Grocery Shrink

I went to a funeral a few years back for a distant cousin, a young husband and father, that I didn’t know well. Towards the end of the service the microphone was opened up to anyone who would like to share a memory and I was interested to know more about this man whose life was cut short in a tragic accident. Person after person stood at the mike to tell that he was a devoted Chief’s Fan. There were no stories about tender parent-child moments, a time of helping a friend in need, or a devoted faith in God….just recollections of his football activites. It made me stop and think about how I wanted to be remembered.

I went to a memorial service this morning for a good friend of mine. She was 54 years young and died after a long battle with lupus. Through all she suffered she never complained, lost cheerfulness, or a faith in Christ. He healed her of many other afflictions throughout her life, but Lupus was to be her test. Her final testimony of cheerul, faithful enduring to the end.

Deborah was a mother of 3 and grandmother to 4. She homeschooled her children and poured her life into theirs. She didn’t have an ambition that didn’t involve the well-being of her family and it showed in the quality of their lives.  She loved music, pink, nature, cleaning, organizing, decorating, cooking, sewing, and being with children.  She was always a ready and welcoming hostess.  If she could do anything to relieve suffering, she did it.  Her smile was contagious and healing.

While she breathed her last breath with her daughter by her side, her young grandson was coloring a portrait of her in the kitchen.   When his mother came to him, he wanted to give his picture to grandma.  She explained that Mamay had gone to heaven.  He asked, “To be with Jesus?”

“Yes, to be with Jesus.”

“Oh,  then I’ll see her again when she comes back with Jesus in Glory for the resurrection.  And I’ll give it to her then.”

Dear readers, that child is barely old enough for school and yet he understands so much.  And that kind of thing just doesn’t happen.  It shows you the kind of parents he has.  And he has those kind of parents because of the kind of mother Deborah was.

I didn’t see Deborah often.  Mostly when I visited her church to sing a special number.  And she smiled huge and closed her eyes and just Enjoyed.  It made such an impression on me and was a great comfort in my nervousness.  I sing for God, because when I sing, I feel his pleasure.  But when Deborah’s there, I sing for her too.  That’s the kind of person she was.

She was a dear friend and her life has changed mine forever.  She will forever be an inspiration to be a better mother, a better wife, a better friend.  I know her suffering has passed and her joy is full, but I can’t help but to fall into a pile of tears at unexpected moments when I think of how long it might be before I see her again.  And yet I know my grief must be a minute fraction of what her family is feeling.  So I ask you to join me as I pray peace and healing for them.

Simplicity 3867
It all started when I spent 4th of July weekend at the farm and visited my friend, Kelly. Every time I saw her she had on the cutest summer top. All weekend I wore a t-shirt, same cut, many colors. I thought to myself, how hard would it be to wear a cute top instead? So I asked her, “Where do you shop? All your clothes are so cute!” She replied sweetly, “I made them myself.”

It was a duh moment for me. Kelly is a mom with 2 children, one a young baby. She runs 2 home-based businesses and was preparing to direct a Jr. High summer camp and still found time to stitch up a summer wardrobe. I was letting my excuses stop me from taking action!

It reminded me that just a few minutes a day on a project can make it happen.  I took 30 minutes one day to prepare my pattern, and cut out the fabric.  This went quickly because when I buy new fabric, I pre-wash it immediately before storing.  The next day I stitched to the point of zipper insertion.  The 3rd day I put in the zipper, stitched down the lining and hemmed it. 

I sewed for 30-45 minutes a day tops.  And in 3 days, 2 hours actual sewing time, I had a beautiful new top that fits perfectly.  It was sewn from stash–no new $ spent.  I couldn’t have shopped for a blouse in that amount of time and it was much less stressful to sew at home with children then to drag them to the store to look for mama clothes.  The stash items used cost about $4.50.

