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Treasuring the Moments
May. 18, 2009 - Menu Planning Monday - May 18
Monday
Breakfast: Rice Cereal, Toast, Honeydew - We missed Rice cereal last week so we could have this...
A great breakfast treat on these warm mornings. Make this while fresh fruit is plentiful. Our fruit bowl consisted of apples, strawberries, a few blackberries, frozen blueberries, bananas, and mangoes. Add some real maple syrup and milk and you have a delicious healthy breakfast.
Supper: Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry w/ Rice (from Bon Appetit Tastes of the World), Won-Ton Soup?
Tuesday
Breakfast: Serenity makes breakfast on this day. Last week she made Zephyr Pancakes from The King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion. She did an awesome job.
Supper: Black Beans & Rice w/ Sour Cream & Cilantro
Wednesday
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Waffles
Supper: Elk Enchiladas, Salad (Make extra to give to couple who had a baby recently)
Thursday
Breakfast: Egg Burritos
Supper: Spaghetti, Sourdough bread, Salad
Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Toast, Oranges
Supper: Beef Stew - We missed having it last week. Classic Beef Stew (from Pressure Perfect), Bread, Salad
Saturday
Breakfast: Cold Cereal
Lunch/Supper: Having a birthday party for Justus. Shredded BBQ Beef (elk in this case), coleslaw, potato salad?, baked beans (from a can) veggie tray, watermelon
To see other menu plan ideas go to I'm an Organizing Junkie.
Copyright 2009 Treasuring the Moments |
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May. 14, 2009 - Short Entries & Ordering Our Priorities
I would really like to come up with some great entry that would make all who read it think a little deeper but I just don't see it happening. So I apologize if you stop in hoping to hear a little something more then that I baked banana bread this week but trying to keep a house, homeschool and run a small online book business keeps me and my mind maxed out. I'm barely able to have a moment of quiet to even write a post. And if ye be a wonderin', yes, I do make time for devotions. Since there's not too many quiet moments that's why you may see a lot of photo entries. They're easy and don't require too much thought. Besides, I really wanted my blog to be a sort of family memory journal.
I am currently reading the book Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent. I think I've written on it before but it bears talking about once more. Do we let urgent things keep us occupied and neglect to do the really important things? What does God want us to do this day? We need to find the will of the Father. This is what Charles Hummell talks about in his book and I find it very thought provoking. Jesus only did what the Father showed Him to do. He would leave a town, travelling to the next one, and leave behind scores that were clamoring for Him to heal them. In our earthly thinking we would think that He should have stayed to show his power to the people - but this was not God's will.
We will never have more hours in our day. Once the minutes are gone they can not be retrieved. We must have our priorities in place. I am always needing reminded of this. It can be so easy to say and yet quite difficult to do. We must know God's will for us. That can be somewhat simple for a lady to know. He calls us to love our children, be obedient to our husbands and to be keepers at home; trying to balance the housework and homeschooling can be a challenge alone, but add to it the various other things each of us deal with and keeping our priorities in order can become a real challenge.
What do you do to keep your priorities in order? I know that probably no one has it all together but maybe if each of you share something that works for you it could spark someone else.
Walking in his grace moment by moment...
Copyright 2009 Treasuring the Moments |
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May. 10, 2009 - Menu Plan Monday
I haven't been planning my meals lately and I find by not doing so it just complicates the whole dinner process. Five o'clock hits and you realize that what you thought you would serve really isn't enough food for 8 people - 3 of them growing boys. So, I'm back to planning. I'm sure my kids will be grateful.
It's not always convenient for me to participate in Menu Plan Monday since I may not have time to write things down on Sunday evening or Monday morning. So on those weeks just have pity on my poor family.
But this week they get to eat. 
Monday
Breakfast - Eggs & Toast
Supper - Italian Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry (from The Carefree Cook)
Tuesday
Breakfast - Serenity makes breakfast on this day
Supper - Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Baked Carrots, Sauteed Zucchini
Wednesday
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Supper - Pinto Beans, Corn Bread
Thursday
Breakfast - Waffles or Blueberry Pancakes
Supper - Classic Beef Stew (from Pressure Perfect), Bread or Cornbread, Salad
Friday
Breakfast - Rice Cereal
Supper - (something easy since we have a graduation to go to this night) Bean Burritos or Tacos (using left-over beans from Wednesday)
To see what others are planning this week go to I'm an Organizing Junkie. Thanks, Laura for hosting.
Copyright 2009 Treasuring the Moments |
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Apr. 8, 2009 - Blunder Decorating
A great decorator I'm not. My latest blunder was made after I saw a picture in Martha Stewart's Living magazine of lightly colored eggs sitting on raffia to announce the arrival of Spring. Then there was all those gals over at Southern Hospitality blog who had so many creative ideas for Spring. They were all so inspiring I got to thinking I could do it too.
I was so excited to do something a little different.
First, I boiled my eggs. Then I dyed them. Now, how much green to put in the water/vinegar mix? I decided to squeeze quite a few drops.
I dipped the eggs in, one at a time. Hmmm, the color is not quite what I had in mind. I thought a very soft green hue would be just fine. This is rather bright. (starting to get a little concerned it might not look so good)
The eggs were set aside to dry.
Then I carried them with great anticipation to the entryway where my colored eggs would give a whole new look for Spring. (anticipation is building). I placed the eggs into a nest my daughter had found in one of the bushes around our house. Oh, I hope it's going to look great.
