menu planning

I have heard that day lilies are edible, though I have never tried them.

'Eat what you store, store what you eat.'

I'll probably be talking about food on the blog for the next few month because that seems to be what we are all interested in.

I noticed that a comment on another blog asking for help in how to plan menus with the food she had on hand.  

Here is what my response would be:

Inventory your food supplies - fridge, pantry and freezer.

I made lists of:

Meat  (beef, pork, poultry)

Vegetables

Fruits

Grains (wheat, pasta, rice, oatmeal etc.)

Fats (incl. avocados, olives, nuts, oil),

Dairy

Bread- 

Then I look to see what I have the most of .  For example, right now, I have more ground beef than other meats.  So I make a list of ground beef meals and serve them more often than other meals.

Chili, meatloaf, meatballs, both Swedish and Sweet and Sour, 

hamburger and noodles, hamburgers, sloppy joes,etc.  

I have several quarts and pints of home canned tomatoes so many of my beef meals will be prepared with tomatoes (like spaghetti).

I haven't done this in a formal way - like meal planning for the next two months.  I simply look at my inventory, use what I have more of more often and try to keep my meals varied so food fatigue doesn't set in.

Let's take breakfast as an example.

I have 

Bacon

Sausage

Eggs

Bread to make French toast or regular toast

Cream of wheat

Wheat flour

Oat cereal

Granola

Oatmeal

Protein powder

Milk

Frozen fruits

Frozen greens

Frozen onions

Frozen peppers

quick breads

muffins

From the above list I could have:

Bacon and eggs

Sausage gravy and biscuits

French toast

Eggs and toast

Cream of wheat

Blueberry pancakes

Cereal

Granola

Oatmeal (with walnuts and craisins!)

A wide variety of smoothies

Protein shakes

Omelets

Frittatas 

Hard boiled eggs

Breakfast casserole

Scrambled eggs and muffins

That is a list of  two weeks worth of breakfasts without any repetition!

My inventory helps me be creative. Creativity banishes boredom and anxiety.

Win, win!

This past week's supper menu:

Baked chicken

Chili

Bean burritos

Swedish meatballs

Homemade pizza

Chicken stew

How are you managing menu planning during the coronavirus era?

This is what I would have served on Palm Sunday for our children's church kids.

the church in the age of a pandemic

A lot of the talking heads accuse the government of bungling their response to this coronavirus epidemic.  I don't know about that - how do you prepare for the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the unprecedented?

But let me tell you what.  Our churches.  I am so proud of and grateful for our churches.  I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but two of our sons are pastors.  The third is an entrepreneur and real estate investor.  We are as proud as we can be of all three of them.  They are godly men, husbands, dads and skilled at their chosen vocations.

I now call them my IT department.  My boys are the ones I call for technical advice - they are very patient with me and for the most part don't make fun of me. For the most part.

On Monday March 16, 2020 both our president and our governor banned gatherings of more than 10.  By Tuesday March 17, 2020 our churches were ON IT. 

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are part of a body.  His body.  We thrive on gathering together and worshiping Him, hearing from His Word through the message, and serving Him whether we are holding babies, greeting strangers and friends, showing folks where to sit, manning the sound booth, teaching, preaching - we work together best as a body.  Complimentary gifts serving one another.  (There are a lot of one anothers in the Bible.)

So when we are told we cannot be together?  We MUST do something about this.

I brainstormed with our Children's Ministry Director.  I am the Children's Church co-ordinator.  We met together for a few hours this morning.

We stuffed envelopes with next week's children's lesson, coloring page and teaching guides for the parents.  We are going to hold a weekly contest.  The kids will have memory verses to say.  If there parents video them saying the verse and send it to us, we will put their name in a hat and each week draw out a winner for a little prize.  We will probably think of some different challenges for the weeks to come.  Like having your family act out the weeks Bible story and video it for our churches Facebook page?

I contacted all 3 of our sons.  J.  is a worship pastor at a church in a nearby community.  He had already ordered a new camera for the church and upgraded their CCLI license so they can stream the worship music as well as the sermon.  They will record on Saturday nights after practicing the music and then video the sermon.  It will be streamed on Sunday morning at their usual worship time.

D.  is a worship/youth pastor in a less nearby community.  His church is part of 4 campus church.  By Wednesday, their children's ministry team already had video offerings for their families - a Bible story, a song, a game.

Our pastor put a brief message of comfort and information on Facebook.

The curriculum we use already has teaching helps for families available on their website.  And, as it turns out, there's an app for that.

I communicated with our son N. for information about staying in touch with my ladies' Bible study group.  He does some online teaching for real estate investing and has his very own you tube channel.

He recommended Zoom, so I have downloaded that app and contacted my Bible study gals.  It may take me a bit of time to put this together.  I don't lecture, I teach with a lot of interaction and appreciate and count on questions and comments.  But I think it will be really cool to stay connected with these ladies I love so much.

Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18:
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.


The church is in the business of overcoming adversity, not being overcome by it.

In three days time, the churches I am most familiar with have worked quickly and well to make sure they can stay connected as the body of Christ.

 But that makes sense.

In three days time, Jesus changed everything.  Forever.

home production

Our bank is closed.  The bank lobby, that is.  You can conduct business through the drive-up window.  But right now we can't go in access our safe deposit box.  We can't go in and make free copies or get a free bag of popcorn.

Then, I got an email from our library.  They are closed until...?

I'm so glad I went crazy at the book sale the weekend before last.

 I'm going into home production mode.  There is nothing I need to buy online (at the moment) and I don't plan to go into the grocery store for a month or two.

The vignette, above and below, contains some things that were hand made.

The quilt was made by Leah.  Leah lived next door to my mother-in-law.  She was delightful.  Born in 1891, she made this quilt when she was 10 or 11.  I feel so blessed to have it.  How many of your current possessions have lasted over 100 years?    There is such warmth and personality to a hand made quilt.

The pottery bowl was made by my brother-in-law when he had a home pottery studio.  He does such beautiful work.

The two stoppered bottles are homemade apple cider vinegar.  You can find instructions to make your own here.

You can find recipes to blueberry muffins anywhere.  One little tip: add 1T. of lemon zest.  I ordered some organic lemons online and canned up some lemon juice.  But first I zested the lemons and froze the zest.  I add it to various recipe and it adds a subtle bit of zip.

Yesterday I got my seedling trays ready to plant.  It was fun to work in the dirt again.  I need to go through my seeds now and decide what to start first.

I also took cuttings from some of my houseplants to root.  Coleus are especially easy to root.  It won't be long (well, probably 2 months)

before I can replant them and put them out on the deck to enjoy.

What kinds of creative projects are you doing?

unprecedented

One of the news commentators was having a hard time describing what we are going through last night.

It is a medical crisis and a financial crisis.  I'm not even referring to the financial markets.  I'm talking about people who cannot work because, they are sick, there is no one to care for their children, their job has shut down...

It is local and global.  There are very few people who are/will be unaffected by it. In your town or on the other side of the world. It is, in a word, unprecedented.  There is nothing to compare it to.

For us, we just keep trying to live our simple lives.  As retirees, we don't need to worry about jobs or childcare.  We choose not to worry about finances.  We do the best we can with what we have.

We just try to do the next thing.  It is easy to be paralyzed by indecision.  That is why I love making lists. It gives direction to the day and satisfaction when I am able to accomplish things on my list.

 I went to our library book sale the weekend before last.  Coronavirus was on our minds then of course, but we could not begin to have predicted the changes that would take place in the next 10 days.

I threw caution to the wind and bought a bag full of (15!) books for $3 on the last day of the sale.  My reading tastes have changed over the years and I concentrated on classics.  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Volumes 1 and 2. 
 The Odyssey. 
 Dickens Digest. 
 A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes which is a daunting 686 pages.
 I just finished My Antonia by Willa Cather.  Highly recommend.

 I don't know if I will make it through all these books but I will try.  If nothing else, it will make me better at Jeopardy

 Beyond reading, I hope to sit down and play the piano for a half hour or so every day.  I am no concert pianist, but I can't begin to tell you what peace and joy it brings me to sit down and play through an old hymnal.

In these days of self-isolation, I function best with a plan.

It will look something like this:

Cook something.  Today that will be deviled eggs for lunch and chicken fajitas for supper.

Bake something.  Today blueberry muffins.  Most of them will go in the freezer. (I probably won't bake every day.)

Read something.  I am reading through Deuteronomy in my annual read through the Bible.  I just finished My Antonia by Willa Cather.

Play something. A half hour on the piano sounds about right.

Create something. I made a needle case for my self over the weekend.  Maybe I should make one for each of my granddaughters.

Clean something.  I'm getting ready, although we are still in the thick of winter here, to plant some seeds.  I have a few seedling trays and some grow lamps and heat lamps.  It will be good therapy to play in the dirt.  First though, I need to clean off the shelves in the basement.

Call someone. I called my BFF this morning to tell her I was checking up on my elderly friends.  LOL.  She is a year older than I am.  You don't only need to call your elderly friends though, Call that young mom who is now home with her school age children and isn't quite sure how to keep them occupied in the dead of winter when the snow outside is like icy rocks.  She might like to hear a friendly grownup voice.  One that isn't asking her for a snack.

This is just my list.  A description not a prescription.  I'd love to hear how you are occupying your time during these unprecedented days.

the new normal

Schools - cancelled

Churches (with more than 50 people) - cancelled

Children's museum - closed

Art center - closed

Non-essential travel - cancelled

Library programs are cancelled although the library remains open for the time being.

And on and on.

The resident fisherman and I are hunkered down.  He will still fish as long as the ice is good and his fishing buddy stays 6 feet away.

