Frugal Fridays: The Simple Diet (2)
Step 2: Simplify Snacks
It seems that no sooner than the breakfast dishes are done that Dutch is ready for a snack. And while snacks are notoriously laden with sugar, salt and a high price tag, it is possible to follow The Simple Diet and still allow our kids to snack. They have little tummies and even after a healthy breakfast they will still benefit from a small nutritious snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Here are Simple Diet Snacks:
- Homemade bread. My kids live on homemade 100% whole wheat bread. It cost pennies to make and is delicious and nutritious. I made 4-5 loaves a week. (recipe here and bread machines here) A $55 bread machine will easily pay for itself in 1-2 months, one month if you are buying lots of Dave’s Killer or some other all-natural breads. Since I make 5 loaves a week I figure I am saving about $50/month just on bread. We’ll do a separate post on where to buy ingredients, etc.
- Cheese. Not cheese sticks (although those are fine, just more expensive). Tillamook cheddar cheese. When you see it on sale for $3.99/lb. stock up! I probably have 7 blocks in my fridge right now.
- Apples, oranges, bananas. You can get organic apples at Azure Standard for $1/lb. Oranges and bananas don’t need to be organic, and you can always get for under $1/lb. Other fruit is great too, but when budget is the name of the game, these three are tough to beat.
- Peanut Butter. My kids always ask for “peanut butter on spoon.” At first I thought it was a bad habit, but with organic, 100% natural peanut butter (great price at Costco, Trader Joe’s or Fred Meyer), it’s a great way to fill those tummies with protein and healthy fat. I scoop a big spoonful and let them eat it like a popsicle.
- Carrots. You can always get organic carrots (at Safeway or Fred Meyer) for under $1/lb. if you do the hard work of peeling and chopping. I keep a large tupperware full of carrots already peeled chopped in little sticks that are perfect for little mouths. An easy nutritious snack. (It might seem crazy to buy a 15 lb. bag of carrots but it’s easy to use them up if you use half raw and cook half for meals and purees. Plus, if you have a bunch you’re more likely to eat them.)
All these are whole foods. All are under $2/lb. All are great nutritious choices for our kids. And all are Simple. They can all be kept on hand and handed out in 30 seconds. And after only having one choice for breakfast, they’ll think getting FIVE choices for a snack is amazing!
Shopping List:
Apples (organic), oranges, bananas, carrots (organic), cheddar cheese, peanut butter. Bread ingredients (more on that later).
What to avoid: Fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars, individually wrapped things.
Happy snacking!
Genesis 37: Envy, like Mother(s) like Son(s)
Last week we talked about Rachel and Leah and their miserable procreation competition to win their husband’s love and favor. We talked about how we, as women, can fall prey to the same sin–that of competing with one another instead of loving, supporting, preferring, and loving one another. The crux of the issue for Rachel and Leah was trying to win the limited affection of one man–never a good idea.
In Genesis 37 we see that the apples don’t fall far from the trees. (In this case they’re green apples. Ha! Horrible joke. )
You’re probably familiar with the story–Joseph is the favorite son of Jacob (because he was the son of his old age and of his favorite wife Rachel, and Jacob was the favorite son of his mom, funny how that happens…) and because of this of course he receives preferential treatment from his dad. (There’s an entire course on Conflicted Families contained in these three generations)
Once again we see multiple people vying for the affection and favor of one man–and interestingly enough, it is the same man: Jacob. What a dude. If you EVER are feeling discouraged about how God could ever use you for His glory because you’re not worthy–just take a quick coffee break and crack open your Bible to Genesis and get a glimpse of Jacob. Heel-catcher, deceiver, supplanter, kind of a stinky father, probably not a super duper husband (although when you have kids with 4 women and they all live in the same tent you don’t have a fighting chance at success). Although, God used Him. And God is the faithful one.
Anyway, all I wanted to point out here, was verse 4:
“When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him.”
Hated him. Now later on he foolishly shares his dream with them and make them hate him even more, but before he even does anything foolish, they still hate him. Why? Simply because he had more of his father’s love.
Now there are a dozen lessons here, not the least of which is the importance of not treating our children preferentially! But just a quick note at how dangerous envy is.
Envy.
