![A House of Quinoa Converts. Jane says, "I can't get enough of this stuff!"]()
by Catherine | Apr 7, 2014 | The Homefront
This house is full of what I call “equal opportunity eaters.” We love our food, and we love eating it! I thought I’d share a simple, healthy recipe that was a big hit around here.
We made this beautiful Mexican Quinoa Salad for lunch yesterday after Mass. It’s as tasty as it is easy on the eyes. I found the original recipe from “The Garden Grazer” blog. My only revision was adding some roasted chicken breasts that I chopped up. I’m from Nebraska, so a salad doesn’t really count as an entree around these parts unless there’s meat in it! 😉
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups black beans (or a 15 oz. can)
1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed)
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 red bell pepper, diced
5 green onions, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (more to taste)
(Optional: 1 lb. roasted chicken breasts with desired seasoning, chopped)
{For the dressing}
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. cumin
1 garlic clove, minced
Juice from 1 lime
1/4 tsp. salt
Directions
Rinse and drain quinoa. Add to pot with 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has absorbed and quinoa is tender.
In a small bowl, add all five dressing ingredients and whisk together to thoroughly combine.
In a large bowl, add the cooked quinoa with all other salad ingredients.
Pour dressing over the top and toss to combine.
Can serve immediately or chill before serving.
Jane like it so much she said, “I can’t get enough of this stuff!”
Here’s Walt crying after he dropped a spoonful on the floor and Monty ate it. “Monty! No! THAT’S MY QUINOA!”
We liked it so much that we had it for lunch today. Walt thought it was equally delicious the second time around, and so did the rest of us.
After yesterday, Philip is a quinoa convert. He says he’s going to create a BLT quinoa salad. If it has bacon, I’m sure we’ll all adore it, because, ya know, bacon. Maybe the bacon will negate the nutritional goodness that the quinoa offers, but I vote that it’d be worth it. We’ll go low sodium on the bacon!
Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe?
![Consignment Shopping RULES!]()
by Catherine | Apr 3, 2014 | Everything Else, The Homefront
When I found out that my favorite area consignment sale was happening this week, I asked my girlfriend Kelly to watch the kiddos for me so that I could shop. Having a gal pal that stays home with sweet kiddos that love to play with my kids is such a blessing! Thanks, Kelly! You’re the best. 🙂
Thanks to Kelly, I was able to be at the consignment sale as they opened the doors to the public. I was ready and raring to go with my two empty laundry baskets and cross-body purse so that I could be efficient and hands-free!
I’m still relatively new to this consigning stuff, so indulge me as I share my pictures. I can’t get over how great the clothes are for the price!
Check it out. Here are my two overflowing baskets:
Let’s get a little closer so that you can better appreciate the sheer quantity.
And the second basket:
It’s not just about quantity, people. Let’s look at a few of my favorite pieces up close and personal.
Here’s a skirt from The Children’s Place with the tags still on it.
A Ralph Lauren romper for Harry. The only way I’m buying something Ralph Lauren for my baby to crawl in and vomit on is if it’s a gift or second-hand! $3. THREE DOLLAH, people!
Harry scored a “Future Freshman” Sesame Street Husker outfit, too. Can’t wait to see his chunky legs crawling around in it this summer!
OshKosh overalls are always a favorite at this house!
Harry’s new Baby Gap lobster swim trunks. Pass the sunblock!
Here are a few pics of the kids’ clothes grouped together.
I bought Jane:
Shirts: 14
Skirts: 2
Shorts: 6
Pants/Leggings: 3
Dresses: 1
Jammies: 2
I got Walt:
Shirts: 18
Shorts: 9
Jammies: 4
Swim Trunks: 2
Swim Shirt: 1
Do you think he’s into Cars? I only got him two Cars t-shirts, but I indulged on the swim trunks and swim shirt!
I got Harry:
Rompers/onesies/shirts: 12
Overalls: 1
Shorts: 4
Jammies: 1
Swim Trunks: 1
I’ll have to fill in the gaps with things like socks, underwear, jammies, swimwear, etc., but I got almost all of the 3 kids’ spring & summer clothing needs met in 2 hours.
The best part? This is the pricetag for all of those clothes:
That’s 65 items of clothing!
$253.20 / 65 = $3.90 per item
So, yeah, most of my kids’ clothes are second-hand, but I DON’T CARE because we’re saving buckets of money. Most of the clothes that I purchased at the sale were from The Gap, Carter’s, The Children’s Place, or Gymboree. We still buy some stuff new from nice stores so that they can be passed down from one child to the next (coats, shoes, etc.), but I’m quickly learning that most clothes don’t survive one child’s wear–at least in my family!
