So many things to post about, so little time!

Baby is due to come any day now and I have spent the last month in our new home, in the midst of a remodel, trying to get as organized and prepared as I can. Part of my nesting routine with all of my children has been cooking in bulk. It is such and amazing feeling to go into labor and know that when I come home from the hospital I have an extra large chest freezer in my garage that is packed to the brim with 30 + meals that I have already done the work to prepare...and there is still more food to be frozen!

I have all of the newborn stuff out and ready to go as well. We have never chosen to know the sex of our babies before they're born so all of our newborn clothes and nursery decor is gender neutral. Since we hope to have a large family it just seems to me to be an easier way to go. We've used cloth diapers with all of our children and I still love them. All of the newborn diapers and covers are out (they're so tiny and cute!) and I've set up two changing stations in the house; one in the nursery upstairs and one in the mud/laundry room on the main level.

I feel ready to get this baby out of my belly and into my arms. It's amazing how anxious I was with my first baby and now with each of the new ones that God gives us I just want to get them out and in my arms as fast as possible to hold and cuddle. Life is so precious. There is so much I want to write about and I really had absolutely no plan as I sat down to write tonight. I have so many blog posts rolling around in my head and so little time that I think I'm just going to make this one giant blog post with a quick summary of everything, then if I feel the desire and have the time to blog in more depth about anything I'll do it in a later post...probably much later.

So here's everything that's on my mind in no particular order:

- I pray the March for Life went well in Washington this year. We were not able to make it but are hoping to try again next year. Please stand up for life everyone! Don't be afraid to speak out against evil.

-Related to life issues...Cord Blood Donation...yes, donation-- not personal banking. Please do some research on Adult Stem Cells vs. Embryonic Stem Cells. Destroying embryos, little babies, to try to find cures for other peoples diseases is murder and completely unethical and research is showing it doesn't work either. Adult stem cells DO work though and are being ignored in the mainstream media. A plentiful source of adult stem cells is umbilical cord blood. After my husband and I did a little research we came across Cryobanks International in Florida. They are a cord blood banking facility that accepts donations. We donated with our last baby and are doing it again this time. You know what happens to the cord blood if it doesn't get donated or collected for personal banking? It gets thrown out! Our doctor didn't even know that donations were possible and we are the only couple he has ever known to have done it...so I'm trying to spread the word. Donate your babies cord blood it CAN cure someones CANCER! The donation is free of charge to you.

-Home birthing...we almost did a home birth this time but I just didn't feel completely comfortable with the whole thing when it came time to make a final decision. You just can't go against that gut feeling sometimes. I really admire women that have chosen to do a homebirth, though. I have not enjoyed the whole hospital birthing experience for the most part. I wish there was some sort of in between choice where doctors were open to working in a more natural birthing environment for women with low risk pregnancies.

-Grinding your own flour. Some people now will think I've completely gone crazy but I love it and it has become a way of life. I buy all of my wheat berries in bulk. Hard red winter wheat for bread and soft white wheat for pastry. By far one of the most exciting discoveries I've made in cooking has been pastry wheat. I had absolutely no idea that I could bake all of my quick breads, cookies, cakes, etc. with 100% whole wheat flower --and they taste FABULOUS, I think actually better than with AP white flour. You can buy it in the baking section of most grocery stores in the specialty section. It's usually called whole wheat pastry flour. It is milled from a soft white wheat that has a low protein content which is poor for the gluten development that is needed for bread, but it is ideal for baking flaky pies, light and fluffy pancakes, decadent cookies and so much more. And the best part is it's whole wheat, with all of the fiber and minerals! Wow I have so much to blog about on this subject but I have to save it for sometime in the future.

-Children and chores...When my oldest turned three last May we started having her help out with some chores. It's been going well over all...obviously she has her days when she throws a fit about doing them and then we talk about fortitude etc. She only has four "chores" as of now that she helps out with during the week, they include: putting away the silverware, folding the cloth diapers, helping me clean, and helping me fold the laundry. She gets five cents per chore and then she gets to divide them between 10% savings, 10% tithing, and the rest she can spend as she chooses for now...she just bought her first set of Play-Doh last week with her own money and she is so proud and excited about it!

