by kathilipp | Apr 3, 2012 | The Husband Project |
When you and your husband were dating what did he do when you guys were not together? What did he want you to do with him? And how long has it been since you have done that activity with your husband? This week initiate an activity that your husband used to love. Whether it’s his favorite hobby, sport, or pastime, it’s time for you to get involved – be his buddy today. It is a great time to get outside, days are longer and the weather is warmer. Do you need to reserves a court, schedule a tee time or offer to go to the gym with him?
Most guys don’t spend a lot of time hanging out with their buddies—you are his buddy. He married you to have a built-in friend who he can do all those fun things. (The fact that the two of you can have sex is definitely a bonus…)
It’s vital for men to build friendship into each other’s lives, and as wives, we have a responsibility to encourage our guys to hang out with other good guys. However, in most marriages, our husbands will be looking to us to do life with.
My husband loves to go to the woods, build a fire and have a cookout. I’m more of a white tablecloth kind of girl. But, you know while we were dating I was the happiest “camper” around. I prepared the food for our open flame. I bought cute hiking boots. I joined him on seemingly endless hikes surrounded by mosquitoes and poison oak. While we were dating, I would have hunted wild moose just to be with him.
Once we were married, many of my husband’s favorite activities were put on the back burner… I would love to be able to say that I encouraged him to have his “guy time,” but there was a house to clean, kids to raise, and jobs to get to. Watching all six Star Wars movies and trekking into the mountains would have to wait until our kids were grown (and possibly into early retirement…).
It’s time to think about those things your husband loves to do with you—his buddy. Maybe it’s hiking up a mountain, hanging out at Best Buy, or watching his alma mater’s football team play at the local high school. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not—your fun will come from watching the look on your husband’s face as he reclaims some of his long forgotten loves. (Video gaming anyone?)
by kathilipp | Apr 2, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row.
You know what you want to grow so now is the how are you going to grow it?
There are gardening essentials everyone needs regardless of the plants they choose.
Tools like a shovel, gloves, knee board and or short bench if you will be working at ground level.
You will also need containers to start your seeds in and even larger ones if you choose to do a container garden.
Seeds of choice and some good plant food and soil, dirt and poop
I love what Jennifer Beauchamp of Tucson, Arizona does to celebrate the season. One of her friends will open up her house and throw a “Dirt Party”.
You see, Jennifer is from farm folk and has never met a bag of steer manure she didn’t like. But now that she lives is the very dry city that is Tucson, several of her friends (and their friends) are desperate for her country knowledge on how to keep their plants from dying.
Every guest brings a plant that needs to be re-potted. The men do the hauling (manure, potting soil, dirt,) and the women get their hands dirty re-potting the plants in Jennifer’s special mix:
1/3 local soil
1/3 potting soil
1/3 steer manure
Everyone swears by Jennifer’s not so secret formula, and all the plant owners go home with healthier plants.
If you know the person with the green thumb, you may want to throw your own “Dirt Party” and get your hands dirty in spring for salsa in the summer.
Start small and create a Kitchen Garden
I started to attempt to garden when I was homeschooling my kids back in the elementary grades. The house we owned had a small, plot of dirt in the corner of the yard, just large enough for a few small plants to get started.
We planted a few, small veggies. I have to say our first year was wildly unsuccessful. (Who knew that things like watering would be so essential?)
Fast forward several years. Roger and I decided to plant our own salsa garden in containers on our back patio, (we live in a townhouse, so my visions of sowing seed for crops and my own hen house have to be put on hold for a while.)
We kept it simple the first year – just a few tomato plants, a couple of peppers, cilantro, etc. But as our garden grew, so did our farmer-like confidence.
This year, we planted more than a dozen tomato plants of every variety and size you could imagine. Our herb garden is off the hook, and Roger has peppers a plenty to make all the mouth-burning recipes he can handle.
Here is what we have planted:
- a variety of Tomato Plants
- basil
- cilantro
- parsley
- a variety of hot and mild peppers
- green onions
- green garlic
- zucchini
- squash
We have learned a few things in the couple of years we have been playing around with amateur gardening:
- It is not necessary to purchase every tomato plant at Home Depot. Starting off with a half dozen plants is a great place to begin.
