Sometimes plans have to be changed.  That’s why it’s good to have a pantry that’s filled with items  like cream soups and rice that will help in a pinch.  I switched my Sunday menu to allow for a couple more people.  I bought a package of chicken breasts on sale and a bag of carrots (also marked down!), but I had all the other ingredients to make Countryside Chicken Bake.  I’ve shared the recipe before, but never a picture of the dish.  I like to know what it’s going to look like, don’t you?  So here’s the finished dish…

This is one of those comfort food kind of casseroles with chicken, rice, carrots and cream of mushroom soup.  The gravy base  has sour cream and milk added to it.  The rice and “gravy” part really flavors the chicken nicely. 

What’s not to like about French Bread?  It’s good so many different ways.  Our Ingles store often has it buy one get one free, which makes a loaf less than a dollar!  Yesterday’s bread was simply French Bread with a cheesy topping added to the already great loaf of bread!  I found this in my 1988 Southern Living cookbook.  Everyone really liked it, and it was oh, so, simple!

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool completely.
3. To prepare filling, place 1 cup sugar and cream cheeses in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Fold in half of whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture on cooled crust. Cover loosely; refrigerate 1 hour.
4. Combine milk and pudding mix in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until pudding is set. Spread the pudding mixture over cream cheese layer. Spread remaining half of thawed whipped topping over pudding layer. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Cut into 15 pieces

I love Sunday dinner at home!  After all the hard work on Saturday (and it is hard work, but worth it!), it’s great to come home after church to a delicous meal and great fellowship. 

Did you cook at home this Sunday?  What did you preapre?

From my parsonage kitchen,

P. S. On Wednesday’s Peek Inside the Parsonage, I will be posting a video I made on using a Pressure Cooker.  Be sure to check it out!

These are called “Raspberry Strippers” simply because they are baked in long logs and then cut into strips.  The recipe comes from my Cooking Light site that I love!  You can, of course, use any flavor of jam that you like.  I made Apricot and they were yummy!

They are drizzled with a confectionery sugar glaze after coming out of the oven, then they’re sliced and left to cool ten minutes (if you can wait that long!)

Photo from Cooking Light’s site

Ingredients

Preparation

These have moved to the front of my “Favorite” list!  Make up a batch and grab a cup of coffee or a glass of milk!   What a way to end the week! 

What is your favorite cookie?

Be refreshed,

I wake up feeling good.  No headaches lurking, no knee pain or other twangs here or there that are common to a woman reaching her mid-50’s.  It’s a beautiful day – even unseasonably cool for late June.  I have plans to walk with my husband before anything else today – partly because we just want to take advantage of the temperature, and partly to get out there before our road gets too busy.

Shoes are laced and we head out the door and I have this uneasiness about me.  I can’t put my finger on it.  We walk silently and then my husband looks at me and asks if I’m okay.  If I’m quiet, he gets suspicious (kind of sad, really!).  In answer to his question, I answer, “I’m good.”  He senses my uneasiness, I realize.  We have a great walk – well, he jogs most of the way while I walk briskly and review my memory verses.

When we arrive home, the coffee is waiting for us, steamy and strong.  I pour a cup and head back to my quiet place.  Caffeine in one hand, Bible in my lap, I begin to read my daily reading.  Today I’m in Leviticus 11.  I’m pitying the poor folk that were under all these laws, and then I come to verses 44 and 45.

For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

It was at that moment that the Holy Spirit put His finger on my “uneasiness” I had felt earlier.  The truer name for it is my Old Sin Nature.  That nature was tired and grumpy.  No, it was sinful!  Any time I am not acting, responding, or speaking in a holy manner (without sin), I am letting my old sin nature take over.  I am anything but holy!

It’s easy to get into a routine of being saved; doing all the things Christians do, and forget about living a holy life.  We can be good enough, but we’re not holy.  We can do nice things, but we’re not holy.  We can avoid saying sinful words, but we’re not holy. 

I find my self now asking questions like, “Is this a holy response? Was that a holy answer?  Is my motive holy?”  We must think of Christ when we say “holy.”  “Am I imitating Him in each of these areas?”  If not, then I am not holy.

One Day we will no longer fight our sinful flesh (hallelujah!), but until then, it would do us all well to ask the Spirit of God to make a careful inspection and reveal to us whether we’re being holy, or allowing our sin nature to preside instead!  It is a battle we can win, with God’s help!

With love,

If you have a fireplace mantle (or shelf), here’s a picture of Gracious Design’s mantle, used as an object lesson:

I would have never thought to place a large lamp on the side as they did, but because they balanced it out, not with a matching lamp, but with the greenery in the large vase, it works well. 

Here are some other tips they shared concerning decorating a mantle:

• The mantle should be the unifying factor in the room.
• Art work is a great backdrop (look at the picture above and how she used that large piece of artwork in the center)
• The mantle should be a snapshot of the rest of the room
• Mantles need to be weighted at the bottom.  Sometimes the fireplace tools can do this.  A large fireplace screen or large plant can also work.  She used pillows and candles in the example in the store.
• Mantles have to have structure.  Create a “Magic U” with pieces up high on the side, down low in the middle and then high again on the other side.  Create the “U” around the center element.  For a wider space, create a “UU”
• Have different dimensions –
• Matte and shiny
• Different shapes
• Vertical and round
• Hard and soft
• runners, greenery

Concerning bookcases:

• Counteract bookshelf with round objects
• clocks
• globe
• candlesticks
• Add shiny objects
• Place heavier pieces on the bottom shelf
• Open some of the books up (see second shelf)
• If there is clutter you want to hide, use a suspension rod and cafe curtain to cover it! Maybe like this…

Just thought you might like some inspiration like I received for your mantles and bookcases!

Do you have any great ideas of things you’ve added to these places in your home?  I’d love to hear!

From my parsonage windows,

I absolutely love a good sale!  Let me see red markdown tags on merchandise, and I can get excited!  However, I heard a quote in my husband’s sermon Sunday that has made me rethink bargains.