FREE Gourmet Dinner Tonight!

Today was just a normal day; the kids went to school and progress reports came home. Homeworks were done and checked. Forms signed and put back in the folders.

The kids wanted a specific meal but I don't have one of the ingredients for it, so they'll have to wait until we go to the grocery store next time. Of course, sometimes that's a blessing. Also, do you remember when I posted about stocking up to share? And I told you how blessings pour out when you do?

Here's proof: Check out this dinner menu:

Italian Wedding Soup
Ribeye steak
Garlic Fried Rice
Potatoes & Green Beans Steamers
Ice Water
Cheesecake slivers

Delish and gourmet, right? But it's all FREE! Yes, FREE!

First, my awesome neighbor, Annette, got a humongous cheesecake last night. This afternoon, she surprised us with half and claims that they have more in their house. Yikes! The cheesecake slices are big enough for 3 people! Then, I found two medium sized ribeye steaks in the freezer and baked them in foils. After we made the fried rice from leftovers. I also found a bag of Potatoes and Green Beans Steamers from last month's grocery trip and the can of soup was from my pantry. After everything was ready, I sliced up the two lean medium cut ribeye steaks to feed 5 people.

I guess the kids will just have to enjoy another luscious and FREE cheesecake for dessert, but just a sliver because it is a New York variety meaning all cheesecake! No crust for Ian...

Oh, did I tell you that the ribeyes I made were from Annette, too? She gave them to me last month. So, I guess tonight, we literally ate for FREE!

*************************************************


Day 35
Love is Accountable
"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established."
Proverbs 15:22 KJV

DARE:
Find a marriage mentor—someone who is a strong Christian and who will be honest and loving with you. If you feel that counseling is needed, then take the first step to set up an appointment. During this process, ask God to direct your decisions and discernment.

What I Did:
Charlie and I have this thing everynight where we just go up to each other and hug and whisper I love you several times. It melts away any irritations and renews our relationship- FREE counseling!

I'm glad we do this, because currently we are surrounded by other couples who fight and cuss at each other, cheat on each other and blame their children, separate for petty reasons and the list goes on and that's just the last two weeks! When they talk about it, they don't see how petty or insignificant the reason was, they just wanted to be validated for the hurt. Or how hurtful it is that they let their children hear how disrespectful they were to them by cussing and calling each other names.

FHE: Dining on the Cheap

Tonight, we extended on our 10-day project by having an inexpensive dinner. I ran late so no photos, but we discussed what we learned about not spending for over a week and what that meant for us. We also had join us, our two missionaries, Heather and her son Chase Wolfe, plus we equally divided the food with another family who just had a beautiful baby girl.

So, here's the menu:
Hawaiian Haystacks
Triple Play Tropical Mock Cocktail- (Pineapple, Orange and Lemonade)
Chocolate Trifle

You're wondering how cheap can this be. Let me illuminate:
The main thing we bought today were chicken ($9), orange and pineapple juice cans ($4). The rest, we had in the house. We spent $13, and fed four families.

The FREE dessert were 9 cups of Hunt's Chocolate Pudding, and cut up angel food cake. Layered in low clear drinking glasses for each person. When everyone was ready for dessert, I topped each glass with two small scoops of any flavor ice cream and low-fat whipped cream. Yes, we had all of these in the house, repurposed for company. Enjoyed by three families. Plus, it's healthier, too, since pudding is low-fat if not fat-free, angel food cake is low-fat and two small scoops of ice cream is less than half of what you get at your local ice cream place.

Clever, huh? It was a nice lesson on living on less and being creative with what you have available. The moral is, if you stock up on what you can live with, you can live with your stock and live well.

April 1942 counsel from the

LDS First Presidency:

"In the day of plenty, prepare for the day of scarcity."

*******************************************************


Day 34
Love Celebrates Godliness
"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; "
1 Corinthians 13:6 KJV

DARE:
Find a specific, recent example when your spouse demonstrated Christian character in a noticeable way. Verbally commend them for this at some point today.

What I Did:
He just did this; he gave the missionaries ride to their next appointment right after dinner since their bikes wouldn't get them there on time. I thanked him for it.

