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Hello Reader,

Since September is "National Family Meals Month" -- and since a friend from co-op asked me for some ideas for quick, easy meals to fix on days you're too tired to fix anything fussy (definitely true after long co-op days), I thought now would be a good time to share some of my go-to recipes and other meal-planning resources.

To answer her specific question, I usually make a big pot of soup or pop a freezer meal into my instapot (or both -- since several of our family's favorite soups freeze well, too, including minestrone, garlicky lentils, creamy potato (wait until it's finished cooking to stir in the milk or add the toppings), and chickenless tortilla soup (which I haven't added to our website yet but intend to do soon).

We also love Pioneer Woman's 11-can soup (although we make it with 10, omitting the canned minestrone). I keep all the ingredients gathered together in dishpan in the top of my pantry and can have it on the table and ready to eat in about 10 minutes flat when I heat on a gas stove at the hottest setting (electric stoves take a bit longer).

Free resources for you this week:

• ​Weekly Meal Planner - a pretty menu planner for you to print out and fill in
• ​Mealtime Discussion Starters - to help foster good conversation around the dinner table
• ​Favorite Recipes - here are some of our family's most well-loved recipes
• ​50 Quick & Healthy Snacks - for folks who need a little something between meals
• ​Bread of Life Coloring Page - because man cannot live by bread alone!

What I'm reading this week:

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​Ploductivity by Douglas Wilson I found this counter-cultural book on productivity very relatable, as I long-ago adopted many of the author's same practices for making wise use of my time and also agree with his philosophy about work and priorities. If you are looking for a book that will teach you how to add several more hours to every day, this is not it. But if you need encouragement for faithfully and patiently plodding away toward your highest goals, no matter how slow the progress, using only the small increments of time are at your disposal, you'll find such encouragement here in abundance, plus a few practical tips to help you along the way. ​

This week's reader request:

One of my subscribers wrote to ask if I'd take a look at a children's picture book she recently published, which I was happy to do. Lilly Wilson's Shoes tells story of a thoughtful young girl who saves her money to buy a new pair of shoes, then realizes her money might be put to better use helping her neighbors.

Lilly gets her new shoes in the end, but she and a few hardworking friends end up helping a lot of needy people along the way. The book encourages kindness and generosity and includes a handy chart in the back that kids can use to track their own savings. Best of all, for the next five days (and thanks to the generosity of the author), you can get the digital version of this book for free!

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 61 ​HOW TO HANDLE REGRET​ We’ve all said or done things that we later regret, sometimes profoundly so. But where does regret come from, and how are we supposed to handle this tangle of negative emotions that wants to seize control of our thoughts and side-track our focus on more important matters? That’s our topic for this week’s episode of Loving Life at Home. I hope you’ll listen in! Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I marked almost all the items off last week's to-do list: I ✅ hosted my daughter's Grace Girls group and taught them how to embroider, ✅ had lunch with a friend I haven't seen in 2 years, ✅ mended two choir uniforms (both of which are too short for my daughter), ✅ made a leather bookmark to use as a sample in my co-op class, ✅ pared my inbox messages down to < 50, ordered groceries from Sam's Club, ✅ emptied the craft/overflow basket in the bottom of my closet (although it's ❌ already filled up again with new/different stuff that needs organizing), ✅ started making a list of of Christmas gifts I've already purchased (but with 12 kids, 5 DILs, and 22 grandbabies, I'm ❌ still a long way from finished!

Personal goals for next week:

• reupholster the seats of ten dining room chairs 🪑
• finish online course I'm currently taking (about how to create an online course 🎬)
• watch videos required for working the polls on election day 🇺🇸
• visit my daughter in Dallas for her birthday ❤️
• visit Dallas Arboretum and admire all the pumpkins 🎃
• attend a friend's 50th wedding anniversary celebration 🎉
• shop/volunteer for the CCC Sale this week 👕 (local? come see me there!)