(((Serves a crowd)))

6 chicken breasts, organic skinless and boneless (or 2 fully cooked deli rotisserie chickens, skinned and deboned)

1 cup diced celery

½ red bell pepper, diced

1 large jalapeno, diced (seeds and stems removed)

1 small white onion, minced (or half of a larger size white onion)

2 green table onions, washed and chopped

1 ½ cups quartered red grapes

1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained

2 small gala apples, very thinly sliced

2/3 cup chopped pecans

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mayonnaise

Romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dried

Raisin bread, sliced, OR … fresh deli croissants

Place chicken breasts in a large pot, cover with water, season to taste with salt & pepper (I sometimes toss in a lemon and an orange if I have them, cut in half), and bring to a boil on the stove. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Test by removing the largest piece and cutting it in half.

Meanwhile chop the celery, bell pepper, jalapeno, onions, grapes, and apples and set aside.

When the chicken has cooked and cooled, cut it into very small chunks and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped ingredients (minus the apple), the crushed pineapple, pecans, and season with a little salt and pepper. Add enough mayo to moisten as desired and toss with chicken until all ingredients are incorporated. I usually start with a cup of mayo, and then add more as I mix until it has the creamy texture I want. Taste it to make sure it is yummy. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

To assemble sandwiches, slice raisin bread to desired thickness, toast if desired. Or, if using croissants, slice them in half. Spread a thin layer of mayo over both top and bottom slices. Next, lay a leaf of lettuce on the bottom slices. Arrange a few apple slices on top of the lettuce, and then top the apples with a heaping serving spoon of chicken salad and press it down to spread it to the edges of the bread. Carefully lay the top slice of bread on top. Slice each sandwich in half, if desired.

Serve with a raw veggie medley (carrot, celery, cucumber slices), or seasoned cottage cheese, or an assortment of cheeses, or your favorite chips (personally I am a Sun Chips kind of gal)…plus a nice iced Chai latte to wash it all down with! Mmm..mmm..mmm!!

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

1 Timothy 4:4-5

Bible Study, Devotional, Feast on This

Barabbas

January 4, 2017June 23, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

Have you ever thought about the man Pilate brought out before the people? The criminal case that was … dismissed!

A man who was guilty in the courtroom of heaven, but dismissed by man, and a man who was innocent in the courtroom of heaven, condemned by man.

Matthew 27:16-26 NKJV

16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

17Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

18For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.

19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.

21 The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

23 Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”

25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

26 Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.

8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.

9But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,

14 said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him

18 And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”–

19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder

20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.

21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!

22 Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”

23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.

24 So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.

25 And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

39 “But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

40 Then they all cried again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

John adds that Barabbas was a “robber.” It is the first time robbery is attached to Barabbas. Now to give Barabbas the benefit of the doubt here, I imagine he could be a completely unsavory scoundrel, or he could also be a hero – of the order of Robin Hood, prince of thieves. Did he steal from the people for his own benefit, or from the government for the benefit of the poor? Did someone end up dead as collateral damage? I guess we’ll never know. But here is an interesting note on some commentary I found for Mark 15:7…

[Barabbas.] Let us mention also with him a very famous rogue in the *Talmudists, Ben Dinai, whose name also was Eleazar. Of whom they have this passage worthy of chronological observation; “From the time that murderers were multiplied, the beheading the red cow ceased; namely, from the time that Eleazar Ben Dinai came; who was also called Techinnah Ben Perishah: but again they called him, The son of a murderer.” Of him mention is made elsewhere, where it is written Ben Donai. See also Ben Nezer, the king of the robbers.

(*THE TALMUD was the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law and legend which comprised the Mishnah and the Gemara. There are two versions of the Talmud: the Babylonian Talmud – which dates from the 5th century AD but includes earlier material, and the earlier Palestinian or Jerusalem Talmud).

So, Luke (vs.19) and Mark (vs.7) could be identifying Barabbas with this group. Perhaps Barabbas was Ben Dinai, or a disciple, or a member of his band? If so, what a crazy time for Jesus to come upon the scene, in the middle of a revolution.

So, over here, on this side of the stage, in this corner of the ring, is a man who has caused a rebellious uprising, is a notorious prisoner, is a murderer, and misled the people: Barabbas, of “THE ROBBERS!”

And over there in the other corner is a man who sought out the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame, healed their sickness and disease, and brought the dead back to life, Jesus, the “KING OF THE JEWS.”

Because of the jealousy of the religious leaders and the chivalry of the Roman government, the people were forced to choose, and it struck me like a bolt of lightning when it first dawned on me that Barabbas’ name means, “father’s son” (Bar = son + abba = father – Strongs #912 in the Greek dictionary, or #1347 in Chaldean with #5 in Aramaic – the mixed dialog of Palestine). An earthly man of an earthly father, who had only done terrible things to the people.

And Jesus, who was in the beginning with God, and became a Son of the heavenly Father. Abba being the name Jesus used for His Father in the garden prayer (Mark 14:36) before He went to the cross. A Son of the heavenly Father, who had only done good things for the people.

Barabbas (a father’s son)

A “rebel” who “along with his gang of rebels, led a rebellion
“One who misleads the people” (a liar, basically)
One who “committed murder”
“A robber”

And his parallel character…

Satan (son of perdition)

A rebel: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9). “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth” (Revelation 12:4).
A liar: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”… Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:1,4)
A murderer: “…the devil… was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44
A robber: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

I believe both persons come together as an analogy (or a sort-of parable) of the very choice that has been thrust upon humanity from the beginning of time.

Satan is a wolf in sheep’s clothing – an imposter (anti-christ). A son of iniquity. Always on the prowl, seeking whom he may devour. An accuser of the brethren who accuses us before the Father day and night, who first gets us to sin (lie, cheat, steal, drink, do drugs, beat people up, kill, sleep around, gossip, gamble, etc.) and then runs to rat us out to God as soon as we eat the forbidden fruit he tempted us with. He most defiantly misleads the people.

Satan appeared to Eve in the garden on that fateful day in Genesis, and cleverly convinced her to trust him over God. The next day was a dark day indeed for Adam and Eve, and all humanity with them. I imagine the fear and uncertainty and remorse they must have felt in their hearts as they looked back to a garden, guarded by angels, that they could never go back to. The punishment was swift… but a Messiah was coming.

In much the same way, how dark was the day after Jesus died, when that scoundrel Barabbas was loose and free to terrorize the people again, and they realized they’d been lied to and misled? Fear and dread must have hung thick in their souls. The sun was darkened. The earth quaked. But Sunday was coming!!!!!

Up from the grave He arose!

The good news is Barabbas eventually died, and Jesus lives!!!! The Light of the world (John 8:12) dawned out of a dark tomb and over the people for 40 days, and even though the scoundrel Satan, who has never done anything good for humanity, is loosed for a time, because humans keep choosing him, the good news is Jesus is coming again in even greater glory!!!! And Satan dies!!!!!

What a contrast in characters. One is a taker of life. The other, a SON who laid down His life. One tempts us to sin, and the other a SON who takes away our sins and the sins of the world. An insurrectionist against an intercessionist.

Jesus changed the course of history when He came, and the thing is, He knew what He was walking into, and that very few would choose Him, and that a very vocal majority would not choose Him, then or now. He forgave them (us) anyway, and asked God to forgive them (us) for they (we) knew not what they were doing.

Those jealous leaders of Jesus’ day, with their inflated egos, didn’t know at the time, but they didn’t take Jesus’ life, He laid His life down freely of His own accord. The truth was hidden from all of them at the time, almost like a parable (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Let it not be hidden from you. Had the crowd NOT chosen Barabbas that day, Jesus would not have been the “Scapegoat,” the “Passover Lamb” that He came here to be. That we all needed Him to be.

It was Barabbas who deserved to be punished that day, but Jesus took his place. We are all sons and daughters of a Holy God/Creator, whose sins deserve punishment, but our Omnipotent Father provided a way of escape – a pardon.

On His last night, the Son, Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane, and fell on the ground, and prayed, “Abba, Father (Father of fathers), all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” Mark 14:36

~ Free Will or God’s Will? ~

This is the choice we have to make every moment of every day of our lives. In the beginning God gave us all free will, even when He knew His creation wouldn’t choose Him. And Satan has had a field day with the free will thing. (Click here for an informative article about God’s will, with a free printable of scripture cards). God the Father sent His Son Jesus onto that tragical scene 2000 years ago to give us the tools to defeat Satan – that criminal that stands on the stage of our lives opposite Jesus.

a son or The Son?

Satan came to party hardy and trash our house (mind/body/soul). Jesus came to sweep our houses clean and put them in order…

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26

“It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and turned away from the holy commandment passed on to them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:21, 22

Apart from God we can do nothing!

“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” John 16:7

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” John 20:22

(He swept their houses clean and put them in order.)

“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4,5) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” Ephesians 6:10-18

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father (Father of fathers). The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Romans 8:14-17

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father (Father of fathers)! Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4: 4-7

“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Matthew 23:9

In other words: Do not exalt any human being on earth to the place of God in your heart. Warning! They will let you down. They are imperfect.

“Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” Hebrews 12:9

We live in a crazy mixed up time when so many fathers are absent from the home and the lives of their children. Either they are work-a-holics trying to put food on the table, or they are deadbeats who don’t want any responsibility. God intended earthly fathers to be a picture of our heavenly father; that we as children would feel their sacrificial love, experience their protection, and in return have great honor and respect for them. That’s why God hates divorce, sex outside of marriage, and alternative lifestyles. The design on earth is supposed to be a copy and shadow of heaven. Can you guess who messed it all up? Someone less than a true father, I assure you! John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, in the spirit of Elijah- Luke 1:17, by turning the hearts of the fathers to their children. My prayer is that the same spirit of Elijah will come and do it again! And may our hearts be turned to our heavenly Father again!!!! In Jesus’ name.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” 1 John 3:1

Because of Jesus, we can receive a spirit of adoption by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). Because THE SON made us sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:6).

easter-cross — For the free printable coloring page click >>> Easter-cross

I hope that if you are feeling lonely, abandoned, heavy, guilty, burdened with sins, the weight of which keeps you from choosing Jesus, that you will know that you’ve not dug a hole for yourself too deep and too wide that God cannot or will not reach down into and pull you up out of. God the father sent His Son to that cross for YOU! To set you free. He paid the penalty for your sin. By His blood your criminal case with God can be hereby … DISMISSED! Just like the thief on the cross, the friend of Barabbas. The world may judge you guilty, but Jesus died for you, and paradise is waiting.

Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32)

May I pray for you?

Lord I am a sinner. I’ve dug a deep pit for myself. I am a fool to be pittied. I’ve made just about every bad choice a person can make. I’ve been deceived. But Lord, today I choose YOU!!!!! Lord, set me free. Come and sweep my house and put it in order, and then fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Kick the devil out of my life and seal up every crack and crevasse where he might seek to re-enter. Set my feet upon solid rock and protect me from the storms my enemy brings against me. When Satan comes in like a flood, may You raise up a standard against him. May the plans of the enemy be exposed and may the fate he plans for me personally be his own demise, just like Haman in the Bible. Set Your hedge around me O Lord. Encompass me with safe boundaries. Expand my territory so that the gates of hell may not prevail. Renew my mind. Give me strength. And when my accuser comes to you asking to sift me as wheat, because I fell in a moment of weekness, Lord may the answer be NO! Let me not make excuses for the trespasses I’ve committed, but be forgiven of my sins, and cleansed from all unrighteousness. May the curses be broken. Help me not to pay forward the sins of my past, but let your kindness be in me. Bless me and my family that we may bless others. Give me eyes to see and hearts to feel compassion, and hands overflowing with generosity for those in need. Suit me up in the Spiritual Armor. Comfort me with the peace that passes understanding. Fill me with wisdom and knowledge from Your word to light my path and be a beacon of hope for others. All glory and honor to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Taste and see that the Lord is good!

Come for Supper, Feast on This, Recipes

Soup’s On!

December 20, 2016October 1, 2017 mrshlovesjesus

In this post are my recipes for…

Green Chili
Red Chili
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Creamy Poblano Soup
Farmhouse Potato with bacon and jalapeno
White Bean, Andouille, and Kale Soup
Zuppa Tuscano
Nacho Cheese Soup
Clam Chowder in a bread Boule

It’s that time of year when a bowl of steaming hot soup with a side of hot, fresh baked, heavily buttered, crusty bread not only warms the body, but the heart and soul as well. I have been asked soooo many times for these soup recipes that I decided to make a place for them here.

My husband says it is impossible for me to make a small batch of anything. Tis true I suppose. So, if you find yourself with more soup than you can eat, please wrap some up and take it to a neighbor, or share it with friends in the office, or bring a bowl to your child’s teacher, for lunch on a blustery winter day!

