One day when I grow up and realize I am responsible for serving 7 people I will learn to make a meal plan using healthy, mostly homemade foods. I will shop for said meal plan regularly so that when it is 5 pm, I am not hanging head in my kitchen because I forgot the cilantro for the cilantro rice. I WILL ACTUALLY make the aforementioned meals according to the plan instead of looking at how pretty they are all lined up on my fridge. It will bless my family in so many ways. Consistency is my problem. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

Thanks. I was hoping for something besides pork. That was all I could come up with. Here is the rest of the recipe for you :) Heat butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add couscous, garlic, garam masala, cayenne, and cherries and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add water, broth, and salt; stir briefly to combine, cover, and remove pan from heat. Let stand until grains are tender, about 7 minutes. Uncover and fluff grains with fork. Stir in pecans, scallions, and lemon juice, season with pepper to taste, and serve.

With what main dish would you pair this recipe? I've made it for the second time and have not got an ideal main course figured out. It's a mildly sweet couscous side dish. Here are the ingredients... 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 cups couscous 2 garlic cloves minced 3/4 teaspoon garam masala 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries 1 1/4 cups water 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth 1 teaspoon table salt 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans toasted 2 scallions thinly sliced 2 teaspoons lemon juice Ground black pepper

We are using 10th grade: MP online classes for Latin and Composition Going wonderfully. I pay, they teach. DD learns. Fantastic for me and her. 7th grader: 6th grade full program DD catching up on all I think she needs before moving to higher level work. Doing Rod and Staff 6 - very thorough and a great way to be sure she has no gaps. Challlenging for her after Saxon 7/6 which is surprising. She is also taking Latin and comp online. Going very, very well. I will admit there are no frills but she enjoys having a schedule printed out and working ahead if she wants. I love!!! the fact that in this season of burnout for me regarding homeschooling my kids are excelling. How great is that? K: full program. On week 11 - reading and memorizing. Open and go, very thorough. I love! that the basics are covered and I have a supplemental guide if I want more. I'll copy a statement from above because I thoroughly concur... "A quick summary of MP is that it is compact, deep, and efficient. You will spend time really digging into the topics you are studying without all the "fluff." You are assigned 3-4 literature books a year and will really get to know everything about the books. That said, once you do the required work, you have plenty of time to add in whatever "fluff" aka enrichment activities that you'd like." Huge MP fan here. I am thankful they are getting me through this stage of burnout regarding curricula, teaching and challenging my students. A tad pricey would be the one downside of what we're doing this year. I've learned my lesson in saying we will be with something next year (homeschool is not anything if not changing in this household) but I PLAN to.

TIA

:( Bummer. I hope someone with a better offer comes along for you.

GREAT to hear. I'm concerned about making an offer on it because I've never had anything like that in my current home. Tile, laminate, and cheaper oak are my range of familiarity.

Thoughts/experiences requested...

Hi cooking friend! This is addicting around here with yummy vanilla yogurt - or just plain. http://plantoeat.com/recipes/1325153 this is good as well, couscous with cherries and pecans. I hope to serve it with a soy glazed salmon later. http://plantoeat.com/recipes/1502333

What are your best tips for: I. living with kids/homeschooling while house is on the market (how reasonably clean do you have to keep things? What is reasonably clean? No pictures of family but what else do I do to stage a house with kids?) II. packing to move the stuff to go to storage while living/homeschooling :) (I am decluttering like CRAZY - pretending that we are moving to a rental next week - only the stuff we absolutely need stays out. Everything else gets a) thrown away B) b) donated c) put in a stack to eventually be packed up and moved to temporary storage. Don't know where that is yet but we will need something.) III. Before I pack it all up would it be crazy to go BACK through the stuff and pare it down even more or is that anal? (I think I mean will I be decluttering when I'm unpacking at the new house as well? I mean, how ruthless should I be? I would describe our house as fairly clutter free and I definitely take time each season to go through rooms and get rid of things. We just! got a new kitchen and schoolroom so those rooms are very much cleared out.) Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. I'm sure a lot of it is common sense...I just don't have much of that available mentally right now, lol. We are moving (all 5 of us) our in-laws up from another part of the state. Both of them. Each of them older than 85 :) I get to do this very thing TWICE. Our home and theirs.

Okay, I'm not off in terms of amount spending = good news the fact that it takes 1000 to feed us = bad news I am just amazed. I've been reading alot lately about budgets and personal finance. I keep coming across figures like $500- $750 per month on food expenses. That data has got to be old.

For those of you in a high COL environment and are spending less would you care to post a weekly meal plan?

