Frugal Fridays: Cheap Meat!

Alrighty, this week for Frugal Fridays this is what I've got: cheap meat.

I use to never buy meat before I was married, except on occasion when I had a coupon for the Tyson family chicken pack (the frozen chicken breasts that are oh-so-itty-bitty). However, one Sunday Joe and I were at Vons picking up something and were browsing by the meat section hoping to see some spicy Italian sausages (a favorite of Joe's that is usually onsale for about $3 for 2lbs.) That's when we saw the clearance section for meat!

It's the stuff that either needs to be used in the next day or so or freezed. And all the meat is marked between 30 to 50% off and occasionally there are things like stuffed mushrooms or chicken marsala. It's a good buy. I only buy meat from the clearance section now and freeze it.

Here's what I've gotten on my last few trips:

Organics Chicken Thighs - .68lb/Reg. $3.39 Clearance $1.69

Porkchops - 1.44lb/Reg. $6.47 w/ club card $5.03 Clearance $2.51

Ground Turkey Breast - 1.25lb. (x2)/Reg. $5.99 Clearance $2.99

Sirloin Steak - .77lb./Reg. $5.38 Clearance $2.69

Breast Fillets - 1.65lb./Reg. $9.88 Clearance $4.94

Drumsticks - 1.52lb./Reg. $3.02 Clearance $1.51

Lean Ground Beef - 3lb./Reg. $10.96 Clearance $5.48

It's always fun to find good deals, especially now that my husband gets meat with his meals!

That's it for me....I'm off to make Sloppy Joes and homemade french fries. I've been keeping the menu easy this week, since it's the first week back from Spring Break at work. ;)

A Life Presented to God - Part 2

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2, NASB

In the beginning of Romans 12 these two verses call us to live a life that is diametrically opposed to this world. That is a life that grasps the mercy of God and lives thus so. What does a life that is opposed to this world and grasps the mercy of God look like? It is a life that is living unconformed to this day and age, but continually being transformed.

§ NLT, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world”
§ NIV, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world”
§ AMP, “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs]”
§ NASB, “And do not be conformed to this world”
§ The Message, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.”

To be conformed is to “comply with rules or standards; be similar in form or type” (OED 183). If our life complies with the standards of this world and we look (or live) similarly to the worldly way of life then it’s time to stop and reflect on our personal life asking the Lord, “What needs to change?” Because if we could transplant our life in the world’s system and it doesn’t look any different than the next worldly person, then we’re in trouble! We’re called to be salt, light, and to abide in Christ’s teaching, if we look just like the world then we’re not living (doing) something right.

Look at the translation of the verses:

§ Don’t copy the customs and behavior of this world
§ Don’t conform [comply with, be similar to] to the pattern of the world
§ Don’t fashion your life after or adapt its external and superficial ways
§ Don’t be so well-adjusted to the culture that there’s a seamless fit.

It’s very clear that we are to live diametrically, completely opposite, to this world. It’s vital that we remember who has authority over the earth, the prince of darkness. If we align ourselves and life with the world’s culture, we are also aligning ourselves up with the culture and kingdom of Satan—the exact opposite of what we say we desire as Christ followers!

It’s a time for reflection for all of us. There’s not a person alive on this earth that is living completely by God’s kingdom principles where every aspect of their life is opposed to the world, so humbly yourself to God with me as we reflect and ask the Lord, “What in my life complies with the world?” Wait on Him and listen to what he says, then repent.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday Leftovers

Tuesday Meatloaf w/ salad

Wednesday French Dip Sandwiches

Thursday Hamburger Beef Dinner (the last box dinner in my pantry--no more!)

Friday Sloppy Joe's

A Week in Pictures...

Homemade Strawberry-Banana Smoothies in the making.

(Joe actually ended up having both smoothies, since I have an aversion to bananas. I tried, but it just didn't work out.)

Grilled cheese on my homemade bread!

The beginnings of homemade cereal.

The finished product.

My homemade verison of Nestle ready made cookie dough. I had frozen some cookie dough a few weeks ago and thought it was time to pull it out.

They were quite petite cookies.

My two loaves of whole wheat bread I made on Monday.

Yesterday, I made two loaves for this week.

