What is 2020 like?

 

Cooking Lessons with the Kids

 

I decided to start cooking lessons with the kids. It is too overwhelming to me to have the kids help with meals every day. 

1. There are too many of them, I get buried alive sometimes lol 🙂. 

2. Cooking is something that I like to just put on a show or listen to a book and get work done. I don’t want to stop to ask someone to do something or teach someone how to do something. I just want to do it and get it done. 

I do cooking two ways:

1. Get food on the table. This is your basic, we need to eat, so I have to make it. 

2. Cook for enjoyment, try a new recipe bake several versions to see which is best, make something that takes more work, etc. Neither of those I want help with from the kids.

But I do think it is important to teach the kids to cook. I think everyone needs to know how to cook. And they enjoy cooking I want to encourage that. But I didn’t want to cook with everyone at once. As I said it’s overwhelming. 

Introducing Cooking Class!

I got a cook book that is kid friendly and fits our dietary restrictions (gluten free, dairy free, soy free,). I checked it out from the library. So far I’m loving it.

The cookbook we are using is Eat Like a Dinosaur, it is a kids Paleo cookbook. I am planning to try The Paleo Kids Cookbook next. But any cookbook that works for your family would work for this

I do 1 kid per week. They get to pick 1 main dish, 1 side dish/vegetable, 1 snack, and 1 dessert. We cook those together. 

I have them pick out their recipes the week before so I have time to get the ingredients. 

I am learning how to teach something I automatically do. 

The kids are enjoying the one on one time and enjoying trying new recipes. It is a Win!

Here is what D and I cooked together. He picked hissing chicken, sweet potato fries, tropical smoothie, deviled eggs and banana chocolate chip muffins (last two not pictured)

Healthy Dairy Free Frosty

 

We found this recipe in Eat Like A Dinosaur. We first made it in Cooking Class. Honestly the kids didn’t like it, they all gave it back (I think it was too strong and rich for them, even with added banana). But Chris and I loved it! It reminded us of a Wendy’s chocolate frosty. The original recipe called for dates, but I didn’t find them necessary. This is a sugar free, dairy free frosty / milkshake. And it is delicious!

Let’s talk about the ingredients

Avocado - healthy fat, lots of vitamins etc. adds a heathy boost and also makes the frosty smooth, creamy, and thick.

Banana - a sweet fruit that is great for sweetening smoothies :). It is higher carb so definitely not keto. If you are Keto / low carb and ok with a dark chocolate flavor, you might be able to eliminate the banana or substitute berries, but it will definitely be less sweet. I have not tried that but it’s worth a try. If you are not keto and you like a sweeter milkshake feel free to add more banana. You can freeze the bananas first for a thicker milk shake.

Coconut milk - I used the unsweetened stuff in the carton. You can use the full fat canned kind for a thicker higher fat milk shake. I was going for lower calorie and the carton milk worked great!

Cocoa powder - this is obviously where the chocolate flavor comes from.  But it also has some health benefits of its own. It has been linked to lowering inflammation and blood pressure, and boosting blood flow and brain function among other things.

Chocolate Greens (optional) - I use It Works Chocolate greens. It has 8 servings of veggies, 15 calories, and 2 carbs. It just adds a good boost of vegetables for a lot of nutrition, without many drawbacks. It also adds to the chocolate flavor and sweetness. You can use other brands, just check out the ingredients and nutrition label to make sure it fits with your eating goals.
(disclaimer - I am an It Works distributor, but I only benefit monetarily if you order through me 🙂. On a related note if you are interested in more info email me at domesticrandomness@gmail.com 🙂 or you can order order here.)

Meal Replacement/protein powder (optional) - I order custom meal replacement powder through True Nutrition. I love this because I am able to pick what I want in my powder and in what quantities. I picked beef protein, whole egg, sweet potato, avocado oil, etc because I would actually sit down and eat those things in a meal. They have many more choices like whey, grass fed milk, MCT, and much more. I also find their prices to be extremely reasonable. $10-16/lb for most things, depending on what you order. You can use whatever powder you normally use or leave this out 🙂.
(Use the code domesticrandomness at checkout for 5% off your order. I believe it can be combined with their bulk order discount)

Powdered Coffee (optional) - I use It Works Skinny Brew for a dairy free coffee powder. It has a french roast coffee taste. And it has added energy, brain boosting, focus, and fat burning ingredients!
(disclaimer - I am an It Works distributor, but I only benefit monetarily if you order through me 🙂. On a related note if you are interested in more info email me at domesticrandomness@gmail.com 🙂 or you can order here.)

