10/20/05 MAKE-AHEAD RECIPES, ENGRAVED ON PALMS, MIDDLEWIFE
Posted by: jhbreneman <jhbreneman@...>
ENCOURAGEMENT TO WOMEN
Compiled especially for you with love by Lois Breneman
THE LEAST OF THESE
GO FLY A KITE
THE MIDDLEWIFE
Tips on How Not to Spend Your Entire Day in the Kitchen - Start Cooking Now!
By Lois Breneman, © 2003, Revised 2005, Heart to Heart Newsletter, [email protected]
Since we all could use extra hours around the holidays, any shortcuts we can apply in our kitchen will give us more time and energy to be used elsewhere - preferably with our families! Here are a few ways of trimming down our kitchen time and energy over Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Let's Talk Turkey!
I like to cook a turkey breast in the crockpot, along with a mixture of a can of cream of mushroom soup and a packet of dried onion soup mix spread over the top. That's it, unless you want to add even more juiciness by sticking a pierced lemon inside the cavity (instructions below). You will need to allow about 10 to 12 hours of cooking on low. The best part of this recipe is that you can do all the cooking months ahead of time, slice the meat and store it in the freezer with its self-made gravy! Then all you do on a busy day is thaw and heat it!
If you decide to serve the turkey breast directly after the designated cooking time, start the turkey just before you go to bed for a noon meal the next day. If it's done before the meal, turn it off for an hour and back on again an hour before serving, to prevent overcooking.
If using a frozen turkey or turkey breast, be sure to give it a couple days in the refrigerator for safe thawing. For a juicy turkey or turkey breast, place a grapefruit, orange or lemon inside the cavity prior to roasting. Pierce the fruit to prevent it from bursting, and simply cook it as usual. You are "guaranteed" a juicy bird each time and there will be no citrus or orange flavor in the turkey. I don't know how this works, but it does. You simply take the fruit and dispose of it after roasting. Obviously, you don't stuff this bird, but it works great to have a separate casserole dish of stuffing as a side dish. Several "Heart to Heart" ladies and I have tried this and we all agree that it works great!
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potatoes can be cooked and mashed ahead of time, then frozen. We used to grow sweet potatoes in our garden and harvest several bushels at one time. That's when I learned to freeze them! Now when sweet potatoes are on sale, I like to stock up, because the prices fluctuate greatly. Autumn is when we find the best prices in the US. Bake the washed sweet potatoes in a Dutch oven or roaster pan with a small amount of water added for moisture. Bake at 350 F. for about an hour (check for tenderness). When cool enough to handle, peel, mash and freeze in freezer bags. It's as simple as that! I like to freeze sweet potatoes without salt or seasoning, so they can be used for sweet potato casseroles, muffins and pies. Of course, freezing a casserole flavored with ingredients such as butter, brown sugar, cinnamon or cranberries also works very well. It's wonderful to go to the freezer and take out a dish already prepared, except for thawing and heating! If you are able to freeze your casserole in the dish you plan to set on the table, that saves even more time.
A last minute tip: Brown sugar placed around the outside edge of the casserole not only looks and tastes good, but it allows those who prefer not to have sugar to reach into the center for a scoop. Color and texture give the dish more appeal, so why not add chopped walnuts and/or dried cranberries, sprinkled around the edge or only in the center?
Mashed Potato Casserole
Five or ten pound bags of white potatoes are often "Buy One -- Get One Free," so in order to take advantage of these special prices, without them spoiling, you can cook, mash and freeze them into multiple casseroles for later. Sometimes I cook the potatoes and mash them, adding some of the cooking liquid, butter and salt - and freeze them in a casserole dish until needed. Before serving them, I thaw the potatoes, I heat them in the microwave, add a little milk as I mix them up with a potato masher and they are ready to eat! They can also be held over in the oven, covered, until the rest of the meal is ready.
Or here is a delicious and convenient recipe from the More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. If your family does not like spinach, try substituting grated carrots or other vegetables, although it is very good plain, with vegetables served on the side. If potatoes are the only vegetable your children will eat, try mashing a few cooked carrots or some sweet potato in with the white potatoes. When I've done this, my family thought I had added cheese. For extra nutrition and a yellow tint, an egg can also be added as the potatoes are whipped. A sprinkle of dried dill weed over the cheese before baking adds extra flavor and color.
