I think one of my favorite things to make and by far the most requested is this sourdough cinnamon wreath. Which once upon a time was cinnamon rolls but the wreath method is superior… it bakes better, shares better, looks super pretty but if you prefer rolls, the only difference is how you cut it… nonetheless, wreath > rolls. Trust me.
90% of my drive to learn and understand sourdoughing 2 years ago, was because I wanted to bake cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Something about fresh cinnamon rolls just screams cozy Christmas to me. It was a mission I was on. Also donuts of all kinds are my favorite, read kryptonite, so in a way, it was a gift to myself…. as long as they turned out.
I did get them made. They looked great and Christmas brunch with the fam would be the true test. In particular one step-brother, who will remain nameless -even if he stole my favorite fork- would be an honest critic. The only evidence is this screenshot and the few pounds we’ve all put on since I can’t stop making them… just now its in wreath form.
Why a wreath?
Honestly, I saw a picture of one, and wanted to try it. To my surprise, its simpler and even streamlines the process without having to try and make 12 evenly sized rolls. It even bakes super nice and evenly leaving it with a crispy golden sugar kissed edge with a soft gooey center. Literally a sweet, spicy, pillowy dream of fresh baked dough. And that’s before you add the cream cheese frosting. Drool!
Disclaimer on this… like most of my cooking, the sugar mix and frosting is eyeballed. I did my best to put those eye portions into real measurable quantities but take it as a sign that you can’t really mess it up. Omit or add your own spices, make vanilla frosting or stuff it with Nutella if you please. The only real science is in the dough… which the King already worked out for us.
Okay… enough shenanigans. The dough recipe is from King Arthur so if you want the OG method go there and follow those instructions. I added my own twist to the sugar mix so it has more of a gooey texture and make a super light and fluffy cream-cheese frosting. It’s delish.
Bake it at 400* for 18-20 minutes.
THE Sourdough Wreath
Ingredients
For the Dough
1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter
3/4 cup (170g) milk, lukewarm
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (57g) butter, softened
2 3/4 cups (330g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup (57g) Whole Wheat Flour (See notes)
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) table salt
For the Filling
3/4 cup (159g) dark brown sugar, packed
2-3 TBS Corn Starch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 Cardamom
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Clove
2-3 TBLS Butter. room temperature
For the Icing
1 1/2 cups (170g) confectioners' sugar
3 TBS Cream Cheese (softened)
3 TBS Butter (Softened)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Splash of Heavy Whipping Cream
Instructions
To make the dough: Mix together all the dough ingredients except the salt until the dough has formed a cohesive, sticky mass, 2 to 3 minutes on low speed of a stand mixer. Use the dough hook.
Sprinkle the salt on top of the dough to and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
After the autolyse, mix in the salt until fully incorporated, about 1 minute on low speed. Turn the mixer up one speed and knead the dough until it’s smooth. It will still be somewhat tacky but this is fine. Probs about 2 to 3 minutes.
Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm (75°F) place for 4 hours. Performing stretch and folds three to four times during the rest. One stretch and fold per hour is ideal but don't worry if it's not exact. The goal is to end up with a strong dough with good elasticity. I like to set timers.
After the stretch and folds let it set on the counter for another 4 hours or until doubled. At this point you can refrigerate until you're ready to form the wreath and bake or make the wreath.
When you're ready to bake (see notes if you refrigerated the dough), mix all the filling ingredients together. Roll the dough to about a 14 x 20 rectangle and sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly. Roll it up from the long side of the rectangle into a log.
From here you can cut 12 rolls, OR cut it down the center long ways and criss-cross the sides to make the twist and connect the ends to create the circle.
If making the wreath shape feels intimidating or confusing, I do have a video on my Instagram you can watch. It’s way less complicated than it seems. I promise. That first time you cut that log down the center though, feels really scary. There’s some reels, and a Cinnawreath hilight. You can always message me too.
If you want to start your sourdough journey, I’ve posted some and can find a good starting point here.
Well, I feel like I’m forgetting something… 50-50 chance I am… if I figure it out, i’ll update the post. Happy baking! Let me know if you make these for Christmas!
Ley’s start with what sourdough discard even is. This word gets tossed around in the sourdough world like you’re automatically supposed to know what it is. So if you’re new to Sourdough, this will be particularly helpful.
If you were to google what sourdough discard is, you’d get a few different answers, but all similar enough just to confuse you more than you probably are.
Things like, “As the name suggests, sourdough discard is a portion of the sourdough starter that is removed. This process is carried out before feeding (adding fresh flour and water) in order to manage its growth and refresh the acidity levels.” Or, “Sourdough discard doesn’t have to be discarded. It is basically a mixture of flour and water which can be added to lots of different recipes.” And “Sourdough discard is basically just any starter you’re left with after baking or feeding your starter.”
They are all right, but they are also not super clear. Why is one suggesting you always have something to remove, when another is saying it doesn’t have to be. Or what happens if I use all of my starter in my recipe? Do I not have any discard then? Should I have discard?
Here is what I have found most helpful in understanding Starter vs. Discard.
They are the same thing. Your starter IS your discard. Your discard IS your starter. So yes, you need it! Think of you little pet as the yeast packet you get at the store. Thats exactly what it is. Fermented water and flour that has created a wild yeast. It is THE leavening agent for your bread. There is just two stages. An ‘Active’ and ‘Inactive’ stage. The bubbly, frothy, freshly ‘fed’ starter is the ‘Active’ one. Like what happens when you add warm water to the store bought packet. You activate it and then use it. Same idea here, it’s just a sticky goop. And instead of dissolving the powder into the warm water, you ‘feed’ it with equal parts water and flour. That active one will grow and grow until it eventually deflates. It feeds off the proteins and gluten in the flour you fed it and all the gases/bubbles the bacteria created from that wild yeast will pop. This is the “inactive’ state. Also, often referred to as the ‘discard’. When your discard gets super hungry, it produces a gray liquid called ‘hooch’ and this just means you need to feed the poor guy/girl.
