Gratituesday: Little Things

Little things you say....what are little things? There are lots of little things in my house ;-) I am thankful to the Giver of all Good Gifts for the peaceful night I had last Thursday. Thursday nights, Rich works late at school to get his lesson plans, copying, and just to get ready for the next week. He usually is there 2-3 hours and it requires me to put the kids to bed on my own. Usually, Thursday nights are not pretty in my house. By the end of the day, my patience has worn thin, Bug knows how to push all my buttons, and will proceed to do just that. Last week, I was blessed with 4 cooperative children at bed time. Bean and the Boy both require a "lay down with", and it's hard to put everyone to bed at once for that. Bean had napped in the afternoon, so after doing story time with everyone, I sent her down to watch some Dora while I layed down and cuddled the Boy. He was a tired fellow, having been out to play in the snow at preschool and burning off some much needed energy. Bug didn't give me any trouble at all and obeyed all my directions and did her homework without any complaints. Bear usually has issues going to sleep when Daddy isn't around because she becomes more afraid. Last week, that wasn't the case. I can't begin to tell you how much of a blessing it was to have all the kids go to bed without a fight. I actually felt relaxed at the end of the evening.

Another little thing...we were blessed with an unexpected invitation to dinner Saturday evening. Everyone was greatful for that since Saturday was supposed to be clean out the fridge and eat leftovers day. We had a Delicious meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli Normandy with cranberry tangerine cheesecake and brownies for dessert. All I had to do was enjoy the meal and make the dessert. We also had a great time of fellowship with our friends while the children played.

And a Big Thing...In my house, there are 2-3 picky eaters that just won't eat "normal" food because it doesn't look or smell as they expect it to. Tonight I was feeling uninspired, unmotivated, and just plain lazy about dinner. I decided I would use a bag of frozen ravioli and some meatballs I had waiting in the freezer. Bug surprised me when I was draining the ravioli. "Those look like perogies. Are those perogies?" I explained that while they were similar, they get cooked in a different manner and didn't have mashed potatoes in them. "Well, what's inside?" she wanted to know. I figured I'd over-simplify my answer on the off chance that she might actually try it and told her "hamburger". She decided to try it since she liked perogies and hamburger. Lo and Behold, she did like the ravioli. Not only did she like it, but so did Bear, the Boy, and Bean, who didn't like ravioli the last time I made it for dinner. Then Bug proceeded to shock the pants off of me. She commented that she didn't like meatballs in spaghetti sauce, like they were, but wanted to try them. She ate one, then another, and i believe, she actually had a third. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to see our practice of insisting that everything goes on your plate even if you decide not to taste it is finally paying off and Bug is starting to taste it. She was an excellent eater oh say...about 5 years ago. She became picky shortly after Bear's arrival. I am hopeful and optimistic that she will return to her previously well appetited self. Mainly because I know that many of the things she comments negatively on I cannot get her brother to try because of her comments, and if I can just get her to eat it he is more likely to.

Thank You Jesus, for these little and big things that have brightened my past week.

For more Gratituesday, Head on over to Heavenly Homemakers.

Weekly Menu~ January 4

Monday
Lunch~ Macaroni and cheese, orange & apple slices
Dinner~Chicken Noodle Soup, veggie sticks, Hamburgers

Tuesday
Lunch~Ravioli, Toasted Cheese, Fruit
Dinner~ Spaghetti, Garlic Knots, broccoli

Wednesday
Lunch~Tomato Soup, toasted cheese, fruit
Dinner~ Lentil Rice Tacos*, rice, pineapple, corn

Thursday
Lunch~Peanutbutter & Jelly, Chicken noodle soup, fruit or veggies
Dinner~Fish, Shrimp poppers, broccoli normandy, pears

Friday
Lunch~Soup, bread, fruit
Dinner~ Pizza or Strombolis, veggie sticks, fruit

Saturday
Lunch~ Leftovers
Dinner~Steak Stir Fry/out to chinese if the kids are good

Sunday (Crock Pot Day)
Lunch~ Ramen noodles, leftovers
Diinner~ Bar-b-que pork roast, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, fruit

Taco Style Lentils & Rice


3/4 cup dry lentils
3/4 cup brown rice**
4 cups tap water
4 beef bouillon cubes
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

In a 2-quart saucepan bring the water to a boil. As the water is heating, add the lentils, rice, bouillon, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder. Bring the whole thing to a nice fat boil. Reduce the heat to low. Place a lid on the lentils and allow the mixture to simmer for about 45 to 50 minutes. The water should be mostly absorbed. You may serve this as it, topped with a little cheddar cheese if desired. Or you can use it to fill burritos or tacos instead. Both ways are very tasty.

