Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

In the Kitchen with Linda – Dinner Menu

August 12, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I spend canning green beans and corn. Thanks to some very generous church family, and neighbors who gave us the green beans and corn. We planted green beans and corn TWICE this year. Both times it was so wet, that the seeds rotted in the ground. So I’m very thankful for a great church family, and great neighbors!

Thanks to my kids helping me, we canned 62 quarts of green beans, and 13 quarts of corn.

Have you done any canning this year?

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

In the Kitchen with Linda – Dinner Menu:

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Fish filets, tator tots, sliced tomatoes

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – BLT’s on homemade bread, with turkey bacon, hot dogs & chips

Monday – chicken – Chicken, sweet potatoes, and onions in the crockpot, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce, zucchini from the garden

Wednesday – chicken – Baked chicken, brown rice, yellow squash from the garden

Thursday – beef – Tacos with all the fixings including tomatoes from the garden

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – Chicken Pasta Salad, carrot sticks

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Our Homeschool Week in Review

August 12, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Our second week of the school year went well. Although, Zach wanted to spend much more time reading than doing book work. He’s been reading through the Left Behind for Kids series. And loving it. He reads for a few hours every day. I just had to order another book yesterday. I love Paperback Swap!

My Referral Link

Monday night, Abby went to help with the little kids band practice at church. She helps them learn how to sing the songs, and for the ones that can’t read yet, she helps them learn the words. Tuesday night, she had her own band practice at church. Her group has been able to sing at numerous other churches and events so far. She really likes it. Maybe some day she’ll let me post a video of her singing. 🙂

Zach had his second guitar lesson Friday morning. He’s having lessons over Skype using MacPhail Center for Music. Review coming in a few weeks!

Want to see a “real life” picture? Guitar lesson going on at one end of the table, and green bean processing by Hannah on the other end! lol

Zach used his birthday money to buy 4 Lego sets. So he’s been busy this week making, and playing with, those sets.

I’m late posting this because of all those green beans on that table. It is now Monday, and we’ve finished another great day of homeschool. See you again on Friday for another homeschool week in review.

To see more homeschooling posts, visit Weekly Wrap Up.

Tyndale Rewards Program

August 7, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Tyndale has started a rewards program. As a member, you’ll be able to accumulate points, then use those reward points to get free books and Bibles. Other benefits include points on your birthday, opportunities to share your personal recommendations, and more.

There are many books being offered for points. From current fiction, to inspirational titles, to children’s books, to Bibles. The more you participate in the program, the more points you’ll acquire, and the more free books you’ll get! I’ve been a member for a few months, and have enough points for a free book. I haven’t been very active, but I plan on stepping up my activity so I can earn more points.

You will also receive points for referring friends to the program. There is no limit to the amount of points you can earn, and your points never expire! Such an easy way to earn books for yourself or for gifts.

If you love books, you’ll love Tyndale Rewards. Simply register at Tyndale Rewards and start earning points today!

*Disclosure: The link above is a referral link. If you click the link and register, I will receive points. I received no other compensation for this post.

Pay It Forward School Supplies Giveaway

August 6, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*I received no compensation in any form for this post.

Campus Book Rentals is sponsoring a Pay it Forward School Supplies Giveaway Event! Campus Book Rentals sent bloggers $25 to purchase school supplies to then giveaway to a child that needed them.

Campus Book Rentals is a company that offers students up to 90% off their textbooks! It not only allows students to save money, it helps students make money by providing services for students to rent out their textbooks to other students. Campus Book Rentals has been around since 2007, and continues to help students live a more affordable life. Campus Book Rentals is proud to sponsor such an amazing pay it forward event!

Thanks to this sponsored event, I was able to buy all the school supplies pictured below. I shopped at my local Dollar General Store for everything. I was able to purchase a backpack, a binder & filler paper, 2 folders, 6 composition notebooks, 3 spiral notebooks, 2 boxes of pencils, 1 pack of pens, 1 bottle of glue, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, 1 ruler, 1 pack of erasers, 1 pencil sharpener, 1 pack of index cards, 1 pack of markers, and 1 calculator.

I’ll get to how much I paid for all that later, but for now, more pictures! I filled the pocket on the front of the backpack with all the smaller things.

The inside of the backpack is stuffed full with all the larger items, the pens, and the pencils.

I run, with the help of my family, the clothes closet at my church. We sort and make available donated clothes and household items to the community for free. That’s right. Anyone in the community can come in and get what they need for free! It has been a blessing for my family to be involved in this very needed ministry.

I am so thankful to be selected to participate in this years Pay It Forward School Supplies Giveaway. School starts here this week, so as soon as I found out I was selected to participate on Friday, I went shopping. I then gave it to one of the boys that came into the clothes closet on Saturday morning. I had purchased the supplies and given them away before I received the sponsors money. lol Since school starts early here, I wanted to make sure the supplies got to the child before they went back to school. If I had waited until this weekend, he wouldn’t have had the supplies for the first day of school.

The boy and his mother were so happy to get the supplies. His mother said he really needed them.