I don't plan to start up our ladies' Bible study until some of this stuff sorts out.

Welcome to our new world - a global pandemic world; a world of financial uncertainty for so many.

What are we doing?

We listened to a sermon online yesterday morning and then we brainstormed how we can be an encouragement to others.  It is harder to be the hands and feet of Jesus when you are keeping your hands and feet at home.

For now, we will call and encourage others, write notes of encouragement and gratitude to our church leaders, keep tabs on our kids and make sure they are okay (they are).

I will be contacting the children's ministry kids I teach.  We can send home weekly Sunday school papers (kids love to get mail!) and perhaps have a weekly Scripture memory contest. Not sure of all the specifics yet, but we may ask the kids to send a video of them saying the verse of the week.  We would then put the names of all the kids who participate in a bowl and have a drawing.  The person whose name is drawn will win a little something.

The nerd in me needed to do some planning.  I went through all our pantry staples, including the fridge and freezer and figured out how many servings of meat, vegetables, fruit, beans, pasta, peanut butter, etc.  we have.

I do not need to darken the door of a grocery store for a long time.

Meals for the next few months will be home cooked.  Like Saturday night's homemade pizza:

I am obviously not a food photographer.  Or any other kind of photographer.

The dough is homemade, the sauce came from tomatoes I canned last summer after purchasing 2 large boxes of tomatoes from the farmer's market.  I also bought the peppers last summer, diced them and froze them.  The pizza sauce recipe is a recipe from my childhood.  It came with the first blender my folks bought and Dad made it often.  It is delicious.  The pizza tasted fresh and yummy.

Pizza and salad Saturday night.

Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussel sprouts on Sunday night.

Tonight will be chicken stew or chicken and dumplings or chicken pot pie.  I'll decide when I get into the kitchen.  And salad with homemade french dressing.

The weather outside is not very nice so we are inside today.

And I'm not mad about that at all.

home sweet home

The new normal is not normal at all, but we are grateful for a beautiful, cozy place to be.  We will adapt.

What does your new normal look like?

pleasant places

The drive to church is beautiful, no matter the time of year.  While driving to church the other day, I noticed a half dozen turkeys on one side of the road, scratching the newly exposed ground for snack.  There is often a bald eagle - such a majestic creature.  The road follows the river at a few places.  Unspoiled by any structures, signs or wires, it is quite wild looking.

I love where we live.  We are surrounded by lakes, woods and beauty.

We live within a few hours of much of our family.  We love our church.  We have wonderful friends - friends that we have known for decades and new friends.

Truly, truly:

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. Psalm 16:6.

But sometimes there is a 

in the road.

 The news is full of crises.  Especially lately. The coronavirus!  The stock market plummeted! The election. There is bad news everywhere.  Some of it very serious.

At times like this, I choose to focus on Psalm 16:6.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

If you look around your house and don't feel that it is a pleasant place, do something to make it so.  Fluff the pillows, banish the dust bunnies, straighten or remove the eyesores, the clutter, the stacks.  Light a candle or put on your diffuser.  Make a cup of tea.  Put on some soft music.  Buy yourself a bouquet of flowers.

If you are feeling panicked about the state of things - spend a little time reminding yourself of all the pleasant things, the blessings in your life.  Turn off the news; step away from the internet.  Praise the Lord.  Even at night He will instruct you.

And this is one thing I have learned about him in 50+ years of following Him.  He will not instruct you to worry.

don't panic

So the hand sanitizer was gone at Costco?  Didn't put in your Amazon order on time?

No worries.  Here are some diy ideas for hand sanitizer:
Hand Sanitizer 1
Hand Sanitizer 2
Hand Sanitizer 3
Hand Sanitizer 4
Hand Sanitizer 5

You may have missed the boat on acquiring a bottle or 5 of hand sanitizer, but check your cupboards - you might have the supplies needed to concoct your own.  Each of the recipes is slightly different, so if you don't have the ingredients for the first one, you may have the ingredients for another.

Hand sanitizer shelves may be empty, but you can probably find the ingredients to make some.

Plus, you don't need to use sanitizer at home, as soap and water is said to be very effective.

The surgeon general is telling us not to buy masks.  But if you are uncomfortable with this recommendation, can't find masks, can't afford masks etc. you can make your own.

The nearest case of COVID19 to us is 200 miles away, so at this point I am not too concerned.   We have plenty of food in the house for the next month or two.  Since we are retired (but not inactive) we can choose to hunker down if necessary.

Praying for those affected by COVID 19.  My parents spent their last years in a Life Care Center such as the one in Washington State which has had several residents die from the outbreak.  The impact on the community is huge and I can only imagine how scared the remaining residents, staff and their loved ones are.

Over and over again in the Bible we are counseled to 'Fear not'.  Those are very comforting words to me.  We are not afraid, we are prepared as far as we can be, but we trust in God and leave the results to Him.

We are in very, very, very Good Hands.