Hopefully that is helps you understand a bit more. As you work with itm it will all make sense. I’m convinced sourdoughing is one of those things you can read and read and read about but only so much will become understanding until you DO the steps. So, if you’re reading this and haven’t made any bread yet, get on it! Then come back and read it again, it’ll make more sense then. I promise.
In the beginning, I for sure had an adjustment period of having not enough and too much discard. I also had no idea what I was doing with bread, abut was killing it in the discard game cuz I felt bad just throwing it away. So i got some good experience in those first couple of months using it. Convinced myself if not a nice loaf of bread, we’d at least have some yummy discard treats to eat. You’ll figure out your groove, and honestly, I love having a lot of discard because I want to be able to make all these goodies I’m about to share. So, if you’re like me, and doing this for more than JUST bread, get a big jar. I saved one to my Sourdough Essentials list from Amazon.
Now! On to some of our favorite recipes to use our goopy goop.
This Discard Pasta from make it dough will ruin you for all other noodles. So beware. I’ve made it with and without a pasta rolling thing, and it honestly wasn’t any less work or faster, the only difference is hand cutting the pasta is much more rustic looking.
These buttery biscuits WILL change your life. Probs our favorite thing to make out of this list. Add a little jam or make some sausage gravy! Uff! Officially adding it to the breakfast menu for the week.
We’ve done all kinds of things, like donuts, cookies, pancakes, dutch baby, brownies, pretzels, I will on occasion even melt a little butter in a pan and fry a little discard all by it lonesome. It’s tangy, chewy and delish with an egg!
These posts about homeschooling seem to be more like a therapy to me and a way of processing and organizing my own thoughts. Hopefully they come as helpful tidbits and perspectives to you on yours or if your considering this route. If not, that’s fine and I’d stop reading… unless you’re just nosy. Them keep going…
Are you buckled-up? This ride is the best and worst and craziest and most magical ride and I’ll forever love hating it.
Okay, all that sounds super dramatic. And it is, cuz I wrote it. Plus, it’s everything I feel about homeschooling. I love it. I hate it. I always want to quit. I probably never will. It brings the best and worst out of all of us. Never do I need to practice more patience, kindness, self-control, love and gentleness than when I’m asking my kid for the five millionth time to tell me what six times five is. Never is joy, peace, love, goodness and faithfulness brought to the forefront when we have to wakeup and do it all again. and again, and again. Thankfully, God IS right there in the thick of it with us and the fruits of the spirit are gentle reminders of Him working in us.
Some days are the most magical. Everyone gets along, listens, learning feels easy, it’s fun and you see the lightbulb moments. Others are the total opposite, and most days are mixture of both. My prayer has always been to raise forever learners, for it to be something that bring us closer, and not just a box to tick that shows they learned XYZ. We’ve been apart of a co-op since year two but things got switched up…
Well… I did it. I quit our co-op for the year -Insert all the teary eye emojis- Homeschooling is an adventure that sometimes has twists and turns you’re not expecting.
I didn’t want to. But I did. It was nowhere on the radar. But here we are. Totally veering to the left. Or right. Or taking the dirt road?… just for the year. And just for me and the younger two. We’re on walk-about this year.Homeschooling IS an adventure.
Still unsure about how I completely feel, but so far it’s just about the dumbest thing I’ve done this whole 7 year journey. But equally excited to see how the year goes. New beginnings are always a little exciting to me. So much unknown, and who knows what kind of awesome adventures awaits us. Lots could also hit the fan, but that’s a given in life so who needs to focus on that. We’re going to focus on all the positives that can come from taking a year to be home. To switch up curriculum. To find new rhythms. Fortify some good habits. Learn things we wouldn’t have had we stayed in the same place.
I wrote that months ago. So if you know me even a little bit IRL then you probably already know we ditched co-op… we’re almost through the first semester of the school year… whatever that means… and I’m here to say, it was scary and the best choice for us this year. Time will tell on what we do for the next, and I’ve got some ideas, I’m just not holding my breath on any of it yet. Homeschooling is an adventure we make the rules for, and we have lot’s of time to figure it out. One year at time to figure it out.
But I will repeat, homeschooling is a wild adventure, so when you find yourself at a gap in the road, take the leap. If you know in your knower that you gotta do something, do it. Even when lots of people around you are raising their eyebrows… (usually out of concern and love. So don’t take it personally.) Just remember, YOU KNOW BEST for your family. YOU KNOW BEST for you. What used to work might not anymore, and that’s okay. What worked for one or even two of your kids might not for another and that’s totes normal. You get to make the rules and sometimes carve out a whole new path.
A lot of us chose to homeschool because it’s not a ‘one fits all’. Seasons change. Kids change. You change. So why wouldn’t how you’re schooling? I will say, I still stand by everything I wrote here. Stepping away for the year was hard for lots of reasons, but also because I knew no matter how difficult or smooth (thankfully it’s been 90% smooth) we would be committed for the year. There was no space for “what did we just do?”, so I HAD to know. And I did. I just tried to ignore it for a while.
When I started to explore new options, it was surprisingly easier than I anticipated. -Maybe this should have been my first clue I was on the right track about stepping away for the year.- Even once I had my back-ups picked, I still tried everything in me to make staying work. At the end of the day, I just knew we needed to stay home full-time. So I made the call, officially. Cried some embarrassing, and frankly surprising tears to our church community group asking for prayer in a smooth transition. I think the uncontrollable ugly crying is where I realized JUST how much I would miss it. We’re all still friends, they are still my people and my kids people, we pop in over lunchtime every so often. It’s not like we’ve isolated ourselves. It’s just different. Not good or bad, simply different. It comes with the territory of the choice we made and as the ones who stepped away, we obviously feel it the most. And in the most reassuring way, even the kids say they are enjoying the year. They miss the built-in social times from co-op but are loving what and how we’re learning this year.
Phew! Is all i can say to that. Also a good reminder to always trust that little voice. Even when it doesn’t seems like it makes sense.
Now if you’re super nosy… here is a closer look at what are we doing and what curriculum we picked for the year.