Mom’s Green Chili

…First we have to make the roast!…

1 8-lb Boston Butt Pork Roast, patted dry and rubbed all over with this dry rub:

1 heaping Tablespoon Chili Powder

1 heaping Tablespoon dried Cumin

1 heaping Tablespoon smoked hot Paprika (Pimenton Picante)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper mélange

Place roast on grate in roasting pan, cover with foil, and put into a preheated 350°F oven for about an hour. After an hour, turn the oven temp down to 225°F leave roast in oven to finish baking until meat is falling off the bone, approximately 3 to 6 hours. I actually leave mine in all day (6 to 8 hours) tightly covered.

I usually always make my green chili from this leftover roast. After the roast has cooled I pull it apart into large chunks (this is a very fatty roast, and I discard all the fat and bone), wrap the meat up in a freezer zip-bag and either put it in the fridge for the next day, or in the freezer, to make my next batch of Green Chili (recipe follows).

Mom’s Spicy Red Chili

3 lbs ground beef (I sometimes switch out one pound with ground bison, or you could use venison)
1 large onion, chopped
3 (14-oz) cans diced fire roasted tomatoes (reduced or NO sodium)
3 (14-oz) cans of low-sodium chicken broth (I use the empty tomatoes can to measure my broth from a larger carton)
3 (14-oz) cans of low-sodium beef stock (again, I use my empty tomatoes can to measure my stock from a larger carton)
9 Tbsp of chili powder (added at different intervals) (I make my own; it’s sooooo much better than anything you can buy at the market – see recipe below)
3 Tbsp of yellow corn meal or fine masa flour (used to make tamales)
2 large cloves of garlic, mashed and minced

In a large, high-sided frying pan, or dutch oven, fry burger meat on medium high heat until cooked through. Remove from heat. Drain off excess fat. Return dutch oven to medium high heat and add onion to the ground meat. Stir and cook together a few minutes. Dump in the tomatoes, chicken and beef stocks, garlic, 6 spoonsful of the chili powder, and then the corn meal. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cover and let cook for 1 hour.

Remove lid, stir, and add 2-3 more spoonsful of chili powder. Taste for seasoning. If a soupier chili is desired, add a tomato can full of water. If you want a thicker chili, stir in a tablespoon or two more of masa. Stir, replace lid and let cook another 30 minutes. Taste to make sure it is yummy before serving. Add a can or two of drained rinsed beans if desired. I like to add 1 (14-oz) can of pintos and 1 (14-oz) can of red beans.

Serve with crackers (I have to spread real butter on mine) or cornbread (I usually always make a Mexican style cornbread – I use a honey cornbread mix and add shredded cheese, diced onion, and diced jalapeno to the mix). Chili may be served with any of the following toppings: crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese, chopped red or green onions, diced jalapenos, a dallop of sour cream, etc. This recipe makes a lot, but you can use the leftovers to make Frito Pies, Chili-cheese Dogs, and Hay Stacks.

Colleen’s Homemade Chili Powder

3 Ancho Chiles (dried), stemmed, seeded, and torn into small pieces
3 Cascabel/Guajillo chiles (dried), stemmed, seeded, and torn
4 Arbol/Cayenne chiles (dried), stemmed, seeded, and torn
2 Pasilla chiles (dried), stemmed, seeded, and torn
2 New Mexico Red chiles (dried), stemmed, seeded, and torn
1 Tablespoon Cumin seeds
1 Tablespoon dried Mexican Oregano
1 Tablespoon hot Paprika
Chili Pequin (I crush about 10 of these little guys seperately and only add it when I can really bring the heat – and otherwise it can be added to individual bowls)

Place the chiles and cumin seeds in a saute pan or cast iron skillet and toast over medium heat about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a glass bowl to cool completely. Once cool, place in a blender (my Bullet is perfect), along with the other ingredients and process until a fine powder. Allow the powder to settle for several minutes before lifting the lid. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Use for making chili, to season Mexican Street Corn, or as an ingredient in BBQ sauces and dry rubs.

Mom’s Chicken Tortilla Soup (mildly spicy)

Mom’s Creamy Poblano Soup (spicy)

Let me start with my prep work on this one. First, I grow my own Poblano Chilies in my garden, and in the fall/early winter when the weather calls for frost I harvest everything and hurry and preserve it, either by drying or freezing.

After (1) picking my Poblanos and (2) washing them, I (3) roast them in the oven until the skins are charred and bubbled all the way around, then I (4) seal them in plastic bags and let them sit until I am done with all my roasting. Finally I (5) put on a pair of latex gloves and begin sliding the skins off, pulling the stems out, and wiping all the seeds from the insides.

Then I fold each chili in half and tuck them inside a freezer zip-bag, about 15 chilies to a bag, squeeze all the air out, zip the bags closed, fold the bags over, and tuck about three bags of the chilies into another zip-bag. Then I stash these bags in my freezer for soup all winter long (or until they run out).

Recipe:

8 cups Chicken Broth (I’m kind of an organic girl, so if I can’t find organic broth I usually make my own)

2 large Yukon gold potatoes, diced

2 large onions, diced

Kernels from 6 cobs of sweet corn

1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste

1 stick of butter

4 cloves of garlic

¼ cup fresh parsley

Bring broth to a boil and add all the ingredients after that. Cook until tender. Add:

15 processed Poblano Chilies (as described above)

Whirl contents of the soup pot in a blender until smooth, then return to the soup pot and add:

6 cups Heavy Cream (or 3 cups heavy cream and 3 cups Half-and-half)

Let this simmer on the stove until ready to serve. When ready to serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with shredded Pepper Jack cheese.

Mom’s Creamy Farmhouse Potato Soup, with Bacon and Jalapenos

12 medium potatoes (I actually prefer russets for this soup, plus they keep better so I usually have them on hand), peeled and cut into bite-size chunks

1 large white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 ribs of celery, chopped

2 to 3 Jalapenos, finely minced (if your jalapenos are mild, use more, if spicy use less, to taste)

1 large (48-oz) container of chicken broth

2 small or 1 large can of Cream of Chicken soup (I prefer Campbells)

1 stick of butter

2 cups of whole milk

1 8-oz package Cream Cheese, at room temp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Fry bacon either while soup cooks, or before starting the soup. Lay on paper towels, and set aside. Place potatoes, onion, garlic, celery, and jalapenos in a large soup pot. Add the chicken broth and enough water to cover the potatoes about one inch over. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes depending on the size of the chunks. Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir until blended and cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a steaming simmer, stirring occasionally so the bottom of the soup doesn’t stick and burn. Ladle into bowls and garnish just before serving! Make the garnish pretty by first adding a dollop of sour cream to the center, then sprinkle with crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, and chopped green onion (and pass the diced jalapeno for those who want a little more heat). Bon appetite!

Garnishes:

Sour cream

½ lb crispy fried bacon

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 bunch green onions, chopped

Fresh chopped Parsley

2 large jalapenos, minced

Mom’s Spicy White Bean, Andouille, and Kale Soup

This is one of those soups that I make for my daughter. She and I LOVE this soup, especially on a cold winter day (when we can lounge in our jammies and eat and watch a marathon of something on TV). My crazy husband is not a fan of Kale, or really anything green-leafy and floating in his soup, so this is a special treat for when he is out-of-town and the girls and I can have a girl’s night!

1 pkg Andouille sausage (if you can find the semi-hard Chorizo, that works too, or even a jalapeno smoked sausage), cut into bite-size pieces

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into small chunks

½ white onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 finely minced Poblano chile

4 cups Chicken broth

1 14.5-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes

1 bunch of kale (fresh, raw, and washed well, stems chopped off and discarded), torn roughly into bite-size pieces – I love Kale, so for me moooore is better!!!!

1 14-oz can Cannellini beans, drained and washed (Garbanzo’s will also work)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fry the sausage in a heavy soup pot until crispy on the edges. Toss in the potatoes, onions, garlic, and poblano. Saute for a few moments and then add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Simmer for about 20 minutes, and then add the kale. Taste it and add salt to taste. Grind some pepper also to taste. Simmer another 20 minutes and add the beans. Allow them to heat through. When steaming hot, serve with warm, crusty bread slathered in fresh, creamery butter. Oh Lord, I’ve died and gone to heaven!!!!

Mom’s Zuppa Tuscano (spicy)

I found this recipe online, published by Big Oven, and tweaked it to make it my own.

1 lb Italian sausage (my grocery meat dept. has parmesan and something else Italian meatballs that I brown and chop up, plus the Italian sausage in casings – which I remove from the casings, brown and break up)

1 tsp red pepper flakes; (I grow all sorts of hot peppers in my garden– Hungarian paprika, cayenne, poblano, serrano, jalapeno, thai hots, habanero, etc. – and dry them and grind them into powder. This is what I use in my soup.)

3 large russet potatoes, cut into chunks

1 large onion, diced

1 lb. bacon, chopped (I cook mine crispy the day before, wrap it in paper towel, and place in a plastic bag in the fridge. Unlike Big Oven, I don’t add it to the soup until after I’ve added the kale and cream)

4 garlic cloves; minced (I use the biggest outside ones)

3 cups kale, chopped (I’m sorry, I really never measure this, I just add until it looks good, probably more than 3 cups because I LOVE Kale). Remove the tough ribs and tear the leaves roughly. Rinse really well.

2 boxes (32 oz ea) chicken broth

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Liberal sprinkling of white pepper

(I add about a ¼ tsp of my *special chili pequin and pepper mélange seasoning also)

Original recipe makes 10 Servings. Cook Bacon ahead of time and have ready. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a pot. Drain excess fat, remove sausage and set aside. In the same pan, sauté onions and garlic (I cooked mine in a little butter). Sauté for approximately 5 mins. or until the onions are soft. Add the chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes. Add kale during the last 5 minutes. Add heavy cream and the cooked sausage and cook until heated through. Add white pepper to taste.

If you want the soup a little thicker, you can make a blonde roux in a separate pan and incorporate it into the soup. I make my own *spice mixture of ground pepper mélange, ground chili pequin, and kosher salt and I sprinkle my portion with it just before serving. I also add some to the soup, but careful not to overload, it in case some folks were sensitive to the spice. The soup is especially good when served with warm, buttered crusty bread!

Mom’s Spicy Nacho Cheese Soup

1 gallon can of Nacho (or Cheddar) Cheese

2 cups Chicken broth

4 cups water

1 Poblano chili, diced

6 ribs of celery, diced

2 cups of ham, diced

1 small white onion, minced

Place all ingredients in a large crockpot, cover and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours, or until celery and onion are tender and soup is piping hot. Great served with Panini sandwiches!

Serving Suggestion:

Thin sliced Italian Bread, brushed with olive oil on one side

Fillings:

Mozzarella

Provolone

Heirloom Tomatoes

Prosciutto

Pepperoni

Fresh basil

Roasted red peppers

Portabella mushrooms

Spinach

Arugula

And whatever else makes your tongue dance

Put your sandwiches together, olive oiled sides out, and then grill in a Panini press. I don’t personally own a Panini press, but the George Foreman grill works pretty well if you clamp it down.

Colleen’s Clam Chowder

bread-boule-clam-chowder — *Colleen’s Clam Chowder, served in a fresh sour dough bread boule from the bakery! Toast the lid and drizzle it with garlic butter for an added treat!*

May our soup bowls be deep and our friends plentious!!!!

“And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food” Genesis 25:29

Come for Supper, Entertaining, Family Fun, Feast on This, Fun with Friends, Recipes

Come for Supper – Asian Hot Pot Party

December 18, 2016January 27, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

This party was originally featured in my book, “Come for Supper? the memoirs of a reluctant hostess“ (now out of print).

It is one of my kids’ very favorite parties I ever threw while they were still living at home. It is also one of the favorites of my cooking club group, who helped me test some of the recipes in the book.

It’s like an “Asian fondue” party! Everyone cooks their own food — which is a reluctant hostess’s dream party, right? All you have to do is collect some equipment, do some grocery shopping, do a little slicing, dicing, and chopping, mix up some sauces, set up tables, toss a CD in the player, and decorate. Voila! (– or however they say it in Chinese).

So now, imagine yourself invited to my house for Chinese…

You come knocking on my door and can hear music from the Orient playing faintly, and you can also smell what smells like dinner cooking (in reality it’s just chicken broth and hot peanut oil). You’re dressed in your best Asian get-up (complete with a coolie douli hat, because that’s what I asked you to in the invitation) and as you ring my doorbell, are excited for me to turn that knob and invite you inside. When I do, you find me decked out in a green t-shirt with Chinese scribbles across it, my hair tied up with chopsticks, and wearing flip-flop house slippers on my feet. Inside the house there are paper umbrellas hanging upside down from the ceiling over the lights, and little paper lanterns strung about. Some little Chinese fans scattered on the tables and around. Vases of bamboo set around as gifts for guests to take home after the party.

Some of my other guests have already arrived and are wearing red silk dresses, tank tops with black leggings, and one is wearing a white Gi, tied with a yellow (beginner’s) belt. There is laughing and mingling as everyone crowds into the kitchen to pour themselves a drink. Your options are hot Green, Oolong, or Jasmine tea, Bubble Tea, a shot of sake, or a cold imported Chinese Tsingtao beer.

