Mexico

I just now realized that this post has been sitting in my "ready" folder. My mind seems to shut down near the first of December, after Thanksgiving, I go on break mode.

Here is our weeks spent in Mexico.
So far the kids still think it fun to stand in line and stamp their passports, I wonder how long this will last, after which we watch the powerpoint on landmarks of the country.

We then listened to the Wee Sing CD, again the kids enjoyed listening to the song. We did two with Mexico they liked the song Tingalayo better (west Indies), I think we listened to it 5 times each day!

Along with Mexico we studied the desert ecosystem. Both Prince
and Princessa did their own notebook page that I think turned out awesome! They certainly draw better than me.

 

Prince's desert

princessa's desert

                    We also studied the Oasis in the desert, and they both did notebooking pages for this.

Prince

Princess

In art, which is every one's favorite time this year, we did yarn art. This is a type of art taken from the Huichol Indians, which we also learned about. This was a tedious craft for the kids, I had to help Lady Jey who soon got bored with it.

 I chose to do this during nap time there was no way Lady Bells was doing this one (she gets VERY unhappy when things do not come together as she likes them to) but I highly recommend it as a stress relief exercise, it was for me anyway. 

To go along with our week we ate "Mexican" food all week, which is not a surprise for us. We had Apple Panadas, Pozole, Spanish Rice, Dobladas and Taco Casserole, and drank Horchata. We also enjoyed Erica's Hot Taco soup recipe.

Since the menu for the week was nothing new or special we decided to treat the kids and ended our week with a trip on Sunday, after church, with a visit to our favorite Mexican restaurant.
And That is our days at CA.

Spanish Rice

Here is another dish we served during our "trip" to Mexico.

Spanish Rice

ingredients:

3 cups white rice

1 small can tomato sauce

1 cube chicken & tomato bouillon cube

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. salt

6 cups water, or enough to cover the top

1. heat olive oil in pan over medium heat, pour in rice and stir mixing in the olive oil.

2. let rice cook for 5 mins. add tomato sauce, Pour in the water (making sure to cover the top of the rice) and add salt.

3. bring to a boil, stir and reduce to a simmer (this is the point on that you do not want to stir, to avoid mushy rice)

4. once  you start to see the rice, reduce to medium low and cover. If rice is still hard at this point move rice to center of pot and add 1 cup of water and repeat step 3. rice is done once all water is gone. (if rice appears to wet, remove lid and continue to cook until done.)

Can be served as a side or put into a casserole.

ENJOY!

Taco Casserole

Here is another recipe we used while studying Mexico. It was a big hit with everyone!

Ingredients:
3 pounds of ground meat
1 package taco seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 medium can green chilies
1 can of dice tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
1 can refried beans
fiesta blend shredded cheese
1 cup red Spanish rice (see recipe)
1 cup masa (corn flour) separated

optional garnishes- fresh diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce

1. brown the ground meat in a skillet and drain pre-heat oven 350
2. return the meat to skillet, add green chilies, onions, diced tomatoes, and all seasonings. cook until onions are wilted.
3. sprinkle the bottom of a casserole dish with 1/2 cup masa, then add a layer of cheese, spoon half of the meat mixture into dish, top with remaining masa, spoon in rice, layer again with cheese.
4. add the refried beans to remaining meat mixture cook for couple of minutes.
5. spoon the remaining meat mixture to top and sprinkle top with cheese.
6. cook at 350 for 45 minutes
serve with garnishes


Enjoy!

Apple panadas

This is a great, an easy substitution to apple pie. When you are cooking for 6 anything simple is greatly appreciated!

Apple Panadas

ingredients

2 cans of crescent rolls (we use the large ones)

2 apples cut up into 8 equal slices (use your favorite)

2 sticks butter melted

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

10 oz. yellow soda (Mellow yellow, Mt. Dew... just use your favorite)

1. preheat to 350

2. roll cut apples into crescents. fold ends up so apple is enfolded completely.

3. mix butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and soda in large bowl and pour over crescents

4. bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve hot!

Horchata (rice milk)

This refreshing drink took the place of milk in my children's diet whenever they refused to drink milk. Even now they still enjoy it.

Homemade Horchata

ingredients

1 cup rinsed long grain rice

1/2 a gallon of water

2 Cinnamon sticks broken in half

1/2 cup sugar

1. in a large saucepan combine water, rice, and Cinnamon sticks. set aside for 4 hours.

2. after 4 hours bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. allow rice mixture to cool.

3. puree rice mixture in a blender until smooth

4. finely strain mixture leaving only liquid. Add sugar to taste, chill and serve over ice.

Mommy's Pozole

Ok so I know different families have "their" own recipes for family dishes. And since we are studying Mexico on our trip around the world with MFW, I thought I would share some of our family recipes with you guys.

Mommy's Pozole

ingredients

1 small bell pepper

8 ounce bacon chopped

1 tablespoon bacon drippings

2 pound pork loin, cut into stripes

1 medium onion diced

10 cloves garlic minced

1 can green chilies

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bunch chopped cilantro

8 cups chicken broth

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 29 ounce cans of white hominy drained

optional garnishes

cabbage

radish

avocado

tosados

1. cook and stir the bacon in a large pot over medium heat, until it begins to crisp. Drain keeping 1 tablespoon of bacon fat.

2. heat pot to medium high and add pork stripes. cook stirring periodically until browned. remove pork and reduce heat. 

3. stir in onion and garlic, cook until onion has softened and beginning to turn brown. 

4. stir in the bell pepper, green chilies, cumin, chili powder, salt and cilantro. cook for a few minutes make sure mixture is complete mixed together.

5. pour in the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. stir in the bacon and pork stripes, bring to a simmer. reduce heat cover and simmer 1 hour.

6. stir in the hominy, recover and continue cooking until pork is tender.

serve hot with or without optional garnishes.

MFW Power Points

As promised, I have made a separate page to find the MFW power points more easily. Here are the links to the ones I have already completed along with the ones yet to come. I hope you can use these in some way in your studies of MFW_ECC.


America
Mexico
Canada

Brazil
(panama, Venezuela)

Norway
France
Germany

Kenya

Saudi Arabia
India
China
Japan
Russia

Australia

Antarctica

Scotland