menu plan oct 17-23

Last week was a bad week.  No, really, it was a bad week.  The only good thing is that, well... It was last week. Needless to say, a lot of repeats this week and I won't be eating Brown Bag Burritos for a while!  I didn't get a chance to make *anything* of what I had intended.  This week's already starting off better, so let's see.

Breakfast
Pancake and Sausage Muffins (x2)
Bagels and Cream Cheese (x3)
Cornmeal (x2)

Lunch
Hot Dogs && Apples (x2)
Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches (x3)
Leftovers (x2)

Dinner
Soup No, it wasn't from scratch.  It was instant.  I was tired, ok?
Cream Cheese Chicken with Broccoli and Pasta I'm so excited about this recipe! :)
Taco Potatoes with Corn and black bean salad

Rice, Beans && Pollo Guisado and Corn
Baked Potatoes with Fish Fillets and Salad
Taco Salad with Rice, Beans, Shrimp Scampi and Salad

Snacks
Pita && Hummus (Mmm!), Granola, Apple and Caramel (Yayy Fall!) and Cookies for Mama (only a couple of times as a destressor! haha)

What're you cooking up this week?

*This post is linked with Keeper of the Home's Plan-it-don't-Panic series!

the supermom myth busted!

photo credit

I don't know what it is about super-moms that appeal to us so much.  I know, I know, it is quite tempting to have the natural ability to do absolutely everything on our to-do list, raise perfect children and have perfect marriages meanwhile our home looks like it stepped out of a Pottery Barn catalogue.  Yeah, I know.

There's one thing that Supermom misses though.  The beauty of the village and community.  

"It takes a village to raise a child." --African Proverb

I love that African proverb.  I think it's so true.  I personally think it takes a village to do anything worthwhile for the Kingdom, especially related to families. 

We need a village to support us in our journeys through marriage in a divorce-minded culture.
We need a village to support us in our parenting Christ-loving, holiness-minded children of the living God.
We need a village.

And yet, we often don't like to ask for help.  We refuse help even.  We want to give the impression that we can do it all on our own.  But we really can't. There are times in our lives when help is imminent.  Right after the birth of a child; during the first trimester of a pregnancy; when we become ill; when someone we love has become ill, and on and on and on it goes.

We jump at the opportunity of helping others when their time arrives, yet cower back when it's our time and we refuse to admist we really do need the help.  Today, I want to challenge you to accept help when you so need it.  It doesn't mean you (or I) are not Supermoms, it means we're human and we've been specificially designed by our very intelligent and all-knowing God for community and partnership and relationship for one another.

menu plan Oct 10-16

This past week was a great one menu-wise.  We managed to stick with our plan with zero detours. Woop! =) This week is going to be one with a couple new recipes.  This next one coming up has been, by far, the toughest for menu planning.  Publix's deal were okay, nothing spectacular which made for a whole lot harder for menu planning.  Especially since we've run out of a lot of essentials. Hopefully I can get through it as seamlessly as I got through this past week.  But I need to head to the grocery store tomorrow after work, because we didn't get a chance to this past weekend.

I'm having a hard time with lunches.  I'm finding this is probably my biggest challenge, since I need to plan for both Caleb, myself and Aaliya with our varying schedules.  It's gotta be something quick and easy but filling at the same time (and preferably high in protein).  I would love any suggestions ya'll have!

Breakfast
Warm Vanilla Soother/Egg Whites and granola for Aaliya  Gonna give this a try. It's high in protein but I don't have to actually taste (hopefully!) the eggs. Let's pray this is good!
Pancake & Sausage Muffins (x3) I will get a great deal on turkey sausage at Publix this week, so I plan on making a big batch and freezing them!
Cornmeal (x2)
Scrambled Egg Mix and Tortillas Mexican Style! :)


Lunch
Leftovers
Sandwich (x2)
Brown Bag Burritos
That's all I got. :l


Dinner
Cream Cheese Chicken with Broccoli I'm so excited to try this crockpot recipe! If it's good, I'll post it up!
Brown Bag Burritos Yepp, they've become a family (especially Mommy!) favorite
Rice with Gandules and Avocado Salad
Taco Potatoes with Corn and Black Bean Salad
Rice with Pinto Beans and Pollo Guisado Crockpot Recipe; it's a slowly cooked spanish-style chicken
Cream of Pumpkin Soup Again, if it's any good, I'll post the recipe!
BBQ at Schepler's Home on Sunday

What are ya'll cooking up this week?

*this post is linked with Keeper of the Home's Plan-It-Don't-Panic series. 

what I love about Sundays

I'm not into country music.

Okay, maybe I am- sort of.

Either way, on our way home today the song that kept playing in my mind and in my heart is Craig Morgan's "What I love about Sundays"

photo credit

I've really wanted to create some sort of special traditions for our family on Sundays. I want our children to grow up looking forward to Sundays.  We are incredibly blessed to be a part of an amazing spiritual community that is not just a great support system, but they have truly become a part of our family.  My children call these families "Aunt and Uncle" and they relate to their friends as "cousins."  We have learned to love another and do life together not just in word, but in deed.

We love this. We encourage this. Every Sunday, we head off to our weekly celebration service (that's what we call Church) and then we make plans to go spend time with our Church family.  Whether we head off to a restaurant (it's the only time we allow ourselves to dine-out outside of special occasions) or cook with another family or a little of both, we spend time doing life together, playing, enjoying fellowship and serving one another. The men sometimes go off and play some basketball (because apparently, football tends to get a little too physical) while the ladies enjoy one another over a cup of coffee and great conversation.  The kids get to play with "new" toys and their friends every week.  It's such a beautiful day.

