Proverbs 31 Woman: Pass or Fail?

In all of my attempts to learn more about stewardship, sustainability, simplicity, and intentional living, sometimes I get frustrated.  Do you ever just fall flat on your face?  I know I'm not the only one.  I consider myself a student of this "new" way of living, and if I had to give myself a grade I'd have to go with a C-. 
Last week started off crazy as I began it with catering a business event for a friend.  On Tuesday morning I sat down for a while and did a two-week meal plan.  That part I passed with flying colors!  I even included some new recipes while working with the things that we already have in our cupboards and freezer.  I went to the grocery store and for less than $90, I had 12 meals completely covered.  That's still probably too much money, but it's hard to eat "cheap" when you're purchasing high quality, organic ingredients.  Next year we are definitely having a garden. 
Consider Proverbs 31:14b, "She brings her food from afar."  We definitely have to bring our food from 'afar' because I have to drive over an hour to get to what I consider a decent grocery store.  I can get some staple items at the local Wal-Mart, but it's kind of hard to find organic coconut milk and fresh pluots in this county.   In the same chapter it is written, "She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard" [verse 16].  Here's where my failure comes in.  From my earnings, I overspent at the grocery store on Friday.  We just needed a few staples from Whole Foods...and I just got trigger happy.  I am embarassed to say how much I spent, but it rivals a person's electric bill.  The first problem was that my husband was with me.  He loves to have an over-abundance of food, and we just love cooking together so much that it's hard not to get inspired by shiny bottles of Asian condiments and plump, house-made sausages.  We stuck to the meal plan, but we purchased "extras".  The second problem was that I completely, on some subconsious level, abandoned my calculator.  Normally when I'm shopping I keep it handy as a reality check.  I was pretty upset when we got in the car [buyer's remorse...shouldn't that follow shoe shopping?].  However, here is my justification.  Number one, produce is expensive.  All summer long we've barely had more than bananas in our house due to budget restraints. It isn't fair that apples are $3 a pound.  We chose to purchase pluots because they're only available this time of year and that are a fruit that we learned to enjoy while living in Texas.  Secondly, we were in the city visiting Justin's family as his grandfather was gravely ill and they had called all of the family in to say their goodbyes [thankfully, he seems to be making a miraculous recovery].  We needed to feed some of our family supper because they were numb and unable to make decisions on the necessary.  Part of that included purchasing fruit, cheeses, and tea for them to have around their home as needed.   
Do you ever have experiences like that?  I tried so hard to stick to our budget and only purchase what we needed, but it just got away from me this week.  I'm thankful that it was only food, something that won't waste but rather sustain.  It ended up being ok in the end.  I mean, it could have been shoes or makeup.  :)
"She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27.  Tomorrow is the start of a new week.  I'll be making homemade tahini for homemade hummus, French bread, and a cake for someone's anniversary. Should be an exciting week of learning more about intentional living!  I hope that you are encouraged by my "failures", and are as grateful as I am that God grades on a curve!

Anniversaries

Today my husband and I celebrate our 3rd anniversary.  In some ways it seems like we've been married a lot longer than three years.  We've been through a lot.  We got married while in seminary in 2007 and here we are now, three years and three states later.  We've grown so much as individuals and as a couple since our nuptials.  We have had to say goodbye to a lot of old friends in order to say hello to new ones. 
On our anniversary, I always sit back and reflect on our crazy wedding weekend, and all of our friends and family travelled from their homes in other states to HOT Fort Worth, Texas.  Just a word of advice: NEVER try to have a wedding in the summer in Texas.  You can wait until fall, trust me.  We always remember how thankful we are for our friends in Texas that helped us as well as the sacrifices our friends and family made to be there for us on our special day.
Here are a few of my favorite photos from our wedding day.

On our first anniversary, we packed a moving truck.  It was August 4, 2008.  It was 112 degrees in Fort Worth that day, almost as hot as it was on our actual wedding day. 

That wasn't exactly how I thought we'd spend our anniversary.  We did go eat dinner at The Italian Inn.  If you're ever in Fort Worth, it is such a fun and romantical restaurant.  They have a dance floor and live piano music.  And, you can leave your mark.  I wonder if it's still there.

Here's a photo of us from that first anniversary.

