This Week's Menu Plan (Plus Halloween Tips & Treats)

We try to downplay Halloween in our family, though we're not completely opposed to the occasion.  Our costumes are usually homemade, simple projects, and are basically a chance to play dress-up in public.  Halloween night is one of the few opportunities we get to interact with our neighbors, who usually celebrate with big parties.  Despite the scary decorations, I feel it is important for us to reach out and be friendly.

Tonight, in addition to visiting a couple of our neighbors, we're planning to head for the indoor comfort of the mall for trick-or-treating.  Our busy street is not a popular spot for trick-or-treaters.  Since we'll be out and about, the dinner plan is simple--chicken in the crockpot (see recipe link below) and steamed rice.

Will the Great Pumpkin appear tonight?

While we didn't get around to carving a pumpkin this year, I do have some quick and healthy Halloween snack and party food ideas over at AC.  I didn't manage to stock up on candy alternatives to hand out either, but I do have lots of ideas beyond candy here.  Also, if your kids bring home some chocolate loot, you might consider incorporating it into a semi-healthy breakfast in the days and weeks ahead!

Our menu plan for tonight and and the rest of the week:

Monday

• Vietnamese Chicken in the Slow Cooker, steamed rice, vegetables, Asian cucumber and peanut salad

Tuesday

• Broccoli Ham Stroganoff

Wednesday

• Salmon Pot Pie

Thursday

• Waffles, Bacon, Fruit Salad

Friday

• Noodle Stir Fry

Saturday

• Meatball Casserole (with lamb from the farm)

I'm linking up to MPM this week.

Acorn Hedgehogs: An Autumn Nature Craft

Hedgehog, 2011, made by my 8-year-old

Last fall, my daughter and I created some miniature hedgehogs out of acorns.  Though the wood glue made them fairly durable, they were not indestructible.  So this month we started to make more.


Materials used:

• Acorns with tops removed = body
• Long prickly seeds (from weeds or marigolds) = spines
• Wood glue
• Lentils = feet
• Black sesame seeds (or draw dots with a permanent marker) = eyes

Tip:  The prickly seeds and lentils are a little tricky to stick on properly.  Try letting the wood glue get half-way dry (until tacky) and then attach the seeds.

At first I called these critters porcupines, but after looking at some photos of the real animals, I thought hedgehogs were better (and cuter).  What do you think?  Would you call these hedgehogs or porcupines?

I'm linking to Kids Get Crafty and Craft Schooling Sunday.

Visiting a Family Farm in Rural Nebraska

Going to the source of our food is something I love to do with my kids.  We are blessed to live in a town with an abundance of farmers markets; there we can meet hardworking folks who produce food for our table.  One farming family we've gotten to know sells natural meats, with an emphasis on lamb.  We've ordered half a lamb in autumns past, but we love to eat lamb so much that we ordered a whole lamb this year.

Although we've been wanting to see the farm where our lamb comes from, its location, two hours away from the city where we live, made it hard to get there.  Yet providentially, we were going to be passing near the farm on our way back home from Kansas City this week.    So we called up, got directions, and found ourselves tooling along a dusty gravel road until we reached the farmhouse and neighboring store.  Here is the store:

It's an old country schoolhouse that's been moved and renovated by the owners of the farm.  I found out during our visit that the farmer's grandmother had attended this one-room schoohouse back in her day.

Kittens galore!

A few minutes after we arrived, we were met by a couple of the children.  They were clad in rubber work boots and chatted with us until their father made it up the hill.   The two of them carried our meat out to our minivan and then showed us around the farmyard.

A working pitchfork

My children enjoyed feeding the pet lambs.  The main flock was out in the pasture.

Geese and several other kinds of birds scooted away from us as we approached.

Teaching our children the importance of a good work ethic has been a big focus and challenge in our home lately. While they enjoyed the animals, I think it was even more valuable for them to see kids who were busy with lots of daily chore responsibilities.

We also want our children to understand and appreciate that what we eat takes a quite a bit of work to produce.  It is not just a matter of plopping items into a grocery cart!

