TOS Review: The Cat of Bubastes (Heirloom Audio Productions)

Travel back in time to Ancient Egypt and go on an adventure with Amuba, the captured prince of Rebu, a city on the shore of the Caspian Sea. During his journey, he will find friends among his captors, and some enemies too, and in a race to save a friend’s life, discover the One True God. The Cat of Bubastes is another audio drama from Heirloom Audio Productions. We have loved every single one that we got to check out so far, and we were really excited to check out this latest release for this review.

Based on the book of the same name by author G.A. Henty, the two-disc set takes you and your family into the book. As always, Heirloom has recruited top voice talent to play the roles, and their sound effects and soundtrack help you feel like you are really in the story. All of the actors do a great job, and as you listen, you can picture the action in your head, as if you were watching a movie.

I don’t want to give away the whole story, but I will tell you that Amuba comes to serve the high priest of Thebes, where he is taken after being captured. He and his friend Jethro become close to the family of the priest, who is very kind and treats all people with respect. Of course, conflict arises on a few fronts when Amuba and Chebron, the priest’s son, discover a murder plot in the city and then have to flee for their lives after accidentally killing the sacred cat of the city. During their adventures, they encounter Simeon, a faithful Israelite, and Ruth, his granddaughter, who help introduce them to the Christian faith.

Full of historical facts, The Cat of Bubastes combines history with drama to create excitement that you can also use as a teaching tool. Each track is numbered, so it is very easy to pick up where you left off as you listen. Along with the CDs, Heirloom gives you access to some awesome extras including a study guide that is chock full of information. There are discussion questions for each track on the disc, questions that include both recalling info from the story and questions that require you to go a little deeper with your thinking.

One thing I noticed in this study guide was the inclusion of other historical information related to the story. The Expand Your Learning sections offer info about a range of topics from Ancient Egyptian games, to the Pyramids, to recipes you can make. At the end of the study guide are three Bible studies you can do with your family. We mostly used the study guide as a source of discussion, but now that my kids are older, I did have them answer some of the going deeper questions in writing and keep a notebook of the vocabulary words.

Other extras include a download of the actual G.A. Henty book, complete with color pictures. I like this option because if you have a reader in the family, they can read the book before or after listening to the audio drama. You can also download the soundtrack, a poster, and more.

We thoroughly enjoyed listening to The Cat of Bubastes. Like the other Heirloom audio dramas, it is pure, family-friendly entertainment that both introduces your kids to history and points them toward God. I definitely recommend this if you and your family like listening to audio books. They are great for road trips or just listening to after dinner. To learn more, connect with Heirloom Audio on social media here:

Heirloom Audio on Facebook

Heirloom Audio on Twitter
Heirloom Audio on Google+

You might also want to check out some of their other adventures like, The Dragon and the Raven and With Lee in Virginia.

To see what other members of the crew thought of this product, click here:

Save

Save

Advertisement

Refried Beans

I love refried beans, but it took me a while to get around to making them myself. This recipe is for black beans (which are my favorite) and has become a staple side dish at my house.

Ingredients:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 lb. dried black beans
2 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch scallions
1 bunch cilantro
Queso Fresco
Olive oil

Directions:
1. Soak beans in water for about 8 hours or overnight.
2. Drain the beans and dice the yellow onion, garlic cloves and chop the scallions and cilantro.
3. Heat some olive oil in a large pot with a lid.
4. Once heated, add 1 tbsp. cumin, 1 tsp.chili powder, two of the garlic cloves and 1/2 of the onion. Cook until the onions are translucent.
5. Add the beans to the pot and cover with water. Add the salt to the pot and 1/2 of the cilantro.
6. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for about two hours, until beans are tender. (check periodically and add more water as needed).
7. After two hours, heat some more olive oil in a skillet.
8. Transfer the beans to the skillet.
9. Add the other tbsp. cumin, tsp. chili powder and pepper to the skillet. Also add the rest of the yellow onion, cilantro, and scallions.
10. Use a potato masher to begin mashing the beans. Mash to your desired consistency.
11. Taste to see if you need anymore salt, then crumble the queso fresco and add it to the skillet. Mix it in and allow it to melt, and then serve!

Delicious, and it makes plenty for leftovers.

