Prayer Request

For those of you who read my blog and pray please pray for my daughter Sydney. She has been having some dizzy spells and headaches. Today her pediatrician ordered a fasting glucose test. She will fast tonight and have the blood work done in the morning.

Sydney has been pretty healthy and has not had any blood work done since she was an infant, needless to say she is nervous about the test. She wrote about it on her blog today. My biggest prayer request would be that the doctors have wisdom and find what is causing her issue and then the other would be that she is able to get some sleep tonight and feels as calm as possible in the morning.

The great news is that other than the above she is very healthy as are her brothers who had their yearly check up on Monday. Thanks in advance, I know God is in control and loves Sydney even more than her father and I do.

Meal Plan Monday

Well let me tell you last week was a real challenge! We went without meat, additives, convince food and refined sugar. My husband is feeling better and I found some creative ways to cook. Since we all felt better and saved money we are going to continue to limit our meat and try to cut out most additives and preservatives. So without further ado my menu.

Monday Lunch grilled cheese and fruit
Dinner Spaghetti, salad and whole wheat garlic bread

Tuesday Lunch tomato and cheese Quesadias
Dinner Sticky Chicken, scalloped potatoes and green beans

Wednesday Lunch Clean out the fridge surprise
Dinner Minestrone soup, rolls and fruit salad

Thursday Lunch Chicken salad
Dinner Black bean tacos, Spanish rice and chips and salsa

Friday Lunch Nachos with left over black beans
Dinner Pizza Margherita

Saturday Lunch Vegetable Pitas and soup
Dinner Pasta Milano and french bread

Sunday Lunch Calico Chili
Dinner Waffles

Looking for more recipes? Be Sure to check out the host of Menu Plan Monday

It's Time For Change

For the last several years our family has slowly been making changes to eat better, spend less money, make good choices for the environment all while trying to support local business. I thought I would write a post about our experience but soon realized it would take several. So... here is the first one that kinda gives you an idea of how it started as far as what we buy and where we buy it.

It started several years ago when I got sick of the "Giant from Bentonville". I will not list the store name but I am sure you know who I am talking about. Every time I went in those doors I got a a bad vibe. Everyone is rushing around, it's hard to find help and when you do they are not much help. I never had a trip where I did not have to listen to someone yelling at their kids or fighting with their spouse. It was awful. I got to where I avoided shopping there. However it was still my husbands choice place to shop because we could get everything in one trip. One day my husband and I were in there grabbing some socks for him and I over heard a lady tell her husband "well it doesn't matter it's cheap and if we get a few months from it it's worth it. UGH.... was all I could say. Yes, it actually came out of my mouth. My husband looked at me and said "what's wrong." I am sure he wished he had not asked. All the way to the check out I proceeded to tell him it all. Years of emotions about this store poured out. To my amazement he agreed with me. Our final agreed opinion is that this store encourages such a throw away mentality. You know, you need a blue T-shirt so you run by the super store and look... they have one for $3.99 perfect because all you have is $5.00. You take it home it shrinks, fades and gets holes in it before it is a month old, but not to worry it was only $3.99. You can always run down the street, after all they are on every corner, and get another one. They sell stuff so cheap that it is almost disposable, well actually it becomes that way. You buy it cheap, it last a few months, you throw it away and buy another one. Irons use to last years and guess what they were mainly made of metal, not plastic.

The majority of their products are imported junk! This takes jobs away from Americans and closes down factories and companies here. All while leaving us with garbage that clutters the house and fills our landfills.

Hungry, how about some fresh imported lettuce for only $.99 or bananas that cost us next to nothing, it would make you sad to see how these farmers live in Guyana, South America. My husband took a trip there and came back with horror stories. They live for a year on what most people spend in one trip to the store. Why, because they have to take what they get for their labor just to survive. Do you think these giants offer much? Like eating fish? They have a nice cabinet with some "fresh" frozen/thawed fish directly from a third world country and do the powers that be care if the country it comes from has substandard quality checks, it's cheap. Really how can local produce stands or garden stores compete against the Giant? They can't. Not without our help.

