Your Best is Good Enough

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The title says everything I want to tell you today. So if you are busy you can stop reading and just repeat that to yourself throughout the day. I have to say it often and it melts away stress and keeps me going. I say it to the children too. It reminds them that I expect their best, but if their best still isn’t perfect–that’s okay.


I remember last week packing the ingredients to take dinner over to my cousin’s house… (Ooh, I’ve never told you about that? I do it every week and it’s fantastic….but for another post.) And I was late. She needed to leave at a certain time and I got the privilege of playing with our 9 children for the evening. I was feeling very inadequate. The food seemed plain; I was not well put together; and I was afraid to forget something. “Your best is good enough. Now smile.”

Then there was that time that I was invited to speak on the Grocery Shrink at a what I thought was a small conference. When I arrived I found a huge auditorium with a full stage lined with colorful flags from many large countries. They had a huge projector screen and high tech audio visual equipment to go with it, and the room was filled with women. Then it hit me that the women were expecting me to be good. Aaak! “Your best is good enough. Smile.”

And the time when my very good friend asked me to deisgn and create 5 unique bridesmaid dresses out of VERY expensive orange silk. Oh the moments of self doubt that beset me. But I would take a deep breath and remind myself, “Your best is good enough.”

And the nights I sit by wee little beds and look at the beautiful children thinking how much of their future I hold in my hands. I tremble at the thought! In the darkness I hear the Holy Spirit whisper, “Your best is enough and I will make up the difference.”

You see, your best is all you can give. And it’s never perfect or enough, but somehow when we give our all, God makes up the difference. When it comes to our budget, keeping home, raising children, being a wife, being a friend–All we can offer is our best. And today’s best will be only a shadow of what tomorrow’s best can be as we grow and learn and stretch our skills.

Your Best is Good Enough.

Jack Mackerel vs. Salmon

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I love Jack Mackerel.  It is half the price of Salmon with double the nutrition per serving.  Here’s a video for you on how to prepare a simple recipe and what to expect when you open the can.  It’s not very clear in the video but the ingredients are:

1 Can Jack Mackerel–$1.32

1 Sleeve Saltine Crackers $.25

2 Eggs–$.16

This feeds four people for $1.73 (or $.44 a serving!) and is loaded with protein. 

Heidi and Heather Get a New Floor

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It’s move in day for the girls!  They’ve waited several months for me to figure out what to do with their particle board floor and then 2 weeks while I found little chunks of time here and there to work on it and a week for it to cure.  I’m so glad they’re sweet, patient little things.  I finally decided on a canvas floor and polyurethaned it so I could mop it.  I love how it turned out!

Here are some before and after pictures for you.  I had to dig to find some before pictures which were some Daddy snapped for fun while we were organizing one day.  We updated the room by hanging bead board wall paper and painting the trim white before redoing the floor.

Before

After

Before 2

Before

After

We still need to build some beds and desks and hang the wall decorations on the other long wall.  I can’t wait to have real after pictures to show you.  But for now the girls are happy to sleep in their room again.

You can watch the video to see how we redid the floor with a $30 canvas drop cloth.

Towel Storage Problem–Solved!

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I mentioned in a previous post that I have a lot of towels (for a lot of people) and no linen closet.  I’ve been wondering about what to do for awhile.  I used to have a wicker laundry basket beside the tub with towels in it.  But it blocked the heater/air conditining vent and didn’t hold enough towels.  Then I saw these cute wall cubes at Martha Stewart and though, “I can do that!”  But mine ended up with nails sticking out all over.

And then I saw this Lettered Cottage Post where they found a shabby wooden window box and brought it indoors for towel storage.  It was super cute and fit in nicely with our new master bedroom theme which we plan to redo around our favorite vacation spot (The Bahamas.)  Only wooden window boxes aren’t easily found around here.  Then I thought I would build one out of the parts of our deck that are falling off.   But the last time I built something from wood… Anyway, it was very demotivating.

Then one day I was at Big Lots with my 2 girls just wasting time.  And we found some wire window boxes for just $10 each.  I’d been around the internet looking a window boxes enough to know that it was a steal, so I grabbed 2.  I used some thingies from the plumbing department at Home Depot with some sheet rock screws to hang them.  And Voila! 

I think I may paint them white.  And I need to wash some towels now that I have a place to put them.  I can store 10 towels off the floor and in perfect reach of the tub.  And the best part is since the window boxes were made to use outdoors a little moisture won’t bother them.

I also have the peat moss liners left over.  I almost threw them away, but Heidi stopped me.  I’m so glad she did.  I’ve got a project in mind for now….maybe for my front door?  It is front porch zone week over at Fly Lady.  :).

Homeschool Ballet: Rigoletto

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Don’t forget to scroll down to the previous post and enter our giveaway.

