Yesterday was our first official “back to school” day. We homeschool, so we have some flexibility in when we start our new school year. Technically I’ve always said that we study all year, especially math, but the more kids I have and the more stressful life gets, the harder it is for me to manage that.  I’ve always felt it was highly immoral to start school until after Labor Day, so our first day being the Thursday after Labor Day was a respectable beginning, even though it was close to 100 degrees outside and still seemed like summer. We are part of a new “Family School” called Liber Academy. It’s our Commonwealth School revamped to include children under 12, thanks to the awesome example and leadership of Brenda Haws over at New Commonwealth Schools. Our school is Hebrew-based. We are having thematic units for the younger kids based on the symbolism of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. I was so excited for our school to start, that even though I was in bed around 10 PM with lights out on Wednesday evening, I couldn’t fall asleep. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve! I have been driving my scholar kids every Thursday to Bountiful for the Commonwealth School for 8 years now, and finally, after 8 years, my little kids could come and stay the whole day! We were gone all day yesterday with classes for all my five younger kids, ages 4 to 15. We meet once a week for our core day with another day for electives. More on our new school in a later blog post.

For now I want to present to you some great resources for mom to go to back to school at home. No need to go to some institution of higher learning. If you have books, and especially if you have Internet access, you can be pursuing your own formal education. I have been setting up my weekly schedule of things I want to listen to every week to continue my education. 2 Nephi 9:20 says that God is great and holy because He knows all things. The devil, as much as he knows, does not know all things. He knows not the mind of God. (See Moses 4:6) So education is necessary for us to become Godlike and to be less and less like the devil. Education is not something that ends when we graduate from high school or college. Thank goodness!

So here are some suggestions for your own Fall Semester 2013. And remember, you don’t have to sit and read a book to learn, you can be listening while you drive your car or wash dishes alongside your kids: You can replace all the time you spend wasting watching TV and read or listen to things that build your mind.

• HIllsdale College online program has a great economics class. It is free! My son is taking an economics class at our Liber Academy. He said last night he loves it!

• If you click this link here, you will see that FEE has some free online economics resources about free market economics. Spread the word!

• learn the real U.S. and world history you never learned in public school with Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom

You may wonder if it’s right to spend time studying secular things like politics, current events, and history. Here is what an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ said when asked about how to learn secular things with the Holy Ghost:

The above video was made in conjunction with Elder Bednar’s book, Increase in Learning, which I highly recommend. Here is the web site with all the videos that go along with the book, as well as his other book, Act in Doctrine.

• Coursera is a web site where you can take the best courses online for free! This educational company has partnered with over 40 top universities and organizations to bring you online lectures for free.

• Do the book reading and discussions with The Ten Boom Institute. You read the book on your own and then join on a conference call for the book discussion. On Sept. 10 they, Audrey and Blaine, the founders, will discuss Pinocchio, and on Nov. 5th it’s the Journal of Christopher Columbus. Just click on the link to get the phone number and code. You can also read all of their blog posts and watch all of the video book reviews to guide your study of other books. Yummy stuff!

• Do you want to finally get the book of Isaiah decoded? Dr. Avraham Gileadi, a Mormon and a Jew, is one of the leading scholars of Isaiah. He has studied Hebrew extensively. With his knowledge he has translated Isaiah written in the original Hebrew into English. You can go to his web site here and see side by side, the King James Version Bible version of Isaiah with Gileadi’s translation from Hebrew into English. You can also watch the flash presentations on the web site that show verse by verse, the Isaiah chapters, and hear Dr. Gileadi’s commentary. This is so illuminating!

• The LDS Church has a new enhanced audio page with the audio files of all the manuals. Listen to your Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society lessons during the week so you are ready to contribute to discussing the principles on Sunday! I teach Primary so this is a way I can keep up with what they are studying in Relief Society.

• Khan Academy has free videos on math and humanities and other stuff.

• Here is the web site of archived handouts from BYU’s Education Week.

• You can find archived videos of BYU’s Education Week here.

• My friend Katie, who is one of the driving forces behind our Liber Academy, has her Gathering Place for Families web site here. On the side bar, she has many links to resources about learning more about Hebrew, the language of symbolism, and great literature that supports the Hebrew way.

