Once A Month Cooking ~ Spaghetti Bolognese

While I may not do all of my cooking 'once a month'... doing some of it 'once a month' is pretty close to magic.

This is my favourite spaghetti bolognese recipe.... I love dishing it up into family serves and popping them into the freezer. So easy as a last minute meal solution to pop one in a pot with a lid on and by the time the pasta is cooked - the sauce is ready too.

Got last minute guests for a meal? ... grab 2 or 3 bags from the freezer and dinner is good to go for all. We keep plenty of frozen garlic bread on hand for this purpose too but if for some reason I am low, I'll whip up my cheesy garlic pull apart - 5 minutes to mix and about 15 to bake (stay tuned for that recipe one day soon)
Faster than take away!!

NOTE: I do this recipe in bulk, usually doing a triple batch, which is what I've photographed. It fed the family dinner, gave me 3 more family size serves for the freezer, another serve for 2 adults and another serve for 1 child.

Loads of vegies

Spaghetti Bolognese ~ serves 6

Ingredients

60g   Butter

1       Onion, large, finely chopped

2tsp  Fresh crushed garlic

2       Celery sticks, finely chopped

2       Carrots, finely diced

600g Lean beef mince

1tsp   Dried Oregano

1c     Red wine - A GOOD one! I like a nice merlot for cooking or a shiraz/merlot... I don't drink wine but it's great for adding an awesome flavour in cooking!

1      Beef stock cube - we use 'Massel' brand without all the additives that you don't need

2      400g tins diced or pureed tomatoes (I use a 700ml jar of the Aldi tomato cooking sauce... well, 3 of them because I make a triple batch)

4tb   Tomato Paste

400g Dried Spaghetti – then cook in a large pot of lightly salted water

3tb   Grated, fresh parmesan cheese

take time to simmer for a couple of hours

til it's nice and thick

Method

1.    Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until starts to soften

2.   Add the garlic, celery and carrot, and cook, stirring over low heat for 5 minutes

3.   Increase the heat to high and add beef and oregano. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until browned

4.   Pour in the wine, reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes until wine is absorbed

5.   Add the tomatoes and stock cubes, stir well and allow to simmer till thickens

6.   Add tomato paste and any additional seasoning, heat through and serve on bed of pasta, topped with the Parmesan cheese

Put a bag in the container first then load it with the sauce you want to freeze... tie it off and pop it in the freezer

Then Voila! In the morning you have a brick of bolognese sauce and no messy container

PS: Another good reason for doing a bulk batch is the mess! Simmering it down will always cause some tomato splatter... this way I have the splatter to clean up once but it feeds us 4+ times!

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Choose Life!

The bible tells us that there is both 'DEATH and LIFE in the power of the tongue. It can be easy to think that we choose 'life' when we speak but let me tell you that 'death' sneaks in there and ZAP, does it's damage before you even know it.
Let's think about this in context of children. When we encourage them, it's deliberate and thoughtful... and pretty easy. It's often in response to something they've done and life is pretty relaxed at the moment... "mum, do you like how I just did my hair?" "sure honey, you've done a lovely job - you've been trying lots of new things with your hair, you're getting really good at it"
"mum, do you like this painting?" oh wow, what great use of colour"
or "good job, you've got all those carrots peeled for me" "your reading is coming along really well" and so on. You get the idea!

So what about 'death' in the power of the tongue?

That's when you curse your children.

Yep, you read that right. When you curse your children (or hubby, friend, self etc) Sure, not everyone does this but you'd be surprised who does.... take time to pray and ask God to show you if it's you.

Let me share with you about Ruthie. (name changed for privacy)
Ruthie was a darling little girl I nannied. I lived with her family from 7 weeks before she was born, until she was 3 and a half. I was on duty 5 days a week from 7am till about 8pm. As you could imagine, I knew Ruthie well.
One weekend after I moved out of their home and was no longer the children's nanny, Ruthie came to visit me for the weekend. We had a lovely time together! It was during this time that God showed me how careful one needs to be with their words!
I poured Ruthie a drink at dinner, into a glass as I'd done for quite some time at her place.
She looked at me in horror and said 'oh no, I need a lid! I ALWAYS spill drinks!!

