April

Wow,  March was a really long month!  Did anyone else feel that way.  It rained, and rained, and rained.  Record breaking rain in amount and number of days in a row- 29 consecutive days of rain.  Not only did it rain a lot, but it was cold!  I am really done with being cold.

I am glad April is starting.  I am just hoping for a few days of sun here and there.  Plus it means we are closer to going to Disneyland.  Yes, we are going to Disneyland in May and I am excited.  Hopefully, it will be really really sunny while we are there!

But back to April.  April is going to be my spring cleaning month.  My house is desperate for it.  My garage is desperate for it.  I am ready for clutter removal and clean spaces.  My life has been pretty chaotic lately and I am lucky to get my normal house cleaning stuff done let alone anything extra.  I am even thinking of sending my kids to daycare one day so I have an entire day to do stuff.  What a luxury that would be!  And I am pretty sure it would be worth it to pay that extra money for a little bit of sanity.

There are 4 full weeks in April and I have 8 "spaces" plus the garage (that will require hubby though so maybe a weekend day).  The upstairs (which contains 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms) I consider to be 4 spaces as I am linking the bathrooms together, then I have the kitchen, living room, dining room, and hallway/laundry/bathroom space.  So 2 spaces per week is my goal.  Starting with the kitchen (because it so desperately needs it and it's where I am a lot!) and laundry/hall/bathroom. 

Goals for spring cleaning:
1) Get things really clean.  I know that is kind of obvious, but my house really needs a deep cleaning and this includes things like dusting the top of my kitchen cupboards - Yuck!
2) Get things organized.  Go through cupboards, shelves, filing cabinets, closets and reorder and reorganize.
3) Get rid of stuff! We have a small house and a lot of stuff.  It's time to clean out the kids' drawers in preparation for warm weather (maybe this is a "if I get them summer clothes, the sun will shine kind of thing", I know I know, wishful thinking), clear space for upcoming birthday presents, get stuff ready for a garage sale.
4) Find a better system for my stockpiles.  My husband is happy with my saving money but I could use a better system especially for toiletries.
5) Do some finishing touches on decorations around the house, we need curtains for our bathroom, to finish my son's bedroom redo, reorganize my girls room now that the toddler beds are gone, etc...

I guess that's it.  Hopefully I can accomplish this goal!  Wish me luck!

Menu Plan

While I haven't exactly been posting my meal plan, I have been better about planning my meals this month.  I have also used some of my random leftovers from the freezer which was one of my plans for the month as well.  I am hoping to get my freezers organized soon and figure out a way to easily know what's in them and what stuff I have for a quick meal.  For example, last week I had leftover roast beef so threw together some quick pulled beef sandwhiches, they were so good.  And the week before I had leftover stuff for making stuffed shells, super easy to do and yummy as well.
This week, I have been struggling with my meal plan.
Here's what I have so far:
Sunday: leftover chicken/broccoli alfredo for adults and homemade mac and cheese for kids (I discovered you really can make homemade mac and cheese in the time it would take to make the boxed kind)
Monday: cheesy noodle bake from Pioneer Woman's cookbook, green beans, homemade bread
Tuesday: I am making a meal for a family at church and am struggling with this, maybe chili, maybe beef stew.  But whatever I make them, we will have as well along with homemade bread
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: might be a hot dog night or if it's nice, grilled chicken on the BBQ, not sure
Friday: Having friends over, maybe we will get pizza, haven't done that in awhile
Saturday: I have no idea

So that is sort of a half hearted meal plan I know.
But I thought I would share how I make homemade mac and cheese.  So much better than Kraft and it really is simple once you get the hang of it.  If you are an exact sort of person, this might be kind of hard b/c I don't really measure things for this except the butter and flour.  I use equal parts butter and flour for the rue but always just eyeball the milk and cheese.
The trick is the Rue sauce.  Once you have that down you are good to go. 
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
milk
cheese - truth is I mostly use Velveeta but you can use whatever kind you want
salt and pepper
-Get water started for boiling noodles, cook noodles until desired tenderness and drain.
-Melt butter in pan, add flour and stir together.  Add 1/2 cup or so of milk and wisk together, add some salt and pepper (the salt helps it boil and thicken). 
-When the mix starts thickening, add more milk a little at a time and wisk together.  When it thickens, add a little more milk.  I just eyeball this.  You can adjust the amount of milk to how many noodles you cook. The trick is to only add some at a time and let it thicken, that helps this process go fast otherwise if you add all the milk at once, it takes forever to thicken.
-Once you get the desired thickness and amount  you want, add cheese.  Make sure you keep stirring so it doesn't burn on the bottom.  This is something I also eyeball.  It just depends on how cheesy you want it.  I add some at a time and when I feel it is cheesy enough, stop.
-Add in noodles and mix together.

