My Story: How I Came To Be A Stay-At-Home Wife

One year ago, I quit my job as a 2 year-old teacher at an upscale child development center. The original plan was for me to take a 2 month break and then find a part-time job closer to home. Being newly married, having just made an address and job change plus being gone to work 55-60 hours per week were leaving me overwhelmed and exhausted both mentally and physically. A 40 hour work week, an hour commute each way in rush hour traffic, plus required overtime hours meant that I was rarely home! I left for work at 8 am each morning and didn't return home until around 7 pm at night. Saturdays were stressful and overcrowded as I struggled to push five days of errands,cleaning and homemaking into one.

My husband and I talked it over at length and prayed much over our decision. He simply wanted me home more! He also longed to see me more relaxed and less overwhelmed. I thought that if I just had a break and was able to get my home and life organized, then I would be fine when I went back to work.

Our financial situation kept us from making a long-term decision for me to stay at home. There was no way that we would be able to live on my husband's small salary. We had been able to save a good portion of my wages up to that point, sow e were using that as a cushion while I took some time off.

It wasn't that our spending was out of control. It wasn't. I already cooked dinner every night, had a reasonably small grocery budget and we rarely ate out. We both took our lunches of leftovers to lunch each day. Sure, I could save gas money and wear and tear on my car. But, otherwise, I couldn't see how I could trim the budget any further. We had no unnecessary frills and luxuries to cut out.

Of course, it was considered odd for me- a wife and not a mother-to quit my job and stay home. "You will be bored to tears," my coworkers said. Also overheard was the comment, "Her husband has such a good job that she doesn't have to work!" I have no idea where they got that idea!

So I came home and began to fit into my new role. At first, I felt as though I was playing house. It was so much fun! I took great care in cleaning my house, organizing each room and cooking ahead for the freezer. I loved being home , but I knew it wouldn't last so I was hesitant to get too settled in.

My husband absolutely loved having me at home and I wished I could stay at home permanently. But after six weeks at home, I knew it was time to start looking for a part-time job. We were praying about the right job for me when a friend and neighbor called me and asked if I would be interested in caring for her four month old several days a week. I started taking care of the baby and soon I had two more little ones to care for as well. The money is not a lot as all these kids are part-timers, but is enough to comfortably meet our needs while still allowing me some flexibility in being a homemaker.

In February, we became debt-free and hope to remain that way until we take on a mortgage when we buy our first home. Being debt-free has also freed up a little more cash each month.

As I said before, we couldn't live on on my husband's small salary. This was true. I was wrong, however, in thinking that I couldn't trim our budget any further. As I continually pray, learn and experiment, I am slowly finding more ways to cut costs. There is an advantage to having more time than money! My grocery budget is still the same but I have been able to stretch it more and still have more of a pantry stash at the end of each month. This is possible by cooking more from scratch, careful planning and creative use of leftovers. I also am able to make more of my gifts, I am starting to experiment with making my own cleaners and many other little things around my home that are small but add up in the long run. Maybe eventually, I will have our budget trimmed way down! :-) (Where there's a will, there's a way!)

I know that not everyone who wishes to be home full-time is able to quit their job as I was able to. I don't know if I will always stay home either. None of us knows the future. But I do know that this is definitely where God has me right now and I am so happy with it! (Sure, there are some days when it would be really nice to leave my messy home and go to work! We all have those days!:-)

So this is my story. I can't believe that a whole year has gone by already! God has been so faithful and has provided so abundantly for us, way above whatever we thought would be possible!

Memorial Day At The Lake

Here is a picture of my husband and I. :-)

Works-For-Me Wednesday: MYO Mixes

I do almost all my cooking and baking from scratch these days. One way I keep it simple and fast is to make my own mixes. So far, corn bread, baked oatmeal, pancakes, waffles and lentil-rice casserole are my favorites to keep stocked in my pantry. I simply measure the dry ingredients into a quart-size ziploc bag and then write the remaining ingredients and cooking directions on the bag with a permanent marker.

While I sometimes will take a half hour or so and mix up a few to have on hand, usually I just fill a ziploc bag or two when I am cooking that particular item for a meal. That way I have at least one extra in the pantry ready for quick mixing!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Organize Receipts and Bills

This idea may be too simple for some of you more technical people, but it works very well for the technically-challenged me.:-)
I have always had trouble keeping receipts and bills organized, so I was thrilled when I came up with this idea to keep up with them.
I use a regular binder and put a page protector in for each month. I file the bills and receipts in the correct month and everything is in its place and easy to find. This was very helpful last week when I needed to return my shoes. It also came in handy today when I needed to compare several months electric bills. I knew exactly where to find them! (Compared to last year when I stuffed all receipts in a small plastic drawer together. The idea was that I would file them at the end of each month. Well, that never happened and I could never find anything!!)
This binder also keeps all my budget info and each months income/outgo sheets. I also have a separate section where I keep track of childcare income and expenses.
Hope this idea will be of help to someone! It has really worked for me.:-)

Free Curtains!

After cleaning the office/craft room/guest room on Saturday, I felt like beautifying the room with some new curtains. When things are clean, pretty and somewhat decorated, I am more motivated to take care of it! So I went through my stash of fabric and found this plaid piece that was given to me last summer. I hadn't noticed it before but the colors go so nicely with the blue walls.

Curtains such as these are very quick and easy to make. I think it took me just under 2 hours to sew both curtains. I was very pleased to use something I already had and my husband loves the way the room looks now!

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Don't Forget The Money!

I thought I'd join in the fun this week! This idea is a small one, but it really works for me!

As soon as I write my tithe check, I slip it into the front of my Bible, so it is sure to make it to church. I hardly ever forget my offering money this way! I used to put it in my purse, and found that I seemed to change purses for church and the check would always be forgotten.

Be sure to check out Shannon's blog for more Works-For-Me ideas and participants!

More Cheap Ways

Since I have had no success in posting my next saving money post, I will just rewrite it now. These are some ways that I have been able to save significantly. I have only been married a year and a half, so I am still learning as much as I can to save even more! I thought I was frugal before I was married, but nothing compared to now.:-) And I'm sure more things will change in the years to come. I recently read a blog about a family of 6 ( four kids) who live on less than my husband and I do now. Wow! And I think that I make sacrifices! It just changes your perspective somehow. So here are my few ideas :

1. Limit the amount of disposable items. I use some cheap ziplocs and don't normally re-use them. We also use toilet paper.:-) I don't use a lot of paper towels or paper plates, cups and napkins. Cloth napkins are so much nicer and can be gotten cheap at yard sales or make your own out of scrap fabrics. Of course, there is a time and place for using disposables, I just don't do it all the time.

2. I have found that using half the recommended laundry detergent works just fine. Also, I wash most loads in cold water.

3. Keep a gift box. I pick up small items that will make nice gifts and keep them on hand. I try to select items that can be used for different occasions and people, unless I am buying for someone in particular. I find nice items at yard sales as well as the dollar store and clearance. I also buy my cards at the dollar store or make my own.

4. I stay home a lot. This saves a huge amount of gas $$. This also helps me to get my work done at home.:-) I have one day a week that I don't keep kids, so I plan all errands and appointments for that day.

5. I use the library. I was disappointed that the local library doesn't carry the selection of movies like the library where I used to live. My sister and I do trade books, movies, and magazines back and forth so we always have something new at no charge.

6. We don't go to movies or on outings really often. The trips we do take are planned for. We enjoy going on picnics, which is also a great activity that we can continue when we have children. And with our busy schedules, we just enjoy an evening at home together these days.

7. I try to make do as much as possible. This not only saves money, but helps me develop my creativity. I apply this a lot in decorating.

That's all I can think of for now! What are some things you do(or don't do) to save money?

On Saving Money and Living Frugally

In the last week or so, there have been many blog postings regarding saving money, living frugally and living on one income. The discussions have been interesting and encouraging, so I thought that I would share some of my own ideas here. I hesitate to share too much on this sort of subject as I am younger and much less experienced than most of my readers. So as you read, keep in mind, that I am only sharing what I have learned as suggestions and ideas. This is not in any way Biblical truth other than trying to promote good stewardship of what God has given us to work with in terms of money and possessions.

I also realize that many of our family and close friends read here regularly, although many of you are "lurkers" and do not comment often or at all!:-)Please do not get the idea that we are poor and destitute. This is not intended to be Mary Ann's pity party at all. We have everything we need, in fact more than enough. I find it a great challenge to stretch our income as far as it will go.

This time I will focus on saving money on food. Later I will share some ideas for other areas.

Saving money on food:

1. I don't buy meat for over $2.00 a pound. I watch the specials and stock up and freeze plenty when the sales are good. I do pay more for fish and the occasional steaks, but still buying them when marked down.

2. We eat a lot of cooked oatmeal for breakfast which is certainly better for us than most cold cereals. I do buy a couple of boxes of cereal per month, but try to stay in the limit of $1-$2 per box.

3. We drink mostly water. Again, the health benefits are great. I keep some orange juice concentrate on hand and we always buy a big jug of cranberry juice each month.

4. I keep very little snack foods around the house. I do buy tortilla chips and a bag of pretzels every month. For snacks, we will make popcorn or eat fresh fruit which I try to keep on hand depending on the season and price.

5. I consider canned beans a convenience food. That being said, you can probably guess that I don't buy many prepared foods. I do buy boxed mac & cheese for a quick, easy meal.

