You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2008.
I am going on VACATION! So I won’t be updating my blog for at least a week. With that, here is a few good posts that I have enjoyed that I hope you might enjoy reading while I am gone. Have a great week!
Modesty – it has been on my mind lately
I listened to a series from Revive Our Hearts. You can find it here.
Along those lines, here is a series my friend wrote on her blog.
Here are some posts and blogs that I enjoy reading:
Hope in a Slowing Economy by Passionate Homemaking
Preschool Activity Bags by Capturing Today
Handmade Daily – I like so many posts on her blog
When you see God at work by Choosing Simplicity
Sense to Save – lots of good financial tips
Tammy’s Recipes – love her recipes
Also, here are some things that I wanted to post for the upcoming week. So I will just do them all here.
Bible Memorization – don’t forget about the challenge
Click here for last week’s verses.
Proverbs 4:25-26 is this week’s verses. You can look them up here, and pick the version that you use.
Menu Wrap UP
I ventured off of my menu plan somewhat this week, but I have to tell you what I made that we loved/liked/didn’t like. You can view last week’s menu here.
One night, I decided to try this pizza crust recipe. I made my Alfredo sauce. I cooked chicken and cut it into pieces. So I made a chicken Alfredo pizza and we loved it! I also made some Pear Crisp. We loved this! It is so sweet and yummy.
We finally had our lentil tacos. I mixed in black beans with the lentils as well. I made the homemade tortillas (but I used half wheat flour this time. Then I made a peach and blueberry crisp (with some nectarines thrown in as well). My husband specifically said to say that he didn’t love the lentil tacos. He said it wasn’t bad and we could have it again, but he didn’t love it. He is a meat eater after all. I loved it. I just put some taco sauce on it and I thought they were very yummy.
Have a great week. And with so many things going on in the world I have to constantly remind myself of this verse:
Phillipians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
I am feeling more like what doesn’t work for me. I am, again, in a coupon funk. I go back and forth about every other month trying to decide if couponing really is worth it. I know I have saved a lot of money buying different things and at some times it really is fun. I now have several family members doing it a lot more than they used to. I think I just need to challenge myself more to not have to get every deal (because sometimes I feel like I have to). I really, really like homemade stuff. I love to cook and bake from scratch. I know it takes more time, but I really enjoy doing it. I like making my own laundry detergent. I feel good every time I do a load of laundry (which is often).
I really want to chuck my massively huge coupon book out of the window, but then I’m afraid I may regret it.
My dad asked me why I don’t blog about money matters on my blog. I considered myself a Dave Ramsey groupie at one point. I worked for a financial firm for 5 years and I constantly preached at people that did not have a Roth IRA (I still love Roths by the way). I explained what a mutual fund was. I helped people pick out their mutual funds for their 401K’s. I like numbers; I just don’t think I’m very good at them. I love spreadsheets. I have tons of them. I just leave the frugal/saving money website blogs to others who really enjoy it more. Besides I’m not a fan of spilling ALL my dirty laundry, especially not my financial dirty laundry.
So, I guess I’m asking What Works for you as far as saving money? If you don’t use coupons what do you do and how well does it work?
For more Works for Me Wednesdays, visit Rocks in My Dryer.
First of all, take a look at my cute little watermelon. I am so excited to actually get one. We will see how they do.
Anyway, you may be wondering what to do with the vegetables that are now coming up in your garden or the vegetables that you got from your local produce stand. There is a great website called PickYourOwn.org. It gives you ideas of what to do with certain vegetables and how to freeze them and can them. It even tells you how and when to pick your vegetables.
I personally have been growing green peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and watermelons. We have been getting zucchini and cucumbers lately.
What I usually do with zucchini is just wash them and then slice them and grill them in a foil packet with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. So what do you do with your extra produce?
Please visit Tammy’s Recipes for more Kitchen tips.
Pizza is a regular thing around our house. I love it. Yes, it is my favorite food. Alas, my husband cannot have red sauce very much because of his acid reflux. He has a few pizza places he can eat at (actually mainly one), but I need a little more variety. Anyway, I have tried several recipes for crusts and sauces over the years. Here are a few:
Papa John’s Pizza sauce (a copycat recipe)
Crockpot Spaghetti sauce (which I have used because it has a lot of veggie’s in it)
Pizza Hut crust and sauce
Here is a recipe for a pizza crust that I used today. I thought it worked fine, but if you use it, make sure to add an extra cup of flour. I had to do that because the dough was wet and sticky. I also kneaded it and let it rise for about 5 minutes.
