"This Is It", My Thoughts

Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.


We went to see the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It" tonight, which was the first night it was open in my area. I know many of you are planning to see it and I am not going to give anything away!



I went more out of nostalgia, and maybe a little curiosity, than as a crazed fan. In fact, I wasn't really even allowed to listen to Michael Jackson when I was growing up. But come on -- even I knew most of his songs by heart. They have become part of our very culture.


As I watched I was reminded of what a great talent MJ was. Unbelievable talent that I can't imagine having been bestowed all on one person. I had feared that two whole hours was too long to watch and that I might get bored. But it was truly captivating to watch and to listen. And I don't know if I could have seen the beauty I saw in it if I hadn't also felt the sadness. Disclaimer: There were definitely at least two parts that made me feel uncomfortable (a scene where girls are dressed and dancing provocatively and the scenes for Thriller).

Despite all of the questions about him, and all of the debate about who he was, if he was a bad or a good person, discussion about how strange people would say he was, etc. I felt sad. Because from the very beginning of the movie, I began to have a feeling I couldn't shake for the whole movie. I think maybe my eyes were opened to a truth I had not grasped before.

Before I can get to that, let me explain...

When I think about our desires as people, and what we have difficulties with, I have to go back to reminding myself what we were created for.

Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

So I am reminded that we were created to love and worship our Creator. And we were designed to share that Love.

We were not designed to be adulated. We were designed to adore.

So as I watched I was so impressed with how sad it was that every time Michael tried to show love, people acted like they were not worthy of his love and deflected it all back on him. People literally worshipped him, a human being, and did not allow him to really give love in return. At one point in the movie someone even verbalized it by saying it was like church.

It truly even frustrated me as I watched. It's kind of like that compliment you give that your friend never really receives.

"You are so beautiful."

"You nut. No I'm not. So sweet of you to say though."

"No, really! You are beautiful!".

"No, YOU are."

"You are gorgeous inside and out and I love you."

"NO, YOU are gorgeous and I LOVE YOU MORE."

It's like they are saying "I'm rubber, you're glue. Whatever love you give bounces off of me and sticks to you."

... makes me feel sad and tired just pretending I am having that conversation. "Just acccept my compliment already, and accept my love...PLEASE!"

What a sad and frustrating thing, probably even confusing, to never really be allowed to give love but to continually receive the worship of people, when you yourself are a person, and you also were created to worship and to praise and to love.

It seems with any gift, any strength we are given by God, there is a weakness. I often think artistic people feel things more deeply. So when someone feels deeply, when they love deeply, and they cannot find a way to either express their love, or find a way that they can get others to receive that love, it makes perfect sense to me that they would be perceived as strange. In fact, I think it would be miraculous if they were not weird.

It reminds me of that song "Starry, Starry Night" about Vincent Van Gogh, who was also very artistic. Seeing beauty and trying to share it. Feeling like no one will listen, really listen, to your heart. Everyone exalts you when you know intrinsically that you should not be exalted. And they turn all of your love back onto you. So really, they never truly even LOVE you, they just adulate you.

What pain we go through when we are not what we are created to be.

Soup's On Saturday! Soups for Sickies

This week the Facebook status feed on my page has been filled with updates on people and families who have been hit with different illnesses, including several with H1N1. We are also around alot of these people in real life, and two of my boys are in a college setting and ride public transportation. So I am sure our family is being exposed to lots of nasty germs every day.

I remember staying home sick as a teenager. One thing I did that made me feel comforted was making myself chicken noodle soup (I hate to confess it was often Top Ramen!) and watching Perry Mason at 12 noon.

Did you have any special things you did, or do you do any certain thing now, if you or one of your family members gets sick?

Of course I am praying we don't catch anything. I have lots on hand to boost our immune systems, as well as items on hand to help if we do happen to catch anything.

