Prepping for my week: {freezer meals}

I've been trying to prep and freeze meals for a week or two ahead of time in an attempt to streamline my cooking in the evenings. Actually, in an attempt to streamline my life. Our evenings suck and go by super fast. I hate filling them with cooking and cleaning it up- it's exhausting.

So, a few weeks ago I tried out freezer cooking for pretty much a whole weekend, to see how it helped me out. And...It. Was. Awesome.

I mean, I pretty much ate up my whole weekend shopping and prepping and cooking, but it was an investment of about two weeks worth of meals so I was happy. I forgot to take pictures that weekend, but I am planning to do it regularly now (maybe not so much at once, actually) and I will document as I go. Below are the links and my thoughts about the recipes that I used...plus a pic or two of a new recipe that I tried and threw in the freezer this afternoon for Thanksgiving week in all of it's busyness.

1. Beef with Broccoli

2. Orange Teriyaki Chicken

3. Chicken Parmesan

4. Lasagna Casserole

5. Pecan Stuffed Chicken Breasts

6. Mashed Potatoes

7. Guacamole (with this tutorial as a guide on how to freeze avocadoes)

8. Egg Rolls

9. Candied Carrots

10. White and Brown Rice

11. Chicken Fajitas

12. Red Beef Chili

13. White Chicken Chili

14. Garlic Bread

(The ones without links are recipes from my head!)

This list lasted me about two weeks, and cost about $95 for all of the ingredients and disposable pans.

This next one is a recipe that I made for the freezer this week. I had gotten all of the items I needed for it on sale and with coupons, so the whole thing probably cost under $5! I didn't follow the recipe to a "T," but used it more as a guide for putting together the ingredients that I had on hand.

Baked Cheesy Pasta with Ham and Broccoli


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I'm linking up at:
Just Us 4, Craft-O-Maniac


Meeting the Proverbs 31 Woman: {and her bad reputation}

So, this blog is called The Modern Girl's Guide to Proverbs 31. Here's a little bit about why I chose the name.

I was raised with a certain standard for women. Actually, more like a box. A box that women could never step outside of. I remember doing a career choice research paper for English in my Christian school- you picked a certain career path and wrote about how to get there, what the work would be like, etc. I chose to write about becoming a journalist. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but writing appealed to me. I clearly remember being stared at incredulously when I handed in my topic. My teacher/principal/pastor of the church said to me, "A journalist? Well, just until you become a wife and a mother, right?" You see, there were only a few viable life choices for women: wife (preferably a pastor's wife), mother, or (if God were to go buck wild and call you to be in the workplace, or by some unfortunate accident He never sent you The One), a Christian schoolteacher or church secretary. This message was reinforced when I went to Bible college, where the only majors for women were Religious Education and Secretarial Science. (And possibly music of some sort? But not leading worship, of course...)

In all of these pursuits, there was one goal: Biblical Womanhood. Of which, the dear Proverbs 31 Woman was the gold standard. This lovely woman cooked everything from scratch so that hubs had a hot meal when he came in from working hard as a pastor all day. She raised and homeschooled six children, and she served by teaching Sunday School in their local synagogue. She hosted ladies' Bible study every Wednesday morning at her house. She dressed modestly and sang in the choir......right?

Except she didn't.

She, um......worked. Like a lot.

The day I read her story for myself and really realized that she was not what I had been told, I felt as though she and I had a little secret. From then on, when this ideal for women was presented in such a pious way through Proverbs, I chuckled to myself. Little did they know- this woman was investing in property! She had hired help with those kids! She and I had an inside joke. We were outside of the box.
I don't bring this up to bash churches, or stay at home moms, or homeschooling. (To be fair, the church I grew up in didn't even believe in homeschooling, a rarity among hyper-conservative churches. They believed in everyone's children attending their school for reasons I won't bother getting into today.) So if you are someone who stays at home or believes in homeschooling, I have no intention of offending. I'm not even saying it's outside of the realm of possibility for my life. I can think of a variety of circumstances that could lead me in that direction.

BUT....

When you are presented with those things as the absolute only option for your life...that's not ok! When you are taught to believe that this is all that GOD has laid out for women, in general, in His Word and that any deviation from that would lead you outside of His will...that's destructive. (And that's the nicest way I can put it. It's more than destructive, actually. It's abusive.)

So, back to our Proverbs 31 lady....she gets a bad rap. I mean, she is actually very cool. It's not fair that she is held up to women and used to create a standard of "Biblical womanhood." She didn't ask for that. A lot of women just hear the words "Proverbs 31 woman," and want to run for cover, because they know where that conversation is headed. Straight down the path of "here is what you should be." So, the name of my blog is probably off-putting to many, because they assume they know what it will be about. That's how I would feel.

I'd like to try to change her reputation a little bit. I'd like to write about her in a way that makes you realize we might actually like her. She is even a pretty decent role model, if you're looking for one.

Oh, and one more thing? She not real. Yep, that's right. Don't forget that Proverbs 31 was a hypothetical woman written by another woman....a mother, to be more accurate. A mother who was giving her son a breakdown of what makes an ideal wife. So while I am not downplaying the importance of this being included in Scripture.....do you know a lot of women who live up to a laundry list of ideals laid out by their mother in law? Chew on that for a little while. I like what the woman has to say, but.....I'm just sayin'. :) It's worth considering.

