And yet a little while longer...

All I can say is, What a month! I really am going to commence posting soon...as soon as our routine is back to normal. Yikes, we've been going back and forth with illness in this house for about a month now, with it culminating last Thursday (after I had a Wednesday night fever of 106 YIKES!) with a trip to urgent care for our. whole. family. Yes, you heard that right, all five of us waited right on through dinner time for our turn. And then they couldn't take all five at once, so I went in with the baby and hubby went in with the other two boys. We left with hubby having a sinus infection and possible flu, myself having an ear infection (which has since turned double) and possible flu, Vinny our horse being perfectly fine, Andrew with the beginnings of an ear infection and possible flu, and the baby got away with an eye infection and a cold. So we headed on home with our 500 pound bag of prescriptions and are praying for TOTAL healing soon! I wonder how long it will be before we can laugh at this? I guess the fun side was that we were eating dinner when the youngers should have been in bed. Could you call that fun? I think the kids probably could. But I digress...

All that to say, I totally miss blogging and will be back soon, but as I'm getting better, my main priority is to make sure our home is CLEAN and that I'm getting back to cooking our meals. :) At least it will be a good time (at least for ME anyway!) to go back over what I've already worked on in Proverbs 31 and have a refresher week, and get myself back on track there. Although, hopefully, I think I can say besides being able to do meals, I haven't really gotten off track. :)

Anyways...

Lisa

Colds, apples, and paint, oh my!

Yikes, it's been awhile since I've blogged! I just wanted to let my readers know I'm still here and will be back to my regular blogging shortly. :) We've had a nasty cold sweep through our house (on top of that, the little one's been teething--BACK teeth, ugh!), so that's kept me "busy."

Today, we had our big apple harvest...I know, I know, ONE tree, but it's big for us! LOL! It is a VERY heavy producer, too. And, I found out what kind of apples we have...Haralsons. So, at the moment, I've got another crock pot full of applesauce going, and tomorrow I will be making apple butter. And now that the apples are bigger, the canned apple pie filling will be much easier. I may also try some apple-mint jelly if I can remember to get some pectin from the store.

We are also painting the master bedroom today! I just finished taping it up, and when hubby gets home, we will start painting. My dad helped us put a chair rail around the room, so we are doing two different colors for the bottom and top. I may do the bottom color before hubby gets home, but that's if I have time. My first order of business is to make sure the kids get a good dinner, that the house is in order, and that baths happen tonight, as we have church in the morning. :)

So, I will be back to posting the Proverbs 31 study this week as things wind down, but I will give you a hint and tell you that it will basically be a review of what's been covered so far before we move on. :)

Lisa

Menu Plans for the Week of 9/6/09

Sunday-usually, we just have leftovers for dinner, but we're having family over for lunch, so I'll post that menu. Chili and cornbread.
Monday-Swedish Meatballs, buttered noodles, cauliflower and cheese
Tuesday-Leftovers
Wednesday-Seven Layer Tortilla Pie (new recipe), Pineapple-Orange Ambrosia
Thursday-Leftovers
Friday-Grilled hot dogs, chips, baked beans
Saturday-Rarebit (Welsh rabbit), Curried mixed veggies, Pineapple upside-down cake

Lisa

On Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman Part 4

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. Proverbs 31:15

Yikes, this is one I seriously need to work on! It is very rare that I'm up before everyone else, and this is something I want to change. The problem in our house is, is that the kids go to bed way before hubby and I do, because of hubby's work schedule. He gets home late, so I usually end up staying up until he goes to bed. We both hated it back when I was working, and I had to always be in bed before he got home from work. What I need to do is take a nap between the time the kids go to bed and the time he gets home. I think now, especially with cutting out my computer time, this will be entirely possible. I'm not usually tempted by housework that late, either. ;)

I love how the Proverbs 31 woman makes sure everyone is fed, including her servants. Now, I know that most of us these days don't have servants like people did back then, but, I do like to consider servants those appliances that make my job easier. :) Such as my washer, dryer, dishwasher, coffee pot, oven/stove etc. So my goal is to make sure I'm up early, preferably before everyone else, and get my servants "fed" and going. If I can do that, a lot of my basic housework will be in progress. Then I will sit down and spend some time in the Word. This is another thing I know I've been missing. I will usually read my bible at night before bed, which I love doing, but I also want to be giving God the very first part of my day as well. I've said it before, and I stick to it, that when I make sure I am in the Word right away in the morning, my day ALWAYS goes better. Then, once I've spent time with my Lord, I can get the kids up and get them breakfast. Because of hubby's work schedule, he prefers to sleep in, so the kids and I will get our day started while he does that. ;) That way, he can wake up to a house that's in order, and a wife and kids who have had a good breakfast and are in good spirits. :)

My goal is to start this coming Monday. So on Sunday, I will make sure I am getting enough sleep so that on Monday, I can "riseth while it is yet night," and give God and my family the best part of my day.

