Carrots For Days

Have I told you lately how much I honestly <3 my #Cutco knives??  I really do!

These carrots are from the neighbor's garden, and they're headed into a quadruple double batch of Sloppy Joes {freezer cooking}.  My kids have no problem eating veggies, but I like to add them to recipes for extra nutrition and easier meal prep when dinner time rolls around.

Where do YOU sneak veggies in? 

#kitchentherapy #carrotsfordays #bestneighborhoodever

One Skillet Green Bean Goodness

I spy a little boy's hand, swiping some bacon. 

Thanks to my Backyard Hobby Farmer & the amazing God we serve, our refrigerator has been filled with an over abundance of GREEN BEANS! 

 

To put this in perspective, I had a whole shelf dedicated to only gallon Ziploc bags that were stuffed full of beautiful fresh green beans.  Oh my, were they ever the most vibrant shade of green you could imagine!

 

I know, green is the color of money.  I should've taken these to the Farmers' Market.  But Ain't nobody 'round here got time for that. 

 

Actually, I was told for a week that the beans were off-limits, as Mr. Awesome was planning to pickle them.  But then the plan changed and I was told to use them up as quickly as I could!  Say What?!

 

In my head I was all like "Sure thing Mr. Awesome,  Just don't be getting after me when I speak my mind about everything under the sun, and then change my perspective and throw out new rules... because you just did that.  Yes, you really did." 

 

I may be PMS-ing just a tad, so I kept my mouth shut and just stared into his pretty blue-green eyes.  I was thinking of how badly I wanted to chuck a bag of those beans into his arms and tell him to turn it into chocolate. 

 

Then just like that, I changed my mind and decided I really wanted cooked green beans. 

 

 

1. Melt a hunk of BUTTER in a skillet.  A skillet with a wide base and high sides works the best. 

 

 



 2. Chop up some onions.  I ♥ my Cutco knives.  I only have a few of them, but they were an excellent investment.  I call them an investment, because they really did cost as much as a couple weeks worth of groceries.  I have Housewife Probs I suppose, I compare everything to how many groceries I could get for the same price.  You all do that too, yeah?

 

 
3. Add the ONIONS to the BUTTER.

 
4.  Stir them around like you know what you're doing.

 

5. Cut off the ends of the green beans and toss them aside.  Then cut the beans into manageable bite sized chunks; Nobody is going to use their manners and a knife to cut them at the table, and you don't have the energy to fight that battle today.  Just keep chopping.

 6. Rinse the beans now, or you could've done this earlier if you were on the ball and remembered they weren't washed when they got put in the fridge.

 

 
7.  Add the beans and some  diced up bacon to the skillet.  Put the lid on.

 

 

8. Forget what you're doing and snap a picture of the sunset 

 

9.  Come back a few minutes later, give this a stir, and marvel at this sight:

 

10. Put one serving on your nicest plate and take a picture of it.  It's okay, you can serve the rest on your regular dishes. 

 

 

THE SILVER LINING: This simple one skillet dish took care of one full bag of green beans.  We only have to eat them for another 28,000 meals to finish up the rest of them.

Dear Tired Momma out there,
I know you're thinking your kids would NEVER eat this.  But my completely irrational 2 year old ate THREE plates of this.  I'm sure she would've had more, but SOMEONE pulled the ice cream out of the freezer and she decided she was ready for dessert RIGHT THEN (cue the temper-tantrum).  My 8 & 12 year olds also devoured this meal. 
Give it a try.  And if it fails, go for the ice cream. 
Love,
Quincey B.

Moment by Moment

This morning at breakfast I met an elderly woman who mentioned she lost her adult son to a heart attack.  She said she loved him and was glad for the time she had with him, even though it was so hard losing him.

Yesterday I met a woman at the park whose husband passed away a year ago.  The cause?  Heart attack.

I can go days, even weeks without thinking about Graycie's heart condition.  She's such a spunky, fun, "normal" little girl. 

Then there are moments like tonight when the kids are chasing each other playing duck-duck-goose.  The house was full of laughter and squeals. 
Then BOOM Gray hits the floor, lays there perfectly still... and starts panting.  I scooped her up and looked at her pale face and blue lips. Her heart was racing, her eyes glazed.  She was totally out of it.  It probably only took a minute for her to catch up and get her color back.

My heart is still trying to catch up.

She's fine.

We'll be checking her all night and thanking God for each moment we've had, and have yet to have with her, and each of our kiddos.  And with each of you. 

Not every relationship or situation in my life has gone how I'd like it to, but I'm still thankful for the experience.

Don't dwell on how you wish it went, or what you wish you had.  Just choose joy and enjoy the journey, moment by moment.

What Happened When I Heard What My Husband Wasn't Saying

When I did the Passion Pursuit Bible Study I asked my husband a hard question.

It was “Where do you think I need to improve, or what can I do to be better for you?” 

Now due to the nature of the study, you may be expecting something kinky.  So before we go any further- I assure you, this is PG!  And that study is AMAZING- Not at all what you'd think!

One of his responses was that he’d like me to have a meal idea ready and prepare supper at a decent time. 

Fair enough, right?

