My house is a mess. We are drowning in clutter. Too much is what we have. I have tried to declutter in the past to no avail. It seems the harder I try, the deeper I fall into the clutter hole. If I get rid of one bag per day I think I will accomplish several things. First I will be putting very little energy into the project and thus not be as exhausted as I would be if I had spent 8 hours bagging and boxing up stuff. Second I will be able to enlist the help of my fabulous daughters, either to help with the baby or to help purge (they also feel overwhelmed when we ask them to declutter). Third I will be able to feel like I'm at least doing something and therefore not feel guilty about passing the piles of junk everyday. And last but not least (I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons I just am tired and need to go to bed!) I'm hoping the end result will be a more organized home with more usable space. The plan will be to start September 1st.
PS. I also plan to get back into eating healthier once school starts.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Trust
God is my help, my deliverer, my stronghold, my rock and my shield. Psalms 46:1 and 18:2
It's easy to say, it isn't always easy to do. I know God will take care of us during hard times. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering to trust Him. I place too much of my emotions and energy stewing and fretting about what people do when I should be placing my ALL in God.
I haven't been eating very healthy lately. I keep hoping I will wake up and suddenly desire to be healthy. I also keep hoping I'll wake up one day and be the perfect Christian, wife, Mom etc. I'm just so tired and spread so thin and issues arise and I just want to curl up in a little ball and go to sleep for a week and when I wake up I want the nightmare to be over. DRAMA!
I am blessed to have food in the fridge, 3 beautiful kids, a husband who has a full time job and much, much more.
I am thankful, I am grateful, I am blessed and I am learning to trust.
It's easy to say, it isn't always easy to do. I know God will take care of us during hard times. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering to trust Him. I place too much of my emotions and energy stewing and fretting about what people do when I should be placing my ALL in God.
I haven't been eating very healthy lately. I keep hoping I will wake up and suddenly desire to be healthy. I also keep hoping I'll wake up one day and be the perfect Christian, wife, Mom etc. I'm just so tired and spread so thin and issues arise and I just want to curl up in a little ball and go to sleep for a week and when I wake up I want the nightmare to be over. DRAMA!
I am blessed to have food in the fridge, 3 beautiful kids, a husband who has a full time job and much, much more.
I am thankful, I am grateful, I am blessed and I am learning to trust.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Rhubarb crisp
I am excited to say I was able to make really yummy NO sugar rhubarb crisp. Here's the recipe:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax
3/4 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 T ground cinnamon
Mix the above ingredients until moistened and crumbly. Press 1/2 in the bottom of a glass baking dish (8"/10")
Mix 1 cup cold water with 2 T corn starch until blended. Add 3/4-1 cup honey and 1 tsp. vanilla and boil until thick (stir often so it doesn't burn.)
Place 4 cups diced fresh rhubarb (aprox. 1" chunks) on top of the oatmeal crust mixture. Pour honey mixture over the rhubarb and top with the remaining crumb topping.
Bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes to an hour. (When the crust is golden and the rhubarb is bubbly it's done!)
Enjoy warm with Purely Decadent Vanilla Bean ice cream- So yummy!!!!!
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax
3/4 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 T ground cinnamon
Mix the above ingredients until moistened and crumbly. Press 1/2 in the bottom of a glass baking dish (8"/10")
Mix 1 cup cold water with 2 T corn starch until blended. Add 3/4-1 cup honey and 1 tsp. vanilla and boil until thick (stir often so it doesn't burn.)
Place 4 cups diced fresh rhubarb (aprox. 1" chunks) on top of the oatmeal crust mixture. Pour honey mixture over the rhubarb and top with the remaining crumb topping.
Bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes to an hour. (When the crust is golden and the rhubarb is bubbly it's done!)
Enjoy warm with Purely Decadent Vanilla Bean ice cream- So yummy!!!!!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Too much
There's been too much in my life. Too much sugar. Too much junk food. Too much not enough sleep. Too much yelling. Too much junk. Too much laziness. Too much. I'm drowning in too much. I'd like to remedy some of these too muches but am not sure how. Suggestions?
