Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner: Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken with Roasted Vegetables
Introduction: Busy weeknights call for simple yet delicious meals that can be prepared without spending too much time in the kitchen. This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken with Roasted Vegetables recipe is a perfect solution. It's a wholesome and flavorful dish that requires minimal effort and delivers maximum satisfaction. Let's dive into the step-by-step guide to create this quick weeknight dinner.
Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Roasted Vegetables:

• 2 cups of mixed vegetables (such as bell peppers, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Marinate the Chicken:

• In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt, and pepper.
• Place the chicken breasts in a resealable plastic bag or a shallow dish.
• Pour the marinade over the chicken, ensuring each piece is coated.
• Seal the bag or cover the dish, and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours for more flavor).

2. Preheat the Grill:

• Preheat your grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Make sure the grates are clean and lightly oiled to prevent sticking.

3. Prepare the Vegetables:

• While the chicken is marinating, wash and chop the mixed vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
• Toss the vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

4. Grill the Chicken:

• Remove the chicken from the marinade and let any excess marinade drip off.
• Place the chicken breasts on the preheated grill.
• Grill for about 6-7 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (75°C) and the chicken is no longer pink in the center.

5. Roast the Vegetables:

• While the chicken is grilling, preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
• Spread the prepared vegetables on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until they are tender and slightly caramelized.

6. Serve:

• Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the grill and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing.
• Serve the grilled chicken alongside the roasted vegetables.

7. Optional Garnish:

• Garnish with freshly chopped herbs like parsley or basil, and drizzle with a little extra lemon juice if desired.

Conclusion: This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken with Roasted Vegetables recipe is a fantastic option for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. With just a few simple steps, you can create a flavorful and satisfying meal that the whole family will enjoy. Whether you're a busy parent or simply looking for a fuss-free dinner idea, this recipe is sure to become a staple in your weeknight meal rotation.

Here are some kid-friendly treats and snacks for the end-of-summer party:

**Treats:**

1. Ice Cream Cones: Offer a variety of ice cream flavors and let the kids choose their toppings like sprinkles, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and cherries.

2. Popsicles: You can either buy colorful popsicles or make your own using fruit juices or yogurt.

3. Cupcakes: Decorate cupcakes with colorful frosting and edible decorations like gummy bears or candy eyes.

4. Fruit Skewers: Thread chunks of watermelon, pineapple, grapes, and berries onto skewers for a refreshing and healthy treat.

5. Rice Krispie Treats: These classic treats are always a hit with kids, and you can even shape them into fun summer-themed molds.

6. Mini Donuts: Serve up mini-sized donuts with different glazes and toppings.

**Snacks:**

1. Popcorn: Pop some plain popcorn and offer different seasonings like cheese, caramel, or cinnamon-sugar for kids to add themselves.

2. Veggie Sticks with Dip: Provide carrot sticks, cucumber slices, and bell pepper strips with a side of ranch or hummus for dipping.

3. Cheese and Crackers: Set out a platter with a variety of cheese cubes and crackers for kids to nibble on.

4. Pretzels: Mini pretzels or pretzel sticks make a crunchy and savory snack option.

5. Trail Mix: Create a custom trail mix with nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, and pretzels.

6. Fruit Cups: Serve individual fruit cups with a mix of fresh fruits like grapes, oranges, and strawberries.

7. Cheese Puffs: These airy snacks are a favorite among kids and come in various flavors.

8. Fruit Pops: Freeze blended fruit or fruit juices in popsicle molds for a healthy and tasty frozen treat.

Remember to consider any dietary restrictions or allergies among the party guests when selecting the treats and snacks. You can mix and match these ideas to create a delicious and diverse spread that will keep the kids satisfied and energized throughout the party!

**Embracing the Back-to-School Season: Adapting to New Routines and Early Mornings**

**Introduction:**
The back-to-school season is a time of excitement and anticipation as students prepare to embark on a new academic journey. However, along with the thrill of meeting new teachers and classmates comes the challenge of adjusting to new routines and waking up early. In this article, we will explore some valuable tips and strategies to help students and parents smoothly transition into the back-to-school routine, making the early mornings feel like a breeze.

**1. Gradual Transition:**
During the summer break, many students tend to have flexible sleep schedules. To avoid sudden shocks to their system, start transitioning to the school routine a few weeks before the start of classes. Gradually adjust bedtimes and wake-up times by 15 to 30 minutes each day until the desired schedule is achieved.

**2. Create a Bedtime Ritual:**
Establish a calming bedtime ritual that helps signal to the body that it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep. This could include reading a book, listening to soothing music, or practicing deep breathing exercises.