Would like a healthier dessert and since it's fall and apples abound here in Central Virginia - I would love to make an apple cake. I'm dreaming of something with a caramel or streusel type topping. Thanks for sharing if you have a recipe that you love (I can google, I want kid tested tried and true)

I'm confused about whether to use a buffer or put 1000 in the ER fund. Or do both. Just looking to brainstorm with someone familiar with both program's fundamental premises.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I am interested in the site mentioned above. Why would they charge though? Sorry, but that just bothers me.

Not sure if you all are aware but Precept offers online courses through their online community. As a Precept teacher for three years now I can say studying the bible inductively has taught me more than listening to any pastor's take on a section of scripture. I love the accountability of a Precept group and when I'm not doing it, I miss it terribly. We also study the bible verse by verse at church. Precept offers courses where you have homework each day. For me, I had to learn the discipline for personal study. I wanted quick and easy. Precept made me slow WAY down and see 1) what does it say 2) what does it mean 3) how does it apply to my life...asked another way, what do I do/what changes now that I know this I cannot recommend studying the bible for yourself strongly enough.

Sure. All weight resting on feet and elbows. Body as straight as possible. Move right arm and left foot out - continue to "step" like this until your whole body is facing 180 degrees from where you started. Now my head hurts from explaining that :) Does that help?

Yoga followed by "Butts and Guts". Seriously intense workout for my post-gallbladder removal surgery body. Frustrating to be so weak in my core but little by little I'm getting stronger. Among other painful things, we did these planks where you rotate (while planking) 180 degrees moving one arm and one leg. I did two which is less than her mandated four but more than my preference which was zero :)

You do not want to wait if you have been recommended to have gallbladder surgery. My function test showed such decreased function the tech was very concerned. The surgery did take a recovery time of 10 days and it was mildly painful the second day after. That, however, was NOTHING compared to the days before I had it removed. The pain, even upon drinking water, was almost unbearable. I could not get relief and seriously scared my family.

Just dealt with this this spring. I lost 20 lbs, had worse pain than labor after even drinking water and seriously thought I was not going to get a solid answer as to what was wrong with me. I unfortunately went through three wrong diagnosis at ER AND more with regular docs before I finally went to someone knowledgeable and thorough enough to take me seriously.

Maybe I do need counseling :) Or just a bit of friendly encouragement like I've found here that I'm not alone in a struggle. Anywho...thanks for the advice ladies.

"I'm surprised no one has stated the obvious: CUT UP ALL OF YOUR CARDS." I appreciate the advice given so far. This quote above...that doesn't work. You can just give your id and reopen or get a temporary number...btdt. If I weren't so disfunctional in this area, that would be a good suggestion. I don't hang out in malls anymore like I did when I was newly married, new mom and looking to waste time. I go in, buy what we need for all of us (7 total) and that gets to be in the 2/300 range. I have been using YNAB and this is the first time ever that we 1) have the extra in the budget to "afford" a clothes budget 2) feel like I can have a clothes budget because other categories are funded 3) have a system set up where I actually can figure out from experience what the $ amount is for clothing 4) actually use that system for more than 20 days :) I have realized cash is very powerful (thank you Dave Ramsey!). It is painful for me to pay that 2/300 in cash. Painless to stick it on a card, after all, doesn't everyone have some small debt? What difference does it make? I can pay it off, yada yada. Thanks so much for thinking things through with me. I feel like I should re-take a Crown or other class. I sure could use the accountability even if it is only short term for the duration of the class. Yay to those of you who have conquered issues like this. I think my issues do stem from lack of education. I battle that in many areas of my life. Frustrating but I'm seeing progress! AND my girls benefit from the wrongs I was taught.

I keep finding myself paying off debt, racking it up again, paying it off, racking it up. I'm not talking huge debt. More like Eddie Bauer - $350. Belk - $290. I'm not super concerned about the amounts, I can pay them off. I am concerned about the philosophical maturity not happening by now. I'm also modeling this for my poor daughters who LOVE the trips, but don't experience the brunt of the financial mistakes. They will though. I'd like to teach them better than I know... I think I'm a sucker for the % off trick. I sign up - get 20% off - buy more than I planned to because it is on sale - see the minimum payment is $20 - only pay that. When dh asks - I have a balance again. I know I can't be alone in this. Help me :) I know it is emotional. I have ALWAYS clothe shopped like this. Buy a bunch at once. Pay it off eventually. I never go to used clothe stores because I seriously hate them. I feel poor, can never find my size and HATE the smell. Well, there you have it. My confessions.

What can I sub instead of the stick of butter (applesauce)? We used earth balance but still...that's more than I'd like to. I made these with the one minute oats and actually this is the first! baked oatmeal I've liked.