Standing at the Microphone…

Freezer Meal Update

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 | Domestic Growth, Menu Planning | 1 Comment

This week I’ve started doing some freezer meals. I worked hard to get the meals for this week prepped already, and I just doubled each recipe so I could freeze one for later.  Yesterday I made two Chicken & Corn Casseroles, we ate one last night and I froze one. This morning I made two Parmesan Meatloafs & two Baked Ziti dishes. Technically with the Baked Ziti I could have just split the recipe in half and made two 8×8 pans instead of two 9×13 pans. But we really enjoy leftovers and we work them into our weekly meal plans so I just created two massive batches instead.  It feels good to have a start on freezer meals for when Iain comes, although most of the recipes I’m going to be making are from other websites that I have not even tried yet, so there’s a little trepidation on whether or not we’ll like them (we’ll have to eat them anyway!!).

I still have about 5 lbs of ground beef and 6 lbs of chicken in the fridge that I need to do some prep work for. My plan for those is to make the following:

1. 2lbs of spaghetti sauce (separated into 2 freezer bags) so all we have to do it warm it up and cook noodles.
2. 2 lbs of taco meat (separated into 2 freezer bags), so all we have to do is get the other sides, tortillas and beans ready.
3. 1 lb of regular ground beef for when I need to make Calzones.
4. 2 dinners of Italian Chicken (4 breasts in each bag marinated in Italian dressing); then we’ll just have to do sides.
5. 2 lbs of cubed cooked chicken for future recipes to eliminate the step of doing it night-of, which will save about 30 minutes of time.
6. 2 lbs of shredded cooked chicken for future recipes, like when I need to do my Chicken Enchiladas!

Whew!! It seems like a lot of work, and it is especially with a toddler who “wants to help”, but I’m so excited that I’m starting this now and not waiting to the last minute.  Iain will be here in 15 weeks!!!!!!!

Tuesday Tardiness

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 | Domestic Growth, Menu Planning, Monday Meanderings | No Comments

Bible Study:
Ephesians

Memory Verse:
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Husband Encouragement:
* Pray for him – this week specifically his work & leadership of MC
* Be diligent about cleaning things up from our trip and planning ahead so we aren’t stressed out
* Help him carve out time for bagpiping and planting his garden (things he really wants to do)

Train Them Up:
Claire is now down to one nap, and she’s sleeping in a big girl bed (twin mattress on the floor). We may start potty training her next month using a system called  ”3 Day Potty Training” – many moms I know have used this method and it has worked marvelous for all of their kids.  I’d like to see Claire potty trained before Iain arrives (having only one in diapers would be awesome!), but I need to read the book first as we look into preparing for that.

New Habit of the Month:
I have so many things that I have to get back in my habits! I think I will start with a cleaning schedule!

MUST DO: 
* Grocery shopping
* Plan out freezer cooking so I know what I need, when I need it (starting on it this week)
* Laundry from our trip
* Research companies for basement finishing
* Research organization for adoption (see what all that entails)
* Check out another gym (I have to join a gym to continue PT on my leg for the next year)

Chore List:
M –Clean all hardwood/tile floors and vacuum (MC night)
T – Grocery shopping
W – Dusting
Th – Bathrooms
F – Make grocery list & menu planning
Sa – Yard or other errands
Su – ALWAYS a day of rest!

Menu:
M – MC
T – Chicken & Corn Casserole, Cornbread, Broccoli w/ cheese (making extra dish for freezer)
W – Baked Ziti, Salad, Garlic Bread (making extra dish for freezer)
Th – Parmesan Meatloaf, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes (making extra dish for freezer)
F – Dinner w/ the Wolfes (Dessert = Ice Cream)
Sa – Dinner w/ the Koenigs
Su – Leftovers

FUN THINGS!
* Starting freezer cooking this week to stock up before Iain comes
* Meet w/ Barb tomorrow night
* New playgroup I’m hosting on Thursday – we’re going to the zoo!
* Planning a neighborhood party w/ the Wolfes on Friday
* Hang out time (Date #3!) w/ the Koenigs on Saturday – they are becoming really great friends!
* Meeting w/ the Careys on Sunday afternoon

3 things I’m thankful for today:
1. To be home after our trip. I enjoyed seeing family in OK, but being in our beds meant we all (especially Claire) slept better last night!
2. Sam’s Club — this place is awesome, especially as I start to dabble in “batch” or freezer cooking!
3. The development of more friends for our family, we really enjoy getting to know people but we absolutely love it when we find another family who we ALL get along with really well!  These are life-giving friendships that we have been eager to cultivate.
BONUS: 4. That I got released from PT last week, but I still have about 12 months of work to do on my leg so I need to be determined to join a gym and create a new habit.