While we can't afford to buy the best of everything, certain items, like ethical meats, I believe are worth the extra cost.  Furthermore, getting to see where our food comes from gives us both an education and greater peace of mind as we navigate the many choices involved in raising a family.

Asian Cucumber and Peanut Salad: What I Crave

Since making it myself for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I cannot get enough of this Chinese salad.  It is my attempt to replicate one of my favorite dishes at a restaurant I frequented during my two plus years in Jilin Province, China.

What is funny is that during my pregnancies in Asia, I had strong cravings for American food.  This time I around, I've been craving authentic Asian food.  Here I have found a perfect tangy-sweet-salty fix.  Added bonus: it takes about 5 minutes to put it together.


Ingredients:
3-4 small seedless cucumbers, or 1 large English cucumber
1/4 cup Spanish peanuts
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1.  Peel and quarter cucmbers.  Cut into 2-inch pieces.
2.  In a small bowl, sitr together garlic, vinegar, chili sauce, and oils.
3.  Transfer cucumber to serving bowl and toss with dressing.  Toss in peanuts just before serving.

Crafts from Family Nature Night

For weeks, my daughters have been looking forward to their first Family Nature Night.   This evening event was sponsored by the area Natural Resources Department and hosted in the gym of our elementary school.

The kids got make:

1. Beeswax candles

2. Fish with backbones

3. Shell and sand bracelets

4. TP roll binoculars

5. Butterfly wings

6. Soybean necklaces  (not pictured since it was our last craft of the night)

My children were jazzed about all the craft and live animal demonstration stations.  There was also a "fossil" dig and a hissing cockroach tractor pull.  Here's one of the racers in action:

Overall the evening was a smashing success.  I only wish they had more hands-on interaction with nature at school on a regular basis.  The focus on achievement tests basically sidelines such pursuits--at least for first and second graders in our local public schools.   Reading, writing, and arithmetic take up most of their school days, with only a few spare minutes for science and social studies.

Bad educational policy notwithstanding, my husband and I still have many opportunities to encourage our children to explore nature on their own, whether we're foraging for berries or interacting with insects in our own backyard.  It's up to us, the parents, to make sure their education is well-rounded and help keep their love of learning alive.

Find other adventurers this week over at Try New Adventures Thursday.

10 Fall Projects that I Actually Expect to Finish

It's a sobering thought: I have, most likely, about three more months to finish any projects before our next baby arrives.  Yikes!  So I need to get realistic about what I might truly be able to accomplish, despite my wishing to do more.

1. Make acorn critters with my kids.

2. Cover four chair seats with new fabric.

3. Set up and use my grandma's White sewing machine.

4. Sort my photos and scrapbooking supplies.

5. Finish Dallas Willard's book, Knowing Christ Today.

6. Complete 31 Days to Clean: Having a Mary House the Martha Way.

7. Make homemade marshmallows without corn syrup.

8. Bake homemade pumpkin granola.

9. Replace an old shower curtain liner.

10. Observe classrooms at local elementary school/s.

What's on your fall agenda?

I'm linking this to Top Ten Tuesday

and Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays.

Menu Plan for the Week of 10/3

October is off to an action-packed start, with lots of extra events this week.  We're headed to the Omaha zoo, hosting a former student for dinner, and having dinner with people from church the next evening.  In addition, I'll be attending my weekly Bible study, taking the girls to art lessons and participating in a MOPS meeting.  Hopefully the kitchen and meal timing will not be my downfall (as it was last month)!

Breakfasts
Crepes, eggs and toast, oatmeal, yogurt, cold cereal, fruit smoothies 

Lunches
Noodle soup, hot dogs, pasta, leftovers, avocado sandwiches


Dinners

Monday:  Vietnamese Chicken in the Slowcooker, Rice, Vegetable Stir Fry 

Tuesday:  Eggplant Itame, Russian Salad, Shrimp &Cabbage soup, Peanut & Cucumber Salad, Dumplings, Fruit 

Wednesday: Invited out to dinner       [bring a salad or dessert?]

Thursday:  [Bring breakfast to MOPS!] Dinner = Waffles

Friday:  Meatloaf 

Saturday: Swai fish