Cook and mash: 3-4 large potatoes.
Add: 1/3 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar (given in recipe, but not necessary)
1/4 cup butter
Add just enough milk to bring to proper consistency and beat until fluffy.
Add: 1/8 tsp. dill seed
2 tsp. chives, chopped
1 cup cooked spinach, well drained, chopped
Place in greased casserole and top with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. May be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated, or make a double recipe and freeze half to add to a future oven meal. Or freeze now to use for the holidays! When ready to use this frozen dish, thaw in the fridge and bake at 400 º for 20 minutes.
Dressing or Stuffing
I like to make a large dishpan full of stuffing at Thanksgiving, so I can freeze the extra and completely skip the process for Christmas -- it's already done! I don't really use a recipe for this, but make it as my mother always did. Cube bread (whole wheat and white mixture) and let it dry out on a large tray for a day or so. Sometimes I dry it in a dishpan, stirring occasionally over a 2-3 day period. Melt butter, add chicken broth, beaten eggs, lots of cooked celery and onions (sometimes a small amount of grated carrots for color), salt, onion salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and other dried herbs (parsley, Greek oregano, thyme, rosemary or tarragon, etc.). Stir well. Add enough bread crumbs for a slightly moist mixture. I bake it in a greased dish, (rather than in the bird) at 350 º F. until golden brown on top. Don't overbake. The unbaked stuffing mixture will freeze great in containers or freezer bags to serve later.
Note: Anytime before Thanksgiving is the time to make this recipe and freeze for both Thanksgiving and Christmas or any other time you want to enjoy stuffing throughout the year.
Festive Confetti Corn
If you want to save on last minute meal preparation, cut a couple pats of butter into a microwavable casserole dish. Add finely chopped fresh or frozen green pepper, a jar of chopped pimientos (drained), dill weed and a bag of frozen corn. Cover and put the dish in the freezer. To make things even easier for us, some supermarkets sell bags of frozen chopped onion, red, green and yellow bell peppers. On the day you are ready to serve the corn, take the dish from the freezer, thaw and microwave as you normally microwave corn. Add salt to taste just before serving. To cook on top of the stove, add a small amount of water first. This is a quick, tasty and colorful dish -- yellow with red and green!
The famous green bean casserole, found on the can of French fried onion rings also works well when made ahead and frozen!
Frozen Cranberry Salad
(How easy can it get?)
1 #2 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 cup sour cream (Whipped topping could be substituted for all or half of sour cream.)
Mix together and put in ice cube trays or in a 9x9 glass dish. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top. Freeze overnight. Cut into squares and serve as a salad with green lettuce beneath or serve as a dessert - maybe with a cookie on the side.
1 can whole cranberry sauce 1/2 cup sugar (or less)
8 oz. crushed pineapple with juice 1 cup chopped pecans
8 oz. sour cream (Whipped topping could be substituted for all or half of sour cream.)
Mix together all ingredients and freeze in muffin cups.
*Note: Small pieces of banana mixed in is delicious too! Either cranberry recipe is a great make-ahead salad or dessert for Thanksgiving or Christmas! Of course, either recipe can be frozen in a large mold, glass dish, muffin cups, custard cups or individual molds.
Gingerbread Pilgrim Hat Cookies for Thanksgiving
Using the best rolled gingerbread cookie recipe I've ever found, cut with round cookie cutters and bake, following the directions below. I made just one for each person for our Thanksgiving dinner and everyone loved them. A time-saving tip would be to make enough gingerbread cookies in all kinds of shapes right now and freeze them. Then have the children help to decorate them with frosting closer to Christmas. After the round circles have cooled (for the Pilgrim hats), unwrap small peanut butter cups and place one inverted in the center of each round cookie. Using store-bought frosting in a tube or your own frosting, pipe a ring around the base of the peanut butter cup, "gluing" it onto the cookie. This can be a thick or a thin line, and it will automatically form the band of the hat! Lastly, pipe a square buckle from that line, upward onto the peanut butter cup to form the buckle. These can be made ahead, as well! You may want to bake the round cut-out cookies and freeze way ahead of time to simplify things even more, then have family members join in this fun decorating project. That's what I did this year, thinking my daughter would enjoy this! When our children were young, my sister and two brothers got together at our parents' house for Thanksgiving and we moms organized fun art projects for the children. The Pilgrim hats would be perfect for a time like this! Those are priceless photographs, now that they are all grown! Well, enough reminiscing!
