• Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Recipes)

    I am now wrapping up week number 5 in my No Grocery Shopping challenge!  It has been a fun adventure for our family as we continue to find ways to make the food in our fridge and pantry stretch!  Some of the recipes over the last few weeks have been a huge hit in our family for years while others were different.  We are always looking for ways to create healthy meals that everyone enjoys without wasting the food we have in our home.

    For those who have been emailing me about what we’ve been eating here are a few of our low budget main dish recipes:

    Macaroni & Cheese Casserole

    I came up with this recipe a couple years ago when I was trying to use up some leftovers in the fridge.  It has since become a favorite at our house.  The neat part about this recipe is that it can be easily altered based on the ingredients you have in your refrigerator.  We usually have a stock pile of Wacky Mac because we use double coupons at Ingles, Bi-Lo, or Publix plus we get extra money back from Upromise eCoupons which makes most of our purchases of Wacky Mac free plus some overage.  Dairy products are regular staples in our house so it makes this recipe fairly easy to make anytime.

    Print Recipe

    Macaroni & Cheese Casserole

    The neat part about this recipe is that it can be easily altered based on the ingredients you have in your refrigerator. It is a simple recipe that is almost impossible to mess up.
    Prep Time20 minutes
    Cook Time1 hour
    Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Casserole, Macaroni & Cheese, Wacky Mac
    Servings: 8

    Equipment

    • 9x7 Pyrex Casserole dish

    Ingredients

    • 12 oz Wacky Mac Veggie Noodles (Any shape pasta can be used, but the girls love the mixed shapes and colors of Wacky Mac)
    • 1-2 cups Milk (depending on how rich you want it, powder milk works too or add a touch of sour cream to increase the richness)
    • 1 cup Velveeta Cheese (cubed)
    • 1 tbsp Butter or Margarine
    • 1 cup Shredded Cheese (I use up the partial bags in our fridge so it is usually Cheddar, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Colby, etc..)
    • 2-3 cups Water (You want 4 cups liquid, if you add more milk, reduce the water)
    • dash Salt, Pepper, and Garlic to taste

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    • Add all the ingredients above except the water to a casserole dish.
    • The water will be different based on what you add to your casserole.  Add enough water to cover the noodles and stir everything together.
    • Bake uncovered at 350 degrees.  After 15 minutes of baking stir the casserole than continue baking for an additional 45 minutes.  The top of the casserole will be crunchy (everyone’s favorite part) but should not burn.

    Notes

    I have also been known to cut of cheese slices or put in a couple spoons of cottage cheese.  It really is a “use up the leftovers” type of Marconi & Cheese Casserole!  If you want you can add a cup of fresh or canned tomatoes that tastes great too.

    Chicken Pot Pie

    After several days of cooking we will often use the meat and vegetable leftovers in the fridge to make a Pot Pie.  Our favorite is the Chicken Pot Pie, but we have made several variations of Beef and Ham Pot Pies as well.  You can often get Store Brand Pie Crusts on sale or clearance for a great price if you them on hand use those otherwise the recipe below includes how to make your own pie crust with a few basic ingredients.

    Print Recipe

    Chicken Pot Pie

    A family favorite, chicken pot pie is a simple way to use up the remaining chicken that doesn't taste like a "leftovers" meal.
    Prep Time35 minutes
    Cook Time1 hour
    Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Chicken, Leftovers, Pot Pie
    Servings: 8

    Equipment

    • 9 inch pie pan

    Ingredients

    Pie Crust

    • 2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
    • 3/4 cups Crisco Shortening
    • 1 tssp Salt
    • 5 tbsp Water (cold)

    Filling

    • 1 to 2 cups Cooked Chicken (use leftover or canned Chicken)
    • 1 to 2 cups Cooked Vegetables (use leftover or canned Veggies)
    • 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    • Mix together the ingredients for the crust until the dough is formed, split the dough in half.
    • Roll out half of the pie crust (add more flour if necessary).  Place half of the pie crust in the bottom of a 8 or 9 inch pie pan.
    • Stir together the Chicken Pot Pie filling ingredients.  Add the filling to the pie pan.
    • Top with remaining pie crust.  Roll the edges of the bottom and top crust together.  Cut a few slices in the top of the pot pie, (I usually will do a smile face or Christmas Tree or heart just for fun.  The girls are always looking to see the design on the the top prior to eating it.) 
    • Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Check halfway through and if the crust is getting too dark put a piece of foil over the top to keep it from burning.