**if you want to get the most nutrients out of your brown rice (or have super tender tummies like my house) Put the rice in the pan with 1 C of cold water and 1 TBSP of cider vinegar. Drain before cooking and follow the recipe as directed.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! What are your plans for this New Year? My first plan is to stay warm :-). I've been freezing cold for the past week. It seems that we're unseasonably cold, but I think reality is I'm just not used to it since the snow came late this year.

We will be working with Bean to use a big girl cup. No more sippys. It will make my life a little messier for a month or so, but it will be nice not to have to worry about dragging cups with us wherever we go. She will also be getting a big girl bed and moving out of her toddler bed some time in the next two months. My goal is to have the crib/toddler bed put away before Little Bit arrives. My last goal for Beanie is actually one she instituted herself. She is giving up naps. I am hoping that she will quickly learn the proper rest time procedure for resting on the couch. Even the Boy lays down on the couch for 30 minutes each afternoon and I will be in desperate need of that time myself once we get closer to and Little Bit arrives.

For the three big kids, Bug, Bear, and the Boy, I want them to pick up more responsibility around the house. Keeping their rooms clean, making their beds, putting away their clean clothes, clearing off their dirty dishes. I guess my goal for them is to return to the habit of keeping their chore charts and earning their allowance. I do have a few things I want to add in for Bug & Bear, like unloading the dishwasher. Bug also enjoys mopping and vacuuming, so I need to let go of those responsibilities and let her share in those chores too.

For myself...boy do I have a long list. I'll try to keep it brief, knowing that I will probably not make it through this month before most of them fall by the wayside. First, I want to cement the habit of daily prayer and Bible study time for myself. I go in fits and starts with this, which, I know is better than what used to do...nothing, but I so long to cement this habit in my life. I know everything runs smoother, chores get done, and I am a more patient, fun mom when I have my relationship with God is right. I want to blog at least 3 times each week, one of those times being my weekly lunch and dinner menu, which I hope to do a better job sticking to. The last main goal I have is to create a housekeeping routine and stick to it. Something along the lines of www.flylady.com. I have followed Flylady in the past and always "fallen off the wagon". I want to use the parts that work for me and stick to them.

I hope your New Year is full of Blessings and God's Best.

Kitchen Tip: Organizing a Chest Freezer

I was sorting through my chest freezer yesterday and I had a brilliant idea. (at least I think it's brilliant ;-)) Having just received some of the cow my parents had bought from my uncle, I was trying to take an accurate inventory and get the "old" stuff on top of my freezer, so it would get used. I took everything out because DH and my dad had put all the new beef on top of the old food. As I returned everything to the freezer, I decided to write down what was on each level. I have now taped to the top of my freezer a "map" of sorts that tells me what layer to find which type of food on. Here's what it looks like:

Left Side:
Basket:
pepperoni, peppers, whole chicken, onion rings, cranberries, 2 lemonades, 2 stew beef
Under the basket:
Muffins, 12-1#hamburger packages
french fries, broccoli, corn
fish, 2 bags of 8-1Cup pkg rhubarb

Right Side:
crescent rolls, bread dough, green beans
2- 2# hamburger, 1 pork chop
Bagged together (pork chop, 3 sirloin steaks, 2 pork roasts), 1 gal. bucket of homemade ice cream
2 soup bones, 2 2.5#bags chicken
3 beef roasts, 2 pork spareribs
3 5# bags of white wheat

We just have a small chest freezer. The smallest they make actually because that's all we had space for, but DH is forever afraid of me "losing" food in it like our mothers do, and I have to admit, I'd forgotten about the bags of chicken and spare ribs. I'm hoping that this way, I won't forget the things that got buried last time. I know I also need to keep track of what I've taken out. That's the hard part.

This post is linked with Kitchen Tip Tuesday's at Tammy's Recipes . So be sure to head over to Tammy's Recipes to see what other kitchen short cuts others have shared.

Menu Plan 12/14

We've got a busy week ahead of us. Parent conferences 2 nights, a doctor's appointment for myself and Bean, keeping on top of the housework, and Christmas Cookie baking.

