How Was It? Wednesday- Family Meal Table

This week starts off the first two chapters of The Family Meal Table study by Nancy Campbell. I am truly enjoying this study, and am learning a lot already. I would encourage you to purchase this study from the Above Rubies website and do the study as well. I am only going to touch upon a few key points every week, and there is so much more to get out of this study from the manual.

Chapter 1- Where Do Tables Originate?
The first chapter is called Where Do Tables Originate? Many verses in the bible tell stories about families or people conversing or having a meal around a table. God sees that table as a place for happiness, community, conversation, fellowship and yes, even worship.


Psalm 128:1-4 explains how blessed is a man who has children like olive plants all around his table.


As I said in the previous post about this study, Jesus often times would make a meal for someone, sit with them and talk to them about important truths. Jesus thought the table was important and so should we!!



Enjoy Your Meals
Often times, especially in the morning or at lunch, I find myself rushing to feed the children, then I end up shuffling my meal down while standing at the counter.

Firstly, this does not show my children that I care about them and want to spend quality time with them.
Secondly, it does not show my children the importance of fellowship in the morning or while we are together at lunch.

Nancy stresses the importance of enjoying our meals. One way to do this is to sit all together around the table as much as possible.


What does Your Meal Table Look Like?
In the study questions, Nancy asks, "If someone looked through the window of your home at mealtime, what kind of picture would they paint?"

This question really hit me because my mealtime is not a time that I am proud of. In fact, it is one of my most stressful times of the day and I am truly dedicated to changing that. Last week I said that I am going to try to have the family sit down at the table after I have the food out. I am also going to try to set the table before-hand too.

After a week, I have been about 50% successful. One reason for my lack of total success is that Brian has been working late every night. So I am having a meal with the two girls by myself. This has been a difficult transition and hopefully it is only temporary. Once we are back on schedule with all of us eating together as a family, things should be better.... right?

Chapter 2- The Table- A Place to Feed the Body

In this chapter, Nancy discusses how God wants us to renew our vision for the Family Meal Table. It is a feeding place where we nurture the physical bodies of our family as well as their souls and spirits.

I feel that this chapter is truly at the heart for me. I love cooking and making dinner for my family.

Nancy stresses the importance of making every meal count, which means feeding your family well balanced, healthy homemade meals.

We as mothers should be responsible with our husband's earnings and our family's income by using every penny for the nourishment of our bodies, not just feeding our families empty food that is super processed, not nutritional and actually toxic.

Nourish Your Family
As mothers, we are ultimately responsible for what goes into our family members' bodies. Try not to let your children be picky and dictate what you will serve them- ie- only eating Mac N Cheese every day for lunch is not a healthy choice.

Try to have your children sit at the table for every meal. Once in a while, you can mix things up a bit and have a picnic inside, or out on the porch or outdoors at a special location.

Finally, here are her 6 tips to remember when cooking your meals:

1. Make it simple.
2. Make it nutritious.
3. Make it tasty.
4. Make if full of aroma.
5. Make it attractive.
6. Make plenty.

She goes into a lot more detail for each one of these, but just those simple sentences are food for thought. Let's continue on this journey together to try to bring back the Family Meal Table in our country.

Thanks!


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Try It! Tuesday- Housecleaning Schedule

Now I have to admit, I am the last person to want to schedule cleaning. I mean come on, that's right up there with scheduling root canals. I also have to admit that I have a weakness... ok many weaknesses, but you are only going to find out about one right now. I do not like to clean, and I hold off to the last minute to do so.

Let me give you some examples... If people are coming over, then the guest bathroom gets a nice cleaning. Otherwise, I just sit and stare at it while giving a bath to my kids thinking to myself, "Gosh, I really should clean this place..its getting kind of gross", but never really doing anything major until the next guest is going to come over.... people pleaser? I think so.

Another example is that I love to cook, but I get so frustrated that after I cook and we eat, there are a full double sink's worth of dishes, pots and pans waiting for me to dig into...don't tell anyone, but sometimes...I wait till the next morning to do them. Pathetic.


Ok, now that most of you are thinking that I am either really gross or my house is a mess, let me tell you what I am going to do about it. Schedule. Yup, I'm going to come up with a schedule that I can handle and hopefully stay on track on a weekly basis rather than getting totally out of control before guests come. (Guests do come quite often, so the house isn't that bad, but its the wrong way to go about cleaning my home.)

