Kitchen Tips & Tricks #5: The Dishpan

A great friend of mine who has a dining room separate from her kitchen gave me this idea.  Clearing the table can sometimes take longer than necessary.  Even when the kids are supposed to clear their own places, it seems there is always a fork or glass left behind.  Though my table is right beside the dishwasher, I still find this idea to be very helpful.  If you have a separate dining area, dining room, you may find it really saves you a lot of time and trips back & forth.

It is the same concept as what restaurants do when they bus tables!  Make one trip from the dining room to the kitchen.  This plastic dishpan is also very useful for many other things, like in the garden when I pick vegetables.  When I have lots of dishes to wash and need an extra "sink" to keep them in until I am ready to wash.  I have even used it to put an extra large batch of  popcorn in when we have company!

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Psalm 90;12

So teach us to number our days,

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I don't know about you, but I am always trying to figure out ways to make my life easier and to use my time more efficiently.  We just don't know how much time we will have with our families.  Its seems like our family has been in contact with a lot of untimely deaths in the last few months.  Mothers.  Fathers.  A child.  Even an infant.  We need to uses every moment we can to teach our children God's love and Salvation.  

Deuteronomy 6

⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
{texts copied from Bible Gateway }

We teach as we go.  We teach all the time.  Even louder than our words are our actions.  My kids are impatient because I am impatient.  My kids are negligent because I am negligent.  My kids are grouchy and bossy  because I am grouchy and bossy.  Wow.  Actions speak louder than words!  That is not a new saying, but it certainly rings true around here!  So I need to work on my behavior so that they will be patient because I am patient.  Diligent because I am diligent.  Gentle because I am gentle.

"Lord, I ask you to make me a Spirit Filled parent!"

Judy

Please pray for my little friend Elizabeth. CLICK HERE

I am linked up at Our Simple Country Life

Easter Weekend

The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing... seems like beautiful weather for Easter!  As we consider the Resurrection of our precious Saviour who so lovingly and willingly died on the cross for our sins, we enjoy the resurrection of the earth after the mildest winter I can remember.  It is a time for celebration! I would love to share some of the ways we celebrated this year.

On Saturday {since Sunday morning we get up and eat breakfast at church} we made our resurrection rolls:

 Start by rolling up a large marshmallow in a crescent roll.

Pinch the ends, making sure they are completely sealed, no gaps!

This is the "tomb."

Mary models the sealed roll.

Bake according to Pillsbury's baking directions, 375* for 10-12 minutes.  Even though we tried really hard to make sure they were sealed, they still leaked a little.

After they are cooled, open them up...  the marshmallow is gone!

The tomb is empty!

The marshmallows melt into the dough, making them sweet!  Mary told me they did it in children's church also, only it was "differenter" because they rolled the marshmallows in butter and sprinkled cinnamon on them!  Mmmm!

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The next very exciting thing we did for the weekend was watch my great-nephew Hunter's get married!  Awww!  They are such a sweet couple!

Welcome to the family, Maria!!!

Most of our family on Easter Sunday, 2012

Thanks for stopping by!

Judy

Our Lunch Menu

With our busy homeschooling schedule, I have found it easier to have a set breakfast menu and lunch menu.  Our typical lunch menu goes like this:

source

Sunday:  Something Good! (Later I will post my monthly menu)

Monday: Macaroni & Cheese with Hot Dogs

Tuesday:  PBJ Day! (Peanut butter & jelly on the go before activities)

Wednesday:  Rice Dish Day*

Thursday:  Lunchmeat Sandwich Day (Again, on the go before activities)

Friday:  Hamburger or Pork Tenderloin Day

Saturday:  Frozen Pizzas 

Linked up at:  Menu Plan Monday

* I am trying to re-think "Rice Dish Day" because I have had a hard time finding 3-4 rice dish recipes (in order to rotate) that can make an all-inclusive meal that my kids will ask for a second time.




Have a great week!

Judy

An Early Spring, 2012

I just love spring!  I love the weather change, the color change, the change in where the kids can play {and eat}.  The first thing they always want to do when it gets nice out is have a picnic.  That works our just fine because our back deck is right off the kitchen through a patio sliding door.  They are in and out all the time when its nice out... which saves a lot of sweeping the floor!

