One Bite At A Time

Bran Muffin recipe

2012-01-25T10:21:00.001+01:00

A friend just asked for this recipe so since I had to type it up for her, I thought I might as well post it, in case anyone still reads this blog. :-)

Bran Muffins

1 box (15 oz.) bran flakes or raisin bran cereal (approx 7 1/2 cups if you buy from a bulk food store)
1 quart buttermilk (or sour regular milk with a teaspoon of vinegar)
1 cup vegetable oil (corn oil or sunflower oil)
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl, preferably a Tupperware one for which you have a matching lid. Combine the flour, salt and soda and add to the mix. Stir until there are no more lumps of dry flour. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours (or overnight). Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill muffin tins aprox 2/3 full. Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. Bake up just what you want to eat that day and store the rest of the batter in the fridge for fresh baked muffins another day, or bake up the whole batch and freeze the extra muffins. I prefer the bake as you go plan. In my household of 6 I never have to worry about the batter being in the fridge too long to be safe. The original recipe for this says you can keep the batter in the fridge for up to 6 weeks but I would not leave it there longer than 5-7 days.

I am not sure of the yield. I will try to write it down the next time I make this recipe. I think I normally make aprox 4 dozen large muffins and a few pans (maybe 2 to 2.5 dozen) mini muffins from a batch of batter.

Luke's Advent Day 22

2011-12-23T02:53:00.000+01:00

Dec 22 -- Luke 22

1. How did the chief priests finally figure out how to get rid of Jesus?

2. What did Jesus pray for Simon Peter? What did he predict Peter would do? What does he say that indicates that Peter would have a future ministry? (22:32-34)

3. In Luke 6:27 Jesus says "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you." What does Jesus do to obey this command in Luke 22:51?

Luke's Advent Day 20 & 21

2011-12-22T14:21:00.002+01:00

Dec 20 -- Luke 20

1. What wise strategy did Jesus use to deal with those who were trying to trap him with their questions? (20:1-8)

2. What other ways did Jesus respond to those whose main goal was to trick him or catch him saying or doing something they could arrest him for? (20:9-19;20-28;27-40)

3. For what things would the Pharisees be punished by God? (20:45-47)

Dec 21 -- Luke 21

1. What is most important in the worth of our offerings to God? Does this mean we are to put all the money we have in the offering plate every week? (21:1-4)

2. What are some of the signs Jesus gave of the end times?

3. Will earth as we know it be around forever? What is the one thing mentioned in this chapter that will never pass away?

Luke's Advent Day 19

2011-12-19T14:22:00.002+01:00

Dec 19 -- Luke 19

1. What hindered Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus? What criticism did the people have of Jesus for going to Zacchaeus' house to eat?
How did Zacchaeus show the change that had happened in his heart? (19:1-10)

2. How were the three servants judged? Did they do a good job completing the task their master had given them? What were the rewards/consequences of their faithfulness? (19:11-27)

3. In verse 41 we see Jesus overcome with sorrow over Jerusalem. Why was he so sad? What is it that brings peace? (19:28-44)

Luke's Advent Day 18

2011-12-18T04:57:00.003+01:00

Dec 18 -- Luke 18

1. What can we learn in verses 1-8 about our attitude when we pray?

2. What can we learn in verses 9-14 about our attitude when we pray?

3. How did the blind beggar demonstrate the attitudes found in the above passages in his encounter with Jesus?

Luke's Advent Day 17

2011-12-18T01:20:00.001+01:00

Dec 17 -- Luke 17

1. What is our responsibility towards others in regards to sin and forgiveness? (17:1-5)

2. What can we learn from the example of the Samaritan? (17:11-19)

3. As in the days of Noah and of Lot, people do not realize when the day of judgment is coming until it is upon them. What are some of the ways that people show that?

Luke's Advent Day 16

2011-12-18T01:10:00.004+01:00

Dec 16 -- Luke 16

1. What did the manager do that was so clever? What was his purpose for doing it? (16:1-8)

2. How do we show that we can be trusted to handle large sums of money or great responsibility? (16:10-11)

3. What does this chapter teach us about hell? If someone were to return to earth from the dead and tell people specifically about heaven and hell, would it necessarily cause them to change their minds about the gospel?
(16:19-31)

Luke's Advent Day 15

2011-12-15T14:33:00.002+01:00

Dec 15 -- Luke 15

1. Who were the "sinners" who were crowding around Jesus? How did he respond to them? What did the Pharisees think of all this? (15:1-7)

2. What is the main thing that all three stories in this chapter have in common? The sheep, the coin and the son?

3. What was the attitude of the lost son when he returned home to his Father? What was the Father's response? What should our attitude be towards God the Father? (15:11-31)

This chapter is very timely as just last night I was watching an excellent Christmas program by the AWANA kids in our church. The whole theme was on being LOST (both physically and spiritually) and our need for someone to come and FIND us. Praise the Lord, HE FOUND ME and saved my soul from it's lost condition. It is the whole reason I am able to celebrate this Christmas season with any kind of meaning.

Luke's Advent Day 13 & 14

2011-12-15T14:15:00.003+01:00

Dec 13 -- Luke 13

1. Are there different degrees of guilt before God for our sins? What is the punishment for sin? (13:1-4)

2. What explanation did Jesus give for "breaking the rules" about working on the Sabbath by healing a woman on that day? Was it sin to disobey the laws of the Pharisees? (13:10-17)

3. Why was Jesus sad as he looked over Jerusalem? (13:31-35)

Dec 14 -- Luke 14

1. Yesterday's question #2 was the same thing Jesus asked the Pharisees in Luke 14. What was their answer? (14:1-6)

2. What does Jesus teach us about how we should view ourselves and others if we are to be truly blessed? (14:7-13)

3. What is the #1 characteristic of a true disciple (follower) of Jesus Christ? (14:25-33)

Luke's Advent Day 12

2011-12-12T15:44:00.002+01:00

Wow! We're at the half way point. How are you enjoying this quick run through Luke?

Dec 12 -- Luke 12

1. What did Jesus tell his disciples about worry? What were they supposed to be doing instead? How is your heart and what is it showing you about where your riches (the things you consider most important) are? (12:22-34)

2. What does it mean to be like the servants who were ready at any time for their master to return? Who is your master? How can you be a faithful and wise manager of the things He has entrusted you with? (12:35-48)

3. This is the time of year when everyone is extra focussed on PEACE ON EARTH. What do you think Jesus meant when he said he did not come to grant peace on earth? How is Jesus a dividing or separating factor even within families? (12:49-53)

Luke's Advent Day 11

2011-12-11T06:26:00.002+01:00

Dec 11 -- Luke 11

1. In Luke 11:1-13 Jesus teaches his disciples some things about prayer. What especially stood out in these verses and why? What areas of your prayer life need work?

2. According to verse 28, who will be blessed (happy) and why?

3. What did Jesus condemn in the Pharisees? How did they respond to his rebuke? (10:37-54)

Luke's Advent Day 10

2011-12-11T06:11:00.002+01:00

Dec 10 -- Luke 10

1. The 72 returned with joy. Why were they glad? Why should they have been glad? (10:17-20)

2. What was the source of Jesus' joy? (10:21)

3. What are the two basic commands from God for us to follow?(10:27)

4. What did Jesus rebuke Martha for and what was the thing he commended Mary for? (10:41)

Back on track with Luke's Advent Day 9

2011-12-09T16:04:00.003+01:00

Dec 9 -- Luke 9

1. Why did Herod want to see Jesus? (9:1-9)

2. The disciples saw the great need of the multitude and how far short their measly lunch fell of what was necessary to feed the people. Jesus took what they had and saw how He could take it and transform it to meet the need of the people. How do you normally come to God when you are overwhelmed with something "impossible"? How do you think God is viewing your current situation?

3. How do you know that Jesus did not just give the multitudes a bite or two -- just enough to quiet the hunger pangs -- but gave them more than what they needed? (9:16-17)

4. Several times in this chapter Jesus' disciples did or said something that showed that they really didn't understand what Jesus was doing or what he was teaching. Can you find any examples? Why do you think the disciples were doing/saying/asking these things? What was the specific instruction they had been given by God that they were missing? (9:35)

Belated post for Luke's Advent Day 7&8

2011-12-09T15:34:00.003+01:00

Yikes! Where did this week go? I thought I had only missed one day but it appears I missed 2 days in posting and reading in Luke. Guess I best get caught up RIGHT NOW.

Dec 7 --Luke 7

1. The Roman commander had great faith in Jesus to heal his servant. What was the one characteristic of Jesus that this Roman understood and emphasized with his words and actions? (7:1-10)

2. What did Jesus do in verses 11-16? Do you ever think that your problem is too big or too hard for God to fix? How does it compare to what this widowed mother on her way to bury her only son? Thank God for his power over life and death today.

3. Why might John be needing reassurance from Jesus that he was who John had proclaimed him to be? (See Matthew 11:2) How did Jesus respond to John? (7:18-29)

4. According to Luke 7:36-50 who loved Jesus most? What is the normal response from one who has been forgiven of great sin or great debt? How does your demonstration of love and thankfulness to God compare to the woman in these verses?

Dec 8 -- Luke 8

1. In verses 1-3 Luke mentions some others besides the twelve disciples who were with Jesus. Who were they and why do you think they were recorded by name in this chapter?

2. In the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus explained to his disciples the significance of the seed being God's message and the different soils representing the hearts of the different people who hear that message. What kind of soil are you? Does Jesus ever condemn the sower for "wasting" his seed by throwing in onto poor soil?

3. The remainder of chapter 8 tells of miracles performed by Jesus. Do you have a favorite story out of these? Why?

Luke's Advent Day 6

2011-12-06T15:38:00.002+01:00

December 6 Day 6 in our Advent reading of the book of Luke. Here is the link to Luke 6 in the NIRV.

To think about:

1. What does it mean that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath Day? (v. 5) Does this passage teach us to throw out all our religious traditions?

2. How did Jesus prepare himself before making a significant decision? (6:12-13)

3. What are some characteristics of Jesus that are seen in this chapter?

4. Do you have a tendency to be judgmental? What does Jesus have to say to you about that? (6:37-42) What is the "log in your eye" that you need to take care of today?

5 Reread verses 46-49. Is your life built on shifting sand or on the solid rock?

Luke's Advent Day 5

2011-12-05T15:21:00.002+01:00

Monday, Dec 5. The busy weekend is done and I can get back on track with my Scriptural advent calendar. It has been tough (read impossible) to do this as a family yet but I, at least, am enjoying it inmensely.

Dec 5 -- Luke 5

1. This chapter records the names of some men that Jesus specifically called to be his disciples and follow him. Which ones are recorded in Luke 5 and what were their jobs? (verses 9-11, 27-28)

2. Jesus healed many people of disease and demon possesion. Which ones were mentioned in Luke 5 and what instruction(s) did Jesus give them once they were healed? (verses 12-14, 18-24)

3. How did Jesus deal with the pressure of crowds of people surrounding him and coming to him with such great needs? (5:16)
What should be the first thing on your "to do" list, especially on your most busy and stressful days?

4. What examples can we follow as we look at the people involved in the account of the man who could not walk? Can we see ourselves in similar circumstances? (5:17-25)

The man with the need:
The friends of the man with the need:
The onlookers who saw Jesus do a great work for the man with the need:

Luke's Advent Day 3 & 4

2011-12-05T15:06:00.004+01:00

We were out of the house all day Saturday and Sunday and I did not have these discussion questions written up ahead of time (I am writing them as I do the daily readings) but I will go ahead and post them now so that I will have a complete set for future years.

Day 3 -- Luke 3

1. Who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah?

2. John spoke to the people in two ways. What are the two types of message he had? (3:18)

3. How do we see the trinity (God in 3 persons) displayed in verses 21 & 22?

Day 4 -- Luke 4

1. Jesus was tempted by Satan three times. Can you see how the three temptations match up with the three descriptions of our sinful nature in 1 John 2:16?

2. How did Jesus respond to Satan at each temptation? What can you learn from his example when you are faced with temptation to sin?

3. What was it about Jesus's words and deeds that amazed the people? (4:32 & 36)

Luke's Advent Day 2

2011-12-02T16:10:00.002+01:00

Did anyone join me in the countdown to Christmas by reading Luke 1 yesterday? Here is the link to Luke 2 in the NIVR and a few questions to get you thinking today.

1. What was the good news of great joy for all the people that the angels shared? Why is that good news? (2:11)

2. Describe how different groups reacted to the news of Jesus' birth. Which group or individual are you most like in your response to Jesus?

the angels:
the shepherds:
the people who talked with the shepherds:
Mary, Jesus' mother:
Simeon:
Anna:

3. Why do you think Simeon and Anna were able to recognize that this baby Jesus was the Messiah they had long awaited?

A New Twist on The Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T14:19:00.003+01:00

A friend of mine on facebook mentioned her plan to read a chapter of Luke each day from today till Christmas Eve as her own personal "advent calendar" to see the full picture and be reminded of why Jesus came to earth. And then, on Christmas Day she plans to reread Luke chapter 2 to "rejoice with the angels" on Christ's birth. I thought that sounded like a great idea for myself and for my kids, or even to do as family devotions each night. With that thought in mind, I jumped over to Biblegateway.com and checked out the different Bible versions. I would guess that they have whatever your favorite version is or you could try a different version for these readings that might make these familiar passages come alive again for you. Since I still have one "young reader" I am thinking of having the kids read from the New International Reader's Version to see if things are a little easier for her to understand. To read today's passage in the NIRV click here.

If you want to go a step further with your kids, your family, or just yourself here are a couple of questions to think about as you read Luke 1.

1. Both Zechariah and Mary had an encounter with the angel Gabriel who gave them important information about an extraordinary pregnancy in their future. What is the difference in how each one responded to the news from the Lord? (luke 1:18-20, 34-38)

2. For what specific thing(s) about Mary is Elizabeth thankful? What happened that confirmed to her that Mary's baby was the Messiah she had been waiting for? (1:39-45)

3. Many people all over the world have gone one step further than Elizabeth and their praise of Mary has turned into worship of her, praying to her, referring to her as the "Mother of God", and even teaching that her own conception and birth were miraculous and without sin. What evidence do we have from Mary herself that she was a sinner just like everyone of us? (1:46-49)

4. Zechariah and Elizabeth's son was chosen for a very important task. What was that and what was the message he was to spread to the people? (1:67-80)

Lemonade Cookies

2011-05-10T16:17:00.003+02:00

I just came across a recipe while cleaning that I used to love to make but I am not able to make here in Spain because I can't get the key ingredient. I thought I would post it here so that when I am in the States this coming summer/fall I can go online and get it and make it. Plus, as an added benefit, this delicious recipe can be shared and enjoyed by anyone reading this (all 3 of you -- and that is being generous since I am sure most of my friends who used to come here and read my posts have given up on my ever posting again). These are a nice lemony cookie perfect for bringing to a potluck, adding to a cookie tray at the holidays, or for anyone who is looking for something without chocolate. (Is that even possible?)

Lemonade Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (6 oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate thawed and divided. (I like to use pink lemonade.) BE SURE TO ONLY USE 1/2 CUP IN THE DOUGH.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Combine flour and baking soda. Stir into the butter mixture, alternating with 1/2 cup of the thawed lemonade concentrate.

Drop by teaspoons on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 7 or 8 minutes until lightly brown. Remove from oven and brush with lemonade concentrate and sprinkle with sugar. Transfer to cooling rack.

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies

2010-12-09T12:55:00.002+01:00

This is a quick post to pass along my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe along to some friends.

Gingerbread Cookies
½ cup shortening
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark molasses
¼ cup water
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (you may need to add slightly more if your dough is very sticky when rolling)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Beat shortening at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add sugarm beating well. Add next 8 ingredinets, beat at low speed until blended. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. (before refrigerating, I usually divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions, wrap in Saran Wrap or a Ziploc bag and then flatten slightly to make it easier to roll out later.)
Divide dough in half and roll each portion to ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove to racks to cool. Decorate with icing and candies as desired.
Yield: 3 to 4 dozen depending on size of cookie cutters.

Rediscovering Deuteronomy & Numbers

2010-07-20T01:01:00.005+02:00

I'm still plugging away at the challenge to read the Bible in 90 days over here.

This pasty week was a full one dealing with very hot temperatures and also packing to get the kids ready for a week of camp and vacation. I am glad to be able to say I am caught up to date with the reading schedule. I found myself underlining verses all over the place which surprized me a bit as I always thought of these books as sleep inducers. There are some great verses in there that remind us of Who God is and what he is like. Here are the daily facebook status updates for the week:

Bible in 90 days Day 8 Lev. 1:1 - 14:32
Lev. 11: 45 For I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; this you shall be holy for I am holy.