• Wallbuilders has a Christian perspective on politics and news. I love listening to the daily podcasts at http://wallbuilderslive.com to be continually reminded of our Christian roots as an American, covenant nation.

I would love to hear your resources for learning as a mom! Please share below in the comments section.

Would you like to learn how to make all of these delicious, delectable, real foods? Do you see some donuts, cookies, tortillas, beef, potatoes, and other delectable morsels?

These pictures come from the brand new ebook from mommy blogger DaNelle Walford of Weed ‘Em and Reap. It’s called

Have Your Cake and Lose Weight Too!

Don’t you just love that title? DaNelle speaks from experience. She went from being overweight and tired, trying diet after diet. When she started eating real food consistently, she lost 35 pounds and got her energy back!

Here are her before and after pictures:

I have had the privilege of previewing this book and it’s totally fabulous. You will learn the top ten nutrition myths and how to get started eating real food. Here’s the best part: RECIPES! You will get 30 of DaNelle’s recipes, including the ones to create the beautiful bites pictured at the top.

Here’s the even better part: this ebook is regularly priced at $19.95, but you can get this ebook, plus 29 others by other real food bloggers, for only $39.95. That’s less than $1.50 per book!

Here are all the contents of this End of Summer Real Food Ebook Bundle.

• DIY Non-Toxic Cleaning by Heather Dessinger, author of Mommypotamus (NEW)
• Feed Your Fertility by Emily Bartlett of Holistic Squid and Laura Erlich of A Bao in the Oven (NEW)
• Simply Salads by Season by Kristen Michaelis of Food Renegade (NEW)
• The Sleep Solution: End Your Insomnia Naturally by Emily Benfit of Butter Believer (NEW)
• Quit PMS by Lauren Geertsen of Empowered Sustenance (NEW)
• Sustainability Starts at Home by Dawn Gifford of Small Footprint Family (NEW)
• Real Food Survival Guide for Busy Moms by Lindsey Gremont of Homemade Mommy (NEW)
• Processed Free by Robin Konie of Thank Your Body (NEW)
• Pain Free by Robin Konie of Thank Your Body (REVISED)
• Get Your Fats Straight by Sarah Pope of The Healthy Home Economist (REVISED)
• Love Your Body by Elizabeth Walling of The Nourished Life (NEW)
• Grain-free Desserts Jennifer McGruther of Nourished Kitchen
• Natural Cocktails by Kendahl Millecam of Our Nourishing Roots
• Have Your Cake & Lose Weight, Too! by DaNelle Wolford of Weed ‘Em and Reap (NEW)
• Real Fit At Every Age by Julie de Lagarde of Real Fit Mama (NEW)

• Plus 15 more exciting titles!

If you bought all these books separately, it would cost you over $650. But for a week only, from Sept. 4 until Sept. 10th, you can get all these ebooks for only $39! You will save big bucks!. Time is running out, so go here and buy today! The deadline is midnight PT Tuesday Sept. 10, 2013.

You can read all of these ebooks on your Kindle, iPad, computer, or other eReader devices.

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

I just got word that the 2013 Agency-based Education Conference will be held November 9th! I went last year and learned a lot. The above video is from last year. You can see the rest of the videos from last year here. Register today for this year’s and I will see you there!

Conference

Seating is limited. Please register today.

Our 2013 conference will be held on November 9th at a location in the Salt Lake/Utah county area to be determined. The conference will go from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (8:30 sign in) and includes lunch.

Our conferences are meant to have broad appeal within the mission and principles of our organization. Please visit our home page for further information about what we stand for and why our organization is called Agency-Based Education.

Attendees at our 2012 conference rated it a 9.5 on a 1-10 scale. Here’s a few comments from attendees:

“This conference was fabulous!  I loved all the different perspectives for those of us who are still resisting home school. I don’t think it’s a one size fits all, so it’s nice to know that there are real options available for my family and that there are people who have already pioneered the way.  I have SO many great resources!”

“I left the conference feeling more confident that I direct my child’s education in a home school or private school setting.  I loved the ideas and resources that were provided!”