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Moderation
So far, I'm not doing very well in the moderation department. I tried to declutter the porch today, to no avail. We want to have a garage sale to help get rid of the "too much stuff and not enough storage space" problem we have. The problem is we have no where to put the too much stuff in the mean time. Trying to do all this while Tobin is crying or getting into things also makes for frustration. I even didn't cook anything except pancakes this morning, and there is still a heap of dishes waiting for me, not to mention laundry and dirt. How does a family of 5 downsize after 11 years of build up? I just need to keep reminding myself that in 100 years, most of our stuff won't matter a hill of beans to anyone. It will make everyone's life easier just to get rid of it now.
Sorry today's blog has nothing to do with no sugar. I did ok today, I had a couple leftover cupcakes in the middle of the day otherwise I didn't have sugar. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Sorry today's blog has nothing to do with no sugar. I did ok today, I had a couple leftover cupcakes in the middle of the day otherwise I didn't have sugar. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Reflections, struggles, thoughts and perspectives
It's time to reflect on what I've learned, my struggles and a few things to think about.
When we were doing the no-sugar challenge, people asked if I could feel any difference. At the time I really didn't. I think I am feeling differences now. I feel crabbier/PMSier this month. I seem to have more zits (seriously, I'm 42, could I be done already?) among other issues. While these could be caused by a general disregard for my diet, I do feel a large part of it has to do with my eating sugar again.
I did learn about and how I like to use the alternative sweeteners. I like to bake cakes, muffins and cookies with honey. I like baking bread with rice syrup. My initial excitement over the coconut sugar quickly fizzled when it didn't produce baked goods to my liking. We now use either maple syrup or agave nectar on our pancakes and waffles. (Agave is a little cheaper.) I love the grain sweetened chocolate chips and coconut ice cream we discovered. While we esp. loved the agave sweetened gummy bears they seem to be unavailable. Every co-op we go to says they are "temporarily unavailable" (this has been since before Easter, I'm not sure they're coming back-bummer.) I bake bread each week so I can control the ingredients. I never use sugar in any of my home baking or cooking. (Unless someone orders a cake.)
I am struggling with maintaining the no sugar challenge. I'm not sure if it's laziness, weakness or giving up. I think depending on the day it could be any of those and probably more. For example, tonight my dog decided to chase after another dog across the street and came within inches of getting hit by a car. I ended up going for a walk and bought a 1/2 gallon of Walgreens ice cream and fed the whole thing to my family (I think I was possessed by the sugar demon.) So, apparently I need to go the extreme opposite of no sugar and just pour it directly into our mouths after I experience a traumatic event. Ug! Most days though, I just end up falling into old habits and patterns and end up eating mindlessly. (Mindless Eating is a great eye-opening book by the way.)
I've also been thinking about all I've read and learned and come to some conclusions. Adam and Eve had it perfect. They had the perfect vegetarian diet, the perfect amount of sun, the perfect appetite, exercise, relationships.......you get the idea. Then it all changed when they chose to put their focus on themselves rather than God or each other. It's been that way ever since. Yes Jesus has redeemed us, but we still live in a fallen world. Things will not be perfect again until there is a new Heaven and a new earth (and only God knows when that is.) In the mean time we try to achieve "perfect". This Dr. says "don't eat soy", that TV personality says "don't eat dairy, the other health guru says "eat vegan".......and on and on it goes. I believe there is truth to all of it but the Devil is a good liar and will distort the truth any time he can. If you aren't careful you will end up being afraid to go to the grocery store for fear of a new conspiracy around every corner. Which brings me to my perspectives.
My Mom brought up a good point several years ago. We have available foods that are better than much of the world. We don't have to dig in trash cans for our next meal. Our water is clean and even if money is tight there are still good food options available to us. I feel like sometimes we get so fixated on what we can't or shouldn't have that we forget about the bounty available to us. I do believe it is very important to eat the foods God intended for us to eat (which do not include fruit loops, processed-beyond-recognition meats etc.) I believe God wants us to be healthy so we can do what it is He has planned for us to do. I don't think getting fixated on the negative and bad aspects of food is the way to go about things. I believe I can only do the best that I can do and the rest I will leave up to my Lord and Savior, Protector and Creator, Help and Comfort, God of the universe. I'm certain He can handle it!
