Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Homemade Coleslaw

With fall in full swing, I love using my crock pot whenever I can. My favorite is to let a hunk of meat cook all day, walk into the house after being out for a while and the yummy smell of dinner has filled every room! Having dinner done and ready after a busy day is such a gift!

The first recipe was given to me by a friend and she calls it Bar-B-Que Coke Pork. I didn't have any coke on hand, but with our Soda Stream we usually have something in the fridge... and yesterday it was Dr. Pete (that's right... a make-it-yourself-off-brand). Even so, it turned out great!

The second recipe is a mix of a few coleslaw recipes that I found online and I added to. I love a light, slightly-sweet, slightly-tangy coleslaw that's not soupy, but crunchy. I tell you, THIS IS THE ONE! It was so very delicious! But, my husband wouldn't know that, as he despises any and all coleslaw. I just say, "Yeehaw! More for me!"  :o)

Here are two recipes that I tried for the first time just last night! Together they make a great, simple meal.

This is what was left over after my hubby and I ate dinner. PLENTY for another meal (or two)!

Bar-B-Que Coke Pork
(aka Pulled-Pork Sandwiches)

Ingredients:
1 pork roast (I used a 2 1/2 pounder and it was plenty for 4 hungry adults)
1 onion, sliced
garlic salt
pepper
1 can of Coke (or 1 1/2 cups of your favorite dark soda)
1 1/2 cups of your favorite bbq sauce

Directions:
Cut up the onion and lay in the bottom of the crock pot. 
Season pork and place on top of onions.
Mix up soda and bbq sauce in a small bowl and pour it over the pork.
Allow to cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Shred meat with two forks and mix in sauce from bottom of crock pot. 
Serve on toast or buns with coleslaw!

And finally, here is my own coleslaw creation...

Meg’s Homemade Coleslaw

 (4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

1 large carrot - shredded

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbl apple cider vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp white sugar

½ tsp powdered ground mustard

½ tsp celery seed

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop your veggies and place in a medium bowl.

Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.

Pour mixture over veggies and stir together.

Refrigerate coleslaw until served, or eat it right away!

As I type up these delicious recipes and remember all the family fun that we had yesterday, I can't help but think of this verse...

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

James 1:17

Have a wonderfully, blessed weekend,

Fun Flubber Recipe {Thoughtful Momma Monday}

What kid doesn't like to feel goo ooze through their fingers or make bathroom noises at the table?

I know mine do! We had a HOOT laughing and visiting as we played with our Flubber, and made silly sounds  :o)  The play ideas with this medium are endless!

 

Add a tall, plastic cup to the mix and you get OUT LOUD LAUGHS!

(remember playing with Flarp and making rude noises???)

It's quick and simple to make and kids want to play with it f-o-r-e-v-e-r! (which is nice on a cloudy fall day when you are stuck indoors with a cold)

The three ingredients that you need to make this are Water, Glue, and Borax*.

To add color or a bit of sparkle, you may use paint, food coloring and glitter, if you choose.

We made 2 separate batches of Flubber 

Jo's Flubber: 

White glue, water, Borax, and yellow and orange poster paint to add some color

Mo's Flubber: 

Clear glue, water, Borax, green and blue poster paint and purple glitter

To make one batch of Flubber you need to prepare:

• a small bowl with 1/2 cup water in it.
• a medium bowl with 1 cup water in it.
• 1/2 cup school glue (clear or white Elmer's glue works great)
• 1 teaspoon powdered Borax* (20 Mule Team brand Borax can be found in the laundry soap isle at your local grocery store)
• paint or food coloring to add color to your Flubber (we used poster paint)
• glitter to mix in if you are using clear glue (it won't be seen well if using white glue)

Jo mixing in his paint.

Flubber Instructions:

• Mix your 1/2 cup glue in the small bowl with the 1/2 cup water. Stir well.
• To this glue/water mixture, add your paint or food coloring and glitter

• Mix your 1 teaspoon Borax* into the medium bowl with 1 cup water. Mix well

• Dump glue/water mixture from small bowl into the Borax/water mixture and swirl with a spoon or your fingers. You will see it begin to gel together. Wanna see it in action? Check out Mo on our YouTube video!

