Elderberry Syrup (Instant Pot) April 16, 2024

1 cup dried elderberries, picked over to remove stems and red berries, rinsed

4 cups water

4 inch knob of ginger, peeled and sliced

1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp cinnamon (stick preferred to avoid grittiness)

1 pinch of ground cloves (this can make it gritty, so you can sub 2-3 whole cloves)

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 to 1 cup honey to your preference (raw honey preferred for medicinal properties)

Combine elderberries, water, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. High pressure in IP for 7 minutes. NPR 10 minutes. Uncover and press sauté for 15 minutes. Will reduce by half. allow to cool and then strain. Stir in honey and lemon. Store in airtight jar for up to 5 months in fridge.

Dosage 1 tsp for children, 1 T for adults daily or every 2-3 hours while symptomatic.

Not recommended for certain health conditions. Do your research.

L@WS

Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana January 10, 2024

It’s chilly again even in SoCal. This means it is soup time. This is my own spin on Zuppa Toscana for the Instant Pot. My kids love this soup. I actually use lactose free milk for my own family. It’s not traditional, but I put chopped carrots in my version. I like the brightness that carrots add next to the vibrant green of the kale. If you want to lower the saturated fat of the soup, drain off the fat from the sausage and go with milk versus the heavy cream. Just be aware you are making a tradeoff for that creamy mouth feel, but your ateries will probably thank you. If you use russet potatoes that will balance out the tradeoff because they will break down a bit in the soup and thicken it up.
L@WS

Zuppa Toscana (Instant Pot)

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Servings: Calories 428kcal

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 lb mild Italian ground sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced (sub 1/2 tsp granulated garlic for kids who don't like bits of garlic)

3 cups peeled and chopped potatoes

2 cups peeled and chopped carrots

32 oz vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon oregano (rubbed between your hands)

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream (or coconut cream for Paleo or milk for less saturated fat)

2 cup chopped kale (I like to remove stems)

cooked bacon bits, (optional)

Directions

INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS

Push the saute button, and add the olive oil. When the pot is hot, add the ground sausage and brown it until no longer pink. Use your spatula to break up the sausage. Add onion and garlic and saute until fragrant and the onion has started to turn translucent. Add potatoes, carrots, stock, and oregano/ Stir everything together.

Lock the lid and seal. Cook Manual Pressure High can cook 10 minutes. Natural pressure release. Carefully open and stir in the heavy cream, kale and bacon bits. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir everything, and serve warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 428kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 1116mg | Potassium: 922mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2900IU | Vitamin C: 45.1mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 5.8mg

Ginger and Red Date Tea January 7, 2024

If you are feeling unwell and chilled, Chinese will use fresh ginger to make a tea in order to warm the body up. This can be used a remedy for a cold. Ginger is known to be a warming food in TCM to treat nausea and chills. It helps to improve your blood circulation. The Chinese red date (aka jujube) are good for poor appetite, fatigue, loose stools, and shortness of breath. This herb should be avoided if you have constipation issues. These are sold dried in Asian markets.

Ingrediants:
2 cups water

1/2 oz peeled and thinly sliced ginger

1/2 oz Chinese red dates, rinsed and halved

Raw honey to taste

Place water, ginger, and dates in a small pot. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain and allow to cook to an acceptable drinking temperature. Stir in honey to taste. Do not add honey when it is boiling hot because it will destroy the good enzymes. Raw Manuka is expensive but the best for the health benefits. Go with at least 10+ UMF if you want medicinal grade manuka honey.
L@WS

Black Silkie Chicken Ginseng Soup

Pictured in a glass so you can see but normally I drink in a bowl or mug.

1 small black silkie chicken (can leave whole or cut in parts)

1 oz American ginseng or 0.5 oz Korean ginseng

1 oz yu zu (Solomon’s seal)

1 oz goji berries

1 oz huai shan (dried Chinese yam)

5 large or 10 small jujube (dried red dates)

2 dried honey dates (optional)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Salt to taste

variation:

can eliminate yu zu if you can not source this easily.

Place all dried herbs except goji berries in a bowl of water to soak for 30 minutes. Remove soaked herbs and allow soaking water to settle.

Blanch chicken in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes to remove all scum, dirt and blood. Drain and rinse well. Place in slow cooker. Add herbs, reserved soaking water, vinegar, and enough water to cover. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Add goji berries during the last couple of hours.