What? When Did this Happen?

Ok, you're probably going to think I AM so unorganized lately, but hey, life happens, you know? Even the Feng Shui girl, Stephanie McWilliams get overwhelmed with life. It happens!
In the midst of my schooling, the kids schedule, Charlie's work hours, two adorable but picky pets, tablescaping, blogging, penny pinching, household duties and photography (pant, pant...) stuff gets overlooked and things surprise you!

(You're reading this and two things are happening right now: you can't stop nodding your head because you're laughing from seeing your own chaotic days, or you are saying, "Man, I can't believe she's so overloaded! I'll never be like that!" Yeah, like that'll happen! Good luck with that...)

Anyway, so during the last 10 days, we only: (The rest of the story...)
Ate, played with, used, didn't use, portioned, thought of, avoided, cleaned, planned and gave away (excess) food and items that are in our apartment. And during this time of "self-reliance", I personally discovered (with some looks of transparent surprised ("what? we didn't have anymore? we ran out? I didn't know we had that...") faces from my brood) that...

1. Our burner liners were becoming a set of fire hazard charcoals from spills. That's what I get when I try to teach my children responsibility (LOL). It is nothing short of a miracle that we didn't produce "ash smelling or charcoal tasting" dishes, that's for sure!

2. Our whole apartment has become host to most of our kitchen towels- the dirty ones- FOLDED! (It was maddening at first, but after a while, it was hilarious to see them in so many different places.) Again, responsibility is such a two sided blade... ;-)

3. We have not had a bath mat in the kids' bathroom floor since our cat, Cece, prefers to pee on them rather than her litter box! Ewww! But, the kids safety comes first so we gave in and grabbed one today. (I don't know if it'll be a nice surprise or the kids will try to telepathically convey to Cece to leave the mats alone! Or... give me a glare that'll melt me to the floor for setting up another soon to be disaster. What do you think? LOL)

4. We've been cleaning the bathrooms with one brush. (gag fest over here!). Normally, most won't see anything wrong with that. We were being frugal is all, you can all understand, right? But, our bathrooms are a whole story apart, so can you imagine what kind of a yucky transport that is? This is how it normally goes: when I need it, I use it and leave it in our bathroom (no window- hate it!). When the kids need it, normally Lisa's in charge, she has to ask to get it while grabbing a hole-deprived grocery bag to transport the brush upstairs! She then cleans the said toilet in distress, toss the bag, rinse the brush, spray the tub with Lysol, rinse with hot water then cold water to sanitize it. And vice versa... the cycle goes on. Why?!

5. That most of our books have been read and read well (most are worn from being read in different rooms and spots in our small living room) that my children can "continue" the stories playing the game, "What If..." (I told you I have cool kiddos!)

6. That I like using my crockpot (what? when did that happen?) My MIL gave it to me a few Christmases ago, but had very few reasons to use it then, but the last 10 days, it was key to my flexibility in putting together a meal and great tablescapes! I'm a new fan! Does this mean I'll use it more, just maybe, I don't like to make promises I can't keep, you know... ;-)

There, so now you know the rest of the story of our "Being Self-Reliant" Family Project. We were lucky to be so "equipped" to do this without realizing it in the beginning. I kid you not, I was the one most worried as I'd be the first to be thrown into a volcano ready to spew if we happened to not have enough food to play with and enjoy. I'm Filipino, Charlie went to the Philippines, my children survive on rice and soysauce. You get the picture... Whew!

Oh, did we tell you? We also celebrated with ice cream... We hadn't had any since we paired them with angel food cups! Yummy exhale... And a trip to Walmart today...

WE DID IT!!!

We survived on what we have in the house for 10 days! The only things we had to buy were breads, milk and eggs plus bottled water we normally slowly stock up on for the summer. Albertson's were selling 6-packs for 50 cents each! For not spending outside of what we needed, we actually saved over $100!!! With me in school, I've made mistakes of doubling on certain things. The cut off was today, at 5PM, so to announce our victory, Charlie and I treated the kids to their favorite Italian restaurant. No, not expensive at all. A big portion of Chicken Parmesan is only $5.99!