- Pick some early bloomers and some late bloomers. Otherwise, everything comes in at once and you go from famine to feast in a matter of days. (And, if you happen to be on vacation when all the tomatoes come in, it may be an indication to the worms of your neighborhood that you don’t want your tomatoes and that you were kind enough to plant a smorgasbord just for them.)
- Install a drip system. I am a stingy water-er. I always feel like I have better things to do (probably something involving a rerun of The Office) than stand in the back yard with a hose.
But, as soon as Roger installed our drip watering system, I was AMAZED at what a difference watering makes. (Yeah, I know. Duh.) For less than $60, our entire backyard bumper crop is downright lush because of the daily hit of water. If you are person who embraces routine and loves the meditative state of watering – great. Otherwise, get a drip-system and get it on a timer. When you are sitting down to enjoy the season’s first bruschetta with your home-grown tomatoes, you’ll thank me.
by kathilipp | Apr 1, 2012 | The "What's for dinner?" Project |
It’s Monday morning. Staying in bed would be great, why is the weekend so short? For most of us Mondays are busy. But now that the days are longer it seems as if dinner time creeps up quickly and how many nights have you been scrambling to get dinner on the table before 8 pm? Well I have a solution for you. Get out the Crock Pot! If you don’t have one think about getting one, it will make getting dinner to the table easy and quick. You won’t have to spend much time in the kitchen and your house will smell delish.
For starters are are some Slow Cooker Tips
- Let the meal equal the pot – The only time I have had poor results with a slow cooker is when I haven’t put enough food into the pot. When the pot is too big, food can tend to scorch and dry out. I actually have two slow cookers now – one for meals just for me and Roger (a 2-quart), and one for when I know all the kids will be home or I am making a meal with leftovers to be used in the following night’s dinner (a 6-quart).
- You can overcook – Everyone says, “Just throw it in the pot and forget it!” Well, that’s true – to a point. You do what to make sure that to pay attentions to timing on your meal so that it doesn’t dry out.
- If you are always going to be arriving home after a meal should be done cooking, you may want to consider getting a slow cooker with a probe thermometer. Our big pot has one of these handy little gadgets and can be programmed to stop cooking when the meat reaches a pre-determined temperature.
- Use a non-stick cooking spray on the inside of your pot to make clean-up easier.
- Meats don’t brown in the slow cooker, so if you do want your meats browned, do it before you put it on the pot.
What you should serve your troops!
Citrus-Glazed Pork Roast
I love pork roast in the slow cooker for several reasons – it doesn’t get dried out, you can cut it to size in order to have just enough to feed your troops.
Ingredients:
1 (3lb.) boneless pork loin roast
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. pepper
1 T vegetable oil
1 c. chicken broth
2 T sugar
2 T lemon juice
2 T soy sauce
1 ½ tsp. orange zest
3 T. cornstarch
½ c. orange juice
Directions:
Cut roast in half.
In a small bowl, combine the garlic, thyme, ginger and pepper; rub over roast.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and brown the roast on all sides.
Place roast in a 5-qt. slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine the broth, sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce and orange zest; pour over roast.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
Remove roast and keep warm.
In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch and orange juice until smooth; stir in cooking juices. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Serve with the roast.
Now you just need a side or two. Steamed veggies, mash or roasted potatoes, fruit salad and dinner is served!
by kathilipp | Mar 27, 2012 | The Husband Project |
What do others hear you say about your man? Is it positive, negative, embarrassing? Today start a pattern of saying something nice about your husband to someone else. Make sure you tell him what you said, and to whom. Only you have the bragging rights to your man, no one else knows him better!
As cliché as it may sound, our husbands want to be our heroes. More than they want to know that we love them, they want to know that we respect them. They need to know that they’re never the butt of our jokes, that they’re the go-to-guy in every story we tell.
Make an opportunity today to brag on your husband to someone else. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of your friends or one of his; let that somebody know how blessed you are to be married to your guy.
