The Road We're Traveling On

While my amazing husband was dealing with toddler bedtime last night, I was attempting to relax and listen to music (I may have been obsessively working on the Golden Gate Bridge in a “Dot-to-Dot for Grownups” book…with a ruler). I ended up listening to the 1981 Simon & Garfunkel reunion concert, which I LOVE even though I was less than a year old when it happened. One of my favorite songs on it is Simon’s “American Tune”.

I think the melody is beautiful, and it’s one I can sing halfway decently in my limited range. But in my melancholy mood last night, it was the lyrics that really grabbed my attention. Here are the first two verses:

Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I’ve often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I’m all right, I’m all right
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
Oh, but it’s all right, it’s all right
For we’ve lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
We’re traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what’s gone wrong

I don’t think it ever hit me before, the hopelessness of the words. As the Wikipedia author notes, “the lyrics offer a perspective on the American experience; there are references to struggle, weariness, hard work, confusion, and homesickness. The bridge conveys a dream of death and of the Statue of Liberty ‘sailing away to sea.’ The song ends with an assertion that ‘you can't be forever blessed’ before the lyrics return to the idea of work, tiredness, and resignation.”

Work. Confusion. Tiredness. Resignation. This dismal perspective makes life seem unbearable, even pointless. Yet I know so many of us feel exactly this way much of the time. Whether someone is a Christian or not, we’re all still human. We all feel at times the burden of work, the sting of an imperfect or even broken relationship, the weight of our inadequacies and failures. I struggle with mine daily.

What I need to remind myself of is that this is not how the human experience was designed, and this is not how it has to be. As I recently read in Romans 5:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

In sharp contrast to the bleak and hopeless outlook of trying to live life on our own and failing, in Jesus we know the words justified, peace, grace, rejoice, endurance and hope. At times I am mistaken and confused. God never makes mistakes, and He chose me. I’ve often felt forsaken after putting my trust and sense of worth in others and how they perceive me. God sees me as beautiful and perfect through Christ, and He will never leave me. Trying to be the perfect wife, mom and friend under my own strength makes me weary to my bones. Understanding that I don’t have to be those things in order to gain acceptance from the Creator of the universe can set me free and give me rest.

How I pray that I will be able to fully embrace the freedom and rest that come from a life under His grace. And I pray that for you too. If you don’t yet know Him, or if you do but are struggling with trying to do life on your own at the moment…I love you and I’m there with you. And more importantly, as I’ve been reminded several times lately, He loves you and wants to be with you.

No offense to Paul Simon, but he’s wrong here. We most certainly can be forever blessed. We deserve eternity in hell apart from God, but we can receive an eternity of perfect peace, joy and love with our sweet, sweet Savior. I can’t think of a greater blessing than that. I’m far from having all of the answers, but I’d love to search the depths of this perfect love together.

Love One Another Deeply

I started taking notes during the sermon one Sunday when I was in high school after we had gotten back from a trip late the night before. I did it to stay awake. I found that it really helped me to focus, so I kept taking notes for years...until I had babies and suddenly found myself with a crazy amount of stuff (and stress) that we had to take with us everywhere, and the notebook no longer made it to church. I need to start taking notes again; I have the tendency to zone in and out a lot during the sermon. Never the speaker's fault; I usually just have so much on my mind that it's hard to turn it off and pay attention.

I recently started reading 1 Peter (on the few occasions each week that I actually read my Bible), and for pretty much the first time ever, I went back to review sermon notes on the passages. Our first pastor at the Oaks, Kevin Jamison, went through the book starting in the fall of 2008. I have greatly appreciated the wisdom of our pastors over the last several years, and I've loved going back through this series. His sermon on 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 was one of the first (if not the first) I'd ever heard on gospel-centered community, and reading the notes was a great reminder for me to be more intentional in relationships, so I just thought I'd share - in case anyone else could benefit as well:

LOVE ONE ANOTHER DEEPLY
*The gospel has social implications as well as eternal implications.

1 Peter 1:22-2:3
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever."
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation - if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

I. Sin keeps us from community.
       -Sin has corrupted every social relationship we've had.
       -Our sins can play off of each other.
       -We are all self-centered, making it difficult to love others above ourselves.

II. The Gospel purifies us for community.
       -One of the greatest horizontal implications of the gospel is for us to love one another.
       -We are now all different as a result of God's mercy and grace - we should recognize a sense of community from mutual understanding of where we were before and who we are now in Christ.
       -We must remove malice, deceit, hypocrisy (masking evil with false righteousness), envy, slander.
       -These are community-destroying sins.

