Crockpot Shredded Beef

"Write that recipe down Hun.  Do what you need to do but don't you loose that, it's good stuff" are the exact words the husband said after eating this for the very first time.  He almost never says that so I knew it was a winner and that I simply HAD to share it with all of you.

This works great for tacos, as a filling for taquitos or enchiladas and you can even serve it over rice.  And the best part- the crockpot does all the work for you!  LOVE that!


Crockpot Shredded Beef


1-2 pounds beef steak (top round is what's shown in this photo)

Break your meat with a fork, then shred with
your immersion blender.

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/2 jalapeno or habanero, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 onion, sliced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin


The directions for this are ridiculously easy.  Put your beef in your crockpot.  Dump everything in on top.  Set it for 4-6 hours on low and walk away.

At some point, I recommend the 4 hour mark, you will use your fork to break your steak meat up into chunks.  Then whip out your trusty immersion blender and pulse it a few times so that your meat "shreds" easily.  I then let it cook on low another 2 hours.  But if you're gone all day, it's totally fine to just shred the meat right before serving.

See- how easy is that?!?


Full disclosure folks- I adapted this recipe from one that I found from one of my FAVORITE food inspirations, 100 Days of Real Food.  I followed Ms. Lisa Leake's recipe exactly and found it to be too salty and too spicy for my family's personal tastes.  I've adapted it just a bit but I wanted to give full credit to her for this original which I based my recipe from.

It's Our Story But I Bet It's Yours Too

I posted this over on the Facebook page last week and totally forgot to share here as well.  It's just too good not to!

We Are a Family That-

Lays around in bed & snuggles together
Yells about lost library books, again
Stays up late to watch movies & eat popcorn
Laughs about potty jokes, sometimes while at the dinner table
Can never seem to make the bed, any bed...ever
Has silly nicknames for the dogs like FooFaLoo & Sir Stompy Toes
Shares french fries
Invites friend's over at the last minute
Googles almost every single question so as to learn more
Makes a special stop for ice cream when someone is sad
Tiptoes in the dark to avoid waking the others
Steals each other's chocolate from their hidden stash
Builds volcanoes in the kitchen
Sends each other ridiculous text messages just because
Cheats at Domino's & Rummy
Gets upset when someone isn't listening
Dances in the car like a maniac
Shares at least one meal together every day
Tells each other to "suck it up buttercup"
Drives 1.5 hours to homeschool classes 2X weekly when surrounded by several good public schools
Plays Skylanders for hours on end
Pays for all the soccer/karate/swim by selling old clothes on Ebay
Hugs & kisses each other often
Shares an email address because someone (ahem) hates checking his email & another someone (ahem) isn't old enough yet
Says "I love you" daily
Steals the Ipad to play Candy Crush in the bathroom
Struggles over math together, always the math
Screams when someone tracks dirty footprints all over a clean floor
Views each moment as a learning opportunity

This is our story. But I bet it's yours too.

An Open Letter To Those Thinking About Homeschooling

Dearest Parents,

Let me first start this letter by saying, that I'm SO glad you're here and you're thinking about this "thing" called homeschooling.  It's scary, it's overwhelming and it's new.  A crazy new frontier is probably the best way to describe it so it's pretty amazing that you're at this point of decision.

So here's the deal.  I'm a homeschooling Mama.  I have officially been a homeschooling Mama for almost 7 years, so I can say with absolute certainty that you can do this because if I can do this, I know anyone can.  Did you hear that?

You.

Can.

Do.

This.

I am not a college graduate.  I don't have a degree in anything, especially a teaching degree.  I am not super duper smart.  But I'm a Mom.  I care about what's best for my child.  I have a desire that NO teacher ever will to see him succeed and develop a life long love of learning.  And that my dear parents is all you need.

But what about all those subjects you can't teach?  What about high school? Oh dear God what about socialization?

Sigh....good questions sure, so let's tackle some of them.

Show me a teacher that can teach every single subject known to man.  Really, let's find one.....ah....but they don't exist.  There is no one person who knows everything and is therefor qualified to teach everything.  So rest assured dear parents, that you can "out source" the difficult subjects.  There's amazing things called tutors, co-ops, classes etc so that it doesn't all rest on your over stressed shoulders.  Whew!  Now that's a relief!

And socialization.  Ah, yes....THE big question that we all hear when it comes to homeschooling.  Let me just tell you that it is proven (it's a fact Jack!) that homeschooled kids are WAY better socialized then their public school peers.  Think about it....public schoolers sit in a classroom all day with kids of their approximate age, exact grade level, maturity level and demographic.  Six plus hours a day, five days per week.  While homeschoolers are typically out in the community and interacting with the elderly, babies and toddlers, folks in different cities and economic levels, their own siblings, family members, other homeschoolers of all ages....really, the list goes on and on.  Now tell me- which form of socialization would you prefer for your child?

