Southern Foods: Easy Hoppin John's Casserole Recipe

I was feeling uninspired about dinner today until I came upon a can of healthy Margaret Holmes  Hoppin' John at the grocery store. Even better, the can had a recipe on the side. So I picked up some sausage, and made a very easy, but tasty recipe tonight.

Hoppin' John Casserole:

2 cans of Hoppin' John
One TB vegetable shortening
Hot sauce
Ground sausage(less preservatives and junk) or thick bacon
Brown Sugar
Seasoned salt(Adobo)

Melt vegetable shortening on the bottom of casserole dish, add two cans of Hoppin' John's, spread sausage on top, lightly salt with Adobo, sprinkle with brown sugar and hot sauce, bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.

Typically this is served over rice, but I served mine over sour cream muffin tin biscuits, Paula Dean style(substituted with vegetable shortening, rather than butter). It is a very filling meal. I had mine with only half a small biscuit.. This was plenty!

The only thing I might change next time is to add a can of succotash.

I use vegetable shortening very rarely. Some dishes or baked goods just aren't the same without it though, biscuits and pie crust especially.

Homeschool Freebie: Fanciful Tales by Frank Richard Stockton

Fanciful Tales
Authors Frank Richard Stockton, Julia Elizabeth Langworthy
Editor Julia Elizabeth Langworthy
Publisher C. Scribner's Sons, 1904
Length 135 pages

As recommended by Special Method in the Reading of Complete English Classics, 1904. Recommended for fourth grade, but great for read aloud for younger and older elementary aged children.

William's Wife by Jean Plaidy

William's Wife (The Queens of England Series , Vol 9)

I'm continuing to read through Jean Plaidy's historical fictions. I've been reading Plaidy's books written about the women of the families of  Charles I and Charles II. This particular book is about King James II's(brother to Charles II) Mary who was married to William of Orange(Netherlands). She later went on to rule England as  Mary II and as co-regent with her husband William. The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia was charted in 1693, endowed and named in their honor.

I feel like I know these families so well now. Plaidy has a very sympathetic balanced way of portraying her characters, and many of her books are written in first person.

This book has been recently republished under a new title,  The Queen's Devotion: The Story of Queen Mary II (A Queens of England Novel).

I hope to finish this soon so that I can go on to read about Mary's sister, Queen Anne: The Queen's Favourites (The Stuart Saga #7), the last regent of the House of Stuart. Neither Mary or Anne had any surviving children.

From Wikipedia: "Mary's life from her childhood to her death forms part of the BBC drama series The First Churchills (1969) " I've got this on queue at Netflix.

Polyvore Fashion Helper

Search, select, and drag clothing from across the web with Polyvore to create an outfit or collection. This was my first attempt, and it was fun. You can adjust the pricing, the backgrounds can be customized, and you can browse other people's creations. I enjoyed searching sets by clothing piece and color.

Boho Chic by Alexandraboho featuring Old Navy

and another:

Frugal Bohemian by Alexandraboho featuring Old Navy

Homeschool Freebie: Children's Vintage Illustrated Autumn Reader

There is no mention of grade, but I think it may be advanced second grade, early third. These books are free to read online, download, or print(right click on image of page). Pages are printable as long as you have them set on HTML(bottom of Google Book pages). I've linked the pages defaulted to HTML. The standard mode allows scrolling through the pages, but excludes printable pages.

Peter and Polly in Autumn by Rose Lucia
American Book Co., 1918
Length 176 pages


Also see:

Peter and Polly in Winter

Peter and Polly in Spring

Peter and Polly in Summer

Peter and Polly Dolls, not related, but cute vintage craft activity for the lower grades.

Bathroom Remodel Progress

It's slow going, but the wallpaper is down, walls have been prepped, seams caulked, and today we got some paint.

Sears has some quality paint, so we went with their Easy Living brand. I found some paint chips that I liked at Walmart, and Sears was able to match the color with the paint chips. We are going with some contemporary  neutrals. The walls and the dark stained wood cabinet are going to be painted. I thought about keeping the dark cabinet color(Pottery Barn comes to mind), but they are pretty old and grubby looking. The wood is solid, and they have some nice drawers which you don't find in modern cabinets. A fresh paint job should make them look new again.