The music that is playing sounds a little bit like a Chinese version of Manheim Steamroller, so you ask, “What is this playing?” and I answer, “It’s Twelve Girls Band!” Hmmm…nice choice, right? My daughter turned me on to them.

And finally, when everyone has arrived, we take our places around the tables. There are two. Each has been set up with a “hot pot” in the center. The wok at one table is filled with a steaming hot liquid bubbling inside. On either side are platters of raw ingredients, meats on one side and veggies on the other. At each place setting around the table is a bamboo mat, with a small platter centered on it. A set of chopsticks lays across it, and each is flanked by several small cups of sauces of various colors.

At the other table is a wok of hot peanut oil. The platter to one side is egg roll wrappers, little cups of water, and a bowl of filling , and on the platter on the other side are various raw meats and veggies and a bowl of tempura batter. The guests sitting at this table get to fry their supper. Their place settings are the same.

I gather my guests to the tables and ask if we may join hands, as I play an audio version of the Lord’s Prayer being spoken in Chinese (from YouTube) and then we pray the same prayer together in English.

And with that, I explain to everyone how we’ll select a meat or veggie from the platters using the fondue forks, and then plunge our selections into the hot broth to cook. After a minute or so we can bring the morsels to our personal platters and spoon on whichever sauce we’d like to try. After half an hour or so those seated at the broth wok will take their personal platters and trade places with those seated around the hot oil wok to make egg rolls and tempura things. And then, when everyone has had a chance to try everything, I’ll toss a bunch of noodles into the broth wok and in a few moments serve a small cup of noodle soup to each of my guests.

Of course we all sit around the woks and cook and eat until we are so full we can’t breathe, and that’s when I suggest we leave those tables and gather in the living room for games. I have several set up to choose from: Go, Mahjongg, and Chinese Checkers (even though I’ve been told Chinese Checkers aren’t really Chinese – although if you turn my game tin over to the underside it says, “Made in China” which is good enough for me. Of course everyone is welcome to refill their drinks, and those who are up for learning a new game can sit down to it. Those who know already how to play are encouraged to teach others, and those who are not into new and complicated games can play Chinese Checkers. We all had a set of those at home when we were kids, right? Easy. Only trouble is Chinese Checkers is over in a short time and boring after a while, so for a backup activity I have a Chinese movie all ready to go.

Although the Chinese do not eat dessert (or take beverages) as part of their meal, they do snack on sweets between meals. Their sweets traditionally consist of fruit or almond cookies. So I have a big fruit platter set up in the kitchen with cut up melon, bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries, grapes, berries, and whatever else is in season at the grocery store, along with a platter of crisp Almond cookies, and those yummy rice krispy type treats made with sesame seeds that they serve at my favorite Chinese place on main street, plus a big pile of Fortune Cookies (which also are an American invention, but at least from China Town in San Francisco).

My sister has this fun little tradition of adding “…in the bathroom” to the end of all Chinese fortune cookie fortunes, which makes them kind of funny, so I of course suggest we do that. And everyone reads theirs, and we all laugh, because we’re supposed to. And it’s a little awkward, so we refill our drinks and grab some dessert, and head out to the family room to play our games or watch the movie.

What is the movie, you ask? Well, you have your choice: I have China Cry for the Christian crowd, who possibly wants to be inspired by a flick about faith, or I have the Karate Kid for all of us who remember that from what, the 80’s? I have a Bruce Lee flick, and a Jackie Chan. Or, I also have the Season One episodes of Better Late Than Never, with Henry Winkler, George Foreman, Terry Bradshaw, and William Shatner saved on my DVR for anyone that missed that and wants a good laugh. (They are probably available on Hulu or Netflix too, and the NBC website).

(In mybook I also suggested that a host of this particular supper may want to invite some missionaries from their church who have returned from China and would have interesting stories to share, pictures, and treasures that we could touch and pass around. I also suggested that we could talk as a group about going in on a donation to support a missionary we know, or give a donation to an organization that gives out Bibles in China, or give a money gift to a couple adopting a child from China).

When we’re ready to call it a night, I hand out fireworks (just sparklers and party poppers and the safe backyard varieties) and we all wander out to the front yard to end our night with a BANG! But not too big of a bang because all the neighbors are sleeping. Shhhhh! I have little red goodie bags also hanging in the trees and ask everyone to go look for one by flashlight and take with them before they head to their cars. They have little trinkets from the dollar store in them, a chinese jump rope, some small candies, and a few shiny new quarters – because that’s what I’m told they do in China. As each guest gathers their things to leave there are kisses and hugs all around. Engines begin starting and lights start flipping on, and one by one the cars drive away. I stand there and wave, then turn and contentedly wonder back inside my house with a heart full of great memories and a sink full of dishes to wash. I can’t think of a better way to wreck my kitchen.

MONGOLIAN HOT POT
You’ll need a platter of meats and a platter of veggies, cut up and ready to cook fondue style.

Meats: Scallops, Shrimp, Chicken breasts (cut into strips), Beef (flatiron steak cut into small strips), Pork (loin, cut in small strips or pieces). Place meats on a platter with partitioned wells (like a serving set for tacos) would be ideal. This way the meats won’t mingle and contaminate each other in their raw state. I cut my meats and wrapped my platter in plastic wrap, and stored in the refrigerator the morning of my dinner. Be sure to clean cutting surfaces with warm, soapy water and Clorox wipes between meats and when finished.

Veggies: Carrot coins, cut on the diagonal and then in half, Celery slices, cut on the diagonal and then in half, Snow peas, Cabbage leaves, Broccoli florets, Green pepper slices, Zucchini-cut on the diagonal and then in half, Mushrooms (straw or shitake), Green onions, cut on the diagonal.

Additional ingredients for the soup: bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, and noodles (I don’t really care for the traditional cellophane noodles, so I substitute Ramen or thin spaghetti), garlic cloves, and a smidgen of honey. I also like spicy Thai peppers and cilantro but not everyone does so ask your guests before you add these to the pot, as they can easily be added to individual bowls of soup instead.

Add chicken broth to a shabu yaki, (or electric wok, or an electric skillet or large fondue pot). Fill to about an inch or two below the rim. Place in the center of the supper table. Be sure to wrap the cord securely down a table leg so no one accidentally trips on it and pulls the hot pot over. Plug into a power source and set the temperature dial at the boiling point (about 215 degrees F).

Hot Pot is like fondue. Guests are seated at the table with plates and samplings of sauces. Each uses chopsticks (or fondue forks), takes meat and veggies from the platters, and cooks in the boiling broth. They bring their cooked morsels to their individual plates and dip in their choice of sauce (recipes below) before eating. Once everyone has tried everything and is near being full, noodles are added to the pot, along with the additional ingredients (mentioned above), and then everyone is served a bowl of soup.

NOTE: After my supper I wrapped up all my leftovers and the next day made the best stir-fry ever with all the meats and all the veggies, and what was left of the sauces. If you prefer, this would also be a great idea for your Chinese Supper. Instead of making ‘hot pot’ as above, place all of your ingredients out on the table in the same manner, but replace the broth pot with a hot wok and a little peanut oil instead of broth, and let your guests make their own little “stir-fry” concoctions that they cook themselves. Kind of like a self-serve Mongolian Grill at home.

SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
3 Tablespoons Cornstarch or tapioca starch

1 cup water

2/3 cup rice vinegar

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

½ teaspoon of red food coloring

In a saucepan dissolve the cornstarch in the water, add the remaining ingredients. Heat over medium high heat until sauce boils and thickens.

PLUM SAUCE
2 cups plum jam, jelly, or preserves

1 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 teaspoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons wine vinegar

Mix jam and applesauce in saucepan. Bring to boil. Combine ginger, cornstarch, and soy sauce, vinegar. Stir into jam mixture. Cook stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Cool. Refrigerate until serving time. Bring to room temp before serving.

HOT MUSTARD
½ cup dry mustard

4 Tablespoons peanut oil

4 Tablespoons water

½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

½ cup white vinegar

Mix mustard and oil in small bowl. Gradually add the 4 Tbsp. of water, stirring constantly to form a smooth paste. Stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Gradually add the cup of water and vinegar. Blend thoroughly. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Gradually add to mustard mixture, stirring constantly until blended. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve at room temp.

TERIYAKI SAUCE
1 cup pineapple juice

½ cup packed light brown sugar

4 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan, simmer to blend flavors.

GARLIC GINGER SAUCE
2 Tablespoons ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

½ cup water

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup soy sauce

Mix all ingredients. Use as a dipping sauce.

DUCK SAUCE
1 small can cling peaches in heavy syrup

¼ teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

4 teaspoons red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon water

Drain pieces and reserve juice for something else. Mash peaches with a fork or potato masher until well crushed. Add mustard, ginger root, vinegar, and Chinese Five Spice. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to sauce, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, continuing to stir, until thickened. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Bottled Soy Sauce (try Kikkoman, which is slightly sweet, and La Choy which is more salty)

EGG ROLLS (this recipe was given to me by my Japanese/American friend, Cyndi)

1 (16-oz) pkg Jimmy Dean regular sausage

Shredded or chopped Napa cabbage (a green cabbage will also work)

½ pkg of bean sprouts (approx. 2 cups)

¾ cup grated carrot

Grate about 2” of ginger root on top

Mix together by hand. Lay one egg roll wrapper on work surface and place a heaping spoon of the meat & veggie mixture in the middle. Fold the wrapper as shown on the packaging. Get a little water on your fingers and moisten the final corner of the wrapper so that it will stick and seal the roll. They must be cooked fairly quickly after they are made as the wrappers will become soggy if wrapped up and stored in the fridge for very long. And they can’t be fried and kept for very long either, as they lose their crunch. They should be the last thing you put together for your meal, moments before your guests arrive. Or, let your guests make these themselves, just as with hot pot above. Have the meat mixture and egg roll wrappers (and small cups of water) ready for each guest to assemble on his or her own.

Set up an electric wok with enough peanut oil for deep frying (again fastening the cord down a table leg so it isn’t accidentally tripped over). Oil temperature should be about 360 degrees F. Consult your owner’s manual. Drop a few egg rolls at a time (not more than 4 or it will cool the oil too much) into hot oil and turn once in a while during frying so they cook evenly, until golden brown. Lay on the rack or drain on paper towels. Serve with soy sauce, hot mustard, or sweet and sour sauce.

TEMPURA: You can also mix up a batch of tempura batter and let guests batter their Hot Pot meats and veggies instead and fry them. When I had my Hot Pot party I set up a soup table and a fry table. I sat the girls down around the soup (Hot Pot) and the men around the wok. I intended to have my crowd eat for a while at each table and then switch, but the men liked frying and didn’t want the hot pot, so they ended up frying egg rolls and tempura things and passing to us, and then just had a small bowl of our noodle soup at the end.

TEMPURA SAUCE

½ cup chicken stock

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons cream sherry

2 Tablespoons grated daikon (Japanese radish)

2 Tablespoons peeled and grated fresh gingerroot

Combine first three ingredients. Just before serving, stir in daikon and ginger.

((( Or just use a boxed mix. That’s easiest! )))

So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

Feast on This

Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken (& artichokes)

October 18, 2016May 12, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

INGREDIENTS

1 Stick Butter
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 c. finely chopped sweet onion
4 TBSP Lemon juice (bottled is fine, or you are welcome to use fresh squeezed)
6 Chicken Breasts, (boneless/skinless), pounded thin
Lemon Pepper Seasoning (my favorite is the McCormic California Style)
Fresh Basil
Flour
1 pint Heavy Cream
Capers (optional)
Cooked Spaghetti (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle chicken with lemon pepper seasoning on both sides and press seasoning into the chicken. Place chicken breasts into frying pan with a little olive oil or butter and fry on each side for approximately 8 to 10 minutes per side, or until internal temperature of 160*F is reached. Remove chicken to a platter; cover and keep in a warm place.

Add 1 stick of butter to drippings in frying pan and melt on medium to medium high heat. Toss in garlic and onion and saute for a minute or so, then add lemon juice. Add 3 Tablespoons of flour and stir to blend until smooth. If the flour doesn’t totally absorb all the liquid, add just bit more flour until you have a nice peanut butter type consistency. Allow the flour to cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and wisk to blend. If sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it until the gravy is the consistency you desire.

Add the chicken breasts back to the pan and let them rewarm. If you like capers you can add a couple Tablespoons to the sauce just before serving.

Serve chicken alone, or on a bed of spaghetti or cooked rice.

Slice several leaves of basil into strips and use to garnish chicken. Also a slice of lemon would make it look pretty. Sprinkle with a little more lemon pepper if desired.

How to prepare ARTICHOKES

First select nice firm artichokes with tightly closed leaves.

Cut the stems off (so they will set in the pan upright to cook)

Cut the top off, and the tips off each of the leaves (as they have thorns that will poke you)

Place about 2″ water in a very large pot and bring to a boil, add a tsp salt

Add artichokes to the boiling water and cover with a lid

Boil for about an hour

Check for doneness by grabbing a leaf from a middle place of one of the artichokes with a pair of tongs and tugging it. If it pulls out easily, the chokes are done, but just to be sure let the leaf you pulled out cool slightly and then holding it on the cut end bite onto it (about half way from each end) and drag it between your teeth. If the meat slips off the leaf easily, the choke is done.