“The presentations were all so informative.  The variety of perspectives gave insight to the depth of the options we have as students, parents and teachers to truly impact the future of this country through the education of the up and coming generations.”

“Excellent low cost conference. I was glad to be able to hear all presenters.”

2013 Conference Speakers:

Senator Aaron Osmond

Compulsory Education versus Parental Choice and Accountability

Compulsory Education law is one of the most divisive topics in public education. The fundamental element of choice, with the natural accountability and consequences that come with that choice, is missing from this law. I believe the time has come to replace compulsory education law with a more effective parental choice and accountability law to allow for more parental/student freedom, while also holding parents/students accountable when using public education resources.

Aaron Osmond has been serving as State Senator for District 10 since April 2011. Aaron, his wife Nancy, and their 5 children live in South Jordan. In his professional life, Aaron is working as the VP – North American Sales for Certiport (based in American Fork), a high stakes test development and delivery company serving the academic market. Aaron has demonstrated a willingness to be engaged and accountable to the people of district 10, through regular quarterly meetings, monthly newsletters, and proactive communication about his views on policy issues and upcoming legislation.

 

Lynn Stoddard

The Great Brain Project

The Great Brain Project is one of the strategies that was invented to help students grow in the powers of greatness, especially the power of Inquiry. Students can become “specialists,” “experts,” “masterminds,” or “geniuses” in topics of their choice through diligent study to find answers to their own questions that grow as they probe deeper and deeper into a topic. A parent, grandparent, other relative or neighbor serves as the child’s guide and research partner. At the end of the project, the child gives a presentation of what s/he has learned to classmates and other invited guests and is recognized in the “Great Brain Hall of Fame.”

Lynn Stoddard is a veteran educator with 36 years as a teacher and elementary school principal. He retired “early” to promote a different philosophy of education in which parents and teachers unite to help students grow in seven major dimensions or powers of human greatness: Identity, Inquiry, Interaction, Initiative, Imagination, Intuition and Integrity. His 12 children all attended public schools in Davis County. He lives in Farmington and can be reached at efhg.org and lstrd@yahoo.com.

 

Audrey Rindlesbacher

From Opinions to Principles

Once we want to discover truth, we’ve got to know how to find it in the things we read. Principles are the foundational ideas upon which our actions are based; they are the truths that will make us free. This article helps you learn to discern between actions based on opinion and those based upon principles. With the tools learned in this essay, you will be able to train yourself to see all the ways that others’ opinions are influencing your actions, and move yourself in the direction of a foundation of truth.

Audrey Rindlisbacher has a liberal arts Bachelor’s degree and is pursuing a Master of Arts in Education at Harrison Middleton University. She currently teaches study skills and literature at George Wythe University. She has spoken often about governmental and educational issues on radio programs, at rally’s, conventions and other venues. She is the author of the popular “Principles of Liberty” course and the Lost Educational Principles articles. Audrey is also the co-founder of the Ten Boom Institute which helps individuals and families “Build Character Through the Classics” with their “What to Read” video blog, “How to Read” Video Trainings, and Character Building Reading Programs. 

 

Dr. Jesse Meeks

Agency-Based Education in a Public School

Great teachers never give up on their students regardless of what environment they find themselves in! The realization that each one of my students is a genius and has a unique purpose in life they are particularly suited to, drives my decision making and teaching style. I do not prefer the format of the charter school I work in but I am making it work and helping students take charge of their education in meaningful ways and will share those ideas, as well as ideas about how class time could be structured differently if certain barriers were removed.

Dr. Jesse Meeks loves teaching. After 15 years as a full time chiropractor he decided to enter the world of education full time. He opened, taught in, and administrated a private school for 3 years, he is in his 4th year of teaching in the Charter School system, he serves on the Board of a new Charter School in the Rose Park area and is an educational consultant for a private school working in teacher development and curriculum.

 

Aneladee Milne

You Don’t Have to “Go It Alone” at Home

If the state of education today feels desperate, cheer up – it really has gotten much freer over the past forty years and it is only going to get better. Although the free, compulsory education provided by the state is convenient and comfortable; and some find it hard to break the habit of accepting the free handout, we can change if we are willing to get uncomfortable. There are many options available. One inexpensive, community building option is the New Commonwealth School. Learn about some creative, inexpensive options to going it alone at home.