And there you have it.  Homemade mac and cheese.  Really quite easy and it takes so few ingredients and really not that much time.  And to be honest, it was way better than the leftover alfredo my husband and I ate!

Waiting on the Lord

All three of my kids go to Sunday school now.  Wow, that is really nice.  While I did enjoy having them in church service, it is nice to actually be able to sit and listen to the sermon.  I might actually start taking a notebook to jot down notes now that I don't have kids climbing on me and snacks to fetch, and potty breaks.
Last sunday was a good lesson to hear.  It actually was a fairly normal sermon as far as what I was getting out of it.  Then our pastors' final point, the one he really drove home, was one I so desperately need to hear.  This would have been a good time to have that notebook so that I could review it again and again. 
Waiting on the Lord.  There are a lot of verses out there about that topic.  We must need to be reminded over and over again though.  I know I do.
It is so easy to get frustrated with life.  Easy to want things to happen now.  Not later, now.  Forget that there could be a lesson to learn.  Forget that there might be something specatular that happens with waiting that might not happen without the wait.  Forget that God sees the big picture and not just this frame in time.  Forget that He really nows what is best for me. 
I have been struggling with some different issues lately.  I sort of feel I am in this holding pattern.  A holding pattern I don't want.  I am ready for  some things to happen.  But they aren't.  And honestly, I can't quite see how they might happen.  Or the solution.  But I know I want it to start happening.  I don't want to wait.  And I don't wait patiently well. 
Then I heard this:

Ps. 37:7 "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."

Ps. 27:14 "Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage.  And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

Ps. 37: 34 " Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land;"

Ps. 62: 5-8 "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.  In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God."

Lam. 3: 25-26 "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

That last one is one of my favorites.  It doesn't just tell me to wait on the Lord, but it gives me hope, peace, and something to look forward to.  It is a promise that when we wait, God meets our needs.  He will help us through it.  He will help us with the waiting.

And while our pastor didn't mention this verse, it is my favorite verse of the Bible.  And it fits in everything we do.  Whether waiting, whether acting on something, whether despairing, whether growing wearing.  It is a promise from God.  A promise that what we are doing is not meaningless in this life.  And that He has plans for us.  It fills me with hope in whatever situation I am in. 

Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." 

Chicken with broccoli and garlic sauce

Here is the recipe I promise.  It is really easy and uses stuff most of us have on hand which is great.
2 t olive oil
1 pound uncooked chicken breast cut in 1 inch pieces
1 t dried thym
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 cups broccoli
1 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
1 1/2 T cornstarch
2 cups cooked brown rice

-Heat oil in skillet, cook garlic stirring 1 minute
-season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper
-add chicken to oil and cook until browned on all sides
-add broccoli, cover and cook 2 minutes
-add 1 cup chicken broth, cover and simmer approximately 5 minutes
-in a cup, dissolve cornstarch in 1/2 cup broth, then add to skillet
-simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally
-serve over rice
For those of you who are gluten free, I don't know if cornstarch is gluten free but as long as you use gluten free broth, you are good to go.

Prayer Requests

It has been awhile since I have asked if you have any prayer requests.  It's not that I haven't been praying for my friends in general, but february was just sort of lost on me and I am trying to get back into some sort of rhythm.  So, if you have anything you want prayer for, please post in the comments.  I happily pray for you guys and it helps me to think of something besides my own woes:-)

Menu planning

This week is totally up in the air at this point.  Yesterday we ended up having leftover pizza from saturday when my mom watched the kids and that messed up my leftover night (tonight) and I just haven't sat down to really think about this weeks cooking.
Here goes off the cuff:
monday: crockpot chicken, parmesan noodles, broccoli
tuesday: I am undecided but maybe I will get adventurous and try something from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook which I just borrowed from my mother in law
wednesday: leftovers from tuesday or a big green salad with all the fixings- chicken, boiled egg, cheese, etc...
thursday: meatloaf, potatoes of some sort
friday: friend cooks
saturday: we are having pizza for lunch at a birthday party so maybe just a  movie night which means popcorn, cheese, crackers, summer sausage, apples

That sounds pretty good to me for just coming up with it on the fly.  I can't remember if I mentioned in my March goal or not but something I really want to do is try new dishes and if I am ambitious, I would like to try a new one every week.
This week I also plan on making  raspberry scones (made some sunday but took them all to the potluck so didn't get to enjoy them) and maybe some more zucchini bread or cinnamon rolls which were a huge hit and probably some cookies as I am trying to buy less of that sort of thing and make more homemade stuff.
Happy eating!

