Dinner Intervention!

I continue to search for recipes which allow me to feed my family without having to cook two meals. Sometimes I simply eat the veggie dishes....but as this has become a lifestyle change and not a six week fast...there are times I'd like to eat more than roasted veggies or a salad or beans and rice.  Do note if you ever invite us to your home for dinner,  I am more than satisfied with a nice salad and your veggie side dish....no need to cook a separate meal for me...your conversation is filling. ::wink::

I spend much more time in the kitchen lately. One night I made turkey meatloaf for them and vegan tamale pie for me.....small pies - I made 4 and have 2 in the freezer for future meals. Michael opted to eat one of them instead of meatloaf. They were good - but in the future I will use MORE filling, add some olives.....I'll try a few more recipes.

I'd been promising Nolan I'd make Country Chicken Pot Pie for over a month. This is one of my favorite meals in the world...but is not vegan.

Theirs

Mine

I made Vegan Pot Pie for myself...I have no clue why it made so MUCH this time.....I ate a small one, had some for lunch and then froze the rest. I used almond milk and broth this time and it was a bit more like the Chicken Pot Pie...I think the chick peas helped....you know... psychologically!  ::snort:: 

The points of this post are:

• I OBVIOUSLY need a whole wheat pie crust intervention. ::blush:: WHY can't I get a whole wheat pie crust that WORKS? I used to make great pies! HELP. 

• I'd love suggestions for meals which I could make which would be EASY for all of us - one main dish instead of two.  Feel free to offer your suggestions.  I've come up with a lentil casserole, soups, meatless spaghetti (but they don't really love that). I've also found some which I can make and "add meat and cheese" for the others (lasagna, vegetable calzone, spaghetti, pizza). 

• If you are vegan  I'd love your tips for cooking with a family which is not vegan...though they are trending to meat as a "condiment" and eating more and more veggies.  Note, I'm still researching the soy question for those with thyroid disease and so am not eating soy products at this time. 

Before commenting that Veganism is unhealthy or sharing other assumptions, please read this. I eat this way as it is what is working and my doctor is fully on board. I've now lost 33 lbs and my cholesterol, blood pressure numbers are great. I am SO close to a normal BMI. I am having labs every 6 weeks (trying to get OFF meds) and I'm sure if I'm about to die from lack of protein Doc will catch it. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Schoolin'

A simple glimpse into our homeschool one day this week.....

 We moved the antique table upstairs as we only need one table in the dining room now. The boys really enjoy it in their room. Zander likes staying in the room to do table school - coming down when he needs help.

I knew this would be a good reading nook at the top of our stairs...I thought it would be for me until Yuuki took it over...Arielle doesn't mind. ::grin:: 

The belt on our elliptical wore out and so I've been using a variety of workout DVD/TAPES for the past three weeks. Stacia likes doing them with me....and this day she continued on for the "strength" training after the cardio part.  I'm hoping the part is here by the time I get home from conference....I can do videos a few more weeks. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

EASIEST PIZZA DOUGH

5 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp sea salt
4 1/2 tsp dry yeast
2 C warm water (warm not hot)

Mix all together.

Knead for 3 - 4 min.

Allow the dough to rest for 10 min.

Shape dough into desired sizes and bake in 375* for 5 - 7 minutes.

Allow to cool, freeze in freezer bags OR top with toppings. When ready to bake bake at 375 - 400* for about 10 min.

Makes 2 large pizzas or 18 mini pizzas. I found this recipe at Heavenly Homemakers.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Week's Recap

This was a fairly busy week...and I find myself READY for a weekend.

We had the typical line up of PWOC/PCOC, PYOC, study group, school et al. To this we added AWANA for Stacia and Zander.

It's been a rather stressful ministry week on base...and as this isn't a private diary that's enough said. Thanks for those of you who pray for our airmen. Your prayers are appreciated.

Nolan needs 5 random blood pressure checks...so we did that three times this week.

We all got hair cuts.

Arielle took the PSAT.

I had three ministry Skypes and a fourth planned for 07:00 tomorrow.

Akikosan was able to make it over on Thursday night - the first real lesson we've had since June.

I've been trying to get a few things done ahead for my upcoming trip....today I made pizza dough to freeze. They'll just need to top and bake to have homemade pizza when I'm gone.

The younger ones and I finished Zoology and did the first lesson of Astronomy today.....which means they can skip science when I'm gone and still be ahead of the curve.

We had planned to go with the Rau family to Hakkoda tomorrow...unfortunately, we remembered this afternoon that Michael is still duty chaplain.....he isn't preaching Sunday so we'll have to come up with something fun to do with our Saturday....we don't often have a Saturday to enjoy together. ::grin::

We had great fun tonight - better than movie night. Blog to follow...probably tomorrow a.m.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Just say NO @ AWANA

It was with a fair bit of trepidation that Stacia and Zander registered for AWANA. We've never done this program before (and if you want more info on why - read below). 

I was a bit overwhelmed with the chaotic atmosphere (so were my kids) but we quickly adjusted. Stacia was happy to find Elizabeth, one of  her friends, attending as well. We brought the girls home and Dawn picked up Elizabeth.  

Via Google Images

We asked the girls how their evening went. Elizabeth commented, "We only had water to drink."

This made vegan mommies HAPPY! So proud of the chapel for skippy the sugary snacks! 

Stacia  - ever the talker - further explained, "There were drinks, Mom but I knew it was stuff you wouldn't want us to drink." 

Dawn gave the girls a high five. I told them I was proud of them. I was so pleased...... and then the bombshell....

Stacia in all seriousness said, "The teacher wanted us to take a drink, but I told her my Mom doesn't like us to drink beer and says we should stay away from beer."  