Aneladee Milne holds a B.A. in statesmanship  and an M.A. in Education from George Wythe University. She is passionately dedicated to the quest for knowledge and understanding, so that wisdom about freedom can be spread to all seekers of truth in the world. She is the author of The New Commonwealth School and the co-author of an exciting new book series: Homeschool Heroes – The Lost DaVincis, a mystery written for young home-schoolers.

 

Kristen Chevrier

I’ve thought about homeschooling but where the heck do I start?

Research. Reflect. Relax. Rejoice! Homeschooling is not public schooling at home. The options for learning are as varied as the students who use them. You are the one who is best tuned in to the needs of your children. You can direct your child’s education and do it better than anyone else. Please join me for a quick overview of how to get started on a wonderful homeschooling adventure.

Kristen Chevrier loves learning and teaching. She has thoroughly enjoyed homeschooling for 18 years (now has three children in college and two at home); has studied multiple teaching styles and curricula; and teaches group homeschool classes in history, literature, composition, government and theater, and teaches adult workshops in parliamentary procedure, political activism, homeschooling and naturally leavened bread making. Kristen blogs about homeschooling and surrounding issues at homeschoolwise.com.

 

Janet Summit

Setting up a Community School

At the 2012 ABE conference, Janet spoke about what a community school is and what their school does. It was a fascinating presentation about how a community can organize educational efforts. This conference is “part 2″ where she will be explaining how to establish one of your own with other families in your community. Her community school is a totally volunteer, family-based school that serves about 100 children of all ages. Everything is run, organized, and taught by the families or people in the community who volunteer their time. The students are thriving, involved, have wonderful learning opportunities, and love their classes.  It is an agency-based school. This can be a model that can be implemented in any community, and truly does provide wonderful options for students.

Janet Summit has been teaching her ten children and many other students in public school, private school, and homeschool situations for over 25 years.  She knows that children learn much better when learning is family and community-based.

 

Pamela Openshaw

Brilliant Government

Our original Constitution was a vibrant, brilliantly balanced document, but it has been altered. Unless our children know and love the Constitution, we cannot preserve our liberty. Our government system gave us the greatest prosperity the modern world has ever seen, as we produced 50% of the world’s goods with 5% of its population.  Education, locally controlled by parents, stood at the center of that prosperity to teach the principles of freedom and personal responsibility. We can regain prosperity if we teach freedom, balanced government, and the Constitution to our children.

Pamela Romney Openshaw is the author of Promises of the Constitution: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and the two Lessons of the Constitution books that create a home school or family study program from her original book. She writes the weekly conservative column “Get it RIGHT” for the Daily Herald and blogs at promisesoftheconstitution.blogspot.com . Pam gained her love of things political as a Nebraska delegate to President Jimmy Carter’s White House Conference on Families in 1980. She is a BYU graduate, former (disillusioned) elementary school teacher, entrepreneur and former consultant and small business owner who now devotes her time to writing.. She and her husband, a retired Air Force officer, are the parents of 8 children and grandparents of 29.

Seating is limited. Please register today.

Today’s tip for a healthy lunch is to replace those industrially-made snack chips with some low-carb chips of your own. The above picture shows coconut chips toasted to perfection and seasoned with cinnamon and a smidge of salt. These healthy chips satisfy the desire for something crunchy to much on, and they are totally good for you. As Sarah Pope, the Healthy Home economist explains on her page where you can find the recipe, regular snack chips made in a factory are laced with vegetable oils that turn toxic when fried at high heat. They also contribute to the overproduction of these nasty-sounding things called “endocannabinoids.” These signal the brain to be hungry when you really aren’t, so that’s why “no one can eat just one!”

Now for another item to add the “crunch factor.” These are candied nuts and they are so yummy! I’m sorry the picture is a bit blurry. They are just a bit sticky, so maybe pack some baby wipes with this one, and wrap them up in parchment paper. You can leave the candied glaze off and just have crispy nuts. Here’s the recipe for both variations:

Crispy Almonds

4 cups Almonds

1 Tbs. Sea Salt

Filtered water

Mix almonds with salt and water, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours, or overnight. Drain in colander and rinse in cool water. Spread on stainless steel baking sheet, and place in a warm oven (no warmer than 150 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours. Turning occasionally, until completely dry and crisp. Store in a mason jar in your pantry.

