Baked Pork Chops

4 pork chops at least 3/4 inch thick

1 egg, beaten

1 pkg onion soup mix

1/2 C bread crumbs

heat oven to 375

in one bowl combine soup mix and bread crumbs

in another bowl, have the beaten egg

dip pork chops in egg then crumb mixture, coat well

place in greased 9X13 pan

bake 45 minutes, turning once

Until Next Time.....

Franny

The Proverbs 31 Wife - Week Thirty

myproverbs31life.com

Question #30: Have you ever struggled with working in a job outside the home and taking care of your family?  Describe your situation.  Have you ever been misunderstood by the people you worked with, either in your job or as a wife and/or mom?

I kinda feel like I've already answered this question, or maybe I just feel like a broken record where this topic is concerned.  If you've followed me at all you know I struggled with working outside the home.....in a big way!  For the last two years that I worked I really wasn't taking care of my family.  My job was so exhausting to me, with my health, that when I got home I felt like I was crawling to my chair.  Then once I got my feet up, I was done for the night.  My husband brought me food and medicine and I sat there until it was bedtime and the whole cycle started all over.  That meant that I had to do all of my chores on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday, while my husband went fishing, I did laundry and housekeeping.  Since there was a whole week saved up, by the time I was done, it was just like a work day.  By late afternoon I was back in my chair and my husband had to take over.  I tried to cook a meal before that would happen.  That's when the crock pot became my new best friend.  Sunday after church was looking through all of the ads and coupons in the paper and planning the shopping trip.  Once again, by the time I had been to church, done the shopping and maybe got another meal cooked I was done and back in the chair.  And the cycle began again the next morning.  Two years I did this!!

When I decided to quit and stay home, I could only name one or two people who DID understand.  Most people thought my husband must be rich if I could stay home when I didn't have children.  We are far from it, by America's standards anyway.  I have to penny pinch and do without of a lot of things.  We haven't had a vacation in about 3 years and that one was only 4 days and we drove and were very frugal with the whole thing.  Other people thought I was just plain lazy.  They said they were tired at the end of the day too, but they still got off their butt and worked.  Yeah, 'cause all I do all day long is sit on my butt!

The real question is, does it really matter if people misunderstand you?  Yes I know it's frustrating, and all I ever wanted to do was explain everything I did to everyone I knew because I wanted them to understand everything.  But it doesn't matter!  My family is more important, and without my health, what good am I to them?  But even more important is God.  If you check out the story above, where do you see my relationship with God?  Yeah, an hour and a half on Sunday morning.....and praying to get through another day.  That was about it.

For those two years, I was on a medicine for nerve pain that made me gain weight.  It also didn't help that I sat in a chair for 4-5 hours before going to bed and all I did in that chair was eat, read and watch TV.  

Now, I schedule my chores daily so they are spread out.  I also schedule in meals and exercise.  Most importantly, I schedule in Bible study!  There are even some days that I'll skip over a chore or two to spend more time in my Bible study.  I can hardly wait to get into it every day!  My husband has also benefitted a lot because he doesn't have to worry about taking care of me every evening.  There are some days here and there where I'm in that chair for a little while before bedtime, but I'm getting better at spreading things out so that doesn't happen.  This house is clean most every day instead of only once a week, and he comes home to a meal most days instead of coming home and trying to decide what to take out of the freezer.

This new life is still a work in progress, but let's be realistic, whose isn't??!!  Just remember to ask yourself what is most important; what people think, or what God thinks?  I think you know the answer.

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Pumpkin Cookies

2 C sugar

16 oz can pumpkin pie mix

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 C shortening

2 eggs

4 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

preheat oven to 350

cream together sugar, shortening and eggs

add pie mix and vanilla, keep beating

mix all dry ingredients together

slowly add while mixer is still going

drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet (my mom always covered the cookie sheet with wax paper)

bake 12-15 minutes

can sub margarine for shortening

can sub applesauce for half of the shortening for less fat and a more moist cookie

Until Next Time.....

Franny

frost with cream cheese frosting

1 year to an Organized Life - April Week 3

This week you can:

• examine your large bathroom products such as towels and the shower curtain to see what needs to be replaced
• see whether you need to do any redecorating or plan to make any structural changes
• decide whether the current room setup is adequate for you and your family
• take a look at your linen closet as it works with the bathroom
• add to your shopping list if needed

This is kind of like the speed elimination only you are making a shopping list!  Yay shopping!!  Regina asks us a lot of questions on page 111 and 112 to guide us through the process.  I'm doing two bathrooms at once.  In one of them, the room is shaped so that there is some wasted space so I had added a small decorative stand with a silk plant with flowers to sit on it.  I took that out and it's going in the yard sale.  I think I would rather have open space and clean lines rather than a silk plant that just collects dust.

