A Typical Weekend

What do you do on the weekends? Are they packed full of activities and shopping, and leave you just as exhausted on Monday morning as you were on Friday evening? Or are they peaceful, restorative, and fruitful?

Today I spent the morning catching up on and planning out our finances while Sabrina watched Anne of Green Gables movies. Then, after a lunch of yesterday's leftovers, I cleaned the bathroom while supervising her shower (she's learning how to wash her long hair on her own). While I got laundry going, I utilized Sabrina's skill at pulling things out of cupboards and had her clean out my kitchen pantry. She organized items into groups while I reorganized putting them back in. It looks fabulous and nothing falls out at me anymore when I open the door! I also know what to put on my grocery list for tomorrow.

Then while I prepared the lamb for my Make-Ahead Lamb Stew recipe, Sabrina played and read nearby, occasionally showing me her discoveries and singing me songs. When it came time to change the loads of laundry, she came with me and I taught her how to remove grease stains (her dad gives us lots of practice). While the stew was simmering, I decided to make a fresh batch of hummus and brown some meatballs to put in the crockpot tomorrow. Sabrina made the meatball mix all by herself, with my direction. She also helped me roll them, which went much faster! The hummus only took a couple of minutes to whirl up in the food processor, just the way I like it.

Why do I share this level of detail with you? Because I am very careful with the extra activities I allow into my time, I am able to spend quality time with my daughter teaching her things that will help her when she's on her own, make homemade food for my family, and devote the time and attention to my household that it needs. I still have another day yet to rest with my family, visit friends, and finish what couldn't be accomplished today. I can start my week refreshed and refueled, knowing that all is well at home.

What do we teach our children but our same chaotic habits when we do not stop long enough to evaluate what is really important to be investing our time in? Activities for children have their time and place, but they do not replace the one-on-one time of teaching and relationship-building that Sabrina and I had this weekend. Do you really need to go to the mall? WalMart? Or could you rearrange your cupboard and remind yourself of what you already have? Is your freezer full of convenience food? Do you eat out more than once a week? Do you despair over your grocery bill? Take some time on the weekend to plan meals and a grocery list that does not spend most of your budget on prepared items that you could easily and cheaply make at home.

Our week is busy enough without adding any more to it. I work full time as an accounting manager and Sabrina goes to school and before/after-school program. Corrie works a long day in his tow truck. The only times we ask ourselves "is there more to life than this?" is if we have wasted our precious free time on things that don't bear fruit. For each family, those things will be different. I challenge you today to take some time to evaluate yours and pursue the balance that you have been longing for.

Hummus (mom_of_4 style)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
enough olive oil to make desired texture

Put all ingredients but the olive oil into a food processor with the chopping blade. Whirl together while drizzling in olive oil. Stop occasionally to scrape down sides and taste balance of flavors. Hummus has been blended with enough oil when it is smooth with no lumps, not runny, but has a firm texture that can be dipped with raw veggies, crackers, or pita bread. It is also delicious as a spread on sandwiches or wraps.

A favorite high-protein, high-fibre, non-dairy snack! You can reduce the fat by substituting water for olive oil, but if you know me, you know that low-fat is not in my vocabulary.

Make-Ahead Lamb Stew

MAKE AHEAD LAMB STEW

Printed from COOKS.COM

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□ 1 lb. lean boneless lamb stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes
□ 1 1/2 tbsp. olive or salad oil
□ 1 sm. clove garlic, minced or pressed
□ 3/4 c. regular strength chicken broth
□ 1/2 c. dry white wine or more chicken broth
□ 1/4 tsp. marjoram
□ 1/4 tsp. savory leaves
□ 2 med. carrots
□ 1/4 lb. sm. white boiling onions (I like to use 2 shallots)
□ 3 sm. new potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch thick slices (I use red potatoes, diced)
□ Chopped parsley
□ 1/4 tsp. sage
□ 1/4 tsp. grated lemon peel

Trim excess fat and membrane from lamb. Heat oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat; add lamb, cook uncovered, until well browned on all sides. Add garlic, stirring until lightly browned. Stir in chicken broth, wine, lemon peel, marjoram and savory. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, cut carrots diagonally in 1-inch lengths. Plunge onions into boiling water for about 1 minute; drain and peel. When lamb has simmered for 1 hour, add carrots, onions, and potato slices to frying pan. Then cover and simmer until vegetables are fork tender, approximately 30 to 35 minutes more.

With slotted spoon, lift vegetables and meat from pan and place in individual bowls. Turn heat to high and boil liquid to reduce to about 1/2 cup; pour over stew. Sprinkle with parsley.

Microwave Scrambled Eggs

Being pregnant, I've been needing to increase my protein intake because I'm so hungry all the time. Especially in the morning. When I discovered this technique for making scrambled eggs in the microwave I was skeptical, but pleasantly surprised to discover that it works really well! And you can add some cheese to it too for a cheesy scrambled egg that hits the spot.

(from Little House in the Suburbs)

Perfect Microwave Eggs
by Ivory Soap on September 1, 2009

It’s not possible. I know. But trust me. It all works off that ‘eggs continue cooking after they leave the stove’ thing.

1. Place eggs in CERAMIC bowl and scramble well.

2. UNDERCOOK them. For my micky, it’s 30 seconds per egg.

This is too wet:

What you’re looking for is just before it permanently adheres to the sides of the bowl. Little sloshy puddle in the bottom. For me, it’s 30 seconds per egg.

3. Break it up and salt it. It looks like this:

See? Still a little wet. That’s intentional.

4. Let it sit to finish cooking. Stir a few times to coat. If it doesn’t set after a minute or two, pop it back in for, like, ten seconds…tops.

5. Serve

6. Rinse out the bowl before the remaining egg sheen turns to super glue.
(I would say “Waa-laa!” but the humorless French Police keep beating down the door to my inbox.)

Ivory

Student Accident Insurance

I used to think insuring your child was morbid. I wondered who would want to cash in on the possible death or dismemberment of their child? I would throw out the student accident insurance forms as soon as they come home.

This year I realized that it had nothing to do with "cashing in" or benefiting from your own family's misfortune. Do you know how much income you would have to give up to care for an injured child or how much time you would need off from work if you were grieving? What if your child required long-term care?

I know for those of you with healthy children and uneventful lives, these things are unthinkable. And so they should be. But I also know that you cannot predict what the future may bring or keep the unthinkable from breaking through. If you're like I was and have been unwilling to consider the necessity for insurance, maybe look at it this way. I don't call it student accident insurance, I call it family care insurance. Your family can be taken care of so you can take care of each other.

The Real Reason

OK. The real reason why I didn't follow through with vegetarianism was that I was newly pregnant. And not because I don't think you can have a healthy vegetarian pregnancy, but that this baby wants MEAT.

Compromise

Well, I went vegetarian (practically vegan most of the time) this week and found it a lot harder than I wanted it to be. In my typical style, I had forged ahead with a new lifestyle change without preparing for it adequately, so I was depressed at my lack of choice of items to cook with and prepare for lunches. I was cold, irritable, and had a vague sense of anxiety most of the week.
By the weekend, with no visible change I was hoping for with the digestion issues, I went back to the Bible and God graced me with this passage from Genesis 9:

1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. [emphasis mine]

OK, so God did intend for us to eat meat, too. But I still don't think factory-farming fits into His covenant with us. So, I strive for a happy medium. A compromise. Because after a week of one extreme, I went to the other extreme this weekend. I felt more satisfied, and warmer again, but it didn't help the digestive issues at all either.

Here's the new plan:

1. Search out sources of meat and eggs approved by the Winnipeg Humane Society. There's a number of places in the city that sell locally-grown, free-range, pasture-fed meat and eggs.

2. Eat less meat and more vegetarian meals. There are an overwhelming number of facts out there that show that our greed for flesh protein is at a huge cost to the environment and to the amount of food that could be produced to feed the world.

3. Choose wisely when eating out. Anything that is cheap and easy is that for a reason.

4. Choose grain alternatives to wheat wherever possible. I still have reasons to believe that wheat sensitivity is part of my issues. And modern-day wheat does not have the nutrients, fibre, and protein content that other whole grains such as spelt and quinoa have.

5. Choose to treat meat and animal products with respect. I want to be mindful of the sacrifice that was made to nourish me and my family.

I think if I had given it more meal planning, and had stocked my fridge and pantry better, my week may not have been so difficult. However, I go on these journeys to learn something. I learned that my body needs some meat. I learned that eating whatever way I want still does not help me. I also have learned about where my food comes from and I think that's important. What worries more is the quick reply, "I don't want to know..." and the refusal to listen to the truth. If you don't listen to truth, what do you listen to?