Honeyed Crispy Almonds

2 cups Crispy almonds

2 Tbs. Honey or maple syrup

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2 tsp. Coconut oil, or palm oil, or butter

2-3 drops essential oil of your choice

(optional)

¼ cup Sucanat, or palm sugar, coconut sugar,

or Rapadura

1 tsp. Sea salt

Place honey, vanilla, and oil or butter into a saucepan, until it starts to simmer slightly. Add nuts, and stir to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the syrup is mostly soaked up. Remove from heat, and add salt and granulated sweetener, fold into almond mixture. Place almonds on waxed paper, and allow to harden at room temperature (or in a 150 degree oven to speed the process.) When dry, break into pieces and store in a covered container.

If you mix the coconut chips with the candied nuts, and shape into bars, you have grain-free granola bars. They make a wonderful combination!

Lastly, we have kale chips. These are soooo much better than potato chips. You could add different essential oils to the recipe to make them even better, like oregano or rosemary. Oooh, they are so divine! The next time I have a baby I am going to have my kids fix these for me to eat during labor. Here is the recipe.  Enjoy! I will be eating these this Thursday at our new family school when I bring lunch for me and all the kiddos. This if the first time my little kids, under 12, are going to be part of our Commonwealth School classes. I am planning the lunch and these will be part of it.

Today’s Sunday School is the following infographic and video about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member.

I know winter is a ways off, so these mugs with snowflakes are just a little out of season, but they happened to be what was handy to serve the Vanilla Soother that my friend’s teenaged son whipped up in the Naturally Healthy Cooking class last week. This soother is like a drinkable pudding, and it is so good! It makes a super healthy, satisfying real food you could put in your child’s thermos for her lunch box or serve at home on homeschooling days. Ironically, we had the vanilla soother last Saturday morning and then later on that day, within five minutes the sky turned dark and cloudy and this is what our summer evening looked like in my front yard:

Yes, we had a hailstorm that lasted all of five minutes a week ago Saturday night. It was the strangest thing, as if all hell had broken loose in a flash, and then it was over in five minutes. So when the weather looks like that, imagine how swell you and your kids will feel inside having these soothers for your lunch, or breakfast, or for a snack, or even for dinner! My friend Lynda served the vanilla version with freshly grated nutmeg, and oh boy, was that ever the finishing touch! This would make such a delectable FHE treat on cold winter nights. Now I have something else to look forward to for winter, besides flannel sheets and Christmas!

Warm Vanilla Soother

3 cups Whole milk
4 Egg yolks
1/3 cup Real maple syrup
2 Tbs. Arrowroot powder or corn starch
1 Tbs. Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, maple syrup and arrowroot powder.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a whisk) until mixture begins to thicken.  Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  Stir until creamy.  Pour into mugs and serve warm.

This soother is so rich and satisfying that my friend’s son will whip a batch before his shift at a restaurant to drink before he leaves and it tides him over through his shift. It will definitely help your kids have the fats and nutrients they need to work hard at school and at play.

Here’s the Chocolate variety:

Warm Chocolate Soother

3 cups Whole milk
4 Egg yolks
¼ cup Real maple syrup
3 Tbs. Sucanat
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
2 Tbs. Arrowroot powder or corn starch
1 Tbs. Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, sucanat, cocoa and arrowroot powder.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a whisk) until mixture begins to thicken.  Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  Stir until creamy.  Pour into mugs and serve warm.

If you want a drink that’s satisfying but not warm and thick, here’s a Coconut Tonic that I have been making every day to increase my calcium intake. It’s from Sally Fallon’s book Eat Fat Lose Fat. This is a great alternative to dairy if you can’t tolerate milk and or don’t have access to raw milk, which is a great real food, btw. Real Milk has sources for raw milk.