Here is another pizza recipe that is pretty healthy.
I am always on the lookout for good recipes for pizza crusts and sauces. If you have any that are your favorite – let me know!
Okay, so how did we do last week? Did you say your verses to someone? I said mine to my husband. Let’s review – Ephesians 2:8-9. Go ahead, say it to yourself. Then reach way back in your memory and say Psalm 119:2 from our very first week. Okay, onto this week’s verses. There are two, but they are short. They are from Matthew.
Matthew 7
1“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (NASB)
1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (NIV)
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye (KJV)
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (NKJV)
So this week, we will work on these two. They aren’t very long, just very convicting! Have a great week! Also, if you are working on other verses – great. You don’t have to follow the ones that I put on there. Use ones that you would like to learn. The point is just to do it, and learn the verses.
This week we leave for vacation! So I will only be doing 4 meals. Again, using my Master Meals list to plan my week.
Stir Fry/Main Dish Salad/Freezer Meal* – Freezer meal
Meat/Poultry**, mashed potatoes, corn and salad – BBQ Glazed chicken, red potatoes, corn and salad
Fish/Lentils/Meatless (Chickpea/black bean burgers) - Lentil tacos (we didn’t have them last week yet again)
Italian Night – Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and broccoli
I always try to serve vegetables and some fruit with my meals.
We get most all of our produce from a local organic delivery service and some of it from our own small garden. We get our eggs from my friend’s father-in-law.
For more menu ideas, visit Org Junkie.
Yes, I put my baby girl in a baby contest at the fair. No, I am not one of “those” mothers. My cousin was supposed to do it too, but I never saw her there and she was the one that talked me into it! And, my friend had put both of her boys in it and one of them even won the whole thing (of course that was a different county). Anyway, so it was hot and humidity was at 80% and we were in the horse born (yes, it smelled like poop). Then it was suppose to start at 8:15, but the photographer collapsed just to the right of the stage and the fire department had to be called, and they had to start an IV on him. When he was carried away it was more like 9 am, and I think he was okay, he just got overheated.
So, we were running 45 minutes behind and getting dangerously close to nap time. My daughter was of good spirits. She was smiling at everyone and clapping her hands. Of course that all stopped when it was time to be in front of the judges. She just stared blankly at them and then put her finger in her mouth. That was it, nothing more. Of course, 5 seconds after that she started laughing and clapping.
On top of that, I thought well she got a little ribbon and I could put a scrapbook page together with pictures of her in it, but my sweet father, who took pictures didn’t realize that you have to put the flash on to get clear pictures. I didn’t tell him this so it was not his fault. So to top the morning off below are some awesome pictures of our one AND ONLY baby contest. I should note that my husband absolutely does not want me to post pictures of myself or my children on my blog but since you cannot even make out who we are I thought these would be okay.
Here we are doing nothing. Not even a smile.
Here are some before and after shots where we were more animated. Although the pictures look like we might be in the witness protection program because our faces are slightly blurred.
So there you go, my adventures in baby contest. I don’t think there is any danger of her winning a scholarship for college in a beauty pageant since I am never going to enter her in another one. So, I told her she would have to study hard instead.
Well, I tried an experiment. I decided to finally get another Sam’s club membership for the sole purpose of using their “Click ‘n Pull” feature. I set up my account and put in an order on Friday night. I ordered only things that I knew we would use. I know the price I pay normally for things and I am careful to not overpay because it is a bulk item. But, the convenience is so nice. I did have a problem. When I ordered my items, I got an e-mail that said it would be ready for pick up by 9am on Saturday. I went there expecting to pick up my items and they said, “Oh, well, you are the second person to come here. Our lady that does that isn’t here on Saturday’s so you will have to wait until Monday.” I said, but the e-mail said Saturday after 9am. They said, we know, but you can wait here for us to pull the items. Well, that is the whole purpose for me doing the program – not to wait. Well, I went back on Monday and picked up the items. I did have to wait for someone to actually go and get the items for me. They were all ready in a cart, but it took her about 10 minutes just to find someone to wheel the cart to me. Anyway, here are the pros and cons that I have experienced:
Pros: It is very convenient and I can shop at home for the things I want. I don’t have to pay for the items until I pick them up. I can check out through the Customer Service desk. I get someone to bring me all of my items.
Cons: The customer service still isn’t the greatest, but I knew that going into it. You can’t actually see how big the items might be if you don’t know this ahead of time. You may still have to wait for them to bring you the cart so don’t expect to get out of there quick.
**One note, I don’t love Wal-mart or Sam’s for the main reason that they get so much of their stuff overseas from China. We actually got some frozen fish from Sam’s and it said it was “Made in China”. Seriously, that is ridiculous. I definitely won’t get that again and I will always look where something is from if possible!
Overall, I think I am happy with this service, but I am going to try it a few more times to make sure. I wish there was a Costco closer to me because they have more organic stuff.
For more Works for me Wednesday’s, go see Rocks in my Dryer.
Here are this week’s deals. You can find more deals at BeCentsAble’s Grocery Gathering.
CVS from Money Saving Mom and CVS from BeCentsAble
Walgreens from Money Saving Mom
If you are looking for organic deals, go here.
Also, does anyone use Hot Coupon World very much? I have registered, but I am not getting a lot out of it.
Don’t forget the Office Depot and Office Max penny deals this week.
I do miss Mayberry. I do miss simpler times. I miss the times where most moms stayed at home with their children and grandmothers were actually at home too. I am of the supposed Generation Xer’s. My parents are of the Baby Boom generation. I blame the Baby Boom generation, if we have to blame someone.
My grandmother was of the Great Depression era. She always stayed home as far as I could remember. We spent a lot of time with my grandparents. My grandpa was a very hard worker. My grandma spoiled us. She cooked us eggs and bacon every morning (and sometimes biscuits and gravy).
My friends and I often lament about how grandmothers aren’t like they used to be. I envision them as wearing aprons and when you come through the door they hug your neck (my grandparents are from the south). The sit you right down at the table and say, “Are you hungry? What can I fix you?” They don’t wait for you to respond; they know you are hungry. They call their kids and beg them to bring the grandchildren over.
Am I dreaming? Did grandparents such as these ever really exist? I know they did because I saw them. I have often thought of why grandparents such as these are largely extinct. Again, I think I blame the baby boomers.
The baby boomers gave us the “wonderful” 60’s, the selfish 70’s, the overindulgent 80’s. They decided it was better to work than stay home. They thought they needed more stuff and bigger houses. They need two car garages and of course two cars to fit in the garages. But of course this meant no one could actually stay home to take care of the larger house with a two (and now three) car garage. No, they must work harder to pay for all of this.
So something has to give right? Well, the day cares make more money because someone has to watch the kids while they work, and who thinks about funding retirement when you can buy more stuff. So the mother’s of the 80’s work through the 90’s and now in 2008 must work well into retirement. I mean, who has time to find an apron let alone make a pie?
Having said that I am not belittling my own family, I had my grandmother that was with me a lot, and my stepmom always stayed home even though she worked from home a lot, and my mother took occasional times away from the corporate workforce to stay home with us. They taught me a lot. I learned how to cook and to sew. Also, my mother-in-law always stayed at home with her children. She also always made Sunday dinner (lunch) for her family. She would definitely still do this (and probably does) if we lived closer to her. I miss Sunday dinner. You should always have Sunday dinner with family and anyone else that wants to come. Also, my sweet mamaw has always stayed at home (except for that stint working in the deli putting Julie through college). She makes the best chili and homemade noodles!
I just miss the days of mothers and grandmothers staying home and teaching their children and grandchildren the art of homemaking. It is such a lost art. I always love going to my husband’s grandmother’s house. It reminds me of my childhood. She stuffs you to the gills with food. She makes homemade rolls and always has homemade strawberry jam to put on your rolls. She wears an apron.
Honestly, this is the goal for myself. I want to be that grandmother. Right now, I am working hard to be a good mother, but I don’t want to stop there. I want to know how to garden well, and can the food from my garden. I want to bake pies. I want to not only be the Proverbs 31 wife and mother, but also the grandmother.
What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani
A house needs a grandma in it. ~Louisa May Alcott
If God had intended us to follow recipes,
He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.
~Linda Henley
Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. ~Marcy DeMaree
It is as grandmothers that our mothers come into the fullness of their grace. ~Christopher Morley
*From quotegarden.com
