Food For Thought

Owlhaven posed and interesting question on her blog today:

I have a question for all of you who are currently displeased with your current food costs. When you think of your own food spending (groceries and restaurant spending combined) what do you think is the biggest reason you struggle to keep your food budget down? Is it rising food costs? Picky kids? No time to cook? Nothing in the cupboards? An unhealthy obsession for Panda Express orange chicken? Name your nemesis.


(After an unusually long comment, I decided rather than taking up space on her blog, I would post the answers to her question and then link back to her.)

First of all, I too share the unnatural obsession with Panda Express Orange Chicken. In fact, as of right now, I am seriously craving it just because it was brought back to mind! The budget-dangerous fact is that I live within two miles of TWO Panda Expresses. However, I have decreased the severity of the withdrawals with homemade sweet & sour chicken and rice.

I would have to say that the biggest pitfall lies within myself. I am not a veggie fan and I like meat! See the problem? Here is a list of vegetables I will swallow:
Broccoli
Carrots
Corn
Potatoes (yes, I know they are a starch, but I consider them a vegetable)
Black Beans (again, the proper classification would be a legume)
Lettuce (no iceberg please!)
Pickled Beets (I know, for someone who doesn't like veggies I like weird ones)

Oh, and pasta gives me indigestion...lol! So there goes that budget conscious meal!

That's about it. So in order to eat less meals containing dollar devouring meat, I have to eat more of the above. Which doesn't provide much variety. This brings me to another point...

The spice of life, you guessed it, variety! It is hard to have interesting, palate-pleasing meals that don't repeat over and over again, when you have a limited food budget. Eating potatoes, again and again doesn't make for a joyous rush to the table! (That being said, I want it to be known that I am extremely grateful for the food we do have and anything is better than being hungry!)

The price of food has risen, however we have successfully lowered our food budget by 2/3---Thank the Lord for His provision! It's amazing how you can shut off the cravings and gimmees when you don't have the funds. It all begins with a mindset change. Do I really need this? Or is this just a desire?

I am a proud stay at home mom and my husband is an awesome provider. We don't go to restaurants, I pack his lunch every day (which I view as another way to say "I appreciate what you do and thank you"), and we appreciate the special treats all the more when they come our way. Ice cream takes on a whole new indulgence when you don't get it every week!

So to answer Owlhaven's question: The biggest thing to bust my budget is only a lack of creativity with what I have and a lack of gratitude for what we have been given. Contentment is cheaper and healthier :)

Happy Birthday Mr. Querido!

What can I say about the man I love? He is everything I never knew I wanted :) His heart follows closely after God and he walks in His steps. He is calm and methodical (the polar opposite of me... lol!). He is intelligent and very creative. He thinks outside of the box when I can only see the inside. He is a man of great integrity and strong character. He stands tall when others bow to peer pressure. He is confident of where he is going and what he is doing. He is the most awesome father to our three little ones. He is someone I would be proud to have my sons emulate. And I hope my daughter finds a man similar to him to marry. He is so patient and kind. He is a faithful provider for us. And he is the first example of godly manhood I had ever been exposed to. He is Christ-likeness exemplified. He is my companion for life and someone I enjoy sharing life with. I cannot imagine life without him. We have only been married six years, yet sometimes I feel as if it has been longer because we know each other so well. I could go on and on about him but I don't have that much blogging time..lol!

So Happy Birthday Querido...I love you!

He Cares For You!

Sarah from Everyday Elegance has invited me to participate in her "My Favorite Things Monday" carnival. I am honored to be invited!

First of all, let me just say that I loved the Sound of Music when I was little. "The hills are alive..." Oh yes, I did watch long musicals when I was small...lol! (I'm going to have to borrow that from the library, my kids LOVE music!)

The prompt she gave us was something that has lifted us up when we were down. The most current thing I can think of is my new, frilly apron!

The main thing that I think of when I put it on, is that I have a Heavenly Father who knows my needs and my desires. And sometimes, just because He wants to, He chooses to fling a blessing my way. Just because I am special to Him.