6. I cook most of our meals from scratch. This saves a lot of $$!

7. I bake most of our bread, and I also buy marked down loaves at the local bread outlet for when I can't bake my own.

8. I try to keep most meals rather simple by planning menus such as soup and fresh bread, a casserole and a salad and so on. It depends on what we are having as to the amount of sides, but especially during the week, I keep it pretty simple.

9. Since there are just the two of us, I will make a whole batch of something and freeze the extras. When I make lasagna, I put it in two 8 or 9 inch square pans instead of one large pan. We can eat one that night and freeze the other for later. I often will cook double when making dinner and freeze the extras. I like this approach better than spending a whole day preparing food for the freezer, although I do that sometimes too.

10. I try not to waste food. Leftover oatmeal can go into muffins. I keep my veggie bin cleaned out by chopping up the leftovers and freezing them in small amounts for soups and casseroles. I also keep a large container in the freezer for any leftover cooked veggies, veggie broth and little bits of meat. When I get enough, I will make soup.

11. I keep my grocery budget at about $150 per month.Including paper products, cleaning supplies and personal care items, I spend $200 a month altogether. This gives me enough to stock my pantry a little at a time and we also have guests over for dinner several times a month. We eat out probably about 2-3 times per month. Otherwise, we eat at home and my husband takes a lunch to work. Our eating out money has its own category in our budget.

12. I read lots of cookbooks and am constantly finding new recipes online. I love to cook and bake and find lots of recipes that use cheap ingredients.

13. For most items, I buy the store brands. This saves quite a bit. There are a few brand name items I love, such as Kraft dressings and we have found that no matter how cheap the Food Lion mac and cheese is, we still do not like it. :-)

14. As you may have figured out, I grocery shop once a month. This works well for me. I keep a small amount of money back to use for sale items that come up through out the month. I like getting all my staples at once, then I plan my meals by looking at what I have in my pantry and freezer.

Please share your ideas for saving money on food!

How To Pray For Your Husband

I came across this article/list as an about-to-be-married woman and continue to find it excellent and useful. This was written by Sandy Day and taken from the book The Best of the Proverbs 31 Ministry. Along this same subject, I also highly recommend the book The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.

How To Pray For Your Husband

Sunday: That he would become a holy man, a man of prayer, mature in the Lord, growing in his knowledge of God and daily seeking Him with all his heart. (I Thessalonians 5:23; Colossians 4:12: Ephesians 1:18-19; Ephesians 3:16-19; Psalm 119:1-2)

Monday: That he would learn to take every thought captive, to not be conformed to the world's thinking, but to think scripturally. (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 10:5)

Tuesday: That his self-image would be a reflection of the Lord's thoughts toward him. (Ephesians 1:17-19; Romans 12:3; Psalm 139)

Wednesday: That he would become a called man, not driven, with well thought-through and prayed-through goals in life. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

Thursday: That he would stand firm against the schemes of the devil and resist Satan in all circumstances. (Ephesians 6:10-18; James 4:7)

Friday: That the fruit of the Spirit would be exhibited more and more in his life. That he would learn to love as God commanded. (Galatians 5:22-23; I Corinthians 13:4-7; Romans 12:8-10)

Saturday: That the Lord would protect him, guarding his course. That he would learn to manage his time well. (Proverbs 2:8; Ephesians 5:15)

Control Journals and Menu Planning

I have been setting time aside this week to build my control journal the Flylady way. Hopefully, by following her steps one at a time, I will be able to do this long term!

Ever since the beginning of the year, I have come to a standstill with my weekly menu planning. I just can't seem to think of anything to cook! My pantry and freezer are well-stocked, so the problem obviously lies with me.:-) I made a master list of the foods we like in their respective categories and started doing a monthly dinner menu. Then each week, I can transfer it to a weekly menu and include side dishes and breakfast and lunch menus, which are simple to come up with in comparison! After several months, I should be able to rotate the menus, and it will help me to remember to prepare our favorites on a more consistent basis.

For the sake of simplicity, I adopted and adapted the "If it's Monday, it must be spaghetti" meal plan.(On the Flylady website.) This was helpful in preparing the monthly menu because it gave me a game plan to go by. I also left at least one day open a week for Cook's Choice, so that I can either try a new recipe or use leftovers(my friend in cooking and eating frugally.) Here is the plan I came up with, which I'm sure will be tweaked as the year moves along :-):

Monday: dinner with small group 3 weeks out of month, otherwise Cook's Choice
Tuesday: Soup and salad or sandwich
Wednesday: vegetarian night
Thursday: crockpot or something from freezer
Friday: Cook's Choice
Saturday: Breakfast foods(I like doing this in the evening when there is more time and it will be helpful when yard sale season rolls around! Heehee!!!)
Sunday: Snack-type foods

My husband's supervisor sent home some cooking magazines for me to look at yesterday. Some of them are the Kraft Food and Family magazines. I am getting lots of great ideas. A lot of these recipes call for convenience items that I don't normally keep on hand, but others use cheaper ingredients that I do have in stock. I already found a few that I want to try and some more expensive ones that would be good for a special dinner(think Valentine's Day!). If these are good recipes, I will share them with you on my cooking blog!

Weekly Specials

Even though I do the bulk of my grocery shopping on a monthly basis, I still try to save a little of my grocery money to use towards the end of the month on great deals that come up, especially meats and produce.

I have been using the Sunday Savers site to check the weekly specials for those store circulars that I don't receive in my mailbox each week. They have a ton of stores listed and you can click on whichever ones you frequent and see this weeks specials. I use it to check specials for the stores that I don't normally shop at, but are known to run really great specials on meats, like Harris Teeter. Having it all online also helps to eliminate some of the paper piles around the house.

Oops!

As I was writing the post below, I suddenly felt something scratchy beneath my neck and realized my sweater is on backwards.The stitching of the tag is quite noticeable and the funny thing is that I didn't even get dressed in the dark this morning. Oops!!!:-)

Engagement Anniversary

Today is two years since we got engaged. We don't make a habit of really celebrating these special days, but it is fun to remember them.

The day we got engaged was Martin Luther King Day and we both had the day off. I had no idea he was going to propose, but we had been discussing marriage and starting to plan our wedding. I knew he had picked out the ring and was paying for it.

Anyways, we had a very nice quiet morning talking about wedding plans when out of nowhere, he said he was working on a special song for the wedding and wanted me to hear it.(He writes songs and sings, so I wasn't suprised about it.) So he proceeds to sing this lovely song and I thought it was wonderful. When he was done, I hugged him and told him how great it was. He told me to sit back down and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He actually put the ring on my finger and then ask me to marry him. :-) Then we called everyone to tell them that I had said "yes", and no one was really suprised but they were all very happy.

And that, my friends, is the story of our engagement. Oh, and he later sang that song to me at our wedding.

Quick Shopping and Bargains

I finally did it. I was in and out of Wal-Mart in less than 10 minutes. Sure, I only needed 3 items, well, 2 and ended up with 3, but it was also Saturday morning. So that counts for something, especially since a few minutes of that time was walking to and from our car which was parked in Outer Mongolia. My husband, who sat in the car because he hates shopping at Wal-Mart during busy times, was quite impressed.

My little impulse buy from this morning turned out to be a package of corndogs for my husband who sometimes craves food from his bachelor days. :-) This will be game food while he watches the Redskins and Seahawks play this afternoon. Go Redskins!

Since we all like to brag on our bargains from time to time, I thought I'd share my buys from this week. If you know me at all, you will know that I love Mary Engelbreit. I am thrilled that Michael's has been carrying a line of her cards and papers and such in their dollar section. I popped in the other day and they had the Mary Engelbreit Christmas cards for .30 a package so I got 40 cards for $1.50. I was pleased. I also found 2 large cans of sweet potatoes for .79 each(half-price). The only reason they were discounted was that the labels were a little torn. While I love a good deal, I think I save a lot more money by just not buying many items even if they are on sale. Just because it is cheap doesn't mean I need it. But if it is something I use anyways and will need in a reasonable amount of time, I go ahead and buy it.

Thought For The Day

This quote was found on a Mary Engelbreit card:

To be happy: Don't do whatever you like; like whatever you do.

That is pretty profound and a good thought for most of us to ponder. The picture on the card shows a woman pushing a vacuum and waving a Flylady-style duster while dancing and holding a rose in her mouth. Now I don't know about the rose part, but I need to remember to be cheerful no matter what my circumstances. It is easy to generally be discontent with life because "It's not what I expected." Well, I guess that's the way life is, isn't it? This quote reminds me of a familiar Bible verse: "...And be content with what you have." Hebrews 13:5. Also in Ecclesiastes 5: 19 and 20: "...When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." I wonder what will happen in my heart and home as I cultivate a spirit of contentment and joy?

A Three Year Anniversary

Today is three years since my husband and I met in person. We were introduced on eharmony in September 2002. After 4 months of communicating through the site and personal email,we decided to meet face to face.

I already felt like I knew him, so I wasn't too worried about that. I was, however, concerned that maybe he was not as healthy and independent as he had led me to believe.( My husband was born with spina bifida.) I was also highly concerned that his voice would sound funny. Evidently voices are a big deal to me! :-)

We chose to meet at a Cracker Barrel and I suggested the Cracker Barrel nearest to me. Not only would I not have to drive very far, but I also knew the area well enough if I needed to make a quick escape. (You can never be too sure about these men you meet on the internet.)

My sister and her friend went with me, because they felt the need to protect me. He came alone. I did have a moment of panic when I drove around the front of the restaurant and saw him- only it was a sixty year old man instead and I thought he had lied about his age.

