While the news is continuously down and out, the recession is dragging on, this week Buffet said the US is a mess, there ARE some folks out there that are making a GREAT success out of it! Here are a few stories to encourage you!

CNN Money has a great set of folks “Recession: I’m Loving It!” They also ran a great artice on how a stay at home mom (fired from her job) turned her layoff into a 6 figure income! Great article!

Another article on a girl who grew up on a dollar a day in Africa, and how she is helping businesses soar in America!

Do these examples cause you to think about what you can do?

1 to 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast diced into large cubes

               (you can also use beef cubes or turkey, and probably even pork)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small can of tomato sauce 8 oz
5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 can chopped green chilies (I use the whole can!)
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garam masala*
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon turmeric (brain building GREAT stuff!)

1 teaspoon salt

Whisk together all of the ingredients minus chicken in your crockpot. Then mix in diced chicken or whatever meat you decide to use. Turn the crockpot on low until the chicken is cooked throughout.

Serve over whole grain brown rice, Basmati or whatever rice you prefer. Could also be served over veggies, chickpeas or new potatoes.

To make your own garam masala, I substituted 1/4 tsps. of each. Ideally, roast the spices for maximum flavor (I posted how to do that on www.ThePrudentWife.com)  
• coriander (seeds )
• nutmeg
• cardamom
• cumin seeds
• black peppercorns
• caraway seeds (I did not have)
• cloves
• cinnamon

Gone to the Farmers Market and are now wondering what to do with okra besides fry it up country style? Here is a much healthier option, that Emily and I really liked!

Ingredients:

Directions:

We are excited to announce two young ladies conferences coming to Bristol, VA the first week of August, 2009. Taught by Sarah Mally and the Bright Lights staff, these conferences are designed to encourage young ladies to be strong for the Lord in their youth and shine radiantly as bright lights for Him.

Strong in the Lord Conference 

Age: 8-14

Date: August 4-5

Topics:

• How to be Strong for the Lord in Your Youth

• Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends

• How to Turn Your Heart to Your Parents

• How to Be a Bright Light to the World

• Keeping Yourself Pure from Polluting Influences

• Seeking the Lord with All of Your Heart

• Developing a Disciplined Walk with God

Also Included:

Insightful testimonies by godly young ladies, humorous skits, a chalk talk, harp music, singing, small group times with sharing and interaction, hands-on activities, and practical teaching that will challenge and prepare young ladies to remain strong for the Lord through their teen years.

Parents are encouraged to attend the conference in order to hear what their daughters are learning and reinforce it at home. While the girls are meeting in small groups, sessions will be offered for mothers and fathers. For more information about the parents’ sessions, location, and registration details, please download a flyer from our website. For questions, feel free to e-mail the Bright Lights staff at conference@brightlights.info or our hostess, Hannah Stam, at hannahshandiwork@gmail.com. To register online, click here.

$15 per girl / $10 per parent / limit $50 per family. Includes lunch on Wednesday & snacks. Late Registration (after July 27th): $18 per girl /$12 per parent. Schedule: Tuesday evening 6:00 - 9:00 PM; Wednesday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Radiant Purity Conference

Age: 12-22+

Date: August 7-8

Topics:

• Waiting for God’s Best

• Living With A Purpose

• Giving Your Heart to Your Father

• Avoiding the Dangers of the World’s Thinking

• How to Delight in Jesus, our Heavenly Prince

• Using Your Years of Singleness for God

• What the Lord Says About Modesty

• How to Guard Your Heart When You Have a Crush

This conference will encourage young ladies to be committed to emotional purity, to walk by faith, and to wait for God’s best in marriage. Creatively presented through stories and testimonies, practical instruction, skits, and real-life examples, this conference gives Biblical answers to everyday questions and deep life struggles. The material is discreet and appropriate for twelve year olds and yet relevant to all ages. Includes testimonies from young ladies who serve as Bright Lights staff, chalk drawings, and harp music.                                                                                                                      

Fathers & Mothers are encouraged to attend. Parents‘ sessions will include: Every Mother‘s Example, 40 Ways to Protect the Hearts of Your Daughters, and Talking to Young Men who Express Interest in Your Daughters.

For more information and registration details, please download a flyer from our website. For questions, feel free to e-mail the Bright Lights staff at conference@brightlights.info or our hostess, Hannah Stam at hannahshandiwork@gmail.com. To register online, click here.

$10 per girl / $5 per parent. Late Registration (after July 27th): $12 per girl /$8 per parent Schedule: Friday evening 6:00 - 9:00 PM; Saturday from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

About Bright Lights

In 1996, Sarah Mally (now age 30) started a discipleship ministry challenging young ladies to be strong for the Lord in their youth. This ministry which began in her living room has now expanded across the country and internationally. About 300 Bright Lights groups have started and Bright Lights continues to train leaders, host mother and daughter conferences, and provide discipleship materials for young ladies. 