Frugal Fridays: Free Cooking Magazines

As I was going through my magazines yesterday and tearing out recipes and helpful articles I had a few Kraft Food & Family magazines that I got one year. They're free and you can sign-up to receive them at www.kraftfoods.com/free. They have a ton of different recipes, of course using quite a bit o Kraft brand foods (but those can always be substituted). If I remember correctly they are quarterly, one for each season. Enjoy!

A Life Presented to God: Romans 12:1-2

We started out on Monday's post looking at the parallel theme in 1, 2, and 3 John that we, as Christians, are called to live a life that is very different from the rest of the world. Over the next week or so we'll be delving into Romans 12:1-2 and looking at what it says and what it calls us to as believers. I've been enjoying studying this passage and the fullness of the Word, and I hope you'll join me in it!

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Romans 12:1

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,

acceptable to God, which is your spiritual

service of worship.

The theme here in Romans 12:1 is that we are urged in light of God's mercy to view our bodies as living sacrifices. Paul is appealing to the body of Christ in the dedication of our lives as believers to heed what he is about to say. He calls us to present our bodies to God as "a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God." Paul speaks of this idea elsewhere as well, in 1 Corinthians 6:20 he writes, "You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Paul is reminding us that we are no longer our own. We no longer have dominion over our own body or life, Christ's death on the cross bought us. We are now redeemed children of grace, thus our bodies are not our own, but God's to use and dwell in. This urging also reminds us that we are to submit ourselves to God (Ja. 4:7). Ultimately, if we are presenting our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices that is submission. Offering yourself to God is not only a spiritual act of worship, as the verse tells us later, but it is also a sign of submission. When we submit to God (or anyone else for that matter) is shows that we trust and obey God, and is our offering to him.

We offer ourselves to God since He has shown us such great mercy. As I was studying, I came across a different translation of this verse and it was just so wonderful to me, "When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?" (NLT) I think that hits it on the head. So often we can come up with excuses, mostly without even being conciously aware, of why we shouldn't or can't fully give ourselves to God. That's why I love this translation, When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?" Seriously, is it too much for God to ask for our complete dedication when he gave up His Son for us? Now, how can anyone answer, "Yes, it is too much to ask!" Who would even be so bold? It's a humbling question that our hearts already know the answer. Offering our self to God is not only an act of spiritual worship or submission, but it is giving Him what is rightfully His, "You are not your own [...] You were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body" (1 Cor. 6:19b-20).

We must make a "decisive decision" (Ryrie 1744) or a "decisive dedication" (AMP 1314) to give ourselves as living sacrifices (as opposed to the dead animal sacrifices of the Old Testament) to the Lord. Our sacrifice is to be "living and holy" (NASB) and "devoted, consecrated" (AMP). We can't go this way or that, or one day decide to be sold out for Christ and the next trying to buy back our life. Lukewarm is not a safe place to be, although we often think it is. When we offere ourselves to God we make a decision of how we are going to live our life, either as those who know God and abide in His teaching by doing the good He says or we could not abide in the teaching of Christ, continue to do evil and thus not know God. Our decision is this, "and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Ro. 6:13, NASB).

We are to offer ourselves to God "as those who have been brought from death to life" (Ro. 6:13, NIV) and offering our bodies as "instruments of righteousness for God" (Ro. 6:13, NASB). This offering our bodies to God in view of His mercy is "holy and pleasing" (NIV), "acceptable" (NASB), "the kind He will accept" (NLT), and "well pleasing" (AMP) to God. Our offering, dedication, decisive decision or dedication, devotion, or consecration is our "reasonable (rational, intelligent) service" (AMP). It is a deliberate choice to offer our self to God. This is the beginning of what our life presented to God looks like. It starts with a correct understanding of grace. We didn't earn it and we were bought by the price of the cross, thus we have made a decision of how we are going to live our life, consecrated to the One True God.

I finished reading 1 John today and read 2 & 3 John too. It's interesting to me that as I read I noticed a theme in John's letters:

"...everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

1 John 4:7b-8

"Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son."

2 John 9

"The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God."

3 John 11b

There is a definitive line between those who know God and those who do not. The latter might think they do, but don't. It seems so obvious that those who know God are different from those who don't, but those who don't know the Lord may not always be that obvious. It comes down to the details of how you live. Do you simply read the Bible and say, "Yes, that's true." Or do you let the Word transform your life?

