Disobedience

This morning I came across a verse I don't think I'd ever seen.  At least, if I'd seen it, I never paid attention to it.

Blew. My. Mind.

It's gonna blow Joel's rear end, too.

The verse is at the end of Romans 1, after the verse about they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.  Paul is listing the ways they disregard the truth: they have become filled with greed, envy, murder, malice.  They are God-haters, they invent ways of doing evil, they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless....

Seriously?  I know Paul was great at throwing those little phrases in there.  They cheat, murder, lie, {drive five miles over the speed limit}, slander, {skip church one too many Sundays}, gossip, {use bad language when they're mad}.....yeah, he's good at slipping a few of my favorite sins into the list of "oh, I'm not so bad, look at all those sins".

But I'd never noticed that disobeying your parents is listed along with God-haters and inventors of evil.

Hope has already gotten this lecture; Itchy and Scratchy will be hearing it at family devotions tonight.  If God is going to lump disobedience in with murder and malice, it's going to be taken a bit more seriously in this household.

Now I'm sure that, in actuality, Paul was probably talking about adult children who disregard their parents' teaching and go along with the depravities listed.  This probably isn't talking about small children who can't seem to obey when mom says be quiet or don't fight with your sister.  But still....

Add another verse to the Memory Verse list!

Eating Less

Yesterday I made peanut butter cupcakes for Hope's birthday.  I used two muffin pans and had a little left over, so I made a pan of mini muffins.  I had two of the mini ones, but once the big ones were out of the oven and frosted, I didn't really want one.  Odd, huh?

I've quit buying a lot of junk food, for the most part, but the other day there were some chips in the pantry because they were on sale.  I took the bag out and realized I didn't want them.  So I put them back. 

I must be sick.

Chips, people!  I passed up an opportunity to eat one of my main food groups!

Last night I saw something on tv that I though sounded good.  I thought about it for a minute, and I could almost taste it, and then I just didn't want it anymore.

One might think eating less would lead to losing weight, but they'd be wrong, because in passing up those cupcakes, I also had two servings of Mizithra and Browned Butter.  I've lost 5 pounds in the last six weeks- certainly not worth getting too excited about when David lost 15 pounds in four weeks. 

But maybe- just maybe- I'm getting to the point of not eating food simply because it's there.  There's a novel concept.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

This is my favorite recipe from Dinners Ready or Dream Dinners or whatever place it was I got this recipe.  I thought it was Dinners Ready.  My recipe says Dream Dinners.  Who knows.  But this actually seems to work better once it's frozen.  I usually make two pans- one to bake right then and one to freeze for later.  The same-day pan often seems soupy- I don't know why freezing and thawing it would make a difference but it seems to. 

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas:
16 oz cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp cumin
4 oz diced onion
2oz diced green chilies
1 lb cooked chicken, cubed
8-16 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
8-16 oz enchilada sauce
8 tortillas

Mix soup, sour cream, and cumin in a large bowl.  Spread a thin layer over bottom of a 9x13 baking pan; set aside.  Mix 3/4 of the soup/cream sauce with onions, chilies, chicken, and 6-8 oz cheese.  Fill tortillas and place in pan seam side down.  Spread remaining soup/cream sauce over tortillas.  Drizzle enchilada sauce over tortillas, top with shredded cheese.  Cover with foil and freeze.

To bake: Thaw enchiladas.  Preheat oven to 350.  With foil still in place, bake for 25 minutes.  Remove cover and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

This is one dish that I never make according to the recipe. I don't add the onion or chilies because, ya know, I'm weird and I have texture issues. I use way more cheese and enchilada sauce than called for; I use less than a pound of chicken; I don't spread the mixture in the pan or on the enchiladas. Basically, you can do just about whatever you want because it's tough to screw this one up!

Just for Girls

Amy and I got pedicures on Mother's Day.  I chose a lovely springy shade of green, and of course they upsold me on the flowers.  (and the mint scrub, and the manicure....)

Joel has told me several times how much he likes my toenails.

Yesterday when he said my toes were pretty, I asked if he wanted his toes painted too.

"Thuhr, but not with flouwuth.  Thothe awe just fowah gulth."

Just so we're clear:  Painted toenails for boys- ok.  Painted toenails with flowers for boys- not ok.

Mother's Day

Some years Mother's Day is hard. 

Some years I don't even remember to think about mom.

This year was one that I didn't think about her.  I had enough going on lately, and I was more concerned with making sure everyone knew I did NOT want 10,000 calories worth of chocolate or $20 worth of cards for Mother's Day. 

Handmade cards, with gift certificates for bouquets of flowers.  That's what I wanted.  And the pedicure that Amy had already planned for us:)

That's pretty much what they gave me, as instructed.  Joel got a bit creative and gave me a gift certificate for a head rub.  It sounds lovely, except that I know how his head rubs work.  He'll give you about 15 seconds of attention, and then you're outta luck.

But I like the way he thinks.  In a few years, that gift certificate will be a winner.

We were at lunch, and I was fine.  Still hadn't thought about mom.

Until the family at the table next to us walked in.

The elderly female who was obviously the matriarch of the family walked through my line of sight, with her lovely pink corsage pinned to her chest.

And I lost it.

I remembered how every year mom made sure to order a corsage for Oma.  I don't know why that was the one silly thing that did it, but it was.

Of course, I couldn't have picked a moment when everyone else was up getting food to get all emotional.  Or even the 15 minutes when it was just us and McKenna there; I had to wait until everyone was sitting down eating. 

And my sweet dollies were so concerned that I was crying, they made it worse by coming over to ask if I was ok.

Why does someone crying seem to draw all eyes?  Since I do so enjoy being the center of attention...

So stupid, how the sight of a corsage can bring on the cascade of tears so quickly.

For the love of Pinterest

I'm so pathetic. 

I know that.

It really is not that hard to go get my recipe box.  Or a cookbook.

But how much easier is it to click a picture and not have to go get those things?!?

Since I do my meal planning from Pinterest and a file on my computer, having all my recipes, well....ON my computer is a heck of a lot easier.

So, when I lower myself to making a recipe I didn't obtain online, I'm going to post said recipe and take a pic or two.

And then I'm going to add them to Pinterest so I can be lazy enough to not get out my recipe box whenever one of those recipes comes up on the menu for the week:)

Recipe #1:

Grandma's Chicken and Rice Casserole.

Does this just scream 'Grandma' to you or what???

When I knew I wanted to frame a recipe from Oma and Grandma, it took a long time to decide which recipe of Oma's to use. 

Grandma's?  Two seconds.  Maybe less.

So easy and so tasty.

I've used brown rice instead of white rice.  I've used regular rice instead of instant rice. 

It just isn't as good.  Gotta be good 'ole nutritionally-void instant white rice.

And although it calls for a cut-up chicken, I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts because, well, they're boneless.  I'm not into bones in my meat.  At all.  Ever.  I don't think I have a single recipe pinned that requires bone-in meat.  And if I do, I'll modify it to use boneless:)

Grandma's Chicken and Rice Casserole
1 cut-up fryer
1C instant rice
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
2 cans water
1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Wash and trim chicken; place in a 9x13 baking dish

Mix together other ingredients and pour over chicken.

Bake at 350 for 1 & 1/2 hours.

Cover with foil the last 1/2 hour if it seems soupy.  Cut down cooking time if using boneless chicken.  (I made this last night and it took 70 minutes)

An experiment of sorts that started this last week has me spending lots more time with my husband.  Yesterday he said, "you know, sometimes it's nice to just hug or kiss and not expect anything else".  Ya think?!?  That's what I've been telling him for 11 years- that I appreciate signs of affection with no insinuation or expectations.  Maybe he'll remember that once the experiment is over;)