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Showing posts from 2015

Why I Never Use Profanity

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It's grievous to hear a professing Christian  use profane words,  or  use God's name irreverently. The Bible says that one day we will each have to stand before the Lord and give an account for every idle word spoken.  Every Idle Word. That's a little mind blowing, but it is right there in scripture. Profanity is defined as  Profane [proh-feyn,] adjective 1. characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious. verb (used with object) 6. to misuse (anything that should be held in reverence or respect); defile; debase; employ basely or unworthily. Synonyms 1. blasphemous, sacrilegious, impious, ungodly. 2. temporal. 3. unhallowed. 5. low, mean, base. 7. desecrate. I wonder if

Bundle Up in the Cold Assists Your Immune System

Have you ever heard the old saying, "You'll catch your death of cold"? This was a pretty   common  phrase  several decades ago.  There is a actually a scientific reason why

Cold Season

November has been beautiful in our area with blue skies and beautiful leaves everywhere. Our new house is coming along and we're getting it a little bit more organized. We've been doing well fighting off the various coughs and colds that are going around.

Healthy Substitutes for Deli Meat

Lunch foods have always been my biggest culinary challenge, health-wise and budget-wise. Trying to eat healthy on a budget takes planning and work. I am trying to steer my menus away from

Video! Battle of the Bibles

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I love truth and I am so excited to share this video, "Battle of the Bibles" by former evolutionist, turned Creationist, Dr. Walter Veith.  The Bible says, "Do not be deceived by the devil, but rather expose his evil deeds."   As Christians, we are basing our eternity on God's Word, so it's vitally important that we make certain that this book, upon which we're basing our eternal destiny is truly the Word of God.  Dr. Veith says, "The question we have to ask ourselves is whether we are dealing with a direct  translation that gives as accurate a rendition of the original words as possible, or  are we dealing with a dynamic equivalent translation that places the original words in  a new setting that often reflects the paradigms of the translators? In the latter case  the translation may turn out to be dynamic, but often anything but equivalent." The truth is that  God is unchangeable, and so is His Word.   Heaven and earth shall

The Peace of God

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I've been looking forward to blogging again, but many things in my life have taken priority that it has been a season for waiting and not writing. Nothing that was too hard for my God, though. And all things have been working out for good.

6 Ways to Prevent & Treat Mommy Headaches

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It's hard to be a good mom when you have a splitting headache. More and more people are experiencing migraine headaches which can be debilitating. You cannot properly take care of your family or your home when your head is pounding. It's common to reach for Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, or other various over the counter drugs to numb the pain. And while they do help reduce pain, they also

The Kindness of God

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Have you ever noticed the gentle ways that God causes us to wake up each morning? First, the sun begins to rise ever so slowly. (Actually, it's the earth's rotation that makes the sun appear to rise. But, a rose of any color...). Anyway, the sun begins ever-so-subtly to absorb the darkness around us. Unless you sleep with blackout curtains, your eyelids perceive the light and it begins to

Eggs In A Nest

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Ever since I saw this breakfast being cooked in Moonstruck, I couldn't wait to try it out at home. It just looked sooooo delicious, especially to an egg lover like me.  So far, I have made this several times in the last month with different kinds of breads and it is just as yummy as I hoped it would be. It is seriously scrumptious.  This morning my husband declared this meal his favorite non-meat breakfast. But it gets better — you don't need many ingredients. In fact, in the movie, it looks like she only used bread, butter, and eggs. I added some toppings to mine, but I'm sure it's just wonderful in it's puritan form, too. Eggs in a Nest Sour Dough Bread Real Butter Large Eggs Optional toppings: Feta cheese Tomato slices Avocado slices First just pull out some of the center of the bread to make a hole.  Melt a good amount of butter (about a tablespoon) in a hot pan and fry the bread slices in the butter.  Lift the bread

Healthy Chocolate

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Chocolate is a staple at my house. Just a bite every so often and I'm good to go. And while chocolate itself is healthy and an antioxidant, the sugars and other added ingredients of grocery store chocolate are not.  And fancy chocolates can get expensive. I bought a "specialty" chocolate bar at Sprouts for my husband as part of his Valentine's Day gift and it was over $3! Not my idea of a budget friendly treat.  My solution: make my own at home using 4 simple, healthy ingredients:  Coconut Oil Cocoa Powder Raw Honey Celtic Sea Salt optional add-ins include: Shredded Coconut Chopped raw nuts Almond Butter Peanut Butter Dried cranberries In terms of health, coconut oil outshines all other oils and has too many health benefits to list here.  Raw honey is superior to processed and retains its many trace beneficial properties.  Cocoa powder is loaded with health benefits and is a known antioxidant.  And a pinch of celtic sea sal