Now parents, I'm not going to lie to you.  Homeschooling is hard.  Probably the second hardest job behind being a parent, but can I just tell you that it's also the most rewarding job.  Seriously, it is.  I taught my child to read.  I taught him to write.  I struggled with him through 3 digit subtraction and addition.  I was there when the light bulb went off, I was there for all the questions, I was there to facilitate the learning.  Me.  And that my dear parents, you simply can't put a price on.

So for all of you struggling with this decision, let me just say this again.

You.

Can.

Do.

This.

Really, you can.  Don't be afraid to  make that leap.  Trust your gut and follow your heart because there is truly nothing better then teaching your children.  I promise that you won't ever regret it.

Sincerely,

The Homeschooled Housewife

2014 In Review

Happy New Year Friends!

It's official, 2015 is here!  While I'm super excited to get started on a brand new year, I felt we needed to wrap things up here on the blog from 2014.  It was a pretty awesome year for my family and for this blog.

We discussed a wide variety of topics.  I shared with you some frustrations and many of our joys.  The kiddo finally mastered 3 and 4 digit subtraction and addition, I got a second part time job, the husband decided he wanted to help with this blog...seriously, it was a great year for us.  In that time, I was busy blogging away and we hit 25,000 viewers.  YAY!!!!!

In no particular order, here's the Top 10 Blog Posts of 2014-

1. Copycat Frozen Burritos
2. Cold and Flu Season Survival Kit
3. The Summer Schedule
4. Vegetarian Whole Food Freezer Meals
5. On Being a Traditional Wife
6. Homeschooled Housewife's Menu Planner
7. To All the Naysayers
8. He's Extra Special
9. How Do You Homeschool
10. 14 Days of Love Challenge

I hope you'll take a moment and look back on all the great things from 2014.  I sure had fun reminiscing and I'm super excited to get started blogging this year.  Bring it 2015- it's gonna be EPIC!

Kale Soup

Are you looking for a way to eat more greens? Perhaps you want to get your kids to eat more healthy foods? Either way, this soup hits the mark! And it is seriously SO easy to make. I highly recommend doubling this recipe because the leftovers are even better!

Kale Soup

4 stalks celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

4-5 cups kale, rough chop

1 chicken breast (optional)

4 cups chicken or veggie stock

2 cups water

1 cup small pasta or rice 

Bay leaf

Salt & pepper 

Olive oil

Step 1:

Sauté veggies in olive oil with salt & pepper. When softened, add in chicken breast, stock, water and bay leaf. Cook on low boil for at least 30 minutes. 

Step 2:

At this point, I remove the bay leaf and chicken. I pulse the soup a couple times with my immersion blender. Not too much though- just a couple times will do the trick and help to thicken it up! But you can totally skip this step if you wish. 

Shred the chicken and add back to the soup pot. Tip- you can leave out the chicken and use veggie stock to make this dish vegan/vegetarian friendly. You can also use chicken straight from the freezer- no need to precook. Unless of course you enjoy extra work in kitchen. 

Step 3:

Add in your rice or pasta & cook until done. We like it with smaller, star shaped pasta but it would work just as easily with whatever you have in your pantry. 

So how easy is that?!?

Let me be honest and say, this is NOT the kiddo's favorite meal.  I'm sure it's because it's lacking cheese! Ha! However, he willingly eats it and the husband always goes back for seconds. That's a winner in my book!

Enjoy!

Psst...Hey....still here?

Here's the link for the recipe to the biscuits shown in the photo above.  These are simply THE VERY BEST BISCUITS on the face of God's green earth.  Do yourself a favor and make them to go with this soup.  But a word to the wise- double up on this recipe & make them super duper large, exactly like this photo of mine below.  Just look at these delicious flaky gifts from Heaven- how could you not?

The husband's favorite biscuits!

Raising Kids With a Giving Heart

Parenting is hard mmkay....Seriously, SO difficult.  In these times of instant gratification, it can be even more challenging to raise kids that are normal and well adjusted.  Well....as normal as normal is, right?

As the husband and I go through this season in life, we often look to the future.  What kind of man do we want our child to grow up to become?  What are some faults we see within ourselves that we don't want to repeat with him?  How can we do better?  What direction do we want his life to take?  We have the wonderful privilege to raise this child and to shape him for his future.  We acknowledge that we can't make his choices for him and we know that he will have differing opinions then we might.  But that's the beauty in raising an independent thinker.  They think for themselves.

Above all, there is one thing that we strive for as we raise this precious gift.  We want him to be good and pure of heart.  We aren't perfect and we certainly aren't expecting perfection but rather- we expect goodness and light.  Wow.  Let's just think on that a moment.

So how do you go about raising a child with goodness and light?  Heck if I know!  Ok, that's not entirely true.  We know a little and we are still learning a lot.  Someday, hopefully- we will get there.  But in the meantime, there is one simple thing that we are doing and I know that it's making a huge difference in the kiddo.

