Welcome Baby Rachel!

BethAnn's baby girl, Rachel Ann, was born on August 23rd!
She weighed 6lbs. 12 oz and was 21 inches.
New mama and baby are doing well.

What a blessing!

Recipes from Jenny S.

Happiness is...

There are so many ways to finish this thought. It all depends on your mood, your day, your location, even the company you keep. Today, for me, happiness is having REAL food in my kitchen again! We have been out of town a lot the past few weeks and my cupboards were bare. The boys went back to school and I got back to the kitchen to do some cooking and baking. Thought I'd share some more of my favorite recipes.


The BEST granola I've ever had!

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1-1/2 cups brown sugar (I use less, of course)
6 cups quick cooking OR old fashioned oats
2 cups chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans
1 cup wheat germ (opt)
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the oil, honey and brown sugar. Microwave 2-3 minutes so sugar will melt. Whisk to dissolve any lumps. At this point you may stir in 2-3 tsp of flavoring. This is where you can get creative! I usually use 3 tsp of a combination of vanilla and almond extracts when I use almonds. But if I use pecans, I substitute a little maple flavor for the almond. So many yummy possibilities. Next...

Combine the oats, nuts, wheat germ and coconut. Toss to mix well. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well mixed. Spread evenly onto two jelly roll pans.

Place pans in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Then stir the granola around, switch the pans from top rack to bottom rack, then bake another 10-12 minutes or until browned the way you like it.

Once cool, transfer to container of your choice. (I love my IKEA jars!) You can add dried fruits to the mix if you like. I do it after the baking though so they don't get too dry and crunchy.


Banana Oatmeal Muffins

1-1/2 cups wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup mashed banana

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix egg, milk, oil, honey and banana together well. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Gently stir until moistened. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool and try to keep some around for at least 24 hours!

Fabulous Marinade

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup wine vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
1 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic
1 cup oil
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
2T parsley

Mix all ingredients well. Place meat in a ziploc bag along with marinade and let it sit. The great part is using frozen meat and letting it thaw in the marinade all day. Works so great with a bag of chicken breasts! I've used this with pork chops and am trying it with steak tonight.

Happy kitchening to you! And remember to wear an apron.

Jenny

Back to School

Kristi writes:

School is just around the corner. It starts next week for many of us. We’re focused on getting our kids’ school supplies ready and getting bedtime routines back on track. The kids have clean clothes that fit and shoes that won’t leave marks on the gym floor. New backpacks are filled with paint shirts, crayons, scissors, and box of tissues.

Let’s face it – we’re all ready for some sort of routine again. Summer has been great. We’ve gone places, played outdoors a lot, scratched our share of mosquito bites, and enjoyed the freedom that comes with summer. Now it’s time to return to our normally scheduled lives.

You’ve got the kids ready. Are YOU ready? How’s your prayer life? Hopefully you were able to maintain your prayer routine. Mine fell apart when summer hit. I didn’t have my regular time for Scripture reading and prayer. I succumbed to the extra sleep and never got myself back to the Word as I said I would. My days go better when I make the time for God’s Word right away, rather than telling myself that I’ll still get to it. The fact is: I’ll not return to it because something else will “come up.”

So I’m going to get myself back on track. I pray that the Holy Spirit would help me to put everything else on the back burner while I take time to receive all the blessings God has for me. It’s time for me to relearn all the goodness that God gives in His Holy Word. Are you ready for school? Let’s do it!

21st Century Weddings - Kristi L.

Kristi writes:

I know that June is the month of weddings, and I know this post would be more appropriate in said month. However, I am extremely irritated by a news article I happened to see on the news this morning. A young couple stated their vows this way... (Names have been changed because they are morons.)

Bride: I, Jane, take you, Dick, to be no other than yourself......

Groom: I, Dick, take you, Jane, to be no other than yourself.....

What!!!! Whatever happened to becoming someone's wife or husband? Are we so selfish that we can't become something to somebody else? When I got married, I was still myself, as well as being a wife to Jerome. I wasn't afraid that I was going to lose myself just by getting married. Call me old-fashioned, but this type of vow disgusts me.

No wonder our husbands dread doing wedding services. The wedding service has fast become self-serving. So sad.

Preserving a Christian Home

I wanted to share a wonderful paper with you all by Dorothy (Dort) Preus on how to preserve a Christian family. Dorothy is married to Rev. Rolf Preus. They have 12 children.

You can read it HERE.

An excerpt:

The reality is the world is cursed against man and it is full of sin. The reality is our children are sinners. The reality is that parents are sinners. The reality is that women marry sinful men and that men marry sinful women. Comfort is the reality that God forgives us all our sins for Christ's sake. We can cling to the cross and praise God for his love and mercy in the death of His dear Son and our precious Savior. We can’t do anything right! But God looks at us through Jesus and is well pleased. We humbly look to our Heavenly Father through our brother and His dear Son Jesus knowing He loves us as a loving Father. The reality is our children will sooner or later see us as sinners. In preserving the Christian family for Jesus’ sake, we must teach them that we live under God's grace. It is by God’s grace we are saints who are washed in the blood of the Lamb in Holy Baptism. We must teach our children to treasure the Bible, the historic liturgies, the Catechism, the hymns that confess and comfort, and to boldly pray to our heavenly Father in order to preserve the Christian family. In doing this we preserve our children from their flesh, the devil, and the world.