Thank God For Dirty Dishes?

THANK GOD FOR DIRTY DISHES

Thank God for dirty dishes;
They have a tale to tell,
While other folks go hungry,
We're eating very well.

With home and health and happiness
We shouldn't want to fuss;
For by the stack of evidence
God's very good to us.



I was looking thru a family cook book of ours and found this poem. The author is unknown.

It has been done...

Well, folks I've gone and done it...
I sat down this morning and made a 2 week meal plan.
I will let you know how it works out for us.
details to come...

side note;
its noon and I still haven't showered. *gross* Can you smell me from there?

love,
jess

Saving Money...

The mentality in the world today is " I want it= I need it= I'm going to buy it, even if I don't have the money". Lets face it: it is hard to save money. Dave and I have for sure not mastered this topic of saving money, but I'd thought I'd share a few tips that help us;

1. Tithe! Give to God- its HIS money anyway!
2. GIVE GIVE GIVE- to charity, to those in need- this is something that the hubs and I are hoping to work on.
3. make a workable budget and STICK to it!- We like to use the envelope system. When you make a budget, make sure that it kinda makes you penny pinch a little bit. If you make a budget and are still spending the same as you did before, then whats the point?
4. Be frugal- buy used when you can, shop for groceries at WINCO, FoodMax, ETC... shop for fruit and veg at your local farmers stand. Here are the benefits of shopping at the stand: fresher fruit/veg, you're supporting local farmers, and its generally for a better price than at the grocer. oh oh oh, and it tastes WAY better!!!!!
5. Try to save at least 5% of your income in a savings account.- Dave took a finance class at our old church before we were married and they suggested that at this day in age a good amount to end up in the bank would be 5%... thats if you have a car payment, mortgage, other bills. We like to have the money directly taken out of the paycheck which is nice because 1)dave and I don't have to worry about depositing the money ourselves with the chance of maybe forgetting and 2) since its directly taken out of the check, we aren't tempted to spend the money.
6. Pay with CASH- for most everything we buy (accept for a few exceptions- gas, car wash...) we use cash. We really prefer to use cash because once the alloted amount of cash is spent from a certain budget genre, then its GONE until next month when we fill it more cash for that month. This helps you to save because once the money is gone, well... its GONE! :-) OH, it also helps us really think about what we're wanting to purchase, and if we really need it.
7. Remember that its God's money. HE is the one who has entrusted HIS money to you. Be wise with it. When you borrow an item from a friend, do you misuse it and bash it about? NO! You take good care of it and make wise decisions about how and when to use it. It should be no different with money. Pray and ask God to help you make wise decision when purchasing things with His money. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He will teach us!
8. Stop trying to keep up with the Jones.- This one is hard for me. While I love my home, and car, etc... I find myself wishing I had more or thinking "if I could just have _____ like so-and-so does". My prayer is this: God, please teach me to be content in You, and all you have chosen so graciously to give me." God is faithful! He WILL answer this prayer!

Here are some resources that may help you on the topic of money;
http://www.daveramsey.com/

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/AskPastorJohn/ByTopic/8/3965_What_are_your_thoughts_on_preparing_for_the_future_financially/

http://www.desiringgod.org/dg/id162_cf.htm

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/06/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started/



Remember....

1 Timothy 6:6
"But godliness with contentment is great gain."

Lotsa love,
jess

prayer

This evening I was reading some old entries from a blog that I just found
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/

The gal shared this verse as a prayer for simple living, and it really encouraged me. I thought I'd pass it along to you.

" O God, I beg two favors from you;
let me have them before I die.
First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
For if I grow rich, I may deny you
and say, "who is the LORD?"
And if I am too poor, I may steal
and thus insult God's holy name."
Proverbs 30:7-9

Meal Planning

My husband and I have been married for just a tiny bit over 2 years... in fact, June 9 was our 2nd anniversary. Before we were married I knew nothing about cooking. Really, nothing. I mean, I could make box mac n' cheese, and I could bake chocolate chip cookies, but that was basically it. While living at home, when my Mom cooked dinner I was always teaching piano, so never really had the chance to help or learn that much. So when David and I got married, cooking was a learning experience. The poor guy tried so many yucky things, and was such a good sport about it- sometimes even eating seconds. What a man!!!!! In the past 2 years I have learned ALOT about cooking. I have also learned alot of healthy cooking/snacks, thanks to my health-nut husband. Now, I'm not saying that all of my recipes are super healthful, but I am saying that I do try to make the majority of my meals healthy.

So today, what I thought I'd share with you is something that I have found to be quite helpful. Meal planning. I like to meal plan one week at a time. You can do it for however many weeks you like... I have many friends that meal plan for 2 weeks at a time. I think 2 weeks at a time sounds like such a great idea, but am afraid that alot of the food would go bad before we were ready to eat it. I start my meal planning by opening up a document on my computer that has listed all of our favorite meals. Then I start picking meals in such a way that gives us a good variety throughout the week (variety for taste and health). Here is what our meal plan looked like this week;

Monday: BBQed chicken, zucchini, corn, and roasted potatoes
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: chicken fajitas, refried pinto beans, homemade spanish brown rice, fruit salad
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: crockpot thai chicken, plain brown rice, squash & broccoli
Saturday: spaghetti (with either whole wheat or spelt noodles), whole wheat garlic bread, spinach salad (w/ nuts, berries, carrots, seeds, apples, cranberries).
Sunday: breakfast for dinner- usually eggs & toast (sometimes with turkey bacon, and potatoes... most of the time we just keep it simple on the Sabbath.)