I serve mine with a special dipping sauce. This one is my family’s favorite:

1 cup mayo
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 ½ tsp Lemon Pepper

Stir together, cover, and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. 4 servings

Family Fun, Family Reunion, Holidays, Summer Activities for Kids, Testimonies & Personal Stories

Ways to Celebrate Grandparents Day

September 24, 2016September 25, 2016 mrshlovesjesus

I’m a little late posting this for THIS year, or maybe I’m just waaaay early for next year? Ha. But, here are some ways I thought would be nice to celebrate Grandparent’s Day. But, in all honesty, please don’t save them up for that one special day a year. If you have grandparents living close, do some of these with them as soon and as often as you can. Time passes so quickly. Memories fade. The breath of life evaporates before we know it. Don’t let it get away from you. Our elders are a special treasure!

“Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.” – Psalms 71:9

Family Tree

If your family doesn’t already have one, let the kids start a family pedigree chart with their grandparent. Let them do as much of the investigative work as they can to fill it in. First let them fill in their name in the center bottom space, and then just above it let them fill in the names of their dad and mom. Above those spaces are spaces for grandparents on the paternal and maternal sides. Spend a day or at least an afternoon with grandparents collecting information: names, birthplaces, careers, military, where family died and are buried. Ask for obituaries, photographs, family Bible notes, newspaper clippings and stories. It’s actually a lot of fun seeing where your family came from, not just ethnicity, but travels, both foreign and domestic. It’s also a great way to learn history. It means so much more and is so much more interesting when you find out you had actual family living in those times and places and events.

Blank fan tree — If you would like the electronic file for this chart so that you can print one for your personal use, please send your request to mrshlovesjesus@gmail.com, and write “Pedigree Poster” in the subject line.

This is a Pedigree chart I created as a Christmas gift to my family last year. I took the digital file of the pedigree chart above to my local print shop (also Staples, Copy Max, Walgreens, and even Walmart can print them) and had it printed on poster-size paper. I printed mine in color on plain paper, but they can also be printed on photo paper, and then framed in poster size frames.

“Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” – Proverbs 17:6

Beside the pedigree poster hanging on my wall I have a decorative tree with photos of hubby & me, our parents, and our grandparents, three generations.

Video Interview

On one of our visits to my husband’s folks’ house, we were blessed to have his uncle stop by for a visit. He was in town to speak at a local high school about his experiences as a soldier in WWII (Europe). He was often asked to speak at schools about his personal experiences, because he was such a gifted story-teller. He wrote a book as well, which we treasure having a copy of. We of course were very interested to hear his stories and so asked if he would share some with us, which he happily did. We all sat around in the living room listening intently as he told of being on the boat and being soooo sea sick and all the other men being soooo very sea sick also, and then being dropped on the battlefield, and of his experiences as a Forward Observer, which was very dangerous. I could kick myself a thousand times that we didn’t get video of that visit (which is why I make the suggestion to you now). It is just so moving to hear a personal relative tell of historical events from their own personal experience, and see their facial expressions, and watch their body language. It is just so much more captivating than a book in history class. So I encourage you, if you have a grandparent, ask them to tell you a story about some important time in their life and video tape it.

“Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” – Leviticus 19:32

Something our family DOES have, and I can tell you is an enormous treasure, is a compilation of my husband’s folks old home movies that they took on an old 8mm recorder. They had the movies transferred to VHS when that was the most modern thing, and gave us a copy. But as hubby and I were watching these silent movies, we realized that much of those people and places were unknown to us. So the next time his parents visited us we asked them to sit down and watch it with us and tell us where all those places were and who the people are. I set up a cassette recorder to record their narration. Many years later I took the old silent VHS and the narration on the cassettes and put them together on DVD. Then I made several copies and gave them as Christmas gifts for our family. It was the very next Christmas after grandpa had died and you can’t image what a treasure it was to the whole family to get to hear grandpa’s voice again, and laugh at his sense of humor, especially since the family had no idea we’d ever gotten that sound tract.

Also, if you have been to a funeral recently, most funeral homes ask the family to bring them old photos for a video slide show, set to music, to play during the service. Why wait until a person dies for this? Ask your grandparents now if you can borrow their old photographs, and then scan them into digital form and make a slide show of their lives from birth to old age. You can add captions to the photos that say where the photos were taken and who the people are, and you can also add a favorite song or songs of theirs to go along with it. Most computers have the software for making photo slide show DVD’s on them. I used Movie Maker to make DVD’s of our family vacations, weddings, and a memorial of our dad. It would be a nice trip down memory lane for them to get to see their lives laid out in such a way, and a special thing to share with them while they are living.

“And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.” – Ruth 4:15

Old Letters and Great Books

My husband’s dad served in Korea, and wrote letters home to his parents a couple times a week. We found the letters a while back, along with a bunch of pictures he took while in boot camp and on the front lines. We also were fortunate to get to inherit his army coat, a hat, and medals, maps, and various other personal objects from the war, along with the flag that was presented to the family at his funeral, and the bullet casings from the 21 gun salute. Altogether the letters and photos, and photos of the objects made a wonderful book that is and shall forever be a cherished keepsake for generations.

I also collected all our family history, stories, pedigrees, photos, birth, marriage, and death certificates, newspaper clippings, obituaries, maps, military histories and pension papers, pioneer stories, censuses, etc. and made it all into a book (first a ring binder, and then a printed, spiral bound book with a hard cover) to share with my sisters. I made scrapbook pages of the old photos and scanned those pages, and made separate chapters for each person, telling each person’s individual stories. I visited courthouses, libraries, and museums in the towns where they lived (the ones that were closeby) and collected as much information as I could about them and the history of those areas (marriage, divorce, land records, court records, if they played on baseball teams, delivered mail, or worked in local factories, or acted, sang, or danced in theatre, etc.). I visited cemetaries and churches and found headstones and church records. I visited newspaper offices and got old newspaper stories and obituaries. I will confess, it is a lot of work, but truly it is fun and rewarding work, and I sooooo encourage you to gather as much of this kind of information as you can from living relatives, while you can. Honor your parents and your grandparents by preserving their legacy in words and pictures. They will be delighted and honored to see all your efforts as well.

“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.” – Proverbs 20:29

Grandma’s Recipes

What is your favorite thing that grandma makes? Why not make a date to make it with her, and for heaven sakes get her recipe! Get ALL her recipes, and make them into a cookbook. My husband’s family actually collected recipes from everyone in the family one year and made a family cookbook for all of us. We all contributed, and we all paid for our own copies of the book, and it is very much a prized possession of mine to this day. Each person that contributed recipes also told a story to go with it, like if it was the first meal they made for their husband, or if it was their mother’s favorite thing that they made, etc.

I have myself very fond memories of having picnics with my grandmother. She always made her standard cucumber sandwiches, hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper, and a thermos of iced tea. When’s the last time you went on a picnic with your grandma? Or soaked your feet in a tub of hose water in the back yard? …And listened to her tell stories about a time she got in trouble as a kid. …Or what it was like as a teenager going to school. …Or her first boyfriend, or first date. …Or what she and her brothers/sisters did for fun.

“Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” – Psalms 71:18

Play a Game

My husband has fond memories of playing Yatzee with his grandmother. It was her favorite game to play, and if he could beat her he felt like it was a real accomplishment. Grandma was apparently very good at Yatzee. My grandma liked to play cards, and her game of choice to play with us kids was Rummy. She also showed us how to play Solitaire and let us play at the table while she cooked and baked. I also remember making card houses in the living room, using the carpet to help hold the cards in place. My sisters and I made elaborate card houses, some more fragile than others. Does your grandma or grandpa have a favorite game they like to play. Ask if you can come play it with them one afternoon. Or, take them to play Bingo, or Pinochle or Bridge at the Senior Center, dominoes, Cribbage, or take them bowling, or to play miniature golf, or darts. You might find out they’re pretty darn good at it.

“With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.”

– Job 12:12

Other Ideas

Go for a walk

Go fishing

Do some gardening (plant an herb garden in pots)

Go to church with them

Visit them and read them letters that they’ve gotten in the mail

Take grandma to get her hair and nails done

Take them to their doctor visits

Take them to the store to do their shopping, or run a few errands

Take them to a veterans memorial (if there is one with a spouse or loved one memorialized there)

Take them to a cemetery to put flowers on someone’s grave (for a loved one’s birthday rememberance, or veterans/memorial day)

Take them to a class reunion, or a small town annual get-together

Take them for a drive in the country

Play old records

Watch an old movie

Take them out for lunch

Invite them to your house for coffee (and devotions)

Take them to visit an old friend they haven’t seen in a while

Take them out for ice cream

Sit on a park bench and feed the birds, or the ducks (pond)

Take them for a boat ride (a little row boat across a pond or lake) and bring an umbrella for shade

Take them to a grandchild’s school event, or track meet, or soccer game

Take them to a rodeo, a fair, a car or horse race, or baseball game

Take them to lookout point after dark to look at the city lights

Ask them to teach you how to knit, crochet, sew, quilt, or tie a fly (fishing), etc.

Take them to the shooting range for some target practice

Rent a golf cart and take a drive through a scenic golf course

Take them for a drive to new parts of the city

Take them something you’ve baked or made and visit for an afternoon

Take a pizza and cokes and sit on the porch and eat it with them

Do something for them that is too hard for them to do themselves, but needs done, like vacuum, trim a tree, re-attach a rain gutter, paint, mow, move a hose, shovel a sidewalk, take mail out to the mailbox, light a pilot light, replace a lightbulb, put a heavy dish back up in the cupboard, put laundry away, etc.

Call and check on them at least once a week

Always tell them you love them, as often as you can

Send them cards and letters, with pictures

Pray with them and for them, for their health needs, and other needs

“The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.”

-Proverbs 16:31

Come for Supper, Feast on This, Man Food, Recipes

Italian Meatball Beerrocks

September 16, 2016September 16, 2016 mrshlovesjesus

I’ve never considered myself a good cook, just a gal with a collection of pretty good recipes that manage to turn out decently every so often. Many times, in despiration, I’ve invented things based upon the contents of my cupboards and refrigerator, and predictably crashed and burned with many EPIC failures over the years, but once in a great great while even a blind squirrel gets a nut, and here’s the nut I ended up with recently.

I’d fretted all busy day about what to make for supper. Opened the fridge in between loads of laundry and errands. Surveyed the cupboards between mowing and paying bills. Inspected the freezer between my shower and mopping the floors. Nothing was jumping out at me. Whatever plan I had come up with before my last trip to the grocery store a few days ago was totally escaping my memory. The whole day had now passed and here I was AT crunch time, almost in a panic, hubbie about to walk through the door, and me with still not a clue what to make. The only thing jumping out at me from the fridge was the tube of crescent rolls I’d bought to make sopapilla cheesecake.

I sat down for a quick read of my devotional and there found offered below the scripture, commentary, and prayer, a recipe for “Meatball Sandwiches” … Hmmm… ?

I had a package of Italian meatballs buried in the bottom of my freezer. I had purchased them to make Zuppa Toscano soup a few months ago, but then never made it, because hot summer weather and soup just never seemed to trip my trigger. And niether did speghetti.

What if I used those meatballs and the crescent rolls to make some kind of Italian Beerrocks?

Ingredients

1 pkg Spicy Italian Meatballs

2 sticks of mozzerella string cheese (the ones I had were “Hot Habanero”)

1 tube refrigerator crescent rolls

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Marinara Sauce

Garlic Powder

Italian seasonings

minced serrano chile

Instructions

1. First I cooked the meatballs according to package instructions, in the oven on 375*F, but for only 20 of the 30 minutes recommended.

2. While they cooked, I opened the tube of Crescent Rolls (gosh I hate that – gives me heart failure every time), and laid them out on my work surface and separated the sections. Then I sprinkled each triangle with garlic powder, and some Italian Seasonings.

3. Next I made my marinara sauce, since I didn’t have any jarred speghetti sauce or Butoni in the fridge. I poured two cans of crushed tomatoes into a sauce pot and whirled them with my Braun-wand-thingy until there were no chunks. Then I added about a tablespoon and a half of some Pizza spice I had in my cupboard and about a tsp of Italian Seasonings. And because I like things a little on the spicy side, I added a little bit of minced serrano chile that I had in the fridge. I set the pot on the stove and turned the burner to medium and let the sauce come to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

4. When the meatballs were cooked I removed them from the oven and sliced them part-way with a knife to make room for a piece of string cheese.

5. I placed a spoonful of marinara onto each dough triangle, then put a little pile of shredded parmesan (about a tablespoon worth) on top of each spoonful of sauce.

6. I cut my string cheese sticks into 4 pieces and placed a piece into each meatball, and set a meatball on top of each pile of sauce and parmesan, on each dough triangle as shown in the illustration.