Quick Lasagne

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I normally make Lasagne with a long simmered meat sauce, but when I just want to get dinner fixed fast, I have no problem taking shortcuts. :-) This is such a friendly meal to make and fairly easy. It assembles in under 30 minutes and I usually have the ingredients just hanging around in the fridge and pantry begging to be layered together.   Lasagne can be made with as many or as few different cheeses as you would like. I like to imagine how the first Italian wife must have stumbled upon this masterpiece one day in her kitchen. Maybe she was in a hurry and didn't have time to cut her noodles into the smaller sizes of fettuccine or spaghetti, and just made wide slits. Looking around her kitchen, she used leftover meat, cheeses and sauce and layered them together.   In the same way, I like to invent or adapt recipes in my kitchen. So I swapped out the traditional mozzerella cheese for Monterey Jack in my lasagne tonight. I also used cottage cheese instead of ricotta.  I

Beef Short Ribs

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Last night's dinner entree was beef short ribs and they were yummy!  I think this is the second time I've attempted to make ribs and both times I have done so in the oven. The thought of making them always intimidates me because they are unfamiliar territory for me. I run to google and look up how to make them and then I remember with a smile that are easy, so long as you've got the time to do it.  I imagine they'd be great in a crockpot, too. But I haven't tried that method as of yet. Since I knew I'd be home all day, I just went with my oven routine. :) First I marinated the ribs in bbq sauce  Then into a 300 degree they went to slow roast for about 4 hours. (I started them around 2pm.)  During the last half hour of cooking I brushed layers of bbq sauce over them every ten minutes to give them a nice thick glaze.   While the ribs were getting happy in the oven, I got out my trusty corn meal and some fresh Napa cabbage to prepare

Happy Tax Day

It's April 15th and you know what that means: time for Uncle Sam to dig into the pockets of poor Americans.  Have you gotten your taxes all done and mailed? We are good to go on that front. My husband just taught our oldest son how to file his tax returns. Wow, they grow up fast! So tonight, the chef (that's me) gets the evening off and we are going out to dine out at our local Sonic Hamburger stand. Do you have one of these places in your neighborhood? If you do and you like their burgers, they are offering half price cheeseburgers tonight on account of it being tax day. There are several other tax day promotions going on at places like McDonald's, Burger King, Hard Rock Cafe and Boston Market.  (Just google it for details on the deals.) It may not be much compensation for the annual government gouge, but considering these retailers are not at fault, it's awfully nice of them to serve up some special deals, isn't it? Have a blessed day in Christ!

Does God Hear Your Prayers?

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Have you ever wondered if God hears your prayers? The bible is God's word directly to mankind. It tells us that we can know  whether He hears your prayers or if his ears are closed to them. Here's what Scripture says on the matter: John 9:31 - Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. According to this scripture, who does God hear? Anyone who is a worshipper of God and does his will. Who does God not hear? Sinners.  Sinners are those actively sinning. They know what they are about to do is wrong and do it anyway. They rationalize it. They say they are weak. They say they can't help it. There are a lot of excuses they have come up with to keep on sinning. They are sinners. Notice that this verse does not say that God doesn't hear the heathen or unbelieving. It just says he doesn't hear sinners . Who are sinners? Sinners are those who know to do right and do not do it. The difference

Bedroom Care

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There is a wonderful book for homemakers by Cheryl Mendelson called, "Home comforts: The Science and Art of Keeping House" that is full of pretty detailed homemaker stuff - have any of you read this? If not, I would encourage all domestic divas to get your own copy. If you're like me, you appreciate books that organize the information by category so you can jump right to the subject you want information on, which this book does beautifully. Granted, it is not a skimpy quick and easy read. The author goes into great detail, and often times more detail than I would prefer. But the I find the details she offers always seem to make sense.  In other words, the details don't seem to be there just to fill up the book, but rather explain the whys and hows, which makes it much more bearable. (My tolerance for pretense and fluff is painfully low.) Of particular intersest to me was the chapter on bedroom care on page 660. She points her readers to the age old custom of airin

Homemakers Need to Be Ready To Give an Answer, Too!

proofthatgodexists.org If you're ever in a situation to direct an athiest to God, I recommend referring them to the website named above. It is simple, brilliantly constructed and has a pretty powerful impact, in that it "forces" the user to exercise logic and reason — the pillars upon which athiests have constructed their religion. Just because we are housewives, mothers and homemakers doesn't excuse us from the Great Commission.  We can sprinkle seed wherever we go — the grocery store and other shopping venues, online forums, blog posts, comment boxes, and social media such as Facebook & Twitter. Often the most committed atheists were once "christians". It's important to understand that a christian is not always equal to being Born Again. Christian simply means professing to follow Christ. There are non-born again Christians and Born Again Christians. But only the latter are saved and accepted by God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son:

How to Be Well Groomed (1949)

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I love the 1940s. If I could travel in time, I'd plunk myself right down in that era. There was no political correctness. Roles were well defined, genders were clear. No worrying about what you might encounter in a public restroom. Children could play in their neighborhoods without undue fear. Neighbors were neighborly and families were in tact for the most part. Big band was in full swing. Materialism had not taken root nor had television.  You could tell a man from a woman instantaneously. Fashion was at it's peak, in my opinion. The hairstyles for women were feminine and work savvy. Hair styles for men were dapper and clean cut. Kitchens had back doors that the woman of the house would answer for friends, neighbors and milkmen. Husbands were the established breadwinners an allowing wives the time to take care of their home and children. Wives would diligently plan nutritious and thrifty meals for their families and not rely on convenience foods or drive through (which didn&#

