Blessings

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016 RefreshHer2 Comments

We have had a week full of blessings. My cup is literally running over. The Lord is so good to me, and I am praising Him for His wonderful work in my life.

Blessing of snow ~ Last week my husband and I were talking about three wishes we would make. One that I mentioned was, “I’d love to be snowed in for three days.” Wishes are not prayers, but my God knows the desires of my heart, and in His love and kindness, He allowed me to have that desire last week! It began snowing on Thursday night and it dumped enough snow to keep us inside for three + days! It was wonderful! I’m not sure how anyone could really get bored at home. I could keep myself happily occupied for weeks! Let me show you some of the fun we had while snowed in…

Blessing of another birthday ~ Friday was my husband’s birthday, so I made him a cake. His favorite is Carrot Cake. I opted for a lighter version, and he loved it almost as much as my fattening recipe!

Blessing of a warm, cozy home ~ We sat by the fire and enjoyed our steaks, onion rings, salad and cake. Then we played games while we listened to some old songs on Pandora. Fun times!

Blessings of family traditions ~ It’s our family tradition to have breakfast in bed on your birthday. Since my husband needed to be out early on Friday, I delivered his birthday breakfast to him on Saturday. Eggs Benedict is what he’s requested for the last couple years.

Blessings of leisure time ~ Sunday services were cancelled, so I took the time to enjoy my coffee and my Bible reading from the warmth of my bed – something I usually only do on my birthday! It was so nice to be unrushed and able to really focus, unlike most Sunday mornings when we’re scrambling to head out the door.

Blessing of time in worship together ~ I don’t have a picture of this, but my husband had sent out a Bible study for families to do while home from church. Our time in the word and in prayer was precious to me for many reasons. What a blessing to worship together and to pray, knelt beside the family room sofa!

Blessing of beauty ~ What’s prettier than a snowfall? The picture below was early in the morning. Any direction we look shows God’s handiwork in so many ways – the moon, the sun, the snow, the mountains…What a Creator!

What blessings are you thanking God for this week?

With love from the snowy countryside,

Indulgences/No Guilt

January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 RefreshHer1 Comment

I don’t always eat indulgences, but there are cravings for yummy things that hit like the recent winter storm – hard and with little warning! But I like to eat what I love in a way that doesn’t bring guilt. How to eat delicacies and still feel good? Enter Cooking Light. You’ve seen their links all over my blog because with their recipes you eat real food, but it’s just lightened up and tastes outstanding!

I tried a recipe on Cooking Light for Chocolate Chip Cookies that are a cross between cake and cookie. Excuse me? That means Delicious in my book. So would they be called Cakies or Cookes? I think I’ll go with Cakies – Chocolate Chip Cakies. To make them low-fat, they replaced some of the fat with applesauce and you don’t miss anything but the calories! These are SO good!

Cakie a

Chocolate Chip “Cakies”
Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Spoon applesauce into a fine sieve over a bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Discard liquid. Scrape drained applesauce into a large bowl. Add sugar and butter; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until well-blended. Fold in chips.

Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Now for my next low-fat cooking test…I’ve been playing around with Oven-fried Onion rings, trying to find the perfect combination of crunch and flavor. It’s a little tricky to do when you’re not deep frying. My old recipe, which will always be my favorite onion ring on a day when I want to splurge, requires oil and deep oil at that, so in order to live without clogging up my arteries, I thought an oven-fried method would be better! This recipe was found on Food Network’s sight on the Sandwich King’s recipes. The mix of flour and Panko breadcrumbs give it the perfect crunch with a fraction of the oil!

onion rings

These little guys had to be husband-worthy, because they were part of his Birthday dinner! It would be safe to say, he LOVED them! I had a few…he had the rest. End of story! Here’s the recipe…

Oven Fried Onion Rings

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk
4 eggs
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow sweet onions, such as Maui, sliced 1/4-to-1/2-inch thick

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place parchment paper onto 2 baking sheets and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, paprika and 2 teaspoons salt. In another bowl or shallow dish, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs. Add half of the flour mixture to the buttermilk and beat until smooth and thickened.

In a separate bowl, combine the panko, olive oil and remaining 2 teaspoons salt.

Lightly dredge the onion rings in the flour mixture and then drop into the buttermilk. Drain the excess batter and then dredge in the panko mixture.