We stuck with IEW for writing. Or the method anyway. I somehow overlooked adding the American History book for Jacob to the order and so we’ve just opted to use the same writing styles and dress-ups on topics he’s more interested in. This has gotten us lots of papers on cars, racecar drivers, military vehicles… you get the idea. It’s made it way less of a struggle to get him writing, so it was a happy accident. Somehow even though more work is involved in finding sources to write from. And something I NEVER would have considered doing had it not happened on accident.
I even got Ellie this book to get her creative juices flowing. I figured when/if we go back to CC next year she’d be a little bit ahead when it came the writing so the time spent in class could be focused more on the grammar parts -which is really the harder part for me. I thought maybe we get 10 or so papers written but to my surprise she LOVES it! Her only pushback is the actual hand writing, so all in all it’s a win and sometimes we pull the big kids old Spelling-U-See books out to help in that area.
Science, we stuck with Apologia. We had started a little extra curricular of the Astronomy books last year that kinda only worked for a few weeks, so we reviewed what we had done already and have kept going there. Lots of fun experiments and activities go along with these. Highly recommend, especially if you have a hands-on learner. They even sell a whole kit with the tools needed for each project/activity making it fool proof.
Math is still Math-U-See. Still loving this. Quick videos to help explain new info if I’ve forgotten how to do something, or they don’t want to wait for me to sit down when them, they can easily pull it up and watch them on their own. I also do really like how it zooms in on one main idea to reinforce it well. They still practice all kinds of maths and things they’ve learned up until that point, but the main focus of the year is decimals, or fractions, or multiplication. Wherever the student is at. Some people don’t super love this, but it works well for us.
Last but not least, for our core subjects, we went with LIFEPAC for history and geography. This one surprised me the most. I thought it would be a nice and easy one for them to work independently, get some good reading in, practice some “test taking” and me be pretty hands off. In reality, it’s been the one we have all enjoyed sitting down together to read aloud, discuss the different historical and geographic locations, etc. We have zoomed through these booklets and even made some fun poster board projects from it. They are three years apart but both love sitting and listening to one another’s books while we reas the new bits.
This year has been soooo good. It has recentered me, helped me get them grounded too. We’ve (me) have felt more freedom to do as we please, when we please and not feel tied to a timeline or location. Which has led to even more learning and feeling at ease vs. “Hurrying” to get things done for class next week.
Really has reminded me why we started this wild journey. So maybe if you’re feeling at a crossroads like I was and need a little reassurance everything will be okay. or maybe your looking for a high five to just get started. Consider this both. Do what you got to do to enjoy your kids, enjoy learning and teaching, enjoy the mundane days that drag on and are going by in a blink of an eye all at once. To laugh more, relax more, do more out of joy v. duty. Slow your days down to do the things you feel called to do. Watch in awe as they blossom into full blown human beings thinking, deciding and executing and not miss it.
High fives all around cuz everything is fine on this wild homeschooling adventure.
A Quick Meal That Tastes Like You Spent Hours in the Kitchen
If you know curry, you’re probably thinking India. And turmeric, and coriander and Cumin.. probs coconut milk. And you’d be spot on. It’s a dope dish with TONS of spices and rich creamy sauce. There’s lots of varieties, but if you got the sauce and spices, it’s a curry. Raise you hand if you’ve never ordered Curry before. Picture me raising both hands. Yes, I’m serious. Never in my life have I eaten it anywhere but my home from my own hands. So no guarentees on comparing this quick homemade curry to the authenticity of true Indian cuisine, but it is delish.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. My husband ordered one once and I had a bite. But to be fair, that was years before I even attempted to make it myself. So it kinda doesn’t count..
I couldn’t even tell you what inspired me to try it. I’m guessing I was just desperate for a new food in the rotation and the massive amounts of fresh ginger and garlic probably sold me. Again, no idea if this has even an ounce of “authentic-ness” to it. But it’s flipping delicious, feels like you slaved in the kitchen for hours, is so quick and easy to make, especially for larger crowds cuz it makes a decent amount.
It’s also gluten free, which we were super gluten light when I first made it, so that’s probably part of the inspo as well. Since I know I’d be curious, we went gluten free for a few years after we started to notice some gut issues that lead into behavioral issue with the childrens. Now we just do 90% sourdough when it comes to breads and bread type things. Which is not just gentle on the gut it’s actually beneficial to the digestive system. It’s nice to have bread as a staple again since we didn’t eat it often while we were GF. Not even the alternatives cuz they also are full of processed junk that wasn’t going to be nice to our bellys. So we just opted to not partake for the most part.
Alright, back to the homemade curry. We’ve eaten it with rice noodles and just rice but all of us prefer the steamed rice. Noodles are good, but its hard to eat them around the vegetables. Also, Jasmine rice. Always. Simply cuz it tastes the best… to me anyway.
Here we go, step one: Wash a prep all your veggies.
The vegetebale selection is endless. Pick your faves. We’ve done them all. Literally. Baby corns, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, onion, tomato, cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, cabbage… Choose your faves and plan or grab whats left in the fridge and full send it. I cut them into larger “bite size” pieces. We like a little crunch left to them after it’s all said and done so a bit bigger is better.
While the veggies are soaking is a good time to get the rice steaming. For our family of 5, I usually cook 2 cups with the intent of having a bit left over for myself the next day. This is one meal I WILL eat left over. Full transparency, I’ve also never used a rice cooker. Lol because we like rice. So it gets made often. I’m so used to making it stovetop and I really don’t want another appliance in the kitchen so I’ve never even considered one. Maybe I’m wrong though and our rice game would elevate if we did? Do you use one? Should I consider one?
Moving on to the stars of the show.
Ginger and Garlic.
Was there ever a better combo? Okay maybe… probably. But goodness sake, this one is up there. I’ve always been camp “never too much garlic”. And ginger is basically in the same tent for me. But obviously scale it back if you’re not as obsessed as I am. Pretty sure I used to do half the amounts I do now when I first made it and it was still wonderfully delish. So don’t feel like you’ll loose much flavor if you do scale it back. It is curry after all, and this curry paste is my fave to use.
