My Favorite Crock Pot Recipe!

I wish I could make all our dinners in the Crock Pot! The problem is our children and our dietary restrictions make it difficult to find recipes. So here's one the kids will sometimes eat.

Hamburger Casserole (from the Rival Crock-Ette Slow Cooker Manual)

I have adapted this recipe and added some things.

3 potatoes (sliced)

3 carrots (sliced)

1 can corn (drained) or a cup of frozen corn

1 can peas (drained) or a cup of frozen peas

2 onions (sliced)

2 stalks of celery (sliced)

1 1/2 lbs. Ground Beef (browned)

1 can tomato soup

1 can water

Place layers of vegetables in Slow Cooker in order given. Season with salt and pepper. Place ground beef on top. Mix soup and water. Pour soup mixture over top. 16 ounces of Tomato sauce can be substituted for soup and water.

I don't measure the vegetables. I just make sure there is a layer of each item.

Cover and Cook on Low 8 to 10 hours

I hope you all enjoy it. My mother made it when I was a kid although she doesn't remember:)

Breathe

I am coming up for air after months of preparation for and the execution of Vacation Bible School at our church. The Nu Yu Network made it's premier and hundreds of children were taught about the miracles of Jesus. It was a booming success!

We talk about breathing a lot in my home. We have one daughter who is, for lack of better words, a "mouth breather". We are constantly reminding her to breathe through her nose while she is eating. It is a tough battle.

But when I remind her to breathe it is a clue for me to breathe. I tend to hold my breathe and then have to take deep breathes which make it sound like there is something wrong with me--sighing like I am totally depressed! So that is another clue to me to breath. I don't know if it's a stress thing--what am I saying of course it is! It doesn't really matter. I know I just need to get still and breathe.

I also tend to go, go, go. So I need to take some time and sit and be still. Awareness is half the battle. I have known for a LONG time that I need to do this and haven't. I am too busy and tired...Ha!

Here's a bible verse that will help.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

Here's some lyrics from a song that I love.

Let every thing that, every thing that, every thing that has breath praise the Lord.

Check out this song by Pearl Jam called Just Breathe (Eddie's singing about God!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuq7RYQ8Wa0

God is Good! All the time.

Okay, so yesterday we were going to take it easy before the big Vacation Bible School week. We did our usual Saturday morning routine--bath the kids, cut the grass and then we went to our favorite AA meeting. We were on on our way back and almost home when our oldest says "we could go eat free Poke jo's BBQ at that thing". That thing was the grand opening of a credit union in our neighborhood. We debated for a minute-my husband wanted to go home and eat pb&j! But we decided we would drive by and see how crowded it was. For some reason we stayed even though we had to park in an adjacent parking lot. Let me tell you that that is not like us...we don't like to work hard at things.

So we walk over and decide to get food first because we are all starving at 12:30pm. We sat down and observed. We ate our free lunch which was quite good I might add--yummy potato salad. Then we had a free water ice--also very good--from Jim Jim's. We noticed that some people were getting a chance to stand in this inflatable play bank vault. So we watched and watched. Then we decided we needed to go do some activities because we had to get my husband to a hair appointment. So we goo spin a wheel for a chance to win prizes. On the wheel it says "cash vault". So now we know how we can get in the vault. One child spins and wins a pen and a pencil. The next child spins and wins a pen and pencil. The other child wants nothing to do with the wheel. So I am up. I spin it and have 2 fleeting thoughts of "I'll never hit it-I'm not that lucky" and "wouldn't it be great to get the cash vault". The wheel stops on cash vault! Cool! I just heard someone say they got $136 bucks. My husband is exited and takes his spin. Cash vault for him, too! I say to the attendant "do we really get cash or is there some other catch?" Yes, I am ever the skeptic. He assures me we get actual money.

I am a bit in shock and trying to act cool because I am not the type to do silly things like this. Then the guy right in front of me comes out and they count his money and he got $186. Incredible. The attendants are giving me pointers and telling me how others have done it which I find intriguing because don't they want to me to lose? So, I step in and do exactly how I've seen others catch the money. I am thinking I am not doing so well but I stay on course. I step out and they start counting. $167!!!!! I am quite happy.

