More with Less: Book Review

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Life has been a bit busy and obviously my family and home come first. I'll try to get back to more regular posting as soon as I can!

My sister gave me a copy of the More-With-Less Cookbook for my birthday. Although it is primarily a cookbook, the first chapter is dedicated to introducing and explaining the way of eating that the book promotes - "Recipes and suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world's limited food resources." I found it to be such an interesting read that I highly recommend everyone read it, especially if you are interested in simplifying your meals at home.

One of the things that I most appreciate about the book's philosophy of "More with Less" is that it is presented from a Christian standpoint and worldview. "As North Americans, most of us grew up believing we were born into an era of abundance. The ability to buy something has meant the right to have it. Christian discipleship now calls us to turn around." (pg.13) It talks about the calling we have as Christians to care for those who have less, to give to others as freely as we have received, and it gives sound and practical advice for how changing our eating habits can help us to fulfill this calling, including how to shorten our shopping lists, buy and store food in bulk, and buy nonprocessed foods.

The author encourages us that the path to eating more with less is a journey, one that you can't just make overnight. In fact she writes that if you try to make major changes too quickly that you may change back just as quickly, like the changing of a fad or trend. She shares that this is about a lifestyle change, and not simply a quick fix. You know that I am all about the journey and making small changes.

This first chapter includes reasons for making a change, how to build a simpler diet, with practical nutritional information like complimentary proteins, and even ideas for serving guests with a simpler menu. The remainder of the book is filled with lots of basic recipes, and some for making things from scratch that you might have otherwise bought at the store like flour tortillas, granola, and wheat thins. I am very excited to try some of these from scratch recipes as I try to move away from using processed food.

This book was first published in 1976 amidst a global food shortage. What is so amazing to me about this book, is that it sounds like the author could be writing these words today. She shares insights into the North American style of eating that are as true today as they were in the 70's. On the other hand, it is sad to me that over 30 years later, it still does not seem that most of us have learned the lessons and lifestyle advocated in this book, and that food shortages and chronic hunger remain a daily reality to so many people around of the world. Consider this quote, "We are overspending money. We are overeating calories, protein, fats, sugar, superprocessed foods. We are overcomplicating our lives." (pg. 13) Doesn't that sound like she could be writing about us today?

More with Less is such a good reminder of the quote from Gandhi, "Live simply so others may simply live." It is so important for us to realize and recognize the impact that our decisions today have on others. It is about taking small steps to make changes that will impact the world, all for the glory of God.

Meal Plan Monday

I know, it's Tuesday. I'm a little late, but yesterday was Kaelyn's birthday and we were out of town over the weekend, so I finally had the chance to plan meals last night.

It was a beautiful day yesterday. We've been having tons of crappy, rainy, cold weather, but finally yesterday was a perfect fall day! So we went to the park after Kaelyn's nap and had a picnic and played on the playground and then came home for cake and presents. It was a great birthday for Kaelyn!

Here's this week's menu:

Monday - Kaelyn's birthday

Tuesday - dinner with our small group, making Crockpot White Chili and Buttery Bread Machine Rolls

Wednesday - celebrating K's birthday with Jer's family

Thursday - Tilapia Parmesan with rice and squash from the farmer's market

Friday - Deep Dish Cornbread Pizza (new recipe - I'll post it next week if we like it!)

Saturday - Leftovers or Burgers on the grill

Sunday - Leftovers or Fried Rice


Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

Kaelyn is 2!!

Happy Birthday Kaelyn!
Wow! I cannot believe that my baby girl turned 2 years old today!

Kaelyn is such a joy and I am so blessed to be her mommy. She is so funny and strong willed, intelligent and independent. It is so amazing to me that I have the privileged of raising this little girl! She constantly amazes us, and challenges us, and cracks us up all the time!! She is so sweet and loving, she has become a wonderful big sister. She cares about those around her and wants to help in whatever way she can. She talks all.the.time. And sings too. She loves to sing Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle, Twinkle. She loves to smile and laugh and just be silly.

Really, this blog all began because of her. Becoming a parent really changes everything in your life. When I was pregnant with Kaelyn, I started making small changes in our lifestyle because I wanted to give her the best of everything that I could. I truly believe that God has worked through Kaelyn in my life to lead me down this path, and I am so grateful for that.

Kaelyn, we are so thankful for you! We are so blessed to have you as our daughter. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I love you more than you will ever know!

Finding Balance - The Practical Stuff

This is the third post in the series Finding Balance. Read the first two posts here and here.

With God's leading, I came to realize that I need to find a better balance in being a good steward of my family's finances, our bodies, my time and this earth. This is when I came up with the idea of being frugally green.

You can be frugal without being green as I talked about earlier. You can also be green without being frugal. Since being green is now so trendy, there are lots of expensive products out there that are marketed to help you "go green", when really there are often cheaper alternatives that are just as, or maybe even more, "green". You could spend a lot of money on "going green" if you wanted to.

