Tasty Tuesday: Baked Fried Chicken

Have you seen the KFC commercial where the guys are hanging out, talking about how good the chicken is and then one guy starts freaking out, yelling "I ATE THE BONES! I ATE THE BONES!"?

Go ahead and watch it if you haven't already




I share that because this last week, Hannah wanted me to make some boneless chicken with crust like that. I remembered something that I had pinned and made before. It was easy, skinless, boneless and tasty.

The recipe is from Our Life Uncommon. You can find the link to it here. It was a great success. In the middle of dinner I started screaming "I ATE THE BONES!"

My only advice would be to not cook it for the whole forty minutes. If doing tenders, 30 maybe sufficient. Flipping is critical, regardless of how long you cook them. I think I might try it with flax meal instead of flour for a super low carb dish next time, but I don't feel too bad about the little bit of flour that is on this. Hope you enjoy!

21 Days of Worship Challenge

If you've been to my blog before or if you know me, then you know that I'm reading a book. The one that I'm reading right now is Insourcing by Randy Pope. It's about discipleship. One thing in particular that I'm interested in implementing right now is 21 days of personal worship. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, here is the catch, if you miss a day, you have to start over from the beginning.
In order to give you some guidance, I'm going to share with you a journal entry. It should take about 5-15 minutes, depending on how long you linger. I guess with that concept, it could even take much longer. I see the purpose of this time as a pause in your day to check in with God, to see where your heart is and where it could be.
This is not something that I expect you to share with the world, it's a PERSONAL worship challenge. Even though there may be a group of us doing it, you will have to find the time that works best for you and give it ago. The best part is that there is no failing. If you worship God just once, that is great. If you don't even get to once, but you start pondering the idea, who knows what the future will bring? You can find a copy of the journal that I used here online by clicking here

I hope you join me, leave a comment if you decide to try. Maybe I'll even get a prize for whoever finishes first.

Day 1 – Personal Worship

Date:    May 19, 2013                                         Text:         Romans 7                                      

Pray, asking God to forgive specific sins
and to speak to you from this passage.

Lord, forgive me for being lazy. Help me to understand this passage and may I seek you only.

Read the text carefully, noting your
observations about the passage.

  Verse 4 really jumps out at me. The idea of dying to the law in order that I can bear fruit for God.                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

Ask questions to help you interpret and
apply the text to your personal life.

    What ways do I enjoy the law more than I enjoy bearing fruit? Can I actually die to the law through Christ? And in what ways could bearing fruit be better for me than following the law?                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

Interpret the passage in a way that is
consistent with the teaching of all Scripture.

    Jesus Christ died to fulfill the law, therefore, we don't have to live according the law but to life in Christ                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

Summarize a specific and measurable application
of the text to your personal life.

By God’s grace I will…die to the law and live in Christ, so that I may bear fruit.                                                                                   

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

Engage
with God in prayer using the five targets of the Lord’s Prayer:

1. God’s Honor – acknowledging His worth, glory, and majesty

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed is your
name.”

   Lord, you are an amazing God! There is no one that can do the things that you can.                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

2. God’s Kingdom – acknowledging His
priority in the world and in your life

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.”

    If I don't die with you, Lord, then I'm just spinning my wheels. You are the only way that I can bear fruit help me to cling to you for my every breath.                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

3. God’s Provision – acknowledging His
trustworthiness

“Give us this day our daily bread,”

     I trust you, to provide for all my needs and my wants. Today, I need to be with fellow believers. I need you to guide me in all my ways, especially my eating. I need you to help me enjoy my family. Be with Joel and Hannah this day. Give them the things that they need.                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

4. God’s Forgiveness – acknowledging your
repentance

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors.”

   God, many times I've turned to the law instead of to you. Forgive me for doing so. Help me to die with you.                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                 

5. God’s Power – acknowledging your
dependence

“And deliver us from the evil one so that we
may not be led into temptation.”

            I'm worthless without you. Take all that I am and use it for your kingdom. May no part of me be willing to partake in sin. May I be fully committed to you, body mind soul spirit. AMEN                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                 

Tasty Tuesday: Italian Cream Cake

This last week was my father in law's 70th birthday. We were able to go to Seattle and help with a surprise party for him. One of the cakes that my mother in law served was an Italian Cream Cake. Hannah loved it. So I'm sharing the recipe here. I'm not sure the original source. A cube of butter is a stick of butter, or a half cup. Let me know if you make it!

