Tuesday, June 7, 2016

The Modern Day Proverbs 31 Woman

After reading Proverbs 31 for the gazillionth time, I felt inspired this morning to write what a modern day Proverbs 31 woman might be like.  In short, she's perfect!  Of course, none of us are perfect but I bet there is at least one woman in your life that has pretty well all the attributes of the Proverbs 31 woman. Maybe it's you!  And if not, we all have something in this long list that we can say, "Yeah, I do that!"  And guys, notice how this husband showers his wife with praises.  We know we're not perfect but a little praise our way might mean a little more appreciation coming your way.

I'm not suggesting that we should all be this perfect example of woman-hood but we can all make goals to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.  We may not care to dabble in finances, but we might be really good at crafts.  We might hate cooking, but love the thrill of finding healthy food and products for our families at the lowest price.

The point of the Proverbs 31 woman is that she gives her best in every situation she encounters.  And while we all strive for that, if you are like me, you often fail.  Thankfully, when we fail, we can rest in the assurance of God's grace to cover a multitude of mistakes.

I remember reading in a magazine a few years ago and the quote stuck with me:  "Live the life you want!"  In other words, don't worry about the mistakes you'll make tomorrow or in the next hour, just do, and be, right now, what it is that you want your life to be.


Modern Day Proverbs 31

How lucky is the guy who got this girl?
She’s more valuable than great-grandmother’s antique ruby ring.
Her husband has complete confidence in her.
He lacks nothing in his life and it’s all because of her.
She always does her best to show him love and kindness:
biting her tongue when she’s tempted to complain about him to her friends.

She scours the grocery flyers looking for the best products at the best price.
When she hits a jackpot, she gets to the store right away, eager to bring home the deals she’s found.
Sometimes she shops online and knows exactly which websites offer free shipping.

She works hard, often outside the home.
Most days she has to get up before dawn to makes sure she gets the kids fed
 and off to the babysitters or school on time.
She is happy to contribute to the wealth of her home
and doesn’t rely completely on her husband to make all the financial decisions.
(She’s been known to run a real estate venture or buy up a few stocks from time to time!)

She’s knows what she’s good at,
and she doesn’t give up on a project until it’s done, and done right.
She’s always thinking two steps ahead.

She tries to make time for herself doing things she loves like crafts, scrapbooking or knitting.
If she’s so inclined, she might even set up a table at a craft fair and sell some of her goodies.

She’s always has an open home and an open heart to those in need.

I don’t know how she does it but somehow, on top of all this,
she manages to keep up with the chores at home.
Her kids don’t complain because they have no clean laundry
or clean dishes to eat off.
She has clean sheets on her bed and wrinkle-free clothes on her body.

Her husband is free to give his best at work and church.
His respect in their community is a reflection of her excellence.

She is the picture of strength and dignity.
Her abundance of grace allows her to laugh when things go completely haywire.

She knows a lot of stuff about a lot of things
but can recognize when it’s the right time to dish out advice or not.

She can relax but she’s never lazy or neglectful;
her ear is always tuned to the heartbeat of her home.

Her kids smother her with hugs and kisses and “I love you”s
but they also know she has eyes on the back of her head.

Her husband though, he’s the most proud of her.
And he lets her know it!
When she complains about her crow’s feet, he nods,
but doesn’t really doesn’t notice what she’s talking about.
He remembers the days when he was the only one who put a twinkle in her eye.
But to watch her now as she cares for not just him,
but everyone around her, amazes him.

He sees the love of Jesus shine through in everything she does.

He never turns down an opportunity to sing her praises.

by Charlotte Goulding

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Homemade Margherita Pizza

While searching up my usual recipe for pizza dough from mmmisformommy.com, I thought to myself that I've never actually blogged pictures for the steps of whole recipe, just the end product.  So here I am venturing into the increasingly popular world of food photography and step-by-step photo food prep.

Much of my approach to cooking comes from what I see when I open my fridge door.  Since we made our move a few years ago, the hubby does most of the grocery shopping and will sometimes bring home stuff I would probably never buy ... like a huge block of soft mozzarella cheese.

As I'm back to work now, he did the stay-at-home dad thing for a few days this week and cut up some of this cheese along with meats for home-packed "lunchables." Looking in my fridge this morning I saw a container of pre-cut mozzarella cheese, a tomato and I knew he bought pepperoni, so home-made pizza for supper it is!  The cut-up soft mozzarella and tomato reminded of how long it's been since I've had Margherita Pizza.





My first taste of a Margherita Pizza was at a little shop in Nova Scotia called Pizza Market.  The pizzas at this shop were probably the best I've ever tasted.  Pizza Margherita was my favorite:  loaded with simple ingredients of garlic, tomato, basil and mozzarella.



For years, whenever I made homemade pizza, I would use the store-bought kit.  Nowadays, after learning how to make bread, and wanting pizza even when I didn't have pizza sauce on hand, I usually whip the ingredients up myself.  Luckily my husband found pizza sauce I had already made while he was rifling through the freezer this afternoon, so the topping prep simply consisted of cutting a tomato and mincing garlic.




Honestly, even if you don't make home-made bread, pizza dough is not that complicated.  If you have a stand-mixer with dough hooks for kneading (those spiral "beaters", if you were wondering) then it's a breeze.  Just remember you'll need extra time for the dough to rise than you would with a store-bought kit.  Here's the before and after rise of about 45 mins.








I used the recipe from mmmisformommy.com tonight but I find it's not quite enough for two medium-thickness pizzas so I'm gonna try this one from sallysbakingaddiction.com next time.









I make my own pizza sauce as well.  I just combine a few "easy pizza sauce" recipes from allrecipes.com and blend them together according to the ingredients I have on hand (i.e. I'll use a recipe for tomato paste if I have no tomato sauce on hand).







This is the pre-baked ...





And the post-baked goodness.  It was delicious!