III. Our faith must be nourished for and by community.
       -We should be cross-centered: claiming worth and value in the cross and cherishing it.
       -We should be grace-driven: recognizing God's unmerited favor and seeking to direct others to Christ.
       -We should be intentionally intrusive: out of love, when we see sin destroying relationships.
       -We should be redemptive: we want to see God redeem people and relationships, to see everyone made perfect in Christ.

Ahh, Monday.

A run down of my non-stop day:

Eva told me first thing this morning that she didn't want any breakfast. I thought that was unusual, but figured she was just anxious to go downstairs and start playing with her toys. While she was playing, I was up in the kitchen giving Elsie breakfast. Eva started crying and said her tummy hurt. I thought she had just hurt herself on something and didn't think much of it.

Girls were both sluggish and took awhile to get going, but we pretty much had to get groceries this morning; we were out of a ton of stuff. Finished at the store around 11:30, hit Wendy's drive through for lunch. Went home and got the girls settled in with food while I put away the groceries, trying to do it quickly because I had scheduled a plumber to come between 12 and 1 (kitchen sink was clogged yesterday due to butternut squash peelings in the garbage disposal - lesson learned). Immediately after lunch, they both had horrifying diaper messes. I was sure the plumber would get here while I was in the middle of changing one of them. He actually didn't come until a little after 1 though.

Read books with the girls so they wouldn't bug the nice plumber while he cleaned out the sink. He got done pretty quickly. Put Elsie down for a nap at 2 (an hour late). Let Eva watch a show in the kitchen while I tackled cleaning up in there now that we had a working sink. Eva had been telling me off and on during the day that her tummy still hurt.

Hung out with Eva until Elsie woke up a little after 4. I had planned on taking them to pick out pumpkins after that, since we were just heating up leftover soup for dinner. Elsie was really clingy and whiny after her nap, clearly not feeling well. She did not want to get in the car, so I decided to stay home.

Glad I made that decision. 10-15 minutes later, we were sitting on the couch looking at books when Eva suddenly jumped down and got a weird look on her face a split second before she puked on the couch. She took a step back and projectile vomited on the living room rug, twice. I paused in shock for a second before collecting myself, comforting her and directing her toward the bathroom. We got as far as the doorway before she let go a couple more times, all. over. the. bathroom. 

I looked at the mess in the bathroom and the mess in the living room. My immediate thought was that Wendy's had been a mistake. I briefly wanted to run away and buy a different house. Instead, I did the only thing I knew of that would contain them both while I dealt with it - stripped them down, started a bath and tossed them in (not literally). Called Damon; he said he would rent a carpet scrubber on the way home from work.

Cleaned up puke. Cleaned up puke. Cleaned up puke. Wanted to die a little bit.

Washed their hair and got their wrinkled booties out of the tub. Almost 6 by this time. Damon got home with the scrubber. He hung out with the girls downstairs while I heated up soup for myself, then he ate. All the girls wanted was plain bread. Eva had an empty trash can with her the rest of the night just in case.

Damon watched them some more while I scrubbed the rug and hallway/bedroom carpet (we got the scrubber - why not?). Time to get them ready for bed, but not before Elsie had one more nasty diaper.

Took Elsie upstairs, read Snowmen at Night (her current obsession - she has to sleep with the stuffed snowman that came with it), turned on the star projector she's been loving lately, watched her amazing face as she looked at the stars in wonder. She flopped her head down on me while I sang to her. I laid her down. She stood back up for two more kisses and then laid down on her own, hugging her pillow and snowman.

Came downstairs, brushed Eva's teeth, she laid on the couch (we've been having sleeping issues; she doesn't want to be upstairs). Put a blanket on her, read her a book. She asked me to sing Roseville Fair. While I was singing, I thought about how that was the first song I ever sang to her, in the hospital, and tried to picture her as a baby. She was almost asleep by the time I was done. She popped her head up long enough to say "mommy, will you sit with me a couple minutes?" I said yes and she immediately passed out. 

I watched her sleep for a few minutes and thought about how amazing these two little people are and how blessed I am to have them in my life. Then I got up to go disinfect the bathroom floor one more time.

It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.

Nap Time (Sort Of)

Today's fun nap time:

12:40 - lay Elsie down. She's quiet for a few minutes, then starts screaming.

