No Takeout Challenge Update #2

I shopped in the freezer section of my house.

The No Takeout Challenge that I started this month has been that--a challenge.  It's an exciting time for me.  Little by little, I have done away with certain junkfoods in my life this year.  I have stayed away from potato chips and soda for over two months.  It has been by choice because I have determined to get healthier.

Unfortunately, and I have to be honest here, I don't feel healthy.  I have been suffering with pain.  Yes, I have to go to the doctor, and I will.  I wish I could truly enjoy this challenge.  I am now also dropping down to one juice drink per day; the rest of the time, I drink mostly water, except for the occasional tea or coffee.

The results:

On Monday, I posted Moderation to Aid Health.  In it, I explained about the need to portion out snacks and cereal.  I did that for several reasons.  For one, I wanted for my kids to stop over-eating junk food.  I also wanted the snacks and cereal to last longer.  Guess what?  It worked!

Another thing I did was shop inside my freezer.  We had eaten beef stew last month and placed the leftovers in the freezer.  We ate the leftovers yesterday.  I also used some former chicken soup for chicken soft tacos.  I simply added taco meat powder to spice it up.

We also made our desserts.  I made some pudding pies, which I will post about this Saturday.  My son also made his Nestle cookies.  I had to make sure that we didn't need to go out of the house to buy donuts.  I hope to make healthier desserts soon, but I am proud of our baby steps.

We have managed to stay away from buying takeout for two weeks so far.  My hubby did buy me some peanut M&Ms at the convenience store this week.  We talked yesterday about our shopping list.  He said if we could buy a large bag of the M&Ms for me.  

My teen daughter asked if maybe we should buy the big bag of little serving sizes of the M&Ms.  I responded that I can eat quite a few of those little bags in one sitting.  I think it's also more expensive to buy the bag that way. To be realistic, I don't need more junk food, but my hubby is the one who wants to buy them for me.  Sometimes, I think he wants me to stay overweight.

I think for this challenge to work, our family needs to keep up the discussions.  Hubby and I have gone to the groceries together.  As we are there, we make decisions about what and how much to buy.  After dinner, we, as a family, don't get up from the table right away.  My kids know that I might want to have some kind of discussion with the whole family.

 

Goal for next week: Cook more dinner meals.

 

Next week, I will have a bigger challenge.  I'll need to work harder.  I will need to make more dinner meals.  I will eventually need to rev up the shopping to make specific meals.  I need to eat my meat everyday so I usually buy three raw chicken packages and at least two pounds of ground meat to last me one week.   

 

Recap of week:

1. Reduced junk food intake.

2. Portioned out snacks and cereal.

3. Shopped in my freezer.

4. Made our own desserts.

5. Had family discussions about meal planning.

 

Thanks for reading my update.  I appreciate any tips and prayers.  I hope to share more tips next week to aid others in this challenge of going without takeout.  Stay tuned!

I've accepted this no-takeout challenge, which began Friday, July 1st to December 31st.  It is not easy, but I know it is worth it.  I want the many benefits that can come from not eating out.  If you want to know more about this challenge, you can visit the SIX Month Money Challenge Facebook page.  If you would like to join, please "like" the page and join the yahoo group that accompanies it, as well.

How about you, my readers?  How often do you buy takeout?  Have you ever tried not buying takeout?  What's the longest you've gone without takeout?  I encourage you to see how you can cut out takeout.  I think it's worth a try.  The benefits are endless.

 

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This entry has been part of the Family Fun Fridays series.

Do Not Provoke Your Children To Anger

Turn to the Bible for advice on raising children.

 Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.  --Ephesians 6:4 The Message Version

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. --Ephesians 6:4 King James Version   And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.  --Ephesians 6:4 New Living Version   Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. --Ephesians 6:4 New International Version     What are your words and actions teaching your children about God?   If you want to know something about me, listen to this.  I love to study.  I love to study the Word of God.  I am a constant learner.  That's why I like gathering different versions of the same Bible verse.    I think it's important to look at what we should do to raise our children correctly.  We must also look at how we should not treat our children.  The Bible, God's word, tells us not to cause our children to get angry.  We should raise them with methods that God authorizes.  The question is: What constitutes the proper training that we must provide for our children?    The following is a list of how we can achieve our parenting role:  1. To be nurturing--teach the children the love of God.  Feed the children the Word of God because Man does not live by bread alone but by the word of God as is illustrated in Matthew 4:4; these are the direct words spoken by Jesus.  2. To be Training--give the child the moral and ethical beliefs, based on the Biblical teaching.  This is highlighted to some extent in Genesis 18:19, where it says righteousness and justice shall be taught, as Moses instructs of the parents.  3. To be Chastening--correct the child when he does wrong; bring him back from his wrong-doing; using the Bible as a basis for teaching the right and wrongs of behaviors, illustrating the consequences of both.  A caution to keep to the laws of God is illustrated in Deuteronomy 4:9.   I believe that we must correct our children when they do wrong, but yelling and physically striking them does not work. Discussing what the proper behavior is will go a long way in teaching a child where he has gone wrong.  Showing a child how connected he/she is with God and the people around him/her will show what is proper behavior.  I think the best law is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.  This is where the fairness and justice comes in; if we are respectful of others, we will be respected.   My question to you, my readers is this: How are you disciplining your children?  Are you discussing God and His love with your children?  Are you instilling a love of God and His righteousness in the lives of your children?  I encourage you to evaluate how you are teaching your children about God.  Please consider whether you are teaching your children about a loving God versus a judgmental God.  Also, think about how you use your words and actions to discipline your children.    I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace. 

This has been an entry for the Spiritual Sundays series. 

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/