Christmas Decorations

This was our first Christmas on our new property, Livin’ The 10, and there were some changes in store for us this year. First, our house is 1,000 sqft less than where we were last Christmas. Plus, our entryway isn’t a sprawling gallery with 20′ ceilings and a balcony overlooking the 10′ Christmas tree.

But nobody missed any of it. In fact, as nice as our old house was, we’re so much more content out here. More importantly, we’ve relaxed…and we enjoy the simple things in life again.

 

This was the first year that the kids did the decorating for Christmas. In addition to having all sorts of fun, we (the adults) didn’t have to do any (well, didn’t have to do much) work! I think I feel a family tradition coming on….

They had loads of fun stringing lights on the front porch, tossing garland here and there, and hanging ornaments in all sorts of interesting places. They’ve done a great job of turning the front yard into a South Texas Christmas Wonderland.

Why Homeschool?

One of the first questions home educating parents get asked is why did you choose homeschooling as opposed to government school. Every person who has broken from the norm has their why; for some, it was a traumatic event in the system that pushed them or their children from it, others, not trauma, but neglect drew them away. There are still others who never even chose to give the system a chance to mold and direct their children. We fall mostly into this category.

It was the act of becoming a teacher that cemented my resolve, and ultimately our family’s decision to not expose our children to the ugliness and culture of ignorance displayed by the up and coming teachers. We all know the phrase, “It takes a village…” I’ve seen the village, lived in the metaphorical village, and quite frankly, I don’t want it anywhere near my children, let alone raising them.  This doesn’t mean, as some believe, that we are raising or educating our children in isolation, on the contrary, we are building a new village! Instead of an individual who’s eyes glaze over when given a math lesson to present (almost every “teacher” I’ve encountered), my kids get math they can see and touch, that has value to them in a concrete sense. Instead of an adult who has to consult a teachers manual before answering a question, we find experts and engage them in conversation, usually learning not only the answers to our questions, but discovering cool tidbits that we wouldn’t have even thought to ask. Instead of being taught grammar and sentence structure by someone who speaks and writes in “text speak,” well, you get the picture…

I don’t know everything. My children know this about me, it takes humility to give your child, who thinks that you do, access to that information. But they get to see me learning, they have my life long learning process as their example. They, in turn, learn every day. There is no summer or Christmas break, there is no weekend; learning happens every day, for all your life.

So can you do this?

Turkey Noodle Cha Cha

Looking for something to do with those bits of leftover turkey from the Holidays? Give this a try!

This is inspired by Trim Healthy Mama’s recipe for Cilantro Lime Burst Chicken Thighs. I had some of the sauce left over, which we loved, but was craving a chicken noodle soup. The recipe ended up being more casserole than soup, but truly delicious.

If following the THM plan, this would be an S.

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

Yield 6-8 servings
Active Time 20 minutes
Categories s, soup, casserole, chicken, dinner
Ingredients
1 teaspoon butter
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 small onion
1 to 2 colorful bell peppers (I like red and orange)
1 cup frozen okra
1/2 cup lime juice
2 teaspoons real salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (this is quite spicy, cut in half or less for a milder version)
2 garlic cloves
2 cups chicken stock, broth, or water (with bullion, if it needs more flavor)
1 to 2 cups leftover turkey or chicken
1/2 to 1 box Dreamfields spaghetti noodles
Instructions
1. Place butter in a soup or stock pot over medium low heat. Add the bell peppers, onions, and half the bunch of cilantro leaves, top with turkey. Allow the veggies to slowly cook while you make the sauce.
2. Place the okra, lime juice, remaining cilantro leaves (and stems, if you like), salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth, adding a little water or chicken stock if the sauce is too thick. If you have a Vitamix with a Hot Soups setting, this is the perfect use for it!
3. Stir the turkey and veggie mixture, and add the sauce only after your veggies are wilted, if they have a little color, even better! Add the broth to the turkey mixture, bringing it to a rolling simmer, then break noodles into 3-4 inch pieces and drop into the pot. Cook the noodles 8-10 minutes, until done to your liking. If desired, serve with a very mild cheese, like Oaxaca crumbles, or light mozzarella shreds.

Growing Garlic

One of the staples in the Hunt kitchen is garlic.When a recipe calls for a clove of garlic, I frequently shake my head in disbelief and think, “Who does that?” as I drop in 4 cloves… I can’t be the only one who does this, right?

That being said, aside from its’ notable role as a vampire repellant, it is also highly useful for keeping the nasty bugs in your garden at bay as a natural insect repellant. And it’s good for us, being used for many years for it’s antibacterial and antiviral properties; some studies even indicate that it can aid high blood pressure, digestion, and maybe even has certain cancer fighting properties.  Even if none of that were true, I still want my kitchen stocked with it, because I love Tracy’s Cream of Roasted Garlic soup. Yum!