Now, on to how much I spent. Dollar General regularly puts out $5 off $25 coupons. I had one that was good for the Friday I went shopping. Another reason I went shopping that day, so I could take advantage of the coupon. (Dollar General is in no way associated with this school supply giveaway, that is just where I went shopping.)

The composition notebooks and the folders were buy one, get one free. So that added to my savings.

After the buy one, get one free discounts, and the $5 coupon, my total was $25.44!! That’s for the backpack AND all the supplies. The backpack was so full, he’ll have to take supplies out to put his books in. lol He now has all the supplies he should need for several months.

The boy was blessed with a backpack full of school supplies, and I was blessed to be able to participate in this giveaway.

THANK YOU Campus Book Rentals for sponsoring this event!!

*This is a sponsored post in that I received $25. to purchase the school supplies. I kept nothing for myself. I received no form of compensation for this post.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura DVD Review

August 5, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the DVD Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura from Legacy Documentaries to review.

Legacy Documentaries is a company founded by Dean Butler, who played Almanzo Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie television series. He has produced two original documentaries, one of which is Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura is designed for the whole family to watch. Those who are currently reading, or just finished, the books will thoroughly enjoy this documentary. I introduced my children to the Little House series of books when they were very young. We’ve also enjoyed watching the television series, as well as a Little House mini-series that was on television a few years ago. I am definitely a Little House fan.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura covers the time period of Almanzo’s life that is told in Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Using pictures and video from the original Wilder homestead in New York (which is open to the public), the documentary follows Almanzo around the homestead. The documentary uses drawings from the Farmer Boy, interviews, as well as live action scenes to tell the story. All of these, the pictures, drawings, video, and live action scenes are all voiced over by the narrator. In some scenes, the narrator is reading excerpts from Farmer Boy, while the drawings are shown on the screen. Other scenes feature the actors, while the narrator reads. There are several interviews included in the documentary that help us to better understand the time period, along with the customs of the time.

I watched Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura with four of my children, ages 13, 14, 17, and 18. Actually, I watched it twice, the first time by myself. The kids all enjoyed watching this. I enjoyed watching it twice. Some have requested we go back and watch the television series again. This documentary has renewed their interest.

Dean Butler has done an excellent job of producing a documentary that is true to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s writing, while at the same time giving us more information about Almanzo, his life, and the time period.

Here’s a trailer of the documentary.

If you or your children loved Little House, you’ll also love Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura sells on the website for $21.95.

In the Kitchen with Linda – Dinner Menu

August 5, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I didn’t write a menu last week. That would be a fail. I found my self struggling with what to cook every day. Walking from fridge to freezer to cabinet, and back again because nothing looked good. Meals are definitely better, and more nutritious when I plan a menu.

Do you write a menu, or do you do what I did last week?

My neighbor stopped by last week with a giant bowl of blackberries from her yard. I filled 6 eight cup bags. That’s a lot of blackberries. That will be a lot of yummy blackberry cobbler this winter!

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

In the Kitchen with Linda – Dinner Menu:

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Taco Pasta Salad

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Leftovers, hot dogs

Monday – chicken – Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore, brown rice, broccoli

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – chicken – Cheesy Onion Chicken in the crockpot, brown rice, peas, carrot sticks

Thursday – beef – Meatloaf, baked sweet potato fries, corn

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – Chicken Pasta Salad, carrot sticks

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Saturday on the Farm – The View From My Front Porch

August 4, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

It’s the first Saturday of the month, which means it’s time for the Saturday on the Farm – The View From My Front Porch.

Looking off to the left, there is a lot to see. Starting in the lower left corner, you can see part of the Wild Rose Bush, and a few falling down Glads, and some Hostas along the front. Heading out into the yard, towards the driveway, are two hardy Hibiscus. A pink one, and a white one. You can see a part of the big Mimosa tree by the corner of the roof. Coming back into the front yard, is a purple Butterfly Bush.

While siting on the porch, looking straight ahead, is my huge white Butterfly Bush. Over on the back left of the picture is the front bulb garden. It did have a Glad blooming, but at this time of year it is always full of weeds, as the rest of the bulbs are spring bulbs. And I’m afraid of poison ivy, so I only weed it once a year. (bad gardener! lol) That’s a butterfly house in that garden.

Here’s a better shot of the Butterfly Bush. To put a little perspective to the picture, that’s a double seat bench, and a video game chair in front of the bush. Last week, I shared more information about the Butterfly Bush.

Looking off to the right, you can see my Mandevilla. on the porch post. Along the front of the house, is a bed with Hostas, Wild Roses, Glads and WEEDS. Just keeping it real. I have weeds. sigh. The tree at the end of the house is a Holly Tree that my husband transplanted from the woods on top of the hill. Farther out in the yard, is a small Mimosa tree, and the mound is a wild Blackberry patch. And you guessed it, weeds!

Fun FYI, my father in law lives in the brown house, and my mother and brother live in the tan house across the street. We have our own compound. 🙂 And my kids can’t get away with much, because someone is always watching. lol

Here’s a closer shot of the Mandevilla. It has four buds on it that will be opening this week.

Thanks for stopping by my front porch for a visit. Come back real soon! 🙂

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