Some key phrases you may want to put on index cards to help you remember:
- “I feel so lucky to have a man who knows how to do his own laundry.”
- “You know when I knew that my husband really loved me? When he could remember my order at Starbucks.”
- “I just love the way he is with our kids.”
- “He makes the best lasagna on the planet.”
Steering the Ship
A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it (James 3: 3-4 The Message).
As wives, we are often the ship’s captain, while our husbands are that huge ship. Words spoken in encouragement and love can go a long way to building our men up. But the opposite is true as well. There is nothing that can determine the direction of our husband’s day quicker than the words that are spoken to him in the morning
Sometimes as wives, we forget the role we play in our husband’s lives. We all remember that great line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, spoken by Toula’s mom, “The man may be the head of the household, but the woman is the neck. She tells him which way to turn.”
The words we use will either bring him up or tear him down. They will make him rush to get home to us or procrastinate at work, be willing to help cheerfully around the house or look for reason to leave and be with his buddies.
While your greatest need may be for your husband to tell you that he loves you, most guys are programmed differently. He wants, at his very core, to know that you respect him. He wants to know that you are proud of him and that he is the one you would choose again if given the chance.
This goes a long way to solidifying you as a team, as well. There’s no way that anyone in my family would ever say a word against my husband. They know that I’m on his side, and it’s a gossip-free zone around me (unless the gossip is about how great he is).
Spend sometime brainstorming about all the great things your husband does, how amazing he is and so on. This will help give you the words to speak to others, it may even make you find new ways you love your man and the best part it could put you in the mood to surprise your man in the bedroom as soon as he gets home!
by kathilipp | Mar 26, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Every good idea needs a plan. Gardening may intimidate some but it is rather easy and you do not have to dig up your yard and plant a farm. It can be as simple or as difficult as you make it.
Keep it Really Simple. To start with, I suggest you start with a simple concept for the types of plants you purchase. For the past several years we have planted a low-maintenance “Salsa Garden” and have enjoyed the variety and simplicity of that assortment every time. Here is what goes in our salsa garden:
- A variety of tomatoes plants
- Peppers
- Cilantro
- Green Onions
Ask an Expert. Explain that you want to keep it simple and ask what you need. My own experience here is that it will do you no good to ask the 17 year-old at the giant Depot store what are the best tomatoes to grow for an early harvest in your area of the country. This is where the little mom and pop gardening store shines. Ask one of the employees (who probably is in the midst of growing her own garden at home) what you should get.
Use the Correct Container. Read those little tags carefully that tell you how big the pots you plant in should be. I was crowding my plants and not getting the results that I needed.
Figure out your watering system. For most gardeners I know their watering system is them. But since I travel a lot, it was important that I didn’t need to rely on teenagers to keep my basil alive. If you know that you are not going to want to rise at dawn every morning with a c. of coffee in one hand and a hose in the other, you may want to create a system for watering.
by kathilipp | Mar 22, 2012 | Home, The "What's for dinner?" Project |
So as I’m writing this, Roger and I are driving over the Grapevine in So. California with snow coming at us sideways.
Naturally, my attention turns to gardening…
Actually, now is a great time to start planning and thinking about a garden. This is prime planting season for many of us (when it’s not snowing…) Let’s seize the opportunity together and eat healthier. It is more rewarding to eat the salad you grew yourself than from your favorite café. (Or let’s e honest – drive-thru. Where you intend to get a salad, but a salad doesn’t come with fries, so…)
Thanks to the internet there is loads of help for all of us. Mother Earth News is a great place to start o matter where you live in the US.
Here you will select the region you live in to find out what to plant and when. Everything has a particular time and season that it will produce great fruit.
This reminds me of one of my favorite Bible passages Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
There is just something so special about eating with the seasons. So check out their growing guide and start your planning (and dreaming…) Find out what works in your area, compare that to what your family loves, and go from there.
We always do a variety of tomatoes, peppers, green onions, and a ton of herbs. We call it our salsa garden (which can also be called a bruchetta garden,) and we eat from it for months.
