Simple = Pancake and Waffle Mix

This is one of those tried and true family recipes. It came from my mom. Perfect to mix the dry ingredients ahead of time and store in a mason jar. Add wet ingredients and cook.

Pancake and Waffle Mix
1 3/4 cup flour
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 oil

Mix all ingredients together. Can be used for waffles or pancakes.  Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.

And the Winner is.......

So excited to share the winner of Brave Moms Brave Kids!!!!

Brave Moms, Brave Kids by Lee Nienhuis can be purchased here. I throughly enjoyed this book and even now am realizing I should probably reread it!! Yes, it's that good!!!

And the winner is.......Dawn!!!

Congratulations Dawn!!!! Enjoy this awesome book!!!
Thanks for playing along!!!

Brave Moms, Brave Kids Book Giveaway!!!!

Giveaway has ENDED! Congrats to Dawn!
I'm so excited! Not only is today my mom's birthday, BUT it's also the day of my giveaway!!!! Whoooo hooooo!!!

Brave Moms, Brave Kids by Lee Nienhuis can be purchased here. And remember preordering on Amazon is usually a good deal! I've found that's it a lower price on the day it releases and then the price goes UP.  (Remember if you preorder you will get the lowest price from the time you placed your order up until it ships. So if you preorder for $15.99 and the price drops to $12.99 you will get the lower price. Although last I checked the price was lower than that!!!!)

You can also find Brave Moms, Brave Kids at Target, Christian Book, Lifeway and Barnes and Nobles.

What do I love about Brave Moms, Brave Kids? Well, it challenged me! As a Moms in Prayer mom, and as a parent, it really made me think! And I loved the "how to" of parenting! I am not just about reading a book about doing.  I like a book the shares the practical "how to do"! Brave Moms, Brave Kids does just that!

For example: did you ever think about Daniel and his parents? Daniel was 14 when he was taken into captivity in Babylon.  How did his mom feel? (Devastated!? Heartbroken!?) BUT Daniel was able to stand firm in what he had been taught and surely in the wisdom his momma prayed for him.  In Daniel 5:14 it says, "I've heard about you (Daniel)  - that you're full of the Holy Spirit, that you've got a brilliant mind, that you are incredibly wise".

Oh may my children (and me!) be full of the Holy Spirit, have a brilliant mind and be incredibly wise!  In her book, Brave Moms, Brave Kids, Lee teaches you, along with scripture, how to  teach your children in a practical way! It's a practical momma parenting guide!

As I was reading this, I desperately wanted to purchase 50 more copies. There were so many mommas who I thought could benefit from this book.  If I had it my way, I would do just that! Yes, this book was THAT good!

So....here's YOUR chance to win (since I can't buy you all books! 😧)!

See below for your chance to win.

Leave a comment, or visit Lee's site. Update: Please bear with me as all this is new! I would love you to comment on how you have been a brave mom in parenting (something that has worked well or you've learned to do well) or a place where you need to be a brave mom in parenting! (All previous entries will count. And doing this through rafflecopter gets you an entry!)

Some details: The giveaway will close on January 25 at 12 a.m. So get your entry in before you go to bed on the 24th!  The winner's address will be given to Harvest House Publishers and the book will be mailed at the end of January. Good luck! I really wish you all could win. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Brave Moms, Brave Kids

I'm so excited to be doing a giveaway on this blog on January 23! The giveaway is the new book by Lee Nienhuis called Brave Moms, Brave Kids.  I can't wait!

I was excited to be a part of this launch team and did receive a free book for my preview and review!

How was I impacted by this book?

Well, let me start with how I first met Lee.  Several years ago I was able to attend the Moms In Prayer Festival of Joy conference.  It was there that I heard a young mom speak of her journey praying for her children.

More recently I was able to go to an Unshaken Conference for Moms In Prayer and heard Lee speak again.  Then I "happened" upon an invitation to be on her launch team. (God!)

I love that this book is Bible based and reinforces what is shared at Moms In Prayer!


Here's my review:

Brave Moms, Brave Kids is a practical hands on guide for mothers of all children!

In Brave Moms, Brave Kids Lee Nienhuis shares honestly why we, as moms, need to be praying for our children, and not just for their salvation. Lee offers honest advice and wisdom for raising your children bathed in prayer. Lee gives you practical strategies for raising godly children who are heros and warriors for Jesus. Consider this book, paired with the Bible,  the hands on guide for spiritual parenting. 

Lee shares biblical insight on how to pray for and train your children to be Christ followers. Have you ever been taught how to teach your children how to know and obey God, how to value the Word of God, how to pray, the importance of self-control, relationships and service and perhaps most importantly their identity if Christ?  In Brave Moms, Brave Kids, Lee addresses each of those topics with a practical “how to”.  As a Moms In Prayer praying mom, Lee also shares the four steps of prayer that can be used to teach your children how to pray.

This book has challenged me in my faith and taught this mother of five much about godly  parenting. I highly recommend Brave Moms, Brave Kids.

I was offered a free copy of Brave Moms, Brave Kids for my honest review, but I have purchased one to give away as many can benefit from this excellent book!

The Ultimate Meal Planning

Back to the nasty chore of meal planning.  So, now that you are thinking of meal planning early in the morning, you have your meat all fried and ready to go (and don't forget to cook your chicken overnight in the crock pot - see this post) you just need to know WHAT to make for dinner!

As I said before, I have scoured through cookbooks, written down ideas. Nothing. Simply nothing!!!