Hopefully some of my rantings made sense. I am going to try once again to eat healthier. I think I will have more success if I focus on that rather than restricting. Moderation seems like a good challenge. I could use moderation in several areas of my life. I'll get back to you on that!
When we were doing the no-sugar challenge, people asked if I could feel any difference. At the time I really didn't. I think I am feeling differences now. I feel crabbier/PMSier this month. I seem to have more zits (seriously, I'm 42, could I be done already?) among other issues. While these could be caused by a general disregard for my diet, I do feel a large part of it has to do with my eating sugar again.
I did learn about and how I like to use the alternative sweeteners. I like to bake cakes, muffins and cookies with honey. I like baking bread with rice syrup. My initial excitement over the coconut sugar quickly fizzled when it didn't produce baked goods to my liking. We now use either maple syrup or agave nectar on our pancakes and waffles. (Agave is a little cheaper.) I love the grain sweetened chocolate chips and coconut ice cream we discovered. While we esp. loved the agave sweetened gummy bears they seem to be unavailable. Every co-op we go to says they are "temporarily unavailable" (this has been since before Easter, I'm not sure they're coming back-bummer.) I bake bread each week so I can control the ingredients. I never use sugar in any of my home baking or cooking. (Unless someone orders a cake.)
I am struggling with maintaining the no sugar challenge. I'm not sure if it's laziness, weakness or giving up. I think depending on the day it could be any of those and probably more. For example, tonight my dog decided to chase after another dog across the street and came within inches of getting hit by a car. I ended up going for a walk and bought a 1/2 gallon of Walgreens ice cream and fed the whole thing to my family (I think I was possessed by the sugar demon.) So, apparently I need to go the extreme opposite of no sugar and just pour it directly into our mouths after I experience a traumatic event. Ug! Most days though, I just end up falling into old habits and patterns and end up eating mindlessly. (Mindless Eating is a great eye-opening book by the way.)
I've also been thinking about all I've read and learned and come to some conclusions. Adam and Eve had it perfect. They had the perfect vegetarian diet, the perfect amount of sun, the perfect appetite, exercise, relationships.......you get the idea. Then it all changed when they chose to put their focus on themselves rather than God or each other. It's been that way ever since. Yes Jesus has redeemed us, but we still live in a fallen world. Things will not be perfect again until there is a new Heaven and a new earth (and only God knows when that is.) In the mean time we try to achieve "perfect". This Dr. says "don't eat soy", that TV personality says "don't eat dairy, the other health guru says "eat vegan".......and on and on it goes. I believe there is truth to all of it but the Devil is a good liar and will distort the truth any time he can. If you aren't careful you will end up being afraid to go to the grocery store for fear of a new conspiracy around every corner. Which brings me to my perspectives.
My Mom brought up a good point several years ago. We have available foods that are better than much of the world. We don't have to dig in trash cans for our next meal. Our water is clean and even if money is tight there are still good food options available to us. I feel like sometimes we get so fixated on what we can't or shouldn't have that we forget about the bounty available to us. I do believe it is very important to eat the foods God intended for us to eat (which do not include fruit loops, processed-beyond-recognition meats etc.) I believe God wants us to be healthy so we can do what it is He has planned for us to do. I don't think getting fixated on the negative and bad aspects of food is the way to go about things. I believe I can only do the best that I can do and the rest I will leave up to my Lord and Savior, Protector and Creator, Help and Comfort, God of the universe. I'm certain He can handle it!
Hopefully some of my rantings made sense. I am going to try once again to eat healthier. I think I will have more success if I focus on that rather than restricting. Moderation seems like a good challenge. I could use moderation in several areas of my life. I'll get back to you on that!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Memorial day
I tried a new waffle recipe today. SO YUMMY!!!! It's from passionatehomemaking.com.
You can find the recipe in the recipe index under blender waffles or pancakes.
This recipe was so simple and was met with many "These waffles are SO good!" I used all brown rice and unsweetened almond milk. I will for sure make these again!
You can find the recipe in the recipe index under blender waffles or pancakes.
This recipe was so simple and was met with many "These waffles are SO good!" I used all brown rice and unsweetened almond milk. I will for sure make these again!
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