Beef & Veggie Stew

January 17, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

So our Arkansas winter went from 60'+ to snowing overnight. I'm constantly amazed my family isn't sick more often! When the weather turned frigged and there was not stank'n way I was heading out in it for groceries I was forced to hunt in the pantry, fridge, and deep freeze for what kind of heartiness I was going to feed my family. I know, 1st world problems, right!?

All of a sudden I had a hankering for some stew! I'd never made stew before and always thought you had to have fancy {expensive} stew meet to make it...then I realized that was crazy talk. That had never stopped me before. I then Googled {like every pro does} in search of a beef stew recipe I could tweek. I looked at several and realized I had the building blocks for a good stew already. SCORE! Here's what I came up with.

Beef and Vegetable Stew

I love recipes 😉

I started by browning my lean ground beef in my pampered chef steamer {best way EVER to brown meat!}.
I peeled, diced, and boiled my potatoes for about 30 minutes. I just waited until they were soft(er) not necessarily mashable.
In a big pot I mixed the browned meat, tomato sauce, {already dissolved bouillon cute} beef broth, onion powder, pepper, and salt all together.
I went in search of what other veggies I had and came up with a steamable bag of corn and a can of mixed peas and carrots. Yep, chunked all those veggies into the pot.
After bringing it to a bowl and stirring consistently, I removed it from the heat and ate it up! 😉

I'm thinking you could easily make this in a crockpot recipe. Put it all in to sit all day and simmer even more. That way you wouldn't have to hover over your potatoes either.

Yay for yet another made up recipe. If I can do it and have my family eat it, You can!

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking, Homemaker, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

Chalkboard Play Table {Thoughtful Thursday}

January 10, 2013 by Jules 4 Comments

Today I wanna tell you how I "got took" and then turned my crappy table into a cool lil piece of furniture anyways.

Ya see, I've only purchased 2 things off of 'swap shops' on Facebook. The first was a cute sweater from a friend I knew from church. The second...well the second purchase was a little less cute. Ya see, this women posted a picture of what she called a "black coffee table". As I read through the thread of conversation happening under the odd angled picture I learned that the table was "tall enough for a preschool chair to fit under" and that "the table legs where 2+ feet tall and the top of the table was at her knee".

Sweeeeet! I'd been looking to replace our pre-children coffee table purchase with one that was less sharp-angle and more simple and round. I compared her description to our per-existing table and decided this was a Score. this was a simple, round, tall enough to be a practical coffee table, table! I messaged the women to see if it was still available and when it was we arranged to meet so I could purchase the table for a steal of deal- $20!

The day came to meet and we all loaded to head out to meet the stranger. As we waited and waited passed the set time, our daughters ended up needing to use the restroom. Matt chose to take them and allow me to have the awkward incounter with the women I had been dialoging with. She came like 2 seconds after they were out of sight. Having my baby boy in the backseat of the van, our conversation would of course be short and to the point. She rolled up in a Chevy Cavalier. 2 Door! You know where I'm going with this don't you. As she waffled her way out of the tiny car she began apologizing for being last, quickly retrieved the itsy bitsy table from Her TRUNK and placed it in my already open van, said a wierd, "Thank you, God used you to provide money during a hard time" spill after seeing scripture on my t-shirt and sped off in her lil bitty car.

What just happened? I stared at my new treasure with confusion. There is NO stank'n way a preschool chair could fit under that. That women was way taller than me and the top of that table doesn't come to my knee. The black paint was crazy scratched up and I'm pretty sure some good 'ole boy hacked these legs off something else and hooked'm to this "table top" using the wierd metal bracket thingies on the bottom. I think I would have been okay...if I'd paid like $5 for it. The worst part? Matt was gonna tease me about this for years...

As Christmas approached and we began pulling decorations and stuff from the basement, that table sat their laughing at me. Suddenly, I saw the leftover chalkboard paint we'd been given by a friend setting next to Sir Ugly and it hit me! Chalkboard table!!! It won't be tall enough for the kids to sit at but it will make a cute artsy play table. I did it!

Chalkboard Table

find a crappy {hopefully cheaper} table at a yard sale, swap shop, or somewhere random
get some chalkboard paint
clean the table well, sanding if necessary {I didn't...I put in as little man hours as possible}
paint at least 3 coats letting each coat dry really well before adding the next one
purchase some dust free chalk to appease the hubs who didn't want nasty chalk funk inside

We gave the table as a gift to all our kids on Christmas morning. It made a big statement next to the tree and has seen lots of scribbles, little people play, and even hand-drawn game boards in just a week!

Have you ever been "taken"? How can you turn your embarrassing moment around? Share!

EXTRA RESOURCE:
homemade chalkboard paint {ANY color}, all the tutorials I've found have these same 2 basic ingredients:

Dry Non-Sanded Grout
Acrylic craft paints

Filed Under: Decorating, Gifts Ideas, Homemaker, Homeschool, Parenting, Projects, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

My Comfy Peace that, “God’s GOT This!”

January 7, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

God's been opening doors all over the place since we committed to this God-size dream He gave us.

I mean, we shouldn't be surprised right? If he ask us to do something He's not gonna sit back and laugh at us while we fumble around making fools of ourselves while trying to accomplish it. Heck no. God's already got a crazy detailed manuscript He's directing and we are just blessed to be asked to have an extra part in a tiny scene of this movie we call eternity.

Way back in November 2011, when my husband shared with me that he was sure God was calling him to be a pastor {and if you know me and my hubs, this would be a shock to all of you as well}. Not only was he supposed to be a 'grown-up pastor' now but he was being asked to PLANT a Church.

WHAT?!?! Aren't there enough churches? Everyone is leaving the ones that exist. How are we supposed to do any better than what's already out there? We know NOTHING about running a church.

These were the questions that I later learned were flying through my husband's head when he began sorting this God-sized dream out. He joked about some of these things but it never seemed to be a dampener on what God was gonna let us do. I'm slightly childish in this way. When God ask me to do something, I'm sure its Him, I just do it. Some may call that extreme faith but I think its just how He made me...kinda like being short ;o)

If I give myself lots of time to think about something, that's when the questions come. Not the, "don't you know I can't do this God"s but the "well, what can I do to move this along" questions. This life of limbo is either one of two things; God teaching us {lots of} something(s) OR satan trying to mess with my head and get me to jack things up by trying to do it on my own during the waiting. Daily I remind my self of the spiritual battle going on and wiggle down into my comfy peace that, "God's got this!" Some days that works and other day I'm a panicky mess, don't ask my hubs, he'll give ya the horror stories. hehe

Any how, about all these doors God is opening since saying Yes to this adventure:

a woman, we had never met before, who is committed {and I mean Committed!} to give us 1/3 of her already meager income
a partner church who is interested in helping plant autonomous churches
100 folding chairs
friends who have a heart for church plants
friends who have a heart for the community we are going to minister
random jobs {never saw ourselves working} to offset our income
a radio interview {that came out of the blue} where I was able to share part of our story, as well as educate listeners on church planting and the de-churched
can lights, a projector and a screen Fo Free!
a couple churches who have committed to praying for us and/or financially supporting us
and tons of other things I've forgotten to mention

SEE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM!

Things we are faithing God has in the works:

a space for The Valley to meet in weekly {praying for "The General", an old Dollar General in a store front}
people who will commit to being part of the leadership: ie. Financial Advisor, Worship Team, Administrator
{UPDATE: we've had vocalist, drummer, and other musicans come talk with us recently!}
A passionate move of God like no other ever seen in Vilonia, AR where those who know Jesus catch fire and Salvation spreads across that community so ramped that no one can deny GOD is at work!

I haven't talked a whole lot about the logistics of what we're doing on here...mainly 'cause I don't know if you'll care Or what you really wanna know, already know, or could care less to know. Blow up the comment section or message me. I'd love to share more. If there is a lot of interest I'll even do an entire Q & A post for ya.

Speaking of which; Matt and I will be doing a question and answer session a One Church {Conway} on the evening of January 27th. If your interested in more info about this then ask away!

I've also provided a link to the interview I mentioned above if you'd like to hear it. It's an hour long program but you can skip ~15 minutes in to where my interview starts and of course fast-forward through the commercial breaks. My part of the interview is really only about 20 minutes.

Download HERE to Listen

UPDATE:

I wrote this last week and when it went live this morning my husband was in the process of picking up an old screen someone had donated only to find out that they were searching for more equipment items to bless us with. Thank you so much Mark Cox & Indian Springs BC for being Jesus through extravagant generosity! And the Fagan family for letting us borrow your ginormous covered trailer to hall it all in. AND to Pappa Dean for helping us pick it up {and for storing it until we get a space of our own!

God is so randomly Good. Just when we think we understand Him... waBam!

And, if any of your readers out there in cyberspace happen to be in the Conway/Vilonia area:

Filed Under: Being a Help-Meet, The DeChurched, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about The Valley Church

Happy 2012th Birthday Jesus!

December 25, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

This is our lil fam at the One Church {Conway} Christmas Eve service.

Papaw "Ms Magdalene, what was ur favorite thing about Christmas?" Mags "That me & Iz got our special winter wish! It SNOWED!" #heartofachild

— Julie Rothacher (@JulesRothacher) December 26, 2012

My girls had been telling me they reeeeeally wanted it to snow on Christmas. {Every Christmas movie talks about a white Christmas...} Since we live in central AR it's rare for it to snow here soooo, Matt and I made it "snow" on Christmas morning. {aka chunking plastic & foam snowflakes all over the house} They thought it was great. But we All know, God's MUCH better at this stuff...

YEP! It snowed Christmas night! White flakes, power outage, and sledding, oh my.

Happy Birthday, Jesus Party complete with chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate milk, balloons, singing, and candles!!!
Oh, and of course we gave gifts to Jesus {via World Vision}.

Then we got to give gifts to one another.

We let the kids "shop for parents" this year. Each kid got to experience choosing a thoughtful {inexpensive gift}, keeping a surprise, and then the joy of watching them open it.

We also ask them for ideas for gifts for one another. That was fun to give the kids a gift from their siblings.
We gave the kids credit for the "Hottest Gift of the Season" ;o)

Look out Allume! My hubby surprised me by sending me in Oct 2013!!! Already have my ticket!

I know I "back-posted" but I was enjoying my cool little family Christmas day {and several after} with no posting. So have a happy New Year's Ever. We'll be watching my hubby Christmas gift: Smallville Season 9 marathon. Anybody wanna join us?

What are your plans New Year's Ever?

Filed Under: Advent 2012, Holidays, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Truth in the Tinsel Days 1-3

December 5, 2012 by Jules 1 Comment

affiliate links included

Monday {Dec 3rd} we finally started our
Advent book, Truth in the Tinsel.

I printed all the days titles on green & red cardstock and stuck them in an advent calendar we already had. This may prove to be worthless. The kids aren't really into the count down like I thought they would but are LOVING the stories and crafts!

Monday Day 1:: Light {Isaiah 9:2-7}

Rather than skipping to day 3 we just started on day 1 an plan to double up tomorrow {since we had a house showing again today!!!}. Maggie acted perturbed that I was asking her questions she already knew the answer to, "Who is the light of the world". Ugg I have to remind myself she'll have to persevere because the other 2 don't memorize things like she does and haven't' heard it as much as she has. She is a whole 18.5 months older than Izzie and 30.5 months older than J {hehe} I run into this with lots of things. homeschooling is gonna be rough if I don't get the hang of this...

Tuesday day 2:: Kingdom {Isaiah 9:2-7}

Since we were finishing up some HIPPY preK work with Mags this was quite a feet tying to help the little bitties with their craft. We skipped the pain and went for a more classroom-full-friendly-version, markers, crayons, & stickers. We actually cute the silver sparkly trim off some other stickers into triangles {aka diamonds} for our crowns. They didn't know the difference.

AND day 3:: Zachariah {Luke 1:5-25}

They though it was funny we were making faces and that pour Zach wasn't allowed to talk. We can't get our glitter glue to function correctly so I had to take off the lid and just glob it on for them. We also {finally} through out the bubble wrap from a random package forever ago so we had to invent something else for Z's mouth- hot glue glob! Hey, I just claimed it was because not being able to talk was kinda like God "glued" his mouth shut. My 2 {almost 3} year old was able to recall most of the story to me. #winning We're having fun!