February: Ladies and Moms Night Out Please Julie & Julia/Cooking and Blogging

With aprons on and hearts open, we shared our recipes and kitchen stories.

We aren't alone in this ever and on going task of meal preparation!!! We all struggle to bring meals to the table day in and day out. 

3 x7 meals a week, equals 21 meals!!! 

That's a lot of food! 

That's  a lot of work! 

 Does  this sound familiar...

 ..."just when I finish cooking and cleaning, it's time to start again." 

"mom, what are we having??"

"This again" 

"I dont have everything I need for this recipe"  

I think Julia Child refers to this as servantless cooks. -We are doing this alone! 

Well, not for long...we are trying to create a community of friends supporting each other, helping each other and sharing with each other. 

Let's  face it, this is real life baby-  Just after you've finished, cooking and cleaning, it's time to do it  again.  

Well, because this is an endless cycle, my solution was to create a list of recipes my family loves and create a repeat plan with a grocery list.

 This takes all the guess work out and keeps expenses down, and better yet, my Littles can even follow it.

I created a recipe book and shared it with all the ladies and gave them a copy. I also posted the recipes with pictures online, so you can follow along too. 

Oh ya, a grocery list is included at mommersmenus.blogspot.com. 

One lovely lady and dear friend shared her menu board...

Each family member picks one meal during the week (pre-written on cards) and then, there is a leftover day, and an eat out day {!} that's only cooking five days. The cards are placed on clips for each day of the week! AWESOME!!! 

And even better these dinners can be as simple as grilled cheese, or more complicated, like pulled pork tacos. 

I love this idea!  We might need to make these. {:)}

 It is so awesome to see what others are doing. Sometimes the simplest planning makes all the difference in the world. I tend to get too detail oriented. 

We all shared a recipe and passed one around, taking a minute to talk about and share...for some that they actually never made it themselves. Lol!!  Plain and simple, some just don't cook, but they said they are inspired to try. We placed all the recipes in our "I can", cans.  {:)} 

We had some great laughs sharing our cooking and not cooking stories. Wink wink lol!! 

We also talked a little bit about blogging and sharing our lives with others for good.  

We watched a message about a young woman who was a mother of four children who started a blog to keep in touch with her family when she moved out of state.  A few years later she was in a terrible accident and she has so humbly shared her struggles and her faith on her blog. 

Her blog is called nieniedialogues 

and can be found at nieniedialogues.blogspot.com 

I shared my own blogging journey.  Starting in February 2008 with "A Gaggle of Gessells" with the theme, "Gessell's celebrate all wins!" By October 2008 opposition came knocking at my door and I was not prepared {!} and quite frankly, I didn't feel like I was winning anymore. I lost my happy for a bit, and ended my blogging abruptly in January 2009. As I started to find my voice again,  I wanted to start a new blog, a new chapter of sorts, and created, "Life is a bowl full of cherries...this is my orchard", in April of 2009. I was beginning to dream again. I started writing a more personal journey searching for the Mommer in me, as I left the 'worker me' behind. I started some creative writing and shared what I learned. 

I was learning how to live a simpler life, homeschool my children for a year, and be a true hands on Mommer. Gigi even started her own blog during this time. "Gigi & Babycakes", chronicling her life as a new big sister!!! She started this in 2012 and ended it in 2014 just after her heart surgery. 

We moved during this time for many reasons, back to the city, to be closer to my Mister's work, closer to the hospital for Gigi, and a school with a daily nurse. 

Life was changing once again. Then I started this blog, "from me to you with love". 

After Gigi had surgery, and things settled down, I realized that my Heavenly Father knew exactly what he had been preparing me for, a slower life and a more attentive mom. I finally had a feeling of freedom from work, without missing it or needing the income,  a desire to create daily began and with that, I started celebrating life again. 

I love reading and learning from others journeys, so I thought maybe, just maybe, someone else might want to read mine.  

I love to write,  I love to share, as you can see. {hehe} I really feel that even if only my dad and children read this I am good with that.  

And with that, I love you. I love all these women who have come to my home and take the time to share, listen, & encourage each other...and I look forward to meeting again and finding more people to share with. 

from me to you w love, M, Mommer