On To Do Lists...

Just read and found this article helpful. My Mom says that list making is my hobby.

I'm mostly posting this so that I can find the article again after I've read the book that she recommends. I don't tend to like Stephen Covey, but I found it on tape at the library so I'll bite.

Meal Planning...or the lack of planning!

Sometimes I just get into a funk when it comes to meal planning. I usually fall back on a rotating menu from the past (I have one or two in a binder). That's where I find myself today. I usually have my menu planned by Sunday evening so that I can get my grocery list together for shopping on Monday or Tuesday. I just sat and stared at that notepad yesterday! I couldn't muscle up any brain power for menu planning!

This morning, I visited "Menu Monday" at "I'm an Organizing Junkie". There are close to 200 different menus on there! I finally have some ideas and even copied some recipes.

So, what are we having? I don't know yet...I'm going to go out to the freezer and pantry and nose around. I'll let you know what I decide.

Have a good day!

Overheard at the Quilt show...

"The oxy-products are great for new organic stains, but Biz is best for old organic stains." Overheard at the vintage linens booth. So, there you have it!

Rescue Recipes

Last night we had a guest for dinner. The dinner was to be just a casual weeknight dinner for a guy who lives by himself and would appreciate some home cooking.
I was totally stuck!
I had a turkey breast thawed but was totally uninspired as to what to do with it. Then it hit me...one of my favorite rescue recipes was perfect.

Rescue Recipes are favorite, easy and versatile recipes that include ingredients that you always have on hand. I decided to make a new catagory in my recipe box with that title and copy my favorite rescue recipes into it.

The one I used last night was Dona's Wonderful Honey-Curry Sauce.
1/3 cup honey
1tsp. curry powder
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. prepared mustard.
Pour over chicken or pork or even rabbit & bake.

If you have someone in your family who doesn't like curry, this will change his/her mind. We like this sauce very much and it is wonderful served with brown rice.

Last night's menu was turkey baked with the sauce, brown rice, carrots, greenbeans and homemade apple sauce with cranberries. We had a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a little chocolate sauce with our coffee after dinner and family devotions.

Another favorite Rescue Recipe is fried rice.
I just saute' lots & lots of celery, onion & peppers and then throw in leftover rice. I fry all of that in a little oil until browning nicely then pour soy sauce (or Bragg's) over and sprinkle generously with chinese five-spice powder. I often scramble a couple of eggs and throw in frozen peas as well. This is especially good if you have a little diced leftover meat. Then we serve with a salad and applesauce.

Do you have any favorite recipes that help you out when the menu muse has left you? Please share!

Return to Meal-Time Sanity

I have been noticing something lately... some of my kids have grown picky. I believe that for one, it is the side-effect of having more grocery money at my disposal; not having to stick to simpler foods… mostly though, I believe the reason is lack of vigilance on my part. In my experience, the answer to this is a sort of meal-time boot camp. No more choices, just thankfulness. (How often does God have to deal with us, thus?)

There was a time when the task of meal planning was much saner in this household. I’m being nostalgic and going back to the way it was, at least to the degree that I’m able.

We are going to have our breakfasts planned according to the routine of the day.

For instance on Monday, we “hit the floor running”, it is the day that we have extra mess around the house after the festivities of the Lord’s Day, we usually have laundry piled up because we didn’t do any on Saturday and Sunday, and it is the day that we have a standing appointment in the afternoon – piano lessons.

So, on Monday, breakfast is easy, and you must get it yourself - Mom is busy! The kids can choose between cereal, toast, any designated leftovers in the fridge or make themselves an egg, as long as they clean up the mess!

Monday lunch is also about speed and ease, usually grilled cheese. The rest of the week, we will have soup made from “must-goes”, fresh bread and fruit.

So here is what my morning meal plan looks like:

Breakfast: Each day, Kephir Smoothies &

Monday (our crazy day): Catch as catch can!
Tuesday : Oatmeal and bacon
Wednesday: Pancakes or Brown Rice Waffles and sausage
Thursday: Grits and ham
Friday: French Toast & sausage
Saturday: (Grocery shopping early in the morning) Muffins
Sunday: Muffins or other baked goodies, breakfast casserole
(There are some of us who must have protein at breakfast.)

Lunches will be soup, bread & fruit. If the soup runs out, or we have to eat on the run, we will have tortilla wraps or sandwiches.

I’m hoping that going back to this plan will result in healthier attitudes at the table. I’m also hoping that as prices go up, it will make things easier on our budget.

