Rainy, Rainy Fourth | Your Morning Basket

View from my front door.

Happy Independence Day, friends. What’s the weather where you live? Ours is freakish. I mean, there is the rain — and lots of it — but the temperature did not break 80 today. That’s just unheard of for July in these parts.

So there were no fireworks and no bar-be-que, but it was a good day for a movie. We took the kids to see Monster’s University. It’s a milestone! Our first movie as an entire family. And probably our last for a while. Mr. Thomas is not ready for the movies. Matt said his favorite part of the show was taking Thomas to the bathroom multiple times. Yeah, not. The flick was really fun, though.

See the little monster?

Since the grill is in its rainy weather gear, I baked the chicken and cooked the corn inside. Olivia has noticed I am spending more time in kitchen. She tried to shoo me to bed at her bedtime last night because I would have “lots of cooking to do today.” Funny girl.

And it’s true. I’ve been in “cook once, eat twice” mode all week. Last night we had dressed out pinto beans and rice. We dressed ours with cheese, greek yogurt and salsa. The extra beans I am freezing for refried beans later this month. Those will be part of our fabulously delicious nacho dish (No recipe there — layer tortilla chips, beans, taco meat and cheese on a baking dish and bake until the cheese is melty. Then top with sour cream, salsa and whatever other taco toppings your kids will eat. Then I throw the cooling pan in the middle of the table and we don’t even use plates.) I also cooked extra rice to freeze and use for fried rice.

Speaking of salsa, I made my favorite recipe today. Matt is not a fan of cilantro and this recipe doesn’t use it. I like that it tastes great even when using canned tomatoes. That said, my mom made the recipe last week using fresh tomatoes and fresh jalapeños, and it was even better than usual. It’s delicious however you make it. Salsa’s not particularly a July 4th thing — we were just out. We eat it from the bowl with chips, on eggs, and in every Mexican-flavored dish we make.

Something that is a July 4th thing was this yummy fruit pizza. I got the recipe from a friend, but it was super-easy. Bake your favorite sugar cookie dough in the bottom of a pan. Mix together 8oz of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar and spread on top. Top with fruit. We used blueberries and strawberries to make our flag.

Working for their dinner.

And what Independence Day is complete without a little Schoolhouse Rock? Hope you had a good one!

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Pam

Pam is the author of The Your Morning Basket Guide and Plan Your Year: Homeschool Planning for Purpose and Peace. She also is the host of three popular podcasts -- The Homeschool Snapshots Podcast, Your Morning Basket, and The Homeschool Solutions Show. She lives in the Deep South with her husband and three kids, where she is the go-to lady for great curriculum recommendations or a just a pep talk on a rough day.