Meals for a New Mom…

when we had Isaac our church provided two to three meals a week for the first four weeks. Next to the help from my mom and Jacob meals were the biggest blessing. It was so nice not to have to think about dinner especially since the first five weeks of Isaac’s life he cluster fed in the evening which left Jacob doing much of the dinner prep. Thankfully there wasn’t a meal that was brought to us that we didn’t like; however, there was things that we liked better than others about certain meals (not just the taste)

Below is some tips for when bringing a new mom a meal. These are not meant to be a criticism, but rather a reminder for myself when bringing someone a new in the future.

1. Bring food in disposable containers. This one seems obvious.
2. Main dish they can bake. We liked the dishes that we could just pre-heat the oven and throw it in for the allotted time rather than having to make something.
3. Snack foods. Someone brought us scones and they were perfect for the next day snack…not to sweet, but a bit more substantial. Especially since I was breastfeeding it was nice to have something to snack on.
4. Salad. We received a salad with almost every meal, but each salad was never the same. I liked the salads because it made our meals feel balanced.
5. You don’t have to make the meal. We had one person pick us up a rotisserie chicken and three or four salads from the grocery store deli and it was super yummy…we liked the variety.
6. If you’re going to bring the supplies for the meal then bring it two to three weeks postpartum. We had a few people bring us like the supplies to make Spaghetti. These type of meals are good a few weeks in because it takes a bit more work/keeping an eye on which is fine a few weeks in.
7. Go the extra mile. Rather than just bringing a carton of fruit, go the extra mile and wash and cut it etc. so it’s ready to go.
8. Bring them something you know they won’t have time to make for a while. We had someone make us homemade bread which was such a treat because I never make homemade bread let alone don’t have time after a baby.
9. Make enough for two meals. It was nice when there was enough leftover food for the next day’s lunch or dinner.
10. Text when you’ll be dropping off the meal. At least in my life texting is the best rather than calling because then I can respond when it’s convenient for me.
11. Freezer meals are great. We had a few people make us a freezer meal which was nice because then we didn’t have to use it right away if we didn’t want to. Even a bag of frozen rolls was helpful.

The meals were such a blessing and a real example of the church community ministering to us in a practical way.

Easy Snacks…

I don’t know if I’ve ever posted a recipe on this blog. I’m just not a foodie and there are a ton of other excellent food blogs out there. Anyway, below are two snacks I have been enjoying as of late.

CHIA PUDDING This is so easy and it ends up with a texture like tapioca because the seeds soak up the milk. I adapted it from the above recipe (click on the title of the recipe.).

makes 1 serving

2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons chia seeds

3/4 cup milk, almond milk, or coconut milk

whisk ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Stir then put in the fridge till thick (about 2 more hours). Another option would be to put it in the fridge over night. Once mixture is thick and seeds have expanded add a little sweetener of your choice like maple syrup or honey (you don’t need much). Enjoy!

NO BAKE ENERGY BITES The only modifications I did was half this recipe and used a 1/3 of the honey called for.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: About 20

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter or almond butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats (raw)
• 2/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup ground golden flaxseed meal (I used a flax chia seed blend)
• 6 Tbsp chocolate chips
• Directions

• In a mixing bowl, stir together peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract. Add remaining ingredients and stir until evenly coated. Transfer mixture to refrigerator or freezer and chill until set (I actually cheated here and shaped mine before chilling with damp hands but I think chilling would make it easier to shape them).
• Remove from refrigerator and shape into 1-inch balls. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

 

The Tiny Closet Challenge and Simplifying

I’m participating in The Tiny Closet Challenge, and it’s just about to end this Saturday. For the challenge we had to narrow down our wardrobe (clothes, shoes, accessories) to 33 items and only use the selected items for six weeks.

The clothes challenge has been easy for me because I didn’t even have 33 items to choose from my summer wardrobe. My winter wardrobe is a bit larger and I think my lack of summer clothes is due to: (1.) I was pregnant last summer (2.) The previous two summers I worked and had a required uniform (3.) in the summer I tend to wear shorts and a t-shirt more and (4.) we’ve been on a limited budget the past year. So, normally I would have a few more summer items. I think because I’m cold in the winter I tend to buy more clothes for that season, so I would like to try the challenge again in the winter.

However, It’s been a bit discouraging because it’s not like I could choose my favorite pieces and just wear those items. I’ve been stuck with what I have whether I like it or not. It has taught me contentment because I decided I wouldn’t buy any new clothes in these six weeks either. Also, I’ve decided that if I’m going to live with a small wardrobe (which I think is a good idea) I need to buy higher quality clothes (I’ve seen the wear in my clothes already). I would rather have better quality over quantity.

