Or is it?

The Proverbs 31 woman sets a formidable example. She wakes before dawn every day (v.15). She searches out the best quality food for her family, no matter how far she must go to get it (v.14), and begins cooking first thing each morning (v.15). She seeks out the best material (v.13), then weaves and sews beautiful clothing for her family and herself (v.19,22). She is prepared in advance for any season (v.21). In her extra time she makes and sells a product to add to the family wealth (v.24). She buys real estate and increases the value of the land (v.16). She helps the poor (v.20), and she doesn’t rest until after dark (v.18).

Amidst all this, the Proverbs 31 woman never suffers burnout or depression. She smiles (v.25) and works in delight (v.13), with strength and dignity (v.25). She is never lazy (v.27), but wise and kind (v.26) and good at what she does (v.27).

It is not humanly possible to live up to these expectations.

But as Christians, we have a responsibility to try.

Too many women look at the high standard set for them in this chapter and write it off as a fantasy. The lifestyle described seems difficult, labor-intensive, and antiquated. But God’s Word is always wise and correct.

Though we are not technically commanded to live out our lives as described in this chapter, the description offered is of the excellent wife. Such a wife as envisioned here would be the ideal mate for any man.

Out of love for our Lord, our husbands, and our children, all Christian women should strive to follow the example of the excellent wife given in Proverbs 31.

1. Pour heavy cream into a mixing bowl.  (You can use any amount you wish, but keep in mind the more you use, the longer it will take to make butter.  Holly Housewife usually does 1 cup at a time.)
2. Whip the cream using a hand mixer. After a minute or two, it will get thick like whipped cream.
3. Don’t stop here, or you will have whipped cream.  Keep whipping, and your cream will take on a slightly powdery appearance.  At this point, you’re almost there.
4. Keep whipping, and all of a sudden your powdery-looking cream will turn wet.  This is the buttermilk separating from the butterfat.
5. Now you can stop whipping.  Press the butter together with the back of a spoon, and pour off the buttermilk.  (Don’t throw it out, you can use it in another recipe!) 
6. Make sure to get out as much of the buttermilk as you can, as the butter will keep longer when the buttermilk is separated from it.

Now you have your own homemade butter!  It tastes delicious when it’s freshly made, and the texture will be soft enough for you to mix in some additional seasonings if you desire.

 OPTION 1:

Before you wrap the chicken in the foil, simply coat both sides of it with your seasoning of choice.  This method will give your chicken a nice rich flavor and a gorgeous crust on the outside.  Commercial seasoning blends are perfect for this, and are very easy to pick up if you don’t already have some in your spice cabinet.

Holly Housewife’s Favorites:  Emeril’s Southwest Essence

OPTION 2:

Before you wrap the chicken, coat it in some chopped fresh herbs.  This will give you chicken a strong flavor, without making it feel heavy.  It will also perfume the air with a lovely aroma as it cooks.

Holly Housewife’s Favorites:  Fresh chopped rosemary and thyme from her mini herb garden.

OPTION 3:

Once you’ve placed the chicken in your foil packet, pour a small amount of fruit juice (lemon, orange, or pineapple work well) on it, and close up the packet, sealing the juice inside.  You can also place a couple slices of the fruit on the chicken for a pretty decoration.  Since this method gives a very light flavor to the chicken, you may want to combine it with another method.

Holly Housewife’s Favorites:  Lightly coat the chicken with ground pepper, cover it with lemon juice, and top with 2 lemon slices.

OPTION 4:

Completely coat the chicken with your favorite sauce before placing in the foil packet.  You can rub it on with your hands, put it in a zip-lock bad and work it until the chicken is coated, or brush it on with a basting brush.  No matter howyou do it, just make sure to cover the chicken with sauce.  This will give your chicken a good, hearty flavor if you use a nice thick sauce.

Holly Housewife’ Favorites:  Homemade BBQ Sauce

Chicken breast can be juicy, delicious, and incredibly versatile.  Just use the basic cooking technique, then get creative in the kitchen.  Try the above methods using different ingredients, and you are sure to come up with your own favorite combinations.

There is only one problem with chicken breast: It’s DRY!  Nobody wants to eat a tough, dried out piece of chicken.  Unfortunately, bad cooking techniques have given this fantastic cut of meat a bad name.  The good news is that cooking the perfect chicken is easy (even for the new homemaker), once you know how.

Before getting into the specific recipes for chicken, make sure you know the basic cooking technique.

1. Make sure your chicken is completely thawed, not frozen.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
3. Place the chicken on a piece of aluminum foil and wrap the foil loosly around the chicken, forming a little packet.
4. Place the foil-wrapped chicken on a baking sheet.
5. Put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

No need to babysit your chicken here, just come back when the timer rings!  When you open the foil packet, you wlil be amazed to see how juicy the chicken is.  It will also be whitish in color, since you have not browned it in a pan or on the grill.

Let the chicken sit for a minute or two before you cut into it, so that the juices don’t all run out.  If you want to brown your chicken now, you can, though Holly Housewife prefers not to.  Any additional cooking you do will take away from the tender, juicy piece of meat you have just prepared.

Now that you know the basic technique for cooking the perfect chicken breast every time, you are ready to get a little more creative.  Click here for some more baked chicken breast recipes.

Somehow believing that it is possible to be an excellent wife and mother while spending the bulk of their lives away from their homes, women have striven vainly to achieve the status of SuperWoman.  Society teaches us that a truly successful woman can be everywhere and do everything.  She can “bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan.”  Conveniently omitted is the ugly aftermath of this type of lifestyle: unhappy marriages, undisciplined children, and crippling stress.

Today, the SuperWoman ideal is finally giving way to reality.  A generation of women raised by working moms have realized that no one can have it all, do it all, and be it all.  Pursuing personal “fulfillment” through career success only serves to cheat the wife and mother out of the chance to make a real difference in the world – her world – at home.

A new day is dawning for the happy housewife, as women submit to their God-given desire to truly serve as the heart of their homes, supporting their husbands and raising their children.  Because many of these women never learned the fine arts of homemaking from their working moms, they are playing catch-up today, zealously teaching themselves how to cook, clean, garden, and sew.  Hopefully, they will take the time to pass these skills (and an understanding of their worth) on to their daughters for the next generation.

The truly wise woman has given up competing with men on their turf, and has reclaimed her own ground at home.  She is an intelligent, capable manager of the family resources, a warm and nurturing mother to her children, and a passionate, supportive companion to her husband.  By choice, she serves her family as a happy, loving housewife.