A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
16She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
What does this all mean exactly? Well, I'm spending more time at home, for one; with the kids for two. I'm dropping my intensive bible study for a daily devotional, which frees up a lot of time. Bible study,while I loved it was 3 hours a week, then all the homework, etc.
Part of it is that I'm trying to make more from scratch this year. Aided by my new obsession with Pinterest. I'm cooking from scratch, including trying to replace a lot of the convenience foods we eat with homemade. I'm also using up my stash of cleaning products and trying to find homemade, healthier alternatives. Not only will these changes (I'm hoping) save money, be healthier, and hopefully be yummier, but I'm hoping we'll also lesson our impact on the environment. We already use cloth diapers, so we trash less than the average two-diaper family, but I'd love to do only 1/2 can of trash each week (we have the small can).
So far, we've tried onion soup from Paula Dean http://www.pauladeen.com/
I also made waffles to freeze as Henri eats a frozen waffle EVERY DAY. Besides the cardboard it comes in, there's also the plastic bag and the expense. So Sunday I made a whole batch. I made them small so they'd fit in the toaster like Eggos. With suggestions from my mom I cooled completely on my cookie cooling racks (Pampered Chef) and froze them with parchment paper (sorry mom, I don't have wax paper) between them in a gallon baggie. This morning we tried them. Worked AWESOME! Henri & Valerie gobbled them down, the size fit in the toaster and I kept my parchment paper in the freezer bag and plan to reuse at least 2 more times before starting again.
Last night was lasagna soup http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2011/03/24/lasagna-soup/ you make a cheesy concoction which you put in the bottom of a bowl, then put the lasagna soup over it to melt the cheese. Yum! I was glad I did it on a Sunday night while Paul kept the kids busy as there are several preparation steps, and with the size of ingredients, I was able to also make a small pan of lasagna for the freezer for another night.
Keep tuned in for more dabbling in making things myself!
