Home-y Kind of Post

There are certain things that make me feel good. One of them is when I feel like I have made another step on my Proverbs 31 walk - you know, learning how to be a Godly wife, mother and manager of our household. Yesterday, in spite of much busy-ness, was one of those days. Grocery shopping, making some strides on cutting our grocery costs, help me to feel like I'm being a good steward of what my husband entrusts to me. Yesterday's lesson was little, but I think it's going to save us stress and money in the long run. :-) I love shopping at Aldi's, but until a few weeks ago, the closest one was about 45 minutes away, one way. A long haul there and back to buy groceries. So I've been doing our grocery shopping at Wal-mart early in the morning before the crowds descend. Well, yesterday, I went to a new Aldi's that opened up - still about 30 minutes away, and as I compared prices, I realized that overall they are about the same price as I can get at Wal-mart with a few exceptions. Plus, at Wal-mart, they have a bigger variety of fat-free items and healthy food. With the price of gas what it is, it makes me glad that I am making a good decision to shop at the close-by Wal-mart, instead of spending extra money on gas to spend the same money across town. Makes sense when I started figuring it out. :-)

Another thing that I enjoy that falls into the household management category . . . reading cookbooks! :-) I picked up Fix it and Forget-it Lightly last night at the library and read some of it last night, making notes of those recipes I want to get copied down before the book has to go back. I love using my crockpot and these recipes were so simple and healthy that I'm fired up to use it again. When it gets hot outside, I like finding good crockpot recipes to use so I'm not heating up the kitchen with the oven and stove . . . it takes forever for the house to cool off again. This is definitely a cookbook that is going on my wish list to pick up.

I took some garden pictures yesterday . . . I think these are the snap peas.

Leaf lettuce:

My cherry tomato plants that survived a quick frost we had a few weeks ago and are apparently thriving.

Note to self: Next summer, remember to write down what you planted and where it is in the ground! :-) We're having fun guessing what is what as it comes up!

I made this recipe today for our small group tonight . . . I don't know about others, but I prefer lighter desserts in the summer. I don't like eating heavy things when it's hot outside. I have two of these hiding in the fridge right now for tonight. :-)

Raspberry Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup milk chocolate chips
2 tsp. oil
4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 chocolate crumb pie crust

Combine chocolate chips and oil in small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring twice during melting process. Cool for 20 minutes. Fold cooled chocolate mixture into thawed whipping topping. Fold half of the raspberries into this chocolate cream mixture. Place in crumb crust and top with remaining raspberries. Cover and chill 2-3 hours until set.

Life has been simple lately and I'm enjoying it. Quiet days, few errands, lots of evenings at home hanging out with Noelle and Travis. I'm enjoying the winding down of some of our "school year" activites as we head towards our summer schedule. Next Monday, I'm going to try and get Noelle signed up for a summer "Parent and Me" swimming class. I'm looking forward to it (hopefully she'll like it to!) :-) It's at the local rec center and I do have ulterior motives getting her in this class - her mother has never been fond of water (at least putting her head under it) so I want Noelle to learn how to swim EARLY and not have the fear that I did as a little kid. We live in the South - she needs to be able to enjoy time at the pool when it gets hot! :-)