Green Tea Lemongrass GGMS

In an on again, off again attempt to lose weight, I keep returning to Trim Healthy Mama.  I SO LOVE the concept, but have some issues with the application of it.  So, as I am dealing with an issue, that presses me closer to THM again, I am getting out all my special ingredients again.  One of my favorite things with THM is GGMS, or Good Girl Moonshine.  A beverage with Apple Cider Vinegar and ginger and about as many variations as you can imagine.  We have been enjoying a Fruit Punch GGMS and I just got to thinking...what would happen if...

So, here is my variation of GGMS
Steep 8 bags Green Tea of your choice in about 4 cups of water. (You will add more water later and ice when you are ready to drink it!)
Into a pitcher, put:
 4-8 tsp THM's Sweet Blend or approved sweetener (I do not like it sweet, so I do 4t, but you may want much more)
 8 tsp. lemon extract
 8 T. Apple Cider Vinegar
 2 T Ginger (powdered or fresh...I like using the Gourmet Garden brand that comes in a tube

It costs SO MUCH MORE than powdered or the fresh root, but the taste difference and ease of use make it the go to for me...)I use a squeeze about 2" long for this recipe.

Lemongrass, also from the tube and about the same amount...I did not measure...but I did learn something about the lemongrass...it stayed chunked up in the drink...SO STIR IT INTO SOMETHING BEFORE ADDING IT TO YOUR PITCHER...like the Apple Cider Vinegar.

Swish all of this around and add the tea.  Add 32 oz cold water.  Chill and/or serve with ice.

This makes about half a gallon of GGMS.

You can add some lemon juice or essential oil (MAKE SURE YOUR ESSENTIAL OILS ARE SAFE TO INGEST) if desired.

3 Ingredient Swedish Meatballs

I am in a season of EXTREME busyness..and getting meals on the table takes some advance planning and forethought.  All the plans in the world don't mean much when the meat is in the freezer at 5 pm...and I have been there/done that too many times.  We have a couple of days where we are gone for a large chunk of the day...so I need some EASY MEALS...let me tell you this is about as easy at it gets!  I do not recall where I originally got this recipe, but BLESS HER a thousand times for posting it...you have made my life a little easier.

So you need 3 ingredients:

32 oz frozen meatballs
1 12 oz jar beef gravy, I use Heinz Savory Beef
sour cream...I do not measure this, but just mix it in until I like the look of it.

So, here is what I do...toss the meatballs in the crock pot with the jar of gravy and cook on low until you are ready for dinner...about 20 minutes before serving, mix in sour cream and pour meatballs over cooked noodles or rice.  Serve with a salad or veggie of choice.

Now, you could do this with homemade meatballs and gravy, but I just do not always have time for that.

Bon Appetit!

Homeschool Planet

Today, I get the pleasure of introducing you to Homeschool Planet,  an online planner from Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.  I am going to say at the beginning, that this did not work well for us, and I will explain why at the end, but it is still a valuable tool you may find helpful in your homes.

There are A LOT of great benefits of Homeschool Planet...probably my single favorite is the AUTOMATIC RESCHEDULE function...miss a day, week month, etc and you are able to reschedule all of that work by pushing it forward...this SERIOUSLY is my favorite function.  I have planned out MONTHS of plans only to have things go awry and then all that work is garbage.  This is the best thing ever!  I tip my hat to you Homeschool Planet!

My second favorite function is the planning out your school year tool.  You select the days you school or don't, the time you have off, start and stop dates, etc.  This is a WONDERFUL function as you begin to shape your days...I know this seems small, but I seriously LOVED IT!

Ok, so pros or what I liked about Homeschool Planet:

You can give assignments to more than one child at a time if the info is the same with just a simple click...EASY!

You get email updates for your calendar and assignments, etc

You can track attendance and create a transcript

The dashboard is WONDERFUL...you see your calendar, family members (with pictures if you like), you can add widgets, (like a shopping list, memory verse, weather, daily quote) which customizes what you see each time you log in. Oh and you can CHANGE the background theme...this became VERY IMPORTANT as I began to work with Homeschool Planet.

It is pretty intuitive and easy to learn and there are several tutorials available to help you begin.  This is great for those of us (ME) who aren't as tech-y as others!

The Customer Service was AMAZING!  This is such an important thing for me.

And Cons or what did not work for us...

I accidentally assigned the same lesson everyday through the end of our school year.Rather than an automatically filled in date being in the box when you are adding a class, I would love to see that be blank.  Oh and it assigns it to the END OF YOUR SCHOOL YEAR...Delete and begin again.  This was a SMALL irritation, not a HUGE problem.

The layout when you have all the classes is a bit much for me to take in among the regular calendar items...looks cluttered and hard to see among the many entries.  There are both planner and calendar views, but I did not see much difference between the two.  You can color code which helps but I think I would like to see a greater difference between the two views.

I did not like that I had to be a member of the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op to use the planner.  I got several emails over the review period that were not something I was interested in.

Price- The price puts this out of range in my home.  It is $65 a year or $6.95 a month.  My regular planner is less than half that price. 

It was hard to get to the computer to get to the lesson plan...I personally function better with a paper planner.  This was the kicker for me EVEN with the automatic rescheduler.  I just love my pen and paper.  Mobile access in regard to my planner means I can pick it up and throw it into my bag.

See what my friends at Home and School Mosaics had to say here.  

Still not sure, try it free for 30 days here.  They will not ask you for credit card information, so you do not have to worry about any charges unless you sign up.