THINGS WE LEARNED:
1. We didn't mind not having TV for 10-days at a time; Ian said, "I like not having TV, we talk more."
2. We didn't miss looking through clearance bins as much as we thought.
3. We became closer, because we played, sang and talked more;
4. We truly love each other and enjoy being together. One visitor said, "your family looks very together". I thank her for seeing that. Jasmine and I love doing tablescapes and Lisa loved coming home knowing there's food in the house. Her friends constantly murmured about not having anything in their house to eat, so they hang out at their friends' instead. She tells them, "I don't have that problem at my house; Daniel pipes in, "She's telling the truth; I love going to her house, her mom makes good food and make it look good, too!"
5. We are truly humbled to know we can be Together Forever and belong to the Lord's true church.

CHARLIE, LISA, JASMINE AND IAN. I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR GOING THROUGH LIFE WITH ME...

(Now, Charlie's thinking we should go for a whole month! Yikes!)
*************************************************

Day 31
Love and Marriage
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
Genesis 2:24 KJV

DARE:
Is there a “leaving” issue you haven’t been brave enough to conquer yet? Confess it to your spouse today, and resolve to make it right. The oneness of your marriage is dependent upon it. Follow this with a commitment to your spouse and to God to make your marriage the top priority over every other human relationship.

What I Did:

I can honestly say that Charlie and I constantly refresh our togetherness by talking about how good we are for each other, and we are very grateful for that fact.

A Quiet Day? Maybe Not...

Today was cereal again for breakfast as the kiddos didn't really want anything, but I was told that once they got to school (Ian and Jas), they ate breakfast again. So all was good. I can't believe it is Day 8; two more days... The only thing we had to pick up today were balloons for Sage and Britta tomorrow- to remember their brief time here on earth with two amazing families... The Eldredge and the Hanson.

Charlie and I slept in after Lisa left for school and not much after that, just more organizing and brief visit with my neighbor, Heather Wolfe. The kiddos came home wanting snack, so they had popcorn and some Otter pops to cool off. Then homework and playtime outside. I visited blogs and choked on some lovely comments (Thanks, Anne, Caitlyn and Rorie!) while also keeping up with the house. Charlie put away my dinnerware sets up in the pantry and I was able to put away my Gorham "Flowering Meadow" crystal goblets and flutes in a more secure box. Thank goodness for that!

We then picked up the mail and then Lisa at the highschool after their Pre-UIL competition. They were told they did pretty well, so we'll see on that. If they get a 1, they are again in the lead.

Charlie played with Jas and Ian and taught them how electricity works. He used the book, "Science Fun Station" and showed them how batteries work and how to even create a switch.




Watch the bulb...

Do you see it? It's lit!

Ok, here's one more fun thing they did.

They made a SWITCH using a clip and two bolts! Watch Ian...

How cool is that?! Thank you, Daddy!

Daddies are so much fun, don't you think? WE DO!


For dinner, we decided to use the spaghetti sauce for something else. I remembered that Annette also gave me some ribeye steaks during their recent "half-a-cow" purchase that they do every year, so I made those. Just a quick run on the grill on both sides, a little salt and pepper and that's it! Of course, around here, steak means, rice on the side, so... Here's our ribeye steak strips on rice with spaghetti sauce and peas! We had ruby red grapejuice to drink! YUM!


We hope you had a great dinner, too!
************************************************

Day 29

Love's Motivation

"With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:"

Ephesians 6:7 KJV

DARE:

Before you see your spouse again today, pray for them by name and for their needs. Whether it comes easy for you or not, say “I love you,” then express love to them in some tangible way. Go to God in prayer again, thanking Him for giving you the privilege of loving this one special person—unconditionally, the way He loves both of you.

What I Did:

I actually do this every night; I pray that he is safe and that those around him would be supportive and aware of his goodness so he can get over his shyness at work and be let to shine as he loves everything about commercial airplanes. I tell him that I love him several times a day and ask him for his opinion on most things as I value his wisdom. I am very grateful for my husband and Heavenly Father gets an earful of that statement a day also! :-)

Back to School, Back to Normal...

