The 'Ultimate' Career

A wise and beautiful friend shared this quote with me the other day:

"The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. " -C.S. Lewis 

Think about that for a minute.

The "ultimate career" = motherhood (and/or fatherhood, being a parent.)

Our family was watching an LDS General Conference talk on Monday. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was addressing the world as he talked about people having regrets when they passed on from this life into the next. He said that the biggest regrets were:

1. I wish I had spent more time with the people I love.
2. I wish I had lived up to my potential.
3. I wish I had allowed myself to be happier.

He then tells us to:

1. Resolve to spend more time with those we love.
2. Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be.
3. Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances.

How do the quote and the talk relate to each other? Given that I am a mom, and am living the ultimate career, the regrets and resolutions apply directly to me. Often mothers wish away the time, hoping for easier, less demanding days. However, we need to be happy now, with those we love, and trying to be what God wants us to be.

I think the world and Satan want to make moms feel like their job is lesser, or of little or no importance. Mothers are told that if they don't work, then they not as smart, or not worth as much as a man or other working women. 

The family is being eroded by a number of lies, misconceptions, and low morals right now. People are evolving to think that having children outside of marriage is okay, living together unmarried is okay, and all manner of other sins (which if you don't agree with or are tolerant of, than you are viewed as a bigot, or hater, etc). God is in charge. Not the government. Not man. Family, and marriage between a man and a woman, is ordained of God. What is more important than family? Nothing.

Families are meant to provide safety, learning, and love. My job as a mother is more important than any monetary gain or any public accolades I could receive as a career driven woman. What will fame and fortune mean when I am lying in my death bed? What will be important to me when that time comes? I hope that I will not find myself regretting and wishing for the days of spending time with my children, grandchildren, family and friends. I hope that I will not have wasted all of my days stressing over things that do not matter and looking for happier days ahead when I need to seek to be happy now.

Being a mom is living up to my greatest potential. I am a teacher, a nurturer, a doctor of body and spirit, a psychologist, an accountant, a problem-solver, a cook, a guide, a comforter, a disciple of Christ, I am a mother. There is no other job that allows you to learn and become as much as being a mother. Tending children, neighbors, friends, the elderly, the poor and needy, the sick and otherwise afflicted is what we are meant to do. Serve.

In Matthew 25:40 it says,

 "...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

If you have chosen to take care of one another, it is like you are caring for the Savior. Conversely, if you are treating others poorly, you are also doing it to the Savior (which opens a whole discourse on the Atonement, but I will save that for another time. It has to do with the Savior suffering for all of our pains, not just sins).

Another scripture I love that goes along with this is in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2:17:

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Being a mom is not glamorous. Changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, taking care of household chores, helping with homework, mending wounds, and being up in the middle of the night with sick kids is anything but easy. Look at it this way though. Did the Savior, during his time on earth, mingle with the rich and the fancy and require servants as any other king would do? No. You would find him with the sick, the weak, the poor, the children, and those who wanted to be near him. You would find Him serving others, uplifting and teaching others, and seeking His lost sheep. We are doing His work on earth by serving and taking care of others, especially those who cannot care for themselves.

I think that being a mom most importantly teaches us how to be like the Savior--how to love, forgive, care and have compassion--which is ultimately what I am striving for.

© Wendy 2013

Kefir Smoothies

If you haven't heard of kefir before, you can read more about it briefly here. Basically, it's fermentation that results in really great probiotics for optimal gut health. I bought a start and grew them into the grains they are now. They look like little cauliflowers or popcorn and I put them in milk to grow, and then you use the "milk" in your smoothies. I can't find the place that I originally purchased mine from, but apparently, you can get them on amazon.com (there's a great pic of them there too).

The hard part about kefir, is that it really tastes like sour milk. I'm not a fan, and neither is my family. So, I hide it in smoothies--or, as Mary Poppins says, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." I have come up with two different smoothies so far that adequately mask the sour flavor.

Strawberry Kefir Smoothie

Pour about one cup of the kefir into your blender (I use a VitaMix, but whatever you have will do).
Fill blender with frozen strawberries (or less, but my family is large), 3 packets of Super Orange or Tangerine Emergen-C (I love this stuff--it adds some really nice "kick"), and about 6 spoonfuls of sugar (I'm sure there's an easier way to measure this, but I'll let you figure it out). Blend well and serve in cups. :)

*Note: I also use some sort of high omega oil in this...I blend it alone with the kefir for a minute and it actually helps your body utilize it better. There's a book about it, but I don't know what it's called...sorry.