Anyways, he brought me daisies, which he remembered were my favorite flower. My bodyguards were impressed. He had a very nice deep voice, was very conversational and was very much like I thought he would be. I was impressed. He paid for our meals. We all were impressed. Especially him, who used a gift card he had gotten from his boss for Christmas that year.

He passed the test and we soon found ourselves sitting alone in rockers on the front porch of the restaurant, while the bodyguards went shopping next door. We meditated in silence for several minutes and then discussed the weather. Eventually the topic changed to other things. We exchanged phone numbers. I told him that he could call me.

I could hardly wait to check my email that night to see if he was still interested. He was. He said he would call me the next Saturday around 9:30. He did, on the minute.

We laugh now, because he was obviously very interested in me right away and showed it. I still felt I needed to check him out. It takes me a while to get to know someone and feel comfortable. So the first several dates were spent with him talking and me listening. I learned so much about him in that first month or two. ( Good thing too, because now I talk and he listens!!)

After a previous rough dating experience, I said I would not date someone again if we were not friends first. Funny, I hadn't met him, but I felt that through the eharmony process we were already friends.

Somehow, in many ways it seems as though we have known each other much longer than three years. Maybe we should go sit on the rockers at Cracker Barrel and celebrate- by talking about the weather.

Study The Word of God- Acts 17:10-12

These verses stood out to me in my quiet time yesterday. We also studied them in our small group last night.

Acts 17:10-12(NIV): As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians. For they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

I really like the word eagerness there-it shows a love and a hunger for the things of God. Studying and knowing the Word of God will protect us against being deceived by Satan's clever tactics.

One of my main goals and prayers for this year is that my heart will search after God more than ever before, and that I will keep His Word as the apple of my eye! (Proverbs 7:2)

First Week of the New Year

Ahhh! A new year. It has been quite a week unwinding from the busy holidays. My husband and I have also been feeling under the weather most of the week. Whatever he had was worse than whatever I had, but we are both feeling a whole lot better now. PTL! Hopefully as the year gets rolling, I will get back into the swing of things and post more regularly again.

As the first week of the new year comes to an end, I will share what happened in my house this week, however boring it may be.:-)

Monday: My parents and brother left at 4:30 am for the Charlotte airport to fly back to Oregon. We got up to see them off and went back to bed. Actually, I started laundry before going back to bed... the piles of laundry were starting to take over the cottage! We got up a couple of hours later and rushed around to clean up the house, wash the glasses and prepare for some guests. My husband's grandparents were on their way back to New York and had time to stop by. My husband had also invited a friend from work with her husband and baby over for lunch that day, so everyone stayed and met each other and had a nice time eating potato soup, fresh French bread, sliced cheese and ham, fruit salad and Christmas cookies. In the evening I paid bills.

Tuesday: My husband and I were both coming down with something cold and flu related today. I did manage to pack up all Christmas decorations and put them away. I thanked God for being newly married and not having accumulated a houseful of decorations yet. The tree is out by the curb. We ate leftovers.

Wednesday: I worked on a grocery list for Thursday. I also worked on a Master Shopping List that I can print out and use each month, simply crossing off the items we do not need that month. I worked on Children's Ministry stuff for church. I took care of an almost 9 month old whose newest accomplishment is climbing up onto the coffee table, using my husband's shoe for a step stool. We ate leftovers again for lunch but for dinner, I made Chicken Cordon Bleu, an impulse purchase from last month's Sam's Club trip. It is tasty and less expensive than eating out, however, I need to remember to never shop hungry or with a hungry husband in tow.:-) We both have Wednesday night meetings at church every week- Worship team practice for him and Children's Ministry meeting for me.

Thursday: I did my monthly grocery shopping and was pleased to stay well under budget so that I have extra $$ for store specials that will come up during the rest of the month as well as extra fresh produce and anything I forgot to buy! I stopped at Target and found a very nice Christmas gift for next year at 75% off, staying in my Christmas budget of $5 or less per person. I also got a Mary Engelbreit Family calendar for a great price and filled in all birthdays and special days for the year. I really like this calendar because it has large spaces to write in plus stickers to draw your attention to birthdays and such. While I was at it, I went ahead and got my birthday cards ready for the year. They are not signed, but I chose a card for each person then put the card in envelope and wrote the name on the envelope. That will help me a lot! For dinner, we had burgers and Baked Potato Salad
. Then we were off to church for our weekly prayer time.

Friday: That's today! I am again doing laundry. I washed some "hand wash only" items today, cleaned up the kitchen and am in the process of taking care of my little buddy once again! I don't know what I am cooking for dinner tonight, but I have a pantry and freezer full of food to choose from!

So that's my week in a nutshell...

New Year's Day

I buy a lot of diaries,
Fill them up with good intentions,
Each and every New Year's Eve,
I make myself a list.
All the things I'm gonna change,
Until January 2nd,
But this time I'm making one promise.

This will be my resolution.
Every day is New Year's Day.
This will be my resolution.
Every day is New Year's Day.

I believe it's possible.
I believe in new beginnings.
'Cause I believe in Christmas Day,
And Easter morning too.
And I'm convinced it's doable,
'Cause I believe in second chances.
Just the way that I believe in you.

This will be my resolution.
Every day is New Year's Day.
This could start a revolution.
Every day is...

One more chance to start all over.
One more chance to change and grow.
One more chance to grab ahold of grace
And never let it go.

This will be my resolution,
Every day is New Year's Day.
This will be my resolution,
Every Day is New Year's Day.

Written by Carolyn Arends
copyright 1997 running arends music
New Spring Publishing, a division of Brentwood Music Publishing

A New Cooking Blog!!!

Come on over and check out my sister and I's new cooking blog- Two Many Cooks In The Kitchen.

Currently Reading: The Art of Romantic Living

The new book I am reading this week is The Art of Romantic Living: Simple Touches to Enhance Everyday Life by Susan Wales. The author has also coauthored at least one book on entertaining as well.

While I have no immediate plans to install a chandelier over my bathtub or go on a hot-air balloon ride with my husband, I am very inspired by the many simple and inexpensive ways to add beauty to my life and home. She includes a lot of verses and inspirational quotes that remind me of Alexandra Stoddard's books, but this one is written from a Christian perspective.

I picked up this book for only several dollars at a Christian book outlet this week and have found it to be well worth the money spent. It's one of those books that you can pick up and read a couple of pages at a time. I highly recommend this book!

Christmas Recap

I hope everyone has had as wonderful of a Christmas as we had this year. We were down at my sister's house over Christmas. It was very nice having the whole family together. My parents and brother are here from Oregon and this is the first Christmas to have a baby in the family since me.:-) Needless to say, the Knoxster received special treatment for Christmas this year, but fortunately he is a very charming and sociable child who does quite well with all the extra attention.

My sister cooked a delicious Christmas dinner of Pork Tenderloin with Tarragon Mustard Sauce which was wonderful and had sides of Parmesan Potatoes, Spinach Artichoke Casserole, Asparagus, Wheat Bread, Fruit Salad and Green Salad. In the evening, we had snacks and desserts that we all helped prepare. My contributions to the day were a Mango Cheeseball, Green Salad, Christmas cookies, and a Chocolate Cake with a creamy peppermint icing. My mom made a delicious sugar-free pumpkin pie for my dad, who is diabetic, and we all enjoyed it.

It seemed as though we had a larger pile of presents than usual this year. Maybe the new baby is the reason for that? But this is the first Christmas we have all been together since Kathryn and I have been married, so there were 3 more people in the family. I know that presents are not the real reason for Christmas, but it is such a fun tradition to give and receive. I was feeling pretty good about all the bargains that I had gotten on Christmas gifts this year. But come to find out, everyone did that! My husband thinks it is hilarious how we(Mom, Kathryn and I) get such pleasure out of telling where we got our presents. We are all great clearance and yard sale shoppers, as well as the occasional re-gifters. Among my pile of gifts were a set of sheets,a sweatshirt,some books, cherry kitchen towels, cherry serving plates, cherry spreaders, a cherry spoonrest and trivet, some Christmas ornaments and decorations and a vintage apron embroidery kit. Maybe our families wish for me to decorate my kitchen with cherries?!?! I sort of got that idea!;-)

We did some shopping on our way home. My sweet husband agreed to let me stop at my favorite store- the April Cornell outlet store in Greenville. The cashier who was also the manager gave me a $20 dollar coupon for shopping that day so I spent very little on two items. I pretty much got one dress($19) for free. I returned the favor by letting him stop at his favorite music store in Gaffney.

Now we are home and I am still digging myself out from under a very generous Christmas. I am leaving my tree and decorations up until after New Years. My family is still around and for me the holidays will not truly be over until the last guest leaves. I always look so forward to this time of year and while I am anxious about life getting back to normal, something in me wants to prolong the Christmas season just a few more days!

Memorable Christmas Gifts

As one grows older, it is often rather interesting to note which childhood gifts are remembered. In my case, it is not so much the item itself or the price and popularity, as the events surrounding it. Here are some gifts that I remember quite clearly. They may not have been my most favorite over the years, but definitely the most memorable.

1. In third grade, I received a brand-new winter jacket. Not only was it the first brand-new coat this little girl had ever owned, it was reversible and had those popular zip-off sleeves. I wore that new jacket proudly to a restaurant for Christmas dinner.Oh, did I mention that I was also sick with the flu that day? I threw up all over the floor and my lovely coat on the way out of the restaurant. Although I was quite sick, I was not so sick not too worry about whether or not I had ruined my jacket. Mom washed it promptly upon returning home, because I would not rest until I was assured that there were no lasting stains.