Prayer Requests:

1. Time Management & rest for Paul & I. We’ve got a very, very busy month. I’m already tired and there’s still a month to go before we see a free weekend. Most of it is fun stuff, but it does still take planning, cleaning, packing, etc for each thing. I don’t want to get burnt out in any way.

2. Wisdom & discernment as we continue to lead our MC. That God is growing these friends in His grace and helping them understand & apply the gospel to every facet of their lives. And that we would all take initiative & continue to be diligent in meeting together this summer as we take a rest from formal discussion gatherings and enter into a time of fellowship.

3. Continued healthy pregnancy and that Iain is growing well.

Such a Good Reminder!

Thursday, May 10th, 2012 | Faith, Reflection | No Comments

Here are some verses that I meditate on frequently. It refocuses my perspective and heart as I think of all that God has done for me (undeserved) through Jesus Christ:

• Isaiah 44:22 — “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
• Mark 2:5 — “Your sins are forgiven.”
• Isaiah 1:18 — “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
• Isaiah 38:17 — “In love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”
• Micah 7:18–19 — “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? . . . He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
• Psalm 103:11–12 — “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

The Wedel Visit (late post)

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 | Claire, Video | No Comments

I totally forgot to post these, they are from about 9 months-1 year ago – WOW, talk about a late post!! I didn’t want to delete it though so here are a video of Claire & Eowyn playing during one of their visits last summer sometime.  Sorry about the most irrelevant post ever!

Eowyn and Claire Playing

Chicken, Spinach & Noodle Casserole

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 | Recipes | No Comments

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
4 c. whole milk
1 c. sour cream
Kosher salt & black pepper
12 oz egg noodles
4 slices sandwich bread
2 c. shredded cooked chicken
5 oz baby spinach
2 tsp dried thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Melt 4 tbsp butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until foamy, 1-2 mins (do not let mixture darken).
3. Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until thickened, 3-5 mins. Remove from heat & whisk in sour cream, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
4. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain & return them to the pot. Pulse the bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Melt remaining 2 tbsp butter in microwave-safe bowl.
5. Add the milk mixture, chicken, spinach & thyme to the noodles and toss to combine. Transfer to a 9×13-in dish or some other 3-qt baking dish.
6. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter.
7. Bake until the bread crumbs are golden and filling is bubbly, 8-10 mins. Let cool for 5 mins before serving.

Monday Meanderings

Monday, May 7th, 2012 | Domestic Growth, Menu Planning, Monday Meanderings, Parenting | 1 Comment

I have not done an MM since January when I had my big-little injury, but now that I’m getting a bit more back to normal slowly, I wanted to try and re-establish the habit.

Bible Study:
Proverbs (about anger)

Memory Verse:
“Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

Husband Encouragement:
* Pray for him
* Have a good attitude
* Ask how things are going, take interest in his day & ask about his quiet times

Train Them Up:
Claire is now down to one nap, and she’s sleeping in a big girl bed (twin mattress on the floor). We may start potty training her next month using a system called  ”3 Day Potty Training” – many moms I know have used this method and it has worked marvelous for all of their kids.  I’d like to see Claire potty trained before Iain arrives (having only one in diapers would be awesome!), but I need to read the book first as we look into preparing for that.

New Habit of the Month:
I have so many things that I have to get back in my habits! I think I will start with a cleaning schedule!

MUST DO: 
* Pick up trike for Claire
* See surgeon today for follow-up appointment
* OB appointment tomorrow
* PT appointment on Wednesday
* Laundry & pack

Chore List:
M –Clean all hardwood/tile floors and vacuum (MC night)
T – Grocery shopping
W – Dusting
Th – Bathrooms
F – Make grocery list & menu planning
Sa – Yard or other errands
Su – ALWAYS a day of rest!