"Many read the Scriptures simply to reinforce their current beliefs. Although they read the entire Bible, their mind only sees certain doctrines. Instead of believing what they read, they merely read what they already believe. [...] Christians are often baptized into their denomination. When they are fully indoctrinated, their minds have been immersed into a pool of teaching that leaves them more conformed to the imae of their sect than to the likeness of Christ."

- Francis Frangipane, ICIT

So what does theis all mean? If you let the Lord transform your heart and mind (Ro. 12:1-2) your way will be straight and you will be those John talks about who know God. The catch? We must be spending sustained amounts of time in the Word. If we do not take the time to seat our self before Christ, then how can we be like him? The place Christ is most revealed is in the Scriptures to know HIm we must go there.

Menu Plan Monday

Alright, so I jumped on the menu planning bandwagon a few weeks before I got married. I really enjoy it Now, I'm just sharing our dinner table with the world!

Monday Broccoli-Carrot Stir Fry

Tuesday Grilled Shrimp w/ Lemon & Green beans Amandine (We've been married one month!)

Wednesday Cauliflower, White Bean, & Feta Salad

Thursday Lemon-Parsley Risott w/ Soy-Marinated Sirloin

Friday Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Cutlets w/ Italian Squash

Easter Videos

Here are some videos from Easter Sunday at our church. We have a traditional of each person bringing flowers to put on the cross during worship before the message. It's always such a beautiful sight to see the transformation of this plain, wooden, barren, chicken wire cross becoming this beautiful, colorful, and fragrant cross. It's a wonder to behold, and what makes it even more awesome is seeing the transformation and knowing that is what God is doing in our hearts and lives as believers. He is taking what we once were plain, barren, and ugly and transforming us into a fragrant work of beauty!

Enjoy!


(Oh, they're not the best videos since they were filmed on my digital camera.)







This video is of a lady at our church named Phyllis. She's such a sweet lady, but is just aging. For the past few months she's been coming to church in a wheel, but still sometimes you'll see her pulling herself up to stand and worship her King. It's a beautiful sight to see.

What I love about this video is that there is Phyllis putting flowers on the cross, but also one of our elders is standing in front helping a little girl put her flowers on. It's a beautiful picture of the old and young both coming to honor Jesus. It's a wonderful testimony to Him.

Easter Pictures

Wedding Pictures!

In no particular order...

Pictures from Israel

As Easter approaches here's a series of posts from Church of the Masses, a blog I sometimes frequent by Barbara Nicolosi who's a screenwriter (she worked on The Nativity) and heads up an organization called Act One whose purpose is "designed to provide special tools for Christians concerned with creating Godly entertainment that will have a lasting positive influence on society and the world." (I met her at a writer's conference a few years ago. She's a pretty cool lady.)

After such a long introduction, she's visiting Israel and has taken some wonderful pictures of places Jesus was prior to the crucifixion along with some verses and things she's learned being there. It's definitely worth a look as we approach Easter.

Check it out:

http://churchofthemasses.blogspot.com/

Heart Work

Colossians 1:25-27

25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God has been working on my heart lately. Rooting out the perfectionism and performance that has so marked my life and at times have prided myself on. It's wrong. I know that, and it's exhausting to be a professional perfectionist. People sometimes appluad it and say how great it is that I'm such an organizer or so detail oriented. I'm just glad that I have a husband who keeps me in check and is mindful of my weakness to push myself into exhaustion for the sake of things being perfect or the way that I imagine them or what I think other Christian women, usually homemakers, applaud. I'm not perfect. It reminds me of high school. People would tell me that I was so perfect. They'd say I had perfect friends, perfect family, perfect grades, perfect this, perfect that...blah, blah, blah. Inside I would be writhing in pain, thinking of how I walked through the hallways of high school holding my breath.

Now, don't be misled God has definitely freed me from that type of bondage of perfectionism and performance. Don't let yourself be fooled, it is bondage. The enemy loves to get into the sneaky, quiet, good looking areas of our lives. It's good that I'm organized and etc, but Satan taints that good and works to turn it to evil. And I have let him. (Interesting tangent: A pastor once said that if you're not working with God you're working against Him. It's the same with sin. I choose to sin, like all of us, so there are times when I choose to work with Satan. It's a bad thing that Christ in me eradicates as I walk with Him.)

