I’ve been seeing the idea of salads in a jar around the internet for some time now, but I never got around to really trying them until recently. A great abundance of produce from Bountiful Baskets combined with the craziness of the move lead me to dig deeper into the process. I wanted healthy, easy food for us while life was crazy.
Once I realized how easy they were, I decided that I needed to make some for D to allow him to continue to eat yummy food without all the prep when I wasn’t there. I soon realized that I could make the salads last an entire week in the jar (with salad dressing) if I vacuumed sealed the jar.
To do this, I first made the salads in a jar. For our salads, I used the quart-sized jars. You start with the salad dressing of your choice on the bottom. Top that with your favorite variety of veggies. Add in meat and cheese (if desired). Finally, you cram in an entire heart of romaine lettuce to create a nice, large salad. Close up the top with your normal canning jar lids. To make them last longer, you vacuum seal the jar using the canning jar attachment for the FoodSaver. It’s super easy to use, and allows you to make up an entire week’s worth of salads at the beginning of the week.
It’s much faster when you can do all the prep work and assembly at once rather than multiple times during the week. It also allows you to use up whatever fresh produce you have on hand. If you participate in Bountiful Baskets or go to Farmer’s Markets on the weekend, it means you can process of that wonderful produce and make sure nothing goes to waste.
I haven’t tried it on fruit salads yet, but it is on my “to-do” list.
Designed by the creative team that developed the innovative and award-winning Big Book of History, the Big Book of Earth and Sky unfolds as a 15-foot chart. It is removable so it can be viewed either panel-by-panel or hung on the wall as a full-length display.
This casebound volume provides ease of storage for the chart, which is excellent for families, schools, and churches. A teacher’s guide helps bring out additional insights with questions, education activities, and additional readings, all of which enhance this excellent reference tool and help a parent or teacher utilize it within their science curriculum. This stunning chart will pique the interest of children and bring a study of God’s world to brilliant life!
About the Authors:
Mr. Bodie Hodge attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and received a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering. His specialty was a subset of mechanical engineering based in advanced materials processing, particularly starting powders. Currently, Bodie is a speaker, writer, and researcher for Answers in Genesis–USA. He is the author of The Fall of Satan and co-author of Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs.
Carolyn Reeves is especially skilled at creating ways to help students develop a greater understanding of not just scientific concepts, but also how these are applied within the world around us. Carolyn retired after a 30-year career as a science teacher, finiched a doctoral degree in science education, and began a new venture as a writer and an educational consultant. She and her husband make their home in Oxford, Mississippi, where they are active members of North Oxford Baptist Church. The Reeves have three children, three in-law children, and ten grandchildren.
Book Details:
Hardcover: 21 pages
Publisher: Master Books (April 3, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0890517053
ISBN-13: 978-0890517055
Product Dimensions: 14.1 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
Retail Price: $19.99
My Thoughts:
The Big Book of Earth and Sky is a beautiful “book” filled with eye-popping illustrations and fun educational facts. It’s not a traditional book though. Instead, it is a HUGE, 15 foot long chart that easily folds up into the hard cover case. You can look at it panel by panel (kind of like a book) or fold it out to view it all at once. While the book is geared towards children ages 7 to 12, I think you’ll find that it works for both younger and older kids (and adults).
It’s important to note that this chart is written from a Biblical worldview, so all of the information lines up with a literal six day creation week and a young earth (6,000 years or so). While this is something that we want in our home, I like to point that out for others who do not share the same viewpoint. Some of the topics covered on the chart include:
The Earth’s Atmosphere
Greenhouse Gases
Cloud to Ground Lightening
Mt. Everest, Mountain Zones
Precipitation
Rainbows
God’s Water Cycle
Volcanoes
Cloud Classifications
Volcanoes
Microbes
Caves
Fossils
Oceans
and much, much more…
I liked how the chart started at the earth’s atmosphere and works its way down to the earth’s core. It’s a very visual, logical sequence that will be easy for kids to follow. It even includes trivia type questions for the kids to answer as they go over the chart. A free downloadable teacher resource guide is also available.