Also, seed packets you purchase usually have the right time to plant for your region. You can also just start with buds you pick up from your local gardening center or health food store. The process is already started for you and you just need to transplant to its permanent home. It will take a few steps out of the process for you.
So are you a gardener? A wanna be gardener? How many are going to start this year for the first time? If you are an experienced gardener, tell me your advice, tips and tricks and what you plan to grow. Do what gardeners do – share your wisdom. Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing out gardening plans,container gardening tips, and watering plans.
by kathilipp | Mar 19, 2012 | frontpage, Relationships, The Husband Project |
Get your signed (or unsigned) copy of The Husband Project at Kathi’s Store
If you are here from Hearts at Home, WELCOME! I love Jill and the whole Hearts at Home team, so if you’re a friend of them, you’re a friend of mine. Glad you landed on my front porch!
Post-It Note Challenge – Write Something Fun or Flirty for Your Man!
Ladies- are you ready to show you man a little love today? If so, here are your instructions:
- I want you to grab a Post-it (cause you know how much I love a Post-it!)
- Write something, fun, flirty, or a little scandalous on it – I give you permission…
- Put that Post-it somewhere where only HE will find it
- Tell us what you wrote on it (or if it’s Too Hot to Handle, just write TMI in the comments below)
“A simple word can renew hope.”
Lois Mayday Rabey
It can be words of encouragement, something flirty and sexy, sweet whispers and so on. Leave the post it where only he will find it. It can be in his briefcase, wallet, on his car steering wheel, underwear drawer, tool box, whatever he is going to open or use today. Below I listed 21 ideas to get you started thinking. If you need to use one from the list below or make up your own Post-It greeting.
21 Post-It-Sized Encouragements
- I’m praying for you today.
- Those jeans are really working for you…
- I love you.
- You are the best dad!
- You’re the kind of husband that makes the other wives jealous.
- You rock my world!
- Can’t wait to see you tonight – meet me upstairs…
- Thanks for working hard to provide for us. I appreciate all that you do.
- You make me feel beautiful.
- I thank God for you everyday.
- How did I get so lucky, being married to a guy like you?
- You’re great!
- You make everyday more fun.
- Have a great day.
- You’re hot!
- I feel so safe with you.
- Smart and good looking – I’ve got the whole package in you!
- You can be very distracting, you know…
- Our kids are so blessed to have a dad like you.
- That smile I wear – it is all because of you.
- God have blessed me in big ways by letting me be your wife.
Remember, you have more power than you know to change the direction of your husband’s day. Go grab that Post-it right now!
Let us know what you wrote in the comments below, and three of you are going to win THE HUSBAND PROJECT book and DVD set!!!
by kathilipp | Mar 18, 2012 | Home, The "What's for dinner?" Project |
Hey friends – let me help you out by being a cautionary tale…
Last week Roger and I were out of town at a conference. As you know, I plan my meals in advance, but we got home on Monday and I didn’t feel like going to the store, so I figured, “Hey, it won’t kill us to eat out one night…” Well one night turned into four. All because I didn’t feel like going to the store.
Why didn’t I want to go to the store? Because although I made the meal plan, I didn’t make my shopping list. That’s where the plan went horribly wrong.
So, in order to save those hours, (and dollars) do two things:
1. Make your meal plan (and share it here so you have some good peer pressure…)
Here is mine if you need a little inspiration:
Monday – Whole Roasted Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Roasted Vegetables
Tuesday – Chili, Salad, Corn Bread
Wednesday – Steak, Veggie and Brown Rice Bowls
Thursday -Whole Wheat and Brown Rice Bean and Chicken Burritos
Friday – Whole Wheat Pita Pizzas
Saturday – Every Man For Himself
Sunday – Chicken and Veggie Soup with Brown Bread
So tell us what you are having. But then, make your list. Make it right now before you move on to the rest of your life.
You will have the accountability of a whole tribe of women who are trying to get dinner on the table, and then a plan to get your food into the house so you will have peace each and every day at 4:00.
So what are you having for dinner?
by kathilipp | Mar 8, 2012 | The "What's for dinner?" Project |
Now that you are all sitting down together as a family eating a wonderful meal what do you discuss? How to do incorporate God talk into the family time?