Today is Day 7 of our "Being Self-Reliant" family project. Yes, we lasted one whole week!!!

Not much happened today except that Spring Break is officially over! Today, since Charlie was off, he let me sleep in while he took the kids to school and then stocked up on some water. After about 8:45, he took off again for his doctor's appointment and dropped off some lunch money for the little ones' account at school. Don't I have a wonderful husband? YES, I DO!

Also, today, to distract me from my own aching back and grieving for Crystal's loss, Charlie agreed to have me browse the Housewares aisles in one of the nearby Goodwill Store. I didn't buy anything; as we are still on our family project of needs only... Was I sad, only a little because there wasn't much to salivate over.

Charlie and I shared some leftover lasagna then went back out to stock up on more water. Albertson's near us was selling 6-packs of Deja Blue bottled waters for 50 cents each! Since we stock up on water for Summer, this fell under the NEEDS category!

We also walked to the bus stop to meet Ian then turned around and picked up Jasmine from Choir practice. After Lisa got home, Ian and Jas were finishing up their homeworks and snacks.

Then we decided on an inexpensive dinner: Spaghetti with sausage, garlic bread and ice water. Remember, we are on "whatever's in the house" way of living, and since they are full on eating lettuce, peas and corn as veggies, then I didn't mind forgoing some tonight.

As before, I make our meager dinner interesting by setting a nice plate. I'm loving these striped dinnerware more and more, I already got my money's worth in so many different settings I tried with it.

Here's the spaghetti! This is Charlie's plate. I added the only Robin Egg's blue plate my MIL gave me to add height to the setting. He took this picture; he had the glass height changed so he can take this beautiful shot. Our dinner, $0, ice water, $0, knowing everyone loved it, PRICELESS...


Family Home Evening Activity: We played Jenga and learned about taking turns and patience.

************************************************

Day 28

Love Others Like God Loves You

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

1 John 3:16 KJV

Dare:

Purpose to do what you can to meet the greatest need in your spouse's life right now.

What I Did:

Charlie has a very strenuous line of work and often comes home very exhausted. So, to recognize that, I offer massages and have been finding ways to cook the foods he loves.

Day 5- Just Playing...

So it's Day 5 of our family project and we enjoyed more cereal and leftovers today. We didn't go anywhere so that means, no $$ was spent! Yes!

To pass the time, we did laundry and played- a lot! Barbie, Legos, Hot Wheels and of course, I blogged. I also made Charlie's favorite dinner, one of them, and his fave dessert.

I found these plates at a nearby Goodwill for 99 cents each. Since there are yellows and gold in the centerpiece, I used my golden yellow plates to bring the yellow everywhere. The lack of blue anywhere else made the dainty design of the plates stand out a little better.



We made Hawaiian Haystacks and it turned out so yummy! The tablesetting is my rendition of using and re-using what we have. So the mums were transferred from the green bowl to my vegetable pitcher that I rarely used. Since I won those cute chicks, I paired them up with my rooster, "Red" and he proudly completed the centerpiece vignette. He's such a handsome fella!



And here's a piece of the Butterscotch Banana Bread that Charlie didn't let cool down before he ate a big piece. It is good warm, that's for sure! See the cute chickie peeking up at me? I think he's trying to ask for a piece, too! Should I give him some?

I am glad that it's the Sabbath tomorrow; it's a bonus day as we don't do any sort of business on Sundays.

Friday Catch up Today

Yesterday was a little distracting for me; finding out that my friend Crystal is hurting made me weak and foggy all day. Crystal was one of my former Visiting Teachers and she was one of the "good" ones. She loved learning about me and my family while she also filled my home with the love she felt for her growing family. It was always a treat to see her and finding out she has a blog was an unbelievable luck on my part. I loved reading all of her posts and the fun and love she infuses in each. She loves to make things herself and is a great student of all things fun! I've only been in her home once in AZ in the campus housing we were at and just like me, she made it a home even though she knew it would be temporary. I just love that about her. I hope she knows that her examples are still with me today and I use her genuine love of her VT sisters in my own visits to the ladies I get to meet.

And since Friday is our "lax" day, we walked to different stores and just "looked" at the clearance items they have. It satisfied our (ok mine...) curiosity for things we are not buying. We did have to buy Ian some band-aids because of a blister from his flip-flops.

Lunch was again just leftovers, we washed some more clothes and went down to our church building and cleaned it as a family. Good thing it was Spring Break; it was left fairly clean so we managed to clean up all by ourselves.

Dinner was almost at 9pm since we still had to do a quick milk and eggs run. Hubby refilled the van with gas just before work and finished what we had to do.

I'll post on what we did today, a little later...

Day 25

Love Forgives

"To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;"

2 Corinthians 2:10 KJV

DARE:
Whatever you haven’t forgiven in your mate, forgive it today. Let it go. Just as we ask Jesus to “forgive us our debts” each day, we must ask Him to help us “forgive our debtors” each day as well. Unforgiveness has been keeping you and your spouse in prison too long. Say from your heart, “I choose to forgive.”

What I Did:

Charlie normally is so quiet, I couldn't read him most times. And when I react, he doesn't understand why. So yesterday, I realized that I should just leave him alone after I try to get his attention three times.

***************************************************

Day 26

Love is Responsible

"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."

Romans 2:1 KJV

DARE:
Take time to pray through your areas of wrongdoing. Ask for God’s forgiveness, then humble yourself enough to admit them to your spouse. Do it sincerely and truthfully. Ask your spouse for forgiveness as well. No matter how they respond, make sure you cover your responsibility in love. Even if they respond with criticism, accept it by receiving it as counsel.

What I Did:

I actually did this yesterday, but I'll do it again...

Featuring... Cece & Dexter!

So it's Day 3 of our Spring Break family project. So far, so good... We've been having fun using up lots of eggs and milk, but hopefully, we have enough.

Today, we woke up hungry for some muffins. In our pantry, we found this!
So we quickly preheated the oven to 350, made the batter then set the table while we waited. We also found some maple bacon in one of the crispers, so we made that and breakfast looked like...

This!!! Isn't it yummy enough to power up your day? It was to us and we got a lot done!

While we washed dishes, did a few loads of laundry, cleaned the living room and vacuumed the floor, we decided that Dexter, our very cute and tenacious cockatiel, should be free for today, so we let him out of his cage. After a few practice landings on each of our heads, he settled on top of his cage long enough for me to snap this great shot.

Then Cece, our diva of a cat, got some pampering from Lisa by being handfed her snack. She's a pickier eater than Jasmine! We have to buy her different brands almost regularly!

Ian and Jasmine took this cute shot while they are drawing different random things on paper since no one's out yet to play.

Just before lunch, I decided to get a headstart on dinner by using the crock pot my MIL gave me the last time they were over for Christmas in Mesa, AZ with us. "Look Mom, I'm using it for the 7th time now. Aren't you proud of me?" LOL

We decided to have fun at lunch and use our "ZooPals" look-alike plastic plates! I got the Pinky the Pig.
We passed the time with music, dancing, taking showers, more dishwashing and laundry. We also baked some cookies I call, "Chocolate Chocolate Chip". They are so chocolatey, you have to say it twice! ;-)

Then, I realized that I can do an Asian night with what's in the crockpot. So Lisa made rice and I made Oriental Nido Soup with eggs and lobster balls. We had bbq beef ribs, so tender, it became pulled beef ribs!
Doesn't everything look delicious and in the spirit of being frugal, I refreshed last Friday's bouquet by using one of the good agapanthus stems and simulated a Japanese way of floral arrangement called Ikebana.
Then, right after dinner, I remembered that I received my winnings from a fellow blogger and tablescaper, Robyn. So we opened it and look at this cute shade! I love it!

This beautiful "Ball" Jar lamp and "foil" chicks will be featured again in Jasmine's birthday dinner party soon! She loves them as much as I do! Thank you, Robyn!
*************************************************

Day 24

Love vs. Lust

"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

1 John 2:17 KJV

DARE:
End it now. Identify every object of lust in your life and remove it. Single out every lie you’ve swallowed in pursuing forbidden pleasure and reject it. Lust cannot be allowed to live in a back bedroom. It must be killed and destroyed—today—and replaced with the sure promises of God and a heart filled with His perfect love.

