I like cooking and baking. I love trying new recipes. I feel we are eating healthier than we would eating out and I ADORE picking food from the garden and using it in our evening meals.
One of the first things I think about in the day is what we will have for dinner. I need to pull out the meat, if we're having meat, and I like to chop up things that might be used that evening. This does two things, it convinces me that we are staying home for dinner and it is less work for me later when I might have a lower energy level.
Last night I made Tex Mex Pizza:
The crust is a whole wheat tortilla, the sauce is picante sauce, the chicken is chicken I took from a roasted chicken we had earlier in the week, the green peppers are from the garden, and there are mushrooms and cheddar cheese as additional toppings. You could probably add onions and whatever else you wanted to throw on there as well.
We also ate freezer cucumbers from my garden and left over cole slaw from earlier in the week.
It makes me feel accomplished when I make a meal we like and actually enjoy. If it is the only thing I accomplish in a day, that's OK.
The other night I made vegetarian lasagna for the first time. I was a little frightened because JR is definitely a meat eater and even tho the recipe looked good, you just never know. Broccoli, squash, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheeses, etc. layered between whole wheat lasagna noodles. It WAS good and chocked full of vegetables.
Tonight I'm making San Antonio Skillet with turkey sausage, ranch beans, brown rice, diced tomatoes, and salsa. We're having a veggie side made with peas, green beans, corn, onions, different colored peppers, celery, and dill with a vinegar, oil, sugar dressing. I had a little taste and it is great.
Staying home lets me cook the way I want to for my family. It takes a lot of thought and planning to have a dinner on the table every night that tastes good and is good for us.
I don't have many material wants in life. I have a desire for a simple lifestyle, don't enjoy shopping or have a desire to wear the latest fashions. I don't have much jewelry to speak of and rarely get my hair trimmed or have my nails done. I prefer walking outside to going to a gym and I am all about buying used and keeping it simple. We down-sized our home when the girls started leaving and I am perfectly content to be in a much smaller place. I try to de-clutter on a regular basis and besides books, have kept most things under control. We keep our AC high and our heat low, we open windows when there's an opportunity and JR does our own lawn care. I clean our house and he washes our cars and we are more fit because of it.
This is not right for everyone.
We have a piece of property in the country with a camper and electricity and that's it. We will wait until we have the money to build something more substantial and this might take some time, but that's OK. What we have here is good.
I know I said in an earlier post that we had decided to move out to Giddings, but we have rethought our plans. Everything I want to do in the country, I can do here. I can have a big garden (we have a 1/2 acre) and small animals. (I never wanted anything bigger than a goat and goats aren't really my thing.) I have a large field behind my house and a large creek at the end of our street. There is a hawk that flies by every morning when I'm on my walk. How cool is that?
I also have convenience, resources and modern technology and neighbors who know me. JR travels quite often and thinking about being in the country where there are wild pigs and who knows what else by myself doesn't trip my trigger. What if something happened to him or me? We would have to travel an hour away everytime we wanted to see a Dr.
I don't want to get rid of the property in Giddings, I do love it. I feel at total peace when we go there. We walk and play and I read and lolly gag. Some day to have a small cabin would be terrific, but we don't need that yet, we have plenty to do here at this house without having to worry about another dwelling.
I can stay home because of this.
I babysit Tyson because I want to. I wanted to have structure to my days and time limits. I wanted to play with a baby and see him smile and laugh and grow to trust me. I wanted to feel needed. He does this for me. I am looking for one more baby or young child to watch because Tyson and I are totally comfortable with each other now and another child will be even more fun. I used to care for multiple children at once and really enjoyed it, but think a smaller number is better for me now.
Anyway, being frugal gives me the choices I have to do what feels right for me and for my family. Eating healthy, enjoying the fresh sunshine, sharing love with a baby, it is all right. It works for me.
