On a Quest for Snacks

I've finally sat down with the computer to google for snacks--I hold to the concept that if I can conquer the snack department then I won't feel like there is nothing for me to eat.

First I googled: snacks, dairy free, soy free, oat free
That wasn't helpful since the first two hits was Cheerios (an oat cereal), and granola bars (again oats...).  Also it asked if I meant "snacks, dairy free, soy free, wheat free."  I wanted to respond with a "did I stutter?" but that's not a helpful reaction. *lol*

So instead I changed my order: snacks, oat free, dairy free, soy free

And it gave me Jeanette and her intriguing granola bars.  I was bummed at first because they include nut butter, but then I realized that her substitution of quinoa flakes for quick oats could be applied to our favorite granola bar recipe.  I'll try it out as soon as I have quinoa flakes!

Unfortunately, her link was the only ting useful to me from the first page of results.  I miss recipezaar.com.  Their recipe sifter let you sort out recipes with certain ingredients.  Now that food.com has taken over you can't remove ingredients from the search parameters.  *sigh*  Upon further searching, I found the recipe sifter right underneath my nose.  *roll eyes*

The search continues....

{Day 19} Make Home a Haven--Week 3

So it's week three of the Making Your Home a Haven Challenge and we've hit a major speedbump in the peace and tranquility of our household.  Wee-one accepted gummy candy at church Sunday so we're dealing with the fall-out from the resultant pyroclastic cloud this week.  To the point that I'm debating whether or not to struggle with him at Cub Scouts this week.

Anyway, the prompt for this week of the challenge is to

List a few of the spots in your home that make you visually stressed because of all the clutter.Now go buy something for that spot – like a basket to put it all in! Work on cleaning up clutter – throw things away and encourage the children and your hubby to do the same in their bedrooms or offices or work areas this week. While you’re at it – clean up some clutter in your spiritual life. What gets in the way of your peace spiritually?

My list you ask?  Besides the entirety of our home and property???  ;) 

We have a few perpetual spots right now, some because it's the nature of the beast, some because we haven't determined what to do with the stuff that has been uprooted from the rearranging of life and living.  The "beast" spots are the mantle, the hearth, and the crap-counter.  The uprooted collections are two plant tables that harbor mish-mosh plastic boxes we no longer use; the decrepit glider with a bag of borrowed baby clothes, the borrowed infant seat and spare base, and an empty storage box; the pile of boxes that are not housed in the 5x5 expedit; and the box of my childhood stuffies stacked with a bag for donation.

I intend to tackle the hearth--it will likely take all week due to how I have to do in bits and stages.  There are two purchases I need to start researching for it.  One is a hearth rug to protect the floor beyond the hearth, the other is a receptacle for the newspaper pile that is nicer than the U-Haul box that they currently reside in.

As for the spiritual aspect, stay tuned for a new category here in the next few weeks.  But to answer the question posed--what gets in the way of your peace spiritually--I'd have to say sugar.

http://womenlivingwell.org/category/homemaking/making-your-home-a-haven-challenge/

{Day 18} Tackle It Tuesday--Shoes

When we moved the driveway to help resolve an erosion issue, we also changed which door we entered the house through.  So now we use the utility room door, which feeds through the kitchen and into the dining section of our public area.  It certainly isn't a guest-worthy entrance, but it also isn't very functional for us. 

I've been tripping over shoes, jackets, bags, and varied accoutrements for months while trying to determine the best reshuffle of our small spaces.  At first I thought there were two possibilities--where the black shelves are in the utility room, or where the tool cart is in the breakfast nook, but after venturing out on some rainy days it became apparent that the shoes needed to be confined to the utility room.

So I revamped the shelves and the bottom shelf holds the box of shoes (we need to find another box that fits better), the hats/gloves basket and the scarves basket.  The shoe tray is directly in front of it.  And the top of the dryer is the launchpad zone.

I still don't have a place for the vacuums to live, and we'll have to trek through the house to the front door to hang the jackets when we get to that season--but at least there's no excuse for puddles and mud to be tracked ALL the way through the house!