Some frugal things are also not what is best for your health. I am beginning to understand that eating cheap, processed, chemical filled food is not being a good steward of the body that God has entrusted me with. And lots of frugal or green things may also take up more of your time. Hanging laundry outside on a clothes line takes more time than throwing it in the dryer. Baking your own bread and cooking from scratch require more time in the kitchen than using pre-made and processed foods.

Let me first just say this... finding balance is a journey. It is one that I am really just beginning with God's help. I am no expert and I definitely have not arrived! I just want to share what I am learning and doing as I go, and I hope and pray that it can be an inspiration and encouragement to others.

How do you begin this journey? Baby Steps! It really is all about making a lot of small changes that add up to a big difference in the way you live your life. Also, baby steps are important because there is A LOT of information out there that can get very overwhelming and make you feel defeated, like there is no way that you could ever do enough. I'm here to encourage you that small changes are good (actually the best) because you can't overhaul your whole life in a day, or a week, or even a month. It takes time to learn new ways of doing things and to form new habits.

So, here is how I am finding balance:
I want to be green more than I want to be frugal. I don't want to sacrifice this earth and it's resources, or our bodies and our health, just for the sake of getting things as cheaply as possible. This is why I call it "frugally green" and not greenily frugal. Fortunately, I am finding that so many things that are green, really can save you a lot of money.

But, sometimes being frugal keeps me from being as green, and taking the best care of our bodies, as I wish I could. I would love to buy all organic produce and free-range, grass-fed, antibiotic free meat and poultry, but it really does not fit into our food budget right now. So I am learning to do my best to feed my family healthy meals on our current budget.

Some things that are both frugal and green are also much better for our bodies. Using natural cleaning methods has eliminated a lot of nasty chemicals from our household. And some of the new health and beauty things I am trying are much better for me than using chemical filled commercial health and beauty products.

As far as my time goes, I am a stay-at-home-mom, God has given me the role of homemaker and home manager at this time. I realize this is not possible for everyone, but if something takes a little extra time, but saves money, is kind to the earth, and is better for our bodies and health, than it is completely worth my time, effort and energy. And I am learning to try to not spend my time on things that are wasting any of those resources.

I still cut coupons for things we actually need, and I still watch the sales at the one grocery store where I shop. But, I am trying a new way of meal planning in which I just buy what we need for our meals for two weeks, and maybe a few other things if they are a really good deal, and I try to use up all the food that we have so that we're not being wasteful. I still have extra food in my pantry and freezer, but it's not a stockpile the way that it used to be.

Finally, I am learning to live more simply. God is showing me that simplicity is central to good stewardship of His resources.

As I said though, this is a journey I am just beginning. And thankfully, by God's grace, I don't have to do everything perfectly all the time, or even part of the time. I worry that if you are someone that knows me in real life you will look at me and think - she writes nice things about living frugally and green and simply, but I don't see that in her life. Oh, that is what I am most afraid of. I don't want anyone to think that I think I have this all figured out, or that I always live this way all the time. I don't. I wish I did. God still has a lot to teach me, and I striving to learn as much as I can as I go, and seek Him first as I seek to find balance.



This post is link to Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom.
Image by aeu04117

Finding Balance - Faith and Stuff

Image by Anita363

This is the second post of the series Finding Balance. Read the first post here. And look for the final post in the series tomorrow!

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:25-27, 31-33 (NLT)

I came to a place in my life where I was doing these things that are considered frugal, and trying to live a frugal lifestyle, but not feeling great about the fact that I was still focused on consuming a lot of STUFF. I felt torn between wanting to live my life in a way that was most glorifying to God and still wanting to live frugally, being wise with the resources that God had entrusted our family with.

I began to open up my Bible more than I had been (because I was so busy cutting coupons, searching the internet and trying to find the best deals) and found passages that spoke so clearly and specifically to me about this very thing. The above passage is a really well known passage, and mostly it's quoted when talking about not worrying, but I read it in a new way as I read it in context with other verses around it (Matt. 6:19-21, 24, Matt. 7: 7-8, 11) and as I thought about what it was saying about how I should be living my life, not just what I shouldn't be doing.

I also read a few books (and am continuing to read) that challenged my understanding of how I live out my faith in my life and what it looks like to truly be a follower of Christ. Two of those books were Serve God, Save the Planet and The Irresistible Revolution. I listened to the sermon series God is Green from Mars Hill Church, and since I love to read other blogs, I found several that encouraged me in this area as well.

God began to develop within me a broader view of what it means to be a good steward His resources. Stewardship is often thought of only in the context of our financial resources, but our finances are not the only resources that God has entrusted us with. He has also given us our bodies, our time, and this earth. I believe glorifying God with my life encompasses Godly stewardship in all four of these areas, not only our finances. I realized that while I may have been able to save a lot of money on groceries and household items by cutting coupons and stockpiling, in turn, I was wasting resources in the amount of time I was spending, the kind of food I was buying that was not the best for my or my families' bodies, and the amount of earthly resources I was consuming and the large amount of waste I was creating.

