Thursday

Thursday's Thoughts: Mulan in the House

Cooking

FALL IS HERE! FALL IS HERE! Where we live it’s a little cooler than it normally is in the summer, but still warm enough for shorts and T-shirts. None of that stops me from cooking fall foods though. I’ve been making soups, hearty meat and vegetable dishes, and pumpkin flavored things for the past week like crazy. Here are our favorites from each category: Cheesy Chicken Chowder, Roast Chicken with Veggies, and Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins.

Reading

My lack of non-fiction reading is over! I’m currently in the middle of an amazing book about the women who worked in Oak Ridge, Tennessee at a secret government factory enriching uranium for the atomic bomb. It’s so interesting to read about these women who were called upon to do something for the war (they were not told what) because almost all of the men were fighting. It’s called The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win WWII. Definitely worth your time if you are interested in that era at all.

Listening

To the dog breathing deeply on the floor beside me and Chipette’s low voice coming from her room where she is making an American Girl movie with her dolls using my phone.

Thinking

About how well our homeschool is going right now. I’ve been adjusting and tweaking the past few weeks with scheduling and this week has been perfect.

Planning

We are leaving town this weekend for Corpus Christi, so I’m planning laundry that needs to be washed and what needs to be packed. Yippee for a mini-family vacation!

Pinning

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest using the button in the sidebar. I wanted to share some of my favorite finds this past week:

Homeschool: I am determined to be more consistent with nature study this year. When we do it the kids enjoy it so much! I quickly pinned this link to free nature study printables to get us started.

Home: I pinned this super cute, super affordable, and super functional idea for storing books. I can’t wait to buy a dish-drying rack.

Cooking: Chipette and I adore Panera Bread’s tomato soup, so I’ve been trying to find a good homemade tomato soup. The few recipes I’ve tried have been total fails. My good friend, Beauty Queen, sent me this pin for a spicy tomato soup. Beauty Queen loves to cook too, so I know she won’t steer me wrong. I can’t wait to try it!

Loving

Our new homeschool group. The homeschool group we’ve participated in the past two years is taking a break this year because of busyness in all the mom’s lives, but a new group started up in our hometown. It has been such a blessing to know that there are quite a few homeschoolers here in our neck of the woods instead of driving 30 miles to our other group.

Remembering

A couple of weeks ago we finally got Magpie signed up for taekwondo. She made the decision at the end of ballet last year that she wanted to do something different this year. She wanted to go from ballerina to being Mulan, a fighting girl! It fits her personality perfectly. Here she is at her first class:



Looking forward to a new week of productivity, loving, learning, laughing and cooking in the tree house,

Chelli

Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: Zoo Crew

We visited the zoo this past Friday with some new and old homeschool friends. We had a blast!

  
Monkey is fascinated with alligators, but this albino one at the zoo had him a little frightened. This is as close as he would get to let me take a picture.
  


The girls and some of our best friends!
  


Monkey made new friends with some sweet boys. I’m glad he’s not so outnumbered with all the girls anymore!



Monkey and Miss Elizabeth Bennett


Chipette and Miss Jane Bennett: Best Friends


The zoo crew being silly after eating lunch.


The new African exhibit was open on this trip and some of the group got in touch with their tribal roots!


Chipette made a love connection with this chimpanzee. She sat down next to the glass and the chimp began to kiss at her through the glass. Chipette kissed back and for the next five minutes they swapped kisses back and forth. Quite a crowd gathered around them because it was so funny!


The nature center at the zoo had this alligator head on display. Monkey wasn’t afraid to touch it!


Before heading home I let the kids have a quick visit to the splash pad at the zoo. It was hot that day, and they had earned it!

Loving our new zoo crew in the tree house,

Chelli

Tasty Tuesday: A True Original

We’ve been having a Potter-thon around here this week, so I’m a little slow on the blog. This week I wanted to share a recipe that I’ve been making since Preacher Man and I first got married. It started out as a totally different recipe, but I tweaked it and tweaked it until it’s become a creation all my own. It uses a handful of ingredients and is a simple recipe to make. And, of course, it tastes delicious!

Here is what you need to make French Dressing Chicken:


3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced in half length-wise
1 bottle French dressing
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. paprika
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

First, place chicken breasts in a plastic storage bag and add French dressing to coat. Next, let marinate overnight in refrigerator. If you forget to let marinate overnight in refrigerator (usually me!), let marinate for a few hours at least.


Combine flour and paprika in a shallow bowl and stir to combine.


This next step gets your hands pretty messy {aren’t all the best foods messy} so be prepared. Take dressing-coated chicken breasts out of the plastic storage bag and roll in flour mixture until covered.


Place chicken in a 13x9 baking dish.


Drizzle chicken with melted butter.


Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.


My favorite thing about this chicken is the breading. The flour combined with the French dressing makes a sweet and tangy breading that is divine!


French Dressing Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced in half length-wise
1 bottle French dressing
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. paprika
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Place chicken breasts in a plastic storage bag and add French dressing to coat. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator. Combine flour and paprika in a shallow bowl. Take dressing-coated chicken breasts out of the plastic storage bag and roll in flour mixture until covered. Place chicken in a 13x9 baking dish. Drizzle chicken with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Lots of originality takes place in the tree house,

Chelli