Book List for 2012

Hello!  Remember me?  I know, it's been so long.  Well, here I am.  I've been thinking about books.  I read this post from the Money Saving Mom today about her reading schedule and it kind of inspired me.  Not that it takes much, anyone with a plan is encouraging for me.  I lack direction, can you tell?

2011 was kind of rough on me.  I had our fourth baby and my reading has suffered!  At book club a couple of months ago I realized that I had read maybe one of the assigned books!  ONE!  How pathetic!!!  I did do other reading, like I read all of The Hunger Games, and a bunch of homeschooling books, but of all the fantastic books my club chose I'm pretty sure I only read one of them!  Well, not so with 2012!  I'm reading all of them, by golly!

And then I thought to myself that I'm also going to shoot for one non-fiction book a month along with my book club book.  All of this in addition to the reading the girls and I will be doing for school.

I'm on a break right now from school.  It was much needed but it occurred to me today after reading the above linked post that I should schedule out our school reading like I do my own reading.  So, I'm going to follow the reading list for Ambleside Online and actually schedule out the chapters.  Oh, I'm so ambitious.  I'm sure I'll settle somewhere in mediocrity... Skeptical, aren't I?

I'm afraid that reading is the most important thing in our lives right now.  Keeping Reagan progressing in reading, teaching Mati to read and then my own development through reading.  I spend way too much time on my iPhone (Damn you, Words with Friends!).  I'm definitely going to work on that.

Right now I'm reading this book from Charlotte Mason's Educational Series Volume 5: Formation of Character.  It's 800 pages long.  It is interesting but I kind of need it to move along or I need to be a better reader cause I am fading fast with this one.

I'm also reading the January book of the month The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  Fiction will always win over non-fiction, I'm afraid.

So, I'm already covering my personal goal, one non-fiction along with my book of the month from book club.

There is also this really cool contest on this site I just discovered, Reading with Tequila.  What a fun idea!  To read as many books as possible and score medals!  I love prizes, even if they are only bragging rights.  I'm considering joining it but it could be too much.  What do you think?

Weekly Menu: 10/23-10/29

Since we just got home from a cruise, I desperately need to set a menu down so that with all the other stuff to catch up on, at least I'll be ready for the meals!  So, this is my menu plan for the week.  If you look carefully, it's just like MoneySavingMom's... :)

Word of the Day: Flesh Out

I was looking for something to post about and I decided to go to my old stand-by: The Word of the Day.  The site has a list of 10 commonly mistaken words used.  Words like prosecute and persecute and compliment and complement.  Well, the number one was Flesh Out and Flush Out.

I just had to post on this one!  Flesh out is to provide layers of a plan.  The Merriam-Webster geniuses suggest thinking of it like a skeleton.  You add meat to a skeleton to make a more complete picture.  This is what flesh out means, putting flesh on something.

For instance, let's flesh out this idea of raising taxes on the millionaires for so-called job creation.  So, the government raises the taxes on the millionaires by 5%.  The millionaires then cut back on spending, saving, and their own businesses.  Yep, that sounds like a brilliant idea.

Have you heard about the lunatics in the Occupy Wall St. movement?  A group of unions have gotten together to protest capitalism at the business center of the world and around the country at other business districts.  The movement is comprised up of mostly unions like the AFL-CIO, SEIU, United Auto Workers, and also some political organizations like Working Families Party and other socialists.  They believe that capitalism is a great evil and that America really needs to be helping each other.  I guess the companies that EMPLOY those union employees don't really need the jobs, huh?  So, why then have a union?  Why not just quit the jobs and let the rest of America take care of you since you sure that's the American way?  No?  Oh, you mean you want to FORCE people to take care of you?  Yeah, that sounds American.

Ahem.

Well, apparently, the weather has turned cold.  And the occupiers are there on the streets without sleeping bags.  They have a dilemia: Should they buy their sleeping bags?  The movement is Anti-Capitalism, mind you.  To go into a store and buy a sleeping bag would be hypocritical.  The item is here in the minutes from their Monday meeting:  

The first point: Comfort budget….

Jeff: I work with comfort. We have some major concerned about people sleeping here. Mainly we need sleeping bags. Sleeping bags cost money and no one is donating sleeping bags. With that in mind we have a proposal to use some of the donated money to buy sleeping bags. We would like to request about 2000 dollars from the fund for sleeping bags.  We think if we buy 100 $20 sleeping bags, that would be enough for the time being.

Let me get this straight, the Occupy Wall St. movement is not experiencing an outpouring of generosity.  The mission is "that the American way is to help one another succeed."  But that's not what they're experiencing, is it?

I don't know how these people are so dumb.  Really.

I'm thinking they should have fleshed out their plan.

In Which I Try to Expand our Palates

Doesn't this just sound like a terrific ambition? I am trying to do two things with my weekly menus. 1. I'm trying to incorporate a meatless meal into every week. And 2. I'm trying to expose the family to new tastes and seasonings.

I went to my new favorite Chef, Lucinda Scala Quinn, for inspiration. She wrote this cookbook, Mad Hungry, that I received for Christmas last year. It's a great cookbook. I love her tips for making meals go further. She would know. She has three sons and she and her husband have raised them in New York City, no less. That cookbook has taught me new recipes as well as techniques for cooking the perfect rice (she's right) and also how to cook a whole chicken effortlessly (by far the most economical cut of chicken).

Anyways, back to meatless meals. I saw on the first page of her website Monday morning this recipe: Pumpkin Vegetable Curry Stew with Cornmeal Fritters.