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

Monday

• bagels and yogurt
• fruit
• soup & grilled cheese (bean and bacon)
• chicken asparagus stirfry over oven rice

Tuesday

• cereal
• ants on a log
• tortilla pizzas and carrots
• cornmeal bacon waffles and fruit

Wednesday

• biscuits and eggs
• cottage cheese and peaches
• lunch meat sandwich and cucumbers
• burritos, rice, and salad

Thursday

• overnight oatmeal
• cheese and apples
• pbhoney sandwich and oranges
• white chili

Friday

• breakfast burritos
• pretzels and craisins
• tuna and carrots
• spaghetti and meatballs with bread and salad

Saturday

• cereal
• smoothies (peaches and oranges)
• pbj sandwich and ??
• smothered pork chops (leftovers in freezer) with fake taters and veggies

Sunday

• blueberry muffins
• cucumbers
• mac and cheese
• crockpot smothered chicken with rice and mixed veggies

{Day 13} Preventing Self-Martyrdom

It is not uncommon amongst mommy-lists and forums to hear the whining of the self-martyred woman.  She complains that she is always doing, giving, draining; she complains about having to work, or about not working; she complains about her kids, her husband, her life.  There is a difference between venting frustrations and other negative emotions, and martyring yourself to those emotions.  While it is important to have an outlet, a pressure valve release, it is even more important to not let it overtake our life.  Oftentimes, it's about attitude and perspective.

No, life isn't always roses and cotton candy fluff.  Sometimes its marshmallow cream.  Sometimes it's day old beans.  Sometimes, it's the quagmire of a dried-up creek.  Always, however, is our ability to choose.  We choose our attitude.  We choose to have children (by choosing to participate in activities that can generate children--I'm not branching into the discussion of those cases/situations where the woman was denied the choice, that is not for this post), we choose to marry or to be a couple.  Somewhere along the line, we made choices that landed us where we are, doing what we are doing.  With choice comes consequence and responsibility.  And with consequence and responsibility comes our choice of attitude.

Sometimes we can't see our forest for the trees.  It can be hard to adjust our attitude or our perspective when we feel bogged down in a rut.  That's when blogs can be helpful, especially if you cannot find sufficient support where you are--and if nothing else, there's loads of other perspectives to browse out there.  For "the uncensored voice of motherhood" visit the blog of get born magazine.  They're great for venting without self-martyrdom (and they have some fantastic discussions on Facebook!)  For an incredible variety of blogs ranging from practicing gratitude to changing the world to simply creating a better ordinary for yourself be sure to check out the plethora of participants in the 31 Days of Change this year. 

As you move through your life of choices, consequences, and responsibilities, remember that self-martyrdom is a venomous poison that can tear down you and your family--is that something you truly want to choose?  Does that encourage you or your loved ones to Rush Home?

{Day 12} Make Home a Haven--Week 2

This week's Haven challenge is to play soft music everyday in your home.  Focus on using peaceful words and maintaining peaceful relationships.  We've been doing better with the soft music.  When it's not remembered at the beginning of the day, it is remembered when the frazzles start to exhibit. 
Peaceful words and peaceful relationships are getting better, but there is opportunity for greater improvement.

The flowers from last week are missed.  They really added a nice touch to our home and our day.  I think I will be attempting a small bouquet each payday now.  And it's further incentive to finally create our cutting bed.  I look forward to a cheerful bundle of zinnias on the table!  Or shasta daisies.  Or roses.  Or gladiolas.  You get the idea.  ;)

http://womenlivingwell.org/category/homemaking/making-your-home-a-haven-challenge/

{Day 11} Tackle It Tuesday--Rain Gauge

Once again I have neglected to take pictures, but I finally took care of the rain gauge.

This is our third rain gauge at this house.  The first one ended up cracking due to freezing conditions--I think it was moisture under the tube because only the very bottom was broken.  The second one also broke due to freezing conditions, but it had more factors involved.  It did not come with screws so I used some multi-purpose screws that we have.  I neglected to check to see if they fit through the removal holes so it could be emptied.  Before I finally got around to dismounting it and finding appropriate screws, my bonfire of a child put a moon sand mold in it.  The combination of moon sand mold, stagnant water, and algae created too much pressure when it all froze.  It's been broken for three years now.  The replacement rain gauge has been sitting on my kitchen counter since sometime during the summer....

The new is up, the old is down.  Now to wait for measurable precipitation!