Menu:
M – MC (I’m making Ranch Bacon & Egg Salad sandwiches for dinner)
T – Marinated Flank Steak, Baked Potatoes, Grilled Corn, Salad & Texas Toast
W – Leftovers
Th – TBD
F – TBD
Sa – TBD
Su – TBD

FUN THINGS!
* Dinner & games with David W on Tuesday night
* Playdate with Barb & the girls on Tuesday
* Visiting Linda & Kara on Wednesday
* Seeing family this weekend

3 things I’m thankful for today:
1. I love watching Claire learn, & she’s so helpful! She’s already learned to put things in the trash & the sink and she loves to wash her hands
2. Our weekend away at a Leadership Prayer Retreat with Coram Deo staff – it was a great time of solitude, silence, and communal prayer at a monastery
3. Cooler, yet still warm & beautiful, weather!

Prayer Requests:

1. Healing for my ankle – hopefully I will be released from PT soon but that means I need to get a membership to a gym to continue working on it. There is still about a year to go before it’s “back to normal”. I’m hoping that I can get some of my free time back though.

2. Peace and patience during this very busy month for Paul & I. We’re already worn down, so we need to use our time wisely and let ourselves rest as much as we need to.

3. Continued healthy pregnancy and that Iain is growing well.

If I Listen to the Flesh…

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 | Domestic Growth, Parenting, Reflection | 1 Comment

I’ve thought frequently on this topic over the last several years, more so around major milestones like getting married, staying home, and having Claire. Now I think upon it again and just wanted to write it out so that I can be transparent to others and hopefully this will be an encouragement as well.

To be honest, I’m a pretty insecure person. I am always doubting my thoughts, behaviors, motives, etc. Most of time my insecurity manifests itself in thinking poorly of myself: my appearance, character, and abilities. Here are some examples of how my flesh speaks to me:

• I’m not pretty nor am I skinny in any way, and often wonder if another (prettier) woman has captured my husband’s eye (he’s very quick to avert his eyes from certain women and also tells me I’m pretty so this is ALL ON ME)
• I’m lazy & a procrastinator (not always but sometimes I’d rather just sit around and not have to do anything)
• I’m not that great of a cook (though I do try!)
• I’m not that great with children (though I do try)
• I’m sarcastic & critical (God’s done a lot of work on me in this area but has a lot more to go)
• I spend too much money while grocery shopping, or other shopping
• I often don’t want to leave the house unless I’ve got help with Claire
• I have nooooooooo patience
• I can’t sew, knit, crochet, or do pretty much any other craft that requires skill (in fact, I pretty much dislikes crafts most of the time)
• I’m way out of shape – read: overweight, not athletic and sometimes I really don’t care much (though I do love to be in the woods hiking/walking and the like)
• I can’t really throw a party very well (this goes along with the creative side that I don’t possess)
• I don’t know how to make anything fun
• I’d like to be served and only when it’s something interesting would I really love to serve others
• I’m a complainer & not content with the blessings I’ve got
• I prefer to be alone
• Interruptions or inconveniences are pet-peeves
• I’m selfish & controlling
• No one likes/loves me (other than God & my immediate family)

Again, this is what my flesh tells me (what I’m prone to think about myself). I heap guilt upon myself for feeling this way, and I also heap guilt on myself if I feel prideful for something… which really means I can feel a lot of guilt a lot of the time. Part of this comes from being compared to a twin my entire life, whether from other people are myself. Part of it from past experiences where I’ve been told these things from other people. Part of it is just my sinful nature which does not glorify God in the least.

The good news, however, is that God is glorified in these things because He’s changed a lot of me even if I still see myself as I used to be sometimes. He’s given me a new identity and a new focus. I struggle with not having these thoughts about me, I try to replace them with what God says about me using Scripture. I need to be better at memorizing Scripture so that when a thought like this comes into my head, I can immediately replace it and pray but sometimes I just dwell on it and become a bit depressed.  These are the types of things God says about me, that I need to keep in the forefront of my brain:

• I am forgiven (Eph 1:8; Col 1:14)
• I am a new creation (2 Cor 5:17)
• I am adopted as his child (Eph 1:5; Jn 1:12)
• I am blameless (1 Cor 1:8)
• I am healed from sin (1 Pet 2:24)
• I am no longer condemned (Rom 8:1, 2)
• I am completed by God (Eph 3:19)
• I am not alone (Heb 13:5)
• I am secure (Eph 2:20)
• I am a citizen of heaven (Phil 3:20)
• I am assured all things work together for good (Rom 8:28)
• I am included (Eph 1:13)
• I am not in want (Phil 4:19)
• I am protected (Jn 10:28)
• I am a light to others, and can exhibit goodness, righteousness and truth (Eph 5:8-9)
• I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)
• I am chosen and dearly loved (Col 3:12)
• I can be humble, gentle, patient, kind, compassionate, and lovingly tolerant of others (Eph 4:2)
• I can give thanks for everything (Eph 5:20)
• I have hope (Eph 1:12)
• In Jesus, I have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor 1:30)