Not exactly a closeup, but that way you can't see how tired we were.  The next morning we loaded up and drove to Atlanta, destination number 2 on the journey of our marriage.

Here's us on our 2nd anniversary.  As is the trend, we didn't have much money for an elaborate celebration.  We went to a lovely dinner at what would become our favorite place for celebratory dinners in the Atlanta area, Relish. 

This is a more recent photo of us.  Each anniversary so far has been celebrated in a different state.  This year, we're in Kentucky [next year, who knows?].  We're planning to have a quiet supper at home tonight and go out one night this weekend.  Some people get to celebrate their anniversaries by taking trips...we haven't been blessed with that opportunity, but maybe someday!  We're just thankful to have another day together and are excited to see what comes next in the life of the McDonalds! 

A recipe for living.

Today I spent 3 hours at a doctor's office.  Did I mention that said office is an hour and a half away?  To make matters worse, the waiting room was full of screaming children that belonged to women significantly younger than me.  I kept thinking to myself, "Are these women crazy?  Don't they know how to prevent this from happening?" I was admittedly feeling pretty judgemental.  I'm pretty sure that while I waited [1 hour and 45 minutes!] the other women were glaring right back at me.  I was just sitting there reading a cookbook, not pregnant, absent of any little munchkins hanging on me, chewing on my keys, or smearing crumbs in the chairs.  I finally got called back into the little room, I waited another hour before the doctor came in!  She then had the nerve--the nerve!--to ask if I'd been waiting too long.  Too long?  TOO LONG?  Doesn't she know how important my schedule is?  Doesn't she realize that...wait...I'm just a regular person, no different than any of the other women in that waiting room.  I didn't complain, and she was really nice anyway.  I should know from my own work experience that if you make a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day, expect to wait.  When I finally did leave, I felt a sense of satisfaction that I am not yet a parent, but remembered to leave my self-righteousness back in the examination room.  Maybe those women want all those children and I just can't understand that because I'm not a mom.  Maybe I need to remember that central Kentucky is definitely not Atlanta, and that it's normal for women to have children a lot younger outside of the urban areas of the US.  Maybe some of these women didn't plan on pregnancy either, but GOD did.  I felt myself flash a sympathetic smile towards some of the women still waiting as I left the building, ever so grateful that God hasn't given me that gift [yet]. 
After this escapade, I went to Subway where I got a sandwich, chips, and water.  Upon consumption, I promptly got sick.  That's what happens when you eat naturally as a rule and then eat something processed.  Where was my whole wheat?  Where were the organic veggies?  And, dum du dum, what about saying NO to nitrates?  Well you know what, I should have packed a snack.  I choose to be thankful for food when so many don't have it.  I choose to be grateful that I had a little money to pay for food instead of having to wait until I drove all the way home to have something to eat.  
Sometimes we just have days where things don't go the way we planned.   I didn't plan to essentially pay wait at the doctor.  I didn't plan to get a massive headache after I ate Subway.  The Bible says, "In his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps" [Proverbs 16:9].  Some days just don't turn out like we think they will.  I don't know if you're like me, but I'm a planner.  Not with everything, but I like to know ahead of time what's expected of me on a given day.  I have learned to do this in order to survive.  Most people have no idea how introverted I am, and that's because I plan.  We have to allow room for the unexpected, and that is especially hard for me.  I'm getting old [27 on Aug. 30] and I am definitely stuck in my ways.  I hope you and I will remember that sometimes what's unexpected on our side of heaven is exactly the step that God planned for our life today. 

Easy Peasy

Last night we hosted the Elmores, Jeremy and Nicci, one last time before their exciting but sudden move to Johnson City, TN.  These two have been around my family for years as they have been friends of my brother and his wife since their college days.  We moved to their college town here in KY where the Elmores have been living since they graduated and married.  We are excited for them as they begin their new life in Tennessee, serving at Carson Newman. We're sad, but we know exactly how they feel and rejoice with them in that.  Here is a couple more photos of from the evening.

I know, this is just weird.

Bailey really likes Nicci.  Bailey is praying very hard that the Elmores will find a good home for their dog, Josie, since she can't move to Tennessee with them.  Would YOU be interested???

