Everything and Nothing

Here I sit all alone. No one else in the house. That pretty much never happens. I thought about all that I could do, but nothing sounded good.

It happens with food sometimes too. I am hungry but nothing sounds good. Sometimes I even think about eating any food in the entire world, and can't think of anything.

It happens with blogging too. There is always lots to blog about, but sometimes nothing sounds good.

Does this ever happen to you?

Traditions: Stained Glass Cake

I love traditions. Any tradition. Any time.

If there is a tradition associated with a holiday, all the better.

I have many boys. Boys are not as likely to hang around for holidays once they are grown and married.

But maybe they WILL show up if they just can't miss that one special thing "we always did" at a certain time. Or, if that isn't enough, that one thing "we always ate" should do the trick, right?

That is my hope.

For Easter one of the food traditions we have is this cake.

We call it Stained Glass Cake. Taste of Home calls it Jeweled Gelatin Torte. It is hard to locate the Lady Fingers that are used for the edges and the bottom. If you cannot find them, they are pretty easy to make.

I am also not a Jello freak, but it sure does look pretty in this cake. And the mixture of ingredients is scrumptious.I prefer to leave out the lime Jello most of the time. Unless we have company coming who loves lime Jello. You know who you are.

My entire family loves this refreshing, light cake. And everyone else seems to enjoy it too!

Stained Glass Cake

1 package (3 ounces) cherry gelatin

3 cups boiling water, divided

2 cups cold water, divided

1 package (3 ounces) lime gelatin (I usually sub another flavor)

1 package (3 ounces) orange gelatin

1 cup pineapple juice

1 package (3 ounces) lemon gelatin

1/4 cup Sugar

36 ladyfingers

1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Citrus slices and fresh mint, optional

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve cherry gelatin in 1 cup boiling water; stir in 1/2 cup cold water. Pour into a 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat with lime and orange gelatin, using two more loaf pans. Refrigerate until firm, about 1-1/2 hours.
In a small saucepan, bring pineapple juice to a boil. Stir in lemon gelatin and sugar until dissolved. Stir in remaining cold water. Refrigerate until syrupy, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, line the sides and bottom of a 9-in. springform pan with ladyfingers; set aside.
Cut cherry, lime and orange gelatin into 1/2-in. cubes. Pour lemon gelatin mixture into a large bowl; fold in whipped topping. Gently fold in gelatin cubes. Pour into prepared pan. Refrigerate until set. Garnish with citrus and mint if desired. Yield: 10-12 servings.

Infinite Forgiveness

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

This Easter weekend I am mulling this over in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus. That verse to me speaks so clearly of death and resurrection, and also of the symbolic and obedient act of baptism.

The darkness of the crucifixion is not His death. It is the sin and shame He took upon Himself for all of us. It is symbolized also by the cave in which He was buried. Sometimes I forget His benefits, and I lay claim to my sin and my ugliness. I retreat into my cave of unworthiness, of isolation, and of shame. And yet, why? He already took it from me.

And when the Light comes, boy, does it ever come! The dead body is gone -- Jesus is alive and well. He is walking and talking to His friends. Is he still saddled with the sin and the shame? NO!

The sin and shame and all of the ugliness He took upon Himself is simply gone. It's not just that He took it. It's that He took it and it was forgiven. He put it as far as the east is from the west.

I read a Bible study on this once (get ready -- I looove this!). If He would have said as far as the north is from the south He would have been describing a finite distance. You can only travel so far north before you start back up and are traveling south! But you can head east or head west forever!

Infinite forgiveness. Ours because we are called out of darkness and into His glorious light!

I John 1:5b "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

Darkness= sin and shame, death
Light= infinite forgiveness, LIFE!

May you have a blessed, light-filled Easter!

Thinking Like Me

Gosh, these days I guess I'd be a better "twitterer" than a blogger. Everything shared in bits.

It's been like this for me with reading too. Snippets. A little here, a little there. Why does that happen sometimes?

Tonight I am reading one of the many books my Grandma gave me last fall. Mmm, I even love the smell of it's musty pages.

As I am reading I chuckle. Are you ever struck with random thoughts that you figure no one else would ever think of? Do you ever hear or read something that you identify with so closely that either you laugh about it, or rejoice because someone has finally put into words something you have thought?

Tonight I am reading from a perfect "snippet" book. It's called "I've Got To Talk To Somebody God, A Woman's Conversations With God" written by Marjorie Holmes and published in 1968. It is comprised of lots of prayers.

Snippets for my current Twitterly stage.

She has a chapter called "Putting My House In Order" which is a collection of prayers over individual chores. Scrubbing The Floor, The Refrigerator, The Dishes, Unexpected Company, Prayer For Ironing are a few of the prayers she offers up.

She makes me laugh because she is random yet practical. Like me. I guess it's comforting to know I am not as random as I thought. Lots of people think these kinds of things. Phew.

Then she decides to pray a prayer of thanks for COLOR. I love it. Randomly being thankful for things we so often take for granted.

Here's a small excerpt of her sweet, random, skipping-here-and-there, one-thought-leads-to-another kind of thoughts. Like mine.

Oh God, how grateful we should all be for color.

For blue skies and blue eyes and this little blue dress that I'm hanging on the line.

