A very busy weekend ahead...
Tonight we had to go to church to get our picture taken for the picture directory. None of us wanted to do it... but we did - :) Went casual rather than dressy.
Tomorrow morning we have the monthly opportunity to go to church, again, to hand out Angel Food boxes. This month we have only 21 ordered. We need to make it more but are at a loss...
Tomorrow afternoon is a day of baking - bread and cakes. We have Dinners for Eight and we have to take dessert - Apple Cake (yum!). On Sunday we, of course, will be in church in the morning. After church DH has to stay behind to help teach membership classes. I have to provide food for the classes... about 21 people - tuna fish, fresh bread, macaroni salad!!! Then we have Bible study in our home at 6:00. A very full weekend.
Monday we start it all over again... Monday is our busiest day in our home - laundry, cooking, baking, cleaning up after the weekend... getting back into school work...
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday evening
Today is Tuesday. I have been pretty busy today. I've decided that living frugally is NOT easy or for the faint hearted... it is alot of work!! Making chicken stock/salad is alot of work - -- making the stock, letting the chicken cool, pulling it all off the bones, etc.... whine, whine, whine :) Actually, I'd have it no other way. I LOVE being a stay at home wife/mom. I do not want to return to the work force any time soon. Baking bread daily, home made suppers (which I've always done), cleaning, sewing, some gardening - need to do more, tasks around the house... making our house into a home... LOVE IT!!!
Today I made myself stay downstairs to finish laundry, clean up the dishes (dishwasher broke last night), make sure school work was started and on task... THEN I made my way upstairs to finish cleaning/straightening the sewing room - I cannot wait to get it done. Almost there. I've taken everything from downstairs that I had connected with sewing and took it upstairs. Still organizing it all. I did keep the two quilts I'm handquilting down in the family room so I can work on them in the evenings.
I know tomorrow I will be working on a memorial video for dear friends of ours to take with them to use at the memorial service in OH. We had one done for here but some of the pictures were out of order - that should not take too long.
I have a new bread dough to use too. It's in the fridge - can't wait 'til tomorrow to taste it - buttermilk bread!!
Today I made myself stay downstairs to finish laundry, clean up the dishes (dishwasher broke last night), make sure school work was started and on task... THEN I made my way upstairs to finish cleaning/straightening the sewing room - I cannot wait to get it done. Almost there. I've taken everything from downstairs that I had connected with sewing and took it upstairs. Still organizing it all. I did keep the two quilts I'm handquilting down in the family room so I can work on them in the evenings.
I know tomorrow I will be working on a memorial video for dear friends of ours to take with them to use at the memorial service in OH. We had one done for here but some of the pictures were out of order - that should not take too long.
I have a new bread dough to use too. It's in the fridge - can't wait 'til tomorrow to taste it - buttermilk bread!!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
February 21, 2010
Well, it's been a couple of days...
Today I had a garage sale. VERY poor outcome. We are not allowed to put out signs anymore - - - unless, of course, we buy them from the city. Like DH said, "Most people having a garage sale do it because they NEED money." We bought no signs - BUT we had only three people show up - a man down the street, a friend from church and our next door neighbor... :( Alot of work for $25.00 is not really worth it. Our sewing machine will go on Craig's list. The bird cage went back to the neighbor's - making DH upset - he wanted a bird... we've had the bird cage in our garage for about three years - no bird to date... he was not happy that the neighbor took it back (it'd been on their garbage heap) for $5.00. Had I known - - we'd still have it, but...
We went out to eat at Olive Garden with in-laws and stepdaughters. Nice meal. Love their food.
We are now relaxing and shutting down for the night. Church tomorrow and then Bible study at our house tomorrow night - Max Lucado's "Fearless". Good study.
Today I had a garage sale. VERY poor outcome. We are not allowed to put out signs anymore - - - unless, of course, we buy them from the city. Like DH said, "Most people having a garage sale do it because they NEED money." We bought no signs - BUT we had only three people show up - a man down the street, a friend from church and our next door neighbor... :( Alot of work for $25.00 is not really worth it. Our sewing machine will go on Craig's list. The bird cage went back to the neighbor's - making DH upset - he wanted a bird... we've had the bird cage in our garage for about three years - no bird to date... he was not happy that the neighbor took it back (it'd been on their garbage heap) for $5.00. Had I known - - we'd still have it, but...