You've probably noticed a couple of things: 1. we have a few leftover days and 2. I only plan dinners. The reason that I have leftover days is because usually when you're cooking family size recipes for 2 people, you're bound to have leftovers- unless you're a pig. HA! Leftovers are perfect for us, because of my husbands work schedule, he isn't home for a few dinners during the week. We just stick the leftovers is two containers- one for him while he is at work, and one for me while I'm at home. I love it because most of the time when he is at work, I don't feel like cooking a whole meal just for myself, ya know? Its perfect! Now, to be honest I can't say that I actually have a reason for only planning dinners. I guess for me, planning dinners was just a start to maybe planing breakfast/lunch as well, which I would love to try doing. Maybe next month I will give it a try and then report back to you.

One thing I really love about meal planning is this: there are far less trips to the grocery store during the week, which in return means I'm spending less. I make one big trip to WINCO, and get everything I need for the week of dinners. Once I've planned the dinners I write them out on a little white board and keep it in the kitchen so that way the Hubby can look forward to whats coming :-) It also helps remind me of any prep that needs to be done before dinner.

I hope you've found this helpful! Now, go get planning :-)

lotsa love,
jess

Its grilling time, baby!

OK, so its summertime... time to fire up the grill!!!! Dave and I have this amazing local fruit/veg stand that we go to at least twice a week. The fruit/veg is so tasty that really, there is no excuse to not eat plenty of it during the summer- even if you are a picky eater like me. I would be seriously surprised if a person tasted one of their pluots and thought it was gross... these baby's are straight from heaven- no fooling!


Anyway... so lately our new addiction at Loretelli's is their freash corn on the cob! Its really quite tasty! At first, we started cooking it the usual way, of which I'm sure you are all familiar- BOILING it. Boiling corn on the cob is simple... fill a huge pot with water, let it come to a boil, stick the corn in and take it out once it changes to a bit lighter yellow/white. Put a slab of butter (and salt, if you're into that sort of thing) on it and you're good to go, right? Well, not so fast Sparky! My BRILLIANT husband and this crazy idea... what if we grilled the corn?! I'm sure that most of you have grilled corn like this;


But my husbands crazy idea was to shuck the corn BEFORE grilling it. At the time, I thought he was crazy. I thought the corn would dry out and be way to tough. It turned out the opposite. Its beautiful and tasty. Perfectly moist, crispy and tender. Just the way it is meant to be. The grill gives it a hint... such a perfect hint of smokeyness...its not over kill. I promise.


OK, so the way I like to eat it is like this; straight off the grill with a little butter. My amazingly smokin' hot husband likes to eat it straight off the grill with nothing on it- says the corn already tastes perfect without anything on it. Eat it however you like, but PLEASE, please just make sure to try this out. You won't regret it!

my morning ritual

I just woke up about an hour ago, and going thru my morning ritual and thought I'd share it with you just for fun. So... most mornings I wake up, come into the kitchen/family room. I put the kettle on, let the dog outside, and then come to the computer to check up on my favorite blogs. While I'm reading the blogs, Emmi (our dog) lets me know its time to come in and for me to feed her. Sheesh! Dogs can be so demanding!!! Anyway, soon the kettle is done and then comes the best part!!!!! Tea time!!!!!!!! I go and get out my favorite big mug (black & white corelle stoneware- from great grandma), put in a tea bag of some sort of black tea (preferably Early Grey or English Breakfast). Pour in the hot water, then a splash of milk and about a teaspoon and a bit of sugar, and... TA DA! There you have it! My favorite morning drink. Its not fancy. Its not complicated. Its simple. Delicious. Warming. Awakening. What are you waiting for?! Go try it!

Just planted today...

I just planted these beautiful cosmos and french lavender in my frontyard today. They make me happy. I hope they put a smile on your face too :-)

lots of love,
jess

Nutella Goodness

OK, I found this recipe and I tried it... and its AMAZING! If you love Nutella, then you will love this recipe! Its SO easy and SO tasty!
http://www.vintagevictuals.com/2009/02/happy-world-nutella-day.html

love,
jess

Please forgive me...

Please accept my humble apology for being an awful blogger.

Ok, now onto updating you...

We have been up to a lot lately. In the past month we have...

gardened
painted the office
went running/walking
yoga
ate yummy food
hung out with good friends
traveled to canada
ate at a vegetarian restaurant for the first time
went to the worlds largest ikea
celebrated 2 years of marriage to the most gorgeous, God-fearing man on the planet!
played piano
went to the movies

That is our life as of late. I'm hoping to post pictures sometime soon, but don't really have the time right now.

Lots of love to all!
jess