2. I think I was nine when my brother and I both received Slinkys from our teacher. What fun we had! We also had unexpected company that weekend that included some teenagers who thought it great fun to torment a little girl by grabbing her slinky when she least expected it. The result? A Slinky with a hump-back. It's wires were so bent, I couldn't repair it. Believe me, I tried.:-)

3. I went through an anti-hairwashing phase during my adolescent years. During this time, I refused to wash my hair very often. Don't ask me why... I think I didn't care to get my head wet, although swimming under water never seemed to bother me. Anyways, the logical gift during this period was shampoo. Even though the Strawberry Shortcake shampoo didn't work(the bottle was so cute and it smelled so nice that I just couldn't bring myself to waste it), a well-meaning family member was sure that a shampoo with a name like European Mystique would do the trick! FYI, I religiously wash my hair very day now and can't imagine whatever got into me then.

4. My mom believed that her children were much more appreciative of items when they were wrapped up and received as gifts.This explained the many piles of underwear that were received over the years. We got other small things too. I was in seventh grade when my heart's desire was an ever-sharp pencil. I was thrilled to get one for Christmas that year. I used it carefully for quite a few years, too.

5. My brother gave me a white teddy bear that sang Christmas carols when I was about thirteen or so. I was quite concerned that the battery would go dead because it was not one to be replaced. I shouldn't have worrried. That bear sang for years,in the middle of the night, and there was no way to turn it off.

I'm sure there were many other gifts through out my childhood, but I just can't think of all of them now. So as you give and receive gifts this Christmas, keep in mind that although the gifts themselves may not be that flashy, there will still be plenty of memories to last a lifetime!

It's A Girl!

You may remember a little over a month ago when I posted about my cousin who was critically injured in a tragic accident that killed his five children. His wife was pregnant with their sixth child at the time.

The baby, a sweet little girl, was born Wednesday. They are all doing well. What a special little one!

Christmas Baking

In an attempt to start a new Christmas tradition, my husband and I decided to make Christmas goodies together this year. Actually, we decided on the tradition two years ago, but this is the first year that I scheduled the event so that it actually took place.

We decided on 5 different varieties of cookies/candy to prepare in small batches. Since there are only two of us and we weren't planning to give a lot of cookies away as gifts, we didn't see any reason to get carried away and bake enough treats to last until spring or beyond.

We made Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Frosted Cut-Out Cookies, Peanut Butter Ritz Cracker Sandwiches dipped in chocolate, and Chocolate Peanut Squares. They are all delicious, now that we can stand to look at sweets again! (I knew it was bad when two hours into the baking, my sugar-loving husband declared that he may not want sweets again.)

It was a different experience for us. I love to cook and bake so I tend to view the kitchen as my personal domain. That day I had to share.:-) But with two people, it went more quickly and was so much more fun than doing it all by myself. We worked together and found out which tasks were better for who.

I wasn't sure if this would become a tradition after all. It was rather hectic, you know. But this week we have had two opportunities to share small cookie platters with friends in our small group and at my husband's worship team practice. And guess whose idea it was to take treats to share? Not mine, but my husband, who is very proud of his/our accomplishments in the kitchen. He loved the fact that I actually let him be actively involved.

Note to self- cookie baking will be a Christmas tradition for us, after all.


This is a new recipe that we tried this year. It is from the Dec/Jan "05 issue of Taste of Home. This is a no-bake recipe and very easy to make. It is our new favorite Christmas recipe.

Chocolate Peanut Squares
Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted

Topping:
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 1/2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon butter

Directions:
Lina a 9-inch square pan with foil and butter the foil; set aside. In a large bowl,combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs and butter. Spread into prepared pan.

Combine topping ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl; heat until melted. Spread over peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until cool. Using foil, lift out of pan. Cut into 1-inch squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yield: about 1 1/2 pounds.

Israeli Spice Chicken & Two-Tomato Salad

These recipes are from Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2 cookbook. We love this chicken. You can make extra of the spice rub and keep it on hand to season any kind of meat.

Israeli Spice Chicken
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts(1 1/2 to 2 pounds) split to make 8 pieces
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
4 Tablespoons Israeli Spice Rub

Israeli Spice Rub
1& 1 1/2 Tablespoons paprika
1& 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 Teaspoon oregano
1 Teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 to 1 Teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1& 1/2 Teaspoons coarse Kosher salt

Warm pita or flat bread, for passing
Directions:
Place chicken in a shallow dish. Drizzle with olive oil to barely coat the meat. Rub chicken liberally with spice blend. Let stand 10 minutes.
Preheat grill pan or large nonstick skillet to medium-high. Grill chicken 6 or 7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Serve with tomato salad and green vegetable. Piling the salad and the chicken in a warm pita is a fun way to combine the flavors and textures of the two recipes.

Two-Tomato Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 vine-ripe or Israeli red tomatoes
2 tomatoes, either yellow or orange
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Dressing:
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 ripe lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:
Seed and chop the tomatoes and combine with onion and parsley in a shallow bowl. Combine oil, lemon juice and spices in a small plastic container with a lid. Shake dressing to combine and pour over salad. Season with salt and toss to combine well. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

Christmas...From The Mouth of a Two Year Old

We have most of our few Christmas decorations up now- just in time for our 2 year old friend to come visit. First he was totally mesmerized by the tree and requested for several "trips around the tree" where I told him what every ornament was. Until this, I hadn't realized how many toy ornaments we have on our tree-guess we do have a theme.:-) I also have quite a few red and white candy canes hanging on the tree as fillers. I love the old-fashioned charm they bring as well as being inexpensive and practical.(We can eat them after they serve their time on the tree.) Our little friend, who I must tell you, loves to eat, liked the candy canes too. "These look just like candy!", he exclaimed. To which I replied, "They sure do, don't they?"

Then he noticed our stockings hanging from the fireplace. He shouts, "I love your socks!" I explained that they are called stockings and I told him what most people do with them at Christmas. He was quite intrigued and over the next several hours talked several times about the stockings. Then out of the blue, he announces, while pointing at the stockings, "Hey Mary Ann, I like your flip-flops!"

My Husband's Blog

While I am still in link-sharing mode, I will take this opportunity to share my husband's blog. He has been on Blogger for as long as I have, but I have just never thought to share the link!

He is not likely to share recipes and frugal household tips, but rather general thoughts and opinions on life and the world's happenings, all from a conservative Christian perspective. He has a real gift for writing and is able to convey his thoughts in a clear manner that is still very interesting to the reader.

So go on over and check Andy's Treasures out!

Mary Ann's House This Week

It has been a busy and productive week! I think it is safe to say that we have recovered from Thanksgiving and are getting on with life.

The major accomplishment for the week has been that I cleaned my oven. It has needed cleaning for some time, but after a banana bread spill on Tuesday, it really needed it! So Wednesday morning, I got it started. My goodness! Even with all the doors wide-open and the kitchen fan running, the smoke alarm was still beeping constantly. I finally took it off the wall until we were done. But it was worth it- the oven interior which I thought was naturally black is now a shiny gray.:-)

I have wrapped most of our Christmas gifts this week. We don't usually go all out with big gifts, but give fairly small gifts to each person. My family has always done Christmas more simply and I would like to keep it that way! My husband and I love doing stockings for each other, but if we are not careful, we can easily spend more on stocking stuffers than big gifts!

We got our Christmas tree last night. We were going to wait until tomorrow, but ended up stopping at a little "Amish" country store on our way home from town last night. They not only gave us a fairly good deal on a cute, short and round tree, but I might be able to bake some breads and cookies for them to sell through the holiday season. I am going to take him some samples tomorrow.

I finally used a spa gift certificate that we won through a radio contest last Christmas. I got a spa manicure which is very special. It was a very nice salon, but a little more pricey than I could pay on a regular basis. What a treat it was, though, to have a few minutes of pampering.:-)

I made my bi-monthly trip to Sam's Club and the health food store and stocked up on the essentials. We should be pretty well set on the basics at least through Christmas, with extra baking and company coming. We are trying our best to stay out of the stores on weekends all this month.

I am now babysitting here at my house 4 days a week. It is a great combination of what I love most- kids and staying at home.:-) However, it is a challenge to fit housework and everything in with a baby and 2 toddlers in the house. ( I haven't ever had all 3 at the same time, only 2.)I am definitely getting better at balancing baby schedules and still getting my work done, as well as playing and doing fun activities with the kids.

For tonight's dinner we are having Israeli Spice Chicken, a salad, pita bread and hummus. The chicken is one of our very favorites and is great for clearing out your sinuses while cooking. :-) We are planning to decorate the tree and house tonight, too!

Hillbilly Housewife

I do seem to be on a link-sharing kick. But we can all use some new places to visit, right?

Hillbilly Housewifeis another informative homemaking site. I love to cook and gather lots of yummy, relatively healthy and cheap recipes and this site is full of them. Miss Maggie, the owner, also writes some great articles and she has a very humorous way of going about it. I found her article about Convenience Foods to be a great source of information. I recently came across her article Apron Evangelism and loved it.

Here is a phrase from her Convenience Foods article that my husband and I found amusing. Speaking about canned chicken broth- "It tastes like the shadow of a chicken was waved over a gallon of water and canned in a factory to sell to foolish women who don't know any better." When I expressed my plans to make turkey broth and soup from our leftover Thanksgiving bird, my husband asked if I was going to wave its shadow over a pot. Very funny indeed.:-)

If you've never visited Hillbilly Housewife, you need to go on over and check it out!

Handmade Cards

Monica from The Homespun Heart shared a wonderful idea for making her own cards and envelopes out of magazine pictures. It is her post for November 16, 2005 and is titled Christmas Crafting.

I decided to make some since I didn't have quite enough of my thrift store bargain Christmas cards left for this year.:-) Instead of magazine pictures, I used some heavier weight non-glossy wrapping paper that was given to me. For the cards, I used a half-sheet of cardstock folded, then traced an old envelope that will fit that size card. I am enjoying embellishing these with stickers and rubber stamps. Buttons and other trinkets would be cute if you are not mailing them. They turned out really cute.
Then I ran out of glue stick.

Free Movie Tickets

We went to see the movie Chicken Little this morning. We had movie gift certificates to use so this little outing didn't cost us anything. It is a very cute and extremely funny film. During the first part of the movie, the sound was horrible and wasn't working right at all. They finally paused the movie to get it working properly. The little movie attendant came out and told us what was going on and then promised everyone a free movie pass at the end of the show.

Well, the rest of the movie ran smoothly and at the end, we collected our free movie tickets. While some people may have been disgruntled, we were tickled pink. I will add these tickets to my stash. We hardly ever go to movies and by the looks of things, now we won't be paying to see a movie in a while!

Thanksgiving Dinner Recap

Well, my husband and I survived hosting our first holiday gathering in our home. It was a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience. But I now know why my mom warned me against trying to host family holiday events the first year we were married. It can be somewhat stressful.

We had invited quite a number of friends and family to our house for dinner and most everyone already had plans. I was feeling quite funny about a gathering so small-only nine adults and a baby.(Sounds like a movie title!:-)) My husband thought it was quite a lot of people but I am used to large family gatherings.

Well, my mind changed quite rapidly when we had to practically move out of our house to find room for tables in our living room. Finding room for the tables was not really the problem,but rather making room for the chairs with adults in them around the tables. We finally figured out that if we push the loveseat into the fireplace and the TV is pushed into the corner,( facing the corner too, which in this day and age is probably not such a bad place for a TV), we would have room for two tables butted up against each other. This provided minimal space for squeezing through in order to find one's way back to the buffet table set up in the dining room. It actually looked very nice once I set the tables and I thanked God for only allowing nine adults and a baby to come to our little house for Thanksgiving dinner. If I would have had my way, there would have been about thirteen guests. But we would have found room for extras, somehow.:-) (Actually, my suggestion, which my husband quickly vetoed was to reennact the first Thanksgiving and move everything outside.)

The dinner itself flew off without a hitch, really. I had made quite a plan for the week and then let myself work the plan. To account for my little kitchen space, I prepared everything that I could in advance and then baked it after the turkey came out of the oven. This worked extremely well. Even the mashed potatoes were reheated in the crockpot. (Personally, I think they are better fresh, but they were still quite tasty this way and eliminated a time-consuming process that morning.) Before and right after our guests arrived, I was able to sit and relax and visit. I really reminded myself of my mother and the phrase, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all!" (Sooner or later, it happens, even to the best of us.:-) She has the reputation of being a very organized hostess.

Then the turkey came out of the oven and the side dishes went in and then I made the gravy and oversaw the arranging of dishes on the serving table and directed the drink pouring(water and tea for your general information.) My mother-in-law did an awesome job of carving the turkey and discovering the little bag of stuff I had left inside. OOPS!!:-) I had taken the neck and such out and thought I had gotten it all. We had a good giggle over that and I figured if that's the worst thing to happen, I am doing pretty good!

Soon everything was ready and we all dug in. All the food was delicious, even though the gravy had a slight resemblance to something on Fear Factor. (It tasted great, though.) It was a wonderful dinner and a great time of being together with friends and family, sharing our home, lots of food and great stories! And that's what it's all about.

Then everyone left just as quickly as they came. And what do we have to show for their visit? An empty house...and a very full refrigerator.

Thanksgiving Dinner

I am quite excited about hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner in our home. There will be nine people; well, ten if you count my 3 month old nephew.:-)My husband's parents and great aunt, my sister, brother-in-law and baby Knox, and some friends of ours. Ten seems small when compared to the giant family gatherings growing up. We also invited several other people but they already had plans. Ten people will fill this little cottage right up!!

So my turkey is marinating nicely in the refrigerator and most of the side dishes are made and waiting to be baked after the turkey comes out of the oven tomorrow. I have a carrot cake ready and pies will be arriving with our guests tomorrow(as well as a few other treats.)

Now I need to finish cleaning the house.

The Outlet

We had some friends over for dinner the other night. As we were cleaning up in the kitchen the wife couldn't get over the fact that I had such strong water pressure. She obviously lives or has lived in a house with weaker water pressure. This comment led to a discussion on how doing without one convenience in our home can make the next minor improvement seem anything but minor.

I recalled back to the first apartment that my sister and I rented when we moved to South Carolina. It was a small three room apartment over our land lady's garage. I say three rooms because the kitchen, dining room and living room were all open together, then there was a bedroom and a bathroom. While nothing fancy, it did have new Berber carpet, a good amount of storage space in the kitchen and the rent was $240 per month. We were totally enamored with our little home. However, there were some major drawbacks. We soon learned that the oil heat would only stop working on the coldest days of winter, on the weekend when repair men were few and far between. The hot water heater required a minimum of about an hour between dishwashing and showering. The water pressure was not the best either. But all of these issues paled when one stepped into the bathroom. First of all,it was a very small room. The flooring was coming up, the toilet, sink and tub were very old and incredibly stained, making the whole room very difficult to clean. But we continued on, rarely even talking about it. Until the day we found another house...

We knew it was the right house. Yes, it had 3 bedrooms, a laundry room inside the house instead of going outside and downstairs, and a circle driveway. But the real selling point was when we caught a glimpse of the inner throne room. It glistened, it shone! New flooring(securely fastened to the floor, I might add), great lighting, modern fixtures, and even a sliding shower door. It was not only a pleasure to visit the room, it was also a joy to clean! We were thrilled! It mattered not that the house was in dire need of a paint job, there were no carpets, and the closets were very small. We told everyone about our "modern bathroom."

So when my husband and I were looking for our first little home, we were quite impressed when we found it. Even though it is older as every house I have lived in has been, this one was preserved quite nicely. We loved it right away. The laundry room is bigger than the kitchen, there is a dishwasher, and it is the first house I have ever lived in with central heat and air. I felt like a princess in a castle. Wow! What a nice house! But as always, after time, one will start to notice things.

And for us, that thing was THE OUTLET. Other than places to plug the refrigerator and stove in, my kitchen has one outlet. THE OUTLET is positioned on the wall at the back of my main counterspace between the sink and stove. Now this is not a normal outlet with space to plug in two appliances at the same time. No, the top half of THE OUTLET is a light switch for the light above the sink. Don't ask me why. Am I the only one who likes to plug in two appliances at the same time? As with other small inconveniences, one learns to simply deal with the issue at hand, until it is hardly noticeable. I don't have to time the dishwashing and showering so I have enough hot water. My bathroom is relatively easy to clean. But THE OUTLET has a lot of powers as to what I do when.

THE OUTLET determines whether or not we have toast for breakfast. If the crockpot is already loaded and started, then the answer is 'no'. THE OUTLET streamlines and schedules the use of my electric knife, mixers, toaster and crockpot. THE OUTLET evens kicks the crockpot out of the kitchen at times, into the Land of Plentiful Outlets, otherwise known as the dining room. THE OUTLET is quite the converstion piece.

Small things can mean big thrills. We notice small improvements and they are so exciting to us. Water pressure, decent hot water heaters, modern bathrooms... sometimes we are so easy to please! And I am content too. I am very blessed.

Our next home will be determined by the amount of outlets in the kitchen.

The Holidays Are Coming!

November seems to have been proclaimed as home-improvement month at our house. Much cleaning, rearranging, painting, decorating, yard work and car-cleaning abound. The things that I have started and just haven't had time to finish are finally getting done. The upcoming holidays are having that effect on me. Probably because we are having Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year and then a month later my family will be arriving for Christmas from the Great Northwest.

Now I know that one's house must not be in tip-top shape in order to welcome guests and believe me, I have had a lot of people over when my house wasn't clean(or even unpacked when we first moved in). But I also know that I work better with a deadline of sorts. And I would like to get my several pieces of furniture completely repainted, so I can eliminate the boxes of dishes and piles of stuff that have begun to line the walls of my home. Somehow, deck the halls with boxes of stuff just doesn't have a ring to it.

Anyways, on a whim I rearranged my living room last week. I was only going to move the couches, but one thing led to another. You move the couches and you have to vaccuum under where they were. While the couches are out, you are closer to the windows and they really do look dirty now that you are up close and personal with them. So you wash them and you dust the windowsills and clean cobwebs out of corners while you are at it. And you can't help but notice how dirty the curtains are so they get a bath as well. And before you know it, you are on your way to Lowe's to look for another extension cord because the new arrangement of furniture calls for it. While you are there, you notice a display of 3-way light bulbs and you remember that your floor lamp has never been treated to the light bulb it was designed for. So you buy it and you go home and replace the bulb, and then you sit in your rocker which has been moved to a more prominent position in the room. And as you peruse the room, the corner that has been vacated by the rocker calls to you. It says, "Don't you remember what you were going to put here?" And you recall the dresser which is going to be there, but it needs to be painted a nice shade of red in order to coordinate. So you make painting plans. And several days later, the painting is done. The dresser is moved to its spot. Now that it is there, you can hang the mirror that has been waiting for the dresser.... And on it goes...

