This is no mealy bug or biting mosquito! It's the queen bee of a well-planned and "buzzing" homeschooling lifestyle or well-managed busy home: helping you to outline lesson plans, schedule activities, plan menus and shopping lists, stay within budget, inventory important household items, maintain school records, and much more.

I'm linking to Wordless Wednesday, A Beautiful Mess, and Five Minutes for Mom.

 
The grass is green. It’s good to be

A few weeks ago, I posted some pictures of my canning projects.  I didn’t even say that the last picture was salsa, but that is what everyone thought. Well, you were right!

I am really proud of this salsa. I have been searching for several years for a good salsa recipe. You know, if you go to all that trouble of getting and chopping all those tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and spices, you want it to be good.

You’ve asked for the recipe. So, here it is. Don’t tell anyone. It is our secret.


The main character (If you don’t have this, it won’t be the same. Give up now!):

After searching for so long for a good salsa recipe, I was about to give up hope. Until one day when I was shopping for jars and lids to do my summer canning. I found a pack of salsa mix that I decided to try. This stuff was awesome. I mean this stuff was so good that after making the first batch, I had to find more. I went to 6 stores in 2 days (and called two others) to find more of the salsa mix. O.K., I’ll admit that the 6th store was actually to pick up a prescription, and I just happened to find more of the product line there.



 
All you have to do is peel, core, and chop your tomatoes (or use canned tomatoes), add some vinegar and the season packet. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. You can serve it immediately, can it, or freeze it.






I call this “Slap Your Grandma Salsa.” Huh? You’ve never heard that phrase? Let me translate: This salsa is so good that you will be out of your mind, forget your manners, and “slap your grandma.” Several years ago, we had a family gathering and I told my grown niece to “Try this salsa (the one we had that day). It’ll make you stand up and slap your grandma.” She replied, “Nuh-uh. My Grandma’s here!” I don’t think she ever did try that salsa.

I’m linking to Mouthwatering Monday.

Disclaimer: I’m only sharing this recipe because I liked it and you asked. Mrs. Wages does not know who I am. I did not receive any compensation from the company for this review. I had to buy my own mixes, grow and chop my own tomatoes, and make my own salsa. And you can dang sure bet that I’ll be eating it too! Maybe I should have called it “Little Red Hen Salsa.”

The grass is green. It’s good to be

The Queen’s Overall Assessment:

This is my first review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. I was given a download copy of the Travel the World unit to use with my family. While this is a module to go with The Schoolhouse Planner, it is also available and usable as a stand-alone unit.  





Title: Travel the World

Author/Publisher: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Target Ages: all

Format: Download from The Old Schoolhouse Store (phone 1-888-718-HOME)

Price: $7.95, with a money-back guarantee

The Queen’s Overall Assessment:

This is suppose to be a post about how I turned

these

and these

these

Since I am the only one in the palace who likes summer squash, Prince Charming didn’t plant much. It was the first vegetable to start coming in after the corn. For others to eat it, I either have to fry it or “mix it with enough other stuff to cover up the taste.” I have been trying to come up with ways to fix it. I had already made the squash casserole with the sour cream and stuffing mix. So, I wanted something else to make. I could have searched the internet for other recipes, but I went “old school” and actually pulled out a cook book. I know … I must be insane! This was the cookbook from the church in which Prince Charming grew up. I usually ask him if “Mrs. Such ‘n Such” is a good cook. This time, he wasn’t home to ask, so I picked a recipe and tweaked it some. I usually don’t tweak until I have tried it the written way at least once. Since I was already being a renegade by getting the cookbook out to start with, I just went totally crazy!   Here’s what I did: (Basically, I added ham, mixed the ingredients in the wrong order, and added cheese and butter to the breadcrumbs … and crossed my fingers that it worked!)

Gathered my ingredients:
 
 yellow squash, eggs, flour, cheese (I’m not so old school that I won’t use pre-shredded cheese), onion, butter, milk, sugar, salt,  bread crumbs, ham chunks

Combine the squash, onion, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes in small amount of water. (I told you this was old school. You could probably just microwave it until it is really tender.)

Drain the vegetable mixture and mash it with a potato masher.

Stir in the flour. Add the eggs and butter. Stir over the heat until the butter is melted. Take away from the heat and add the milk.

Stir in the grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Add ham.

Pour into buttered casserole dish. Mix breadcrumbs with a couple tablespoons of melted butter and a big pinch of shredded cheese. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top of casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Yummmmmm! It passed inspection! Prince Charming said it was “the best I have ever had of this particular vegetable … EVER!” He even asked for a small second helping!


Squash Casserole

2 lb. yellow squash, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt (I used less to account for the salty ham)
3 Tbsp. flour
2 eggs
6 Tbsp. butter
1 cup milk
1 cup finely grated cheese + about 2 Tbsp. for topping
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cups diced ham
1/3 c. bread crumbs

Combine the squash, onion, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes in small amount of water. Drain the vegetable mixture and mash it with a potato masher. Stir in the flour. Add the eggs and 4 Tbsp. of  butter. Stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Take away from the heat and add the milk. Stir in the grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in ham and pour into buttered casserole dish. Mix breadcrumbs with a couple tablespoons of melted butter and a big pinch of shredded cheese. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top of casserole. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.


I’m linking to I’m Lovin’ It, Feature Yourself Friday, Foodie Friday, and Follow Me Friday.



The grass is green. It’s good to be

I'm linking to Wordless Wednesday, Live & Love Outloud, A Beautiful Mess, and Five Minutes for Mom.


The grass is green. It’s good to be

Now Ya See It …

Now Ya Don’t.

The grass is green. It’s good to be

To the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave

The grass is green. It’s good to be