Menu Planning Monday-12/21/09

With Christmas being this week, meals are going to be light and easy to cook. I've still got a TON of Christmas baking to do (yay! More recipes to come!) and Christmas being on Friday (which means a big meal for us) I'm not looking forward to doing much else this week.

So...here we go...

Monday-

Cheeseburgers, mac and cheese, green beans

Tuesday-

bean soup, cornbread

Wednesday-

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn

Thursday-

BBQ Pork Ribs (w/homemade bbq sauce), not sure on sides yet..lol


Friday-

Christmas Dinner! We missed Thankgiving dinner so we're using it for Christmas!

Turkey
Bread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Dinner Rolls (homemade)
Candied Yams
Mac and cheese (homemade)
Corn Pudding
Lemon Meringue Pie
Peanut Butter Meringue Pie
other goodies that Mom is baking...lol

Do you menu plan? Join us at Menu Planning Monday!

Down Sick....

I apologize for the lack of content the last few days. I am down with the flu and a fibro flare. I appreciate ya'll hanging in there with me.

"Please take my Life from me"

As a sat doing my daily readings (a couple books and my Bible) last night, I kept being hit in the face with one concept. We are to die to Christ. The Bible is obvious in this (or at least it is to me.) Gal 2:20 says "I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (KJV)

Paul is speaking here telling us that the old Paul (the sinner) has died but through Christ he lives because Christ lives in him. I have always loved this verse, but I don't think that its meaning fully set in until last night.

I don't have a specific pattern I follow when I read my Bible. I pray before I even open it that God will show me what I need to learn and will guide me to what He wants me to see. I then open my Bible. It may seem simple or silly to you, but I have never had it fail. I always take something from it.

Last night was no different. I prayed for wisdom and God's teaching and opened my Bible to Jonah. Now we all know this story well I'm sure. God told Jonah to go preach in Ninevah, Jonah disobeyed and was swallowed by a great fish. He repented and God caused the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land. Jonah then went into Nineveh and preached the destruction that the Lord had planned for the people. The people repented and God showed his mercy on them.

What I didn't know is that Jonah was displeased by the fact that God showed them mercy. He prayed to God about his anger. Jonah 4:3 says "Therefore now, O LOrd, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

This verse struck home with me. The circumstances were entirely different than how it hit me b/c Jonah was literally praying for death, but it made me think.

This is what we should be praying. We are to die to Christ. To essentially kill the old us and replace it with what God wants us to be. In Christ we are made new people. It is better for us to die for/in Him than it is to continue to live as our former selves.

Anyhow, I'm rambling. My point is that we should all be praying Jonah's prayer. We should all be asking the Lord to take OUR lives from us and replace them with HIS life for us.

I certainly know that I am. When God speaks, I listen. :)

Have a good one all.

Sing It Sunday

Today's song is another by EH&SS. You'll probably see a lot by them as they are my favorite group.

I want you all to listen to the words of "Out of Bondage." The first verse has been me until just here recently. It's only been by the grace of God that I've started moving past it all.

I hope that if you're in bondage that you will turn to the Lord and let him free you like he has me.

Sweetest Saturday-Peanut Butter Meringue Pie

Ah..desert. I love to bake so I thought that I would share my desert recipes with you each week. A new one every Saturday!

Peanut Butter Meringue Pie-

My aunt has been making this pie for as long as I can remember. It's so rich and soooooo good.

1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 pie crust, frozen pet ritz deep dish, baked
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. milk, skim
3 large eggs, separate out yolks
2 Tbsp. margarine
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Combine powdered sugar and peanut butter; mix with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal. Spread most of the mixture (3/4 of it) in the baked pastry shell; set remainder aside.

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in large saucepan then combine with cold milk and margarine.
Cook over medium heat until mixture is hot. Lightly beat egg yolks.
Mix some of the hot mixture in to the egg yolks to temper them, then add egg yolk mixture to mixture on the stove.
Continue to cook over medium heat until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat immediately.
Stir vanilla into hot mixture and pour pudding over peanut butter mixture in your baked pie crust.

Beat egg whites and cream of tarter with mixer until soft peaks form; sweeten with 1 teaspoon sugar and beat until stiff. Spread over filling. Sprinkle your reserved peanut butter mixture over meringue.