My husband goes in and we are watching him. He steps out after his 20 seconds and we are waiting for the tally. $211!!! Holy cow! Unbelievable. So we walk inside the bank and the teller gives us $167 + $211. $378!!! In 40 seconds! And all because of a free lunch! What a great deal.

I'd like to point out that this was not our doing. GOD had his hand in this at every step. We were almost home. We ended up staying. We spun a wheel and God had it land in the right spot. We just stood there while money dropped from HIM. We do not take any of the credit for this. God is our provider. He provided us with food, family time, fun and funds yesterday. We are so blessed. And we are so grateful and give God the glory.

Oh and by the way, we got home and the phone rang--twice. All three of our children had entered coloring contests at a local natural foods store and 2 had won prizes! So we went to pick them up and in addition to the prizes, they gave the third child something so she wouldn't feel left out and they gave us some additional free cookies and juice. I told you God is good and He is the ultimate gift giver.

How to be a little "greener"

So, maybe you are not a big recycler. I try to be. Although there are some times when I do throw things away and it does cause me some guilt but you do what you gotta do, right? Here are some tips on how to be a little bit more Earth Friendly.

1. Start Recycling by putting your empty plastic water bottles and newspapers in your bin and taking it out to the curb on trash day. Nice and clean recycling:) If you don't have a bin, use an old laundry basket, a paper bag or a cardboard box.

2. Or Stop using plastic water bottles and buy a metal water bottle. Or carry a cup around in your car and take it in places to get water. Or bring a cup to places you go to often and leave it there to use another day.

3. Cut back to only 1 or 2 magazine subscriptions (it will also save you $) and when you are done donate them (our public library takes them) for someone else to read.

4. Get only the Sunday newspaper--do you really read them everyday?

5. Get rid of your credit cards (sound financial advice, too)--it will cut back on the amount of junk mail you receive.

6. Eat more fresh food. Oh, and don't use produce bags.

7. STOP buying individually wrapped or packaged food products! Yes it's easier but Wow! what a waste. No more snack size anything. Buy some Tupperware type containers, fill them from a big bag or box, wash and REUSE them!

8. Cut back on fast food restaurants and coffee places! So much packaging. And how many people bring home the Starbucks cup, wash it and recycle it?Hmm?

9. Buy and use reusable grocery bags. Or take old ones back to the store to reuse. One day just watch for a minutes at the grocery store to see how many plastic bags are used! It's crazy. Especially since they only put about 3 items in a bag and then sometimes double bag items!

So, these are relatively easy things to do. Try one or all of them. Let me know how it goes. Let's all do our part.

I am a Coupon Clipper!

My husband may not think so but I am a pretty thrifty shopper. I have a system and a pretty good memory so I usually get the cheapest prices on the things I buy.



You could say that my problem is that I buy organic. The problem part of that is that it can be much more expensive. The great part of it is that I feel so much better about giving my family pesticide free, hormone free, antibiotic free, preservative free, dye free, chemical free and earth friendly products. I have read too many articles and seen too many programs to feel comfortable giving them the mainstream cheap stuff.



So how do I do it? I shop at 6 different stores. Yes, it takes a little time and a little extra gas. I know, I know...the time I could save and the money I could save on the gas, blah, blah. You decide what is right for you. I start at the farthest away store and work my way back so I'm not zigzagging all over the place.



I shop on Wednesday because 3 of the stores have double ad day on Wednesdays. So I get the specials from both weeks and that way if there's a really good sale I can buy it twice. So the night before I check out the ads online and the ads that come in the mail and figure out if I need to go to all 6 stores. I also print coupons from many different websites so I save even more. I get coupon booklets from several of the stores, I clip them from the paper and I sign up for them from websites.


I start out early because one of the stores has day old bakery items on clearance and you have to get there early to get them. Plus it's not as crowded so we can get in and out. I try to do it all in one day because the more I go the more I spend. We are members at Costco so I do buy some things in bulk. Actually not as much as you would think. You have to really check your prices because sometimes it isn't that much of a deal. Plus just because it's organic doesn't mean it's good for you (for example, organic pop tarts are quite tasty but they still are sugar!).

