Orange Meringue Pie

1  1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp. butter
2 Tbl. cornstarch
sugar to taste
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
1 pre baked pie shell

Directions:
In heavy saucepan dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup cold water
Beat egg yolks and add to orange juice.  Place in saucepan with cornstarch water, sweeten to taste.
Cook slowly until mixture is thickened
Take from heat, add butter and stir until butter melts
Pour into prepared pie crust
Make meringue with egg whites and a little bit of sugar and top pie with meringue.
Bake at 350 degrees until meringue is lightly done.

Tacos

We usually eat at church on Wednesday nights and last night we had tacos.  Every Sunday we will look at our menu and then we will sign up for what we want to bring.  I have never made the meat filling for tacos before but that was the only thing that no one had signed up for when I went to look at the list. 
Here's my recipe which I think turned out pretty good.

Taco seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl mix together all of these spices and store in an airtight container.

When I went to make the tacos I browned approximately 3 pounds of hamburger.  I mixed 3 tablespoons of  the seasoning mix with 2 tablespoons of flour.  I sprinkled this mixture over the ground beef and then added about 2/3 cups of water and 2 small cans of tomato sauce.  I put in the crock pot and let it cook on low for about 3 hours.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I made this coffee cake recently for a ladies Bible study that I host at my house.  It turned out great and I plan on making this again.

1 cup butter, softened
2  3/4 cups sugar, divided
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
2 Tbl. cinnamon

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream butter and 2 cups of sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Add flour and sour cream alternately, beating just enough after each addition to keep batter smooth.

Spoon one half of the batter into a greased 13 X 9 pan.  Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over batter.  Add remaining batter and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Sewing Machines for Quilting

I am looking to buy a sewing machine that I will use for machine quilting.  As I save my money I will be looking to see which one I want to buy:

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-PQ1500S-Quilting-Sewing-Machine/product-reviews/B003C29EL4/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1


And here  is another one:

http://www.amazon.com/Janome-1600P-QC-Sewing-Quilting-Machine/dp/B009VKTIN0/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1392769404&sr=8-8&keywords=janome+quilting+sewing+machine

http://www.amazon.com/JUKI-TL-2000Qi-Sewing-Quilting-Machine/forum/FxTLQNAADJBRU1/-/2/ref=cm_cd_ql_psf_ql_next?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B004C04YII&cdAnchor=B004C04YII&cdSort=newestdoc

Blueberry Cobbler

1cp milk
1cp flour
1cp sugar
1 stick butter
3tsp baking powder
1qt blueberries
Melt butter add milk and dry ingredients mix well. Pour into greased baking dish add blueberries-DO NOT MIX. Bake for 20 mins or until golden brown @ 350.

I can't wait to try this recipe.  I think I may try it with blackberries and see how that tastes.

Making Rice in the Crockpot

Today I decided that I would try making rice in the crockpot.  I buttered the inside of my crock pot and I added in one cup of rice and two cups of water with a little bit of salt.  I'm going to let it cook about 2 hours and 15 minutes on high stirring it about 45 minutes into cooking!  Can't wait to see the final product!

This turned out great.  I will definitely make rice this way again!

Time4Learning

What is Time4Learning:
An online educational curriculum for home school students or for added enrichment for students in classrooms.

 The highschool curriculum correlates to state standards and is organized into courses that cover the subjects of language arts, math, social studies and science, plus two electives. Courses are parent-supervised, student-paced, and designed to help students achieve college and career readiness.

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to use Time4Learning in our homeschool.  As a mom of a 9th grader I thought that would give me a perfect opportunity to try out some new curriculum and see how it would fit in our school time.  For a low monthly price  your highschooler will be able to take 4 courses.  Since we had already started our homeschool year I thought it would be interesting to try a few subjects.  Our first week we tried Algebra, US History, Economics and Health.  We decided to drop Economics after our first week since she was already taking an Economics course at the co-op.  For the rest of the month we continued on with Algebra, US History, Health and then we added Biology.

My daughter enjoyed her time using Time4Learning and I am sure that we will continue on for the rest of the school year.  It made my planning time so much easier and I am looking forward to continuing on with this program.  

The only two cons I can think of is I would like the opportunity for my daughter to be able to go back and take a test again if she misses a lot.  And other people have told me that you need to make sure that you keep your own records and not depend on Time4Learning to keep your records.  That is not a problem for me as I do keep my own records.

If you are thinking about trying time4learning, just go to their website and sign up for one month.  You don't have to make a long term commitment and the price is great!  
www.time4learning.com

 
 This opinion is entirely my own and I am not an employee of Time4Learning,  but I was compensated for my time.