Abundant Blessings Farm

I'm back! :)

I had a really nice little break from spending too much time on the computer!  While away, my husband and I had an awesome time in Lake Arrowhead for a little marital and spiritual renewal!  It was wonderful!  However, while away my dh ate too much sugar and has caused his body to not feel so good!  So, for a little while I am going to be reading and documenting some things that I have read on sugar and the affects it can have on a persons body! 

But......before I do all that!  I have to show you some cute pictures of my babies!  They are learning to be guard dogs together and play together.  Here are some of the photo's!

The door monitors:

Looking out the window:

Telling "bad man" walking down the street that he is not welcome at our home:

Playing Tug-o-war:

Sammie needed more room so he backed up onto the couch:

Resting from guarding and playing:

Who says it is not a dogs life??????????????????????????????????????????

Menu Plans: Why I Have One (even though it changed often! LOL)

I love making out my menu plans for the month.  Don't ask me why!  I know some of you dread it.  It is a chore, but one I like doing.  It is the same as some people enjoying mopping or hanging clothes on the line, while other dread the unruly task I suppose.  LOL

I recently had a comment on my blog and a pm asking me why I plan a weekly menu if it is continuously changing.  Well, I had to think about that for a moment.  Much in the same way that you make your bed every day to jump in it that evening to mess it up again I suppose.  LMSO  (This was my excuse as a teen and even sometimes now as an adult when I get busy and forget to make the bed.  It worked as a teen only because my room was on the second floor and my mom never had to see it. LOL)

I usually plan out a months long menu planner according to what we have in stock (a large standing freezer, 2 refrigerators with top freezers, a large pantry and flats of canned items) and what is on sale.  I used to grocery shop once a month.  We have a family of 3, so it was doable, but I wouldn't suggest it.  LOL  First of all, we walked out with 2 overflowing carts full of food for just the three of us, it was exhausting, and it took most of the day to shop, stand in line to pay, load the car, drive 30 minutes back home, and unload and organize it all.  UGH!  Now I find shopping weekly or bi-weekly is much more managable, and I shop more of the sales doing this too.

I plan a menu mostly so I know what to expect, and so that I can guarantee that our family isn't having the same meal over and over again.  When things aren't planned out ahead of time here, we seem to make it a quick dinner and it isn't always that healthy.  Having the menu planner helps me know the night before what to thaw from the freezer and what to prep the next morning.  I use some time before or after breakfast each day to prep for dinner.  This is when I chop vegetables, brown the hamburger, or put things in the crockpot.  This way if the rest of the day ends up being busy, we end up running late because of a doctor's appointment taking 3 times as long as I would have liked (happens all the time), I have a step up on getting dinner on the table on time

Why does my menu change almost weekly?  Life happens!!  LOL  Matthew will end up working late, and I will change the menu to accomodate sometimes.  If I haven't felt well that day, I will look into the menu for the month, or see what I have on hand to fix a quick easy dinner of BBQ Beef Sandwiches (on buns I almost always have on hand in the freezer and can thaw when needed) instead of fixing lasagna that night.  Or sometimes Matthew requests a specific meal, and if I have the ingredients on hand I will try to accomodate his wants.  After all, he works super hard all week for this family, and if he wants one of his favorite meals that evening instead of what was planned, it isn't that hard to change a few things to make him feel loved!!  (I secretly love when he does this, because it means he likes my cooking and it is a pat on the back for me!)

For my family, having a menu planner helps us in having a variety of ingredients and dinners up our sleeve.  But it isn't anything cut into stone.  We need to be flexible and not let the menu planner be a controlling thing.  If we are invited by the inlaws to eat out (and because we know they always insist on paying, we usually say yes! LOL), then we know we can always have the Parmesan Chicken planned for that evening another time during the month.  If it goes onto the menu planner, we already have all the ingredients, so that is one meal later I don't have to shop for.

So, how about you ladies??? Do any of you love to menu plan?  Do you keep yourself strictly to the menu plan, or is yours forever changing??  Let me know!!!  I would love to see how others are handling this.

A Soup Recipe Even a Picky Eater will Enjoy!

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Can I Have Some More, Please?

Even Picky Eaters will Eat This

I have one of the pickiest eaters on the face of the planet. I can back this up that when one of my daughters goes anywhere that food is offered, I always get comments about her fickleness. I can further back this up with the fact that any time she goes to play at a new friend’s house for the first time, the mom always comments to me that she doesn’t eat anything or asks what I feed her. This always gives me a chuckle, because I know this about her, yet I never remember to express this to a mom prior to the playdate.

Read More...

Menu Planner Monday

Here is my menu for the week.  Although Monday in the past has been for us a Meatless Monday for us, this week it is not.  I have some sausage that I need to use up quickly, so today is PIZZA NIGHT!  We planned on having this on Friday of last week, but things happened at the last minute. 

Monday:  sausage pizza

Tuesday: hame and cheesey potatoes, peas, crescent rolls

Wednesday: Chilli and cornbread

Thursday: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans

Friday: sticky chicken, fried rice, vegetables

Saturday: rosemary porkchops, roasted vegetables, steamed broccoli

Sunday: Planned Leftovers

Planning for the future...