Questions for you:
Do you go consignment shopping? Do you have any tips or tricks to share? Do you sell at consignment sales? How does that work? I’ve never been on the selling end before. How do you handle clothing storage at your house? Do you have a system for rotating things out seasonally? Share your wisdom, friends!
![It's a Beautiful Thing]()
by Catherine | Mar 24, 2014 | Family, The Homefront
This Lent, I decided to create our own Boucher Family Rule of Life in the hopes that it would bring order and peace to our family. In small and big ways, our Family Rule of Life is transforming our daily lives. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, this post ought to explain it.
Creating our own Family Rule of Life is giving each minute, object, and person purpose. Implementing our new schedules and household routines is very much still a work in progress, but we are loving the results so far. The kids are less whiny, the house is in order, we have more chunks of free time, and we are working our way toward a healthy balance.
One of my favorite parts of our Family Rule of Life is the children’s involvement. Jane and Walt have chores that they perform throughout the day. Since we’re still very early on in implementing our Family Rule of Life, the kids’ chore time mostly consists of me training and guiding them along in their duties. It’s a lot of work early on, but it’s already paying off in a big way.
One of Jane’s pre-lunch chores is checking our dog Monty’s food bowl. If it’s empty, it’s her job to fill it up. I wish you all could have seen how excited she was to discover that his food bowl was empty before lunch today. “Mom! Mom! Monty’s food bowl is empty! I’m going to fill it up, okay?!”
That, my friends, is a beautiful thing. Sure, we’ll have to work on the proper amount of food to put in the bowl, but let’s remember:
- The bowl is full
- I didn’t fill the bowl
- I didn’t have to nag to get the bowl filled
- The person filling the bowl did so cheerfully
- Did I mention that the bowl is full and that I didn’t do it?
When Jane finished filling Monty’s bowl to the tippy top with dog food, she asked me to inspect her work. She was BEAMING! She couldn’t wait to hear my words of praise and recognize her work. “Mom! Look! I filled up Monty’s food bowl! Here, Monty! Look, you have food in your bowl. Does that make you so happy?! Oh, you want to eat later? Okay, come back when you’re hungry!”
![It’s a Beautiful Thing]()
by Catherine | Mar 24, 2014 | Family, The Homefront
This Lent, I decided to create our own Boucher Family Rule of Life in the hopes that it would bring order and peace to our family. In small and big ways, our Family Rule of Life is transforming our daily lives. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, this post ought to explain it.
Creating our own Family Rule of Life is giving each minute, object, and person purpose. Implementing our new schedules and household routines is very much still a work in progress, but we are loving the results so far. The kids are less whiny, the house is in order, we have more chunks of free time, and we are working our way toward a healthy balance.
One of my favorite parts of our Family Rule of Life is the children’s involvement. Jane and Walt have chores that they perform throughout the day. Since we’re still very early on in implementing our Family Rule of Life, the kids’ chore time mostly consists of me training and guiding them along in their duties. It’s a lot of work early on, but it’s already paying off in a big way.
One of Jane’s pre-lunch chores is checking our dog Monty’s food bowl. If it’s empty, it’s her job to fill it up. I wish you all could have seen how excited she was to discover that his food bowl was empty before lunch today. “Mom! Mom! Monty’s food bowl is empty! I’m going to fill it up, okay?!”
That, my friends, is a beautiful thing. Sure, we’ll have to work on the proper amount of food to put in the bowl, but let’s remember:
- The bowl is full
- I didn’t fill the bowl
- I didn’t have to nag to get the bowl filled
- The person filling the bowl did so cheerfully
- Did I mention that the bowl is full and that I didn’t do it?
When Jane finished filling Monty’s bowl to the tippy top with dog food, she asked me to inspect her work. She was BEAMING! She couldn’t wait to hear my words of praise and recognize her work. “Mom! Look! I filled up Monty’s food bowl! Here, Monty! Look, you have food in your bowl. Does that make you so happy?! Oh, you want to eat later? Okay, come back when you’re hungry!”
![The 5th "P" in Our Rule of Life: Provider]()
by Catherine | Mar 13, 2014 | Family, The Homefront
The adage that it’s easier to do something everyday than occasionally is definitely true for me when it comes to blogging. Onward with the Boucher Family Rule of Life!
If you have no idea what I’m writing about, I decided as part of my Lenten mission to create a Boucher Family Rule of Life based on Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of Life. In previous posts in this series, I’ve written about:
Today, I’m resuming the series with the 5th “P”: Provider.