Planning Ahead: Freezer Cooking

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 | Domestic Growth, Menu Planning | 1 Comment

As the summer comes upon us, I am trying to think ahead for what we might need when Iain makes his debut into our family. One of the first things that came to my mind, and something that was a MAJOR blessing to us when we had Claire, is to have meals that we don’t have to prepare and cook day-of. When Claire came, our friends and family graciously encouraged and served us by providing meals for nearly a month. This was truly a life saver for us, because we were just so exhausted with the normal “getting the hang of a baby” thing, but also dealing with Claire’s colic and breastfeeding issues absolutely wore us down. I remember that we barely had enough energy to eat sometimes but were so hungry that we had to.

While I’m hopeful that our friends and family would support us in the same way this time around, I also want to be prepared with some meals already in the freezer and ready to go, just in case. It took us a long time to get into the hang of cooking for ourselves again, so I’m hoping to buy us some time in juggling two kiddos and preparing/cooking meals.  Here’s my (hopeful) plan:

GOAL = To have 30 freezer meals done before August 15th. This translates to making 10 meals per month, or 2-3 meals per week between May and August 15th.

May:

1. Teriyaki Chicken
2. Savory Vegetable Beef Stew
3. Healthy BBQ Chicken
4. Goulash
5. Parmesan Meatloaf
6. Sweet & Sour Meatballs
7. Chicken & Black Bean Chili
8. Lazy Lasagna Chili
9. Chicken Spaghetti
10. Baked Ziti

His Name is Iain

Friday, April 13th, 2012 | Iain, Pregnancy | 3 Comments

We found out today that our newest addition to the Brown Clan is a boy. His name is Iain Marshall Brown. Iain is Scottish Gaelic for “John” and means “God is gracious”.  We really didn’t have any idea what gender our baby was, and I’ll be honest and say I was a little taken aback when she said ‘boy’. It’s taken a little getting used to. I think for me, when we only have a girl, I get in the mindset of what it’d be like to have another girl – that Claire and her would play so sweet together, she can use all Claire’s hand-me-downs, and that it’d just be a bit easier, so I was kind of anticipating to hear the word ‘girl’ but got the opposite.

Even with a little brother, I think Claire will still a really sweet big sister and I’m excited to see how that dynamic works out. Now, we get cousin Eli/Carter hand-me-downs and also will get to go pick out boy stuff.  It’s really funny when I think about it because with Claire, I really wanted a boy and was told she was a girl so I had to do the whole adjustment thing with her too!  We went out and picked out a little outfit for our little man, and that got me all excited (just like it did with Claire).

During the ultrasound, he was quite mobile and pushing back on the sonogram wand. It was really cute to see. He also kept hiding his face with his arms and yawning. I think he just wanted to sleep.  Now that I’ve gotten to see him, I’m so excited to meet him and welcome him to the family!!

Without further adieu, here is our little boy:

I'm a BOY!

profile of face

3D of Iain

Iain's first outfit

Easter 2012

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 | Claire | No Comments

This Easter was very low-key for us. Paul had to run sound for church, which meant he was up before 5am so he could be at the Stinson Park in Aksarben to set up all the equipment for the 9am service.  Since he was gone so early, Claire and I took our time getting ready before going to the park. Since it was going to be cold, I gave her the choice of wearing pants and a nice blouse or her dress. She kept saying “dress!” and trying to take it off the hanger so I put her in that. For church she had on her dress, some white tights, white sandals, a white sweater and she wanted quite a few bows in her hair (which she mostly left in until about halfway through the service).

After church we came home, played and waited for Daddy. After lunch, Paul & Claire took naps while I did my PT and then we visited with our neighbors since they wanted to see Claire’s Easter dress. It’s so very nice that we have a good enough relationship with them that we feel totally comfortable just stopping over and chatting at any time. There are not many people that we feel like that with so we really appreciate the relationship we’ve been able to build with them. We then went to Walnut Grove Park to play, came home for dinner and played with Claire before her bedtime. Finally, Paul & I were so tired that we actually got ready for bed at 8:30pm that night!

Here are some pictures of Claire in her dress at the park in the afternoon:

Claire running at the park

making a beeline toward the playground

wish we still had those bows for her hair!

The park - BEAUTIFUL DAY!