pasta with veggies from Schwan's and two diced potatoes. Simmered till tender and add the picked turkey. Yummy! Good with sour dough or crusty bread.

Peter is sitting all by himself now and is still teething so he gets fussy. But we have so many extra sets of arms that he doesn't have to fuss for very long before someone comes to his rescue. He is sleeping much better these nights. He was getting up almost every two hours, when the teething was painful, to nurse but is back to sleeping from about 9 p.m. till about 5 or almost 6 a.m. NICE!!

Speaking of teeth, Anthony just lost his third tooth. He all ready lost the bottom two and now has lost his top tooth. He was trying to whistle with the hole left, but it isn't working. Anthony also informed me this morning that elephants are afraid of mice. I wonder where he got that idea :) Kids say the funniest things.

Homeschool happenings

Well we are currently finishing up some science and history books we are reading. Our trimester is almost over. One of the favorite books is "Galen and the Gateway to Medicine".

This is an interesting book about how doctors started out learning their field, particularly Galen, who was a doctor that practiced over 2,000 years ago. I highly recommend this book for ages 8 and up. Luther will be reading The History of Medicine, which will get a little more in depth and takes a look at medical practices from the ancient past to the present, including biographical sketches of famous persons of medicine.

We will also be purchasing and boxing up Christmas gifts for the students at St.Joseph's Indian School in SD. This is a project through our homescool group. I am not sure but I think these boys are either orphans or displaced. I will have to learn more and let you know later.

We go roller skating once a month and have book club once a month. We meet with another local group for sports and art in the park every Friday if we can. I will be starting a monthly art and music class right here in my home as well.

We will be baking lots of mini quick breads for the troops and my brother who are overseas and will not be home for the holidays. I hope they make it!

Bee Movie

Well we went to see Bee Movie on Saturday afternoon, with much hesitation on my part. I had read some critics reviews on a particular site that I thought I trusted, and they weren't extremely positive on the movie. That site gave it a C+. Compared to Ratatouille which got an A-.

If we were to grade those same movies, we would switch the grades around. Bee Movie was great! We really enjoyed it! And we didn't care that it wasn't accurate to the way real bees are. We didn't go there to be educated on bees, we went to be entertained and to have some laughs. If we wanted to learn about bees, we could have rented a National Geographic video on the life of bees.

I hope that those of you that go to see Bee Movie will enjoy it as much as we did. It was perfect for the whole family.

The Good Ol' Days

The children and I have been going to a park on Fridays for sports day and art. Some bring baseballs and bats, others bring a kick ball or football, and we just play. It is neat to see the children playing at the park because their main goal is to have fun, and enjoy their friends.
There was a time when sports were played in the neighborhood just for the fun or love of the game. Picture this, the kids take two trash cans and set them up across from each other, those were the goal (nets), the kids would get some sticks or brooms and use a tennis ball or small ball to play-- Yes, you guessed it, street hockey! No expensive equipment needed!
Nowadays sports have become so competitive, expensive, and all about making it big. The goal seems to be to become famous and make millions, oh and yes, it's a bonus if you love the sport that you play.
I remember as a child playing hide and seek, kick the can, dodgeball, freeze tag, tag, jump rope, double-dutch, chineses jump rope, ride skateboard, bike, or tricycle. It was great to climb trees, run through the pineapple fields in PR, pick mangoes off the tree for a quick snack, build sand castles at the beach, or build a house with sheets on your bunk bed. On rainy days board games were a blast. Playing monopoly or parchesi for hours. Playing card games like war, matching, hearts, rummi, or gin-rummi. And I hate to admit, but hey I was a girl, I played with dolls or barbies. I wasn't as impacted in those days (way back in the 70's) with feminism as some women are now. We weren't afraid to become mothers, and our mothers weren't concerned about us getting an eating disorder because of playing with barbie dolls. We were just having fun without the distraction of television or video games. Obesity was rare, even being overweight was uncommon.
Wouldn't it be nice to go back to the simple days of working and playing together, spending true quality time together, not in front of the television, but with each other. Listening to each other and really hearing each other as we do the dishes or fold laundry together. Our children will surprise us with what they are able to do and learn and what they all ready know. We are so busy in our lives that we hardly have time to talk to our children.
Yes we have work to do, but can't we spare one night a week, order a pizza or make a simple meal, turn off the t.v. and video games, and really spend time together. Teach your children to play together even if they aren't in the same age group. Our older children will learn patience and the younger ones will learn to respect their older siblings and look up to them. We will learn more about each other and appreciate each others gifts and limitations.
Movie night is fun too, don't get me wrong! But it's more fun if you watch sparingly and watch together.