Free TV

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I've been meaning to write this post for quite some time but kept forgetting! I feel it's an important topic for thrifty homemakers in Christian homes. For years we paid the high price for cable or satellite TV thinking that it was the only way to get any television channels. But the cost was not the only issue. Along with the good channels like Turner Classic Movies and HGTV, there were ungodly channels that we wanted nothing to do with. But with Cable and Satellite tv, you have to accept the bad channels along with the good ones. So we used the "block" feature on every bad channel.  But still, the monthly cost was ridiculous. Sometimes we felt bad that we were not watching enough tv to rationalize the price! About 5 years ago we moved and decided not to renew the TV service. And I'm happy to say, we have never looked back. For the first couple of years, we went without any tv and just watched a video now and then. We really thought that this was our only

Instilling Initiative Into Our Children

Getting kids to do their chores, or any work for that matter can often be a pain. We as their parents desire to see them want to help, want to learn, want to grow in maturity, selflessness and grace. We want them to take initiative and be intuitive. We want them to develop good habits. We want to raise willful children into caring, competent adults. So when they're little, we give them chore lists according to their ages and abilities.  The list clearly states WHAT the chore is and WHEN the chore should be done. They look at them, understand what's expected and everything is rosy. When they are little, moms tend to remind them when it's time to do a chore. Even though this works, it's bad training. Why? Because the power of a law is only as strong as the penalty of the law . (Keep repeating that until it sinks in!) If you give your child a list of chores with no deadlines or penalties, where is their motivation to remember to get their rear in gear? It's

Fix a Sagging Mattress

Shopping around for a new mattress these days can be a pain. Literally. My husband and I both have trouble with back pain occasionally (and increasingly the older we get) and it's important to have a good mattress to sleep on. But the ridiculous price tags are daunting. When it was time to buy a new mattress last August, we thought we'd give IKEA a try. We spent hours at the store lying on mattresses and studying the differences between the different models. They don't do normal money back returns for mattresses and instead give you a gift card for their store. But their prices were appealing and their claims for superior durability and comfort very alluring. So after several hours of testing and deliberating in the store and thinking we found a good one we made the plunge and bought one. It was roughly $550. We got it home and within a month, it started sagging. The body grooving was causing us both increasing back pain and sleep loss. We knew that  returning it would

The Words of The Mouth

I wanted to write today about ways to express ourselves that bring honor, and not dishonor, to the Lord. The Bible says in Matthew 12:46, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." SO we're each going to give an account of ourselves to the Lord one day.  So we need to be mindful of the words and expressions we use. There are many (professing) Christians are dishonoring God with their choice of words, making them very poor ambassadors for Christ. A whole new generation of people are using God's name in vain, as though it were meaningless and they won't be held accountable. They use his holy name to express anything from surprise, joy and amazement to frustration, disappointment and sadness. Some insert filthy words along with it. Even though it has been reduced to initials (OMG) the intent is the same. They aren't trembling now, but they will one day. Such a frightening thought. T

A TV Mother To Admire

There are many, many tv shows to choose from. Many, many tv "family shows" with tv mothers. But I have not seen a single one that was really worth admiring until I found the Donna Reed Show. This little gem of a sit-com stands heads and shoulders above the crowd of all other family shows, in my opinion. To me, there's the Donna Reed Show and everything else. It's that good. In this show, Donna plays a very devoted and very loving housewife and mother. She is unashamedly respectful to her husband and that alone is awesome to watch. She is loving yet disciplinary to her children and runs her home with efficiency and grace. She displays a generous heart that's too big for her body. She's kind to neighbors, hospitable to guests, generous to the down-hearted, yet she's given a real enough quality that demonstrates her weak sides, too. She's not "perfect". She's just admirable in a way that any loving wife and mother can relate to and admi

When Your Home is Chaotic

As my kids were growing up, I had to set limits so that our home would not be chaotic. After all, mom lives here too! :-) My goal was for my home to be happy, peaceful, ordered and normal. Not museum-like. Just flowing and somewhat organized. But a home is only as peaceful and orderly as its inhabitants. That means a self-disciplined wife/mother who is willing to train her children.  Here are some keys I've found helpful in maximizing happiness, peace and order in my home:  Regulate your sleep.   If you don't get enough sleep, you're setting yourself up for failure and trouble. If you've got infants, it is a trying time because you're losing sleep in the middle of the night.  Work out a plan so that you get at least 8 hours of sleep per 24 hours. Whether that means taking a nap during the day with the kids or getting to bed earlier each night. Try not to rely too much on stimulants for energy.  Plan your meals. Pick out 7 breakfasts, snacks, lunches & din