Mandarin Orange Chicken (frozen meal)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 cups cooked)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups sliced, fresh mushrooms (I omit)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup water
1 6-ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion bulbs (I used regular onions)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 11-ounce can mandarin orange sections, drained*
1 cup regular, uncooked rice*

Cut chicken into 1-inch chunks. Heat oil in large skillet; add chicken, and cook on medium high until browned on both sides. Remove and set aside chicken. In the same skillet, cook mushrooms over medium high, stirring constantly. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms, stirring quickly to combine. Gradually stir in water, orange juice concentrate, onions and bouillon cubes. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add chicken, and let simmer 3 to 4 minutes. Cool and freeze.

To Serve, thaw chicken mixture, and cook rice according to package directions. heat chicken mixture in a saucepan until bubbly, stir in drained orange segments and heat through. Combine with cooked rice and serve.

*does not get frozen

**I make quite a few recipes with cooked chicken all at one time. So to save myself time and trouble, I boil all my chicken, cut into pieces and then modify the recipe. I've done this with this recipe and it turns out great.

Wordless Wednesday

Creative writing, turkeys, and more

Instead of copy work today, Jacob wrote a story about Joshua's hamster, Hammie. He wrote two pages and illustrated them both. I'm always very proud of the creative writing that he does. He has a great imagination and it really comes out in his writing. He also usually enjoys creative writing much more than just copying something.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Leanna made a pine cone turkey! Great practice for her fine motor skills and a craft project always makes her happy.

We also got quite a bit of other things accomplished today. Quid agis? Jacob knows that means how are you? in Latin. Today I think he would answer with Sum bene, which means I am good. We also read about Abraham, Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; Miles Standish and the Pilgrims and Indians; and both boys practiced their new math concepts. Joshua is doing well with phonics and today he worked on writing a lowercase g. He confuses it with e which makes his work very difficult to read. We did an experiment with water to show how some things float and some sink.

We're on the way out the door to MOSI for even more science! Our days are jam-packed with learning, even if it's not a formal school setting.

Copywork

Copywork is not a favorite at our house. But how else do you better your penmanship? And it's an area that I always seem to have my expectations too high and forget to loosen up. Jacob writes in both print and cursive, but seems to prefer cursive. Of course, he'd rather not write at all. I need to look into typing software for him so he can pursue that.

Soocer Champs

Jacob and Leanna just finished up a great soccer season. It was lots of fun and they both did wonderful.

Wind and more wind!

In science we've been studying about air, air pressure, wind, and all the other things that go along with the atmosphere. We've learned how air effects everything around it, how powerful it can be, and most important, who controls the wind.

Luke 8:22-25 (King James Version)

²²Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go

over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

²³But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

²⁴And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

²⁵And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the

winds and water, and they obey him.

To be able to see the effects of the wind, we conducted an experiment with an origami boat. We placed the boat in a dish of water and blew "wind" to make the boat move. Light wind caused the boat to move back and forth slowly, but hard wind made our little boat capsize. The kids loved doing the experiment and had lots of fun blowing the boat back and forth.

My Easy Vegetable Soup

So usually when I make veggie soup, I just get out a stock pot, or the crockpot, and start to throw a bunch of things in. Here's what I did tonight.

In the stock pot since I only had about 1-1/2 hrs to cook it.

1 tbls. minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
2 cans red kidney beans
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
Italian Seasoning, sea salt, pepper and parsley
Water to cover
approx. 1-1/2 cups macaroni noodles

I simmered it, covered, for about an hour and 20 minutes. Then I added the noodles and cooked it another 8 minutes or so. It wasn't too soupy, I could have added more water. But Jacob said it was the best and asked if I could make it every week.

Oh, and the best part? It probably cost me about $.50/serving or less to make this.