Well after rattling on to my husband he asked we what I was going to do about it? How was I going to make a difference? Good question. Without even thinking I said " I refuse to shop there!" You should have seen the look on my kids face. I know they thought I was crazy. I am sure they wondered if it was even possible. Well it is! I now buy my fabric at a local store, we have a garden store down the street to buy our plants and get excellent gardening help from and I can buy my produce at the local farmers market or even better I can go into my back yard and pick some for next to free. I have even been able to find better quality clothing by watching for sales or making it. I do shop second hand store but we also do sometimes like to pick up new things.

I realize for some of you reading this you are thinking there is no way around the superstore on your budget, but there is. I am a SAHM to three children and we make it on a very limited budget. It takes creativity but with a small amount of time you can make a difference.

I plan to do a weekly post laying out how to save money while getting better quality items. So, be sure to check back often! You and your purse will be glad you did.

Not sure if you agree with me? That's ok. Here are some quick facts:
1. An astonishing 46 percent of the children of ...... workers are uninsured or on medicaid
2. ...... alone accounted for over 13% of the US annual trade deficit of $162 billion.
3. Over 80% of .... suppliers are located in China because of their cheap labor cost.
4. The typical employee working full time at..... makes just $9.68 per hour, or $17,600 a year, well below the official poverty line for a family of four.
5. Only about 44% of there employees can afford to enroll in the medical plan they provide.

Want more info on how this superstore is destroying us, check your local library for The Bully Of Bentonville by Anthiny Bianco. You would be amazed by the number of books written on this subject/store.

I'm Still Here

I can not believe I have not posted until today. We have had a busy week so far but it has been good.

I did not post my meal plan this week because Sunday my husband starting having, what we think to be, gallbladder issues. So... out went my menu for the week. Since Sunday afternoon we have had no meat, no dairy, nothing fatty and he has taken caffeine out of his diet. I tried but could not give up the caffeine yet. I have one cup of coffee in the morning and usually 3-4 glasses of iced tea during the day. I gave up my coffee and tried the tea but today the headache was too much and I caved in. I asked him if it would bother or tempt him and since he said he was okay with it I poured myself a big glass of tea with my lunch. I figured if I was having withdrawals I probably should decrease my intake but I can not do it cold turkey. Weak, I know!

Meals have have actually turned out pretty good and we have talked for long time about cutting back on meat so this gave us the push we needed to implement it. For five days we will have no meat then if we will try to limit it to 1-2 times per week. We eat lots of veggies and beans anyways so I am not worried bout any ill effects this will have on us.

Also this week I went back to grinding my own wheat for bread. You see for about a year or so I have made our bread, buying it only once when we were camping, but I have been using white bread flour from Sam's. While I know it is better for us than white bread from the store I know the fresh wheat flour is 100 times better that the other. Yesterday I mixed it 50/50 and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The plan is to slowly decrease the white and increase the wheat until my family complains or hopefully we will get to 100% wheat and everyone, even me, will enjoy it.

well I guess that's about all I have time for right now, I need to start gathering stuff up for my class tonight at church and I need to strighten up the house. Oh, and in case your wondering, other that a headach Scott is feeling better already!

Free Skin Cancer Screening

This freebie is too good to pass up and could save your life! Olay and the ASDS have teamed up to offer free screenings with a dermatologic surgeon for you and a friend!

My mom has had several cancerous spots removed from her skin over the span of my life and suffered with several rounds of breast cancer until she had a full mastectomy. I have lost several family members and friends to cancer, Cancer hits home with me! From the time my children were born I have put put sun screen on them when ever we go out, my daughter and I both use the CVS brand of daily moisturizer with sunscreen in it DAILY.

For more information about the free screening visit the site ASDS/Olay have set up.

Visit to the San Antonio

I have tried to make time for this post all week but it just hasn't happened until now.

As I mentioned before spring always brings out our desire to be out and about. The weather in Texas this time of year just beckons you to get outdoors and have fun, especially since in a few months it will be in the 100's and not much good for anything.

We left last Friday morning and headed to San Antonio for an overnight trip with several other families from our church. Our family decided to get there early since Scott had the day off, self-employment benefit. We picnicked along the way at Mother Neff State park and arrived in San Antonio around 4:00 pm. Our hotel was about two block from the Alamo allowing us to save on parking since we could walk just about everywhere we wanted to go.