Ice- this one is fairly obvious, it makes the frosty cold and thicker. Especially if the bananas are not frozen. Also adds water, which most of us need more of. 🙂

Healthy Dairy Free Frosty
Serves 2

1 Avocado
2 ripe bananas
2 c unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 c cocoa powder
2 scoops Chocolate Greens (optional)
2 scoops meal replacement/protein powder (optional)

2 packets powdered coffee (optional, for a mocha frosty)
4 handfuls of Ice

Put all ingredients in blender, blend until well mixed.
Serve and enjoy!



Nutritional info (without the optional powders)

307 calories

31g net carbs

46g total carbs

16g fiber

18g fat

7g protein

Paleo, low calorie meal replacement, clean eating, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free, sweetener free, allergen friendly, healthy milkshake, low carb

Game Review: Lanterns - The Harvest Festival

Lanterns -The Harvest Festival 

We got this game from the library.

It is a good family game. It is simple enough that our 8, 7, and 5 year old can play it. There is no reading required for game play so non-readers can play this. The 7 and 5 year old need some help with strategy, but they are able to play independently for the most part. The length of the game was also a little long for the 7 and 5 year old. But the game could be adjusted for a shorter game. We just let them leave when they were done playing.

This game has a max of 4 players, so we had to do teams until the younger left. Not great for large families. 

The play is simple play tiles, gather cards, make sets with cards to earn points. Whoever has the most points when the tiles run out wins. 

It is great for several learning concepts too. The cards and tiles are colored so there is color recognition and matching. The score counting at the end is great for math. Strategy, logic, turn taking are also featured in this game.

The colors and visuals are also awesome.

Overall this is a great game! It was fun, engaging, and learning. Definitely worth checking out! 

Order Here

Hamilton - a movie review by Amanda

 

I had heard Hamilton was good but I didn’t really know what to expect.

If you haven’t seen it, Hamilton is the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers, told in operatic format (I think?) the entire movie was in song, all the dialog was in song. But not opera type song. It was rap, hip hop, etc song. That was interesting, I’d never seen a movie like that. Also it is a video taping of a play, not a traditional movie. The play is historical fiction. We kept looking things up to see if they were historically accurate, and most of them were. 

It is available on Disney +. 

*disclaimer* there are some spoilers in here. Although if you know much history or you are inclined to google a historical character while watching a movie you will find all the spoilers anyways 🙂

Here are some of my thoughts on the movie

1. Dueling or any type of fight to the death is perhaps one of the stupidest ways to resolve conflict ever.

2. If you don’t believe in dueling do not wait until the count of 10 to protest. There were many opportunities to stop the duel before the count of 10. Why did he wait and then shoot toward the sky? Why not turn down the duel when it was first proposed? Why not actually talk in person instead of sending seconds? If the other person is not willing to take back their words, and you are not willing to take back yours then why not just walk away? Why agree to a death fight? The whole point of dueling is that one or both of you must die. You cannot both go on living in this world together. He knew that and still entered the duel and still sent his son to a duel. 

3. In the matter of the mistress the most important line is “when she put her lips on mine I didn’t say no”. He had a choice. He knew it. It was a tough choice. But still a choice. 

4. I loved the multiculturalness of it. Most of the founding fathers were African American. The whole cast was a variety of skin colors. I feel like this movie did a good job of showing that skin color does not matter. They showed, fairly historically accurately, the life of European American founding fathers with African American actors, and I found it just as believable. I don’t feel that the story would be any different with any skin color. Because people are people. Human nature is universal. 

5. I loved the portrayal of King George as a scorned lover. That was hilarious.

6. It was interesting that the guy who killed Hamilton was also the narrator. It really showed how their lives were intertwined. (That’s not a spoiler, that was said in the first scene).

7. This is not a movie that you can work while watching. It is incredibly fast paced and all the dialog is in song so you have to be paying attention to catch everything. 

