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What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

This has been such a beautiful weekend.  We have eaten many of our meals out on our deck.  It makes for a wonderful day!  Eating outside just makes it more relaxing!  

We even decided to grill out on Sunday – something we don’t usually do, for time’s sake.  But I had a turkey tenderloin and knew it wouldn’t take more than about 25 minutes to cook, and grilling always makes the flavor so much better.  This was a good decision! 

Here was my full menu:

Grilled Turkey Tenderloin with Spice Rub
Grits Casserole with White Beans and Rosemary
Honey-Glazed Carrots
Rolls

I found a recipe on Myrecipes.com  for a rub to put on the turkey breasts.  That made them soooo good.  I’m wondering what else I could put this rub on…perhaps chicken and pork. Here’s the recipe for the rub:

Spice-Rubbed Grilled Turkey Tenderloins

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 pounds turkey tenderloin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Stir together first 6 ingredients. Brush turkey tenderloin with olive oil, and rub with brown sugar mixture.

2. Grill turkey, covered with grill lid, over 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat 10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 165°. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The grits casserole was a new recipe from Cooking Light.  I love grits, so this piqued my interest.  It’s an unusual side dish and was pretty good.  It needs a little tweaking.  I think I’ll try it again and use chili beans instead of the white beans.  The sun-dried tomatoes really didn’t do anything for it, in my opinion and are quite expensive.  I think I may leave them out next time.  We liked the dish – but will make those few adjustments next time.


Grits Casserole with White Beans and Rosemary

4 (1-ounce) slices French bread or other firm white bread, cubed
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

7 cups boiling water, divided

3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups vertically sliced red onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, drained

1 1/2 cups uncooked regular grits
2 tablespoons butter

Cooking spray

Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and parsley in a small bowl; set aside.

Combine 3 cups boiling water and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; let stand 10 minutes or until soft. Drain tomatoes over a bowl, reserving 1 cup liquid.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, rosemary, crushed red pepper, and garlic; saute 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and reserved 1 cup liquid. Bring to a boil; cook 7 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and beans.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 4 cups boiling water, 1 teaspoon salt, grits, and butter in a large saucepan. Cook 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Pour grits mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon tomato mixture evenly over grits; top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden.

Honey-Glazed Carrots
 
1 pkg. (16 oz) baby carrots – I used large carrots cut into matchsticks
Cover with water in saucepan and cook until knife can be inserted easily.

2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl honey
1 Tbl lemon juice
Melt butter in another saucepan.  Add honey and lemon juice and cook on low, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.  Add carrots; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until glazed.

Have you been eating outside where you are?  What has been cooking in your kitchen?

From my parsonage kitchen,

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Freshen Up Friday

I can’t think of too many things that need freshening up any more than LAUNDRY TIME.  Whew!

Washing, folding and ironing take lots of time, doesn’t it?  It’s truly a necessity, so why not do something to make it a little more interesting and even fun?!  Recently I was watching a show on PBS where they said that old televisions can really destroy the looks of a pretty room, so they suggested taking the old set and putting it in the garage in the work area.  Well, I don’t have a garage, so I found another place!

I got the bright idea to put that old set in the laundry room on my laundry folding table. I have an old set that has a video player in it and I have lots of shows like I Love Lucy and Little House on the Prairie that we recorded years ago, so there’s no worry that it isn’t hooked up to cable. When I go down to iron or fold a load, I enjoy watching even part of an episode of a recorded show.  Yeah, it has definitely refreshed my laundry room and my time spent down there!

If you don’t have an old set, keep your eye out while the yard sales are in high gear and grab one for a few dollars and watch how fun laundry time becomes!  If you don’t have videos or DVDs to play, you can always borrow some at my favorite place – the library!

Be refreshed,

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What Your Words Can Do

A friend of mine cut this cartoon out for me years ago.  I had stashed it in my kitchen drawer and kept it and recently came across it; it just makes me laugh.  You see, she knew that fixing things isn’t a forte’ of my husband’s, and she thought this was an appropriate chuckle.  He can laugh at himself, and he thinks it’s funny too.