One thing I do believe helps for both prevention and for actual flu and cold symptoms is bone broth. You've heard the addages about chicken soup -- and they are true. However, the most healing benefits come from the bones. I believe that adding a well made bone broth to a well made vegetable broth makes a delicious as well as nutritious and immune supporting soup.

I found some free range chickens on sale at a local health food store and ordered a case so I'd get a further 10% off. This helped me get my 12 chickens for $70.00. This works out to $5.83 each, which is a pretty good deal for free range chicken bought from a source I know and trust. I can find cheaper chickens, but I feel it is important to do my best to buy local, free-range and, if possible, organic sources for meat.

I have worked on my basic chicken soup recipe for several years now and have decided to share it today for Soups On Saturday. My recipe is formulated for an 8 quart pot, so please scale your ingredients accordingly.

24 Hour Basic Bone and Veggie Soup Base

~ Rinse one chicken and place it in an 8 quart cooking pot (I found my red Le Creuset 8 quart at Costco and used my refund check for it a last year!).



~ Season with desired seasonings. I always use lemon pepper liberally, and sea salt to taste. I also usually use garlic. But keep in mind that if you use too much garlic and you are making the soup for someone with a stomach flu, they may not be able to eat it. I add other seasonings after the chicken has been boiled and has simmered.

~ Pour cold water over seasoned chicken. This is where the size of your pan makes a difference. If it is a larger pan, you don't want to fill it as high. You don't want your broth to taste watery. For my 8 quart pot I fill until chicken is almost covered.

~ To this I add about 1/4 cup of white vinegar. This helps to extract the calcium from the bones. Most people add about 2 tablespoons , but personally, I like the taste it adds to our broth so I add more. And I feel this is the secret to how wonderful the soup tastes when it is done. It gives it a tang that is delicious.

~ Cover pot and bring to boil. Then turn it down to a simmer and cook overnight.

~ In the morning when I get up, I remove all of the larger pieces of meat I can fairly easily remove with a spoon or fork, let them cool and refrigerate for later.

~ Skim any of the "sludge" that has raised to the top of the broth.

~ Then I add a variety of vegetables, whatever I have around that sounds good. This is to make the vegetable broth. This always includes celery, carrots, cabbage and onion. It may also include mushrooms, zucchini or winter squash, turnips, etc. To my last batch I added beet greens for an hour of the simmer time then removed them so they would not add too strong of a taste. It also added just enough of that wonderful color only beets can add!

~ Bring broth back to a boil then allow to simmer several hours.

~ Pour the whole mixture through colander over another pot. Pour strained broth back into original pot. Separate out the veggies, pick out all bones and skin from colander and discard. Remove any chicken meat pieces you can easily pull out and add them back to the broth.

~ Run boiled veggies through your blender, adding some of the broth to help it blend more easily. Then add the mixture back to the remaining broth and stir well.

~ Now I add tarragon and more sea salt and lemon pepper to taste. I also usually end up adding a little more vinegar to get it to just the right tanginess. Sometimes I also add fresh squeezed lemon juice.

~ This is when I cut up and add back the chicken meat I formerly removed, and more veggies. I add more onion and carrot, mushrooms, zucchini and cabbage plus whatever else I might have around that sounds good. Right now I have alot of winter squash so I dice some of that up (raw) and throw it in.

~ Bring back to a boil then simmer only until veggies are to desired tenderness. Don't let them get mushy.

~ Now you can add whatever else you like. Sometimes I make my great grandma's noodle recipe and add those in. My family also enjoys dumplings so I sometimes add those. But usually I prefer to serve it over rice, couscous or cooked pasta rather than add it in because I don't like the starch to soak up all of the broth.

Do you have a favorite broth, soup or stew that you eat when you don't feel well? I'd love to have your recipe!

NEXT WEEK: Soups using SAUSAGE. Yum. I can't wait to try some recipes!

