Day: January 24, 2022

Music Appreciation – Hip Hop

Dear Sis, 

This is the fifth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson. 

Hip Hop Music

A note for parents: Much of the hip hop world is not fit for our most precious learners, but I hope this serves as a family friendly sampling.

Week Eighteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Hip Hop is…” text.

  • Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
  • If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote.

Listen to Sample One: “Super Rappin’ No. 2” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Listen to Sample Two: “The Home of Hip Hop” by Grandmixer D.ST.

Listen to Sample Three: “Me, Myself, and I” by De La Soul

Week Nineteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “HIP HOP” history text.

Watch “The Birth of Hip Hop” video.

Listen to Sample Four: “I Missed the Bus” by Kris Kross

Listen to Sample Five: “Don’t Sweat the Technique” by Eric B. & Rakin

Listen to Sample Six: “ABC’s” by Sugarhill Gang




Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the sixth installment: Jazz (Weeks 20-22).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b

Instant Pot Freezer Meal – Beef and Broccoli

Dear Sis, 

This is the first recipe in our Instant Pot freezer meal series. I did have to make a few changes. I added 2 T brown sugar to balance the flavor so it wouldn’t be too bitter for my little people. I wish I would have added the broccoli after reducing and thickening the sauce. Ours was too thin, but I couldn’t reduce it more without overcooking the broccoli. Without further ado, the recipe:

Beef and Broccoli

b
A freezer meal for the Instant Pot.
3.50 from 2 votes
Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Prep Ingredients

  • 2 1 - gallon freezer bag
  • 1 1/2 lbs flank steak, thinly sliced
  • 1 lb broccoli florets, frozen
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 T dark broan sugar, packed
  • 2 T hoisin sauce
  • 2 T low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 T minced garlic
  • 1 T cooking sherry
  • 1 T ginger paste
  • salt and pepper to taste

Serving Day Ingredients

  • 2 c rice
  • 1 c vegetable stock
  • 2 T cornstarch
  • 1 t sesame oil

Instructions
 

Prep Instructions

  • Lable gallon bag with date, recipe, and preparation instructions for cooking day.
  • Set frozen broccoli florets aside. Combine all other ingredients in gallon bag, press out air, and seal.
  • Place broccoli and prepared meat mixture into second gallon bag, press out air, seal, and freeze for later use.

Serving Day Instructions

  • Prepare rice in your usual way. We use a rice cooker.
  • Add stock and frozen meat mixture to pressure cooker. Pressure cook 10 minutes. Natural release 10 minutes. Then, release remaining pressure before opening.
  • Stir cornstarch into 3 T cold water until dissolved. Pour into cooked meat mixture. Using saute function. reduce and thicken sauce to desired consistency.
  • Add frozen broccoli, cooking until heated through. Serve over rice.




Dinner is served!

Love,

b

Back to the Instant Pot Freezer Meal Directory

Modifying Microfiber AlOs to Hemp AIO – Cloth Diapering

If you are anything like me, you may not like your cloth diapers to have microfiber. The reason being, they are fluffy, they compress and oftentimes leak with heavier wetters. Microfiber is also difficult to keep clean, as microfiber tends to hold onto ammonia. Even with a very good washing routine, sometimes it is near to impossible to keep microfiber smelling clean.

Because of this, I often replace a microfiber all in one with natural fibers. My favorite fabric of choice is hemp fleece 370 gsm from Nature’s Fabric. I pick hemp fleece for these reasons

  • hemp is very trim, and has very little compression.
  • hemp fleece is softer then knit jersey.
  • fleece like fabric does produce more of a stay dry feel
  • hemp fleece doesn’t get the holes that a hemp knit jersey insert will get. I find hemp jersey will even get holes where a dull sewing needle goes through it. And even if you get an interlock jersey that will not continue to fray, a thicker fleece will last much longer.

My instructions kind of assume you have a serger, but I realize that isn’t a reality  for everyone. If you don’t, you can opt to buy already made inserts.  I would stick to trimmer options for easier washing. Keep in mind the insert size when purchasing, measure your diaper to make sure it will fit in nicely.

For this project, I had did some recycling. I some hempkicks prefolds laying around, which are made out of hemp fleece. I used two layers for each insert.

Before you start to sew, I would decide on what kind of flap style you want your aio’s to have. There are three main options. One directional, two directional, and snake. I personally, prefer one directional or snake. Cleaning a poop with inserts that flip in opposite directions isn’t for me. lol.

Both of these are Thirsties Microfiber AIO.

Step 1: Remove the old insert with a seam ripper. 

Step 2: Use the old insert as a pattern for you new ones. Even if making a snake, just make it twice as long as the old one, and the same width. Serge around the insert.

Step 3: If using two inserts, and putting them on the same side…sew them together first. Then attach to the diaper wrong side to wrong side. Sew

All done, just trim the ends of the threads, and finish like a normal sewing project.

Happy Cloth Diapering,

Jamie

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