Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

January 25, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I was stuck in the house for most of last week due to snow and ice. So I had time to do a little cooking!

One night, while the family was having leftovers, I felt like having a big salad. Romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes, celery, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, tuna, and french salad dressing. Yum!

I usually cook our roasts in the slow cooker. Since it was so cold out, I cooked it for a couple of hours in the oven. It came out perfect. My husband made the mashed potatoes! He was bored stuck in the house. lol

We all love lots of butter on our mashed potatoes. My daughter made me laugh when she made this mashed potatoes tower. She sealed the butter in so it would melt. lol Hey, it worked! lol

I made breakfast for supper one night. We had turkey bacon, fried potatoes, eggs from our chickens, toast, and orange juice. Always a family favorite.

Since I was snowed in, I had time to try a new recipe. Pizza Pasta Skillet Dinner. It was a hit with my family! In fact, we sat around the table talking about what we could do to make it better with different variations. Look for the recipe coming soon!

How do you know that I am a real person that cooks all this food myself in my kitchen? You can tell by the tomato splatters on my stove! lol That’s real life! lol

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

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

Saturday – quick & easy- Venison Roast with onions cooked in the oven, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – leftovers

Monday – chicken or turkey – Oven Baked Chicken, rice, beets, peas

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Pizza, carrot sticks, celery

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or beef – Spaghetti & meatballs, green beans

Friday – venison – Venison roast with potatoes, onions with mushroom sauce, carrots

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

January 18, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Life is still crazy here. Probably will for for a while yet. I’m still serving easy meals. My family doesn’t care, as they are still getting some of their favorites.

Like this beef roast made in the slow cooker with potatoes, carrots, and onions. It just takes maybe 5 minutes to throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning.

Another meal we had last week was venison steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and broccoli. My daughter made the mashed potatoes. It didn’t take me long to cook the venison steaks that I had marinated over night, in the fridge, in Italian salad dressing. They were really good!

The best part about mashed potatoes is the pool of melted butter! Butter is good for you! It’s a healthy fat. Of course, I didn’t use a whole stick!

It was nice to be able to cook a couple of meals from scratch this week. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to all homemade meals soon!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

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

Saturday – quick & easy- Dinner out

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – frozen pizza, carrots, celery

Monday – chicken or turkey – Jag

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Chicken Alfredo, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Pizza Pasta Skillet Dinner

Thursday – pork or beef – Breakfast for supper

Friday – venison – Venison roast with potatoes, onions with mushroom sauce, broccoli

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2015

January 14, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Here are the 10 most popular posts of 2015. Y’all picked some great posts to visit!

Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt for Teenagers – so much fun!

Gluten Free Banana Bread – a yummy treat for gluten free eaters

Cinnamon Apple Banana Bread – This bread is so moist and good

Crocheted Prayer Shawl

How to Prepare for a Large Cookout – tips for having a cookout for a crowd

Chops in the Crock Recipe

Dave Ramsey Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool Review

Our Homeschool Curriculum 2013 –

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore – this is so easy and delicious!

Easy Lasagna Noodles – a great tip for saving time when making lasagna

Thanks for a great 2015!

I look forward to sharing many more great posts with you in 2016!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

January 11, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Due to everyone in my family being sick for about a month, and my mother being in the hospital, we postponed family Christmas. Well, yesterday was the day! We had a great time with all 6 of our kids and our son in law. We ate, talked, watched old videos, and exchanged the gifts we had drawn names for. I didn’t take any pictures of the food! I was too busy living in the moment.

With being sick, and spending time at the hospital with my mother, we have been eating quick and easy meals. I do prefer to cook our meals from scratch. Sometimes, though, life gets in the way. I don’t think we should feel guilty or less than because we have to serve easy meals during certain seasons of our lives.

It’s ok to cook the spaghetti and top it with jarred sauce & frozen meatballs. Cooked of course, lol. Frozen fish, frozen chicken, and frozen potatoes make quick and easy meals as well. If you choose carefully, and serve lots of vegetables, you can keep the nutrition level up to an acceptable level. A big one for me was letting go of the homemade soup while we were sick and eating canned soup from the store. For the record, most of the Progresso soup flavors taste as good as homemade.