1:00 - tell Eva we have to turn off the movie so she can take a nap. Screaming.

Get Eva upstairs, Elsie still screaming. Read to them both.

Leave Eva in their room, sing to Elsie, put her back down in the pack n play in our room.

Come downstairs.

Elsie screaming.

Go back up, feed her, lay her back down.

Come downstairs, prep meat loaf for tonight, start Ramen noodles for myself (sore throat).

Eva informs me over the monitor that she pooped.

Go get Eva, bring her downstairs, change her pants.

Elsie screaming.

Take Eva back up, discover that Elsie pooped.

Everyone comes back downstairs so I can change Elsie without Eva having a meltdown because she wanted to come too. Turn off stove on Ramen that I forgot about.

Take them back up. Both upset because they thought they were going to get out of nap time.

Leave them in their respective beds, come back down, drain and eat over cooked noodles.

2:10 - Elsie quiet, Eva whining softly.

2:30 - both crying. Mommy gives up.

No naps even though we have community group tonight and they'll be up late. I guess I should be thankful this isn't the way it goes every day. :)

Receive with Meekness

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:16-21

I read these verses one day last week and keep coming back to them. I see a lot of potential application for me, especially in the area of parenting. I want to keep in mind that my beautiful girls are a good gift from God, even when days are difficult. I want to remember to be quick to listen to Eva (and Elsie as she gets older), and slow to anger when I'm tempted to just react and snap at her impatiently when she's defiant. Damon is also an amazing gift from God and I need to treat him more as such. I don't feel that I've been very loving toward him lately and I want to work on that.

"No variation or shadow due to change". I may fail (and do, often), and my situation/mood/children/spouse/friends may change on me, but God is the same perfect, good, just, loving, gracious and righteous Father that he has always been and will always be. I think there would be a great deal more peace and joy in my life if I reflect on that much more often than I do.

Also, I just love love love the image of God as "the Father of lights". How beautiful.

Cornbread Taco Bake

This is one of those "church potluck" recipes that makes my former chef husband chuckle. You know the ones...some sort of everything-mixed-together-casserole-something with Ritz cracker crumbs on top. Or french fried onions, which is what we have here. I tried this one for the first time tonight and I kinda love it. Could be partly because I've been sick all week (started getting a fever/dizzy on Monday and it's still not really much better - now my throat is sore - strep test negative), and this was really the first day that I managed to work up the energy to cook anything. And I'm glad I did. It really hit the spot. Kind of a comfort food thing. Damon said he liked it too. ;)

Pretty.

Recipe came from...bet you can't guess...a church cookbook. Specifically, from a lady named Doris Beals at the church my family attended when I was in high school. I vaguely remember her but unfortunately, I don't remember much about her. The recipe is yummy and pretty easy. If I can make it when I'm sick and exhausted, I'm pretty sure a normal person could knock it out of the park.

Notes: if I make it again, I will probably double the amount of cornbread batter and cover the whole dish. I don't really understand just spooning it around the outside edge. Wouldn't you want cornbread on all of it? Of course you would. Also, it says to use an 11x13 baking dish. I don't have that size (do they actually come in that size?); 9x13 worked great. Also, I may have sprinkled more cheese on top than the recipe calls for. Cheese makes everything better.

Cornbread Taco Bake

2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1/2 c. water
1 (12 oz) can yellow corn, drained
1/2 c. chopped red or green pepper
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 can french fried onions
1 c. grated cheese
1 pkg. corn muffin mix (or make your own)

Brown meat; drain. stir in taco seasoning, water, corn, pepper and tomato sauce. Pour in 11x13 baking dish. In separate bowl, prepare cornbread batter according to package directions; add 1/2 can onions to mix. Spoon mix around outer edge of casserole. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven. Top cornbread with cheese and remaining onions. Bake 2-3 minutes longer, until cheese melts.

Tasty.

God is so, so good.

Since I've only written 28 posts since I started this almost exactly two years ago (most of those are recipes I think), and this is the first one since September, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a blogger. I don't usually have anything profound to say anyway, so I just read the blogs of people who do.