We went out to eat at Olive Garden with in-laws and stepdaughters. Nice meal. Love their food.
We are now relaxing and shutting down for the night. Church tomorrow and then Bible study at our house tomorrow night - Max Lucado's "Fearless". Good study.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Recipe!!
Today I am experimenting... our food money has greatly decreased due to my coming home from working for 9.5 years. I am having to get creative with food - it's actually fun and challenging... Here is what we are having for supper tonight...
1 pkg. dried Northern beans (I guess you could use whatever kind you want)
Soak them overnight
In a big pan saute 1 chopped onion and two or three cloves of garlic (depends on your taste) in olive oil. Not alot of oil...
Add chicken broth (I use homemade - cheaper :) ) I used probably 4 - 6 cups but it depends on how much soup you want to make. I did add about 3 c. of water. Add soaked beans (I also added about 3/4 c. of lenitls) and bring to a boil. Then simmer. About two hours into it I added some seasoned raw chicken breasts (two) cut into chunks. Then I added 4 peeled and diced potatoes also. Turned it up to 3 for a bit then back down to simmer. About 1 hour later I added some leftover brown rice. The last 45 minutes or so I will add some Chinese cabbage and let that cook... maybe some Swiss Chard also. So tasty. I will add salt and pepper at the end - or let each person season his own. We have fresh made rye bread to go with it.
I know this is not a recipe per se - but when I cook I just cook - never measuring anything... there is much room for adding whatever you'd like - If I'd had celery I'd cut some up and put it in with the onions too. Maybe even a carrot or two. And if I had a small can of tomatoes or a fresh one I'd put it in also. The beauty of soups - you can add just what you have/want and it will still tasted good!! :) Hope you enjoy some.
1 pkg. dried Northern beans (I guess you could use whatever kind you want)
Soak them overnight
In a big pan saute 1 chopped onion and two or three cloves of garlic (depends on your taste) in olive oil. Not alot of oil...
Add chicken broth (I use homemade - cheaper :) ) I used probably 4 - 6 cups but it depends on how much soup you want to make. I did add about 3 c. of water. Add soaked beans (I also added about 3/4 c. of lenitls) and bring to a boil. Then simmer. About two hours into it I added some seasoned raw chicken breasts (two) cut into chunks. Then I added 4 peeled and diced potatoes also. Turned it up to 3 for a bit then back down to simmer. About 1 hour later I added some leftover brown rice. The last 45 minutes or so I will add some Chinese cabbage and let that cook... maybe some Swiss Chard also. So tasty. I will add salt and pepper at the end - or let each person season his own. We have fresh made rye bread to go with it.
I know this is not a recipe per se - but when I cook I just cook - never measuring anything... there is much room for adding whatever you'd like - If I'd had celery I'd cut some up and put it in with the onions too. Maybe even a carrot or two. And if I had a small can of tomatoes or a fresh one I'd put it in also. The beauty of soups - you can add just what you have/want and it will still tasted good!! :) Hope you enjoy some.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
February 14
Today is Valentine's Day. It's a not-so-big-deal day at our house. Sometimes we've done cards and maybe a box of candy, but we don't make a big deal out of it. We just figure we all know we love one another and would rather save the money for other things. :) We used to buy the kids a small box of hearts, but that is not done any longer either - they are too old.
We went to church this morning. Great sermon. You can hear it, and others, on our website - http://www.graceemmanuel.com/ .
This morning we knew we'd need to warm up the house again - like last night when I made cookies - just to turn on the oven!! :) This morning I got up early enough to make bread... warmed up the house nicely and made the house smell wonderful. We had a fresh loaf of rye bread for lunch!! So tasty.
Normally, I take a nap on Sunday afternoon but not today. We f inished lunch too late this afternoon and then we went to turn in our Angel Food orders today. After that we went to church where we began our new Bible study. Fearless by Max Lucado. Gonna' be a good one!!!
Tomorrow I will meet with a dear friend whose brother just passed away and she wants me to help her make a movie of his pictures. I love being able to halpe out with that.
Well, time to close up shop and relax with DH for the rest of the evening.
We went to church this morning. Great sermon. You can hear it, and others, on our website - http://www.graceemmanuel.com/ .
This morning we knew we'd need to warm up the house again - like last night when I made cookies - just to turn on the oven!! :) This morning I got up early enough to make bread... warmed up the house nicely and made the house smell wonderful. We had a fresh loaf of rye bread for lunch!! So tasty.