**3. Set Up a Consistent Sleep Schedule:**
Consistency is key when it comes to waking up early. Ensure that your child goes to bed and wakes up at the same time each day, even on weekends, to regulate their internal clock effectively.

**4. Keep the Bedroom Sleep-Friendly:**
Create a comfortable sleep environment in your child's bedroom. Ensure that the room is cool, dark, and quiet to promote restful sleep.

**5. Limit Screen Time Before Bed:**
Reduce exposure to screens, such as phones, tablets, and computers, at least an hour before bedtime. The blue light emitted by screens can interfere with the body's production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

**6. Plan a Balanced Breakfast:**
Start the day with a nutritious and balanced breakfast. A well-rounded meal provides the necessary energy and nutrients for a productive day at school.

**7. Establish a Morning Routine:**
Create a morning routine that allows for a smooth and stress-free start to the day. Allocate time for personal hygiene, getting dressed, and packing school bags the night before.

**8. Encourage Positive Reinforcement:**
Praise and encourage your child as they adapt to the new routine. Positive reinforcement can motivate them to maintain the new schedule and develop a sense of accomplishment.

**9. Stay Active and Hydrated:**
Encourage regular physical activity and ensure that your child stays hydrated throughout the day. Exercise can promote better sleep, and proper hydration enhances overall well-being.

**10. Be Patient and Understanding:**
The transition to a new routine might take some time, and it's normal for children to feel tired initially. Be patient and understanding, offering support and guidance during this adjustment period.

**11. Make Mornings Enjoyable:**
Create a positive and enjoyable atmosphere in the morning. Engage in light conversations, share a joke, or play some music to set a cheerful tone for the day ahead.

**Conclusion:**
Embracing the back-to-school season involves adjusting to new routines and waking up early. With gradual transitions, consistent sleep schedules, and positive reinforcement, students can smoothly adapt to the changes. As parents and caregivers, providing a supportive and encouraging environment will go a long way in helping children feel confident and prepared for the exciting academic journey ahead. Remember, the key to success lies in patience, understanding, and a positive outlook as you embark on this back-to-school adventure together.

Thanksgiving Games

If you're planning a Thanksgiving party in the homeschool or classroom, or just at home there are a myriad of games you can have the children play that will be fun but also educational and useful in teaching the concept of being thankful. 

Be careful not to overdo the turkey aspect of Thanksgiving. Some children forget that it's about more than the turkey. Playing some fun games can help them remember the purpose of Thanksgiving. 

Try a gratitude bag. Fill the bag with several cards, each with something on it. Some will say "Thanksgiving" while others will have a word or picture of other things. Some of those other things might be cars, food, clothes, etc. Have the children sit in a circle and draw a card out of the bag. If they get a card that has a picture or word on it other than "Thanksgiving" they should talk about why they are thankful for that item and why others should be as well. 

For example, if the child choose "shoes", they might express how thankful they are that they have shoes so their feet stay clean and they don't get cold in the winter and they stay unharmed when they are walking. Depending on the ages of the children, this might be a simple response or something a little more involved once they understand the concept better.  If they draw the "car" card, they might comment on how nice it is to have a car and not have to take the bus, or how nice it is that their mom can pick them up from school so they don't have to walk home everyday. With help from the teacher or a parent, they might even note that in many parts of the world, people don't have cars (or shoes) and that they are lucky to have all these things.

If the child chooses a card that says "Thanksgiving" they should come up with an original idea about something they are thankful for. Try to steer them away from things like "Playstation" but instead steer them toward things like "my parents" and "my house and my room".

For some thinking fun, have kids do a word find with Thanksgiving words. Provide them with a list of words related to Thanksgiving. They might be "Thanksgiving", "Cornucopia", "Mayflower", "Turkey", etc. Then they must find words contained in those words. So, if the word is "Mayflower", they might find words like "lay", "flower", "flow" and the like. "Thanksgiving" might turn into "thank", "sing", and "an". See which child can find the most words in the list of words you provide them. Try to challenge the kids to find words within the words that relate back to Thanksgiving.

The old memory game is always fun and can be used for Thanksgiving too. Have the children sit in a circle and have someone start the game by saying, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat" and then finish it with one food item. So that child might say, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat turkey", and the next child will say, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat turkey and cranberry sauce." The next child would continue with, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat turkey and cranberry sauce and green beans." Each child will carry on until the list becomes so long, someone is sure to forget an item. You can either star the game over or keep going until everyone is out but one child.

​Family Thanksgiving Activities

If you're hosting a family thanksgiving, you want to create a fun family environment that helps children understand the importance of thankfulness and reminds the adults of  this as well.  

Since Thanksgiving comes just before what many refer to as the "greedy" season, activities designed to remind people of the bounty in their lives are useful. For example, you might help children understand that while they don't have everything they want, they do have everything they need.  

