Keeping Dinner Simple

Dinner prep is crazy at our house. The stress of getting everything done at the time of day where I'm either coming home from work or dealing with someone who is fussy because she is hungry has proven to be a challenge.  Here are some ideas of ways to make dinner prep easier.

• Supper Swapping - Get a group together who has the same size family and likes the same types of foods. Each member cooks enough of a meal for all the families in the group and you swap out your meals. This gives you enough meals for a week with only "cooking" once. You can choose to do only the main dish (I would highly recommend this if you have a large group) or you can do the entire meal. Make your plan best suit your group. Trello is a great resource to make boards and keep track of what everyone is cooking.

• Weekend Prep - Over the weekend cook all the meats that your family will eat for that week. Then all you have to do each evening is reheat the meat and make sides to go with it.

• Doubling up - When you make a meal double it, or at least make enough for your family to eat that meal twice that week. This way with cooking about 3 meals you have enough food to last for the entire week.

• Freezer cooking - There is so much that can be done with freezer cooking.  Your first option goes a long with doubling up. When you make a meal, double the recipe and freeze one of the meals. Then all you have to do is pull it out when you are ready to eat it. Let me remind you to do your research though, not ever recipe will freeze well. Another way to take advantage of your freezer is to take a day or two at once to prep all the meals you want to fill your freezer with.  I do both cooking and non cooking methods to fill my freezer.

        ~ brown ground beef and freeze it to use at a later date
        ~ mix meatloaf, meatballs,  and hamburgers and freeze them before cooking them
        ~ meatloaf, meatballs, and hamburgers could also be cooked and then frozen
        ~ clean and cut chicken/pork into pieces, then freeze them in a with marinade
        ~ marinade and cook chicken/pork, then freeze
        ~ coat and fry chicken and then freeze
        ~ you can find many recipes for chicken that you can coat and then freeze before cooking
        ~ boil chicken and then freeze it
        ~ make a  large pot of tomato sauce and freeze in smaller containers

Hope this gives you some great ideas for easier dinner prep. Plan ahead and you will benefit.

What do you do that helps make dinner prep easier?

Building Our Homes

Of all the tasks set before me as a wife and mother, disciplining myself to keep up with the tasks around the house is the hardest! Keeping of our home needs to reflect God’s image.

There are many attributes of God that we can reflect in our homes. We each, through prayer and personal study, need to find the areas that God lays on our hearts and uses to motivate us personally. Here are some suggestions of what a home can reflect: order, beauty, peace, love, productivity, rest, protection, belonging, joy, consistency.

As God shows you what He wants your home to become, there are some principles that you can apply to start putting these things in place.

1.     Have a plan.

I have heard it said many times, “To fail to plan is to plan to fail.”  This is true in many spheres of life. If we do not have a plan, we will not accomplish what we are endeavoring to do. For some, the sheer thought of making a plan sounds like pointless work. Why waste time planning when you can be doing something instead, but please hear me out. Proverbs 14:1 says, “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.” Builds here does not mean the constructing of the house, but rather the establishing of the home.

        The first step in building or establishing anything is making a plan. By that I mean having a vision of what your home should look like. Know what attributes you would like to reflect. Without a focused outcome, you are sure to miss your mark.

       Once you know what you want your home to be like, then it is time to create a plan to accomplish your goals.  In the next section we will spend time studying out some of the many plans that are out there. No two homes are alike. Pick the plan that best suits your family.

2.  Take small steps with your vision in mind.

After you have found a plan, start taking steps to implementing it. I will never forget something my art teacher taught me; when you are trying to change an area of your life, start with small steps and build up. At the time he was exhorting us to have our personal devotions, but it is true in all areas of life. To go from doing things one way and completely changing over night what you are doing, you are setting yourself up to fail. Change slowly. Make one new step at a time. Eventually you will get up your mountain.

3. Do something.

It is very easy to get overwhelmed by a monumental task in front of you. Just get started, when you’ve got a step done, then you can add another.