    Pasta Night

    We will often have a “Pasta” night which is a quick and easy meal that our family enjoys. It is one of our “meatless” meals.   Many times Pasta nights consists of cooking:

    Print Recipe

    Poor Man's Pasta

    Don't let the name fool you. This is a simple staple that is quick and easy to make, yet still a comforting favorite.
    Prep Time1 minute
    Cook Time8 minutes
    Total Time9 minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Cheap, Simple
    Servings: 4
    Cost: $3

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups Elbow Noodles
    • 1/2 tbsp Butter or Margarine
    • Grated Parmesan Cheese (aka. "Shaky Cheese")

    Instructions

    • Cook the noodles, drain and add the butter.  Sprinkle Shaky Cheese over your noodles and enjoy.

    Notes

    I add veggies and fruit to round out the meal.   It is quick, simple, and inexpensive. 

    Spinach Chicken Casserole

    This is another one of those quick recipes I threw together to use up some extra chicken we had in the fridge that was a hit with the family.

    Print Recipe

    Spinach Chicken Casserole

    This is a quick "throw together" meal that tastes great and feels like it should have taken more time.
    Prep Time5 minutes
    Cook Time1 hour
    Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Cheap, Simple
    Servings: 6

    Ingredients

    • 2 to 3 cups Cubed Chicken (or you can use 2 to 3 frozen whole Chicken Breasts)
    • 1 can Spinach
    • 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
    • 4 oz Sliced Mushrooms (Optional: Canned works best)
    • 2 slices Provolone or Mozzarella Cheese
    • 2 cups Rice (uncooked)
    • 2 to 4 tbsp Water

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    • Pour the 2 cups of uncooked rice and water if necessary into a casserole dish.  Add the Chicken on top of the rice.
    • Mix together the Spinach and Cream of Mushroom then add it on top of the Chicken.
    • Spread the sliced mushrooms over the spinach mixture.
    • Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
    • Add the cheese on top 10 to 15 minutes before the casserole is done.

    Veggie Beef Soup is another one we put together with items we have on hand.

    Along with the main meals we have a fruit and vegetable.  We still have chicken and beef weekly as well as fish every couple of weeks to make sure everyone is getting the nutritional meals they need.

    I will continue to share with you the challenges and successes so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating and sharing your story.  As I extend this goal into at least the first part of February I hope to have the opportunity to share more about what we are doing to make it stretch!  Let’s see if we can finish yet another week of the No Grocery Shopping challenge!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Meals)

    A couple questions we have been asked several times over the last month regarding my No Grocery Shopping challenge are – What have we been eating?  Do we have any recipes?  I am thrilled that we were able extend this challenge into February!   The quick answer is the meals have been “simple”.   Thankfully my family does not have any food allergies so we can be a little more flexible on what we eat.

    Here are a few ways we made our pantry stretch:

    • Always Eat Leftovers
    • Keep it Simple
    • Make Meals with Few Ingredients
    • Cook 1 Main Meal a Day
    • Cut back on Snacks
    • Make Meatless Meals

    On typical day we eat toast, cereal, eggs,  oatmeal or something we have on hand for breakfast.  The girls have lunch at school so they are covered for that meal.  Jake and I eat left overs for lunch (the left overs are usually from dinner the night before).  For dinner I fix a simple, few ingredients main dish to feed our family of four then add fruits, veggies and other sides to compliment the main dish.

    The first place I noticed a dip in the pantry was with the snacks.  When the kids get home form school they are HUNGRY (they eat their school lunch at 10:30 AM) and are always ready for a snack.  If it has been a busy day for me a lot of times they will grab an item from our “snack basket” on the kitchen counter which contains items such as granola bars, pretzels, crackers, etc…. We have noticed a dip in our dairy products too.  The girls will often have a cheese stick or yogurt for a snack after school so those have been being utilized.  Another snack they enjoy after school is a half of peanut butter & jelly sandwich or peanut butter with honey and veggies which gives them an extra boost of protein.

    One of the neat parts about doing this challenge is I have started noticing trends in our family.  I have seen what we eat more of as well as the items that get left behind more frequently.  It is important to me that we all continue to get healthy meals and snacks, however, I want to eliminate wastefulness.

    Along with the main meals we have a fruit and vegetable.  We still have chicken and beef weekly as well as fish every couple of weeks.  I will be adding the recipes for these items in the next day or two.  It is our plan to continue this challenge yet another week!

    I will continue to share with you the challenges, successes and what I have purchased so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I am thrilled that we can extend this goal and continue to use up the items we already have in our home!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Life Simplified: Sell, Give, Donate or Toss It?

