Jen Russum

Flowers Fade Friday: Celebrating My Husband

September 23, 2011

It's so easy to go through the motions of marriage. My sinful nature would rather dwell on all the things about my marriage that don't meet my expectations or the things Micah does that annoy me than celebrate the overflowing goodness that marriage has brought into my life. But the truth is marriage is a precious gift, and the Bible commands that marriage should be held in honor by all - even by those who are not married. In fact, marriage is so important to God that our eternity with Him will be celebrated at the "marriage supper of the Lamb" {Rev. 19:9}. The image of marriage is a powerful and holy thing that displays the love Christ has for His people - the church. So recently, in an effort to honor my own marriage, I've been thinking of all the ways being married to Micah is a blessing to me. I want to take a minute to CELEBRATE my husband today, because even though he is not perfect, he is a good man and I am honored to be married to him. *Micah has the most impeccable bathroom etiquette of any man I know. The idea for this post actually came to me one day when I realized that I have NEVER once had to put the toilet seat down after my husband. Apparently, this is the number one pet peeve of women regarding male bathroom behaviors, but it doesn't exist in my house! Hoorah! Sometimes when we have guests, they will leave the seat up and as I put it down I think to myself, "Wow, my husband never does this!" Gotta love him! In other news, he's also gotten pretty darn good at closing the shower curtain {because NOBODY wants to see the awful mid-80s flower tiles in our shower, I promise). *Micah is stellar at keeping both our cars in top shape. He will often take my car to wash and vacuum it and fill it up with gas. He has scheduled oil changes for both our vehicles written on his calendar. Mmmm...that is some good stewardship of our vehicles and something I would never do on my own! *Micah is amazing at keeping our budget in check and setting financial goals for our family. He convicts me about my own spending and teaches me to be a better steward of our resources. One time he sent me to Walmart to do all our grocery shopping for the week with only $20! Ha! It was quite the adventure, but a very good learning experience AND very humbling. When I got up to the register I was very uncertain that I would have enough money to pay for all my items. It made me more compassionate for those who go up to the register with that feeling every single week as they try to provide for their families. *Micah has been striving very hard to be a good leader for me. This has included weekly devos and prayer time together as well as a functioning household schedule that we try to follow as closely as we can. He also insists on me taking a day of rest, which is good for my busy little body and soul. *Aaaannddd.... my husband is hot. The end. Okay, that's not really the end. There are countless ways that Micah blesses me, but that's enough for now. Maybe I will think of some more and do another celebration post again in the future. I encourage you to honor your marriage and reflect on the ways your spouse blesses, encourages, and convicts you. How can you celebrate your husband this week?! ***Happily linking up to The Wiegands and The Shine Project... ... Read more