Then we move on to checking the walls, the tub, storage space and the linen closet.  The above pic is the linen closet in the master bath.  I'm lucky that this was built in with these pull out drawers.  The linen closets I grew up with were just narrow spaces with shelves where we stacked sheets for everyone's bed.  Since the shelves were kind of far apart, the stack was pretty high.  Of course, my sheets always seemed to be on the bottom, and I had to try to get them out without messing up everyone else's.  Yeah, that didn't work so well.  There three drawers make it so much easier!  The bottom one is sheets, the middle ones is beach towels or oversized ones, and the top one is out everyday towels and wash cloths.  The shelf above that is my husband's and then the top one is mine.  You can find drawers similar to this at places like the Container Store and Bed, Bath, and Beyond that you can install yourself.

So how are you doing so far?  We are almost done with four months!!  Can you believe it?  A couple friends have started to notice.  Not that my house was a pig sty, but it did feel cluttered in some places and now everything flows so well in the areas we have done.  I'm already much happier in my home, how about you?

Until Next Time.....

Franny

1 Thing for Multiple Meals - Leftover Chicken

Whole chickens are a great deal when they are on sale.  I've gotten them within the past few months for as low as 69 cents per pound!  At one point I think I had 8 of them in the freezer!  I like to get out all of my crock pots and cook chicken all day.  My biggest crock pot can hold 2 chickens if they are small enough, so I could have 3 or 4 cooking at once.  You don't have to use a crock pot, you could put more than one in a large roasting pan and do them in the oven too.  Then I debone them after they have cooled a little.  Save the skin and bones, add some cut up vegetables and you can make your own stock while you are packaging up the chicken you just took off the bone.

I think I've told you before that we have a vacuum sealer.  Best investment ever!  Most of my recipes that call for "leftover" chicken call for 2 cups.  So I will take some of this chicken and cube it and some I will shred, then I will package it into 2 cup packets, vacuum seal them and toss them in the freezer.  For the stock, I like to use Ball brand plastic freezer jars.  They are very inexpensive and you can thaw it quickly by running warm water on the outside of the jar.  When it comes time for a quick meal or to make something to take to a sick friend, just grab one of those packets and while it is defrosting gather the other ingredients and you are ready to go!

Here are a few recipes that can use leftover chicken, and the way I do it in the crock pot and making stock.

Roasting chicken in the crock pot and making stock

Accident Casserole

Chicken Hash

Chicken Noodle Skillet (just cook onion first instead of chicken and onion)

Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Hand Pies

Pot Pie

Sicilian Chicken Soup

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Baked Chicken and Potatoes

1 lb potatoes, chunked

4 chicken breasts, or 6-8 thighs

1 pkg onion soup mix

1/3 C water

1 Tblsp oil

preheat oven to 375

in 9X13 dish, place potatoes

mix together soup, water, and oil

pour 1/2 over potatoes

place chicken on top of potatoes

pour rest of soup mix over chicken

bake uncovered 50 min or until potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through

Until Next Time....

Franny

Crock Pot Tuxedo Chicken

3-4 chicken breasts (1 - 1 1/2 lbs), cut into bite size pieces

2  14oz cans italian diced tomatoes

1 envelope savory herb and garlic soup mix

bowtie pasta

optional: parmesan cheese, fresh basil, olives or other vegetables you would like to add

Mix soup and tomatoes together (and any additional items you want to add, except cheese and basil)

place in bottom of 3-4 Qt crock pot

place chicken on top, stir slightly to mix

cover and cook on low 6-7 hours (in a newer crock pot, possibly could be done as soon as 4, check often the first time you make this)

close to serving time, cook bowtie pasta according to package directions

serve over pasta, or mix into pasta, top with cheese and/or fresh basil

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Tuscany Chicken

1 - 2/12 to 3 lb chicken cut into serving pieces or equiv of bone in pieces

1 medium red or green pepper cut into strips

4 0z mushrooms, jar or fresh

1 envelope onion soup mix

14oz can petite diced tomatoes

1/2 C water

2 Tblsp packed brown sugar

1 Tblsp Olive oil

preheat oven to 425

in 9X13 pan arrange chicken, pepper, and mushrooms

in medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken

bake uncovered 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through

Until Next Time.....

Franny

The Proverbs 31 Wife - Week Twenty Nine

myproverbs31life.com

Question # 29: How much influence do you have when it comes to your home?  What do you find yourself compromising on?  What do you wish you didn't have to compromise on?

I had to laugh when I read this section of the book (pages 127-130), did she just watch a movie of the start of my marriage?

My husband and I did a Bible study together about marriage, before we got married.  One of the activities was to go through a list of chores or roles that people take on and decide who would do what, the man, the woman or if you would do it together.  You put check marks next to things on your own then you came together and discussed your results.  We matched on most everything, but one that surprised me was "who will do the decor of the home"?  I had checked the woman, and he had checked both, together.  I thought that was so sweet!!  My heart swelled like a balloon with new love for this man that he cared so much about what our home looked like that we would do it together.  Then he opened his mouth.  "I have to make sure you don't hose this place down in purple!"  POP!!!  Pffffffffftttttt.  There went my balloon!

