Try a New Recipe Tuesday- August 29

I am so happy to welcome Kayla from Arrowood Zoo today!  She is here to share her Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas.

My family loves eating Mexican dishes so I have one to share with you today!

This recipe is easy, fast and could be adapted in almost any way you wanted! Honestly, I was afraid to cook this for my crew. I try to use a "new to me" recipe weekly but when I picked this one I was scared that my guys wouldn't want it because of the lack of meat!! I'm so glad I went ahead and made it because it was a huge hit!

(my husband and daughter added refried beans however since black beans where inside Zachary, Kyle and I didn't)

You're going to need a few things:

Corn (we used fresh corn from our garden)

Black Beans (drain them)

Salsa (just your favorite)

Cheese

Tortillas

Mix the black beans with your favorite salsa and corn in a bowl. 

Get your tortilla - go ahead and place it in your pan and place the mixture into your tortilla. Add cheese to the top of the mixture and brown on each side. This will take about 2 minutes - DON'T BURN THEM!

The hard part is flipping to the other side; trust me this takes practice because the first two I had my mixture fall out! 

Here is a tip: Use a large spatula and your hand and it will go smoothly!

When done simply cut with a pizza cutter and you have a wonderful Mexican dish to enjoy for Supper!

If you are like my family we like to add sour cream to just about anything so top it with some and maybe add some lettuce and enjoy!

~ Blessings ~

Kayla Arrowood a.k.a. The Zookeeper

I blog at The Arrowood Zoo about our homeschooling journey. I homeschool 3 crazy kiddos and have homeschooled for 9 years. My kids are 13, 10 & 8. I've been married for 13 wonderful years and he is a great husband & father!

I love to connect with other homeschool parents so please connect with me!

 You can find me on Twitter and Facebook. 

 

Lisa here.  Thanks SO much, Kayla!  Here are today's features:

Read Food on a Budget at Yummy Inspirations

Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake at 21st Century Housewife

Grilled Double Decker Pesto Eggplant Stacks at The Well Floured Kitchen

Chocolate Chip Muffins at This Sweet Life of Mine

Easy Healthier Chicken Parmesan at Genesis 1:29 Trailblazers

Linking up with the Gathering Spot, Kids in the Kitchen, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows,Addicted to Recipes, Homemaking Wednesdays, Living Well Wednesday,NOBH, Judy H-J's Thoughts, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, Full Plate Thursday and Melt in your Mouth Monday and Show Off Friday and Tuesday's Table and Look What We Did and Titus 2sday,  Mom's Monday Mingle, Monday Mingle, Crafty Spices, Better Mom,Create with Joy, Thursday's Treasures, Tasty Thursdays and Wonderful Food Wednesday and Mondays with Countrified Hicks and Tuesday How to Party and the Tried and True Recipe Party and Kids and Mom in the Kitchen and Family Fun Friday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop andAll My Bloggy Friends and Hearts for Home Blog Hop and Foodie Friends Friday and Family Fun Friday and TGIF Linky Party and Food on Friday andHip Homeschool Moms, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home andGood Tastes Tuesday

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Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap Up- August 24

What a wonderful vacation week so far!  I have posted all week long with lots of fun (and absolutely beautiful) photos from the beach.

There was the dolphin sighting

and the magnificent rainbow

and SO much fun on the beach,

on the boardwalk amusements

and in the arcade.

Monday's post was called "Ocean City Arrival" and you can see it here.

Tuesday was my "Try a New Recipe Tuesday" and Jordyn guest posted for me with her delicious looking GF Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza.

On Wednesday, there was Wordless Wednesday with fun beach photos AND Wildlife Wednesday with all of the creatures we have seen here so far including a bunny on the beach, a dolphin, crab and plenty of seagulls.  :-)

I also wrote a post about my Elephant Notebooking Pages that I am happy to give away to whoever would like a copy.  Click here for details.

And, Friday was Field Trip Friday with  A LOT of photos from the entire week.

I also published two reviews this week, one for the Family Hope Center and one for In the Hands of a Child.

It has been a good and busy week.  We look forward to more adventures in the next few days!

Linking up today with:  Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weekly Wrap-Up, NOBH, Show-Off Friday, Learn and Link and It's a Wrap, Friendship Friday and Friday Connection and Family Fun Friday and T.G.I.F. Linky Party




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Field Trip Friday- August 23

I am happy to again be joining my friend Jen from Chestnut Grove Academy for her Field Trip Friday linkup.  Joining us as a co-host this week is Misty from Mimi's House. :-)

As most of you know, we are in Ocean City, NJ on vacation and it has been one wonderful "field trip"!

In our first few days, we have visited the beach, played in the arcade, went on amusement rides and swam in the pool.  We have done arts and crafts on the balcony and fed the gulls.  We even had a visit from very special friends.  We witnessed the most amazing storm clouds and rainbow, as well.  Just incredibly beautiful!

This blog hop is designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related blog posts (does not have to be a homeschool field trip.  It can be ANY trip to ANY place with your children!  :-)


Also linking up with Weekly Wrap-Up.

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TOS Review- In the Hands of a Child Lapbook: National Parks

Today I a reviewing the National Parks Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child.

I must begin with the fact that we are HUGE lapbook fans in our homeschool.  In fact, I dedicated an entire post to them that you can read here.

Lapbooking is a means of hands on learning.  We all know the benefits of hands-on learning.  Students learn and retain the most information when they are engaged physically with the learning and "do" something, rather than just passively sitting and hearing or reading about it.