7. I rolled each triangle up tightly, by first pulling the corners up and over the meatball, and then rolling it towards the far corner as shown here:

…And when I had formed nice tight balls, I pinched all the open places closed, and laid each ball on my cookie sheet, about 4″ away from each other to give them room to expand. (NOTE: 1 tube of dough makes 8 rolls. To make the meatballs and dough come out equal, you would need 3 tubes of dough and two 1-doz. pkgs of meatballs. Or, if you just want to make 8, you could cut the remaining meatballs in half and add half to each bun before rolling them up).

8. I placed the cookie sheet into the oven (350*F still warm from cooking the meatballs) and baked them as directed on the dough packaging – about 13 to 15 minutes.

This is what they looked like when they were done baking.

I served my little Beerrocks with a cup of warmed marinara to dip them in. They were delicious. Hubby even thought so. And, because they got the seal of approval from him, I thought I would share them with y’all … just in case you are in a pinch over what to have for supper, and happen to have all these same ingredients tucked away in your cupboards! 🙂

Note: These are only as good as the meatballs you make them with. Not all meatballs are created equal. I can totally vouch for this HEB brand, found in the meat section of the supermarket, or you can make your own if you have a terrific recipe.

Suggestion: Serve with a side Caesar Salad, or a nice cucumber salad (cucumber slices, red onion slices, bell pepper slices, and split cherry tomatoes in a sweet vinegar and oil sauce), or some cottage cheese and fruit, or just some carrot and celery sticks. The kids will love them too!

“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14, KJV

((( P.S. Thanks Ms. Karen for the inspiration!!!!! )))

Come for Supper, Feast on This, Man Food, Recipes

Spicy Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese

September 5, 2016May 3, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

Ingredients

1 16-oz bag Large (or regular) macaroni

1 Stick of butter

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. Salt (or more to taste)

1 tsp Ground Pepper Melange (or less to taste)

1/2 of a sweet, white onion, minced

2 Serrano Chiles, stems removed, minced (mince the seeds also for heat, or discard)

1 7-oz can chopped Hatch Green Chiles (mild)

1 cup whole milk

2 cups Chicken Broth

1 8-oz pkg Shredded Cheese (*Mexican Blend), plus ADD an extra 1/2 cup of Pepper-Jack Cheese, grated

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400*F.

In a large pot, boil water and cook macaroni to “al dente” as instructed on the package. Drain off the water and place macaroni in a buttered baking dish large enough to fit, or use two baking dishes (one for enjoying shortly and one that you can freeze for later, or one you can give away to your busy daughter, a sick friend, or the elderly gentleman next door). Set macaroni aside while you make the sauce.

In a large saucepan on medium high heat, place the stick of butter and let it melt. Add the flour and whisk together until blended. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Add the onion, Serrano, and green chiles. Let cook until onion is tender. Add milk and chicken broth, whisking to make sure it doesn’t have any lumps. Let it cook a few minutes to thicken and then remove from heat. Add the *cheese and stir to blend. (* I like the HEB Mi Comida Mexican Cheese blend with Cotija, Manchego, Asadero, Muenster, Oaxaca, and Quesadilla cheeses, and then I add a little pepper-jack as well.)

Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni and use your spoon to make sure it completely seeps down into the macaroni, every last millimeter of it.

Lay a piece of foil loosely over the top and place the dish in preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes. Adjust cooking time if using two pans – it won’t need to bake as long. Make sure it is bubbling all around the outsides and a little bit in the center, that’s when it’s done!

Goes very well with a nice crock pot roast (I like to make two – one to eat right away and one to freeze and use for other dishes later, like Stroganoff, Roast Beef Hash Casserole, Beef Quesadillas, Veg Beef Soup, BBQ Beef Sandwiches, SOS, Loaded Baked Potatoes, etc.). I like to pull mine so it soaks in all the juices.

Pot Roast and Mac & Cheese make just a Jim Dandy plateful of down home comfort food on a busy back-to-school night! Just add whatever vegetable you wish. I’m a big fan of Butter Beans, which are super easy-peasy. Just pour the frozen baby lima beans (the little green ones that come in a bag in the frozen section) into a pan of about 2 or 3 inches of boiling, salted water. Let the beans cook, covered for a few minutes in the rapidly boiling water until tender (the instructions are probably on the package, I’ve just never looked). As soon as they are just tender (I don’t like them mushy), drain them and toss a half a stick of butter in with them and let it melt and soak in. That’s it. That’s the way I like them. They can keep warm on a low burner of the stove, swimming in that creamy butter for a little while, if you like. Grind a little pepper melange on top and serve when you’re other dishes are ready.

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” Genesis 9:3

Feast on This, Man Food, Recipes

Mama’s Migas

August 28, 2016June 30, 2020 mrshlovesjesus

I’m not a big breakfast person – making it anyway. I am a huge, hUgE, HUGE fan of eating breakfast…out! Especially on the weekends. Cracker Barrel…. I-HOP…. Denny’s….. Jims…. that little mom-and-pop joint at the end of the street, here I come!!!!

I guess it is the mess that gets me. It is usually a collection of elements (eggs, bacon, biscuits, gravy, toast, pancakes, hash browns, oatmeal, grits, coffee, orange juice) that all need to come together at the same time and be served hot and fresh — oh the stress! And after that, all those dirty pots and pans. UGH! Not my favorite way to start the day.

Wait…did you hear that? Shhh. It’s the dusty, far off shuffle of our ancestors collectively rolling over in their graves and huffing – women in aprons and hair buns, wiping sweat from their brows and grumbling, “Grind the coffee, pick the berries, make the jam, mill the flour, churn the butter, reap the oats, tap out the maple syrup, squeeze the oranges, stand over an old iron stove in an un-airconditioned house, and get back to us!” Bow-legged, hunched-over men mumbling in their deep voices, “Butcher the pig, dig the potatoes, chop the wood, start the fire in the stove, and get back to us!” And sleepy-eyed little children sniffling, “Milk the cow, collect the eggs, get a bucket and go fetch water from the river to wash those dishes, and get back to us!” — Wow, I’ve got it pretty easy. I feeling pretty guilty now! 😛

Soooo, uh-hem, back to my easy Sunday morning breakfast.

Did I mention that I (((L❤VE))) Migas!!! Mind you, this recipe is not intended to be authentic. It’s just the way like and make mine. My Migas are easy easy easy peasy, and they are yummy! 🙂

Ingredients & Instructions

((( This recipe serves two)))

2 Tablespoons butter

3 corn tortillas

1/4 cup chopped white onion

1 pepper of choice, diced (I use jalapeno, or poblano, but some of my fam can’t handle heat, so bell pepper works great for them)

1 serrano chili, diced (if you like it spicy! – I do!!!!!)

Melt the butter in a frying pan on the stovetop on medium high heat. Slice the tortillas into strips, then cut the strips in half. Toss them in the pan with the melted butter and let them fry on medium heat, flipping and tossing occasionally until they are golden and crispy (I like mine very crispy). After the last flip add a little more butter and then toss in the onions, poblano/jalapeno, and serrano and let it all saute together, just until tender.

4 large eggs, broken into a bowl and mixed with a fork

1/4 cup of cooked chorizo (or crumbled bacon, or chopped deli ham, or smoked sausage, whatever you have on hand – no meat is fine too)

1/2 cup grated cheese (I like the Mi Comida cheeses that they have at my local HEB grocery, but you can use colby, cheddar, muenster, gouda, pepper jack, whatever you have – and no cheese if fine too)

Once the tortillas are nice and crispy and the onions and peppers are tender, push them to the outsides of the pan, add a little more butter to the center of the pan and then pour in the eggs.

Stir the eggs with spatula as they cook and then gently fold them with the peppers and tortillas and mix everything together.

Add the cooked meat (if desired – honestly sometimes I don’t add any meat) and cheese (sometimes I don’t add the cheese either) and toss around to mix together.

Let the dish finish cooking another half minute or so.

Season to taste with ground sea salt and cracked black pepper. Remove from heat and serve with homemade Salsa Verde! Count yourself lucky if you have a friendly neighbor who makes her own Salsa Verde and shares it with you!!!!!!!!

Mmmmm…mmm…mmm!!! Grab a fork baby and dig in!!!!! (Oooops, after the blessing, of course).

NOTE: You can dress yours up any old fancy way you want it. Add a slice of avacado, give it a splash of green or red salsa, toss a sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top, serve it with freshly friend and buttered gorditas or a side of Indian fry bread and honey, or some crispy hash browns, even a little dallop of sour cream, if that’s what trips your trigger. And if you are feeling especially ambitious they are off the chain with a side of fried potatoes!

Thank you Father for providing this food! Bless it to our bodies for health and strength. Be present at our table Lord, be here and everywhere adored. These morsels bless, and grant that we, may feast in Paradise with Thee. Be honored in our hearts and homes this beautiful day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Entertaining, Feast on This, Man Food, Recipes

Possibly the Worst Meatloaf on the Planet

August 20, 2016June 24, 2022 mrshlovesjesus

Ha! Did I get your attention?

This is the number one requested supper of my son-in-law. I make it every year for his birthday. I kind of almost reinvent it every time I make it – making it mostly from memory, and really don’t measure anything – but he says it is always good, even it if is just a little different each time. I make mine with bacon and BBQ sauce and am pretty sure that’s what makes it better than your average meatloaf. Sometimes I add diced celery or grated carrot to the meat, not a lot, just a little. Maybe a half a cup or so? Sometimes I can’t find ground buffalo and so I have to make it all beef – And I prefer using a good quality ground sirloin, organic if I can find it. Often times I add a jalapeno or Serrano from my garden, minced, sometimes I give it a couple squirts of Worcestershire sauce. I rarely repeat a BBQ sauce, and that is really what makes it different every time, but the boy insists that no matter how it turns out it is always his favorite. He makes me want to spoil him rotten – or fatten him up, one!!!!

If you can’t find the Salt Lick dry rub, basically all it is is about 1/2 tsp of cayenne powder, 1 tsp of ground black pepper, and 1/2 tsp of salt. It might have a sprinkle of garlic powder in it too.

I wrap my meatloaf with bacon, and I’ve discovered that a bacon lattice is the best way to go. I didn’t always do this, as you’ll see in some of the photos here, but trust me, it is the best way, because the bacon stays in place when it cooks and when you slice it to serve. I like a thin sliced applewood smoked bacon the best!!!

First, I lay out a sheet of aluminum foil and then lay slices of bacon across it, about the length of my baking dish. Then I weave another set of bacon strips into the first strips like a lattice pie crust.

Next I take my mixed up meatloaf and pat it into an oblong tube shape and lay it down the center of the bacon weave. Finally, I pull the sides of the foil tightly up and around the meatloaf and press the bacon against the meatloaf. I then unwrap the foil and pull the bacon until the ends meet and the meatloaf is fully covered, and then I roll the meatloaf over and place it seam side down in the baking dish.

I use an oblong glass baking pan. I then like to season the bacon with steak seasoning and coarse ground black pepper. I put it into a 325*F oven and let it bake for about an hour and 20 minutes before I put the BBQ sauce on. This way the bacon gets crispy. Check the internal temp of the meatloaf. It should be 160*F when it is done. When it is nearing this, that’s when I start the BBQ sauce process. I don’t have a favorite brand of BBQ sauce. I use all kinds. But I prefer the sweet and spicy types (Sweet Baby Rays Honey Hot, Famous Dave’s Devil’s Spit, etc.) that are thick, not runny! Part of the fun for me is experimenting with new BBQ sauces.

After I put the BBQ sauce on, I put the meatloaf back in the oven and turn up the heat to broil. I let the sauce cook until it almost burns, and then I add another layer of it and return it to the broiler, making sure the sauce gets good and carmelized on top.

And then I take it out and let it sit for a few minutes on the stove top before I slice it. While it is cooling I use a turkey baster to syphon off all the grease out of the pan.

That’s it! That’s my most special meatloaf. But wait…

The last time I made it for my son-in-law I added a treat to it. As soon as we finished dinner my husband’s exact words were, “Wow! Just when I thought your meatloaf couldn’t get any better, you go and kick it up a notch! That was freaking fantastic, wife!” Wow, he makes me blush. So, what did I do?

Well, I had some herb, garlic, blue cheese butter wrapped in plastic in my fridge that I’d whipped up for our grilled steaks a little while back. I thought it might be good on meatloaf, and would be a great way to use up those leftovers. I gotta tell you, it was not only great, it was freaking incredible. The BBQ sauce, bacon, beef, jalapeno, herb, garlic, blue cheese thing just WORKS!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!!

Herbed Blue Cheese butter — INSTRUCTIONS: mince the herbs and garlic and add to room temp butter in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Crumble the blue cheese and mix in with the herb butter. Spoon onto plastic wrap and roll into a tube shape, covering it completely with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and allow to harden. Slice into half-inch thick slices and lay a slice onto a hot-off-the-grill steak, or a slice of fresh-out-ot-the-oven meatloaf. YUM!

And (drum-roll please) my latest tweak… smoked meatloaf! Instead of baking it in the oven I asked my son to grill it on his Pit Boss. It turned out freaking amazing!