Oven Onion rings.jpg

Arrange on the prepared baking sheets in a single layer. You can place smaller rings inside bigger rings if necessary, just make sure there is space between them. Then place in the oven. Cook until golden brown, 14 to 20 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, flip over each onion ring to ensure even crisping and browning.

Recipe courtesy of Jeff Mauro

I feel for people who settle for substitutes for real food when they want to cut back. There’s no need to do that when there are recipes this good! I hope you’ll try a Chocolate Chip Cakie or an Oven-Fried Onion Ring!

What do you do to enjoy your favorite foods without the guilt?

With love from my country kitchen,

P.S. Don’t forget to enter a picture on Facebook or Instagram today for #Monday Marriage Matters, then check back tomorrow for a post about my favorite photo(s)!

children · Parenting · Uncategorized

Hope for the Parent of a Prodigal

January 21, 2016January 20, 2016 RefreshHer1 Comment

On Monday morning when I was having my Quiet time, I was thanking the Lord for the blessings of the day before. My heart was full of the joy of seeing Andrew continue to follow the Lord’s leading in his life, and then my thoughts went to Alli, his wife, and our daughter. Yes, I thought about her standing beside him Sunday, tears puddling in her eyes. I remembered the pride and the awe that glowed from her expressions, but there was something far deeper that came to my heart as I prayed on Monday morning.

My heart and mind went back to Alli’s mid to late teen years. I have a clear memory of kneeling beside her bed one night, asking her to tell me the assurance of her salvation. Due to attitudes, actions and heart responses, it was obvious that she was distant from the Lord. My mother’s heart wondered if it was because she wasn’t truly saved, or if it was due to the fact that her heart had become cold; that she was backslidden. That night she told me of her salvation as a child, and knew in her heart it was anchored in God’s promises to save her if she would call on Him. That was good to hear, but it was obvious that things weren’t right, that she wasn’t really living and enjoying the relationship with the God who came to seek and save her.

My husband and I continued to pray. Every time we had a service I’d pray she would get right. Every time she attended a revival, I was looking for that to be her day to return to a close walk with the Lord. But still she resisted and I waited, and in truth, I wondered why the Lord wasn’t answering my prayers. I knew He wanted her to draw near to Him, but I couldn’t see anything happening, and my heart was so very heavy.

Her cool heart revealed itself by apathy towards spiritual things. There were attitudes and sighs and shrugging of the shoulders, an unconcern about others and a centering of her thoughts on self. John writes that

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. III John 4

While there is no greater joy, I doubt there is any greater sorrow than for a parent to see their child not walking in truth.
But what I didn’t see was what the Lord was doing in her heart. I didn’t see the future issues that He would bring that would humble her and make her so needy for what only He could do.

But it did happen! It didn’t take place overnight or in one mighty swoop. It happened little by little. There was a gradual turning of her heart, a realization that true life is only found in Christ. I would hear it in the same way I’d seen the coldness – her attitudes, her words, her actions. There was a tenderness and a care for others, a desire to be in His Word and with His people. God answered by bringing other people into her life, hard situations, and the preaching of the Word. But I couldn’t see its gradual creeping into her life. It was like the snow clouds gathering, unbeknownst to us, then we awaken to three inches on the ground. It was happening all along while we were busy with other matters.

The God of the snow is the God of our children. He is sovereign. He cares and He is at work. I don’t share this story to embarrass Alli, but to give hope to many parents who are burdened for their children. I know Alli’s heart would want to encourage you as well. Don’t quit praying. Don’t wonder where God is and when He will answer. He is eternal, therefore, time doesn’t matter to Him. What I didn’t understand at the time was that the Lord was wanting to teach me as much as He wanted to teach Alli. I learned about His character better in those years than I would have otherwise. The hard part for parents is that we can see the prodigal. We can hear their sarcasm and denials, but we cannot see what God is doing, and so we doubt. In truth, as I thanked the Lord on Monday for the work He’d done in my daughter’s life, those years of praying seemed very short. While I prayed and waited, it seemed like an eternity, but it wasn’t. God worked perfectly in all regards, as He will always do because He is a perfect God.