Since we arrived early our family went to Hemisphere park and walked around, the kids used this time to get some very cool pictures of the water and sculpteures that are displayed outside. Then at 6:00 we met everyone else at the river walk for dinner and a stroll along the walk for a few hours. We headed back to the hotel around 9:00 and just relaxed.

Saturday we met the other families at the Alamo at 9:00 am. Oh, my! It was no small feat to get 5 people ready by 8:45 am in a hotel room that consisted of a sleeping area and a bathroom! Then we had to pack up, straighten up the room, and check out! Amazingly God gave us all extra patience that morning. We enjoyed the walk through the Alamo and there was an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what these men did to allow us to be free and living in Texas.

Next we were off to lunch and then the San Jose mission. The chapel and grounds were beautiful! They have a working water mill that grinds wheat set up and still grinding wheat into flour! It was great, even if we are not Catholics we were able to go there and appreciate the way these people lived and tried to honor God and help others. By 3:00 EVERYONE was ready to head home.

About 5 hours later we pulled back into our garage opened the back yard door to find a very excited dog! Cisco was faithfully waiting at the gate for us!

Meal Plan Monday

This week are leaning towards some grilled favorites to keep the heat down in the kitchen.


Monday Lunch Ham Sandwiches and tossed salad
Dinner Waffles, eggs and fruit

Tuesday Lunch Quesadias with chips and pico de Galla
Dinner Philly Cheese steaks and oven baked chips with rosemary salt

Wednesday Lunch pasta bake
Dinner Black Bean tostadas, Spanish rice and sliced avocados

Thursday Lunch Chicken N Rice made on stove top
Dinner Pizza and Greek salad with low fat feta cheese

Friday Lunch Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vegetables with ranch dressing
Dinner Kids are spending the night with grandma, not sure what Scott and I are doing yet.

Saturday Lunch Scott and I will probably have a salad and leftovers
Dinner Nachos with all the fixings

Sunday Lunch Pork Tenderloin with Mojo sauce, grilled corn on the cob and jello

Be sure to visit the host of menu-plan-monday




Recipes:

Philly Cheese steaks
4 fresh Italian sandwich rolls or Kaiser buns, split in half crosswise
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound rib-eye steak, very very thinly shaved or sliced

Ketchup, optional topping
Italian pickled peppers, accompaniment

1.Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

2.Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When hot add the oil, onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Push off to 1 side of the griddle.

3.Add the meat to the hot pan and cook, stirring and breaking up with the back of 2 metal spatulas, until almost no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Mix in the Sauteed vegetables. Top with cheese slices and melt. Spoon the cheesy meat mixture into the warm buns and serve immediately with condiments of choice or Put the meat in the bun and dip the spatula in the cheese whiz and then wipe the spatula down the inside of the bread.


Pork Tenderloin with Mojo sauce

2 juice oranges
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
2 pork tenderloins (3/4-lb)

1.Prepare grill for cooking. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill and on lid.

2.Squeeze enough juice from oranges to measure 5 tablespoons. Mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large heavy knife), then whisk together with orange juice, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon oregano.

3.Pat pork dry and rub each tenderloin with 1/2 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon oregano.

4.When fire is hot (you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 1 to 2 seconds), grill pork on lightly oiled grill rack, covered with lid, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each tenderloin registers 155°F, 12 to 14 minutes total. Let pork stand 5 minutes before slicing.

5.Serve pork drizzled with mojo sauce.

Walking Where The Dinos Walked

We have had a busy month and it is only half over. Spring time always puts my husband in the mood to go out and do something. It really doesn't mater where we go or what we do, he just wants to get out go. Definitely no complaints here or from the kids.

April 5th we spent the day with some families from church at Dinosaur Valley State Park. We all had a blast!


We started off by having a potluck picnic, then visiting with each other. After about an hour everyone was ready to head down by the water. Crossing the water was a little cold on the feet but no one seemed to mind, especially the young boys who "accidentally" fell in and tried to stay in.

