Our Menu for the week

Due to the bad economy, most families are tightening their financial belts and eating in more and more. While I find it difficult to cook night after relentless night, my sentimental side thinks it's a great return to how it should be. I have no memories of eating out as a child, or at least no memories of eating out other than on a special occasion or when we visited my grandmother. Even on road trips, we stopped at picnic tables on the side of the road and ate our sandwiches, hot 2-liter of Coke in tow. The sandwiches were usually hot, too, but I was thankful for the swig of Coke since that was something we very rarely enjoyed. In the age of MORE MORE MORE, it's nice to see us returning to the family dinner table.

DH & I have always enjoyed meals as a family, and we rarely spend dinners apart because our children are still so young, but I always liked the nights at Moe's or Two Guys pizza when I didn't have to cook. During difficult seasons of life, it's always easy to send hubby to "just pick something up for dinner". Unfortunately, Tampa does not have many good cheap restaurants, and since we are trying to be more fiscally conscious, we are having most meals at home. This morning we had cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs, while dinner was a quick grilled cheese before church and then some fruit when we returned home. I am trying to start our week off with the first few meals planned, so here is our schedule:

Monday:
Roast Beef, mashed yukon gold potatoes, corn, and green beans and fruit
Roast beef is prepared very simply. We bought a chuck roast and will put it in a pan with 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup and several cans of water. You can also sprinkle some Lipton's onion soup mix on top. Cook at 300*F for at least 3-4 hours. I am going to cook ours all day at 250*F. You can add carrots and potatoes if you want a more traditional pot roast.

Publix has fantastic sweet corn right now, so I'll just boil that. I am cheating with the green beans and they will be straight out of a can and I will cook them with sea salt and some pepper.


Tuesday
spaghetti night with garlic bread and salad or applesauce
I brown ground beef with onion and spices like oregano, parsley, or basil. Then, I add either Hunt's traditional spaghetti sauce (2 cans) or 2 cans of tomato and basil sauce that I bought at Costco. I'll try to remember the brand name! We like angel hair or very thin Spaghetti noodles. I usually buy the cheap ones, but the Barefoot Contessa recommends a good brand.

I cheated and bought the garlic bread on sale at Publix. I believe it is by Cole's and it was BOGO (buy one get one free).

Wednesday night
If we have lots of leftovers, we will eat those, as the children LOVE spaghetti. Otherwise, we will have NO PEEK CHICKEN.
4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, washed and prepared
1 pkg. Lipton's onion soup mix
1 pkg. long grain & wild rice (Uncle Ben's is best, but the store brand is fine)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can water

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Combine soup, water, and rice mix together. Pour in bottom of casserole dish. Place chicken in the mixture. Sprinkle oven soup mix over chicken. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 350*F for 2 hours and don't peek! You really can peek because sometimes it doesn't take the full 2 hours to cook. Enjoy!

I will fix some veggies such as baked squash. I recently bought frozen squash and sauteed it in olive oil. Then I put it in an oven-safe dish, and sprinkled bread crumbs and parmesan on top and baked it for a few minutes. It was delicious!

I'll add something green too.

Maybe this will inspire you!

How to have an adult conversation with a young child

How many times have you realized no one is tugging on you so you might actually be able to make a phone call, only to make the phone call and some sort of radar sends children running from blocks away? How many times have you met a friend for lunch with children in tow, only to come home wondering if you all talked at all? Mothers of preschoolers and younger are all too familiar with these scenarios. Even older children have a difficult time not interrupting mama when she's talking to another adult either in person or over the phone.

Today a cute friend that I met at Greystone asked me to meet her for coffee. We ended up having Diet Cokes at Louie Pappas, with my little just-turned-2- and-I-can-say-'NO'- H in tow. H is not known for her good behavior in public. She is an easy, adaptable child until you want her to sit quietly in a high chair. It's just not gonna happen! I googled within my own mind to think of a way to keep her somewhat quiet and occupied. Food usually works, so I gave her strawberries. I also brought a brand new can of hot pink playdough. Perfection. That sweet little monkey played with her playdough for AN HOUR AND A HALF!!! I actually was able to have a real conversation!! Thank you, Lord, for sweet reminders that you really are with me! Now, playdough will join the little baggie of crayons, the Clean Well hand sanitizer, many receipts, a hand full of names & numbers that are floating around, and at least 5 of my favorite pens in my purse!! You should try the playdough trick. I think even older children secretly enjoy the stuff. After all, I made a couple of pancakes and hot dogs myself! :)

Lunchbox notes

Children are very important, and they need to know how important they are to us and how much we love them. We show our love to them by feeding them, bathing them, and putting them to bed. We also show our love by attending and actively watching their sporting events, recitals, classes, and school performances. Another simple way to show our love is to send notes in their lunch box! Children just beam to have a handwritten note or silly picture from their mother or father. I always wished my Mama would decorate my lunch bag. She was and is an excellent mother, but I longed for the fancy letters & cute pictures on my brown bag. Therefore, I try to write at least one note a week to our children. I don't do it everyday at this point because I don't want it to be expected, or for the world to fall apart if I can't send one for some reason. I read a book about lunchbox notes, and the author wrote a note every single day. Her children testified how much the notes meant to them. Another child called & asked if she'd write her a note one day, and then said she was welcome to write another note whenever she had time. We may find the notes to be silly or cumbersome, but they mean the world to our children! I think I'll send one tomorrow!