And I want to continue to make it special, weekly. For both, my children and our extended family.  I want Sundays to be the day when all is in order, and rest reigns.  A day where we rest solely on the love and grace of Christ and the wonderful families He's brought into our lives. I'm incredibly committed to this purpose.  Sunday Dinners will be a sacred, glorious time in our family's lives.  I promise!  

I'm taking suggestions. What do you do to make Sundays special?

That's what I love about Sunday

Sing along as the choir sways

Every verse of Amazin' Grace

And then we shake the Preacher's hand

Go home, into your blue jeans

Have some chicken and some baked beans

Pick a back yard football team

Nothin' much of anythingThat's what I love about Sunday

It's 35 cents off a ground round baby, cut that coupon out

That's what I love about Sunday

Cat-napping on the porch swing

You curled up next to me

The smell of jasmine wakes us up

Take a walk down a back road

Tackle box and a cane pole

Carve our names in that white oak

And steal a kiss as the sun fades

That's what I love about Sunday

Oh, new believers gettin' baptized

Momma's hands raised up high

Havin' a Hallelujah good time

A smile on everybody's face

That's what I love about Sunday

the secret to a successful, happy marriage

It's kind of funny, ironic in a God sorta way.  The last week and a half or so, many friends and fellow bloggers have zoned in on the subject of marriage.  Melany wrote an amazing post on loving our husbands a couple days back.  Then today, Mary Jo surprised me by writing on six ways to love your husband (even when you're exhausted) and of course Darlene is writing about marriage all month long over at Time-Warp Wife.

It's so beautiful how the Spirit of God is highlighting this area with so many young and seasoned believers!  The covenant relationship of marriage is supposed to demonstrate to the world the covenant relationship we, as believers, have with the Son of God.  He is likened to a Bridegroom throughout the Old Testament (Is 54:5, Isaiah 61:10, the entire book of Hosea), Gospels (Matthew 22:1-14) and even at the culmination in the book of Revelation (Rev 19:7-9). 

And yet, our fallen, sinful human nature in partnership with darkness has dampened this relationship that is so precious and dear to the heart of God. Caleb and I were talking last night-- one of those deep down, honest, raw, "this-is-how-I-really-feel" talks.  As we both spoke and bore our hearts, the common thread in every word, in every whisper of the heart was humanity; broken humanity.

That's what it kept coming back to.  And with the whisper of our human hearts came the whisper of the Spirit of God.  Suddenly I knew the secret to every successful, happy, seemingly-perfect marriage I've ever known or may think I know. (writer's note: I am not so naive as to think any marriage is perfect, but you and I both know of godly, mature, inspiring marriages that we'd like to emulate) 

The secret to those marriages is simple and yet so very complex; grace.  Not the noun grace, but rather the verb grace.  You know the one who's definition is such:

• the granting of a favour or the manifestation of goodwill, esp by a superior
• a sense of propriety and consideration for others
• mercy; clemency

Yeah. I kinda sighed heavily too. If only I learned to show grace instead of nag, or word-vomit all over him about my day when he comes home.  If only I learned that in all my insecurities and fears, he's not perfect either and he carries a set of imperfections just as well as I do.  I think if I learned to do that, I'd love my husband better and I'd be a whole lot happier.  Who says happily ever after doesn't exist?

What do you think?

menu planning Oct 3-9

This was quite the successful week with meal planning! :)  I am so very excited about continuing this and I've already seen our meal times (and budget) benefit from pre-planning.  This week I managed to make the Mama's Mac and Cheese recipe I picked up, and can I just say... we will never revert back to instant mac and cheese.  It's super easy and so much fun! I also *finally* made the brown bag burritos and they were a huge success.  We ended up having them twice for dinner (Mama wasn't feeling so good Saturday) and once for lunch.  I also sent some to my friend Rachel who just had her baby boy Noah Orion :) And hopefully they enjoyed them as much as we did.  We still have some leftover so we plan on having them for dinner once this week

I will admit, however, I've slacked on baking and haven't fully made the Amish Bread, but fully intend to make a batch Tuesday morning. :l  I've instead made eggs for Aaliya and skipped breakfast myself (eggs make me barf... no it's not mental, it's furreal).  Just a cup of coffee and an early lunch for me.

It's a super simple week.  Like I mentioned last week, financially, my budget was cut in half, so last week's grocery shopping has to last me until at least Friday. :l

Breakfast
Cornmeal (x2) Lots of it this week.  Budget, budget, budget. 
Amish Bread (x2)
Scrambled Eggs
Oatmeal
Waffles

Lunch
Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches (x3) Finally running out of bread... :l  Will probably go to the Farmer's Market to pick up some more. Sandwiches really work
Leftovers (x2)
Hot Dogs with Veggies
After Church Birthday Party on Sunday

Dinner
Rice, Red Beans, Shrimp && Steamed Veggies
Stuffed Chicken Breast w/Sweet Red-Pepper Sauce & Pasta
Chipotle Salad with Mexican Rice
Brown Bag Burritos
Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Sunday Dinner out with friends

Snacks
Whatever we can rummage. :l

What are you cooking up this week?