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Showing posts from April, 2015

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: