A blessing for Anita

Jul 11, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: Baking, blessings

This morning I was on a  Skype with Anita and she was asking me what she could make for supper tonight. I asked her what she had on hand, and so she was able to put together a dish; Fried Rice, with greens,  zucchini, a couple of scrambled eggs, lettuce from her wee patch of garden, some peanuts, soy sauce etc. She was given a bunch of zucchini from a neighbor. How nice!

While we were working on this, in walked hubby Neil with a HUGE bag of groceries and paper goods from a friend who was moving away. Here she was, working on using up the last bits of food on her cupboard, and the Lord responded instantly! He is so good to us to always provide. A real blessing.

She typed out some of the treats she received:

peanut butter

sauces

chocolate chips

powdered sugar

baking mixes

napkins

coffee syrups

beans

jalapenos

risotto rice

and more!

Blessings Continue

Mar 17, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    1 Comment     Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, Gardening, saving money, Spain

Blessings for this week are:

Tuesday March 10th, 2009-

1. Our friends brought us 4 huge croissants to eat with our breakfast
2. A friend emailed asking if we needed any vegetable seeds…thank you Angie!!
3. A family of 4 in Northern Spain will come and use our guesthouse for 5 days in April! It’s a welcome blessing in these hard economic times.
4. I had enough lettuce from my greenhouse to make a salad.

Wednesday March 11th, 2009-

1. We bought 1 kilo of flour (baking) for only ,39 euro cents. I saved ,10cents a kilo!

Thursday March 12th, 2009-

1. My friend Ana came for breakfast today. She is such a good friend.
2. I went marketing and found 4 loaves of bread on sale for 30% off, & 1 large yogurt for 30% off. Blessing!
3. I opened my mail and got a letter from my friend Belle, with a $20 bill! What a provision!

Tuesday March 17th, 2009-

1. My friend sent me a $20 bill in the mail! Thank you Judy! She is very sensitive to the ‘special needs’ we have on the field & the recent struggles with the banking system here in Spain.
2. My friend Angie sent me some wonderful seeds to plant: lettuce, cilantro, mesclun, squash, swiss chard etc!! All the stuff I love!
3. We received a ‘prize’ from our kids John & Cheri
4. I got a coupon in the mail for the warehouse store (MAKRO) here: 5€ -no minimum purchase!

Today was the ‘motherload’ of material blessings. I’m very thankful & humbled by the Lords goodness to me.

Photos of our family

Mar 9, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    6 Comments    Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, Family, Spain

Here are some more photos of the recent visit from Greg, Abigail and Preston. Jesseka and 2 year old William stayed home in Chicago. Please click on the photo to enlarge it.

We are very thankful to the Lord for the blessings of family.

I feel the need to count my blessings

Mar 9, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, saving money

Well, John came home today (Friday the 6th) from the bank, saying that our Spanish bank just made a new rule to hold our checks 1 month from now on. It used to be a week then 2, 3 and now 4 weeks. The process goes like this:

• we get our deposit each month on the 5th of the month from Wycliffe, to our USA bank
• we write a USD check to our Spanish bank and they give us Euros… at the exchange rate of the day, plus, a small fee.
• we live on those Euros and pay our bills here until the next month.

Well, now we have the dilemma of how to get money for the next month! One thing I know, is that the Lord will make a way for us. My part is to be diligent in all the ways I can. One of those ways  is to start a ‘blessing list’.

Here it is so far:

Today: March 6th, 2009-

1. a package came in the mail from our Jesseka. A book for John (a birthday gift) and a
2. Southern Living magazine for me! I look forward to relaxing with it.
3. The blessing of have had our family here: Greg, Abigail and Preston. They left today but we have so many good memories.
4. we got a letter from the cable company are giving us a month of free movie & program channels (hoping that we will get hooked… we won’t)
5. John went to the car wash and because no one is spending any money these days, lowered the price of a 3 ½ minute spray from 1€ to ,50 euro cents.