Planning isn’t a once and done thing. This takes laying out your vision regularly, evaluating if your plan is working and finding what the next step of change is for your home.

Back to the Beginning

Yeah, I have 48 hours where my only responsibility is to study, commune with God and be refreshed. As I look at this weekend and wonder where to begin, my mind breaks into song, with a little help from the input of my friend.  “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start,” and how true those words are! I’m not talking about our ABC’s and our 123’s. I’m referring to the ultimate beginning – Genesis and the creation account.

God begins with creation, and that is exactly where we need to go back to. Why did God create us? The Genesis account is very clear to the purpose, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) We are created in God’s image.

So what does that mean? That means in every area of our lives we are to reflect God. The first 2 chapters of the Bible walk us through applying this principle to every area of our life.

As I listen to D.A. Caron, he brings out the point that God is creative, and we are to reflect His creativity that was displayed through creation. We each are given different responsibilities and talents that are to be the canvas we use to display our creativity. In the areas God gives each of us, we need to allow creativity to shine through and mold your task. This is why my process will never look exactly like anyone else’s.

Next we need to reflect God in our work. In verse 28 and 29, God clearly gives to Adam the work he is to accomplish. Because we are image bears for God, the attitude with which we work and the way we do our job should be done in a way that reflects God’s character.

We also need to reflect God in our role as a woman, in marriage, and motherhood. After bringing every animal before Adam, the Bible says, “But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:20) At that point God makes woman. We were specifically designed; we are not just another “Adam”. So in our very being as a woman we need to reflect God. After making woman, God makes marriage and family, specifically designing two roles for woman, wife and mother. These two specific roles therefore should reflect Gods character.

Unfortunately this perfect world did not remain. Sin entered and with it came consequences that not only effected Adam and Eve, but have touched all of human kind. Whether it be in the pain of child bearing, the desire to control your husband, or the challenge of hard work, we are presented with the need of a Savior and God to depend upon. We are in need of God for an answer to our sin and the daily strength and wisdom to live our everyday lives. Let us follow the exhortation of John 15:4 and 5, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Created For a Purpose

One of my children's favorite words is why! Even though we quickly tire from hearing and answering this question from children, especially when  the question is asked times in a single conversation, why is not a bad question to ask.
Let me clarify the previous statement. Why is not a bad question when asked appropriately. If you ask why after obeying the commands given to you and in a sincere, teachable manner, the question is appropriate.
I firmly believe we as adults need to reclaim the why of our childhood. We need to sincerely desire to learn and act upon what we've learned. As God began taking me on a journey of making my life more simple and intentional I started asking why. Why do I do the things I do? Why should I be doing the things I do? Ultimately I landed on this question as being pivotal for developing the appropriate purpose and priorities for my family, my home, and my life: Why did God create people?
As I started searching the Bible and other good resources, I quickly found that this is an extremely large topic. There is no way I can study it quickly and move on to the next aspect of what I'm trying to learn.
I want to share with you a few of the most prominent answers I came across, but understand that this is only the beginning. When I complete this project, I have every intention of studying the topic more fully.
First and foremost, God created people to glorify Him. Isaiah 43:7 refers to God's children as those "whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Our purpose cannot be more simply stated then how Paul states it in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
This purpose sums up and includes all the other biblical purposes we have. Because this is a blog and not a book, I'll share the other purposes God has brought me to in some other posts. Praying God will work in you heart as he works in mine. May we each live with the intention of glorifying God through all that we say and do.

What happend?

What happened to Mommy's Busy Bees? God began to work!

Over the last few months, God brought a few e-books into my possession. The first being Organized Simplicity and the second being 31 Days to Clean. God used the premise of these books working together with the book I have been reading for a Bible study at church, What Did you Expect?, to start the burden in my heart.

So as I take this journey with the Lord, I will keep you posted on how He is developing the principles of simplistic living and intentional living in my heart and family. Can't wait to see what God has in store.