Normally, I take a nap on Sunday afternoon but not today. We f inished lunch too late this afternoon and then we went to turn in our Angel Food orders today. After that we went to church where we began our new Bible study. Fearless by Max Lucado. Gonna' be a good one!!!
Tomorrow I will meet with a dear friend whose brother just passed away and she wants me to help her make a movie of his pictures. I love being able to halpe out with that.
Well, time to close up shop and relax with DH for the rest of the evening.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
February 13
Well, I will try to be faithful to posting here. Just a diary, so to speak, about how home and what we do.
Today was nice and quiet. DH went to our church men's breakfast first thing. When he came home I had the dishes done, the bread dough for the week rising, and the kitchen floor swept. We'd discussed going to the plant sale, but we just went about chores. DH went to clean the fish tanks and make sure the water was warm enough - only to find one of the tanks was TOO warm :(. The fish were all dead. He'd put the heater in last night for '30 minutes' and it ended up being for the whole night - he forgot about it. All the other tanks were fine.
The boys and I had cleaned out our storage area last week and today I began re-folding all my sewing fabric in the neat new way I learned on line the other day. I have YARDS of fabric and this new way is SO nice and neat. It takes up such less space!! We are going to store it in the storage room instead of the sewing room - so as to make room for sewing in the room!!! I have not purchased any fabric for a year and still have PLENTY to use up... I am preparing for some Green Market items and some craft fairs. I am hoping to bring in some money this way. DH has asked me to work part time again as we could use some more income right now. I hope to be able to make enough to keep replinishing what I need to make more things to sell PLUS at least enough to help out with the grocery bill. I'd rather not work away from home again. I enjoy my days here too much. Lots of prayer going into this.
We went to the plant sale after a bit. Saw nothing we couldn't do ourselves so purchased nothing. We then headed north to see if we could find a trailer. DH needs one to deliver the ocassional refrigerator, taking things for shipment to Haiti and perhaps to be used for camping in N FL. We found one at a really good price - I hope he goes back and gets it next week. It is brand new and comes with a three year warranty. Good deal.
Then we wen to take some soup to a friend who had foot surgery on Thursday. She is doing well and we are blessed to be able to do this for her. We love helping out when we can with a meal here or there for others.
Now, this evening I will be busy preparing Media Shout for our church service tomorrow. DH is napping on the couch and the boys are upstairs playing games. I'm sure we will be eating soup for supper.
It is COLD here today so we'll stay in for tonight.
Today was nice and quiet. DH went to our church men's breakfast first thing. When he came home I had the dishes done, the bread dough for the week rising, and the kitchen floor swept. We'd discussed going to the plant sale, but we just went about chores. DH went to clean the fish tanks and make sure the water was warm enough - only to find one of the tanks was TOO warm :(. The fish were all dead. He'd put the heater in last night for '30 minutes' and it ended up being for the whole night - he forgot about it. All the other tanks were fine.
The boys and I had cleaned out our storage area last week and today I began re-folding all my sewing fabric in the neat new way I learned on line the other day. I have YARDS of fabric and this new way is SO nice and neat. It takes up such less space!! We are going to store it in the storage room instead of the sewing room - so as to make room for sewing in the room!!! I have not purchased any fabric for a year and still have PLENTY to use up... I am preparing for some Green Market items and some craft fairs. I am hoping to bring in some money this way. DH has asked me to work part time again as we could use some more income right now. I hope to be able to make enough to keep replinishing what I need to make more things to sell PLUS at least enough to help out with the grocery bill. I'd rather not work away from home again. I enjoy my days here too much. Lots of prayer going into this.
We went to the plant sale after a bit. Saw nothing we couldn't do ourselves so purchased nothing. We then headed north to see if we could find a trailer. DH needs one to deliver the ocassional refrigerator, taking things for shipment to Haiti and perhaps to be used for camping in N FL. We found one at a really good price - I hope he goes back and gets it next week. It is brand new and comes with a three year warranty. Good deal.
Then we wen to take some soup to a friend who had foot surgery on Thursday. She is doing well and we are blessed to be able to do this for her. We love helping out when we can with a meal here or there for others.
Now, this evening I will be busy preparing Media Shout for our church service tomorrow. DH is napping on the couch and the boys are upstairs playing games. I'm sure we will be eating soup for supper.
It is COLD here today so we'll stay in for tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
