Setting Sail and a Cookbook Review

2010 is officially underway for me. My husband went back to work today after our 3 week vacation back east, and I feel like the slate is clear, goals ahead, and we're venturing into the cool, clean waters of a new year. Perhaps it's because I've almost always lived in a warm state since moving to the States for good when I was 10 (the exception would be Missouri, which, to some may be southern, but it can have some BRUTAL winters), but I've always loved the crispness of January. It feels so clear and new. We have cool weather here (40s), but I do not have to deal with snow for the most part. The perpetually sunny days make my spirits bright and ready for planning. I have to register for my classes that start next week, have much sewing to do, want to organize my house, and get the kids back into a routine of "school first, play later".

One thing I want to plan well is our food menu and grocery budget. Having a family of 8 is not cost prohibitive when you live simply for the most part, but when it comes to food, there can be quite a cost involved, especially when nutrition is high on your priority list. We have tried to go bare bones and do $600 a month for groceries, but we just could not pull it off. So we are at a more sensible $900 a month for food and it works pretty well. I still have to make compromises on what to buy organic and what not to, but all in all this works well and, when I plan, we make budget. When I do not, it is a disaster of epic porportions and we can end up spending $700 or more in one payday! So, in the spirit of planning great, affordable food, I am using my new cookbook that I got for Christmas. It's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks", by Ree Drummond, and I think it's great! I read her blog occasionally (it's in my side bar), but am not a devoted, die hard fan like many people who read her blog. I think she's hilarious and love that she lives in the country and homeschools, but don't have the time to read blogs all the time! I am so glad my mom got me this cookbook, though! Maybe I am not a typical American cook in that I do not have most of these recipes in my repertoire already, but I think the food is real and gut sticking. I saw shortening used in two recipes, but other than that, it seems like real, healthy food, especially when you use organic and/or grassfed. She already uses lots of butter, which I am all for! The pictures in the book are beautiful, and she uses MANY pictures for all her recipes. Be aware that most of the recipes in the book are already on her blog for free, but I have a hard time following and finding recipes online. I'd SO much rather have a cookbook on my counter to follow.
So there ya go, a cookbook option to explore. The next one I'd like to get a look at is "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow", by Stephanie O'Dea. Anyone read it?

My "No-Resolutions" Resolutions.

Happy new year! I hope it been a good one for you so far.

So I do not write down resolutions, and really, I think they are pointless because they only make me feel bad about myself when I do not fulfill them.

However, I do feel it's a good time to reevaluate things and natural to want to be excited about what you'd like to see in your life in the new year.

As you see in the picture above, I am NOT skinny. However, I try to keep myself from gaining tons of weight by eating real food, and not too much sugar and starch. I've learned over the course of about 10 years what works for my body--not to make me model thin, but to keep me feeling healthy and prevent getting too big. There are things I believe are true for EVERY body, since God created us all equal:

*Eat real food. If God did not make it, it's not for your body. Eating diet versions of real or junk food is not healthy, no matter how "low fat" it is.

*Activity is good.

Here's more specifically what works for me, and where I learned it:

*Sugar will make me fat (Atkins, Mercola). If I eat sugar, it needs to be the real thing, and needs to be worth it. No eating empty calories that I am not really enjoying. No sodas--gave them up going on 3 years now, and I have never looked back.

*Similarly, starch will make me fat (Atkins, Mercola). They, of course, have more to offer as far as nutrients than sugary things, so if God made them for food (potatoes and rice), they are not unhealthy, but I know I have to be active if I eat them. No loading up on a plate of spaghetti if I know I will have a slow day. Those noodles will show up on the scale and on my thighs the next day.

*I need to eat when I am hungry and not when I am not (The Weigh Down). Eating because the clock says it's time to does not work, except for maybe a piece of cheese if I feel I'm going to be busy at the time when I will be hungry and need to head it off. But to just eat a meal because "it's dinner time" does my figure no favors.

*Salads and other veggies are my best friend (plain ol' trial and error). I eat them all the time and feel they keep me cleaned out and my skin clear.

* Fat is NOT the enemy (Nourishing Traditions, Mercola, The Maker's Diet). Good fats, that is. Fats that God made for food are good for me. New fats like most vegetable oils and anything hydrogenated are not food that we have had in our food supply for a long time, and are, in fact, industrial foods that are not good for our bodies. The fats I eat most often are virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and butter. Good butter from pastured cows cannot be matched.

*Activity is great for me. makes me feel invigorated and energetic. However, running is NOT something I enjoy. I have tried the couch to 5K program so many times and was a sprinter in high school. But I have never once in my life enjoyed running for pleasure. I DO enjoy a good walk, though, and especially a hike. Whatever you enjoy, it's always good to get the blood pumping, but one need not be obsessed. God created us walking, not sweating it out on the elliptical machine.