What I Did:

Since I love tablescaping, I've really been salivating over different plates, but since we started this 10-day "Self-Reliance" project, the desire is not as strong to spend time looking at different dishes. A definite blessing; I find more time for my family!

Thanks for joining us on our adventure today!

Day 2 & Day 23

Second day into our "Self-Reliance" Project. We're doing good; we got a lot done!

Of course, you can't start the day without a great breakfast.

The kiddos voted on FRENCH TOAST!

This is my own recipe minus sugar since the syrup is enough to sweeten each slice. But remember, we have to set the table first...
(See the beautiful purple iris peeking? How about my new utensil pattern? I had to get new ones because the first two I got failed!)

You are salivating over one of the loaf heels and tangelo pieces and cold milk! Gotta use up everything, remember?

Afterwards, we were energized to do some gardening, how do you think we did?

Again, LUNCH was an array of leftovers. The kids know this about our weekends, so it's not a surprise when they ask for it. Conversely, they think I'm sick or something when I make something for lunch. I've trained them well, don't you think? LOL

SNACK was a failed attempt at making Chocolate & Toffee chip Chocolate cookies. It came out flat and crunchy! But because it tasted good anyway, the kids dubbed it, "Failure Cookies", our new ice cream crumble topping! YAY! They are recycling!

Just before dinner, we delivered some of our extra groceries to one of our member neighbors and made some new paper out of grocery ads! We'll show you how it turns out tomorrow...

Doesn't it look fun? We got this Bill Nye Paper Recycling Factory kit at Walmart for 90% off!
Lisa and I were in the background getting ready for dinner...

For dinner, we found a package of this so we mixed it with some ricotta cheese, ground beef, Italian herbs, spaghetti sauce, eggs and spinach and three other cheeses to top it all off then wait for 1.5 hours...


Why don't we set the table while we waited to have a slice of...


My very FIRST SUCCESSFUL lasagna!!! AKA 4-Cheese with Spinach Lasagna. (Yes, my previous four attempts ended in embarrassing looking mess.) Charlie, Lisa and I loved it! Ian and Jas found some bbq wings in the freezer. We also ate toast and had lemonade! Want a slice?



***************************************************


Day 23
Love Always Protects
"Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
1 Corinthians 13:7 KJV

DARE:
Remove anything that is hindering your relationship, any addiction or influence that’s stealing your affections and turning your heart away from your spouse.

What I Did:
I think right now would be my blogging, but he supports me on it, and our reliance project is helping me prioritize better between blogging and family, lol! No need for any intervention yet! ;-)

Day 1 and Day 22

Self- Reliance Project

Day 1

So now that we have an organized pantry, coming up with a menu for my very first St. Patrick's Day dinner came together much easier. But first we had to get breakfast out of the way! The kids voted on PANCAKES, so...

From the pantry, we got some

Then from inside the fridge, some


Put it all together
Then add some homemade honey butter and make some yummy...
First, we have to set the table in a nice manner
Then serve the pancakes with berries, syrup, butter and ice-cold milk!

Lunch was just leftovers and then we did some errands. When we got back, back to the business of the dinner. We invited Daniel over since it is Spring Break.

Since we are not Irish, we did what came close- Corned beef brisket, Mashed red potatoes, corn and brownies with green sprinkles plus white grape juice.

"Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!"

***********************************************************

Day 22

Love is Faithful

"I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord."

Hosea 2:20 KJV

DARE:
Love is a choice, not a feeling. It is an initiated action, not a knee-jerk reaction. Choose today to be committed to love even if your spouse has lost most of their interest in receiving it. Say to them today in words similar to these, “I love you. Period. I choose to love you even if you don’t love me in return.”

What I Did:

In the wee hours, while we were still awake (he works graveyard and I'm a zombie), I told him that I love him and that I love our life together. We do this often, but this dare also made it more meaningful for me.