Homestead Haven Beginnings

A poor man's feast...

As I was making a favorite lunch today (spagetti noodles and a can of tomato soup) a stunning thought occured to me!  I called my mom, she didn't answer, but I am pretty sure I know the answer.  That meal was not a family favorite passed down from generation to generation as my parents told me, it was a poor man's feast!  That is what they had in the cupboards to feed us, and so they made the best of it.  What a lesson there is to be learned in this!  Life is not measured by what the Lord gives and takes away, it is measured in what we do with what He gives us.  Our attitude is so very important...especially concerning our children.  I never thought of myself as having a "poor" childhood, by financial standards, it was below the charts, but my parents choose to have an attitude of gratitude.  They were thankful for what they had, and made the very "poor" times in our life rather exciting.  All these years of eating this favorite meal, believing it to be passed down from generation to generation, has actually been a testiment to their faith.  One that believed that God had the very best for them and even a poor man's feast, in the eyes of a believer, is a feast worth praising God for!

I do hope this meal gets passed down from generation to generation...it certianly won't stop with me!

Just wanted to share that with you...Blessings,

Rossie

Menu plan Monday...

Well, Gabby's column is going to be fun!  She is so excited and has been researching the questions she has recieved (you can read about it in my previous post).  She wanted to answer the questions that very day, but I told her to take her time in looking into the questions so that she is able to give complete answers.  Then she will answer them Friday.  Really, I know we only need one computer junkie in this house, and by George, it's gonna be me!  Anyway, thankyou for the questions, if only I could take pictures of her facial expression when she got to see that there were actually questions for her to answer!

Okay, enough about that!  It's Monday...AGAIN!  Goodness how time flies!  This was my last week buying groceries for 2 weeks, next month, I will be doing monthly shopping.  I thought I would share again how I do my shopping because it makes things so much easier!

I have about 8 menu cards that I rotate.  Each menu card has a week worth of dinners on it, and all the ingredients on the back that I will need in order to make these meals.  My breakfast and lunch ingredients are all on my "staples" list because I buy the same things every time.  So on grocery day, I pull my 2 menu cards, and then highlight all the items I will need on my grocery list.  I found an great grocery list at donnayoung.org, and I usually don't go through my pantry to see what I have, I will over buy, and put it in my "stock" pantry in the garage.   

This is my week's dinner menu and ingredients I needed to purchace:

Monday - Tater tot casserole/ corn/ salad

Tuesday - Crockpot Tritip/ carrots/ potatoes

Wednesday - Stuffed porkchops/ salad/ h'made bread

Thursday - Green bean hotdish/ h-made bread

Friday - Potato soup

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Breakfast (Family night, so we well make all the favorites!)

Ingredients:

3# hamburger, 2 bg. tatertots, 2 condensed milk, 3 crm. of mush., tritip, porkchops, 2 cn. green beans, corn, bacon, chicken breasts, bread crumbs.

You will notice some ingredients are missing, and that is because they are my "staple" items, that I purchase every time.

Do you have a menu planning plan?  I would love to see it!!...I am addicted to organizing and reorganizing, so I am open to all ideas.  If you do, let me know so I can go visit your blog!

Happy cooking!

Family planner - Day three

In my binder, I keep a notebook.  This serves as my To Do list, and also a place to take my notes during devotional time.  It has become a nesseccity for me.  I will jot down phone messages in it, silly things the kids do and contains verses the Lord has givin me.  If I am having a rough week, I can track back and see what has caused me stress, and when I have failed to faithfully spend time with the Lord.

I wanted to share the little devotionals I am doing and I am reading the bible in one year.  I found a great plan for it so that I don't have to just read cover to cover.  It breaks things down so that each day of the week you are reading a different catagory:  Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and the Gospels.  Here's where you can find this Bible Reading by Micheal Coley. 

To go along with this I am doing a small devotional Called The Simple Life; Devotional thoughts from Amish Country by Wanda E. Brunstetter.

With the kids, I am doing a fantastic devotional that has reciently been redone.  My mama did it with me when I was little.  It is called Our 24 Family Ways.  It deals with one rule of your home each week, in which you will have a memory verse, a charachter trait you are working on and there is a coloring book to go along with it for the littles you have that may need a little something to do while listening. 

Example:

Our Family Way 1

We love and obey our Lord, Jesus Christ, with wholehearted devotion.

Memory verse:  Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, and with all your mind."  This is the first and great commandment.

The charachter trait for this week is Godliness - Wanting more than anything else to please God in everything that I think, say and do.

Any way, just wanted to share.  God has to be the cornerstone of our family binder.  For our household to run efficiently and smoothly, he has to be the one leading.

Those of you who have family binders, please comment on what and how you do things, I am always adding and taking away.  Or let me know if you post about it on your blog!

Blessings to you this day!

Rossie

Morning routine and Focus area

The kids morning/evening routine are daily "self chores" that are not a part of thier "paying chores."

Pick up room and make bed

Brush teeth and hair/Wash hands and face

Get dressed for the day

Table chores

Evenings we add:

Jammies

Drink of water

My morning routine is as follows:

Make bed

Pick up room

Get ready head to shoes (even if it is 5 minutes)

Ready breakfast

Lay out Phil's work clothes

Start coffee

My evening routine:

Story and tuck in kids

PJ's/Brush teeth/Wash face

Check calander for tomorrow

Start to do list for tomorrow

Quick pick up of house

I also have a daily focus area.  This is an area I try to dedicate at least one hour of the day to.  If it is an area I can include the kids in, I will do it while they are awake, but if it is an area such as office, I will do it during nap time.