-Potty training--My daughter potty trained young (started at 18 months and she was out of diapers completely by 21 months) which gave me a few months to be diaper free before my son was born. That was nice...and that is definitely not the case this time around! At 21 months my son does not seem to be quite ready yet, so it's two in diapers for me, oh well.

-Lent is coming...soon! Are you thinking and praying about how you will live it this year? What changes will you make in your prayers, fasting and almsgiving? How will you make this liturgical season meaningful for yourself and your family? I am still pondering all of this for now. For prayer I will be taking on the Liturgy of the Hours for lent. A very generous friend gave me a copy today after mass. I am a little nervous about the commitment, but I think it will be good for me. I really don't know that much about it but I will start reading about how to do it tomorrow. If you pray the Liturgy and have any helpful suggestions, I would appreciate them...Thanks!

-I spent a few hours the other day making all sorts of cosmetics and lotions. I will share the recipes when I have more time. I made a lavender baby lotion and a peppermint hand cream that are both 15% shea butter as well as a luxurious facial day cream with grapeseed and macadamia nut oils and essential oils of palma rosa, carrot seed, and tea tree. I also made a face wash and a facial tonic...they all came out very nice this time.

I'm sure there's more on my mind but that's all for tonight. I still love reading so many of your blogs though I often don't have the time to comment. Please say a prayer for a healthy delivery for baby and me. Thank you!

Advent and Christmas

We are extremely busy around here as we pack up our entire life to move to a new home...we have to be out of our rental in two weeks! YIKES! I don't have any time to post and I probably shouldn't even be taking the time to write this, but I just wanted to get a few things out there, floating around in my little sphere of influence, about Advent and Christmas and then no more posting until the new year when we get settled a bit.

Advent and Christmas

So, the Church began a new Liturgical year this past Sunday with the beginning of Advent. Advent means "coming" or "arrival". It is a defined season lasting four weeks that starts off each liturgical year. It is a time for Christians to prepare for the birth of Christ and the celebrating that is to come with the Christmas season. The Christmas season actually does not begin until Christmas Day and then it lasts until the feast of the Baptism of our Lord on January 10th this year.

I think it's very sad that for the most part, the majority of Christian denominations that are outside of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches seem to prefer the secular cultures "liturgical" year instead of a traditional Christian one. I understand that stores need to market and sell their merchandise, but why is it that so many of us decide to use secular society's model as to when Christmas begins instead of the Church's? According to the mall, Christmas begins about a week after Halloween...mid-November at the latest and lasts until January 1st.

My hope is for Christians to return to and truly embrace Advent as it's own season with it's own traditions. Advent is traditionally a season of fasting, prayer and repentance in anticipation for the coming of our Savior. Fasting is not implemented to the same degree as during Lent, but it is still a time of preparation for what we are about to receive. Then, when Christmas arrives it's time to feast away...for two weeks...not just one day!

Advent Traditions

I wish I had time to put up links to good resources, etc. but I don't. There are a ton of ladies blogging away about everything Advent right now, so a Catholic Blog search (in my sidebar) will give you lots of information. If you're Catholic, look to your own parish for guidance on ways to celebrate Advent in your own home. In my parish there is a big Advent wreath, a Jesse tree and purple (the color of repentance) is emphasized. It will stay that way for the next four weeks until Christmas, then all of the Christmas trees, lights, wreaths, etc. come out for the next two weeks...in fact you won't even hear any traditional Christmas songs in Catholic parishes until Christmas day.

In my home we have an Advent wreath, a Jesse tree and those electric Candles in the windows as a symbol that we are waiting for the coming of the Messiah. I love the Jesse tree because it involves scripture reading everyday and takes you through salvation history and the lineage of Jesus. Having an empty nativity set out and putting in the different figurines as it gets closer to Christmas is a simple and meaningful way to explain the Christmas story to your family. Whatever traditions you implement, my only advice is KEEP IT SIMPLE! In my opinion if you do too much you're less likely to keep the traditions going every year.

St. Nick or Santa?
To finish this post off I just have to put in my two cents about Santa Claus. I was raised with Santa and I really have no hard feelings against the Americanized Santa of the 20th century...we have, however, chosen not to continue the secular Santa in our home on Christmas. After being torn about it and talking to a couple of other families at our church that we admire, we made the decision to omit him on Christmas day. Santa Claus, today, is a far cry from St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra (in Asia Minor), in the 4th century. You can read more about St. Nicholas here and how he morphed into the modern day Santa here. St. Nicholas is traditionally remembered on December 6th. We have adopted the tradition of the children putting their shoes outside their bedroom on December 5th and to their surprise finding treats in them the next morning in honor of St. Nicholas. We did it last year with our children and the oldest Loved it...the other was too little to understand. We still give presents and treats on Christmas day too because, most importantly, it's Jesus' birthday. If you're offended by or disagree with our decision and thoughts on Santa please feel free to comment. I didn't realize how personally some take these matters...I have already been told firmly by one person that I have "murdered Santa Claus". Really, no joke. In the end every family has to make their own decisions on Santa and I hope nobody mistakes my decision on this subject as speaking for all Catholics...this is just one Catholic housewife's choice :)

I hope everyone has a blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas!

Lutherans second church to split over gays

Lutherans second church to split over gays

...you're always welcome to come home to Rome :)

Plant and Garden Update...

Several months ago I did a gardening post where I wrote about some of our house plants. At the time we were just a few weeks into growing a new African Violet from a leaf cutting. I have posted pictures of the finished product below. It is a really fun and rewarding project to do for adults and children alike. They can be given away as gifts or added to the decor of your home. If you would like to try this project for yourself, go to my gardening post to read about how to do it. The only additional tip I have is to make sure the violet you are propagating has proven itself to be a healthy active plant that blooms often. The one we've been using has had constant blooms for almost two years!

Here is the before picture:


Here is the after picture (the new plant is on the left):


Also, in the same post I mentioned how I had not been able to get my orchid to bloom in three years...well, it finally bloomed! Here it is: Nothing too spectacular, but I'm going to be sure to separate all of the new plants that have grown from the original one after the blooms are finished and will repot them and do my best to give them proper sunlight and humidity so they will bloom again.


Next year I will have a lot of gardening to blog about. For the past two years we've been in a rental with only a patio for a backyard. In one month we move into a home with a big, beautiful backyard that is perfect for a family garden and some fruit trees...and maybe some rabbits...and maybe some chickens...I'll stop now before we have a small farm back there. Yippee, I'm sooooo excited!

My hubby's letter to the editor...

My husband came across this opinion piece, "Without family Planning...", by Ashley Judd in the USA Today. There are so many statements in this article that need to be addressed that, like my husband said, one doesn't know where to begin and how to best sum it up in only 250 words or less. He wrote the following letter to the editor, I doubt they'll print it so I'm posting it here. I am so proud of the man he is!

Sadly Misguided

I find Ashley Judd’s article (“Without family planning…”, The Forum, Tuesday) extremely disturbing considering how I assume she has genuine intentions to help form a more joyful, peaceful, and loving world.

Almost not knowing where to begin, I’ll reiterate the immense love shared between the parents and children of her highlighted family. I find it sadly unthinkable for them to sit down among their children and openly express their regret for ever having child A, B, or E. Population Services International (PSI) finds it beneficial to give the wife a reportedly harmless shot so her husband can fulfill all of his sexual desires without any respect for her God-given
gifts of both personal dignity and fertility. To claim these “treatments” offer no adverse health effects is a blatant lie. No one willing to study the medical and scientific research data could ever continue to maintain this opinion while looking at themselves in the mirror.