Today’s “P” focuses on providing for the material needs of our family and being good stewards of our finances. Today is all about giving our provider role the proper, regular attention it needs so that we can focus on the rest of our other “P”s: prayer, person, partner, and parent.
 |
| “In God We Trust” |
Yesterday, I mentioned Holly Pierlot’s metaphor that parents mirror the work of God during creation in many ways (providing for the material needs of our family, creating a mini-paradise for them, etc.). One of the ways we mirror God’s work during creation is through our work and stewardship of the resources God gives us. It is essential that we recognize a few things:
- Work is GOOD! God asked Adam to till the garden before the fall. Work is good for us.
- What we have belongs to God, so:
- we better take good care of it
- we better give God what He’s asking
So, what does all of that mean? Let’s focus on a few key areas:
Our Home
We need to maintain it, improve it, and make it a “little paradise” for our families. However, a “little paradise” has nothing to do with keeping up with the Joneses. We need to be prudent, aware of our financial resources, and use some creativity to develop our own skills in creating a haven for our families. If whatever we have belongs to God, then we can transform our attitude toward homework when we realize that we’re doing it for the Big Guy and serving our families to reveal God’s love. Practically, Holly Pierlot gives some suggestions in making your home a “mini-paradise.”
- Do a “room by room analysis”
- Decide: What is the purpose of each room? What does each room need for that purpose?
- Place items in the places where they will be used
- What do I need to remove?
- What needs to be repaired? (Remember to prioritize and budget)
- What improvements would I like to make?
- Housework
- What housework needs to be done in each room?
- How often does each task need to happen? (Daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally?)
- Who is going to do the work? (Delegate, teaching everyone that working is part of being good stewards)
- When can I schedule these chores into our day?
- Create a “home-and-property analysis” to discuss with Philip (the needs in and outside of the home including: lawn, garage, garden, repairs, purchases, future projects)
What does being a good steward look like?
- Take good care of what we already have (proper maintenance, giving everything a “home,” learn to repair things ourselves)
- Budget, budget, budget
- How much money do we have?
- Where is it going?
- What’s a want?
- What’s a need?
- Are we tithing? Are we giving God what belongs to Him? Do we think it’s “our” money?
- What debt do we have?
- What bills do we have?
- Are we saving?
- How are we wasting money? (Groceries, eating out, etc.)
- How are we helping others?
- Schedule time to:
- File receipts
- Record expenses
- Review the budget
- Plan future purchases<
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- Review the payment schedules of any bills and debt
- Revisit our savings and emergency fund
Are we taking it to prayer?
- Pray that God to release us from the temptation toward materialism and jealousy
- Pray for wisdom in creating & maintaining a budget
- Pray for clear communication, goals, and teamwork between Philip and I in our finances
- Pray for a transformed heart when it comes to the work we do
- Pray for peace and trust when we are in want
- Pray for generosity when we are not in want
- Pray for thanksgiving at all times
- Pray for faith that God will not be outdone in generosity when we give Him what belongs to Him
Questions for you
- What do you do when you’re struggling to find value in your work?
- Have you ever done a “room by room analysis” of your home? Do you feel like each room has a specific purpose? Is each room set up do accomplish that purpose? What changes do you need to make?
- Do you have the housework schedule in your head, or do you have the schedule written out somewhere? Do you struggle to delegate tasks because you think they won’t be accomplished properly? Are you teaching your children to be good stewards through their participation in housework?
- How are you taking care of what you already have?
- Do you have a family budget? Who handles the finances? Is one of you “in the dark” in this area? Have you considered having a regular meeting to check in? Do you have a regular time to organize this area so that the monthly bills, taxes, etc. do not become an excessive burden?
- How can you take this area of your life to prayer?
* * *
Now that I’ve tackled all “5 ‘P’s,” it’s time to start sharing how I’m drawing up our Family Rule of Life. Chapter 8 of A Mother’s Rule of Life is all about pulling your rule together. This will involve:
- creating daily time frames
- prayer time
- chore time
- meal prep/eating/clean-up
- laundry
- daily constants
- filling time between meals
- routinizing everything
- organizing weekly & seasonal schedules
- discerning through prayer when to add or remove something from the schedule
I look forward to hearing your answers to my discussion questions and getting feedback on Our Family Rule as I share it.
![The 5th “P” in Our Rule of Life: Provider]()
by Catherine | Mar 13, 2014 | Family, The Homefront
The adage that it’s easier to do something everyday than occasionally is definitely true for me when it comes to blogging. Onward with the Boucher Family Rule of Life!