Since I am VERY visual I needed to come up with an idea. No clue where it came from but this is what worked for me!

I got a white board like this

Then I got magnets like this

And some paint samples.  And for the record, I called Lowes. They are ok with people coming in to get paint sample. Whew. Any guilt is gone! 😀

Next take your paint samples and cut them into 1 3/4 inch by 1 3/4 inch squares.

Write down any meals you usually make or any deal ideas you might have the in the future. Maybe something you want to try and make. Think about your old "stand-bys" (ie. grilled cheese, or my mom's stand-by bacon and cheese sandwiches ~ recipe coming at a later date!)

Don't forget my kid's favorite ~ sarcasm intended! COTF.  Yes, you must include COTF. Which simply means:
Clean Out The Frig 

My kids are not fans. Unless there is something really good in the frig! (I recently saw someone call this "smorgasbord". I like that much better!!)

Once you have all your meal ideas on the little paint sample squares, attach the magnets to the back. They will look like this:

Remember to make a few extra. This way if you think of more ideas or someone shares a great recipe, you can add it easily. 

Finally take all of your squares (no matter how many or how few) and put them on your board. It might look something like this:

I usually pace my magnets squares towards the bottom. Then, if I am super organized, I pull seven up for the week. However, most times I just keep them there for reference of ideas of what meals to make. There have been times too when I asked the kids to pull them up.  They almost always pull up "Eat Out"!  I've asked my husband to pull some up at times too, but he's usually so gracious he doesn't care what's for supper.  

Finally, I really think I should add a square that says either "I don't care" or "I don't know" because often when I ask what they want for dinner that is their response.  😩

Meal Planning = UGH!

So in the last post I alluded to meal planning. UGH! What a chore!  I found myself daily coming to the "witching hour" (that hour just before your husband comes home. The kids are a mess. The house is a mess and you simply can't hold it all together!) with no meal plan.

First I simply want to say (and always remember this!) cereal is a MEAL! Yes, cereal is a meal. It's fortified and whatever else. Yes, mommas, it counts. If all you can do some days is have your children pick their favorite cereal, get a bowl, a spoon and some milk - it's ok!  Cereal is a meal!

Through the years I have learned the key to meal planning. Yes, I poured over cook books. I would try to plan out a menu. I would look at what is on sale for the week.  I'd list ideas. I looked at Once a Month Cooking. Mind you I just looked, I never did.  But nothing ever worked. EVER. The best laid intentions and nothing. 4 p.m.! Witching hour. No clue what was for dinner.

I can't recall how or when I came up with this idea but for me, it WORKED! Finally.  It was probably Kathi Lipp who has this book that helped me get to where I needed to be!!!

So what did I do?

I started thinking about dinner/supper FIRST thing in the morning. BAM!!! No more last minute defrosting. No more scrounging. I starting thinking about it before 7 a.m. And you know what? It worked! It almost always on my to do list. When I don't think about it, guess what? I come back to 4 p.m. witching hour scrambling.

This way I can use the crock pot if needed. Oh the crock pot is my friend. Especially as the children have grown older and their are sports activities, activities to pick them up from, meetings, etc.  It's always nice to know dinner is ready when you need it.

Not sure what to serve? Come back soon for another post on meal planning!

Fry-day!

I have struggled with meal planning for YEARS!!! And I mean years!!! 4 p.m. would roll around and I'd think 'Gee, what is for dinner?" I'd scramble to the freezer. Um, nope, no time to defrost. Then the frig. Nope nothing in there. Then the pantry. Nope. Um. What. To. Do?!?!

Well I have finally (maybe mostly?) conquered meal planning. I'll share more in another post, but one way was to have a FRY DAY!!!

I rarely buy hamburger at the store. I grew up on a farm and when we butchered, well, that's when we got meat! Having married into a farming family we still butcher. However, in the last few years, we have started eating venison. Now, this is very corn fed venison, which means it tastes like beef!

So how this looks for you vs. how it looks for me, might be a little different!

When we get our ground venison, I simply put it in the freezer. It comes in one pound packages.

When I'm ready to have my fry day, I simply thaw 6 to 12 pounds of hamburger. Sometimes it's 15 lbs.

I put one pack in a pan at a time.  Fry it up. Then I usually start another pound in a second pan.

Now remember, if you have children they can probably do this for you! I've had children (who were old enough and it was safe) stand at the stove and fry the meat. The only downside = you will have ground hamburger all over the stove, the counter and the floor.

However, as Karen Ehman says:

I"m sure if it's true for the washing machine, it's true for stove! 

I like to just dirty two pans. In my world, washing dishes is WORK, so less dirty dishes = less work!  

Once a pound is fried, I put it in a dish I purchased at IKEA to cool.  Then onto the next pound.

Once I fry about 6 pounds of plain hamburger, I move onto taco meat. Our family loves tacos and I can easily throw the cooked taco meat into the crock pot! So...I have to use two pounds for this for our family. Two pounds of meat gets cooked and then I add the taco seasoning and the water. Follow package directions for taco seasoning. Then into the bowl to cool! I find that by using four of these bowls, the meat usually has enough time to cool, so I don't have to dirty anymore!

Once done, I put the meat into a freezer bag, mark it (because nothing is to go into my freezer unless it has a name AND a date!) and freeze. Just remember NOT to put the bag of hamburger directly onto a wire shelf to freeze!  Been there. Done that! Put a paper plate under instead!

When it's time to make a meal, your hamburger is already cooked! And if it's a taco night you can either just reheat the meat OR throw it in the crock pot on warm or low all day.