Having just been married I've been emmersing myself in articles, blogs, podcasts, and books on biblical womanhood, femininity, and homemaking. All these are topics which I have studied for a few years now and truly love, enjoy, and believe. However, over the last few days God has been revealing the striving and perfection that I have been trying to attain in my own strength in regard to these things. Let me tell you, it's exhausting. Here's an excerpt from my journal where I was talking about this:

1. There's a chance I might be striving too hard in my role as helper in the home--in my own strength.
2. I'm trying (and wishing) so hard to be like those of the blogs I read.
3. I should be excited about my biblical role as helper and submission (see John Piper's definition) and to live that out joyfully. [<-- This is where striving for perfection gets you.]

I've found that I've wanted #2 so bad, I'm trying to emulate and think of things that would be like them. I wish I was home so I could do #1 better, at least in my own eyes. And with #3 I get frustrated at Joe or myself (or both) and lose (or really give up) my joy.

So, what to do?

Live as God designed me; not to emulate other believers, learn from them, yes, but emulate Christ. And I have my own gifts and ministry that are useful and people need, so I should be doing that.

That's where I've been recently. Yet, yesterday God started knocking on another door. In youth, one of the college guys was teaching on the chapter in Acts where Phillip followed the Spirit to Gaza where he met the Ethiopian eunch and began talking to him about Jesus and the man was baptized. We broke up into small groups to go over some questions. As a leader, I felt pretty unprepared. My mind had not really been set on ministry, evangelism, etc. as of late. But one of the questions was, "What is keeping you from witnessing like Phillip?" The question was eluding to the fact that Phillip readily went where the Lord sent him, not knowing what but followed the Spirit and witnessed. A follow-up question was "What is keeping you from witnessing?" The answers in our group were fear, inconvenience, busyness, lack of passion, and not knowing what to say or do (all of which I could confess).

It convicted me, so I confessed my sin along with the other girls in my group. As the day went on and also today the idea has struck me, and continually grown, that I've been so consumed by focusing my attention on biblical womanhood, femininity, and homemaking--all which are good and need attention---yet, have turned my attention from the Lord. In some ways they have been focused on myself and not the Lord. More importantly, God has been revealing to me that in those things I have lost my focus on the job Christ has given me--to be a minister of freedom and a proclaimer of grace. Basically, I haven't been focused and mindful of the great commission that Christ has given to all believers. I've been living my life paying attention to important things, but ignoring the most important: spreading a passion for the glory of God.

I have a role in the body of Christ that is my own. The women whose blogs, books, and podcasts I read and listen to have their own role in the body of Christ, yet for all of us our utmost goal is to spread a passion for God throughout our homes, churches, community, country, and world. We, I, have to get outside of myself, outside of my home to spread a passion for the glory of God.

It starts in my home, but if it stays there or even in my small little community of family, friends, and believers it's sin. Christ has anointed me to spread the Good News and as good as it is to study, learn, and implement biblical womanhood, femininity, and homemaking if I stop there I've lost my mission. I've fallen short. I've stopped at myself. Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Spread it...

"Domestics duties are good, but how long are you going to shine the furniture? You use to not need furniture. You use to not need all those things that have consumed you. You need to save your money and get a passport."

-Brian Brennt, Pastor of New Song Church (To hear the whole sermon go here.)

One picture to hold you over...

Post-Wedding Update

This update might take a few days, but we're back from our honeymoon. For the last few days we've been getting readjusted to being back at home and no longer honeymooning, getting back work and church (I haven't yet, but Joe has) and Joe to his new job (yeah!). We got back late Saturday night, so Sunday we slept in, opened wedding presents, and visited with friends.

Monday we started putting away all our wedding gifts--it's taking some rearranging and going through stuff. Good thing there's a rummage sale this weekend at our church. (There's still piles to go through in quite a few corners of the apartment, and apparently there are wedding things to go through at the church still. I'll be busy this weekend.) We ran errands, Joe got new shoes, we returned a few things to Target, and even made it to Costco and got a new bed! The first night back we tried sleeping on the double I had been borrowing from my new sister-in-law and the second night we sleep on the fold-out couch with some two pieces of overlapping foam (April, why didn't you tell it was that bad?). So, we got a mattress and a boxspring for $589! My sleep is finally becoming sweet again.