Remember I’m strong-willed, so my first reaction was to get defensive.  Second was to take a step back and hear what he wasn't quite articulating.  He wasn’t making it clear that he missed slow evening meals together as a family and having everyone together for visiting.  But that is what he meant. 

It wasn’t really about the FOOD at all. 

Like most busy families, we had become accustomed to everyone eating quick and getting on to the next activity.

As per the gals in my Bible Study and the advice of the book itself, I accepted his request without trying to defend myself, and worked on improving it. 

Man, Oh Man!  That was a good move for all of us, and really took very little effort. 

For the first time in years I began to LOVE cooking again.  I spent too long battling some internal stuff that I was so mentally exhausted that it left me physically exhausted too. 

This simple move of preparing the meal and slowly eating together really put our family back on the right track. 

I cannot even tell you people how important fully HONEST communication is. 

Okay- Gotta run! It’s just about 5pm and I’ve got some barbequed pork to cook up and get to the table! 

If you’re wondering how this is going to benefit you- Let me say this RECIPEEEEEES.  And I don’t let myself go to much fuss in the kitchen, so I swear to you my recipe tutorials will be simple without sacrificing nutrition or costing you a fortune!

By the way, if you need a good book on communication, try Speaking the Truth in Love.  It’s so practical and explains why we need to be honest and assertive. 

 

That’s all.  Have a good night ,Y’all!

Do Better. Be Better.

Do Better. Be Better.

 

So a friend mentioned this theory that we are all great at two things. 

The problem is that we can't do both of those things well at the same time.

For me, one of the things I'm good at is blogging. The other is being a mom.

Right now as I'm trying to write this post in bed at nearly 1 a.m. my two year old starts to cry from her crib. She doesn't normally do this and there's no reason for her to be crying right now.  What do I do?  Do I continue blogging or do I go comfort her?

Of course mothering comes first. But now blogging takes a back burner. 

My husband just went in to rub her back and sway her back to sleep.
So I guess I can keep blogging.  But now my mind is jumbled and I've fallen off track. 

Alright, I thought about this in the shower, where I do all my deep thinking (please, I'm begging you people, someone invent a waterproof tablet with voice recognition that stays in the shower, and syncs to my phone)...

What is it that would help me do my two things better?  And what if I wasn't just limited to 2 things, but I could do MANY things better?  What would that look like? 

Maybe in order to do MY 2 things well, I need to work together with other like-minded people?

Maybe I need a rigid schedule?

Maybe I need to put it on my vision board?

Maybe I need to cut out activities that aren't top priorities?

Maybe I need to do all that, and something more that I don't even know yet.

I know from experience our home can be much happier, more simplistic, and I can be much more productive when we have just completed a big purging and decluttering of the house.
But I’ve done that trick so many times now, that we don't really have a need to do it again. And if I tried my family might want to kick me out!  At the very least it would tork them off royally. 

I'll be 30 next year and I don't have my exciting list of things I want to do before I'm 30 completed, but for the next 30 days I'm going to work at doing better so I can be better.

I asked each of my family members this same question

“Where is an area I can improve?”

 

First off they all responded about the same “You’re perfect at everything, mom”.  Bless their hearts, they really did mean it, they weren’t sucking up.  But then I pushed a little further and here’s what I got:

The Ball Player:
“Walking and running because you have a Fitbit.  Geez, thanks kid!  Haha, but really, I'll try.”

My husband has already challenged me to something; you can read about that HERE. 

The girls both still think I’m just perfect.  They’re about the only ones I hear that from, so I’m not going to push for a different answer right now, but I am going to keep asking them what I can do to be a better mom today, this week, etc.

Areas to Improve (ATI):

·         Keeping the bathroom mirrors clean.

·         Keeping the sinks clean.  I want to see the washbowls shine! 

·         Responding to text messages (but not during the school day).

·         Knowing what supper will be before 4pm and having it on the table before anyone in the house gets H-Angry, or has to go to bed. *I’m taking baby steps here, folks*

·         Giving a YES or a NO answer.

·         Meeting my Fitbit Goals before 9pm each night.  There is nothing more frustrating than pacing the house trying to reach your Fitbit goals for the day before you go to bed, only to realize it resets at midnight, not when you fall asleep around 2am.

My plan to make this work is simple.  Post the list where I’ll see it, and ask those close to me to hold me accountable. 


One of my ATIs is Blogging regularly. That has been a goal of mine since the winter of 2006 when I started my very first blog, “Lucky Ducks”.  When this blog started in 2010 I thought for sure I’d be posting daily updates, or at minimum twice a week.  That never really happened.  Now that it’s starting to bring in some real revenue and I’ve built a readership I’m comfortable with, I want to make it more of a priority.  Ultimately though, my family comes first, so I’m still trying to find the balance here.  I’ll let you know if I ever figure it out.  J

What are your ‘Areas to Improve’?

 

Share in the comments, OR if you blog, write a post about it and comment back here with a link!  


I should also add, I think I'm great at being a homeschooling wife/mom OR great at being a friend.  I can't balance both of those well yet either.  Or I'm great at advertising/social media, but then I struggle with being consumed by it and not having much time for anything else.