Anna at Pleasant View Schoolhouse wrote an encouraging post entitled "Lessons from Vintage Fiction". Here's a little taste:
"Vintage fiction has been my treasure trove for figuring out how to put together a homemaking life. Old housekeeping manuals will give you out-dated specifics about how to iron or polish the silver the way it was done in the thirties or forties, but it's the mentioned-in-passing daily routine that fascinates me so deeply. Here's what I have learned about a domestic life, courtesy of Grace Livingston Hill, L.M. Montgomery, and their ilk:Homemakers have work to do. They get up early and make breakfast, since someone in the family needs sustenance before catching the trolley for a long day at the office. Homemakers have a plan for each day's special tasks. There's really no time to sit around; running a home is a demanding undertaking."

Go and read the rest.

Saturday Dinners

It’s been a wonderful, though busy weekend!
I usually try to get all of my cooking for the weekend done on Saturday, but this week we decided to reinstate the tradition of a Lord’s Day Eve dinner.
This was a tradition that we really enjoyed while the kids were younger, but as we got busier with a church that eats together, well, I just wasn’t organized enough to do it all. Now that my sister and mother are living so close by, we really wanted to have that tradition together with them. There is also a really big benefit for us, besides the family memories and together time. This benefit is the main reason we wanted to try again:

Having a special Lord’s Day eve dinner makes us STOP! It forces me to look forward all week and prepare for the Lord’s Day, rather than doing everything on Saturday. Normally, at least lately, I work, work, work all day Saturday and go to bed exhausted, often waking up on Sunday to a house in which the normal housework has been neglected in order to accomplish all of the big tasks I tackled. By Sunday evening, the house is a huge wreck and not a haven at all!

When we are having our special Saturday dinner, there is a cut off time for me. There is a time that I want to have things looking nice by and dinner on the table by… There is a time that I SIT and ENJOY and REFLECT. Lately the reflecting has been as I hit the bed and it is usually full of regret and self-chastisement. I wake up feeling stressed and then when I’m sitting in the pew I have the same prayer of confession, “forgive me for being so hurried this morning, forgive me for not even thinking of my Lord, but of all of the tasks to be done.”

So here is how my Saturday went:
I already had the dinner I was bringing to church made and in the freezer (well not completely, but I’ll get to that!). We had Sauerkraut for dinner on Friday and I froze a portion for our congregational dinner on Sunday. I made a huge push to be caught up on laundry on Thursday and made sure that everyone knew what they were wearing to church.
On Saturday I arose about 7:00 and went to the commissary (I usually do this) in order to beat the crowds. I was home about 9:00 and we hurried to put the groceries away. We worked hard before lunch to get the house clean because Isaac had soccer practice at 12:30 and Steven was driving him to it.
We had lunch about 11:30 and Shayna and I worked on making our dinner, finishing up a couple of loads of laundry, and making the dining room especially nice while setting a nice table.
Dinner was at about 5:00. (I was ready by about 4:00) We had stuffed shells, salad, homemade applesauce, garlic bread and for dessert, brownies and ice cream.
We all worked on the dishes together and went to bed with just a few rinsed and stacked dishes that didn’t fit in the dishwasher to do in the morning.

If you have read, “Making Sunday Special” by Karen Mains you know that she has a whole Shabbat Erev liturgy. We did use to do something similar, and hope to again, but this past Saturday we kept it simple. The only “ceremonial” thing that we did is that while I lit the candles, Conrad prayed this prayer: “O God, the source of eternal light: Shed forth your unending day upon us who watch for you, that our lips may praise you, our lives may bless you, and our worship on the morrow give you glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Then we all closed our eyes and gave thanks for the meal.

After dinner, we prepared for worship by singing the songs from the bulletin and reading the passages. It was hard to guess what the guest preacher was going to preach on, we couldn’t imagine from the sermon title.

Here’s what I did wrong:
I was supposed to have the shells already made and in the freezer, so instead of my lesson planning, I made dinner.
I hadn’t really thought through what we were brining on Sunday, my main dish was done, but I ended up making my side dish on Sunday morning (leaving the pots and pans in the sink). I also had an extra meal to bring (leftovers from the campout that we froze) and hadn’t thawed them in time.
The other thing that I really hoped to do is have time for my own Bible study and reflection on Saturday afternoon. I had left too much of the meal to prepare right before, so robbed myself of that time.

On top of that, we have special company coming tonight for dinner. I don’t think that I’m able to think ahead to Monday very well, when my head is full of Saturday and Sunday. I think that next time we will wait to have weekday guests on Tuesday or Wednesday.

I’m hoping that our Saturday dinner will also help my sister get organized for the Lord’s Day better, too. I promised her that I would put reminders to do different things on here throughout the week to get ready. Perhaps it will help you too.