The next big step is to replace the floor with some simple white or off-white tiles, which should be fairly easy with only about 20 square feet around the cabinet and in front of the tub, and replace the toilet. I know this is chuckled at by some, but I've always wanted one of those Lucite toilet seats with stuff embedded in them. When I was a child I remember some lady friends of my grandmother had them in their 'Boca Florida homes, so there is a nostalgia factor there.

They also had pink homes, wore boutique pant suits and rhinestones in their glasses, but I draw the line there(giggle).

Then early next year, we'll fix the fiberglass tub which will cost over $300.00 to get it done properly, or risk paint peel.

Sears on Easy Living paint: "Mildew and stain resistant low odor formula with low spatter. Washable finish. Limited lifetime warranty with one coat coverage guaranteed." It has good reviews online as well.

Some Sears paint deals:

If you are purchasing plain white paint from Sears, it's less expensive to order online via Ebates.com(2% rebate). It's also $4.00 off when purchased online at Sear.com.

Discover Card rewards has a $5.00 bonus when you redeem points for a $45.00 Sears gift card, and 5% Sears cashback online at the Discover shopping portal. Mypoints.com also offers Sears gift cards for redeemed points(low point threshold). If you sign up for Sears emails, you'll get coupons and discount notifications.

Decorating with Drop Cloths

 See frugal and creative decorating ideas using painter's drop cloth here. Read the comments at the link for more ideas.

We recovered a sofa and used drop cloths for drapes; however, I really like the way they pinch pleated these drop cloth drapes. I draped mine over the rod and created over hanging billows with pins, but I've been thinking about using the ring clips for a contemporary and updated look.

Homeschool Writing Skills e-Curricula and Freebies

Free e-curriculum offered at CurrClick, "Your one-stop shop for electronic lapbooks, affordable curriculum, and homeschooling resources. Unit study, novel study, bargin home study online downloads for home education!"

Also at CurrClick, although not free, it looked interesting. We might try this: Ignite Your Writing: "Multi-level writing curriculum offers 24 lessons covering 6 areas of writing skills needed for any kind of writing. Each lesson has 3 levels: Startup, Intermediate, and Advanced. Choose the level based on the student’s writing ability rather than age or grade." On sale for $10.00. See the preview at the link. I liked what I saw, and it seems to complement what we are covering in Rod & Staff's English(sixth grade).


Free ebook over at Google books for developing writing skills: Lessons in English 1 and    Lessons in English 2 by Fred Newton Scott and Gordon Augustus Southworth.

Homeschool Freebie: Fish Migration

My son was required to write a short essay about fish migration for his Rod & Staff reading lesson today. Here are a few resources that I found for his assignment today. All are free to print, read online, and download.

The Natural History of Animals: Of Migration of Fishes Pages 124-125

The Origin of the Seasons Considered from a Geological Point of View: Migration of Fish in European Waters. pages 274-275.

St. Nicholas Magazine, Nature and Science for Young Folks, The Winner.pages 650-651.

The World Book: Salmon pages 5173-5174

How Salmon Live and Die, short paragraph.

Classics Old and New: Salmon by Rudyard Kipling
pages 53-56.

The New Century Third Reader (easy and quick summary): SalmonPages 47-50.

Story Hour Readings, Book 8 (advanced reading): The Story of Salmon by David Starr Jordon pages 13-21. Fifth grade version, fourth grade version.

Photo and blurb about a flying salmon.

Photo of flying salmon.

Make Your Own Greeting Cards with Recycled Materials

How to Make Greeting Cards with Recycled Materials:

  Read here.

Student Career Exploration

Jimmie has a helpful post for student career exploration. See her helpful guide to the Occuptational Outlook Handbook.