And the money it saved!  To start with, time is money.  In this case sewing was less time consuming than shopping and I saved a bunch of gas too.  I buy my sewing materials the same way I shop for food.  I buy them when they are at all time low prices and store them in my sewing pantry until I need them.  I buy patterns at $.25 (thrift store or garage sale) -$1.00 (Fabric store sales.)  Fabric I buy off the clearance rack for $1-$3 a yard.  The $3 fabric has to be VERY nice–like a high quality knit, courderoy or denim.  I am very careful when I buy fabric.  I have to LOVE it and have a purpose in mind when I buy it:  pajamas, a church outfit, swimsuit etc.  I buy my zippers from Home Sew in their grab bag packs.  You get a variety of colors and sizes and it’s 20 zippers for just $3!  (I buy rick-rac and bias tape this way too.)   Needles, thread and other sundry notions I grab when they are 50% off which happens nearly every holiday.

Then we come to sewing quality.  I used vintage dotted swiss for this blouse and to keep with the vintage theme, I finished all the seams without a serger.  I changed the construction process from the pattern instructions to allow the inside to be completely sealed with the lining.  And used French seams for all the exposed seams.  I substituted an invisible zipper for traditional which is faster and easier to sew in, and looks so much nicer when finished.  It’s hard to buy details like these.

To reduce bulk in the lining I used a tuck to fold out the fullness, instead of gathers as on the outside of the blouse.

I didn’t take any fancy classes to learn to sew.  I just used one pattern at a time.  Each thing I stitched up, I learned something new.  My years of sewing experience didn’t stop me from making a mistake on this one.  I sewed one of the shoulder straps in twisted, sigh.  It took an extra 10 minutes to fix, but I loved that my daughter’s were at my side.  They saw that everyone makes mistakes and it’s okay to grab a seam ripper and keep going.

For Carrie :).

Just a few minutes a day is all it takes!  I squeezed in another project this week in just a few minutes a day that saved us hundreds of $.  Here’s a sneak peak and when it’s all finished, I’ll have a video for you too.

Were you thinking smoking?  Nope.  That one’s expensive, but this one is even more so.  It’s being disorganized. 

When you are disorganized you might have to pay a late fee for a bill you didn’t see.  Eating out is tempting when you can’t find the kitchen sink.  Family game night doesn’t sound much fun when the dining table is covered with a craft project.  And when you can’t find something, you might  buy it again.  I know because I’ve done it…all of it.

I’ve decided to make a change, one day at a time.  I’ve made a big mess over here, tearing up the entire main floor of the house at once for a remodel.  What was I thinking?  It’s been months, and I’ve lost traction.  I can’t fix it overnight but I can do one thing each day.   I’ve taken some inspiration from the Fly Lady.  I don’t have a sink to shine, so I shined my kitchen floor instead.  Beautiful! 

I love her saying:  “Housework done imperfectly still blesses my family.”

In addition to one one-time project I’m going to do some daily maintenance.

Photo Credit:  BHG.com

1.  Squirt cheap great smelling shampoo in the toilet and swish every morning.

2.  Squeegee down the shower and wipe out the tub after my shower.  (When I am consistent with this I only have to deep clean every other month or so.)

3.  Wipe down the mirror.

4.  Fix dinner before breakfast :).  I love my slow cooker.

5.  Spot clean my kitchen floor.  My favorite way to clean is to dilute my cleaner (right now I’m using Murphy’s Oil Soap on our new hardwood floor) in a 32 oz spray bottle and just squirt and wipe.  It gets cleaner than with a mop and bucket because I’m not spreading dirty water around.  It’s also a lot easier and a lot less expensive.

Part of my projects list include finding a place for everything or getting rid of it.  Right now we are having a problem with towels, mail, coupons, and craft projects!  Also several of my bathrooms lack toilet paper or toilet wipe holders and have magazines on the floor most of the time.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  I’ve got some ideas and I’m hoping to surprise DH with the transformation.  (A good surprise.  Not like the, “I tore up your house and there’s no hard wood”, surprise.)

One last thing.  The thing that will be hardest for me….I’m giving myself office hours.  I love checking my email and answering questions and responding to blog comments.  I pop in and out all day doing it, just a few minutes at a time.  But DH pointed out how it wasn’t efficient and that I could do so many other things I loved if I would squeeze those activities together and limit my time.  So I will be reading and writing and shipping packages between 2 and 4 pm each day.  Now instead of checking my mail when I roll out of bed I will open the Good Book and then pull on my sneakers for a little workout.  So here’s to a new house and a new me!

This tasty dish is perfect for using your garden bounty. I love the nutty flavor from long grain brown rice and that I don’t have to precook the rice to use it in this recipe.