• Scoop the Flubber out of the water and place into a third bowl or onto a plastic mat, to let the excess water drain from it. Knead the Flubber a bit and it's ready to go!

 

I hope that you and your kids have as much fun as we did. Clean up is easy and if it does get into clothes or carpet, I read that regular white vinegar will help remove it.

To store your Flubber, place in a Ziploc bag to play with another time!

God bless you abundantly,

***Borax is harmful if swallowed and may cause eye irritation if it gets in a child's eye. Please use caution when using this ingredient and wisdom when allowing your children to play with this medium.*** 


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Freeze-Ahead Banana Muffins

Quick breakfasts and mid-day snacks are great to have on hand! These homemade banana muffins are one of my favorite snacks to pull from the freezer, pop in the microwave for about 25 seconds, and serve to the kids.

If you are feeling kinda crunchy, change up the sugar for honey, substitute a cup of whole wheat flour for a cup of white flour, and add a couple tablespoons of ground flax (my favorite secret ingredient) to the mixture. They will never know  :o)


Banana Muffins 
(a triple batch)

Ingredients:
8-9 bananas, mashed well
3 large eggs
3 cups sugar (or a bit less if you prefer)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a dash of salt

Directions:

• Peel the bananas and mash them up well in a large bowl.
• Add eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla and mix well.
• Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a pile on top of wet mixture. Lightly fluff the dry ingredients together before mixing it in to the wet ingredient below.
• Grease muffin tin, or line with paper cups, and scoop mixture into cups to fill a little over half full.
• Bake at 375* for 18 to 20 minutes. (in my oven they are done in 18 minutes)

I love that this recipe uses oil instead of butter, as using butter in everything can get pretty expensive. Because this is a triple batch recipe, it usually makes 3 dozen muffins. I leave one dozen in a Ziploc bag to enjoy the week that I make them and place the other two dozen in the freezer. I can pull one or two muffins out as needed or just let the whole bag thaw on the counter to eat later. It's wonderful!

And here is a "sweet" verse to feed your soul.

"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body." ~ Proverbs 16:24

May you be blessed with peace and health today! May kindness be found in your words and may they bring life and grace to the hearer!

Have a wonderful week,

Classical Conversations Review Game Day

Our home school journey began a short year and a half ago and it has lead us to a wonderful curriculum/community called Classical Conversations (CC).

We are thoroughly enjoying our school year! My 5-almost-six-year-old always looks forward to our CC community days. She is enjoying new-found friends and other adults who speak life into her.

My four-year-old son isn't enrolled in the CC program this year, but he joins in as we review the memory work throughout the week. I actually caught him singing the Timeline song as he was getting dressed the other morning. He is a hoot!

Our CC community is only in it's second year, so it is a young community. And out of seven families, we had five that were able to attend our recent Review Game Day! We chose to have it right after our Week 10 memory work was learned. We all had such a great time together that we plan to have another Review Game Day at the end of the year!

Our Review Game Day served as a wonderful time for the families to get to know one another better, have some fun together, and review the past 10 weeks of memory work.The accountability that being in community brings is so necessary... especially for this home school momma  :o)

So, without further ado, here are a few pictures from our fun game day and a short description of how each game was played.

The kids were excited to play the games at each station.

My first idea was to have an adult stationed at each game and ready to quiz the children who rotated through their station on one subject of the memory work. 

When it came down to it, with only 5 moms and 7 game stations we ended up splitting the children into 4 groups (2 groups of 3 and 2 groups of 4) and having the moms lead the kids from station to station, switching the subject questions to fit that station's topic. The extra mom (that was me) kept the timer going at 5 minute increments, called out when it was time to switch up the game stations, and helped out as needed. This worked out well for our group!

The groups spread out at various games stations and the timer began!

