Menu Planning 101 - Laying a Foundation

Each week I share my menu plan.  What you don't see is HOW and I do it ... nor have I ever really gone into WHY I do it.  

The most important thing to know about any schedule is that it is a guideline to make your life more simple.  It's not meant to make you feel condemned or guilty or burdened or stressed.  Sometimes we plan something that just can't become a reality for one reason or another; that's totally okay!  This is just a guideline to help take the stress out of busy nights.

The other really important thing to know is why planning dinners is so important.  Dinner (or breakfast or lunch if you have a non-traditional work schedule!) is an opportunity for the family to gather around the table.  Statistics prove that one of the most beneficial and influential things you can do as a family is to eat meals together at the table.  Planning your meals enables you to enjoy that time and to nurture their spirits as well as their bodies.  You can talk about your day, your dreams, current events, lessons learned, or just about anything at all ... just talk!  Build relationships and strengthen bonds as you eat together.

And if you have any specific questions pertaining to menu planning or nurturing family via the table, be sure to ask and I'll add them into my weekly Menu Planning 101 posts ... I want to bless you and help you bless those you love.  So pipe up and ask!

Also ... pop on over and visit me on Facebook if you haven't before!  And if you do, leave me a note and share where you're visiting from -- it's a great way to interact with other bloggers and learn from each other while offer encouragement.

~Our Plan for the Week~

• Breakfasts: Oatmeal with chopped fruit, Granola with fruit and milk, or Eggs & Honey Toast
• Lunches: Hard boiled eggs with carrots and celery and tortilla chips, PB&J, or Pasta with sauce
• Dinners:
• Monday: 5 Bean/5 Grain Soup with Homemade Parmesan Potato Wedges on the side
• Tuesday: Burritos made with Beans, Rice, & Cheese with Tortilla Chips
• Wednesday: Salad topped with Nuts, Raisins, & Feta Cheese with Dinner Rolls; Bananas for an after church snack later on 
• Thursday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Chips, Veggies & Hummus
• Friday: Pizza Night (great with family games!)
• Saturday: Leftovers (we mostly eat popped corn and watch movies; I'll also make "milkshakes" - aka fruit smoothies)
• Sunday Brunch: French Toast, Whipped Cream, Strawberries & Blueberries, Eggs
• Sunday Dinner: Loaded Baked Potatoes (Cheese, Sour Cream, BBQ Beef), Salad

For more great menu plans, be sure to click on the icon below

Linked up with: Make Your Home Sing Monday, Homemaker Monday, Scraps of Life,

What Makes A Special Afternoon?

I'm learning more and more how much simplicity adds to my life.  And how much busyness takes away from it.  I'm learning to value the basic joys of life and to eliminate the extras.  I'm learning to look at me, and my family, and what God has called us to ... and not to look at others, their families, or what   the lives they are living looks like.

A spirit of discontentedness comes upon me when I compare my life with others ... and it is godliness with contentment that is great gain.  It is in simplicity that I find myself content - the special moments that make life tranquil and dear.

So what makes a special afternoon? 

For me, today, it was a rocking chair, a warm quilt, a good book, the sound of our birds chirping, the sound of my children playing, the sight of my baby sleeping so peacefully, and the flowers my precious children lovingly picked for me.  Yesterday it was the scent of bread baking, providing an aroma of nutrition and hard work - a symbol of my love for my family.  It was the sound of "I love you" and the giggles from around the table as we spent time together as a family playing Phase 10 at the table together (even Lil Bit, in his seat, with his own play cards!).


What is it that makes you content?  How is it that you answer the call to be a woman who provides for her family and looks well to the ways of her home?  And if you have found yourself lacking contentment, I challenge you to look around and enjoy the simple, priceless treasures all around you!

Is Your Home a Safe Haven?

The day I said "I do" started the rest of my life.  I have been married to my husband for 10 1/2 years and have loved being his bride.  But the beginning of marriage was not without its ups and downs.  We worked through a lot of the challenges, but there were some things I just couldn't seem to get a grasp on.  And those things made me feel inadequate and ill prepared as a wife.  I lacked the fulfillment I always thought I'd have once I realized my dream of being a wife and a mom. 

Our house was just that: a house.  I tried really hard to make it into a home.  I desired very much for it to be a haven.  But it took me several years and a heart of desperation to reach the point where I cried out to God and asked for His help.  The solution was actually pretty simple...

And I'm sharing it today over At the Well.  Today is my first time contributing there and I hope you'll come visit me!

Adapting The Schedule

This week, Awesome Hubby is working third shift. That means making a few changes to our plans for the week since he'll need the house quiet for at least 7 hours during the day to sleep.  Our bedroom is right next to the kitchen, where we normally do school and cooking and eating -- not a great recipe for quiet at all.  So I had to get creative.

We are going to the library to do school work on Monday and Wednesday this week.  We'll do our shopping for the week later today and on Wednesday afternoon we'll go for a walk (or maybe the zoo?) since it will be our warmest day.  Tuesday we're going to do school in the kids' bedrooms.  We have fun projects and hands on learning to do and we're going to make it fun by mixing up where we study.  Thursday is our weekly Bible study group and that takes up a good chunk of time and we come home and nap that day.  And Friday?  I think we might just play it by ear -- Hubby may be awake and with us for part of the day and we're ahead on school so we can play with him!