Bake at 325 F for 20 minutes.

Cool before serving. (Best if cooled at least 4 hours in fridge)

Makes 1 9-inch deep dish pie.

Whoot! I did it!

Freebie Friday

Who doesn't like free stuff?

Here's a few for this week.


Free Walmart Samples-Prilosec, Huggies, Pampers, Benefiber this week.

Free books-Check out the Gutenburg site for free downloads of great books by authors like Jane Austin and more!

The Mutopia Project provides sheet music for download by composers like Beethoven, Bach and more. This is an awesome site and since all of the songs listed are public domain, you can download and print them for FREE!

Get a coupon for a free bag of Stacy's Pita Chips just by becoming a fan on Facebook! Click here to become a fan! *The cinnamon chips are FANTASTIC!*

Get a free sample of NuWave Comfort Patch. Click here.

Free 2010 Calendar from Pillsbury. *Must be a new member to their newsletter* Click HERE

Free 2010 Calendar from Betty Crocker. *Must be a new subscriber to newsletter* Click HERE

Enjoy!

25 Days of Christmas-Free music!

Amazon is giving away 25 different songs for Christmas!

Check out-

HERE to view it all.

If you check around there's more than whats listed for 0.00 as well.

Thankful Thursday-My daughter

Welcome to Thursday's new feature!

A lot of time life can get so hectic for us that we fail to stop and remember all of the ways that God has blessed us. I know that I am guilty of it more often than not.

So each week I'm going to post something that I'm thankful for. It may just be one thing, it may be many, but I hope that it will make me realize just how much the Lord has given me and mine and stop taking advantage of it so much.

So here we go.

As I've said before I have Fibromyalgia. My life is affected by this illness in many many ways, most of them negative. Unfortunately, it's not only my life that's affected but my entire family's as well. My husband b/c at times I can't be a proper wife to him, my children b/c I can't do the things I'd like to all the time, etc.

Anyhow, as the weather has turned cold (and I do mean cold) here in Iowa, the flares and the pain have also turned on. I'm not saying that warm weather is pain free, but cold weather is like turning on a light switch. I stay in pain and stiff pretty much all winter.

The current flare however has been worse than most. My range of motion has diminished to almost nothing and my ability to walk has been severly cut in half. So last night I had had enough of the pain and stiffness and decided I was going to go soak in the tub. After soaking, and finding no relief, I made my way back downstairs and sat down on the couch.

As I sat, I whinced and whimpered from the pain that shot thru my back. It was at that point that I realized just exactly how wonderful my child is. My daughter. My sweet little 4 year old daughter, sat down beside my and began to rub my back.

After I few minutes I realized that I had water in my ear and there was no way I was going to be able to go back up the stairs for a while, so I asked her to run and get me a Q-tip and off she went. A few minutes later, she comes down the stairs carrying not only a Q-tip but also a blanket for me because "you might be cold."

After all that, she promptly sat down next to me, curled up and fell asleep while hugging my arm as gently as she could.

I looked at my husband and told him that we did indeed have a wonderful child and that if I've done NOTHING else right in my life, I've done right with her.

I am so thankful that I have her. I've always "known" she was a great kid, but I don't think it fully set in until last night. I hope and pray that I can continue to raise her right. We've got a long way to go..lol.

Thank you Lord for giving me such a wonderful baby girl and for helping me to raise her your way.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Prov 22:6

The new budget-week 1

So I didn't get the 20.00 I wanted to saved because of a couple of things going awry, but I did manage to save almost 10.00. Considering we started out with nothing saved this week, I'm happy with that.

So in my never ending search for tips to help us save and manage our money I have come across some really great articles that I wanted to share.

There's way to many to put into a post so they'll be listed in the new side bar to the left along with the blogs and organizing sites I'm falling in love with.

Check them out!

Wordless Wednesday

Now normally I try to keep politics out of this blog.

BUT...after driving past this billboard too many times, I can't anymore..lol.

This is a real billboard in my hometown. It's above a REAL video store, put up by a REAL man who lives in a neighboring village.

Whether or not I agree with it. Whether or not I think it was the right thing to do, I still have to say God Bless America.

Why?

Because in this country we DO have the freedom of speech needed to put up things like this.