Monday: Lunch: Peanut butter & Jelly, Chicken noodle soup
Dinner: Baked Hamburgers, scalloped potatoes, beans

Tuesday: Lunch: Macaroni & Cheese
Dinner: chicken nuggets, pears, green beans

Wednesday: Lunch: Toasted Cheese sandwich, tomato soup
Dinner: herb, garlic crusted chicken, mashed potatoes, peas

Thursday: Lunch: Lunchables-Kids, Birthday Lunch W/ Bear at school
Dinner: Pork Chops, rice, steamed carrots.

Friday: Lunch: Split pea soup, beer bread (probably leftovers from something else for the kids)
Dinner: Pizza, chips, veggie sticks

Saturday: Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: pasta with clam sauce, broccoli, garlic bread

Sunday: Lunch: Noodle Soup or leftovers
Dinner: roast chicken in the crock pot

Random bits

Have you ever just lacked motivation? I've been on the computer plenty, made up my menus and everything, just haven't felt much like writing. I'm sorry. It's not fair to you. I'd like to say we've been busy, but I really don't feel like I have. I've just been lazy. We have had a few changes around here though. We're all decorated for Christmas. I'm trying to get ready for Bear's birthday, which is in one week. We will be having our families up Sunday for the church Christmas program. Bug has a speaking part. Bear and the Boy will be sheep. I'm not sure if Bean will have a part or not. Since my parents decided to come for that, it seemed the best time for having Bear's birthday party. So, we'll have a houseful with sets of grandparents, my grandparents, most likely our niece, and my brother and sister. Of course, I feel compelled to do a nice dinner, but it's beginning to feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew just by prepping for the dinner and house cleaning that needs done any way. I just can't seem to find the motivation to get it all done.

Little Bit, though has been growing like a weed. I was convinced last night that I must have another kidney stone. I called my doctor wondering what to do, little by little the pain ended up going away. I've had a terrible ache in my back right above my one hip for the last 3 or 4 days. Yesterday, it got the best of me. Since I never did hear back from my doctor, rich and I decided that it wasn't a kidney stone, but more likely Little Bit was lying with her back to my belly button and her hands or feet were pushing on my kidneys. She finally moved and I think she's laying the "normal" way as I’ve not had any significant back pain since last night. She's starting to stick boney little appendages out of my sides too. Doesn't like when I rub them to try to get them to draw back in and not stretch, but she's a stubborn little one. She keeps them right where she wants them to be. She must at least be comfortable.

We've added a few new members to our family. On the Saturday after thanksgiving, DH let me get a dwarf hamster that I’ve been wanting for a while. She’s a cute little thing. The kids love to watch her and want to play with her, but the few times I’ve tried to handle her, I’ve been nipped. I don't think the kids would like that. Freckles was quite intrigued by her. I think she wanted to play with it too. She’ll stand up on her hind legs and just sniff at the cage and look at the hamster when it's awake. She has had her nose bitten for her curiosity too. Since I got the hamster, Rich got a few fish. Right now we have 2 tiger barbs and 2 zebra danias(sp?). For now, until he gets the tank cycled that's all the fish we'll have, but we're hoping to add 3 more tiger barbs, a catfish, and 2 pink fish of some kind. Each of the kids has requested a certain type of fish except Bean. The Catfish is for the Boy, tiger barbs for Bear, and the pink fish for Bug.

Menu Plan Monday 11/23-11/29

Here we are at the start of another week. Here's the game plan for the week.

Monday: Lunch~chicken noodle soup & peanut butter sandwiches
Dinner~ French Onion Soup or Pizza

Tuesday: Lunch~ Bologna sandwiches, soup, fruit
Dinner~ Denver Omelet/Frittata, toast, orange slices
Thanksgiving Prep~ Cook the bird in the crock pot

Wednesday: Lunch~ Toasted cheese and tomato soup
Dinner~ Tacos, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, rice and corn
Thanksgiving Prep~ Cranberry Sauce and pies

Thursday~ Lunch~ whatever...leftovers maybe
Dinner~ Thanksgiving Feast: Turkey and gravy, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce*, Mashed potatoes, green beans, Roasted Root Vegetables, Croissants, Pumpkin* & Pecan Pie

Friday: Lunch~ Leftovers
Dinner~ Meatloaf, potatoes and vegetables

Saturday: Lunch~ Leftovers
Dinner~ Pizza, veggie sticks, fruit

Sunday: Lunch~ Ramen noodles, leftovers
Dinner: Roast Chicken or Soup

*recipes will follow. today's just a busy day, so they might be a day or two.