While an occasional laugh is appropriate, I don’t tease my husband about this kind of stuff.   Every month as I read through Proverbs I am struck with the power of a woman’s words to a man. What comes out of our mouths has the force to encourage, motivate, bolster and cheer on our man.  Of course, on the flip side, our speech can also degrade, discourage, dishearten and deflate him. 

Proverbs 12:25 says, Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. It’s our responsibility and privilege to encourage our husband with our words.  What can you say today that will lift your husband’s heart?  Need an idea?  Tell him what a great provider he is, what you admire about him, or a character trait that you see evidenced in his life, then watch his stooped over heart stand up tall and straight because of your words!

Want to brag a little about your husband?  Tell us something you admire about him in the comments section!

With love,

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A Peek Inside the Parsonage

The boyfriend is in town!  Specifically, he’s in our house this week.  “The boyfriend” is Alli’s fella – a fine young man with plenty of good manners, godly character and servant’s spirit to make it a delight to have him here.  His mom and dad should be really proud. 

With having a boy in the house, there’s been some yummy meals fixed by Alli, specifically for him.  My husband and I are just glad to get in on those delicious feasts!  Her college major – Family Consumer Sciences –  is truly paying off!  =)

Monday night Alli cooked most of the supper meal.  The aromas coming from the kitchen during her preparation were enough to make strangers stop in and ask to eat with us!  I sat in the living room enjoying not only the fragrances wafting through the house, but also the opportunity to relax! 
She made:

I made a Green Bean Salad to accompany the meal
The meal was “terrific!”  The best part was enjoying the fruits of Alli’s labors!  She’s spending her summer here in Johnson City, so I’m looking forward to having a chef in my house! 
You need to try her recipes!  Wow!  They were super good!

If you’re in or approaching the time when your children are dating, let me tell you that this is a great time.  I’m thankful my girls want(ed) to bring their dates here to our home.  We’ve had great times getting to know the guys, of course sharing meals, but also playing games as a family, or going out together.  What better way to get to know them than to have them in your home?  This time will pass quickly, so we want to enjoy it and always have an open door policy – and tons of fun in the process!

Love is in the air in the parsonage! =)

From my parsonage windows,

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What if all you had today
was what you thanked God for yesterday?
Would you have:
  • A hot shower
  • Clean water to drink
  • Medicine
  • Nourishing food
  • Adequate clothing
  • A Bible
  • A church to attend
Gracia Burnahm, a hostage of the Abu Sayyaf Group of Muslims for 376 days learned to thank the Lord for things that we take for granted each day.  A page of Scripture that someone sent in a letter became so precious to her and her husband while they were on the run; it became their only source of the written Word of God.

I read her book – In The Presence of My Enemies while on vacation  . It opened my eyes to so much as I read about how she and her husband were taken hostage while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at Dos Palmas Resort off Palawan Island.  During their 376 days of captivity, they faced near starvation, constant exhaustion, frequent gun battles, cold hearted murder-and intense soul-searching about a God who sometimes seemed to have forgotten them.

On June 7, 2002, in a firefight between the Philippine military and the Abu Sayyaf Group, Martin was killed. Gracia was wounded, but was freed.

Reading Gracia’s story is a reminder that all we have can be snatched away at a moment’s notice.  It could come through terrorists, illness or accident. When Gracia returned home, she was so thankful for the opportunity to attend her church service and prayer meeting.  She had longed for these opportunities while she was in the jungle.

How about you and me?  Are we anxious for the next opportunity to meet in God’s house?  Or are we mulling over whether or not we will go because we have other things we want to do?  What if we knew this was our last chance to meet in God’s house for a year?  Would it change our perspective?

I challenge you to get a copy of Gracia’s book and let your eyes be opened to many wonderful truths.  You may think reading about terrorism is morbid, but if you watch crime shows as a past time, I would argue with you that reading about this kind of crime will benefit your spiritual life…something a crime show isn’t likely to do. 

What are you thanking God for today?

In closing, here’s an invitation/reminder about our upcoming ladies’ meeting at BCBC:

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With love,