In the crock of your slow cooker, mix the following ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds organic stew meat
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash (peeled, seeded and chopped - you can also buy frozen chopped squash)
2 small onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups organic beef broth
1 small can tomato sauce
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Cook for 8 to 10 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high.

In last 15 minutes of cooking, turn to high heat setting. In a small bowl mix:

1/2 cup cold water
4 tsp. cornstarch

Stir into slow cooker. Add one package of frozen green beans at this time too.

Serves 6.

Soak overnight in water:

2/3 cup each kidney and red beans
1/3 cup each pinto, black, lima, and garbanzo beans
1/3 cup each lentils
1/3 cup split and black eye peas

The next day, place beans in the crock of a slow cooker along with:

2 diced carrots
2 stalks diced celery
1 large chopped onion
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. minced garlic
5-6 cups water

Cook for 8 hours on low or 5 hours on high.

When beans are soft, add:

Sea salt and pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
(do not add these ingredients before beans are soft or they will take much longer to cook)

Can also be flavored with a beef bone or a slice of all natural bacon (add to start of cooking).
 

In the crock of a slow cooker, mix the following:

1/2 cup tamari
1/3 cup Sucanat or Rapadura (can substitute pure maple syrup)
1 tsp. minced garlic (or more to taste)
1 can tomato sauce

Stir to combine. Add:

8 chicken legs (drumsticks with thigh)

Cook on low for 5 hours. Serves 6.

Goes great with brown rice and steamed vegetables.

If you are considering homeschooling your children, you might be apprehensive if you didn’t do well in school yourself.  Thankfully your success, or lack thereof, in school does not have to be an issue in choosing to homeschool.  In fact, you can take advantage of the time you’re teaching your child to brush up on some of the things you didn’t do so well with when you were in school.

Math is one subject that parents stress over when they choose to homeschool, especially if they struggled when they went to school.  Your struggles shouldn’t be a factor in choosing to homeschool.  If you weren’t good in math, remember you’ll have the teacher’s manual with the answers.  However, you may have to spend a little bit of time relearning, or learning anew, the concepts prior to trying to teach your child.  And remember, you can always turn to other homeschooling families to help you if you need it.

Another subject parents might not look forward to teaching is English.  Maybe you hated English and writing.  If you haven’t found a planned curriculum to use for English, you can find helpful books at the local library.  You can also find materials online, including worksheets and tests. 

Besides Math and English, another subject that parents worry about teaching is Science.  There are a number of good science curriculums available, some with all of the materials for experiments.  You’d be surprised just what you can find to use for free on the Internet.  In fact, you can even dissect a virtual frog instead of having to smell formaldehyde if that turned you off when you took Biology. 

Reading should be one of the easiest subjects.  Your children will learn to love reading if they see you and your spouse read, no matter the book.  Read books aloud with your child and then have them re-tell you the story in their own words.  If they are just learning how to read, one resource that is popular with homeschoolers is “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” by Siegfried Englemann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner.

It doesn’t really matter if you did well in school or not.  You don’t have to let how well you did keep you from teaching your children.  You can learn along with them to fill in the gaps in your own education.  If you come across something that you don’t understand, search out your homeschooling friends, they can probably help you.  Another option would be to see if you can find a local homeschool co-op.  In either case, you can make homeschooling a positive experience for yourself as well as your children.