Monday - Office

Tuesday - Kitchen (Baking etc.)

Wednesday - Errands

Thursday - Gardening

Friday - Deep cleaning

Saturday - Laundry

A great website that got me going in all of this is Large Family Logistics.  She also has a yahoo group similar to fly lady, but not nearly as many e-mails.  Just a few a day to remind you of "Mommy Love" time and "Your Morning Routine" etc.  It is a fantastic site.

Take back your dinner table!

With Thanksgiving in mind, I thought I would share something we do at our table.  I think I got the idea from Emilie Barnes, but I am not sure.  We call it table talk.  I have a gallon mason jar that I fill with little strips of paper.  On each paper is a question that the kids have asked at one point, or just a question that my hubby or I think would be a good conversation starter.  At supper time, we take out our jar and one of the kids pick out a question, they read it out loud and we all have our turn to say what we think.  Usually it leads to other topics, and often times, it has been something that we will research the next day as part of school.

Some of our questions:

Why does it rain?

Where is heaven?

If you could build your own house, what would it look like?

What is your soul?

Is an animal cracker a cookie or a cracker?  (hubby's of course)

Why do we walk on our feet and not our hands?

Say something you love about the person sitting to your right.

What would you like to do more as a family?

These are just a few, but mabey it will give you an idea.  Also I make little jar toppers, I found the pattern at A Christian Home, and I put one on our "Table Talk" jar so it looks pretty.  This could be something you could start at Thanksgiving, and have the little paper read, "What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?"

Anyway, just an idea.  Does anyone else have any Thanksgiving traditions they do at the dinner table.  If you write about it, let me know so I can come for a visit to your blog.  I love new traditions, and reading about what other families do.

Blessings, Rossie

New Book!!

I just got a new book and I wanted to tell you all about it!  It is called Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping. 

She is a Southern woman who kept a notebook in 1866 of all the practical wisdom and advice on the art of homekeeping.  You will love this book!  I just stumbled across it and wanted to share!

The way I was raised...

Okay, who ever said that we are not a product of our raising?  That we make our own choices and decisions, and make ourselves what we are, and that our parents should not be held responsible for our adult actions...was that me???  Did I really say that???  Ugh...here's my mouth, insert foot!!!!

I have been devestated by my childhood raising, and now I am getting greif from DH.  Let me explain...growing up my step dad was a butcher, and as his children we were learning this trade.  Skinning deer, and chopping up cow.  Putting all the meat through the grinder and such.  At that time I was not aware of the long term effect this would have on my life!!

Meatloaf was on my menu last week and I was going about my business of preparation when in walks DH and starts a howlin'...Why, you might ask????  Because I am mixing the meat with my hands, and I am wearing my yellow rubber gloves while doing so.  I told him that everyone uses rubber gloves while mixing this bloody, cold and slimey cow flesh!  After quite sometime of trying to convince him that others do the same thing to no avail, I took another approach.  Duh...I have been scarred by my childhood raising!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My dad was a butcher, and made me touch nasty meat every day of my life, and now I am reaping the consequences, it is hardly my fault, right!!!???  He left the kitchen mumbling something about, "Oh yeah, every homesteader wears dish gloves while touching their meat."  Humph...everyone has flaws!!! 

What's your flaw?  Please post it so I can feel a little redeemed!

Blessings, Rossie

In the kitchen...

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week?

  Every meal is at home for the kiddos and I, DH eats dinner at home and sometimes will grab convenient food for lunch.  He's not a sack lunch kind of guy.
2. How many cookbooks do you own?

    I love cookbooks, and have a ton, but I rarely use them.

 3. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?

      I just keep adding until it tastes good!
4. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (eating the finished product does not count)

       I love making the grocery list, and setting the table with all the food!
5. Do you plan menus before you shop?

       Always!

6. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?

Crocpot, my pampered chef stoneware and I love small gadgets.  I have a pampered chef mini scoop that I use to make little fruit balls, I love it!!

7. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?

   A professional kitchen aid mixer, I think it is on my birthday list from DH...ssshhh...I'm not supposed to know!

8. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?

    Anything pampered chef, or tupperware.  I love them both!
9. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

    Nope, but we do need one.  It costs so much to run them in the summer here in Bakersfield.  We need to look into the energy efficient ones.
10. Grocery shop alone or with others?

    Sigh... I go with all four kiddos in tow!  However, we established a list of rules that they are to recite before we go in.  This has helped very much, and now that they are getting a bit older, they are becoming more helpful.

 11. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?

      Almost every dinner has meat, we are meat eaters, but I try to thin it out with other ingredients, because it can get expensive.  Breakfast and lunch are usually 1 or 2 with meat a week.

12. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?

    My kitchen theme right now is just old fashioned.  I have lots of roosters, the old tin flour and sugar canisters, wooden bread box etc.  The colors are mustard yellow, barnyard red and a few other colors.  There is a lot of chipped paint and distressed items to add to the theme.

13. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?
    The first meal I learned to cook all by myself was tuna casserole, and I am still making it to this day!