I'm going to talk a lot more about her, along with a lot of other great ladies in the Bible. I'm not going to focus on just the ones that are typically used to create a box for women in churches (the Proverbs 31 woman, Mary the Mother of Christ, or 1 Peter 3 where we call our husbands "lord"). I'm not going to focus on the ones that are typically used to break us out of that mold, either (Deborah, Miriam, Anna the prophetess). Instead, I like the approach of looking at the Bible as a whole, and appreciating that there are all kinds of women. We have unfortunately turned being Christian and female into this monumental thing of achieving the highest standard. What if there are no "sides" and we're totally missing the point? So I don't want to pick and choose the women that back up my arguments for how I think women should be. There are so many varieties of women in my own life, I could never just pick one, and say, "There- her. That is what God wants women to be." And I don't know any woman who would welcome that kind of pressure! So why do we do that with the women whose stories are laid out in Scripture? As far as I can tell, there was only one Gold Standard in the Bible, and He tended to blow the culture's expectations wide open. So....I think I want to be a woman just like Him. Not some other woman that was just doing her best and would be mortified that her life has been used for millennia to beat up other women.

It's going to get controversial, because it always does when you talk about gender. That's not limited to Christianity by any means. But I'm good with that. I can't wait to dive in to our gold standard women and talk about how awesome they are....just not awesome enough to worship.

What are your initial thoughts? Do we worship certain women in the Bible? Do some of them make us nervous because they are a little out-of-pocket?

In the land of women...

You know how some girls don't get along with other women? They claim that they don't like the drama, or that they just relate better to men, or that they've just never had a lot of female friends?

Yeah...I'm not one of those girls.

Instead I find that I draw strength from female relationships. I love them! I wish I had more and more time for them. It's not that I find women drama free or that I can always relate. I wouldn't say I have always had a ton of gal pals or anything like that. I'm not always surrounded by friends, and I wasn't incredibly popular as a teen. A few might even be surprised to hear how much I value my relationships with other women! In fact, so often I find myself thinking it's more trouble than it's worth to try to get to know other ladies, especially on a more intimate level. A level that goes deeper, goes beyond the superficial chit chat.

But, I am reminded often of the strength found in a community of women. I have been blessed to always have had a best friend, through every stage of life. I have been surrounded by women my entire life, and my family is very matriarchal. There is something special about the wisdom of womanhood and I am honored to be female. While I fight hard for equality of gender, I also find value in the differences between men and women. I celebrate what makes us women.

This week has reinforced my thankfulness for the community of women that I find myself a part of. From friends, co-workers, bosses, sisters, mothers, aunts, mentors and community leaders...they have made me who I am and will shape who I am becoming.

This weekend, I was blessed to be able to spend time with two young ladies that I have worked with in the past, and continue to have the opportunity to be involved with as they become women and mothers. I am grateful to be able to help bear their burdens and share their joys.

I was also able to be a part of a training introducing me to how Strip Church works, and got to meet a new group of ladies that I will get the opportunity to pray and minister with as we reach out to other women.

When I am tired and stressed....when I feel like I can't relate to the females in my life.....when I feel out of place...when I feel like I am not the "right" kind of woman....He sends women into my life that inspire and uplift me. Whether it is my boss modeling the kind of businesswoman I strive to be, or a new friend teaching a training on getting into a strip club to share the love of Christ, or my best friend sharing her recent birth story and telling me there is nothing to be afraid of when it is my turn, they all make up a beautiful network of encouragement.

I am thankful for the frustrating, comforting, empowering relationships of women. I value the strength I draw from them, and look forward to teaching my someday daughters to do the same.

It's something that I want to get better at--cultivating relationships with other women, that is. As I get older it's harder to do. It's harder to make time, to reach across different life stages, to really invest yourself in people outside of your family. But to me, it's necessary. These are the relationships that guide us. I think of how in other people groups, other cultures, other times, the women all cooked together and worked together. They delivered the babies and they raised children together. As thankful as I am to be in a culture of freedom and independence and choice, I know I don't want to lose that special bond that women can share. This is what I think about when I hear the verse about the older women teaching the younger ones. Let's not interpret that as older women keeping younger ladies in the church "in line," or criticizing them, but instead of building relationships. Of passing on a torch of sacred female wisdom.

So, if you are older, reach out to the younger women. This is meant for you, regardless of your age. Like I said, I spent my weekend bonding with younger ladies.....and I'm definitely not ready to think of myself as one of the "older women" in the church! But I do have something to share with girls who are in a stage of life that I was in only a few years ago. And if you are young, seek out those older women! It's so awesome to be able to find a mentor that you can lean on, and someone who can tell you the truth about yourself. It sharpens and matures you. These are invaluable relationships to have.

If you are someone who does not usually gravitate toward genuine relationships with other women, consider giving it more of a chance. You don't have to shy away from female friendships even if you don't think you can relate to a lot of women. I get that. Maybe you don't have kids, or don't even want them. Maybe you are very career minded but most of the ladies you know are stay at home moms. That can be tough....but seek out a friendship that you could be compatible with. You don't have to do a bunch of activities that are traditionally defined as feminine. I sometimes cringe when the ladies' groups at churches constantly include crafts. Not everyone likes that stuff, and may feel way out of place if that's all that's offered for ladies to bond over! (But that's a post for another day...) If that's not you, don't worry about it. Find a friendship that fits for you. The point is to draw and give strength and support, not to feel judged or misfit.

What about you? Do you typically revel in relationships with other women, or do you shy away?