NOT! 
I tried putting them on a stand like Martha showed. Still no good. I don't think there's any hope for these garish eggs. These eggs do not look quite natural like I was intending but instead just the opposite!
There probably is some such color in South America and if I had just returned from there maybe I could have gotten away with it. But I don't think these are going to work. What do you think?
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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Feb. 24, 2009 - Tackle it Tuesday #142
An old trunk. What treasure? What heirloom could it be holding? Oh, I must find out!
Aggghhh! What is this MESS?!
A game trunk that needs Organization. It happened one evening my little ones and some other small visitors had a lot of [choke, choke] fun seeing how many games they could pull out. Havoc was wreaked.
This has nagged me for weeks but I determined to tackle it this week. I bought a few plastic storage containers. Two big ones that will store 2 or 3 games each (depending on the size) and a smaller shoe box size one to hold card games. My thinking is that if they need a game on the bottom of the trunk it will be much easier to lift out a container holding several games instead of removing one at a time - which hardly happened. Instead games were turned on end to try and get to the bottom.
What a relief to get this job done!
To see what others have tackled this week go here.
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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Feb. 24, 2009 - Tackle It Tuesday #141
My tackle this week was to get some bulk cooking done for different guests we have coming to visit. Who wouldn't want to visit Arizona with all the sunshine and nice temperatures we have in the winter?
I decided to make lasagna. First, I had to make the sauce. Lots of onions and garlic. Good stuff.
I tried a new sauce that called for fresh and canned tomatoes. After the simmering process, I then put it through the blender to puree.
Twelve pounds of ricotta was used as well as mozzarella and Parmesan. Whoa! That's a lot of cheese!
The finished products. Enough lasagna to feed at least 45 people.
But my tackle wasn't over. I had to take on this. Ugh. It went pretty fast though since I had already rinsed everything out.
I know what's on the menu for at least 2 times this month. Wanna join us?
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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Feb. 24, 2009 - Make Your Own Ironing Board Cover
I made my own ironing board cover! At least part of it anyways. My mom took over when I ran into a problem and since I am not very expert in sewing and was rather busy with canning some spaghetti sauce - blah, blah blah - mom being such a kind, loving and helpful person took it upon herself to bail me out. I was glad! No complaints here.
The whole process was really easy with only one snag which I’ll tell you about in a minute.
We used this tutorial from U-Blog which utilizes your old ironing board cover .
This picture shows the area we could never get quite right. At the point of the cover we could not get it to fit snugly around the ironing board. You can see it has a little too much fabric bunched up. I was concerned that it might be a hindrance in ironing but I have not noticed any issues and I've been ironing plenty.
My old ironing board cover had a neat feature. The sides were pulled together by a velcro strap so I never had to tug on the cover to keep the frame covered. With the tutorial I used, I was able to keep this feature.
The finished product.
I don't find sewing to be very economical. What do all you seamstresses and crafters do to bring the prices down to a more reasonable range?
Being a relative newbie on the sewing scene I found the tutorial to be easy to follow and the project to be quite simple and straightforward - except for that one glitch I mentioned.
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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Feb. 24, 2009 - Tackle It Tuesday #140
I looked in this cupboard one evening and the utter untidiness of it all struck me. What a mess! This has got to change!
Hmmm, how could I improve it?
Then I had an aha moment. I remembered these little organizers I had tried to sell for $.25 at my first ever garage sale and nobody had wanted them. Thankfully - since now they would come in very handy.
Oh, yes. Muuuch better. I love it! The trays on the left are used very infrequently so it matters not that they're stacked because when I do need them, I'll just slide them out, choose my paper and then slide it right back in place.
A simple solution. So why did it take me so long to figure it out? No, please! Don't answer! :)
To see what others have tackled this week go here.
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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Feb. 24, 2009 - Homemade Dishwasher Detergent - A Failure
I got inspired to try out a homemade dishwasher detergent. Every recipe I looked at on the Internet recommended Borax and Baking Soda 1:1. Okay, no problem. I've had Borax downstairs on top of my freezer for about 5 years now, waiting for some use I've quite forgotten. Of course, baking Soda was in my cupboards as well.
My first attempt was unsatisfactory. Dishes had some particles of food, smudges and a fine film covering the surface.
Second attempt adding vinegar as a rinse aid was unsatisfactory. Same problem. Dishes had particles of food, smudges and a fine film. Now I've used vinegar plenty in the past as a rinse aid for hard water and it works excellently but in this case it did not.
The next time my son put liquid dish soap in unbeknownst to me. Too much. I'm sure you've read about what happens right? Soap and water was coming out on to the floor as well as rust from who knows where. It was a surprise to me; I didn't know my dishwasher had rust!
Result - floor was clean, dishwasher purged itself of any nasty things hidden in its dark spots and dishes were shiny but had to go through another wash cycle to get any extra soap that might have dried on. In the meantime, the dishes are piling up on the counter waiting for their turn in the dishwasher and their chance to shine.
My advice - don't bother with this common recipe of Borax and Baking Soda.
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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Feb. 24, 2009 - Tackle it Tuesday #139
Another task completed that's been hanging over my head for probably a few years. Oh, the shame of it! But no longer!
This week I tackled a bit of mending. The binding on a quilt that my grandmother had made had came undone in an small area but had got worse since I had neglected to stitch it up promptly. I have another one that needs my attention as well, but at least this one is done!
To see what others have tackled this week go here.
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments |
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