-Mindless Menu-

Some of my dearest girlfriends suffer from 'chronic kitchen tedium'.  It is a horrible daily crisis that plagues them.  Picky eaters, selective eaters, and lack of motivation/enthusiasm are symptoms of their kitchen inhabitants.  Sadly, there is no prescription that will alter their circumstances.  What is a girl to do with this timeless question, "What's for dinner?"  I have given this some serious thought and have come up with a fresh idea---what if you only had to think about cooking 4x's a week!  

First, you need to sit down with your monthly calendar and take a good hard look your family lifestyle.  What are your busiest days that keep you out of the house all day?  What days are you usually home?  Do you have a morning or afternoon when you are typically home?  If you can define this piece of information, you can create a rhythm to your cooking habits.  For instance,  I am home on Tuesdays afternoons, we have no activities scheduled for the rest of the day.  So I make Tuesdays my TRIPLE IT day.  I will make a triple batch of spaghetti sauce or soup or chili.  Then I freeze what is leftover.  Wednesdays we are in and out so I keep that as our GRILL IT day.  Dinner is a snap when you can throw your meat on the grill.  Friday's is our PIZZA night.  I put the ingredients in the bread machine and dough is ready.  Everyone makes his or her own personal pizza and yums it up!  Perhaps you have a little time in the morning and can put your dinner in the CROCK POT.  Maybe you are super sonic busy and need 2 crock-pot nights; that's totally fine.  Therefore, what I am suggesting is to label your days of the week with your plan for cooking:

Mondays:  Kid Pick-cook your kids favorite meal
Tuesday:  Triple It (or double depending on your family size)
Wednesdays:  Grill It
Thursdays;  Family Favorites
Fridays:  Pizza night
Saturdays:  Crock-Pot or Left Over's or Dining out
Sundays:  Reap It (use your frozen 'triple it' food to eat today-NO COOKING)

This is so flexible.  Maybe one day would be a leftover day or a take-out night for your family.  You know your habits best and your financial status so tailor this to equip you schedule.  We try to eat fish once a week, have a meatless meal once a week, No fried foods here baby, no beef, minimal diary and pork.  We try to eat organic and I really try to keep it simple.  Veges are steamed (no sauces) or we have a salad.  Side dishes are your basic carbs; pasta (orzo is quick), potato, or rice.

Here is a glance at a month of meals for us:

• Kid Pick: 
• chicken wings, orzo, steamed vege
• ziti w/garlic bread & salad
• meatloaf w/potatoes and carrots
• linguine w/bacon & broccoli
• beach-a-roni
• Triple It:
• spaghetti (can use for Friday night pizza sauce too)
• chicken (you can use beef) barley soup
• chili & cornbread
• pea soup
• bean soup
• chicken noodle soup
• Grill It:
• burgers
• salmon or some other fish
• bbq chicken
• chicken sausages
• mahi tacos
• Family Favorites:
• teriyaki chicken
• garlic shrimp
• broccoli and  potato soup
• burritos
• butterfly chicken w/leeks, carrots, potatoes

We leave Saturdays as leftover days or the kids will get chicken nuggets and fries and hubby and I will order take-out sushi. I personally have not had a lot of corck-pot successes, but I am open for some ideas here gals!  Sundays is our reap-it day, after all it says not to work on the Lord's Day!  Now there is no legalism here, be flexible.  I hope that this will empower you to shop accordingly and whip up dinner because you have a plan.  Let me know if you would like a recipe, I am happy to share.

There is nothing-

There is nothing-

no circumstance, no trouble, no testing-

that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has

gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. 

If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose,

which I may not understand at the moment.  But as I refuse

to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as

coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to

my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will disarm me, no

circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in joy of what my Lord is.

That is the rest of victory.

A favorite prayer of mine from Alan Redpath.

