eMeals

I have been meal planning since last year.  (And I mean since last January - I'm not trying to make some lame joke here.)  It was my "resolution", if you will, last year.  I must say, I stuck with it pretty well - minus a few weeks for vacation and what not.  It seriously saved me so much money!

The part I hated about it though was the planning taking FOREVER.  I always did mine on Sundays and then headed to the grocery store.  Once I was at the store things went pretty quickly because I have an OCD list template that divides things into "zones" of the store.  But it was the actual planning that took me so long.

This year I'm trying something different.  I came across something called eMeals.  At first I was turned off by it because you had to pay for the service....but then I found a coupon.  ;)  I still wasn't quite sure I wanted to pay for something, but the sample looked amazing and I went ahead and did it.

I.  LOVE.  THAT.  THING.  SO.  MUCH.

For real - my planning time was cut by more than 75%.  No lie.  It does everything for you - the plan and the grocery list.  Now, the OCD me still writes my own list because I like the "zone" method, but I will say their list is actually pretty zone friendly.  And get this - they choose things based on what's on sale.  I know - shut the front door right?  You save money with someone else doing the hard work for you!  You pick the grocery store you shop at most (for me it was Kroger) and then the style of meals that you want - vegetarian, low-fat, etc.  I chose classic meals.

Now, I know what you're thinking - what if I don't like what is planned?  First of all, nobody is watching you and making sure you do it exactly.  Of course you can substitute meals for the ones you don't like.  When I first signed up they had last week's plan posted and I printed that out.  Right there I had seven alternatives if there was a day of the following week I didn't like.  I'm also keeping the plans and starring the recipes my family REALLY likes so we can sub later down the road.  For example, I do not eat fish.  I'm weird I know, but I have some weird complex about things that have been swimming their entire life.  It's strange, but I can't help it.  So this past week there was a fish recipe.  As much as my husband would have liked it, I didn't cook it.  But that also worked out because we had a date night.  :)  And I know there are also some family favorites that I will be subbing in for the ones we don't like every now and then too.  I'm not going to just cook eMeals, but I think it's safe to say that I mostly will!

Another thing I love about eMeals is that it lists the instructions right next to the meal - and they are all easy!  Some are even crockpot meals!  Seriously?  How can you not love this???  I used to have to write down where I got each recipe - pinterest, food blog, etc.  Now it's all in one place.

So for the first week I did this I "documented" what we had.  K is such a big help in the kitchen now and is loving Mama letting her help out so much!

First up: Mexican Chicken Chowder

Verdict: SO SO SO good!!!  Cody loved it too.  We both broke tortillas chips and put them in it.  Super easy!  I will be making this again!  K was already in bed when we ate this (it was a late night), but I doubt she would have eaten this anyway.  She's been weird about beans lately.  :)

Next up: Beef Fried Rice & Ginger Salad

Verdict: My brother came over for dinner and really liked it.  I really loved it.  As soon as I served it Cody told me how much he hated stir fry when he was a kid....guess I never cooked stir fry before!  It wasn't something my mom made when we were growing up either.  But he actually liked it!  This is another one I know I'll be making again!

New Year's Day: Ham, Cabbage, and Black eyed Peas

Verdict: I was so pumped that it was a traditional New Years Day meal.  This one was also a crockpot meal which allowed us to enjoy the day as a family.  It called for a ham steak which was perfect because I don't normally eat ham (I told you, I'm weird), but even if I did we had plenty left over!  K and Cody really liked the ham.  Cody actually said it was the best ham he's had in a long time.  (Maybe that's because I don't cook it often, but I'm just going to bask in the glory)  :)  I did change this recipe a little bit, because I like my black eyed peas a certain way, but that was an easy fix.

Next up: Creamy Burrito Casserole & Avocado Rice*

Verdict: OH. MY. YUM.  So stinking good!  I knew I would love this one because I'm such a Tex-Mex girl, but my family dug it too.  WIN! I just had to take another picture so you could see just how yummy it was when you cut into it.  *I made the rice without the avocado because Cody is deathly allergic, but it was still pretty good.  Next time I think I'll put an avocado in mine though because it's seriously one of my favorite foods.  

