Sunday in the kitchen

Oh how I love Sundays! The morning is reserved for prayer and giving thanks. I receive such nourishment from this time. It is like a reset button that provides me with the motivation to carry my beliefs and priorities with me throughout the week. I don't know about you but sometimes by Thursday night I can feel a little drained. The weeks get so busy despite my best efforts to prevent that rat race feeling. Both my husband and I have our own individual interests that we pursue, along with our obligations. He has gone back to school to get a bachelors degree in nursing, so he is busy and spread thin. My hours have been cut to part time as well so learning to be creative financially takes up a lot more of my time than I had expected. However I am not complaining at all. It would be absolutely lovely to have two full time incomes coming into the home but we have gained so much from this time. I have always been so so fortunate to be able to be home with my two children. I had the opportunity to homeschool my kids til my daughter started middle school. Now they are older, almost 15 and almost 11, and have many interests of their own. Their interests keep me crazy busy as I am sure so many of you can attest but again I feel so lucky to be able to participate in the way that I do. It's all so funny to me. As I said, Thursday rolls around, I'm feeling tired, and eager for the weekend to arrive. Yet I find myself wanting to pull at the hem of each day to keep it from passing so quickly. I will never regret this time despite the financial "hardship". I put that word in quotes because I feel I have redefined the word 'hardship'. If one was to look at our incoming finances and our expenses we would most likely be described as living with financial hardship but our life just doesn't feel that way most of the time. I never forget just how lucky and blessed we are.

                               

 Sunday's....the reset day for our home, our spirit, and our family. My husband and I have the first half of the day to ourselves. My kids spend this time with their father and we take advantage of this time to get our work done once the morning ends. My husband catches up, or claims to lol, on his outdoor projects and school work. I review my menu plan for the week that I had put together on the preceding Friday. I run to the market before it gets crowded. Just a side note, I never enjoyed grocery shopping until I recently starting wearing headphones while I shop and now I have the best time! However I will be so much happier when I get the bulk of our food needs from our garden.  Once I get home I crank the music and get ready to cook. I am not so efficient that I cook everything for the week ahead. I choose recipes that are going to be useful for the week ahead, particularly the school lunches, and that are fun to cook. Today I am going to make strawberry lemon muffins, gluten free chicken fingers, granola bars, and yogurt. If I feel really motivated I may make some whole grain sandwich rolls. It sounds like a lot but I admit I rely on a couple of small appliances. I have a love affair with my bread machine and yogurt maker. Then I am done just in time to get an early Sunday dinner on the table for all four us to enjoy together. Sunday dinner is usually an easy dish but my ego sometimes likes to choose dishes that sound fancier than they really are.  Truthfully I am not fooling anyone, they are totally on to me lol. Sometimes I'll use the crock pot and sometimes my husband grills for me. I use to feel bad about all these extra appliances like my meals were less homemade or I didn't put enough love into their preparation. By the way, I love how age cures that perfectionist syndrome some of us impose on ourselves :) . I have come to terms with their use and now appreciate them as they give me so much more time with my kids. Today's dinner is Garlic chicken dish. 15 minutes to prepare and around an hour to cook. If this recipe is any good I'll share the recipe, as it's a very inexpensive, healthy (gluten free) meal. Gotta love those!