Soup's On Saturday! Pumpkin Soups

Today's theme is Pumpkin Soup. So I searched for just the right recipe and I made Velvety Pumpkin Soup with Blue Cheese and Bacon. And I think it is a pretty good recipe going by all of the reviews online. The blue cheese didn't do a thing for me. It just didn't seem to "go". What I really liked about it was the bacon you sprinkle on top. It really made the soup for me.

Cuz, well...

I've decided pumpkin soup is not my favorite. Not by itself anyway. It's the texture I'm talking about here. It's smooth yet grainy at the same time. I did use my own pumpkin rather than the canned variety. I pureed it myself in the Vita-Mix. Which hasn't been working as well as it should be. Maybe that's the problem.

When I make this Pumpkin Chili my friend Julie C. told me about last year I did enjoy that. But you don't puree the pumpkin for that recipe. And it calls for cumin, which I love.

That said, when I included the addition of bacon, I did enjoy this soup. It was a special soup, and very festive. I will probably never make it again. But I think the recipe is a great one and very simple to make. If you like pureed pumpkin.

Maybe if I add some apple? I am not sure what I am going to do with a pot of it. If any of you locals want it, let me know. Otherwise, the chickens will be having Thanksgiving early.

Does anyone else have a pumpkin soup recipe they actually enjoy? Any tricks to make it not be a little grainy? Any more recipes that use chunks of pumpkin rather than pureed? I have more pumpkin to use and I don't want to use it all in desserts. So I'd love more soup and stew recipes using it.

It's definitely getting to be quite fall-like around here. I am ready to hunker down and get comfy. NEXT WEEK'S THEME will be Soups That Help You Feel Better. I like keeping nourishing and comforting food ideas around for kiddos (and other folks) with sort throats. And "they" are anticipating alot of that sort of thing this season. Some in our extended family have already had H1N1. And I am hearing alot of people sniffling and saying they are not feeling well.

Do you have a broth or soup recipe that is comforting when you don't feel well? Or one that seems to maybe even make you feel better when you eat it? Maybe it has just the right texture or spices, or contains a secret ingredient for helping to fight off sickness. If you do, I'd love to know.


Hoping you and yours stay healthy this week!

Menu Plan Monday, October 12-18

Don't forget, I'd love to see your recipes for Soup's On Saturday each week. Tis the season!

This week will be pretty busy because I will be volunteering quite a bit of my time, along with a couple of my sons, at a kid's resale event. I tried to plan for recipes that will be quick to put together or crock pot recipes.

For Sunday Dinner I plan to make biscuits. I had a recipe I just loved. But, alas, I have misplaced it. I am going to look for it and also review some other recipes I have. I want a recipe that makes a puffy, soft-on-the-inside-but-crunchy-outside kind of melt-in-your-mouth biscuits. Whole wheat would be my preference. Do you have one? (Cannot come from a can or a mix.)

On Saturday my Littlest Man will turn Three Years Old. Weird. That went by so quickly that my head is spinning. Which is probably why I have had such a hard time remembering things lately.

I probably do not have a tumor.

But I have wondered.

Littlest Man is also my Mr. Picky. His favorite foods are pretty much all dairy products. So, if I were to make a meal for him, it would include cottage cheese, string cheese, yogurt, kefir, pickled green beans, maybe some nuts and a piece of Killer Seed Bread.

Or just a quesadilla.

I think we'll go out for dinner instead. Maybe Mexican.

Monday: Lentil Tacos possibly with homemade tortillas (depending on whether or not I have time!). We enjoy Lentil Soup so plan to use this Lentil recipe with cumin to change it up a bit. The kids might think it is a bit strange to eat it this way so we may end up eating it plain or with cottage cheese rather than using the tortillas.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Enchiladas Today is my book club day so I'm going to make ask my 17 year old son to put this together for me.

Wednesday: Test Soup for Soup's On Saturday! theme of "Pumpkins Everywhere".