Last but not least: Oven Fried Chicken & mashed potatoes

Verdict: This one I think I messed up a bit.  I froze the chicken after I bought it - those best by dates really freak me out.  So when I got ready to make this I don't think I defrosted the chicken enough, so it did some weird things in the oven.  I went into the living room while it was cooking and told Cody it might be a disaster and get ready to order a pizza.  But when the time was up and I took it out of the oven I thought it might not be that bad.  Cody was my taste tester and he said it was fine.  I was still unsure because, let's be honest - my husband will pretty much eat any kind of chicken and be okay with it.  I'm the picky one.  It wasn't that bad.  It was not the best I've ever had, but I think it needed a little more spice for me to like it.  K, on the other hand, ate it quicker than I have seen her eat any other homemade dinner.  She LOVED it.  She even told me I make delicious dinners when she was eating it.  (Cody is my witness - it actually happened!!!)  The picture is SO NOT pretty either. 

Now, I know that's only five meals, but as I said, we had a date night and then Cody was hunting this weekend so instead of cooking K and I had leftovers.  It was perfect for us.  We saved money, I more than doubled my time with planning, and the food was SO good!  I'm glad I made the choice to do this!

The Liebster Award

I'm so excited that I was picked for The Liebster Award by my sweet friend Katie!

Check out what it is here.  Then go ahead and follow her blog because she's awesome!  :)

I can't wait to complete it....after my grades are in, my weekly meal planning is finished, my grocery list is made, laundry is finished....  :)

Thrify :)

I like to be cheap - plain and simple.  I kind of get a rush when I save money.  My friend Leigh Anne tells me not to say "cheap" but to say "thrifty." ;)  So thrifty it is!

K needed some new warmer clothes because all of her long sleeved things were mostly 3T which have been working until now, but now they are getting a little tight in the arms.  Pants are still hit or miss because of my tall skinny girl.  :(  Pants and skirts are for sure something I need to buy when K is with me.  I've learned that the hard way too many times.

So the other night I headed to The Children's Place to get my sweet girl some new threads...haha.  I LOVE when they have their monster sale and I had another coupon on top of that.  I was so excited to see that it wasn't just slim pickings and that I could actually get her some cute and more importantly, warm things.

Here's what I walked away with:

That's two sweaters, one hoodie, and four long sleeved shirts - and here's the best part.  I got all of this for $35!!!  :)

Now if only my clothes were that cheap!  Oops - sorry for saying cheap again LA!  ;)

Nothing to Something

Day 2 of She Reads Truth says this:

The Lord God takes the most basic thing of all – the dust of the earth – and he transforms it with the breath of his mouth and the touch of his glory and he makes it after His own image. Perfect. Complete.

Sisters, do you feel dry today? Do you feel ordinary, outcast, or rejected? Do you know that the same Lord God of power and perfection who breathed life into Adam and into that pile of dry bones can breathe new life into you? Do you know that this same God seeks out the despised and small and it is they that he chooses? It is they that He will exalt.

And he will make them – he will make you – perfect. Complete.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!” 1 Cor 5:17

 Too often I let voices tell me that I'm not good enough to fulfill work for God.  Sure, I can teach but am I truly giving my all?  Am I making a different for the kingdom of God?  Am I a good enough mother and wife?  Am I encouraging others the way God wants me to?  I HATE those doubts that pop up so many times each day.  

What I NEED to do is rely on God.  He can take someone like me and make His purpose perfect through me.  That's hard for me though.  It's hard for me to let go of control of things - just ask my husband!  ;)

So, in true New Year's fashion - out with the old and in with the new!  

Fresh Start

My friend Leigh Anne posted a picture to Instagram at the end of December that explained a website called shereadstruth.com It's a website that is trying to bring women together by reading truths from the bible and reflecting on them as a community. 