We are raising our child with a giving heart.

A few weeks before Christmas, the kiddo came to me and said, "I have a budget for what I want to spend on Christmas gifts Mom and then with the rest of my money, I want to give it to the less fortunate kids."

Insert puddle of Mom here.

But seriously- this happens because we model the behavior that we want him to exhibit.  We give back.  We help others.  We are action minded.  And by simply doing, we teach him how to do.

Some examples?

December is our busy month.  We help out local families through giving trees, we take the kiddo to pick out toy donations for Toys for Tots and we volunteer our time to put together Christmas stockings for homeless kids in our area.

The kiddo LOVES to pick out toys
for other kids!

But it's not just about charity.  We do our best to model the behavior year round.  We believe in rescuing animals and we are slowly becoming more active in our local, Rat Terrier Rescue organization.  We regularly donate used clothing and household items, the husband takes the kiddo with him when he gives blood, we help to raise money for those in need through our Ebay page.  The husband once stopped traffic to rescue a turtle for goodness sakes!  Throughout it all, we are ever conscious of the fact that our child is watching.  He sees us helping others.  He sees us giving our time, our money and our love to those in need.  Even if it is a tiny turtle- it matters.  Giving back matters.

As the kiddo continues to get older, we hope his desire to help will continue to grow as well.  He genuinely loves volunteer work and he has a passion to help, especially kids who are just like him.  We want him to learn that if you have helped just one person (or animal) then it has all been worth it.  We want him to know what it feels like to make a difference and to realize that he CAN make a positive impact on the world around him.

Sometimes it's not enough to talk, we must do.
Photo of the husband & kiddo stuffing
stockings for homeless kids.

So yeah.

We are raising our child to have a giving heart and I have to say that it's been pretty amazing so far.

Family Is What You Make It

This last weekend we had a long overdue conversation with the kiddo about some family issues.  Gah.  I seriously hate talking about this stuff sometimes.  We had put this particular convo off for several years and unfortunately by not speaking clearly with him about it- we were just adding to his confusion.  So when the kiddo received a Christmas gift from someone who is no longer a part of our family, we knew that we had to address this issue.

I won't go into details here because, well....some things are private.  And because I'm pretty sure these people are reading this blog in addition to stalking the Facebook page and I simply wouldn't want to give them the satisfaction.  Ah yes- good times.

But I will say, that what we decide to do has and always will be with our child's best interests in mind.  We feel that certain people are unstable.  We've seen the proof of this time and time again.  We've endured lies and anger.  We've dealt with bitterness and games.  But we are adults.  Our child is not.  And there will never be a moment when we will allow this crap to leak its way into our child's life.  So if that means that certain people are no longer a part of our family, while it's sad, that's simply the way it has to be.

We took some time to really talk about the concept of family.  What should a family be?  How should they behave?  What makes up a family?

The answer- there is no perfect ideal of what a family looks like.  Sometimes it's made up of lifelong friends and sometimes you have 6 Grandma's and no Grandpa's.  Family is goodness and love.  It is NOT anger, lies and manipulation.  Many people in your family will not be related to you by blood and many times, those that are technically your blood, are truly not your family at all.  A very hard concept indeed.

Family is what you make it.  The people who are in your life because they deserve to be there.

We discussed that sometimes it's necessary to guard your children (as we've been doing with the kiddo) against those who seek to do harm.  Inflict harm on an innocent child?  I know right?  It's disgusting.  Many times you must also protect your marriage from the individuals who wish to see it destroyed.  I just can't even fathom who would be crazy enough to think they have the power to break up a happy marriage.  But alas- there are some who do.  As if leaving someones name off on the Christmas card will do the trick, right?  Sorry folks, it's not as easy as wishing them away, they aren't going anywhere and it's simply a childish game that says more about the kind of person you are and why you are no longer a part of their family.  Family shouldn't talk behind your back.  Family shouldn't judge you.  Family should never cause you physical harm.  Family should apologize and forgive.  Family should follow through on promises.  At the end of the day, it's OK to let go of this negativity so that you can let in your true family.  The only people who should be a part of your life are those that have earned the right to be there.  So if the aren't here- its probably because they don't deserve to be.

I won't lie- this has been a very difficult lesson for us and it's been very hard to talk to the kiddo about.  It is heartbreaking when people you once loved seek to hurt you.  Even more so when they play games and lay guilt trips on you.  Ah yes- welcome to the land of lies and manipulation in the name of "love".  Yeah- no thanks.  We pass.  If you've ever experienced something like this, you know how truly devastating it can be.  It's hard you guys.

So yeah- we finally talked about it.  It was heavy and it was good.  It was time.  And it was right.

Family is what you make it and we have a pretty awesome family.