Here’s the original recipe from my Mother in Love:
3 lbs fresh zucchini, sliced
1 lb ground beef, browned
1 1/2 cups long grain brown rice
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or homemade equivalent)
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup grated cheddar or colby cheese

I had everything on hand except for cottage cheese. I did a quick search online and found that it would take 15 hours give or take to make cottage cheese from scratch (a future post to be sure.) I stopped to think… What was the purpose of the cottage cheese? A creamy layer, moisture for the rice, salty flavor.

I decided to substitute 1 cup of mozzarella cheese with 1 cup of plain yogurt stirred in. I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the yogurt to help mimic the cottage cheese flavor. It worked beautifully, saved me a trip to the store, and a little $ too.

1. Layer half the zucchini in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish
2. In a bowl, mix ground beef, rice, oregano, salt, garlic, and cream of mushroom soup. Spread over zucchini layer.
3. Top the ground beef layer with the 2 cups of cottage cheese (or some other substitute–grin.)
4. Place the rest of the zucchini slices over the cottage cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 2 hours.
6. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar or colby cheese. Return to oven just until cheese is melted.

Note: I have teasted this recipe with good results in my slow cooker on high for 3-4 hours.

The lesson here is in the substitution.  You don’t have to have all the right ingredients on hand to make a dish work.  Think about the purpose for each ingredient and find something you have on hand that will do something similar.  It doesn’t have to be perfect to be fantastic!

To save costs on groceries and to improve health, I recommend drinking water.  Sometimes when we have guests or on a specially hot day, we crave something with more flavor.  This tea is very inexpensive, has healthful benefits from the mint, is calorie free,  and sweetened naturally with stevia.

2 Pure Peppermint Tea Bags

1 gallon of water, divided

80 drops Stevia Clear Liquid Apricot 2 Ounces

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil ina stainless steel pan.  Remove from heat and add 2 tea bags.  Cover with a lid and leave overnight.  In the morning, discard the tea bags and pour liquid into a gallon pitcher.   Add enough cool water to make a gallon and 80 apricot stevia drops.  Stir well and keep in the refrigerator.  16- 1 cup servings. 

There are about $.30 worth of mint and $.90 worth of stevia in this recipe–for $1.20 a gallon or 7 cents a serving

There’s a song out there which follows the lines of  kids with only one shoe, no hot water, and no breakfast, voices loud, we’re already late and the baby has a bad diaper which requires a bath and a new outfit.  I think the punch line was, “We lost our religion going to church on Sunday morning.”

We’ve had a lot of Sunday’s like that around here.  I’m embarrassed to admit it.  And it never fails that once we get there the lesson is on caring enough about God to be on time to church.

Most times, the problem starts on Saturday night; I just don’t notice it then.  I accept an evening invitation that keeps us out too late to bathe the children the night before.  The week’s been so busy and the weekend worse, that I can’t tell you where the clean underwear is or why Son#1’s dress shirt is missing a button and his suit has wedding frosting on the pants.

In addition to helping the children get ready for church, I’m usually preparing a nice dinner in the morning before we leave.  It will cook in the timed oven or crock-pot and be hot and ready to eat when we get home.  This takes time, and I often feel pressure to make it awesome and not be late!

Today, I spent the day sick in bed.  I probably won’t be going to church tomorrow morning.  Poor Darren will have to sing a solo to the elderly at Carmel Hills (not what they had in mind when they invited our 5 cute little kids to come out–sigh.)  

I’ve been using my down time thinking about how to make things better.  Here’s my list:

1.  Don’t stay out too late on Saturday night.

2.  Bathe children Saturday instead of Sunday morning.

3.  Prepare dinner in the slow cooker the night before and slip it in the fridge.  Then just set it in the base and turn it on in the morning.  No Stress!

4.  Put bread dough in the bread machine the night before and time delay start for breakfast.  Yum!

5.  Lay out clothing the night before.  Be sure everything is clean, mended and pressed.  Locate 2 shoes and appropriate socks for each child. 

Note to self:  Remember, going to church should be a happy occasion.  It’s a joy and a privilege to go.  If after all I can do, the needs of my children mean we need to be late, so be it.  All I can do is my best.  And if I can do it cheerfully, I’ve won the victory.