So, I read somewhere, at some point, that frying up the curry paste open up the flavor so I always start with the paste, garlic and ginger in the pot. With little dollop of tallow till it’s all fragrant and slightly bubbling. Not even sure if that is actually true, but nevertheless, it’s how I do.
Get the small cheese grater -like the size you’d use for Parmesan cheese- and grate your ginger and garlic. It makes it so fast!
At this point you should have a red, goopy, bubble paste in the pot and your house smells like heaven. Or at least the kitchen. That’s how you know it’s time the veggies get added. Mix it up well till they’re all covered in said goop, and then stir occasionally for a few minutes. Not too long, just enough to barely warm the outsides of the veggies. We don’t want them cooking down just yet.
Alright, we’re almost done, but we need to take a minute to check on the rice and shout the praises of whoever invented the ‘Better Than Bouillon’ paste. It’s a kitchen staple of mine. It’s in a jar next to all the cartons of broth. Get some and thank me later. We love the vegetable and beef but especially the chicken. And always organic!!! Never the non organic ones. Compare the ingredient lists and you’ll see why. Not worth it to me. I’ll just buy some in a carton or use some homemade bone broth if there’s no organic option. Which I will say, if you have an abundance of bone broth, it is the best option here. The rich homemade flavor beats all of it. And basically all my choices are based on flavor once we get passed the trash ingredients… usually. Oh! And if your rice is done, turn off the burner. Or whatever you would do if you’re using a rice cooker.
Glad we had that chat… take the Better Than Bouillon paste, give two decent teaspoon sized globs and add it to the pot with 3 cups of water. This is your base.
Now take your can of coconut milk -I prefer full fat but not cream- and add the whole thing. Stir it up, make sure the veggies are covered. If not just add a little more water and pop the lid on.
Give it a few minutes and as it just start boiling and your done! Any softer vegetables, like tomato, cilantro, etc., I add in at this point and give it all a good stir. If you’re adding any proteins, this is where I would add them too. Cook them separate and add them after. The soup gets hot and stays hot and I dunno about you, but dry, chewy over cooked chicken or shrimp kinda ruins it all for me.
For serving, we like to scoop our rice into the bottom of a bowl and then top with the curry. Squeeze some lime, a little sriracha and garlic chili paste and try not to burn our mouths being impatient. Delish. 30 minute homemade curry.
30 Minute Homemade Curry
A dish cooked in an Indian-style sauce of hot-tasting spices and typically served with rice.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Ingredients
3 TBLS Curry Paste
3 TBLS Grated Fresh Ginger
3 TBLS Minced Fresh Garlic
Beef Tallow (or light olive oil) for sautéing
Vegetables of choice, cut into bite size pieces
1 Can Coconut Milk
Chicken Broth (1 carton or Better Than Bouillon paste)
Instructions
Heat a deep pot with some tallow and add the curry paste, garlic and ginger. Stir and heat thruogh until fragrant.
Add veggies and stir.
Once the veggies are coated add the broth and cooconut milk.
Stir and cover on medium-high heat until it just starts boiling.
Serve over steamed rice
Garnish with cilantro, lime juice, chili paste or sriracha.
Notes
If you want to add a protein, cook it separately, then add it with the rice and our the curry over the top.
You know those random comments or pieces of advice you hear, and just KNOW you’ll need to remember it? The ones usually said by someone without much thought but are pearls of wisdom. So you file it away in your brain for when the time comes?
I have one for teaching my kids to read. And its proven itself three times over….
It was from two different moms at two totally different times.
“Every kid learns to read on their own time”.
I heard this phrase once when my oldest was a baby. I couldn’t tell you who said, where we were or what we were even talking about to strike this comment. But I heard it and it struck me. I knew it was a pearl to file away and remember when the time came.
Years later, when my second was baby, someone else in a whole different setting/group of friends/ maybe even country said something along the same lines and it reminded me of the first time I heard the same sentiment.
“They’ll wake up one day and just know how to read”.
Two different women I respected who didn’t even know the other existed. Confirmed! This pocketed pearl n how to teach my kids to read was a handy one. Or more so a teaching tool to remember. And like I said up top, it has proven to be OH SO TRUE!!!
Fast forward to Tessa being five and proficiently reading with almost no effort on my part. We did read A LOT together as baby and toddler. She was always happy to sit on anyone’s lap and read books. Like for an hour straight, no joke. And no doubt that played a roll in her ability to totally just pick it up. I even remember borrowing “Teach your child to read in 10 easy lessons” from someone because I wasn’t prepared and she was starting to read on her own. That book would never get opened passed lesson 5 because she didn’t really need it. I secretly rejoiced cuz it was NOT easy. At least not for me at the time. Now, at 13, we all ask her or Alexa when we want to verify spelling. No joke and no shame in my game.
Second kid, boy, only 18 months younger than Tess so they basically did everything together.. but much more interested in building and how things worked than sitting and reading with us. He does love doing things together so would sit often or at least within ear shot and could sneak a eau at the pictures if he heard something interesting or ask a question…. so many questions…. still. Around that same age Tessa picked up reading, I naturally started to encourage Jacob, always remembering that little pearl of wisdom. We’d pick up that “easy lessons” book again, but still never get passed lesson 5. It was the worst. He hated it. I hated it. I can remember the day I realized it wasn’t for us, too. Looking at my little man, teary eyed cuz he hates not being able to do things he wants to do/ expected of him, and throwing it across the room. I smiled and told him that book would get the boot and we’d find a better one. It totally lightened the mood and reset our whole learning to read experience. He needed some handholding but picked it up over the next year.
Then there’s Ellie. Oh, sweet wild child of mine. The one who lives so deeply in her imagination and can hardly sit still long enough to get through a Dr. Seuss board book. Coming up on eight, and although I know she CAN read, she chooses very strongly not to. Unless it’s her idea. When we do sit and practice, I have to remind her to get a book she does’t already have memorized. She loves her spelling book and dictation is something we do weekly so I know it’s in there. Just waiting for that confidence to flourish…. waiting… patiently… very patiently.
The point is… if it’s not already obvious, do your due diligence. But don’t stress about it.