2 things
First - I knew Ruthie and knew this was NOT true
Second - Kids don't come up with phrases like that by themselves!!
My guess is that 'mum', in frustration at an accidental drink spill, snapped out an "aargh! you ALWAYS spill drinks!" and immediately this girl's belief about herself and her skills was changed. When that happens, the behaviour changes too. And spilling drinks would continue to be a problem.

I would suggest that in our day to day lives, we don't recognise when we do this.

Imagine you were the mum in this situation and you had cursed your daughter in this way.
At the end of the day someone asked... "did you encourage your kids today?"... you could probably think for a couple of minutes and come up with a couple of instances.... "yes, when Sammy did his reading today I encouraged him by telling him how much his reading was improving... and when Ruthie came home from creche with a painting I complimented her on the painting and we stuck it on the fridge"
You are then asked "did you say anything that could hinder your child's growth/relationships etc?" ... you would probably again think for a couple of minutes and come up with "no, can't say that I did" unless you'd really LOST THE PLOT at them (coz that is a whole lot harder to hide from LOL)

I've seen more of this in recent years too. As I am around more parents and children now we have our own family. I am so sad for the children being spoken of, and for mine who miss out on doing some things with their friends because the curse has been spoken. A definite, no room to move statement.


"Suzie doesn't like to play outside."
"Matthew doesn't like to play with Lego."
"Lucy doesn't sit quietly in church so we sit up the back."
"Mary doesn't like board games"
"Harry always loses the library books."
and so on!

Said in front of children, **these statements are cursing your children**
They create self beliefs, reinforce self beliefs and make it almost impossible for a child to live outside your statement. Some children are being robbed of joy throughout life by these statements. Seriously!
Hours of free fun can be had from a very young age, right through life if you learn to like a board game or two! Imagine being cursed into losing your library books all through life - cruel!!

Obviously, said in private with friends or mentors as you seek to find solutions, it is not a curse. They are rarely used in this context though.

So, what are the options?

"Suzie prefers inside play and is still learning to enjoy playing outside - how about some time doing both?"
"Matthew hasn't played with Lego much - could you show him some fun things to make? Then in half an hour let Matthew choose what to play next"
"Lucy is still learning to sit quietly in church"
"Mary is still learning to play/enjoy playing board games - which one might she like most?"
"Harry is learning to keep track of his library books - he's getting better since we chatted about keeping them in the same place'

Choose your phrases carefully. Choose life!

What about your friends?
X is always late
X always cancels at the last minute
X never listens

Using statements like these, even in your own mind, can curse your relationship with people because you're stopping yourself looking for and seeing growth in people. These statements assume there is no growth to be seen! How sad to view your loved ones in this way.



Oh Lord, open my eyes and keep me aware of the way I speak of others and of myself. Show me where my words can give life instead of death. Change my heart that I may always look to encourage growth in all whose paths I cross. May I not limit anyone, myself included, with curses that can sneak into my thought life or into my conversations with people. Amen.

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What a week!

It's been quite a successful and 'blessing filled' week...

Sunday was Girls and Boys Brigade Parade Service at church
Here's Melinda almost ready to go.


We then had a lovely new friend and her children back for lunch... it's extra nice when you find 'easy to get along with' people!

We have gotten much bookwork done with home ed... slowly starting to catch up! Our new maths curriculum arrived - we're moving from 'Easy Learn Maths' to 'Math-U-See'... I'll explain 'why' in another post. In a week or two we will begin the new work. I need to unpack some tools to use with it first - they're in a box around here somewhere!!

I'm pretty impressed with Melinda's writing (8yo) (we're not moving to cursive for a few years yet) I will admit I do push the 'neat' thing in our house. Adults with barely legible printing & writing drive me NUTS!!

(in the picture, the ants are carrying a pen - I had thought it was an airplane!)

Wednesday we had some of our favourite people drop by - my friend Marion and their 7 children - it's so wonderful to open the back door and see the yard dotted with children happily playing together. They live a couple of hours away so it's something that can take some planning! We'll be headed their way in the next week-ish (If she lets me!!)

Thursday I had an old/new friend stop by and we got chatting about kids, behaviour, parenting etc... again so nice to chat with people who have God in their lives!

...and then Today!

This morning we were once again productive with bookwork and so had a free afternoon. The children and I drove out to Sassafras in The Dandenongs to find old fashioned FUDGE... we found it!

We also found this

Nathaniel does a lovely girl - don't you think?

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Sabbath Happenings

A lovely lovely day today! Church this morning was wonderful (except for Finding Nemo being the substitute for Kids church!) A guest speaker was quite interesting and inspiring, the children enjoyed knowing the song being sung as we arrived and best of all, we participated in the church's Fellowship lunch.

8 Adults, 2 children & 1 baby that we hardly knew (or didn't know at all!!) came for lunch. They each brought something to contribute... drinks, dessert & nibbles... while Pete and I provided mains. It was enjoyable to prepare it on Saturday, as a family, all ready for today; All pitching in to serve our guests.

The bible instructs us ALL to show hospitality (no exclusions!) and I do love the experience and am blessed I was taught by example as a child. It may be harder for those not taught early on, there's still no exclusion though!!!

It's sad if the only way one is going to be hospitable is to participate in events such as today when the church leadership orchestrates it.
I also think it's sad when we only extend hospitality to those we know and are comfortable with. I wonder, is that really hospitality? or is that when it crosses into 'entertaining'?
What I love about today's fellowship lunch is that it introduced us to 11 new people in the church!
If that's it's purpose, then I think it has a place, a good place.

Sitting around the table, sharing food and conversation together - it doesn't get better than this.

(PS the children did not go and watch the movie!!)

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Get in line! ;o)

We're reading George Muller at the moment - as a 'read aloud'. We're about 1/2 way through and have had it less than a week.
I have to admit that by Friday night I couldn't wait... so I took it to bed and finished it off for myself! Now I'll be re-reading as I continue to share it with the children.

We had wonderful fellowship over lunch on Sunday with dear friends and had a great discussion on faith and God's provision... this book came up and was brought out. Paul asked to read it so it's promised to him once I finish reading it to the children.

In the meantime Pete decided it sounded good too... so sure enough, Sunday night he's reading it in bed!!!

We highly recommend it and are happy to loan it out - but you'll need to get in the queue!!

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What a week!

This new 'life' is taking some getting used to and there are most certainly adjustments that need to be made. I need more strategies in place to keep from being overwhelmed. This last week has been so so busy, thus no new blog posts since Monday - and the week ahead is looking to be even more busy as we have 3 extra appointments in the week!!

I've pulled out my Fly lady book again and am re-reading as I can snatch moments to do so. It's got some good reminders in there for me and I think this next week I am going to spend more time planning my days before they happen and am going to keep my timer glued to me!


Amongst the busyness we've had some great times this week...
**Thursday evening, 3 girlfriends came over for a fun game and conversation evening. Times like this keep me sane. So good to be able to share, encourage and grow through time spent like this.
**Car day was very productive with Woolworths, Aldi, Green Grocer, Raw milk collection and a visit to the GP for Melinda who was most relieved to find out her mole can be left on her back i.e. does not need to be chopped out!
**Pete is settling in to his new role, though the change is very tiring for him
**We finished up looking at South America/Brazil this week - looking forward to starting 'Australia' on Monday
**Harvested 3 zucchini's and 3 tomatoes from our vegie patch
**Tried a new zucchini recipe with great results
**Taught the children how to play Mancala (I Love this game!)
**Success with organising meals in advance!
**The children and I have enjoyed listening to The Adventures of Jonathan Park as we've driven in the car or sat waiting for Pete to come out from work. Learning is so much fun this way - I highly recommend this series and it can be bought from Heart and Home. Worth every cent spent - yes, every cent!! I know we will keep our series for at least a decade and I suspect it will get passed onto the grandchildren :o)

Last Evening

Last evening I spent a lovely hour with Melinda, getting things done around the house. We baked bread, hung washing and put Timothy back to bed a few times. I aim to keep these times happening with her. There is and will be so much value in maintaining our times of conversation with each other.