Here they are on our front deck.  I am not sure why they chose the front, maybe it was less windy.  Mac & cheese and strawberries, what more could a kid ask for?

Once the winter breaks, which isn't normally until about now, or even a couple more weeks, we start preparing the ground for our garden and planting tomatoes & green peppers in the house.  This year I used egg shells in egg cartons, which I thought was brilliant.  In the past I have bought the trays with the little disks of soil that plumps up when you water it.  The trays are big and made of a fragile plastic.  Then we have to figure out where to store them the rest of the year without them getting damaged.  I like the egg shell idea better.  We will plant shells and all!

The tomatoes {on the right} were up in just 3-4 days!  After putting them out on the deck a week later, some of them grew about an inch in just one afternoon!  I was so amazed!  Dallas has the garden all tilled and ready for me to plant... whenever I get around to it, that is!

Happy Spring!

Judy

Linked up with:  Our Simple Country Life  Raising4Princesses

Our Breakfast Menu

After years of feeding my kids cold cereal, only to have them begging for a snack 30 minutes later, I decided a couple of years ago that I needed to actually cook breakfast.  It saves us a lot of money on cereal and is so much healthier and more filling for the fam.  Also needing to simplify life and cross one more thing off of my list of things I have to think about each day, I made a "set" breakfast schedule.  It makes life so much easier for me, and the kids love knowing {and looking forward to} what they know is for breakfast that day!

Monday is Oatmeal Day {not a favorite, but very simple for a Monday morning!}

Tuesday is Toast of Bagel day  {not too exciting, but we have an early lunch on Tuesdays/Thursdays due to activities}

Wednesday is Pancake Day {Yeah!!!  Everyone loves that!  Served with Little Sizzlers}

Thursday is Eggs & Toast Day

Friday is French Toast Day 

Saturday is our special Omelet Day {Served with bacon or sausage and sometimes leftover pancakes or French toast}

When possible, I make Saturday breakfast sort-of a party.  My husband is normally only home for one meal per day {if that} so when he is home on Saturday I want to make it special for everyone and fix something he really likes.  The kids prefer just eggs with cheese {no "yucky" stuff like onions, peppers, etc.}  Dallas & I like to put all kinds of "yucky" {YUMMY} stuff on our omelets.  

Green onions, green peppers, red peppers & mushrooms sauteed in butter.

Kids' cheesy eggs.

The Little Sizzlers

Mamma & Daddy's omelets.  Mmmmm!

It makes a great start for our Saturday!

Judy

Linked up with:  Menu Plan Monday  Welcome Home Link up

Psalm 85

I have been so blessed as I have been reading through the Psalms.  When reading Psalm 85, I noticed some of the promised blessing in the chapter.

In verse 4  "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You."  Dwelling in His presence is something I find hard to do, only because it is a constant effort.  It doesn't just happen.  Continual repentance and praise is necessary for this.

In verse 5 "Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage."  In and of ourselves, we are just weak.  God wants us to be always pursuing HIM.

Verse 12  "O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!"  For everything (period.)  My flesh wants desperately to live independently of God... only to fall into sin and bring shame on myself!  Trust.  For everything.




Judy

"Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth..."

I was reading in Psalm 78 when I came across this verse.  "Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;"  {verse 36, NKJV}  The word "flattered" had a cross reference beside it, and I was prompted to follow it.  After all, you don't think of the word "flatter" as being something associated with one's relationship with God.  In the Old Testament, the examples of the Israelites are really illustrations of we, the Christians and our relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The cross reference that lead to Exodus 24:7-8 showed how the Israelites, in the wilderness were moved by the reading of the Law and they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient."  {Sounds like ME... such good intentions... only to fail, and probably within minutes of saying that!} These were flattering words, after all, isn't that what God wants to hear us say?

The second cross reference lead to Ezekiel 33:31 {I'll admit, I had to really think about where Ezekiel is, I haven't been there very often!}  "So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.  V. 32 "Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them."  {Emphesis mine}

Wow.  This reminds me of... ME and other Christians I'm sure.  We go to church.  We hear the Word preached.  We "Amen" it, whether out loud or in our hearts.  We believe it.  We want to do it!  But when the rubber hits the road, we forget it.

"Dear lord, help me!  I truly want to obey Your Word!  I am just so human and my flesh, too often, runs me!  Give me strength to NOT flatter, but to OBEY Your Word..."