I do however agree with Mrs. Judd’s statement about how this “empowering reproductive health” is low hanging fruit. It hangs so low that that it rests on the ground, causing it to rot. There are other forms of natural family planning that respect a woman’s health and personal dignity while fostering a love both described within this family and so enviously sought after among our own “developed” culture. Sadly, most of these misguided agencies refuse to embrace or provide genuine family planning services.

Halloween, All Saints day, and All Souls Day

Halloween, like so many other holidays, has had it's Christian meaning overshadowed in our culture by secularism and consumerism. I think almost more so than Christmas because at least protestant and evangelical Christians have chosen to continue to recognize Christmas as a Christian holiday and the birth of Christ is at the center of the festivities. Halloween, however, is not celebrated in any way as a religious holiday by most protestants and I'm willing to bet there are a lot of people, regardless of their denomination/religion, that aren't even aware that it always has been and it still is a religious holiday. There are even some fundamentalists that think Halloween is Satan's holiday and refuse to let their children be a part of it. Yes, there was also a Celtic pagan festival that was held at the same time that some of the secular traditions have roots in, but this is the same for Christmas and Easter as well. You can read more about the history of Halloween here, but I'll try my best to quickly touch on what I think is most important in this post.


Halloween--October 31



The word Halloween is a shortened version of All Hallows' Eve. Hallow means Holy. Halloween is the eve of All Saints' Day, the day we as Christians remember all of "the holy ones" or Saints that have died faithful to Christ and His Church and have gone to Heaven. Traditional Christian celebrations/Solemnities begin at sundown of the evening prior, so tradition holds that the All Saints Day feasting begins on "All Hallows' Eve" or Halloween.


All Saints Day--November 1



All Saints day falls on a Sunday this year, so many Catholics will be at mass for this Solemnity, but many may have forgotten that this is a holy day of obligation, meaning even if it didn't fall on a Sunday, as faithful Catholics we are required to attend mass this day. As stated before, it is the day that the Church honors all of those who are now in the presence of God in Heaven.


All Souls Day--November 2



November 2nd is a feast day, not a holy day of obligation though, where we remember all of the dead that may not have made it to Heaven yet. (For any protestants reading this, you can learn more about the doctrine of purgatory here.) It is a day that we should pray for all of the holy souls in purgatory that they may be released soon to the glory of Heaven. It is a day to remember our loved ones that have gone before us and pray for their souls.

Communion of Saints


One of the most powerful things to me about these celebrations is that it's all about the communion of saints. Jennifer Miller expresses this idea well in her article at www.catholicculture.org where she states:

The feasts of All Saints and All Souls fall back to back to express the Christian belief of the "Communion of Saints." The Communion of Saints is the union of all the faithful on earth (the Church militant), the saints in Heaven (the Church Triumphant) and the Poor Souls in Purgatory (the Church suffering), with Christ as the Head. They are bound together by a supernatural bond, and can help one another. The Church Militant (those on earth still engaged in the struggle to save their souls) can venerate the Church Triumphant, and those saints can intercede with God for those still on earth. Both the faithful on earth and the saints in heaven can pray for the souls in Purgatory. During these two days we see the Communion of Saints really in action!

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church states about the Communion of Saints:

In the communion of saints, a ‘perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.’ In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others....

"We also call these spiritual goods of the communion of saints the Church’s treasury....In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission of the Father entrusted to them." (Catechism, #1475-77) (Copied and pasted from www.americancatholic.org)

How my family will celebrate these feasts...

I have learned over the last couple of years that many people are extremely passionate (which is a good thing, to an extent) when it comes to family holiday traditions and can become very annoyed/upset when someone, especially a family member, chooses to do something different than the way they've always done it. So, I proceed in writing this post with the understanding that this is simply how my husband and I have chosen to celebrate the next few days. I'm not attacking anyone for doing it different and the Church does not micromanage what traditions anyone should choose for their own family life. The Church does encourage us to emphasize the Christian aspects of these holidays and I do hope that all Christians will choose to incorporate some traditions that reflect these sacred roots. Obviously, I believe and am passionate about how we have chosen to celebrate these days in our home and that's what I'm going to share here on my blog.