Good Morning Friends!  I hope you are doing wonderful today. 
***A view from the future chicken coop area.***
I have a question for you... what are you doing in the area of planning for the future.  Now, mind you, I am not spazzing out and worrying about what lies ahead, my trust lies in Him,  but I do feel that God has given us enough sense to be prepared for our family.  Of course you know about the hobbit hole, that is one of our ways to be prepared.  I am harvesting ALL that we can get our hands on.  We buy in bulk when it is cheaper... I bought a 50 lb bag of potatoes.  A 5 lb bag was $5.00, a 50 lb bag was $17... yeah, easy decision I thought too.  I brought 5 or so lbs in the house for use and the rest are in the cellar. 
My next project is a chicken coop... now I am not talking about a little bitty thing, I am talking about a 30x30 pen size and then to have a little house for them to roost and lay. 

Daily Devotion 286

October 13

What’s the Message of Your Countenance?

Iron sharpeneth iron: so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Proverbs 27:17

Have you ever wondered about the message your facial expressions send? As a youngster, I noticed the ministers’ faces as they sat facing the congregation Sunday after Sunday. They looked very sober and heavyhearted! I wondered where the joy of the Lord was. The face of another man I knew was always twisted with anxiety as he drove down the road. As he leaned over the wheel, his face was drawn into wrinkles and frowns. Was there fear in his heart? Stress? A severe struggle?

We dare not evaluate others on the basis of their facial expressions, but David mentions twice, “the health of the countenance.” Facial expressions may be friendly, serious, fickle, sad, or joyful. A Belizean brother Mark Meighn told me that during Hurricane Mitch people looked as though they did not believe that God is in control.

What is the remedy for an unhealthy countenance? David relates it to trust! “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Shouldn’t hope in God bring a healthy countenance? A heart that is neither fickle nor gloomy, but stable because it trusts in God will bring a healthy countenance. With that enhancement in the heart, how can we help but have a healthy countenance?

Elmer Schrock, Stuarts Draft, VA

A spiritually healthy heart eliminates the need for a pasted-on countenance.

Bible Reading: Psalm 42

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

Colossians 4

Isaiah 48, 49

Not sure WHY I was trying to start yet another blog?

Running around outside

Today is the day that I can't find the camera

Dinner With The Inlaws

I woke up to a squiming boy in my bed on Saturday morning.  LOL  I secretly love being woke up this way on the weekends by hubby carrying our little one in the bedroom and flopping him into our bed, but I don't tell them!  Matthew knows I am NOT a morning person, and I wake up grouchy sometimes (ok 95% of the time), but when he brings Noah in to help out, I wake up smiling and giggling. 

Matthew needed a haircut Saturday morning, but he knew if he left Noah here at the house that I would have to listen to a crying boy!  So he bundled Noah up and took him uptown to get his hair cut.  I thought he was going to take the car, but he ended up putting Noah in the stroller, grabbing a sippy cup and some dry cereal and a few toys instead. 

Later, Matthew needed to go to get some gas in his jug for the lawnmower, and he took Noah in his Radop Flyer wagon to Casey's.  Casey's is a convenience store, and it is located only 1 block from us, so it is handy at times!!  Noah loved going for rides and spending time with daddy.

The last trip they went on to get something, it finally dawned on me.  It was 3:15 and his parents were coming for supper at 5:00pm.  I had completely forgotten it was Saturday, or rather THAT Saturday and that his parents were coming for dinner.  I quickly called Matthew on his cell and told him to come home and help me.  LOL  I was still in working around the house clothes, my hair was combed, but not polished and looking nice like I wanted it to be, the living room looked like a toy factory had threw up in there, the dishes in the dishwasher needed to be put away, and the dirty dishes needed to be loaded, and dinner needed to be made.

Obviously, I had forgotten to thaw the pork loin Friday night and put it in the crockpot with veggies on Saturday morning.  UGH!!!!!!!!!  So what did I do???   I harassed Matthew for ideas and started to panic.  LOL  I finally decided we would do baked spaghetti, seasoned green beans and garlic bread.  I started running around the kitchen and pantry collecting things, tidying up, loading dishes, etc. etc. and by the time they walked in the door at 5pm (on the dot!!  They are usually 30 minutes late. LOL) I was ready!!!!  I took the 8 minutes needed to toast the garlic bread, and we sat to eat supper.

We had a good visit before, during and after supper.  Grandpa thought it was so sweet that Noah is getting more comfortable around him and wanted to sit on the couch beside him most of the time.  Grandma was a little jealous I think of all the attention Grandpa was getting.  LOL   They both loved the meal and we had a wonderful time (I was suprised too!!!), and then my bold hubby told them at 10 till 8 that it was Noah's bedtime and we would have to kick them out now.  LOL  He doesn't do it to be rude, and they didn't take it as being rude, but I had to laugh because I am not usually bold enough to do that with visitors and I was thankful that Matthew had.

Here is a picture of the triple batch of spaghetti I made on Saturday.  I meant to make a double batch, but it turned out to be more than I had expected.  I found these neat little aluminum pans at a discount store for 25 cents each!!!  I need to go get some more.  We ate one of these spaghetti dinners (enough for one person to have leftovers), and I put the two remaining dinners in the freezer for an easy heat up dinner later. 

On to the picture: