How I Fed My Family of 6 Tonight For Less Then $3

Tonight we had a delicious and nutritious dinner for less then $3 that fed 6! I want to share to inspire you that food doesn't have to always be so expensive if you plan ahead and grow some yourself. What was on the menu? Giant baked potatoes (grown in the garden from leftover organic sprouted potatoes from the grocery store), sour cream and cheese from Costco (I am guessing what we ate tonight of that is about $1.75 worth), topped with stir fried broccoli and tomatoes (both fresh from the garden) and black bean soup. The black bean soup is super easy and delicious and costs about $1.19 depending on where you buy a bag of dried black beans. I rinse them well and put them in the slow cooker and high in the late morning and check a few times to make sure there is plenty of water. I add a little oil, salt, and garlic powder. That's it! By dinner time the beans are soft, falling apart and delicious.  You can top the black bean soup with cheese too if desired. The approximate total out of pocket for this dinner was $2.94. I understand that food grown in the garden isn't completely free- but it is close!

Spider Webs: Making Invisible Traps Visible

I was watering my garden this morning. The sun was shining, the insects were buzzing and fluttering all around. It was so pretty out, but I kept hitting invisible snares: icky spider webs. This late in the summer the spiders are really coming out- they are everywhere! I got a big one crawling on my leg when I was mowing last evening- ick.. . . ! And the casualties are evident, mummified mason bees stuck in webs scattered about. As I hit another lead wire web between my shrubs and my rose buses and wondered what was attached to it; the Lord spoke to my heart. I sprayed all around me with the midst setting of my hose, and suddenly what was invisible, or barely discernible, became completely visible. The water outlined the webs so brightly in the sun.

"to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. . . ." Ephesians 5:26

"But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." John 4:14

This short but meaningful experience was a reminder that if we stay close to Jesus, letting him wash us with the water of His Word, and drinking the fresh Water of communion with Him, He will highlight the traps in our path. What was invisible becomes visible and we can avoid traps that would ensnare us and lead us in the wrong direction.