We went for two years with nothing on the walls and no curtains either because everything I liked had some purple in it so I didn't even bring it up, and he was perfectly fine in wall to wall beige.  I finally couldn't take it anymore and said we ARE going to find some pictures for the wall and you are going to help pick them out.  We looked around at a couple stores, that's all he has the patience for, and at Kirkland's he found three pictures that he liked.  Two were the same size and theme for either side of the glass doors in the living room and one was much larger with a frame that matched the wood of my chairs and table exactly, so it hung on the big empty wall behind them.  I was so happy that he picked stuff out that I didn't really notice the content at first.  Then when he hung them on the wall it made such a difference in the house to have something up that I still didn't notice.  Then after a few weeks, I still felt like the place was kind of naked.  I looked closely at the pictures wondering if I had chosen the right place for them.  As I looked back and forth among them it hit me.  All three were photo reprints and black and white.  We still didn't have a stitch of color in the house!!!!!

The other place I compromised was in the bedroom.  His favorite color is blue, and in case you didn't pick up on it, mine is purple.  I got a comforter and matching curtains from Target in the Shabby Chic collection, but not the one I wanted.  I got the British Rose, I think it's called.  It has roses on it, but they are light blue.  There is a tiny ruffle around the edge of the comforter, but other than that it's pretty manly....at least for linens!  I also have sheets in a matching blue from the lightest colored rose in the pattern.

Needless to say I got a little tired of this, so after about 4 years of marriage, I got 2 very light lavender valances for the home office...which he rarely goes into, and in the main part of the house (it's all open and touching) I got filmy curtains that are kind of ivory with some dusty purple roses on them.  I also got a painting of an iris on a canvas to put over the entertainment center.  After over 7 years together I am lobbying for paint in some areas.  Yep, still builder beige everywhere.  Of course, once again in the master area I am compromising.  I've chosen a silvery blue that matches the lightest rose in our bedding and curtains.  And that's ok!  I like that shade and since it is the bedroom I think the blue will be very soothing.  I also think it will really make the room once we actually do it since it pulls a color out of the bed and windows.  I would love to do purple somewhere and at this point he said I could in the laundry room...again another room he doesn't enter (ha ha).  I really think that once he sees what paint can do he will loosen up, as long as we can afford it.

And just in case you might be thinking that my husband is a meany who gets his way, first of all I let him in the above situations....I want him to be happy here too.  And secondly, I always get to pick what we watch for TV and I KNOW sometimes he really doesn't like it!!  After all, marriage is all about give and take, right? ;)

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Tool Tuesday: Lose It!

loseit.com

Lose it! is a website and also an app for your smartphone.  When I first got it I think it was only available for iphone or an Android powered phone, if you have something different, just check wherever you get your apps.  When you use both, they speak to each other.  So if I start out the morning adding what I ate for breakfast, then I go out for lunch or if you were at work, you pull up the app on your phone and your breakfast shows up.

This app isn't just for loosing weight.  When you first put in your information, you can say that you want to lose, maintain or gain!  So this is for everyone!  On the website, you can enter in a recipe and tell it how many servings it makes.  It will add up the calories for you in a serving when you add it to a meal.  On either one you can add custom food, which could be something that is not in their database or something you make at home, but it's not a full recipe.  For example, I put taco meat in this category since it's only the meat and seasoning.

You also enter your daily exercise.  Again, you can make a custom exercise if it is not in their database and you know how many calories you burn.  

I do not put my exercise in until the end of the day, because I am loosing weight, and what this app does is when you put in exercise, say you burned 200 calories, it will add that many calories to what you could still eat today.  Personally, I stick to the allotted calories no matter how many calories I burn, unless I have a crazy busy day, and my body needs a little more protein or whatever.

On the website version, you can make all kinds of reports.  For example, if your doctor (this is me) told you to get more protein, you can click on reports and see how you're doing.  There's one that's called My Plate (the new 4 food groups, or pyramid) and the parts of the plate will color in as you get what you need and it also tells you how much at the bottom.

The only caution is if you are putting in food yourself, you have to tell it all the nutrition information if you want to make full use of this feature.  For example, when I entered taco meat I did not put in how much protein and other vitamins and minerals it keeps track of, so if I were to look at my plate I would not have a complete protein count.

And on your phone, you can scan the UPC label of a product to enter it into your meal!  That is so cool!

I have really found this to be very helpful.  I tried paper and pencil food journaling, 'cause really I like paper and pencil better, but this is way more complete!  I started on January 16, 2012 and I have lost 15 pounds as I write this.  And remember that I have a lot of physical limitations, not to mention I'm kind of a picky eater!  So if I can do it, you can too.  I plan to keep using it once I reach my goal weight to maintain.

Until Next Time.....

Franny