An AMAzing aMEREKin Life

While I’m terribly saddened by the effects the Coronavirus is having on our country, I sure am enjoying having my kiddos home with me. ❤️  I was already homeschooling Merek, but this is going to be a very cool memory to have both of them home! Ama’s school has a very great homeschool plan for us to use that will help give us an immediate syllabus to work from, but that doesn’t come out until next week. So for now, we’re just doing some projects and book reading that engages their little brains, while having fun. Today, after a bit of school work, we played a game...”Spell that Panty item!” They did great and loved it! So amazing to see both of them enjoy learning. And I love the opportunity to reinforce learning in fun ways :). I know that next week, our true syllabus from school will start, but for now....homeschool is mostly just fun! HomeSchool snacks are pretty fun too! Homeschool recess is definitely cool!! We will tackle this cha...

Yup! That’s right my Merek boy no longer has training wheels!!! It took all of about 3 tries.... in all of about 5 minutes....and he was off. A few “straight aways”....and a few circles around the cul-de-sac... next thing I know, he’s steering his bike up the hill of our driveway!! Hahaha- he’s such a stud!  Immediately looking to add danger and challenges to his first true bike ride ;). Add it to his checklist of skills before 5y/o.....STRONG swimmer, stand up skateboarder, and bike rider. So yeah, he’s a BEAST (at least in our eyes :D)

Oh yeah! Bacon Jam reduction with warm Goat cheese on lightly Toasted Brioche...mmm- hmm-mph. Loved this one! It was as good as it sounds 

Sunday Brunch with Meme...our neighbor gifted us a few gorgeous tomatoes the night before that were so red and firm! So of course, they inspired me to make BLT’s !!  (Well BLAT’s. Bacon. Lettuce. AVOCADO. Tomato. It’s one of the easiest ways to get my kids to eat avocados. And, there’s just something about the amazing ability avocado has to remove any guilt there is in eating bacon....on bread...with mayonnaise. Starting off the morning with a loaf of fresh bread was just what I needed to build  this colorful BLAT. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in south Florida- probably one of our prettiest yet. Extra Awesome that it fell on a Sunday! The neighbors grandkids were in town so we had a lovely time on tree swings, skateboarding, and climbing trees while my bed baked.  Could the sky be any more blue? Oh, the reward! Happy Sunday!

Ama has been so good, but noticeably disappointed to leave for school everyday while Meme and Merek get to be together during the day. So as a little treat for her, I took her out to breakfast before school. We did a crossword puzzle together, chatted, shared eggs Benedict and a Mickey Mouse pancake with extra crispy bacon!! A perfect morning...and some much needed one on one time. 😁 My girl...

It was a chilly night, I had some sadly overcooked (originally beautiful Fresh Market ribeyes), and a need to make room in my fridge. I love how a stew is on a chilly night, plus the bonus of being one of the best meals to clear out a fridge.....making use of the carrots, celery, and half-cut onion in my veggie drawer, plus move out that container that holds the leftover bone-in ribeyes. And for me, the bag of veggie scraps I keep for stock.  Skins of onions and garlic, tops of carrots, random pieces of celery; all placed in a pot with water for beautiful, nutrient rich broth- it’s so worth the veggie drawer storage space!  And oh, how that stock revitalizes those overdone ribeyes! But on to the Naan! Since I knew I was going to end up with this rich stew, I also soon realized I would need a bread- and really only something fresh baked would hold up to something so rich. We were just home from school....and while I had done some prepping for the stew, I hadn’t though...