Haven Mondays

I feel very spoiled right now. On Saturday, we returned from a week long visit with my husband's family out in Chicago, and this Saturday we will be heading down to the Outer Banks of NC for another week long vacation. Taking two vacations in one year let alone in one month is not something we normally do! We were very fortunate to be able to use my father-in-law's frequent flier miles to fly our family of four out to Chicago. Since we were visiting family, we didn't have to pay for lodging either. When we go to the Outer Banks, we'll be staying with old college friends who own a beach house there. Once again, no lodging expenses. Yes, our family is blessed this summer!

So this week feels kind of odd to me. I've unpacked from one vacation and am getting ready to pack for another. I've spent today running some errands and making some phone calls. You know.....trying to catch up after being away for a week while at the same time trying to get ready to go away for a week. It seems a little strange.

My hubby and I sat down yesterday to discuss our menu for this week before I headed off to the grocery store. We pretty well depleted what was in our refrigerator before we went to Chicago, and we don't want to have too much in there this week. So some planning needed to be done.

Eric came up with this dinner menu for our week:

• Sunday: Youth Group Cookout
• Monday: Bacon, Eggs, English muffins
• Tuesday: *Chili Con Carnie (see my mom's easy recipe below)*
• Wednesday: Frozen pizza, Salad
• Thursday : Hamburgers, Corn
• Friday: Leftovers

Now if we don't have any leftovers for Friday night's meal, we'll probably use a gift card for Subway that I was given. (On another note.....if you want to give your child's teacher an end of year gift, gift cards are the best in my book! I teach at a Christian preschool and do not get a pay check for about 3 months, and gift cards help me out a lot during the summer!)

MOM NICHOLS' CHILI CON CARNIE

• 1 lb. ground beef
• Onion
• 2 small cans tomato
• 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• Macaroni

Brown meat. Cook macaroni. Simmer tomatoes, sauce, beef and onion. Salt & pepper to taste. Mix with macaroni. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. About 5-6 servings.

As you can see, this is very simple. My kids love it! I like it because there is usually enough left over for my lunch the next day.

Anyway, you can tell that this is not a normal week for me, so I don't know how much of a Haven Monday this has really been. I did take a cup of coffee to my husband this morning which made him happy! I guess we sometimes just have to give ourselves permission to accomplish small simple things when life gets a little chaotic.

Make Your Home a Haven is sponsored by Crystal at Biblical Womanhood.