March

Here we are on the 3rd day of March and I haven't really gotten into my goal for this month yet.  I have sort of started on it but not thoroughly.
While I am still going to work on digging into the Word, and continue to be intentional about my sugar intake, I want to be intentional about my cooking.
With couponing, the idea is you stock up on stuff while it is on sale and plan meals accordingly.  I have been stocking up but I still by regular groceries for some things instead of going into my "stash" to shop.  Obviously, things have a limited shelf life so I need to be better about rotating it through and I need to be better about using my freezer stuff b/c come June, we will start adding berries to our freezer and it really needs to be cleaned by then.  That means I need to start being better about eating the food that is in there.
Plus, my kids seem to have gotten pickier if that is even remotely possible.  Making meals has become not a fun thing as my kids turn their noses up at most things.  My son is pretty good about trying stuff and he will actually eat beef which is nice.  My middle girl will try stuff and eat some of it but not everything.  My youngest however, now has a repertoire of about 5 foods and this includes pizza, quesadillas, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, and plain chicken.  So you can see my frustration and lack of joy when it comes to cooking. 
But, I my goal for this month is to meal plan.  To have things ready so I am not scrambling at 5:00 to figure out what to eat.  I also plan to involve my kids more in the hope that they will be more willing to try stuff.  Basically I just need to get organized.
So here is my meal plan for this week (and yes I know it is thursday but thought I would put stuff out there in case anyone wants recipes or to give you ideas)
Monday: Garlic chicken with broccoli and brown rice - this is a yummy weight watchers recipe that is super easy and so good.  I had forgotten about it (another reason to be organized with menu planning)
Tuesday: leftovers for hubby and I, the kids had noodles with either red sauce or Zesty Italian
Wednesday: beef tacos
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: crockpot pot roast with potatoes and carrots
            I am also making sausage biscuits for a shower saturday morning
Saturday: the kids are gone so we will be eating out :-)
Sunday: the main meal will be planned for next week but I need an Irish dish for a church potluck so if anybody has any suggestions, I am open to them.

I know we have a lot of leftovers.  That is something I am thinking about changing and if I can get organized I will.  But on the days I work, it is really hard to come home and cook so I usually make extra when I cook on Sundays and Tuesdays (for mondays and wednesdays -friday we have people over so that varies but if I am cooking, I try to do it on thursday)
Hopefully I will post next weeks meals on Sunday.  One thing my family did was sit down and make a list of foods we want for this month.  Another way to get the kids involved and make them feel they have input.
Happy March everyone!

Where Did February Go?

I know it is a short month but it went by really really fast this year.  Normally, I love February.  Coming off the long dreary month of January, it is usually a relief to me.  But this year not so much.  It wasn't a great month and I am glad it is over.
I haven't been blogging and I think part of it is because too much happened, I didn't have time or know where to begin and I didn't do so well on my February goal.  I started strong, reading 1 John but fizzled pretty quickly.  I have gotten through chapter 3.  This morning (as I was finishing chapter 3) I read this in John Courson's Commentary of the New Testament:
     "When our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts.  He knows all things.  He knows we are made of dust, that we make promises we can't keep, and that we are bound to fall and fail.  Yet He also knows that we are His and that He has a glorious plan for our lives."
Just when I was pondering my failures, God finds a way to reassure me.  It is really easy to condemn ourselves when we fail or compare ourselves to others and their accomplishments.  What a relief to know that God doesn't do that to us.  He already knows what we are going to do, yet He loves us anyway. 
When I was digging into the Bible, I did really enjoy it.  It was a nice change from just trying to finish reading the Bible.  This is something I am definitely going to keep working on.  And if you are looking for a good Bible Commentary I would recommend John Courson's Commentaries.  My husband got them for Christmas this year and I have really enjoyed them.  Plus, I have heard him preach several times and his teachings are solid and he is great to listen to.  I think his sermons are also on the radio.  He is our current pastor's brother and head of Applegate Christian Fellowship in Southern Oregon. 
And on to March...