Lunches

For four years I have packed my husband a lunch everyday for work. And to be honest I haven't really enjoyed it all that much. I did not complain or vocalize my dislike, it was just "one of my chores" that I have to do. But this summer it hit me, making my husband's lunch is a GREAT way to show him how much I love him, to refresh him with a little bit of home while he is out in the world, and just a great way to surprise him! So I have bought things that are only for Daddy's lunch. For example, plums, cottage cheese, roasted peanuts. If I have made a batch of cookies (which we pretty much always have cookies, because I have a little helper that LOVES to help) he gets cookies, if I have pears he gets a pear, if I made popcorn the night before I save some in a baggie. And the response I have gotten from Clay is hilarious! Yesterday he called me the lunch queen...I have always wanted to achieve that status. :) He has been so blessed by this little adjustment in my attitude, and so have I! It is fun to pack his lunches now because there is an element of creativity and love that wasn't there before. I just wish I would have thought of this a little earlier, but I thank God (and my husband) for His patience with me! So happy lunch packing!

What to do with the cucumbers...

Smitten Kitchen is a great blog for fun and beautiful recipes. This one looks beautiful and yummy, and you can put some of those cucumbers to use! Happy Harvesting!

New Favorite Blog

Nourishing Days is my new favorite blog. Mainly because she gives me hope and encouragement for our new diet. Some months ago I started feeling pretty rotten, everyday. We thought I was pregnant because I was nauseated and tired, what felt like all the time. I felt like this for months, I was afraid to go anywhere by myself because at times I thought I would pass out. A couple days of Daddy staying home from work and a blessed doctor's visit, we found out I had quite a few food allergies/sensitives. I never thought my symptoms could be food allergies. As soon as I cut those foods out my symptoms went away! Don't get me wrong, I still get tired --- I have two littles to love on all day long. But it isn't the fatigue like before, that was like fluish feeling --- wanting to crawl into bed and stay there. We have learned a lot about food allergies and the causes. You may have food allergies and not know it. Additives and preservatives, stress, eating too much of the same food, and other factors are all causes. But, our bodies have the ability to heal themselves and we are hoping mine does.

Our food budget is the highest it has ever been, and me, miss cheapo is okay with that. My food prep sometimes takes a little longer. And it is tricky when people invite us over b/c I have to ask what they are preparing and I feel awkward doing so. I feel awkward because before this I thought "what is the thing with all this gluten free???" And I pray they are not thinking that. No compassion. That's the great thing about suffering, compassion and obedience are produced. I am SO thankful this happened to me. We are eating healthier than we ever have, and I have only scratched the surface --- I am much more understanding and prayerful of peoples needs --- and I feel closer to our Lord than I have in a long time. Anyhow...enough about me and my food issues :) check out this blog and look at her recipes and try one. Just do it, I get intimidated and then I do try something and think "why did it take me soooo long to try that?" :) Bon Appetit! (from Julie and Julia, good movie.)

Athan is Growing...And one of our dinners. :)

This is his favorite place, the basket where the dvd player and remotes stay.



He achieved his goal. We are trying to teach him "no touch" when it comes to this basket and the remotes. But...for the sake of a cute picture and history I wanted the picture! He is so cute!


~FOOD~

I really enjoy it when others blog about recipes, food, and their family menu. So here is one of our meals. It is a simple one, but healthy and delicious. It is an open face sandwich, hamburger on a slice of my homemade wheat bread, topped with onions and sweet peppers. I ate my burger with salsa and Clay enjoyed his with bbq sauce, and Ellie, beloved ketchup. On the side we have rice with butter and two peeled navel oranges in the bowl. We eat a lot of fruit. My husband loves fruit, I think I have eaten more fruit in the past 3 1/2 years we have been married than ever before. A lot of times I will cut up some apples and an orange, pineapple, grapes, or whatever I have and put the cutting board on the table. Not only can everyone get their fill but it looks lovely as well. We really liked the onions and sweet peppers on top the hamburgers. I doubt this meal cost over $3. Navel oranges are $.99 for a four pound bag.

On a side note, Clay and I watched "Julie and Julia" last night. Some friends from church recommended it. To tell you in one sentence, it is about Julia Child and the beauty and blessing of food. We loved it! It was a very well told story, fun and creative, and inspiring. It will make you want to wear some pearls, a pretty apron and cook, cook, cook! :) I really loved it because I remember as a little girl watching her on Saturdays on PBS. Tonight, go to Red Box and rent it. :)

Enjoy your night and Lord's Day tomorrow!

Garbage Disposal

What should not be put down a garbage disposal...

1. a penny (In my defense I think it was down there before we moved in)

2. a match stick (that was an accident)

3. egg shells

4. an apple core

5. the big, nubby end of a carrot

6. the little plastic part to a child's sippy cup (accident)

7. a spoon (accident)

8. popcorn kernels (that was a big no no)

9. the little branches that grapes come on

My patient husband has become quite the expert on unclogging a garbage disposal. He said to me one day...I know you love having this thing, but you could hold back a little bit...he is so funny.

No Money left in the envelope :)

Like a lot of people on a budget we do the envelope system. I love it, I actually stay within our food budget. I really think there is something psychological about seeing your money as opposed to just swiping your debit at the check out. Well, like the title says, I have no more money left in my grocery envelope, but that is okay I get to go shopping again on Saturday. But this quick post is about a couple ideas I have done when your food is running low and you are really trying to stick with the budget. :)

1. Shredded carrots make a really good and different pizza topping. I tried Saturday for our lunch and we didn't even taste the carrots they just added a lot of sweetness.

2. Calzones instead of pizza. Are you running low on cheese, topping ideas, everything? Make several calzones instead of a pizza and your family will not know. Dinner at our house tonight will be calzones that are filled with a little ground beef, onion, potato, and cheddar cheese. On the side I will have carrot sticks and chilled bowls of canned pears. I know my husband will love it --- beef, cheese, and potato all wrapped up together. :)

Those are my only two ideas right now...have a good dinner and evening with your family.

New Scone Recipe

Tonight after church I wanted to make a treat for my family. I was thinking oatmeal cookies but then thought...mmmm....scones sound good. My husband LOVES foods that go well with coffee/hot tea --- scones, shortbread cookies, biscottis, etc. If I want a new recipe I usually go to the Taste of Home website because they are not only good but practical (the kind of recipe you would have the ingredients for :). The scones turned out great! The recipe calls for 2 C. of flour, I did one cup white and one cup whole wheat. I also added cinnamon, you could probably add anything you wanted, chocolate chips, coconut, cranberries, etc. The main reason I chose this recipe over ALL the others is because it only called for 1/4 C. of butter. :) Scone recipes usually call for a lot of butter, so we were really happy that this one did not and was still very tasty. You can find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Baking in a Crock Pot

I got the idea to bake in my crock pot from here ---- I can not take the credit for this idea. I was really interested in trying it, but also really skeptical. I made a simple coffee cake recipe. I did not make the crumble topping I usually do because I did not want to waste more ingredients if it did not turn out. :) Another change, the recipe calls for 1 1/2 C. flour, I did one cup white and half a cup whole wheat. Well, after one hour and fifteen minutes on high in the crock pot we a had a really yummy and moist cinnamon coffee cake! I am excited about this, about not heating a big oven for a small something. You can see in the first pic that it is just a bread pan right in the crock pot, and your lid should still rest well on top even though the pot is removed. Try it, it is fun. :)