Lisa

Up to my ears in apples

When we moved into our new house last year, it came with an already mature apple tree in the back yard. Yay! While the apples are not necessarily completely ready to harvest, lots of perfectly good apples have fallen on the ground, and the boys are quick to pick them up. ;)

We already have counted over 100 just off the ground alone, so I decided I better get busy finding ways to use them. The other day, I made a big pan of apple crisp, and today I got to work looking for other ways to preserve them. I made a crock pot full of applesauce, which I am in the middle of getting canned right now. After the kids go to sleep, I will also be making apple pie filling to can, using this recipe. I will probably also be making apple butter soon, too.

Here's the way I made the applesauce. I cored and quartered apples until they filled my crock pot. I added a cup of water and turned the crock pot on high until I could hear them boiling when I opened the lid. Then I turned them down to low and cooked them until they were very soft. I then ran the apples through my food mill to get rid of the peels and mush them into sauce. I put the sauce right back into the crock pot and added 1 cup of sugar and cooked it on low for about another hour. It turned out perfect!

Okay, my canner is boiling, so I better go take care of business. :)

Lisa

Proverbs 31 Offshoot 1

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. 1 Timothy 5:13

Today I posted on facebook that as of Friday morning, my account would be disabled. Why? I was reading in Created to Be His Helpmeet last night and was convicted. A section having to do with the above verse caught my attention and really convicted me. I may be at home, but by means of the internet, and especially facebook, I had been "wandering about from house to house" and using facebook "breaks" as a means to be a busybody. It had been taking up more and more of my time lately, and preventing me from being a good keeper of my home, mother to my children, and wife to my husband. And the most heartbreaking of all, the enemy had been using it to put more and more distance between myself and my Lord...and I was letting him do it. I was not really aware of it at the time, but still, I let him do it.

So, at that moment, I decided I was going to disable my account on facebook. And you know what? The Lord has already given me incredible peace about this and even excitement and relief. I will miss "being in the loop," but at the same time, it will be a relief not feeling "obligated" to keep up on things, and instead focus more on what I need to be doing in my OWN home. Yes, at the moment, my home is clean and the kids are behaving fairly well...but ever since I started getting more and more involved on facebook, things have ever so slowly been deteriorating around here. More and more I have felt myself struggle to do even the simple tasks I am supposed to be doing. More and more, I have felt myself become annoyed at being "bothered." Oy! Luckily, the Lord spoke to me and I responded before there were too many pieces to pick up, but there are, nonetheless, pieces to pick up. I almost feel like I have to start our routines all over again, and that is going to be HARD, but with the Lord's help, I will do it!

I am still keeping up my blog (I've been loving doing the Proverbs 31 study!), but my going around "visiting house to house" via *reading* blogs is going to be considerably lessened, if not stopped at least for a little while. I've noticed even that stresses me at times with thoughts of, "I wonder if I should be doing it that way, or that way, or that way..." which I have touched on before and have already significantly reduced the number of blogs I read. I have gone through my reader, and I now only have a select few blogs that I will keep on there. From my internet de-clutter before, I still only have one message board that I belong to, and have not joined any more, nor WILL I be joining anymore.

Ladies, PLEASE be careful out there. I strongly encourage you to not only *think* about the time you spend on the internet and how it affects your duties at home, but also to PRAY about it, and listen to what God is telling you! It is so convenient and easy (just a mouse click away!) to slip into the cares and worries of this world and let it take you away from what you are supposed to be doing. Let me leave you with another verse that is good to think on.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8

Lisa

On Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman Part 3

She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
Proverbs 31:14

This verse didn't really click for me at first, so I did a little research. Here are a few good links I found:
Be Like Merchant Ships
The Proverbs 31 Woman
This is something I am constantly working on, and yes, even struggling with at times. Like I have stated before, making sure I have meals made instead of going out is a big deal around here, and a lot of times I have the very good excuse, "I just don't always have time." As I said, it's a very good excuse with everything else going on, between homeschooling, housework, and just plain spending time and being there for my family. Nonetheless, it is still an EXCUSE that I need to put a stop to. I need to manage my time better so as to *make* time to make good meals. Now, there are times when there's just nothing you can do about the schedule for a particular day, but if those times are not VERY rare, you are trying to do too much. Take some time to re-focus on your priorities and get rid of everything else. Even in those rare times when you may not have time to make dinner, there's no reason you can't be prepared with something perhaps you've made ahead of time and stuck in the freezer. For us, even having a simple soup and sandwich night is better than going out and buying fast food...it's just not worth the money!