On Halloween we will carve pumpkins in the morning to display at sundown and then take the kiddos trick or treating. Angela is going as the "the little flower" (a.k.a. St. Therese) and Michael will be dressed as a holy soul in purgatory (a ghost).

I absolutely love the idea of still being able to implement the element of "scare" that so many of us associate with Halloween. After all there should be some things that scare us, like the possibility of being damned to Hell. We should all think about death and how real it is for any of us at any moment, and hopefully these thoughts will lead us to ponder the state of our souls and stay vigilant for Christ and not get lazy. Halloween is a good time to remember the brutal, gruesome way so many of the Christian Saints died as martyrs of the faith. They were beheaded, fed to lions, boiled in oil, burned to death, crucified upside down, and the list goes on. Boys, especially, like gruesome stuff so instead of letting them be some mythical zombie eating brains for halloween, how about he dresses up like a beheaded John the baptist holding his head on a platter? Help instil in the next generation the same zeal for the faith that the early Christians and Saints had. It makes us think about what we're willing to do for our faith, doesn't it? So many Christians can't even muster up the zeal to go to Church on Sunday because the service is too early or the church is on the other side of town, the traffic is terrible, etc. We've become lazy Christians in this country...but I digress.


All saints day will be celebrated by attending mass. Brunch will follow where we may tell a few stories of the Saints. At sundown we will head to our local cemetary to have a candlelight procession and pray for the dead. We will then come home to a dinner of pumpkin soup made from the pumkins we carved the day prior and a dessert of baked apples.


On all souls day we will attend mass and have another special breakfast/brunch. We will set up an altar with pictures of deceased loved ones and pray for them and remember them.



I will try to post pictures of all of the festivities later in the week. I hope everyone has a fun Halloween and I sincerely hope that if you're Christian, you'll try to incorporate your Christian roots in your holiday celebrations and I hope whatever your traditions involve that you enjoy them, and keep them going for years to come!

Meal Time 101

The Importance of the Family Meal

Meal times are, by far, my favorite parts of the day. I love coming together as a family to share good food, good drink, and good company. I love sharing our hopes and dreams with one another; I love discussing faith, politics, current events and anything else that's on our minds. I just love every part of it. Since the day my husband and I married we have eaten almost every meal that he's home for, together, at our table. This includes breakfast and lunch if he's off of work. We have continued this practice with the children from the time that they were both born and each meal we have together seems to reinforce, in my mind, the sacredness of family meals.

It's amazing to me that Christ placed such an importance on revealing himself through meals. He performed his first miracle during the marriage feast at Cana, he instituted the Eucharist at The Last Supper, he revealed himself to the disciples after his Resurrection over breakfast and then again in the breaking of the bread at the table with the disciples that were on the road to Emmaus. The Church herself carries on the tradition of revealing Christ to the faithful through the sacrament of the Eucharist. Christ is revealed to us and is truly present when we participate in this holy meal at Mass. The Church places importance on meals in the celebration of the liturgical year as well. There are feast days where we celebrate by feasting in remembrance of a Saint or an important biblical event and there are fast and abstinence days where we give up something we really want to eat or skip a meal in the spirit of sacrifice. Following the example of Christ and His Church, what better way is there for parents to reveal Christ to their families and pass on the teachings of the faith than through the breaking of bread together at the family table?

In addition to the beautiful spiritual aspects of meal time, there are obvious physical, psychological and behavioral benefits of the family meal as well. There are plenty of studies that have been done, and I'm sure everyone has heard of them, that show that children that eat meals with their family have lower delinquency rates than those that do not. A few years back, the grocery store I frequented even had the studies printed on the sides of the paper grocery sacks. You can't deny the benefits in that department. I also believe that children that eat at the table with their family will likely develop healthier eating habits, better manners, and better social skills. I'm sure I could find a study to back it up but it just seems like common sense to me.