Since Monday we've just been working and readjusting to life (and married life). Tomorrow I'll post some of the wedding pictures I have, but for now here's the link to the photo gallery:

www.benjaminfondrk.com

Click online gallery, then weddings, then Joe & Jess, and the password is our wedding date (hint: we got married on St. Patrick's day)

Also, this weekend I just might post some quotes from a few of the books I've been reading that struck me as quite good...just maybe, if I have time. ;)

See you soon!

Mrs. Joe Mueller

(ah, how fun it is to write that!)

Here's the fabric for my dress:

Jesus Board Game

Since I'm a Bible teacher for preschoolers in at a Montessori school, when I make a new "work" for them I try to work within the the Montessori method, ideas, and model it after other Montessori works. This can be pretty tricky with Bible, which is filled with many abstract things that can be quite challenging to make concrete.

It is a board game of Jesus' ministry "Follow Me", but here is what I made over the weekend:

Today...

Today I started cutting out a dress for the wedding rehearsal. I'm not quite sure it was such a smart idea. I doubt I'll get it finished in time. It's a pretty simple dress pattern (Butterick 4443).

I'm making the yellow dress, but my fabric is white with a green flower print. I thought it would be appropriate for a wedding rehearsal for a wedding on St. Patrick's Day to have a white and green dress. I actually got the fabric long before we were engaged, perhaps even around last Easter when I was thinking I'd make my Easter dress (I ended up buying one from Old Navy). I originally wanted to make this dress (New Look 6587, the yellow one):

I decided not to make it, because I thought it would be a little more difficult on a few levels for me (or maybe just stressing). First of all, my sewing machine may very well be considered an antique (from the 60's) and I'd have to do a basting stitch and my tension falls everytime I try. And then, the last time I did something with button holes my button hole attachment was not functioning properly. It was pretty annoying. So, I figured I'd just go with the simple, easy pattern for this. Although I do think that it would have looked really cute with the fabric.



Today was also a day of realizations...that is realizing I forgot some important things. Like my brother's birthday today, my friend's birthday party last night, not to much rent that was due Thursday along with some other bills. I don't know...maybe it's just wedding brain. If I can even blame it on that. I mean I am getting married in 2 weeks!

The Ultimate Blog Party

I came across this a little while ago on one of my regular blogs (I think Biblical Womanhood), and then just ran across it again tonight while I was looking at Frugal Friday (even though it's still Thursday for me). So, I thought I'd join in even though I have one faithful reader (hi, April!) and sometimes reader (hi, Joe!), and then there's the once in a blue moon relative (hi, mom! hi, Granny!). I still thought it'd be fun to join in on and who knows maybe I'll meet somebody real cool *wink, wink*

If you come across this just by chance, then join in too! (See the link at the side.)

This makes me smile...

I came across this verse last night as I was flipping through my Bible looking for something else.

For example, there was God's promise to Abraham.

Since there was no one greater to swear by,

God took an oath in his own name, saying:

"I will certainly bless yo richly,

and I will multiply your descendants

into countless millions."

Hebrews 6:13-14, NLT

I think that's great, "since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name."

Read the rest of the chapter here.

I thought this was a good analogy for sin:

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: When the Romeros got Sally as a family pet, she was one foot long. Eight years later, Sally had grown to eleven and a half feet. She weighed eighty pounds. Sally, the family pet, was a Burmese python. On July 20, 1993, she attacked fifteen-year-old Derek, strangling the teenager until he suffocated to death. The creature that had seemed so harmless was exposed as a deadly beast.
It reminds me of sin. It seems so harmless at first. It may play with us, sleep with us, or amuse us. But its nature never changes. The book of James tells us that “sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.”
Do you have some pet sin in your life? The best way to protect yourself is to confess it to God and turn from it. Remember: Sin will always rise up and devour those who befriend it.
With Seeking Him, I'm Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Source: http://www.seekinghim.com/radio/today.php