    I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago and heard the announcer telling a personal story how she had a box of knickknacks and other items.  She was procrastinating on organizing the items and as she was going through it she was trying to decide what she should give away, put away or throw away……in the end she just got a bigger box.

    This little story stood out to me because I have been thinking about how we as a family and Americans in general need to cut back.  One of my goals in 2011 is to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given me.  I have been sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.

    My Third Life Simplified Goal:

    • Organize & De-Clutter our Home

    Explanation of the Goal: When my husband and I were first married we lived a nice but small apartment.  When we had friends over to eat we had to sit on the floor or the hand-me-down love seat that I received from a client that was throwing it out.  The majority of our items have been purchased second hand or given to us by family or friends.  After a couple years in the apartment we moved into our home and then had kids.  Recently as we were sitting together talking about life we realized how much “stuff” we had accumulated over the course of a few years.  I am a sentimental person so a lot of items have a story behind them, but there a many items in our home we no longer use.  The girls have baby toys that they no longer play with along with knickknacks here and there.  Over the course of the year we a going to reorganize and de-clutter our home.  I think it will be a continual work in progress, however, if we are not using an item we need to evaluate if we really need it.

    Here are some ways we anticipate eliminating some of the clutter:

    • Sell It – EBay, CraigsList, or Garage Sale
    • Give It Away – to someone needing or wanting the item.
    • Donate it to a charity or an organization that can give it to a person who can use it
    • Throw it away – this one is hard for me!  I am still learning that it is okay to not keep every single piece of paper my kids scribble on.  I want to have some to put in a scrapbook for them but I don’t need every paper.  I love the memories!

    We have already started working on this goal.  It is amazing how easy it is to post to CraigsList and Ebay which the items usually sell within a week or two.  When someone is over at the house and we realize that they could use something we have but are not using we take the opportunity to give it away.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I would love to have an organized and de-cluttered home by the end of the year.

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Continued)

    Now that we are through January 2011 you may be wondering how I  did with my No Grocery Shopping Month Challenge.  I did a lot better than I anticipated, but still had a hiccup or two.  Thankfully no one starved or went hungry in our house during my challenge.  We even hosted guests for a few meals!  It took a little extra planning on my part to cook meals from items already in the pantry and fridge, if we didn’t have something we did without it or found a creative way to make it out of what we had at home.  The amazing part is the entire family was supportive of my goal even if that meant a slightly altered menu.  The only comment I received from one of the girls that indicated they noticed was “Mom, did we eat up all the leftovers in the fridge because it looks a little empty?”

    Here is the complete list of groceries I purchased in the month of January:

    • 6 gallons of Milk
    • 1 loaf of Bread
    • 1 package Ground Hamburger
    • 1 package Cube Steaks
    • 2 Yogurts
    • 1 container French Onion Dip
    • 1 container Cottage Cheese
    • 1 package Flour Tortillas
    • 1 box Kellogg’s Toy Story 3 cereal

    The total spent on groceries for this month was $27.95 including the tax.   Milk was by far the most expensive part of our expenditures for the month of January adding up to $18.93.  We had an extra expense of $1.50 from the Kellogg’s Toy Story 3 cereal that did not meet my criteria.  Leaving only $7.52 for all of our other grocery purchases for the month of January which I bought last week.

    The food I bought had to meet the following criteria:

    • FREE – I don’t want to waste free grocery coupons that my family will use while doing this goal
    • Necessity – Milk, Eggs, Bread, etc…
    • For Someone Else outside of my household.  For example I make meals for new Moms in our church and if I need to pick up an item for them on the way to deliver a meal that will be an exception.

    I have decided to continue with this challenge.  It has been wonderful not having to go to the grocery store every week for anything other than milk.  Our pantry still has plenty for us to eat and our freezer is fairly full.  So I am going to continue with this challenge into February and see how much longer I can make it stretch.

    One of the questions I have been asked is – What are we eating?  Do we have recipes for these meals?  To answer those questions I will be sharing a little more about what we are eating and recipes in a later post.

    I will continue to share with you the challenges, successes and what I had to purchase so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I am excited to be extending this goal into the first part of February!  It has been great learning to say “no” when at the grocery store to extras and being creative with we have at home.

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • A Vacation to Remember

    We watched this beautiful sunset as we left South Carolina!