Start Eating Together Today

So, with all of the benefits of the family meal, let's all start eating together today! I know...it's easier said than done. If you're already eating together, great! Keep it up and always remember how important it is. If you're not, there's no better time to start than now!

I have been married for almost five years. I know that's but a drop in the bucket to many of you wives and mommy's out there. I'm sure you can run circles around me in the kitchen and have learned more tricks over the years than experience has taught me thus far. But I'm also aware that there are many spouses and parents that were never raised eating family meals regularly and may be embarrassed about not even knowing how to begin this tradition in their own families. I have prepared around 1,700 family meals since I've been married (that's counting three a day minus our average of 12 meals out a year and other meals eaten on vacation, etc.) That's a lot of meals! Enough, at least, for me to have learned what works well for my family and to feel confident in sharing that information with you, if you're interested.

If family meals are not a tradition in your household right now, I suggest just jumping right in today--or tomorrow depending on when you're reading this...don't let excuses stop you. I don't care how bad of a cook you think you are, everyone has something in their refrigerator and/or pantry that can be turned into a meal. Do you only have canned soup? Heat it up, put it in a fancy soup bowl on a pretty place setting and serve it with some crackers or a slice of bread. Don't forget to turn OFF the TV...with TiVo there are no excuses. Add a glass of wine and a candle if you really want to improve the atmosphere. If breakfast is the next meal you have coming up, STOP reading this and get out some cereal, set the table for tomorrow morning and make sure everyone is up in time to spend 15 minutes eating together before work, school, etc. My point is that you have to start somewhere and getting in the habit of eating together, right now, is more important than the quality of food you may have available at the moment. Studies show it takes 21 days to learn a new habit, so start now!

If you have minimal to no cooking skills at all, learning to plan ahead, shop and prepare the food will come with time, be patient with yourself in this regard but start eating together now, even if it's mac n' cheese or canned soup! If you have teenagers that have activities, try your best to plan meals around them and if it seems they are gone every night then reach deep down inside of yourself, take hold of your God given parental authority, and explain that extracurricular activities need to be cut back. Trust me, they will benefit more by being home with the family for dinner an additional night a week than they would from whatever extracurricular activity they were involved in.

I am also aware that many homes have two parents working full time. Does this make eating meals as a family more difficult? Absolutely. I won't sugar coat my opinion on this one. It's a sad state of affairs when small children have to be woken at ghastly hours of the morning and are sent with a pop tart or another processed finger food to be eaten in the car on the way to daycare. Then, at the end of the day, parents are so tired that the easiest thing to do is run through the drive through on the way home from work, etc. Obviously this is an extreme example here, there are probably a lot of dual income households that have learned ways to make meal time a priority in their homes, so if you're one of them, good for you! If you and your spouse both work outside of the home and are struggling to prepare and eat meals with your family, then it may be time to look at your priorities in life and make a few changes. If you are a wife that struggles with feelings of resentment about changing habits to make more time for cooking, etc., it may help to prayerfully read about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31: 10-31..."She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls" (verse 15). Copy the verses and paste them to your mirror for reading before you go to bed and when you wake up for some extra encouragement.

From Chaos to a Structured Meal Time

Chaos and disorganization can be a problem for many people that are just learning how to implement the practice of family meals. Here are some rules that we follow in our home that may help you to create a structured routine for your meal time:

-Give everyone in the family a 10 minutes until meal time announcement. During this time they are to clean up any toys or projects they are working on, wash hands and help with any last minute preparations like setting the table, etc. This will help settle everyone down into meal time mode.

-Wait until everyone is seated at the table to begin the meal. I feel that grace is a must in order to properly thank God and to teach children (and ourselves!) to be grateful for our blessings. Grace is a clear signal to everyone that the meal has started. This way you don't have half the family already eating while some are still working on getting seated, etc. Remember, once the meal has started, enjoy each other! Talk, laugh, tell stories, ask questions, try to include everyone in the conversation.

