Thanksgiving Books to Enjoy as a Family

I love books and that I can get most of them for free through our huge library system.  I usually order them from the library first and if I think I will use them a lot, buy them when I find the right price. 

Note:  My favorite places to buy books are Amazon, Ebay, HomeschoolClassifieds.com, Alibris.com, and BetterWorldBooks.com. Between all of these I can usually find what I want at a great price.

Kaboose has lots of printable Thanksgiving word puzzles and craft pages.  These are perfect for passing out during family read a-loud time and keep everyone’s attention span going longer. 

Part of our Thanksgiving celebration is reading aloud seasonal books.  We enjoy starting early in the season and reading Margaret Pumphrey’s book Stories of the Pilgrims  It is written in novel style and really catches the kids’ attention.   Love to Learn (no affiliation) has a decent price at $9.99, or you can search for a good used copy or even check your library.

 Another Thanksgiving book we enjoy is Squanto And The Miracle Of Thanksgiving.  The pictures are gorgeous and it really shows the relationship of the story of Squanto to the Biblical Story of Joseph.  I had never heard the full story of Squanto before this book!  And I loved  it as much as the children did.

I like the next ones, because they have photographs instead of illustrations and it feels like you are really there:

Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, On The Mayflower, Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy, and Tapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy In Pilgrim Times all by Kate Waters.

I look for these books at the library too: Three Young Pilgrims, Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage, . . . If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, Pilgrims Of Plymouth, and Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving Book?  I’d love it if you left a comment with the title and why you love it,  (even if it has already been listed.)

Note:  All the titles link to their Amazon page where you can read reviews, descriptions and search inside the book.  If you choose to purchase through the link, a small part of the sale will go to support this blog.  I recommend getting the book from the library and if you love it as much as I do, come back and purchase through this link. 

I’m hoping one day to have a Thanksgiving box with all of the books I’ve collected, simple costumes for the children, and festive decorations. 

Tomorrow I’ll link up to some super cute Thanksgiving crafts for kids.

Things Brandon and Dub Say

Dub is now 5 and Brandon is 3.  This picture was taken almost a year ago, but the brothers are sitting still and aren’t they precious?

Dub was at the refrigerator a few days ago playing with our magnetic letters.  He said, “Mom what does AIEU spell?”  Me, “Nothing.”  Dub, “Oh, wow!  Nothing.  No–th–i–ng, nothing.” Sounding very pleased with himself.  I didn’t say anything more.  I didn’t want to burst his bubble by correcting him, lol.  But if one day when he is quite grown you get a letter with the word AEIU in it, you’ll know what he meant.

Brandon is a funny one too.  I was leaving this week to get my blood drawn for prenatal testing.  He says, “Mom, I can’t wait to see your blood.”  Me, “I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to let me take it home.”  Brandon, disappointedly, “Then how in the world will I ever know what blood looks like?” 

Monday we were waiting at a stop light.  Darren is driving and I’m in the passenger seat.  Brandon, “Mom, where in the world are we going?”  Me, “To church.”  Brandon, “Then what’s the hold up.  Let’s go already.”  Me, “Well Brandon, I’m not the one driving.  The light is red and there’s 3 cars in front of us.”  Brandon looked very stern and pointed his finger at me and said, “No excuses, you.”

Yesterday at the Pumpkin patch I was carrying a tired out Brandon.  He lays his head on my chest and says, “Mom, your baby is getting sooo big and I love it!”  Me puzzled (I’m not really showing yet), said, “Where is my baby?”  Brandon smiles and lovingly pats my chest, “Right here.”  Darren says boys are born this way, lol.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts regular or gluten free!

We went to the pumpkin patch today and after we did everything there was to do, we bought a dozen pumpkin doughnuts and devoured them.  Yum!  Those were fried in an automatic doughnut machine just like the one described in Homer Price

I had a hankering to make my own pumpkin doughnuts, but I’d prefer to bake them for simplicity and health.  I found two promising recipes.  One is from Cheeky Kitchen:

Cheeky Kitchen: Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

 And all the gluten free folks out there can try this recipe from Bob’s Red Mill:  http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=812

Thanksgiving Ideas

With my new Christmas Book coming out, I don’t want to overlook Thanksgiving.  It is one of my favorite holiday’s and I’m hoping to do some fun things with the kiddoes this year. 

Here are some fun Thanksgiving Decor Ideas.  Click the pictures to go to the tutorials:

The thrift stores are fantastic places to find sweaters.  I can see these little cuties made up in various fall colors.

Sweater Pumpkin Tutorial from Small Fry and Co.

You’ll have to click the link to see the picture, but Smashed Peas and Carrots has free patterns and tutorial for a darling felt Turkey dinner complete with pumpkin pie and whipped cream!  I can imagine my little ones cooking up a feast beside me.

Pilgrim Hat Cookies from Oodle Kadoodle Primtivites

More tutorials tomorrow!

It’s time to Menu Plan for November

Menu planning makes my life sane.  I do it by the month instead of the week because that allows me to pick up non-perishable items all at once at the beginning of the month and only take short trips for fresh veggies and dairy later.  Menu planning is something I don’t really enjoy, so I prefer to get it over with early and enjoy the fruits all month.

Cajun Shrimp with sweet peppers, onions and baby spinach

Here’s a post I wrote earlier detailing how to write a good plan and you will find printable pdf calendars to download and make your task easier.

