7/29/05 HEALTHY MEALS, RECIPES, MOMS HELPING MOMS, POEMS, BEACH BASH
Posted by: jhbreneman <jhbreneman@...>
HEART TO HEART NEWSLETTER
ENCOURAGEMENT TO WOMEN
Compiled especially for YOU with LOVE by Lois Breneman
SHADE TREE SALAD
HOW TO RAISE A JUVENILE DELINQUENT
THE BRENEMAN BEACH BASH
TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS & THOSE WHO SENT E-MAILS SINCE THE 14th
BABY ANNOUNCEMENT!
KEEPING COOL - CHRISTMAS IN JULY
When it's hot out, I don't really want to cook. Here are some very quick ways to pull dinner together when you are tired of outdoor grilling and fast food yuck. Remember to keep your pantry well-stocked so you don't have to make extra trips to the store.
Another strategy I use when holiday weekends approach is to make sure that I allow enough time to prepare 3-4 salads in large quantities to complement several meals. I usually make Corn Confetti Salad, Broccoli Parmesan Salad, Dill-sour cream Potato salad, and Fresh Fruit Medley.
I hope these simple ideas will come in handy for you over the next week or so.
1) Rotisserie Chicken, bag salad, whole wheat French Bread.
2) Baked Potato Bar - While the potatoes are pressure cooking or microwaving, you can prepare toppings such as grated cheese, chopped chives or onions, warmed up canned chili, leftover veggies, etc.
3) Chicken stir fry meal in a bag, add extra frozen veggies such as broccoli, red pepper, onion, etc.
4) Fajitas - marinate chicken or beef strips in lime juice overnight or buy pre-marinated chicken breasts, combined with frozen sliced bell peppers and onions that have been steamed. Serve with warmed tortillas, salsa, and sour cream.
5) Refrigerated and frozen pastas like ravioli or tortillini can be heated with bottled spaghetti or pasta sauces. Serve with a green salad or steamed veggie, and breadsticks.
6) Leftover meat and grain salad - Combine chopped chicken, turkey, or beef with leftover rice, quinoa, kasha, or bulgar with your choice of fresh veggies, diced/seeded tomato, sliced celery, red onion, green and red pepper, sliced red onion, cheese dices, and dress with Marilyn's French Dressing or a bottled dressing. Serve with whole grain French Bread.
7) Turkey Bacon BLT's - on whole grain bread. Add baked beans or steamed veggies.
8) Sloppy Joes on whole grain rolls - Heat up homemade sloppy joe mix from your freezer or out of a can, heat some whole grain rolls, add a green salad or steamed veggies.
9) Gourmet Chicken or Beef Sausages served over steamed greens - So many flavorful & healthy varieties to try. Pan fry or grill. Cut up and throw on steamed kale, this can be done in five minutes in a pressure cooker. If you use Italian style sausage, add peppers and pasta.
10) Chicken Haystacks - Use cut up chicken from your freezer or Rotisserie chicken, serve over hot brown rice (use instant or already cooked from your freezer), with chicken gravy, and steamed vegetables.
11) Grilled Cheese with Tomato soup - Find a "gourmet" version like Roasted Red Pepper Cheese and Tomato soup. Grill the cheese on sourdough bread, with garden tomatoes and slice of onion.
12) Pizza with Pesto. Sprinkle with onion, corn, spinach and 6-8 oz. Feta cheese on homemade or prepared pizza crust. Or, using homemade or prepared pizza sauce, sprinkle chopped bell peppers, sliced onion, crushed garlic, and Italian herbs over pizza and top with 6-8 ounces Feta cheese. Delicious! Bake 10-12 minutes.
Marilyn Moll, Editor of From the Heart of The Urban Homemaker; http://www.urbanhomemaker.com You may subscribe to at http://tinyurl.com/u4pj or call 1-800-552-7323.
SHADE TREE SALAD
Contributed by Jennie Smith of Virginia
2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 packet original ranch dressing mix
2 (8 ounce packages) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 cup snipped broccoli florets
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped, optional
Preheat oven to 350. Unroll dough on baking sheet. Press separations together. Bake 10 minutes in preheated oven. Let cool. Mix ranch dressing mix with softened cream cheese. Slowly stir in milk till frosting consistency. Spread on rolled dough. Sprinkle with onion, carrot, broccoli and pepper. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Chill. Cut in small squares.
In a large bowl: Toss apples, onions and celery. Sprinkle with juice of one lemon to keep apples from darkening. In a blender or small bowl: Blend mayonnaise, tahini, honey and remaining lemon juice (mixture will be thick). Toss with apple mixture. Cover and chill. Just before serving, toss salad with spinach. Serve on a bed of spinach leaves and garnish with sesame seeds. Serves 4 to 6 *Tahini: Sesame seed butter found at a natural foods coop or store.