-Have procedures and rules for getting up from the table during the meal, children should ask to be excused to use the bathroom, etc. and adults should be a good example and properly excuse themselves if they need to get up as well.

-Decide ahead of time whether you prefer to serve from the table or bring the plates already filled to the table and know what the procedure is for getting seconds, etc. Teach the children to ask properly for more and not demand it.

-When everyone has finished their food, it may help to say a concluding meal prayer to thank God again for the food just eaten and to signal and end to meal time. Not
everyone does a concluding prayer, but I think it's nice. If you don't do a concluding
prayer make it clear that no one gets up from the table until everyone is done eating and any conversation that was taking place has been concluded.

-Children should then ask to get down and if they are of an appropriate age should help clear the dishes, etc.

Now, I know this all may seem very rigid and strict to some people, but if meal time seems chaotic to you right now just give these rules a try and I promise it will begin to bring order and peace.

Planning Meals

Once eating together is established as a nonnegotiable rule in your family for which ever meals are appropriate for your situation, start focusing on planning your menus in advance. Planning your meals should also become a habit in your life if you wish your meal time efforts to remain successful and develop into a long term family tradition. There may be some that object to meal planning with the excuse that they are a spontaneous person and don't perform well when held to a strict schedule. My response to this is be spontaneous about what clothes you're going to wear tomorrow or music you decide to listen to. Spontaneity is not conducive to feeding a family on a daily basis. This doesn't mean you can't change your mind at the last minute about what you're going to cook, but it's pretty hard to spontaneously cook chicken parmesan instead of cajun chicken when the chicken hasn't been thawed! Understand? Spontaneity (I prefer to call it what it is--irresponsibility) will also cost you a lot more money than being properly prepared at the grocery store and knowing what you need.

Everyone has a different style when it comes to planning, some prefer computer planners some prefer paper and pencil. I like to use a calendar specifically devoted to meal planning. The Dollar Tree has 8x1o yearly planners that have 12 monthly calendars with big daily squares for writing, they have worked really well for me and it keeps everything organized...and if you make it through an entire year of planning meals, you have an amazing guide to help you plan the following year! I leave the calendar in the Kitchen so my husband can easily see what's on the menu and help out if necessary or pencil in any requests he has for the month. Here is the method that works for me:

-I begin by consulting the family schedule and making note of any days we will be gone or have appointments that could interfere with cooking, and choose appropriate meals for that day. Then I fill in all of the days I automatically know what we're going to have. For example, in my family, every Friday we rotate between the same four meals for dinner, so I can easily fill in Fridays. There are also a few other meals that have become family favorites that we like to have every month, for some reason I have chosen Saturday for those meals, so I fill in the appropriate Saturdays with those meals. Also, since I'm Catholic, I consult a liturgical calendar and make note
of any feast days, memorials, etc. coming up and plan any special traditional meals I would like for those days.

-I then start focusing on the coming week by checking the weekly specials at the grocery stores and consulting my "recipe list", a master list I have developed over the last several years and am continually adding to. My recipe list is divided into warm weather recipes, cool weather recipes, and a miscellaneous section or year round recipes.

-Once I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to have for the next week, I make my shopping list. I check the fridge and pantry to double check what items I do or don't have and plan accordingly.

-I repeat the same process the following week and the following week, etc. until a new month begins and then I start back at the first step.

Try adjusting the planning to what works for you, because in the end, if it's working for your family and you like it then stick with it regardless of what I or anyone else does. Also, I think it's best to start simple and only plan dinner menus...do try to have a basic idea of what you want for breakfast and lunch so you know what to buy at the store, if you want to later expand into planning breakfast and lunch as well, great!

Other miscellaneous tips:

-This may seem obvious, but keep a running shopping list in the kitchen where everyone knows it's location. The minute you notice you are low or are out of a staple, put it on the list. Everyone in the family should know the procedure for this.