No, this is not health food. This is that one cheat meal that you get to have once every 364 days! I served my latest meatloaf with Mexican Street Corn-in-a-cup and a baked potato, but it is good with any sides really. I love loaded up green beans! I love loaded up brussels sprouts! I love cream corn (cream cheese and butter) with a can of green chiles added. I love mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, and potato casserole.

Maybe you like sweet potatoes? My son-in-law loves his mashed with brown sugar (or maple syrup) and butter, crushed up pecans, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a few mini-marshmallows – basically like a sweet potato casserole.

I also found a yummy recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Potatoes that’s a nice change of pace from the usual marshmallow or pecan varieties. It has fresh crushed pineapple, a firm (green) banana chopped fine, melted butter, fresh lime juice and coconut syrup for sweetness, and then garnished with shredded coconut and crushed salted macadamia nuts. Delish!

Instead of baked potatoes, you can make a loaded mashed potato casserole, with butter, sour cream, and cheddar cheese mixed in, and garnished with green onions and crispy bacon.

Any-hoooo… ENJOY!!!!

Wrap up your leftovers (if you can manage to keep some back), and make yourself a jim-dandy meatloaf sandwich the next day!!!!!
.

Mmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm, here’s how I like ’em:
.

Whole Wheat bread

Mayo

Course Ground Mustard

About 1/4 inch thick slices of cold meatloaf

a nice thick slice of sweet, white onion

Lots of Romaine Lettuce

and sometimes a slice of dill pickle
.

Come for Supper?

“She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table” – Proverbs 9:2

Bible Study, Feast on This, Testimonies & Personal Stories, The Parables

LOST & FOUND, the Parables of “Lost” Things

August 19, 2016July 19, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

I remember when I worked at the school district, the last week of school, that our bin of lost and found items would get drug out and the items hung up on racks, or laid out on tables in the front foyer, where parents and students would be coming and going, and hopefully they’d see an item that belonged to them and take it home. I was always amazed at how much stuff would accumulate over the year. Coats, hats, gloves, shirts, sweatpants, lunch boxes, shoes… just a myriad of things. My goodness, didn’t anyone miss this stuff?

I have lost things though, so who am I to judge?

I lost my cell phone once. I had it and then I didn’t have it. I always kept it in my purse. Then one day I went to lunch with friends and afterwards ran a few errands, and when I got back home and went to make a phone call it wasn’t there. I stirred the contents of my purse around with my hand, and then emptied it out completely, dumping the contents all over the floor. Nope, no cellphone.

I looked in my car, all over the car, under the seats, between the seats, in the console, and even in the backseats. I looked on the garage floor (maybe I accidentally kicked it out with my foot), and under the shelves along the wall. It wasn’t there. It wasn’t anywhere.

Like most people now-a-days I don’t have a landline, or even another cell phone as backup. And even if I had walked to the neighbors that day it would have been useless to borrow their phone. I did’t know anyone’s number. No one calls a NUMBER any more, we all call a NAME or a FACE. Oh dear. This was bad. This was my only communication with the outside world and it was gone, gone, gone, forever!

I went back in the house and looked on every surface where I might have laid the phone: the kitchen counters, the bedroom dressers, the bathroom, the laundry room. I retraced every step I’d made before leaving the house that day. And then I got back in my car and drove back to every business in town where I’d been, and asked if anyone had found a cell phone. Not a one.

I came back home and sat in a panic in the middle of my living room floor thinking intently about what to do next. And in the middle of my racing thoughts I heard it…I heard my cell phone ringing. “My phone! Oh my gosh, where is it coming from? I jumped to my feet and dashed around my house like a raving maniac, trying to get to the sound before it stopped ringing…….and where did I find it? My… PURSE!

It had slipped through a tear in the lining and was caught between the lining and the shell of my hard leather purse. I felt like an idiot, and at the same time was soooooooo relieved to have found it. So happy in fact that I wanted to drive back to every place I’d been, call all my friends, and tell them all, “I FOUND IT!!!!”

So, I completely relate to the thrill of the woman finding her lost coin in the story below.

Click below for the FREE PRINTABLE coloring page

FREE PRINTABLE coloring page, click >>>>>> Lost & Found

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Matthew 18:10-14 (NKJV) Courtesy of Bible Gateway

¹⁰“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.^[a]

¹²“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? ¹³And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Luke 15:1-7 (NKJV) Courtesy of Bible Gateway

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. ²And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” ³So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

⁴“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

Luke 15:8-10 (NKJV) Courtesy of Bible Gateway

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ ¹⁰Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15:11-32 (NKJV) Courtesy of Bible Gateway

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. ¹³And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. ¹⁴But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, ¹⁹and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

²⁰“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring^[a] out the best robe and putit on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

²⁸“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. ³⁰But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

³¹“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. ³²It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

Here’s my story:

I had been born an innocent child of God and raised going to church, but somewhere early in life I saw the things that the world had to offer and I was lured away by deception. It’s a great cavernous thing that the world offers. There’s never money enough, or time enough, or energy enough to attain that carrot that Satan dangles before our faces, but the game is so enticing (everybody’s doing it) that we continue to seek to try until we have nothing left to give. That’s when we realize we are now slaves to things we hate (relationships, drugs, alcohol, situations), and it was all just a trap. God in His mercy didn’t let it get so far with me that I was stealing pig slop out of hunger, but a diet of rice and oatmeal are close enough. My father was about as far from rich as one can be, but he met me at the train station with as much relief and love and thankfulness as the father in Jesus’s story. He had his own demons that he was fighting, and it was still a while before I came to my senses, but thankfully I settled down eventually, got married, was blessed with a child, and landed a decent job back home where I belonged.

And then I was working for a small town newspaper and calling on a customer for an ad. This customer had a wrapping and shipping business located inside a liquor store on the east side of town. As I made my acquaintance on my first visit, the woman of this husband/wife team set me on my heels with a pretty direct question. One I wasn’t prepared for, or was even expecting that day. She asked me if I knew Jesus, and if I were to die today if I knew where I would be going. Wow…I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She made me very uncomfortable. But her words haunted me for weeks after that.

I knew what she was talking about. I had been raised in Sunday school. I had Christian grandparents. My dad had always said he hoped his daughters would get baptized at some time in our lives. I always intended to get baptized, but being fresh into my young life I wasn’t sure I was done sowing my wild oats yet. Somehow I had it in my head that making a commitment to God meant the end of “fun.”

I avoided her in every way after that, but a month down the road when I stopped in to pick up their ad for our paper, being careful to go in the afternoon when I knew she wouldn’t be there, she WAS there and smiling at me as I walked through the door. DANG-IT! But as much as I make this out to be a bad thing, truly our conversation had been all I could think about. I had wrestled with God over what she said for weeks. So when she asked if I had thought about what we talked about, I humbly confessed I’d thought of nothing else.

She asked me if I was ready to make the commitment and I said yes, afraid I may not get a second chance. She whisked me off to the bathroom grabbed my hands and told me to pray with her, “Repeat after me” she said, and I did.

I honestly couldn’t tell you the words I prayed with her that day. All of them escape my memory. But something incredible happened in that bathroom when I said, “Amen.” My blood felt strangely carbonated in my veins, like life was flooding into me in some magical, spiritual way (very much the way life flooded into the Beast when Bell, the Beauty, kissed him and told him she loved him). That very similar magical effervesence bubbled up inside of me and all around me. I was saved from spiritual death that day. My legs were wobbly and weak. My mind was swirling. I absolutely was not the same person walking out of that bathroom as the person who walked into it moments earlier. I followed her out to her desk and stared in a daze out the huge picture window. All of a sudden I became aware of the sky and the most gorgeous sunset I’ve ever seen. It was magnificent with reds and purples. I wondered in my heart and asked God, “Have sunsets always been this beautiful and I never noticed, or did You make this one especially for me?”

Just as I thought this I saw a figment of angels in the clouds…thousands of them. They were all singing and rejoicing. It was so emotionally moving to me that I dissolved to tears instantly. It was some months later that I came across the scripture that says, there is “more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7, and how we have so great a cloud of witnesses watching from above (Hebrews 12:1).

The angels were rejoicing over me that day, a great cloud of witnesses, and God gave me a brief and beautiful glimpse. But I’m not the only one; they are gathered to rejoice over you too!

If you are reading this and have never asked Jesus into your heart, but feel His Spirit speaking to you, take heed my friend. He is seeking you. You didn’t end up here by accident. God brought you to these words today for a reason. He wants you. He’s reaching out to you right here and right now. Please trust Him! Give Him your heart today. You don’t need any fancy words. You just need to talk to Him. If you would feel better talking to a real person right now about this decision, that’s good too, and CBN has prayer partners ready to pray at any time of day, just give them a call (1-800-823-6053), or seek out a local pastor. Pray right now, whereever you are, and ask Jesus to come into your heart while He is knocking on your heart’s door, and let Him be Lord of your life. Don’t quench His Spirit! Don’t let the devil lure you away. Let God’s Spirit lead you. Trust me, it’s the best decision you will ever make, and the greatest love story!

(This is a video of Glen Campbell, sometime soon after he got saved. I’m a big Glen Campbell fan, and this is one of my favorite songs. I am pretty sure it tells his personal story, and that’s really what I love about it. At the time of this video it wasn’t recorded on a CD yet, but it is now. He actually recorded several Christian albums! Glen has gone on to be with Jesus, but his beautiful, personal songs and music live on for us to listen to, and you can get them at Amazon.com.)

You are the Lord’s Pearl of Great Price!

You are His Hidden Treasure!

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

Matthew 13:44-46 (NKJV)

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

FREE PRINTABLE coloring page, click >>>>>> Solid Rock Printable

I dearly hope you have trusted Him as Savior today.

God bless you my friend!!!!

Bible Study, Family Fun, Feast on This, Fun with Friends, Sunday School Lessons, Testimonies & Personal Stories

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

August 8, 2016July 16, 2017 mrshlovesjesus

Matthew 20:1-16 (NKJV)

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

My Bible footnote says it would have been 6:00AM.

²Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

My Bible footnote says a denarius (a word of Latin origin) was the standard wage for a full day’s work. The KJV uses the word “penny” or pence in place of denarius which in Roman currency of the time would have been ten asses (asses were bronze or copper coins used during the Roman Empire). Denarius is the origin of the common noun for money in Italian denaro, in Portuguese dinheiro and in Spanish dinero.

Here are some example salaries and product costs as of the times of Diocletian in the third century AD:

Farm laborer monthly pay, with meals = 400 asses

Teacher’s monthly pay, per boy = 800 asses

Barber’s service price, per client = 32 asses

1 kg of pork = 380 asses (1 lb = 170 asses)

1 kg of grapes = 32 asses (1 lb = 15 asses)

* Source: Wikipedia

³And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

The third hour would be 9:00AM; and there were more people standing inactive, unemployed; (by implication) lazy, useless: – barren, idle, slow“(Strongs #692 argos) in the “agora” (Strongs #58), which is probably the town square, market, or thoroughfare/street.

⁴and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.

Their wage: whatever is right (just drawing attention to that). The Greek word used is dikaios (1342) and it means “equitable” (in character or act); (by implication) innocent; holy, just, meet, right(-eous).

⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.

The sixth hour is noon and the ninth hour is 3:00PM.

⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle,^[a]and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’

The 11^th hour is 5:00PM (an hour before quitting time), and is it just me or does the land owner seem kind of annoyed that there are folks just standing around idle all day?

⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’^[b]

Again he promises “what is right.”

⁸“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’

To pay them, the landowner worked his way backwards from the new hires to those with seniority (which btw, is an exact representation of the grapes in the basket. The first grapes gathered are at the bottom and will be last to come out. The first grapes to come out of the basket are the last ones that went in).

⁹And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.

Quite a generous wage for an hour’s worth of work.

¹⁰But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.

The landowner was certainly a man of his word wasn’t he, although “fair” is in the eye of the beholder isn’t it? Ever been hired for a job and completely happy about your wage until you found out what others were being paid? My husband calls it O.P.M. (other people’s money), and it is the root of all discontentment. Yep; been there and done that.

¹¹And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner,

¹²saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’

¹³But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

I believe the “wage” in the parable is probably A TICKET TO HEAVEN, and when I look at it like that I kind of get a different perspective. I can’t help but draw a parallel with the thief on the cross. Jesus told him as they hung on their crosses together, with the sun fading on the day, that today he would be in paradise with Him. The thief had run out of time to do very many good works. He was at the 11th hour of his life. All he had time for was to witness to one last man, yet he got the same reward as our righteous King, as well as all the prophets and saints and godly Hebrews of the Old Testiment who had preached, and prophesied, and judged, and led, been faithful, and died before him.

The thing I have to remember is that Salvation is not earned. It is a gift rewarded for saying yes to an invitation.

¹⁵Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’

My Bible footnote says that this parable blossomed out of the attitude that the disciples had shown toward service and rewards.

I find this a tricky thing about church. It is so easy when you belong to ANY group of people to look around at others and compare. So easy to get hurt feelings about things. So easy to get wrapped up in unholy competitions.