I am excited about what's been going on in my house recently though and thought I'd write out my thoughts. If no one else reads it, that's okay. A little over a week ago, Elsie was still waking up every couple of hours at night and I was completely exhausted. I felt barely able to function during the day after too many months of too little sleep. I was still treating her like a newborn, letting her fall asleep while eating and then trying to put her down already asleep. Of course she kept waking up because she wanted me. Then during the day I would let her fall asleep on me all the time, but she woke up whenever I had to put her down or because Eva was making noise. She almost never got a good nap. It hit me all of a sudden last week that she is six months old and should be able to sleep on her own. I think I knew this in my head; it was just easier (or so I thought) to keep doing what we were doing. We started letting her cry it out, and she adjusted almost immediately! She now sleeps 10-12 straight at night and takes three solid naps during the day, in her crib. She's such a happy baby now, and Mommy gets to sleep all night too. Thank you God.

This new schedule has given me another amazing blessing also, one I didn't expect or realize I needed: a restored relationship with Eva. For the first two years of her life, I was the person who cared for her most of the time, and we had a super close bond. She was my baby. Immediately after Elsie was born, I had to depend on other people (namely Damon and our parents) to take care of Eva while I was dealing with Elsie and recovering from the c-section. While I was so thankful for the help, those first couple of weeks were extremely difficult for me emotionally (I'm sure the hormones didn't help). I felt like I couldn't be there for her, that I didn't have anything to do with her. I love her so much and oh how I missed her.

In the months since then, she has gotten into the "terrible twos" like crazy and has generally misbehaved more when I've had to pay attention to Elsie. I felt like my entire day was spent telling her no and disciplining her while trying to get Elsie to sleep. I was exasperated to the point of tears much of the time because she was so defiant. She usually acted like a perfect angel for Damon, of course. To my amazement, since Elsie started taking naps in her crib, I've noticed a huge change in Eva. I can have one-on-one time with her again, and we actually have fun together, rather than just a power struggle. Though she still has her sinful moments, of course...I feel like I have my sweet baby girl back.

Here's my sweetie, mid-hysterical laughter:

Getting Elsie to sleep on her own has also given me more opportunities to spend time alone with God and with Damon, time I had also been greatly missing, more than I even realized. I am so thankful for God's grace and blessing in the past week. I often try to depend only on my own strength to get through each day and look to find my worth in my own abilities as a mom rather than in Christ, and this has been a wonderful reminder that God does provide and that peace and rest come from trusting in Him and not in myself.

Apple Pomegranate Pork Loin

Damon's parents are here for the weekend. His dad is allergic to soy, so whenever they come I look for new soy-free recipes. It's challenging but fun. You wouldn't believe how many foods have soy. For example, the other night I did Jackie's crock pot chicken taco meat - one brand of taco seasoning had soy, another didn't. Soft taco shells had soy, hard didn't. Weird.

Anyway, I googled "soy-free recipes" and found this pork loin that turned out super yummy! It was really juicy and tender. Tweaked it a little - I guess pomegranates are not in season, but Kroger had 100% pomegranate juice in their little all-natural beverage section near the produce, so I substituted 1/2 a cup of that for the fresh juice and seeds. Also, as I've said before, Damon is a much better cook than I am, and he added some stuff to the sauce, like ground mustard and pepper. I'm sure it would taste good the way it's given here too.


Apple Pomegranate Pork Loin

1 qt. plus 1/2 c. apple cider
1/4 c. kosher salt or 1/8 c. table salt
3 bay leaves
2- to 2.5-lb. boneless pork loin
freshly ground pepper
juice and seeds from 1 large pomegranate
1 T. corn starch
sugar (if necessary)

In a deep bowl, stir together 1 quart apple cider, salt and bay leaves to make a brine. Immerse pork loin in brine and store in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight (If using an "enhanced" pork loin, brine for only 2-3 hours because it already has added salt).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove pork from brine (dispose of brine mixture). Pat pork dry with paper towels, season all over with pepper and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast pork until meat thermometer inserted in thickest part reaches 160 degrees, approx. 1 hr 30 minutes (I found out after I bought my pork loin that it was already cut into two separate pieces length-wise, so it only took about an hour to cook). Remove roast from oven and place on a serving platter, covered lightly with foil.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup apple cider and 1 tablespoon corn starch.

In a saucepan, bring the cider-starch mixture and the pomegranate seeds and juice to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately lower heat to medium-low and cook gently until sauce is clear and very thick, about 8-10 minutes. Taste and add a little sugar, if necessary.

To serve, drizzle enough apple-pomegranate sauce on the pork loin to cover the roast. Pass the rest of the sauce behind the roast at table as a dipping sauce. Serve immediately.