I decided to come up with a weekly schedule, and then have one extra thing that I will add in that should be done every so often. These things I will pick from a list that I have made:

Daily:
Kitchen- Wipe down counters, do dishes, and sweep up floors
Dining Room- Wipe down table, and sweep up and spot clean underneath
Bedrooms- Make beds, pick up clothes and clutter
Toy Room- Pick up toys w/ help of little ones
Do Laundry- Fold and put away


Mondays:Bathrooms- Wipe down sink areas and clean toilets, wipe down mirrors

Tuesdays: Vacuum all areas- Kitchen, Living Room, Bedrooms, Toy Room and Bathrooms

Wednesdays: Bedrooms- Organize clothing and closets, clean sheets

Thursdays: Mop- Kitchen, Dining Room, all tile common areas and Bathrooms

Fridays: Extra Day- Choose from List of things- ie- clean windows, clean showers and baths, floor boards, dusting, clean out fridge, organize a closet, clean comforters, get rid of toys.

Saturday: Vacuum all areas again, and do general pick up of all rooms

Sunday: Rest- unless there is a project


List of Things to Be Done on Fridays:
Refrigerator
Organize a Room
Toys- Clean out
Clutter Clean
Wipe down floor boards
Dust all table tops and pictures
Wipe down all blinds
Clean windows- Inside
Clean windows- Outside
Organize a closet
Clean showers and bathtubs
Organize Pantry
Organize Laundry Room
Organize Office Area
Set- Up Bills and Organize
Pull out fridge and stove- clean behind and under
Pull out washer and dryer- clean behind

So there you have my first draft of how I would like to accomplish having my house clean on a regular basis. I am sure this is going to need some tweaking. I would LOVE to hear how you all do it! Thanks!

Next, I will post about my cross over from mostly chemical cleaning to very Green-Cleaning....

Here are few links that I found that also give some sort of scheduling list:

Weekly, Monthly, Bi-Yearly and Yearly Schedule

Site that walks you through making your own schedule

How to Make a Green Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit

The Family Homestead- This woman knows what she's doing!


Here is a great poem that someone gave to me a little while ago...I am thinking about printing it out and framing it to remind me:

Thank God for dirty dishes
they have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry, we're eating very well.
With home, health, & happiness,
I shouldn't want to fuss:
By the stack of evidence,
God's been very good to us.

Join me tomorrow as I talk about the Family Meal Table for How Was It Wednesdays!

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of June 29 w/ Recipes

This week is going to be a fridge & pantry week meaning we are going to use whatever we have in our pantry to come up with meals for the week. I'm a little disappointed with our share from the co-op this week because we were supposed to get all this good stuff, and ended up getting two bags of celery instead of pole beans, cucumbers and green beans. There will be no extra spending at the grocery store due to budget constraints... Here is the menu plan for the week!

Breakfasts: Eggs & Toast, Oatmeal, Waffles- Frozen from big batch, Pancakes
Lunch: Leftovers, PB & J, Chicken Salad, Quesadillas
Snacks: Smoothies, Raisins, Carrots, Fruits

Dinner:

Monday: Chicken Fajitas w/ fresh cilantro, green peppers & onions

Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie w/ Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes- recipe below

Wednesday: Chicken Chili w/ salad

Thursday: Turkey Burgers w/ Salad and Yellow Rice

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Chicken Noodle Soup

Sunday: Pizza w/ Pineapple and Green Pepper- Vegetarian


And that's all she wrote...or at least all I'm going to write today! I'm off to do my Family Meal Table study while the girls are still sleeping!!


Wait, I forgot to tell you about the cauliflower mashed potatoes!!

All you do is add 1 head of cauliflower to your boiling potatoes about half way through the boiling process. Then, drain the water with potatoes and cauliflower and make your mashers just as you would if you only had potatoes!! They are more healthy, and no one will even know the difference!!



Thanks!

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I have made a discovery!!

It's not very often that I discover something that just make me go crazy ( in a good way)! Well, this happened today... yup, as plain as day, I discovered something... well, 3 different things actually.


First, I want to give you the recipe that started my discovery:


Simple Kale Soup
8 cups Chicken Stock, or 4 c. Chicken Stock/4 c. Water- depending on how frugal you are!

1 bunch Kale, washed, trimmed stems and cut into small pieces

1 lb cooked Ham cut into cubes

3 medium potatoes, cut into chunks

4 cloves of garlic-minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Boil stock.
2. Add Kale, Ham, Potatoes and Garlic.
3. Simmer on Medium-Low for about an hour to let flavors blend.

That's it! That was the recipe that started it all.

I'll tell you how it went down.

Last night, I was trying to think of how I could feed my 1 year old this soup because I thought it was really healthy for her.... hence first discovery.... the IMMERSION BLENDER!!! Granted, some of you may not have one, but a regular blender would work just as well, but with a little more cleanup. I have been buying jarred soups for babies, and I can now blend my soups, meat and all and she can eat them right along with us!!! YayWe ate the soup in the photo above, and she ate the goop in the photo below!!