The homeschool ballet program at HADC is top notch!  This was our first year to try ballet and both girls were in the same class.  The teacher’s prayed with the girls before every class and every performance. 

The company does a huge production every other year, and this year they adapted the story of Rigoletto for ballet.  The directors always consider the message of the story for the glory of God.  Some mothers drive nearly an hour to bring their children for class–it’s that good. 

I have a short video clip from our dress rehearsal of my daughter’s dance.  It is beginning ballet and most of the girls are 6 years old.  My oldest, Heidi (10), was also in the class since this is her first year dancing, and the younger girls really looked up to her.  She will be skipping a level this fall  to join girls closer to her age and will take 3 classes a week.  It’s amazing to see how she has gained confidence and poise, but also how it has helped rewire her brain.  Heidi’s learning disability is slowly becoming less and less and  it is my hope that if we continue with Ballet and Violin that it will be nothing but a faint memory.

It’s so fun to go to a place where we share values, and a love of teaching our children.  When I first arrived, I entered a room full of godly friendships and good influences for my girls.  It’s a safe place to grow.

Having fun in the wings before the show

I love the tiny feet waiting for bows

Bravo Girls! I'm so proud of you.

It’s Coming…

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P.S.  The Giveaway is open until I reveal the secret, so keep those guesses coming :).   Comments are now closed.  Congratulations Amber!

As part of the perks of having a well read blog, sometimes companies send me things.  They ask me to tell you my opinion, and I get to keep whatever it is.  I was contacted this week by CSN stores for just an offer and I’m SUPER excited about this one.  It’s not a coffee maker , but it goes in your kitchen.  If you set this out at a garage sale, instead of a lemonade stand, people would be talking about it for months and make a point to check out your sale next year.  Ooh, not just garage sales, but birthday parties will never be the same.  And what about the next family BBQ? 

It's better than Lemonade

The cool thing about CSN is that they have a huge range of items, over 200 online stores and a million products.  If you need it you can find it at CSN and it will probably be on discount with reasonable or free shipping.  So stay tuned and I’ll let you know when the mystery item arrives.  But first I need to go find the party hats!

Can you guess what it is?  Leave a comment with your guess and I’ll draw a name for a free Grocery Shrink ebook or Slow and Savory book.  Already have one?  You can designate a friend to get it.

Recycled Popsicles

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When I was a young bride, there were a lot of useful things I threw away.  I didn’t realize they were useful.  I drained my canned vegetables and fruit right down the sink!  When we decided to get out of debt and tighten our belt, I looked at everything in a new way.  I save the vegetable broth as a base for soups, gravy, and for cooking rice and quinoa in.  And the fruit juice (or light syrup) I saved for ……

It’s interesting to see my old kitchen in this video!  It doesn’t seem so bad now that I’ve lived without anything for so many months, lol.  But you can sort of see the hole around and under the stove top which is one of the reasons we decided to gut the place and start over.  We just heard that our cabinets are in and we are making arrangements to pick them up Monday.  I’m still a little bewildered how Darren and I are going to assemble and install them ourselves.  But I have a drill and I’m willing to work—just tell me what to do!

It feels like it’s going to be a long time before everything is finished.  I’d like to use Ikea countertops because I love the look and the price!  But the nearest Ikea is 600 miles away and then I will still need to stain and waterproof them.  Plus cut a hole for the sink and install them.  At this point, I’m not sure how to do any of that, but not knowing how hasn’t stopped me from trying before :).

Fishing For Phonograms

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Where does the time go?  I shot this video more than a year ago and now it’s time to play these games with my next youngest child. 

I love the Spell to Write and Read program for teaching phonics and spelling.  It’s very teacher intensive, but I haven’t found another program that captures the English language and spelling rules as well as this program has.  If you are using SWR or Writing Road to Reading, you will enjoy using this game to help reinforce the basic phonogram sounds.  Watch the video to see how it’s played and download the printable templates to make your own game here:  Fishing for Phonograms

Easy Home Grown Sprouts!

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Update:  I’ve had several people ask about where to buy a hemp bag.  My daughter, Heidi, planned to make them and sell them on Etsy, but it’s just too much for her with school.  We bought our hemp fabric at fabric.com but ready made bags are available at Amazon.  They can be pricey!  And if that’s just too much for you, or if you aren’t sure you are a sprouting fan.  You can just line your colander with a cotton dishtowel and sprout that way.  Cover the seeds with the damp towel between rinsing.  (Note:  this will tea dye your towel in spots, so don’t use a favorite!)

It’s been more than a year since I posted a video.  I was waiting for everything to be perfect so I can film.   I finally decided doing it imperfectly was better than not doing it at all since it’s never perfect around here.  My children ran the camera, helped with the demo, and screamed in the background.  It was a family affair :). 