Homeschool Ebook Freebie: All the Year Round: A Nature Reader : Part I : Autumn

All the Year Round: a Nature Reader : Part I : Autumn
Author Frances Lucia Strong
Publisher Ginn & Co., 1896
Length 102 pages

Overview

Free and in public domain, downloadable and readable online. Individual pages can be saved(right click, save).

DIY Modern Sofa Couch

Made from hardwood, MDF, foam, and Knoll fabric. Click here

Remodeling Our 1970's Bathroom

We are tackling this project a little at a time. On my husband's day off this week, he took out the rusty medicine cabinet and sealed up the wall. I took down the wall paper last week, and I plan to paint the walls soon. I have a gift certificate coming for Lowe's which I earned with purchase points, so the paint will be free. We'll replace the light fixture and paint the sink cabinet. Last year we replaced the counter and sink with an all-in-one unit, so that much has already been done. Come January we'll tackle a new tile floor, and a new water saver toilet with more earned gift cards.

The only part which will not be free is some plumbing and a fix to the fiberglass tub. We decided against replacing the tub insert, opting for some minor - moderate repairs by a local refinisher. After this, we have a powder room to update/repair. The original 1972 counter in that powder room is way past its expiration with a sagging area behind the sink(rot).

Older homes are a lot of work. We also need to replace carpets and windows. Energy Saver windows will at least reduce our energy costs. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. This should be the last(almost) of any updates or repairs for a long time. We've got a water heater that is past its prime, but it's still functioning well. When it goes, we'll probably replace it with an Energy Star tankless water heater.

If we didn't have some plumbing and fiberglass repairs, this remodel would be completely free using our earned credit card points. We use our credit card like a debit card, never keeping a balance, always paying it off in full. It takes discipline to charge only that which you need(regular daily living expenses), but after many years, keeping to a budget has become old hat.

Handy Free and Cheap List

From savings guru, Clark Howard from The Clark Howard Show: The Free and Cheap List 

A sampling:

Autodriveaway.com - Transport someone else's car and pay no rental fees

FON.com - Free private worldwide Wi-Fi network

Ecofont.com - Free download that uses up to 20% less ink when printing ( I use this)


OpenOffice.org - Free alternative to Microsoft Office(I use this, very handy)


Zoho.com - Free alternative to Microsoft Office

Free Education - Search the web for courses

TaxACT.com - Prepare and file your federal tax return for free -- regardless of high income

See his show notes here. 

Clark Howard's Greatest Hits

Swagbucks: Search and Earn

I joined Swagbucks about a month ago after I saw it mentioned on a blog. It's a Google powered search engine which credits you points for searches. These points(Swagbucks) can be turned in for merchandise or gift certificates. I use a search engine almost every day, so this was perfect for me.

I really thought it would be a lot more difficult to earn enough points for a gift certificate, but so far it has been very easy. I keep Swagbucks bookmarked to my toolbar, and use the search engine every time I need to search for something, which is almost every day. So far I've earned 28 Swagbucks. I'm shooting for a $5.00 Amazon gift certificate(45 Swagbucks).

Hint: Swagbucks seems to kick in when you do multiple searches. I've noticed that one search has not earned me anything. It may be the quality of my searches, but if you are not earning, try at least two searches. I have been getting credited with one or two Swagbucks with at least  two searches.

They have a search toolbar you can download, but I haven't tried this. I think it would slow down my computer.

If you refer people, you get matching bucks, although I have figured this out yet.

Between this and Mypoints.com, I've managed to earn a little extra for the family simply by searching and reading emails(Mypoints.com).

Homeschool Freebie: Everyday Birds, Elementary Studies

 I thought I'd share this free online children's book about birds:

Everyday Birds: Elementary Studies by Bradford Torrey, Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1901

We used a section in this book for a short informational about Hummingbirds for Rod & Staff (6) . We needed a little background information before writing a short essay. It's free and in public domain. You can download the entire book, or just save individual pages(left click on image of page) for viewing or printing.

You must view book in HTML(bottom of main page) in order to save and print individual pages. I've linked to the book in HTML, so you shouldn't have to change it.