How to really love your spouse

February is a month marked by Groundhog's Day, President's Day, and Valentine's Day. You see a lot of pink and red in the stores and LOVE is promoted everywhere. What is love? The Bible says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends".

Since our focus is on love this month, I thought I would recommend some of my absolute favorite books. Shaunti Feldhahn has written two books that will change the way you look at your marriage. You can buy them from Amazon.com . The books are called "For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men" and "For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women". You will be amazed at what you will learn about yourself, how you treat your spouse, and how the opposite sex thinks. We read these books over 2 years ago with our small group Bible study, and I still remember my favorite parts.

I learned that I can say little things without meaning any disrespect, such as, "Would you like me to help you install that?", but DH (and yours, too) hears, "You dumb idiot. I am so much smarter than you. Why don't I help you install that DVD player?" I was amazed! I had no idea that a simple, "Why don't we ask for directions?" communicates, "You have no idea where you are going and I can't trust you". Wow.

I also learned a little about myself. Women are like computers with a bunch of different windows opened at one time. We tend to multi-task, or at least think about 10 things at one time. Men, however, are focused on a single task. Women can't enjoy a vacation from the children if a child is sick at home until we know the child is okay. Anyway, you will love these books. Treat yourself and your spouse and you'll be amazed at how your marriage will grow!

Fit Pack DVD

Pink, Green, and Southern inspired me to post about a great workout DVD. FIT PACK DVD is a GREAT DVD by celebrity trainer, Joel Harper. Joel utilizes great exercises that promote strength, agility, and toning. When I first tried his DVD, I tried the abs section first because that is where I need the most help! The exercises made you move, but I thought, "Okay, I can do this" when he said it was time to stop. Then, he said, "Now that you're all warmed up, let's keep going!" For people like me, who don't exercise often, you may have to start with his warm-ups and work up to being able to do the full workout. For those who are already fit, you will enjoy the challenge of these exercises. The best part is that you need NO EQUIPMENT. A mat or towel can be helpful for some of the exercises, but you can do these in your own home while your children run around!! I love this because I am terrified of making a fool of myself at the gym. You will LOVE this dvd, so give it a try in the new year!

Will the truth set her free?

Wow. The truth has been revealed!! The latest news revealed that the mother of the octuplets is seeking at least 2 million for book deals and t.v. appearances on Oprah or for interviews with Diane Sawyer. Will the media succumb to paying for this woman's 'advice'? She is touting herself as a childcare expert... do we agree?

I need to clarify a few things. I love children. I would have more children if it's God's will. However, I would not have more children if I were a single mother of five who are ages 7 and under. It is just about physically impossible to care for 5 children on your own. It would be even more difficult if one of our children had autism, like one of the octuplets' siblings. This Nadya Suleman has SIX children and NO husband. She is a single mother whose parents bought her small home. She is unemployed. She has now stated that she hopes to pocket several million dollars because of her sage advice as a mother. I am not sure this is a woman who practices wisdom. Is there wisdom in bringing more children into a home that already has SIX children and no father? Is there wisdom in pursuing extreme infertility treatment when you are a single mother of 6?

I have so many questions. In vitro fertilization raises many ethical questions. I have wrestled through each of them myself and with my husband because we had an unknown transportation issue that was discovered after laparoscopy to determine why we were not able to conceive. We prayed and prayed over this procedure and its ramifications. WE prayed. I didn't go through this decision alone. We sought advice and prayer from our minister. Prior to our infertility issues, I had very strong opinions on IVF, frozen embryos, et cetera. My strong opinions were because I was uneducated on the issue. I had no idea why I believed what I believed but I had some strong opinions against it. Then we found out that due to appendix that ruptured when I was 7, I was missing an ovary and had severely damaged tubes on both sides. There was no transportation to allow me to conceive. DH & I wanted a baby so badly, and after several more months of trying, it was determined that our only choices were IVF or adoption. We sought IVF because it was thought to be a transportation problem. We did not enter this decision lightly. It was expensive. It involved time off of work, countless blood draws, and strong medication.