By the time the holidays arrive, I may need a nap.

Sleeping Late

My alarm went off at 6 o'clock this morning. I woke up and decided to lie there for a moment and "collect my thoughts" which is always a bad idea for me. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the midst of a disturbing dream and seeing that it was 20 minutes after 7. Yikes!!

Fortunately, I did not need to be anywhere early today and I am not babysitting today, so I quickly made egg sandwiches for breakfast while my husband rushed through the shower. The idea was that he could eat it on the go if he needed to.:-) I was glad that I had chicken and rice from last night's dinner already packed for his lunch.

He got out the door on time, barely, but on time, and now I need to go shower and get on with my day!

Things I Love

In the last week or so, my sister Kathryn from Kathryn's Reliquary and Emma from Diary of a Young Wife have posted lists of things they love and enjoy. They have inspired me to form my own list. Like my sister, I love lists!

Things I Love:
-my quiet time with God every morning
-praise and worship music
-my sweet and loving husband
-productive early mornings
-flowers
-playing in the dirt(gardening)
-the accomplishment of finishing a sewing project
-fabric stores
-yard sales and thrift stores
-classic children's books
-spending time with small children
-a clean house
-going on walks
-picnics(especially with my husband)
-scented candles
-the quilts my grandmas made for me
-the smell of clothes hung out to dry
-trying new recipes
-cooking a yummy meal using leftovers and bits of what I have on hand
-the smell of my house when I bake a special treat
-my Bosch mixer
-April Cornell stores
-trips to the library
-using pretty stationary and cards
-Mary Engelbreit's artwork
-inviting people over for a meal
-our cozy little cottage
-a well-stocked pantry and freezer
-old linens
-wearing clogs
-vintage items and decor
-Bath and Body Works sun-ripened raspberry scented products
-fun ceramic and pottery serving dishes and tableware
-drinking tea
-my church family

I don't know if this is a complete work or not. I'm sure something is missing.:-) What are your favorite things?

Mom Will Be Proud

I have finally updated my profile. My mom will especially be proud of me, as she has given several subtle hints as to my previous skeleton of a profile. So feel free to take a look. Who knows? You might find something out about me that you didn't know before!:-)

Savory Apple Roast

This is an interesting side dish. I made it one day last week and we loved it. I was very surprised how the flavors really complimented each other. It made a great fall meal with Honey Mustard Pork.
So here's the recipe:
Savory Apple Roast

Ingredients:
2 baking apples
2 sweet potatoes
2 Vidalia onions
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease roasting pan or line pan with aluminum foil. Core and cut apples into quarters. Cut sweet potatoes into 6 to 8 large pieces. Cut onions into small wedges. Combine apples, veggies, olive oil and garlic in pan. Roast in prepared pan for 40 to 45 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar before serving. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe from the Dec.2004/Jan. 2005 issue of Easy Home Cooking magazine.

Note: The apples do turn rather mushy or almost applesauce-like. If you are one who has a problem with textures or mushy foods, you might want to adjust the baking time for apples so they are firmer.

I haven't tried it but thought a variation of this recipe would be delicious baked with a pork roast.

Great Yard Sale Day

My husband and I were up bright and early this morning to go yard saling at a prominent and well-to-do neighborhood in a nearby town. They were having their annual neighborhood sales today. It ended up being fairly profitable. We enjoyed looking at the quaint houses and beautiful flowerbeds even more than the yard sales. It was a great cool morning for walking too!

I did find some very nice books and small toys for the babies that I keep here at my house each week. Also found a nice highchair for my little nephew. He had asked for one. LOL Actually, his mommy asked me to be on the lookout for one as they had not gotten one for him yet and many highchairs are quite expensive brand-new. I didn't find any clothing for me today, although many sales had very nice clothing items with almost all of them being very good brand names, such as J.Jill, Land's End, Hanna Anderson(for small girls), etc. Some still had tags attached, but unfortunately I don't fit into a size zero or a two.:-)I found a set of three cute planters for $1. We also found a lot of things we didn't need, so we didn't buy them. It is a wonderful thing to be discerning while yard saling.:-)

It was a nice fall morning spent with my husband and didn't involve much spending with money!

The Year Of The Pecan

The pecan tree in our backyard is full of nuts this year. Our landlord told us last year that pecan trees bear every other year, so obviously this is the year of the pecan. The ground is literally covered with nuts. We got a 5 gallon bucket full in just a few minutes of gathering this afternoon. There are still lots on the tree and I'm sure there are more on the ground. They have a way of hiding and then showing up in groups of twelve or more.:-) We need to stay ahead of the squirrels though!

This experience brings me back to my childhood in Oregon, when we would spend an afternoon or two after school picking up walnuts. Then there would be the many fall and winter evenings spent cracking nuts around the table and seeing who could eat the fewest.

From the research I have done, I believe that I need to lay them out to dry before storing. I am very excited about these free nuts for baking! There will be a lot of cracking for these two nuts.:-)

Little Things

Why is it that most of the things that I put off doing are little things that could be done in a few minutes or less? Instead, I procrastinate and spend a lot more time dreading doing these chores than the time spent actually doing them.

I came up with a small list of chores I always put off doing and am trying to do them as soon as they come up. Most of them are so simple, too!(Note: I don't dread all these things, but some of them really bother me when they are not done!)

-making the bed as soon as we get up in the morning
-filling the water bottles and putting them in the fridge as soon as they are cleaned instead of leaving them on the counter to roll around, get knocked over and annoy me
-putting clothes away right after they are folded or hung on hangers
-put dishes in dishwasher as soon as they are dirty instead of having the dirty dishes take over the kitchen
-clip coupons right away and throw away the rest of the sales papers
-empty trashcans as soon as they start filling up
-putting clean pots, pans and cookie sheets away in the cabinet instead of leaving them on top of the stove
-putting my shoes away at night versus leaving them strewn throughout the house to trip over and hunt for the next day
-separate large packages of meat into meal-size portions for the freezer when I first come home from the grocery store
-do extra food prep when preparing a meal, such as shredding extra cheese, browning extra ground beef, cutting up extra veggies. Some of these can be frozen for later use or keep in fridge if you know you need it for the next day or so.

Flylady has deemed one day a week as Anti-Procrastination Day.( For more info on Flylady, you can visit flylady.net) I have also heard of the one-minute rule. If it can be done in a minute or less-do it right away! I am attempting to make every day anti-procrastination day in keeping up with these little things!

Apple Butter

I made apple butter yesterday. I am very pleased with myself as this was my first attempt at canning completely by myself. When my sister and I lived together, we would can tomatoes, beans, pickles, peaches,applesauce, salsa and jams. I might add that this was much to our married friends' amusement. While we both have always enjoyed cooking and engaging ourselves in "domestic" tasks, it seems a lot of them had the idea that single women would live on cold cereal alone!

Anyways, to come back to the subject at hand. I made 10 pints of apple butter and it seemed to come out fairly well. My house smells wonderful. It's even better than burning apple-cinnamon candles which I love.

We drove out to a local orchard a couple of weeks ago and bought a bushel of Mutzus. They are a cross between a Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious. We have really enjoyed eating them in their natural state-simply delicious! I still have enough apples left to maybe make a pie or two.

Now that my canning is done I need to go deep-clean my kitchen. There are splatters everywhere and the floor is sticky.:-)

66 Days Until Christmas!

I know some of you are thinking, "How can she even think about Christmas before Halloween or Thanksgiving?" But after several years of rushing around a day or two before Christmas, trying to find great gifts and spending way too much money in the process, fighting the crowds of not-so-merry Christmas shoppers, and being exhausted and not even doing half of the fun holiday stuff that I would like, I determined in my heart that I was going to get my shopping done early this year. I tend to procrastinate especially where shopping is concerned-its not my favorite task- so my deadline for shopping this year was August 31. OOPS!!! I kept putting it off, so now I hope to have it all done by October 31. That still is far enough in advance to enjoy the Christmas holidays!

I made a general list early in the year and added a few things to my Christmas box from clearance racks, dollar stores and yard sales. (If it looks really good, kids especially will not care if it is used!) But yesterday afternoon, I finally had some spare time and decided to be productive and go Christmas shopping. Two hours later, I had bags of cool gifts to show off to my husband when I got home. I still have a few items to get yet, but the bulk of shopping is done.

My first stop was at the good old Dollar Tree and they had many great items to choose from. I have found that when I wait until later in the season, the selection is very limited. I really racked up at the dollar store yesterday. I try to give non-clutter or consumable gifts. In other words, I try to give gifts that will be used instead of something to set around and dust. I often give food gifts(fresh-baked, homemade jams, or even homemade cooking mixes) and I also like making theme baskets. The dollar store is wonderful for finding little items to coordinate with these kinds of gifts!