All they wanted was the preferential treatment, the love, the favor of their father. And while it is natural that they would feel envy toward their brother Joseph, it is still sin. Envy is so dangerous because, as we see here, it leads to hate.
When we find envy in our hearts, hate is not far behind. That’s sobering, yes? We’d never say we hated someone, but the seeds of hatred are envy. Are there seeds of hate in our hearts?
Moreover, this story reveals that when envy is planted, hate grows, and when it is fully grown it leads to murder. Joseph’s brothers’ envy led them to such hatred that they planned on killing their own brother.
Sounds like Cain. Envy was what led him to murder his own brother. Rachel and Leah didn’t physically murder each other, but I bet they wanted to! And while envy didn’t kill them physically, it clearly killed all love and affection they once shared. It killed a precious relationship.
Jesus echoed this as well. In Matthew 5:21-22 he says,
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”
In essence Jesus is saying, it’s not just the end-result that is wrong, the seeds in our hearts are what is wrong. Murder is the result of hate which is the result of envy. We tend to treat envy pretty lightly. We joke about a little harmless schadenfreude, or wishing someone’s labor or children would take them down a notch. But the root of that is envy, pure and simple. Envy leads to hatred, leads to murder.
Again, we may not be out murdering someone, but are there seeds of hate? We may not be hating someone, but are there seeds of envy? Again, we must walk circumspectly to be on guard against these “little sins” that can seem so innocent but leave us missing out on God’s best in our lives.
Girls, all my fingers are pointed at myself here. We have to be on guard against the sin of envy, no matter how small. No matter how skinny she is or how perfect her skin is or how angelic those kids are or how smart or funny or successful or rich or loved or whatever, we have to be on guard. Someone else’s “success” does not imply our failure. Oh to be on guard against our competitive hearts! How thankful we can be that we don’t to fight for the love of our God.
It’s worth repeating: God has plenty of love to go around. There is no limited amount for us to fight over, like Rachel and Leah and all of their sons. And if God’s affection is more than enough, we can rest secure. Amen?
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In what areas are you susceptible to becoming envious of others? What steps can you take to root yourself in God’s Word and guard your mind against the sin of envy?
Distance and Distortion
I shared yesterday about the battle with lies in the Christian walk. The enemy would love to whisper accusations and lies to us. Two more quick things on this topic, today and tomorrow, before we dive back into our walk through the Word.
*Interruption: I just returned from our first session of Women’s Bible Study, studying Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed, a study of the life of David. What a phenomenal study and great reminder that this is not a playground, it’s a battlefield. We have a great call on our lives and the enemy wants nothing more than to derail and destroy us and our effectiveness for the kingdom of God. I pray these two small nuggets will help us sharpen our swords and be watchful and alert. Blessings to you.
Distance and Distortion: 
Satan’sgreatest desire is to turn us against God and turn us against God’s people. You can bet your bottom dollar that if you are feeling like you don’t want to go to church or don’t want to fellowship with your Christian brothers or sisters or don’t want to get involved or just want to hide and isolate yourself–you can bet the enemy is at work. Those are his trademarks. The remedy? Yes, truth, yes the Word of God, yes prayer. And this:
Get close.
With distance there is a much greater opportunity for distortion. When two friends don’t talk, when we’re not connected to our church, when a marriage partners don’t communicate–whenever we allow distance to come between ourselves and those important relationships around us, we are tremendously vulnerable to attack. Couple this with fatigue and physical weakness and we are vulnerable. This is the same way that the Amalekites attacked the stragglers of the nation of Israel, the weak, those lagging behind, when they were journeying out from Egypt (Deut 25).
We have to just get closer. When we allow too much distance we fall prey to a distorted view of others and of situations. Don’t lose sight of what’s real. Get close.
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In what way has distanced possibly distorted your view of a situation or relationship? How could you get close? What steps can you take to narrow the gap and remove the opportunity for Satan to bring division?
Silence the Lies
I pulled the covers over my head. It was completely irrational. And when our response to a situation is unreasonably greater than the situation merits, we can rest assured something is up.
Something was up.
I had simply received an invitation to participate in an upcoming ministry event, and now I was under the covers in a heap of tears. What was wrong with me?