We wrestled with these things: It might not work. The medication might overstimulate me. I could become depressed, gain weight, and have the Lupron crazies. We could have no embryos, or we could have too many embryos which would leave us with a decision to make about any remaining embryos. After much prayer and many tears, we felt the Lord was saying it was okay to try IVF.

The doctors hoped I would be pregnant with ONE. A few weeks later, they were SHOCKED to learn that there were THREE babies. A nurse immediately offered us selective reduction. We refused. God had given us these babies, and we could not choose to get rid of one of them. The risks were numerous for the babies and even for me. I understand why Nadya Suleman didn't want to reduce. How DO you choose? But why, oh why, would a SINGLE mother of SIX allow EIGHT embryos to be implanted? I understand her feeling a responsibility to those embryos since she had some remaining. However, there are ways to implant the embryos aggressively with aggressive fertility drugs or to put them in the body and let them naturally implant or not implant. I wonder if she should have chosen the latter since she already had several children. I question if she really wanted "just one more girl" or if she wanted fame and fortune.

Jon & Kate plus 8 is a great show. DH won't watch it because he says it is too much like real life, but I have seen it and liked it. However, are shows like this causing people to seek fame and fortune by seeing who has the most babies? The Duggers are another example. They have 18 children. That is way too many for me personally, but you can't help but applaud them for the RESPONSIBLE way they are raising their children. They have NO debt. I can't say the same; we do have a mortgage. They make everything they possibly can and very carefully shop for clothes and shoes. They exercise WISDOM. Miss Suleman has exercised virtually no wisdom. The Duggers are a TEAM. They are married. All of their children share responsibility for household duties. I have 5 children under age 7, while Miss Suleman has 6. Our children are too young to completely take care of one another. The Duggers have older children who assist with the younger children. The Suleman children can bring Mama a diaper or give someone some Cheerios, but their ability to help is limited by their age.

Our reproductive endocrinologist took IVF very seriously. She explained that a high rate of multiple births actually hurts their ratings. They were trying to give their patients A baby... not many babies. Where was this doctor? Did he/she carefully screen his patient? If the doctor believes he did the right thing, then why is he not defending his decision to implant EIGHT embryos in a young woman? Usually doctors increase the number of embryos implanted based on the mother's age... but this was a 33 year-old woman, not a 53 year-old woman!

I do understand a single woman's desire to have a baby. Had I not married, I would still have a very strong desire to have a baby and to be a mama. Miss Suleman had that desire granted with the first six babies. I don't understand why a doctor would allow her to aggressively pursue even more babies. Have fertility treatments become a way to pursue fame and fortune? Should any of us watch this woman on t.v.? Should Oprah pay her for an interview? Who will watch her children while she prances around the country doing interviews and book deals? Who paid for her infertility treatments? I don't want more government in my life making decisions for me. This story scares me about the state of our nation. We have pushed God out of schools and out of our lives, yet we so desperately need Him more than ever. I know I can't expect a non-believer to use godly wisdom, but this whole story is too much to comprehend.

P. Diddy & Mama Henley

I haven't posted much over the weekend because of my 3-day partying with P. Diddy at the Venue in St. Pete. I mean, dawg, what else do you think I have been doing? It was PHAT. We did drive by the Venue, but since we're not part of the elite Superbowl crowd, well, we just drove on by:). It was a great weekend. There are so many nice beaches to explore! We took the children for doughnuts on Indian Beach at a place called Lighthouse Doughnuts. They are some of the best I've ever had! We also saw Clearwater and it's nice white sand beach. It really is beautiful here!




I think God wants to make sure I feel at home here in Florida because we've had more cold-just-like-North Carolina-days than we have balmy sunny Florida days. Today greeted us with lower temps and rain. It has rained so much that I fear our pool may overflow if we have much more!! Rainy days are perfect for a bowl of hot soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. That is what we are having for dinner!

However, I spent the morning celebrating the first 100 days of school with my terrific triplets, so I do not have much time to cook. Plus, I am just exhausted from all of the celebrity sightings and parties from the weekend (ha!). My friend, A, has been mentioned numerous times. She is pretty brilliant. Here is her vegetable soup recipe. You will love it!!




Meat... can be hamburger meat, beef stew meat, cuts leftover from tenderloin or roast beef, etc. I bought beef stew meat and cut it into tiny pieces
water
2 bottles Spicy Hot V8 juice
frozen mixed veggies or soup mix... 2-3 bags minimum
any fresh vegetables you may have (potatoes, carrots, celery, corn, peas, green beans, peppers, tomatoes)

Boil about 1/3 pot of water. Throw in meat and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes. I don't think A uses water and just lets hers cook with the rest of the soup. Add V8 spicy hot juice. Add vegetables. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for an hour or more. Delicious!