A Good Steward: FOOD {part two}

September 22, 2011

On Tuesday, I shared my first set of tips regarding all things food management... cleaning out the fridge, meal planning, shopping carefully, and trying to avoid wasting food. Here are my second set of tips on how to be a good steward of food and stretch your food budget to the max! Buy in bulk carefully. The result of shopping at Costco can be a like a girl who spends too much time in the weight room. While lifting weights is important, getting too bulky and losing all your feminine appeal is gross. Well, shopping at food warehouses can be the same way. Getting a good deal on items you use often is awesome. It's like toning your biceps. Buying everything in bulk and having your pantry look like a grocery version of hoarders -with giant boxes of cereal, cans of soups and papers towels exploding EVERY where is also gross. Micah and I have a Costco card, but I rarely ever use it except to buy gas. Wanna know why? We have no kids, so buying in bulk is a little ridiculous and we live in an apartment, so we don't have a lot of extra room to store goods and groceries. Costco is awesome for items you use constantly - chicken broth, toilet paper, Orbit gum. But it's not so awesome for most other products that you only use occasionally. Even though 50 ounces for $5.00 is a great deal, it's really not if you only need 8 ounces and you could get it at your neighborhood market for $1.00. Just spend the dollar and get the heck out of Costco! Buy produce in moderation. If there is one thing I am passionate about, it's produce selection. I hate seeing people lop a ton of produce in their carts that I know is just going to go to waste. Because here is the thing about produce...it goes bad. Pretty quickly. Of course, if you have like five kids at home, then sure, buy your greens in bulk. But for the rest of us who only have two, three or four people to feed, go easy in the produce section and choose wisely. I know this seems counter-intuitive to the whole "5 a Day" campaign or the new food recommendations where half your plate is supposed to be made up of fruits and vegetables...but do you want your plate filled up with ROTTEN fruits and vegetables? Because that's what happens if you don't know what you are doing in the produce department... Feel free to stock up on produce with a good shelf life. It's fairly easy to keep apples, oranges, potatoes, onions, and carrots for more than a week. I try to keep some of these things on hand at all times. Just make sure you store them properly. But other fruits and veggies only last for a few days, so buy them in moderation. Only buy as many berries, bananas, and green leafy veggies as you can realistically eat in the next 3-5 days, and plan your meals around them. If you are buying ingredients for a fresh salad, that salad should probably be on tomorrow night's dinner menu. If you are planning to serve strawberry shortcake, that better be the dessert over the next two to three nights, otherwise your strawberries will get all squishy and gross. Perfect fruit bowl for a week of healthy eating! ALL of this got consumed!!! Bananas about bananas. And may I just stop right here and say one thing about banana selection, one of my greatest passions? {I am not joking about this - I get really passionate about bananas and sometimes I cry to Micah on the weekend if I don't have any in my fruit bowl for the week ahead... he thinks I'm nuts...and he's probably right.} Again, unless you have six hungry children at home or some kind of strange banana fetish, do NOT buy a huge bunch of bananas. I'll tell you why...because all the bananas on a single bunch will go bad on the same day. If you buy them when they are slightly green, the next day they will be mostly yellow with a tiny bit of green at the top {best day to eat them in my opinion!}, the next day they will be all yellow with one or two little brown speckles, then next day they will be completely freckled and a little overripe, and then next day they will be ROTTEN - AKA waiting to be tossed in the freezer for the next batch of banana bread. So if you buy a bunch of bananas, assume they will all be bad in five days or less. But please NEVER buy a bunch of bananas. Please buy a few from a REALLY green bunch {the greenest you can find}, and a few from a slightly green bunch, and one or two that will be perfect for the next day's breakfast. That way all your bananas will ripen at a different time during the week. You are NOT obligated to buy the whole bunch people! Do NOT feel pressured! Aannndd... banana rant DONE. Split it. We all know that you can save the most money by eating at home, but let's be honest, restaurants are good. Not only do restaurants allow us to try new recipes and experience someone else's cooking and try bites from other people's entrees around the table, but someone ELSE does the dishes, and that's worth some money if you ask me. Micah and I try to eat at home as much as possible {usually every weekday evening} and we both try to pack our lunches so we don't have to go out for lunch. But when it comes to the weekend, we know that we will probably eat out at least once, if not twice. The biggest way to save your wallet and your waist in restaurants is to SPLIT a meal. Micah and I almost always share an entree when we go out to eat. Not only does this save us $10-30 pretty much every time, but it also saves us a ton of calories. Because restaurant portions are HUGE and we really don't need a whole entree to ourselves. So instead of going home feeling stuffed and sickly, Micah and I always split and go home feeling satisfied, knowing we had a great meal and didn't have to blow our budget to do so. Birthday freebies. My birthday was just last week, and let me tell you, I have enjoyed some great food since then FOR FREE. You know those little cards at restaurants where they ask for your birthday, anniversary, and e-mail address? May I highly recommend that you fill them out? Because said restaurant will send you a gift on your birthday. I promise. It will be in the form of a certificate for free food and you will love your life. This week, Micah and I were able to get two Havana Lattes and a homemade English muffin at our favorite Phoenix joint, La Grande Orange, for absolutely nothing. They sent me at $10 gift certificate for my birthday. Two days later, I met a friend for happy hour at another restaurant. We split an appetizer and then split my free dessert - a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Yes, please, and thank you. On Sunday, Micah and I went out to lunch after church with his mom. After enjoying our salads, we also enjoyed my free birthday Tiramisu. Yum. One of my favorite restaurants in Fort Worth offers birthday girls and boys a free BRUNCH during their birthday month. I am tempted to fly to Texas next weekend and get mine! It's so worth it to join the restaurant mailing lists and get freebies on your birthday. And if you hate the idea of getting junk mail from restaurants {because they will send weekly or monthly publicity emails}, here is my suggestion. Set up a junk e-mail account {or use an old e-mail address that you never check anymore} for all mailings of this variety. Then the week before your birthday and anniversary each year, log in to your junk account and print off all your birthday goodies. Your birthday freebies will be near the top of your inbox, and you will never have to look at any of the other junk mail at all. Happy Birthday to you! Mmm... LGO lattes, how I love you! But I love you the most when you are FREE! I hope these tips help you manage your food and grocery budget more efficiently, so that you can give more to others in need! And please share any other ideas you have down below. I would love to hear from you! ... Read more