ROFLOL  ::snort:: ROFLOL ::gasp::

I've told them I prefer they not drink soda and eat a lot of processed sugary snacks,  but when they are out it is their choice. I HAVE also explained, due to family history, our family chooses not to drink any alcohol at all. She knows beer is included in that category....and they had a nice selection of root beer.  Personally, I'm happy as punch if they skip the soda and sugary snacks that late at night. Water works. LOL

The revelation that ZANDER was the one who reminded Stacia of our "no beer" policy made this story only funnier.

I feel for the poor AWANA leaders.

Official AWANA logo

Backstory: Lest you think we are AWANA haters here's the facts. 

1. When we entered the chaplaincy AWANA would not allow chapels to use their program as they required "churches"ll to sign a statement of faith which a chapel can't sign (we are not a denominational church). AWANA has  changed their policy and many military chapels now are able to offer the program. This is the first time we've been assigned where the chapel program offered AWANA. 

2. We have young children, we have tweens, we have youth. Michael is a chaplain. I am uber involved in women's ministry. I have spouse events I could attend. I have civic events I could attend. 

3. Combine the above with the rest of our life and we COULD be out every night of the week. 

4. Over the years it's become our policy to limit our "outside nights" to one weekly event. This way if Michael is working late, or required to be out, I can still protect our family ministry. This maintains the viability and importance of the dinner table, our reading hour, our precious FAMILY  time with God.  We say no to many things which the whole family would not participate in which happen at night - kids' programs, various civic groups etc....it works for us. We have discovered we need to be careful of even "family nights out" as too many of those also impact our ministry goals within our family. 

5. When we arrived here we realized things could quickly get out of control.  PWOC, PYOC, PMOC, AWANA - all on different nights....We were also looking at Boys and Girls Scouts and CAP - make that 5 - 6 nights a week. We chose to allow the kids to attend PYOC as we felt our youth's needs to make connections with other Christian youth was higher than our younger ones' need for outside Scripture memory help. It was a good call for us. 

6. With the advent of CLUB BEYOND in Misawa three nights a week are needed for youth activities. This caused chapel schedules to change. PYOC moved to Wed night. Our kids will regularly attend Cross Training/PYOC on Wed night. This means it's ALREADY a  night out and the younger ones are able to attend AWANA without "adding" a night out. I'm not sure how this will work with school the next day but so far so good.

7. Michael and I have talked about my need to resist volunteering at AWANA....and if we both maintain this stance....we have, for the first time in 28 years of marriage, a planned weekly time slot where all the kids are busy and we aren't.  ::wink:: 

How does your family balance or regulate outside commitments with family time?  We are currently looking at another one we care deeply about which would require another "out" night....we had thought it could be something the whole family attended....not sure now....but praying it through. I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Stacia's Moment

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Col 3:17

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Bazaar 2012

The first year we were here there was no MOSC Bazaar.

The second year we were here I looked; but didn't buy.

The third year I thought it was our last year. I wanted a step tansu....and we bought one...which I still love.

I believe Michael is happy the fourth year is our last year.

I've been thinking about things I'd like to have before we leave Japan. I have a quilt from each state we've lived in. I have been debating about buying a REAL Kimono (as opposed to the ones I got from the Dirty Obi shop) to hang on the wall in place of a quilt. I'm always on the look out for artwork. I do want to buy some more Japanese dishes. I've recently seen a tea box - and now would like to figure out where to get one and cover it with washi paper.....just a few things..... ::wink::

We've promised the girls to replace their dressers...the drawers had caved in; they'd been repaired several times but it was really time to replace them - even though we move in a year.  The dressers we've been seeing were 1. spendy and 2. nothing special. Michael suggested we wait and try the Bazaar.....

Score - the girls picked out two dressers with hand painted blossoms on them.  They are very happy with them. I think these will last many, many years...and be a touch of Japan for them in the future.

I really, really had my eye on a Tibetan Trunk or cupboard.....but in the end...THIS seemed much more practical.  The Korean salesman tried to tell me I could put all my laundry in it...not OUR laundry. LOL

It's a Korean Medicine Chest - the writing on the drawers are the names of various drugs. It now sits in my living room and houses all our DVD/Videos.....and it MUCH nicer than the mess it replaced.

I would not have focused on this until the saleslady pointed it out - I love it.

I looked for Kimonos. There were some gorgeous ones. They were expensive. They were big. I wasn't sure if 15 years from now I'd want a Kimono to be the focal point of my house...and so I opted to buy an obi (pictured below) which will hang nicely on a wall and serve the same purpose.

 I filled my little wooden box with sea glass and it made the perfect nest for these washi eggs.

I also bought a few pieces of sea glass jewelry. I simply couldn't resist. We snuck Stacia a sweet piece which I'll give her at Christmas or for her next birthday. She's really young for it - but she loves it and she's been my sea glass collecting partner for these 3 1/2 years. 

I couldn't resist this wood block print. I LOVE the holiday the carp symbolize - boy's day. A kite is hung for each boy.... it is rare to find a print with FIVE carps...and so I got it. 

I did explain to Michael that I now have three big pieces of furniture from Japan....and I have nine children....so I really need to buy about six more special pieces so they don't fight over them when "the time comes." He didn't buy it. Arielle didn't help my case by saying, "We'd never fight over your things, Mom."  I tried to tell them - I may need to buy more - just thinking of the kids; just thinking of the kids.

Seriously...other than dishes (and that may be a genetic flaw as I note my Grams and Mom sure collected a lot....I seemed to have escaped the bug until the last 7 years)......I think the tea box is the only thing I really want to find before I leave.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...