2009 February

Menu Plan Monday~The MotherHood’s Pantry Challenge

February 15, 2009 By Amanda Leave a Comment

This week, we are going to be using just food we already had in the panty as a party of MotherHood’s Pantry Challenge…so it’s a good thing I always have a super stocked pantry. Here’s we bought at the grocery this week:

Bananas

Hamburger (5 pounds)

Lunchmeat

Bread

And here is what our Menu Plan looks like:

Monday: Spaghetti

Garlic Bread

Salad w/cucumbers, red onions, and snap peas

Tuesday: Orange Glazed Pork Loin (These were on sale @ Kroger last week)

Mashed Potatoes

Peas

Wednesday: Pancakes

Bacon

Thursday: CrockPot Chicken, Potatoes, & Carrots

Friday: BBQ Chicken Pizza

Saturday: Lasagna

Garlic Bread

Salad

Sunday: Left Overs (sorry)

Recipes:

Orange Glazed Pork Loin(This is one of my family’s favorite meals!)

Ingredients:

2 TBS Orange Marmalade

1 TBS Dijon Mustard

Pork Tender-Loin

Preheat Oven to 400. Mix marmalade and mustard well, set to side. Roast Pork Tender-Loin for 1 hour covered. Remove after 1 hour and spread glaze over top; cook for 30-45 minutes (or until desired doneness) uncovered. Let Pork rest before slicing to save juices. Slice into 1/4 inch pieces.

CrockPot Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots

Ingredients:

3 lb bag frozen Chicken breasts

5 Lrg. Russet Potatoes

4 Lrg. Carrots

16 oz Organic Low Sodium Chicken Stock

Water

Thyme

Peel carrots and potatoes if desired (our family likes them with the skins), slice into large pieces. Add chicken breasts, potatoes, and carrots into CrockPot; cover with chicken stock and water until it just covers everything. Cook on High for 6-8 hours; add Thyme 30 minutes before dinner is finished. Remove 1/2 chicken breasts and set aside/freeze for anther meal.

BBQ Chicken Pizza (This a great one for the kids to help with)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs Leftover Chicken shredded

2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauces+a little more to cover dough with

2+ cups Montery Jack Cheese (we LOVE cheese, so we use alot! )

1 cup frozen corn

Store bought pizza dough (or your favorite recipe)

Mix chicken and BBQ sauce and set aside. Spray your pizza pan with Pam and spread out pizza dough, bake at 375 for about 5 minutes. Spread dough with a little BBQ sauce, add BBQ chicken and frozen corn, and cover with cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and crust is brown. Enjoy.

This is what my family is having for dinner, what about yours? Feel free to link back to your menu from our comments! Share your meals with us!

If you’re interested in joining in on The Motherhood’s Pantry Challenge, head over there right now!

For more great Menu Plans, be sure to check out My Joyful Haven, Organizing Junkie

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Filed Under: Mama Says, Recipes Tagged With: Meal Plan, Menu, Motherhood, Pantry Challenge

Know Your Financial Worth

February 15, 2009 By Amanda Leave a Comment

Do you know where you stand financially? If you are planning to apply for a home mortgage, seeking financial aid for college, or just getting ready to write a will, knowing where you stand financially is extremely important. You can’t plan for tomorrow, if you don’t know where you currently stand today. Many women are afraid to know their net worth; they are afraid to know how much they do not (or do) have. Finances scare women, almost as much as knowing their weight scares them. But knowing you net worth is key to building your wealth.

Net worth is the total value of your assets (savings, retirement funds, home, car, etc.) minus you liabilities (outstanding loans, credit card debt, etc.). Knowing your net worth gives you insight into the big picture of you life, just as a budget helps you with the month-to-month (and sometimes day-to-day) picture. Knowing your net worth keeps you informed as to whether you can afford to contribute to a favorite charity or even buy your dream home.