The Best Gingerbread Cookies Ever!
1 cup butter or shortening
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 Tbsp. orange juice
4 tsp. grated orange rind Beat butter and sugar together.
3 cups flour Mix all ingredients well and chill dough for 3 hours.
2 tsp. baking soda Roll 1/4" thick. Cut cookies in various shapes.
2 tsp. cinnamon Bake at 375 º for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake.
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
a dash of salt
Pumpkin Cake
2 cups sugar 2 tsp. cinnamon
4 eggs 2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup oil 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour 2 cups pumpkin --1 lb. can
Cream sugar, eggs, and oil until all traces of oil are gone. Add dry ingredients. Mix. Add pumpkin and mix. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 350 º F. for 1 hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. This cake tastes even better when made ahead. It's delicious and so moist - even without frosting!
Frosting:
3 oz. cream cheese 1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. butter 2 cups confectioners sugar
Cake: Filling:
1 ½ cup unbleached flour 2 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. baking powder 2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. baking soda 1 ½ sticks butter, softened
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cloves powdered sugar
½ tsp. salt
6 large eggs Rather than using this filling, other frostings
2 cups granulated sugar or whipped cream also work.
1 1/3 cup 100% pure pumpkin
1 to 2 cups chopped walnuts, optional
Preheat oven to 375º. Line a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides) and a 9 inch square pan with wax paper. Spray wax paper with Pam. Set aside. Beat eggs, sugar and pumpkin until thick. Stir in dry ingredients, but do not over mix. Spread evenly in prepared jelly roll pan and 9 inch square pan. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen the jelly roll while hot, cover with a clean tea towel or an old pillowcase, and invert cake onto the cloth. Carefully peel off wax paper. Roll up the cake and cloth together while still hot. Cool on a wire rack or on the counter.
Filling: Beat first four ingredients until smooth and creamy. When the cake is completely cool, unroll it, remove towel, and spread cream cheese filling over the cake. Re-roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar before serving. Slice into serving sizes. The 9 inch cake can be cut in half when cool, so you have two 4 ½ x 9 inch wide layers. Frost one layer when cool, and stack the other layer on top. Lay a paper doily on top of the cake and sprinkle sifted powered sugar over the top. Remove paper doily and you have a beautifully decorated cake!
Nancy said, "My desire is that the grandchildren are constantly reminded that God does have them engraved on the palms of His hands ... they are very important to Him and to their grandparents. The framed photo hanging in each of their rooms will be a daily reminder of that fact."
What is the shortest chapter in the Bible? Answer - Psalms 117
What is the longest chapter in the Bible? Answer - Psalms 119
Which chapter is in the center of the Bible? Answer - Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118.
Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118.
Add these numbers up and you get 1188
What is the center verse in the Bible? Answer - Psalms 118:8
Does this verse say something significant about God's perfect will for our lives?
Psalms 118:8 (NKJV) "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
THE LEAST OF THESE
©2005, Lani Wiens
I'm pursuing God, is He here?
Among 10 scraped knees,
A floor full of debris?
Is He here
While I clean up crumbs
And change dirty bums?
Is He here
When I'm scrubbing out the tub
And hosing off the mud?
My mountain tops are far apart
But passion burns within my heart
To see your face
Look in your eyes
Feel your arms
I long to fly
Above the normal things that are each day
The mundane stuff gets in my way
You said you would walk with me
Even here
Even now
Among 10 scraped knees
A floor full of debris
While I clean up crumbs
And change dirty bums
I am shaping history
For the very least of these
May someday be the one
That will bring many to the Son
Thank you for this ministry
There's glory here in my four walls
While I'm on my knees
Pursuing You
I will pick up after the least of these.
GO FLY A KITE
Mothering by Heart, By Cheri Fuller, [email protected], © 2005, Used by permission
My little boys peered through the icy window, fascinated with the snowflakes falling from the sky. Having just moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, from central Texas where it only snowed once every five years if you were lucky, they were awed by the first snowstorm of the season.