Today I got up earlier than usual to spruce up the house, shower and dress, and make coffee before Hubby arrived home.  I'll do that every day this week.  We really enjoyed having him home to have breakfast with us and read the Bible with us before he went to bed; we are embracing the change this week and finding all kinds of things to be thankful for.

It also means that we need change up our meal plans.  I don't want to be making all kinds of noise in the kitchen while Hubby is sleeping.  And we tend to change the type of food we eat, too, when Daddy works overnights.  So this is not a typical menu for us, but it'll work out well.

• Monday
• Cereal
• Picnic lunch (eating on the run today!)
• Cheeseburgers, french fries, salad
• {also, today I bake bread and muffins for the week}
• Tuesday
• Eggs, toast, and fruit
• Peanut butter and jelly, chips, fruit
• 5 Bean Taco Soup, salad, crackers
• Wednesday
• Honey toast, fruit salad, and milk
• Cheese and crackers, carrots and hummus, apple (easy food to pack for the zoo!)
• Spaghetti and garlic toast
• Thursday
• Bagels on the go (we leave nice and early)
• Peanut butter and jelly, pretzels, banana, apple
• Crock pot chicken, mashed potatoes, salad
• Friday
• Pancakes (YUM!)
• Mac & Cheese
• Homemade Pizza (family game night!0
• Saturday
• Cereal
• Salad, hard boiled eggs, tuna
• Nachos (family game night!)
• Sunday 
• Eggs and toast
• Black bean and rice burritos
• Salad and leftovers

Linking up with: Miscellany Monday, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Homemaker Monday,  

Finding Balance & Nourishing the Family

One of the challenges I had when starting to get more organized was actually getting organized.  I wanted to live differently, I knew I needed to live differently, and I was definitely sick and stinkin' tired of always being stressed.  Getting out of the house was hard because I couldn't find everything I needed to leave.  We spent more money shopping because I didn't know what we already had, or I knew we had it and couldn't remember where.  I spent more time with my head in my hands, praying for strength to make it through the day because I was overwhelmed by all the stuff that I was surrounded by.

That was a little over four years ago.  I'm so glad that I am not that person any more.  But the progress hasn't stopped.  Today I'm on a different part of the journey to a well balanced, peaceful, thriving home.

For the last two years, God has been impressing upon me the importance of nourishing and nurturing my family not only spiritually and emotionally, but also physically.  Man is comprised of three parts: body, soul, and spirit.  As a mother, I am responsible for helping my children mature in all three of these areas and meeting the needs of each.

To nourish their souls, I point them toward God.  I help them uncover who He has made them to be.  I love them.  I spend time with them.  I listen to them.  I play with them.  I enjoy them.  I teach them.  I disciple them.  I help them revel in their individuality and walk with them on the journey of self discovery.  I teach them to enjoy the world around them.

To nourish their spirits, I point them toward God.  I empower them to serve Him wholly, in whatever way they are capable and feel led.  I teach them to hear the still, small voice of the spirit.  I read the Word of God to them and speak the Truth over them.  I train them up to honor His ways.  I worship and live so that they can see how they, too, can walk with God.

To nourish their bodies, I -- oh, wait.  What do I do?

I have to stop and think about that because this part is a little bit newer to me than the rest.  I try to get them outside doing physically active things, although it's not always feasible.  Depending upon the season, we rake leaves, garden, walk, bike ride, explore, or swim.  I also try to help them understand the benefits of health and the building blocks of a healthy body for now and for the future.

That means feeding them nourishing meals.  It means being organized enough to plan meals, devoted enough to adhere to a meal plan, frugal enough to find the best deals so we can afford to eat this way, and loving enough to eat together each day.  I hope to start sharing with you some of the awesome things I am learning, but for now I will share with you our meal plan for the week.

Breakfasts:  We eat either a muffin (homemade from fresh ground wheat and flax flour with coconut oil) and a piece of fresh fruit or toast (topped with real butter and honey, also made from fresh ground flours and with coconut oil) with eggs and cheese and some fruit.

Lunches:  This week we will have tuna sandwiches, chef salads with homemade bread, or pasta (each day is different, and lunches I usually pick based on the day ... but they are easy and the supplies are on hand so I can do that).

Dinners:

• Monday: Fried egg sandwiches with homemade potato fries
• Tuesday {aka Awesome Hubby's birthday dinner ... his birthday is Wednesday, but that's too busy of a night to celebrate}: we're going to actually eat out at Chick Fil A for a treat (this will be our one night out this month)
• Wednesday: Chicken, Quinoa, mixed veggies
• Thursday: Bean Burritos (3 different types of beans, cooked and then mashed with enchilada sauce and mixed with long grain brown rice and corn) and leafy green Salad
• Friday: Loaded Baked Potato and Salad
• Saturday: Leftovers followed by air popped Pop Corn (topped with melted coconut oil and RealSalt) and Smoothies (made with kefir, banana, raw milk, and frozen tropical fruit) while we play games

In addition to linking up with menu plan Monday, I'm also sharing at Titus2sday, Miscellany Monday, Homemaking Monday, Make Your Home Sing Monday