Season with salt to taste. You can discard herbs and just drink the soup. Some herbs are bitter so it is up to you if you want to eat. If you have issues with constipation, consumption of jujubes should be avoided.

This particular soup is high in anti-oxidants. It should not be consumed by normal healthy people except during the winter time as it is too strong. For elderly, immunocompromised people, this is a good soup to improme immune system function and overall health year round. This particular soup is made to boost energy, Improve brain function and memory, strengthen immune system, replenish Qi and blood deficiency, Strengthen physical weakness, due to prolonged illness, injury and exhaustion, calm the mind, nervous system, and anxiety, regulate blood sugar, and support heart health. Ginseng has been shown effective in helping combat fatigue in cancer patients.THIS SOUP SHOULD NOT BE CONSUMED BY PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING MOMS. Ginseng is contraindicated for you.

Notes about ginseng. If you are young and generally are in good health and do not have a body that tends to be cool then stick with American ginseng. If you are elderly or easily get sick or have a body that has a tendency to be cool, Korean ginseng is much strong and has more heat and is more invigorating to the body.

Black Silkie Chicken is considered by Cantonese to have medicinal qualities, You can find this as Asian markets in the frozen meat section. Generally, this is simply cooked for the tonic soup and discarded. I suppose you could eat the meat, but I never have my whole life.

All of these dried herbs can usually be found in the dried goods aisle at a Chinese grocery like 99 Ranch or Marina. The only one that you likely will not find is the dried honey dates and Solomon’s Seal which can be found at a Chinese herbalist. I included a photo of the herbs, the yuzu is the one next to the jujubes. You will never see vinegar in Chinese herbal recipes unless it is a key featured ingredient like pickled pig’s feet. I add it when I am making a soup with black silkie chicken in order to leach more minerals from the bones of the chicken into the soup.
L@WS

Great deal for Prime Climb at $14.99 September 26, 2019

LIfe has been super busy with homeschooing and adopting our daughter. This blog has been really quiet. I have high hopes to return to this soon with curriculum reviews.

L@WS

There is a fantastic deal on for Math Love’s award winning Math Climb right now on Amazon! It’s normally $35. Grab it while supplies last.

 

Summer Reading Programs 2017 May 30, 2017

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. This year’s Happy Camper: Take a Reading Adventure invites students to join a free online program designed to motivate and excite your children around reading books this summer. There are special books to unlock and rewards to earn as you bank your minutes. The Summer Challenge is an easy and fun way for kids to log the minutes they spend reading as they earn rewards. You can also organize your local school group to read together to see how much your school reads together.
Book Adventure | Free Reading Program. Sylvan’s Learning Centers. Book Adventure is a fun, free way to motivate your child to read! Kids in grades K-8 can search for books, read them offline, come back to quiz on what they have read, and earn prizes for their reading success. Program is on-going.
Summer Reading – Barnes & Noble. The Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program for 1st through 6th graders is here to help encouraging you to read books of your own choosing and earn a FREE book, simply by following these three easy steps: 1. Read 8 books and record them in your Reading Journal. 2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 17th  and September 5th, 2017. 3. Choose your FREE reading adventure from the book list featured on the back of the journal. 

Books-A-Million is sponsoring a Summer Reading Challenge. They are giving away a free Maze Runner water bottle to students who read 4 books from their selected book list. You must complete and turn in a signed reading journal in person at their bookstore.

H.E.B. Grocery Stores is sponsoring the H.E. Buddy Reading Program. Students need to read 10 books and record it on their reading log to earn a free T-Shirt. Entries must be postmarked by October 1, 2017.
Half Price Books – Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program

For kids 14 and under:

1. Read for at least 15 minutes each day for a month. (Grown-ups may read aloud to kids who are still learning.)
2. Add up your minutes and have your parent or guardian initial each week.
3. Once you’ve read 300 minutes, turn in your completed reading log to earn your $5 HPB Bookworm Bucks reading reward for the month. This is only good for June and July 2017 only. Bookworm bucks expire September 1st.