Bible in 90 days Day 9 Lev 14:33 - Lev 26:26
Lev 26:11, 12 Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

Bible in 90 days Day 10 Lev 26:27 - Numbers 8:14
Num 6: 24-26 The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.

Bible in 90 days Day 11 (I got caught up while waiting in line this morning)
Numbers 8:15 - 21:7
Num 11:23 And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."
Num 14:18a The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty ....

Bible in 90 Days Day 12 (Fri) Numbers 21:8 - 32:19
Numbers 22:18 Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.

Bible in 90 Days Day 13 Numbers 32:20 - Deut. 7:26
Deut 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Bible in 90 days Day 14 (Sunday) Deut 8:1 - 23:11
Deut 10:12 Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Bible in 90 Days Day 15 (today) Deut 23:12 - 34:12
Deut 32:4 4"The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

·

Starting the second week

2010-07-13T00:06:00.002+02:00

I am in my second week of this endeavor to read the entire Bible in 90 days. Yesterday was my first day to miss and today filled up fast and I found myself on the couch at 8 pm trying to get caught up on 2 days of reading. I may have been able to do it had it been a book full of exciting stories but I was reading the last part of Exodus and between the details of the tabernacle and the heat of the day and my full stomach from supper and you have a recipe for disaster. My husband came over and woke me up where I had dozed off reading Exodus 39. I quickly finished chapter 40 and decided I would have to play catch up tomorrow and start earlier in the day.

Two things stood out from today’s reading, when I went back and looked at it again a bit more awake…. The first is Exodus 29: 45, 46 And I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.
This is such an awesome concept for me … God dwells with me. Sometimes even I don’t want to dwell with me, but the holy, perfect, creator-God, who is complete in Himself and has no “need” for anything, chooses to dwell with and interact with puny, sinful, selfish, weak, incomplete, little old me. WOW!

The second thing that stood out, and I must have heard a sermon from this text because I had these things underlined already, is found in chapters 35 and 36. I had underlined some phrases in these chapters and added a few more that I noticed this time as I read. Ex 35:5 whoever is of a willing heart , let him bring … Ex 35: 21 And everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought …Ex: 35:22 All whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought … Ex. 35:26 all the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun…Ex 35: 29 all the men and women, whose heart moved them to bring… brought a freewill offering to the LORD. Ex- 36:3 everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it … Ex. 36:5,6 they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the LORD commanded us to perform.” So Moses issued a command, and a proclamation was circulated throughout the camp, saying , “Let neither man nor woman any longer perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more.

Their giving to the LORD’s work was not done out of obligation or habit, but it came because their hearts were moved within them to participate. Their hearts stirred them to not just give a token offering, but to give generously and in such abundance that they finally had to be told to stop because there was more than enough to finish the work. When was the last time I was so moved and stirred in my heart that I could not help but respond in reckless generosity? Sadly, I can’t think of an instance right away, which indicates to me that it has been too long.

My summer challenge

2010-07-10T23:08:00.003+02:00

I know I haven't been posting in a long time. I have found that quick status updates on facebook are a bit easier and the instant gratification of response and comments is fun. I wanted to check back in here because I am attempting to "eat an elephant" and I wanted to share a bit of the process. I have been a Christian for many many years but have lacked the discipline to read the Bible through from cover to cover but once or twice. That probably includes the time it was required reading for Bible classes in college and I was merely moving my eyes across the page and got not much, if anything, out of my reading. I found out about the challenge over at Mom's Toolbox and decided that summertime is the best time for me to read through the Book that I supposedly base my life on. I want to read it through to see ALL that God recorded for me, and in a short enough time to be able to remember what I have read and see the correlation of Old and New Testaments. I began this challenge on Monday and am excited to say I am up to date as of today. This whole decision may mean that I don't get through the stack of "fluff fiction" that I checked out of the library for the summer, but I am confident that in the long run I will be the winner and will know I have chosen well how to spend 3/4 - 1 hour a day from now till October.
I decided as a way to keep myself accountable and so I can be reading with purpose, I am trying to post daily on my facebook status the chapters I read that day and then highlight one verse or thought that stood out to me. I think, at least as long as I have easy internet access, I will post those quick updates on here as well. I love reading the blog posts over at Mom's Toolbox and her SOAP approach, but I know that I need to focus on the reading and even that much of a post would bog me down and I might end up just giving up. So, I am going to keep the blogging bites REALLY small and make the reading "bites" great big bites until this Bible Reading elephant is devoured once and for all.
You're welcome to download a schedule and join me on this challenge.

Here are the facebook updates from the first week of my Bible reading.
day 1 of the Bible in 90 days challenge -- Gen 1:1 - 16:16. I think I will try picking a verse or thought from the day's reading as a status. Gen 4:7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.

Day 2 Gen 17:1 - 28:19.
Gen 18:14a Is anything too difficult for the LORD?

Day 3 Gen 28:20 - Gen 40:11
Gen 39:9b How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?

Day 4 Gen 40:12 - Gen 50:26
Gen 50:20 And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Joseph sure had the right view of trials and the right response to his brothers. May I do the same when in trying times.

Day 5 (posted a day late) Ex: 1:1 - Ex: 15:18 Hard to pick a verse to highlight ... thought about Ex: 15:2 but Ex 14:14 caught my eye and I keep thinking about it. "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." Hmmmmm Can't resist posting this one too
Ex 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation, This is my God and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him.

Day 6 Exodus 15:19 - Ex 28:43
Reading all the specifics of the Ark of the Covenant, the curtains, the lampstands, etc. makes me a bit snoozy, I admit .... until I read Ex. 25:5 and 26: 14 Excuse me, but where did the Israelites get PORPOISE skins?

Company Girl Coffee

2009-10-16T13:29:00.006+02:00

This is my first time to participate in the Friday Company Girl Coffee. Rachel really inspired me with her post on getting your "gift center" set up. I don't have a place yet to set up a gift closet like hers but for a long time I had a system for organizing the wrapping paper and gift bags that was working well for me. I used an old garment bag and had the paper rolls bows, gift bags and tissue stored neatly away and hanging in my coat closet. It was convenient and everyone knew where the supplies were (although we never could keep a pair of scissors from wandering off). Well, a few months ago the bag got a little too full and heavy and it broke. Now it would not hang up anymore but continued to be stuffed in the closet. The paper was wrinkling and there was no room for the 9 rolls of Christmas paper I found on a fantastic markdown recently.

BEFORE

The old system for storing our wrapping supplies was no longer working.

A week ago my husband reached his tolerance limit with our son`s bedroom and we went on a rampage to rid his room of a ton of unneccesary junk. I came across this large under the bed box that was not being used for anything important.

This morning I gathered up the wrapping supplies from around the house, put the ribbon and bows in clear ziploc bags so I can see easily what colors and sizes I have, and it all fits in the big box.

Christmas paper stashes under the bed needs a new home.

AFTER:

I don't have a spot clear under my bed for this so it is temporarily standing on end in the corner of the dining room.

It is out of the way and will be fine until we need to turn the heat on in the house. Hopefully by then I will have decluttered a spot under my bed to store the supplies.
Thanks, Rachel, for the kick in the pants to deal with this before the holiday season gets into full swing.

Menu Plan: October 12-18

2009-10-12T11:50:00.006+02:00

The good news is that we did fairly well at sticking to the menu plan last week. Not every meal was made on the day it was scheduled for, but most were made at some point during the week. The bad news is that I don't have many meals to push to this week, so I had to come up with a whole week's worth of meals. I have to say that as we are recovering from some sickness in the house (and my hubby and I may be toying with the idea of falling victim as well) that this week's plans do not include a lot of labor intensive recipes. Today is a holiday so we are pushing last Friday's pizza to today, but we may let one of the boys invite a friend over on Friday so we will either do pizza again (I don't expect to get any complaints from the kids over this. "boo hiss, pizza twice in one week!" Nope, not gonna hear that phrase in my household.) or, if I am ambitious we will make homemade pepperoni rolls. Plan C: the least ambitious of all but just as delicious is to buy brown and serve loaves of "french" bread, stuff with pepperoni and mozzarella and then bake till golden brown. Yummy!

Monday Oct 12
Breakfast: Oatmeal, juice
School snack: Not needed --- today is a holiday
Meal 1: Homemade pizza
Meal 2: Baked Salsa Chicken, rice, brussel sprouts

Tuesday Oct 13
Breakfast: cold cereal, juice
School snack: apple slices
Meal 1: Fried rice
Meal 2: crockpot sunshine chicken,

Wednesday, October 14
Breakfast: Maria cookies and hot chocolate
School snack: seedless grapes
Meal 1: Spaghetti and meat sauce
Meal 2: BLT sandwiches

Thursday, October 15
Breakfast: cold cereal, juice
School snack: fresh fruit (whatever was a good deal at the produce market yesterday)
Meal 1: Baked potato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches
Meal 2: Soft tacos or taco salad

Friday, October 16
Breakfast: pancakes or waffles
School snack: peanut butter crackers
Meal 1: pepperoni rolls
Meal 2: leftovers

Saturday, October 17
International dinner at the church with the young people. Stephen thinks he wants to bring macaroni and cheese. Tim is undecided -- maybe a salad, or jello of some kind.

Sunday, October 18

Meal 1: Meatballs and gravy, egg noodles, salad
Meal 2: omelettes and toast.

Don't forget to head over to Laura's for everyone else's weekly menu plan. And let me know in the comments if you're having any great inspiration for this week's menu at your house.

Karen´s awesome pizza dough recipe

2009-10-05T10:59:00.001+02:00

Homemade pizza dough (thanks again to my friend Karen who shared this with me many years ago)

2 to 2.5 cups flour
1 pkg rapid rise yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup warm water (approx 120 degrees F)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon honey

Mix together 2 cups flour, yeast and salt in large mixing bowl. Add oil and honey to warm water in measuring cup and stir well. Add to flour mixture and mix well. (Or if using regular yeast, sprinkle yeast over water and let stand 5 minutes. Then add oil and honey and add to the flour.)
Mix and knead on lightly floured board until elastic.
Wash, dry and oil bowl. Let dough rise in bowl until doubled in size (40-60 minutes depending on what kind of yeast you use.)
Shape and bake with your favorite toppings. 10 to 15 minutes at 450 degrees.

Getting back to menu planning (Oct 5-11)

2009-10-01T11:31:00.010+02:00

October is here, the family is back to a full-day school schedule, and it is time to get back to writing out a weekly menu so I can avoid the daily panic of "what's for dinner?" I know that in the past this simple little step has really helped remove a ton of stress from my week. Here is my plan for the week. We are still figuring out the schedule with after school activities so I will go back to the format I used a while back of just posting meal #1 and meal #2. I will have the ingredients in the house for both meals, and decide on the day which meal will be eaten for "lunch" (at 2:30 when the kids get home from school) and which one will be "dinner" (eaten sometime between 6:30 and 7:30)

Monday Oct 5
Breakfast: cold cereal, juice
School snack: granola bars, yogurt drink
Meal 1: Cream of broccoli soup, tunafish in pita pockets
Meal 2: Toni's apple puff pancakes

Tuesday Oct 6
Breakfast: Oatmeal, juice
School snack:
Meal 1: Crockpot beef stew and biscuits
Meal 2: Quiche, salad

Wednesday, October 7
Breakfast: Maria cookies and hot chocolate
School snack: apple slices
Meal 1: Burritos and rice I may try this recipe for Burrito casserole
Meal 2: Sandwiches, chips

Thursday, October 8
Breakfast: cold cereal, juice
School snack: fresh fruit (whatever was a good deal at the produce market yesterday)
Meal 1: Homemade mac and cheese with ham, green beans
Meal 2: poached eggs on toast

Friday, October 9
Breakfast: pancakes or waffles
School snack: peanut butter crackers
Meal 1: homemade pizza
Meal 2: leftovers

Currently I have no plan for Saturday and Sunday as this is a holiday weekend and I still do not know if we are going away or planning any family outings during this time.

Check over here to see what everyone else is putting on their menu this week.

Back to School

2009-09-16T15:43:00.002+02:00

Well, it hardly seems possible that i have not posted since May but the blog doesn't lie. We had a wonderful summer but I am ready for it to be over and for life to get back to "normal". The incredibly hot temperatures have finally gone and this week the kids go back to school. It seems that even the return to school cannot be done all at once, but rather in small bites. The first and fourth graders started back on Monday. I have been working a little at a time to finish shopping for all their text books. I still need to get some of them covered. Fortunately their classes will probably do the same as in previous years and form a class Co-op. This means as parents we will choose two parents to open up an account at a local bank. Then each parent pays 15 or 20 euros into the account and the teacher uses that to purchase supplies for the class. Last year the 3rd grade teacher not only bought the pencils, pens, crayons, markers, glue, colored pencils, etc for the class but also used the money to purchase the kind of notebook she wanted the kids to use for their class notes. I know I would have spent more money running around to buy all the stuff and this way the kids have what they need when they need it. A win-win situation for all in my book.

Tuesday I took the two older kids out to shop for their supplies ... at least the notebooks and folders they want. In secondary school the teachers are not so particular about the kind of notebooks so the boys helped me pìck out the kind they wanted .... knowing that we wouldn't even be looking at the expensive ones with the pictures on the covers. I'm sorry but i can't afford to pay twice the price just to have a Disney cover. Not when I am buying 16 or 17 notebooks!

Today, Wednesday, my second born started school. He moves up to the "instituto" this year to start 7th grade. The 7th graders had to go into the school at 10am for an general assembly, find out their class lists and meet the home-room teachers and get their school "agendas" to record their assignments in.

I thought my life would finally get back to a normal school schedule tomorrow when my oldest son heads back to school for his first day. It will also be an assembly, class list, home-room teacher, agenda day. What I found out was that in order to have this first day "orientation" for the 9th and 10th graders, the 7th and 8th graders get to stay home. So, we wait till Friday for the TRUE first day of school celebration (for Mom)Ü

Feeling Patriotic

2009-05-25T13:15:00.004+02:00

I'm feeling patriotic today so I decided to add some music to the blog for a few days. Living overseas, we miss the typical American holidays like Memorial Day but I try to do a few things to teach my kids a little about these days so that they can build some bonds to their American culture. (As TCK's -- Third Culture Kids -- )they are immersed in the spanish and european culture, but one day will most likely live in the States and I want them to understand that part of their heritage as well. They know that today Mom will be playing band music and telling stories about what Memorial Day was like for me growing up, how their relatives are celebrating today, etc etc etc. I am also feeling "doubly patriotic" since I am preparing for tomorrow. At the elementary school tomorrow they are having a "cultural day" where the classes will learn and experience things about many other cultures (there are kids from all over the world in the school). I am giving 3 30 minute "talks" to the preschoolers and then providing some kind of american food to the classrooms of my other two children. In the preschool time I am planning on talking about the 4th of July and how it is typically celebrated in the States. We are going to listen to Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever and march around the room like a band in a parade. They are also going to be making a variation on this craft I found online. Right now I am tracing a couple hundred star shapes on Red, White and Blue posterboard and will be cutting them out later today. I am looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.

A thought about Mothers

2009-05-06T11:32:00.002+02:00

I came across this quote from Theodore Roosevelt (1908)

"it is the tasks connected with the home that are the fundamental tasks of humanity ... After all, we can get along for a time being with an inferior quality of success in other lines, political or business, or of any such kind; because if there are failings in such matters we can make them good in the next generation; but if the mother does not do her duty, there will either be no next generation, or a generation that is worse than none at all."

How am I affecting the next generation? What about you?

Menu Plan Monday April 20-27

2009-04-21T00:19:00.003+02:00

We've been back from Spring vacation for over a week now but I haven't done very well at the task of feeding my family. I know that things go soooo much better if I have a menu plan so here goes Plan A for the week. There will undoubtedly be revisions as the week goes by but at least I have a place to start from.

Monday 4/20
Breakfast: Cereal
School Snack: homemade bran muffins
Lunch: Baked burritos with toppings
Dinner: Local pizzeria had a deal tonight of small pizzas for 1 euro. We walked over and fed the family for 8 euros including beverages. And no dirty dishes for me.

Tuesday 4/21
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School Snack: granola bars
Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches eaten in the car on our way to the mall for Ben & Jerry's free ice-cream day.
Dinner: hot dogs and macaroni and cheese

Wednesday 4/22
Breakfast: or oil bread
School Snack: homemade cookies or brownies
Lunch: chicken and broccoli, rice
Dinner: quiche

Thursday 4/23
Breakfast: Cereal and fruit
School Snack: apple slices
Lunch: Chili and cornbread
Dinner: grilled cheese sandwiches

Friday 4/24
Breakfast: PopTarts or cereal from the recent care package from the States
School Snack: Kids' choice
Lunch: homemade pizza
Dinner: ????