God was laying out a new direction for my life. He was leading me to really look at the way that I was living and began to show me and teach me to live in a way that was more glorifying to Him. I recognized that I needed to find a balance in my stewardship of His resources.

Finding Balance - The Problem of STUFF

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I'm living out my faith in my life and how I can find balance between living as a follower of Christ in a way that is glorifying to God while living frugally, living green, and living responsibly. It's a really big question with probably lots and lots of different answers and I'm sure that I'll always be searching for the absolute best answer, one that I'm completely content with. But, I know that it is important for me to at least try to answer this question, in the best way I can, for this season of my life. This is the story of my search for that answer.

Here's where my problem began. Around the end of last year, I started reading, mostly on different blogs and websites, about living frugally. Cutting coupons, watching the sales, stockpiling, etc. I started trying to play the coupon games of getting food and other household stuff very cheaply by using these methods. I saved a lot of money on things, sometimes things that I might not have otherwise bought, and weren't necessarily good for me. But, it seemed like a good idea because we were in a tough place financially, and I like to save money - who doesn't?

It became apparent to me, after a few months of trying to live this way, that the main focus of this style of living "frugally" was still consumption. Buy lots of stuff, even if you don't really need it, for as little money as possible. And it's okay if you have a ton of stuff that you may never use, because it was very cheap, or even free. I also got very overwhelmed with trying to keep up with all of the deals and make sure that I didn't miss getting things for the cheapest price possible. I started to realize I was being consumed with getting stuff, and I don't care how cheap or free something is - I didn't want to live my life that way.

On top of that - what about all of this STUFF I was getting?! I needed more stuff to keep my stuff organized. And what about the waste that all of that stuff was creating? Sure I got disposable razors for super cheap after a sale and a coupon, but why in the world do I need to be throwing a razor away (not to mention all of the packaging for each razor) after only a few uses, when I have a perfectly fine razor that I can just replace the blade on? Not to mention the environmental effects of the material, manufacturing and shipping needed to produce those razors. Everything about it started to seem so wasteful to me.

And what about the large amounts of (mostly processed) food that I was getting cheaply and stockpiling? I started having a hard time looking in my pantry and freezer and seeing A LOT of food, that it would take us months to eat and knowing that there are people in my community, my state, my country and especially my world that don't have enough to eat today, much less tomorrow.

I decided I was not happy with this way of living frugally. I was not okay with the continual focus on getting STUFF, the amount of waste that I was creating, and the seeming selfishness that was represented by opening up my pantry and my freezer. God was beginning a work in my life, and I started thinking about finding another way of living frugally, a way of living more simply, of not being consumed by stuff, even if that stuff was cheap or free.

This is the first post in a series on Finding Balance. Stay tuned for parts two and three!

Image by dnnya17

Meal Plan Monday

This is a pretty easy week for meals because we are going out of town this weekend to Michigan to visit my family and see some of my friends from high school, so weekend meals will either be on the road or with my family. We have a busy week coming up, so easy is good!

Here's this week's menu:

Meatless Monday - Breakfast for dinner

Tuesday - dinner with our small group

Wednesday - Easy Pasta Skillet

Thursday - Chicken Lasagna

Friday - on the road

Saturday - with my family

Sunday - with my family/on the road


Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

Question Time!

I have more than tripled my readers over the last few months! It wasn't that hard because I didn't have tons of readers to begin with, but still - it's exciting to me! I really want this blog to be helpful to those who are reading it. So, I wanted to take the chance to ask you, my readers, what you would like to see more of on my blog? Any questions you have that you would like me to answer? Any topics that you would like me to post about?

Please leave a comment with your questions or suggestions, or send me an e-mail at liverenewed(at)gmail(dot)com. I would LOVE to hear from you and I'm looking forward to getting the chance to answer questions and see what you would like me to write about!

Meal Plan Monday

So I'm already loving the new way that I am meal planning! Tonight, instead of stressing out about what we are going to eat for the week, I made Lazy Granola. It smells so good in the kitchen right now! I can't wait to get up in the morning and see how it turned out. I made yogurt yesterday (using a new method that I'll share with you soon) and I'm excited to have homemade granola and homemade yogurt for breakfast! Yum!

Here's this week's menu:

Monday - dinner at church

Tuesday - dinner with our small group - making Peanut Butter Apple Dip to serve with apples we picked on Saturday

Meatless Wednesday - Two Corn Polenta

Thursday - Baked Potato bar with leftover chili

Friday - dinner at friend's house

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Burgers on the grill (unless it's bad weather, then probably just Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup)


Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!