Today, for us, Monday, is just a recovery day. We are going to clean up the house from the weekend and plan our week. We usually plan our week on Sunday evening but we had a church officers’ families meeting with our special guest last night. It was great fun, but meant that we were home a whole 1 ½ hours yesterday.
We are going to be visiting a friend in the morning and finishing up our housework and schoolwork in the afternoon.

Dinner is going to be in the croc pot: Beef in Port with Mushrooms. We will make carrots and poppy seed noodles to go with as well as a salad.
Pastor Smith will be arriving about 5:30ish and we hope to eat around 6:00 followed by some family worship and good conversation and beer, I think.

I’m thankful for: Pastor Smith’s teaching on the Trinity and Prayer this past Lord’s Day, and the fellowship with the saints here that we enjoy.
I’m thankful for my home and that we are so rich that we can afford to take the time to enjoy our company and feed him well this evening, think about it!
I’m thankful for my late brother-in-law, my sister remembered him especially yesterday, on their 12th anniversary.

I’m praying: That I get everything done today! Lesson plans are done and I’m off to make a breakfast to bring for our visit with Mel this morning. And I’m trying to pray with the wonderful things in mind we were taught yesterday. That prayer is more of a blessing than we could ever imagine – that it brings us into communion with God.

God bless, y’all!

I just wanted to call attention to Carmon's Top Ten List of Ways to Be Productive at Home, it's exellent as well as the new addition to the Prairie Muffin Manifesto. Read, and be encouraged (or convicted).

Marvelous Muffins!

I love to bake muffins to give away...my family likes to eat them too!
Here are a few of our favorites:

Hawaiian Muffins
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, lighlty beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease twleve muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in coconut and pineapple to coat. In another bowl, stir together milk, butter, egg and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine.
Spoon better into prepared muffin cups; bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.
Remove muffin tin or tins to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack. Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
These muffins freeze well. Makes 12 muffins.

Bacon Cheddar Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cups yellow cornmeal
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
dash cayenne
8 slices of bacon, cooked, drained, cooled and chopped (about 1/2 cup).
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbs. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. dijon-style mustard
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper; stir in bacon and cheese to coat. In another bowl, stir together milk, egg, butter and mustard until blended. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Spoon batter unto prepared muffin cups; bake 20-25 minutes until done. Cool 5 minutes in pan and finish cooling on rack. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator. Let muffins reach room tenperature or wamr slightly before serving. 12 Muffins

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
2 cups flour
2/3cups + 1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (8 oz) container of lemon yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted & cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together flour, the 2/3 cups sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. In another bowl, stir together yogurt, butter, egg, lemon peel and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add yogurt mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes until done. Cool 5 minutes in pans then finish cooling on racks. These muffins freeze well. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Some Muffin Making tips:
1. Don't over beat your muffins, as if you are making a cake...that is what makes the high pointy muffins.
2. Don't skimp on the fat, that is what makes your muffins moist.
3. Don't overbake, that will dry out your muffins, too.
4. When doubling don't double the baking soda (just add a pinch more per teaspoon) but double the baking powder. The same goes for salt.
5. Most muffins freeze well, so keep some on hand for guests!

Menu Planning...

The first thing that I do, when it is time to plan the menu is to look at what is on the family calendar. Does Conrad have an early meeting? Are we hosting game night, so have to have the kitchen cleaned up earlier than usual? Are we having company?

Then I begin with dinner. Some of the dinners that we have when it is a "fast dinner night" are hamburgers, fish sandwiches, frozen conveniences such as frozen pizza. I like to alternate types of meat, or meatless. When the budget doesn't need to be especially tight, and I'm watching my carbs (which I should be doing all of the time), I usually don't plan casseroles. I will plan a meat, two vegetables (one low in carbs) a starch and a fruit. When things are tighter we do lots of casseroles and soups.

This week we have had company. I really try not to go over board with "show-stopping" meals, and this is a real temptation for me.

On Monday, we had Jambalaya, salad, carrots and applesauce
Tuesday, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, Vidalia Onion Casserole and fresh green beans.
Tonight we are having baked macaroni and cheese, salad, stewed tomatoes, and homemade applesauce
Thursday, we are having a roast, with pasta, saute'd zuchini and yellow squash and carrot salad
Friday, I was going to make BBQ sandwiches with slaw, but have changed my mind because I think it will be too acidic for one of our guests who has reflux I'm thinking perhaps potato soup, salad and rolls.
Saturday, a Father's Day dinner of baked spiral sliced ham, pineapple sauce, scalloped potatoes, baked spinach casserole and harvard beets.

