Big Lots Food Finds and Some School Finds

What's Cookin'?

Simple Sides:  Boiled tiny potatoes from the farmers market and boiled diced beets.  Lots of butter and some Real Salt.  Several dc went back for seconds.

Emergency Dinner:  We came in at 5:30 and I was fatigued.  It was time to pull a rabbit out of a hat.  Olive oil ('cuz that's the only oil I have right now) and butter in a skillet; add a bag of frozen oriental veggies; add about 2 cups of pre-cooked/pre-cut frozen chicken leftovers and heat all on medium.  When it's all heated through sprinkle in some flour (we overdid it with about 3 tablespoons!) and a bunch of milk (until it's runny because it will thicken noticeably).  Bring it to a low boil and add more milk as needed to keep it the consistency of gravy.  The only seasoning I have is Real Salt right now so I generously gave the family some trace minerals as I added some Real Salt.  From the freezer to the table in less than 30 minutes.  Okay, giving credit where credit is due:  Middle dd stirred it, after I tossed it all in the pan, and kept an eye on it until it was time to make the gravy in the pan.

Big Lots:  If you have a Big Lots in your area you may be surprised by some of the food items.  Bob's Red Mill flours.  Yep.  Here is what I got and remember, no shipping!
Organic High Fiber Pancake and Waffle whole grain mix - $3.50
7 Grain Hot Cereal - $3.00
Gluten Free Cornbread Mix - $2.45

I hesitated to get the cornbread mix because corn is such a BIG genetically modified crop and it was not organic.  However, I found this on their website which puts my mind at ease.  Unfortunately, since it's a mix it'll be a compromise because I can't soak the corn in lime.  Hopefully I can eat a little without any consequences due to the mold/toxins/mycotoxins that get neutralized after soaking corn in lime water overnight.  The truth is, I probably wouldn't have soaked it anyway because my pickling lime is in my mom's garage somewhere...

"Are your products genetically modified?
No. All of our products come from identity preserved seeds. This means the seed planted in the ground is non-GMO. We simply can't guarantee against cross pollination due to natural occurrences such as wind drift, so we do not label our products GMO-free."
http://www.bobsredmill.com/bobs-red-mill-faq.html#GP4

I can soak the 7 Grain Hot Cereal for tomorrow, but the Pancake and Waffle mix already has baking powder in it.  I wonder:  Would it change the pH or would it just fizzle out and not give it rise?  I could always add more baking powder in the morning but I'm not sure what it would do to the soaking since it is already in there.  Another compromise.  Yes, ideally, just make the pancakes from scratch (or simply not eat it). However, I haven't found plain whole wheat flour in the stores around here yet and I wanted to do give them a treat in the midst of the transition.


I think what I'll do is try to get some bone broth in them any way I can.  I may even toss a bone from the freezer in with the hot cereal while it cooks.  We've been eating a LOT of compromise foods and white flour and unsoaked grains.  I may need to temporarily get some Concentrace until we're settled again. 


Another find at Big Lots: 
Old Orchard Organic Pomegranate Green Tea (caffeine free) 64 oz for $2.00 [I'm not sure about decaf green tea since it naturally has caffeine and I'm not sure how it's processed, but I got some for the pomegranate]
They also had Fig Newtons for $2 for dh but we won't talk about that!!

I found some Milton's graham crackers for the dc with minimal ingredients for $2 as well and some Jacob's cream crackers with just wheat flour, palm oil, salt, sodium bicarbonate, and yeast for $1.50.  These are both stashed in the cabinet for a later time.  The crackers are for homemade cream cheese or some low-pasteurized cheddar from grass fed cows that I just took out of the freezer.  Hopefully the topping will counter some of the compromise foods.

These Food Finds are linked on Kelly's Real Food Wednesday:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/07/real-food-wednesday-7132011.html

PS:  I'm reading Dr. Brownstein's book Salt Your Way to Health.  It's an easy read if you want to understand why REAL (as in authentic not just the brand) sea salt is good for you and refined and/or lab salt is bad.  We NEED those trace minerals.  Okay, that would be another post, but I read 1/2 the book in one sitting and will finish it today. 

What's Schoolin'?

This floor plan for a 3-5 Montessori classroom was posted on one of the groups:
http://www.julianagroup.com/images/Classroom3D.jpg

I noticed they have 10% off right now:
http://www.julianagroup.com/

Free online grammar/writing workbooks:
http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html

Adapted Classics:  I'm usually not one to get abridged versions of classics.  In the words of middle dd, "I'd rather wait and read the original book."  However, when I saw Heidi, Pollyanna, and The Little Princess for only $1 each at Target I snagged them.  Youngest dd is excited to read Heidi because she says that she's heard about it and is curious.  I remember watching the Heidi cartoon growing up but, I admit it, I've never actually read the book... until last night.  I really enjoyed this abridged classic and look forward to the original. 

So, if you happen to be in Target, scope out the dollar section by the front door. 

They also usually have card sets.  You could get double sets to make 3-part cards or simply to put on the shelves for shelf work, depending on the card set.

Mardel:  It's time to get geared up for Mardel's big education sale July 21st!  20% off all education, school supplies, homeschool, and kids' products. Fortunately for me there's a Mardel in all three towns I keep bouncing back and forth between these days.  Here's a link (on the homepage there's a banner announcing the 20% off that day):
http://www.mardel.com/education-sale-july-2011.aspx

Our new schedule we are trying this week: 
Mornings:  Breakfast and go run around scouting out the new town for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  It's too hot to do anything outside so mainly window shopping and the library, errands, etc.
Noon-ish:  Home for lunch
Afternoons:  About an hour of schoolwork (mainly math but will add our Chemistry and History tomorrow); quiet time for everyone (maybe just 1/2 hour); free time/play time while I make dinner. [this already got changed the first day because dh wants to go swimming in the late afternoons - truly great, just hard on dinner prep.  I'll work it out and time with daddy is too important to skip]
Evenings: Dinner, etc routine.

What's Green?

Freecycle:  If you're not hooked in with freecycle yet, give it a try.  It's easy to see if there is a group for your area and to join the local group.  The purpose is to keep usable items that would otherwise go to the landfill out and into the hands of someone who actually wants/needs that item.  I have been blessed over and over by people's generosity.  I have also tried to bless others with items we no longer need. Make sure you use .org in the link:
http://www.freecycle.org/

What's Lyme Green?

This looks like a really good site to start out with regarding Lyme Disease.  It has some good links in one spot but isn't overwhelming.

http://lyme-aware.org/texas.html