What I Used/What I Used Up (Week 34)

What I Used of My Meal Plan-

Breakfasts:

Cheesejacks (Moorlands Eater)

Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)
Fluffy pancakes (All Recipes)

Oatmeal in various forms
Super simple granola 

Lunches:

Carrot and romaine salads with shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot), salsa, and spicy ranch dressing (The Spiffy Cookie)
Classic chicken salad (Spend with Pennies) on miracle one hour white bread (Modern Honey)
Easy egg salad (The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook) with zucchini drop biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Dinners:

Chicken curry oatmeal (Montana Gluten Free)
Classic bolognese over fettuccini (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)
Fried rice (by my husband)
Grilled frozen pizza (The Kitchn)
Penne alla vodka (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)
Spiced coconut chicken and rice (The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook)

Snacks:

Bananas
Blender banana oatmeal muffins (Detoxinista)
Cajun peanuts (Cajun Cooking Recipes)  
Carton of 18 eggs
Cheese sticks
Fruit pouches
Graham crackers
Healthy carrot bundt cake (Amy's Healthy Baking)
Leftover pancakes
Oatmeal in various forms
Oat potato pancakes (Savory Spin)
Peaches
Peanuts

What I Used Up--

Freezer:

Chicken curry oatmeal (Montana Gluten Free)
Classic bolognese (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)
Two bags of frozen green beans
Miracle one hour white bread (Modern Honey)
Mixed vegetables
Penne alla vodka (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)
Reese's peanut butter cupcakes (unfrosted) (Your Cup of Cake)
Shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)
Slow cooker black bean oat groat soup (Oatrageous Oatmeals)
Spiced coconut chicken and rice (The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook)
Zucchini drop biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Fridge:

Two pound bag of carrots
Celery
Egg yolk
Green onions
Romaine lettuce

Half gallon of good milk
That stubborn half gallon of soured milk!
Spicy ranch dressing (The Spiffy Cookie)

Yellow squash

Pantry:

Arborio rice
Fettucine noodles
Garlic powder
Graham crackers
Peppermint extract

What went bad:

Nothing that I know of!

What I Prepped for Next Week: 

Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)

What I Froze for Future Me:

Oat potato pancakes (Savory Spin)

Unless the Lord Builds the Marriage

Psalm 127 starts out, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain" (New International Version, NIV). I am sure the writer had in mind literal building of a house in this verse, but also the metaphorical building of a house/home/family. So lately, I have been paraphrasing the verse for my own life to read, "Unless the Lord builds the marriage, its builders labor in vain." With marriage as under attack and character trying as it is, I just don't see any way to make it work without Jesus.

My husband and I are pretty much polar opposites in many ways. In fact, when we were dating, I googled our personality types and most everything I read said we should not be together. I tried to resist the attraction for a while, but after regular prayer about it, decided I just had to trust God. If God would unite me with a man very different than me, I had to trust that His plans and ways were greater than my ways. No surprise, in marriage, we are still very different, and that can be difficult. It is character trying, and Lord willing, character building.

That's the thing, though. We see marriage as a greater than just our union. We see it as a reflection of the gospel, "the gospel on display," as one friend wrote on our wedding canvas. We seek the Lord and His will, and for me, it was very clear that God willed for me to marry my husband. Could I have said no? Yes. Would I have suffered. Yes, and if I was truly running from God's will in the matter, God might have sent a Jonah-sized whale to be my home for a while. No one wants God to build that kind of house!

I know some people make marriage work without God. I am just not sure how. Maybe the enemy does not attack? Maybe those people view marriage differently? All I know is that without the foundation of the Lord, the house of my marriage is tipping off center. There are just too many hard things to survive without having a strong base, and an all-wise builder who anticipated the storms that come to accost the place.

So here we are, seeking the Lord, duking it out at times (me probably more than him). Struggling. Succeeding. Sustained by the Lord's strength. That's the only way this house is going to stand.