If you have no idea what I’m writing about, I decided as part of my Lenten mission to create a Boucher Family Rule of Life based on Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of Life. In previous posts in this series, I’ve written about:
Today, I’m resuming the series with the 5th “P”: Provider.
Today’s “P” focuses on providing for the material needs of our family and being good stewards of our finances. Today is all about giving our provider role the proper, regular attention it needs so that we can focus on the rest of our other “P”s: prayer, person, partner, and parent.
|
| “In God We Trust” |
Yesterday, I mentioned Holly Pierlot’s metaphor that parents mirror the work of God during creation in many ways (providing for the material needs of our family, creating a mini-paradise for them, etc.). One of the ways we mirror God’s work during creation is through our work and stewardship of the resources God gives us. It is essential that we recognize a few things:
- Work is GOOD! God asked Adam to till the garden before the fall. Work is good for us.
- What we have belongs to God, so:
- we better take good care of it
- we better give God what He’s asking
So, what does all of that mean? Let’s focus on a few key areas:
Our Home
We need to maintain it, improve it, and make it a “little paradise” for our families. However, a “little paradise” has nothing to do with keeping up with the Joneses. We need to be prudent, aware of our financial resources, and use some creativity to develop our own skills in creating a haven for our families. If whatever we have belongs to God, then we can transform our attitude toward homework when we realize that we’re doing it for the Big Guy and serving our families to reveal God’s love. Practically, Holly Pierlot gives some suggestions in making your home a “mini-paradise.”
- Do a “room by room analysis”
- Decide: What is the purpose of each room? What does each room need for that purpose?
- Place items in the places where they will be used
- What do I need to remove?
- What needs to be repaired? (Remember to prioritize and budget)
- What improvements would I like to make?
- Housework
- What housework needs to be done in each room?
- How often does each task need to happen? (Daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally?)
- Who is going to do the work? (Delegate, teaching everyone that working is part of being good stewards)
- When can I schedule these chores into our day?
- Create a “home-and-property analysis” to discuss with Philip (the needs in and outside of the home including: lawn, garage, garden, repairs, purchases, future projects)
What does being a good steward look like?
- Take good care of what we already have (proper maintenance, giving everything a “home,” learn to repair things ourselves)
- Budget, budget, budget
- How much money do we have?
- Where is it going?
- What’s a want?
- What’s a need?
- Are we tithing? Are we giving God what belongs to Him? Do we think it’s “our” money?
- What debt do we have?
- What bills do we have?
- Are we saving?
- How are we wasting money? (Groceries, eating out, etc.)
- How are we helping others?
- Schedule time to:
- File receipts
- Record expenses
- Review the budget
- Plan future purchases
- Review the payment schedules of any bills and debt
- Revisit our savings and emergency fund
Are we taking it to prayer?
- Pray that God to release us from the temptation toward materialism and jealousy
- Pray for wisdom in creating & maintaining a budget
- Pray for clear communication, goals, and teamwork between Philip and I in our finances
- Pray for a transformed heart when it comes to the work we do
- Pray for peace and trust when we are in want
- Pray for generosity when we are not in want
- Pray for thanksgiving at all times
- Pray for faith that God will not be outdone in generosity when we give Him what belongs to Him
Questions for you
- What do you do when you’re struggling to find value in your work?
- Have you ever done a “room by room analysis” of your home? Do you feel like each room has a specific purpose? Is each room set up do accomplish that purpose? What changes do you need to make?
- Do you have the housework schedule in your head, or do you have the schedule written out somewhere? Do you struggle to delegate tasks because you think they won’t be accomplished properly? Are you teaching your children to be good stewards through their participation in housework?
- How are you taking care of what you already have?
- Do you have a family budget? Who handles the finances? Is one of you “in the dark” in this area? Have you considered having a regular meeting to check in? Do you have a regular time to organize this area so that the monthly bills, taxes, etc. do not become an excessive burden?
- How can you take this area of your life to prayer?
* * *
Now that I’ve tackled all “5 ‘P’s,” it’s time to start sharing how I’m drawing up our Family Rule of Life. Chapter 8 of A Mother’s Rule of Life is all about pulling your rule together. This will involve:
- creating daily time frames
- prayer time
- chore time
- meal prep/eating/clean-up
- laundry
- daily constants
- filling time between meals
- routinizing everything
- organizing weekly & seasonal schedules
- discerning through prayer when to add or remove something from the schedule
I look forward to hearing your answers to my discussion questions and getting feedback on Our Family Rule as I share it.