Taffy Apple Salad

I made this delicious salad for a cook-out tomorrow with fellow tenants in our apartment complex. If you're looking for a side/dessert salad that's a little different (and yummier) than the usual fruit salad, please make this! It really tastes like taffied apples and makes me look forward to fall, my favorite season. I got the recipe from my mom, who got it from a former coworker. Make it the night before you need it to let it set/blend flavors.

Taffy Apple Salad

large can crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg, beaten
8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
4 cups diced apples
3 cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cups Spanish peanuts

Drain the juice from the pineapple into a saucepan. Add sugar, vinegar, flour and egg. Cook until mixture thickens and let cool a bit. Then stir in Cool Whip, apples, the pineapple, marshmallows and peanuts (I had to transfer it to a bigger bowl to add everything; my saucepan wasn't very big). Let set in refrigerator overnight.

Worthwhile Education

I meant to do this after I graduated from Cedarville three months ago, but, you know, time gets away from you (holy cow, is it August already?). I slowly chipped away at my English degree for eleven years and finally finished this year. During those years, I got married and established in my job as Coordinator in the Physical Plant at the university, and have been blessed with two children (one currently incubating). I mostly kept taking classes because I could get them for free as a staff member, and I wanted to finish what I started. I don't currently have plans to use my degree in a career, as I'm enjoying being home with the aforementioned kids. If I ever do get a job in my "field" (I'd like to write and/or edit nonfiction - journalistic type stuff), great, but if not, I consider myself blessed simply for the experience of learning to think and write well while reading great literature. I am also thankful for the intelligent, abundantly passionate professors from whom I have learned. If all I get out of this degree is the ability to think critically and to share that skill, as well as a passion for literature, with my children, it was worth it.

Here are just a few of the works I have studied in my time at Cedarville (yes, all of the books in the above photo are from my classes - and I'm sure some of what I've read is not included). Keep in mind that this list contains mostly novels and plays, not the many (MANY) wonderful short stories, nonfiction essays and poems I have read as part of anthologies of American and British literature, both old and recent (oh yeah, and FILMS I have watched - I loved the Christian Motifs in Film class and would be interested in sitting through it again just to hear the discussions). If anyone would like to borrow any of these from me, I'd be glad to share!

Early British Literature:
Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
Paradise Lost - John Milton
Samson Agonistes - John Milton
Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
The Jew of Malta - Christopher Marlowe
The Tragedy of Mariam - Elizabeth Cary
SHAKESPEARE - duh, more than I can count :)

Contemporary British Literature:
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
W;t - Margaret Edson
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

European Novel:
The Stranger - Albert Camus
The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Fathers and Sons - Ivan Turgenev
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Death of Ivan Ilych - Leo Tolstoy

Mythology:
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

Recent American Literature:
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerny
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
White Noise - Don DeLillo
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

21st Century Literature:
March - Geraldine Brooks
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery

Plays:
Medea - Euripides
Everyman - anonymous
The Misanthrope - Moliere
The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov
Hedda Gabler - Henrik Ibsen
Riders to the Sea - John Millington Synge
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard
The Piano Lesson - August Wilson

Looking back, I really can't believe how many wonderful works of literature I have read. And this may sound odd, but I also really enjoyed reading The History of the English Language for the class on the same subject (go, Dr. Calhoun!). One of the things I enjoyed about my literature classes is that I was forced to read great stuff; otherwise, I probably wouldn't have made time for it. I would love to go back through these and read them all again; I hope to do so. I am blessed.

Diced Chicken & Almonds

I had the ingredients to make this for our anniversary (June 28), but I ended up having a cold and didn't feel up to it, so Damon made it instead. Definitely a good thing, because he's a much better cook than I am (from his 5 years of experience in the cafeteria at Cedarville while he was finishing his degree - I worked there too, but only for a year and pretty much all I made was pizza).

The recipe is from a cookbook I got from June Campbell, the owner of a bed & breakfast on Kelleys Island in Lake Erie. We took a long weekend up there in October of 2007. June's breakfasts were amazing so I bought her book. Damon tweaked this recipe by adding salt and pepper and cooking wine to the saute-ing chicken.


Diced Chicken & Almonds

3 T. vegetable oil
2 c. diced raw chicken
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 c. diced celery
1 c. boiling water
1 c. peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 can mushroom pieces, drained
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. cold water
1/2 c. toasted almonds

Saute chicken in oil until cooked, about 3-5 minutes. Add soy sauce, peas, celery, mushrooms and boiling water. Cover and simmer for 4 minutes. Blend cornstarch and cold water. Add to meat mixture, stirring, and cook until it boils and mixture thickens. Sprinkle with almonds. Serve with rice and soy sauce.