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

Monday

• cereal
• cheesy chips
• dippy chicken and baby bels
• ham steak, dressed sweet taters, salad

Tuesday

• apple pancakes
• ants on a log
• lunch meat sandwich with cucumbers
• rotini and vegetables

Wednesday

• bagels and yogurt
• grapes
• tuna and carrots
• chicken quesadillas

Thursday

• oatmeal
• peaches
• egg salad sandwich
• chili and cornbread

Friday

• breakfast burritos
• carrots
• soup, grilled cheese, and apples
• smothered pork chops, fake taters and veggies

Saturday

• cereal
• smoothies
• chips and dip
• chicken asparagus stir-fry with oven rice

Sunday

• blueberry muffins
• cucumbers
• chicken and stuffing
• sloppy joes and green beans

{Day 10} A Table to Rush Home To

I've been enjoying the new daytime talk show The Chew (on my DVR) and their focus of getting the family around the dinner table.  They've had some delicious meals showcased that I wish I could eat.

One of the tips I've gleaned from them regarding the family dinner table is to hold sacred the fifteen minutes or so when the meal is done.  Clearing the table can wait a few moments as all sit together and gab--or just bask in the awesomeness of the meal. ;)   We've all done it with friends before--lets do it with our family as well.  Even if our kiddos are younger.

Another tip I remember being from Carla is to play High-Low.  Everybody in the family takes turns telling about a high point in their day, and a low point in their day.  It provides an opportunity for the family to congratulate each others successes and to bolster or help problem-solve the not-quite-successes.  It also helps all to recognize opportunities to be grateful.

Some other ideas gathered over the years:

• Dress the Table.  Use what you have at home or pick up some fabric remnants to use as table cloth, runner, or placemats
• Buy a set of fabric napkins and use at least once a week (or with every dinner if you do daily laundry)
• Create rituals for your mealtimes
• Simplify your evenings and/or mealtimes
• Use candles at dinnertime

{Day 9} Family Time to Rush Home To

How often does you family do together?  What do you do together?  What encourages your family to Rush Home to be together?  Are you a family that struggles to find time for each other?  Do you protect an evening each week for the family to gather?  Or a morning?  If so, is it held sacred?  Or does it get moved about to fit around busy schedules?

Oftentimes I feel like we have it made for family time.  Between homeschooling and DH's current schedule we are together quite often.  Sometimes it feels more like it's just four people under the same roof rather than a family.  So how do we combat the roommate feeling?

We've been gradually implementing an evening "schedule."  If we have dinner at a reasonable hour (greatly impacted by our nurseling) our evening activities for the weekdays includes correspondence, board/card game night, scouting, family meeting, and guitar hero.

{Day 8} Honoring Strengths

Every marriage, every family, has their rough patches as they learn and grow with each other.  Some seem to choose their misery though, and then cling to it as their disdain and venom grows.  Others, however, recognize the strengths of their partners and family members and literally grow with them rather than away from them.

I often hear women (especially stay-at-home-mothers) complaining about how they "lost" themselves and need to go find themselves again.  During quiet moments I wonder if this is because they were being reactive with life in general, rather than proactive, or if they are actually eyeballing other pastures and thinking they are greener.  Even a rocky, barren field can look green from a distance given the right circumstances.  And how much of the "lost" sensation is the outcome of selfishness and self-martyrdom?  Could it have been avoided by being compassionate towards herself and her family?

Back to the rough patches--there is an ebb and flow to relationships, and the beginnings are oftentimes bumpy.  Perhaps bumpier than some may anticipate, or it simply isn't meeting their "perfect" expectations.  One of the things that helped my marriage through its bumpy times is that we both started out this journey refusing divorce as an option.  That doesn't mean it's never been discussed, just that it's never an option.  We both came from broken homes, and feel strongly about this--if we got married, we were married through thick and thin.  As we age, we're getting a bit more thick.  ;)

Another thing that has helped our marriage, and it's something that has us Rushing Home to one another, is that we value each others strengths.  We're like two puzzle-pieces: very different parts of the big picture, but we fit together really well.  We have different temperaments, different upbringings, different educational experiences, different parenting examples, different religious views, different ways of handling money, different ways of organizing, and different strengths.  All our differences balance each other and provide us opportunities to grow our communication skills.  ;)  When we honor each others strengths and allow them to best benefit our family we prosper in joy and familial peace.