Overall, very good movie. I feel like I need to watch it again to catch all the things I missed. Enjoyable, entertaining, and educational. There are parts, especially the mistress and the fall out from the mistress, and the duels that might be harder for young kids. If you are willing to have hard conversations with your older kids it would probably work for them. I felt like it helped me understand history a lot more. But it wasn’t dry or boring, it was very entertaining. I might include this in our American History curriculum when the kids are older. 

How to get rid of pimples without popping

 How to eliminate pimples 1without popping

Have you guys heard of the toothpaste trick? This works on pimples, bug bites/stings. You have to use the white paste kind of toothpaste. Not the gel kind. But you just put a dab of toothpaste on the pimple or sting and let it dry. Then wash it off. The next day it will be better. If the pimple is really bad it might take 2 or 3 days of reapplying. But it really works! The toothpaste draws out the bacteria or poison and allows your body to heal itself. 

I forgot to take a before picture but it was a decent sized pimple.

If a mom ...

I wrote my morning up in "if you give a mouse a cookie" style. Enjoy :)

What I am thinking this Memorial Day

Many years ago a man fought in the war. He went off to fight for his country. Then he came home and married. They had 8 children, 4 sons and 4 daughters. One of those sons had 1 son and 3 daughters. 1 of those daughters is me. My grandfather fought in the war and survived. Because he survived I was born.

There are many many men and women for whom the story was not so rosy. Many men went off to war to fight for their country and never returned. There are many children and grandchildren who were never born because of a war. There are many children who grew up without a father or mother because of a war. And many people have grieved lost loved ones.

On this day, Memorial Day, we remember those people who were lost in service to our country. I want to thank you to all those who have lost loved ones. Thank you for your sacrifice. I am so grateful to live in a country that has so many freedoms. I am so sorry for your loss.

Give your Bedroom a Spring Cleaning

Cleaning up for Springtime
Guest Post by Leesa Content Team

Springtime is finally here and I think we all know what that means. Spring cleaning! If you’re anything like me, you have a long list of things to do around the house, but the best place to start is the bedroom. Believe me, if your sleep space is organized and clean, it’ll put you in the spring mood and motivate you to clean the rest of your home! Here are a few tips to help you conquer spring cleaning and redecorating your bedroom.

Out with the old and in with the new

One great way to get your bedroom ready for spring is to get rid of  things you don’t need anymore. That includes clothes, shoes, jewelry, old furniture, desk supplies, etc. If you haven’t touched it in months (with exclusion to seasonal items) it’s time for it to go. Clearing out some clutter will help make you feel lighter and your room feel more open.

Time for a change

Springtime is the perfect time to change out those flannel sheets, heavy blankets, and old mattresses. It’s always a good idea to change up your bedding this time of year with something lighter in both color and weight. If you’re interested in some new bedding and sheets check out Parachute for some great options. But if you’re going as far as changing your whole mattress, check out Leesa for Awesome mattresses online.

Wash your pillows

Most people forget this step, but washing your pillows is super important this time of year. If your type of pillow allows, throw them in the wash once with soap and another with just a water spin cycle, just to make sure all the soap is out. Then throw them in the dryer with a few tennis balls to help keep them the fibers from clumping. This helps get all those indoor allergens and dust mites out.

Flower decor

April showers bring May flowers, but that doesn’t mean they need to stay outside. Flowers and other greenery are a great way to spruce up your room decor for spring. Whether they are real, fake, in a picture, or even on your bedding, they will definitely put you in the spring mood!

Switch out your curtains & open the windows

In the winter, most people keep their blinds shut and their windows closed, but since the sun is out, why not open the windows? Letting some fresh air in is always beneficial and changing out your curtains for something lighter and sheer is helpful to keep the sun coming in. Also, make sure you have some blinds for when you want to block out the sun and get some sleep in the morning.

These are just a few ways you can help change things up for this time of year, but there are so many other things you can do.

What ways do you revamp your bedroom for spring?

Free Adult Coloring Book Page 5 - Psalm 148:1-5 (Free Printable)

I have been drawing my own coloring book. Someday I hope to self-publish it but for now I decided to stop hiding my light under a bushel and share it. So here you go! All of these are hand drawn, I am having so much fun letting my creativity flow. These pages are based on verses that God has placed on my heart. They are very meaningful to me. I hope you ave as much fun coloring them as I had drawing them. I would love to see your colored pages, post them in the comments!

Print Coloring Page Here