Menu Plan Monday - September 29, 2008

I had to substitute a meal one day last week - I fixed smoked sausage instead of the Enchilada Stuffed Shells - so they were moved to Tuesday of this week.

Monday - Meatballs & Brown Gravy over Rice, green beans, corn, biscuits

Tuesday - Enchilada Stuffed Shells, salad, broccoli

Wednesday - Garlic Chicken, potatoes, Ranch-style beans, coleslaw

Thursday - Beans and Rice, Cornbread

Friday - Homemade Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, salad

Saturday - Hot dogs with chili, baked beans, fries, coleslaw

Sunday - Chili, cheese, Fritos

For more menu planning ideas from all over Blogdom, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Sunday Seed

Children Eating Dinner
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
Proverbs 17:1

Menu Plan Monday - Family Favorites Edition

This week, we're sharing a family-favorite recipe in addition to our meals for the week. One of family's favorite meals happens to be one that we're having this week, Parmesan Chicken, from Sue Gregg's Main Dishes cookbook. I think we first tried it last year sometime, and after the first bite, our son said, "I think we just found a new favorite recipe!" and that was that. This is what I fixed a few weeks ago on the day he arrived home from his summer away, and it's the first thing that comes to mind for birthdays and "company" meals too. This week ought to be a good one at I'm an Organizing Junkie's; head on over there to see more favorites!

Monday - Sub sandwiches, chips, veggies, dessert - having friends over to watch the first pre-season Vancouver Canucks hockey game!

Tuesday - Lasagna, corn, salad, homemade rolls

Wednesday - Parmesan Chicken, Rice-a-Roni, broccoli, Ranch-style beans

Thursday - Enchilada Stuffed Shells, green beans, salad, rolls

Friday - Homemade Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, salad

Saturday - Salmon Patties, mac & cheese, baked beans, carrots

Sunday - Roast Beef & gravy, potatoes, corn, green beans, biscuits

Proverbs 18:1

The Seamstress or, Young Woman Working
Have you ever picked up a new interest and in your zeal for your new hobby spent hours of time learning about it? I remember learning to play the piano. We didn't have a piano when I started taking lessons, but my teacher told my parents I would find a way to learn if I were truly interested in it. And I did! I began lessons in September, determined to learn, and my parents bought me a restored player piano with the player mechanism removed for Christmas that year. I've continued to play to this day, and the piano is still a passion of mine.

This morning I was reading in Proverbs chapter 18. Verse 1 has always intrigued me, but I never could quite grasp its meaning. As I was reading, I looked up and saw a commentary on Proverbs belonging to my husband, so I grabbed it and looked up that verse to see what the author, Charles Bridges, had to say about it. Here's the verse:

Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

Here are some of the commentator's thoughts:

Desire is the chariot-wheel of the soul, the spring of energy and delight. The man of business or science is filled with his great object; and through desire he separates himself from all lets and hindrances, that he may intermeddle with its whole range . . . He separates himself from all outward hindrances, vain company, trifling amusements or studies, needless engagements, that he may seek and intermeddle with all wisdom . . .

Of course, this is speaking mainly of spiritual things, but I couldn't help but think of how this could be applied to our homemaking. If we separate ourselves to learning everything we can about running our homes and loving our families . . . and actually doing the things we learn . . . what a difference there can be in our homes! Our homes would become the havens we so want them to be if we would just separate ourselves from "all outward hindrances, vain company, trifling amusements or studies, needless engagements" and seek the wisdom of being homemakers.

What things are outward hindrances, vain company or trifling amusements in your life? The first thing that came to my mind was the computer, followed closely by the TV. This makes me, once again, evaluate where my time is spent. Our modern lives are so full of distractions, but let's make the time to seek God each day and intermeddle with all homemaking wisdom!

Monday

Young Girl Writes on Paper with a Pencil

Monday is my favorite day of the week. I had such good intentions when I got up this morning, excited to see another Monday. I made lots of plans for housework, some church secretarial work to help my husband, some creative work to add to my new Etsy shop, and some work with the kids in school. And making my menu and grocery list for the next month.