For the past few months, we’ve been moving full steam ahead as we worked on the cabin and prepared for the upcoming move. Then the packers arrived to box up our household goods and move them into storage at our new location. Munchkin and I cleaned the house in preparation for the final move-out inspection.
Munchkin attended her final TaeKwonDo classes and wrapped it all up with Ninja Night where she said a goodbye to her instructors and friends. She received some cards and nun-chucks as a farewell gift. It was a sad moment to be sure.
On Monday morning, after clearing housing, Munchkin and I hit the road with the dogs and guinea pigs and a trailer in tow. D remained behind as he still has some things to get done at work before heading to the new duty station. The 5th wheel would be his home for the upcoming days. Upon arrival at the cabin, Munchkin and I unpacked the trailer and truck and settled in for the night.
While we still had things to get done, the change of pace that we experienced upon arrival here was quite noticeable. Oh, I still had a to do list, but the sense of urgency just didn’t seem to be there. I admit to feeling a bit bad for D as he was/is still in the thick of things at work, but I’m grateful that things are less hectic.
All too soon, we’ll be back to the craziness of house hunting, moving into the new place, and unpacking. For now, I’ll enjoy the slower pace and enjoy the simpler life. Ironically, that slower, simpler life also includes a lack on internet except on my phone unless we make a trip to the library. That takes some getting used to, and it also explains my lack of presence on my blog as of late.
Today, our pack-out begins. The packers are here busily packing up our things. While I would love to say that I got everything done that I wanted before they arrived, I can’t say that. We did get through a lot of our stuff, but there was still a lot more that we wanted to purge before we moved. Going back and forth between here and fixing up the cabin kind of kept us from accomplishing all that we had set out to do. Going through the house and preparing for the movers has also made me realize how much housekeeping has suffered due to being divided between the two places. Lots of dust and dust bunnies. Yikes! There are, after all, only so many hours in the day and days in the week.
It’s hard to believe that 4 years have already passed since we moved here. We’ve seen many people come and go in our neighborhood. We’ve met some really great individuals and families during our stay here. Munchkin has grown to really love her TaeKwonDo class, and it will be extremely hard to say goodbye to her classmates and instructors. In fact, that’s the one area of the move where she’s really struggling. As a mom, it’s hard to see her so frustrated by this aspect of the military lifestyle.
The next few days will most likely be a bit trying as we try to balance family, moving, D’s work schedule, and Munchkin’s TaeKwonDo. Are we homeschooling this week? No, we’ve actually taken the last couple of weeks off as we prepared for the move and got some work done on the cabin.
One thing we didn’t count on experiencing while we were at the cabin was a power outage and a packrat problem.
Normally, packrats come into the house during the winter, so that’s when you experience issues. Well, in our case, I think everything was so torn up during the winter that they just came and went as they pleased and we never saw them. Now that the house is buttoned up tight, we, unfortunately, got to know these critters. For the first few days, we were catching 1-2 a night. By the time we left, we were no longer catching any in the house. We do have a beast of a packrat in the garage that we’re still trying to capture. He/she keeps stealing things from around the garage. We set traps, but caught nothing. I think we may have to set live capture traps or something to get this HUGE packrat. Ugh!
On Saturday, we experienced a power outage from roughly noon to midnight because someone ran into a power pole. We ended up taking the day off from work (for the most part). Munchkin and Daddy had fun playing board games in the afternoon. As the night began to fall and the power was still off, we decided to try out the old lamp that was left behind by the previous owners. Munchkin had never been around an oil lamp, so it was a fun experience that lead to a nice discussion about what it would have been like prior to having electricity.
We ended up making out way outside as the sun was setting to enjoy the beautiful evening. Munchkin thought it would be fun to get some archery practice in before it got too dark as the wind had finally died down. We were thankful for the really nice weather at the cabin as not having power didn’t cause issues when it came to our comfort – not too hot or too cold. In fact, we enjoyed having the cabin windows open the entire time we were up there. The cooler evenings made for perfect sleeping weather.
Big Book of Earth and Sky Book Description:
