Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Annie Johnson Flint,(please click on the link).
http://http://blessedquietness.com/journal/homemake/ajf-itisjesus.htm

Enjoy!
~~~*Terri*~~~

Cont'd from the previous post.....

It is not the fact of a grouchy husband nor is it the fact of a bad day...It just may be the fact of simple planning that can make or break your day.....
Let me share a few tips....
Mondays...the same thing every week, maybe, peas, potatoes, and minute steaks..
Tuesday...Meatloaf with sweet potatoes..
Wednesdays....roast with mashed potatoes and green beans...
Thursdays....spaghetti with salad...
Fridays...Fish, chips, and salad...
This is just a suggestion, be creative, use your imagination....this may just be the key to getting you started for planning....
The regular dinners each week, made it easier for Mom to plan and buy the weeks groceries. My dad would look forward to the meal he knew would be hot and waiting for him when he came home from work.
A grocery list with the weeks meals well-defned is a very handy tool.
As wives, our lifes work should be to perfect how we may please our husbands.
Sometimes, maintaining a good relationship with yor husband simply requires the performing of simple tasks, like havuing a meal ready on time and a clean house, even when it is not easy or convenient to do so.

TRAITS OF A GOOD HELPMEET
*A good help meet provides an oasis for her man.
*She fixes meals that please him; she does not cook to suit herself.
*She plans and prepares well ahead of tome.
*She exercises self discipline.

~~~*Your relationship with your husband is the single most important role you will ever play. If you fail here, then you have failed at your lifes work and have missed Gods perfect plan.*~~~

Strawberries and Sweet Love
I have sweet memories of time spent picking strawberries. the thing I remember most vividly ismy wrinkled old grandpa down on his knees beside me picking strawberries and talking up one row and down the other about my Grandmother and how much he loved her. Apparently, he didnt see her bulging country dress, the thin white hair, and her wrinkled old face. The thought of him loving her and of her being a beautiful woman was a novel ides in my childish thinking, but, I found it delightful. I remember giggling so much, I found it hard to pick! His declaration of love to her, was very comforting. My Grandma honored and obeyed my Grandfather. It was their foundation of love and home that made the family(even the extended family) strong. As you read the next story, you will see why we were made strong by our examples....we were conditioned to please our husbands. They taught us how to resist taking offense, and that we were never to "give him a piece of our mind." If Grandma did get offended, noone would ever know it, because it was well understood, that a lady had duties and she must be sober in her execution of them? Maybe that is another title for another chapter, a lady?, What is one, and how do I get there?

"A wise woman doesn't ever allow herself to be a liability, but strives to always be an asset to the marriage. She looks for ways to make, save, and use money wisely. Her husband knows he is a richer man because of his wife."

Cont'd next week with the next story....

Love to all who read....
~~~*Terri*~~~

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Just a meal idea....

*Sunday night put dried pinto beans and water into the crock-pot to soak. Monday morning, turn the pot on low. Monday evening, grill minute steaks and bake sweet potatoes to eat with the beans.
*Add water to leftover beans, and let cook on low all night to be used with taco salad as refried beans. An hour before dinner, cut lettuce, onion, bell pepper and 2 tomatoes in preparation for a taco salad. Brown 2 pounds of Hamb. putting half of the cooked meat in a plastic bag in the referigerator for spaghetti on Weds. Season the other half of the meat with taco seasoning and keep warm. Set your table, and other "fixins" for your tacos.
*Wednesday at noon, put your reserved, precooked hamb., with onion, peppers, celery in the crock-pot with crushed tomatoes and a can of tomato paste with spaghetti seasonings. An hour before supper, make a salad and heat water ready to drop in noodles 10 minutes before supper. Wednesday night, rinse out yout crock pot and put dried black beans into it to soak.
* Thursday morning, turn your crock pot on low with the black beans in it. Two hours before
supper, add smoked sausages to the black beans. Cook enough rice for 2 meals and serve the black beans over rice with sour cream, chopped onion, grated cheese and tomatoes. Add water to the leftover black beans in the crock pot, and a small handful of rice to simmer overnight for you and the childrens lunch on Friday, put the leftover rice in the refer. for you and the childrens lunch on Friday.

*Friday, use leftover black beans and rice for childrens lunch.
Chop onion, and meat and saute'. Mix with rice, then add scrambled eggs and soy sauce to rice. Season with salt and pepper. Make a fresh salad.
*Saturday, have a cookout with hamburgers, open cans of baked beans and cookies for dessert.
*Sunday, have you whole chicken ready for the crockpot. Early Sunday morning, put your chicken, a stalk of celery, one can of Cr. of chicken soup in the crockpot and season. Just before you leave for church, cut 10 flour tortillias in 2 inch wide strips and drop into the pot with the chicken. Enjoy when you return home.

There is your week of recipes. Simple enough?

Love to all who read....
~~~*Terri*~~~

Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Plan....

In my experience of a simple/crazy life,,
raising half a dozen exuberant children(literally)....
farming USA dirt, stringing.. sheets out on the line......

I am praying to slow down and see the sacred in the chaos....
the flame in the bush...
the Cross in the clothespin..
and the flame in the bush.

Just a bit of listening, laundry,
liturgy and......
LIFE!

Love sent to all who read....

~~~*Terri*~~~

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Assignment....

Hello Ladies,
Seems like forever that I have been on here, but, I do so hope this time, my computer is fixed. The whole hard drive had to be wiped clean and a new one downloaded..OH! the wonders of this age...
But, lets move on with our study, still trying to get through,"Created to be His helpmeet"...might take a year or more, but, I do feel it is beneficial to all of us.

The Assignment
Learn to use the kitchens "wonder tool"--the crock pot. This morning I put several frozen chicken breasts and some rice into the electric crock-pot. I added some water, cerery, bell peppers, and seasonings, and turned it on low. When we came into the house at noon, the house was filled with a delicious aroma, and dinner was ready except for a simple salad. After we had eaten, I added some more water and seasoning, which now had only a few bits of chicken and rice with the broth. This simple soup simmered all afternoon, and was the basis for our meal that evening.

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!!!
Always offer your children only one choice for breakfast...Several options will only confuse the child and make your work more! Choices also give room for argument and discontentment, (children do not have the capacity to think like we adults, therefore, giving them confusion.) Providing the same simple food every morning(exxcept maybe Sunday) causes a child to look forward to getting cereal on that one special morning. It can really help your children to be more Thankful and will bring about a more peaceful morning. A simple, yet filling, meal for the childrens daily breakfast is peanut butter toast served on a paper napkin. Clean up is easy.
If Dad is not home for lunch, then the plan is to have the same basic wholesome food for lunch each day. A crockpot of beans for simple beans and a simple vegetable added for a variety can also be served on a paper napkin.

Next, we will try and have menu for a week, use your creativity, for meals, BUT PLEASE make them simple.
I sometimes wonder if it is WE ourselves that make our "Mothering" job more...complicated....?

Love to all who read....
~~~*Terri*~~~