main dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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We had a super weekend.  My husband and I were privileged to be the speakers for a Couples’ Retreat for Oakwood Baptist Church in Anderson, Sc.  The retreat was held at one of our favorite places on the planet – The Wilds Christian Camp in Brevard, NC.  It was a cold weekend, but a sunny one.  Part of the sunshine was the blessing of opening God’s Word and helping couples live out God’s design in marriage.  My husband did a fantastic job.  I loved sitting on the front row, cheering him on as I listened to him teach from the Word.  I love being the preacher’s wife!

Another perk of the weekend was the blessing of a dear lady from our church bringing our daughter, Alli home from Greenville for Saturday and Sunday nights.  She doesn’t get to come home often, so it’s always a blessing to see that purple laundry bag making its way down our hallway!  That dirty laundry brings home with it a sweet 20 year-old, who is growing into a sweet young woman. I love sitting and listening to her (if you know Allison, you know you won’t be doing too much talking!).  I love it!  She is full of stories, happenings and funny tales of college life! 

That laundry bag also brings in a Sunday dinner request, and yesterday’s request was for Spinach Lasagna.  I’m really glad, because not only is lasagna a great do-ahead dish, this recipe is also so very good!  Making this ahead of time on a busy retreat weekend was really a blessing.  All I had to do on Sunday morning was make up the salad and set the table!

My menu:
Spinach Lasagna
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Toasted Bread

I made a couple of changes in the recipe this time, using Turkey sausage in place of the ground beef and 2% milk insead of whole milk.

Spinach Lasagna
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz. Italian plum tomatoes, undrained
 1/14 tsp. salt, divided
3/4 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper, divided
9 lasagna noodles
1/4 C butter – I used 2 Tbl.
1/4 C flour – I used 2 Tbl.
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 C Whole milk
2 C shredded mozzarella
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, divided
1 pkg (10oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained



Meat sauce

1.  For meat sauce, brown beef in a large skillet.  Spoon off fat.
2.  Stir in onion and garlic, cook 5 minutes.
3.  Press tomatoes and juice through sieve into meat mixture, discard seeds.
4.  Stir in 3/4 tsp salt, oregano, basil, and 1/8 tsp pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Uncover and simmer 20 minutesmore until sauce thickens.  Set aside.
5.  Cook lasagna noodles.  Drain.


Cheese sauce

6.  For cheese sauce, melt 1/4 C butter in a medium saucepan (I used 2 Tbl.) over medium heat.  Stir in flour, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, remaining 1/8 tsp pepper and nutmeg.  Cook and stir until bubbly.  Wisk in milk; cook na dstir until sauce thickens. Cook and stir one minute more.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 C mozzarella and 1/4 Parmesan.  Stir until smooth.  Stir in spinach.  Set aside.
7.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
8.  Layer noodles, 1/2 meat sauce, noodles, 1/2 meat sauce, cheese sauce, noodles and remaining cheese.

9.  Bake 40 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes.

I love the change from the typical very tomato sauce.  Yum!

When the Vinaigrette hits the strawberries in this salad it breaks them down and makes them sugary and mindful of sweet summertime! This salad tastes as good as it looks!

Strawberry Salad

Spinach Leaves
Fresh Strawberries
Toasted Pecans
Red onion, diced

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
3/4 cup orange juice (about one orange)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger (I didn’t have this and it was still good)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a small jar.  Pour over salad just before serving.

What was cooking at your house this weekend?

From my parsonage kitchen,

Home decor

Freshen Up Friday

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Isn’t it amazing how you can overlook something in your house that is looking a little worn, outdated, or even dirty?  We go about our daily routine without paying much attention.  Recently when I was on my hands and knees washing the kitchen floor (don’t be impressed, I use a mop most of the time!), I looked over at the cabinet inches from my face and said, “oh my goodness!”  I hadn’t noticed how worn the paint was on the edges, or the little splashes on the cabinet front caused by cooking and washing dishes!  So now, I have a project I’d love to tackle this spring – refreshing my kitchen cabinets.

My cabinets are painted white, and I changed out the hardware for knobs a few years back, but the cabinets themselves are showing their age.  I’d love to spiff  them up somehow, without spending much money.  How about you?  Do your kitchen (or bathroom) cabinets need a touch up?

I went looking on the Internet and found some beautiful Pictures, which are all from Better Homes and Gardens web site.  What great ideas are here!  I had a friend tell me recently that looking at beautiful magazine pictures discouraged them and made them want what they saw.  In my case, it inspires me to make what I have a little better.  We can all improve things without coveting or being extreme.  Just do what you can afford and what makes your home a place that you love!  So, take a look and be inspired!



Crown molding added to these cabinets made them extra special!





Love the frosted glass.  Keeping the cabinets “perfect” wouldn’t be as crucial as clear glass.
I also love the black paint!

 


Can I just say I love this?!  Chalkboard paint on one cabinet adds a pop of something different and makes you feel at home! 
I think a can of this paint is in my future!




Chicken wire fronts show off pretty glassware.  I’m sure this is more cost-effective than glass! 
My rooster dishes would be adorable behind this!




A glaze over paint gives this a softer appearance.




Distressing the cabinets after painting softens the look of the stainless appliances.



Maybe all you need to do is change the hardware.  these pulls add a lovely touch!
What changes will you make to your cabinets?  Find any ideas here or know of something else you could share?
Be refreshed,
Uncategorized

Headaches, computers, NASCAR & the stuff of life!