Geography Race

The younger ages really enjoyed standing at a starting line and once the adult called out a state and its capitol, they raced to the maps that were taped to the wall (with painter's tape) and pointed to the correct state. The adult leader would then be sure that they had chosen the right state.

If they hadn't chose the correct state, they would be corrected and would repeat the capitol and state while pointing to the correct location on the map!

The older kids quizzed each other, without all the running  :o)

English T.P. Toss

"Yes, that is a REAL toilet and NO, please don't use it."

This is a line I use often when we pull out the T.P. Toss toilet from our backyard and set it up for a game. It's a favorite with the kids. Who wouldn't want to throw a roll of toilet paper into a toilet?!?! Haven't we been teaching our kids NOT to play with toilet paper (and the toilet for that matter) since they could walk (or crawl)?

At this station, the kids lined up and reviewed memory work from English and then took turns tossing a roll of T.P. (that was wrapped in duck tape to keep it together) into the toilet. 

Too much fun!

(PS. This toilet isn't used for its intended purpose. I picked this beauty up off a curb and disinfected it for use at our annual Fall Festival carnival games! It's sure come in handy over the years.)

Latin Gun Range

Here the kids lined up, answered some Latin memory work and took turns shooting the tower of cans down, using a Nerf riffle. After a while, loading and un-jamming the riffle slowed the game down and we ended up throwing a ball at the cans instead.

Next time I would like to have two Nerf riffles going, one loading up and one being used. The kids really enjoyed this one, especially all of our boys!

Science Land Walk

Here is a mix of Candy Land and a Cake Walk - we called it Science Land Walk!

The kids would walk around on the colored squares while our Timeline song was being played on a CD player near by. When the leader would pause the song, she would call out a color (or two). All the kids on those colors would then answer a science question together! Younger and older kids had fun with this one.

Math Bowling

I didn't get a good picture of the kids playing the bowling game, but here's one of our youngest CC members being sweet  :o)

At this game station, the kids would sing a math skip counting song and then get to bowl the pins down. Very simple, yet fun!

It did take a bit of time to set up the pins after each child played. It would help to have an extra adult at this station to set up pins next time.

History Ring Toss

What do you get when you mix recycled coffee syrup bottles and a few glow in the dark necklaces???

The perfect Ring Toss game!

The kids at this station would line up and take turns reciting a history sentence and then try their ring-the-bottle skills. I did catch one of the younger groups singing the sentences together and then all at the same time, tossing their rings at the bottles. This helped them get through the past 10 weeks of history a bit faster and no one had to wait in line! Great idea!

Fun Time with Grammy

So.... this wasn't really a game station, but we can't forget to include our smaller CC members in a picture! A big thanks goes out to my mother for coming with us to help with the littles. 

They enjoyed playing the games that other groups weren't using at the time and just running around the gym. What a sweet group of kids we have.

Timeline Limbo

We ended our Review Game Day with Timeline Limbo. I found the idea for using a pool noodle for this game over at Solagratiamom. The kids enjoyed this, but with a 12 minute timeline song, things got a bit crazy.

What started as limbo, ended as "follow the leader around the gym". We were lined up and running, hopping, skipping, crawling, crab-walking, doing cart wheels, and being all out goofy!

It was a blast and we ended up out of breath and laughing! What sweet memories.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

Overall, we had a great time reviewing our memory work together and getting to know each other better. The advice I would give to other CC parents who would like to plan and host a review day is:

• Be prepared, but be flexible. It's great to have a plan and to be organized. Even so, some games won't play out like you planned or you may have to substitute other items in the game (like at our Latin Gun Range).

• Get the word out! The more help you have, the better. And the more kids that can have fun reviewing their memory work is wonderful too! 

• Try it once, and then fine tune it for your campus. What worked for us, may not work the same for your group. Splitting up the kids by age group worked well for us. I think we will do that again. That way they are reviewing their work in a similar way to how they learn it in class. Also, this gives those kids going for Memory Master a chance to really review and be challenged by another adult. 