Saturday 4/25
Hubby and eldest son will be gone all day at a youth event in Salamanca with the car. I'll be at home with the littler ones. We'll nosh on leftovers and maybe make chicken sandwiches (from frozen chicken patties fried up and eaten on burger buns).

Sunday 4/26
Choir practice after church will get us home later than normal. We'll have meatballs and sauce heating in the crockpot and will just have to cook some spaghetti pasta once we get home.

Don't forget to head over to Laura's to see what everyone else has on the menu for this week.

focus, focus, focus

2009-03-27T09:50:00.003+01:00

I think that I waste a lot of time by not being focussed on a specific goal. I flit from room to room and from task to task because everywhere I look I see something that "needs to be done" or (more often) that I want to do. I think if I would stop for a couple of minutes each day and refine my focus and determine my goals (and learn how to make a REASONABLE list) I would find things going much smoother and would probably see that I am making better progress on "eating the elephant". I am going to try out my new theory for the next 6 days as I prepare the house for houseguests over Easter weekend and pack the family for our vacation the week before Easter. See the timeline there? I need to have the house ready BEFORE we leave on vacation. The only way that will work is with some focus, focus, focus.
Wednesday's post showed me that I was a bit too vague in what I wanted to accomplish in those 90 minutes before picking up the kids. I was also overly optomistic in how much I could get done. Put away all the food I bought at the market, make lunch, do a massive decluttering, straighten up the house etc etc etc. Who am I kidding? I had nothing more to bring to the donation center but the 2 bags that are in the back of the car from last week. I putzed about in the kitchen for the whole time and didn't have time to drive by on the way to the school. I barely got my "small thing" done from Rachel's Home Sanctuary site.
So today I have one focus for the morning.... I must finish filing our taxes! I do not want this hanging over my head for our vacation so I have determined that today is the day it will get done. I started yesterday but had to stop when school was out and never got back to it. I have 4 hours before I have to pick up the kids and it should not take even half that long. Once that is done I will look at the time and determine my focus for the rest of the morning. Let's see if this new approach makes a difference.

back for some teeny bites

2009-03-25T12:07:00.002+01:00

This poor blog is feeling so neglected. I've gotten hooked into facebook, updating my status regularly but I realize there are friends and family that have not (and probably never will) join facebook so I may try my hand at some quick posts here. Maybe if I pretend that I am limited in my # of characters like on my facebook status updates, I can improve my editing skills and learn how to be brief.

Today I hit the local outdoor produce market. Only planned to get two things so I didn't bring the rolling cart. Bad move ... I ended up lugging 8 bags totalling more than 25 lbs to the car. Ouch! I just couldn't resist some of the prices and I know my family will appreciate eating the healthy stuff. They are so much better than I am in their eating habits. So, sometime this week we will have zucchini soup, cream of broccoli soup (for my husband who is still needing to have soft foods), brussel sprouts, coleslaw, cucumber salad, strawberries, pears and apples. My mouth is watering already (well, all except the brussel sprouts)
I have 90 minutes till I have to go pick up the kids at school. Let's see what I can rustle up for lunch and how many bags of stuff I can declutter from the house to leave a the donation center on my way to pick them up.

Menu Plan February 9-15, 2009

2009-02-09T23:04:00.003+01:00

I sat down with my husband this evening and he helped with the menu plan, letting me know which days he expects to be home for meals. This week is a bit unusual because we had dinner guests today, my daughter is having her first "friend" birthday party this Friday, the family birthday party will be Saturday and then Sunday we will celebrate Valentine's Day with a nice dinner after church. Here is the plan for the week:

Monday Feb 9
Breakfast: cold cereal
School Snack: peanut butter and crackers
Meal 1: Salsa chicken, rice, corn, peas with bacon, corn bread
Meal 2: buttered pasta, garlic bread

Tuesday Feb 10
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School Snack: apple slices
Meal 1: Lasagna, salad
Meal 2: grilled cheese sandwiches, raw veggies

Wednesday Feb 11
Breakfast: Toast & jam
School Snack: peanut butter cookies
Meal 1: Fried rice with bacon, peppers and eggs
Meal 2: pepperoni rolls

Thursday Feb 12
Breakfast: hot chocolate and Maria cookies
School Snack: croissant sandwiches
Meal 1: lentils and rice, salad
Meal 2: eggs on toast

Friday Feb 13
Breakfast: cereal
School Snack: Valentine Rice Krispie treats
Meal 1: Quesadillas
Meal 2: party food for my daughter's princess party. Any ideas????

Saturday Feb 14
Breakfast: French toast
Meal 1: Birthday meal chosen by Princess herself -- Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli
Meal 2: leftovers

Sunday Feb 15
Breakfast: ?
Meal 1: Ham or pot roast depending on which is a better price, mashed potatoes, peas
Meal 2: leftovers or sandwiches

Head on over to Laura's to see what others have on the menu for the week.

Menu Plan Monday Feb 2-8, 2009

2009-02-02T18:09:00.002+01:00

I am still using my master menu list although I had to flex a bit and stray from the "assigned categories" for each day of the week due to this week's schedule of events. Here is the rough plan for the week: (Instead of lunch and dinner I will just put meal 1 and meal 2 since I don't always know ahead of time when my hubby will be here to eat with us and which meal should be the "big meal" of the day.

Mon 2/2
Breakfast: Baguette toast with olive oil, juice
School snack: sliced granny smith apple
Meal 1: Rotisserie chicken, rice or ali-oli potatoes, broccoli
Meal 2: last practice session to determine which spanish tortilla "recipe" I will submit tomorrow to the town tortilla contest.

Tuesday 2/3
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School snack: bocadillo de tortilla (with left over tortilla from mon. dinner)
Meal 1: We will be at the tortilla day festivities and will either eat snacks or stand in line for free tortilla.
Meal 2: chorizo sausage, salad, eat up my (prize-winning?) tortilla entry

Wed. 2/4
Breakfast: cold cereal
School snack: croissants with peanut butter or nocilla spread
Meal 1: Fried rice (with bacon, peppers, scrambled eggs, onions, etc)
Meal 2: Dad's choice (it is his turn to stay home with the little ones while I go to prayer meeting with the older ones and stay for choir practice)

Thursday 2/5
Breakfast: toast with jam or honey, fruit
School snack: homemade cookies
Meal 1: Burritos with salad toppings, tortilla chips
Meal 2: soup and crackers

Friday 2/6
Breakfast: homemade egg (Mc)muffins
School snack: peanut butter crackers, juice box
Meal 1: pizza
Meal 2: We are babysitting for some friends' children and don't know yet if it is in our home or theirs.

Sat 2/7
Breakfast: Banana bread
Meal 1: Beef and broccoli, rice or egg noodles
Meal 2: hot dogs and macaroni and cheese

Sun 2/8

Breakfast: cereal
Meal 1:lasagna, salad
Meal 2:leftovers or snacks

Head on over to Laura's to see what others have on their menu this week.

WW: Views of my kitchen

2009-01-21T12:33:00.007+01:00

Here are some views from my kitchen this past week.

One of the parents at the kids' school who knows I always order tea instead of coffee when I go out gave me this box of tea from her family restaurant. I guess they had received several boxes of it by mistake and it wasn't selling so she gave me an extra box. Good thing I am not hyper-sensitive ...Read the label carefully.:-)

The apartment was chilly the other day and it was downright cold outside. (OK, it was just below freezing so I know that is a heat wave to my Michigan friends .... but it is cold for Madrid) so I pulled out my big Tupperware bowl and made homemade bread for supper. YUM

Today I went to the outdoor market for the first time since before Christmas. Here is the haul for today .... 2 kilos zuchini, 2 kilos lemons, 4 kilos granny smith apples, 3 small trays of cherry tomatoes (in the white bowl), 2 kilos cucumbers, 2 heads of iceburg lettuce and 3 bags of "gourmet" salad greens. Any guesses on the grand total for this (aprox 25 lbs of produce)? (Reminder for you non-metric readers: 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds)

2009-01-21T12:32:00.000+01:00

Monday Menu and back to blogging

2009-01-12T23:59:00.002+01:00

It's Monday and I have finally crossed the last of the holiday parties and events off the calendar. We had to reschedule the teen Christmas party that was supposed to have been at our house on the 27th because we had the stomach flu in our home at that time, and the following weekend too. We moved the location of the party to the church which removed the stress of having to get the house cleaned up and company ready but added the stress of having to transport all the food and serving dishes to the church. The menu was a success -- tortilla roll-ups, Jewish hotdogs, and my mother-in-law's warm from the oven ham and cheese on a bun sandwhiches, chips, olives, the famous (or should I say infamous?) punch (1 liter of red berry juice, 1 liter pineapple juice, 2 liters lemon/lime soda and a few scoops of vanilla ice cream). Everyone loves it. Desserts were a platter of lemon bars, another of chocolate mayonaise cake which came out almost like brownies this time, and a platter of all the Christmas cookies that were still hanging around in tupperware in my house. There were a few shortbread cookies, some Choco-mint snappers, a slew of spritz cookies and then my husband had the nerve to put the last of the peanut-butter bonbons on the tray. He is much more spiritual than I am. I was planning on keeping those last 9 bonbons in the tupperware at home for a day when I really needed them. Oh well. That's life.
Rachel, over at Home Sanctuary gave us a challenge the other day regarding our meal planning. Spurred on by the promise of 100 points towards my Company Girl total, I came up with 6 meal categories (one for each day of the week other than Friday which will remain Pizza night) and then wrote down 4 main dishes for each category. So, in theory I have 28 days of meals planned, right? Well...... maybe. I still need to come up with lunches, side dishes, breakfasts and snacks. And, I need to go shopping to make sure I have the ingredients for these meals or I will end up staring at the list, realizing I am missing an ingredient for all the possibilities and making peanut butter and jelly again.
Here are the daily categories I came up with for this month and we will see if they need some tweaking before February.
Monday- Crock pot meal (so I can be free to spend my energy cleaning up after the weekend and doing laundry) This one didn't work out today but it is the "general plan" Ended up making hamburgers today and heating up leftover soup.
Tuesday- Oven meal. I normally am home on Tuesdays so I think it is the best day to plan a more labor intensive meal or at least one that cooks in the oven.
Wednesday-- Quick pasta meal. Hopefully this will help with the "get me to the church on time" run around on prayer meeting night.
Thursday-- Egg dishes My plan to still eat well despite the economic "crisis".
Friday-- Still Pizza night. I value my life.
Saturday-- depending on our schedule for the week it will be leftovers or perhaps the chance to try out a new recipe.
Sunday-- I am working on coming up with a list of 6 or 8 meals that work for our crazy Sunday schedule. It is a rare Sunday that we get home from church before 2:30pm and it is usually closer to 3pm. We are all ready to eat RIGHT AWAY so I need to have things that cook up super fast, or meals that have been prepped the night before and can be heated quickly in the microwave. Also crockpot meals work well here. I would love to just buy the rotisserie chicken from our local chicken place a block away. His prices are still the best around, but even so, we need to cut back on spending.

This week's tentative plans for each main meal (sometimes mid-day meal, other times evening meal depending on my husband's work schedule) is as follows:
Mon -- Had cheeseburgers and leftovers. No time or ingredients to mess in the kitchen this morning.
Tuesday-- homemade macaroni and cheese with ham cubes, salad?
Wednesday --Baked bean casserole. (switching pasta to Tuesday so as not to have 2 ground beef meals back to back)
Thursday-- broccoli casserole (uses frozen broccoli, cottage cheese and eggs)
Friday-- homemade pizza
Saturday--????
Sunday-- Hubby wants chinese food for his birthday lunch after church and then wants me to cook the roast I bought (per his wishes) for dinner. If this ends up seeming like 2 big meals for one day we may move the roast dinner to Saturday's meal.

Check out Laura's blog to see what everyone else has on their menu for the week.

An extra long unplanned blogging break

2009-01-02T21:54:00.002+01:00

I had such great plans with the Holiday Bites and thought that the blogging of my little bites at the holiday preparation would be a good thing. However, a few things beyond my control brought it all to a screeching halt. A trojan virus infected my computer and made me quite paranoid about going online until I could take care of it. It took a few weeks (since I was so busy with the Holidays and many other things took priority of my time) to get a new harddrive (1 TB -- WOW) and transfer all my pictures from the laptop (I was basically out of memory on the laptop hd) and any other documents that I would be upset to lose, should the virus on my laptop cause a crash. Praise the Lord, the laptop did not crash, no files were lost, I have freed up plenty of space on the laptop and I am back online, safely this time. But, this all took over two weeks. Include the fact that I have been fighting with the flu for a week, starting on the 26th, and 4 other members of the family have had it too, and that makes for little time or energy to blog.
We still have another 5 days of vacation and "holidays" here in Spain, with three Kings' Day coming on Tuesday the 6th. We plan to go to some friends' home to see the parade on the eve of the 5th, then stay the night so the kids can go to bed and the adults can stay up playing Rook till the wee hours of the morning, and then we will have a small gift exchange and fellowship together on the 6th. The kids head back to school on the 8th and I imagine that I will get back into a regular blogging schedule then.
I have to admit that during those two weeks of not having internet connection, I kind of liked not being sidetracked and sucked into blogs, facebook and wasting time on the computer when I could and should be doing other things. Now that I can get back online I need to figure out how to be disciplined to limit my time online and still accomplish the important things each day. I'll let you know if I figure it all out. :-)

Holiday Bite #16: Just jump back in and start nibbling

2008-12-05T11:41:00.003+01:00

If you are like me your schedule is starting to overflow and the deadlines are starting to roll around on the calendar. Don't throw in the towel yet! Just take some minutes each morning and plan your attack on the day to nibble away at the elephant-sized task(s) before you.
Here are some ideas to get you going based on what I am doing this week:

I drove my son to a retreat in northern Spain this week. Put 880 km on the car over two days. (About 5-6 hours in the car each day due to weather conditions). Will you be travelling somewhere this season? Take a minute or two and get the trash out of your backseats and trunk, check the tire pressure, oil, wiper fluid, etc. and pick up some of your snacks for the trip when you hit the grocery store this week. (My niece was impressed with my bags of goodies for the road trip. Just call me the junk food queen. We had ham and cheese sandwiches on cute little rolls called medianoches, Pringles, bugles, nuts (cashews since my one son with a cashew allergy was not with us), almonds and peanuts, cans of soda and bottles of water, Snickers bars and mint chocolate bars, and left over gingersnaps from the cookie jar. Yum. I will have to do some serious walking to work all that off.

Do you do advent calendars? So you are 5 days behind .... no problem. Why not get it out and start tonight? My kids love this tradition. It has nothing to do with the fact that we do the chocolate ones and they each get a little piece of chocolate each day. Nope, nothing at all to do with that.

Don't let yourself get surprised with late fees or credit card shocks. Decide on a DAY AND TIME to check out the balance in your accounts and make sure the bills are paid on time. I just realized that one CC account is due tomorrow and one is due Monday. I am making the online payments today. Your shopping deals are not deals if they come with additional finance charges or late fees.

Well, those are my bites for this week. This weekend is a busy one at church and next week we will try to fit in a couple of tourist days since it is my niece's last week with us. (boo hoo).

Oops!

2008-12-05T11:38:00.001+01:00

I finally got to the computer to see if I could post a quick Holiday Bite and found that the #15 one from last week never got past draft mode. I can't stand to see my time wasted so I went ahead and hit publish anyway. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great time celebrating with some good friends and eating the most delicious apple pie ever. (I have to get her to give me her recipe.)

Thanksgiving timeline

2008-11-25T23:55:00.004+01:00

This is just one of a few ways I am making sure that next Thankgiving goes smoothly --- posting my tentative timeline to (hopefully) ensure that all food is hot and ready at the same time.

Goal for dinner to be eaten is 3:00pm (which should ensure that we at least eat by 4:00 --- but I will still shoot for 3)

Turkey stuffed and in the oven bag and in the oven at 8:30 if I am also cooking ham, or 11:00 if it is the only meat.

Ham (if we have it) goes in oven around 12:30

mashed potatoes. Peeled and cut up early in the morning. Cooked on the stove early and then kept warm in crockpot or over really low flame. Mashed at 2:45 by my husband, the master masher. I am so glad he will be here and can work his magic on the potatoes.

Baked sweet potato casserole -- I will peel, cube and boil the potatoes on Wednesday and put them in the fridge overnight. Thursday at 10 am I will assemble the casserole with brown sugar, pineapple and mini marshmallows. Goes in the oven at 2:00

Broccoli casserole -- Wed. I will cut the fresh broccoli into small florets. I will also crush the required Ritz crackers. Thursday while the sweet potatoes are assembled I will steam the broccoli and melt the butter to mix with the crackers for the topping. Approx 10:15 the broccoli, cheese butter and toppings will go in the casserole dish. Goes in the oven on the other rack at 2:00 with the sweet potatoes.