Read with them. Work on the phonetics when them. Point as you read. Do some tracing or copy work when they get older, read toy labels, lego instructions, street signs, it’s everywhere! Making it easy to point out little things. Signs you pass by on the regular. Recognizable things. Sight words are what they all basically become anyway… Do the things but keep it fun. They will quite literally wake up one day just knowing how to read.
They’ll blow your socks off with their hidden talent and surprise you over and over again as they start to gain confidence. It’s the best! Watching lightbulbs go on as they learn is my favorite. It would make me so sad to miss so many of those moments if I wasn’t homeschooling them. Especially after a struggle, and then to see it click!? Ugh. The. Actual. Best. So don’t miss it on this one. We throw major mini parties when big words get read, the first full page, the first full book! Make it a big deal. Try different things. Don’t forget writing and reading go hand in hand so do tracing and copy work and dictation. (This is where Spelling-U-See has come in SO handy.) Make it memorable. They will learn to read. You’ll make sure of it.
P.S. If you want to know what else we use, follow this link.
I also started homeschool ideas list on my amazon storefront you can get some fun games and ideas from.
Or at least really make your tastebuds happy for a meal or two.
I don’t know where you stand on sauces and dips, but they are a weakness of mine. If you’ve been on my socials at all in last 5 years then you’ve probably seen me talk about the worlds most delicious blue cheese dressing. Mama Springtime makes it for family dinners and it blesses my soul.
We’ll have to make that another post cuz it’s worth all its hype… and today we’re talking Tzatziki sauce. Which if you’re unfamiliar is a yogurt based sauce from southeast Europe/ the Middle East region. Think Mediterranean. And boy, oh boy is it at the top of my list for dips.
Incredibly versatile too, which is my favorite kind of cooking. Maximize time and ingredients. (Like the carnitas we use for ten thousand different meals) I’ll make a whole tub of this and we’ll use it for a ton of things! Greek yogurt keeps like a boss too.
The absolute tastiest way to use this, is on gyros. Hashtag drool!!! Like legit, take a day to make the whole nine yards… meat, naan, sauce, toppings… you’ll talk about that meal from that day on. Or at least we have.
This is a total side track but, it’s how this wonderful dip came into our lives.
Andrew and I were still living in Colorado at the time, craving gyros so I decided to give it a try. It was a labor of love to say the least and one thousand percent worth it. The naan too! Ughhhhh!!! Sooo good. I used to have hummus on hand just so I had something to eat the naan with.. which before sourdough, I used to use as a pizza crust too and it was 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 Haven’t made the meat again since… but I talk about doing it a lot if that’s worth anything to you.
Focus Brianna! Dip. Tzatziki sauce… Use it for Gyros, chicken marinade, veggie dip, replace the mayo in tuna or chicken salad, on any meat it’s delish really, especially if it’s been grilled. I’ll make a tomato cucumber salad with is… uff. The list goes on and now I’m hungry!!!
Let’s get to how to making it: These few ingredients together are such a treat:
Dump it all in a bowl and mix! 💃🏼
Yeah, you got to chop the baby dill, and roast the garlic, squeeze the lemon… but there’s no wrong way to add the things. You can scale it to taste for yourself too but typically this is how I do:
Get a whole head a garlic. Chop the top end off and drizzle some olive oil on it and pop that baby in the oven. This takes the longest, so do it first.
Next, get the whole bunch of baby dill. Wash it. (I use this stuff to soak all my produce. The actual best). Then take the fuzzy little good bits off the fat stems and finely chop it and put it in the bowl.
At some point, dump the whole tub of greek yogurt into the bowl, too.
Squeeze a whole lemon.. or more depending on how juicy it is.
Drizzle some Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Like a tablespoon or two. You’ll probs come back to it, so don’t put it away yet.
Then, Salt and Pepper that bad girl to taste.
Now, you’re gonna check on your garlic. I like it toasty but still with a bite to it. Not quite totally mush, but that’s up to you. Once it’s done roasting, get it all chopped up and add it to everything else.
After that, mix it all up, give it a good taste and see what you think. If it’s super tangy, add a little more olive oil or salt… maybe both, up to you. Just balance that fat, salt and acid out.
From here, it’s a great dressing, marinade etc, but also get some cucumbers, seed them, and chop them up really fine or grate them and add it to the yogurt mix. Just be mindful the cuces will get soggy after a day or so in the sauce, so you may not want to add them to the whole thing.
Other than that, you’re pretty golden using the tzatziki sauce on just about anything that sounds good. Like I said, it keeps for a good while but I doubt it will last long.
Yield: 32 oz.
Tzatziki Sauce
A yogurt based dip with dill and cucumber
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Ingredients
Plain Greek Yogurt
1 head of Fresh Garlic
1 bunch of Baby Dill
1-2 Fresh Lemons
2-3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Instructions
Start by roasting the head of garlic. Chop the top off, drizzle with olive oil and wrap it in aluminum foil and pop it in the oven at 400*.
While the garlic roasts, add a tub of plain greek yogurt to a bowl or storage container.
Wash and dry the dill. Chop it finely and add it to the bowl.
Add the lemon juice, a tablespoon or two of EVOO and salt and pepper to taste.
Once the garlic is roasted, carefully remove, mince and add it to the sauce.
Our Favorite homeschool curriculum is no curriculum.
Here’s what we do, why, and the homeschool curriculum we do use.
If you’re thinking about or in the beginning stages/years of home educating, and looking for tips on choosing homeschool curriculum, this post is for you. Maybe you’ve been doing it for a while, and are feeling overwhelmed or haven’t found your groove or love for this wild journey, this is for you too.
If you’re looking for a list of super great curriculums, this is not that… but maybe something here will resonate for you.
I’ll start with pointing out I’ve never claim to have all the answers but maybe you just need someone to remind you that homeschooling is meant to work FOR you. Not the other way around. I’ve needed that reminder consistently over the years. When it starts to feel like a drag and isn’t working for any of us, (us, as in me and the kids) I take a minute and reevaluate the things. Every year, we also re-ask ourselves if we keep going. For each kid. Life changes. Kids change and we have always said however we start the year, is how we’ll finish it, so I want to know in my knower that committing is the right thing each year.