I also know where every clearance area is in my stores. I make sure i go to them each time I shop. I look on the shelves for clearance tags also. if it's organic and I will use it, I buy it. Organic is more and so if it's on sale I will buy it and decent amount of it. One day I found Organic canned Peas for 50 cents so I bought all that was out-15 cans. it was a great deal. I would have been totally happy with that but I got to the cash register and they were 33 cents! At that price you know I would have bought more if the store had them. We ate them and now we haven't had them for a while. But that is okay, something else will become on sale and I'll scoop that up.


When something is a really good deal and I can store it, I do purchase a lot of it. You spend more in the moment but then later it saves you. I also have been freezing a lot of stuff to keep for a while--bread, store bought baked goods, chocolate chips, meats, etc. And we have been eating more fresh food and only what I know we will eat. I'll tell you what--we throw away so much less food. We eat a lot of leftovers and we may eat the same vegetable several times in one week but it's just food. As long as we're full and eat good for you stuff, we're okay.

Here are a few of my favorite places on the web for coupons:
Target - you can only use them there
Heb - you can use the coupons from their website at other stores
Mambo Sprouts-for natural and organic foods
Horizon, Organic Valley, Seventh Generation- you have to sign up for them

Happy Shopping!

I love to play games!

I am a game player. My husband is not-- but that's another story:) I don't know if it's because I'm so competitive but I am sure that is a part of it.

I will play most any game but right now I'm a bit obsessed with Scrabble on the computer. I like it because I play by myself whenever I want. There's no distraction of anyone else and how they play. I am only satisfied with a score of over 400 at this point. If I don't get over 400 I will play until I do. So there is a scary factor to it. I can spend hours playing which is not good. I could be doing lots of other things.

When my mother visits, we play lots of Upwards. It is fun but it takes hours. I like the challenge of it and I like spending the time with my mom that way.

With my kids, it's lots of Life and My Littlest Pet Shop Monopoly. I have to say that Monopoly is not my kind of game. It takes too long---especially with a 9 and a 6 year old. Yuck! They also like to play these games over and over. So how many times can a person get excited about this stuff. We play Connect 4 and Battleship too. We also play card games, although they don't like my favorite-Uno. They don't like to play because I must admit I usually win.

So maybe that's the problem --I like too play the games I know I can win. Or maybe I'm just a good game player. So I guess Scrabble on the computer might be my best choice after all!!!

Summertime!

I talked about this a little the other day--how it is summer weather here already. I laugh when a commercial comes on saying something like "Spring has arrived..." Spring has come and gone. We are already deeply entrenched in summer planning.

Since we homeschool, summer is a bit different for us. We don't have any of those end of the school year field trips, parties or graduations in May. But we are affected by those things because we have friends who go to public school and we hear all about these events. Plus parks are more crowded, kids start appearing at the library in the mornings, friends are busy.

Summer really starts for us when our church starts serious preparation for Vacation Bible School! Our church always has it the week after public school ends so we kick off the summer with it. My kids love VBS. They like to paint the sets, they like to help me organize the snack, they LOVE!!!! to sing the songs (especially before the other kids know them!), they shop with me, they help me in the kitchen. They just think it's great all the way around! They love to feel a part of-like they helped. Especially my 9 year old--just tell her we're going to church and she's says "when? what for? how can I help?" She's so sweet!

For that one week it is amazingly easy to get them out of the house! They are bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7am and actually functioning at 7:30am when we leave the house each morning. Even the one day when I need to be there at 7am, they are ready to go! It's incredible that they are so motivated for one week!

So we started about a month ago with serious preparation. Now we are in the full swing of things! We are planning meals, planning decorations, inputting info on the computer, trying to get donors, coordinating with people AND OF COURSE, we are listening to music! Even my 3 year old and I know know the words to the music! On a side note, what a great way to memorize scripture! It's how I learned John 3:16 and how I am now finally learning the fruits of the Spirit.

God is Good!!! He is so good to me!