"Mommy, look! It's snowing! Let's go out and play!" Justin said.
"Later, honey," I said as I rushed past to put the laundry away.
"You gotta see the icicles on the roof!" he cried. When I saw their expressions fade into disappointment at my lack of excitement about their discovery, I sat down beside them and
gaze at the dancing snowflakes outside. And when dad got home with warm snowboots, we all four went out and made a snowman.
Have you ever responded "later" to one of your kids' discoveries? Or has your sense of wonder faded between the pages of your daytimer or been replaced by practicality, busyness, and preoccupation with work and worry?
I admit it: Mine did. As I got busier with each child and all the responsibilities like supervising homework, helping in my husband's business, juggling housework, writing deadlines and the kids' school and sports activities, I started missing many of the magical, miraculous things God put in my line of vision. I was so task-oriented I forgot how to play. I wanted to share in my kids' joy and sense of discovery, but there was so much to do!
Finally, frustrated, I asked God for help. He gave what seemed like a strange response: Go fly a kite.
It seems so impractical, I thought.
That's just the point, He answered.
So I purchased a kite for our next family time at the park. Holmes is great at deciphering directions so with all of us working together, we got it up. After a few minutes of holding the string, my kids ran off to swing and slide, leaving me holding the kite.
As the big red, yellow, and black kite caught the wind and flew higher and higher, my spirit soared too. After that afternoon, I was hooked on kites. I kept it in the trunk and brought out at the lake, park or beach. When we flew the kite, I relished in God's handiwork-the birds flying
overhead, the big Oklahoma blue sky, or a puffy cascade of clouds-instead of focusing on my own earthly problems. It stirred my sense of wonder and refreshed my spirit.
Maybe this month it's too cold where you live for kite flying, but it's just a metaphor for doing something for no reason at all but because it's fun, not a means to an end.
You see, I think God wants us to be the kind of moms that don't take "little things" like snowfalls, sunrises, red cardinals, new babies, mealtime, or good health for granted, but are filled with awe and gratefulness at God's amazing grace. When we are, our hearts will be refreshed inevitably splashes some joy on those around us.
Copyright 2004 Cheri Fuller. Adapted from The Mom You're Meant to Be: Loving Your Kids While Leaning on God (Focus on the Family/Tyndale). You may purchase the book at http://www.family.org or http://www.amazon.com. Cheri Fuller's website http://www.cherifuller.com includes her monthly "Mothering By Heart" columns of encouragement for moms, a free, downloadable Bible study on prayer, creative ideas on praying with children, and resources for people who want to write and publish.
When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness, and usually show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it to school and talk about it, they're welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.
"First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord."
She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, oh, oh!'" Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for like an hour. 'Oh, oh, oh!'" Now the kid's doing this hysterical duck walk, holding her back and groaning. "My dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man.
"They got my mom to lie down in bed like this." Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall. "And then, pop! My mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!" This kid has her legs spread and with her little hands are miming water flowing away. It was too much!
"Then the middle wife starts saying, 'push, push' and 'breathe, breathe.' They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff; they all said was from Mom's play-center, so there must be a lot of stuff inside there."
Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow, and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, if it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another Erica comes along.
Doctors say to place infants on their backs to sleep.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has updated guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
SIDS researcher Dr. Rachel Moon said the single recommended sleeping position is on the back.
"We are no longer recommending the side position for sleeping," she said. "We are only recommending the back position for sleeping and the reason for this is that the side position is an unstable position."
Dr. Ferdinand Yates of the Christian Medical Association explained the danger.
"When a baby is on her or his tummy in the first six months or so of life," he said, most of them just don't have the strength to push their head up or head to the side if they are having trouble breathing."
Moon said attention to SIDS has brought results, but there's more to do.
"Over the past 13 years, the rate of SIDS has decreased by more than 50 percent," she said. "But even now, more than 2,000 babies die of SIDS every year which equates to about seven babies a day."
The AAP is also urging parents to tell babysitters, grandparents and child care providers of the new recommendations.
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sometimes what you to say to your child when they're 15, they might not hear until they are 25!