Chicken · grilling

What’s Cookin’ in the Country?

RefreshHer7 Comments

Food communicates love – at least in our family.   It lets our family or guests know that we cared enough to create the meal or dish that would please their taste buds and appetites.  

My husband had been away on a trip for a few days, and to let him know how glad I was to have him home, I baked up a batch of Ultimate Ginger cookies – one of his favorite cookies he gets at a bakery we frequent.  He was a happy guy!  Actually I was pretty happy, too!  These are an old-fashioned cookie with a soft chewiness that is irresistible.

While my husband was on his trip to Amish Country, he  found HUGE red peppers for 50 cents each!  He brought home a bag full, so I used them to make an old favorite recipe for Chicken Fajitas. The homemade marinade makes the chicken breasts so moist and flavorful!  I’ve shared a baked fajita recipe that’s good if you’re short on time, but the recipe I’m sharing today is the BEST FAJITA RECIPE!

For our Sunday dinner of Chicken Fajitas, I added a salad and salad dressing I’d seen on Pioneer woman.  I get weary of a regular Tossed Salad, and this was just the ticket for a great change!  Greens, crisp apple cubes, pecans, Feta (or Blue Cheese) all mix together and are tossed with a delicious homemade vinaigrette dressing.  It’s super fresh tasting salad!

We had the Ginger cookies for dessert.   These were chewy, huge, and wonderful!  All you need is a glass of milk or a cup of coffee for dunking, and you have not only the ultimate cookie, but the ultimate dessert!

My Sunday menu:
Chicken Fajitas
Fresh Corn cut off the cob
Apple & Green Salad w/ Dijon vinaigrette
Ultimate Ginger Cookies

Fajita Marinade
1/4 C oil
1/4 C white vinegar
1/4 C water
1/4 C soy sauce
3 T lemon juice
2 T lime juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Mix and pour over chicken breasts.  Let marinate a couple hours or overnight.
You can grill the chicken or do it on the stove top.  Either way, the chicken will have a delicious flavor from the marinade.  I save some of the marinade for the peppers and onions and marinate them in a separate dish.  Cook chicken first, keep warm.  Cook peppers and onions.  Serve warm with tortillas, cheese, and sour cream.
Green Apple Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing – Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
12 ounces, weight Salad Greens (spring Mix)
2 whole Apples, Cored And Sliced Very Thin
1/2 cup Pecan Halves
1/4 cup Dried Cherries
6 ounces, weight Blue Cheese, Cut Into Chunks – I used Feta
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (more To Taste)
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar (more To Taste)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
 Salt And Pepper, to taste
Preparation Instructions
Add greens, apple slices, pecan halves, dried cherries, and blue cheese chunks into a large salad bowl.
In a small jar, mix Dijon, maple syrup, vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Put the lid on the jar and shake well to mix.
Pour a little salad dressing over the top of the salad and toss to combine. Taste salad and add more salad dressing to taste.
Ultimate Ginger Cookies, by Ina Garten

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces)
Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat for 1 more minute. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.

Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Which of these recipes would tell your family or guests that you care?  I hope you’ll put it on your menu for this week!  It’s okay to choose a recipe for your taste buds too!  I think I’d have a hard time saying which of these recipes is my favorite!  They’re all winners in my cookbook!

With love from my country kitchen,

Uncategorized

Decision Making Made Easy

RefreshHerLeave a comment

It was a simple little task ~ go through the line at the local fresh Mexican food restaurant and order a salad for my lunch.  I told the lady at the beginning of the “assembly” line I’d like a salad.

“What kind of bowl would you like?  Fried shell or plastic bowl?”
“Plastic, please.”
“What kind of lettuce?  Spinach, Bibb, Romaine or a mix of all three?”
“All three would be great.”
“Beans and rice?”
“No, thanks.”
The questions continued with the next person who served up my salad.  I was asked about:
Salsa
Cheeses
Peppers
Onions
Cilantro
Sour cream
Dressing
Beverage

I about needed a nap after I paid!  Okay, maybe, just maybe that’s a little extreme, but it is pretty comical to hear all the decisions one has to make just order food!  Those were easy decisions.  All I had to do was choose what I like.

In making harder decisions, it’s not such a simple ordeal, is it?  If I want God’s best, I know that I need to seek His face about each issue.  It really doesn’t matter what I like in matters of my life.  I have a God who knows what is best for me, so I must take these issues to Him.

Elizabeth George suggests making a list of four questions for hard decisions.  These questions will reveal your motive:

  1. Why would I do this?
  2. Why wouldn’t I do this?
  3. Why should I do this?
  4. Why shouldn’t I do this?
Let’s say it’s a job offer you’re praying about.
  1. Why would I do this? – I need a job!  It’s in a good location.  This is the only offer I’ve had in months.
  2. Why wouldn’t I do this?  It will keep me away from home when my children get in from school.  The pay isn’t terrific.  I don’t particularly love what I’d be doing.  I would love to work with children somewhere.
  3. Why should I do this?  We could use the money.
  4. Why shouldn’t I do this?  My kids would be on their own for two hours after school.
If you’re married, the next move would be to slide up to your husband and ask what he thinks you should do.  That may end your decision making right there.  He may say,”Go for it!” or perhaps he’ll say, “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”  Whichever way, submit to his guidance.

If you’re not married, get the counsel of your pastor or a godly woman.  They may see things you do not.

Some other tips:
  1. Keep praying about it.  Talk out the four questions with God.  Sit and listen to His Spirit whispering to you.  Don’t make a decision until you have peace from Him.
  2. Connect the things that happen next after you pray!
I was recently praying about whether or not the Lord would have me accept an invitation to go speak somewhere.  My flesh was mixed about it.  Knowing the long preparations for speaking, I sighed.  Thinking of the joy of ministering to ladies, I smiled.  What was I to do?

