Here’s a little something I’ve messed with this week in my parsonage…come take a peek.

I love those cute little chalkboards for menus and messages, but the ones I’ve had are really hard to write on. The chalk fades in and out because of the surface or the chalk. I recently saw on a blog somewhere a great idea. If I find the place I got the idea I’ll link you to it, but for now I’ll share the idea.

Use an inexpensive photo frame and put a piece of colored paper under the glass. The one I used had a border around the edge. If you’re not a scrapbooker and don’t have paper like this, you can buy a sheet for about .20 at Michaels. Use something that will the marker to show up – one that doesn’t have lots of designs on it. Light colors work well.

Use a dry erase marker to write on the glass. You could use it for messages, shopping needs, or your menu. I popped mine into this metal stand I had because I liked the looks of it, but if your frame has a stand on the back you won’t even need to do that. Cute, huh?

Rest. Its a foreign word to most of us. It’s something we dream about; something we relish, but don’t get nearly enough of. There’s a particular kind of rest I want to bring to your attention. I want you to think about a sabbath rest. A sabbath rest is simply a period of rest. I was recently challenged to take a sabbath rest from the Internet and technology. What? No email on Sunday? No checking Facebook statuses? What about my blog? How will I share what’s been cooking in the parsonage on Monday if I don’t write my blog on Sunday? I took a deep breath, then I took the challenge. The blessings have been tremendous in just the two weeks in which I have rested.

1. I have had more of a single-focus. When I’ve come home from church instead of opening the laptop, I’ve re-read the passage that was preached from God’s Word. I’ve looked over my sermon notes and what the Lord said to me. I’ve meditated on my memory passage.
2. I have truly had the opportunity to rest. Oh, I generally always take a nap on Sunday, but along with that, I’m not “working” on an email response, a devotional thought, or answering a Facebook note.
3. I’ve been able to think about and prepare mentally for the week ahead.
4. I’ve had time to do little gestures on Sunday afternoon that were previously taken up with the Internet, such as writing a couple of notes to people to encourage them.
5. When the evening service time came, I was ready to return instead of continuing in the fast-paced frenzy of the afternoon.

Taking a sabbath rest from technology has made me need to prepare my blog posts earlier, but it’s gotten done. And you know what? Those emails and Facebook notifications were all waiting for me on Monday! My mind feels clearer and refreshed. Imagine that!

From what do you need a sabbath rest? It may be something other than the Internet; maybe it’s sports, television, or texting. Ask the Lord to show you if there’s something that is bogging you down that would benefit you to take a rest from, then do it and see what blessings come from it.

With love,

Something is missing at church – FELLOWSHIP. Oh, we’ll all stand around and chat til the lights get turned off, but what’s happened to having people in our homes? Sometimes we make cooking and entertaining harder than it really needs to be. Sunday dinner at home doesn’t have to be fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Why not make a soup on Saturday and then warm it up for Sunday’s dinner? Add a loaf of French Bread or crackers and you have a hearty meal to come home to after church services – and also to serve to guests.

When was the last time you invited someone to your home for a meal or refreshments? One of the best things about having a home is sharing it with others. Can I challenge you to invite a family over soon? They won’t care if you don’t get every corner dusted or if you didn’t have time to change paint colors in your living room. Open your home with a loving heart and a simple meal and enjoy the opportunity to serve others. Encourage a college student who’s away from home. Be a blessing to a young married couple or a widow. Share the Gospel with an unsaved family…all around your table.

Soups are good one dish meals that are great to entertain with. I’m making four different soups for a fellowship later this week and freezing them ahead of time. One soup we really love is U.S. Senate Bean Soup. I got the recipe years ago from Taste of Home. It takes several hours to cook, but it’s not labor intensive. The reviews on this recipe are really low, and I can’t figure that one out. No, it’s not a spicy soup, but the ham bone makes it very flavorful. I freeze my ham bone after Christmas to use for this soup later on. If I don’t have one, I go to Honey Baked Ham and buy one for $5. I’ve even gone after Christmas to get one and they had them buy one, get one free! That’s a deal for a pot of soup!

When I cook the beans, I do the quick method – bring them to a boil, then add 2 tsp baking soda and boil for 2 minutes. Let set for 1 hour, then rinse and proceed with the recipe. The baking soda keeps the beans from causing upset stomachs!

Add the onions, celery, garlic and potato flakes and cook for 1 more hour. Remove the ham from the bone and add the meat back to soup pot.

Ta-da! Yummy and delicious!

Last weekend I had a chicken salad sandwich and got to watch the cook make her own special recipe. I hope it wasn’t a secret, because I have to share it with you! It was super good! This would make a great Sunday night meal. The sandwiches could be made ahead of time so you could easily have folks over for fellowship after the evening service. Served on French bread or a croissant and this would make a great light meal. Add some chips, fresh fruit and cookies and your guests will be glad they came!

If you don’t entertain guests in your home, what is hindering you? I’d love for you to leave a comment and be honest. Is it the cost? You don’t know what to do? Are you too busy? Maybe we can come up with a solution to help! If you do entertain, what is the thing you like serving most?

Happy cooking!

I’ve mentioned many times about the help a menu can be with both time and budget. My menu planning is very simple. At this time in my life I only pencil in my supper meals. I keep breakfast items on hand – English muffins, dry cereals, oatmeal, fruit, eggs, and bacon. For lunch there are soups, canned tuna, tortillas for quesadillas or wraps, salad makings, etc.

In our earlier years, I also wrote down breakfast and lunch menus – partly due to a tighter budget, and partly because there were four of us and things needed to be a little more structured. With children there for meals, it was important to have meals at regular times. I also needed to know exactly what I was having for each meal so I could prep ahead. Now breakfast and lunch take place we feel like eating it! Kinda nice!

I sit down with cookbooks or my recipe box and look for new recipes or things I haven’t made in a while that match up to what’s in my freezer and pantry or what’s on sale in the grocery ads that week. I got broccoli on sale for under $1.50 a couple weeks ago, so I made cream of broccoli soup and had steamed broccoli as a side dish with another meal. The remainder of the broccoli got blanched and then frozen for future meals.

I’ll pencil in the days of the week, then the main dish, salad, and/or vegetable to go with it. Sometimes I may switch out the menu and make it on a different day, but I really stick to my menu for the week.

Here’s what I’ve planned for the next week:

The items with ** by them are new recipes. The others are things I’ve made before that we enjoyed.

Thursday – Day trip to Greenville to take Alli back to school
Friday – **Mini Meatball Sandwiches , Tossed salad
Saturday – **Chicken Strips with Blue Cheese Dressing , Celery & carrot sticks, French Peas
Sunday – Pitch in dinner – Potato Casserole, Salad, & dessert to be determined!
Monday – Tomatoes, Sausage and Pasta with Albuquerque Corn Salad
Tuesday – Chicken Stir Fry & Rice, Popovers – See my Recipe here
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday & Friday – Soup Supper for Deacons and their wives – Making several homemade soups, breads and dessert.
Saturday – Sweet Potato Pancakes , Bacon & Fresh fruit

Do you normally make out a menu? How does it help you? Has it helped your budget? What are you making this week?

With love,