Really Quick Weekend Round-Up

OK here we go!! Heading in the the last week of school and gearing up for summer.  It is a huge struggle for me to keep from scheduling something to do every day during the summer.  I see a blank page in my planner and I cannot stand it.  I’m trying – but there is so much stuff going on and I don’t want to miss anything. 

In fact, I couldn’t even get everything over to the calendar in time for this weekend! Here are a few additions you might want to know about:

• Pooh’s Corner Super Saturday Storytime at 10:30 Saturday.  Enjoy a morning with Dog and Bear: the gentle unlikely friends created by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Hear the stories, have fun with the activities, and experience the adventures including a personal visit from the delightful pair themselves.
• Michael’s creative sidewalk chalk demonstration, 10:00-1:00 Saturday.  Cool!
• Patricia Pollacio will be at Literary Life Bookstore  Saturday at 11:00 am.  She’s famous – this is a big deal!
• This is for the grown-ups; not the kids but I am bursting with pride that the movie “Food, Inc”is actually debuting in West Michigan!  Step aside, LA and NYC.  We likes to eat and we likes to watch movies.  Check it out at the Muskegon Film Festival – more info from G-Sync.

Check the calendar (on the sidebar now instead of up top) for info about “Dog Day In the Park” and free admission to state parks this weekend also.

Southwestern Corn Chowder

After my last post about ‘Real Food’, I got a good comment that inspired this post. Olivia asked if eating Real Food was possible on a meager grocery budget.  That’s a really important question.  If it’s not possible – why bother?

I know that we can’t afford to eat perfectly.  At the same time, we have a long way to go before we are really maximizing what we can afford. One way I bring down food costs is tby making things myself.  This requires time to plan as well as time to cook.  It is definitely a habit that requires a lot of work to develop.  It’s like exercise.  You can’t run a marathon without training.  I can’t even run a mile without training – it doesn’t come naturally to me and I have to work at it.

One thing I have started doing is making my own broth.  It’s way less expensive than canned, and more nutritious.  It’s the foundation for a lot of recipes, so I’ll tell you how I make mine. Plus, I get to use the word ‘marrow’, which makes my friend Nicol throw up a little in her mouth (her phrase; not mine) which I think it’s hillarious.

It’s really, really easy.  For chicken broth, just take a chicken carcass that has been fairly well cleaned.  After you’ve roasted a chicken, for example, and have picked off the leftover meat for chicken salad sandwiches (or whatever).  Throw it in your crockpot with a lot of water.  Your second ingredient is vegetables.  I throw in some carrots and celery, put the top on the crock pot, and let it cook on low for about 6 hours.  Then I strain the broth with a sieve, and let it cool.  You can discard everything else. After it has cooled, the fat rises to the top and will just jump onto your spoon if you are gentle so you can just get rid of that.

Every time I clean and cut up a carrot or stalk of celery, I throw the ‘leftovers’ in a ziplock freezer bag.  The same goes for vegetables that are kind of getting soft, but I don’t have a recipe to use them up before I would have to throw them away. Everything in the vegetable bag goes into the stock – right from the freezer. 

Can you see the savings?  I don’t buy baby carrots, which are more expensive.  I don’t buy celery hearts, which are more expensive.  I want the scraps.  A whole chicken is less expensive than boneless, skinless breasts.  Plus, you get the bones – where the marrow resides.

Last night, I made this recipe with my home-made broth.  I also freeze corn when it’s in season here (another cost saver), so this was a very inexpensive meal.  We try and eat one non-meat meal per week, but this week we’ve had two already and will have one more tomorrow.  It has taken time for all of us to get used to the meatless meals, but now it’s completely normal.  It’s just a process that takes time.

Southwestern Corn Chowder (an Everyday Food makeover)

2 tablespoons real butter

2 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced

3 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

coarse salt and ground pepper

4 baking potatos cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups frozen corn kernels

6 cups home-made chicken broth

3 cups whole milk

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add white part of scallion, carrot, chili powder, and oregano; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until scallion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add potato, corn, broth, and milk.

Bring to a boil over medium-high, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until potato is easily pierced with the tip of a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in green part of scallion, and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 day.

For more Real Food Wednesday, check out Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Teacher Gifts, Part Two

Wow! Did you read the responses to “For The Teacher“?  You all have some awesome ideas for year-end gifts.  Check out everyone’s ideas (in the comments) if you are still looking for a gift.

I mentioned in that post that I refrained from going overboard for Teacher Appreciation Day.  I can only hold it in for so long, so I jumped all over the chance to do a birthday project for the teacher and aide, who conveniently have a birthday in the same week.

This isn’t exactly my work, but I don’t get that many opportunities to participate in Hobby Hump Day due to my extreme lack of craftiness so I’m going to stretch it a bit.  I conjured up this project all on my own, or so I thought until I read Why Are They Calling ME Mom?’s post about her own Teacher Appreciation Day project.  Definitely some similarities but I swear I thought of it independently.

For my project, The Room Mom and I set up in the Teacher’s Room (the bastion of all gossip, organization, and parental activity in this school.  I heart the parent room)  and took two kids at a time out of class to work on a “Top Secret Project”.

First, we had the kids select different sizes and colors of tissue paper cut (roughly) into circles.

Then, we had them ‘pinch’ the center, and helped them to wrap a pipe cleaner around it.

We started, then let the kids finish wrapping the pipe cleaner around the pencil.

I cut floral foam to fit the base, and when all of the flowers were complete I ‘arranged’ them.  To cover the floral foam, I put shredded paper on the top.

The kids were very proud of their work, and the teachers loved them. We also gave them Horrocks gift cards, and had the kids sign cards for them. 

For more Hobby Hump Day (and a giveaway!!!) head over to 3inunder3.

Summer Activities

Be sure to get a copy of today’s Advance newspaper (they don’t distribute it in town anymore, but it’s in all the surrounding communities).  There is a ” Love INC Summer 2009 Fun For Families and Children” listing of free and inexpensive events in Kent and Ottawa counties. 

This is published every year and it is a fantastic resource.  You’ll see many of the same things I put on my calendar but for Ottawa county also.  There is also a listing of Vacation Bible Schools.  For you out of towners – this is kind of a big deal around these parts 🙂

It will be up on their website soon, but it’s pretty long so you might want to get a hard copy.  It will show up at libraries pretty soon too.  Good stuff!