-I have found it very useful to keep a "freezer list" handy. Take an initial inventory of what you have in your freezer and make a list. Everytime you take something out and use it, cross it off the list. If you add something to the freezer add it to the list. This will eliminate a lot of confusion and wasted time in your life.

-If you feel you are in a planning slump or just can't make a decision about what to have ask your spouse or children if they are craving anything special. Sometimes a little inspiration is all we need to get us through planning a few days, and there's nothing that will motivate your family to get to the table more than a favorite meal they got to choose.

Choosing Recipes and Cooking Basics

There is way too much information about these topics for me to even think about condensing and writing about in a few paragraphs for this blog post. In fact, there are already so many good books out there, that if you need help in this department I suggest you check out the library, and if you're too cool for the library or don't feel you have the time then just surf the web and you can find out pretty much anything you want to know about cooking. I will share a few tips though that I think are useful.

-If you're just starting out with cooking...KEEP IT SIMPLE! There are a ton of easy, fast recipes that use things like condensed soups, frozen vegetables and easy to handle cuts of meat that anyone can put together. Manufacturer websites, like Kraft, Betty Crocker, etc. usually have great recipe sections for quick and easy meals. And, no matter how advanced your cooking skills get, it is always a good idea to keep a few of these tried and true, simple recipe ingredients around for emergencies and last minute meals, etc. because you're not going to be the perfect meal planner 100% of the time.

-My Grandma always taught me that some of the best recipes are on the ingredient packages. I have found this to be true on more than one occasion. The company wants you to buy their product again so they're going to put a recipe the works on the package.

-If you have made the goal to really learn about cooking and improve your skills then start taking mental notes. Don't just blindly follow recipes, really try to learn the purpose of different ingredients and how they interact with each other. What does adding cornstarch to the sauce do, and how much of it do you need to do it? What ingredients can be substituted for other ingredients? Can you vary the amount of oil in a certain recipe without affecting the results too much? Do you have to have exactly one cup of a certain ingredient or can you just eyeball it? ETC, ETC. The goal in my opinion is that you eventually get to a stage where you really don't need to use recipes on a daily basis except as a guide or when trying something new.

-Try challenging yourself on a regular basis, try a recipe once a week that involves a new cooking skill so you can learn about it. Are you intimidated by cutting up a whole chicken? Give it a shot! You may be surprised at how simple it is to do. Confidence naturally flows from experience, so if you want to become more confident, then try new things and don't give up if you fail the first time.

-Learn to cook and eat a variety of different foods and teach your children to at least try them. Yes, I said "Learn to eat". I think it's reasonable that everyone has some foods they just don't like...me...I can't stand stinky gourmet cheeses and there's no way I'll ever eat them unless I am a guest in someone's home and it is on the menu, then I just suck it up and do it. But, come on, saying the only meat you'll eat
is chicken or beef and the only vegetables you'll eat are broccoli or carrots and you don't eat whole wheat bread and you don't like any dressing other than Ranch is just plain immature and picky. They say it takes 10 times of trying a new food before you get used to the flavor. So try new things, then try them again and again and you will eventually learn to eat a variety of different foods and may even come to really enjoy them.

-Try to keep daily meals healthy. Save heavy meals and desserts for once a week or special occasions.

-Make sure to keep your recipes organized and make sure to make a list of recipes you decide are keepers. There is nothing worse that recalling what a good meal you had last month, but you've forgotten what and where the recipe is.

No More Excuses!

Now that you have a basic idea of how to implement family meals into your life, I hope you'll start doing it if you weren't already. Really, you have no excuses not to. I don't mean to sound harsh. But these are our families, Ladies (or men if you're reading this). I'm sick of worrying I'm hurting someones oversensitive feelings. We are responsible for the well being of our families in every way and it is just plain irresponsible to not be providing them with well balanced, well structured meals on a regular basis. Stop arguing with your spouse about how much you have to do and who's job it is to do what and JUST DO IT! Remember if you need some extra inspiration read about the Proverbs 31 woman and try to make it a goal to live up to her standards.