Yummo.

New Bathroom

Still working on that project list I started awhile ago. I have been lazier than I probably should be lately. I've gotten a few things done though - I'm almost completely done with Eva's baby book; all that's left is to get her hand print "now that you are one" (she's 17 months, woops). Then I can start a new book for baby #2.

Anyway, I am very happy about having the bathroom redecorating done. We can't paint or do anything permanent in our apartment, so really all I could change were the accessories. We'd had the previous decor since we got married almost eight years ago - I didn't HATE it, but it was starting to look old, and our taste has definitely changed. Not that I'm trying to compare myself to others (though I pridefully do that a lot), but since visiting many homes of the hip young couples at the Oaks (yes, you are - admit it ;)) and seeing what cool things can be done with home interiors, my taste in decor has become less traditional - "old lady" if you will. I mean, our old bathroom trash can and tissue cover were wicker, for cryin' out loud.

Couldn't get great pictures, mostly because it's such a tiny bathroom, but here's the before:




For the new stuff, I wanted to use similar colors (namely light blue and green), so that we could save money by keeping the same rugs and towels, which are still in good shape. But I wanted more white as opposed to beige, since I always felt like the beige made it look a little dim in there. Ta-da:




Toothbrush holder is a little more modern than what we had before, and the silver matches the fixtures:




Look ma, no wicker:




I think my favorite part, though, is the new pictures on the walls. I was finally able to use a couple of nice pics we took on vacations. First, sunrise in Ocean City, Maryland in August of 2009:




And this one is sunset on Kelleys Island in Lake Erie, October 2007:



Happy times. My project for tonight is to sew up a couple tears in the cloth cover on the elastic waist of my maternity jeans, since I will probably need them soon. I LOVE maternity jeans. Still look like jeans but they're SO comfy. I plan to relish wearing maternity clothes this time since we're planning on this being the last biological Titus baby, and my maternity clothes are so much cuter than any of my regular clothes. Totally not fair. Whatevs.

Delicious Apple Muffins

I made these muffins when Damon's parents were here last week. The original recipe is from allrecipes.com, but it called for vegetable oil - I changed that to applesauce because of my father-in-law's soy allergy. You can use either one. I actually got the recipe for the crumb topping from a comment someone left on the website. I think the topping makes these muffins about a million times better! :) This makes enough topping for probably 2-3 batches of muffins, so you can cut it down if you're not making that many.

Apple Muffins:

2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. apple juice
1/3 c. applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. apples - peeled, cored and finely diced

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.

In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine apple juice, applesauce and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy). Stir in chopped apples.

Fill cups 2/3 full and top with generous amount of crumb topping. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool one minute before removing from pan.


Crumb topping:

1 c. instant oats
1 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. melted butter

Mix together until crumbly and sprinkle it on, baby.

Project Progress

Made a little progress the last couple days on my list of projects. Damon's parents are coming to visit today through Monday, to go to my graduation (and see the granddaughter, of course :)). They decided to come in spite of Damon's grandma falling and breaking her hip last night (Damon's dad has a lot of siblings that can be there to help her out). The poor lady has a lot of health issues already - we appreciate prayers for her and the family.

Anyway, I find that having family visit is great motivation for cleaning projects (I mean, who wants the people they love to visit and discover the apartment the way it usually looks, am I right?). So I got to work last night scrubbing my kitchen sink. It started out with some hard water scuzz that had been building up for awhile and now it's shiny and pretty again. I got a little carried away and scrubbed out under the stove burners and under Eva's high chair too. I think I overdid it a little; I'm kinda wiped out today, plus I still have the all-day "morning" sickness. Of course, Eva decided to wake up way too early today too. Today of all days, when I was planning to meet the other sweet girls from my senior seminar class for breakfast. Eva was quite the cranky-pants. Oh well.

I also started the project of looking for soy free recipes since Damon's dad is soy intolerant, but I couldn't really find anything good. Most of the recipes I found that claimed to be soy free called for vegetable oil or other stuff with soy. Hello, vegetable oil is soybean oil. Nice try, recipes. So while they're visiting, I'm planning on modifying a few recipes I already had to make them soy free, like the crock pot pineapple chicken and chicken corn chowder I posted awhile ago. I'm also planning on making apple muffins and oatmeal cake without vegetable oil. Yum.