Let's talk about dessert.  Last night we made pizza, and what goes better with pizza but CHOCOLATE!  We decided to go with Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes.  I found the recipe at Tasty Kitchen.  You will need:

4 1-oz. squares of semi-sweet Baker's chocolate

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

6 Tbsp flour

Here's what you do:

First, preheat the oven to 425.  Lightly oil 4 custard cups or ramekins.  Microwave the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 1-2 minutes and whisk until smooth.  I usually prefer to do this over a double-boiler, but I braved the microwave for the sake of convenience and it turned out fine.  In the same bowl, whisk in the sugar until well-blended.  Then whisk in the eggs and yolks.  Lastly, stir in the flour.  Divide the velvety chocolate mixture amongst the 4 ramekins.  Yes, I just used the word "amongst".  Bake 13-14 minutes until the sides are firm but the center is squishy.  When they come out of the oven, they will look like this:

They are kind of lop-sided and assymetrical, not uniform at all.  But I prefer to think of this dessert as a reflection of those to whom it is being served.  Let them cool in the cups for a minute or two and then invert them onto plates.  You should probably top them with homemade whipped cream or ice cream, at the very least.  We chose homemade vanilla with strawberries.  It was a perfect pair.

Ok, pretend like the above photo doesn't have any shadows and that the scoop of ice cream hadn't fallen off the top of the cake.  Look how the chocolate oozes out!  It is a cozy dessert, perfect for entertaining because it requires just one bowl and a whisk, and bakes up in no time at all.  You'll definitely want to eat this while it's still warm!

Produce

OK, I'll admit it.  I am a total food snob.  I've been this way for years.  Even despite times of extreme financial scarcity, only the best would do.  If I had to choose a 5lb bag of so-so apples from some gigantic farm in Michigan for $4 or just 3lbs of organic, crisp, delicious pink lady apples from a grower in my state for $5 [or more], I'd pick the latter. 

That being said, moving here from a larer city where I had access to locally grown food was a bit daunting.  Not to be a snob---oh wait---but I was not excited about having to shop at Wal-Mart or Kroger.  I dislike Wal-Mart for several reasons.  Suffice it to say, I'm a Target girl.  I don't like Kroger because I think it's overpriced, and the one in our new town happens to be filthy.  I have had several issues with moldy/expired produce with this particular store and have hereafter vowed to never purchase produce there again.  Shew...
I should mention, however, that I'm growing to like getting used to Wal-Mart.  Believe it or not, but this Wal-Mart has a really good [and clean] produce section, and it's priced much better than the yucky stuff at Kroger.

But I digress.  Imagine my delight when at the end of our second week here, I stumbled upon a nice Amish woman who sells her produce twice a week in a parking lot not 5 minutes from our house.  Here is what I was able to get yesterday:

Generally I spend about $15 a week and get everything I need to meet our needs and even a little extra for the freezer.  For example, she sells 12 ears of orn for $3.50.  We eat about 4 a week and freeze the rest for winter.  It really makes me feel like the Proverbs 31 woman: She considers a field and buys it...[verse 16].
With this HOT weather, it really makes me look forward to eating spicy corn chowder on chilly autumn evenings. 

Look at these blackberries!  I'd really like to make this but we're doing a no-carb thing.  So I'll just put them in the freezer for another day when I can have a treat. 

Now let me talk to you about salmon.  Do you like it?  You should try it, even if you've had a bad experience in the past.  This is a gorgeous hunk of the stuff we got last week at Whole Foods.  I'll eat it any which way.  Last night we mixed 1/4 c mayo [made with Canola oil], the zest of 1 lemon, a few dashes of hot sauce, a teaspoon of crushed garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  I spread it all over the fish and baked it at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Well this is a lot of probably useless information but that's my post for today.  Happy Eating!

Grilled Pizza

Over the weekend, we got a grill.  It's enormous.  It's gas with 4 burners and it also has a burner on the side that you can cook on.  I think it's fabulous.  It is just way too hot to cook inside.  We christened it by grilling good ol' American hamburgers for our cookout with Justin's parents.  For the 4th of July, we decided to grill pizza.  Not very American, at least by some standards, but tasty and fun!

I started out by making my pizza dough.  Please do not buy the kind from the store.  It's filled with who knows what.  Taking the time [all of about 10 minutes except for rise time] to make your own is well worth it, and much less expensive. 

