Meal Planning

One of my weekend routines is to work on my meal planning for the next week..preferably two weeks.  Do you plan your meals?  I am a planner and a binder fanatic.  My friend Stephanie laughs at my organizing binders and suggests that I need a support group to help with my obsession!  But being a high functioning A.D.D. victim, the binders help me keep a grasp on LIFE.  One of my most used sections in my HOMEMAKING binder is "Menu Planning."  

My routine is to grocery shop every other week. Now this shopping includes all of my foods, paper products, and household products.  I do still have to purchase a few items in between these major shopping trips, such as milk and fresh produce.  My sister in law Mary and I make a trip to a nearby town and do the majority of our shopping at Aldi. We then supplement this shopping with a visit to a grocery store and bigger box store.  

Before this shopping trip I sit down with my menu planning sheet, cookbooks and recipe book.  One the planner sheet I mark special events, work schedules, and other variables.  I then peruse the cookbooks for favorites or new ideas to try. As many of you know, I have a massive collection of cookbook!  I also have a nice collection of "Taste of Home", "Quick Cooking" and other magazines.  Yes, many of these are in binders, So on the covers of these magazines I have a small piece of paper with recipes and page numbers for items I have made or would like to try.  This helps me glance through the stack instead of the entire magazine.  I'll write down recipes or dishes on the planning calendar on certain dates. Now, I will have to confess that my plans do not always go as scheduled!  But that's o.k., I can always adjust the dishes and dates.    On the planning calendar I also note the location of the recipe.

So during the following weeks I can look at the calendar and know what I'm making and can defrost and gather the items needed. I usually do this in the morning and gather the items on the counter, set items out to thaw and such.

My favorite menu planning pages are from Mom's Tool Belt.  This is an awesome website for planners. Now some people, such as Stephanie, may feel too restricted, but I LOVE printable planning pages. Helps me feel a little more in control of my days.  

Blessings on your holiday weekend. Let us not forget all of the people who have died serving the land of the free, our beloved United States of America. God please help us restore our once proud and strong Christian nation.

Here is the planners I use!  Click on the photo for the link!

From the Miller Family Kitchen

Well, it is hovering around 80 degrees right now, with 60% humidity so we surely know this is the advent of summer weather.  As some of you know, I'm not a big fan of the heat and humidity combo.  I do tend to adapt my cooking style during the warmer months, but heated up the oven today to bake something 'sweet.'  I honestly have found if I don't have a 'sweet' around once a week we all tend to graze..looking for something to satisfy that urge. This recipe is one of my favorites as it is very quick and easy to prepare and very versatile.  You can make them plain, as the recipe is written, or add chopped nuts, dried fruits, chocolate or flavored chips. They will certainly fulfill any urges you have for a chewy, sweet treat.  They make a 13" x 9" pan, which is my favorite.   Hope you enjoy this recipe, they are worth heating up the kitchen to make!

BROWN SUGAR BARS

1 cup butter (do not substitute)

2 cups dark brown sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (eliminate if you use salted butter)

2 t. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 eggs, beaten

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Lightly grease a 13" x 9" baking pan

In a large saucepan melt the butter. Add the sugar and stir well. Add the flour, then the baking powder and salt.  Add the vanilla to the beaten eggs. Mix this into your pan with the other ingredients.  The batter will be pretty thick. Spread into your prepared pan. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Don't overbake.

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Psalm 73:26

I'm back in the saddle again...

Good morning friends!  I've made a prayerful decision to gradually leave Facebook and gear my creative energy to this blog.  Having a ravenous appetite for homemaking and creating I am always seeking out new ideas and inspiration. Having a blog will give me the opportunity to share my ideas.  Read at your leisure and I hope you find some inspiration.  I lovingly embrace my role as a wife and mother in my homemaking, albeit an ever evolving role. God Bless you and your family. Thanks for reading my little corner in this big world God has given us to share.

I've linked up with "A Wise Woman Builds Her Home", be sure to check out this fabulous blog!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year !  It's snowing here in north central Ohio, a light blowing snow giving everything a light coating...a clean fresh look.  Don't we all want a clean, fresh outlook for our new year.  While the designation of a 'new year' is that of a man made calendar we are actually counting the years since the birth of Christ OUR LORD - A.D. (Anno Domini—Latin for “year of our Lord”.) I just recently read that some are considering this wording as no longer acceptable in our 'politically correct' world.  The entire Gregorian calendar is based on human history before Christ  B.C. and A.D.! The new use of BCE (before the Common Era) will be more accepted by some religious groups, but certainly not the Muslims who use an measurement based on the Islamic history of Muhammad.     So here we are, welcoming the Year of Our Lord 2012.  Ad maiorem Dei gloriam

His Unfailing Presence

 

 

Another year I enter
Its history unknown;
Oh, how my feet would tremble
To tread its paths alone!
But I have heard a whisper,
I know I shall be blest;
"My presence shall go with thee,
And I will give thee rest."

What will the New Year bring me?
I may not, must not know;
Will it be love and rapture,
Or loneliness and woe?
Hush! Hush! I hear His whisper;
I surely shall be blest;
"My presence shall go with thee,
And I will give thee rest." 

--Unknown Author

Just One Request

 

 

Dear Master for this coming year
Just one request I bring:
I do not pray for happiness,
Or any earthly thing—
I do not ask to understand
The way Thou leadest me,
But this I ask: Teach me to do
The thing that pleaseth Thee.

I want to know Thy guiding voice,
To walk with Thee each day.
Dear Master make me swift to hear
And ready to obey.
And thus the year I now begin
A happy year will be—
If I am seeking just to do
The thing that pleaseth Thee. 

--Unknown Author

Celebrating the Liturgical Year!

"Families who observe the feasts with joyful home celebrations based on the religious thoughts of the season, will certainly never have to complain that their youngsters find home life dull or uninteresting.  The modern trend of seeking shallow amusements outside the home is mostly due to the ignorance and inability of parents who forgot(or never knew) how to mold the lives of their children in the spirit of Christian tradition with all its happy customs inspired by holy liturgy."  from The Year of the Lord in the  Christian Home by Rev. F.X. Weiser

How very inspirational Father Weiser's words are to all of us!  We have been given rich traditions by our family's heritage and our rich faith traditions.  They may seem trivial at times or too much extra 'work', but these are the things that your children will remember and hopefully pass on to the next generation.  While passing on these traditions we are also passing on prayers and devotions to increase their love of our Lord!  Our Advent season is full of tradition as we anticipate the coming Nativity of the Lord.  Let us use this Advent as a time of preparation and penance!  

Praying Over My To-Do List

I sit here with my list, Lord, and I know I need help finding a balance. I am so looking forward to Christmas Day, with the family here, the company, the wonderful celebration. But, Lord, there is SO much to do!  When will it all get done?  How will I maintain any semblance of inner peace in this "peaceful" season?

I think, Lord, that I need some balance in my life. I feel so torn between wanting to cook and fill my house with wonderful welcoming smells, and wanting to finish decorating the house. I have shopping to do, the house to clean and cards to write and mail.  When?  How?

Help me, guide me, Lord. Help me to set priorities around doing those things that will bring me closer to you. Maybe my house really is clean enough, or maybe I can ask my family for help. Can the cards wait until a quiet afternoon after Christmas?  Can my house decorations be simpler?  Is there more than a little ego involved when I want so desperately to have my house "magazine perfect" for the holidays?

Help me rediscover the joy of simplicity, Lord. Help me to remember what I am celebrating. Help me to find it in my heart to call out, "Come, Lord Jesus."