After praying, I opened up my prayer journal and was putting some pages away.  Tucked inside the notebook, I came across a sheet of paper where I had written, “Blessings of Trip.”  I wondered what this was.  I pulled out the piece of paper.  Here was a page full of blessings I’d recorded the last time I’d gone to this very place to speak!  My heart flooded over as I recounted all that God had done that weekend.  Was it an accident or coincidental that I came across that piece of paper right after praying about that very place?  No.  I made the connection with my prayer.  I had peace from the Lord.  My husband also has peace about it. Decision made.  I’m going.

Decision-making made easy is simply taking it to God in prayer, then waiting for Him to answer and direct.  D.L. Moody said,“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”   There’s no fear in making a decision when you remember that God knows what is ahead and will direct you to make the right choice!  But when it comes to ordering at the restaurant, take an energy-boosting vitamin before you go, and then just get what you like!

Uncategorized

A Peek From My Porch

RefreshHer4 Comments

A Peek Into My Life This Past Week

Last week was a great week – it included my birthday, which is always fun. That celebration pretty much consumed the week. I love spreading it out over several days! If we’re going to get older, we might as well have fun doing it!

Breakfast in bed – a family tradition!

In our family any birthday always starts with breakfast in bed. My husband made my favorite breakfast ~ French Toast. He served it up with bacon and coffee on my prettiest dishes. It was sooo yummy! (Why does food cooked by someone else always taste better?!)

The rest of the day was special with calls, texts, messages and cards. Who doesn’t love getting a real card in the mail?  I saved all my cards that I’d gotten earlier and opened them at breakfast. It made my heart smile!

My husband always knows how to make my birthday special. Not only was there breakfast, but he got me roses and a book I’d hinted come right out and asked for! I love Jan Karon’s Mitford series, and this is her newest book. I’m loving it!

I got to go to KY to celebrate with my family the day after. My parents made homemade ice cream and served it with a delicious chocolate cake. What a combo! It was so good! It was a sweet time visiting with my sisters, brothers-in-law and my parents. There was reminiscing and laughter all evening.

That’s not all that happened, but that’s enough about my birthday. Let me show you a project that got finished last week!

I mentioned my new door color a couple weeks ago. To pull that color out onto the porch, I made slip covers for my rocking chair pillows.

Those were marked to $10 for the pair on clearance. They were pillow shams, so I cut them down to fit the chair pillows and then sewed them up. I love the addition of the coral color against the black chair. I’m still working on my fall display out there, but at least the color part is finished!

I’ll give you one last peek from last week…

I didn’t know Liza Jane was a Jan Karon fan, but evidently she is. =^..^=

What’s going on in your world this week? Is anyone else a September girl?

With love from my country porch,

Uncategorized

Showing Hospitality

RefreshHerLeave a comment

True Southerners are known for their Sweet Tea and  their hospitality.  The words Southern and hospitality go together like bees at a picnic.

The dictionary defines Hospitality as the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way. 

Hospitality goes beyond simply a glass of tea.  Let’s ask the who, what and how’s of showing this generous spirit.

Who?  While Southerners are pretty much expected to be hospitable, Christians are especially encouraged to “Show hospitality without grudging.”  That is, we’re to do it without grumbling.  No whispers under out breath, no sighs or the rolling of the eyes.

What? What do we give?  We give our heart first.  The giving of anything, a glass of tea or a kind word, starts with my heart.  I do it because the love of Christ constrains me.   In other words, it pushes me forward, it motivates me to do what I do.  Maybe this is why us Southerners say, “Bless your heart.”  =)  That is the foundation  of being hospitable.  Ask the Lord to open your heart to others, and then out of love for Christ, and that person, show them Christ’s love.

How?  How will that look in every day living?

  • Be warm in greeting others in your home, in the store, or at church.
    • Speak warmly to guests at church!  Introduce yourself.  Ask them to sit with you.  Show them where the restrooms are, the nursery or their Sunday school class. Invite them to go out to dinner with you, or be prepare ahead of time to invite folks home (the ultimate in hospitality!).
    • Remember you need to be the greatest servant, even to someone who serves you at the restaurant.  They aren’t to be treated like you are better than they are.  Be kind.  Be patient.  “Bless their heart” when your meal is slow in coming!  Well, you know what I mean, right?  Don’t give them grief!  Be generous with your time and your spirit.
    • Make others feel the way you’d want to be treated in that situation.  If they’re visiting your home, invite them in.  Offer them a chair and a beverage.  Think about their needs, not how inconvenienced you are at the timing of their visit.
    • If you’re in a line at the store, allow someone older to go ahead of you. Offer to take their cart to the corral if you’re going there too.
  • Be giving.
    • Give your ear to listen.  Sometimes this is the greatest way we can show we care.
    • Give to a person’s needs.  A meal, a snack or a bed to rest – whatever they need at the time.
    • Offer a meal to someone who is sick and can’t come to your house.  Call and tell them you’re bringing supper, then deliver it to them at mealtime.
  • Be friendly and loving.
    • A pat on the shoulder or a squeeze of the hand when someone shares their heart is certainly acceptable.  Show you care by your gestures.
    • Look people in the eye and say “Thank you.”  Thank you for your service, your gift, your help, your kindness.
    • Pray for others that are hurting.  Pray with them.  Ask them how you can pray specifically for them that day.
    • Share the Gospel.  This is the best way to show you care!  Give the Gospel so they’ll know your Savior and have a relationship with Him!
You might not be southern, but you can show as much hospitality as a Tennessean at a Family reunion by practicing these simple principles.
Now, how about a glass of sweet tea, y’all?
With love,