The clothes challenge has been a bit discouraging especially with my lack of summer apparel; however, in everything there is grace.  In the middle of this challenge we moved and it has helped me to de-clutter and minimize other area in my life. I donated a big bag of winter clothes that were either old, I didn’t wear all winter, or didn’t fit anymore. I hate clutter, so as I’ve been unpacking I’ve been able to get rid of junk that we just don’t need to keep. There are some things we want to keep, but don’t need it around the house creating clutter, so Jacob, Graham, and I each have a “sentimental tub” where we can put items that we want to keep (like a childhood toy, or a letter from a friend) is one example. In addition, I’m in the process of decorating and I’m learning to decorate simply. I don’t need all of these knick-knacks to dust, and with a soon-to-be crawler/walker around I’m simplifying even more.

Having this mindset of less is better has helped me decide what is important to me, and what is not. For example. I would rather have family pictures displayed than a random art piece. This Tiny Closet Challenge may not have been much of a challenge when it came to my wardrobe, but it has been a good mindset challenge and has helped me to simplify other areas of my life.

 

 

Books and Food

What I’m reading:

Timothy Keller’s “Every Good Endeavor: Connecting your Work to God’s Work” 

I’m only a few chapters in, but so far it’s been very helpful. I really appreciate that he writes simply, but his “arguments” are viewed through the lens of scripture.

I found conviction in this article on the gospel coalition blog: “Your Womanhood is Not on Hold”  It was such a good reminder for me because sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in life, but God has us in this season for a reason. The Lord is good. Below is an excerpt from the post:

The ultimate mark of womanhood is hoping in God, not giving birth or loving a husband, though these are beautiful and God-glorifying privileges. They are just not where we root our identity. Whenever you’re tempted to question your value, always go back to the Bible. Do not listen to the internal voice sure to lead you astray.

There is tremendous encouragement for women who long to be wives and mothers. God declares us women, created in his image, valuable in his economy, and given a great singular purpose—to display his glory in our specific season. If we are infertile or unwillingly single, it is not the season we would choose. But it is ours, and it is a gift from God. In it we can either flourish or wither. We can either hope in God or despise his provision. He has given us everything we need to bear good fruit in this season (2 Peter 1:3-4). We don’t have to wait until we get married or have a sweet baby in our arms. Because of what Christ accomplished, we have everything we need for today. Our neighbors need grace, orphans and neglected children need care, women need mentoring, husbands need encouragement, and your church needs a faithful member.

We are not on hold, dear sisters. It might feel like it some days, but God has put us exactly where he wants us in our particular season. As women who hope in God we can bear good fruit for his glory even when our heart is breaking or our dreams are dashed again. In this place our womanhood is most beautifully displayed.

 Food:

This morning after the gym I made french toast, but not just any french toast…Banana Bread French toast. I had some banana bread that I had made last night, so I cut it up at made french toast. It was a little sweet with the maple syrup, so if I were to do it again I would make the banana bread with less sugar. I liked the crispy/crunchy outside once done. So just with that meal I probably ate back all of the calories I burned this am, but it’s not every weekend that I do that, so oh well.

I’ve kind of been on a soup kick this past week. I made cauliflower bacon soup. Jake liked it which is always good. It was healthier that normal creamy soups because cauliflower (grated) is the thickening agent, but there was 1 % milk (no heavy cream). I also made a carrot apple ginger soup which we didn’t like at all. It had a funny texture (puree). I even tried it the next day for lunch and didn’t like it.

 

Mid-terms

It’s that time of the semester where Jacob spends his days at the library studying for exams…mid-terms start monday.

What do I do while my husband is studying? I wander around the housing doing some cleaning and organizing, so when Jacob gets home it can be clean and refreshing. I went to a craft fair this morning which was fun — I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind going to things by myself. I watched a BBC mini-series Jane Austen’s “Emma,” it was excellent. Emma is my favorite Jane Austen book.

Jacob’s football team has a game this Tuesday and if they win that they go to the championship game.
So that’s life right now.

 

The Weekend…

I thought I was scheduled for my last Saturday at HoJo, but I got there and I wasn’t scheduled. So good news…I had the Saturday off and didn’t have to work Octoberfest at the hotel. Bad news…I didn’t make any money.

So Jake and I went apple picking. It was a nice fall activity. I have made apple crisp, and apple chicken so far. I want to make an apple pie and some apple sauce.

My heart sister (from church) gave me a Farmer’s Market cookbook, it looks like it has a lot of good recipes. I like going to the farmer’s market on Fridays and mingling with all of the “granola people.”

Friday night Jake and I went to a movie at the real movie theater (not the Riv). This was our second time going to a movie together at the theater. We saw “Moneyball.” It was good, Jake really enjoyed it because he remembers that time in baseball and knows more about baseball than I do. It was still an enjoyable movie. I like movies based on true stories.