For oranges vivid in the brown basket that sits upon my kitchen table. For the purple grapes that choke the fence, and the lavender cups of morning glories against a white garage.

What a lovely thing -- the interplay of colors in a paisley blouse. A throw rug. A bracelet. A vase on the shelf. I think of all the unsung artists and craftsmen who have produced them, and the marvelous routes and ways of trade and commerce that must weave and interplay -- like the intermingling colors -- to bring them all into my home to enrich and heighten the pattern of all our lives.

I wish you could read it all. So sweet.

~ Have you been "Twitterly" lately?
~ Do you have a favorite book or author that thinks like you or says what you want to say?
~ Do even your thoughts go off on bunny trails? Especially when you are trying to pray?

Have a wonderful evening!

Menu Plan Monday, March 30-April 5

No, I did not die on my trip to California. I’m still here. I am behind in both writing my blog and in reading yours. So if you have not received any comments from me, well, it’s cuz I haven’t written any. Sorry.

I figured making my meal plan might be a good and constructive way to jump back in. Well, at least then I will have a meal plan. We’ll see about the jumping in.

This week I am going to defrost the freezer. So the menu plan is subject to change. I might have some items I will need to use up. I’ve made sure I have rice, tomato sauce, pasta and cheese on hand. Those items should help me use up some of the stuff I have in the freezer. I also made a fresh batch of chicken stock from the two Spicy Chickens I made last week.

Anyone want some Freezer Pickles?

Monday- Vegetable Chicken Soup

Tuesday- Creamy Dill Salmon

Wednesday- Zucchini Alfredo with Canadian bacon added

Thursday- Sausages and rice (rehearsal dinner for two of us, dinner at youth group for two more)

Friday- Lemon Butter Cod

Saturday- Spicy Bean and Beef Pie

Sunday- Spaghetti

Menu Plan Monday: March 2-8, 2009

When you read this, I will be gone. Well, if you read it Tuesday or later anyway. Vam-moose. Alph-Feeter-Zane. Hasta Luh Veesta Baby.

Sister Trip ~ Disneyland ~ Sea World ~ Beach ~ Sun ~ Bicycle ~ Book

Sisters+Southern California= ♥♥♥

I will be gone part of this week so have made things as easy as I can for my hubby and older kids to prepare while I am gone. I did not schedule lunches because I think there will be leftovers. If not, I have left several quick and easy lunch ingredients including sandwich stuff and salad and burrito fixings.

I am very proud of my kids. Even my little 7 and 9 year olds will chip in to help make meals. They did great learning with mom how to make their individual dishes and I am leaving very clear instructions. They each also have an older sibling who will be “coaching” them and helping with parts that are too hard or dangerous (i.e. dealing with boiling water, etc.). They are excited to be part of the success of the week and looking forward to their own “dinner night”.

And I am thankful that my husband has a good job and one where he can sometimes work from home. They will also have some fun times when dad takes a couple days off, gets pizza and makes pancakes!

Monday:
B: Oatmeal with Cranberries, Almonds and Cranberry Honey
D: Buffalo Chicken Party Sandwiches (made yesterday in crockpot and we went out to eat with friends instead)

Tuesday:
B: Cranberry-Apple Bread, Peanut Butter Apples

D: Macaroni and Cheese Add sausage (precooked and in freezer) (7yod)

Wednesday:
B: Yogurt Parfaits with Fruit, Nuts and whipped cream
D: Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken (16yos)

Thursday:
B: Millet Muffins with blackberries

D: Poor Man’s Stroganoff (9yos) – I precooked beef and onions, Anthony drain noodles

Friday:
B: Leftovers from Rest of Week, or Peanut Butter, Honey and Granola RollUps

D: Spiral Pepperoni Pizza Bake (14yos) I precooked beef.

Saturday:
B: Blender Waffles
D: Pizza Night

Sunday:
B: Granola L: Taco Soup I precooked beef
D: Sunday Snacks and Popcorn, etc.

Soup's On! Saturday : Cream of Broccoli

Do any of you have a wonderful "Cream of...." Soup? Leave me a comment!

I have many fabulous creamy soup recipes. They are so warm and comforting. And, well, on the not so good for weight loss side of things, if ya know whaddi mean.

Several years ago I was on Weight Watchers (after my 5th pregnancy) and I discovered that cream soups don't always have to undo my efforts at losing weight.

This Cream Of Broccoli Soup is one of my favorite WW recipes. It's only 2 points and very satisfying. I think adding the hot pepper sauce is a stroke of genius. It adds an unexpected punch before you even realize you are missing the things you have left out. When I make it, I put in more broccoli. Veggies are FREE so it doesn't add any more points, and it makes it creamier and thicker still. I also like toasted almonds on top too, but then you have to count those points.

Of course, if you are not trying to lose weight, feel free to use 1 cup cream of half and half instead of the fat-free milk. And throw in alot of cheddar, then top with sour cream. And, rather than count points, well, just count yourself lucky!

Now my friends, I must announce that SOS is over for this season. My plan was to go through February and it is now the very last day of February. But SOS will be back, Lord-Willing, when Fall is here once again. Ewww, don't even say such a thing right now!

BUT, stay tuned for a new weekly food carnival. I am still deciding on some of the details and will, of course, put it all here when the time is right. Thank you to those of you who participated. I have definitely gained some new favorites!