We’ll award one top reader per age group each month with a TOP READER prize – a $20 HPB Gift Card!*

 

Reward Your Kid With Rewards Calendars How about earning free tokens on their next visit to Chuck E. Cheese’s? Print out a free rewards calendar to get started. Mark the days off with a pen or sticker as your child accomplishes their goals. Bring in the completed calendars to your local Chuck E. Cheese’s and receive 10 free tokens as a reward. You can do this as many times as you like before 12/31/17, but only one chart may be redeemed per child per day.

LifeWay’s national summer reading program helps promote the love of reading books as well as encouraging the love of God’s word through reading his Scripture.

Source: LifeWay R.E.A.D. – Summer Reading Program for Kids – LifeWay

Lifeway is a chain of Christian bookstores. If you have one near you, your child can participate in their program which runs from June 1 – August 31 for students in 1st to 6th grade. Read six books and memorize six Bible verses. Complete the downloadable reading journal and turn it in at your local store for a free book and Bible.

Soar With Reading – a joint project with JetBlue and Random House Children’s Books.

This is not a traditional summer reading program in terms of earning books or prizes. Your child gets an opportunity to help donate Magic Tree House books to needy children during each entry period. Your child will have to draw on their knowledge of geography and the clues given by Mary Pope Osborne to figure out where Jack and Annie are travelling for their next adventure. Each correct entry will be entered into a drawing for a free airline flight for two and hotel accommodations. (this year’s contest will launch 6/27)

Make reading fun with our Summer Reading Program | TD Bank.

Hey kids in grades K-5, participating is easy:

 Read 10 books this summer.

• Print out the summer reading form.
• Write down the names of the books you’ve read
• Take the form to the nearest TD Bank
• Receive $10 in a new existing Young Saver account

Excellence in Reading – Mensa for Kids.Earn a commemorative certificate in recognition of your outstanding achievement and get an Excellence in Reading T-shirt, too! The Mensa Foundation recognizes and encourages education, gifted youth and lifelong learning through programs like the Mensa for Kids Web site and other activities. To encourage the joy of reading, the Foundation has developed the Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Award Program! Read and earn a free t-shirt and award certificate. This is a year-round program.

Sync is offering a summer audio reading program just for teens. Students 13+ get two free audio books per week all summer long.

Of local interest to San Diegans, your child can earn free admission to the San Diego Fair by reading 10 books. You can download a reading log here.

For Homeschoolers:

Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program. Pizza Hut has a homeschool reading rewards program that allows you to participate in a reading rewards program. Enroll here for your K-6 (5 to 12 years old) students.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op has summer reading program that gives each participating student a chance to win for every hour read. You may also count listening to audio books or time you spent reading to your child. You must log in your daily reading on the Reading Champions to earn your chances to win prizes from the Community Treasure Chest. The program runs from June 1st to September 1st.

Always, sign up for your local library reading programs. Happy reading this summer with your kids!

L@WS

P.S. If you are at a loss for picking good books for your kids to read, check out my blog about Good Literature here: http://wp.me/p1M41l-XW

A Call to Engage. November 12, 2016

For those that know me in real life, I am an Asian American woman. I want to add my voice to what is happening because as Asian American voices are often too silent. I want to cut through the hyperbole and the media slant on what is happening out there.

I want to say there has been a very real uptick in racially charged incidents/interactions being experienced by people I do know who have personally sharing their personal pain and hurt. Incidents where they have been told to take their chink selves back to China, to go back to where you came from, we don’t want you here, to be made fun of by racist comments, and in one case actually being egged. There’s an Asian American church with swastikas and the word “die” carved on their doors. These incidents are real. They have happened. Now, many of these incidents are committed by children and teens which is disturbing because they are only repeating what is going on behind closed doors. There are some by adults like the egging. If anyone thinks I am talking about these things happening in flyover country, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, the incidents happened here in the Bay Area, in San Diego, in LA, and in Seattle.

I won’t say that this is a new thing either. I will recount a couple of incidents that happened in last couple of years. My son’s friend (Chinese) was told by another boy that I don’t like Chinese people because they are awful. Another of my son’s friends (Chinese/black) while standing next to my son was told by another boy that black people smell bad, and black people are bad. My son didn’t quite understand and was weeping because all he understood is that his friend was made to feel bad. These two boys went through a long period of time where they hated who they were because they got the message that somehow being Chinese or being black was bad. Think that this couldn’t possibly happen in Christian circles? Sorry to say that the first incident happened at a Christian home school group here in San Diego. The second incident happened at my own church. And there were no apologies by these families either.