My imagination is running more freely now than it will be the week before Christmas. I can also plan ahead for any gifts I want to make. This helps me to save money as well as enjoy the season! I even wrapped a few gifts last night while I was still in the mood!:-)

Bread Baking

I baked several batches of bread this morning. I made 4 loaves whole wheat and 2 loaves of French bread. I love baking bread. I think it can be sort of a stress reliever or therapeutic, even though I don't feel stressed or in need of therapy at the moment. (Thought I would clarify that.:-) It also makes the house smell wonderful. That is probably a big reason why I like to bake- the house smells so homey and seems so cozy with the yummy smells wafting out of the kitchen. Anyways, the bread is now in the freezer waiting to be eaten. :-) That much bread should last us several weeks.
I do have a question for all of you bread bakers out there. Where do you get bread bags that are big enough for large homemade loaves? The gallon ziploc bags are too small and I would rather have plain bags that twist-tie. I know some Winn-Dixie stores used to carry them but mine here didn't have them and now they have gone out of business anyways. I did try to plastic wrap the loaves but found the wrap would still come loose and the bread would get all nasty. So for now I have resorted to reusing bread bags from the store. I don't normally wash and re-use bags; that is not one of my favorite frugal tips, but it does work for this until I can find something that works better. I also think that for giving bread away, the brand-new clear bread bags look much nicer.("What? You don't think the bread looks like hot dog buns? Can't imagine why it wouldn't!") :-)

Rainy Day

This is a dreary rainy day. But we really needed the rain. It has been so dry. And I am glad I don't need to go anywhere today. It's a perfect day to stay inside and clean my house. Oh joy!
I have had a fairly productive week even though I've had children here most of the time.(I know- good practice for me.:-) My husband and I worked in the yard yesterday. He trimmed hedges and I picked up the loose branches and added them to Mount Brushmore beside the road. We still need to mow the grass by the road as it is quite tall. But that will have to wait for another dry day. I also got a good start on cleaning the cars out. I stopped when our car vac didn't seem to be doing too well suction-wise and I thought I could assist my husband with the hedges. I do have some spring bulbs I want to plant very soon too. The mums I planted a year ago are quite pretty now!
I finished sewing two skirts for me this week. Both were yard sale fabrics so I was able to make them for about $1 each. One is a nice denim with a bit of stretch and the other is a navy blue rayon floral print. I used a super easy pattern that I like. It's Simplicity's New Look #6953. On the denim skirt I added a flowered fabric border and some ribbon. I have been in a sewing mood lately and I always feel accomplished once I complete a project.
Tomorrow is my grocery shopping day so I have been running low on most of my staples this week. We have been eating lots of rice, since I have plenty of that! For dinner tonight is pizza burgers(using bits of leftovers) and chocolate cake. I think I will scrounge up some carrot sticks and pickles to go with it. I am out of eggs so I made an egg-less chocolate cake today. I know it as Crazy Cake and in my opinion it is one of the best chocolate cakes ever.
I need to get back to my house-cleaning now!

Things I Have Learned In One Year of Marriage

I was planning to post this list last week before we left for the mountains. But I ran out of time between running errands, getting ready to go and taking care of my little charges that come several days a week.
So here it is... a rambling list of my personal thoughts about what I have learned in our first year.(It is not generally listed in the order of importance.)

In our first year I have learned...
...that marriage gets you right in the heart and is a very bonding and personal experience.
...that I have a big mouth that says anything that pops into my brain.
...that it will not kill me to say "I'm sorry", but that those two little words will actually help to restore health to our relationship.
...that husbands have sensitive feelings too.
...that even though women can skip meals, husbands rarely want to skip eating.
...that a meal of Ramen noodles is much better than going out for a meal we can't afford.
...that making do or doing without is better than buying on credit.
...that a 50 cent Uno game and sharing the last can of orange soda makes for a memorable date night.
...the wedding lasted for one day; the marriage for a lifetime.
...that being a wife is a noble calling.
...that comparing my marriage to someone else's marriage can contribute greatly to discontent and disillusionment.
...that it is ok to do something different than our parents would do.
...that honest and loving communication in the proper timing has more positive effects than clamming up and refusing to speak.
...that regardless of my husband's IQ, he does not and probably will never be able to read my mind.
...that I am generally a stubborn and inflexible person. (Ok, I was aware of this before, but marriage has definitely helped to show it up!)
...that praying for my husband and marriage does wonders for my attitude.
...that after God, my husband needs to be my first priority.
...that differences in our personalities can give numerous opportunities for personal growth and character building.
...that the healthiest and most productive marriage is one where Jesus Christ is at the center.

Our First Anniversary

We spent the weekend in Boone, NC up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some friend's parents have a mountain cabin up there and they let us use it for the weekend. It is beautiful and the view is outstanding. We were a couple of weeks ahead of major leaf peeping, but we did manage to spot a few colors here and there. The weather was sunny but cool and fall-like. We picnicked on the Parkway and took a short hike down to the falls there. I thought it was a short hike, husband thought it was longer.:-) We spent Saturday poking around in little shops down in Boone. That was fun. I only bought a few small harder-to-find kitchen tools at Mast General Store. It was actually the first time since our honeymoon to Williamsburg a year ago that we went somewhere by ourselves and not to visit family and friends. The weekend was very relaxing with time to reflect on the past year and go ahead and sign up for another year.:-) Who knows what this year will hold for us?
I was very excited that my husband decided to sing me the original song that he wrote for me and sang to me when he proposed and also at our wedding.To me that is more precious than flowers or an expensive gift. We watched our wedding video again and felt all cozy and sweet. And come to think of it- I just remembered the top of our wedding cake! It is still bundled away in the freezer. Do people really eat them? I wonder if it is still good.:-)

And Two Bank Accounts Shall Become One

No, our pastor did not say that when he married us.:-) But like most everything else in our lives that became "ours" instead of "his" and "hers", so did our finances.
Out of all of our differences, it seems that the one that has the most potential to cause conflict is our finances. We simply do not manage money the same way! I like to save and see how far I can make the money reach. My husband appreciates this but has a more relaxed approach. "What good is saving money if we never get to do anything fun with it?", he asks.
We started out knowing that our finances could be a great source of conflict in our marriage. We talked about it at length and came up with a reasonable spending plan (budget) together. Then we got married.
Even though we were realistic in our dreams and goals, we still had a few suprises to deal with after the wedding. My first and major suprise came when I went to balance the checkbook and realized that my husband didn't make a habit of recording purchases in the checkbook register. I guess I thought that if I did that then most everybody else did too. He was disappointed to find that I didn't feel Hot Pockets were a necessity.
Well, we got over that one and decided that I would take care of the finances for the most part. We decide together how we are going to spend the money and then I pay the bills each month. We are both committed to tithing, so we do that first. We use mostly cash because it is easier for us to keep track of what we are spending. The envelope system works extremely well for us. If you are not familiar with this- you have an envelope for every category, such as groceries, eating out, personal allowances,gas money, hair cuts, etc. Into each envelope put the amount of cash you have specified for that category. Paying cash is a great help in not overspending. I think it is harder to spend cash because I can see it going. (We do use a debit card for certain things and we pay most of our bills with checks.)
Our different spending styles do help to balance us out. While my husband benefits from my planning and saving, he helps me to be more relaxed and not take it quite so seriously. He is very generous and I can learn a lot from that.:-) We each have our personal money each month. Some books refer to it as MIP(Marriage Insurance Premium) or personal allowances. We call it our play money. This is money that we each can spend however we choose. Even though it is only a small amount of cash each month, it is still very helpful.
We are still learning in the area of finances.(Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett and Mary Hunt are full of good advice!) We know things will change as we go along. My husband helps me alot more with the bills now than he used to.He has become very good about recording purchases in the checkbook. I try not to stress out over every penny! And every once in a while, I reward him with a box of Hot Pockets.

Opposites

My husband and I are very different. And I don't just mean because he is a man and I am a woman. Of course, that IS very different. But personality speaking, we come from completely opposite ends of the spectrum. He is an extrovert;I have introverted tendencies. He is spontaneous; I like to make concrete plans in advance. (We joke that I have to plan to be spontaneous.:-) I like to keep things organized; organizing things is not his strong point.When I think the house is cluttered and messy; he feels he is living in wide, open spaces. I am an early bird; he is more of a night owl.I analyze everything to death; he says I think too much. :-) I am structured and plan my days in advance; he takes life as it comes. After all, you can't really plan life-it just happens. And of course there is money. We are very different in that too! I am very frugal, a tightwad at times; he is more of a spender. (More on finances later!)
So we are not alike at all. Our differences can help us to grow individually and as a couple. But, only if we let that happen. In one year, some of those changes have already taken place. Not big ones yet, but we are starting to rub off on each other.:-)
My parents prayed for and told me for years that I needed to find someone who is outgoing and spontaneous to marry and spend the rest of my life with. They were highly concerned that otherwise I would become a hermit.(Funny, but not too far from the truth.:-) On the other side, his parents prayed that he would find someone that was organized, structured and a decent housekeeper. I guess all the prayers were answered!!!:-)
So opposites attract. God knows what He is doing when it comes to match-making. He definitely had a plan when He allowed for our paths to cross.