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Headaches.  Migrane headaches.  They can cause a person to literally bang their head against the wall, not see straight nor think straight, feel miserable all over, want no light shining in the room or in their eyes, and/or cry out for some kind of relief.  Well, that’s the story of my wife Tuesday and last night.

Computers.  Broken down computers. They can cause headaches, especially when they refuse to work properly or just flat out crash.  Well, that’s the story of my wife’s computer.  It’s in the shop due to a nasty trojan that treated the virus protection like a jello wall of enforcement. 

RefreshHer.  “Coming into the pits for a can of Sunoco fuel and a track bar adjustment” (For those who are lost right now, this is NASCAR lingo).  I sent Denise to bed after coming home from prayer meeting (that’s the fuel), and I’ve taken up the duty of posting on her blog in her place (track bar adjustment).

Now, headaches and computers fit into the category of “the stuff of life.”  You are probably thinking of many other things that relate to that subject right now.  Question—How do you stay “refreshed” in the midst of “the stuff of life”?  Well, you need “fuel” that comes only from the daily intake of the Word of God.  Just as the 88 or 14 or 48 can’t stay on the race track without it, you can’t stay on track in the stuff of life without the Word.  The Word is your necessary companion.  The Word is life; the Word is Christ.  He wants to continually refresh you.

No need to explain a “track bar adjustment,” but suffice it to say that it has to do with the handling of the car by the driver in the corners of the race track.  How do you handle the “stuff of life”?  Only through the adjustments that comes through the Word of God.

What does the Bible have to say about headaches and computers crashing?  2 Corinthians 5 reminds us that this earthly body is groaning “earnestly to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” (5:2). There have been many times when Denise has said, “The pain is so bad, I wish I could go to Heaven.”  It is hard for Denise to think during a severe headache, but she is often reminded that there is coming a day when “absent from the body, present with the Lord” (5:8) will be for her—no headaches forever!!!  Groaning now; glory forever (4:16-18)!!!  As for computers, they are temporal (4:16-18), and therefore, will crash.  Only God is eternal.  The Word is the “adjustment” we need in the stuff of life.

Headaches.  Computers.  The stuff of life.  You need refreshment?  Don’t just read the Bible; meet with the Author.  Come into the pits.  Not for a quick splash of fuel, but for a “full tank” of His presence.  Then you’ll be ready for the stuff of life.

Dale
(Taking care of some of the stuff of life for my sweet wife and . . . looking forward to another season of racing.)

memories

A Peek Inside the Parsonage

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“Dear Jesus, Help my mommy as she works around the house, and help my daddy as he sits and reads the newspaper.”

That was our daughter’s prayer when she was about three years-old.  Funny stuff comes from our children’s mouths, doesn’t it?  After that little prayer was uttered, I went to the calendar hanging on Allison’s bedroom wall and wrote it down on the date it happened. Though I thought I could never have forgotten her funny words, I’m sure I would have.

A calendar was my simple way of keeping record of the things that happened in our girls’ lives when they were young.  We love pulling those out now and laughing as we remember their silly antics, the day they were saved, or the funny things they said. 

Don’t trust your memory; find a way to record special events – big and little – in your family’s day to day routine.  They will one day be gems in your heart.

What do you do to record memories of things you don’t want to forget?

From my parsonage window,

trials

Why Did That Happen?

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Last Friday afternoon I was at home, happy to be back in my nest after being away for several days.  I was merrily vacuuming the rug in the living room, and was pondering my blog and the post for “Freshen Up Friday” that would post the next day.  Then, a light came streaking into my head (I have to listen carefully when that happens!)!  “Wait!  Today is Friday!”  I had gotten disoriented in days and dates while being out of my normal routine.  So on Friday, the post was My Own Denial instead of a “refreshing idea.” I shook my head at my own forgetfulness and was tempted to run to the computer and apologize to my readers, but I was stopped in my tracks by a God Who makes no mistakes.  The Lord reminded me that He is in control of everything, and that the post that was written was the one that He wanted.  Indeed, every day I give Him my blog and ask for His direction and guidance as to what to write and how to encourage those that would read.  If I really understand His direction in my life, I have to acknowledge His sovereignty even in this. “Someone must have needed this today, Lord.”  It was a little thing, but you know, little things really aren’t little.  The Lord cares about each detail of our lives.  Sometimes the little things cause bigger things to transpire.

I’m sure most of you have heard about the accident that the Cretzman family was in yesterday.  They are missionaries to Cuba who hit a patch of ice on the interstate, causing an accident that took the life of their 3 year-old and injuring the mother.  It could have been “little things” that caused this “big” thing…the choice to get up a little early to get on the road, a change in directions from one road to another, something that was forgotten and needed to be retrieved…who knows?  The point is, in all of life, we must direct our thoughts to the God Who is in control; to the God who allowed the “little things” to determine the “big things” – like death.   If it seems cruel that “God allowed this little one to die whose parents are going to the mission field,” we don’t know the heart of our God.  We are reminded in Isaiah 55:8, 9:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 We do not know the mind of God, nor His ways, plans or reasons, but if we know Him, our first thoughts will be ones of prayer for the parents’ hurting hearts, for the lost world that might be reached as a result of this little one’s death, and of trust in the God Who makes no mistakes. 
 
Whatever interruption has come into your schedule, life, or plans today, be it little or huge, acknowledge that a sovereign God Who loves you has so allowed that thing to happen.  Look for Him in that very detail.

With prayers for the Cretzman family and love for you,