We are entering a new year! What is your focus for the year of 2012? 2011 was the year of JOY in our home. 2012 will be the year of GRACE.
Following is a quote from the forward of GIVE THEM GRACE by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson.
“The irony of the gospel-based sanctification is that those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience but on Christ’s. …. The power to obey, in other words, comes from being moved and motivated by the completed work of Jesus for us. So, while the law directs us, only the gospel can drive us.”
God did not leave me (us) with the LAW HE sent GRACE!
I am anticipating this new year. We will be studying the book of John and the names of Christ. And this year, instead of detailed lists of goals hanging over my head, I have prayed about areas of focus (order in my home, health and fitness, school, ministry). While I do have a broad ideas for each of these areas, I am praying God will direct my path!
May He richly bless you this year,
April
Focus For a New Year
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Vegetable Barley Soup
Okay, I have barley. A lot of barley. Like 53 pounds of barley. Have I ever mentioned that I like to buy in bulk? Normally it cost less per pound, and then I do not have to think of purchasing that item again for a looong time.
I love bulk buying in bulk.
Then there are times after I order something (barley) in bulk I think…Have I LOST my mind? I bought 5lbs. We really liked it, so why not buy 50lbs? Yeah…do you know how long 50lbs will last??? This recipe calls for about 1 cup of barley. Any idea how many cups are in 50lbs of barley? Neither do I but…I googled it and one site said 4 cups to a pound…do not know if that is cooked or uncooked. But do the math 50 * 4…lots of barley.
Does anyone want me to share?
Very Simple Vegetable Barley Soup
1 large can of vegetable juice
1 large can of water
1 cup of barley (if you are cooking NT style you soak this overnight, but I forgot!)
Bring to a boil. Stir cover and let cook about 45 minutes or until the barley is almost done. I am not certain about the time.
Add:
salt,
garlic and onion powder, ***
parsley
Italian seasoning [Dried--I am sure fresh would be delish but I did not have any].
Vegetables (any kind you like–I normally use frozen mixed vegetables)
Cook until the veggies are tender and barley is ready.
***If you are not to busy talking on the phone to your sister-in-law 
, this recipe is even better when you saute’ onions and garlic and add those instead of the powder. But one must remember priorities!
Enjoy other tempting recipes over at Blessed with Grace.
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Menu for Week of March 15
Note to self: When working on a post and it looks as though you have lost it–check the edit section because you may NOT have lost it and you will save yourself much time. Well, since I did not do that and here is a menu that is complete (the other was not) but without links to the recipes; IF there is a recipe you would like, leave a comment and I will get it linked or emailed to you. I am now taking my pregnant self to bed with a linkless post!!!!! Yes, I am aware some of those are not even words and my punctuation is terrible but I am too tired to care!
I have several food goals for the month of March that I am attempting to incorporate this week. Soaking grains, sourdough going, kefir, and baking all our bread products .
Baking this week will consist of Irish soda bread, sandwich bread (some of the dough will be made into sub-rolls), tortillas (soaked), and whole wheat french bread.
Dehydrating this week will be multi-grain crackers, pineapple and granola.
Snacks are fresh fruit, veggies w/ dip, popcorn, gingerbread, crackers and dried pineapple.
Breakfast will be served with a green smoothie.
Monday:
Breakfast~~Waffles w/ Blueberry syrup
Lunch~~Rice Balls and Veggie Platter
Dinner~~Vegetable and Barley Soup w/ Whole Wheat French Bread
Tuesday:
Breakfast~~Pumpkin Muffins
Lunch~~Sandwich/Salad
Dinner~~Tacos
Wednesday:
Breakfast~~Soaked Granola
Lunch~~St. Patrick’s Day Surprize
Dinner~~AWANA
Thursday:
Breakfast~~Muffins
Lunch~~Soup/Salad/Grilled Cheese
Dinner~~Chicken and Vegetable Curry
Friday:
Breakfast~~Soaked Granola
Lunch~~Venison Summer Sausage, Rice-a-roni (homemade) w/ fruit and vegetable plate
Dinner~~Salad and Pizza (hopefully on sourdough crust)
Saturday:
Breakfast~~MultiGrain Pancakes
Lunch~~Leftovers
Dinner~~Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches w/ Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Sunday:
Breakfast~~Fritata
Lunch~~Lasagna w/ Whole Wheat French Bread
Dinner~~Leftovers
This post is part of Menu Plan Monday.
