What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, December 04, 2019

No-Grocery November: week 4








Edibles:

~ Mongolian beef
~ fried onions and eggs for breakfasts most mornings
~ wannabe zuppa toscano soup (Italian sausage, potato and greens soup)
~ bean and cheese burritos with salsa
~ prune tart
~ cornbread
~ roasted delicata squash and onions
~ spaghetti with meatballs
~ BIRTHDAY CAKE!  White cake with peanut butter frosting
~ meringue mushrooms and cookies
~ chicken barbeque dip with quinoa chips
~ buttermilk pancakes with syrup and peanut butter
~ tomato soup
~ chicken salad in tortillas
~ dry rubbed chicken and kielbasa, sauteed cabbage, cornbread casserole
~ cornbread casserole (again! For Thanksgiving)
~ apple crisp
~ pumpkin pie
~ a large bowl of whipped cream (sweetened with granulated sugar instead of confectionary since that was used up a few days before)
~ roasted squash, onions and brussel sprouts with fried cheese curds
~ split pea soup (using canned carrots instead of fresh, celery seed to replace the actual vegetable and the last scrawny kielbasa instead of ham.  I was dubious as to the result- but it was remarkably good!)
~ blueberry muffins and cranberry muffins
~ pizza night- three cheese, onion and lunchmeat (sister in law brought over a lovely mufflata sandwich as a gift that I stole some meat from for the pizza) and ricotta, garlic and tomato (though I have run out of real garlic AND garlic powder so I had to use garlic salt and since the salt- I had to be more reserved with it.
~ pot roast with gravy and mashed potatoes

 Notes: 

~ made lots homemade breads, butter, cheeses and yogurt this week

~ On Tuesday, we hosted a little 'authentic' pilgrim feast using The Thanksgiving Primer with a family we do a class with each week.  The kids made venison, cornbread(s), squashes and prune tart.
Since the pilgrims had very little to go on, it happened I had enough food around to be able to do it. The prune tart was pretty good but to enjoy their cornbread, you'd have to be pretty hungry.  (Think: homemade playdough and you'll have a pretty good idea.)  We made modern day cornbread too- just to compare the two. 

~ It was a birthday miracle!  I had the EXACT amount of confectionary sugar I needed for Adele's birthday cake icing.  I used every particle, so much so I got to wash the container out to get it ready for a new bag.  It was PERFECT.

~ for Adele's birthday, we were expecting a few people to come and share cake with us.  I thought how nice it would be to have something savory to serve our guests and help cut the sweetness of the cake.  I was thinking- "What can I serve that is savory?"  I don't have crackers.  I don't have pepperoni or cheese or pretty much anything salty that I could serve last minute.  I usually try and keep ingredients on hand for warm dip at all times but I had nothing to dip into the dip WITH- no fresh veggies or crackers...  THEN, someone found a bag of quinoa chips my mother-in-law gave me a few weeks ago.  I got to serve warm chicken bbq dip WITH something to dip it with.  Lucky us.

~ I wanted to double the recipe for split pea soup (which called for one pound of peas) so I dumped two bags into the broth.  It seemed odd how many peas there were to such a small allotment of water until I realized I had dumped two TWO-POUND bags in.  I wound up making two huge vats of it then- with just a single kielbasa cut into pieces between both of them.  OOPS.

~ Winter milk from a cow is so delicious and tasty.  I don't love pasture milk as much so I wound up buying a lot of milk products because the taste of everything was so strong.  Now that the cow is eating more hay and making 'winter milk', I can make, eat (and enjoy!) all the wonderful milk products from our cow, Acorn.

The biggest lesson of the month:

If I was hoping to learn the art of contentment and make-do-ishness this month, and to be grateful even in times of want... the reality was there was no hard lesson to learn.  We ate like kings.  We were deprived not a single time. 

There are people today, right now who are divvying up a bit of beans, a bit of rice among their whole family.  There are people today who are wondering if they will even eat.  Unless and until I am wondering how I will find something to feed my children or desperate for a cup of corn or wheat or rice to cook, I will never truly know want. 

I guess that is the lesson I learned most this month.  Not how resilient I can be when faced with deprivation... instead, I realized how I have never once in my life been deprived.  I realized just how ridiculously wealthy we are.  We have never known true hunger.  And even after a month of cooking just from things we have around, we still have plenty of delicious food just awaiting a cast iron pan. The big lesson I learned was that I have been surrounded by wealth and food and ease and comfort and luxuries so much so that my eyes were blind to it. 

There were plenty of times when I would literally look in the cupboards when I hadn't gone shopping in a while and think "There is nothing to eat."    I cringe to think about it.

There is such abundance in my life.  Let me have eyes to see it, Lord.

7 comments:

Sherri said...

Your lesson learned was so true, even when we think we have nothing, we have more than most. what great life lessons you are sharing with your children,my your family be blessed.

Rain said...

Such a good month of meals you made from scratch! And Amen to your revelation from your month of no spending. We are truly wealthy. I have been so heartbroken thinking about the children who are going hungry in Venezuala.

Rozy Lass said...

I'm so glad you shared the lesson you learned. We, in the USA, are truly blessed with prosperity and abundance. You are an amazing Mama! Keep up the good work.

denise said...

Delicious looking foods! Baby Moses has your eyes (previous post picture).However we do have a great riches in America,still children go to bed hungry.Consider the "working poor" choosing between heat or groceries. I know

Rebecca said...

Denise- people in America are not exempt, I know. While foreign nations can seem most obvious, there is real need/ desperation even in America. The choice you are talking about is an awful one for anyone to make. Particularly at Christmas time. I'm so sorry if you are struggling with those kind of choices. May the Lord give you peace as He provides a way to meet all of your needs.

Abigail said...

Amen. There is so much need, both far and near. The earth groans.


Side note: This post reminded me of our kitchen conversation when you all were here. Here's the link of what Dudette shared.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/army-children-toil-african-mica-mines-n1082916

Gaping need can be overwhelming when our arms only stretch so far, but we as God's people can be faithful with the resources He's bestowed in the location He's placed us. Thank you for rising up in your sphere to faithfully serve your family and neighbors! May we have open eyes, hearts, and pockets for the needs God can use us to meet.

Denise said...

Dear sweet Rebecca,may the Lord give us all peace and those in need courage and hope to meet the future. Hope is one of God's greatest's gifts. Thank you,that season of our lives is thankfully over now. Due to God,s grace I was able to to get an education while working and mothering.Maybe an hour of sleep here and there? We paid our bills and helped others a little. My children have been told (a million times) remember those who helped us and pay it forward.