And Joy and Peace are wonderful things to Rush Home To.

{Day 7} Walk the Talk

This was a rough week for me in some regards.  I hyper-focused on what wasn't getting accomplished, the contentions, and allowing sleep deprivation to rule my attitude.  In reality, the week went pretty good overall.

While I didn't accomplish daily posting for this 31 Day Challenge (and if you caught the originals prior to moving over to this side, and reworking them, you witnessed my mama-tantrums), I did recognize that I was allowing it to interfere with my family.  I was getting too focused on trying to meet up to my expectations for myself for this challenge and it interfered with my ability to focus on my family the way I want to.

This self-observation led to two things--I moved the non-homeschooling, non-micro-farming parts of the blog over here so those not interested in diving into my pensieve were not forced to wade through the mucky waters, and I finally took the opportunity to sketch out how I wanted to approach this.  I've created an anticipated menu of sorts on the original blog (where the linky party badge leads to) and will post and link as I have the opportunity to do so.

I keep telling my kids:  People Before Things, Family Before People.  That means family before blogging--because in reality, this blog isn't going to be rushing home to me.

Diet Woes

When I logged onto yahoo to send a couple emails inquiring about astronomy clubs there was a story about the changes that occur to a mother's body with a baby (I closed that window so don't have a link to share for it).  From there I had opened a story about foods to eat post-partum.  Their suggested snacks include:

• Whole-grain crackers with hummus
• Nuts (stash some in your purse in case you get a craving on the go)
• A cup of whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk.
• A hardboiled egg with some carrots
• Low-fat cheese with a piece of fruit
• Peanut butter on an apple
• Plain Greek yogurt -- add in a cup of berries to avoid added sugar from the flavored kind.

The only things I can eat on this list?  Crackers and hard-boiled eggs.  Everything else either I react to it or the babe reacts to it coming through my milk.  *sigh*  And folks wonder why I joke about subsisting on Coke and chocolate.

Some other suggestions I gleaned from related articles include black bean soup (yum!), egg salad, wild Alaskan salmon (super yum!)...  I need to figure something out, the brownies just aren't cutting it.  And there are some exercise routines that look like they're all able to be done at home--no gym required--that I want to look at more closely when it's not the middle of the night.

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/abs/exercises/beat-belly-fat/
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/lose-baby-weight/workouts/post-pregnancy-exercises/
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/lose-baby-weight/workouts/lose-the-baby-weight-fast-toning-circuit-workout/

{Day 6} Compassionate Service

I find that the times I'm being selfish (Just Leave Me Alone!) are the times we have the most contention and discord in the household.  But the times that I dig past that selfishness and choose to be of service to my family--listening to the unfunny made up joke for the thousandth time, reading a book for the fifth time in twenty minutes, cleaning up the lunch mess they left behind rather than harp at them for the hundredth time, etc--we all have a more cheerful day.

This isn't an advocation for bottom-rung parenthood (or spousehood in a child-free family), where the needs of the parent or spouse are always last--this is about compassionate service to your family, being modeled for your children and your spouses.

{Day 5} Make Home a Haven--Week 1

Peaceful and productive.
That was today's mantra.  I'm aware that I greatly impact the flow and ambiance of our household--I've been aware of that fact for many years.  Being proactive rather than reactive has been a massive struggle for me lately.

This week's Make Home a Haven Challenge is to light a candle everyday in your home.  Each time the candle catches your eye, say a prayer for peace in your home.

I did not light my candle--these pumpkins are so cute I can't bear to burn them down--but i'm applying the same concept of using them as a visual reminder.  We had the broadband provider's "light classical" music stream on all day, and we had fetched a $5 bouquet of flowers that we divided between two vases.

Overall, our day was peaceful and productive.  It was nice.

http://womenlivingwell.org/category/homemaking/making-your-home-a-haven-challenge/

{Day 3} Meals to Rush Home To

Having a meal plan in place can help reduce the mayhem and further encourage your family to Rush Home and enjoy good food and good company around the dinner table.

There are lots of resources for menus including:

• The blog meme for Menu Plan Monday
• Menu-Mailer
• e-Mealz

There are also lots of resources for recipes, but my favorite is Recipezaar!