Thursday: Leftover Buffet (Two of our older boys eat dinner at youth group so tonight is a good night for leftovers)

Friday: 1 Dish Taco Bake

Saturday: 3rd Birthday --- All About The Littlest Boy

Sunday: Buttermilk Pot Roast with Perfect Biscuits *see above

Have a flexible week:)

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

This Thursday, October 15th, is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

For people who have lost a part of themselves in the form of a precious child taken too soon, it can be a blessing to know that you remember their children. Whether the loss happened recently or many years ago, that child is still loved and it is comforting to know they are remembered.



Some communities and churches make an effort to commemorate this day with fundraising walks, dinners, candlelight vigils and more. You can go here to find activities in your area.

A Butterfly's Touch is a beautiful organization I am aware of.



Please do take a few minutes to think about who you might be able to touch this year by praying, acknowledging a little one, or participating in a fundraiser.

Soups On Saturday! Seasonal Soups

Sorry. I meant to post earlier. I had it mostly ready. But then I went to the Women of Faith Conference which I go to every year. But I have never been here at the same time as a bomb . At least that is what we thought it was. I will certainly tell you more about that later.


So anyway, I did make soup this week before I almost died. And it was delicious. I am not one who usually prefers a smooth soup, except as a base, so I was leery of this recipe but I decided to try it anyway. Mostly because I had the ingredients I needed from my CSA share this week.


The combo of squash and pears is not one I would have thought of, but it sure works. Curry is a spice I love, so I was pretty sure, if the other flavors didn't suit me, that would cover it up. But I did not have to count on the curry, it was great by itself. Even some of my unbelieving kids liked it --- much to their chagrin.

Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

I linked the original recipe in the title because I definitely want to give credit where credit is due. But, as usual, I outlined my own way of doing it below.

1 Danish squash, cut in half, scooped out, placed on oiled baking sheet and baked at 375 degrees until soft (30 minutes for me).

While that is baking, put 4 T. butter, olive oil or coconut oil, 1 + chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 t fresh grated ginger, 1 T curry powder in pan and cook until onions are tender. The recipe also calls for 1 t. salt, but I prefer to have each person add that to taste, and I use sea salt.

Then add 4 cups chicken broth, and 2 diced pears (personally, I like some chunks in my soup, so after I added the broth, I removed about half of the onions to add back after I puree the rest) The original recipe says to peel and core the pears. But I have a Vita-Mix and knew I was going to be pureeing it, so I just took the stems and ends off and cut up the rest into cubes then threw them in.

As soon as the squash is done cooking, scoop it out and throw that in the pot too, at whatever stage the rest of the soup is now at. Then puree it, about half of the blender at a time, and put it back in the pan (now is when I added the reserved onions back).

Now you have a decision to make. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup half and half. I use farm fresh milk with cream and it is always a gamble how much is cream and how much is milk. I figure it all works out eventually. I gotta say, this soup is very fallish and very flavorful without the milk added. So if you are trying to lose weight, you might want to eat it just like this.

For Weight Watchers points, this way would use far less points. I also would adjust to use olive oil (or, because of the curry and pears, I think coconut oil would be nice), rather than butter and cut the amount way down. Veggies are all 0 points, so all that has to be counted are the oil, pear (fruit is pretty low points) and milk or cream.

The original recipe gives a link to Frizzled Onions to serve on top. I used Durkee Fried Onions to try it, and it was pretty good. But then I decided to try it with these not-so-bad boys


and I liked it even better for a healthier, not fried option. Even though it looks like popcorn in the picture at the top where I added both. I like the crunch and texture each of them added.

I served it with crusty sourdough bread because that is what I had. However, it was not a wonderful match. I would recommend a sweet yeast bread. Cuz dipping bread in to sop up your soup is very comforting and fallish.

Did you make a seasonal soup this week? Do you have a favorite seasonal soup? Please send me your recipe or post it to your blog and link here. I'd love to see more of them. Cuz I have access to some fall veggies and I want to find creative ways to use them.

Here are also some seasonal soups from this time last year:

Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Autumn Harvest Soup

Happy Fall Squash Soup

Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup (I think I will be making this this week as I have quite a bit of cabbage)

I have a friend whose extended family has a "Welcome Fall" party every year. And they make a roasted veggie soup. She knows who she is and I sure hope she will send me the link. Cuz she gave it to me last year and I can't find it. And it is fallish and I want to make it. Thanks Friend.

~NEXT WEEK'S theme is PUMPKINS EVERYWHERE~

Cuz you know they are.

Already.

Everywhere.

And we need (other) ways to use them up.

So please experiment, invent, concoct, create or just follow a soup or chili recipe using pumpkin in some way and share it with the rest of us. Or me anyway.

Have a wonderful, fallish week! And be thankful you are alive -- and I am too:)

P.S. If anyone comments that they have a recipe to link, I will put the Mr. Linky down here so you can link it.

All He Has Created You To Be

I had several posts almost or completely written. Now that I have my new computer I was building up my "inventory".

Then my brand new
from a box
only-used-by-me
built just for me laptop
crashed.

Can you believe it?

I think my magnetic personality conflicts with the innards of electronics.

Which means the writing program I use so I don't always have to write when I am online, was also lost. I did back it up, but now I can't get the backup to work either! I don't want to rewrite any of those posts because I am still hoping to recover them. So I'm going to write about a different contemplation altogether. And hopefully, I will not have to rewrite the other posts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What grace it requires when we are misunderstood yet handle it correctly, or when we are judged unkindly yet receive it in holy sweetness! Nothing tests our character as a Christian more than having something evil said about us... Some Christians are easily turned away from the greatness of their life's calling by pursuing instead their own grievances and enemies."

I read this in the Psalm 23 book I mentioned previously. And it really hit me. Especially the last part.

When a person is hurt, especially if it is a deep hurt, it is so easy to become sensitive. And that sensitivity can rob us of "the greatness of their life's calling". Wow, that's pretty serious. What a way to allow a loss to become devastating.

Have you ever read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis? It has been years for me, but I remember something along these lines. The head demon tells his nephew to prevent the Christians from being effective by distracting them with minor life things and disputes between themselves.

I think Frank Peretti also addresses it in his book This Present Darkness. He paints the pictures of angels and demons fighting in the heavenlies while, below, the Christians are fighting and bickering and struggling to overcome. It's been a whole lot of years for that book too. But you get the gist.

For the sake of being vulnerable, and to get you to thinking about your own risk factors, I will share some things I could elaborate on, and may at some point, that could cause this in me if I am not careful to look to The Shepherd to give me all I need and to cause me to be able to "lie down in green pastures":

~ Being intentionally and ongoingly hurt by people who call themselves the Body of Christ (betrayal).

~ Being unintentionally hurt by others in that Body who are sort of "caught in the crossfire" (more betrayal).

~ Being a "step" or just obviously not the favorite by grandparents or other family members and unspoken etcetera. (sense of not belonging).

~ Being an adoptive mother and having people say tactless things (feeling like second choice, second fiddle, not the "best" mother for my child).

~ A close family member who chooses addiction over relationship (feeling inadequate, not valuable, unloved).

~ Being FAR from perfect all, most, or even some of the time (relationships, parenting, house cleaning, althletics...) and wishing I could do better (loss of confidence, failure).

~ Getting older, being heavier than I'd like, having chronic pain and fatigue (mortality).

I am sure there are many more things I could list. But do you get the picture? We can be distracted by so many things! The more we do not look to our Shepherd for guidance and, primarily, for VALUE, to give us sweet peace and to provide us with all we need, the more things can stack up. Even the tiniest life experience can sow seeds of despair and cause us to overlook or throw away the "calling by which you have been called".