Ok, now onto my discovery #2!! Bread sticks w/ Cheese!

I was making my daughter a grilled provolone cheese sandwich, and thought to myself....hmm, that sounds really good with the Kale Soup we had last night!! But instead of making a whole sandwich for myself, and stuffing my face, I just cut all the crusts off of her sandwich ( which she doesn't eat anyway) and used them as dipping sticks for my soup!! The cheese was already in them! Doesn't get any better than that!! And I was just using up what my daughter would have wasted!!

Ok, 3rd discovery, which is kind of an add on to number 2 is..... ADD PROVOLONE CHEESE TO THE SOUP RECIPE!!! If you are going to make this recipe, I would recommend making it as if it were a French Onion Soup. ( I haven't tried this yet, but don't fret, the next time I get Kale, this is the first thing I'm cookin!

After making the soup as described above, I would put individual servings into ramekins,add crusty made croutons w/ garlic flavor to the top of the soup, and then top the entire ramekin with a big slice of provolone cheese. I would place this in the oven under the broiler, or whatever you have the oven on, just enough to melt the cheese... pure heaven.

Well, there you have it! Who knew Kale soup would be so inspirational!!

Thanks!


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Frugal Fridays: Budget- The Bottom Line

Well, I am adding another "catchy phrase" day on my blog...Frugal Fridays... which I am sure is already taken by someone out there, but I am determined to get some things off my chest about this topic. I like to say that my husband and I have been stuck in the spin cycle in our finances since we got married. It all started when we bought the house (one we couldn't afford but qualified for) and bought the beloved washer and dryer...that was when we got sucked into the laundry pile of people who lose control of their financial situation.

I am NOT making any excuses... firstly because I can't think of any.... we were young and ignorant in money making decisions and we are where we are now because of early spur of the moment decisions, no budgeting and the little rectangles of plastic which I now know are not play money....


About 5 months ago, I read the book by Dave Ramsey called The Total Money Makeover. You can read that blog entry here. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to finally accept responsibility, swallow a little pride, and get in touch with reality over their financial situation.


The book emphasizes the importance of a total budget, meaning EVERY penny is accounted for by the end of the month. Well this was fine and dandy for people who receive steady paychecks, buy for my family situation, it just about drove me insane. The reason I was going crazy is because our income is ever changing and I can't account for money that I don't know is going to be there or not. So I decided to create a Bottom Line Budget.

You can click here

and use it as a guideline for your own, or just use the same one. The Bottom Line Budget lets me know all of the bills I have for the entire month. I decided to put it in the order that they are due, not the order of the biggest bill.

The second portion of the BLB is the money that we have left over after all the bills and expenses are paid. I can then separate it in to categories to decide where I would like it to go. This will help me to get a grasp for that extra money and where it is going. With the budget example that the book gave, I was just waiting until the end of the month to see what I had spent all our money on, and not deciding ahead of time where the money will go.

This way, I can allot cash to all of the non-bill expenses we have - ie- food, gas, etc. and then put all the extra money into the specific categories of my choice. Not sure if this will help anyone else but our family, but I thought it might be helpful for people with similar income situations. Enjoy!!

Note: We are committed to getting ourselves out of the huge debt hole we dug ourselves in. This budget is one of the ways we slowly coming out of debt.

Thanks!

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Try It! Tuesday- The Family Meal Table

Well, I am kind of making this a Try It Tuesday post, in conjunction with my Thursday Thoughts.... because I want to bring up something that is becoming very important to me and I am about to go on a journey...do you want to come?

God is taking me on a journey that all started with the Above Rubies study called:

The Family Meal Table ( the link will take you to their site where you can purchase this study)

First, since this is a sharing post, I figured I would tell you a little about where I came from, where I am now, and where I am going....

I linked my first ever post on here above, and would love for you to read that and see where I started on my journey to be a stay at home mom. When I began this blog, I truly felt like God had finally solidified my decision to stay at home and not feel pressure to work... EVEN if we were struggling financially. That was back in April...it is now June and God has consistently provided.

A lot of my transformation was taking a more pro-active role in every day happenings in the home, primarily family meals. I decided to start cooking more, not just baking cookies (which I still love), but to put my family on the right track health wise, starting with home cooking. I stopped purchasing anything boxed or packaged, and really began to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility towards not just my children's health, but mine and my husbands too.

That said, I began to make home cooked meals almost every night. Well, now that I have that down pretty good, God had to go and present this study to me... the Family Meal Table and Hospitality. I'll give you a little overview of how my family meal table goes down almost every night:

Around 4:00, I am half way through making dinner, and the kids are getting really antsy and wanting to have another snack, so I usually give in, put on a movie for them and finish making dinner. Around 5:00, dinner is ready and the kids are full from their snack ( Flop #1) while we wait for Dad to arrive home.