Am I the only one that is secretly longing for pats on the back for my good deeds? Sometimes tempted to brag about charitible things I’ve done just to make myself feel more spiritual or worthy to my peers? Am I the only one that feels a twinge of jealousy when someone else in the congregation is liked more, fawned over more, appreciated more? Am I the only one that is hurt when my fruit salad is passed over for Linda’s Fritata? Or when Beth is chosen to lead next month’s Ladies Group instead of me? Or when Emily puts a picture on Facebook and it gets 47 likes immediately and I don’t even have 47 friends? Or when a certain, once unknown blog writer, celebrates her Food Network show and new line of kitchen wares filling up all the isles in all the Wal-mart stores across America and I count it a huge success if just one person clicks the “like” star on one of my posts.

Although rewards are part of God’s plan (Romans 2:6; Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10), Jesus rebukes the spirit of serving for the rewards rather than out of love (1 Corinthians 13).

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”^[c]

Click this link for the FREE downloadable coloring page: Grapevine to use for your small group, or Sunday School class, or just to color as you spend time in prayer.

The last will be first and the first will be last…just like the grapes being gathered into the baskets, the last ones in will be the first ones to enter the winepress, but they will altogether be a lovely batch of vino.

Chosen vs. Called.

The Greek word for Called is “Kletos.” Strongs #2822. It means invited, appointed. It is used eleven times in the New Testament (Bible Study Tools), and most of those times it is in reference to a calling to ministry or a special appointment, such as apostle or saint.

A calling is kind of a general thing, but it is usually geared to a specific group of folks. For instance, I think of a ranch cook calling the hands for supper. She yells or rings the bell and anyone on HER ranch who is hungry will come running. A church bell calls ITS congregation to church. A school bell calls ITS students to class. The disciples, and we as Christians, received a calling from Christ to take the love of Christ to our neighbors. Many are called.

The Greek word for Chosen is “Ekletos.” Strongs #1588. It means select, favorite, elect.

Choosing is much more personal. We choose a mate. We choose our clothes. We choose what we want to eat from a menu. Choosing is intimate. This word is used 23 times in scripture (Bible Study Tools). Most of those times the word is translated “elect” as in “the elect,” the favorites of the called, the cream of the crop, the most exalted ones of the called. Jesus called many disciples, but chose a smaller group of twelve apostles. Of the apostles, Jesus chose an inner circle, Peter, James, and John as His elect. Often He asked these three to come be with Him for something special, like healing miracles, the transfiguration, or the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Although the two words, Kletos and Ekletos are spelled the same, they are not pronounced the same and have different meanings. They are homographs, but I have an uneducated hunch that there is an intended play-on-words in the Greek that is sort of lost in English, don’t you?

The same phrase is repeated in Matthew 22:14.

We all have an inner circle of friends, a small group that we trust just a little bit more, cherish just a little bit more. I want to live my life in such a way as that the Lord would trust me just a little bit more, and cherish me just a little bit more. Not to lord it over anyone, but just to have Him smile at me with affection. I want to have a comfort zone thing with Him. I want to have the trust/integrity thing with HIM!!!! I have been forgiven much, I also want to love much (Luke 7:47)!

Personal Application

In penning this post I got to thinking about the shopping trip I made with my granddaughter this past weekend. It wasn’t going to take us long to pick out some uniform pieces for school: a couple skirts, a couple pants, and a couple pair of shorts, but our little dash in to Old Navy hit a roadblock when we encountered the unbelievable, Disneyland-like lines for the dressing rooms, and then to pay at the end. It was just crazy how many people were in that store. I guess that’s what we got for not arriving there until afternoon on the half-price day of the tax-free weekend.

While we were in the monsterous line to pay we passed a bouncy-ball vending machine, and to help pass the time I dug some quarters out of my purse to let my little schnookums try for a pink ball. One…two…three tries and one…two…three green/blue/yellow balls came out. Well, shucks. I asked her what she was gonna do with three balls? She decided she would give one ball to her sister and keep the other two for herself, but I suggested she give the third ball to another kid in the store. “Why?” she inquired. “To be nice,” I riposted, and then I asked her to look around for a kid her age who would be a good candidate. She looked around, but was overcome with fear and shyness. She wanted me to do it. I kept pointing people out to her, and encouraging her, promising that it would make her feel good to do it, but she just couldn’t get up the gumption to talk to someone she didn’t know. I asked her to choose which ball she wanted to give away, and on our way out of the store I asked a little girl if she’d like to have it. Although my little jelly-bean was too scared to step out and talk to another person, at least she was willing to give, and I was proud of her for that.

I feel the Holy Spirit challenging me in several ways today through the reading and studying of this parable. Like my darling granddaughter, I too hold back sometimes, because of timidity. My anxiousness causes me to stand around idle all day in my comfort zone waiting for a job to come looking for me. Sometimes I find myself looking around to see if anyone else is stepping out before I do, so I don’t look foolish taking a leap-of-faith all by myself. Consequently, I don’t make it into the vineyard until the 6^th or 9^th hour (if at all). But then there are other times when I feel like I am the one who has been there all day, putting in the biggest effort, and here come others that have done barely anything and are getting lavish praise. Sometimes I get jealous over favoritism shown to others in the small groups that I belong to.

In all honesty, I don’t accept praise well, but admit it is a nice reward to have someone notice my efforts (so that I can humbly dismiss them – ha, right?). But to get very little praise or appreciation when others around me seem to be getting tons of praise for what seems like a fraction of the work, that is pretty hard to take. Stumbling blocks. Oh Lord, I hate the stumbling blocks in this Pilgrims Progress of life. They are so hard to get past, but here’s what I’m feeling the Lord leading me to use as tools to help me climb over them, dig under them, and squeeze around them:

Try to remember that Jesus made a fair deal with me when He invited me to work in His vineyard.

Remember that He is a man of His word and will reward me with what is right. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9

Stop looking around at the deal everyone else is getting, or get jealous over favoritism. It’s Satan’s oldest trick to get us to LOOK at things we’re not supposed to have and then looooong for them. There are far more harder working Christians out there than me who are going to be given the same gift as me in the end, and who have done a mountain more work. Who cares if I am His favorite or not. As long as I make it to heaven, who cares if all I have to live in is a pup-tent, and scraps from the Master’s table to eat. Tis better to be in God’s kingdom than to be anywhere else.

Be motivated by love, and not distracted by greed, or jealousy or even obligation, nor tempted into expecting a reward for every little thing. To keep my eyes on the vineyard and not on the prize box. To take the hard shell off my heart and let it swell for that person in front of me who needs a friend, or a sandwich, or a hug, or a kleenex, or a good laugh.

* * *

Dear Lord Jesus, help me not to fall into the trap of comparison. Help me to keep my eyes on You and consider only the prize that You have promised me. Help me to be content with such things as I have. Help me not to be idle, or crippled by fear or timidity, or green with envy and miss a great blessing. In Your precious name I pray. Amen.

* * *

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)

Feast on This, Personal Healing, Testimonies & Personal Stories

How I Got Rid of My Little Toenail Fungus

August 2, 2016May 20, 2017 mrshlovesjesus

Never, never, never was this an issue for me in Wyoming, but apparently is a common problem in Texas. I’m not sure I understand why. In Wyoming we ladies have our feet cooped up in socks and shoes for most of the year When not in shoes, our feet are usually in house slippers, and I even wore sockies to bed. My poor feet rarely saw the light of day and rarely got a breath of fresh air except in the summer.

I confess that in Wyoming I used to get a pedicure maybe once or twice a year, usually in the spring and again sometime in the late summer, and that last nail polish job would (I’m kind of embarrassed to say) last for most the winter on my hibernating tootsies. Honestly, I didn’t spend too much time caring all that much about what my feet looked like in the winter; they were out’ta sight out’ta mind. The only housekeeping I did to my feet during the dark months was to keep the nails short and filed with no sharp edges, so they wouldn’t wear holes in my socks.

In Texas, where our feet are on display for ten months out of the year, I notice my feet need work just about once a week. And the little darlin’s breathe fresh air daily and get plenty of sunshine. So it is kind of a head-scratcher why I have had so much trouble with this nail fungus thing – whatever it is? Maybe it’s that mold spores and fungus have a greater survival rate in hot and humid climates than in the harsh winters and dry climates of the Rockies?

I first discovered this fungus on my big toe toenail (shown on the left foot in photo above) when I was removing toenail polish several months after moving to Texas. I freaked out, went crazy on Google researching this strange phenomenon, and then made a mad dash to the store to find my hopeful cure. I purchased the most expensive brand of Tea Tree Oil, a #1-rated toenail fungus medicine with brush applicator, and a tube of Lamisil, suggested by the pharmicist. I trimmed all my toenails close and sanded the tops to make them thin.

I soaked my feet in an epson salt solution, dried them off really well, and then gave myself a thorough pedicure, removing all dead skin under and around the nail. I did NOT polish my nails afterwards; I left them naked so they could breathe. I washed all my sandals in the washing machine, HOT wash and rinse cycles, and then wiped them off with Clorox wipes to kill any residual spores. I let them completely dry out in the bright, hot, Texas summer sun for a day.

I tossed out all my socks and bought new, 100% cotton ones. I wiped down my dresser drawer with Clorox wipes and let it dry out in the hot summer sun.

I worked tirelessly to cure this fungus, if indeed that is what it was, with my over-the-counter remedies. I never let my feet stay wet. If I walked across wet grass, played in the sprinklers with the grandkids, or walked across the yard in the rain, I always toweled them off after, and after all my showers, with a clean, fresh towel that didn’t get reused or shared.

I kept my toenails short, but didn’t cut away the detached part on the advice of the pharmicist, although because I had sanded them really thin they did tear from the digging underneath with my fingernail file. I also sterilized my clippers, files, knippers, etc. after every use. I applied the Tea Tree Oil, the toenail fungus medicine, and the Lamisil cream after every shower, and made sure to get it up underneath each nail really good, and all over the tops too.

Months, and months, and months, and months went by with little improvement, but eventually the detached area slowly diminished to the point where I thought I was cured, and I relaxed my toe treatments.

And then this last January I noticed that the stupid thing was back. UGH!!!! Worse than before. The detachement was almost to the root of my cuticle, and almost the whole left side of my nail. Bummer!

Now, I’ve heard there is a pill for this, but I didn’t want to treat my whole body for an issue under a small area of one toenail, especially when it costs money to go see a doctor to get a prescription, and when there are side effects to that medicine that are a little bit unsettling. I’ve also heard that an alternative treatment and even more effective is laser therapy, but Holy Jemimah monkeys, it’s pricey, and may require several treatments to cure, which would mean several trips to the big city. My toenails are not thick and yellow, they are normal and clear. They just have one little place of detachment.

So this time I followed my gut instincts and trimmed the detached toenail away from the cuticle beneath, using knippers so I could get in really close, and completely expose the area to fresh air and direct treatment. Don’t worry, it didn’t hurt at all. It probably does kind of make you cringe to look at it though. I’m sorry.

I then applied a drop of Clorox directly to the infected cuticle and nail with a Q-tip and let it soak in.

I figured that if Clorox kills everything, including funguses on a variety of surfaces, I would do a clinical study of my own and see how effective it was on human tissue. (Note: it honestly sounds less dangerous to me than prescription topical medications). I used a Q-tip to apply a drop of Clorox to the cuticle, rubbing it into the skin and allowing it to soak in, and then over the nail, and I let it completely dry on its own.

I wore nothing but flip-flops. I again tossed out all my socks and purchased brand new ones. I didn’t share my towel, or reuse it. Everything got washed in the hotest setting on the washer and dried on the hottest setting in the dryer.

A couple of days later I applied hydrogen peroxide to the same area with a Q-tip, and let it dry on its own. I spent the next month alternating my applications of Clorox or peroxide every few days. After a few weeks I went to a once-a-week application, and then a once-every-two-weeks application, and finally once-a-month.

Here’s what my toe looks like now after only six months:

Here, look at the extremes side by side:

Soooooo, if you want my unprofessional opinion (I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV) …forget about all the fancy, expensive, over-the-counter medications that take forever to work and aren’t effective at keeping fungus away, and before you spend your life savings on doctors and prescriptions. Just get a small jug of cheap old Clorox and an inexpensive bottle of ordinary old trustworthy Peroxide, both of which are easily found, some steril Q-tips, and give this a whirl. In my personal experience they are much more effective, and obviously won’t harm your skin when used topically on the infected site in small amounts and in moderation. And another tip… DON’T POLISH your toenails. For one, polish keeps your nails from being able to breathe, like they need to, and two, polish hides (yes, I know that you want to hide your issue, but) it also hides dirt and grime. It’s okay to paint them for a special occasion, but don’t let them stay polished for more than a day or two. I believe the fungal spores live in the soil, and if that soil is allowed to just sit under your nails for any length of time, it breeds infection. So I keep my toenails naked, and clean.

Sending prayers of healing your way!!!

“Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.. Hebrews 12:13 NKJV

Bible Study, Feast on This, The Parables

The Parable of the Minas

July 25, 2016June 18, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

& The Parable of the Talents

Let me set the scene for this parable…

Jesus was with His disciples in the last days of His life, and coming from Jericho, where a large crowd had been following. At Jericho Jesus healed a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, and had also gone to the house of Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector who climbed up in a tree to see Him as He passed by.

Luke says that Jesus told the parable of the minas when He was “near Jerusalem.” Matthew has this parable as part of the “Olivet Discourse” given to His disciples on the Mount of Olives.

Looking at the map below we can see exactly where Jesus was. Mark 11 says Jesus and his disciples were near Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, when two disciples were sent to retrieve a colt for Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, so we know the timing was Jesus last week of life on this earth.

Jericho to Jerusalem Map

Jerusalem to Jericho map — Click on the link below for the Free Printable coloring page

Jericho to Jerusalem Map

We celebrate the Triumphal Entry as Palm Sunday, and the next Sunday of course is Easter. So, the events coming soon after this moment on the timeline were…

the Triumphal Entry,

the cleansing of the temple,

the Last Supper,

the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane,

the betrayal,

the trial, scourging, and crucifixion.

All of this would happen in the coming few days.

As Jesus went through Bethany, Matthew and Mark tell us He shared a meal with Simon the leper (who was the father of Judas Escariot), and John tells us that Lazarus was there, and that Martha served (perhaps they were relatives or close neighbors?). This is the supper where a woman (John 12:3 says she was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus) came and poured an alabaster flask of costly perfume on His head, worth almost a year’s wages. John also tells us that Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son protested the waste. Judas, you might remember was the treasurer of the Twelve, and according to John 12:6, “was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag, he used to help himself to what was put in it”.

On the timeline of events, John says this was 6 days before the Passover, but Luke and Matthew say it was 2 days before. I’m not a Bible scholar, but perhaps it was 2 days before the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples (The Last Supper), but 6 days before the actual Passover, when Jesus was crucified. Or that it was 2 days before preparations for Passover begin (inspecting lambs for blemishes, collecting wood for the cooking of the lambs, etc.), but 6 days before the actual sit-down celebration. At any rate, it was very near to “Palm Sunday.”

According to the notes in my Bible, a mina was about three months’ worth of wages, and a talent was worth about $1,000 in that day.

The Parable of the Minas

Luke 19:11-27 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. ¹²Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.¹³So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas,^[^a^] and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ ¹⁴But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

*Jesus was of course trying to help His audience comprehend a vision of heaven, and His kingdom, by relating it to something tangible they could personally relate to, something that would be gererally familiar to them on earth. In this instance Jesus may have been drawing upon Herod the Great’s son Archelaus’ journey to Rome to bring His spiritual lesson to life. (Several sources, including a footnote in my Bible confirm this).

¹⁵“And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. ¹⁶Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ ¹⁷And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’¹⁸And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ ¹⁹Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

²⁰“Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. ²¹For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ ²²And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. ²³Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

²⁴“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ ²⁵(But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) ²⁶‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”

The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁴“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.¹⁶Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’²²He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²⁴“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

²⁹‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

We know that Jesus told this parable as He was on His way to receive His kingdom, but by very different means than any earthly king of any time in history, and very differently than His disciples were expecting. Jesus would pay a very high price, by our standards, for His kingdom – with His life. His disciples expected Him to establish His kingdom in the flesh, soon. Jesus wanted them (and us) to know that His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and it is coming. He wanted them to know that he was going away, but would come back, and was leaving them (and us) with a job to do. I see the mina or talent to be like the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. These are what Jesus left for us to use to do the work (or use in “trade”) until He returns.

In this parable, the wicked servant said he “feared” the king, but God’s word says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It wasn’t a reverent and trembling fear this servant had, but the same disease the Jewish leaders had at the time of Christ – greed and jealousy. Satan dreads for Christ to rule over him; he wants to be the boss.

And I don’t know if Jesus meant to draw this parallel, but it’s interesting to me that there are three who give account in this parable and that one of the three is wicked, because when Satan (who’s name means “accuser”) fell from grace he took 1/3 of the angels with him. Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Luke 10:18-20; and Revelation 12:3-9. He also was judged by his own accusations. And in the end shall be cast into the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:3) and then into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10), where there is eternal torment and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

* * *

I can relate to this parable as both a rebellious teenager and a protective parent. When I became a parent I’d had enough life experiences to see the troubles my kids were headed for, and tried my level best to steer them away (because I loved them dearly) from making a big mistake or a bad decision. Many times they accused me of being mean or harsh, as a means to manipulate me into letting them do what they wanted. Many times that’s exactly who I became to them, mean and harsh. Those teenage years were the hardest, but I am thankful for them, because they helped me see and appreciate the patience of God with us. To show me both the wretch that I was and the loving parent that He is. And for giving me that small glimpse of His mercy, and what He deals with every day. And honestly, to call God hard or austere is more a confession of who we are, our own selfishness, and shows that we don’t really know Him, or want to know Him. We just want our own way.

I can’t say or claim to know God the way we know people, Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out (Romans 11:33), but I do get to know Him every time I read and study and search out His word. And I am humbled that He wanted me to be part of His kingdom by sending a courageous lady to preach the gospel to me when I was a young and foolish mother. That lady led me in a prayer of salvation that changed my life. Certainly changed the course of my life. I shall never know what the Lord saved me from that day, but I know what He saved me to, and it blesses my heart so much that He was not willing that I should perish, but that I should come to repentance. He waited all these years for me to be born, and to choose Him. The Jesus that I know is merciful, caring, sacrificing, and loving…no greater love has any man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. He purchased a kingdom for me that I didn’t deserve. And even more importantly, He sent me to invite YOU with these words today!

So I ask you…what’s in YOUR WALLET?

Minas Free Printable

Do you know Jesus as Savior? Do you have His minas and talents in you? How will you invest them in His kingdom, or trade them on the stock exchange of heaven? Don’t worry, I am not asking you to really tell me, or even keep a record for yourself. I just think we need to ask our selves this question every day in order to put our schedules in right order. Truly there is so much work to do. We can do the work ourselves, or donate to causes that will do the work in our place. I believe this parable tells us that it all counts. But, whatever we do, let’s do it out of love, not out of obligation, for anything not done out of love is, well, not done. (1 Cor. 13)

The commandments are summed up in this, that we Love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27; Matthew 22:37; Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:30-31). Let us love like the Good Samaritan – which just so happened also on that same Jericho road.

Let us love when we see love is needed. Love is what causes our giving to earn interest. Let us help when we see help is needed. Give when we see giving is needed. And then let us forget what we’ve done.

And let us keep our eyes on the skies, for our King is coming! Amen?

PRAYER: Oh Lord, help me to have eyes to see the needs around me, and the unselfishness to meet them. Lord forgive my selfishness. Lord forgive my fearfulness. Help me to have the courage to share this gospel of yours in the best way to honor You and tell Your story. Let those who have ears to hear, hear Your message and believe, and be saved. May those who love You be encouraged and strengthened. May those who don’t know You, find You. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV

Entertaining, Feast on This, Garden party, Mother's Day, Recipes

Mrs. H’s Shoestring Potato Tuna Salad

July 22, 2016April 21, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

My bestie and I live three states apart, but out in the west, and when one of those states is Texas, this adds up to a pretty dang far distance. Too far to get to spend as much time together as we’d like. But we stay close by texting every few days and calling often, we read out of the same Bible devotional every day, we send each other pins on Pinterest, and at least once a year we travel to meet somewhere and spend a few days hanging out.

She came to both my girls’ weddings, my girls both call her Aunt Treva. And I in turn got to go to her son’s wedding, and even take pictures. We are as close as sisters, and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. She’s my people. My home team. My rock. My laughter. And my comfort zone. We go together like peas and carrots.

Her family moved to my little town when we were just four years old, and she and I went through school together, from Kindergarten to graduation, although she got to graduate a year early.

Her mom was the best cook in town. You can string me up if I am lying. Ask anyone who lived there. I cherished every invitation to come to supper. And, I have several of her recipes that I still make to this day. I even found a set of dishes at a yard sale once that are the same ones she had, pattern, color, and everything, and I bought them. Whenever I serve food on them I hope that it is somehow blessed by sweet mama-Agnes as she looks down from heaven. Her own dishes of course passed down to Treva, and so we both have the same dishes in our kitchens. Isn’t that fun?

Treva and I were visiting on the phone the other day, asking each other what we were going to make for supper, and when I told her I was thinking of making tuna salad she told me about a tuna salad her mom used to make sometimes when she was going to have girlfriends over. I’m not usually a fan of tuna on a tomato, and what’s funny is neither is my friend, but I will admit, it is much better on a nice fresh ripe garden tomato, one of those magnificent heirloom black tomatoes especially, which I just happen to have today. Treva also suggested trying a halved bell pepper next time. A red one, for looks. She’s a genius … it is a perfect substitute!

MRS H’s SHOESTRING POTATO TUNA SALAD

1 cup julienned Carrots

1 cup julienned Celery

1/4 cup finely chopped Green Onion

1 can (12 oz) Tuna (I prefer the kind packed in water), drained

Mayo (maybe half to 3/4 cup – I just eyeball it)

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 heaping tsp. fresh or dried Dill Weed

1 serrano chili, seeds, stems, and membranes removed, minced

season to taste with: (start with a little shake of each)

lemon pepper

ground pepper

Montreal steak seaonsing

1 (1.5 oz.) can Shoestring Potatoes

Romaine lettuce

2 Fresh, ripe, garden Heirloom Tomatoes (or substitute red bell peppers)

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine carrots, celery, onion, tuna, mayo, lemon juice, dill weed, serrano chili (I am hopelessly addicted to heat, so I add the whole thing, but you can add as much or as little as you want, or none if you are sensitive to spicy foods), and seasonings. Add a little kosher salt to taste if desired. Cover and chill for an hour or so in the fridge.

When ready to serve, cut tomatoes in half (be fancy), wash the lettuce and lay a leaf or two down on each plate. Set half of a tomato in the center of the lettuce. Now, at this point I like to drizzle both with dressing, and I happened to have Green Goddess when I took this photo, but my favorite, favorite, favorite is Serrano Ranch!

Stir half of the shoestring potatoes into the tuna… (I like the spicy ones)

…and then pile tuna salad onto each tomato, dividing equally between four servings. Garnish with the remaining shoestrings and serve.

If using bell pepper in place of tomatoes, you can slice it into strips (to make it a little easier to eat) and just tuck a few on the side of your tuna salad. Or, you can cut the bell pepper in half lengthwise and fill it with the salad, just like you would the tomato.

Tuna on a Bell2 — ***Tuna on a red bell pepper, using the regular shoestring potatoes. Delish!!!***

This is how my friend Treva’s mom used to serve hers, with bread-and-butter pickles and a boiled egg. I also like to tuck in a couple cucumber spears, when I have them. YUM!!!!!!!.

Thank you Ms. Treva for sharing another winner with me!!!! Sending hugs to you and to your precious mother, God rest her sweet soul. I’m blowing kisses your way. ❤

“We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.” Numbers 11:5

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

1 Timothy 4:4-5

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Mark 15:7-15

Luke 23:13, 14, 18-25

John 18:39-40

Who did they choose? Better yet, who do YOU choose?

Up from the grave He arose!

~ Free Will or God’s Will? ~

a son or The Son?

Apart from God we can do nothing!

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Mom’s Green Chili

Mom’s Spicy Red Chili

Colleen’s Homemade Chili Powder

Mom’s Chicken Tortilla Soup (mildly spicy)

Mom’s Creamy Poblano Soup (spicy)

Recipe:

Mom’s Creamy Farmhouse Potato Soup, with Bacon and Jalapenos

Mom’s Spicy White Bean, Andouille, and Kale Soup

Mom’s Zuppa Tuscano (spicy)

Mom’s Spicy Nacho Cheese Soup

Colleen’s Clam Chowder

“And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food” Genesis 25:29

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So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

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“Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.” – Psalms 71:9

Family Tree

“Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” – Proverbs 17:6

Video Interview

“Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” – Leviticus 19:32

“And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.” – Ruth 4:15

Old Letters and Great Books

“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.” – Proverbs 20:29

Grandma’s Recipes

“Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” – Psalms 71:18

Play a Game

“With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.”

– Job 12:12

Other Ideas

“The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.”

-Proverbs 16:31

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Ingredients

Instructions

“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14, KJV

((( P.S. Thanks Ms. Karen for the inspiration!!!!! )))

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Ingredients

Instructions

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” Genesis 9:3

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Ingredients & Instructions

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Come for Supper?

“She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table” – Proverbs 9:2

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The Parable of the Lost Sheep

The Parable of the Lost Coin

The Parable of the Lost Son

You are the Lord’s Pearl of Great Price!

You are His Hidden Treasure!

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

I dearly hope you have trusted Him as Savior today.

God bless you my friend!!!!

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Matthew 20:1-16 (NKJV)

Chosen vs. Called.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)

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“Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.. Hebrews 12:13 NKJV

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& The Parable of the Talents

The Parable of the Minas

The Parable of the Talents