Homework:

Calculate your net worth. Check out Smart Money’s FREE Net Worth calculator and know where you stand today! Determine where you are now, and decided where you want to be in five years.
Calculate the amount of money you need to live comfortably in retirement. Go to http://www.agedwards.com/public/content/fcgi/calcs/retplan.fcgi and use their simple worksheet to figure out how much you are going to need to retire, when the time comes. Even if you don’t like what you see, it is better to see it now, than to be living it 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. Knowing is half the battle, then you can do something about it. According to Wachovia, I am already short over 5 MILLION dollars in retirement savings. Now, 5 MILLION dollars can seem like a scary number, but it informs me as to how much we are going to need to have saved and shows me how much we should be saving yearly to reach that goal.

Be sure and catch up if you’ve missed any part of the Money Talk Monday Series.

For more information on becoming financially independent, check out Dr. Lois Frankel’s Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich.

Don’t miss anything from Mom of Faith, sign up for a subscription to this blog or to have it delivered right to your email! Catch up on more Money Talk.

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Be sure to check out all the GREAT giveaways going on here at Mom Of Faith right now!

Filed Under: Impact Finances Tagged With: finances, Money talk, net worth, saving

Relaxing Valentine’s Day Gifts~Candi Andi

February 13, 2009 By Amanda Leave a Comment

Do you come home from work stressed out and in need of some relaxation? Well, let me introduce you to Andrea Soltis, a true artist who’s creations fill the need for beautiful and relaxing home accessories.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Candi Andi, review

Review~Nana Star

February 12, 2009 By Amanda Leave a Comment

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I will be doing reviews of some really great products that would make really great last minute Valentine’s Day gifts.

The generous founders and creative geniuses behind ee Publishing & Productions, LLC recently sent me their line of Nana Star products to let my girls play with. ee Publishing & Productions, The Laugh-Friendly Company, is a fabulous company focused on allowing children to be themselves and be chidren for as long as possible. Thier motto is: Be Laugh Friendly. Change the World. I love that! Think about how contagious a smile can be. When you see someone smiling, you can help but smile yourself.

ee Publishing & Productions is founded by sisters, Elizabeth Sills and Elena Patrice, who are committed to changing the world one smile at a time. The sisters developed Nana Star based on a picture book series their grandmother for her grandson, Vance. She started creating the characters to show Vance someone would always be looking after him, that he could always have her with him. Eliabeth, Elena, and their mother write and publish the Nana Star stories, and help to create the wonderful dolls that go with the books.

They sent my girls the adorable Nana Star positionable doll with Nana Star, the first book in the series,and Moonman with his coinciding book, Nana star and Moonman. As soon as I opened the box, you would have thought Christmas had come again. Both girls were squealing with delight and excitement, Hubby and I couldn’t get the boxes open quick enough.

In the first book of the series, Nana Star begins a magical journey to return Little Star to his home in the heavens, teaching our little ones about friendship, love, and the courage to do the right thing. This book has a mistake in it and when little readers find and correct this mistake they are able to join the Little Twinkles Club; it also comes with a story time CD which includes sing-along songs to enjoy with your munchkins. KG became instantly attached to the Nana Star doll that was sent along and takes her everywhere, including in the car to school with her everyday. Nana Star doll looks like a fairy princess, complete with lace hankie tucked in her organza over-skirt. She has Little Star in one hand and a twig in the other. Her soft body make her an immediate bedtime buddy too; her yarn hair easy to maintain (don’t we all wish we could say the same?)

Moonman became KJ’s immediate friend (and now has a place of honor in her bed) with his soft cuddly body, soft head that lights up when he plays his great little diddy after pressing his belly. The book, Nana Star and Moonman, is also beautifully written and illustrated. Nana Star has set off on her journey to take Little Star back to his home, but she feels scared and alone when it grows dark and the world seemingly goes to sleep without her. Moonman promises to always watch over her, even when she can’t see him, helps her to feel brave and strong.