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Healthy Eating
I have been avoiding posting about the changes we have made in our diet around here. Food is such a sensitive issue. So please do not be offended and do not be to shocked (all you NT and raw foodies) when you see not so great choices/recipes hanging out here! Changing the way a family eats is a process and I refused to be enslaved to a certain diet. So…I am going to jump right in and along the way I will tell our story of the journey to healthier food.
Last month was a total flop with healthy eating due to morning sickness. So much so the children asked what the problem was, and they are all 10 and under! So…March will be the perfect time to retake lost ground!
My food goals for March are:
–Return to making all of our bread and tortillas
–Soaking all grains, beans, nuts,
–Restart the kefir–hoping I have not killed it.
–Make Larabars
–Make more soaked granola
New Goals
–Start Sourdough
–Make mayo and ketchup
–Start Garden
–Visit local organic farm
–More raw food in diet
–Find the perfect granola bar recipe
What are you doing in the kitchen during the month of march??
Smile
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Spring Cleaning Challenge Week 1
I am a little late posting for week one of the challenge, but I did not get to the refrigerator until Saturday. I did not take before pictures because I did not think of it. I really did not have a choice of cleaning the refrigerator, since I needed room to put all the food I had purchased! I did not get to the freezer section–decided to save that for another day.
I originally took this picture so I could show everyone my NEED for a second refrigerator. We are a family of seven going on eight and I do not think they will eat less as they get older. I shop every two weeks and pick up fresh produce on the off week when it is needed. We live 35 minutes from SAM’s and Kroger’s and 20 minutes from any other grocery store. I have one day a week for errands, so technically I could shop once a week but I prefer every two weeks. The less often I am in the store the less money I spend 
.
So here is the clean refrigerator–there is nothing in there that is not fresh and edible!
See I REALLY need a second frig!
Sorry for the poor quality I had to take the picture with my iphone (which I adore), because someone stole the batteries out of my camera!
I really hate wasting food, so I have each shelf dedicated to certain items and one shelf for overflow. Hoping not to lose anything. I actually have a note taped inside the frig, so anyone can put things away correctly. We still need to train in that area!
Top shelf: Condiments, starters, kefir, cream cheese, and other small items bought for a certain dish.
Second shelf: Eggs! Does anyone local need eggs??? We have a shelf dedicated to eggs, but that shelf is full and there are three more 18 count cartons on another shelf!
Third shelf: Leftovers, cheese, and sandwich material if we have it. And today a box of pineapple for smoothies that would not fit anywhere else!
Fourth shelf: Dairy–okay it is really the shelf for our milk. I normally have four containers of milk. Thankfully only two Saturday, or it would not have fit! Saturday I had to use that space for salad greens and grapes.
Fifth shelf: Overflow. There is always overflow! In this picture we had romanine lettuce, more grapes, kiwi, baby carrots and potato salad.
Drawer is for veggies!
The door contains everything that does not fit on the shelves! And to anyone who wants to know I do not make our ketchup or mayo yet. This healthy thing is a process! And morning sickness, which after many weeks seems to have past, took a huge toll on our journey to healthier food.
So there you have it! This works for me and spring cleaning is off to a good start.
This post is part of :
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Here I am…sneaking back into the blog-o-sphere…
In January I post about our wonderful news then nothing. I had big plans for blogging this year, but I do not even have my 2010 goals up yet! It is MARCH!!! And some of those goals are not going so well. I am going to pull a Scarlet and think about that tomorrow.
For today, just to get myself used to this blogging thing again, I will dazzle you with a couple of random thoughts
The morning sickness is almost gone and I am now craving good for me food instead of junk! We had been working on our diet for sometime before morning sickness took over, then all I could think about was food that I had steered clear of for more than a year. To the point my children were asking why we were eating foods that where not healthy. Sad, I know…
Have you seen my new FREE header? Lovely SIL made it for me. Actually she made several and let me choose which one I liked, because she is nice like that! Check out this blog for the cool program she used.
A dear friend sent this link. Have you chosen a word to define your year? Mine is GROW. And that was before I knew I was expecting, so I will definitely be growing this year! More on this soon–I promise.
Smile
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A Story to Tell
September two years ago we welcomed baby number five to the family. Everyone was happy with the cute little bundle of joy. Some to the children (both boys) want the baby to be a boy. What was their “fix” for the situation? While I was still in the hospital (on the day of the birth) number asked if we could have another baby NOW! I’m sorry but you will have to wait for a little while.
2 or 3 months pass.
Number one asked for another baby. I tell him to pray about it–God is in control of those things. So he does. EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR 2 YEARS. Not just once a day but every time we eat and at bedtime. All the others prayed with him EVERY DAY for 2 YEARS! So much so that baby #5 (who was 2 in September) has prayed for a baby for months now!
God finally answered their prayer! We are going to welcome (God willing) baby number six into the family September 2010! Oh, and now they are praying for twins. Dh is very close to forbidding that prayer!
Smile
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An Apple a Day…
The Princess, she is nine, has always loved apples. She has also loved the idea of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, buffing an apple on her shirt and catching said apple after tossing it up, and any story where there is a school, teacher and an apple. (By the way, don’t tell her I clean all the fruit before putting it out–she thinks she is being a rebel with only buffing the apple instead of washing it.)
Today after finishing school the Princess is heading out, tossing her apple when she delivers her cryptic message. “Just like the book. An apple for the teacher.” By my computer she left her mother/teacher an apple! Cute, cute, cute.
Building a strong relationship with a daughter can sometimes take a little thought. Well, I was all out of thoughts. And then on MOMYS a conversation started on connecting with daughters; so I stole one of their ideas! Several months ago I gave the Princess a journal. In the journal she writes anything she wants to share with me–her hurts, her ideas, and her dreams. She leaves it on my nightstand, I read it, answer and leave it on her nightstand. It is a wonderful way to show her she is special and make a written record of our fleeting time together.
April
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Change is in the Air
There has not been a lot of blogging this last six months or so for reasons most homeschooling mothers of lots of little people can understand! But other than busyness I have been reluctant to share all the different changes happening around here. They are wonderful changes, but I wanted to make sure where I stood before I started sharing ideas, recipes, and thoughts. Now I have just decided to preface what I say and just say it!
Now for the “changes”.
FOOD–HA! You thought it was something really mysterious didn’t you!
For the past almost two years or so our family has attempted to change our food and lifestyle. So now I want to write it. Now I will not only focus on the cute things the children say and do or the garden or the chickens, but about healthy food, yearly goals (will list those on the sidebar soon), herbs, homeschooling, and what God is doing in my life and that of my family.
This blog began as a way for me to document our life and this year I hope to do a better job.
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Music to a Mama’s Ears
Here in our home the computer and it’s games are loved by most. Therefore Mama has to set time limits, restrict days when playing is allowed, and lecture on why there is more to life than computer games. Friday evening’s, if school has been completed with good attitudes, they are free to play computer or watch a movie. Saturday, after they have completed chores and enjoyed lots of time outside and have not played all evening Friday, they can play. Same for Sunday–after church, rest time and playing outside–they can play. While this sounds like a lot, there are four children sharing one or occasionally two computers.
This Sunday instead asking to play the computer my eight and ten year old decided to spend their Sunday afternoon writing a story!!! I was so excited to watch their creative juices flow. Then it came…the ten year old announced he was GLAD I placed limits on computer time, because without it he would not have thought of writing a story. And he realized he really was not the “lowest of low” but “the luckiest boy now that he finally found something he loved more than playing the computer”. My friends that is music to this Mama’s ears!
I simply smiled and gave him a hug, BUT inside I was dancing and a singing and thanking God. This is what I have been working and praying for. A time when he chooses to do something constructive with his time without Mama prodding. After a couple of pages his arm was tired and he played a game, but at bedtime I found him laying in bed writing. This morning he is at it again.
Stilling smiling and quieting dancing, singing and thanking God!
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