A Good Steward: FOOD {part one}

September 20, 2011

As I mentioned earlier, I think God is trying to teach me about stewardship right now. Learning how to use and enjoy what He has given me, instead of always wanting more, more, more. A few weeks ago, I talked about being a good steward of my closet. This week I want to talk about being a good steward of my FOOD. Mmm... I love food. I love trying new recipes for dinner. I love eating my cereal with a banana on top every day for breakfast. I love drinking my homemade white chocolate mocha every morning while I read my Bible. I love eating ice cream for dessert. I love trying new restaurants or sharing a meal at home with friends. I love drinking a giant Diet Coke with splash of Dr. Pepper on top {"The Mix!"}. I love food. But the truth is...people around the world are STARVING. Literally, dying of malnutrition. Sick and dying for lack of water and food. Sure the old "clean your plate" method isn't going to help a starving child in Africa {and has lead to gross amounts of overeating in our country}, but I do think we should be good stewards of the food God has given to us.... How can we stretch our grocery money and use the food that we already have at home to feed our families? How can we make wise decisions at restaurants? How can we learn not to waste and to raise up children who see their food as the blessing that it is? Because honestly, if we made smarter decisions about the way we spend our money on food and if were more conscious consumers, we really would have more resources to help those around the world who will go without dinner tonight. Here are my tips on how to be a good steward of food, and PLEASE feel free to add your own ideas below. I am always looking for ways to stretch my grocery budget! Empty it out. The refrigerator and pantry that is. Micah and I, like many people I'm sure, try to deplete our food supply before we go on vacation. This summer we went to California for a week and then headed to Washington for two and a half weeks, so before we began these ventures we tried to use up all the food in the house. Our goal was to leave with an empty fridge and freezer, and apart from some condiments and salad dressings, we pretty much succeeded. But when we returned from these fun vacations, we thought "Why do we need to fill up our fridge again?" So ever since this past June, we have kept only enough food on hand for the week ahead. This doesn't mean we have NOTHING. Like if we got trapped in our house for a week or something, we would completely survive off cans of soup and rice and pasta {and ice cream!}. But we are trying not to be the Americans with the overflowing refrigerator, where food is lost and rotting at the back of the shelves. We fill our fridge at the beginning of every week with fresh meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables to last us for the next seven-ish days, we eat everything we have, and then buy fresh the following week. I try to keep one or two quickie meals in the freezer (pizza, precooked potstickers, etc.) for those last minute dinners and that is that. Just say NO to rotting food and try to empty your fridge every week. This was our fridge the week before Labor Day. It was the most full it had been since the beginning of summer because Micah's brother and girlfriend were staying with us all week. I was feeding four and cooking a little bit more than I normally do and this was what it looked like. Notice there is still empty space near the back. This was our fridge at the end of the week. Almost nothing inside!!! The Tupperware container is leftovers for Micah's lunch the next day and all other leftovers had been moved to freezer for future lunches and dinners. Hoorah! Use what you have. Even when you are very conscious about only buying for the week ahead, food staples still tend to build up after awhile. Like that one night you planned to make spaghetti and then friends invited you over for pizza and now that spaghetti sauce is still sitting in your pantry... That sort of thing. So once every few months I try to take a week off from grocery shopping {meaning I still buy fresh fruits and milk, but pretty much nothing else} and use only what I already have in my own home to make meals. This might mean we eat some really great stuff like pancakes and bacon for breakfast {or dinner - yum!} or it might mean we eat really boring food like rice and a tiny bit of grilled chicken or it might mean we eat really weird meals like Mac and Cheese with tater tots and freezer green beans. The great thing is you can save almost your whole grocery budget for the entire week and really clear off your shelves. Be a realistic chef. Whether you love to cook or hate to cook, be realistic when it comes to meal planning. I enjoy cooking dinner and trying new recipes, but I also know I don't have a lot of time to cook during the school year. Usually I plan out about three dinners a week and assume that leftovers, eating out, or going over to a friend's house will take care of the other nights. If we need dinner and I've already made my three meals for the week, we always have one or two emergency meals in the freezer. I very intentionally do not buy any extra ingredients other than what I need for these three dinners, which are planned out before I head to the grocery store. If you hate to cook, perhaps you can set a similar goal for yourself - like trying two new dinner recipes a week. They don't have to be fancy {helloooo crockpot!}. Shop only for the meals you plan out in advance and limit yourself to a realistic number of meals for the week so you don't over-shop. Meal plan with the weekly ads. You probably know all about this trick, but maybe you don't do it because it takes some work. Well, it's worth it; I promise! Plan out your meals based on what's for sale that week at the store{s} you shop at. Pork tenderloin is on sale? Mmmm... that sounds nice. Ground beef is on sale....let's make burgers this week...and tacos... and spaghetti. You get the idea. The only time I break this rule is when I am cooking something specific for guests. I don't always worry about whether or not the ingredients are on sale in that scenario, and it's always SO much more expensive for those meals. Sometimes I spend almost double at the store when I don't shop by the ads. That's just proof to me that meal planning based on sales is way more cost effective! Cut carefully. Aren't coupons just all the rage these days? I feel like there are extreme couponing challenges EVERY where. On TV. On blogs. People are even posting about their savings on Facebook. Coupons are soooo in. And for good reason. Coupons are awesome. There is nothing like going through checkout, handing the cashier your handful of coupons at the end and seeing $40 drop off your grocery bill. I am a big fan of coupons and fully believe it's worth the time to cut them out. However, I also offer a warning. ONLY clip coupons for products you actually need, otherwise you might find that coupons cost you more than they save. I try to be very picky when I peruse the coupons. If it's a coupon for a staple we use often in our home or a necessary household product then I clip with glee. But I try to say NO to coupons that look good, but whose product is not one I would regularly buy. For example, $1.00 off a big bag of Pretzel M&Ms is a great deal, but my butt does not need a giant bag of M&Ms, nor do I need to spend that $2 on candy. Don't let coupons convince you to buy things you don't really need! Master the coupon; don't let the coupon master you! I'll be back later this week with a few more food stewardship tips!!! And, again, please feel free to leave your own suggestions below! Linking up to Amanda's Family Friendly Food week and Jami's We Encourage! ... Read more