It’d been brewing for awhile. I was short with the kids, irritable to my husband, and didn’t want anything to do with ministry. Of course I kept going through the motions but inside I was felt like I was dying. And now, a simple invitation had sent me into an emotional tailspin.
Something was up.
After I finally got myself together, I went downstairs–we were late to a New Year’s Eve party (Just what I felt like doing… Here’s to a New Year! I’m a disaster!), so I rushed the kids to the car and avoided looking at Jeff. I sat in silence while he asked me a dozen questions, trying to pinpoint what could be the matter, thinking it was somehow his fault.
“It’s not your fault,” I kept saying. I can’t tell him, I thought. It’s so stupid. I can’t tell him. I sat in silence for about 10 minutes then finally knew I had to say it so at least he’d know it wasn’t him. Here we go…
“I…” my voice broke and sobs came. All the lies and hurts came rushing to the surface, I hadn’t realized their pressure until the silence, and the emotional dam, was broken. “…I know I’m a bad mom … Of course I don’t want to [take part in this event]! I have nothing to offer. Nothing. Why on earth would someone want to hear ideas or insights from a woman who can’t even get her kids to sit still for a Christmas picture?! I already know I’m a failure….” I continued until all the junk was out. (And there was plenty.)
He nodded, understanding. So that was it. His face was dark and I knew what he was going to say before he said it.
“Lies.”
Calmly, evenly, and with firm resolve, Jeff began telling me the truth. Who I was in Christ. Who He knew me to be. Truth. Truth. Truth. Like missiles launched in the battle in my heart. Then he prayed for me. Thankfully, the tower of lies crumbled quickly, and to my amazement, by the time we reached the party the only residue was a tear-stained face and swollen eyes. I was so happy to have my heart cleansed and set free that I could have cared less about how I looked. But now, looking back, it’s a sobering reminder of the battle that we face.
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My thoughts were irrational. They were ridiculous. Because they were lies. But the accusations had been made. The case was built. A hundred little scenarios of child misbehavior, including a failed attempt at a cute Christmas photo. I’d believed the lies and the verdict was clear: I’m a failure.
Have you ever heard this lie? Scripture tells us exactly where it comes from. The Father of Lies (John 8:44) and Accuser of the Brethren (Rev. 12:10) lives to whisper false accusations in our ears. And his favorite tactic is to take perfectly innocent situations and suggest to us how each circumstance proves our worthlessness.
Not invited somewhere? It’s because your kids are obnoxious and no one likes your company. A parenting book recommended by a friend? That’s because everyone around knows you’re such a failure as a mom. The success of a friend? See, everyone around you is flourishing while you’re failing. Satan can even turn Christmas cards into accusations! See, everyone else’s kids are perfectly behaved. You’re such a bad mom you can’t even get your kids to pose for a picture.
The whispered accusations are loud, and at times the case made against us can seem air-tight. From our perspective all the evidence points to our worthlessness.
But God.
In Zechariah chapter 3 the prophet saw a vision of Joshua the high priest standing before the LORD and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. But verse two tells us that the LORD said to Satan, “Rebuke you, O Satan! … Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”
My hope and prayer is that none of you can relate to my little story above. But I have a feeling you can. We are all vulnerable to this but this is what you must know:
You have been plucked from the fire by the Living God. He has saved you, loved you, redeemed you. He has declared you not guilty.
The truth is that you are not a failure or a mistake. The truth is that YOU are the woman chosen to be wife to your husband, to be mother to your children, to be the daughter, friend, minister—whatever you are you were chosen to be. Think about that. Whatever you are you were chosen to be. You are where you are because God has ordered your steps. And God has not destined you to failure. He has perfectly equipped you to carry out His will (2 Peter 1:3).
You and I don’t have to hide under the covers today. The truth sets us free.We must choose to listen, not to the Accuser, but to the Judge. The One who declares us righteous. The One who loved us so much He died to bring us near. We will make mistakes, but there is no mistaking the love God has for us. I pray today that this extravagant love lures you from your hiding place to face a beautiful day. Only the Truth can silence the lies. Get with God, open His Word, receive prayer–allow the Truth to set you free.
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While Satan accuses, God convicts. We’ll talk about the difference in the next few days.
What lies are you tempted to believe about yourself today? What truth do you need to believe to silence these lies?