I highly recommend and encourage you to commit 100% to the year or it’s too easy to waver. If you don’t, all the hard parts make it too easy to want to tap out. Too easy to convince yourself it’s not working. Cuz when those hard days come… because they will… you can go back to the beginning and hold tight to that knower feeling in your gut. Don’t make it optional, that only makes it more difficult. The kids will know and feed off it like the little vultures they are… cute vultures, but vultures.
Truthfully though, usually… like 99% of the time… it comes back to me. My heart, my attitude, my tone, excitement -or lack there of- towards lessons and learning that really make or break us. When I can bring -or at least fake😜- the razzle dazzle, it all goes better.
It’s an honorable job we’ve chosen. Mother, teacher, cook, manager, chauffeur… caretaker. So take heart friend and keep going.
Dug deep into the vault to find these, so you can see what I was working with when we got started.
That being said… A question I get asked regularly by moms thinking about homeschooling… and truthfully a question all homeschooling moms ask other moms is:
“What curriculum are you using”?
We’ll probably ask each other once a year because switching curriculums is easy –or at least talking about switching. Finding one that fits is the hard part.Or can be, I should really say.
The thing about curriculum is there’s SO many options. More than I want to list off. So much that it can make you feel so overwhelmed and you’ll want to quit before you even start. That’s how I felt anyway. Seven years ago.
Wholly molly does that feel weird to say. “I’ve been homeschooling for seven years”. When we started, I had a six year old in First grade, a five year old in Kindergarten, and a one year old still attached at the breast. We had just moved to a new state and barely knew anyone outside the church plant we were connected with.
That first year was brutal…
For me at least. I was trying to figure out how to homeschool. Had zero clue where to even start and a one year old who was obsessed with me and detested sleep.
I figured out pretty quickly that choosing the perfect homeschool curriculum was the least of our worries. I needed to find our groove. How we make this work for US. Was it even for us? We had done the public school thing for a semester and about a month into that we knew we wouldn’t be going back for another year. So it weighed heavy on me. Still does.
All summer I researched and tried to make sense of curriculums and types and what even is a co-op? I can’t try and think about that because I’m still confused at what the difference between ‘Unit Studies’ and ‘book work’ was. Who even was Charlotte Mason? What Montessori meant and how ‘unschooled’ fell under the ‘homeschool’ umbrella. And aren’t co-op’s where all the weird homeschoolers go anyway?
Eventually, I stopped trying to figure it all out, picked something that I kept circling back to and just bought the complete set for the year. And while that was the right decision at the time, we would never use that homeschool curriculum again. We mostly focused on adjusting to this new rhythm and being in it for the long haul. Plus, getting through the lessons with a Houdini toddler around was entertaining to say the least.
I will also say, knowing what doesn’t work, is just as important as knowing what does. It really helps weed out a lot things as you’re searching and narrowing down.
We learned a lot that first year.
I learned that lots of that ‘book work’ I was reading about, was not for us. Or even colorful, flashy, ‘fun’ looking pages. We needed plain and simple homeschool curriculum with preferably more hands on lessons.
We figured out that getting a whole school year done within the ‘school year’ was optional and taking it at a more slow and steady pace all year was where its at for us. Why rush when you don’t have to. Plus, getting back into the groove after a couple months off felt like starting all over again, again. And no one enjoyed that.
We learned it was pretty lonely when you didn’t have a good support system. Not just for the kids but for me, too. Don’t get me wrong. We socialized, made friends and got out, but doing it WITH people is not the same thing as play time. Find mamas in the same season as you and ones a few years ahead. Being able to commiserate together and have someone laugh at you because they’re on the other side of your troubles is pivotal. Legit. Nothing more comforting than going to you friends worried, just for them to say, “I’ve been there. It’s fine. You’ll be fine. They’ll be fine. Everything is fine.” For all of life, really.
I also learned that if what we had just done for 6 months was the homeschool experience, it was not for me. Feeling so defeated and confused because I KNEW we were meant to homeschool our kids but this was a drag and there would be no long haul if it stayed the same.
I can remember ugly crying to Andrew telling him how much I hated it while he handed me tissues and asked what my dream idea for it all was. I rambled off some nonsense and we moved on… knowing at some point we’d have to figure out what to do for the next year.
About two weeks later
My sister Kelsey asked if I had ever heard of this particular curriculum that also had a co-op day. I knew nothing about homeschooling at that point, except that I hated it.
She goes on to explain what it is, how it’s a homeschool curriculum but theres one day a week they get to be in class with kids their age, how it covers the basics but it’s really left to the parents to scale it to their kids… you guys, I kid you not that everything she says is the same nonsense I made up to Andrew about my dream homeschooling situation. Or at least as close as it would get. I was basically convinced right then and there.
Here’s what we’re using right now:
All of them use Math-U-See and Ellie is doing some Spelling-U-See. We love everything we’ve gotten from this company and really appreciate that the math goes all the way through and the short videos that introduce the new lessons.
We use a lot of IEW stuff. LOVE it. Especially for that 10-12 age group. It really makes writing GOOD papers simple.
Co-op is Classical Conversations. This covers our core subjects, and in the first handful of years is very one-room school house-ish. Lots of memorization, lots of fun science from one of our amazing community moms, and music too. All communities are a little different and we are super fortunate to have found one that works so well for us. It’s full of all our favorite people and co-op day is our favorite day of the week.
Look how cute these three were on their first day ever of co-op?! (Insert teary eyed emoji).
The rest of that story will have to wait for another post cuz that’s not why we’re here but that was pertinent information to my point of “less is more”. Which is:
Less is more because there’s not one way to homeschool. I did the hard core, lessons for hours on all the subjects -and maybe that’s for you which is also totally fine- but I realized that a lot of our love for home educating was outside of the work books. We get through our core subjects and leave lots of room for anything else. Playing, crafting, chores, meeting friends, cooking, baking, art, lying in the sun, making mud pies, cuddling the cat, etc., etc., etc. you get the point.