What I Used/What I Used Up (Week 33)

What I Used of My Meal Plan-

Breakfasts:

Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)

Oatmeal in various forms
Oatmeal pancakes (Made by my momma!)
Red berry risotto oatmeal (Mel's Kitchen Cafe)
Super simple granola 

Lunches:

Carrot and romaine salads with shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot) or tuna, salsa, and spicy ranch dressing (The Spiffy Cookie)
Chicken nuggets and a microwaved potato
Jambalaya with quinoa (Meal Prep in an Instant)
Potato, spinach, and mozzarella frittata Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)
Zucchini drop biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction) and crudite

Dinners:

Baked eggs and polenta with chunky vegetable sauce (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook) and zucchini drop biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction)
Grilled frozen pizza (The Kitchn)
Homemade pasta with vegetables and eggs (Made by my husband) 
Momma's healthy meatloaf (All Recipes) and baked potatoes
Zucchini drop biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction) and easy egg salad (The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook)

Snacks:

Blender banana oatmeal muffins (Detoxinista)
Cajun peanuts (Cajun Cooking Recipes)  
Cheese sticks
Chocolate strawberry energy bites (Thermomix)
Fruit pouches
Graham crackers
Healthy carrot bundt cake (Amy's Healthy Baking)
Honeydew melon
Oatmeal in various forms
Oatmeal pancakes
Peaches
Peanuts

What I Used Up--

Freezer:

Mixed vegetables
Zucchini

Fridge:

Five pound bag of carrots
Two pound bag of cheese
Green pepper
Honeydew melon
Big jar of salsa
Spinach

Pantry:

Can of tomato sauce

What went bad:

Still trying to work through the soured half gallon of milk

What I Prepped for Next Week: 

Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)

What I Froze for Future Me:

Blender banana oatmeal muffins (Detoxinista)

What I Used/What I Used Up (Week 32)

What I Used of My Meal Plan-

Breakfasts:

Chocolate strawberry energy bites (Thermomix)
Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)
Fluffy pancakes (All Recipes)

Oatmeal in various forms
Super simple granola 

Lunches:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)
Carrot and romaine salads with shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot), salsa, and spicy ranch dressing (The Spiffy Cookie)
Easy egg salad (The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook) on miracle one hour white bread (Modern Honey)
Zucchini and pepper ciambatta (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook) and shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)

Dinners:

Baked eggs and polentia with chunky vegetable sauce (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook) and zucchini drop biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction)
French toast (My husband!)
Potato, spinach, and mozzarella frittata Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)

Spaghetti All'Amatriciana (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)

Snacks:

Apples
Apple oatmeal Swiss cheese muffins (More Sweets Please)
Bananas
Banana oatmeal muffins (Bake and Bacon)
Blender banana oatmeal muffins (Detoxinista)
Cajun peanuts (Cajun Cooking Recipes)  
Cheese sticks
Fruit pouches
Oatmeal in various forms
Oatmeal pancakes
Peaches
Peanuts

What I Used Up--

Freezer:

Big bag of broccoli
Blackberries
Zucchini and pepper ciambatta (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)

Fridge:

Dozen eggs
Homemade bread
Red bell pepper
One head of romaine lettuce

Rosemary
Spinach
Unsalted butter
Yellow squash

Zucchini

Pantry:

Almond flour
Diced tomatoes
Ripe bananas
Oreos
5 lb bag of potatoes
Tomato sauce

What went bad:

The milk soured...again!

What I Prepped for Next Week: 

Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)
Red berry risotto oatmeal (Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

What I Froze for Future Me:

Strawberries

Real Life Marriage: Watching the World Burn

Twenty five years. Fifteen years. Ten years. One year. The length of marriages I have watched burn in the last few years. Each fire has hit hard, with profound sadness, with a deep sense of grief, with anger, and with a measure of fear for my own marriage. If these commitment have fallen, what is the fate of my own marriage? Some of these marriage have not had Jesus, whom I argue is the glue that holds everything together, but still. What about my marriage? When the world of marriage around me is burning, what is there to keep mine from catching fire, too?

Sure, we chose covenant marriage. That counts for something. If nothing else, it would force us to get some solid counseling before we made any rash decisions about ending our marriage.

We have three sets of parents who have each been married over 25 years. That is special. We do not inherit a marriage, though. Our marriage is our own.

We got to church. We have unofficial marriage mentors, people I think would step in if we needed them, but they are definitely not there in an official sense. I know our church would call us out if we wanted to end our marriage, but getting exiled from the church has not changed the fate of other marriages in our body.