Corn -- frozen corn goes on the stove top around 2:40

Turkey is removed from the cooking bag around 2:00 and carved around 2:45.

Gravy: Made on top of stove from the turkey drippings approx 2:45

Thanksgiving Menu 2008

2008-11-25T23:40:00.004+01:00

This is the plan for what will grace our Thanksgiving table this year.
The timeline to get it all done at the same time is here.

Turkey and stuffing

Baked Ham with brown sugar and pineapple glaze (maybe. I will do it if the turkey looks too small to me when I pick it up at the butcher tomorrow.)

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Baked sweet potato casserole with brown sugar, pineapple & mini marshmallows

Broccoli and cheese casserole topped with crushed Ritz crackers and butter

Salad (my guest is bringing this -- the recipe with raw cauliflower and bacon bits)

corn

bread (baguettes) fresh baked locally

relish tray

one lone can of cranberry sauce (it seemed way too expensive at the import store so I only bought one can. Everyone will be able to have a spoonful or two instead of large servings of the stuff.) Supplemented perhaps with a jar of Lingonberry jam from Ikea (they always garnish their plates with it)

Desserts (YUM!)

A variety of pies. Final round up still to be determined based on what our guest decides to make. Possible finalists include:
pecan pie, chocolate pudding pie (homemade pudding), chocolate chip pie,
apple pie (or apple crisp), pumpkin pie(s)
Crunch bars (if any is left of the batch we made today)
Soft gingersnap cookies
vanilla ice cream to turn pies a la mode
whipped cream for topping the pumpkin or chocolate pies
pumpkin bread
zucchini bread

Beverages
apple juice
cranberry juice mixed with lemon-lime soda
sweet iced tea
coffee
hot tea
hot spiced cider (packets)

Holiday Bite #15: Do you know what time it is?

2008-11-25T23:25:00.006+01:00

The Holiday bites may seem sparce this week because, let's face it.... this is not a week for preparation for Christmas so much as it is one of the main events in the Holiday season .....THANKSGIVING! This is extra busy because of the addition of my time on Thursday and Friday speaking at the local elementary school. See here for more details on that.

My niece have been steadily progressing in the process of preparing for Thursday's celebration. Monday we cleaned the bathrooms and straightened the living room. Today the floors were vacuumed and mopped. Steps were made ahead of time on several recipes that will be finished tomorrow or Thursday. We will be offering pumpkin and zucchini breads to the children at the school after the talks I give. (probably won't tell them what the secret ingredients are until after they try a bite) We got out some large ziploc baggies and my niece measured out the dry ingredients for a double batch of bread and labelled it. Now the mixing of the breads will go much quicker and we can get the pans in and out of the oven with speed. I know others will say to bake them early and just freeze them but I have never been overly thrilled with how frozen baked goods taste after they thaw. Fresh baked is sooooo much nicer in my humble opinion. The crunch bars were made today because, providing I can hide the tupperware from my sons -- and myself, the bars will keep and taste great on Thursday. The only problem is having the self control to not eat anymore before then. They are so good my niece and I have renamed them ... "Oh, baby! bars"

Today I made lists and a tentative timeline for the oven and stovetop on Thursday. Check it out here.

And if you want to know what will be on our table Thursday you can look here.

Today's holiday bite is for those of you who are going to be celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday. Make a timeline to keep you on track from now until the time you sit down at the overflowing table. A little bit of planning goes a long long way towards de-stressing the day. If I don't get back on before then, I'll be back with holiday bites after I recover from my turkey overload. At which time I hope to be humming Deck the Halls, or "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" since the weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally when we like to set up our tree and decorate the house.

Tuesday's Tackle: Talkin Turkey

2008-11-25T13:17:00.005+01:00

This week I have a great privilege. I am being allowed to come into my children's elementary school for the second consecutive year and talk to the children, presenting the American holiday of Thanksgiving. I did some hunting around the house last week and found the visuals that I used last year as well as the notes I had for my talk on Squanto and a brief history of the first Thanksgiving. I will be reviewing those notes and making changes today and tomorrow, between trips to the store for food supplies, straightening up the house, and picking up my husband at the airport tomorrow (my #1 thing to be thankful for this year!). When I was home in the states in June I helped declutter my mother's home by relieving her of her colonial dress and apron that she made and wore back in 1976 for Bicentennial celebrations in our town. I needed to make a new mop cap to go with it so last week I sat down with this tutorial and whipped up a cute cap to wear with my costume. This will be a new touch for the kids who were in the school last year and have heard this talk once already. The school scheduled me to talk to the preschoolers on Thursday (which means I will have to do as much of Thursday's dinner ahead of time as possible so we can still eat soon after the kids get out of school at 2pm) and then two sessions on Friday. In addition to cooking for 11 at the house Thursday, my niece and I will be baking up extra pumpkin bread, zucchini bread and chocolate pudding tarts to share at the school. I learned last year not to even bother to bring sweet potato casserole because only 3 or 4 kids even dared to try it. Oh well, their loss.
If I get my cooking timeline done today I will try to post it later along with the menu for Thursday's spread.
Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see what others are tackling this week.

Menu Plan for Nov 24-30 , 2008

2008-11-24T10:36:00.005+01:00

Monday 11/24
Breakfast: oil bread
School Snack: yogurt drink & homemade gingersnaps
Lunch: goulash
Dinner: ?

Tuesday 11/25
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School Snack: sandwich
Lunch: hotdogs and baked beans (cut up the dogs into small bites and heat together in crockpot all morning)
Dinner: Clean out the fridge to make space for Thanksgiving items

Wednesday 11/26 HUBBY COMES HOME!!!!!!
Breakfast: cereal and yogurt
School Snack: peanut butter and crackers
Lunch: Baked potato soup
Dinner: ?

Thursday 11/27
Breakfast: hot chocolate and maria cookies
School Snack: fruit
Lunch: The Full Spread -- Thanksgiving Dinner (check back tomorrow for the full menu)

Friday 11/28
Breakfast: cereal
School Snack: kids' choice
Lunch: turkey sandwiches
Dinner: we've been invited over to some friends' house for dinner .... if she is not in the hospital delivering their son

Saturday 11/29 Possible sightseeing day
Breakfast: ?
Lunch: ?
Dinner: ?

Sunday 11/30
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: we'll eat lunch downtown and stay in town between services to go sightseeing at the Prado museum (free on Sundays) and maybe to Retiro park
Dinner: snacks or sandwiches after church

Head over to Laura's to see what's on the menu for others this week. I will try to do a separate post with Thursday's menu but life is so busy this week that it may not happen. Should be up by Tuesday if it is going to happen.

Holiday Bite #14 Tis more blessed to give than to receive

2008-11-21T23:55:00.002+01:00

Do you have kids? Do you get a little crazy this time of year dealing with all the "wish lists" and begging for more stuff from them? I am blessed with four children and still have one or two that are still sure that the world revolves around them. Princess still feels that every store she walks into has something that I must buy for her .....right now. You'd think that after almost 6 years of life around here she would have gotten the message, but she is still learning. My oldest two are pretty good this time of year at having their radar out for gift ideas to give each other and for the rest of the family. We went to a little mall near our house tonight and both boys were thrilled to pick up gifts for their siblings for just a teeny bit of cash.
The mall was having a "toy rastrillo" where they had tables set up and people could come and bring their used toys to sell or trade with others. The kids spent a little bit of time gathering up some things to bring and we arrived with a large Ikea bag and the box from my new microwave full of stuff. We are very cheap on our prices so the boys had a good crowd of kids around their table. The event was not really well advertised so the crowd was small but by the end of the night they had cleared out most of the things on their table and had netted about 6 euros. I didn't fare quite as well with the stuff on my table (the things Princess and son #3 gathered up) but did sell some Discovery Toy puzzles for 6 euros and a couple of little beany teddy bears for a euro. The boys were able to go to some of the other tables and buy (for almost nothing) some presents for Christmas presents. One was even able to trade for a present for his sister so no cash was involved in the deal and both parties ended up happy.
Today's Holiday bite is to help your children get thinking about who they want to exchange gifts with and what they can do to plan and purchase or make gifts for others. Even at a young age they can color a picture or help you make a special treat for someone. My son used to help me make candy cane bark to give to his father as a gift. (break candy canes into small pieces, melt white chocolate in double boiler, add candy cane and spread on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper to cool. Break into small pieces and store in an airtight container). Do they really want to give something that will cost money? Why not have them "earn" some money by helping you around the house with some age appropriate jobs instead of just giving them the money to purchase their gifts? You were going to shell out the money anyways (at least if you are like me) so why not get something out of the deal yourself and let them take "ownership" of the whole process?
Don't have children? Get working on your own gift giving list then. Can you pick up one or two gifts today, or order them online? Get busy .... and don't wait till the last minute to wrap these. But that is another bite for another day, I think.

Holiday Bite #13 Sew What?

2008-11-21T00:00:00.003+01:00

I pulled out my sewing machine today. Usually it sits in the corner gathering dust but today it was imperative that I put it to use. Next week I have been given permission to speak to the entire preschool and elementary school where the kids attend and explain the American holiday of Thanksgiving. When I was home in the States last June I talked my mother into giving me her colonial dress that she made for herself to wear at various functions during the Bicentennial celebrations back in 1976. I , of course, could not wear my old dress from that year since I was only 14 years old (and several inches smaller all around). , Yes, that is me in the dress and blue apron, the helmet bonnet and the farmer's tan on my scrawny little arms. I tried it on and mom's dress will fit me (at least I hope I haven't gained weight since I tried it on in June). She is missing the mop cap that she loaned out to someone and never got back.
I hopped online and found a tutorial for how to make myself a proper head covering and found just the right cloth in my cedar chest. Had a bit of a blonde moment while trying to draw a 20 inch circle using a pencil with a string tied to it to be a compass. I made a mistake and cut the string to be 20 inches at first, making the circle really huge and then I remembered that the string needs to be the length of the radius not the diameter. Oops!
Once I got it cut out the sewing went rather quickly and the kids were duly impressed with mommy's new cap. Princess even declares that she wants one although I do not know what she thinks she would do with it except maybe pretend to be Laura Ingalls and wear it to bed with her nightgown.

Check back here for my post on Tackle it Tuesday and I will post pictures of the whole outfit and the cap project.

So, what is the Holiday Bite for you today? Do you have a special outfit that you will want to wear during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays? Is it something from last year and you put it away without replacing that missing button? Is it something new that needs a little alteration or hemming? Why not pull out your sewing machine, or a needle and thread and take care of it now? Can't do it today? Get out your calendar and write down when you plan to take care of the mending or alterations so that you are all ready with just the right clothes on those special occasions that are coming up.

Holiday Bite #12 And Mary kept all these things...

2008-11-18T16:59:00.003+01:00

and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

My son told me a secret yesterday. In one of those sweet moments of motherhood, he opened up his innermost self and told me something very special. I will say no more about it (and that has nothing to do with the fact that he reads this blog so if I blab it to the world he will know .... and never trust me again). I will hold this secret close to my heart because of the great privilege he gave me when he trusted me enough to share what was important to him. I am honored.

As I was reminded of the above verse I was drawn in 2 directions in relation to today's Holiday Bite. The first has to do with secrets. This time of year, there always seem to be a good number of secrets in our house as each one tries to come up with gift ideas for each other. Growing up, my grandmother (God bless her!) was notorious for innocently spilling the beans and ruining someone's surprise on Christmas day. Sometimes she managed to keep the secret right up to the moment of unwrapping the present, but, because she was legally blind, she might ask you (as you were starting to open the present) what you thought of the beautiful blouse so & so gave you. It was comical at times, and a bit frustrating for the poor gift givers who were hoping for a surprise. You might not be able to do large extravagant gifts this year, but can you think of a wonderful surprise for your loved ones? Can you plan a special activity to do together during the Christmas school break? Can you create something special that lets that person know how much you love him or her? One year I purchased inexpensive small photo albums (the kind with slip in pockets) and gave one to each child. Then we spent a few nights going through old photo envelopes looking at pictures of them as babies and on old family vacations. As we pulled out doubles each child could add some of the doubles to their own personal photo album. (This was about the time that I gave up on my unrealistic plan to create elaborate scrapbooking albums chronicalling their every milestone in life). Think of a "secret" gift and get busy working on it if it is something that is going to take some planning or crafting.
The second part of this verse talks about pondering these things in her heart. What an incredible experience Mary had as she gave birth to God's Son. Just imagine the thoughts that were rolling around in her head as she travelled to Bethlehem and then gave birth in a dirty cave surrounded by animals. And then all that she and Joseph went through as the shepherds came and worshipped the newborn, as Anna and Simeon recognized her son as the promised Messiah, the visit by the wise men and their escape to Egypt. Don't you ever wonder what that young mother was thinking at those times? What do I think about during the hustle and bustle of this season? Today, pull out your Bibles and read Luke 2. Carve out some time to ponder the Christmas story and make a plan to stop often, even daily, to ponder the wonder of God becoming man and all that means. If that doesn't make you thankful and get you ready to share your blessings with others then I don't know what will.

Baked Salsa Chicken recipe

2008-11-17T17:09:00.002+01:00

2 cups salsa
3 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into lengthwise strips, 3 strips per breast

Mix salsa, sugar, and mustard. Place chicken strips in 2-quart shallow baking pan. Pour salsa mixture over chicken. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until chicken is well done. Serve over rice.

Holiday Bite #11 Don't Reinvent the Wheel

2008-11-17T16:53:00.002+01:00

We continue to deal with sickness in our home. My #2 son has an ear infection that did not respond to the antibiotic from last week so it was back to the doctor's office this afternoon. We have a new antibiotic and the Dr. didn't like the sound of my cough as I was in his office so he checked me out and gave me some instructions for some medicine that I had from previous bouts with colds and flu. Right now I do not need an antibiotic but he didn't like the looks of my tonsils so we are keeping an eye on that in case I develop an infection there. Meanwhile I just want to go to bed and take a nice long siesta .... but I will push through to bedtime since I am an AWFUL napper.

Today's Holiday Bite is a result of what I am dealing with this year (because I did not do this last year.) Last year I had a wonderful plan for Thanksgiving dinner, I sat down and mapped out a timeline for the day and miracle of miracles everything was done at the same time and we sat down to eat within a half an hour of my target time. I was uncharacteristically calm throughout the morning and even my husband noticed it and asked me why I wasn't so frantic (as I usually am). Since the plan worked so well he encouraged me to save the paper that I had mapped out the timeline on for this year. I thought I had done it, I planned to do it, I probably did do it but I have no idea where that wonderful paper is. Oh brother! Now I will need to write out my menu and figure out the plan of action all over again. BUT THIS TIME I WILL PUT IT IN MY HOLIDAY PLANNER. Next year I will not have to "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to Thanksgiving. I will jot down any changes that need to be made if something doesn't work quite as planned. Today, when I am taking a break from cleaning, I will sit down with my planner and add a Thanksgiving Dinner planning page. I also will take a walk over to the butcher's shop and place my order for the Thanksgiving bird.
What can you do today to make your life easier for the holidays in 2009 and beyond?

Menu Plan Monday: Nov. 17-23

2008-11-17T16:41:00.005+01:00

This week's menu still has some holes to fill but here is the plan as it stands right now. I know that things are going to get very busy starting next week so I think I will be looking at repeating some of my old menu plans from last year at this time. This kind of goes along with today's Holiday Bite .... don't reinvent the wheel.
Monday 11/17
Breakfast: homemade bran muffins, juice
School Snack: yogurt drink
Lunch: Baked bean casserole
Dinner: Chicken and dumplings

Tuesday 11/18
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School Snack: bocadillos (sandwiches on sub rolls)
Lunch: lentils, rice
Dinner: ?

Wednesday 11/19
Breakfast: cereal and yogurt
School Snack: muffins
Lunch:cheeseburgers, chips, raw veggie sticks
Dinner: leftovers

Thursday 11/20
Breakfast: hot chocolate and maria cookies
School Snack: fruit
Lunch:lasagna
Dinner: ?

Friday 11/21
Breakfast: cereal
School Snack: open house day at school, PTA will be roasting chestnuts for all to eat
Lunch: Baked salsa chicken I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it was sooooo easy and very dilicious. I had to substitute regular mustard for dijon but it was still wonderful.
Dinner: eat out at Burger King or McDonalds .... we'll be at a mall in our town that is having a toy "exchange" where kids can bring their used toys to sell or trade with others.

Saturday 11/22
Breakfast: toast with olive oil
Lunch: ?
Dinner: ?

