To Actually Cook Dinner!!

I'm a decent cook, in that I'm capable of making things DangerBear will eat.  I just don't particularly enjoy cooking, and getting started is definitely the hardest part.

To enter, leave a comment with your cooking/meal planning tips.  One winner will be chosen at random from all the comments.  The other winner will be the one who leaves my favorite tip.  You have one week to enter; I'll choose the winners from those who comment before Wednesday, April 8 at noon (Pacific time, let's say).  Make sure you're signed in or somehow leave me a way to contact you if you win.  =)

(I'm sorry, but I can only do the giveaway for those who live in the continental US.)

I'm really looking forward to hearing what you all have to say!

As I mentioned here, I was thinking of starting a goal-themed meme.  Several of you have said you'd be interested in participating, so here it is!

This Friday, April 3, will be the first week of Philippians 3:14 Fridays!  Below is information about the meme and how to participate.  I hope you'll decide to join!  =)

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It's a weekly blog carnival, hosted each Friday here at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman, in which we share our weekly or monthly goals.  Its purpose is twofold: encouragement and accountability.  Everyone is encouraged to visit other participants' blogs to see how they're doing, and to leave comments.

Philippians 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  I chose this verse for two reasons: First, it's about persevering toward achieving a goal!  Second, it's a reminder that what we do, we do for Christ.  We set goals for ourselves because we want to be more like Christ; we want to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Simply post on your own blog each Friday about the goals you set for yourself.  They might be weekly or monthly goals, or anything you're trying to accomplish.  Write about your progress, tips and tricks your learning (for example, about getting organized), share pictures, whatever you'd like!

Then come on over here and put your info in the Mr. Linky form at the bottom of the current Philippians 3:14 Fridays post.

That's okay!  Just leave a comment on my post about your goals instead of signing the Mr. Linky.

Um, yeah, I guess "Philippians 3:14 Fridays" is a little long.  Maybe we can call it PhilFri?  Or...  I don't know.  I'm open to suggestions.  =)

Please email me if you have any questions or suggestions!  I'll probably update this post as needed, so I'm putting a link to it in my header.

The month is very nearly over, and here's how I'm doing on my March goals:

I finished my heart swatch!

I really enjoyed working on it, and it didn't take me very long.  I'm still figuring out the purl stitch in terms of where my fingers should go.  So now I can make anything, providing it's rectangular, doesn't have cables, and is only one color...

I'm so very, very happy with the way things are going this month.  God willing, these goals will become habits and I can keep moving forward!

If you've managed to read to the end of this post, I'm impressed!  Be sure to come back next Friday for the first edition of a weekly goals meme.  We can all share our goals and progress, and encourage each other!

Want to know something that's really been Working for Me?  It's accountability.  When I started posting about my monthly goals, I started being more consistent in achieving them.  I didn't want to report back here that I forgot about my goals after three days and totally blew it.  That would be embarrassing!

In the past, I've tried asking DangerBear to hold me accountable, but he doesn't have the time to hound me about whether I've cleaned the bathroom this week.  Posting here, however, has been very effective!  I guess there's just something about showing the world my dirty kitchen that motivates me to clean it up...

I know many of you set goals for yourselves.  Would anyone be interested in a goal-themed meme hosted here each week?  We could share our monthly goals and our weekly progress toward achieving those goals.  How great would it be to leave encouraging comments for other ladies, and to receive encouragement in return?

If you'd be interested in participating, leave me a comment.  If enough people want to do it, I'll figure out how to use Mr. Linky and get it set up.  =)

From today until March 27, "5 Minutes for Mom" is hosting the Ultimate Blog Party.  It's a great way to find other blogs, and there are prizes, too!  Definitely check it out!

For those of you who found your way over from the party's main site, welcome!

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."  Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman is about building up our homes, one brick at a time.  Below are links to some of my previous posts.  I hope you'll check them out, leave comments, and subscribe!  (The subscription link is in the sidebar.)  You can also follow me on Twitter.