Italian Cream Cake
Serves 10-12
1 cube butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
5 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Cream-Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
Extra chopped walnuts, garnish

1. Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg yolks and beat well.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Add vanilla. Add coconut and nuts.
3. Fold in beaten egg whites gently. Pour batter into three greased and floured 8-inch cake pans.
4. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
5. Remove pans from oven and cool for 8 minutes; then remove from pans to wire racks. Let cool completely. Prepare frosting and spread between each layer and over the top and sides of cake. Sprinkle frosting with extra chopped walnuts. Cut in thin pieces since the cake is rich.

Cream-Cheese Frosting:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cube butter or margarine, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat cream cheese with butter or margarine until fluffy. Add sugar slowly while beating and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla beat to combine.

Organic Outreach for Families by Kevin and Sherry Harney

Organic Outreach for Families is part of a series of books written by Kevin Harney that is based around the idea of our homes, churches, personal lives being lighthouses for Jesus.
This edition is based mainly in rearing your children and interacting with them. With some practical advice on how to arrange your home and budget to be an inviting place for younger generations.
One of the prominent ideas within the book is extending grace, to your children and to those in your neighborhood. There are numerous stories of events that occurred where the parents could have brought the hammer down on their children and their friends, but instead chose grace and it resulted in trust instead of fear.
It is clear that the Harney family is unique in the extent to which they have answered this call for their home to be a lighthouse for the Gospel, but the tips they give make it something that any family can work towards.
As two introvert parents raising a very outgoing child, some of the concepts are beyond our reach, but there are plenty of other aspects raised in regards to parenting that made the book a worthwhile read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Tasty Tuesday: Sweet Blueberry Biscuits

I didn't eat these, well, I did taste them but I didn't eat a whole one. I wanted to  though. They looked smelled and the little bit I tried tasted delicious. The reason that I'm sharing this recipe from See.Try.Eat is because my family loved it so much that between the two of them, they ate about six biscuits in one sitting. It was pretty intense and they finished off the rest the next day or so. Here's the link to Sweet Blueberry Biscuits from See.Try. Eat

I would warn that you should NOT crowd the middle. There is an urgh that runs so deep that sees that big gapping space in the middle of your cast iron skillet and you think "It's got room, I can fill it!" but don't. It will require your biscuits to cook longer and they probably will still be a bit gooey in the middle. And you might think to yourself, "I don't really need to put that sauce on these, do I?" The answer is yes! Gild the lily as they say. It's needed in this recipe.

So in wrapping it up. Make these, they are awesome, worth every effort you would have to put forth in order to get them in your mouth!

Monday Mess

So, today's mess is a forgotten blog. My best advice for dealing with that is to not put up one of those "I can't believe that I haven't blogged in a gazillion years! WOW! I promise, I'll write more often! XOXO" posts. Either write something or don't. All of us blog readers out here in cyber land understand that things get busy and that people don't write, it's okay, no need to apologize, just get on with what you're going to do with yourself. Though if you're pretty sure that you aren't going to be writing on your blog again, forever, then that's something you might want to share with your readers.
Hope you have a great day! I have an awesome recipe to share tomorrow. It's so awesome that I might just add it later today. It has blueberries! YUM!

Monday Mess

I have Calphalon pots and pans. I've collected them over the years, prefer the nonstick varieties, though I do have one stainless steel pan of theirs, it rarely gets used. I love their stuff. I especially love their warranty and how they stand behind it, no questions asked. We got the starter set when we were first married, it had a ten year warranty, by the time our ten year anniversary started rolling around, they all needed to be replaced, I shipped them in and we got a whole new set. I love a company that stands by their word.

What does any of this have to do with a mess? Well, they all have to be washed by hand. I don't really know what would happen to them in the dishwasher and quite honestly, I'm not interested in finding out. So at the end of the meals that I actually cook, I have to run a sink of warm water and soap. I use Dawn, maybe because my mom did and maybe because I've used a couple other brands and just keep coming back to it time and again. I buy the green one, I like the smell.

So here's the mess part and maybe you already do this, but it was something I figured out WAY too late in life so I'm going to share. After all the dishes are done, I take that soapy water and I use it to wipe down some things, specifically my stove and my microwave. Doing it after every meal means that I rarely have to spend more than a few seconds cleaning either of them.

About once or twice a year, I will make a sink full of bubble and then use at just to clean the outside of the cabinets and dishwasher. If anyone has any tips on really cleaning a dishwasher I'll take them. I've done that whole vinegar and baking soda skulking around Pinterest, it didn't really do much for me.

What do you do to save time cleaning?