vicki-admin

138 posts

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes = Comfort Food At least, to me! My grandma made an amazing roast and gravy and of course you HAD to have creamy mashed potatoes to go with all that goodness! Whether I eat them with pot roast and gravy, creamy chicken gravy, or just plain, I want […]

Stainless Steel Waterless Cookware

Why I love my waterless cookware I recommend stainless steel cookware – the best quality you can possibly afford. I started out with “budget” cookware and have gone through many sets in my almost-40 years of cooking. I now have a great set of 5-ply stainless cookware, supplemented with several […]

Family Favorite Chocolate Cake

This is the cake recipe (jump to bottom to skip all the photos) that serves as the foundation for many other cakes we have at our family gatherings. I am not a great cake decorator but when a kiddo needs a birthday cake, at least it tastes good! Cupcakes? Family […]

English Muffins – Basic Recipe

I tend to stress-cook. I try not to stress-eat, but there is something therapeutic about taking control in the kitchen, experimenting, sharing the fruit of my labor with my family (and neighbors)…..  And these English muffins are a favorite because there’s something calming to me about the sameness of each […]

My Office Overhaul (Part 1)

I’ve been working on purging some things and organizing the house a bit more, now that I’m not working three+ jobs so I have a bit more free time on my hands to do home projects. Thought I’d share some progress — I am not even close to “done” nor […]

The new cookbook is here!

When I ran out of cookbooks last time, I figured it was a good time for a revision/update. Not only did I add more recipes that have become staples in our house (going from 199 to 224 pages), I also tweaked a few oldies to make them clearer and added […]

Getting the Most Out of Your Homeschool Convention

Many state or regional conventions are not just for homeschoolers, but are truly family expositions, with lots of workshops and exhibits of interest to families–regardless of education choice. If this is your first or second (or tenth) homeschool convention, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the […]

Mid-Year Motivation

Got the mid-winter blahs? You are not alone! Maybe you’re having trouble getting back on track after the holidays — you may need to re-visit your daily routine. Many moms find that having a household routine and their daily learning goals or lesson plans in writing gives them accountability, as […]

10 Last-Minute Christmas Ideas for Families

Many families gear down to a more relaxed school routine during the week (or weeks!) before Christmas. Our family deliberately took off four weeks in December so we could enjoy the activities and traditions of the season—we just considered it a Christmas unit study, with a home economics, practical arts, […]

Help Me Choose a New Planner

Updated for 2024:   It’s that time again for my ADD self to organize my brain/days in a paper planner. I’ve tried digital — I use digital at work but not by choice, and it’s just not what comes naturally to me. I always end up reaching for paper. My first […]