I love sprouts!  They are crunchy, sweet, nutty, full of viatmins and cheap!  It’s so easy to do in just a few minutes.  I don’t even have a kitchen sink and managed to do it.  With a hemp sprouting bag, you can grow sprouts as you travel.  They take up very little space and need very little care.  I made mine from 100% hemp fabric from fabric.com.  It’s pricey but I had a coupon and for one yard could make several bags for the cost of one ready made bag?  Don’t want to sew a bag?  You can buy them ready made from Amazon: Sproutman Hemp Sprout Bag  Or if you are doing a lot of sprouts, line a colander with a cotton tea towel and use it instead of a sprouting bag.  It will stain your towel permanently (like tea dyeing) but it works great.  I once did a lot of wheat seed this way that I dehydrated and milled for sprouted wheat flour.

This method works with any kind of sprout.  Watch the video to see how easy it is.  Or watch to see my kitchen in construction.  Or to see me without makeup :).  In the last scene, I had been lying in bed when I gasped–“my sprouts!”   I threw a shirt over my pjs, pulled my oldest daughter out of bed and filmed the last segment.  Now you’ll know why I look like that–bwa ha ha.  But they sure did taste good.  I wish I had gotten a photo of the salad.  It was simple:  Romaine lettuce from Costco, sprouts, dried cranberries, and shredded carrots.  I ate it with my fingers because I was too impatient to find a plate and dressing, yum!

Gluten Free Pizza

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I know a lot of you out there are gluten free, either for yourself, or for a loved one in the home.  One of the most common questions asked is whether the Grocery Shrink method will work if you are gluten free.  The answer is yes.  The method will save you money no matter what your diet needs are because it is the WAY to shop, not a prescription for what to buy and cook.  And it will teach you how to take what you buy and use it up with no waste. 

Here’s what one gluten free buyer had to say:  “Angela – started to read the ebook and LOVE it!  Common sense stuff that I really need to follow.  It can all be adapted to GF [gluten free].  I may not save as much but it is something! And your idea about almond flour – BRILLIANT!  Yes, I will need to join that group. Thank you, Wendi”

Oats are naturally Gluten Free I haven’t tried living gluten free on $50 per person per month.  Many grains are gluten free:  rice, soy, millet, flax, quinoa, corn,  oats.  But if they haven’t been processed or packaged in a gluten free facility they aren’t safe for a true Celiac.  While I can find a carton of plain rolled oats very inexpensively, to buy one that is certified gluten free will cost 5 xs as much!  And something as innocent as a piece of hard candy is often coated in flour (containing gluten) to keep it from sticking to the wrapper.  So while using the Grocery Shrink method for any dietary needs will save money, a gluten free house might not reach the $50 per person per month level.

http://pccuisine.com/wild-rice-pilaf.html

http://pccuisine.com/wild-rice-pilaf.html

The best way to save money on a gluten free diet is to make your own bread mixes from bulk ingredients.  And to not try to replace all familiar bread foods in the diet with gluten free counterparts.  Instead focus your diet on fresh/frozen veggies, simply prepared meats, fruit, and gluten free grains such as corn, rice and quinoa.  Use some gluten free baked goods to keep you from feeling deprived, but don’t make them the staple of your diet.

I’m doing research for inexpensive ways to buy gluten free ingredients in bulk.  And I’ve been having a lot of trouble (hence the no post yesterday–sorry)  I smell a business opportunity.  I found lots of sites that advertised bulk ingredients and they turned out to be a lot of prepackaged foods and mixes.   I’m still looking though and I’ll let you know when I find THE source.  Any tips?  Leave your sources in a comment.

I have a fun link to share wtih you today while I continue my research.  There are a lot of mothers learning how to cook gluten free from scratch and I’m thankful they are posting the journey online.  But first. For those new to the gluten free idea here are some fun facts.

1.  Gluten is a protein that is very good for you, unless you have a condition that makes it impossible to digest.

2.  Gluten gives structure and loft to breads.  This quality can be mimicked with xanthan gum (made by fermenting sugar with the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium) or guar gum (made from the guar bean.)  Both of these ingredients are carbohydrates.

3.  There are at least 3 conditions that require a gluten free lifestyle:  Celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or gluten allergy.  Someone with gluten intolerance won’t get violently ill if they ingest a small amount of gluten but someone with Celiac’s will notice even a microscopic amount.

4.  Gluten senstitivites is usually tested by an elimination diet.  If all gluten is removed and the symptoms improve, then the person is assumed to be gluten intolerant.  A more definitive way to test is with a saliva test.

5.  You can help build structure in your bread by adding high protein flours such as soy flour to your gluten free flour blend.

Image source: GlutenFreeMommy.com

This fantastic gluten free pizza was made by Natalie at Glutenfreemommy.com without a mix!  You can get the recipe here.  And while you’re there, poke around.  She has a lot of wisdom to share.