• Just HAVE FUN! Sometimes, as parents, we like things in order and very controlled. This is a chance to have fun with the memory work and to make review feel like you are just playing some games with your friends! The kids did their best during the review and they each received a small candy prize. We really enjoyed being in community and eating lunch together at the end of the game time. Work hard at preparing your Review Game Day and then have fun!!!
 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope that our first attempt at a Review Game Day will encourage you to try something fun with your CC community. May God bless you as you lead your children and as you work with others around you. May our mission in life truly be to know God and to make Him known.


Have a great week,

Shared on A Wise Woman Builds Her Home,  Half-a-Hundred Acre Woods, and A Little R and R

Turning Four and Having Fun! {A Race Car Birthday Party}

This past Saturday our firstborn son turned four! We braved Chuck-E-Cheese's on a Saturday (we're crazy, I know) and we had a great time with our family and friends!

I LOVE celebrating my children on their birthdays! We usually celebrate at home, but this year my son requested going to CEC and playing games. His favorite part is winning tickets and buying prizes at the end of his visit. He played his little heart out - jumping up and down and making noise as he gave each game his all. What a boy!

 Jo and Daddy playing games together!

When one of my kid's birthday is near, we talk about what theme or colors they would like their party to be. Once they give me a theme, I get to let my creativity soar. I really enjoy saving money, using scrapbook paper in various ways, and making a colorful party. It's a blast to personalize each party and make sweet memories with our children. A few themes that we have come up with in the past are: Ladybug, Royal Princess, Minnie Mouse, Construction Site, Flower Garden, Barnyard, Charlotte's Web, and Zoo Animals (at the zoo).

Party memories from years past

Opening our home is fun, but not having to clean (before and after the party), make food to serve and decorate everything this time around was SO nice.

Taking our own decorations and cake to CEC was a great way to save money. We even took a bunch of coupons with us and all our guests got to use them to purchase food items and extra tokens (after the ones we doled out were spent). Everything that I decorated with at CEC fit into one bag! We arrived 30 minutes before the appointed party time and snagged 4 tables in a central location.

I cut my tablecloths down to size, placed the cake, rice crispy pops, bubble favors, balloons and plates out to add to the race car theme and we were ready to PARTY!

Clean up was a cinch as well. I picked up the extra goodies and then threw away used plates and the disposable table cloths. What a breeze!

Here are a few more pictures of the party. What a wonderful (and very noisy) way to celebrate our son and have fun together!

 "We're going crazy and you are coming with us!"

 

Grandpa was in his element :)

 Let the sugar high begin!

 

This was J's first taste of a rice crispy treat.

He couldn't wait to try his "granola bar"... ha!

 We keep them caged for everyone's safety (jk)

 After looking and looking online for cakes with the #4 and race cars,

I decided to try my hand at it. I was pleased with the outcome, and it tasted pretty good too!

 Cake and ice cream time!

 Keeping the sugar coming!

 So excited to receive $4 from Grammy and Grandpa.

And what does he want to buy with his birthday money??? A new "big, fluffy pillow"!

 Cars, cars and more cars! Lovin' it all!

 Oh, and planes  :)

(Even though I stuck to the race car theme, Jo had been talking about his "cars and planes" birthday party over the past couple weeks. I did buy him a new Dusty the plane shirt to wear at his party. And when he opened this gift, it was freea HIT!)

 Ready to count up those tickets and buy some prizes!

  My girl and her prize lolly pop. Oh my!

 We are so thankful for both sets of grandparents who live near us and pour so much into our children's lives. Despite busy schedules and working night shifts, they all came to the party to celebrate with us!

 Mimi and Pops with Jo. Such great blessings in our lives!

Praise God for His goodness to us. Josiah is a precious gift! He is kind-hearted, loving, and thoughtful.  He is healthy and growing bigger each day (he will prove it by having you look at the size of his feet :). We thank the Lord for his life!

 Four years have passed so quickly!

"We wait and watch with great expectation to see all that the Lord has in store for you, son. You are a joy and a delight to our hearts and we know that you bless your Father God's heart too."

Have a blessed week dear friends,

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