Once Dad arrives home, I tell everyone to sit down. During that 3 minutes time span, the 1 year old nearly loses it because we are making her get strapped into something, while also wanting to eat. The 2 year old doesn't stop talking to Dad because she hasn't seen him all day. I realize I told everyone to sit down and....duh, the table isn't set( Flop #2). So I quickly try to set the table, and get the food off the stove top while all of this chaos is happening. ( I hope I'm not scaring you :)

I finally sit down and the table and hurry to say, "Go ahead Brian and pray so we can eat." (Flop # 3- rushing prayer time) Brian hurriedly prays and we begin eating...

Within 3 minutes, the three year old is finished and wanting to be excused. Daddy is nowhere near relaxed because the meal seemed like we were rushing to be the first car in line for a Nascar race. I haven't even eaten yet, because I am playing who wants to eat more, me or baby...and for some reason, she always wins...

We end up practically jumping out of our seats to end the chaotic dinner and go do something that will de-stress us...like go to the pool (meanwhile, I have left all of the dishes, pots and pans in the sink to go do something fun)

So there is a typical night at our house...want to join? Probably not... this is where I feel I have a problem. If I want my house to not only be inviting and welcoming to my own family, but other families or friends, then I have to change our Family Meal Table.

I realize that because our children are so young, there's going to be some aspect of chaos, but I feel that we are not leaving room for God to come and join us at the table because we can't wait to finish the meal.

I learned in the study that Jesus always made a meal for people when he was about to tell them something important, or reveal something about Himself to them. Jesus thought mealtime was important! So must I! Over the next two months, I will be completing this study and hope you will join me, if not just reading my blog, but perhaps ordering the study yourself, or just sharing your thoughts, suggestions (b/c boy could I use them) or comments!

So the first step to making my meal time less chaotic and more God welcoming?

1. Set the Table ahead of Time and call your family in to sit down when the food is already on the table... seem easy? We'll see about that :)

Bless you All!!






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Menu Plan Monday - Week of June 22

For more meals and recipes, visit Orgjunkie.com!

This week we are receiving our third order from the Organic Bulk Buying Group. I am going to arrange our meals around that:
Here is a list of what we will be receiving:
Green Kale
Romaine Lettuce
FL Pole Beans
Yellow Beans
Carrots
Acorn Squash
Cucumbers
Sweet Potatoes
Hot Yellow Banana Peppers
Cilantro
Red Onions
Garlic
Peaches
Golden Kiwi
Bananas
Nectarines


Breakfasts: Eggs & Toast, Waffles(frozen from Father's Day) Oatmeal
Lunch: Leftovers, Chicken Salad, Quesedillas, Fruit and Veggies
Snacks: Fruits, Veggies and Peanut Butter, Cashews, Raisins, Smoothies

Monday: Turkey Goulash w/ Tortillas (RECIPE BELOW)

Tuesday: Vegetable Masala w/ Brown Rice ( VEGETARIAN)

Wednesday: Spicy Turkey Burgers w/ Fruity Acorn Squash

Thursday: Simple Kale Soup

Friday: Chicken Fajitas w/ Fresh Cilantro and whole grain Tortillas, and cucumber salad

Saturday: Shepard's Pie

Sunday: Chicken Breast w/ Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic w/ yellow beans and yellow rice


Well, I am a day late, but it gives me a chance to post the recipe I threw together last night and everyone loved it!!

Turkey Goulash w/ Tortillas

1 lb Ground Turkey
1 small onion- chopped
1 clove garlic- chopped
2 t. Garlic Salt
1 t. Chili Powder- or to taste
2 t. Cumin
1/2 t. paprika
3/4 can tomato sauce- you could probably add the whole thing, but I wasn't sure how strong it would taste
1 can Kidney Beans
3/4 c. macaroni pasta
3 T. Heavy Cream- doesn't totally need it, but I had it on hand
Tortilla chips, or Actual soft tortilla


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Boil macaroni following box directions. Meanwhile, saute' onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add ground turkey and brown. Add spices to turkey mixture, add tomato sauce, beans and macaroni.Add cream and stir. Lightly grease an 8x12 casserole dish and pour mixture into dish. I had leftover tortilla chip crumbs, so I scattered them on top, but it wasn't enough to cover, so I sliced up a tortilla and layered it over the casserole. I sprayed it lightly with oil and sprinkled with a little salt. You don't need extra salt if you use already made tortilla chips. Bake for about 25 minutes or until heated through and tortilla has become crisp...enjoy!!




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