I loved this post written by a very wise woman. I originally found it on a link from Biblical Womanhood. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The size of our family has really been an issue between my husband and I. He says we are finished with 2 and I want to leave it up to God to decide when we are done.


Making Home: Some Subtle Effects of the Birth Control Culture

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There are many things that I have given up to stay home with my children...

-Getting my hair cut and colored on a regular basis
-Buying whatever I want at the grocery store
-Not getting to dress up and talk to adults
-A new car
-A bigger house
-Cable
-Caller ID
-Trash service
-OnStar
-Actually getting to sit down and eat a full meal without interuption
-New "toys"
-The list could go on and on...

In my Sunday school class yesterday the man who was leading mentioned that he was having trouble witnessing to his brother because he was unwilling to give up his partying, drinking, and having fun to lead a so called boring Christian life. I pray that someday he sees what he is really missing.
This discussion got me to thinking. We as mothers are doing the same thing. We are unwilling to give up some of our luxuries and toys and instead we work 40+ hours a week to keep them instead of cutting back so that we can be at home with our children. I hope that this blog will help others see what they could have in return for a little minor discomfort.

What I have gained as a stay at home mom...

-Getting to see my children every single morning and know that I will have the whole day to love and teach them
-A wife that is not overly stressed from work and taking care of the home. I am able to give my husband the attention he needs.
-Home cooked meals
-Time to myself
-Time to teach my children and spend time with them in the Bible
-Again this list could go on much longer then the first.

I believe that wanting to stay at home and actually taking action to do so sometimes just needs to be put in perspective.
I realize that there are some women who truly can not leave work due to debt, being a single parent, etc. Please pray about your unique situation. God will provide an answer in His own time.

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This last week I decided to can some pear butter. My mother has 3 pear trees and we had an overabundance of them. I have never canned before and was a bit nervous. The end result was really yummy. Unfortunately I did not take pictures as I was in the process, but I will get some pictures of the finished product and get them up as soon as possible.

I started by adding about 1" of water to a large pot.

Next I cut and pealed the pears. Today I took the kids outside with me to cut up a second batch of pears. Jack had a great time sampling each one that went into the pot of water.



Lots of pears in a pot ready to be boiled and made into juice and pear butter.


My counters covered in canning jars.

The finished product

Yummy!

OK on to the pear juice. This actually ended up being a byproduct of the pear butter adventure. I had no plans of making it in the beginning. When I was cooking the pears I added about 1" of water to the bottom of the pot. When the pears were finished cooking there was a large amount of liquid left over. My husband decided to try it while it was still warm. We hate to toss anything that we may still be able to use. It was really good. My husband put it in the fridge for out 3 year old to drink instead of buying expensive juice. We prefer to only buy organic, unfiltered juice when we can. This juice was the same thing we usually spend $2-3 on and it was FREE!

My daughter loved it. Another good thing that came from it was that it acted as a natural laxative. My sweet little Madison has had constipation issues since she was 1 week old. This free, all natural juice worked wonders. I love it when we find something that works and we don't have to give her unnatural medication.

I just had to add these. They were so cute.

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In my last post (over a month ago!) I told everyone that I would have the next post up in the transition from work to home series up by the end of the day. Well, I failed. I was not sure that I was going to continue with blogging. I thought that no one was reading and it was not worth the time and effort to research and add new posts.

I think I was wrong. Over the past month I have still had visitors almost daily. Some have been repeat visitors. I am still not sure where everyone is coming from. I began to feel that the Lord was telling me that I needed to continue what I started. I have woman ask me constantly for advice on homemaking, healthy cooking, and finances. I guess this was God's way of giving me a HUGE hint that His plans are more important then mine.

I plan to try and get back on the ball and do what I started out to do. I plan to share what I have experienced in my transition from work to home. I will also be posting our menus, frugal recipes, and anything else that I feel might be of help to stay at home moms.

I really appreciate any comments that my readers leave. They help me to know what they like to read and what I can do to impove. I read every single one. I love to hear from you!

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Do you ever have just a few leftover vegetable at the end of the meal that you don't feel are worth saving, but you hate to toss them? I have found a way to save and reuse these tiny portions that will make another meal later on. I have a container in my freezer that I toss all of these veggies into. When the container is full it is time to make either soup or stew. What an easy way to never have to toss out those leftovers ever again as well as save money on another meal! This works well for fruit too. You can save leftovers and make smoothies.

This summer I have had an over abundance of veggies given to me or grown in my own garden. One way that I love to use some of these is a salad. I know your thinking, "I am so tired of lettuce salads." I am in the same boat. My husband and I love to make this easy summer salad and keep it in the fridge. It is really good as a side to almost any meal, and there is no lettuce.

Cool Tomato Cucumber Salad

4 large, ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, chopped (I have substituted zucchini with success)
1 cup chopped, red onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1/3 cup minced basil or parsley
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar

1.)Mix the veggies together in a bowl and set aside.
2.) Mix the vinegar, oil, garlic, and spices together.
3.) Add the dressing to the veggies and mix well.
4.) Chill for at least one hour.

This recipe is great because you can grow all the veggies that go into it and the dressing is made of staple pantry items. I also love the fact that it is all natural and cheap.

How do you reuse your leftovers?

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These are the easiest tortillas I have ever made. Lately I have been making them several times a week. The recipe is from http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/. Lindsay has a wealth of information on healthy eating. She recommends soaking your grains first. I would usually do it if I could remember ahead of time. I am going to post the recipe without the soaking step, but if you are interested in how and why to soak grains head on over to Passionate Homemaking.

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup oil (I use olive or coconut)

1.) Combine dry ingredients. Add the water and oil.
2.) Mix well and then knead until the dough is workable, but not too stiff. You may need to add a little more flour.
3.) Let stand for 10 minutes.
4.) Divide into 8 balls and let stand another 10 minutes.
5.) Roll out on a floured surface. The thinner the better. (Lindsay recommends thicker. I guess you will have to do what works for you.)
6.) Heat a skillet to medium high heat and toast each side of the tortillas. About 20-30 seconds per side. Keep tortillas warm under a towel while cooking the rest. Once they cool down they can get a little stiff.

For great pictures of how these are made visit Lindsays site at http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/

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This is probably not one of my healthiest recipes, but it is such a nice treat on a really hot day like today. It is close to 100 degrees here today. This pie is really simple and cheap to make. This recipe is from The Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts.

Crust (I use a store bought graham cracker crust)
51 Vanilla wafers, divided
3 tablespoons butter

Filling
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 can (16 ounces) frozen pink lemonade, thawed (3/4 cup)
1 container whipped topping, thawed, divided

Garnish (optional)
Lemon slices (edges dipped in pink sugar)
Pink sugar crystals
Mint Leaves


1.) Crush vanilla wafers in a plastic bag. Add melted butter and mix well. Press into bottom of a deep pie pan. Line edge of the pie pan with the remaining wafers.

2.) For filling, combine ice cream and lemonade concentrate and beat until smooth. Fold in 3 cups of the whipped topping. Pour into prepared pie pan. Freeze at least 3 hours.

3.) Garnish or decorate as you want.

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