    Everyone needs a little time away.  Seriously, life gets busy and schedules quickly become overloaded.  It is important to take some time to relax, enjoy life and create memories.  Every vacation is different some are restful while others are jammed packed with activities.  Chose the vacation that suites your family.  Try to plan a vacation with your family at some point this year even if it is only a long weekend away with your spouse, family, or extended family.  You will cherish the memories you make for a lifetime.

    My husband and I recently went on a cruise with my parents, my siblings and their spouses.  It was wonderful to escape for a week and have fun together.  The kids had a blast staying with friends while we were away and had a little vacation of their own away from Mom and Dad.  The neat part about a cruise is once you arrive on the boat all your meals are provided, the hospitality is amazing and your room is cleaned multiple times a day.  You truly are spoiled!!!  My husband and I had a blast spending time with family, meeting new people, exploring the ship and islands.  We always had plenty of activities, food, and entertainment.  We were rocked to sleep every night as the ship went from island to island and every morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the ocean. We could have continued cruising through the awesome islands, however, we were starting to miss the kids and figured we should get back to the regular routine.

    Over the next few days I will be sharing pieces of our recent adventure with you.  Some posts will be just for fun while others include helpful tips when traveling and cruising.  It was an enjoyable trip and we hope everyone gets an opportunity to go on a cruise at some point.  Go ahead start planning out your next family adventure!

    A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Life Simplified: Meal Delivery

    Dessert tray we delivered to a family!

    Every new year we set goals, challenge ourselves to reach new heights and to focus on what’s really important in life.  In 2011 I have made it a goal to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given me.  I will be sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.  I have already shared with you my 1st Life Simplified Goal of No Grocery Shopping for the month of January.  One of the most rewarding blessings in life is sharing what you have with others.  My second Life Simplified Goal goes along with that piece.

    My 2nd Life Simplified Goal:

    • Deliver 1 Meal a Month to a family outside of our household

    Explanation of the Goal: In 2010 I signed up to deliver meals to new Moms after they came home from the hospital, people who had surgery and various other volunteer opportunities.  There were a couple months I didn’t do any meals and other months I had several extra meals to prepare.  For example, in December I had 4 extra meals to prepare and deliver outside of our home before the week of Christmas, some of them being over an hour away, plus we had a Christmas Eve party at our house and guests staying with us for a week.  While I enjoy the blessing of helping others I need to work on saying “No” once I have met my limit.  After much prayer and talking with my husband we have decided it would be best for our family if I would stick to 1 meal delivery a month.  Once I have delivered a meal in a month I will have to say no to any additional inquiries.  There are so many people out there that need help, however, I have to decide what is best for our family too.  I want the girls to continue participating in these amazing acts of service and having a limit will give us the freedom to continue to do it without putting our family in a spot we are over our budget. I think with all the people in our church and community that if everyone did just one meal a month for someone needing a meal there would even be extra to go around.

    I will continue to deliver meals for people once a month.  Below are the opportunities that I am currently and will continue to be involved in:

    • Moms with Newborn Babies
    • People coming home from Surgery
    • Death in the Family
    • Other Volunteer Needs for Meal Delivery

    I have a hard time saying “no” to someone in need but in order for me to have the opportunity to continue ministering to others in this way I need to stick to the goal as well as respect my husband in his decision to help me with this area I love to volunteer.  I will share with you the challenges, successes along the way so you can keep me accountable or you can even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping

    Every new year we set goals, challenge ourselves to reach new heights and to focus on what’s really important in life.  In 2011 I have made it a goal to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given me.  I will be sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.

    First Life Simplified Goal:

    • No Grocery Shopping (except for necessities) in the month of January.

    Explanation of the Goal: My goal during the month of January is to not shop for groceries other than necessities (milk, eggs, bread).  Our freezer is full and our pantry is overflowing with all the great deals that we have received.  One of the reason for the goal is that I want to use the items I have and not waste them.  Stockpiling is wonderful but there may come a point when we need to eat through that stockpile before it expires, save the extra money to work on a financial goal, and be creative with what we have at home.  I have been thinking about this challenge for several weeks after doing Operation Christmas Child and other charities over the Holidays it really hit me that we have been blessed yet there are children and families that have nothing.  Menu planning may take a little extra creative thinking on my part but I think I can do it. If I do purchase something it needs to meet one of the following criteria:

    • FREE – I don’t want to waste free grocery coupons that my family will use while doing this goal
    • Necessity – Milk, Eggs, Bread, etc…
    • For Someone Else outside of my household.  For example I make meals for new Moms in our church and if I need to pick up an item for them on the way to deliver a meal that will be an exception.