Sunday is congregational meal, so I'm going to dice some leftover ham and throw it into a hash brown casserole and make another vidalia onion casserole.

We have been having muffins and fruit for breakfast because our guests are usually hurrying to get to their tours on time. Lunch is leftovers or sandwiches.

I haven't yet planned the menu for my next wave of guests next week. I'll have to see what's on sale this week (the ham was just over a dollar a pound at the Commissary last week.)

Heather asked for my Quiche recipe:
In the bottom of an already baked pie shell, distribute about 3 Tbs grated cheese and one cup of cooked meat, vegetables or a combination.

Mix 3 large eggs blended with enough milk or cream to make 1 1/2 cups. Pour over the contents in pie shell.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Here are some favorite combinations: Cheddar, Chicken and toasted pecans. Salt, tarragon.

Swiss, Crab, green onions. Red pepper, salt.

Swiss, Sausage and Onions.

Swiss, fresh, stemmed, washed, blanched & chopped spinach, minced scallions. Salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Swiss, 6 Sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled. Salt, pepper, nutmeg.

The time of year that we are able to get Vidalia onions on sale is a big event. This is always a great, mild side dish.
Vidalia Onion Casserole:
1/4 cup butter
7 medium vidalia onions, sliced
1/2 cup uncooked rice
3 cups boiling water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
2/3 cups half & half or evaporated milk
Melt butter in a large heavy pan and saute' the onions until soft and transparent, stirring frequently. Cook rice in boiling water 5 minutes. Drain well. Blend rice, onions, cheese and 1/2 & 1/2. Put into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. This dish travels well and is still tasty at room temperature.

Preparing for the Lord's Day

“Consider the Lord’s Day an honour and delight. Let your heart be elevated in holy joy, and your lips be employed in the high praises of God. This day more resembles heaven, than any other portion of our time; and we should endeavour to imitate the worship of heaven, according to that petition of the Lord’s prayer — “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Never permit the idea to enter your mind, that the Sabbath is a burden. It is a sad case, when professing Christians are weary of this sacred rest, and say, like some of old, “When will the Sabbath be gone, that we may sell corn, and set forth wheat?” As you improve this day, so probably will you be prospered all the week.”
From Archibald Alexander on the Lord's Day.

I have been wanting to add my voice to some of the discussions going on lately about keeping the Lord’s Day. In keeping with the purpose of my blog, I want to talk about the practical aspects that apply to the homemaker. There is much to talk about!
I think that the first thing that must be talked about is premeditation.
It is very important, that if mother is to have a rest on the Lord’s Day as well, that she plan and work for it all the rest of the week.

Karen Mains in her book, “Making Sunday Special” talks about the rythym of the week with Sunday as the pinnacle. On Monday-Wednesday, we look back to Sunday, and Thursday through Saturday we look forward.

I have made a list of things that must get done for the Lord’s Day. Things such as a meal made (we have to eat!) and clothes cleaned. And then a list of things that ought to get done – it is certainly more restful if the living areas are nice and neat, and we love sitting down to a lovely table on this day of days.

Then I decided what needs to get done in the first part of the week, the looking back part.
On Monday we clean up any leftover mess from Sunday, and there’s plenty! The dishes might not have all gotten clean, only rinsed and stacked. The extra chairs are all out and about if we’ve had company. And dirt was probably tracked in from our ungrassy backyard.
On Tuesday, there are shoes to shine or clean, and perhaps suits to have cleaned. There is also lots of laundry to be done, because we probably have only done what was absolutely necessary on Saturday, leaving the day for other things.

Wednesday is a planning day and because it is often a company day in and of itself, I try to make some dishes that I can also use on Sunday or Saturday.

Thursday and Friday, we make sure that we know where our Sunday clothes are and get them ready if need be. We begin any cooking and preperation for special activities.
Saturday is the day that I always say has three days worth of work in it! Now it doesn’t have to be so, but I am an unorganized person…the things that I plan to do don’t always (should I even say usually?) get done. I might plan to start cooking on Wednesday, but whether I do or not is a question.

On Saturday, I have, in the past tried to get all of my work done by around 1:00 in the afternoon. That way, I had some time to prepare my own heart before our Lord’s Day eve dinner. And do you know what? Having a special dinner on Saturday after which the work stops and the enjoyment of Sunday begins forces me to be more diligent in preparing! We haven’t done a Lord’s Day eve dinner in several years, though we are beginning to think of it again.

Now –a –days, Saturday is filled with baking, cleaning and school planning, and the occasional contra-dance or party. My goal is to be done with everything in time to get a good night’s sleep and not have preparations on my mind as I rise on Sunday morning.