Some of the girls squealed a little but they were smiling at the same time.

Some of the boys saw a rattlesnake, of course my oldest son was in the group and reached for it right as it rattled. He backed away real quick and the snake went on its way. I know what you are thinking... yes, he has been taught not to touch snakes but he is 15 and was with a group of boys. I guess reason and sensibility are left behind at that point.

Vincent spent most of his time with Scott and I, taking pictures and looking at the tracks.


Sydney and the other girls hung out and talked together.

It was a great way to end the week!

And yes I know there are no pictures of me, I was the one taking them :)

Happy Birthday Sydney

Today is my daughter's 17th birthday. I have started this post so many times and just can not put into words what a blessing she is. I find myself again crying as I type. God has truly blessed her father and I with a wonderful daughter! Sydney is loving, generous, funny, happy, faithful and most of all she strives to be a Godly young lady!

Sydney, you truly are a wonderful daughter and I thank God for allowing me to be your mother! Thank you for all that you do to help me and even encourage me. I pray as you continue your journey you will always strive to please God and follow his will for your life. As you know others may come and go, they may let you down but God will always be by you!

Love Ya,
Mom

Spring Break Menu

I can hardly believe how fast this past week seemed to go. I believe it was Thursday, my son looked at the menu on the refrigerator and said, "mom, do you realize we have hardly had anything on the menu?" UGH... he was right I think we followed it on Wednesday, switched out two other days and other than that we ate other stuff.

Life just seemed to happen and the menu did not follow well with it. One thing that I did not expect were a few very warm days that lasted well into the evening, who wants to heat the house up when it's hot. So instead of Hawaiian chicken we had Church's chicken. I know, I know, a greasy mess, but we only eat it about twice a year. Probably because it takes us at least 6 months to get the greasy plate out of our mind.

Anyways since we are in Texas I will start planning a little better and use my crock pot more.

Monday Lunch Grilled Cheese, soup
Dinner Sheppard's pie, rolls, jello

Tuesday Lunch It's spring break so I will let the kids pick
Dinner Creamy Light pasta, french bread and maybe salad

Wednesday Lunch chicken nuggets, corn and cantaloupe ( found a great deal on the at Kroger)
Dinner Sub sandwiches after church

April 10... Sydney's 17th Birthday. Tradition in our house in birthday person picks the meals
Thursday Breakfast French toast and fruit
Lunch Chicken salad with extra pickles and with pickle spears on the side
Dinner Chicken Enchiladas, chips and queso, and lots and lots of Spanish rice

Scott has the week-end planned including meals so I have to wait and see....

Be sure to stop by The host of Menu Plan Monday

Making The Most Of Your Patterns

Earlier this week I confessed to having a pattern addiction. Under comments Emily asked a great question…..Do you trace your patterns onto other paper before you cut them so you can make them in various sizes?

The answer is a great big YES!! Patterns are expensive if you do not get them on sale and even on sale if you need multiple sizes it adds up fast. Since I sew for fun and profit and my daughter has yet to stop growing I need multiple sizes of almost all my patterns! The other reason I copy my patterns is that the manufactures often discontinue patterns and once it is wore out or messed up you are out of luck.

Is it legal? Yes, if you do not share the pattern with anyone.

Since almost all patterns come in multiple sizes per envelope you can really get a lot for your money if you are careful. All you have to do is purchase some blank pattern paper or tissue paper. I have also heard of people using interfacing but that seems too expensive to me or newspaper, too messy and I hate the smell of newspaper.

Iron your uncut patter or cut pattern you are trying to save one you already use. Lay it out on a table or someplace you have plenty of room to work. Lay your blank pattern paper on top and weigh it down. Now all you do is trace the pattern marks with a marker or pencil. Be careful not to tear the pattern, it is delicate. Make sure to transfer all the markings you will need including size. Walla, you now have a copy of your original in as many sizes as you would like.

Another thing I have done is to cut out all my skirt and culottes patterns onto thick fabric that I found in the discount section. I then place my markings on the fabric and serge around the edges to prevent fraying. Both of these techniques work great and save you money. Works for me. Looking for tips? Visit Rocks In My Dryer