I thought, "Hey, we don't hate pumpkin or curry. I'll give this one a shot." I put the ingredients on the shopping list and plowed ahead.

I liked it. Mati liked it. That was about it. During our pre-dinner prayer, Erik thanked God for my trying to open us up to new things, because if he was in charge "we'd be having hot dogs every night." Love him.

Erik is not crazy about stews without beef and it was too spicy for Reagan. Next time (if there is a next time) I may decrease the amount of curry. Thank goodness I didn't add any of the chilis! I was going to take a picture of how much stew was left in Erik's bowl, but I think one photo was about all I could manage.

So, it was good. I love that I instantly was able to blow my nose. Is that gross? I love clearing my sinuses with the aid of food. I mean, it's delicious and it serves a purpose. Yes!

I served the stew and the fritters separately, but then I ate the stew with the fritters, putting a little stew on the fritter and then taking a bite. That toned down the stew and also lent some flavor to the fritters.

Overall, I'm really glad I made this. It was way outside of our comfort zone. And to reward Erik's sense of adventure, I'm making his favorite meal tomorrow: Hamburgers with french fries.

I made the following substitutions.

1.) I substituted butternut squash for pumpkin. The pumpkins haven't quite arrived.

2.) I added no chilis. I had thought I would add some cayenne pepper rather than the Scotch Bonnet pepper. But I changed my mind with hand poised over the pot. I'm glad I did. However, I read that the Scotch Bonnet has a fruity taste, which may have added flavor in addition to heat. Might be worth a shot if you have no fear of heat. You can read about Scotch Bonnet peppers here.

3.) The Fritters: I halved the amount of onions. I wish I hadn't. The fried onions would have broken up the cornmeal better.

4.) I did use Coconut Milk. First time I've used this. I think you can substitute water if you don't want to make a special purchase.

5.) I used regular Idaho potatoes rather than try to find a green banana or an Irish potato. So, for the stew there were two potatoes.

I may try and make this once a year, just to keep things interesting around here. It can be so boring...

My New Favorite Salad

I do love salad, but I find myself getting into a funk with them. I've got to switch them up every so often, you know?

Anyways, last night's dinner was a home run! I made this Asian BBQ Chicken (one of my favorites and a new staple) and threw it together with a salad and white rice.

Let me go into the salad a little deeper, cause this was the part that I LOVED.

The dressing is from Betty Crocker. I know! Sometimes the best is the original, right?

Here's the recipe:

Sweet-Sour Dressing

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola.)

2 tbls sugar

2 tbls cider vinager (could use white, I used Apple Cider. I may try Rice Vinager next time.)

1 tbls parsley (I used dried.)

1/2 tsp salt

Dash of pepper

Dash of red pepper sauce

Combine and refrigerate.

The salad was red leaf lettuce, red bell peppers, shaved carrots, green onion and almonds. I had a package of Chicken Ramen, so I melted some butter in a pan and then sprinkled the Chicken seasoning packet over that. Then I broke the noodles and sauted them quickly in the butter.

What I did on my own plate we combine the chicken, the salad and the rice. It was delicious! All the textures with that dressing, truly good eats. And I couldn't wait to have the leftovers today. Everything was great again! My new favorite salad!

In Awe

I must share this with you. My friend, Chandra, hiked the Grand Canyon, rim to rim, in one day. Read and see her pictures here.

Amazing. I'm inspired to at least think about doing this someday.

Submission & Women Running for President

A week ago some ladies I know were appalled at Michele Bachamann saying that she submitted to her husband when he advised her to go to law school. Then they spouted off the "no woman should submit to her husband" rhetoric followed by "I don't think we can elect someone who will be taking orders from her husband." I was offended. Please understand, I do not bring this up to rant against them personally.

I was offended by of their ignorance of the Scriptures.

I know that submission has been used very wrongly in the world by men who do not love their wives as Christ loves the Church. This is very sad because it has distorted the principle of love, selfless, generous love. This is the kind of love involved in submission.

I am not afraid of submission. I was blessed with a great home life and married a very non-controlling man, so I have my background going for me in this area. However, I do have pride, and I am controlling. So while I may not be daily challenged in this area, I do struggle with submitting to Erik in certain situations.

For example, I'm a bit of an over-committed type. I like to try and fit as much as possible into one time frame. When we leave on vacation, I like to run last minute errands, like the post office and the library and perhaps the store for supplies we'll need on our trip and maybe try and squeeze in a play date. This stresses Erik out to no end. I'm an optimist when it comes to time, what can I say? Well, after 10 years of marriage I still think there's nothing wrong with this cram-session and Erik hates it. So, in submission I've learned to say no to get-togethers on the departure day, and run my errands earlier in the week. Of course I'm still working on it.

I know this example is insignificant when compared with the potential Presidential decision to bomb Iran. However, I think the heart is the same.

Submission is all about trust. Can we trust God to do what He wants when our flesh screams out to do it our way? Can we trust that God is doing something in every situation? When we choose His way (what submission is!) we honor Him. Can we do that in all situations?

I, for one, applaud Bachmann's decision to trust her husband with her future. She came out better for it.

Furthermore, I don't see Mr. Bachmann as the interfering type. So when it comes to national security matters I don't think he'll be pulling the strings, exercising his own agenda. If they are in a Godly marriage then he will be praying for his wife, advising her on matters of the home, helping her in whatever capacity she needs. Because you see, the same Bible verse that says a woman should submit to her husband also says "Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church."

Okay, I don't have much time to go back over this and edit. Kids are screaming and I've ignored them long enough today! Let me know what you think. Do you think I'm scripturally off base?