March 7th, 2009-

1. I was able to gather enough lettuce and broccoli from my garden/greenhouse for todays lunch.
2. I started the 3 day process for making my citrus marmalade with the oranges & lemons that we got from friends in the village.

March 8th, 2009-

1. we had a great day at church
2. a peaceful church business meeting in the evening
3. the blessing of sun today

Our food budget and saving anyway I can!

Sep 21, 2008 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

My blessings for this week: I am so humbled by the Lords goodness and generosity in my life!

Between the high cost of European living, the bad exchange rate, the expenses of our ministry, and upcoming commitments I am looking for ways to make every cent count. I depend on the Lord to inspire me and teach me.

I would challenge anyone to write down and take note of what comes in their lives. It’s a blessed exercise.

• Our kids Anita and Neil, sent us a bag of goodies with a friend of ours who visited them in France. We especially liked the kids drawings.
• Our friend Joye, sent a a fun box of really useful items. I immediately, changed my toothbrush to the new one, took the soaps she sent and the hand-soap (it’s really neat stuff that comes out foamy! Wild eh?) with us to the village. She included office goodies and things I have to buy but hate spending cash on! These items will save a bundle and extend my grocery funds. Love it!
  
• We were walking in the village yesterday and an old guy was kind enough to give us a bottle of wine for cooking that he made. It’s quite cloudy but I will find a use for it!
• Ana gave me a canister of diet malt and 2 “diet/health teas” which she just couldn’t stomach. I thought I could drink the diet malt/substitute but it tasted SO BAD that I had to chase it with a handful of peanuts to take the taste out of my mouth!! HAHAHA. She did warn me. The teas taste”ok”. We have this guy in our church (Swiss) who sold this stuff to them (it is a German product). We had Ana and Angel for pizza last week and we had plenty of good laughs over this! That’s a blessing!
• A friend of ours who wrote a book sent it to us! I’ll have to write my review of it when I’m finished.
• Our friends Inigo and Elena, brought us cookies and a sachet from France!
• our neighbor Juan, in San Martin brought us a bucket of figs.
  

I was able to make 5 jars of fig conserve (with nuts).

My menus for this week:

* this week will be interesting as I don’t intend to spend anything! I am out of all fresh vegetables except for lettuce. I also am using the lettuce from the pots I planted here in the village. I have 4 small potatoes in the fridge for the soup. I will market on Monday the 29th. I will spend up to 15 euros…less if I can!

Monday-1st plate: lentil soup & bread, 2nd plate: pork chops with mushroom gravy, rice, salad

Tuesday-1st plate: potato-cheese soup & bread, 2nd plate: tacos with ground beef, Mexican rice, salad

Wednesday-1st plate: lentil soup & bread, 2nd plate: hamburger patties, pasta with tomato sauce, peas

Thursday-1st plate: cream of tomato soup (homemade from last summers tomatoes) & bread, 2nd plate: chicken legs, polenta, canned peas (i just found in the cupboard)

Friday-1st plate: potato-cheese soup & bread, 2nd plate: German sausages, leftover Mexican rice, salad

Saturday- We leave the village today and head back to Madrid. I’ll pack a lunch as usual: grilled cheese sandwiches, is on the menu to hold us over until we get home. We rarely eat out and we just want to get back, unpack and settle in again.

Sunday-We’ll be in Madrid today so after church I will serve the roasted whole (30% off) that was baking while at church. 1st plate: leftover tomato soup, reinvented with some Thai curry spice, 2nd plate: Roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, brussel sprouts (in the freezer).

For breakfasts, John eats leftovers or I make a couple of batches of pancakes that he eats for several days. Last week I made two batches, one regular and one with nuts. These are good with my homemade jams. I have been eating a Special K bar each morning that our Jesseka sent to me. They “hold me over” and are easy since I am not a big breakfast eater.

