Turkey Sandwich

It was lunch time and I knew I had some hoagie buns in the fridge that needed to get used up. My oldest son brought them home last week because someone was going to throw them out. He told me I knew you could use them for something. So after some thought I remembered I had some leftover turkey in the fridge from this weekend. I had cooked a whole turkey that I picked up around Thanksgiving really cheap. This is what I threw together and the kids said it was delicious. I'll have to admit I agree. I didn't really measure the ingredients so these are just estimations of the amounts used.

2-3 cups chopped turkey

1/2 onion minced

1/2 small can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

kosher salt and pepper to taste

1-2 cups fresh spinach chopped

6 hoagie buns

butter

american cheese slices

I buttered the hoagie buns and toasted them in the oven while I prepared the filling.

In a 2 quart sauce pan I put the turkey and onion and sauteed for a few minutes. Then I added the soup and spices. Stirred until well heated. After I turned off the heat I added the spinach and mix with the meat.

I then pulled the buns from the oven and put meat on one half of bun. Then put american cheese on top. I put it back in the oven until cheese was melted.

It has all my qualifications for a good meal: cheap, easy, and tasty.

Organization

Today as I was reading through Proverbs 31 verse 27 struck me. "She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idlenss." To look after your house well and to live up to all the virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman, one must be organized. I mean after all can you say your are looking after your house well if you have piles of stuff everywhere or it takes you forever to get something done because you are looking for the tools to do it. With this thought in mind I started wondering around the house just looking at each room carefully. Let me tell you I was not pleased with what I saw. My house is a far cry from organized. I knew it had been neglected because of working outside the home, my health, and all the other stuff that required my attention, but I just didn't realize how bad it had been neglected.

I then decided to do a google search about getting organized. The result was me coming across this article "52 Weeks of Organizing". I then went around with my camera and took pictures of all the areas I want to get organized. I have come up with 45 things for my list so far. Here they are:

1. cabinet under the kitchen sink

2. pan cabinet

3. cereal cabinet

4. top of piano

5. top of Ashton's dresser

6. top of Cyrus' dresser

7.top of Genesis' dresser

8. top of Joe's dresser

9. desk in schoolroom

10. top of dryer

11. shelves in Genesis' room

12. brown bookcase in schoolroom

13. blue bookcase in schoolroom

14. green shelves in schoolroom

15. file cabinet

16. plastic drawers in schoolroom

17. living room blankets

18. bulletin board

19. shelves in boys room

20 toys in boy's room

21. shoes in boy's room

22. toys in Genesis' room

23. entry way in kitchen

24. kitchen closet

25. top of fridges

26. inside fridges and stove drawer

27. kitchen counter

28. desk in master bedroom

29. TV table in master bedroom

30. master closet

31. bookcases in hallway

32. junk drawer in kitchen

33. incoming mail

34. basement pantry shelves

35. seasonal decorations

36. laundry

37. craft items

38. canning supplies

39. seasonal / outgrown clothes

40. donation clothes/stuff

41. seasonal dishes

42. cleaners

43. bath toys

44. household notebook

45. kids home-school stuff

I probably will not do this in the order it is written but at least I have a list that I can mark off as I go. I will post pictures and explain what I did as I go. I have already organized some of my kitchen cabinets simply because I couldn't take it anymore. Trying to prepare meals was becoming quite the hassle. I have noticed that once I have something organized it is much easier to get what I need done.

Also our home is not large we have 1120 square feet and only 3 closets for 6 people. The basement is damp so I can only store some stuff down there. I know though, that we could live here comfortably with a little organization and purging. No more chaos or tripping over stuff. I will be ruthless in my pursuit to make this home work for us.

Googling Proverbs 31 Woman

So today I decided I would google "becoming a Proverbs 31 woman" and see what others had to say on the subject. There was some interesting things out there. Here are a few I gleamed something from.

Hem of His Garment - There was only 2 lessons which I found disappointing but it did give me a few nuggets for thought.

Sermon Central - some good points

Mom to Mom radio show

The First Step

In January I became a stay at home mom once again. My husband and I decided it was the best thing for our family. I consider it my first step towards becoming the Proverbs 31 woman described in the Bible. I think of Proverbs 31:28 "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her" In my study Bible it says "call her blessed because of the happy environment she creates and the joy she radiates to others." Well I wasn't feeling very joyful working and trying to run my home, especially when my husband would be out of town for weeks programming some machine. I was overwhelmed and quite grumpy. Plus there was lots of other things going on in our lives that just needed more of my attention. I've been home now for a month and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. I'm already seeing the positive effects this is having on our family. Sunday my son Ashton came in and was chatting with me while I did the dishes. He said, "mom you are much happier now that your home, everyone has noticed. We like you better this way." That was a statement that made me stop and think.

My dad's favorite thing to say is "if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." There's more truth to that than you know.

Of course staying home isn't the only thing that has helped change my attitude but it was a big first step.