Much of our marriage is ultimately out of my control. The best I can do is to commit myself to it, and to daily practices that keep it healthy. That means taking care of myself so that I can be in a good place physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. It means continuing to go to counseling to work on my issues. It means treating my husband with love and respect. It means seeking to eternally learn about him and about ways to improve our marriage. It means keeping up with dates, even if I have to be the one to plan them. It means sticking to these "little" things so as to provide protection against "big" things.

At the end of the day, my marriage is a commitment before God. Good, bad, or ugly, so help me God, I plan to keep it. If my husband feels the same (and he does), our marriage will stand, but only on that fireproof foundation of the Lord's help. That is the ONLY way, because He is THE WAY.

On the Division of Responsibilities: You Can't Eat the Cake While It Bakes

On the division of responsibilities: "You can't have your cake and eat it, too" is the lesson I am learning as we seek to engage the rules of Fair Play (2021). Yes, it's great if I delegate something to my husband, but then I have to wait for him to do it, and that takes my time. Take, for example, weekend meals. It is wonderful that he has such great cooking skills and can make his own meals. It is not so great that it now takes about double the time to get breakfast on the table Sunday mornings. Where we used to be able to get to breakfast right after I finished food prep, as I made both our breakfasts at the same time, now I have to clean up my mess, cede the kitchen to him, and wait. Yes, I could do my food prep at another time, but I have not figured that out yet, and there is simply not enough room for both of us to work at the same time. I can't eat the cake while making it. If the cake is for him to make his own meals, I have to give that time to bake.

There are other ways this applies, too. Where we divided tasks he did not regularly do in the past, I have to wait for him to find his own way of doing them. When they are tasks I have traditionally done, I either have to use kind words to ask for him to make adjustments to the way he would do them, or allow him to do them in whatever way he finds to do them, usually some of both. The process of finding new rhythms and routines is just that, a process.

I have a tendency to be critical, controlling, and persnickety. That is one of the many reasons why I have done so many of the household tasks for so long. If I did them, I could do them my way, on my time. But that was not getting us anywhere, so here we are, trying to form a new way, trying to bake a new cake, so to speak. And dang it, you can't eat the cake while it bakes (and if you try, your mouth will get burned). I guess I will just have to sit back and watch the process. Or maybe I will just step away from the heat of the oven and go do something else. The process will still happen.

Reference:

Rodsky, E. (2021). Fair play: A game-changing solution for when you have too much to do (and more life to live). Penguin Publishing Group.

What I Used/What I Used Up (Week 31)

What I Used of My Meal Plan-

Breakfasts:

Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)
Fluffy pancakes (All Recipes)

Oatmeal in various forms
Super simple granola 

Lunches:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)
Broccoli cheddar chicken salad (Budget Bytes)
Carrot and romaine salads with shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot), salsa, and spicy ranch dressing (The Spiffy Cookie)
Pastrami and Swiss grilled cheese
Zucchini and pepper ciambatta (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook) and shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)

Dinners:

Farfalle with blue cheese and peas (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)
Jambalaya with quinoa (Made by my sweet husband from a new cookbook, Meal Prep in an Instant)

Spaghetti All'Amatriciana (Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook)

Snacks:

Apples
Apple oatmeal Swiss cheese muffins (More Sweets Please)
Bananas
Cajun peanuts (Cajun Cooking Recipes)  
Carrots
Cheese sticks
Fruit pouches
Oatmeal in various forms
Oatmeal pancakes
Peanuts

What I Used Up--

Freezer:

Baked hush puppies (National CAPCFP Association)
Two pound bag of broccoli
Bag of green beans

Fridge:

Carton of 18 eggs
Large Greek yogurt
Gallon of milk
Old onions
Pastrami
Ranch dressing
Rosemary

Sweet balsamic

Pantry:

Freeze dried strawberries
Head of romaine lettuce
Spaghetti

Can of whole tomatoes

What went bad:

Half a package of lunch meet. It was gray....

What I Prepped for Next Week: 

Banana oatmeal muffins (Bake and Bacon)
Chocolate strawberry energy bites (Thermomix)
Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs (Omnivore's Cookbook)
Shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)

What I Froze for Future Me:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)


Broccoli cheese empanada (Adapted from Tessa Domestic Diva)

Jambalaya with quinoa (Made by my sweet husband from a new cookbook, Meal Prep in an


 Instant)

Shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)