Sunday 11/23
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch:Ikea meatballs and gravy over rice, corn
Dinner: snacks or sandwiches

Head over to Laura's to see what everyone else has on their menus this week.

Holiday Bites #10 Making lemonade

2008-11-14T13:09:00.005+01:00

Making lemonade? What does lemonade have to do with the holidays? Well, we had a few "lemons" this morning and grabbed the oppportunity to make some lemonade, figuratively that is. This has been a productive morning. In fact, a little more productive than I had originally planned. I am several years away from being a "senior" but I am sure having enough "senior moments" creeping into my daily life lately. My short term memory has been shorting out and I get so easily distracted that I find I don't even finish my
Well, the plan on our menu for the last few weeks has been to make pepperoni rolls . Each Friday it has been scrapped because I was just too tired or short on time to mess with it. Today was the day to break out the flour cannister and get kneading.
I measured the 6 cups of flour into the mixing bowl and proceeded to measure and add the yeast. As I was mixing it together, my niece (who was reading the recipe --- hmmm what a novel idea) noted that the instructions said to mix the yeast with the water first. "Oh, so does my pizza recipe but I use the fast acting yeast and do the other method of mixing it with the flour and then using slightly hotter water. It'll be fine." I reply.
Then I decide to read the recipe too and the next thing it talks about is that you need to add the flour slowly because it may not use all 6 cups. Oops! Now I have a problem.
"I know what to do. Let's just take this flour and yeast and add what we need to turn it into my pizza dough recipe and we'll freeze it to have on another day in the future. My dough recipe calls for 2 cups and I usually double it to have enough to feed my crew on pizza night. OK, we'll triple the recipe. I'll just add 2 more TBSP of yeast, the salt, 2 cups of flour, the wet ingredients etc. Here, Jenny, why don't you mix it together and I'll prepare the counter."
My niece mixes away and asks me if the dough usually looks this way (it was pretty dry). Did anyone catch what I did wrong in the paragraph above? I added an extra 2 cups of flour, which in effect gave me enough flour for FOUR batches of dough. Oh brother! We quickly heated up some more water, added an extra tbsp of yeast to it along with the oil and honey and mixed it up. Once we got kneading, it started to look better and I now have 2 portions of pizza dough in the freezer, each one the amount I normally use on pizza night. I'll pull them out and let them thaw and rise for pizza night sometime in December. I'd been meaning to work ahead in the kitchen anyway, using some freezer space to store up some timesavers for December meals.
I washed the bowl and we started on today's recipe which is rising as I type. But I was on a "make ahead" roll..... I looked at the two squash sitting on my counter and decided to cut them and cook them up for Thanksgiving. I love winter squash at Thanksgiving but it always takes so long to peel and cut up that it stresses me out. Someone told me I could just cut it in half, scrape out the seeds and bake in an oven or microwave until the flesh is tender. Let it cool and scrape out the cooked squash. This is my plan for this afternoon. I will throw the cooked squash in a freezer bag and then mash and add seasoning on Thanksgiving day when all I have to do is defrost and heat it up. Yeah! Works for me. (hmm, maybe I should have saved this post for Wednesday. )
What can you do today to stock your freezer? Can you double whatever you are preparing for tonight (on purpose)? Oh, and if you are like me, you may have a mishap or two this week ..... be creative and see if there is any way to salvage the thing before throwing in the towel. And remember, as my niece said through her chuckles, this is the thing memories are made of.

Holiday Bites #9: Silver and Gold

2008-11-13T21:06:00.003+01:00

OK, now that I typed that title I now have Burl Ives' voice playing in my mind. Silver and gold, silver and gold .....
Excuse me. I came across the Christmas videos today as I was cleaning out the coat closet. (Pardon me as I toot my own horn and tell you that I am throwing away an entire trash bag of old videos, donating another two boxes of videos and in so doing, created enough space in the closet to move my husband's tool boxes to the closet from their current spot in the middle of my bedroom floor. Go me!) I'm back from the rabbit trail ... where were we? Oh yes, Christmas videos. I wonder if I will be able to wait until after Thanksgiving to start watching. I do love many of the stories and the music as well.
However, none of this has anything to do with the Holiday Bite for today. I spent some time in the last couple of days working on filing expense reports and gathering info to file some medical claims. Both of these jobs require some time filling out forms but the reward is that we get reimbursed for a significant amount of money that was spent paying for doctor's visits and ministry expenses. The reimbursement check should come to us right at the time when we can most use a little bit of "extra". Now you may not have the same kind of paperwork as I do, but is there something you can do to put a little extra in your bank account? Could you spend an hour or two putting some items on ebay? Do you have quality clothes that a consignment shop would buy or sell for you? Any rebates that you need to fill out and mail? Could you plan to use more coupons in the next few weeks and set aside the amount of money that you "saved" with coupons and place it in an envelope to use as "mad money" during the week before Christmas? A little ingenuity now could save you even more if it means keeping you from pulling out the plastic at the last minute.
Can't think of any way to add a little silver and gold to your wallet? Try today's "alternate" Holiday bite: Find your holiday videos/dvds and while you are in there pick a few (or several) old ones to get rid of. Less clutter = less stress and less work cleaning up for the holidays.

Holiday Bite #8: ... and checking it twice

2008-11-12T21:20:00.004+01:00

This is really part 2 of yesterday's post. With one sick child at home and then last night I started coming down with something (sore throat, runny nose, etc) I am not up to long complicated posts .... or for labor intensive bites in the Holiday planning either. But that doesn't mean I have to do nothing either. Today I took advantage of the half hour subway ride to my chiropractor's appointment to pull out my holiday planner folder and start some of my lists. I began to write in the names of extended family members, friends and neighbors that we will give some kind of gift to. I started a list of people who will receive cookie trays if I do them this year, which I fully intend to do unless, like last year, I am sidelined by illness for the entire Christmas/New Year's/ 3 King's Day season. And finally, I started my list of "must have" Christmas cookies and sweets. I jotted a T next to the ones I would want for the cookie trays and the rest are just the family favorites that came to mind. I will whittle the list down but it was fun to start thinking about goodies to come.
Most are family favorites that we make (nearly) every year. One recipe is a new one. My niece did a trial run last night on this recipe and all but one person in the house is loving this easy candy that tastes like Heath Bar toffee. We left out the nuts because of allergies in the house and substituted 2 large chocolate bars from our local supermarket for the chocolate chips. They worked wonderfully and had a great flavor.
Do you make cookie trays to hand out to friends or neighbors? What is going on yours this year? If you don't know, take a couple of minutes and sit down with a cup of tea and start your list. What about other homemade gifts .... does anybody still give those "gifts in a jar"? If you need special ingredients or supplies, now is the time to get those things written down and gathered up. I don't know about you, but I think a stress-free ( or at least stress-reduced) Holiday season sounds as sweet as a bite of my holiday cookies.

Holiday Bite #7 (S)he's Making a List

2008-11-11T17:12:00.003+01:00

Sorry I couldn't post yesterday. My son was sick with a very painful ear infection and I spent a good part of the afternoon getting him to the doctor. Then my children were monopolizing the internet until their bedtime, at which time the internet provider was so overloaded that I couldn't get online for a while.

Before I got the call from the school to pick up my son, I pulled out my Holiday planning notebook. This is just a report folder (one of those with metal tabs that hold the paper in place) that I have used for the last 4 years or so. It started out by printing out pages from FlyLady's Holiday Control Journal and some other pages from this Holiday planner. I pulled out last years's calendar, printed out a new one for this year and decided instead of printing out new gift list pages I would just recycle the unused pages from previous years. I keep the list of gifts given from year to year because it helps me avoid giving the same thing 2 or 3 years in a row. I will refer to this planner several times so I try to have it handy but not so handy that the kids see the gift list. (Actually, I normally do not list their presents now that they are old enough to go sneaking around and spoiling their own surprizes). I love being able to jot notes in it as I go through the next few weeks and let myself know what worked (and what didn't). Each year I benefit from the previous years.

Do you have a planner, notebook or notepad where you can start those lists that will help you keep it all together as life gets more and more hectic? Take a moment or two and start those lists .... or at least get yourself a place to keep those lists as you start them.

Tuesday's Tackle: The Coat Closet

2008-11-11T13:36:00.009+01:00

My niece is going to be here helping me out for another 5 weeks. It's amazing that half of her visit is already gone. She helped me immensely in the kitchen reorganizing project where I created a baking corner and even went on to make several other areas of my kitchen cupboards more useful. I find myself drinking tea in the morning now that it is so easy to get to the supplies and when my husband gets home it will be easier for him to have his morning coffee at home instead of always going out to the local coffee shop.

Today I had the idea that we should start at the front of the apartment and just work our way through the rooms in the weeks that are left, hitting problem spots as we can. We were going to install the new coat hooks that I bought at Ikea last week but couldn't find my husband's drill and bits. Instead of wasting a lot of time hunting, I decided to store the hooks away and move on to a new project.

We came to the coat closet in my front hallway. It was so full you couldn't get put another coat in and when you did try to remove a jacket it would pull the coat on either side down off the bar with it. The floor was filled to overflowing, literally. The doors did not want to stay shut because the overflow from the floor kept pushing tham open.

We are not finished with the whole closet but we have a good handle on the hanging coats and the stuff on the floor is fairly contained in baskets or boxes with like items together. We can even find the gloves and mittens and umbrellas if we want to.

Several jackets were moved to an unused closet in our back bedroom because they are the wrong season or a couple are simply in-between sizes for my boys. They will hang out in the back closet until #2 and #3 sons have another growth spurt. Ball gloves and small sports equipment have "teamed up" in a small basket on the floor. We pulled out 25 baseball caps from the depths of the dungeon and spread them out on the couch for a picture.

Yikes! We certainly do not need to keep ALL of those caps!

I whittled the caps down to a mere 12 (which still seems like more than we need but it isn't that bad since it includes the ballcaps that are part of my son's team uniform).

Here son #2 plays with the "rejects" before they make their way into the giveaway bag. The best part of the job? 4 bags of stuff in the car to go to charity, 3 other jackets in the wash to see if they will clean up enough to be given away or if they need to be trashed. Either way, they are not taking up space in my closet anymore.

Be sure to head over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see what others are tackling this week.
And I'd love to have you join me (and comment) in my Holiday Bites series, tackling holiday preparation One Bite At A Time.

Menu for November 10-17

2008-11-10T23:57:00.003+01:00

I had lofty goals of accomplishing great things in the house today. I did get a couple hours of work in (done with the timer set to 15 minutes and when it went off I would move from one job to another), and then the school called to have me come pick up my #2 son who was complaining of ear pain. He complained of it this morning but has missed so much school that I gave him Tylenol and sent him off to school to see if the medicine would kick in and he could make it. The medicine did not do the trick so I picked him up and took him to his doctor's downtown and the poor kid has a raging ear infection. Fortunately, in my morning work I was able to clean the bathroom, straighten the front hallway and make the midday meal (get the casserole ready to go in the oven). The menu was finished over a nice pot of tea this morning and my niece and I were able to talk about some goals for this week. I did not get to write a new post for my Holiday Bites series. Good thing I posted last night and left directions for a quick and easy craft.

Here's what we are eating at our house this week...

Monday
Breakfast: Nesquick and maria cookies
School Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: casserole made with leftover Rotisserie chicken, gravy, broccoli and rice
Dinner: cheese omelettes

Tuesday
Breakfast: grilled croissants
School Snack: salami and cheese on a roll
Lunch: spaghetti with one of two choices on top . Either Sunday's meatballs and tomato sauce, or Saturday's chili.
Dinner: sandwiches

Wednesday
Breakfast: cold cereal or toast
School Snack: homemade cookies
Lunch: Lasagna sandwiches (new recipe to try from Taste of Home)
Dinner: chicken noodle soup, quesadillas

Thursday
Breakfast: bacon and egg casserole
School Snack: croissant with chocolate nocilla spread
Lunch: Crockpot applesauce pork (using this recipe with pork instead of chicken), egg noodles
Dinner: chorizo and fried potatos

Friday
Breakfast: toasted baguette bread with olive oil
School Snack: fruit Apple or banana
Lunch: pepperoni rolls
Dinner ?????? something fun for family fun night.

Saturday
lunch: homemade macaroni and cheese with ham cubes

Sunday
lunch: chicken and dumplings

Head on over to Laura's to see what's on others' menus this week. And check out my series which is designed to help take some of the holiday stress out of Thanksgiving and Christmas by helping you prepare for the Holidays by dealing with each task One Bite A A Time.

Holiday Bite #6 : Feeling crafty

2008-11-09T23:53:00.005+01:00

I was in the States back in June and on a whim picked up some patterns that were on a 99 cent sale or something like that. I thought I would pick up some cute flannal material and sew a nightgown for my princess as a Christmas present. I also have a pattern for pajama bottoms that I thought I might sew for my three boys. It has been a while since they got new pj's for Christmas. I found the patterns the other day and thought I would stop in one of 2 or 3 fabric stores that are a few blocks away from our church before church Wednesday night. To my surprize, none of them had what I was looking for. I guess this might be harder to find than I thought. Fortunately for me I have not waited until the last minute and I have a couple other stores in mind to go check.
It is getting a bit late to start a major project, but not too late. The important thing is to have all your supplies before you get started. Also, be ready to adjust your plans if you find it necessary to come to grips with the reality that you cannot make complicated hand-made Christmas cards for all 250 people on your list. Decide which projects you really need (or really want) to do and make a list today of the supplies you need to pick up, then decide when you will pick them up.
And, if just reading this gives you the itch to create something crafty, here is a quick idea for a soft fabric pumpkin decoration to bring a little Autumn in your home.

Quick Craft: No Sew Fabric pumpkin decoration

2008-11-09T23:00:00.001+01:00

Not ready to pull out the Christmas decorations yet? Wishing you had something new to decorate your home for Thanksgiving or other autumn get-togethers? Here is a super fast no-sewing-required easy craft idea.

Here is what you will need:

Fabric with fall print, preferably with orange tones
silk leaves
twine
brown craft paper or a brown paper grocery bag
Thin quilt batting
a roll of toilet paper

Cut fabric into a square aproxiately 18"x18"

Cut batting in a strip approximately 9" wide by 25" long.

Roll the toilet paper in the batting, centering the roll in the batting and tucking in the excess in the ends of the toilet paper tube.

Place toilet paper roll in the center of the fabric square on the wrong side of the fabric. Pull the fabric up and tuck into the center of the roll.

Cut the paper into a long strip, roll up and flatten the roll. Cut down to a "stem" approximately 5" long. Wrap the "stem" with brown twine and tape or glue ends down.

Cut a small section of fall leaves from silk autumn leaves. Tuck into the top hole and then push your brown paper and twine stem. Enjoy.

And the best thing about this little craft, apart from being sooooo easy, is that when it is time to put the fall decorations away to get out the Christmas ones, you can merely dismantle the pumpkin, put the toilet paper roll back in your linen closet and the rest will store anywhere in little to no space.

Holiday Bites #5: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

2008-11-09T11:37:00.000+01:00

I haven't decided if I should plan to post on the weekends or only on Monday through Friday. The decision was made for me yesterday. I was on the computer but not surfing the web or posting on my blog. I was finishing the writing and translating of the Sunday School Christmas program. We are doing music which I started practicing with the kids 2 weeks ago. However the verses and other parts needed to be typed up and printed out. Also, I am adapting The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg into a program to go with the music. Tomorrow we will pass out parts to the children who are willing and able to do more than just sing. It is a project that has been hanging over my head for quite a while but I knew would take some concentration and work. I am so glad to have it done. It really didn't take that long either once I got started.
So what task or deadline is looming over you today? Do you have any responsibilities for your church (or school) Christmas programs? Do you have a work project or project around the home that is dragging you down and making it impossible for you to spend your energy on other things? Why not sit down and finish that project and get it out of the way? Or, if it is too big to finish in one sitting, work on it for an hour and then write on your calendar how and when you plan to work on it again.

