We love a bowl of hot oatmeal on a winter morning, but here’s a nice change from a regular old bowl of oats – Easy Granola. This recipe came from Real Simple Magazine and is really good and suits its name in being oh-so-simple to make.

4 Cups old-fashioned rolled oats (though I only had quick-cooking and it was fine!)
1 cup sliced almonds or chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I used the regular pancake syrup that’s not as “pure”)
2 Tbl canola oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup dried fruit (such as cherries, cranberries, raisins, or currants)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss all ingredients.

Bake, tossing once, half way through baking, until golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool. The granola will keep in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 3 weeks – if it lasts that long! With a little milk poured over it, this is a hearty cereal and one that’s good for you too!

Surprised while burgling a house in Antwerp, Belgium, a thief fled out the back door, clambered over a nine-foot wall, dropped down the other side, and found himself in the city prison.* Now, there’s someone who got just what they deserved! We all feel a little better when we see justice done, don’t we? Seeing someone get their comeuppance makes us feel like justice is being well-served.

Yesterday I read Genesis 28 where Jacob leaves his mother and father and heads to his Uncle Laban’s to find a wife. As he makes his journey, he stops to rest, and while sleeping, he has an incredible dream where angels are ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. God spoke to Jacob in this dream and reminds him of the promises to bless him and his family, and He also reminded Jacob that He would be with him. Whoa! Isn’t this Jacob the one who had just lied six times to his father and blasphemed God? Shouldn’t the Lord be issuing a warning or dishing out some sort of punishment instead? It seems so, but then, is God acting out of His character in speaking to Jacob in such a way? Oh no. Here we see God’s mercy, love, patience, and compassion. Jacob will reap the consequences for what he’s done, as we all do, but just as that ladder extended from heaven to earth, so is God’s mercy extended to us!

I was so thrilled to read how God responded to Jacob, because I realized that this is exactly how God works in my life. He allows His precious Spirit to convict me before I get too far away. He reminds me of God’s great love for me, and draws me back to Himself.

At the end of the chapter Jacob says, “If (since) God is with me and will do all this for me, the Lord shall be my God!” God is at work in each of His children’s lives in the same way He worked in Jacob’s life, and He desires that our response be the same as Jacob’s – “You, Lord, will be my God too!”

Are you drawing near to Him by confessing and forsaking your sin? He loves you, Friend. See the ladder? His mercy is extended to you!

With love,

Thank heaven for the lovely picture from the Cooking Light website – where the recipe came from. Here’s their picture of the chicken:

I hadn’t made the 7-Layer Salad in a long time and it was a nice change. I love it because it can be made ahead of time – dressing and all! This is a perfect Sunday salad!

These biscuits are gorgeous. Alli made up the bowl of dough on Saturday evening. By the time they rise in the oven they are puffy and perfect! You won’t miss the shortening left out of this Cooking Light recipe! Of course that strawberry freezer jam from last summer’s berries make them extra yummy too!

I wish I had a picture of the sundaes we had for dessert, but Whitney summed it up well – “This is my wedding reception in an ice cream dish!” I put peppermint ice cream like we used for the punch in the bottom of the ice cream dish, then layered half of a mocha cookie that I made at Christmas, and spooned a chocolate sauce over the top. A little whipped cream and a cherry and it was a lovely ending to the meal! The key here was using what I already had. There was no need to make another dessert when I had all those ingredients on hand!

It’s a new year, a new month, a new week. What will you be cooking up in your kitchen? It takes real planning and work, but it’s so worth it. If you’ve gotten out of the habit of planning your meals, I encourage you to get back into that routine. It will save you both time and money. Your family will have delicious meals to enjoy, and you’ll be a step ahead of the game when mealtime rolls around! It’s even worth it when you have to live and learn lessons from your mistakes! =)

Happy cooking!

I never post on Saturday, but I just had to with a date like 1-1-11! It just made me ask myself – is this the place Christ has in my heart and life? Is He really 1-1-11 in everything? It’s something to ponder on this first day of a new year.

Happy New Year to each of you!

We made a quick trip to my parents’ home in Kentucky earlier this week. Down time while riding in a car is a good time to clean out my purse, which normally gets little organizational attention. As I shuffled through receipts, gum wrappers, appointment cards, and what-not, I thought about how there was a trail of my recent days just looking at the “stuff” in my purse! The foil-wrapped chocolate mint was a sign of my dinner at Olive Garden a week or so ago. My recent purchase of Black Current tea showed itself in the receipt crammed into one corner. My contact lens prescription reminded me of my appointment, and on and on it went.

• As a crown is worn on top of the head, God’s goodness far excels anything any man could do.
• A crown gives honor to the recipient. What a privilege it is to be a Child of God!
• A crown is made of precious gems. Christ is the Gem – the loveliest of any Who gave His life that I might become a child of God and have a relationship with Him. I can only enjoy the goodness of God because of Christ.

The last part of the verse says, thy paths drop fatness. The Amplified Version says, the tracks of your chariot wheels drip with fatness. What a picture that is! When we look back at where we’ve been and look at the “chariot wheel tracks” behind us, we see that they are covered with fatness – with blessing and goodness. Who else but our God would give us what we do not deserve and not give us what we do deserve? The answer is NO ONE. Those track wheels run deep with His grace and his mercy.

In closing, let me share with you the greatest spiritual blessing of this past year. A man travelled to see us last spring with a special mission in mind. Eighteen years ago, he had been a part of a group that had mistreated us. He came to ask our forgiveness and make things right! What a blessing! I knew the Lord would allow the truth to be revealed one day, but wasn’t sure it would even be on this side of eternity. He crowned us with goodness in allowing us to see that answer to prayer!

What was the greatest evidence of God’s goodness in your life this past year?

With a thankful heart,