This post is linked to Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers.

I know I said I wouldn’t be posting much this week, but I had to share this with you all. As I mentioned yesterday, my family suffered a horrible loss Sunday evening. It has been a difficult couple of days and I’m sure the road to “recovery,” especially for little Evan’s parents, will be long, hard and full of tears and sadness. But what a wonderful witness to the world to be able to experience such a tragedy, perhaps the most painful of all losses–the death of a child–and to still be able to say, God is enough. He is good and just and sovereign and merciful and he loves his children more perfectly and completely than any human parent ever could.

Here’s a clip by John Piper that I found a couple years ago; I had forgotten about it but last night my mom mentioned it again and I knew I had to share it with you. So please, continue to keep my family in your thoughts and prayers and have a few kleenexes handy, because the first time I watched this video, tears were streaming down my face by the end. God is enough.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:4-7

My family suffered a horrific loss last night and we would all greatly appreciate your prayers. A young cousin of mine (three years old), Evan, passed away very, very unexpectedly. Please pray for his sweet parents, that God would comfort them in this incredibly rough time; please pray for our whole family that God would grant us peace, and perhaps above all that He would use such a horrible accident to draw the non-believers in my family to himself, that to Him and Him alone would all of us run!

I probably won’t be blogging much, if at all, this week as our family works through this. Thank you in advance for your prayers. God is good, all the time…

This post is linked to Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade. Be sure to check out the other awesome posts in this weekly carnival about revolutionizing how our country eats, produces and thinks about food.

On many of our menus, you may have noticed a very humbly named dinner entitled pinto beans & cheese, also referred to on occasion as bean bowls. I forget where I read about this idea, but it is truly a wonderful one that has become a staple on our dinner table. It is extremely frugal, nutritious and easy to make; there is really very little effort involved and it uses the crock pot, making it perfect for hot summer days when you don’t want to turn on the stove and heat up the kitchen.

Here’s the basic idea:

1) Make one batch of CrockPot Spicy Pinto Beans, except omit the cumin, chili powder, cayenne and Frank’s. I will also often use garlic and onion powder instead of the real deal, which makes this even easier because there is no chopping veggies involved.

2) When the beans are done, scoop about 1 cup portions into bowls, trying to drain as much of the liquid as possible.

3) Serve with any or all of the following:

- shredded cheddar cheese

- sour cream

- salsa

- guacamole

- tortilla chips

This can be the meal in its entirety, but I usually like to serve it with corn and pineapple chunks (fresh or canned).

And it gets even better! Leftover beans and cheese can be used to make bean burritos for lunch the next day:

1) scoop 1/2 cup of beans onto a sprouted whole wheat tortilla

2) sprinkle with cheddar cheese, Frank’s hot sauce and any other additions you’d like

3) roll it up burrito-style and wrap in foil for a quick on-the-go lunch

You can also make a large batch of these and keep them in the freezer for an easy meal or snack. Usually out of one batch of pinto beans, we get four meals: the intitial bean bowls and burritos the next day for lunch; then I freeze the rest of the beans to use for tacos or tostadas for another dinner and another lunch of burritos or nachos. It doesn’t get more multi-purpose & frugal than that, folks!

Do you cook with pinto beans? What are some of your favorite recipes? I’d love more suggestions for uses with this frugal, yummy legume!

Looking for more ways to eat more fruits & veggies that are not only nutritious, but delicious, too? Enter: the smoothie! These are a wonderful way to sneak tons of healthy foods into your diet, especially for little ones. Normally we don’t eat smoothies because I don’t own a blender, but as I mentioned before, my parents have loaned us their smoothie maker for a little while so I am living it up while I can!

Here are some of my favorite ingredients to throw in these delightful treats:

spinach (kale would work, too)

yogurt

cream or milk (regular or coconut)

water (have you taken the H2O Challenge yet???)

frozen blueberries

frozen banana chunks

peach slices

pineapple chunks (from a can or fresh)

strawberries (frozen or fresh)

applesauce

Smoothies are also a wonderful way to get more natural “health boosters” into your diet because the other fruits & veggies help disguise them. Here are a few that blend in quite nicely:

apple cider vinegar (just a little, this stuff has a strong taste!)

ground flax seed

coconut oil

whey (see here on how to make this)

For a dessert smoothie, try mixing up some cream, ice cubes, banana chunks, a sprinkle of stevia powder, some vanilla extract and a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder for a choco-banana “shake!” You can also throw in a spoonful of peanut butter!

The possibilities are endless when it comes to smoothies! How do you like yours?

Starting yesterday, I am trying to hop back on the healthy-eating wagon (and of course, on day one of my “plan,” someone suggests going to Skyline for dinner ). Over the past four or five months I’ve packed on a few extra pounds, and it’s time to get rid of them! Plus, overall, I am starting to feel the effects that eating poorly has had on my body; my IBS is starting to flare back up, I’ve had a general lack of energy and feel very sluggish.

My plan is to limit my carb intake to once a day (and then make sure they are healthy carbs, not empty calories) and to drastically decrease the amount of sugar (both refined & natural) that I’m eating; my parents have graciously loaned me their smoothie maker and I hope to make smoothies to not only help control sugar cravings (I’ll use stevia if I need a sweetener), but also to “sneak” in nutritious foods like vegetables, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil. Plus I am making an effort to drink more water! Not only does this help keep my body running smoothly, but it also helps keep my stomach full longer so I’m not tempted to eat as much.

So here is our menu plan for the week!

Sunday

Prep: none

B: scrambled eggs w/ cheese + iced coffee

L: leftovers

D: Southwest Chicken Wrap (me)/Vegetarian 3-way (went to Skyline w/ church friends)

Monday

Prep: thaw pesto (leftover from these) + make yogurt cheese

B: scrambled eggs w/ cheese

D: dinner w/ church–take baked pasta

Tuesday

Prep: soak beans (PM) + thaw curry + make creme freche

B: smoothies

D: Penne w/ Pesto Cream Sauce & Cherry Tomatoes + salad

Wednesday

Prep: beans in C.P. (AM) + thaw pizza dough

B: cereal/scrambled eggs w/ cheese

D: Bean Bowls + chips  & salsa + pineapple

Thursday

Prep: soak rice + thaw chicken (3)

B: smoothies

D: Chicken Curry (in freezer) + rice + veggie

Friday

Prep: thaw turkey bacon

B: cereal/scrambled eggs w/ cheese

D: Homemade Pizza + salad

Saturday

Prep: soak rice & flour (for biscuits) + thaw chicken (4)

B: smoothies

D: Chicken Tikka Masala (another attempt… last time failed) + rice + veggie + Chocolate Swirl Muffins

For more menu plans, check out Organizing Junkie each Monday.

in-season strawberries with yogurt, chopped almonds & raw honey

I’ve mentioned before that buying fruits and vegetables that are in season not only saves money, but also ensures a better-quality product. If you frequent a local farmer’s market, you’ve probably noticed that during certain times of the year, certain fruits and veggies are everywhere and others are impossible to find. There’s a reason for that! Just as God designed the earth to go through various seasons, the ground, climate and other variables were made so that certain plants grow best during spring, others in the summer and others in autumn.

Here is a very helpful article to know when is the best time to buy what, as far as produce goes. It will vary partially by where you live, but in general, it is a great guide.

Another great tip is to get to know the farmers at your local market! They have a wealth of knowledge about what produce is best during each of the seasons. Plus, by buying fruits & veggies here versus the supermarket, you are supporting local business and most likely getting a higher quality product (many smaller farms have sustainable and organic growing practices but are not certified organic because of all the expenses associated with such certification).

And as it is the time for strawberries, consider using those delicious, red berries to make simple yet elegant chocolate-covered strawberries (revamped to be healthy and frugal, too!) by Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet. She must have a knack for creating yummy desserts; remember the fudge?!?

This post is linked to Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade. Head on over there for other tips & recipes on eating nourishing, wholesome and local foods.

Did I ever tell you that my husband cooks up some awesome fried rice? Well, he does. Seriously, it is amazing. He’s been “perfecting” his recipe for about a year and a half now; his first attempt was edible, but now it is simply fantastic! And when he makes fried rice, he pulls out all the stops. Check out what we spent the evening making a few nights ago:

lots of rice...

Yes, that is rice; eight cups of it, to be exact (fried rice is best made with cold, leftover rice, hence making it the night before). Good thing it gets better the longer it sits! And maybe I’ll even be able to convince Ryan to share a guest post on how to make some mean fried rice. Now I just have to figure out if fried rice freezes & reheats well because it will take us a week to eat up the leftovers that are in the refrigerator now!

I am convinced that there are as many recipes for guacamole in the world as there are people; it seems everyone has a different favorite way to prepare this delightful dip. And I’d like to add another recipe to the mix! Inspired by Laura’s recipe (apart of the Eat More Fruits & Veggies Challenge), I thought I would show you my favorite way to make guac. I prefer a chunkier, tangier guacamole that really lets the avocado flavor shine through. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips, and you have a crowd-pleasing, healthy dip! This recipe serves one or two, so feel free to double or triple as needed. Enjoy! *Note: I don’t usually measure the ingredients, so I tried to guess the amounts. Increase or decrease to adapt the recipe to your tastes.

1 small roma tomato (I ended up not using all of the tomato–maybe 1/3 or so)

1 ripe avocado

about 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/8 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

dash salt

De-seed the tomato, slice lengthwise and cut across to form a small dice; I don’t like huge chunks of tomato in my guac so I try to cut these pretty small (sorry there are no pics of this step). Now, peel your avocado–click here for a tutorial–place avocado in a bowl & mash with a fork to the consistency you want.

Squeeze lemon juice onto mashed avocado.

Now add chopped tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Stir to combine.

Taste and adjust as needed. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy!

Another week, another menu! As always, check out Organizing Junkie for meal-time inspiration as hundreds of bloggers share their menus each week. For breakfasts during the week and Saturdays (because Ryan works on most Saturdays), we eat either cold cereal with milk or yogurt and lunches consist of leftovers or sandwiches (tuna, PB&J or lunchmeat).

Sunday

B: Blueberry Pancakes

Late Lunch/Early Dinner (our church starts at 5:00 pm): Homemade Pizza + salad

Monday

D: Dinner w/ church small group

Tuesday

D: Pinto Bean Tostadas + corn + pineapple

Wednesday

D: friends over for dinner – Fried Rice (Ryan is cooking)

Thursday

D: Buffalo Chicken Wings + onion rings + veggies w/ ranch dip

Friday

D: Reds game w/ family

Saturday

D: guests for dinner – Sloppy Joes + baked beans + chips + pasta salad + ice cream

I just wanted to pass on this wonderful recipe so you can enjoy it as much as we did! Plus, you can eat it without any guilt because it only contains wholesome, nourishing ingredients, especially when you enjoy it with a glass of non-homogenized, lightly-pasteurized milk from local, pastured cows (check out Snowville Creamery and consider supporting this awesome local business if you’re in the area)! If you don’t have have palm/coconut sugar (I don’t), you can substitute honey; simply decrease the amount by a few tablespoons because the honey flavor comes through a little strong. And to make it even better, you can whip this fudge up in five minutes! The hardest part is waiting for it to harden so you can eat it. Much thanks to Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet for this delicious recipe!