How do you do this? Several ways. One is to help children create a cornucopia, which will sit on the Thanksgiving table. There are a variety of ways to do this. You can make a papier-mâché cornucopia using a balloon as the base to help you get the shape started. You can simply take large piece of poster board and shape them into a cone and fill those with whatever you like. As an extra activity, you can have the children decorate the cornucopia before it gets filled.

Since the idea of the cornucopia is to celebrate a bounty and appreciate that bounty, you can fill it as is traditionally done with squash, corn and the like. You might also ask each member of the family to bring something that represents their personal bounty in life. A new mom might bring a baby blanket to put in the cornucopia while a newly retired grandpa might add a picture of his family, since that's what's most important to him. You can discuss the items in the cornucopia basket at the dinner table while enjoying your Thanksgiving feast.

Another family activity that kids like is the thankfulness jar. When each person arrives at dinner, they place a note with something they are thankful for in the jar. Ideally, each person will add more than one item to the jar. At dinner, someone (ideally, the matriarch of patriarch of the family) reads the notes. Everyone tries to figure out who wrote which note. The items can range from the serious (someone who struggled with an illness in the previous year might be thankful for life, quite simply) to the silly (the new mom might be thankful there's a Starbucks within 5 minutes of her home). Kids enjoy adding their own touches to the thankfulness jar and their responses are often a surprise to the adult family members.

Some families have several tables set about at Thanksgiving. Many people buy professional floral arrangements to decorate the tables. You can make a game out of it to figure out who's going to get to bring home the table arrangement to their home. You can do the old wedding thing and simply put a number on the bottom of the centerpiece and have someone's chair match that number or you can make a game and perhaps create a trivia game out of Thanksgiving facts. For example, questions might look like this:
*How many turkeys are cooked on Thanksgiving throughout the US?
*Why are turkeys called turkeys?
*Which president set aside the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving?

Be sure you research and know the answers and then quiz everyone. This is a great way to pass the time while everyone is waiting for the feast to be ready. Just tell the winners they can't take the centerpieces until dinner is over!
You can have a similar game before dessert. Create a family trivia game and quiz family members before dessert. Only the people who get the answers right get to have their dessert. Everyone else has to keep trying until they get their trivia question right. Questions can range from the silly to the sublime. They might look something like this:
*Who got popcorn stuck in her braces at 12?
*Which man here wore boots with big holes in them until he was 20 and could buy his own?
*Whose grandparents immigrated to the US from Ireland?
*Which boy here got suspended from school for riding his bike into the classroom?

I am a homeschooling work from home mom. I am teaching my two children Kindergarten and 1st grade. Including 4 subjects Math, Ready, Science and social studies everyday I also teach them weekly vocabulary/ spelling words and a book of the week. We read and discuss daily every week. In addition to those duties I also cook, serve and clean all meals. I come up with projects for fun and education. I set up and clean up art projects. After all that and more I also handle most household bills, shopping, budgeting, taxes and most anything else. I also handle research and paperwork for our Farm and rental property. In addition to that I have written, illustrated and published a children's book. I have also written 3 more for the series I am working on writing and illustrations when I find the time. All this and some more I have going on is why I have not had time to blog. But blogging is something I truly do enjoy. I love to write. It gives me great joy to put words to paper and share them. I work so hard on so many avenues in my life so I can live the life I want so I can be free from a boss and be happy. I enjoy how I spend my days with my kids cooking and writing and managing our land and businesses. If I don’t enjoy something I don’t invest in it and what I do enjoy I have invested in. I have also forgotten things like taking time to write for the pure joy of it not to publish or to make money from a sponsor but to just put something out that I am proud of something that might make someone else happy or more aware of a resource available to them. One of my favorite pieces I ever wrote I didn’t make a cent for and it was titled something like ‘how to start a business with little to no cash’ I shared a list of website resources that offered free services. On the other hand at the height of my online writing for money faze the thing I think paid the most per word was a deodorant endorsement. Far from something that would make you feel like a real writer. I lost the passion for writing after about a year of making good money but not having any topics to write about that fueled my passion. When I stated my blog I simply wrote about what interested me or things I had learned. I loved it and the articles showed that passion. I cheated myself when I started writing articles from sponsors and I cheated my followers and it showed! I really want to write again and I don’t know what subject will come to the top but I am gonna put my heart out there. I will only take a sponsor if it’s something I already like and I hope to share my  wonderful life and my wonderful family. My hope is by getting to know us you learn a little something and smile a lot more! Thanks if you have read this far;)  your one of the rare ones.

​Written by Me : Ashley Crossman 

P.S. If you are still getting these in email I will soon be sending out a digital gift from my latest book :)