I really needed to hear that from Him this past week. There have been behavior issues with one of our sons, a really squeaky budget, and exhaustion to weigh my spirit down. I won't pretend that when I tied those apron strings, all of those cares magically dissipated. No, they were still there. But the knowledge of how much He values me, far outweighs the weight of the burden I was carrying! I am still working on casting my cares on Him. However, I am being taught the second part of that verse thoroughly..."for He cares for you." (I Peter 5:7)

1 Peter 5:7 (Amplified Bible)

"Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully."

Oh, and just a little reminder, YOU are one of His favorite things!

Being Molded...

This week we had a caution flag waved frantically in our face. Our six year old, Mr. Dramatic took some candy and batteries from a store while he, Daddy and brother were purchasing milk. Fortunately the shoplifting was discovered right outside the doors of the store and all items were returned, but it made us wonder why he would do that!

I talked with my sage mother, Mrs. Sparks, who proffered the suggestion that perhaps we were saying "no" to his requests too often and he felt that was the only solution to get something that he wanted.

Now, by no means does that excuse his behavior and actions, but I started to think about that and replayed all the times I had said no to a request in the past week. Let's just say I couldn't remember many times when I had said yes.

I talked with Mr. Querido about it and he agreed that we needed to say yes more. To find ways of blessing our children rather than withholding simple treats. No, they do not need a treat every time they go to a store. But a something special every now and then lets them know that we think they are special too!

If God, the perfect Father, chooses to bestow blessings on us, imperfect children that we are, shouldn't we follow the example?

Our discussion hit profound depths of all aspects of our relationship with each other as well as the kids. We discovered areas that we are lacking and places where improvement is needed. So that we didn't lose sight of the goals we had set and the standards that were raised, we wrote them down!

Here is what we came up with:

I will be a good example of order and organization to my children (this one is mine to work on!)

I purpose not to be a perfectionist toward their performance of a task, but rather I will focus on their progress and celebrate each step. (this one is Mr. Querido's)

I purpose to shape my children rather than shoving them into a perfect mold (this one is both of ours)

I purpose to value them highly as God's great reward to me, rather than viewing them as interruptions and inconveniences (ouch...this one is both ours as well)

I purpose to be an excellent, not perfect but striving toward perfection in Him, reflection of Christ's character toward my children (again, a joint effort)

I purpose to cultivate a heart of willing obedience rather than compliant behavior in my children (another one we are working on together)

I purpose not to be lazy in my parenting (yep, both of us working on this one)

I purpose to parent them with love and respect (teamwork again!)

We talked about a lot of things tonight. And the best part is we really communicated, rather than just heating up the air. We heard each other's heart in the matter and we also purposed some things to each other as well.

I wanted to put down some more thoughts about some of the goals we set, but it is late and we are up early for church tomorrow. So perhaps on Monday I will delve deeper into our parental commitment.

Wrapped Up In Blessings...

Just last night I was perusing some blogs and I ran across the absolutely cutest aprons!

Pink and Polka Dot has the awesomest ideas and crafts, but her aprons really shine! I loved the flounce at the bottom and had never seen that done before.

Well, today when I got home from a friend's bridal shower, there was an exact duplicate just sitting on my chaise lounge! I did a doubletake. Where did it come from? My husband replied that our sweet neighbor across the street had been at a quilt fair and had seen it and bought it for me!



So my point to this post is that He is generous and He hears the smallest desires of your heart and bestows blessings on you!

Feeling so special and blessed today! :)

Psalm 68:19
"Blessed be the Lord,Who daily loads us with benefits,The God of our salvation!"

Diligence...

Proverbs 21:5
"The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty."

"Diligence is discipline, over time, with excellence."
Dave Ramsey


Do you have a plan?


We are currently working on Step #1...because when I had my wisdom teeth extracted, that wiped out our emergency fund. Current amount saved: $15. Only $985 to go!

Calling All Font Freaks!

Check out a wordle!

Just put in any text and randomize.... I did all of Psalm 91...it looked so cool!

You can even print out your creation if you like (I'm all out of printer ink. Boo hoo.)