She's A Grand Old Flag!

Happy Flag Day everyone! Here's a little about Flag Day from Wikipedia:

In the United States, Flag Day (more formally, National Flag Day), is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.
In 1916, Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.
Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, though on June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday.

Here are a couple of books in my collection that we will be reading to celebrate this holiday:

The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner - Natalie Miller

This is a Cornerstone of Freedom book. These books are excellent for teaching history to elementary aged children.

The Pledge of Allegiance - Scholastic

This is an excellent book with the correct words to the Pledge (ahem) and lots of facts about the American flag.

You can find more ideas for books and activities for Flag Day here.

HealthiER Food! More With Less Cookbook

In my family we try to make things from scratch as much as possible so we know what's going into our food. This is an excellent cookbook for learning to make things from scratch that are easy on your food budget. The author, Doris Longacre, tried to create a book to help women cook nutritious meals with less money. There are lots of good tips for how to do just that. The recipes were submitted by many different women giving this cookbook an almost "community cookbook" feel. I also really like the spiral binding which makes it easy to lay flat when cooking from it.

This really is not "health" food, but in an age where convenience food is so pumped full of chemicals this could be thought of as healthiER food. Even though you are cooking from scratch you can still have some shortcuts. You can make a large batch of this sauce, add cheese and then freeze it. I freeze it in portions large enough for macaroni and cheese and then it's almost a convenience food. You can also add some salsa to it when you reheat it and have a great nacho cheese dip. Or of course over broccoli which makes it even healthier! Right??

Basic White Sauce

More With Less Cookbook

Joanne Lehman and Roberta Kreider

Melt in heavy saucepan:

2 Tablespoons butter

Blend in, cooking and stirring until bubbly:

2 Tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt (I don't add this)

Using wire whisk to prevent lumps, stir in:

1 cup whole milk (or cream if your feeling really indulgent)

Cook just until smooth and thickened. Makes slightly over 1 cup. Compares to undiluted condensed soups, and makes approximately the same amount contained in one 10 oz. can.

For cheese sauce the recipe calls for adding 1/2 cup grated "nippy" cheese. I use American and probably more than 1/2 cup. Probably more like 1 cup! You can make other variations of this with stock to replicate other condensed soups. Add 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms and 1 teaspoon finely chopped onion before adding flour for mushroom soup. Add 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion for celery soup and use chicken broth and 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning for chicken soup.

I'd love to hear your comments for other shortcuts for cooking meals from "scratch."

We Remember

Memorial Day was not declared a national holiday until 1971 but it has been celebrated in many areas of the United States unofficially since 1868 when it started as a day to remember soldiers who had died in the Civil War or War Between The States as some would say.

Poppies became a symbol of Memorial Day shortly after World War One and partly from the effort of Moina Michael who was inspired by this line from John McCrae's poem, In Flanders Field:

To you from failing hands we throw the Torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields."

There is more good information about Memorial Day at the PBS National Memorial Day Concert website. I enjoy watching this concert and it is a good family event with great music.

I suggest you also check out one of my favorite music blogs Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else. The author, Lee, has put together an incredibly collection of patriotic music to download and some of it is spoken word. Lee is himself a veteran of the Navy so stop by, download some great music and thank him for his service to our country!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Freecycle.org

If you haven't heard of Freecycle yet I suggest you go to freecycle.org and find one in your area. The principle behind Freecycle is to encourage people to give away things they don't want rather than throw them away. This in turn reduces landfills and gets useful items into the hands of those who need them.

I have found many, many great things on freecycle including the items in the pictures here. I have also given away many items which is a good feeling. I really don't like throwing things away and this helps me to let go of things I no longer use since I know it's going into the hands of those who will use them. Freecycle helps us to be a good steward of God's resources. Something we all need to do better.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you are all having a lovely restful day with chocolate in abundance!
If you care to you might hop over to TenTwo Studios for Lisa's Mother's Day countdown of downloadable goodies and don't forgot tomorrow is Homeschoolestore's Mother's Day Celebration with 28 e-books to download. Have a great day!

Praiseworthy Blog: Echoes of A Dream

I have been a reader of Echoes of A Dream for awhile now and I find I have so much in common with Simmy, the author, despite the fact that she is a first generation Brit and I'm an American Midwesterner. That is one of the wonderful things about the internet, contact with like minded individuals all over the world. Like me Simmy is in love with fiber and knitting. In addition, I discovered today that we have a similar passion in children's literature. I thought you would enjoy a peek into Simmy's world and get some recommendations on good children's literature as a bonus. So run on over there and check out Echoes of a Dream.

Save the Chocolate

There is no doubt on this blog that chocolate is a most praiseworthy food. The FDA is considering changing the definition of what can be called chocolate in the United States. That means that you could pick up something you think is 100% cocoa butter and real milk and get something masquerading as 100% cocoa butter and real milk. That is not praiseworthy. So I urge you to head over to Don't Mess With Our Chocolate and find out how to make your opinion known.

Happy May Day!

This is a sweet video of May Pole Dancing at Puddletown First School. What a fun tradition. As with all youtube videos I urge you to watch this on my blog rather than going to youtube as not all the content there is praiseworthy. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Victoria Magazine

My very dear friend, Dee Ann, at Grace At Home has blogged on some news that has us both on cloud nine together. For years now we have lamented the demise of Victoria magazine, the only magazine that made the day it was received into something special. A quiet respite of beautiful images and lovely articles. A celebration of the beauty in life.

I have often wondered how it could have failed. It's one of the only magazines that are no longer published that I see blogged about again and again. With this many devoted fans...how could it have failed? Well, through a joint venture of Hoffman Media and Hearst Publications it is returning this October. So many have blogged about this but I have heard that whether or not it continues will be determined by the number of subscribers so I'm doing my part to get the word out. Keep your eyes out for it!

More Praiseworthy Video: Jot the Dot

The animated short Jot the Dot appeared on my local television station's afternoon Children's show (anyone remember those?) in the early 70's. Jot was created in 1964 and aired all over the world teaching short bible lessons to kids. I remember these vividly and loved them. I have looked for them for years and just ran across a couple on YouTube, a site with some praiseworthy elements, but also a lot of unpraiseworthy elements so beware. In the comments section I found out the a video can be purchased here. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy the two I found on YouTube.