I've been using a clothes rack to dry most of our washing since moving in here 9months ago
Not so great for sheets or outside in the wind!

Today Pete strung up a clothes line for me - Yippee!!
and, as you can see, I put it to good use right away. Melinda passed me clothes and we chatted as we worked. The photo is a little dark as the sun has already gone to bed :o)

Here is the bread we baked - It's called Cuban bread and I reckon it's a foolproof recipe. I don't have a mixer or a bread maker, it's all by hand here so foolproof is good.

Fresh and warm, ready to eat


and some Anzac biscuits I made during the afternoon

Chatting till 2am

Remember the days when you could do that all the time? I've loved it my whole life I think. Many memories as a child are of talking... dad telling my sister and I to stop talking and sleep, a friend's mum sitting outside the bedroom door at 1am when at about 7 years of age we were still talking at a 'sleep over', one night as a teenager not sleeping at all because my friends and I chatted all night, yes, ALL night, at a post youth group sleepover. Oh the fun. Even in my Dad's last 2 years of life we talked many hours a week - not late at night, but through the day as we were both on the road a lot for work and 'hands free' mobiles made it possible. That's what I miss most about Dad. Being able to discuss life, church, God and all of those combined.

Well, last night was a lovely night which asides from being very pleasant in itself, reminded me of good memories of days gone by.

Days I had assumed were gone.

Not so! God is good!!

The children and I stayed with one of my friends and her family - well, everyone is friends with each other which is great - and once everyone was settled for the night, we chatted. and chatted. and chatted. About good stuff. Challenging stuff. Real life Christian living stuff. I don't quite get how nutting things through and opening your eyes to things you need to work on can give a buzz of energy but it does.

I'm not sure what I talked of as a child and as a teenager but I'm sure it's greatly deepened and I love the challenge of these deeper conversations. I love really getting to know the other person, having someone to bounce thoughts off and be challenged by. I love the companionship as I continue to grow as Christian and seek to live a more godly life.

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Earlier in the day we spent some hours with my old friends from school, including my oldest friend (the one whose mum stayed outside the door when we were talking). We've come and gone from each others life and it's such a joy to know her again now as an adult and to see what an enthusiastic Christian she is. Her faith is more than family traditions, it's real and living. LOVE this and am looking forward to when she and I can get together and talk the night away. I know she's as keen as I for a girls weekend, so we should get it organised!

Aah, just remembered that when Pete and I first started our relationship we talked till sun up the first night and then about 3am the next. Nuts huh.

Fabulous Dinner

Last night we had some new friends join us for dinner and it was really lovely. We'd never met the hubby before and it was the first 'real' opportunity to get to know the wife.
The most inspiring thing for me was that they were really seeking Gods will in their lives. They were saying 'Lord, where you lead we will follow' instead of the typical world-washed christian who lives a life that says 'Lord, where I lead, I want you to be there'.
I pray God blesses them as they follow His lead, and I feel blessed by them having shared a part of their journey with us.
Asides from that - they were just a really lovely family anyway!! Bonus *grin*

I've been blessed this week with a walking partner and new friend all in the one lovely lady. We went twice this week for an hour and next week are aiming for 3 times. It felt so good to get out in the fresh air and so wonderful to talk with another christian interested in what the bible says about life, instead of making the bible fit a pre-chosen lifestyle.

My back is up and down since the episode last Sunday... praying it heals quickly and I'm hoping the walking will contribute to that.