It has been a nice two-day weekend.

Work…

October is a busy month for us. We have an event we are staffing every weekend…it’s going to be fun.

School…

Jacob is plugging away at school. Mid-terms are in three weeks I believe. He has a comp. check with the second year students on Tuesday. It’s on Cryotherapy and thermotherapy (using hot and cold compresses pretty much).This past week in a lab they measured his VO2 and he had to run until he could run no longer on a treadmill uphill that kept getting faster and faster. Not so fun, but his VO2 for men is high average.

He is playing intramural football with his PT guys. He plays on Monday and Wednesdays and 5pm, so I can’t come to his games. They won their first game.

On the Bookshelf…

As with everyone else, I am reading “The Help.” It’s been interesting so far. I’m really enjoying not having school work and being able to read books. I just finished reading “The Woman in White” an excellent classic. Next on the list “Sanditon” Jane Austen’s last novel. After that, I think I need to take a break from fiction books for a bit.

Jacob and I are also reading together “Peacemaking for Families” by Ken Sande, it’s brought up some good discussion.

Goals…

Jacob and I set several goals for ourselves for this semester.

We decided that we will exercise at least four times a week either alone or with each other. He has been either playing football/basketball and running. I have been getting up before work and running at the gym or some nights after work, and teaching Max T3. So far we’re both up to 3 miles running, but Jacob can run faster than me.

Another one was to read our bible together (which we had been doing), but also reading the above mentioned book together as well. We also decided that we would memorize one passage of scripture, but we’ve been failing on that one so far (note to self: start it).

Recent Thoughts…

Giving your children vaccinations. I work at a chiropractic office and they are against vaccinations and honestly I go back and forth. I’m not convinced either way. I guess I have a couple more years to read up on it.

Sign language…I want to learn it.

Kids with Autism. Something else I want to learn more about.

The song the “Lord will Provide” has been my “theme” song this month.

Tomorrow starts another week…

My Day Off To Do List…

The Doctors are out of the office yesterday and today, so I decided to take the day off today. I went into the office yesterday afternoon and got everything finished that I needed to, so that was nice.

Since today is my day off I figured I better be “productive”, so I wrote a list of everything I need to or want to do. So here it is…(you can be jealous). This is a girl’s to do list who has no one to distract her and has the whole entire day free.

Jacob didn’t have to go to class till 9:45am so we stayed in bed till 9am (I woke up at 7:30am).

1. eat breakfast (I ate some toast)

2. clean the dishes and wipe down the kitchen

3. take a run

4. take a shower and straighten my hair

5. do some laundry

6. read my Bible

7. read some of my book

8. go to howard-johnson to pick up my checks and give my boss my resignation (yes, I’m quitting HoJo by the end of september…I had a good 90 day review at TRC). So I need to get that over with today…ugh not looking forward to doing it.

9. drop clothes off at goodwill

10. go to the farmer’s market

11. come home and finish laundry

12.  start on dinner (Broccoli and cheese soup Panera Style)

13. Jacob comes home

Tomorrow…

depending on what I get at the Farmer’s market…

1. work at HoJo 7am-3pm

2. make something with apples or bananas (I was looking at Southern Living apple recipes).

3. clean my bedroom

4. relax

Hopefully I’ll write more often and something more than just my to do list.

Food on my mind…

IF you know me the title of this post may seem odd. I tend to be the type of person who just eats food to survive. I don’t really take joy in eating it…it’s just food.

Recently though, I have found myself in my free time or times of procrastination scanning recipe blogs and sites. There are so many options of things to make, it’s kind of exciting. One thing that I have been looking for in particular are recipes that are easy, yet somewhat healthy, require little ingredients or common ingredients,  that aren’t expensive and don’t take a lot of time to prepare. I know that’s a lot of requirements.

I am not the most skilled cook, but thankfully I have a husband who has been so far willing to eat anything as long as it doesn’t have onions. Since school started I make a menu for each week and hang it on the fridge, so I have a plan for each day. It has really helped me be less stressed in this area because I know what I’m making each night and i know we will have the ingredients on hand. One little tradition we have started is to have one breakfast dinner a week, Jake and I both like breakfast, so we both liked the idea.

There’s only two of us, and we still make so many dirty dishes. Thankfully though Jake helps me with the dishes each night, so we have a good system down.

What’s your (you few readers that i have) opinion on coupons? Do you think you save money  by using them? or just make you think you’re getting a deal? Is it worth going around to several stores to hit the sales on groceries?

What are your tricks to making dinner or planning for it on a budget?

I need to get back to my homework, but sometime I’ll share some of my newly discovered sites that I like.