Author: RefreshHer

Cooking

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer2 Comments
There are mixed emotions at our house. One the one hand there is sadness…camp is over for our daughter, Alli and she’s missing it already. Then there is also joy…camp is over for Alli and we have her home for a couple weeks! See what I mean? It’s all about perspective! 🙂
We also had the joy of having a friend of Alli’s, Yvette, join us for the weekend. She was also a waitress at The Wilds this summer, and the two girls worked and served hard together. It was a blessing to get to know this sweet girl, who also has a heart for the Lord.
She and Alli had plans to spend some time in Asheville on their way home from camp Saturday, but that all changed when Yvette’s car kept dying! Thank the Lord for a Dad that came to the rescue (my husband!). It was a reminder that we can make plans, but our God is in control. It also reminded me that the Lord answers our prayers as we pray for the safety of our children.
They made it home safely, albeit much later than we’d all planned, tired and hot (no air conditioning in the car). However, I had dinner prepped and ready. After showers and a glass of cold iced tea, we had supper Saturday night. Later this week I’ll share this recipe, but it was amazing. It was Brazilian Grilled Steak with Artichoke Salsa. It was fresh tasting and so very good!

Here was Sunday dinner:

Pork Tenderloin w/Herb Glaze
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed broccoli w/almonds
Crescent Rolls
Chocolate Lava Cakes with Pistachio Cream

I searched for a new Sunday entree’ and found this on an amazing blog – Once Upon a Plate. I could spend hours on there searching for new recipes to try! This Pork Tenderloin was a fast dish both to prepare and to bake.
1 or 2 pork tenderloin (12 to 16 ounces or so, each ) OR 6 (8-10 ounce) Pork chops
1 Tablespoon Herbs de Provence (recipe to follow)
Salt and cracked black pepper
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Glaze:
1/3 cup honey
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Sea salt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

To prepare the pork: Rub meat (tenderloin or chops) with herbs and salt and black pepper. Heat olive oil in a very large pan until smoking hot. Add the meat and sear well on all sides (if using chops sear both sides, turning once.

Mix the honey (or agave syrup), garlic, mustard, shallots, lemon juice and zest, and pinch sea salt. Pour over the meat and place in the oven and cook until meat reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the meat.Remove meat to platter or plates. Place the pan on stove top over medium heat and bring to a boil add the butter and adjust the seasonings. Pour over sliced tenderloin or chops and serve hot. (Alternately offer the glaze at the table to allow each diner to add their own.)

This is a Cooking Light version of the famous (and very fattening) Lava Cakes. It is very good, though I’m still tweaking the cooking time to make it gooey in the center. These are Chocolate Lava Cakes with Pistachio Cream. They are a little time consuming, but you could easily prep them early in the day. They only bake for 9 minutes, so it was nice to pop them in the oven when supper was finished and have a warm cake to serve!

Later this week I’ll also share the recipe for these muffins – a new one for me. I served these for Sunday morning breakfast. They were full of blueberries and baked up better than other recipes I’ve tried. Usually the topping sinks down into the muffin, but these stayed high and pretty!

Herbes de Provence is a blend of herbs native to the Provence region in southern France where the fresh herbs are gathered from the mountain sides to use in traditional dishes. Rosemary, thyme and bay leaf are the base for the blend-without these it is not herbes de Provence. From there basil, lavender and fennel are added. In France, lavender is only added in very small amounts and sometimes excluded.

Here is a very basic blend that can be mixed, although each cooks adds her or his own touch to the blend which changes it slightly.

Dry herb Ingredients:
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon marjoram
1 tablespoon summer savory
1 tablespoon thyme
1 crushed bay leaf
1 teaspoon lavender
1 teaspoon fennel

Mix together and keep in a covered container.

It was a busy weekend in my kitchen! What was cooking in yours?

Christian Life

The Picture of a Man Out of Fellowship With God

RefreshHer3 Comments

I love the descriptions that are painted for us in the Scriptures. We are often given little details that really give us a mental picture of the person in that passage, or of the situation as it unfolds. Yesterday I read I Samuel 22 and was enamoured by the clear portrait of a man who was out of fellowship with God; the man was Saul.

In this chapter Saul learns that David has slipped out of his fingers once again and had even been aided by the priest, Ahimelech. Saul is so angered by this that he pulls his men together. He is standing underneath a tree giving his men a lecture all the while the Scripture says, “having his spear in his hand.” I wonder if he was showing the sharpness of the blade while he spoke his angry words to them. Was he threatening them with this gesture? My speculation is that he was.