Pizza Dough

Begin by adding 1 tsp active dry yeast to 1 1/2 c warm water.  Leave it alone while you do the next part.  Combine 4 c flour and 1 tsp salt in the bowl of your stand mixer.  I've done this by hand and with a handheld mixer and trust me, avoid both if possible.  A stand mixer is the way to go when making any kind of bread.  Anyway, drizzle in 1/3 c good olive oil while the mixer is going on low.  Now go back to your yeast mixture and gently stir it.  Drizzle it into the flour/oil mixture until the dough forms a ball.  Here's where you can use your hands if you're feeling extra muscle-y.  Drizzle a little olive oil onto a clean bowl and toss the dough right in.  Turn it over once or twice to coat it in oil.  Cover it with a clean towell and set in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it rises.  You can also put it in the fridge and it'll rise over about 2 days, if you want to make it on say a Wednesday for the pizza you're going to eat on Friday.  I wouldn't keep it in the fridge longer than 3 days.  It also freezes beautifully for about 6 months.  You'll get enough to make 2 medium-ish pizzas, give or take.  Note: this last time I used "Rapid Rise" yeast and I did not have to wait but about 1 hour for it to rise well. 

On to grilling!

After you divide the dough in half, brush olive oil on the first side.  Then just slap it down on your grill [oiled side down, of course] and get that other side oiled.

After you've done that, LEAVE IT ALONE!  You'll be able to tell when it gets a little charred on the bottom side and it's time to flip.  You'll also smell it.  But be careful, sometimes by the time you smell something that you think is done, it's too late.  Don't walk away.  For me, it took about 3-4 minutes.

Here's what it looks like after it's flipped.  Help. Me. Rhonda.  I could just eat that.  The things you can do with just plain old grilled bread.  But we've got toppings for these babies!

Well, not a lot of toppings were had, actually.  I had sliced tomato, chorizo [organic chicken], sauteed red onion and yellow pepper, and a little cheese. 

You can see the that one on the right got a little messed up on the edge.  No one will care about that when you serve it to them, trust me.  Once you accept that fact that cooking is in no way perfect [baking is an entirely different matter], you will feel so free in the kitchen, or on your back porch. 

In fact, that little nugget of wisdom, when applied properly, can pretty much get you through anything in life.

Time for our closeup!

This is the one that got a little messed up.  I bet you wouldn't have noticed because you got distracted by the gorgeous grill marks.  What a gracious dinner guest you are.

Next time, you're invited! 

We also ate it for supper the next night, warmed up in the oven.  It was good the second time around, so you know it's a keeper. 

EDIT: Please don't talk about the condition of my cookie sheets behind my back.

Our little piece of heaven...?

For those of you who have missed out on the last few months of our lives, we have relocated from Marietta, Ga to Campbellsville, Ky.  We've been here about a month now, and despite my stubbornness it hasn't taken long to feel like home.  I guess it helps that Kentucky is not a foreign place to me, but it certainly isn't a place Justin or I ever thought we'd come back to.  Our "little piece of heaven" started out as a tiny duplex in Fort Worth, Tx that was so small we had to go outside to change our mind.  Then it became a modern and spacious 'apartment-home' in a large complex outside of Atlanta.  Now, we're back in a duplex but it's much nicer than the one we lived in as newlyweds. 

At first I was not excited that we could smell cows during the really hot part of the day.  I can't see them, but I know they're there.  I CAN see horses in a pasture to the side of the house, and that is nice. 

We've also added to our family.  Bailey is about 8 months old, and she seems to be a mixture of long-haired daschund, bassett hound, and beagle.  She was a stray dog that my parents found in NC and we got her the day before we moved to Kentucky.  She is so much fun and really keeps me company.  She's very calm and quiet, she rarely barks and loves to play.  Although as I'm typing this she's a  little unnerved at the fireworks outside.  Of course, so am I. 

We're really enjoying life in small-town America.  I would be lying if I said I didn't miss being pretty much right next door to Target and everything else I thought I "needed", but I'm getting used to shopping at Wal-Mart.  The good thing about not having all of that stuff is that it makes me reevaluate what I think I need.  I'm quite sure it's better for our finances. 

I hope that this blog can be a way to communicate to our friends, family, and the people we minister to here in Kentucky.  I'll probably write mostly about food, but this is a start.  Also, I need something to do besides read on the back porch and expose myself to too many UV rays.  Cheers!