Creative Menu Planning and some Food Encouragement from the Lord

This month is our last month of guaranteed income. We are hoping and praying for a new job for my hubby soon, and he does have a couple of possibilities that may develop into a job offer. But whether or not they do, and if they do, when, is completely out of our control. So planning for next month has been much on my mind of late. I cannot do anything about the amount due on most of our bills, but I can do something about the grocery budget. I have been spending alot of time trying to plan inexpensive menus, and using this month's grocery money very carefully in order to lay up ingredients for next month when my grocery budget will probably be the smallest it has ever been. Please know, my intention here is not to whine. And I am not motivated by the fear of having nothing next month. I know God will provide for us, and I want to be a good steward of what He provides. Plus I actually love to plan! It has always been fun for me, in a beat-the-system sort of way, to get a great deal on items we normally buy lots of, or to figure out less expensive ways to make a favorite meal, etc.

Grocery shopping this month has looked very different than usual. I have always made an attempt to eat healthy, of course, and to buy as little processed food as possible. But this month I have made a huge effort to shop sales, shopped at lots of different stores, and purchased more staples that I need to prepare myself, such as dried beans, rice, oatmeal in bulk, and chicken (to cut up and cook and freeze in small portions). Last week a local grocery store was having a really great sale on milk, so I went and bought 20 gallons. The clerks looked at me so strangely! But I saved $18.00 so I didn't mind their strange looks. I poured a little off the tops of all of them and put them in our large extra freezer downstairs. I am hoping it will last all the way through February. We freeze milk all the time and it thaws well and tastes great. You should try it! Just be sure to pour a little off the top first so it doesn't burst due to freezing expansion. And you have to shake it up when it thaws because the milkfat tends to settle.

On one of our food co-op orders last year I ordered bulk bags of several different types of beans and still have a good quantity left. So this is the month to learn to cook with beans! Many people are concerned about the fact that beans can cause gas, and I confess that I am too. But I have read that our digestive systems can adjust to eating more beans so that over time this is not an issue. The reason it is usually an issue for us Americans is that our bodies are not accustomed to eating beans on a regular basis. I have received lots of helpful advice from this website. It is full of good tips on how to eat healthily and inexpensively, and has lots of good recipes. Check it out! And I am happy to report that the delicious black bean quesadillas we had this past week gave us NO gas whatsoever! (aren't you glad you came to my blog today?)

Our church gave us a large ham for Christmas. What a wonderful treat! We used it for two large dinners (one with lots of company), numerous lunches, a delicious split pea soup made from the bone, and I have several bags of cubed ham in my freezer to add to other recipes. What a blessing!

Where does my new interest in cooking more vegetable based meals for my family come in? Well, although I cannot afford to make some vegetarian recipes right now due to the cost, there are many that are very inexpensive to make. And I will save money on meat! After looking at lots of recipes online and getting a tad discouraged, I ended up going to a local grocery store that was having a sale on produce, purchasing some of their cheapest veggies, and then coming home and looking up recipes that use those ingredients. Hopefully my family will like them! You can check on the "menus" section in my right sidebar each week to see what our vegetarian meals are, and I'll let you know how it goes. I have noticed that many non-meat recipes call for cumin, so I had to purchase a large jar of cumin and I think now I am good to go!

By way of comparison, our usual grocery budget for our family of 7 is $800/month. This includes toiletries and pullups. We have 3 boys who are still in pullups at night, so this expense alone is $75/month. This month we have only spent $650, and this includes a lot of food for next month's use, as well as stocking up on toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissue! Think of all the money I could have been saving if I shopped this way all the time!

Despite the planning and preparing, I found myself feeling discouraged that I had not started sooner, that I couldn't "store up" more for next month. Well the Lord is just so good, isn't He? Guess what the children and I read this past Monday during our daily Bible time?

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food? And the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap OR STORE AWAY IN BARNS, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:25-26

I had never really paid much attention to that phrase, or store away in barns, before. But that is what I have been trying to do, and feeling somewhat discouraged that I was not able to "store up" more. Well, the birds don't store up at all, yet God takes care of them! Now I am not advocating no planning or preparation for the future, but the Lord used this to encourage me that what I really need to do is ENJOY the Lord's provision for EACH DAY and NOT WORRY about the future! A lot can happen between now and February. Maybe my dh will have a job by then! Or maybe God wants to show Himself in some other amazing way. I was also reminded of the Lord's Prayer, where we are taught to say "give us this day our DAILY bread". I think God wants me to live more in the moment and not so much in the future. I love God for being so patient with me, and for encouraging me in the ways that He knows I specifically need. He is so good.

"Lord, thank you for your provision for us today. We get to eat 3 satisfying meals today, so much more than much of the world. Thank you that you know our needs. We trust You to provide for us. We depend on You. We look to You. Please encourage my husband in his job search, and bring him to the perfect job for him at the perfect time for our family. Thank you for your encouragement, and for the truth of your Word. I love you. Amen."