This is my first wordless Wednesday post. This billboard makes me go all wordless like. LOL.

Here is a link to the newspaper article they ran not too long ago about this board.

Click HERE to read the article.

Sing It Sunday

Welcome to the new weekly feature for Sunday. Each Sunday I'll be posting an uplifting music video for you to watch! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


There was no better gospel group in my opinion than the Cathedrals. They were truly a gifted group of men. Ernie Haase has moved on since the passings of George and Glen and I truly love to hear him and his new group sing.

Anyhow, this is my all time favorite song that I've ever heard Ernie Haase sing and MAN can he sing it! I hope that it lifts you up as much as it does me. God Bless. :)

A new budget...

Conservator: A legal term that is used to describe an individual who is appointed by the court to manage the financial assets and affairs of and individuals that is under some kind of a legal disability.

My husband is considered 100% disabled by all forms of the US Government. He receives SSDI and a pension from the Navy because of it. As a result of this disability, he has a conservator. When we began dating and got married I saw no reason to try and change who this person was b/c he had been "with" her for years and was comfortable with her. So we kept her.

Over time tho she has changed. She's become hostile and just plain rude. She's no longer doing her job effectively so at this point, my DH has decided she needs to be replaced.

Since he has never seen me manage money for real (come on, 75.00/week isn't really managing money), pay bills, etc. He's reluctant to trust me. That's fine, I have no real issue with that, but he would like me as his conservator. It just makes sense to me now.

There is the problem that he doesn't fully trust me and there is the problem that I don't know how he will handle me telling him "no, you can't buy that b/c I won't give you the money for it," or "No, you can't know how much money is in the bank right now," and I'm sure you get my point.

So what to do?

Why an experiment of course!

From now till February, I have control of 100% of the cash that comes into this house. That means all of his money from the side jobs he does to keep busy, my money and our "weekly living allowance" as well. Until now he has been managing it himself and we are drowning. Yes, all of our bills are paid, but there is no money to actually live on the way it is right now.

So we are doing an experiment. Partly to show him that I'm fully capable of making a budget (done) and sticking to it and partly to find out if he can handle me handling the money. He's mentally ill, so we aren't sure how he will handle it being ME that tells him no when he really wants something.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and we'll know that before we make it legal.

We don't have much coming out, but as I figured it, we have roughly 160.00 in cash coming into the house each week. (note again: this does not include the money for the household bills, etc, this is just our living money.) We should have at least 30.00 a week left over, but for some reason we don't.

I've figured it out and I'm on it! LOL

As it stands it's my goal to save at least 100.00 in that 9 weeks. I'm adding a ticker to the top of the page to help track our progress. Please keep us in your prayers!

On with the cleaning!

In a way I hate the holidays...

Don't get me wrong. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I try to keep the Christmas spirit going all year round in my home.

BUT!

I get so wrapped up in what's going on that things start to slip. My house is a wreck. Right before the Thanksgiving holiday we shampooed the carpets downstairs. This meant moving everything out and then putting it back. Unfortunately nothing got put back where it was supposed to.

SO.

I am starting over 100% with the getting organized thing. Thanks to my DH and my boys I don't really have a choice..lol.

So here goes nothin!

Chicken Fried Rice

Okay, I'm late in posting this..lol. Sorry! Monday was a rather bad day for us. I would ask that you all keep us in your prayers please. We're going thru something right now that only God can help us fix.


Now! Onto the regular posting!

Today's decluttering went quite well. In the bathroom I cleaned out the medicine cabinent getting rid of all expired meds and compressing double bottles into one etc. Also cleaned out my drawer of junk..lol. Got a half of a 13 gallon trash bag out of the bathroom.

Onto the Master bedroom...it was scary. I literally mean it scared me. :D Anyhow, I got all laundry that was sitting around put away nice and neat, got the bed moved and the dresser moved and the entire thing spic and span. Took out 2 bags of old clothes or ones that no longer fit DH or myself.

Onto Mmmm-Monday!

Today's Mmmm moment is homemade Chicken Fried Rice! YUMMY!