Aside from all of the culinary uses that garlic sees in the Hunt kitchen, we personally use it medicinally in a homeopathic means, and in our garden. This year, when noticing that our sweet potato and squash vines were being eaten, I filled my Vitamix halfway up with garlic cloves and pureed it on the smoothie setting. I strained the juice into a spray bottle and spritzed the leaves of the plants being eaten. No more bug bites! I dried the remaining pulp in the smoker, and we had smoked garlic powder to add to our spice cabinet, it was fantastic! Also, when Iain was very small, he was plagued with ever worsening ear infections. After researching and learning about the cyclical nature of antibiotics and ear infections, I decided to quit giving him antibiotics and treat his next ear infection with garlic infused oil. It worked, and after helping him restore his gut flora, he has been my healthiest child, so we have continued to treat the rare ear infection with garlic oil!

Growing garlic is easy here in South Texas. You just separate the bulb and plant the cloves an inch to two inches deep. You’re supposed to plant it before the first frost, I’m laughing as I type that, but we actually did get two nights of bonafide freezing weather here in December. And my little sprouts braved the frigid temperatures with ease!  The greens were just starting to droop a little, but we got some drizzly weather, and they sprung right back up with the little bit of run off from the garage roof.

We will follow up with pictures from the harvest, but we are actually enjoying the benefits of home grown garlic right now: did you know that they entire plant is edible? Most people only eat the bulbs, but the greens are also quite delicious, as well as the scapes (which are the flowering stalks of the mature plant). We don’t have any scapes on our young plants yet, but we have cut several young green shoots to add to our eggs, mix in with soft cheeses, and toss in with our sautéed veggies.

Repurposing a Laundry Bin

We found these old laundry bins through SlapSale.com, an online auction house that deals in distressed merchandise liquidations. SlapSale handles a lot of hospitals and universities in Texas, and in some other areas as well.

These laundry bins came from a hospital in or around San Marcos, and we’re using them as a raised-bed solution for our side yard project. The bottoms are wooden pallets, so drainage won’t be an issue. Several came with laundry bags, which will make a good permeable barrier. Now to find some rocks and twigs for the bottom, and some fill dirt… I foresee more loader and grapple fun in the near future.

Chili Sauce

This is our first batch of pepper sauce from the Chile Pequin’s that grow wild on our property. We dried them in the smoker, and they picked up some of that smokey goodness that’s always lingering in there. Next, we packed them with some onion chunks and garlic cloves in pint jars, then filled them with vinegar. Finally, to speed up the infusion, we added some “starter” to the jars.

That “starter” – holy cow – it was HOT. Basically, we took 1/4 cup of dried Chile Pequins with 1 cup vinegar and threw them in the Vitamix on the smoothie setting. It came out looking (and almost tasting) like Cholula…but highly concentrated. Nearly burned a hole in my lungs when I popped the top off the Vitamix and took a whiff. A little dab’ll do ya….

These jars will get a dip in the canner, then sit for a few weeks to infuse. Should be mighty tasty when they’re done.

 

Chicken on a Stick

These are our 3rd batch of chickens, if memory serves. Michael and Sue Laprise gave us our first batch. My Dad (who has delighted our kids by taking them to the feed store and buying birds, rabbits and other critters) furnished the second batch…and this third batch.

It’s interesting to me how the different age groups hang out together. They all get along, and they’re fine together when they’re all in the coop at night. But during the day, when they’re foraging, they wind up splitting into groups that seem to be formed around relative age.

That Thar’s a Swale Pond

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We’ve been having fun with the tractor. Here’s one example of that – beginning in on the pond. Right now, it’s only a few inches deep, as we’re digging the outline. When we had a deluge the other day, those “few inches” filled up rather quickly and became an effective swale, catching the water rather than letting it run off the property. Didn’t really think about that until it happened…and now I’m itching to trench in some more swales “upstream” on the property.

Reflections

Chronologically, these are way out-of-order. We took these months before we started this blog. But they’re part of our story, so here they are.

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When we first moved onto the property, there was a tree limb on the fence with our back neighbor…and their cows regularly came to visit our back pasture for breakfast. I’ll never forget sitting down at the breakfast table, looking out the window, and seeing a huge cow staring back at me from the other side of the glass.

Once the kids realized “we got cows,” Iain wanted to “pet” one. So, while this calf was enjoying a respite in the grass, Iain slowly walked up to him. He got pretty close before the calf got up and ran to mama.

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As soon as we announced that we won the bid on the property, Mike and Sue Laprise bought us six baby chicks…and here they are on our first days on the property. Unfortunately, only two of the original six remain. But the good news is that we learned a lot about raising chickens from these gals, and the two that survived it all are now the “mother hens” of our ever-growing flock.

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This is Max, the day Dad brought him to us. Cute little stinker.

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This is Max and Opal a few days after Max arrived. Back then, Opal – even as small as he was – was the dominant personality in their friendship, mostly because Max was so pudgy that he could barely walk straight, let alone climb the stairs.