My Man

I love that man of mine!  He works so hard!  He is a family man; he is a real man.  He juggles more than just his demanding job; he invents, he picks up side jobs, he repairs our house, he pays attention to his family, he serves, he looks out for his neighbor, and he invites you into his heart.  His desire is to be a Godly man.  As his helpmate, I try to do my part in equipping him with the precious time he has to integrate into the family shuffle as he transitions coming home from work. 
We try to sit down monthly and plan what lies ahead.  Part of the scheduling includes 'Daddy dates'.  Each child gets to pick one activity to plan with dad (hopefully it's a free activity!).  Our youngest has chosen going to the pool, Saturday's at Home Depot Kids Workshop, building towers, or doing science experiments together.  Our daughter likes to have breakfast, visit the horse farm, make origami, or go on a walk.  Our eldest will usually pick a food related thing like an ice cream or breakfast, or a hike.  One-on-one time is critical to our family, especially daddy.  He throws himself in 100% and you and he are the only 2 people in the whole wide world. 
He will write them notes of encouragement or jokes and stick them on their pillows or put them in their lunches. 
I try to get the books the older ones are reading on audio so he can listen to them on his way to and from work and engage in highlights of the story with them.  
We strive for Friday Family Fun Night that includes a devotional and some kind of interactive game.  Sometimes we let the kids pick and may end up with everyone making their own custom pizza and watch a movie. 
He and the older 2 are reading the Chronological Bible together and then journal and discuss what they read.  With our little guy, he is reading through a Children's Bible with him. 
He is the kind of guy that doesn't watch TV or care much for sports.  SO, when he has time he is never at a loss of things to do.  Our kids have many requests or needs that he very much wants to meet.  For instance, "Daddy my bike needs fixin', Dad can you help me with my algebra?, Dad how do I find something on the computer?, Can I get on the roof (that question just asked this very second)?"   I for one am glad to deflect some of the questions to the King!
We have kept journals for each of our kids since they were born and record milestones or funny things they have done or said in their notebook.  What a gift --Daddy's handwriting recording their accomplishments! 
I pray for my man.  He is pulled in so many directions and desires the righteous path.  If you need to jump start prayer for the guy in your life I would recomend The Power of a Praying Wife.  I keep this book on my nightstand and just turn to a section and pray the prayers right off the page of that chapter.  I know his weakness, he is human after all!  Pray over him as he goes off to work.  Ask him how you can be a better wife.  Be a fortress of strength for your husband, pray for him!
Blessings,
E.W.

A Shopkeeper's Story

If you are interested in reading a compelling Easter narrative, then Charles Swindoll's book Suddenly One Morning is a must read.  The story is through the eyes of a weathered Jewish shopkeeper on the main street of Jerusalem.  He notices a crowd gathering outside his shop.  Stepping outside his door, he looks down the street, expecting to see Roman soldiers throwing their weight around or a group of haughty Pharisees walking along in their religious garb, praying oh so holily.  But all he sees is an ordinary young Jewish man on a donkey.  As Jesus passes he glances at the shopkeeper and his eyes see him, really see him for who he is deep down.  Mesmerized, he pursues this mysterious man and his life changes forever.

The Dandylion Club

Life is messy!  Seasons can be achingly hard.  We all go through tough times.  God never promised us an easy life; He did promise that He would walk through life with us though.  Matthew 11:28-30 reminds us, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Jesus encourages us to cast our cares onto Him.  He can handle it!  So how do we do that; take our rest in Him, take His yoke, turn our burden over to Him...

Visualizing helps me to grasp what this is saying.  Children love, love, love to pick dandelions in the summer and present them to a loved one.  It is the one 'flower' that they are allowed to randomly pick without an adult saying, "Stop! Don't pick the flowers!"  The really cool thing about dandelions is when they are filled with those fluffy parasols that you can make a wish and blow all the parachutes off and watch them float away.  Now I am well aware that blowing away the seeds is perpetuating more seedlings into your grass, but you have to admit it is a fun thing to do.  Imagine that when you pick a dandelion that each fluffy parasol represents your problems, heartaches, disappointments, or uncertainties.  That deep inhale is so important when you are troubled, our breathing tends to be more shallow.  Breath in the Holy Spirit, let it fill your body.  Think about your troubles for a brief moment and blow those parachutes right into the capable hands of Christ.  There, just like that, you can turn your cares over to Jesus.  Sort of like a tangible prayer that you can believe that things will work out.  You might have to keep picking dandelions when the cares start wearing you down again and that is alright.  Our neighbors might starting asking question, and that is alright too! 
This reminds of this 20's generation of today.  I just love them!  They all seem to embrace this, "IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!" philosophy.  My sweet niece, mother of 4 all under the age of 4, has this mantra.  Our kids youth leader, at our old church, embodies this way of living.  People are calling in sick last minute and he is left with a little staff to teach Sunday school, and he is totally calm and just turns it over to Christ with a, "It will all work out," mindset.  Me...I fret and start multitasking, and planning, and phone calling until I wear myself out!  I really believe they are onto something healthy!  Therefore, I too am practicing this philosophy.  And quite honestly, things do work out exactly like they are suppose to with or without my fretting!  What about you, do you fall somewhere in the middle or are you more like my niece, or more like me??  I have a proposal.  I would like to start a Dandelion

Dandylion Club. 

This pendant is so cute I am going to order some and tie a ribbon around it for a necklace to remind myself that I can turn to Jesus to take over my cares and worries.  How about you, will you join me?  Then we will be like the Red Hat Society but something altogether new and different.  We can start a new trend as we see each other with our necklaces and say, 'It will all work out!'  You know when you find a penny on the street and you bend down to pick it up, not because you want the penny but because it says, "In God We Trust!" 

This amulet will be a relic of trusting Christ to care for our loved ones, for our circumstances, and for us.   

Blessings,

E.W.