Most families may say grace, a short prayer that is usually the same prayer every night before dinner or even bed.
But to spark more conversation and growth for little ears here are a few ideas to begin tonight.
Highs & Lows
Go around the table and have everyone share what their high of the day was and their low. Praise all the highs and talk about the lows. Why was it a low? What could have made that a high? How are you feeling about it?
Prayer
Encourage the prayer to be different every night. With little ones it may be hard and they may only know a few things to say. If everyone is taking turns that will help others learn how to pray. And, mom and dad take your turn too! Pray specifically for things and be thankful specifically too. There is not a better way to teach our kids to pray then to show them. They will repeat us and do as we do.
Easy toddler and preschool prayers can be a small song;
(Sung to the tune of Where is Thumbkin)
God our father, God our father
We thank you, we thank you
And our many blessings and our many blessings
Amen, amen
Other ideas are to keep all your Christmas cards in a bowl or box in the dinning area. Each night pull one card and pray for that family.
A friend’s husband said this little prayer when he was a kid, “Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub, YAY God!” Silly and short yes but for a real young toddler they will learn that God is the one deserving of thanks and can praise Him.
Just Talk
Dinner time is a great time to talk about the kind of day everyone had and the next days plans. Use the time to get your kids talking. Play a game or ask fun questions.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What is your favorite book and why?
If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
Play guessing games. Think of a place and give clues and see who guesses the right place.
Talk about the Bible Story they heard in church on Sunday.
Your options are endless…but I am sure due to the busyness of life mealtime may be rushed in between work, practice, homework, etc. Just make a point to sit down without rushing a couple times a week. Turn it into family night on the weekends and include board games, puzzles or a movie afterwards.
Does you family have any favorite mealtime topics or activites?
by kathilipp | Mar 7, 2012 | The "What's for dinner?" Project |
Spring is here in California and right around the corner for the rest of the country! This is the prime time to start a garden.
Take the next week or two to start thinking about what you want to plant, where to plant, if you want a container garden or plant into the earth. In 2 weeks I will spend a week discussing gardening how to’s and tricks I have learned.
In the meantime you can s tart with a simple concept for the types of plants you purchase. For the past several years we have planted a low-maintenance “Salsa Garden” and have enjoyed the variety and simplicity of that assortment every time. Here is what goes in our salsa garden:
- A variety of tomatoes plants
- Peppers
- Cilantro
- Green Onions
Several years ago Roger and I decided to plant our own salsa garden in containers on our back patio, (we live in a townhouse, so my visions of sowing seed for crops and my own hen house have to be put on hold for a while.) We kept it simple the first year – just a few tomato plants, a couple of peppers, cilantro, etc. But boy oh boy did we enjoy the benefits of fresh salsa ingredients at our door step. Here is Roger’s famous salsa recipe. Give it a try!
Roger’s Salsa: Roger Lipp
Ingredients:
12 tomatoes (or two large cans of crushed tomatoes)
1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro, chopped coarse down to the stemmy part
2 stems green onion, chopped medium
1 red onion, chopped medium (I use two slices from the center portion)
2 jalapenos, chopped fine (leave seeds in) — if you want mild salsa substitute Anaheim peppers; if
you want hot salsa substitute 4 habaneras.
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped fine
Directions:
Combine these ingredients in large glass bowl.
If tomatoes were room temp to start with, I add two ice cubes and mix in. The following seasonings are very approximate… I don’t measure.
Add the following seasonings to taste (measurements given are approximately what I use… ish)
2 T fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 T cumin powder
1 T coarse ground black pepper
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp marjoram
I’d love to know, do you garden and what are your must haves each year?
When you and your husband were dating what did he do when you guys were not together? What did he want you to do with him? And how long has it been since you have done that activity with your husband? This week initiate an activity that your husband used to love. Whether it’s his favorite hobby, sport, or pastime, it’s time for you to get involved – be his buddy today. It is a great time to get outside, days are longer and the weather is warmer. Do you need to reserves a court, schedule a tee time or offer to go to the gym with him?