Tropical Kefir Smoothie

Follow the same instructions as for the strawberry smoothie, except use the tropical blend frozen fruit (usually has something like mango, papaya, pineapple and strawberries), and use Tropical Emergen-C (I found mine at Costco in a box with raspberry and super orange). This hides the sour taste even more so than the other, and is almost like drinking a piña colada.

You can also do other recipes that go with your tastes. Kefir is also sold ready-made and sweetened/flavored somewhere in the milk/cream/yogurt section of your grocery store. Smoothie are a great place to hide healthy little morsels from young and picky taste buds. Don't be afraid to experiment a little! You can also do this with yogurt, but kefir has scad loads more probiotic strains.

© Wendy 2013

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas and Black Bean and Corn Salsa

I love, love, love Mexican food. I could eat it for every meal. We made this last night and I just had some leftovers for lunch--enchiladas and black bean and corn salsa. Here's how you make it:

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
2 small cans of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream (or more, if you like)
2 cups of salsa of your choice (I use medium hot)
cooked chicken--cut up or shredded
cheese
corn tortillas
1/2 onion, chopped
anything else you may want to add--garlic, extra peppers, more onion, black beans, etc.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Cook chicken (I used 5 of the frozen tenderloins and sprinkled them with garlic powder). While that is cooking, mix cream of chicken soup, sour cream, salsa and onion in a medium bowl. Grate plenty of cheese. Halve some of the corn tortillas with a knife. When the chicken is cooked, cut it up, or shred it and then add to above mixture. Mix well.

In a 9 x 13 casserole dish, spoon out a small amount of mixture (I affectionately call it "goop"). It should be just enough to cover the bottom. Next, place halved corn tortillas around the inside of the casserole dish, flat side against the ages. They'll overlap; use three on the longer sides and two on the other ends. Then, place 2 whole corn tortillas to cover the center. Again, spoon on some of the "goop" and spread evenly and completely over the tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on top of this layer. Repeat layering the tortillas, goop, and cheese until you reach the top of your pan, ending with the goop covered by cheese.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes, or until it is bubbly and all of the cheese is melted. You can serve it with sour cream and vegetable of your choice. We had it with chips and this salsa:

Black Bean and Corn Salsa
1 can black beans
1 package of grape tomatoes or 4 or 5 tomatoes, diced (Roma tomatoes are about right)
1/4 onion diced (or use green onions)
bell pepper, chopped (I used several bright yellow, orange and red peppers that were rather small)
2 avocado (cut up into small chunks)
garlic (powdered or fresh)
1 cup of corn
a little salt or season salt
lemon or lime juice (fresh or bottled)

Drain the liquid off the beans, and mix all of the ingredients together. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm not big on measuring, so you can tweak this recipe to your liking, adding more or less or different items. Serve with chips.

Quick, easy, healthy.

We ate these two recipes together for the first time last night. So good. Most of the kids ate it too (though one is super picky, and the other was sick, so...you know.

© Wendy 2013

A New Kind of Tuna Sandwich

Our dinner last night? Open-faced grilled tuna sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, grape tomatoes, and a smoothie. 

Here's the thing: not all of my kids like tuna. 

But, when I cook it like this, even my pickiest eater has some. 

Directions:

• Take a drained can of tuna (or 3 like I have to) and mix with Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip or whatever you usually mix tuna with for a normal tuna sandwich. 
• Lay out a slice (or 2) of bread for every person in your family onto a cookie sheet. 
• Spread tuna mixture on each piece of bread. 
• Grate cheddar cheese on to the tuna, and then sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. 
• Bake at 400° F until the cheese is melted
• Turn on the upper broil to crisp edges (not burn). Usually for no more than 5 minutes.

Easy, pretty cheap, and tasty. You can serve it with whatever you want. 

Have you had this before? What do you think?

© Wendy 2013

Random Act of Kindness

Today started out like any other day. We got up this morning, gathered the kids for scriptures and prayer, got them dressed (or told them to do so), fed them, got 4 of the kids off to school. Husband left to exercise and go to work. I left with the 2 youngest to go to the gym and then go to the store.

At the store is when the day stepped out of normal.

I was in the check-out line, and I noticed a gal in front of me. After she was done buying her groceries, she kept awkwardly loitering around and looking back. I wondered if she was waiting for something from the cashier, who appeared to be now working on my groceries.

The gal started toward me holding two credit/debit cards. She asked, "Can I show you a card trick?" At this point, I was on to her, but I complied. She held out her two cards and said "Pick one." I had my 3 year old select a card. He did so, and then she said, "I want you to use this to buy your groceries."

Flabbergasted, I said "No, you don't have to do that. We're okay."