I won’t take the time to describe the whole story, you can read it here. But what I saw as I read the passage was what a person acts like or looks like when he’s out of fellowship with God. I’m not sure if Saul was truly a believer, but even if he was, the first sign of a man out of fellowship with the Lord is that he:

  1. imitates an unbeliever

  2. becomes self-sufficient vs. 6

  3. judges incorrectly and jumps to conclusions vs. 7, 8

  4. is selfish vs. 8b

  5. will try to persuade others to join their ungodly ways vs 8c

  6. will have close companions that are also ungodly vs. 9, 10

  7. will be arrogant vs. 11

  8. will not listen to the truth or be reasonable vs 14, 15

  9. will make poor/ungodly decisions Vs. 16

  10. will despise godly people and will do anything to avoid them. Vs. 17

A person doesn’t have to have all those characteristics in their life (as Saul did) to be out of fellowship with God. They may have only 2 or 3 of the ten listed. We need to look at our own hearts carefully and see of any if these are a part of our lives at this time. If so, we can repent (I John 1:9) and be restored before we begin to look like this description. If someone read this list, would they think of me? Of you? Or would they find us in this list…

  1. Love

  2. Joy

  3. Peace

  4. Long suffering

  5. Gentleness

  6. Goodness

  7. Faith

  8. Meekness

  9. Temperance

Oh, may it be so!

Have a great weekend and I’ll look for you in church!

Uncategorized

Fun Food For School

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It’s hard to believe, but most public schools have started by now. Many homeschooling families are rolling out the desks and chalkboards too so they can get a jump on the school year. It will feel good to take a break in early fall, knowing that many weeks of school have been accomplished!

I know I already posted about school lunch ideas, but I found some cute things on Family fun’s website and thought I’d share them with you today.

Here are some peanut butter & jelly Blossoms. They’re sandwiches cut into flower shapes. Cute.

Cupcakes are all the rage right now, and take a look at this combo of a cupcake and a couple of chocolate graham crackers! Even a high schooler would think that was cool!

This cupcake looks adorable and is super simple. I believe that’s a Good and Plenty serving as the chalk!


This is the meat and cheese! Can you believe it? The instructions are below.

For each pencil, cut off one end of a cheese stick so that it’s flat. Use a paring knife or apple corer to cut a 3/4-inch circle out of the bologna.

Dab one end of the circle into the mustard, then attach it to the flat end of the cheese stick.
Snap off the end of a Bugle so that its edges are even, and gently press it onto the other end of the cheese stick. Slide half a raisin onto the Bugle for the pencil tip, and you’ve got a snack that’s just write!

Leave it to Family Fun to create such great ideas to make lunch that much adventure!

Enjoy!

Christian Life

Five Things You Need To Know

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One night while in Kentucky, I saw the 10:00 news. They have a segment entitled, “Five things you should know before you go to bed tonight.” The stories were ridiculous. One “thing” they shared was about a woman attacking a McDonald’s worker at the drive through window (she got out of her car!) because she couldn’t get chicken McNuggets at that time of the morning! Another story was about a man who thought he had cancer, then come to find out he had a pea plant growing in his lung! Let me tell you, I slept so much better knowing those important facts!

Though the stories were definitely nothing I needed to know, I did like the title of that segment. It made me think about five things everyone really needs to know before they go to bed. What would those five things be? Here’s my list:

  1. God loves you and sent His Son to die for you so you could have fellowship with Him and a home in heaven!
  2. This world has nothing to offer you that is lasting or fulfilling. Satan is a liar and will try to make you believe otherwise, but only Jesus can satisfy your soul.
  3. The Word of God is absolute Truth and has the power to change your life if you’ll read it and live it.
  4. There is nothing too hard for God. He is all-powerful and able to do more than we could ask or think. You need to surrender to Him all that’s burdening your heart.
  5. Jesus is coming soon and you need to be ready. Trust Him as your Savior if you haven’t done that. Live for Him, tell others about Him, and look for Him in the eastern skies!

Now, you can go to bed and sleep! 🙂

With my love,

Cooking

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer2 Comments

I’m freezing! With summer temperatures at 90 degrees, I’m certainly not talking about the weather. I’ve been freezing food this past weekend. My mom has had some real issues with back pain, and I prayed about what I could do to help her and my dad. Food seems to be the greatest need. Though my dad is very efficient in every other area, cooking is not a skill he enjoys! I’m headed to Kentucky today with a cooler full of food that I prepared on Saturday and froze in individual servings for them.

I made…

Lasagna
(I put it in small servings after baking)

Countryside Chicken Bake and cooked apples
Oatmeal, pecan, chocolate chip cookies


Sloppy Joe meat, Taco meat, & Banana Bread

I also cooked fresh green beans and put them in individual serving sizes. And I fried up a batch of bacon so all my dad would have to do is warm it for breakfast or BLTs.

If I worked outside the home, I would definitely do this type of cooking/freezing each weekend. Everything I did is completely cooked to simplify it for my dad, but you could get the dish ready up to the point of baking it, then freeze it.

To make up the lasagna, tacos and Sloppy Joes, I followed this game plan from Robin Miller on The Food Network. You make up one big pan of meat, then add different ingredients for the Sloppy Joes and Tacos.
I’ve made this Beef meal before and it’s all very good. The reviews written on the recipes are very critical, but as with any recipe you use, adjust it to what your family likes. I will say that it is a little soupy, so you might want to reduce the amount of liquid from the tomatoes, maybe drain one or two cans before adding them to thicken it up, or add some tomato paste to do the same thing. All in all it’s a great plan and will provide you with many meals in one cooking time. I was in the kitchen the better part of the day making all that, but it was well worth the time! Now, I can spend time visiting my parents instead of being in the kitchen!

What was cooking in your kitchen this week?

With love,