Sarah is also the author of Before You Meet Prince Charming which was published in 2006. She and her brother and sister co-authored the book Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends in 2002.

Bright Lights

PO Box 11451

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52410

319-377-6728

www.brightlights.info

www.mallyjournal.com  

Oh dreadful reality. We realized Saturday, after coming home from a day out chasing history, attending a great Civil War reenactment, that we had TWO yellow jacket wasp nests on our front porch. Walking outside the garage today, there were two new ones, hanging from the roof. They have been building nests on the back porch too.

Ugh. Apparently wasps like this little house out in the country!

Found a great website about removing wasps. I have always just bought the can of spray at Lowe’s or Home Depot and zapped the wasp nest with it. Since they have a projectile spray, it is great if you have a two story home or higher overhangs on your house.

This website also said that spraying with citrus oil will kill them. Liking that solution, and owning Grapefruit Seed Extract, I put some in a bottle and shot away at a nest. One wasp fell, another acted stunned and like it was dying. It finally fell to the porch and I stomped it dead.  Not sure I used enough GSE in the bottle, or how long it takes for them to die.

With one flying around my office currently, I am just ready for them to be GONE! So I am going to just send hubby to Lowe’s to get the normal can of wasp killer….and Miss Organic will just live through a blast of poison for the pesty pesky yellow jackets!

Well, just got back from the Farmers Market in Johnson City. Welcome to a new feature - what I am buying each week at Farmers Market and then I will be including how to use them!

Goal - to encourage you to shop local, get great deals and feed your family the best of what the Lord has put on this earth to eat! This is dedicated to my beloved best friend, Christa, back home, so she can begin to search out inexpensive produce and figure out what to do with it. She is back home in California, we are in Tennessee, so there will be huge differences in what we have available. Yet having visited farmers markets from coast to coast, they all have common items across the US! Join us for the adventure each week and learn some new recipes and exciting ways to use all that fresh, local produce!

We live in the Appalachian Mountains, so our FMs are slowly gearing up. Each week, a few more booths are open. They are not at full capacity yet. The veggies are slowly coming in and we are waiting on rain in the mountains! As always, I diligently search out the unsprayed, locally grown, essentially organic - although **NOT** certified organic produce.

• 5 tomatoes
• 1 large box of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cabbage the size of basketball - seriously!
• 1 bunch of snow peas (about 3-4 cups)
• 1 bunch okra (about 2 1/2-3 cups)
• 4 cucumbers
• 10 fresh peaches from South Carolina
• 2 gigantic RED bell peppers (larger than softballs - equal to 4 at HFS)

All this for LESS than $20!Again, our farmers market is not all the way up to speed yet, and some of these prices are a little higher than they will be July/Aug/Sept! Had I bought this organic at the store - it would have been closer to $45.00 at yesterday’s prices!

Visit often for recipes and ideas, and how to use YOUR Farmers Market to provide the best locally grown, seasonal produce for your family!

How can an economics writer for the New York Times, who wrote on everything from the Europe and Japan’s financial meltdowns in the 1990’s to the dot.com crisis in 2001, and who was cranking our stories on the upcoming mortgage debacle before it happened, fall? Great article on one family’s descent into the credit crunch and how it happened.

You may have to log in to the NY Times to read it (giving your email addy)- but it is well worth it.

Right after getting my driver’s license at 16, I remember PROUDLY going to the grocery store for the FIRST time for my mom. She had given me a list, and I went out and shopped it perfectly.

Except, I bought generic stuff, rather than name brands. This was over 25 years ago, when generics were new and just being introduced into our Alpha Beta (now that will date me!) When I got home, the familiar labels from Del Monte, Tide, and Best Foods Mayo were missing. To put it lightly, my mom had a fit. “THEY TASTE DIFFERENT,” she insisted, appreciating my young attempt to save money, yet wanting her normal selections. In the infancy of generics, we indeed suffered through a few cans of chewy green beans without the strings removed, and a few other things.

From that fateful lesson back in high school, I eschewed buying store brands for years.

Then, we went broke and buying store brands, mark downs, and food about to go out of date became the ONLY things I could buy.

This article explores the wonders of buying generic VS. name brand, and will help you save some money!

At The Prudent Wife, we are always trying to find the best of what is out there. Here is a great article on some “Mommy Bloggers” that are making a difference with chain stores as diverse as Old Navy and K-Mart! ThePrudentWife.com did not make the list yet, but look for us in the future!

More mommy bloggers in this article, including Crystal Paine, a homeschooling grad who is now a homeschooling mom!  Crystal has a great article on being a work at home mom here, that I really enjoyed, with some great tips! Would love to see my girls serving the Lord, their husbands, kids and homes like Crystal is!

All in all, there are some great ideas with these frugal moms! Keep blogging girls!

Pursuing simplicity can be a full time job, if you have an over abundance of STUFF and you live a wired life! Found this article with some interesting things to say on the “Joy of Less.” Can you imagine how powerful it would be from a Christian position?