A Year Ago

On this day a year ago, I was one week away from getting married. I was stressed with the wedding and every little detail you can imagine. I was more than ready to just go to the justice of the peace and forget having a wedding. I thought that weddings were basically a waste of money even though our wedding and honeymoon were paid for with cash before the event arrived. I am forever grateful that we did not come back from our honeymoon to credit card bills to pay for everything that had already taken place. Because of this, we did have to decide what was important and what wasn't which is good for every bride and groom and to do many things ourselves in order to stay within our very small wedding budget. I used white candles and greenery and borrowed ficus trees instead of flowers for church decorations. My sister offered the ivy plants for table decorations at the reception that were used at her wedding several months before mine. I made my own dress not so much for financial reasons but for modesty even though I did save some money that way.I used my mother-in-law's headpiece and my sister-in-law's veil-they just happened to really match the trim on my dress.:-) I made my flower girl's dress out of white fabric I had on hand. We made our own invitations and a lot of the reception food.(We had a dessert reception.) But most of all, I couldn't have done it without all the great friends and family who offered their services and help. We didn't need to hire anyone for anything, except for the few bouquets of flowers and boutonnieres and for someone to run sound at the wedding(required by the church we rented).
The week leading up to our wedding was very stressful for both me and my husband. I think we argued more that week than the whole year we have been married even though we do have our little disagreements now and then. A friend told me later that she had come to the conclusion that if I didn't kill my husband (then fiance) before the wedding, he had the potential of living a long and happy life!!! I didn't think it was that bad, but I do know that my mom and others wondered seriously if the wedding would ever happen. I had a major case of cold feet and nerves.
But amazingly enough, by the day of our wedding, I was extremely calm and sure of myself. I had come to the conclusion that by that stage, whatever that was going to happen would happen. I won't ever regret having a wedding even though I don't think I would be up to planning another one. :-) Everything went smoothly. The wedding was beautiful, original, and meaningful, just like we wanted.
In this week leading up to our very first anniversary, I certainly don't feel the stress that I felt a year ago.Life has settled down to a steady, busy pace. We have grown a lot as a couple in 12 months. Without giving it much thought, we have created our own daily schedule and routines. It is funny how easily we have fallen into our respective roles- he just does certain things and I automatically do other things. Over and over we have been thankful that even in the busyness of wedding planning, we took time to plan for our marriage. We read books together, got some great pre-marital counselling, and took time to learn what God's plan was for our marriage and home. Our wedding lasted for one day and its details that caused such stress were soon forgotten. Our marriage is meant to last a lifetime. We have certainly not arrived yet; we still have a lot to learn and issues to work on. Stay tuned as I share thoughts on marriage this week!

Spanish Rice and Corn Bread

For dinner tonight we are having spanish rice, fresh corn bread and a big salad. I will share the recipes here.(Although I think most of you can figure out the salad part.:-) We ate lots of this Spanish Rice growing up. My mom really liked making this recipe and we liked eating it! This is my mom's recipe, however, as she will be quick to inform me, it is not exactly like hers. This is because I don't have her recipe,(I keep forgetting to copy it) so I make it from memory and add my own touches as I go. It is basically the same. So here goes-


Spanish Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 cans(14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can(6 oz.) tomato paste
1 or 2 bay leaves
Chili powder (to taste)
Salt and Pepper(to taste)
1 or 1 1/2 cups long grain rice, uncooked
Approx. 3 cups water
Directions:
In skillet, crumble and brown ground beef. Drain. Add garlic, onion, celery and pepper. Cook together for a minute or two. Put all in a large pot and add the rest of ingredients. Stir all together and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for at least 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
* This is good with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Leftovers are good in flour tortillas.
* If you are like me and are only serving a couple of people, go ahead and freeze half of it. When ready to serve, thaw and bake in greased casserole dish at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Here is the recipe that I use for corn bread. It is from the cookbook Mad About Muffins by Dot Vartan.

Sweet Corn Muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all- purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 rounded teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup corn oil

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl. Add milk and oil to the egg and stir well. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and blend the ingredients. Fill greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Serve warm. Makes one dozen muffins.
* I make this recipe in a greased 9 inch square pan.

Saturday Morning Pizza

Well, I actually slept in this morning, which is in and of itself a small miracle. I always feel somewhat guilty when I sleep in because it seems like my best hours of the day are gone. Yes, I am a morning person. It has taken my husband almost a year to get used to someone being so coherent upon opening her eyes at the break of dawn.
Because we get up early during the week we are to the point now where if we sleep until seven a.m. it is the end of the world. Very rarely are we even able to sleep late on a Saturday. But today was an exception.
My husband needed to run some errands and asked very sweetly if I would like him to bring us some biscuits from a local fast food joint. I scoured all of our coupons and we decided on a "buy one, get one free" deal. The only problem was discovered just as my sweet husband was heading out the door- we had missed the breakfast hours. I immediately jumped to plan B. We could eat breakfast at home as usual. When you hardly ever go out, cooking and eating at home often ends up being less of a hassle!:-) He thought it would be nice to take me out for an early lunch. He asked me what I was in the mood for. After some deliberation, I decided on pizza. Not just any pizza either. Oh no... none of the pizza coupons would work, because I (the overly frugal one) wanted Pizza Hut's new Cheesy Bites Pizza. I had seen all the commercials for it and it just looked so great! In other words, I was sucked in to the grand marketing scheme. I saw it, they made it look good and I wanted it! An easy sale. We did get the pizza and yes, it was as tasty as it looked on TV. But I hadn't totally thrown my frugal nature to the wind... I looked the pizza over carefully and now I am pretty sure how I can make my own version of the Cheesy Bites Pizza, not only in the comfort of my own home but for a fraction of the price!

Spam

I have been getting a lot of spam in my comments here on the blog, so I have added the word verification. I'm sorry if it is an inconvenience, but it will help to take care of the problem. Thanks for understanding!

Organized Home

Organizedhome.com has lots of free printable planner forms. In fact, there is almost every form available to use for your own household notebook or control journal or whatever you want to call it. I have used the weekly menu and shopping list forms for several months now and just this week started using the weekly to-do list. It is just easier for me to be more productive and organized when I have things written down where I can see it.I post my menus and lists on my refrigerator then move them to my very unorganized notebookwhen the week is over.(See? There are areas of my life that are still very unorganized.:-) I am still trying to get on a schedule, or rather to stick to one. It is difficult for me to stay focused and disciplined. But I am making progress!:-)

Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

We have been eating alot of stir fry lately and this peanut sauce tastes very similar to one we had at a local Thai restaurant. This recipe is from the cookbook Not Just Beans by Tawra Kellam. I use whatever veggies I have on hand for stir fry(the more colorful the better!), but I will share the recipe exactly as it is printed, then you can adjust it however you like.

Stir Fry

Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 Tablespoon cornstarch or 2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup water

Stir Fry Ingredients:
3-4 slices ginger root, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, mashed or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon oil
2 Tablespoons water
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 onions,sliced
2 green peppers, sliced
2 cups cabbage,shredded
1/2-1 cup leftover cooked beef, turkey or chicken

In a bowl, mix peanut butter, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Stir cornstarch in 1 cup water. Add to bowl. In a deep skillet, simmer the oil with ginger and garlic over medium heat. Add vegetables, starting with the firmest as you dice the others. Stir after each addition and sprinkle on water as needed. Make sure you do not overcook the vegetables. Add cooked meat last. Push vegetables to the side and add sauce to the pot while stirring. Add additional water if needed. As the sauce clears, mix in vegetables. Serve over rice. Serves 4.

*I liked cooking the sauce separately in a small sauce pan and then mixing it with veggies right before eating. We think this would be a great sauce for dipping chunks of chicken in. I like to make sure it has a good kick to it to offset the strong peanut flavor.

* A stir fry tip I read a long time ago from the book The 15 Minute Meal Planner/ A Realistic Approach to a Healthy Lifestyle by Emilie Barnes and Sue Gregg : When cutting up veggies for stir fry, layer veggies on a plate or in a shallow dish according to cooking time required. Start with veggies that cook only a short time such as onions at the bottom of the plate. Next, add those that are semi-firm such as squash, green peppers, etc and end with very firm veggies on top such as carrots that take longer to cook. When it is time to cook, start by putting the top veggies inthe skillet first and work your way to the bottom of the plate. This helps to prevent some mushy veggies and others hardly cooked!I have found that this is also an easy way to chop everything up ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.

Too Busy?

I tend to be a very busy person rushing around and doing all sorts of things and activities. They are good things to do like taking care of my house, cooking and baking for my husband, church activities, sewing, etc. My husband laughs and asks if I ever take a break just to chill out . He says that he is tired just watching me! Sometimes I think he isn't busy enough while he thinks I'm the other extreme.
Well, we just returned from a trip to visit my family. He met some of my family for the first time and spent alot more time with those he had only met briefly before. He soon came to the conclusion that I come by this "busy-ness" honestly! While sitting and visiting, my mom, grandma and aunt all had crocheting in their hands. When going about the house, they are scheduled, efficient and purposeful. He understands now why, even when I sit down, I like to have something to do in my hands- a book to read, recipes to copy, hand sewing to do, lists to make, fingernails to file- something!
It is good to be busy. After all, "Idleness is the devil's workshop." But, I wonder... can I be too busy? Am I able to quiet my mind and focus on what is truly important? Do I turn off the radio and the TV so I can be alone with my thoughts and think about God and hear what He is saying? Today I want to make an effort to, at least for a few moments, do what God says in Psalms 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God..."

Frosted Banana Bars

I have been making these bars a lot lately. They are delicious and have become a favorite among our family and friends. As well as being an excellent way to use over ripe bananas, it is even better when made a day or two ahead of when you plan to serve it.

Frosted Banana Bars

Ingredients for bars:
1/2 cup softened margarine
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup softened margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 3/4 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour. baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in bananas. Spread batter into a greased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.
For frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency. Frost bars. Store in refrigerator.