Try It Tuesday!!

It's time for Try It Tuesday again!!

I hope that you participated in last Tuesday's challenge and I hope that it made a very positive difference in your marriage...enough so that it's now become a lifestyle change for you. I'd love to hear about it if you did!!

One thing I've found that greatly pleases DH, is when I'm a good steward of the finances that he brings into our home. My DH has a highly stressful job and even though it's not incredibly physical, many evenings he comes home drained because of the mental stress that's on him every day.

Because of what he does to support our family, I am blessed to be able to stay at home taking care of our children, our home and DH. He does this willingly and gladly. So I believe in my heart that the least we women can do is spend our family finances wisely.

If you're a single mom, this is just as important a challenge for you.

" 'Yes', the king replied, 'and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.' " Luke 19:26, NLT

This week's Try It challenge will find us in the kitchen.

Let's begin....

Go to your kitchen with a notebook and pen. Look in the cupboards, write down what you find. Look in the frig and in the freezer (deep freeze too if you have one), write down what you find. Have a pantry? Write down what you find. Anywhere in your house that you store food, write down what you find.

Now, sit down with your favorite drink, and plan out your menus for the next 7 days. Goal? Not buying anything this week from the grocery store, but actually using what you already have.

Most people, myself included, have enough food in our cupboards to eat for several days at least. Even though my family is very good to have a leftover night and eat what's sitting in the frig, sadly, we probably throw out enough leftovers in our family to at least eat another meal one other night during the week!!

The main reason for the waste? Whining. "I don't want that again..", "I want something different...", "I'll eat that tomorrow for lunch, can't we have something else tonight?..."

Even laziness. "I could make this and this but it would take so much time."

Poor planning. "I could make this and this, but I've let 4 o'clock creep up on me and now I'm out of time."

My main goal for this challenge is to help us realize that many times we already have what we need. Also learning how to improvise when we run out of...salt. How many other spices do we have on hand that will make our food taste wonderful?

Did we run out of milk? Do you have dry milk in the cupboard to use for your cooking purposes??

Did we run out of sugar? How about using that honey that's been shoved to the back of the cupboard?

I know in our house the cupboards are full, and many times I'm standing there wondering what in the world I'm going to cook!! Sitting here writing this, I realize how pitiful that really is. My family is so blessed and yet I'll pick up a quick something while I'm out or an ingredient to go with what I have at home so I can make spaghetti instead of a meatloaf. Hamburgers instead of dried beans, potatoes and corn bread.

This week's Try It Tuesday will be just as much a challenge for myself as it will be for you.

I hope you'll be on board with me as we venture out to stretch our minds, use what we have and become good stewards of what God has blessed us with.

Can't wait to follow up with you next Tuesday and see how thing went with your week.