Less is more because some seasons of life require it. And in those seasons, the biggest thing to make you want to give up, is a huge lesson load. Multiplied by however many kids you have. Catching up or doubling up is easy when the load is light. No one plans these seasons, but they come. If they haven’t yet, remember me when ish hits the fan and I’ll help you clean it up. Been there a few times.
Less is more because making learning fun is way more important that ticking the box.
Less is more because one kids version of ‘less’ is going to be different than another kid and I want to be able to scale that UP for them, not overwhelm them or try and fit them into the same box.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever got was that the homeschool curriculum needs to work for me, just as much as it does for them. If I can’t teach it well, they won’t learn well, even if it is “the most perfect curriculum for them”.
At the end of the day, don’t break what doesn’t need fixing.
If you’ve found something you like and they like, keep going! But if you’re feeling paralyzed at where to start or what you’re using right now for homeschool curriculum or it’s just not going how you envisioned home educating to be, make some changes.
My advice is to leave room to dive deep on what’s exciting to them and to you. If it’s in books or the back yard. Less ‘have to do’ is more.
Truth be told, they are learning no matter what they are doing. They are so young that whether their noses are in those wonderful homeschool curriculum books you got or playing in the dirt, they’re advancing in knowledge and understanding. Make it building a fire, baking bread or how to crochet. Don’t underestimate life skills either. Have them cut the grass, do the dishes, wash their own clothes… plan a tea party or play date. Do extra lessons… un-train yourself on what school should look like.
Maybe that makes me a weirdo co-op attending, half-way unschooler… who loves the classical model of teaching with lots of structure and order with the freedom to blow it all to the wind for a day at the beach if we feel like it. But that’s the point right? Doing whatever we want because we get to choose the homeschool curriculum?!
So let go of that feeling that says you can’t figure this out, have to do more or should be doing more. It’s not enough or heaven forbid you’re thinking you’re not enough. No one has your kids best interests at heart the way you do. Just like you’re the most perfect mom for them, you’re also the most perfect teacher for them. Flaws and all. And if you ever need someone to remind you of that, just come ask me. I’ll be here cheering you on, while also worrying and double checking with my people I’m doing enough, too. Everything is fine.
If you’re wanting to bake your own sourdough bread, you’ve come to the right place. I will forever share the good, the bad and the ugly parts of home baking. Like, how you can skip the making of the starter part. Just pass on it. Here’s why…
If you want the hi-lights of the emotional rollercoaster that was making a sourdough starter, you can see it all on my instagram highlight named “Lloyd”. It’s there. The confusion, the joys, the fist loaf, the hooch, the massive amounts and jars of starter because I literally had ZERO idea what i was doing. Knew nothing about sourdough or bread baking for that matter. I just knew I loved bread, I wanted something gentle for our bellies and I wanted to make it!
As a result of my mind being made up, I quite literally spent the next 48 hours reading countless blogs on making sourdough, watched a bazillion videos, and found some instagram accounts to follow. As soon as I realized that everyone has their own perfect way, and that there really wasn’t ONE perfect way, I followed The Clever Carrots instructions to a TEE! And our sourdough adventures ofically began. (I’ll add some links at the bottom to my favorites).
Getting a starter from someone or snagging some from amazon felt like beginning from the middle. I was already confused enough on what a starter was and what it meant to feed it, hooch, active, discard, bla bla bla… I NEEDED to start it, to understand it. So I did.
Lloyd was amazing. Yes, was. He’s no longer with us. (insert ugly crying emoji and check out that first loaf ever! I mean, he was the best. Every loaf was edible.) There were big plans of a long relationship with him. He gave me wonderful loaves, knowing as he matured and I learned more, they would only get better and better. He taught me so much, I fed him regularly and watched over him like the new, precious little pet that he was. We were happy. Or so I thought.
All it took was a fridge change and a short move to his new forever home for him to die on me.
What a turd.
To this day I have no idea why he decided to croak. He was a textbook starter and I used an entire bag of flour trying to revive him. Asked all the sourdoughers in my life for tips and advice. Puzzled and saddened by his passing, a girl can only go so long without a fresh loaf. I said an official goodbye and promptly asked a friend if she could spare some discard.
Enter EVE. My sweet, sweet Eve.
Truthfully, I didn’t want her. I wanted my baby, Lloyd. I powered through like the champion I am, and made my first loaf with Eve. HOLY MOTHER FORKING SHIRT BALLS was it the best thing to ever happen to my sourdough game. (insert all the happy, party, excited emojis). Even though I forgot to turn the oven down with the first loaf and she baked a whole 20 minutes on 500 degrees, she STILL put out an amazing loaf. A mistake I haven’t made since and my sourdough dreams are closer and closer with each loaf. (Pictrured are my first two loaves with the new starter. My Eve, the mother of life).
She was a dream. IS a dream. The loaves were like night and day. The chewy texture of the crumb, the sweet tang of her maturity, the stretch and folding even was different. A ton of the things I read in my 48 hour sourdough black hole made sense. With just one loaf. I thanked Lloyd again for being such a great teacher and have been loving our adventures with Eve ever since.
The point is, do what you got to do to make sense of it all. I will just say, there is something magical about an established starter. Just get some from a friend or this one from Amazon.
Follow these guidelines and recipe. Think of the starter as the packet of yeast. ‘Active’ as the warm water to make the bubbly foam and go on a Sourdough adventure my friend. Skip the 10 days of making a starter, the tragedies of losing a pet. Skip the heart wrench of loyalties divided and dive into that sticky goop.
As promised, links to my most memorable sourdough teachers:
As promised. It’s here. The salsa recipe. The time has come to share all the secrets. And I promise it’s all my secrets. So don’t @ me when it turns out different even though you’ll follow all the steps the same.
It’s just how it is. Same thing happened when my mom taught me and the lady who taught her and all the people I’ve already showed how to make it.
This is the fair warning. The disclaimer, so you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
Also, fair warning to only make this once you’re committed to making it all the time. You will forever want it in the house. Cuz it tastes so ridiculously delicious. We’re going on 17 years and still aren’t sick of it. Not even exaggerating.