For suppers, we eat a sandwich, or an egg with toast, or a salad.

How does my garden grow?

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herbgardens planted at private residences in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom during World War I & World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil “morale booster” — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labour and rewarded by the produce grown. Making victory gardens became a part of daily life on the home front.

I’m away from my little garden (MY VICTORY GARDEN) I planted in Madrid, but I did set the water timer to water every 8 hours for 3 mins. I’m enjoying watching them grow. I planted some cilantro seeds that my folks sent to me and the lettuce is in too. I am trying for plant a few lettuce seeds every week so I will not have to buy any more at the market. I figure I need 1 head of lettuce every 4 days.  At the average price of $1.24 USD (.89 euro cents) that comes to (if my figures are correct) $112.14 USD per year  savings! Just on lettuce! While here in the village, I have started some more broccoli plants in some egg cartons as well as a pot of lettuce.

The 9th Week of my “self imposed” grocery challenge!

Jul 24, 2008 by pearsonsprogress    7 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

What an interesting time this is! We continue here in the village and have received some “garden blessings”. One of my greatest challenges in this venture, is not so much the food, but rather the toiletries; toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. On the food front, if I run out of potatoes, I can just prepare rice or pasta… but the paper and cleaning goods, are must have items. Also, I have had to buy things here in the village, that I already have at home in Loeches. Still, I am staying within the 10 euros.

Those who know me best know that I enjoy making soups. For us 1 pot of soup lasts 3 meals. So I usually have 1-3 different kinds in the fridge at any given time.

Some of you have commented both positively and negatively about the “lentil & walnut burgers”. We eat lentils anyway and like them, so this is just another way for us to enjoy them. They are on the menu again this week.

This week I started out with 10.02 because I had 2 cents left over from last week.

1.38- 2 liters of whole milk

2.99- 3 kilos of potatoes

.59- bleach (for laundry)

.32- a can of tomatoes

1.88- 4 chicken breast filet’s ( I got this for 30% off)

.99- 8 hotdog buns

1.01- 3 cucumbers

.86-1 kilo of sugar

—————–

0 balance!

My Menus for this week:

Thursday- Mexican Bean and Rice Soup, Salmon patties (leftover from last week) with a bleu cheese cream sauce, rice, sauted zucchini and onions.

Friday- Cream of Potato Soup, chicken filet’s, breaded zucchini, tabbouleh

Saturday-Salmon Chowder, German sausages with sauerkraut and potatoes

Sunday-Cream of Potato Soup, Stromboli, marinated zucchini salad

Monday- Cream of zucchini soup, Chicken breasts, pasta salad

Tuesday-Salmon Chowder, Lentil & Walnut burgers, buns, alfalfa sprouts

Wednesday-Cream of zucchini, Chili and rice

My Blessings last week:

2 homegrown onions- every year I look forward to these. There is no strong “bite” to them and are really wonderful. I also use the tops for soups and casseroles. They are similar to scallions or green onions.

A HUGE head of lettuce-a neighbor brought us this homegrown treat.

2 packages of popcorn from my sister Sue! Treats in the mail! Always fun!

Vegetable seeds to plant from our daughter Bobbie and waiting for me in Loeches! (she said they were in the mail!) I can hardly wait!

“The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise Him-may your hearts live forever!” Psalm 22:26

My baking for this week is:

Pizza Bread (for sandwiches and with soups)

Cranberry (dried cranberries) Pecan Bread

Since I don’t generally follow bread recipes, I just made my white bread and added more sugar to the sweet bread. I also plan on making some French toast with the cranberry bread and it might be good for sandwiches. I never measure and I only have 2 bread pans here in the village, so I made an extra round loaf of pizza bread and made “muffins” out of the remaining sweet bread. Also, note that I had a bit of pepperoni left over and a chunk of Parmesan cheese to put in the savory bread along with some Italian herbs.