Of course, the Proverbs 31 woman is a standard of perfection.  We are to strive to be like her, and to be like Jesus, but it's the journey that's important here.  As sinners, we'll never attain perfection, but we can grow and mature!

That's why I love the analogy of Proverbs 14:1-

When I think of this verse, I imagine a woman literally building a house, one brick at a time.  That's when I come out of my overwhelmed fog and think, "I can do one brick at a time!"

I pick one thing, something that will have a big impact on my life and my family's lives.  For example, one of my goals for this month is to clean the kitchen before I go to bed.  It's something I've struggled with since I got married.  When I wake up to a clean kitchen, though, it tends to stay pretty clean.  That makes it easier to prepare and serve meals, and I'm also more likely to do a fun baking project.  Cleaning up after meals is a snap, because the dishwasher is already empty.  And DangerBear certainly can't complain about a nice-looking kitchen!

That one change has so many benefits.

Building up my house, one brick at a time, really works for me!

Lovely.  DangerBear took one look at that and wondered if he should be scared to eat my pizza.  The dough burst through the plastic wrap and oozed all over the place.

When I rewrapped them, I made sure to leave plenty of room!

I had gotten into the habit of using an antibacterial spray and paper towels every time I wiped down the kitchen counters.  At over three dollars per (small) bottle, plus paper towels, this was costing a decent amount of money.

A few months ago, I picked up a plastic spray bottle at Walmart and filled it with water and a squirt of dish soap.  Give it a little shake, and you're good to go!  I still get the convenience of a spray cleaner, but much cheaper.  I also stopped using paper towels and started using rags instead.

Now, the only time I use antibacterial cleaner is when I've been working with raw meat.

I took my standard brownie recipe and divided it into mini muffin cups.  What would normally make an 8x8 pan of thick brownies made about three dozen brownie bites.

They're so cute I just want to eat them up!

After a while, I went back inside to work in the kitchen, and I let her play outside the front door.  After a while, she came in and asked for a drink of water.  I gave her one, and she took the cup outside with her.  A few minutes later, she came in and asked for more.  And a few minutes later, she asked for even more.  At this point, I'm thinking she's either going to wet her pants or she's up to something.  I peek out the front door and see:

You can't tell from the photo, but the bucket is filled with water.

It is, apparently, a well.  Except the water comes from my water pitcher instead of from the ground.  A reverse well, I guess.  I especially love the rocks arranged at the bottom.

No doubt about it, the child has a thing for sticks and rocks.  Add some string and a little scotch tape, and who knows what she'll come up with?

Fast forward to last night.  One of my March goals is to go to bed with a clean kitchen.  That means wiping down the counters, putting away any dishes that were hand-washed, etc.  It also includes running the dishwasher right after dinner and unloading it before I go to bed.  Waking up to a clean kitchen and empty dishwasher makes it so much easier for me to keep the kitchen clean throughout the day.

Amazingly enough, I've achieved my goal every day of the month!  (Alright, I know it's still the beginning of the month, but still.)  Anyway, things were going smoothly, until... (cue dramatic music)...

I was nearly done cleaning up after dinner last night and started draining the water from one half of my double sink.  I heard a bad, splashy sort of sound.  I looked in the cabinet under the sink and, lo and behold, there was water pouring out of the pipe!  I quickly plugged the drain and ran to DangerBear for help.

Apparently, the plumber didn't see the need to actually connect two of the pipes under the sink.  They just sort of sit together.  Normally, it worked fine.  It seems, though, that there's a clog and since the water can't continue down the pipe, it comes out and pours into my cabinet.  Sheesh.

So this morning I took the remaining water out of the sink and took out a red dishpan I'd been using to organize things in the office.  The kitchen is clean, and no matter how long it takes to get it fixed, I will clean my kitchen every night!

I know it's a small thing, and in the grand scheme of life, dirty dishes isn't a big deal.  Still, DangerBear has told me that he really appreciates coming home to a clean house and kitchen.  So whether this is Satan trying to discourage me, the Lord testing me, or just plain bad luck, I'm gonna keep going!  So there.

This is something I just started doing yesterday, but it's been working so well that I wanted to post about it.