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups cold cooked white rice
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1 cup frozen green pea, thawed
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1-3 tablespoon soy sauce

  Directions:

1. To cook chicken-wrap tightly in foil (making sure to seal the ends -- you want it completely wrapped) and bake on a baking sheet @ 350 for 35-40 min or until no longer pink. No seasonings needed. The foil keeps the juices in with the meat resulting in a VERY moist piece of chicken.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat

3. Pour in the eggs; cook and stir until scrambled and firm. Remove from wok, and set aside.

4. Put remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok and turn heat up to high.

5. Stir in rice until each grain is coated with oil.Stir in chicken, celery, carrot, peas and green onions.

6. Reduce heat to medium, cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes.Stir in scrambled eggs and soy sauce, and cook until eggs are heated through.

7. **NOTE: The rice used in this HAS to be cold. I fix mine in the morning and then leave it in the fridge until dinner time.

Enjoy! Tomorrow is Timeless Tuesday! I love all things vintage so on Tuesday's we're gonna explore that love! Hope to see ya'll!

Mission: Declutter: Day 2

LOL I thought that I would just keep up with the Mission theme...

Anyhow, so I got all the things I wanted to get done today and more done today! Yay Me!

Here are the pics. I forgot to take a pic of the dishes cupboard before I started but it was so bad that the doors would barely shut. The entire top shelf was falling down on us b/c of all the useless lids that I had stored up there.

The Pots and Pans Before: See my toes sticking out there? Lol I had to sit on the floor to be able to reach back there...and yes, that is a drawer without a front...lol. It literally fell off in my hands today. Gotta get some good glue tomorrow.
















The Pots and Pans After:

















The junk drawer before:


















The junk drawer after:

















The dishes after: Lol yes I know they don't all match. There's like 3 different sets there..lol.


















The food cupboard before:

















The food cupboard after:

















All in all here is what left my home today:

a part to a food processor I don't have any longer
a skillet that was no longer useable
6 lids to storage containers I no longer have
3 cans of food past they're expiration date
sugar and coffee that had lived past it's life in a canister
a cutting board I never used that was just taking up space
6 ac adapters that went to nothing in this house
2 extra phone line cords
2 grocery bags of useless papers

Whoot! I am rockin it! I forgot how much of a "high" you can get just from getting something organized! Lovin it!

On tomorrow's list is:

Clean out the fridge (no before pics b/c frankly I'm embarrassed by it)
Pull out the stove and wash the wall behind and beside, sweep and mop back there.
Clean and organize the bathroom drawers
Clean and organize the linen closet
Clean and organize the Master bedroom
Go thru all of mine and DH's clothing.
Clean the floor of the Master Bedroom closet.

Pics to come tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Also tomorrow is MMMM-Good Monday. Every Monday starting tomorrow I will post a new and yummy recipe. I've had enough time off that I've tried more than a few. :)

Mission: Declutter: Day 1

LOL like the title? Sometimes it can seem like de-cluttering and getting things all spiffy clean is a mission.

Anyhow...my list for yesterday is done! Yay!

The desk:

Before:

















The desk after:

































The spice cabinent before:








































After: I got a microwave stand last week. Look at how I made use of the drawer that is on it. :)








































The food cupboard before:


















After:




















I feel so much better now that I've actually gotten a few things done.


My list for today?

Clean out the fridge (I'm really scared of what might be living in there)
Clean and organize the pots and pans cupboard
Clean and organize the dishes cupboard
Clean the Master bedroom

Wish me luck!

Back to the grind....

I SO need to get my home organized again. With my FMS attacking me as hard as it has lately it's fallen into a terribly unorganized state once again.

So...

Here are today's projects:

Desk-clean and organize
Spice cabinent-clean and organize
Food cabinents-clean and organize.

Will post before and after pics once they are done. :)

An apology and life as I know it now...

Life is one of those things that can turn itself upside down without asking for you permission and there's nothing you can do about it.

Most of my readers know that I have fibromyalgia. This horrible illness is has taken over my life. So many things that I used to do I can't anymore. I can't hold my child, I can't stand and do dishes, I can't clean my home in one day. What took me 4 hours to do before now takes 3 days.

So life as we know it has changed drastically. I ask you all now to pray for me and my family.

I am going to try to be around more often. I have good days and bad but no matter what, writing in this blog helps me.

Today's Projects

Today's Projects are:

Clean dining room
Clean living room
Clean bathroom
Organize bathroom sink and linen closet


Hopefully I can get it all done.