Coconut Milk Tonic

Mix in a pitcher:

1 can coconut milk

1 3/4 c water

2 T maple syrup (use pinches of stevia if  you as a mom are wanting to lose weight and will be drinking this)

1 t dolomite powder

1 t vanilla

If you prefer to have it warm you can mix in a saucepan and warm until the dolomite is dissolved. On these hot summer days I have just been mixing it in a pitcher.

Put in a thermos if you want it to stay warm or some other drinking container in lunch box. It’s a sweet refreshing drink!

(Can you tell I am not ready for summer to end?)

Photo Credit: HIllsdale College

Have you heard of Meghan Cox Gurdon? I have just recently, and I am happy to say that finally, someone out there had the guts to say what needed to be said about the Young Adult genre. She is the children’s book reviewer for the Wall Street Journal. In 2011, she published an article that said much of the YA books being published today are not worth reading. Here is a related article recently published in Imprimis, the newsletter for Hillsdale College.

If you are sensitive, you might want to skip her descriptions of some of the plot lines she describes in the article. She gives warning in the article before she does so.

Many people reacted saying that she was calling for a ban on books and censorship. This is what happens when people don’t think clearly because they feel they are being attacked. She was not attacking anyone. She did not call for censorship or banning of books. She simply said, don’t read certain books. They aren’t uplifting. They don’t contribute to young people’s happiness.

So what shall we read, and what shall we encourage our children, especially our young adults to read? I like the ending of her Imprimis article:

Let me close with Saint Paul the Apostle in Philippians 4:8:

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

And let us think about these words when we go shopping for books for our children.

I have three great resources for you in picking books for children, whether “shopping” at the library or at Barnes and Noble.

1. The first one is Redeemed Reader. I have finally found a Christian-based book review site for children! I am soooo happy about this! Because Christ redeemed us, we show our love to him by being choosy about the books we read, in other words, by being a Redeemed Reader. This site will help you be choosy because of Christ’s redemption. It has book reviews for picture books, chapter books, and YA books, along with book lists. You can also find podcasts and interviews, like with the aforementioned Meghan Gurdon. I am sad that I just discovered the Summer Reading Challenge that ended July 31, but here is the book list for it.

2. Audrey and Blaine, over at The Ten Boom Institute have started a section under the tab of “what to read” with book recommendations. They even have tons of video book recommendations, some with their kids. I love their site!

3. The Good Reading Guide. It is chock-full of book reviews for kids, YAs and adults. Right now you can sign up for a free membership for a year. It claims to be “broadly compatible with Christian values.” It is much more comprehensive, covering adult, YA, and children’s books on all topics, both fiction and non-fiction. The following video demos how to use the web site.

I heard that Audrey over at the The Ten Boom Institute is hosting a discussion of the book The Adventures of Pinocchio for September. On the way home from our trip to southern Utah this past Sunday I read the abridged version of it to my little boy in the car. It has so many gospel teachings in it! This reading reminded me of reading the complete version to my two oldest children over 10 years ago. It is such a great story about character, the plan of salvation, and what it means to be real, human, and good.

So I decided it was time to read it to the younger kids. I’ve been reading it out loud to my 7 and 9 year olds while they do the breakfast dishes.You can find free audio recordings of each chapter here.

I want to join Audrey when she discusses it on Tues. Sept. 10th. Who wants to join us?

Here is the call-in information:

Dial: 661-673-8600 access code 373301#. All calls are at 7:30 MST/8:30 CST.

Here is how you can prepare for the discussion, copied from Audrey’s web site:

Here are some ways you can prepare for a great discussion! Choose one more of the following exercises to practice as you read and bring your notes to our over-the-phone book discussion:

1- Look up information on the author and the origin of the book. Write notes in your book.

2- Track themes in your book. When you notice a recurrent theme, write it in the back of your book and put a page number next to it each time it comes up. 

3- Join our email list at The Ten Boom Institute and get the free article “From Opinions to Principles.” Read it and begin searching for principles in your reading.

4- Practice writing at least one of each of the 5 types of questions taught in the “From Opinions to Principles” article. Bring your questions to the discussion.