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine 1/4 cup flour
4 eggs 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup cottage cheese 6 oz. can crab meat, drained and flaked
1 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter in a frying pan and saute mushrooms and onions until tender. Put all other ingredients except cheddar cheese & crab in a blender and mix until well blended. Pour into a mixing bowl and fold in sauteed mushrooms and onions, cheddar cheese and crab meat. Pour into a greased 9 or 10" quiche or pie pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until set - when a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Makes a great lunch served with a salad.
Not everyone knows how to just step in and help. Sometimes we need help thinking through the options and some practical ideas for making outside help a blessing to the family. When a mom you know could use a little bit of assistance, consider these possibilities:
MEALS: Most moms serve as the chief cook in the family. When providing a meal for a family, here are some ideas to consider:
*Ask about food allergies and likes and dislikes, if you can.
*Steer clear of making food with ingredients that not everyone enjoys (i.e. nuts, coconut, etc).
*Tape clear instructions to the top of anything that needs to be tossed, baked, or warmed up.
*Use disposable containers so the family will not have the responsibility of washing pans, keeping track of who they belong to, and remembering to return them to you.
*If the family has young children that mom needs to feed at lunchtime, a sealed container or baggie full of pre-made peanut butter sandwiches can be helpful for her to give a hungry preschooler a snack or simple lunch.
LAUNDRY: Help with the laundry can relieve a weight from any mom who is under the weather.
*Come to the house and ask to take all the laundry home. Return it within 24 hours washed, dried, and folded.
*Offer to gather, sort, and start a load and help her fold any loads that were washed and dried but never folded. (Hint: If you put a load of dried, wrinkled clothing back in the dryer and spray them with water using a spray bottle, then run the dryer for 15 minutes-most of the wrinkles will disappear!)
DRIVING: Most children need to be taken to school, piano lessons, or church activities.
*Offer to take the kids to and from school.
*Offer to chauffeur kids to lessons or activities they need to attend.
*Offer to go to the drugstore to fill prescriptions or get over the counter medication she might need.
SHOPPING: Eventually milk and bread runs out at home and someone needs to go to the store.
*Give the mom a call and ask what brand milk and bread she buys and offer to bring her the basic necessities. Just pick up her supplies when you are at the store for your weekly shopping.
*If she needs to pack lunches for her school age children, give her the gift of convenience foods like Lunchables, juice boxes, or crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (available in the freezer section) that can easily be thrown into a lunch box in the morning.
HOUSEKEEPING: The cleaning and clutter can get me down when I feel well. When I'm ill it's depressing to know that it needs to be done, but I lack the energy to get it accomplished.
*Ask your family member, friend, or neighbor, "Concerning your house, what is bothering you the most?" If it's the kid's toys spread all over the place, offer to pick up the toys. If it's a bathroom that needs to be cleaned or dishes that need to be washed, offer to clean. If it's a kitchen floor that she's sticking to every time she walks in the room, offer to mop the floor.
*Organize a group of friends to come in and do a one-hour cleaning blitz of the house to really bless the person who's not feeling well.
Certainly the above suggestions will never work unless we, as moms, learn how to ask for and receive help. Our tendency is to say, "Oh, we're ok." As one who has had three surgeries in the past two years, I've had to learn how to receive help. It's not always easy, but it is a blessing.
I argued with my friend who came to my house and offered to take my laundry home. I didn't want to put her out. I didn't want to burden her. But she absolutely insisted and I didn't have the energy to argue anymore. When she returned the next day with the laundry washed, dried, and
folded, I felt the relief of knowing my family's needs were taken care of. It was humbling to allow her to serve me in that way, but a little bit of humility is good for all of us sometimes. A year later, when she faced surgery herself, I was at her door to collect her laundry. She argued a bit,
but I insisted. After all, I remembered the blessing it had been for me.
One of my biggest blessings came from a simple act of kindness. A friend called and said, "I'm within two blocks of Steak N Shake. What flavor shake can I bring you?" She brought the shake and stopped by for a short visit.
When you are under the weather, it's just nice to know that someone cares.
_________________________________________________________________
This article reprinted with permission of the author. For more information about Jill Savage or Hearts at Home, please check out http://www.jillsavage.org or http://www.hearts-at-home.org.
REFASHIONED
The lady stood and gazed into
The mirror on her wall,
And what she saw reflected there
Made her feel so small.
She sought the perfect makeover
With blush to add a glow,
Adorned herself with sparkling jewels,
Wore style from head to toe.
Yet nothing seemed to change her view;
With every passing glance,
She witnessed in her mirror there
Her failing countenance.
She said, I know what I must do.
I know who will help me.
I will now seek my Designer
Who carefully fashioned me.
She bowed before the Lord in prayer
And asked Him to come in
To cleanse her heart and save her soul
And change her from within.
Refashioned in Christs likeness now
Her beauty one could see;
The image in her mirror viewed
Appeared much differently.
She saw the kindly eyes of Christ,
A smile upon His face,
For now the image that she bore
Reflected Gods sweet grace.
© 2005 Linda J. Stevenson
Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:23b-24).
OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES
A Heart to Heart friend recently gave permission to share about her 5 year old granddaughter. She was all ears as she listened to her parents tell about her daddy, who had just come from the hospital where he had been told he had kidney stones. This little girl knew all about that, since she has suffered from the same thing herself since she was 3 years old. After the adults were done explaining, she added her ideas. "Now, Daddy, you need to be eating a healthy diet. You can have apples and grapes and once in awhile a banana. But those sausage bagels you eat for breakfast have lots of sodium and you better not have them anymore!"
THE BRENEMAN BEACH BASH
Our annual week at the beach with all of our family was great! We had fun sailing on the Roanoke Sound, but mostly on the ocean with dolphins following, jumping the waves and enjoying the cool splashes, collecting sea shells, chasing ghost crabs on the beach at night with flashlights, star gazing under a full moon, swinging on the balcony swing, soaking in the hot tub, kyacking out on the ocean and on the waves, biking, fishing, hiking, climbing the sand dunes, flying kites - one on the dunes until it was just a tiny dot, blowing bubbles, chasing each other with squirt guns on the wrap-around balconies of our beach house, tossing water balloons, playing miniature golf, mostly cooking in and eating out some. We also enjoyed visiting an aquarium, the Hatteras lighthouse and the Bodie Island lighthouse.
Since our 28 month old grandson, Justin, is so fascinated with vacuums and loves to clean up, I took my small battery operated vacuum along. It is rechargable and came in handy for quick clean-ups! One day Justin cleaned the whole house - no kidding! He found the dirt and vacuumed it up! It is great for surface dirt on hard floors as well as carpet.
This year jellyfish were everywhere in the ocean, some as large as a foot in diameter! Thankfully we didn't know of anyone getting stung. Justin, referred to them as "Peanut Butter and Jelly Fish," the main food in his diet!
The last afternoon on the beach, Justin enjoyed playing on Papa's sailboat as it was parked on the sand and played in the waves for the last photoshoot by Mommy and Grammy. He wasn't told that this was our last day at the beach. But later as he played in the sand for a while, he put his hands in the air, as his mommy taught him to do when he's finished eating, and said, "I'm all done with the beach!" We asked him what he wanted to do next and he told us, "I want to go to the beach house now." That was perfect timing to "be done with the beach," since we had to leave the next morning anyway! As much fun as we had on vacation, we were ready to return home! There's no place like Home! On the morning of departure, PaPa treated us all to an ice cream cone, as a dessert after breakfast! You can do that on vacation!
Then later that night after our daughter and her family arrived home, the first thing Justin said was, "We need to vacuum!" He is crazy about vacuum cleaners and steam cleaners! The first thing he said the next morning is, "Are you ready to vacuum, Mommy?" She told me that all she needed was a two year old telling her to clean her house! J We'll have to give Justin a rechargable battery operated vacuum for Christmas! He will have lots of fun while helping Mommy at the same time!
TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS & THOSE WHO SENT E-MAILS SINCE JULY 14: Since returning from vacation, I had saved some of your personal e-mails, hoping to reply as soon as I had a chance, but yesterday as I had the newsletter almost ready to send, we lost our files again. L They have been restored as they were on July 14. So if you don't receive a reply from me, that is why. If you want to send your messages again, I'd love that.
BABY ANNOUNCEMENT!
At exactly midnight on Wednesday, July 6, 2005, Chaeli Rayna Buck was born into the family of Nathan and Alison Buck of Ohio! Coryn is Chaeli's big sister. Congratulations to the Bucks, our one son's pastor's family, who treated us to the best Christmas dinner 1 1/2 years ago! It will forever be a special Christmas memory for us!
KEEPING COOL - CHRISTMAS IN JULY
My sister said the Lancaster, PA. Christian radio station, WDAC, played Christmas music earlier this week to help the listeners to feel cooler, during the high temperatures. Most of us did get some relief by now, but if not, how about beginning to plan ahead for Christmas? Last year an emergency prevented me from getting Christmas cards and a family letter sent for the first time ever in our thirty-six years of marriage. Hopefully I will do better at planning ahead and having it ready early this year.
A few things we could start doing to make this Christmas more meaningful and less stressful:
* Write out a planning list and mark items that can be done early.
* Make address labels on the computer for sending cards and letters.
(Or write addresses on labels by hand as you watch a movie some evening.)
* Gather Christmas return address labels you already may have.
* Mark your calendar for October - the earliest you can buy Christmas stamps.
* Make a rough draft of your Christmas letter, if you send one.
* Make a possible Christmas gift giving list.
* Make gifts or purchase gifts while on sale.
* Make Christmas ornaments to give as small gifts and to use yourself. Check newsletters.
* Gather recipes. Check back to the December, 2004 newsletters for more.
* Make an Advent Calendar to use in December - one that emphasizes the true meaning.
"Jesus is the Reason for the Season!"
Why are we not far more frightened of what pride can do?
Pride can cost us -- and probably those after us. --Beth Moore