Holiday Bites #4: Time is money

2008-11-07T17:29:00.004+01:00

I made soup yesterday for lunch. Awesome soup. Rib-sticking soup. The best I've had in a long time. I made Baked Potato Soup using this recipe as a foundation but making a few substitutions based on what I had in the house and the comments others had left on the site. (I used half milk and half chicken broth, seasoned salt for regular salt and threw some chives in for color). The best thing I did was since I didn't have fresh green onions I used up the last handful of frozen chopped onion in my freezer. A few weeks ago I was at the grocery store and saw that they sold chopped onion in small freezer bags right by the frozen peas and corn. It was less than a euro for the bag so I decided to "splurge" and try it out. Oh my word! What a time-saver! I will not allow myself to stop and figure out what I am paying in a per kilo price for those onions vs buying fresh ones and chopping them myself because "time is money". With all the extra busyness of the holidays I allow myself a few conveniences that I might not ordinarily have in the grocery cart. I think frozen chopped onions are going to be one of those. Another is what I brought home from my morning at IKEA today. Frozen Swedish Meatballs. Yes, I am paying 7 euros a kilo for the frozen ones and it is only 4.35 to buy a kilo of ground beef, but then I have to mix up the meat, form it into tiny balls,brown them, and freeze them. All that time and effort is worth more than 2.65 to me. I now have 5 bags of meatballs in the freezer and a couple packages of brown gravy mix. On busy days I know I can pull a bag out and heat it on the stove (or throw it in the crockpot early in the day) and turn it into one of several easy meal options. This Sunday it is going in the crockpot with spaghetti sauce for meatball subs. Another day they can go over rice with brown gravy. Or thrown in spaghetti sauce. Or in BBQ sauce. Get the picture? Better food than making sandwiches and a lot cheaper than a trip to McDonald's or Pizza Hut.
Today's Holiday Bite is to think of one or two convenience foods, or staple foods that you can pick up the next time you are at the store to have in your freezer or pantry. With the extra running around that goes with the Holidays it will remove some stress when you know that a home-cooked dinner can be on the table just minutes after coming home, and all the ingredients are already there waiting for you.
What is your favorite "pantry meal"? What convenience food or short cut tip do you just love?

It works!

2008-11-07T00:44:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Charity and her link to this tutorial, my button works and the code is in the sidebar if anyone wants to grab it and add it to their blog.

Holiday Bites #3: A Place for Presents Pt. 2

2008-11-06T10:04:00.004+01:00

Did you create (or straighten up) your place to store presents as you purchase or make them yesterday? I'm so glad to have a place to store things and I am really hoping to break my father's tradition this year. Last night I put an empty box in each of my children's rooms and encouraged them to begin the process of making way for the presents that they will certainly be getting in December. My husband is in the States right now visiting some of our supporting churches and having meetings in others. He is being flooded with gifts for the family .....clothes that we all need as well as other things. Since we barely have room to put things away as it is, we MUST PURGE SOME CLUTTER from our house. I dropped off 6 supermarket bags of clothes and misc. stuff at the second hand shop yesterday and hope to make several more trips there in the days to come. I also bit the bullet, realized that it's time to wave goodbye to short-sleeved shirts for a while and packed up all the boys' tshirts into a suitcase. Now they can get to the longsleeved tshirts in their dresser and there is space for whatever new things are coming home in Daddy's suitcases in 3 weeks.
So..... take a few minutes to make some space in your drawers or closet or perhaps clear out some space in the toy box, game closet or bookshelf. Work fast, do not think too much, and donate those items now so that others can do some thrift shopping for their Holiday gifts out of your abundance. I'm curious .... what did you get rid of today?

Holiday Bite #2 A place for the presents

2008-11-05T22:37:00.003+01:00

We had a tradition in my family growing up. It would be time to open the presents under the tree and my Dad would suddenly get that look like the lightbulb just turned on and would jump up and run upstairs to his bedroom, or to the basement, or to the shed outside because he just remembered one more gift that he had forgotten to wrap. Unfortunately I inherited these genes from my father. I do pretty well at picking up gifts ahead of time as I see something that strikes me as just right for someone. My problem is keeping track of it once I get it home and then remembering what great hiding place I used to stash it away. Even more unfortunate is the fact that my husband is also challenged in this same area. This September we spent some frustrating hours on my son's birthday hunting the house up and down trying to find some gifts we had bought in the summer. Never did find them that day which was a bummer .... but I did find them a couple of weeks ago so I have a head start on my Christmas presents for him. :-)
Today I was working in the bedroom and decided it was time to corral the few presents that I have so far into one central location. I have a box now hidden away with the aforementioned items and a couple of stocking stuffers that have been picked up. This week I will clear out some space in the closet to store bigger items as they are purchased. If something has to be hidden somewhere else due to size I will jot a note to myself to remind me of where I put it.
Are you game to join me in this holiday bite? Do you shop for presents all through the year? Do you have a gift shelf, closet space, or other place to store these items until you wrap them and give them away? Why not take a minute or two and prepare a place to store your gifts. Just a tip ....If you are going to store things in bags make it a store shopping bag (preferable the paper kind with handles or something that will not be mistaken for trash and thrown out by mistake) and if you store things in a box you might want to make it a clear plastic box or a Rubbermade that is a different color than your other totes. The idea is that you don't want to be searching through several boxes or totes trying to find which one has the presents. Do you have a great idea for storing gifts or a great hiding place idea? Leave me a note in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.

Can anyone help????

2008-11-04T19:10:00.003+01:00

I made this little button/banner/whatever you call it hoping that I could easily figure out how to place it in my sidebar and make it available should anyone wish to put it on their blog and make it easy for someone to find me with a mere click on the button. No such luck. Can anyone point me to a tutorial that shows me what I need to do? I have the picture created, it is uploaded to Photobucket and I also uploaded it directly to blogger in my first Holiday Bites post. That is as far as I got.

Tackling the Holiday in small bites

2008-11-04T16:45:00.006+01:00

We've "fallen back", turning back the clock an hour, Halloween candy has been devoured (granted, we only have a little bit that we purchased for some in house trick or treating) and the fall decorations are out in the living room. We are entering one of my favorite times of the year but one that has the potential to drive me close to the point of insanity and certainly tests my sanctification. Yes, the Holidays are upon us. Or at least Christmas is a mere 51 days away. The calendar gets so full in these days and the task(s) that I need to do seem quite elephant sized. This year I have decided to apply the one bite at a time principle to my holidays the same way I attacked several large projects I had back last spring. It helped to post (almost) daily what I planned to do to break down the tasks into bite sized steps.
One thing I will do differently is to try to focus each post on one thing I am going to do that day (or already did) to help prepare for the holidays. For a couple of years I have followed along as the Flylady Cruising Through the Holidays and would read her daily missions to help be prepared for Christmas by December 1. The missions did not always fit well with my schedule. So this year I will come up with my own missions, writing down the things I come up with and sharing them with the handful of readers here, encouraging you to see if my suggestions are helpful for your own preparation. My desire is to take as much of the frantic panic out of the Holidays and pave the way for true worship, family fun, warm memories and reaching out to others in this wonderful season to come.

What's today's Holiday Bite? Think of one way you can spread out the holiday food shopping list so as not to have a huge bill all in one trip. I have started picking up one or two things each time I go to the store as I see items (like the chocolate advent calendars that the kids will start opening up on Dec 1.) There are many baking items that you know you will need either for Thanksgiving or Christmas or both. Why not start a page where-ever you keep your running shopping list (I just put a page on the fridge with a magnet) and jot down the items you pick up as you go? You will be able to tell at a glance what you have in the house and when the supplies are there, you will be able to take advantage of small blocks of time to start tackling baking. Hmmm, Holiday baking. I can hardly wait.

Would you like to join me in these little Holiday bites? Leave a comment and let me know what one thing you did today to get ready for the busiest season of the year.

Wordless Wednesday: "Afternoon Tea"

2008-10-29T21:51:00.003+01:00

Click here for the recipe for these apple puff pancakes.

Apple puff Pancakes Recipe

2008-10-29T21:00:00.004+01:00

Here's the recipe for the apple puff pancakes from this week's menu. A wonderful light supper with a taste of fall.

Toni's (my mother-in-law) Apple Puff Pancakes
3 or 4 large apples (we used Granny Smith ---YUM)
1/3 cup butter plus 2-3 Tbsp more
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar (divided)

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel, core and slice apples. Sautee apple slices in 1/3 cup butter for 5 minutes. Mix together 1/3 cup sugar with spices and add to apples. Cook over low heat 10 minutes.
Mix eggs, milk, flour, & salt. Beat well with a whisk or hand mixer till smooth.
Place 9x13 glass baking dish in hot oven with 1 to 2 Tbsp butter. When butter is melted, pour batter into dish and return to oven. Bake for 15 minutes. As soon as batter puffs up puncture puffed area with fork. Lower heat to moderate (350 degrees) and bake 10 minutes more.
Brush with remaining tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with sugar if desired. (I usually just brush with butter but leave off the extra sugar). Serve topped with hot apple mixture.

Tuesday's Tackle: Creating a baking center

2008-10-28T22:34:00.008+01:00

I have been less than thrilled with my kitchen lately. It is small but I believe there is adequate storage space for the things I need. My problem was that I don't think I was using the space in the best way. There was only a rhyme and reason to a few select shelves and the rest of the cupboards and shelves were a hodgepodge of whatever happened to land there. I sat down with my niece who is here helping me till mid December. We made a plan of some "little bites" we plan to do this week to help meet some goals and deadlines. Then after lunch we tackled one area of the kitchen. I removed everything from the "book"shelf behind my curtain and turned it into the baking corner. I know that I will be doing a lot of baking in the next 2 months and the equipment and ingredients were spread out all over the kitchen. We sorted through spices and decorating supplies, put some Tupperware containers to new use, gathered up muffin tins and cake pans from to and fro and it is all reunited in this new home. Things that did not relocate are the glass Pyrex baking dishes because they fit perfectly between the top of the microwave and the shelf above it, and because they are also used for casseroles or other cooking tasks. Likewise the cookie sheets will remain nestled on their sides in the small space to the side of the microwave. The mixing bowls will also probably stay where they are in the only cupboard with extra wide shelves and because they are also used for so much more than just baking.
I am happy with what has been accomplished so far. I am very motivated to attack another area tomorrow. Maybe I will create a beverage center or group all the sandwich/lunch/school-snack supplies together.
"Before" Shots

The corner in it's original disorderly state. The hole on the middle shelf is where I normally store the crockpot which was in use today. It is temporarily going to remain on my counter in the corner. Since I removed all the cannisters from the counter I think I have room to leave the crockpot there without feeling too crowded.

This cabinet is probably my least favorite thing about my kitchen. It is a corner cabinet with really deep shelves. The only one I can reach all the way into without standing on a chair is the bottom shelf. The door will only open halfway because it bumps into the hood/vent over the stove. (Definitely poor planning on somebody's part). Although I do not use the food coloring and cake/cookie decorating supplies I had stored on the higher shelves that often, I will be using them in the next 2 months and now they are much easier to get to. I also discovered several half-full bags of salt, baking soda, etc that had gotten pushed to the back and then I had purchased another one, not knowing I had some in there to refill the smaller containers that I use to hold these items for daily use.

The corner cabinet as it is now after relocating the baking supplies. Almost 2 full shelves now empty and waiting for something else to be stored there. Something used rarely and not too small so as not to get pushed to the back and lost there. Any ideas?????

The microwave shelf-unit still holds the Pyrex baking dishes and cookie sheets, but the cake pans, bread pans, muffin tins, and some other assorted baking things have moved out of their old home in the bottom shelves and over "behind the curtain". The shelves over by the microwave are some of the easiest to get to and I am feeling like I should use them for pots and pans, plastic pitchers or some other items that I use every day.
The "After" Shot:

Cannisters have been relocated to the comfortable middle shelf which should make it almost just as easy to grab flour while cooking as it will be to get to for baking. It's just not on the counter anymore. If I find I absolutely cannot live without having my flour right by the stove for dredging meat and thickening sauces, I may just keep a small tupperware of flour by the stove and maintain the large cannister in the new spot.
Let me know what you think of the new plan. And check out what others are tackling today over at 5 Minutes For Mom.

Menu Plan October 27- November 2

2008-10-27T22:38:00.003+01:00

No time to do a big post with the plans for the week and the little bites I will take to try and get some things accomplished. Maybe tomorrow.
I did write out a lunch/dinner menu for this week so I will share here and over at Laura's.

Monday: School Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Quiche (one bacon & cheese and the other Ham & Broccoli)
Dinner: was going to be pork filets and buttered noodles but I got home late from the chiropractors so we just heated up some leftovers and the little ones had peanut butter sandwhiches,

Tuesday: School Snack: zucchini bread
Lunch: Crock pot beef stew
Dinner: either the pork filets that I didn't make tonight or my mother-in-law's recipe for "puff pancakes" (kind of like popover batters baked in a 9x13 dish) topped with cooked apples

Wednesday: School Snack: croissant with chocolate spread
Lunch: Salsa chicken over rice
Wednesday: fresh bran muffins with jam, juice, yogurt

Thursday: School Snack: apple slices or clementina oranges
Lunch: cream of broccoli soup, crackers
Dinner: pepperoni rolls, chips, raw veggies, pumpkin cake for dessert

Friday: NO SCHOOL
Lunch/dinner Pack a picnic to eat while we are out doing sightseeing all day.

Saturday: chili and cornbread

Sunday: Buy broasted chicken from the restaurant around the corner with their patatas ali oli and a dozen croquetas as well.

bloggy giveaway

2008-10-23T12:51:00.002+02:00

OK, I have yet to win anything from any blog that is giving stuff away, but I'll still try every once in a while. I get an extra entry for blogging about this ... but then i let more people know about it which, if they enter, reduces my chances of having my name picked ..... hmmm. oh well, if I don't win maybe someone who is still looking for a Christmas gift idea for me will just send me one of these books. It looks interesting. I don't recognise the authors but do recognise the names of a couple of the people on the list of "endorsements" so I would definitely try it out, especially if it is free. :-)

Here's the link to the giveaway of the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God.

Not bad for the first time....

2008-10-22T11:19:00.004+02:00

A couple of weeks ago my #1 son(13) entered his first "official" chess tournament, one that was organized on the weekend of our town festival days. This was the first time he was in a tournament with adults that had paid to enter and where there were cash prizes along with trophies for the winners. He was a bit intimidated by playing against men like his high school chess club coach, but he had a great time and ended up coming in 4th place among the other entrants under 15 years old and 1st place among all those who were playing in the tournament for the first time. He came home with a pretty impressive trophy (no cash, but that was no surprize) and a huge smile on his face.

Lots of concentration going on in the room.

Playing against his chess coach's son. He has yet to beat this little whiz kid but he gave him a good run for his money in this game.

A very pleasant surprise at the end of the day!

Tuesday's Tackle: musical bedrooms

2008-09-30T22:54:00.004+02:00

My niece is arriving tomorrow to stay with us for the next 2 1/2 months. It will be a missions "internship" of sorts, but mainly being a "mother's helper" during the time that my husband is away in the States reporting to our churches and looking for some new support. I am soooo ready to have another adult in the house. OK, she is 23 so I understand that she is of another generation than me but I am very excited to get to know her better and I think we will work well together. I am hoping to get some projects done around the house with her help ..... mainly purging some clutter. One thing that needed to be done before she gets off the plane tomorrow is to deal with the bedrooms. #3 son and Princess have been sharing her room all summer because they could share a fan that way. Since he wasn't using his bed, it became a dumping spot for everything we had no other home for. Ditto for his floor and under the bed (aka the man cave). The other side of the room has been our storage spot but we needed to take down some of the Ikea shelves to make room to move a dresser into the room for Princess's clothes. She is moving over to big brother's room so her cousin can use her room while she is here. Today I totally cleared out the top of the bed, cleared out the underbed and turned the "man cave" into the "girly den". There is still a pile of boxes that needs to be gone through and dealt with but that will have to wait for another day. Tomorrow morning I will finish up the last straightening up of Princess's room and then head to the airport at noon to pick up my helper. I can hardly wait.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom to see what others are tackling today.

Internet Woes

2008-09-23T01:30:00.002+02:00

Wouldn't you know it, just after I blog that I am going to try to blog more regularly again, my internet goes crazy. First another ISP hijacked our line and left us with no option but to continue service with them for the next month or two since it will take at least a month to switch us back to the company we had. We got our router configured to work with the new company and then our new antivirus and firewall program decided to go Nazi on us and block all internet access from our desktop computer. The laptop still works plugged into the router so we know the router isn't the problem. However the laptop was supposed to be leaving on a two month trip with my husband the day after tomorrow. It may end up staying but that will put a crimp in his connectivity while he is away and will leave him doing all his work in longhand or borrowing someone else's computer. What a pain in the neck!

Who knows when I will get it all figured out. I will do my best to post whenever I can.

Tuesday's Tackle: Back To School, Back to Routines

2008-09-16T17:52:00.009+02:00

The neighborhood pool closed Sunday. I broke down and wore pantyhose to church Sunday instead of sandals. The elementary school started yesterday. Summer is officially over here in my little corner of the world. Actually, I guess it ends tomorrow as my eldest doesn't go back to school till tomorrow. I have seriously neglected the blogging world this summer but now it is time to get my new routine down and I do hope and plan to include some blogging in that. (it is my quick creative outlet and a fun way to keep the family and friends informed)
Here's the threesome that headed off to kindergarten, 3rd grade and 6th grade Monday.