Okay! Here we go… Rule number one, and maybe the most important this to remember (after you wash the vegetables):
Cook! The! Veggies!
Any way you want to. Boil, fry, roast, grill. It doesn’t matter. You just gotta cook them down somehow. This is where some preference comes into play. Test all the versions and find your favorite.
I personally like to boil my onion and tomatillos but fry my chiles. The onion and tomatillos simmer till they are just tender. The onion gets translucent and the tomatillos will turn color but WON’T be mushy. Remember this! No mush! For the chiles, I’ll add a little tallow in a skillet on low with a lid till they’re tender. They get a little toasty on outside but not burnt.
While the veggies are cooking, I’ll wash the cilantro and throw it in the blender with a couple shakes of salt.
Rewind a minute to shopping for ingredients… When it comes to picking and prepping the tomatillos. Look for the ones that have soft paper on the outside, and the darker the green the tomatillo, the better. But also dark green and crunchy leaf > light green and soft leaf. Onions, I always go white. A nice big one, cut into quarters. No reason for the size other than I naturally just did it that way and it speeds up the cook time.
Moving on to the best part… chiles! #drool I Just love spicy food. Theres no way around it… I go pretty classic with jalapeños and seranos. This is also where preference can come into play. You can go mild with a poblano or wild with some habaneros. Mix and match and find a temp and flavor that works for you. I’ll usually add a clove or two of garlic to the pan and roast those a bit too. But not always.
>>Quick tip! Don’t forget to pop the stems off the chiles. Bend it sideways and they easily snap off without opening the pepper up.<<
The tomatillos will probably cook faster than the onion too. So don’t be afraid to things off the heat as it’s done versus all at once. Grabs some tongs and watch it close.
Reserve the water from the pot you cook the tomatillos and onion in for later. You might want to add a bit to the blender. If you’re roasting or grilling, you can add a little fresh water no problem to get the right consistency too.
You can’t say I never warned you that I’m not a recipe person. This is how we do… and really I’ve had one tomato and quarter of an onion with a couple jalapeños and it still turns out great. As long as you’ve got onion and some sort of chile, you’ll be golden.
Alright, now that everything is cooked up, the cilantro and salt are in the blender, you’ve added all the veggies… it’s time to blend it up! Give it a few pulses and then let it rip! Blend till it’s smooth, or not. Keep it chunky if you like it that way. Add some water if it feels too thick. (but start slow, like maybe 1/4 cup. Too much and you’ll water it down losing a lot of the flavor. Made this mistake before. It was annoying). Learn from me!
Salt to taste and then your all set! Hot, fresh salsa you’ll impress your own self with. Keep it in a jar or Tupperware for a couple weeks in the fridge… if you don’t eat it all in one sitting.
I never weigh anything but I’ll do my best to guess in the printer friendly version. But take this and make it your own, then some tell me how you switched it up.
Also hope you made carnitas and Beans for taco night.. and grab a tea towel to keep those tortillas warm in.
Bri’s Green Salsa
Serving Size:
A lot
Time:
Maybe 30 minutes
Difficulty:
Easy
Ingredients
1 Large White Onion
2 lbs. Tomatillos
5 Serano chiles
3 Jalapeno chiles
Bunch of Cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste
Directions
Clean and wash all the veggies pealing the paper off the tomatillos and the stems off the peppers
Quarter the onion and add it and the tomatillos to a pot of simmering water. Cook until the onion is translucent and the tomatillos change color.
Add a drizzle of oil to a skillet with the chiles. Cover and stir occasionally till they are tender.
Cut the ends off the cilantro and add it to a blender with a little salt. As the vegetables are cooked add them to the blender.
Blend until smooth, adding some reserved water from the pan if needed and salt to taste.
Beans are a staple in this house. Black, Pinto, whole, mashed… we don’t care. Just give us the beans!! When planning goes out the window or time is of the essence, we grab cans, but usually and preferably, we cook them ourselves. It’ so super simple and tastes SO SO SO MUCH better than anything yuo can get out of a can.
Today we’re all about the Refried Beans:
It’s really straight forward and you can use the stovetop or a slow-cooker. Surely a pressure cooker, but I’ve never used one so it you try it let me know how it goes.
Step One: Prep the beans
This may or may not seem like the most logical step to start with, but trust me, there will be some funky looking beans you’ll want to pick out and maybe even a tiny rock or two. So sort them… and then wash them off.
Soak the beans. Once you’ve sorted them, grab a large or or bowl and let them soak. Overnight or even a few hours. This helps reduce the flatulence-causing compounds beans have in turn making them much easier on your digestive system. Hashtag: the more you know. Hashtag: the musical fruit. Hashtag: why do we call it a fruit?
Step two: Cook the beans
Once they have been washed, sorted and soaked they are ready to start cooking. Throw them in a pot with some fresh water -nobody wants flatulence water- WELL over the beans. Add a little wedge of onion, a couple cloves of garlic and a tablespoon-ish of salt. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer for a few hours. You’ll want to check it periodically to make sure you still have enough water and add more if it looks a little low.
Step three: Finish the beans
After the beans have simmered a couple hours they are ready to blend! They will be nice and soft but not mushy. Scoop the beans out and add them to your blender, reserving a little of the water to get them to the consistency you like. Depending on your blender size, you might have to do this in batches. A submersion blender also works great. The onion and garlic cloves will go in with it all too.
Next, we fry them! You can use any fat you like, but I HIGHLY recommend using bacon grease or beef tallow. The animal fat adds so much depth and flavor… but again, be bland and use olive oil if you want. Get your skillet piping hot with oil and our those bad boys in, carefully. Here is also where you’ll salt it to taste. You’re also welcome to add any other seasonings that suit your fancy, but I typically don’t.
Remember to let them fry. It will be bubbly so lower the heat a bit if you need to and just keep stirring gently to incorporate the fat and seasonings evenly.
That’s it! You made refied beans! Enjoy them with some Carnitas tacos and try not to burn your mouth.
