Monday, August 24, 2009

Waiting?

One would think we would have this waiting thing figured out by now. Considering, we wait for so many things on a daily basis. The dryer, the dishwasher, we wait at the red light, we wait for our husbands to get home, the baby to wake. For a Job. For answers to prayer.

With so much experience we should have mastered the skill of waiting by now. But, waiting to us seems like a waste of time? Rather, it's waiting we can do but waiting patiently is an entirely different story?

Patience is defined as the capacity, quality, or fact of being patient. Synonyms: patience, long-suffering, resignation, forbearance. These nouns denote the capacity to endure hardship, difficulty, or inconvenience without complaint. Patience emphasizes calmness, self-control, and the willingness or ability to tolerate delay. (Taken from www.thefreedictionary.com)

and get this waiting is defined as remaining inactive in one place while expecting something!!

The fact remains while we are waiting, God is working. To move us where he wants us to be. To readjust the lives of others so that his ultimate desires will be filled. To bring about what will make us eventually Christlike, though not necessarily immediately comfortable. What is it you are waiting for?? And, how well are you waiting for it?

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Chinese Chicken Salad

The following recipe comes from my Mother in-laws kitchen. The wonderful thing about this recipe is it gives you options which is always a good thing. Even if you don't have all of the following ingredient's or just don't like some of the ingredient's it will still taste yummy!!

MIX ALL TOGETHER:
1 head of cabbage (or lettuce) shredded - I always use cabbage
1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced/chopped (yellow, orange or green also work)
2 green onions, sliced
1 tomato, slices or wedges
1 cucumber, peeled/sliced
10-12 olives whole or half, green or black - I have never put these in
1/4 to 1/2 C sliced almonds
Top Ramen Noodles: dry, and crushed or cooked curly pasta called "rotelle"-again I have never put this is but have had it with it in and it's good.
Fresh parsley or cilantro- I was able to get fresh parsley at the farmer's market last weekend for .50 so I used fresh otherwise dry spices work well too.
Cooked chicken/ cooled, in bite-size pieces ie 1 bag of popcorn chicken, chicken nuggets or grilled chicken breasts- I always use chicken nuggets but tonight I'm using left over chicken from last nights dinner.

At last minute....Add dressing:
1/2 C Olive oil
1/3 C Seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 C Sugar
Splash of lemon juice
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp pwdr'd ginger
Optional- 1 tbsp paprika & 1/4 cayenne or dried pepper flakes

Monday, August 10, 2009

The price book

Getting control of the food budget is a hot topic in my house. We are always wavering on the numbers what's too much and what's not enough? We shop at several supermarkets, a co-op and the weekend farmer's market. I have a lot of the prices for our regular purchases in my brain (not written down) and have saved a few grocery store slips here and there for references. And I have made a few trips from time to time to compare price of specific items. So, I sort of "know my prices". In the process I have also learned not to assume that one store has the lowest price on every item. However, what I haven't done yet is made a price book. Which, I'm hoping will revolutionize my families shopping strategy so we can feel like we have control of our food budget and find a real number everyone is happy with.

How do I plan to conquer this task? I'm going to use a small notebook and each page is going to contain prices for one item. The pages will be alphabetical. I'm also going to make up so sort of code for the store name and the brand, the size of the item, the price and the unit price.

I realize this may sound like so much work but it's not. And I know the pay off will be worth it. Especially, if I hit each store a different week of the month so that within a 30-day cycle I hit them all.

So, excited to share my results!!

Eating nutritionally and living naturally on a budget is my vision for my family