One way to get back in the groove is to jump back into some of my favorite weekly memes. Since I missed the chance to do Monday Meanderings and Menu Plan Monday yesterday, I will jump in with Tackle it Tuesday. However, one of the things I absolutely MUST DO is get back into the habit of weekly menu planning. I tackled that on the bus yesterday on the 45 minute ride downtown for my twice weekly torture sessions with the physical therapist and chiropractor. You can see the plan for this week here.

As always, laundry tops the list of things to tackle. Oy! It makes me tired just to think about it. We got behind on it and have let several days go by without throwing a load in so now the hampers are overflowing.

My niece is coming to live with us for a couple of months. She arrives in 2 weeks and we must get Princess's room ready to turn over to cousin Jenny and then get #3 son's room ready to share with Princess. Currently he and Princess have been sharing her room because his room became a dumping ground for all the stuff that no longer has a place in mom and dad's room when we got rid of a big piece of furniture that was overpowering the room. Unfortunately there was a fair amount of stuff being stored in it. Sooooooo, the main tackles for the next two weeks are:
1. Create a reasonable daily routine in the home and stick to it.
2. Get the two bedrooms ready and get rid of or find new storage homes for the extra stuff in N's bedroom.
3. Catch up on laundry.
4. Help my husband get ready for his big trip coming up next week. He will be out of the country for 2 months.

Check back next Tuesday to see my progress .... I will post pictures if I dare. Ü
And head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see what others are tackling today.

Menu for the week September 15-19

2008-09-16T12:22:00.000+02:00

This week's menu was planned while I was on the bus for 45 minutes heading downtown to the chiropractor and physical therapist. At least something productive was accomplished on the drive. The weekend is still up for grabs.

Monday 9/15
Breakfast: Oatmeal, milk, juice
School Snack: peanut butter and crackers
Lunch: Spaghetti with meat sauce
Dinner: frozen "fried rice" with vegetables, scrambled eggs and leftover chicken added in

Tuesday 9/16
Breakfast: cold cereal, milk, juice
School Snack: cheese and crackers
Lunch: BLT's
Dinner: canned soup

Wednesday 9/17
Breakfast: cold cereal, milk, juice
School Snack: homemade spice cake or peanut butter cookies (whichever I feel like making Tuesday)
Lunch: Chicken parmesan, mashed potatoes
Dinner: left over spaghetti

Thursday 9/18
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, milk, juice
School Snack: fruit (whatever good deal I get at the outdoor market Wed.)
Lunch: cream of zucchini soup
Dinner: tuna melt sandwhiches

Friday 9/19
Breakfast: Spanish oil bread (toasted bagette topped with olive oil and crushed tomatoes) milk, juice
School Snack: tortilla roll-ups
#1 Son's birthday meal HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FIRST TEENAGER!!!!
Menu for the meal as per family tradition is up to the birthday child
Meat still to be determined .... either ribs or maybe baked ham
Cheese raviolis
corn
brussel sprouts (can you believe he chose this for his veggie??????)
Chufi Maestro horchatera horchata (a Spanish drink made from the tiger nut)
dessert -- flan

Chocolate cake with chocolate icing.
Neopolitan ice cream (or as we always called it in my family growing up ... van/choc/straw ice cream.)

Olympic Moments

2008-08-23T10:05:00.004+02:00

Well, the Olympics are almost wrapped up. I have been watching off and on, whenever I can boot the kids off the GameCube to steal a peak at what is being broadcast on tv. I don't think I get much live but I do try and watch the coverage in the evening where they will show the highlights of the day. I got to see Phelps in the relay that won him his 8th gold medal that way. As a family we enjoyed catching the tail end of the game where Nadal won gold in tennis for Spain. We cheered him on in the semi-finals too. The kids and I cheered for a team of table tennis players (it was a week ago so I can't remember if it was an american team or spaniards. Most likely it was Spain since they showed the whole match) against China. My 8 year old got so into it that he was crying when the Chinese team came back from being down 2-0 to win the whole match 3-2. (He is a bit competetive and really has a hard time losing. We need to work on that).

I miss getting coverage of the USA like I would if I were back in the States. I really miss being able to hop online and catch the video clips from NBC but I am blocked from viewing them since I reside overseas. I am glad to at least get the American "news" via my AOL browser.

I am disappointed in the clothes (or lack of them) in so many of the sporting events. I even heard the other day that the women playing table tennis were being encouraged to wear "sexier" outfits and not the shorts and t-shirts they normally wear to try and create interest and increase ticket sales. And here I was watching table tennis and thinking "good for those girls ... wearing something comfortable that they didn't have to readjust every two minutes. Finally a women's sport I can feel comfortable letting my prepubescent boys watch."

I think the quote from my #3 son the other night sums it all up. As we flicked around and landed on the olympic coverage for a minute or two we tuned in to the last 5 minutes of the women's beach volleyball gold medal match. It was pouring rain and the USA won the point and then proceeded to win the gold medal match point. We cheered for our beloved USA team and then Mr. Competetive cheered with a big smile on his face, "Yeah! They won the gold medal!! And their underpants stayed up too!"

Banished at the end of the world

2008-08-05T11:55:00.002+02:00

OK, I am not really at the end of the world, but I am banished in a way from the internet. We are staying at a timeshare in Germany and the only internet access is during the limited hours that the reception office is open. There are 2 terminals open for everyone to use so we are limited to 15 minutes at a time. I am sneaking some extra time today since there is noone waiting for the computer. i have so many posts going around in my head. Perhaps I will get them in my laptop on our two long travel days this weekend and then post them when we get to a McDonald´s with WIFI or once we get back to home sweet home. I am having a wonderful time relaxing and playing tourist with the family. We have eaten in McDonald´s in 4 different countries in the last 2 weeks, ordering in 3 languages. Interesting since we only speak 2 languages, and we haven´t ordered in English yet. Ü

There are pictures galore in the laptop and digital camera ..... but no way to post them yet. Be patient .... I will probably do tons of posts later in August and September, although there will be regular life to get back to once we get home.

Wordless Wednesday: A little junior high humor

2008-07-16T14:20:00.010+02:00

I saw these at the checkout stand of our local supermarket. It struck my funny bone (OK, those years teaching junior high must have gotten to me.... or maybe it is just being the Mom of 4 kids) The two kids I had with me didn't even notice them, but now that they have seen the picture I took for the blog, they (and the two older ones) have jumped all over this. Let's just say in our house there are new lyrics to the old "clapper" jingle.

Playing with the blog

2008-07-16T11:59:00.002+02:00

My son wanted to figure out how to add music to his blog. I knew that Rachel over at Home Sanctuary has a fun music player on her blog so I decided to check it out and see if I could figure it out for my son. I've just added one song so far (a fun song that the kids are loving right now). Upside: Fairly easy to set up the player and get it on the blog. Downside: I do not like the pop up photos that show up on the site that you go to to add songs to your player and I don't know that we could upload our own music. I imagine there won't be the kind of options I would like, but I probably can come up with some fun songs to add now and then. If you'd rather have a quiet blog-reading experience, just hit pause on the player button when you surf on.

BTW, I love men's acappella music so I was drawn to this song (pb&j)and thought I might even download the whole album for our upcoming long family car-trip but the song listing --including one about the book of Mormon -- convinced me that we'll keep on looking for other options.

Monday Meanderings: July 14-20

2008-07-14T13:46:00.005+02:00

Life has been so crazy for our family these last few months. I had a wonderful visit with my parents for their anniversary but as soon as I came back I was up to my eyebrows in Vacation Bible School stuff (it was my first time as director and the first one for our church so the stress levels were basically off the charts). Last week I tried to catch up on the house since I had basically ignored it for 2 weeks and had been away for 3 weeks before that. I ended up catching up on sleep and being slowed down by heat several days. I (and even more, my hubby) am SO READY FOR VACATION. Well, let me rephrase that. I am so ready for a REST. Vacation-ready is something I have to do this week. It will require some planning and lots of little bites to arrive at travel day with everything I need, the house in some reasonable good shape to return home to (and just in case the landlord needs to get in for some reason) and with all 4 children and my husband with their heads intact. (Can you tell that packing can be a bit stressful around here?)

Must Do's this week focus on getting house and family ready for our trip to Germany for a missions conference followed by some family vacation time. There are two appointments to fit in as well -- Haircut Wed and Dentist on Thursday.
Today's focus will be laundry so that I will have everything clean to choose from while packing.

I had to head to the big grocery/super store this morning to order the kids' school books for the fall. I also wanted to pick up the snacks for the trip and whatever food items I would need to turn the contents of our fridge and freezer into meals for the week. Hubby wants to see if we can empty the fridge before we go and then maybe turn it off while we are away. We'll see. Like a good girl I checked the supplies we have to use up and tried to make a menu of lunch and dinner items that will use them up. Here's what I came up with. After returning 3 clothing items that my hubby bought for the kids on clearance that didn't fit, using 2 other credit slips/carrefour cash-back coupons, my entire order (including juice boxes, nuts and raisins for the trip, pate and individual jelly containers for making sandwiches on the road on day 1 and 2, potatoes, eggs, frozen chicken patties for lunch, bread, plastic plates and napkins, and a few other things I cannot remember) only required me to pull out a 20 euro bill. Yippee!

Clean out the fridge/freezer menu
Meal 1: Baked fish, steamed frozen broccoli
Meal 2: chicken sandwiches, chips
Meal 3: hamburgers and buns, salad
Meal 4: landlubber's paella
Meal 5: fried chorizo sausages and eggs, toast
Meal 5: crockpot beef stew
Meal 6: fried rice with bacon and scrambled eggs added
Meal 7: pizza or pepperoni rolls
Breakfast -- eat up the 6 bagels that I bought at Lidl a few weeks ago when they had products from the USA.

Add a couple of lunches of leftovers or sandwiches and we should be set through Friday evening. That should completely clear out the freezer of all but 2 boxes of puff pastry (any ideas for using those up?) and some extra pepperoni. I may give that away to some friends. Oh, the other thing in the fridge is my bounty from the spring strawberry freezer jam fest. I will have to see if they can be transferred to a friend's freezer or just give them away. Problem is I wasn't thrilled with how it turned out (used a different brand of pectin that called for less sugar. I like my jam much sweeter and thicker. I will go back to SureJell in the future.)

Eat one for me, please

2008-07-11T10:35:00.003+02:00

To all my friends and readers in the good old USA ...
do you have a chick-fil-A restaurant near you? They are having a promotion today (July 11) that anyone who comes in dressed like a cow gets a free meal. Get moooooving girls and tape some black paper spots on your cutiepies and solve the dinner dilemna tonight. Enjoy one for me cause I am seriously craving a chick-fil-a right now.
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/#kidsandfamilyzone

Oh, and it would be really cute if you took pictures of all those adorable cow outfits to share with me. I´d really love to share your chicken sandwhich and waffle fries but since that isn´t possible I´ll have to be content with cute, calorie free photos.

Guess what today is?

2008-06-27T19:14:00.002+02:00

This song was the way we kids always serenaded our parents every May 31. I can't believe I forgot to include it in the party for my parents last month. Oh well, I sang it to my hubby over the phone a few hours ago and then found the clip on youtube of the original version. Enjoy! I am praising the Lord for 21 years with the best husband in the world!

party time

2008-06-09T22:48:00.005+02:00

I am having a great time visiting my parents and flitting from anniversary party to graduation party to birthday party. I still have some shopping (tomorrow the plan is to head to the outlets. yippee), visiting with friends and family, a ladies' retreat with my mom and father's day. Then I pack it all into 2 suitcases and head back home to my own family. My husband (did I mention I married the best guy on the planet?) is holding down the fort well and is especially glad that we have a vonage phone that allows him to call me several times a day with questions like "how do I add time to the cell phone?", "where do we keep the bag of extra batteries?" "How do I pay the credit card online?" etc. I get the feeling that I am going to be appreciated in a new way when I get home.
Web access is very limited for me as my parents only have dial up access (read SLOW) and I don't plan to spend much more of my limited time left at the public library where I am hiding out and enjoying the air conditioning today.

My parents, my siblings and myself get a long overdue family picture at the 50th anniversary party.

Mom and Dad cut the cake now .....

and 50 years ago.

The recent college grad. Congratulations to my beautiful niece.

At the 88th birthday party for a family friend, also named Alice. Actually at this little tea party there were FOUR of us named Alice. That was a first for me!

Wordless Wednesday: Allergy Skin Test (aka Fried Egg Arms)

2008-06-04T01:38:00.001+02:00

#2 son was tested recently for allergies. 3 came up positive. We thought the positive results looked like fried eggs after the doctor drew the two crooked circles around the reaction sites to measure them.

I need your help.

2008-05-27T18:51:00.003+02:00

Tackle it Tuesday this week needs your imput to help me make some wise shopping decisions in the next two weeks. Read on to see how you can help.

I am heading home to the states at the end of the week. I will be there for a little over two weeks. While I am there I hope to do some shopping. My wardrobe needs some help but with the horrible exchange rate and the difficulty I have just finding clothes that fit me well here (not to mention that the prices before the exchange are awful) I haven't bought much here. I know I can make my money work for me better back "home". I have been reading and listening to some advice on buying clothes that are flattering for your figure and I would like whatever I buy to really look good, not just be serviceable. So, this is where you come in .... I am trying to determining what colors I look best in and what "season" I am color-wise. Would you take a look at the slide show and leave a comment letting me know which colors you thought were the most flattering and which season you think I am (if you know anything about that.) As an incentive for commenters, I will use a random number generator to pick one of commenters (or maybe 2 if I get lots of response) and I will send you a little souvenir of Spain as a thank you for taking the time to look and comment.

Monday Meanderings: Today's one bite strategy -- SNARF

2008-05-26T12:24:00.004+02:00

SNARF! That word comes from an old comic strip.... I think it was in a Garfield strip but I could be wrong. All I know is that once my good friend Anisha and I discovered the word we quickly took it for our own. Our families used to have Thanksgiving together and we would sit ourselves down at their little table, fairly groaning from the enormous spread and then smile at each other and say in unison "SNARF!" (We also used to use this often as we sat down to polish off a box of Entenmann's chocolate donuts between the two of us.) The idea was basically "Dig in! Eat your fill (and more)!" This has got to be my strategy for the next 4 days as I am in the final stretch to get ready for my trip Friday morning. I must attack with snarf-like gusto the bites before me.

Weekly goals/deadlines:
1. Finish compiling credit card statements and file my claim here.
2. Pack clothes, etc for Friday´s trip to the states.
3. Finish the "surprise" for Sunday's 50th anniversary party for my parents. (The reason for my upcoming trip)
4. Finish the schedule and meet with the friends who have volunteered to help pick up the elementary kids at the end of the school day and feed /watch them until my husband can pick them up after he gets off work at 2pm.

I just realized that today is Memorial Day in the states. I quickly decided to go with picnic food for lunch today so I will need to run over to the store for hamburger and buns. We will have a little bit of patriotism and americana at lunch today and I will play the song that I used to play each Memorial Day in chapel with the symphonic band when I was in college. I found a MIDI version online and I just LOVE this song. It has great memories for me and it lets my kids learn the tunes to all the theme songs of the US Armed Forces. The link is here. Just scroll down until you see the photo of the bald eagle and then go back up a bit until you see the medly section. The song is titled Armed Forces Salute. There are a ton of other patriotic songs at this site too if you happen to be looking for something else. I like having these kind of resources to share with my kids so they understand a bit of their american culture and heritage even though they are not living there right now.

This week's rough menu ideas --at least for the days until I leave. After that my husband will make all the things that he and the kids like but that I don´t like -- asparagus, fish, tuna casserole, etc etc etc. I will try to leave a couple of things in the freezer but I am confident that they will do fine without me. After all, the casserole and crockpot king will be here to feed the royal family. And they will all appreciate me all the more once I return. Ü

Monday -- burgers, chips, pasta salad, cream of zucchini soup
Tuesday -- 40 clove crock pot chicken, broccoli, potatoes
Wednesday -- oven beef stew
Thursday -- Tacos, or burritos, or taco salad (or one last chance at Mom´s homemade pizza if my packing is done ... ha ha ha)

Check out Tiany´s blog and Laura´s blog to see what others are planning for the week. Also check back here in the next few days as I have a post asking for your input to help me with a project I am planning during the time I am in the States.

Thursday nibbles

2008-05-22T16:58:00.002+02:00

It is 5pm. What I have accomplished so far today:
Read my Bible, took the kids to school, was invited out for coffee with the other moms who worked so hard on the school play, got my hair cut and styled, culled the two boxes of strawberries for those berries that were still good and have washed and cut up about 1/3 of them, picked up the kids at school, cooked, served, and cleaned up after the mid-day meal, helped son with his homework, tried to teach Princess how to wipe down the table, dealt with the drama queen as she bemoaned having been asked to do a chore and then wailed over being corrected.

Things I want to do with the rest of my day: 1. read a fluff book, 2. Watch a MacGyver episode with the kids, finish the last two photo collage frames for Princess's room, 3. Forget about fixing supper and just eat junk food while watching tv.

Things I need to do in the rest of my day: 1. Finish dealing with the strawberries. 2 Distribute the clean laundry to rooms and make sure everyone has a clean outfit for tomorrow. 3. translate VBS 4. hug Princess and stop blogging to read her the book she just brought over.

Wonder which list I will follow ....

Wednesday´s bites

2008-05-21T16:21:00.004+02:00

Today´s goals ..... I am trying to be a bit more realistic this time.

1. ~~Shop for fresh fruits and vegetables at the weekly outdoor market.~~
2. ~~Take care of dishes and kitchen mess from yesterday.~~
3. ~~Make arrangements to pick up the car that the garage said is fixed and ready to be picked up after 5:30 pm.~~
4. Finish yesterday's laundry ---- all the way to being put away in the right rooms.
5. ~~Pick up living room.~~
6. Finish translating at least one more lesson in the Primary class VBS lessons. Update: Half done.

Wordless Wednesday: My son, the King

2008-05-21T00:51:00.006+02:00

Some pictures from last night's elementary school play "Besos para la bella durmiente" (Kisses for Sleeping Beauty)

Tackle it Tuesday: Update on Monday's Bites

2008-05-20T15:47:00.007+02:00

I think yesterday was a prime example of the phrase "biting off more than you can chew" or perhaps it was yet another example of my natural tendency to get side tracked from the task at hand. Granted, my to do list was a little over the top. However, as I look back, it is obvious that I made a some choices that were not the wisest use of time. However, I do have pictures, links, and recipes. That alone makes for a fun post, right?

Let's look again at the lofty list of goals I had for the day.

1. The menu was penciled in on my magnetic note pad on the fridge but not (yet) posted to the web..... and probably won't be. Trust me, you are not missing anything special this week.
2. 2 loads washed, 1 dried, none folded or put away yet.
3. Expense reports were not touched. This was one of the not-too-wise time decisions. I offered to stay up late after my "planning meeting" with the hubby and do them but he said it wasn't crucial that we turn them in on today's deadline. We'll probably just push them off one more month. (unless I get a burst of energy to do them tonight between 9 and 11 ---- ha ha ha)
4. Strawberries are still in the fridge. I dare not take a peek since I have no time to do anything with them even if they are turning. They looked very good when I peaked on Sunday so I will deal with them tomorrow. (kind of makes me feel like Scarlett O'Hara --- tomorrow is another day, you know)
5. The kids were fed both lunch and dinner and I did get the lasagna put together which was an incredible blessing today when I was only home for 45 minutes between getting the theater ready for tonight's elementary play and returning to the school to pick up the kids and bring them home to feed them. Enough time to preheat the oven and pop the lasagna in to be cooking while I made the school run. Everyone ate well and we shouldn't have growling tummies during the play tonight.
6. My real time wasters were the new recipes I tried out to use up the peaches and the zucchini. The muffins were very sweet, not the texture I was really looking for but I probably would have realized that if I had read the recipe better. I kept getting distracted so we had some issues with burned bottoms and some undercooked trays. After all that (I doubled the recipe to use all the peaches I had cut up), half of the kids turned up their noses at them so I probably won't make them again. Should've just spooned the peaches into bowls and let the kids eat them with spoons.
This pie recipe did use up almost all of the zucchini I had but took a TON of time to peel, slice, de-seed, etc. Again, not the best use of my time. It was a bit disappointing warm and fresh out of the oven (would've been better with ice cream) and my hubby was not fooled into thinking it was apple pie. 3/4 of the kids really liked it the next day cold and it was more convincing as a mock apple pie today. Better time choice for yesterday would've been to a. shred it all and freeze for future zucchini bread or b. slice and add to the lasagna or c. saute and add to last night's meal. It sure did look pretty and smell nice cooking though.

7 & 8. Each of these areas needed more attention than I gave them. The weekly meeting with hubby went VERY WELL and we went beyond financial matters to discuss and make note of things that need to be addressed before I take off on a trip to the states and leave the rest of the family to fend for themselves without me for almost 3 weeks.

I'm off to dress for the theater .. that is, get myself and the kids ready to head to the theater where my #2 son will be king for the night in his school play. I hope to get some good pictures from the dress rehearsal to use in the school paper and to post here. Check back tomorrow for pictures. And head on over to 5 minutes for mom to see what others are tackling.

Another week of Little bites .... time to make some serious headway on devouring these elephants

2008-05-19T11:33:00.003+02:00

It's Monday. A new week. A fresh slate and a chance to make some major progress on my looming deadlines ..... a slip in some family fun (or at least try to avoid creating any of those memories that scar my children for life).
The weekend was great --- a fun(and profitable) time at the annual yard sale fundraiser for the MK school, two impromptu gatherings with friends that were so encouraging and uplifting to our tired spirits, and a blessed time at church yesterday. As time permits this week I will try to post more on the weekend fun .... we'll see. I did promise to give my son time to post on his blog (for the extended family and friends) about his deal of the day from Saturday. Not to steal his thunder but I'll just share one quote after he got his treasure home and found out it was as good as he thought. "Wow, Mom! I never thought I would have one of these! This is one of those toys only RICH KIDS have!"

Today's To Do list:
1. Plan menu for the week and post.
2. Do 2 loads of laundry
3. Complete at least 1 or 2 months of expense reports for the mission -- due tomorrow night but I will have no time to do them tomorrow.
4. Do something with the box of strawberries in the fridge. The plan is to make a batch or two of freezer jam --- it is that time of year to restock the freezer. Hard to believe but strawberry season is almost over here.
5. Make lunch and dinner for today and put together a lasagna for tomorrow's midday meal.
6. Do something with the zucchini and the peaches from last week's market trip that are rapidly reaching the point of no return.
7. Clear the front hallway and put away the few items that did not sell at the weekend yard sale that we brought back home with us.
8. Have living room straightened and dining room table cleared so as to be able to sit with my hubby for our weekly tv "date" (we love to watch Sue Thomas: F. B. Eye through the little box that we were given as a Christmas gift that allows us several additional TV channels and also allows us to switch the language on several shows back to their original English tracks).
9. Be prepared mentally and physically to have the first of our newly scheduled weekly money talks (hubby and I) after the TV date. Last week we sat down to look at the bank accounts and realized that the first entire week of the month had snuck by in a flash and I had missed the due date for making our monthly credit card payment. I hate that! We had the money in the bank account and because I didn't sit down at the computer for 10 minutes to make the payment before the 5th, we have another stupid late payment. We calmly decided (after a short, not-so-calm period of discussion) that one way to keep tabs on our money and avoid this is the future was to just meet weekly and take a look at the money situation and discuss what we needed to do that week and how it would happen. I chose Monday night. I think tonight's meeting should go well, especially if I have a couple of expense reports done and filed. Ü

Elephant Bites for this week:

School--
1.Elementary play is tomorrow night. I will be working in the morning with the pta moms to transport the sets to the theater and then will feed the kids and get them to the theater in time for my son the King to be there for rehearsal and for the rest of the family subjects to watch when the curtain goes up at 7pm.
2. Sign permission slips and send in money for two field trips.

Church VBS --1. TRANSLATE BIBLE LESSONS!!!!!
2. Plan and print out list of items to be collected and jobs that need to be done in the next month to distribute and discuss at Saturday's meeting.
3. Shop online for craft materials and "rewards"

Prepare for my upcoming trip --
1. Make schedule of which friends are picking up/watching the kids after school on which days
2. Start packing list of clothes
3. Work on the shopping list for when I am in the states. Note to self: add a pair of white flats to the list since I just noticed that the ones I am wearing have a hole in the toe.
4. Work on top secret computer related project. Ü (Can't go into details here since you never know who might be reading .... details will have to wait until June)

Wordless Wednesday: Tut Tut, Looks like rain!

2008-05-14T00:31:00.001+02:00

I went into Princess's room the other morning to wake her up and found her sleeping with her pretty new (to her) umbrella. Of course, just as I came back in to snap the picture of her sound asleep she rolled over and woke up. Still a cute shot to me.

Big Bites for Monday

2008-05-12T16:34:00.006+02:00

OK, I know the concept of little bites sounds great, but when you are really behind and the deadlines are looming closer it's time to kick it up a notch. Much of today has already gone by (it is 4:30 already) but I need to get some big bites out of the way today and I think that will go a long way towards helping me get my momentum going so that I reach my "finish line" on time.

I painted sets this morning for 2 hours. I almost finished the headboard and footboard for the princess bed. I hope to finish them tomorrow and then may just have to sweetly give my apologies to the other ladies but I am going to have to excuse myself from Wednesday. We are almost done so maybe we will have a good group there tomorrow and get it all done.

There's nothing like the lack of clean undergarments to get this Mom to tackle the laundry. The second load of laundry is in the washer right now, the first is in the dryer. A couple of loads from the weekend are on the table in the laundry room. Today I will get this
cleared off and put away, along with the things that are currently washing.

As I do that I will clean this
again.

If I have time, I will get rid of the clutter here so I can be greeted to a better sight when I enter the apartment.

I am really hoping that those bites in the housework will help me have a more restful night and be able to focus my attention on other tasks tomorrow.

:::::UPDATE:::: It is now Tuesday and I thought I would post some pictures of the progress so far and go ahead and link this to the Tackle it Tuesday meme.

As of last night at bedtime the laundry room table looked like this:
One lone sock waiting for it's mate

The kitchen looked like this:

The hallway did not get decluttered but instead I decided to do the small thing challenge over at Home Sanctuary and swept and mopped the kitchen and the front hallway areas. So the front hallway shelf still needs to be cleared but the floors are at least nice and clean.

Today we made good progress in the set painting. The princess bed is almost done, (headboard and footboard, the rose arbor is done, and thanks to my idea to cut some sponges in leaf shapes, the trees in the forrest are well on their way to being done.

Getting back to the little bites

2008-05-07T08:29:00.003+02:00

Summer is upon us here in sunny Spain. It seems like we are skipping over a very short season of spring and the hot weather is here. Whether it is here to stay is uncertain, and there are still several degrees to climb before we hit true summer temperatures, but my body is having a hard time adjusting to the change. Yesterday I worked on the set painting (there are only a few of us volunteering to do the job so we need to be there every morning for at least an hour and then others come and work a few evenings a week) and then came home to get a few things done around the house before heading back to the school to pick up the kids. Once again I had visions of great accomplishments in the afternoon/evening but after lunch I hit a major nap attack and had to lie down. Bad idea! I never wake up refreshed from a nap. I was out from 4:30 till after 6 pm and in a fog for the rest of the night. Yuck! I did get measurements done for #2 son's costume but that was it. Oh, and I got dinner made and the dishes done. That is something.

I thought my craft outing at a friend's house was yesterday morning but it is today. I have 2 hours before it starts. Here is what I need to do before I leave in approx 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Shower and dress
Read Bible
Put bean soup on to start cooking
Eat some breakfast
Throw a load of laundry in the washer
If there is time left, clear breakfast dishes and straighten living room/dining room.

I won't be back till after 2:30 when I come home with the kids from school .... at least I think that is the plan. The house should be good and quiet for my hubby, who is home today on his day off, to get some work done on the computer. If there is time later today I may try and get my belated Tackle it Tuesday post written up and posted. If it doesn't get posted today I will probably schedule it to post automatically next Tuesday.

On the wish list once I find out what my afternoon and evening schedule look like is to sew the tunic for #2 son's costume. We'll see how the day goes.

Monday Meanderings: May 5-11

2008-05-05T12:09:00.007+02:00

The weekend was not as productive as I had hoped, although I did get a few things done (some from my goal list and others not). Princess is persistent, just like her Mama, and will a few more nudges I will be able to declare the long drawn out process of redecorating her room "finished". The goal list for today has to be fairly short to allow for a lot of time today on public transportation thanks to our car being in the garage (where it will be for at least the next two weeks) and the fact that #2 son is still dealing with health issues so we are going to head downtown (a good 1 hour each way) by bus, train, and subway to see the bilingual doctor that we really like. I don't mind the clinic that is just a mile from our house for most things but we went to this other doctor a couple of weeks ago and some new things are happening so I'd like to go back for a follow-up with the same doctor who already has a good idea of what my son is having for symptoms and what medicines he is on.

Here is the plan for today as well as some weekly goals:
Weekly Goals-
1. Finish costume for elementary play.
2. Write a Menu plan for the week and stick to it.
3. Finish translating the Primary Class lessons for VBS.
4. Mail insurance paperwork.
5. Read the Bible in English (this plan) and Spanish (the daily readings for SS lesson)daily.

Today's Plan:
1. ~~Paint sets for elementary play. 9:15- 10:15~~
2. ~~Start lunch and have it ready to finish when we get off the bus.~~
3. ~~Finish washing dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher last night.~~
4. Finish putting yesterdays 2 loads of clean laundry away and do one more load.
5. Take #2 son to the doctors (appt at 6pm. We'll be gone from the house from 4:30 to ?)
6. ~~Post the weekly menu~~ and write out grocery list.

Well, I feel good that at 12:45 I could already cross off a few items. And I have a half hour before I need to start walking to the bus stop to pick up the kids at school so I should be able to finish posting the menu and jotting a note for #1 son to preheat the oven when he gets home so that it is ready to throw the chicken parmesan in when I get off the bus with the others. I don't know yet exactly how the week will go so I am putting 2 meals for each day but they may end up getting switched around depending on whether we want the bigger meal midday or in the evening.

Weekly Menu
Monday:
1. Chicken parmesan, leftover pasta with spaghetti sauce
2. egg salad sandwiches, chips, pickles
Tuesday:
1. Fried rice, fruit salad
2. leftover chicken and gravy over toast or biscuits
Wednesday:
1. White bean soup, salad, baguettes
2. BLT's, cucumber slices
Thursday:
1. pork loin chops with BBQ sauce, fried potatoes, mixed vegetables
2. omelettes
Friday:
1. Pizza or homemade pepperoni rolls. (Does anyone have a good recipe for pepperoni rolls??????? that does not call for frozen bread dough since that doesn't exist here -- at least that I have found)
2. ?
Saturday:
1. Hotdogs at the baseball game
2. Macaroni salad with ham slices
Sunday:
Lasagna

Don't forget to head over to Tiany's blog for more Monday Meanderings and to Laura's for more Menu Plan Monday posts.

If at first you don't succeed

2008-05-02T00:03:00.002+02:00

A phone call around lunch time changed the course of the rest of the day. Our coworkers (who are like adopted grandparents for our kids) wanted to know if they could come over and play games and visit in the afternoon/evening. They were going to bring dinner but I was in the middle of fixing something so I said I would just make two more servings and then put it in the fridge and cook it when they got here and we would grab sandwiches for lunch. We don't have that many opportunities to just get together and have fun with them and they knew we were housebound because of being without a car. We all enjoyed the unplanned visit but it meant that the only thing on my to do list that got done was the two loads of laundry. ("grandma" helped me fold and put away each of the two loads) And the upside was the major pick up that happened in the living room and dining room area. Now the house looks nice for tomorrow and we will just keep the same list of little bites for Friday.

Holiday bites

2008-05-01T10:53:00.004+02:00

Today and tomorrow are holidays here in Spain and in Madrid in particular. I think one day is Independence day and the other is a Madrid area holiday but I don't know which is which. all that is important is that the kids are off school and even my hubby doesn't have to go anywhere because the store is closed. He does have a bunch of work to do from the home computer so this will be quick so that I can get off the computer and let him have access to it. I will make my list fairly short and hopefully will be able to cross things off later in the day and still have time for some fun with the family on our day together.
Bites towards the May Deadline Projects:
1. Translate for 1/2 hour on VBS material.
2. Make another phone call to the states for info.
3. Measure, cut out and sew the tunic part of #2 son's costume for the school play.
4. Gather credit card statements for 1/2 hour.

Home bites:
1. Do two loads of laundry completely (all the way to being folded and put away)
2. Follow the menu for lunch and dinner.
3. Have banana splits for a fun dessert with the family. Hmmmm, do you notice a daily ice cream pattern? This is not good for my ever expanding figure. We may have to come up with a better alternative and break this pattern before it is too late.
4. Straighten my bedroom. The plans to move the big piece of furniture out fell through so I have some more time before having to deal with that mess but I need to find the floor again and get some unwearable clothes out of the closet and dresser and off to the charity bin.