It's a start! I should probably get back to cleaning before Damon's parents get here this afternoon. The rest of the week is going to be crazy busy with family, work and graduation!

Project List

Praising God this week for getting me through my last class at Cedarville! I've been here since 1999 - had two years as a full time student, took two years off, and I've been doing part time for the past eight. I think it still hasn't really sunk in that I'm done and I won't have any more homework to worry about.

I'm already thinking about the list of projects that has been growing in my mind though - stuff I want to do around the apartment for which I haven't had a lot of time. And it would be great to get many of them done before tiny Titus #2 gets here in December! Maybe I'll blog about completing each one and include pictures when applicable, I don't know. Also, this doesn't include ongoing goals like keeping up with Bible reading, eating better, etc. I'll probably think of more to add, but here's what I have so far, in no particular order:

1. Finish Eva's baby book. I actually did pretty well recording milestones, etc. for Eva's first year, mostly because I knew that I would never remember them if I didn't write them down right away. I just have a few things left to write in it and a few pictures to add.

2. Roll pennies. After my grandma passed away when I was thirteen, at some point I got a cool-looking old, tall, brown glass jug from her old house that I started saving pennies in. I haven't added any since high school, but it's almost full and just sitting there in our study. I want to take the time to put them in rolls and cash them in. I think there's quite a bit in there!

3. Cross-stitch. I enjoy cross-stitching but haven't had time to do it for awhile. I got a baby announcement one for Eva and have barely done anything with it. I'd like to finish that one and start on one for the new baby.

4. Organize recipes. For the past several years, I have been jotting down or printing out recipes of interest and simply throwing them on a stack that sits on top of the cookbooks. It's kind of an embarrassing mess.

5. Re-decorate the bathroom. We've had the same decor in our bathroom since we got married almost eight years ago. I don't hate it, but my taste has definitely changed. I already got the new shower curtain but I'm having the hardest time finding matching toothbrush holder, trash can, artwork, etc.

6. Scrub kitchen sink. This sounds kinda dumb, but does anyone else deal with the scummy hard water gunk building up? It's been awhile since I've been able to give it a good scrubbing, like with a toothbrush and heavy duty cleaner like the stuff we use in the custodial dept at work. I want my sink to shine again.

7. Centerpieces. My brother is getting married October 22nd, and I told my mom I'd help with decorations for the rehearsal dinner, specifically the centerpieces. The bridesmaids' dresses are dark purple, so I want to use that with other fall colors. I'd also like to stay away from flowers, real or fake, because my future sister-in-law's family owns a florist shop and I don't want to try to compete with that because it would probably be rather pitiful. If anyone has ideas let me know.

8. Find soy-free recipes. Damon's dad found out that he's soy intolerant. They don't get to visit super often, but when they do I'd like to be able to have more stuff around that he can eat. They're coming out for my graduation in a couple weeks.

It's a start. Ready, set, go! :)

Scott McIntosh's Chicken Sandwiches

Scott & Jen McIntosh hosted our community group for awhile, and they made these sandwiches for us quite often. This is pretty much the best hot chicken sandwich filling ever and it's wicked easy. I made it tonight. You should make it too. Your taste buds will love you and maybe even write a song about you.

Scott McIntosh's Chicken Sandwiches

canned chicken (Jen said they use a 1 lb. 12 oz can)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
5 toast slices, crumbled or cut up
salt & pepper to taste

Mix everything together and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Apple Curry Chicken

This is from the Slow Cooker, Casseroles & More cookbook I have. This is not a slow cooker recipe. Tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm probably going to make it tonight; it's pretty delish.


Apple Curry Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup apple juice, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
dash black pepper
1 1/2 cups plain croutons
1 medium apple, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
2 apple slices and fresh thyme sprigs for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 1 quart round baking dish (I used a bigger one; it wouldn't have fit in a 1 qt.). Arrange chicken breasts in single layer in prepared dish.

Combine 1/4 cup apple juice, salt and pepper in small bowl. Brush juice mixture over chicken.

Combine croutons, apple, onion, raisins, brown sugar, curry, poultry seasoning and garlic powder in large bowl. Toss with remaining 3/4 cup apple juice.