So I am planning, and serving, easy meals. I am also enlisting the help of my teenagers to prepare meals. One person can’t do everything. That is always a hard lesson for me to learn, though!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

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

Saturday – quick & easy- Chicken Strips, tater tots, corn, peas

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Family Christmas! – Shrimp cocktail, popcorn chicken, french fries, seasoned potato wedges, sugar snap peas

Monday – chicken or turkey – Lemon Pepper Oven Baked Chicken (I cooked a batch of this last month & have it in my freezer, just thaw and eat!), Alfredo noodles (made from a package mix), green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – pizza, carrot & celery sticks, sugar snap peas

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Guisado (tacos) with all the fixings

Thursday – pork or beef – Beef roast with potatoes, onions carrots

Friday – venison – Venison steaks, mashed potatoes, corn

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

5 Tips for Staying in the Hospital with a Loved One

January 8, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*This 5 Tips Staying in the Hospital with Loved One post contains affiliate links

Having a loved one in the hospital is hard! I was in and out of the hospital with my son for over three years when he was receiving treatments for leukemia. My mother has now been in the hospital for 3 weeks, with at least another four weeks to go.

Traveling back and forth to the hospital visiting, or staying in the hospital day and night with your loved one, doesn’t leave much time for taking care of yourself.

The first step in taking care of our loved ones in the hospital is taking care of ourselves. There is a reason why the airlines tell you to put the oxygen mask on your self first, and then your kids. You can’t take care of them if you don’t take care of yourself first.

5 Tips for Staying in the Hospital with a Loved One

1. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. I know soda machines are rampant in hospitals, but soda does nothing good for you. Search out the machines with water, find a water fountain, bring a refillable water bottle with a built in filter that you can fill from the water fountain, or carry in bottled water you purchased at the store.

2. Eat the healthiest food you can find in the cafeteria. You need to fuel your body with good food so you have the strength to take care of your loved one. Most hospital cafeterias offer healthy options now. Plenty of cooked vegetables, and salad bars. Choose your protein carefully. Try not to get something fried and battered. Go first for the uncoated chicken and fish. Having a burger off the cafeteria grill once in a while will be ok, but try skipping the fries. Try a side salad with your burger instead. If you travel back and forth to the hospital instead of staying there, be sure to eat before you leave home. If you are going to be at the hospital all day, carry in your own food. Most nurses won’t complain about you bringing in food. Be careful to clean up after your self. If your loved one, or their room mate are unable to eat, be considerate and don’t eat in front of them. Eat while they are napping, take your food to the waiting room, or find a bench or table outside to eat at. That will also have the added benefit of getting you some fresh air while you are eating.

3. Try to get enough sleep. I know that’s hard. If you are staying overnight in the hospital with your loved one, the nurses will wake you up repeatedly when they come in. Mornings also start very early at hospitals. You often have to be up by 6 if you want to talk to the doctors when they make their rounds. So try to go to sleep earlier at night. If your loved one takes naps during the day, try to grab a nap for yourself as well. While the hospital will give you a pillow and a blanket, bringing a small pillow from home that is comfortable for you will make sleeping in the hospital a lot more comfortable.

4. Bring something to do. That’s easy now a days with smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Bring books – to read, puzzle books, or adult coloring books. All of those can be used by your self, or your loved one. If you crochet or knit, those are good projects to help pass the time. Try reading out loud to your loved one. Even if it’s just the newspaper. They might enjoy it, and it will give you both a nice break from watching tv. Bringing music to listen to can be soothing to the patient, as well.

5. Give your self a break! Take a break from the hospital room every couple of hours. Even if it’s just walking down the hall to the restroom. Your mind will get a little break, and your body needs the exercise after sitting all that time. You also need to give your self a break while you are trying to balance taking care of your loved one in the hospital, work & other family obligations. If you have kids at home, you might feel guilty for not being with them as much as you would like. And when you are home with them, you might feel guilty about not being at the hospital. Those feelings are all normal. It can be hard to balance family at home and family in the hospital. Try not to be too hard on yourself. Your mental and emotional heath is important, too. Realize that you are doing the best that you can do to balance every ones needs.

Having loved ones in the hospital is never easy. It is very hard to balance everything in our lives with staying in the hospital with our loved ones. These tips have helped me, and I hope they will help you as well.

*This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

SchoolhouseTeachers.Com Yearly Membership Review

January 6, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*This post contains affiliate links.

I have used SchoolhouseTeachers.com for a few years now. They offer close to 200 different classes, as well as extras and printables with the SchoolhouseTeachers.com Yearly Membership. I love how easy to use the website is, and the variety of online classes available for for all ages, including adults. The printable homeschool planners available are some of the best I have seen in my 25 years of homeschooling.

For new members, the best place to start on the site is the New Members Hub. From there, you can check out Courses by Grade or Courses by Subject to choose what classes you want your students to take. With almost 200 different classes, there is something for every member of the family.