So, mom, keep praying. Keep trusting your sovereign, eternal God. He is at work. One day you’ll be on your knees, tears of joy streaming down your face for how wonderfully he has answered! He is at work. Trust Him even when you cannot see.

With tears of joy,

home · Uncategorized · Winter

Brighten Up Your House On A Winter Day

January 15, 2016January 20, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

It’s easy to get a little down in the winter. When the sunshine is scarce, the temperatures are frigid, and the daylight hours are minimal, our spirits can drop quicker than the outside thermometer. We need to be aware of small things we can do that will not only be pretty, but will also help to cheer winter doldrums.

Buy fresh flowers occasionally. I got the bunch above for about $3 at Kroger in their sale bin – and they’ve lasted more than a week! I can tell you that that little bouquet has really perked the kitchen (and me) up! To have the color and the life is so encouraging!
Keep things light inside. We always have our inside door opened during the day, but when it’s freezing, we obviously have it shut. That means that the morning sunshine is shut out. So I add put lights up high above bookshelves, down low, beneath a bench, and at table level. In the morning I go around turning on the lamps so that it won’t be dark and dreary!

Burn candles for fragrance and add others for the atmosphere it will bring. Add them to your dinner table each night. It’s probably dark when you eat, so add the ambiance while you can enjoy it!
If you have a fireplace, make a fire! Nothing cozies up a space visually like a roaring fire! Pull the furniture close and enjoy the warmth and the beauty!

Lift the shades and pull back the curtains in the morning! Don’t block out the natural daylight. Even if it’s cold, the sunshine or daylight will cheer your home and your heart!

Keep winter from making your spirit’s sag by brightening up your home!

What do you do to keep your home cheery in the winter?

Stay refreshed,

Marriage · Uncategorized

What’s Going On This Week

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

It always surprises me when I look back at the week to see how there seems to be a theme threaded through the events. This past week I’d have to say the theme is “Celebrating.” Let me explain with pictures below.

The first picture below was taken at Christmas…hence the red shoes with the green sweater. =) It was my attempt to be subtly Christmas-y! This is my dad, for those who may not know. This picture has been on my phone screen many times this week as I’ve thought about and prayed for my dad. He had a scope done at the hospital, then things were difficult for his breathing afterwards and he ended up in ICU. There are some special issues that need attention, so he’s still in the hospital where he’s been given a couple units of blood, oxygen and steroids. I’m celebrating the fact that as of right now my dad is doing some better. He was good enough to give me a call on his cell phone yesterday morning – right when I was studying the Scriptures and reading about prayer. How good is our God?!

We got to help our son-in-law celebrate his 24th birthday this week. Alli made him a scrumptious chocolate pie, then we played Quelf – an hysterical group game. We laughed ourselves silly. If you’re a little reserved, just eat a piece of chocolate pie accompanied with coffee before you play. You’ll have enough caffeine in you that you’ll be bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm and will win! Ask me how I know!

Last week I made a challenge about posting pictures of your attempt to make the most of your marriage. The next picture here is one of the pictures I took one night while my husband and I had a popcorn and game date. We had a great time enjoying our favorite snack, the fire, a fun game, and one another’s company. We choose to celebrate our marriage – a gift from the Lord!

There were seven this Monday that posted photos on #mondaymarriagematters on Instagram. I loved seeing your pictures and your ideas of time with your spouse! I hope even more will join us next week. Just snap a picture of a date with your spouse, a gesture you made to improve your relationship, or a verse that encouraged you in regard to your marriage, then use the hashtag #mondaymarriagematters so we can all see it!

On the last Tuesday of January I’m going to share (with your permission) my favorite post here on my blog! Whitney, from Come Home for Comfort will also be linking her blog to mine on that day so her readers can see the best picture of the month! Will you encourage someone to join us? You can share the picture on Facebook if you don’t use Instagram. Marriage matters, and it’s worth celebrating!

Lastly, cold winter days beg for a warm blanket, and Liza Jane found one puddled at my feet early one morning. We celebrate those mornings we get to stay home, inside, enjoying the fire and God’s Word! A kitty at my feet just makes it all the sweeter.

Each day is a gift. What are you celebrating this week? It’s all about the little things!

With a thankful heart,

Chocolate Chip “Cakies” Ingredients

Preparation

Chocolate Chip “Cakies”
Ingredients