Here are Audrey and some of her cute kids sharing about the book:

Today’s tip/recipe for a healthy homemade lunch is to make wholesome grilled cheese sandwiches! This is my new favorite lunch. I take slices of my homemade sourdough bread. If I am just making the lunch for me, I melt some butter in a pan. While it’s melting, I toast the bread, butter it, and put slices of cheese on a slice, then cover it with another slice, and then fry the sandwich on one side of the buttered pan and then the other.

If you are making these for a crowd, spread the slices out on pan, butter, put cheese on each slice, making them open-faced, and then melt in an oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

It’s easy to learn to make your own bread! I have to admit, when I used to think of making bread, I would think of my mom or my mother-in-law, devoting the whole afternoon to making 6 to 8 loaves at once for their burgeoning families. My mom’s bread tasted good but it was too crumbly to use for sandwiches.

This sourdough bread slices up beautifully for sandwiches, and best of all, even though it’s whole wheat, the phytic acid of the whole grain is neutralized. Phytic acid binds up minerals and makes grain indigestible. It’s God’s way; of preserving seeds and grains until they are ready to be planted in the ground or digested by a non-human creature. The healthiest bread sours or soaks the grain so that the grain in the bread has reduced phytic acid.If you don’t soak or sour your whole grain bread and eat a lot of it, you can have tooth decay, allergies, food sensitivities, digestion problems, and osteoporosis.

Healthy lunches give kids the energy to play and thrive!

Soaking or souring the bread is not as hard as you might think!  You will not be in your kitchen all day! I don’t have a Bosch mixer, and I don’t like to get my hands all floury from kneading bread. So I use a breadmachine and then I don’t have to touch the dough. You can find a used breadmachine at a thrift store for $5 or less.

Here is my recipe for sourdough bread machine bread, adapted from the book The Art of Baking With Natural Yeast  by Melissa Richardson and Caleb Warnock:

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread from Breadmachine

Melt 2 T butter, put in the loaf pan

Add 1 3/4 c water

Add 2 T honey

Add 3/4 c sourdough start *

Then add the dry ingredients:

3 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

Mix up the ingredients a little with a rubber scraper. Put in your breadmachine and choose the longest setting for whole wheat bread. Feed your start. If you have about 1 cup of starter left in your jar, feed your start with 1/2 cup flour (heaping) and 1/2 cup water (scant). Now you will have more starter ready the next time you want to make bread! When the breadmachine beeps, try not to devour your brand new loaf, smothered with honey butter, when it comes out.

*Get the above book for all the details on creating a sourdough start. It’s basically 1/4 cup heaping (rounded) on the top of flour and then a scant 1/4 c water. Combine in a glass jar and mix with a rubber scraper until well mixed. You want it to be the consistency of cookie dough, not cake batter. After you see little bubbles all the way through, the start is ready to use. Check Melissa’s blog here for more pointers.

Here is what the starter looks like when it is ready:

As far as sandwich ideas, here are some ideas for spreads and toppings beyond PB & J:

almond butter

avocado

hummus

thinly slicked cucumbers

thinly sliced tomatoes

sprouts

homemade deli meats, see recipe for sliced roast beef here

sliced chicken breast

thinly sliced red onion

mustard

pickles that have been blotted dry so they don’t make the sandwich soggy

Announcing…

Tree of Life Fertility

Natural Family Planning Support Meetings!

For: Latter-day Saint (LDS) married couples who are interested in Natural Family Planning, based on the teachings of LDS Church leaders.

This is a place to get information and support for practicing NFP.

When: the second Wednesday of every month

starting Wed. Sept. 11, 2013

6 to 7 PM MT

7 to 8 PM CT

8 to 9 PM ET

5 to 6 PM PT

These will be over the phone as a conference call! They are free.

Conference Dial-in Number: (610) 214-0000
 
Participant Access Code: 738747#

We will rotate through a series of four topics, doing one topic each month:

1. The Importance of Natural Family Planning (great for engaged couples, newlyweds, and anyone thinking about NFP)

2. Getting Started and Overcoming Obstacles to Using NFP to Achieve Pregnancy

3. Getting Started and Overcoming Obstacles to Using NFP to Avoid Pregnancy

4. Ecological Breastfeeding, Weaning, and the Impact of Nutrition on Fertility