Both books convey the message of unconditional love and friendship, while teaching our young ones such virtues as compassion, kindness, and generosity. As in the first book, Nana Star and Moonman aslo includes a mistake, which offers the little readers an opportunity to become members of Nana Star’s Little Twinkles Club when they find and correct it. When I revealed the books, we were off to the rocking chair where we proceed to read both beautifully written and illustrated books…instant classics in our house!

Readers who order any Nana Star product during the month of February will receive a 10% discount (code LF2009).

www.NanaStar.com offers an interactive website to the series, featuring animated versions of the stories; sign language interpretations; lessons for happy learning; orginal letters and artwork from the original Nana Star and so much more. I recommend stopping by there and using their resources to further reinforce the lesson Nana Star teaches our kids.

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Nana Star, Reviews

Book Review~Louisa, by Robert Emmel

February 11, 2009 By Amanda Leave a Comment

louisa-book-cover In honor of Black History Month, I want to introduce you to an educational and insightful look into the lives of black slaves in early Colonial America. Louisa, by Richard Emmel, offers an honest and eye opening look at the life of a young African girl kidnapped from her home and take on a grueling ship ride to a new and taxing life as a salve in America.

Based loosely on Phyliss Wheatly’s life, Louisa tells the story of Farih Morowa, later renamed Louisa Wheatley. Born a Princess in a Senegali tribe, Farih is the ultra-intelligent, spoiled daughter of a king until she is grabbed from the banks of the Senegal River on her birthday. Farih is forced on to a horrible slave ship packed with other people kidnapped, just like her, for a grueling three month trip to Colonial America. She is then sold to Mr. Wheatly, who changes her name and gives her a job as a house slave.

Louisa is trained, nurtured, and taught by Mrs. Wheatly and the other house slaves. While she does not personally face the horrific treatment of a slave, the treatment is detailed in the book (told through her eyes). Emmel follows her life with great detail and passion, giving us a true view of what Phyliss Wheatly’s life may have been like.

We follow Louisa through childhood; experience her fear, trepidations, joy that comes from Christ, triumphs and failures. We experience her rise to fame, joy from marriage and childbearing. We cry with Louisa when she looses her first son in childbirth and cheer as she rises above the many prejudices she will face in her lifetime and gains her freedom.

Louisa is an excellent resource for your home, your child, the classroom, and yourself. It opens your eyes to the autrocities faced by slaves throughout time.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Black History month, Homeschool, Louisa, Phyliss Wheatly

VLogging~ A New Way to Get an Old Message Across

February 10, 2009 By Amanda Leave a Comment

For me VLogging would me the ability to really relate to my readers in a way that’s just not possible now. My readers can read my blog and I can hope they understand what I’m saying, but so much of what you read/write on the web o’sphere relies greatly on inferred tone. You have to hope your readers understand you’re joking/being serious/crying..ect.

What I would share with my readers

I am passionate about sharing with my readers the need for community/world action. I would be able to share my passion about such stories as human slavery in the US, the need for clean water all around the world, the plight of American orphans, or any one of the stories I am so passionate about.

I would love to share my stories about my girls with my readers and let them get a taste of life here in rural KY. To show rather than just tell them about the snow or the cows. I want to be able to show my readers the destruction first hand when storms like the ice storm we just had came rolling in. I am an advocate for children’s issues and to be able to portray to my readers that passion is so important. It’s hard to portray contextual feeling in writing alone. It’s much easier to motivate a group with your spoken words and the feeling behind it.

I feel it would benefit my readers to “see” my review rather than just read about them. How much better is it for a company to get a mini commercial about their product than just a written one? How much more moving is it for a mother to see toys, products, etc in action than to just read about one person’s opinion? If I can show them how the product works or how much my children love it, it allows me to be more honest and to portray the product more honestly.

CraftyMama of 4 is offering a contest to win a Flip Camera on her ultra fabulous site!! Go Check it out!

Filed Under: Impact Blogging, Impact Video Tagged With: Vlogging