The lapbook itself is assembled with file folders and there is always a section to lift or fold. (kids just love manipulating them!)  Different templates are utilized (booklets, wheels, cards, etc.) to include important information about the topic the student is learning.  Lapbooking is active learning.  The student is cutting, pasting, researching, DOING.  They love it and the results are always impressive.

Our Lapbook Project Pack was made available to us by instant download.  Right off, I brought my flash drive to Office Max and had it printed and bound.  I am definitely a visual person and like to have the material in my hands.  You certainly could just print off the pages you would need each day if that is easier for you.  I have done that in the past, as well.

The pack included a 6-day Planning Guide, Related Reading List, 15 hands-on activities plus 1 fun extension and 1 bonus activity, 14-page Research Guide and Answer Key about why national parks were formed, the National Park Service, an introduction to some of the most visited parks, National Park issues, protecting the National Parks and more!

Here is a synopsis of all that Kiddos 3 and 4 got to do while learning about our National Parks.  They added vocabulary words each day, we read the reading(s) and completed various activities, that included making a postcard and making fact cards on each park.  They even analyzed visitor statistics and learned about preservation.

They have already let hubby and I know that they want to visit Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon first, followed by all of the rest of the parks!  :-)  How wonderful to spark a child's interest in such a way tht they become so excited and eager to learn more about a place and to visit it!  This is the beauty of lapbooking, friends.

In the Hands of a Child has hundreds of lapbooks and notebooks to choose from in every possible subject area and covering every age group from preschool through high school.

What is a notebook?  For those who do not like the cutting, pasting and artsy type of crafting of the lapbooks, there are notebooks.  The pages are journaled in and then placed in a 3-ring binder.  Most of the subject areas are available in both formats (lapbooks and notebooks), so HOAC has you covered.

The National Parks Lapbook retails for $12, but right now is available for $5! (along with some other titles).  I know your family will enjoy it as much as mine.

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Wildlife Wednesday- August 21

Who would think that on a vacation to the beach we would see and be able to learn about so much wildlife?

Of course, there are the seagulls

male seagull

female seagull

and there is a bunny who lives on the beach.

We spotted a dolphin while swimming

and caught a little crab

and then, of course, there are my fish, lol!  :-)

Amazing how much you can see when you take the time to really and truly look!

Linking up with Kelli for her Wildlife Wednesday blog hop and Field Trip Friday.

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Wordless Wednesday- August 21

The Ocean.  I guess living so close to it I have always taken for granted its beauty and mystery.  I have visited almost every year since I was a child and my children have come here every year since they were in diapers.  Kiddo #4 has been here ever since she was born.  I told my children that there are people in our country who probably have never seen the ocean, let alone play in it year after year.  We do have much to be grateful for and appreciate.

a dolphin sighting!  How cool!  :-)

and a crab

Linking up with: Judy H-J's Thoughts, Mama to 4 Blessings, Create with Joy, NOBH, Musings from a Stay at Home Mom, Tina's Wordless Wednesday,Judy @ CoffeeJitters and Wordless Wednesday at Wordless and  Living Well Wednesday, Modest Mom,  Homemaking Wednesdays and Crafty Spices, Look What We Did and Do Small Things With Love and Wordless Wednesday Bloggers and A Sorta Fairytale

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TOS Review- Understanding Child Brain Development

Today I am reviewing the Understanding Child Brain Development DVD from the Family Hope Center.

The DVD is hosted by Andrew Pudewa of IEW and Matthew and Carol Newell.  From their website:

"The Newells, internationally renowned speakers and child brin developmentalists, will help parents of children diagnosed with developmental delays and special needs.  Consider the who, what, when, why  and how of your child's total development, the critical role you play in it, and what you can do to help your children be the best they can be."

The DVD is not flashy or filled with special graphics.  It is a powerful lecture given in a classroom setting that provides parents with important information.  Parents are told that they are not the "problem," but could truly work toward a solution in helping their child.  This includes nutrition, water consumption and the neurological benefits of infants sleeping on their bellies.(I was so glad to hear this as I always had my children sleep on their bellies because I trusted the advice of my mother and grandmother rather than a new, unproven idea pushed down new mom's throats that is now being reevaluated because of these critical neurological benefits that children have not been getting.)

The video also addresses the controversial subject of vaccinations and how some of them can indeed interfere with the development of a child's brain.  It explains how the incorrect development of the brain can cause special needs in children.

The DVD covers these topics:

• Child Brain Development
• Why do brain dysfunctions still exist
• The Family Hope Center
• The Magnificent Brain
• The Sense of Smell
• The Sense of Smell in newborns
• The Pons
• The Mid-Brain
• The Cortex
• Diagnosis/Treatment at the Family Hope Center
• Physiology vs. Pathology
• Integrated Therapy
• Water and its Effect on the Human Body

I learned quite a lot from this video.  Did you know that a mild brain injury is as impacting as a major one?  I already knew how important it was for a newborn to smell mommy and daddy within the first few days of birth and that time on their tummy is so very critical.  Our modern society has made carriers and other appraratus that keep babies primarily on their backs!

Here is a brief introduction to the program

Many suggestions are given for parents as to what they can do right away to aid their child's developing brain.  These include:

• good, purified water
• food that is wholesome and home-cooked rather that convenience foods with dangerous additives
• eliminating EMFs(electro-magnetic fields): microwaves, TVs, video games, cell phones, etc.  Go outside and play frequently.  Sunshine and movement are so very important.
• having a regular schedule with consistent waking and bed times.

Boy, I think we all can do improving in these areas!  :-)

To order the DVD ($19), you can call 610-397-1737 or you can order Understanding Child Brain Development from IEW.

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