So my goals are to do what I know I should do as far as health. Knowing and doing can be far apart sometimes, though! Good luck to me--and you too if you are untaking a goal! :)

Celebrating The Gift

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Christmas Warmth and Light

How a 3 year old decorates a tree

We had to use our fake white tree this year (it's meant only to be decorative, not to replace a real tree!).

Hope your season is merry and bright!

Thankful For This Family

I am thankful as I can be for this crew of kids....

..... and this man whom I just don't deserve. He is best friend, gentle leader and provider all rolled into one. How very blessed I am!

OH! Sweet baby-ness. I had to include this picture of this squishy baby with her drool who was added to our family this year. All of her, the whole package, is just as consuming as she can be. This picture makes me melt.

As we wrap ourselves in this season of Thanksgiving, let's remember everything--the big and the small--and the God who has given us everything, right down to our very breath. It is by Him that all things consist! Let's also remember the people who defend our freedom. These brave people who will not be home with their families this Thanksgiving so we can worship and give thanks in comfort and safety. And let us never forget in our prayers those who are needy. The poor, the widowed, the fatherless. Let's put feet and hands to those prayers by giving. Donate food, work in a soup kitchen, something. God says it is a true measure of our Christ-like-ness to take care of these. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Grateful to the Lord

Life and school have really kept me busy lately, but I had to come and post about how thankful I am. Friends and I were talking about how much life as homeschool mothers, or mothers in general!--can really make us feel pulled and spread thin. One friend in particular said how there are SO many needs--how is one person supposed to meet them all? We are individual women with TWO hands each. We have so many responsibilities from the raising (and educating!) of our children and all that that entails, the other duties we love to claim as our own--wife, student, cook, housekeeper, activity planner, counselor, friend, child of the King, etc. I had been thinking this morning before our conversation about how thankful I am for my life. How thankful I am that it is full and keeps me busy. See, one can take "overwhelmed" and make it "full and purposeful" with a change of perspective. How often I wish I would remember this very important principle. How good it would be if I could remember it *before* I started yelling about some relatively unimportant offense. Once my attitude changed, I just started listing everything I was thankful for to the Lord. He's so good in every way to me.

26. I am thankful for my life--the craziness of it and the sweetness of it.
27. I am thankful even for the trialsbecause they work patience. I have seen the evidence of that in my life.
28. I am thankful there haven't been MORE trials. :) More will come, but I thank the Lord He does not give me more than I can handle.
29. I thank the Lord for surrounding me with SO much love. My GOODNESS am I unworthy! Lord, please help me to *live* like I appreciate the love you've surrounded me with.
30. I am thankful for perpetually blue skies. They are beautiful and make me really thankful for the rare day that we have cloud cover.
31. I am thankful for an emerging young lady in our house. Her presence has really challenged me to look at life differently and be very introspective.
32. I am thankful that, at least for now, said young lady tries hard to keep her outlook sunny. Makes life much easier on her and her family.
33. Baby rolls make me happy. :) I am even thankful for baby spit up. It means I have a sweet chubby baby to snuggle.
34. I am thankful for mind-stretching online school. I'm even thankful for the class I hate. There are so many in the world who have no opportunity for an education.
35. I am So SO thankful for 70 degree weather--finally!

Grateful For This 3 Year Old

I thought I'd dedicate this post to 10 or so reasons I am thankful for our little 3 year old. Can't list everything, of course, but it'll be nice to take time out to list things for which I am REALLY grateful to have all the little people God has entrusted to my husband and I.

16. She is SO tender hearted.

17. She really tries her dead-level best to be obedient, even though sometimes (okay many times) her mischeivousness prevents that.

18. She wants to be just like mom. This is both SO endearing and extremely humbling. Not sure I really want any of my girls to be JUST like me.

19. She loves to help.

20. she loves to be in the kitchen and seems to love food and cooking as much as I do. I am praying that she will be as un-picky as I am when it comes to things she will eat.

21. She looks like me. This is a little embarasssing to list as something to be thankful for, but her curls and green eyes are very reminiscent of my 3 year old pics and it makes me feel....I don't know, like I actually PARTICIPATED in the whole process of bringing these children into the world. Most of my kids are a carbon copy of their daddy! lol. I LOVE him and them, but come on--can't a girl get a gene in here and there? :P

22. She loves to snuggle. She's kinda stingy with her kisses (which as her mother, I say is GREAT! Don't kiss those boys, either! ), but she freely hugs and snuggles--really breaks down the chilly exterior I can have.

23. She has POTTY TRAINED (okay, months ago, but I am still reveling in the fact that for the first time since our first child was born, I have ONE baby in diapers)!!

24. She is an unashamed girl.

25. She can sing the continents song because she comes to school just like the other kids and INSISTS on learning. I'm not a big fan of preschool, but hey--when a kid WANTS to learn, they will!