Spread crouton mixture over chicken. Cover with foil; bake 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Garnish, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

First Day of Spring

I deleted my post from the other day about having to rewrite my senior paper. In case anyone actually read it, if I said anything I shouldn't have I'm sorry. I'm not sure whether I did or not, but after second-guessing the post I removed it just in case. It has been a completely insane roller-coaster week, from doing nothing but writing my paper every night until I finished it, to the extreme relief and decompression of having it done and thinking that I was home free, to finding out I completely missed the point of the assignment and have to start over, not to mention making a complete idiot of myself in front of the professor. Fun, fun times. So I have a couple more weeks of lots and lots of work, and whatever the outcome, whether I'm able to graduate or not, I'm looking forward to finally being able to have a "normal" life with my family without having to deal with this.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm so excited about this, but it's the first day of spring! Wooo!! Looks like the weather will be nice enough to take a walk or something. Lovely.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalm 104:10-15, 31-34

Irish Lamb Stew & Sweet Potato Biscuits

A few years ago I was in the check-out at Walmart around St. Patrick's Day and saw a little booklet of "Irish" recipes from Taste of Home magazine. This is the booklet from which I got the cupcakes that Jackie posted. I'd never made anything else from it, so I decided to remedy that this year. Both of these recipes are from the booklet. The stew was pretty good, but what really impressed me were the biscuits. Oh goodness, they are so lovely I could eat them like cookies.

I'm posting the stew recipe as it is in the book, but we don't have a dutch oven (and we don't have room to store one), so instead we coated & browned the meat and then put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Turned out well, though a little soupy. I added some more half & half at the end to make it creamier. Also, I couldn't find lamb stew meat or pearl onions (Wal-mart and Kroger double-fail), so I cut up lamb shoulder chops from Kroger and half of a regular onion.


IRISH LAMB STEW

6 Tb. all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tb. vegetable oil
3 cups water
1/2 tsp. dill weed
8 pearl onions
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup half & half cream

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 4 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper. Add lamb; shake to coat.

In a dutch oven, brown lamb in oil on all sides. Add water and dill; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is almost tender. Add the onions, carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender.

In a small bowl, place remaining flour; stir in cream until smooth. Stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with biscuits. Yield: 6 servings.


SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
7 Tb cold butter, divided
3 Tb. shortening
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
6 Tb. milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Cut in 4 Tb. butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the sweet potatoes and milk; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Pat or roll out to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (I used a glass :)). Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Melt remaining butter; brush over dough. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Serve warm. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen.

Editor's note: As a substitute for each cup of self-rising flour, place 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour to measure 1 cup.


Tonight I'm making another recipe from the Irish booklet - glazed mint brownies - for my parents and sister coming to visit tomorrow. :)

Crock Pot - Pineapple Chicken & Sweet Potatoes

Today I used my crock pot for the second time ever (the first time was Jackie's chicken soft tacos last week - yum!). The recipe I did for tonight is from the Slow Cooker Casseroles & More cookbook we received as a gift with the crock pot when we got married. You never know how good something will be from a cookbook instead of a friend who's tried it, but this one was tasty. The first recipe I made from the book was Apple Curry Chicken, also super good but not a crock pot recipe. I guess it falls under "& More". I can post that one too if anyone wants it.

Side note: I'm thinking of making Irish lamb stew for St. Patrick's Day - the recipe is not for a crock pot, but I think I might try to make it that way. Look at me, all slow cooker-savvy. Haha, okay, not quite. Oooh, another first - I've never made biscuits before, but I want to make some SWEET POTATO biscuits to go with the lamb stew. Woot!


Pineapple Chicken & Sweet Potatoes

2/3 cup plus 3 Tb. all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper
6 chicken breasts
3 sweet potatoes, peeled & sliced
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. grated orange peel

Combine 2/3 cup flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, onion powder and black pepper in large bowl. Thoroughly coat chicken in flour mixture. Place sweet potatoes on bottom of slow cooker. Top with chicken.

Combine soup, juice, mushrooms, remaining 3 Tb. flour, sugar and orange peel in small bowl; stir well. Pour soup mixture into slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours. Serve chicken and sauce over rice.


NOTES:

- Either they used a bigger crock pot or the chicken breasts we got were huge, because I put 6 half breasts in and it was really full. I think we have a "normal" size oval one though.

- Damon thinks that it would be equally good if you use five spice instead of the nutmeg and cinnamon. He's the better cook; I'll take his word for it.

- I used the pineapple juice from a can of pineapple; if I make this again, I'll probably put in the pineapple chunks too, toward the end of the cooking time. The pineapple flavor didn't come through too much with just the juice. Including the fruit would add color too.