Save

Save

Menu Plan Monday 9/12/16

My fall garden is coming along quite well this year. I love having fresh fall vegetables to use in my dinners. I wish it felt like fall outside, but unfortunately, that won’t happen around here until November. That’s okay though, if I want to make a fall soup, I just turn the AC down and have at it! This is our menu for this week:

Monday: Cajun Cauliflower With Sausage

Tuesday: Autumn Harvest Pork

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: Baked Italian Chicken

Friday: Cookout with friends, I am making Roasted Corn Salad

Thanks for stopping by for Menu Plan Monday! See you next week.

Save

TOS Review: CHSH-Teach.com

Let’s face it, homeschooling can be costly, and in years when you don’t have much of a budget, you have to scramble to put together curriculum for your kids. Some moms find this really easy, but I am not one of them. That’s why I was really excited to check out the CHSH Download Club from CHSH-Teach.com. A subscription gives you access to tons of curriculum from Kindergarten to High School in just about any subject!

The way the download club works is that you find curriculum or other things you want to use and just download them to your computer. You can search for items by topic, grade, and even look for seasonal activities by month. In addition, CHSH-Teach also offers organizational tools like a printable planner, gradekeeper, and calendars.

My son is in 10th grade, and at first I wasn’t sure what the website would have to offer high schoolers, but I was in for a very pleasant surprise. For starters, they have complete curriculums for science, English, math, and social studies. The Biology curriculum gave us an entire Biology textbook with 10 units and suggested labs. It had an accompanying teacher’s guide that even included quizzes for each unit! It basically had everything you need to teach Biology except for the lab equipment. The textbook read like most any other textbook I have seen, and includes questions and review activities too. Now, I feel I should note that CHSH stands for Christian HomeSchool Hub. However, some of the materials you will find are secular. For the Biology text, they give parents a heads up about the pages that discuss evolution, so you can plan to address that ahead of time, which I appreciate.

In addition to Biology, the site offers Integrated Science, Physical science, Marine science and Natural science. So you definitely have a lot of options and could use CHSH-Teach for high schooler across multiple grades.

For English, you have several options. First, there are a multitude of classic books you can download to have your child read. Organized by author, you can choose your favorites and then just get some literature guides to go with them. I picked a few of my favorites to start with (The Emerald City of Oz, Little Men, Jo’s Boys) and then started planning for my son. They offer everything from Lewis Carroll, to Dickens, to Jack London and so much more. I think you could probably get your child through high school lit just using these books.

For writing, you can use the English and Composition courses, which are offered for all four years of high school. It offers lessons on all types of writing, from technical writing to persuasive, to speeches. The books also include grammar lessons interspersed with the writing lessons. The teacher’s guide includes suggestions for ways to flesh out the lessons and rubrics for grading writing. It also has an assessment for each unit and answer keys to the questions in the student book.

 

Other fun activities you can find on CHSH-Teach include lapbook style activities built around seasonal themes like pumpkins for fall and a 9-11 activity for older students. You can use some of these activities for special holiday unit studies and flesh them out with books from the library. CHSH-Teach is constantly updating their site with new downloads, so it’s like a surprise when you log on and find out what’s new. I think this is a fantastic resource for homeschool families, because the wealth of information it offers is amazing. You could really use the site to school multiple students across pretty much all subjects, and since a yearly subscription costs less than $30, it is a great value. You can even get a lifetime subscription for less than $100.

To learn more about CHSH-Teach, connect with them on social media here:
CHSH-Teach.com on Facebook

CHSH-Teach.com on Twitter

CHSH-Teach.com on Pinterest

To see what other members of the crew had to say about this product, click here:

Save

Save

Save

Roasted Corn Salad

Labor Day weekend is great for barbecues, and this recipe makes a great side for barbecues. I love the flavor of the roasted corn mixed with the other veggies and spices!

Ingredients:

3 ears corn

1 bell pepper

1 jalepeno

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 bunch green onion

2 limes

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

 

Directions:

1. Heat some olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet.
2. Shuck the corn and roll each ear in the oil.
3. Cook, turning occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes until the corn starts to char. Remove to a plate to cool.

4. Seed the bell pepper and jalapeno then chop into small pieces.

5. Chop the green onion and cilantro.

6. Use a sharp knife to remove kernels from the corn and place in a medium bowl.

7. Add the peppers, green onion, and cilantro and toss to mix.

8. Juice the limes into a smaller bowl and mix with the chili powder, salt, and pepper.

9. Pour dressing over the corn and mix together.

10. Refrigerate for at least a half hour to allow flavors to blend.

That’s it! Like I said, it’s super easy and delicious. I hope you had a great Labor Day. Thanks for stopping by.

Save

Save