    I have already started this goal.   The only things I have purchased this month so far have been a loaf of bread and 2 gallons of milk.  Last week we ate a bunch of leftovers for several days after my our family guests left since our fridge was full and we don’t want to waste the food we have.  It takes a little more time and focus to come up with a menu but everyone seems to be doing pretty well.  The real challenge will come at the end of the month when we are getting low in the pantry and when we host guests!

    I will share with you the challenges, successes and what I had to purchase so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I would love to extend this goal into February if I can make our pantry stretch!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Loosening My Grip: No More Repairs…..Please!

    Let’s just say 2010 was in some ways….painful…..at least when you look at it from a budget standpoint.  Our budget was (ouch) way off after many unforeseeable major repairs and events.  There are some things that happen in life that are completely out of our control and as a person that likes to plan ahead it can really catch me off guard.  Many of the repairs were out of our hands and we were doing exactly what we thought God wanted us to do with our lives, however,  there can be a turns up ahead in life that will guide us in directions that we did not necessarily expect.  How we react and choose to move forward when we come to a crossroad is where the true test comes especially if we don’t like the direction the road is taking.  The amazing part  is God gave us peace and after many months of praying He gave us a very vivid answer to some of our questions. I am grateful everything continued working as long as it had, however, there for a few months it was like the domino effect around our house.  I felt like anything I touched broke.  We almost always buy used items and several things had been acting up for several months or years.   Thankfully I have an wonderful husband who budgets and has planned ahead enough to have an emergency fund.  Although we went over our small emergency fund during the last few months I know with God’s help, planning, sticking to the budget, and cutting back we can overcome these speed bumps.

    What type of items started this drum roll effect?

    • Car Purchase – Jake was rear ended in November 2009 at a stop sign by the person behind him who failed to stop until she hit his car.  His car was sandwiched between two cars and totaled.  Thankfully he was wearing his seat belt.  The insurance gave us some money to compensate for his car.  Unfortunately his car was paid off and we had to adjust to having one car with business events, meetings, kids, school, and everything else for several months.  We couldn’t find a car within the allotted price range so we continued to look.  The market for used cars in our price range was low plus the “Cash for Clunkers” took additional used cars out of the market.  Finally, in March 2010 we were able to locate a usable car within our budget that he could drive.  I am thankful he now has a reliable car to drive.
    • Business Expenses – several years ago we started our business as a way to help others and LOVE it, however, in 2010 the expenses were higher than anticipated and God showed us clearly the direction he wanted our family to take.  It has been an amazing journey seeing His hand working in our hearts, lives, and the business.
    • Jake’s Surgery – with the car accident from November 2009 Jake continued to have issues, we were hoping and praying that he would get better on his own, however, he had surgery in April to repair the damage.  Thankfully, after the surgery and a few months of physical therapy he is doing better even though like any injury the damage is done and continues to have a ripple effect.    We still haven’t been able to get the medical expenses covered from the person running into him (even though it has  been over a year) but hopefully it will be done in 2011.
    • Roof Repair – in August 2010 we after a pretty steady period of rain storms we had a tree fall on our house.  It was a domino effect of insurance, adjusters, roofers, and many more people trying to get it repaired before it rained again.  We were thankful to have an acquaintance do the majority of the repairs and roof.  It is amazing that you are required to pay insurance on time every month to get coverage, however, when you have a claim on it takes months to get the issue resolved.  We still have a few minor repairs remaining but we are thankful to have a roof over our heads and the majority of the work completed.
    • Laptop – I have been fortunate enough to never have to purchase a new laptop.  My husband has always been able to piece together a desktop or laptop for me to use from what he has available from doing work for others.  This year the hand-me-down machine died and the laptop was slowly wearing out with a major crack in the screen.  For my birthday I got my first ever new computer which has been a true blessing.

    I will continue with the domino effect of repairs we had in the last few months of 2010 later this week.  Thankfully we all made it to 2011 healthy and happy despite the adventure along the way.

    Loosening My Grip is a series on areas in my life I am learning to let go of slowly. A couple months ago I was studying Jonah and one of the phrases that popped out at me was “Whatever you are holding on to in this life, hold it loosely so it won’t hurt when the Lord has to pry your fingers open to take it away.”  I have found that in some areas God has had to pry my fingers off of whatever I am holding onto one finger at a time.  There are areas in my life that I feel like I need control over and hold onto them tightly.  I have been learning how to let go and hold loosely so God can do His work in my life.