Cook up some love in the kitchen for your family to Rush Home To!

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

This menu was assembled Friday night, but the weekend changed and is mowing over the beginning of the week.  Alterations are noted.

Monday:

•  oatmeal
• hardboiled egg   granola bars and peach dices
• tortilla pizzas with carrots   beef & barley soup with grilled cheese
  
• Ruth's Sweet & Sour with rice and veggie   hamburgers

Tuesday:

• breakfast burrito   plantain
• cucumbers
• soup, grilled cheese, and apples  
• Rotini (Auntie's recipe from when I was a kid--no clue where she got it from: rotini noodles, ground beef, baked beans, bbq sauce)  Ruth's Sweet & Sour with rice and veggie
  

Wednesday:

• pancakes
• popcorn (fruit?)
• egg salad sandwich and carrots  
• chicken pizza

Thursday:

• bagels and yogurt
• apples with pb
• chips&dip
• toad-in-a-hole with bacon

Friday:

• cream of wheat
• smoothies
• tuna with carrots
• corn tortilla tacos with beans and rice

Saturday:

• cereal
• ants on a log
• dippy ckn and apples
• homemade mac-n-chs with salad

Sunday:

• blueberry muffins
• chips&salsa
• cheese sandwich and carrots
• roast ckn with pouch taters and salad

Typing it out I'm realizing that I don't like the flow of some of the items.  :/

I'm working on streamlining breakfast a bit more now that I've tinkered with my over-the-top menu plan system.  Muffins on Sunday (made the night before), and the rest of the week is random mayhem of breakfast burrito, hot cereal, cold cereal, pancakes, and biscuits/bagels/scones/toast.  This week I didn't designate accompaniments--we'll figure out what strikes us that day regarding eggs, bacon, fruit, yogurt, etc.

Still working on getting us more balanced and getting  more produce in.  We're usually good on carbs...need more produce and more protein.  I'm stoked about opportunities for cooler weather though!  I love me some soup and I usually can't enjoy them in the warmer months--doesn't hit the spot in the same manner.  I've taken to freezing leftover homemade soup in quart-sized freezer jars (with the reusable plastic lids)--one jar usually covers lunch for the kids and I nicely.

{Day 2} Rush Home

I've been thinking about some acquaintances we have--some are living in separate rooms from their significant other, some have taken up different residences, some are no longer a couple.  We don't have both sides of the story to any of them, but it's been sad to observe from the peanut gallery.  Especially when children have been involved.

This half-hatched idea of Being Rushed Home To isn't just the spouse--it's the whole family.  I want the whole family to WANT to rush Home.  Not because they're homebodies, but because they're eager to spend time together.  Because they look forward to returning home from work, activities, outings.  Because they see home as a safe harbor, a valued refuge.  Because they feel comfortable having friends over.  I'm not seeking perfection--the perfect house, perfectly clean, with a perfect husband, with a perfect wife/mother, and perfect children.  (I need to remind myself of that fact as I have a history of hyper-focusing on ONE aspect and forget to step back for the whole picture).  Life is gloriously messy--enjoy it!  Rush home to enjoy it with the ones you love!

{Day 1} Being Rushed Home To

I found the 31 Days of Change Challenge through Nony the Slob (I <3 her bloggy name!), who found it through Prairie Home Therapy.  I think it's a neat concept and chose to utilize it to hone in my focus on getting back into my domestic-goddess-groove that I seemed to have lost about five years ago.  It ties in nicely with the Making Your Home a Haven Challenge, which also serves my honing purpose.
My twist on this challenge is "Being Rushed Home To."

I'm excited about this challenge.  I have some ideas that I want to jot on paper to feel them out, and I like how my topic is rather far-reaching in scope.


Oh....I almost forgot.  Thanks to Prairie Home Therapy I was able to make my button by right-clicking a base option here, and following the instructions here.  (Thank You!!)

Six Word Saturday

Life is FANTASTIC with broadband internet!



We've looked up some stuff about the moon, about the Apollo missions.  
Video clips of Apollo 11 at nasa.gov.
I barely started going through here to clean it up and get things linked.
I'm too tired to link tonight, er, I mean this morning.  I thought the baby was going to be up in a moment after being moved from his nap position on me so I was trying to take care of a few things (like my menu plan so I can grocery shop).