She replied, "No, I want to. Someone did this for me 4 years ago (she began to tear up) and I have been waiting for a moment that I could do this for someone else."

I couldn't take that desire, and opportunity she sought to serve, away from her, so I told her thank you and hugged this woman--a complete stranger. It was slightly awkward to have someone standing there waiting to pay for your groceries. I offered her a piece of gum (how dumb, right?) and we each asked about the others' family. She has 4 young children, close in age to my 4 youngest. Her name is Ashley.

I reflected on this on the way home. I was a wee bit emotional myself (I don't usually get too emotional). Interesting how one simple act of kindness can change people, make a difference, and conjure more acts of kindness. It's like a domino effect--one thing set in motion is passed continuously down through more and more events set into motion.

Often, these acts are referred to as "random." Random acts of kindness.

But what if kindness was less random, more like just kindness? Just being kind to others. Kind to your family. Kind to strangers. Kind to neighbors. All the time. Really become man"kind," or human"kind." Maybe those names for people are a coincidence. Maybe they're not.

Go do some "Acts of kindness," or they can be random if you want. But, I think the more focused we are on just being kind, the less random it will be and the more kindness will become a way of life.

© Wendy 2013

Meatloaf Recipe

I had some recipe requests, and since I am so accommodating, here's one. I must warn you, however, I use recipes as a guide, so my amounts are really vague. I just kinda add whatever looks/feels good. That being said, here's my "recipe" for meatloaf that I made for my brood last night (which I myself don't even stick to exactly).

Approximately 1 pound of ground beef (I like really lean beef the best)

2 eggs

1 small onion, chopped

A few cloves of garlic (powdered and/or whole)

Season salt or some sort of meat seasoning

Ketchup

Worcestershire Sauce

Crushed crackers, or oatmeal (dry), or dried bread crumbs, etc.

Place ground beef, eggs, chopped onion, minced garlic (and or powdered garlic), season salt--sprinkled generously, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce--poured generously, and maybe about 1/2 to 1 cup of crackers or oatmeal in a medium or large bowl. Mix. Place in casserole dish. You can put ketchup on the top as well or tomato sauce. Bake.

I baked it at 400° F for about 45 minutes (I'm guessing--I just waited for it to brown and then cut it open to make sure it was cooked through). Tastes great with ketchup on top--which is a hit if you have kids because frequently if you can put ketchup on it, it's a winning situation (at least with my kids). 

I know, I should have taken a picture, but I did not have that much forethought. Sorry. Perhaps next time.

We served it with mashed potatoes and peas and some juice spiked with Sierra Mist. Most of my kids ate it and liked it and wanted some more. Also, you can cut up carrots, potatoes, celery and add a can of stewed tomatoes and put it around your meatloaf in the oven to achieve some meat-flavored vegetables (though, I have a hard time getting the veggies cooked to a softness that I like).

Another bonus--it makes tasty leftovers! 

© Wendy 2013

Teaching Your Kids

It's been a long couple of weeks with all 6 of my kids home for break and my husband working long hours. As any mom can imagine, my sanity is waning.

They (4 out of 6 anyway) went back to school today, so things were a little bit calmer until my kindergartner came home--she's a boisterous one! After the rest got home, it's a mad dash to try to get all of the reading, homework, and chores all done. Not to mention dinner, pajamas on, teeth brushed and then in bed.

After the aforementioned activities were just about done, I came up the stairs to discover that a budding artist had been practicing on the walls in my front room--our piano room and ever-'clean' place for guests to come where kids are not to play. It was on three walls and in the window sill. I did what any mom should do: get the offending child, confront them, and then make him help clean the wall--even at bed time.

Luckily, it was blue washable marker, so we got it cleaned up without too much effort--and no repainting!

Which brings me to this point--kids need consequences, they need rules, they need to know right from wrong--whether it's coloring on the walls, or something far more serious down the road. In this case, he's only 3 years old, he colored on the wall. We cleaned it pretty easily. He was taught not to do it again, which will hopefully be the case.

Have you heard the term "helicopter parent?" If not, it's a parent who essentially swoops down to "save" their child--regardless of age--from unpleasant circumstances. Say, for instance, a child gets a bad grade at school. A helicopter parent will contact the teacher and try to get it changed, rather than teaching the child to do better next time, seek extra credit work, or to study more. This negative pattern can have tragic consequences later in life if the child does not learn how to cope with age appropriate problems.

Don't rescue your children from natural consequences--but do be there to guide and encourage. Set rules, have consequences (both good and bad), and teach your children. They will learn from your example. And, of course, most importantly, LOVE your kids, as well as any kids you come in contact with. You can never love too much.

© Wendy 2013