And what a waste that would be.

I bought a card recently for a loved one. It caught my eye because I wanted a card with a bird on it and this one was a beautiful picture of a splendid peacock. Inside it reads "It is never too late to be what you always thought you would be."

I am changing that up a little.

"It is never too late to be all that God has created and called you to be."

Even if you take a break once in awhile.

Menu Plan Monday: Pete and Repeat

Last Monday I did not post a meal plan.

That's because I was saying a final goodbye to summer by going camping.

We had already cancelled/postponed two vacations previously. I was not sure we could actually get out the door this time either, but we did it.

Also as a result of camping, I made very few of the items I listed the week before. So this week is mostly that same menu from two weeks ago, with a couple changes.

The February/March issue of Taste of Home has a chili recipe and a corn muffin recipe in it which are not listed online so I can't link you. But you should subscribe to Taste of Home yourself anyway. I have been subscribing since it first came out with one period of time when we were young and poor when I let is lapse. I have each and every issue I have received -- and I use them! In fact, I do believe my kids might fight over them when I am gone, as they see me use them for every holiday and they have also begun to use them.

I will also be making a seasonal soup one night for Saturday's Soup's On Saturday!. I will be taking into consideration what is in our second to the last produce bag of the season from our farm subscription when I decide what kind of soup to make. And I will share it with you all on Saturday.

I hope you are finding peace and rest during this season change, especially at meal times!

Soup’s On Saturday! 2009

 

Today's the day! The very first Saturday of October and the very first edition of

Soup's On Saturday! 2009

Pull out the ladle and we’ll have a crockpot of GOOD!

There is nothing like a warm bowl of soup with a piece of crusty bread to dip in it (I just love to dip my food!) to nourish and comfort you on a fall day! I think I am finally to the place emotionally where I can move on from summer and embrace the soup weather. I’m not sayin’ the flip-flops are going in with the mothballs just yet. But I am willing to begin the transition.

If you did not read my blog at this time last year, or you have no clue what I am talking about, you can read all about it at this link. If you like what you read and would like to help me spread the word, you could take my S.O.S. button code and put my suhweet lil button in your sidebar. And blab to all of your friends. Because I know you have them. And, I’m pretty sure you blab if you like something. And eeeeveryone loves soup, right?

 

This year I will have a suggested theme for each week. If you have a recipe for that theme I'd love for you to post it. But that is only to get the ideas flowing. You are welcome to post any soup recipe each week, not only the theme soup. If you linked a soup last year and it fits in with a theme, feel free to link it again - we all need a reminder now and again where it was that we saw that delicious recipe!

If you are not a blogger and do not have a web page, please DO email me your favorite recipes for soup and I will post them on my site for you. I am an all inclusive kind of gal, an Equal Opportunity Recipe Collector.

To give you some soup to savor between now and next week, I would like to direct you to my sidebar. Scroll down a little until you see the SOS button. Just below it are hyperlinks to the soups I actually got linked from last year. Do make sure you check out the Broth is Beautiful link because broth is the base to most soups. And I am a firm believer in the healing powers of a good bone broth.

Now I’d like to announce the very first theme: Seasonal Soup. Preferably local to your area. So get out those root vegetables, research your squash and have a chat with your local hunter. Cuz next week I wanna see lots of veggies and venison. Although I love to look at the deer that come up around our place and I cry when I see a dead one in the street. So I have a sorta hard time eating it. But if I call it venison it doesn’t hurt as much.

I also hate don’t enjoy the taste of venison so I don’t eat it. But alot of people like it. And I have a rule for myself that I retry things I don’t like every so often. And I think that time is coming around again for my footless four footed friends.

Anyway, hunting season opens around here today so that makes venison a seasonal ingredient. I saw a whole lot of fallish veggies in my farm share this week. And our cow is making milk with alot of cream just now. So I figure cream and butter could fit into the pot too …  GO WILD!