Well.

I got the school work and the menu and grocery list done. I kept having interruptions, and things kept taking longer than I thought they would. So I didn't get much done according to the plans I made. But I have to remember that my plans are made in pencil! Maybe not literally, but in my mind, they should be erasable. One of my favorite quotes is, "Make your plans in pencil and give God the eraser." Takes a lot of pressure off when you remember who is holding the eraser!

Have a great Tuesday; we're off to do our monthly shopping!

Happy Sunday!

Country Kitchen II

Well, it's still Sunday here, anyway, even if it's past midnight on the east coast! ;) This was a busy week and I stayed busy till Thursday. Then I hit a brick wall. I'm adjusting to a new medicine. A little over a week ago, I increased the dosage and was doing fine . . . until Thursday. Until this morning, I had felt sick since Thursday. Today I've been better, but I've also eaten better - which goes a long way with this medication. With a settled tummy, my motivation has returned and I hope to keep up the energy this week.

I did get some work done in the kitchen. I think I mentioned in my last post that I was cleaning the oven. So my kitchen work last week was to clean the cabinet fronts, the backsplash, and the counters; the entire stove, including the oven (yay!); and the small appliances and canisters. I threw the round carousel I keep utensils in into the dishwasher one day too. So the kitchen looks pretty good, even though I didn't get everything on my list done.

This week is the main bathroom and one other room; for me that's the upstairs landing and hallway.

I've been reading a book recommended by Debbie from Homemaking Dreams. She has been reading Don Aslett's How to Have a 48-Hour Day and talking about it on her blog. I ordered it from my library and have been really enjoying it. The gist of it is . . . work. Stay busy. No amount of thinking and talking about getting things done will get things done. It's very motivating. If you can find it somewhere, it's a good, helpful read. I will never have the energy Mr. Aslett has, but his energy motivates me. Thanks, Debbie, for introducing me to it!

I'm still here! Kind of like life is running in the background. My homemaking efforts have gone well for the past couple of weeks, and I think it's partly because I haven't been online as much. Ouch! I love to get online and surf all over the place, mostly looking at blogs and seeing how all the rest of you out there are doing things. Then I look around and realize I've been reading about how others are doing it and getting nothing done here, which is not good. I have a couple of hours this morning to sit at the computer and write, though, so I thought I'd pop in here and say hi.

This week I'm working in the kitchen zone. I've redone my zones to better fit my own home, and my kitchen zone will include my back porch, which right now simply needs to be swept. I also want to peek out there once a month and see how the recycle bins are looking, but that's not a huge deal. Just something I want to check on. I added the landing leading down to my laundry room to my zone 1 jobs last week, and now it looks so nice and neat as I go down to do the laundry. I'm glad I made it a point (wrote it on my list!) to pay attention to that landing. Likewise with my back porch. I can go for weeks and weeks and never think about that porch!

In my kitchen this week, I'm focusing on getting the grit and grime off my stove. I washed the drip pans in the dishwasher yesterday, along with the filter in the vent hood. Today I'm running the automatic cleaning cycle. That was my husband's request of me today. I tend to put off even the easiest of jobs - and what could be easier than turning on the clean cycle? - when they're jobs I just don't like to do. I don't like to pay attention to my oven, so I put it off.

Tomorrow I plan to clean out my fridge thoroughly. Another one of those jobs I don't like! The kitchen is full of those! LOL

So how is your week going? Any special projects? Are you working in a particular room or area?

Sorry to Be Absent!

I'm so sorry to be absent for such long stretches! School has started for another year, and my husband has surprised me by setting me up with another computer! I love the new setup, but it's taking some time to get everything switched over and running well - including my learning a new system - so I'm taking a break for a few days to get everything - computer and real-life - back up and running smoothly again. I'll be back!