Please and thank you!

If you want to check it out, click on the button that is posted on the top right of my blog.  :)

So, I have been reading the posts, but haven't yet written my reflections in the blog world.  Let's be honest - I'm terrible at actually keeping up things that have more than a week of "assignments."  I don't think I've ever actually finished a monthly photo challenge, month of thankfulness, etc.  But I'll write when I can.  That's all I can promise.  :)

So Day 1 was about Fresh Starts....fitting for the new year of course.  :)  The readings made me think of the last sermon of the year that my pastor preached.  It was one of my favorites.  I'll get more to it later.

Here is a part from Day 1 of She Reads Truth:

And knowing all of that – knowing that He was creating the plants and yielding the seeds that would one day be his cross, that the beasts of the fields would need to be used as sacrifices for His people – knowing this then, the Author and Creator saw it all and called it good.
But why? It may seem trite to say, but the answer is love. He made the world perfect knowing that it would become imperfect and that He would make it new again. And hard as it may be to believe, He did it for the process. God had the power to skip right to the end, or to never create the world to begin with. But he did create it, and he did it to show Himself to us, that we might know Him. That we might know the breadth and length and height and depth of his love for us (Eph 3:18); that we might experience His grace.

God doesn't need us, but He wants us.  Isn't that amazing?

Now, back to the sermon.  The sermon from my pastor was about 1 Peter 1:3-12.  We talked about refining. God sometimes puts "fire' in our lives to refine us.  God will not simply leave us alone.  We have two choices in responding - we can either be refined by the heat or burned by it.

I think the first response can sometimes be the hardest.  Sure, waiting on a job, the right guy to come along, etc. can be tough to wait on and some might consider that a "fire."  But what my mind keeps going back to is all the parents who lost their precious children on December 14th at Sandy Hook.  Believing that God can use that takes real faith.  As a mother, I think my natural reaction would be to become angry and cold, but that's not what the Word teaches us to do.  I'm not sure how long it would take me to come to that realization if I was coming home to an empty bed where my child used to sleep each day.

I still firmly believe that what happened that day was NOT God's will, but I also believe that God can use it.  I'm not sure how just yet, but I know He is bigger than all that hurt and pain.

She Reads Truth concluded with this on Day 1:

What will be your response today, sisters? Will you find comfort (even joy!) in the cradle of the Almighty’s hand? Will you rest in the hope that He will restore creation – that He will restore you? The newness came and it was glorious, and it is coming again!

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation [that’s a promise]. But take heart; I have overcome the world [and so is that!].” (John 16:33, ESV, emphasis added)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8,9, ESV)

New Year's Goals

2012 was a great year for the Bush family! 

Here are a few highlights of our year:
*Cody got a new promotion in his company and LOVES his new job
*I was honored to receive the award of Arlington ISD's elementary teacher of the year
*We took an awesome anniversary trip to Hot Springs, AK
*We paid off Cody's truck
*Our sweet K turned 4
*I turned 30...sigh... ;)
*Our first "real" class of seniors at church went off to college and have thankfully stayed in touch
*I took a new job at a different school
*We put our house on the market

So...what does 2013 hold for us?  Hopefully a lot!  Here are some goals for the new year:

*More meal planning so I can utilize my time at home and save money...I did so good with this at the beginning of last year and slowly stopped. (Another post coming soon about this)
*Invite more people over to our house for more occasions
*Get a new house (This will really help out with the above goal!)
*Celebrate Cody's 30th (PARTY!!!)
*READ MORE - and not just teacher books
*Pray more together as a couple and as a family
*Find more ways to serve
*Encourage others more frequently

Overall, I just want to enjoy my precious family and friends more this year.  So many times this past year I was reminded how precious life is and that none of us know how much time we really have left with each other.  I want to learn to not spend time on the things that don't deserve it and devote my time to what means the most. 

So, welcome 2013!  I can't wait to see what you have in store!  :)