So, I will leave you with the above links to read. There's a lot of good info in them and they have inspired me, and hopefully will do the same for you. :)

Lisa

Dinner menus for the week of 8/23/09

Sunday-keeping it simple with leftovers. :)
Monday-crock pot roast beef with carrots, onions, and new potatoes, dinner rolls
Tuesday-Husband's Delight Casserole, salad, bread
Wednesday-leftovers if available, or soup and sandwich night
Thursday-BBQ chicken pizza, salad, fruit
Friday-Burgers and steak on the grill, corn on the cob, baked beans, chips
Saturday-I usually leave this open as hubby's off...we will probably grill :)

Lisa

On Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman Part 2

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
Proverbs 31:13

Okay, next in my journey, we come to verse 13. It talks about the Proverbs 31 woman working willingly with her hands. I take this to mean her hands are used for the good of her household.

How am I working on applying this verse into my own life? Well, this verse has inspired me to learn new things in the way of homemaking, to be able to do things as efficiently as possible while being as economical as possible. For instance, I have, and am still learning, to cook and bake from scratch. As I said in a previous post, meals are a big deal to my husband, so they are a big deal in our home. I am educating myself on nutrition and how to prepare things from scratch. Now I'm at the point where I cringe if I have to make something out of a box. I'm still not nearly as far along in this journey as many women, but I have come a long way from where I used to be.

I have also taught myself how to knit. I'm pretty slow at it still, but with more practice I will get better. :) That opens up a whole new world with what I need to buy versus what I can make. Same with sewing. I am a very amateur sewer, but I am working toward a goal to get to the point where I can make many of our needs in that department.

My ultimate goal is also to be able to take care of basic things without having to bother my hubby about them. Some ideas on what you can simply teach yourself are basic plumbing, basic home repair, etc. I don't believe in the "honey-do" list anymore (oh, trust me, I used to be all for it!). If there's something that *I* feel needs to be done and it's simple enough, I will try and learn how to do it myself. If for some reason I can't do that, or if it's something my husband prefers that he does instead of me, I will simply let him know what's going on and leave it at that. There are times when I catch myself nagging, so I do need to work on that a little. ;)

So, in conclusion, take a look at those wonderful hands God gave you, and think about how He wants you to use them in regards to your home. Speaking for myself, I know He made them to be able to handle a lot more than what I'm doing right now. So this week, let's work on finding ways to use our hands more around our homes, to better our homes, and to glorify God!

Lisa

Chicken and Dumplings

I made this for dinner last night and it was a huge hit! I took a basic recipe and modified and tweaked it to make it my own.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can chicken broth
water
1 10-12 oz. bag frozen mixed veggies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup flour
1 T chicken broth powder (I have a bucket of the Knorr brand from Sam's Club)
Pepper to taste
4 cups milk (roughly, I didn't measure, but that's my guess)
A recipe of your favorite drop biscuit dough, already made (I just used Bisquick)
*You will not notice any salt in this recipe because between the broth and the broth powder, there's plenty!

1. Place the chicken in a large stock pot and pour the broth over it. Pour in enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, and boil, covered, about 18-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked all the way through. Dump in the bag of frozen veggies about halfway through.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour, broth powder, and pepper; cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in the milk, using a whisk to make it smooth. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook about 2 minutes until thick, then take off the heat.

3. Back to the chicken...when it's done, leave the broth simmering and remove the chicken to shred roughly. Carefully put the shredded chicken back into the pot and bring back to a boil. Stir in the milk mixture and bring it back to a gentle boil. Gently drop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough onto the top of the stew. Keep it at a very gentle boil (almost a simmer), cover, and cook about 15-20 minutes. Do not stir! When it is done, the dumplings will look wet on the outside, but when you stick a fork in them and lift a piece out, it will looked as though it was baked (like a biscuit) inside.

This is basically a one-pot meal, so I just served it hot in bowls, and everyone ate it up. ;)

Lisa