Art
Bible
Computer and Technology
Drama and Speech
Electives
Foreign Languages
History, Geography, and Social Studies
Language Arts
Math
Music
Nutrition, Health, and Fitness
Science
Just for Parents or the Whole Family

You can watch an Introduction to SchoolhouseTeachers.com video that is very helpful in seeing all that is offered.

Members of SchoolhouseTeachers.com also receive many extras included in the membership:

Digital back issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine
All 5 of the popular Schoolhouse Planners,
Recordings of the Schoolhouse Expos,
Free monthly eBooks and TOS supplements,
Membership to Applecore, an online homeschool tracking software
And more!

Here are a few of the offerings Just for Parents or the Whole Family:

Be Prepared
Charlotte Mason Homeschooling
College Choice Guidance
ESL Language Arts
ESL Vocabulary
Everyday Organization
Family Fitness
Family Nutrition
Growing in Homeschool Confidence
Hands-On Math Help with Cuisenaire Rods
Heritage Crafts
Homegrown Parenting
Homeschooling That’s Relational
Homesteading
How to Teach Elementary Math
It Starts At Home
Joy in the Morning
Kinetic Connections
Nourishing Nuggets
Parenting: The Early Years
Parenting Tips with Dr. Scott Turansky
Reading Remedies (Reading Lessons for Young or Struggling Readers)
Reading List (Monthly Book Lists for Families)
Special Needs
Special Needs Trenches
Tips for Homeschooling Active Learners
Whole Foods Cooking with Sue Gregg
Writing: Mechanics
Your Child’s Learning Style

There are hours and hours of reading & invaluable resources available for parents to help you in your homeschooling journey.

I have used some of the high school courses available with my students. For this review, my 9th grade son chose to use the Web Game Design course. The Web Game Design course teaches students how to create some simple games in their web browser. Students will learn to write code directly into the web browser to make things happen. With the Web Game Design course students will learn to use input fields, images & sound effects, 2D frame animation, how to start a JavaScript game, & more.

He is several lessons in and liking it. We have used core subjects before, and I will be adding some more in for my son this semester, but I let him pick which course to take first. This Web Game Design class includes 42 weekly lessons, and is generally expected to take 1-2 hours per week to complete. Students who complete the entire year should be comfortable receiving 0.5 computer science credit on a transcript. I really love that most of the high school courses tell you how many credits your student will earn by completing the course.

I, myself, have used the ASL course in the past, but haven’t completed it. I will be starting again. And finishing! I truly love everything about SchoolhouseTeachers.com!

Interested in trying SchoolhouseTeachers.com?

You can join monthly for $12.95 each month or save over 10% on a one-year membership for $139. One fee serves your entire family. Anyone living in your home can use the site 24/7. That’s right, no per person or per course fees! And you can cancel at anytime.

Here is a coupon code good for a 50% discount on a one year subscription! Enter CREWFOLLOWER in the coupon code box when signing up. This coupon is valid through 1/31/2016.

You can also visit SchoolhouseTeachers.com on their social media sites:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SchoolhouseTeachers/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOSMag/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tosmag/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/118111005169451277551/posts

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and purchase something, I will receive a commission.

Where I Have Been

January 6, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I’ve been missing from most online activities for the last 2 and 1/2 weeks. And it was all due to sickness.

A couple of my kids have been sick for about 3 weeks. I’ve been sick for about a week and a half, and my husband and 2 more kids have been sick for the last week. We’ve had multiple visits to the doctor and multiple medicines. This cold, or the doctor said possibly the flu, got a grip on us and led to sinus infections, and bronchitis for the whole family, a pleurisy for one kid. I am now referring to it as “the plague”! Hopefully this newest round of meds will knock it out of us for good! We’ve had as many as 4 of us in the doctor’s office at once. I took a pic of our feet because we were too sick to show our faces!

sickies

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, my mother got really sick with Strep Meningitis. She has been in intensive care this whole time, at a hospital 2 hours away from where we live. Today, she is being moved to a continuing care hospital about an hour away from home for inpatient therapy before going home. She will be there getting intense respiratory and physical therapy for about 4 weeks. At least she is a little closer to home, making it easier for all of her family to visit. The doctors are expecting a complete recovery, but at 79 years old, it just takes a body longer to recover. She’s wearing glasses to protect her identity!

granny hosptial

One of my sons has not been able to visit her at all this whole time because he has been too sick to go to the hospital. The rest of us haven’t only visited a few times. We are so afraid to pass this sickness to her!

So I am back working online now. I have lots of great posts and giveaways coming up!

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