I believe anyone who thinks that we live in a post-racial society just because we elected Obama is sadly mistaken. I actually may be in the minority among minorities about this, but I actually vastly prefer that these overt acts of racist behavior are happening because it shows what really lies beneath. It creates a place to have a discussion. There are opportunities for white people especially white Christians to speak up, intervene, listen and choose to do something. To me, I think that living in a bubble thinking that racism must not be there because these things don’t happen anymore is just not true. Thinking that racist attitudes and behaviors aren’t there because there haven’t been overt incidents in the past is false as well because the covert attitudes have always been there.

No, I don’t believe that the vast majority of white people are racist. I do believe that a lot of white people don’t realize how common these experiences are. I also don’t think the vast majority of white people realize that for a person of color, you live this every day. I also don’t think that there are enough Christians and conservatives calling it out and naming it. I am also naming another truth to my minority friends that minorities can also be racist against other minorities and yes, against white people. This happens all the time, but somehow minorities get a free pass on this all the time. However, in our politically and racially charged environment, only people of color are permitted to call other people of color to account.

When I was growing up in California, I have been pelted with dirt and rocks because I look Japanese on Pearl Harbor Day. I have been subject to “ching-chong Chinaman” type chants. I have had many use their fingers to pull down their eyelids to make squinty eyes at me. I actually have been hit and physically attacked in junior high. I have had other students flat out angry and pissed off at me when I won scholarships and awards. I lost friends (but were they really my friend?) who felt I got too many because I was Chinese, and it just wasn’t fair…that somehow I stole what was rightly theirs to have. I’ve been told to go home to where I came from even though my family has been here for 5 generations. My great great grandfather worked on the railroads. My great grandfather fought in WWII for the United States. I have had to live through being insulted and judged over and over because of the color of my skin. It happens. It’s my story. It’s my reality. It’s my life.

I am a Christian, Chinese-American and a conservative. I don’t care who you voted for because my belief is that people have reasons for their vote that have nothing to do with identity politics. It’s your freedom to choose. I don’t judge you for that nor do I want to be judged for who I choose to vote for. It’s not about Trump or Clinton. Conservatives too often allow discussion around racism to be dominated and driven by liberals. Liberals don’t own this. Remember, Republicans are the party of Lincoln. Nixon was the one to push the Civil Right Acts through Congress. This is part of our history and tradition. It doesn’t have to be the way it is now. We have a voice in this. I really don’t have a political agenda here. I just want to people to see that conservative does not equal racist or whatever other label. If you dismiss all conservatives as “other” and unworthy, then how is that any better? We are all individuals and should see each other that way. Isn’t that what we should do? Try to aspire to be like MLK Jr who said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

I am just speaking the truth to whoever has ears to listen. I recognize that I am raising my son in a world that is imperfect and flawed, but I do always have hope because the power of God can change the hearts of man. Sin and brokenness is part of humanity. Forgiveness is part of being a Christian. Justice for the powerless is also part of being a Christian. God can redeem anything. God can transform what is broken into wholeness. I believe that to my core. I also believe that if you are not part of the solution that you are part of the problem. So, choose today what you will do. Choose to engage. Choose to talk to your children. Choose to help your children to choose to speak out against injustice. They see more than you think that they do. Above all, pray.

L@WS

ETA: I am greatly encouraged by this call to prayer by my former home church.

Pastor Ryan’s words reminded me of these wise words: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.”      – Abraham Lincoln

Duck Duck Moose Apps – free today! August 26, 2016

Duck Duck Moose

It’s been awhile. Our summer has been PACKED with activities. I’m looking forward to the fall when things slow down, and we are back into our homeschooling rhythm and routine.

I saw this fabulous deal today…seriously DO NOT miss out on this freebie deal. Duck Duck Moose made all their apps free today. I simply love their learning apps for kids. They develop wonderfully interactive and engaging apps. I haven’t ventured over to check out their offerings in a while since we are well past early learning apps. Some of our all time faves: Old MacDonald, Wheels on the Bus, Fish School, Moose Math, Park Math and Word Wagon….plus a lot of others.

I am excited to get out Pet Bingo, Chatterpix and Wizard School which are targeted towards older elementary kids.

Ages: 2 to 12 (depending on the app)

L@WS