I’m off to print my menu and get started. Care to join me?  I could use some inspiration this month.  What’s on your menu?

P.S.  It’s not too late to grab your copy of How to Have a Grocery Shrink Christmas.  It’s only $4 through Friday and lots of recipes are also appropriate for the Thanksgiving table.  You’ll learn how to make bread stuffing, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, and herb roasted turkey, all without commercial mixes!

Last Day for $3 Christmas Book Deal

I don’t want you to miss out on getting your Grocery Shrink Christmas book at only $3!  Tomorrow the price will go up to $4 and it will continue to rise after that.  To help inspire you I’m going to give away 2 of the pages from the book. You can click on the pages to see bigger views. Remember the book is 96 gorgeous pages long, so there’s plenty more where these came from!

First here’s a glimpse at the Table of Contents:

•The Christmas Budget…………………4

•Gifts………………………………………….8

•Christmas Cards……………………….22

•Decorating……………………………….29

•Gifts from the Kitchen……………….40

•The Reason for the Season…………70

•Holiday Calendar……………………..75

•How to Plan a Holiday Feast……..78

•Traditional Holiday Recipes………80

•Final Thoughts…………………………96

Here is just one of our gift idea pages.  There are also pages of ideas for emergency gifts, gifts that don’t add to clutter, and stocking stuffers.  There are guides for giving handmade gifts including how to plan ahead so there’s no stress and how to make sure the receiver appreciates what you’ve done.  There are pages for planning your gifts so you only have to think about it once and then get it done!  And there are pages of recieps for gifts you can bake economically that are sure to be appreciated.

Here’s just one of our kid’s craft ideas.  This makes a darling ornament or package topper.  It’s a great gift for a child to give a friend.

There is so much in this book, that I’ve already opened it several times and referred to it for recipes and planning guides myself.  It’s meant to be read online and to print the planning pages.  The pages to read are colorful and inspiring and the pages to print are black and white to save you money on printing costs.

Your purchase will help our family reach a special goal.  As you know, we are expecting our 6th child.  We have outgrown our home and found another home to purchase that will meet the needs of our family for many years to come.  In order to make the move, we need to finish some repairs and list our home for sale.  We are using the proceeds from this book to make those repairs and need to do it very quickly.  Not only will you get an amazing value for your $3 purchase, but it helps us a lot too.

Fajita Marinade

P.S.  Don’t forget to Grab your copy of  How to Have A Grocery Shrink Christmas:  Planning a beautiful celebration on a limited budget before the price goes up on Monday.

The recipe for Fajita Marinade is just one of the fabulous tried and true recipes that comes with the Grocery Shrink ebook.  I will never buy a mix or premade fajita mariande again.  As usual, I was out of a few ingredients.  So I substituted fresh limes for the lemon juice and added some jalapenos from the garden that would otherwise go to waste.  Wow!  It was beautiful and delicious. 

Thanks Darren for grilling it for me so beautifully. 

How to Have a Grocery Shrink Christmas

$7 $5

Add to Cart

I’ve been dreaming of this book for years and finally pushed myself to make it a reality.  I don’t like to short Thanksgiving to get a headstart on Christmas, so I gave myself an October deadline. 

Eggnog Snickerdoodles: Recipe from How to Have a Grocery Shrink Christmas

It’s not too soon to start planning your Christmas celebration.  This saves money, time, and stress.  Proper planning = peaceful holidays.

When Darren and I started our debt free journey, our Christmas budget was $240.  That included food, gifts (For each other, our pack of children and all our extended family), cards, everything.  It was tight, but doable with proper planning.  I learned a lot from years of living on a tight budget and put it all in this book. 

Cookie Cutter Picture Ornament: Just one of the many craft projects in the book

How to Have a Grocery Shrink Christmasis 95 pages of fabulousness.  It includes printable planning sheets, a budget guide, tips for gifts, Christmas Card organizers, How to plan a feast, recipes for gifts from your kitchen, how to plan a holiday family worship, tips for including little ones in the worship, how to place the holiday focus off gifts and onto Christ,  frugal decorating, and basic Christmas dinner recipes which includes glazed ham, a turkey roasting guide and recipe for herb crusted turkey and much more!

Herb Crusted Turkey: One of the traditional recipes in the book

Here’s the best part!  It’s only $3…for $3 days.  Monday the price will go up to $4 for $4 days and the price will go up again.  So grab your book now while the price can’t be beat.  It’s an instant pdf download, and you will need Adobe Reader to open it. It’s a large file with lots of pictures, so depending on your connection speed may take some patience while downloading.

$7 $5

Add to Cart

Homemade Lunchables

Kashi TLC crackers; honey smoked ham from Costo; and Sliced Colby Jack = No tantrums from the 3 year old who slept through dinner and had to go with his older brothers and sisters to their Church club meetings.

I Made No Knead Bread!

Since this was an experiment, I used unbleached flour and followed the directions perfectly in the video here. It turned out great. Crusty outside, soft inside, great sourdough flavor. The kids weren’t all impressed but 3 of them begged for a slice and ate it.

Today, I’m making sourdough starter from a potato.  Hopefully it will work since the girls in my Pioneer class want to try it.  Next I’ll try no-knead bread from 100% whole grain flour.