This is hilarious...

So within two days I have edited and then deleted femmedufoyer.  As I reflected back on what I was trying to accomplish, I realized that what I was doing was a symptom of a greater problem.  I am in a funk...not because I need to get a grocery budget down, or find a way to be a better this or that, but because I am in transition.

I still wish to be a better homemaker.  However, I am not going to save the world by posting my menu plans.  So much has already been said and there is so much information out there on the internet.  What I truly want is to laugh and be happy (and I already have this blog if I feel like documenting that!).

Homemaker

This is something I have been thinking about for a while now.  A few years ago, I read a book called the Feminine Mystique and I felt like many before me that it had something powerful to say.  It told me that women needed a life outside the home, goals and a career, something to achieve other than changing everyone's sheets once a week.  I could see the 'trapped' position that mid-20th-century women were clawing their way out of.  But now there is a new feeling of displacement.

I am a woman in my mid-twenties with a full time job and aspirations for the future, but despite my attempts, I still feel a little lost at homemaking and running a household.  This is not my parent's fault, but rather a generational epidemic.  We are poor time managers, and spend our time off watching hulu, eating out, or doing any other amusement that gets us to the next moment.  Planning?  Baking bread?  Making a weekly menu?  For many of us, those activities sound outdated, but we've also lost the wisdom behind them.

I am not inclined to call homemaking "women's work".  Man or woman, gay or straight, married or single...we all could use a little home time, and homemaking is an art that is disappearing.  The inability to run one's home and household budget is a real obstacle to my generation.  We want so badly to have it all, that we wind up with debt and poorly managed budgets because we never learned that it starts at home.

I was nervous about posting this goal, but now that I have been thinking about it for so long, I think that it is something I can stick with.  I talked earlier about slashing our grocery budget, but I am finding that it is going to involve some real know-how and planning.  So my goal is to take all of you on that journey with me.  Although I don't think I have that many readers today, I know there are many out there, close to me or not, that are struggling to make ends meet, even with college degrees and full-time jobs.  This is a back-to-basics culinary adventure.  This is Martha Stewart on a budget with the wisdom of Mireille Guiliano.

As this is a big undertaking, and I still want to have room on this blog for my family to see my life, I have created a new blog for my "home-making" endeavors.  I tried to come up with a good name for it and the word hearth kept coming to mind.  So I called my new blog "Woman of the Hearth" and because I am a francophile, you can find it at femmedufoyer.blogspot.com.  Right now I am starting with documenting my grocery budget only.  I will post my grocery list and menu for each week.  Eventually I will get into other parts of managing a household and a household budget, but this is a good start.

I don't mean to come across as a know-it-all, although I know sometimes I do.  Hopefully this project will nurture some feedback from family and friends and encourage discussion of that dirty of all dirty words: homemaking.

October's Reading List

I am halfway through Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and I am loving it!  It is such a beautiful book.  It has made me think a lot about commitment and forgiveness.  I tried reading War and Peace but couldn't make it through the whole thing but I am on track to finish Anna by Thanksgiving.  And that will be just in time for the MOVIE!!!  The makers of the most recent Pride and Prejudice made the new A.K. movie with Kiera Knightley in the lead role.  Let's just say I am more than a little excited...but I have 400 more pages to go!

Next up on my reading list is John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.  We made a pitstop on our honeymoon to the Monterey, CA aquarium and they had a small historic fish cannery exhibit.  This reminded me of how much I enjoyed Graped of Wrath so I need another Steinbeck read.

What's on the Menu?

It must be getting married and feeling the season's change that is making me feel settled.  After the wedding and honeymoon, reality has sunk back in and it's back to budgeting and grocery shopping.  But I am feeling excited and ready for this planning thing so why not share the wealth?

October makes me think of pumpkin season and fall apples.  I'm not quite ready for pumpkin flavors, but I am in the mood for soups.

I made this soup the other night: Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup and it was so good.  Here are some other October soups that might go on the menu this week.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Smoked Turkey
All American Chili
All of these sound amazing!! ---  25 Best Soups

But one simply can't eat soup all week so here are some other ideas I had for this week's menu:

Pork Chops with Roasted Apples
Chicken and Root Vegetable Pot Pie
Beef Stroganoff with Sauteed Carrots

It feels so good to be getting back to some comfort foods but always lurking is the danger of overeating.   We are creeping up on the time of year for starches, carbs, and sweets so it's important to compensate.

Since we're on the subject, I should mention the queen of eating for pleasure Mireille Guiliano.  She is the reason for my 15 pound weight loss since I moved to Portland and I just picked up her cookbook to get me in the right mindset.  As my dinner fare is getting heavier, I will compensate by having lighter breakfasts and lunches.  That way when I get to dinner time, I can enjoy my meal without the guilt.  She has some great breakfast and lunch recipes on her site as well.