Red Day

As a way to teach Ben his colors, I have decided to spend a full day focusing on each one. I won't be able to do it every day (just a day here, a day there). My mom did this with me when I was little. And recently, I've seen them featured on various blogs. Here is our take:

 

First, we wear red clothes. 

Then, we read books with the color red like this one about the ladybug and of course Clifford the Big Red dog. I found these at our library. 

I also got videos with the color red: Elmo is red and so are firetrucks.

We ate red foods on a red plate. I got lucky having a red plate :)

Here we have strawberries, apples and tomatoes. He also got a red icee pop and red Jello. 

 

We'll do another Red Day and have beets, red peppers, spaghetti, etc. 

And finally, we did a craft. I want to do a ladybug out of a paper plate. But we had church stuff going on tonight, so we did a simple craft instead. 

I took red construction paper, wrote "Red" on it,  cut out pictures of things that were red and just red paper out of a magazine. Then, I let him glue stick it all on the red paper.

He had more fun with the glue stick, but oh well. 

Don't forget to hang the artwork on the frig :)

Squash Casserole

Squash Casserole

One of my favorite things to collect are community and church recipe books. These are where the best home cooking recipes are found. We were given this book by a dear friend of my husband's. 

 

It's called "Sharing Recipes" and it comes from Oronoco Church of the Bretheren in Virginia. 

I'm always looking for squash recipes in the summertime because we are usually swamped with them from friends at church. This year, I actually had to buy some at the store. It must not be a good year for squash in our area.

Anyway, this is my favorite one. 

Squash Casserole

5-6 squash medium sized yellow squash, sliced or cubed.

1 medium onion, sliced

Mix together and cook them until they are tender. I usually steam them in the microwave.

In the meantime, in a medium bowl, mix 

1 small container of sour cream, 

1 cup of herb-seasoned bread crumbs, 

1 can of cream of celery soup (you may use cream of chicken soup) and 

1 stick of melted butter. 

Then, in a greased casserole dish, pile on the squash/onion mix and then add in the breadcrumb mixture. I have to get my hands in there to make sure it's spread about pretty well. 

Top with 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. We like a lot of cheese, so 2 cups is more like it :)

Bake 350 for 30-40 minutes. 

  

Garden Bounty: Cooking Green Beans

One of the best things about being a preacher's wife is that people bring us fresh fruits and veggies during the summer. Later, they often bring us homemade salsa and jelly! 
Last night, I was handed a bagful of green beans. Like most recipes, I had to call my mom to see how to fix it. She told me to...


Wash them well
Snap each end and sometimes you can snap them in half
Put them in a crockpot and add enough water to cover them. 
(This could also be done on the stove top in a big pot, just be sure to watch the water level throughout the day).
Add bacon juice (it's really grease, but I think juice sounds nicer). Whenever I make bacon, I pour the juice in a plastic container and keep it in the frig. So whenever a "Southern-style" recipe calls for it, I'll have it on hand. 
I added about 2 Tablespoons. 

Some people I know add a little sugar to theirs. Other's will put in ham pieces. 
Stir well, Put on the lid, Set at High and let it go for 4-6 hours. 

Outdoor Scavenger Hunt

I remember doing something like this in Girl Scouts when I was a kid. It's simple drawings on a paper. Kids can do a scavenger hunt while they are in the park, out on a hike, hanging out at a boring family reunion....I want to laminate mine so we can use it over and over. 
This could easily translate to a city scavenger hunt too. You could draw a hydrant, a blue post box, a parking meter, a bird's nest. The list goes on and on. 
Happy Hunting!