Giving from the heart

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Luke 6:38 (NLT)

When going through difficult circumstances, it's easy for our focus to shift from the Lord to our own feelings, especially if we're experiencing fear. Fear has fangs that easily burst our bubble of faith.

When that happens, we withdraw emotionally from the Lord and others. We tend tighten the hold we have on what we've got - whether it's our finances or our possessions, or even the prayer and emotional support we normally give to others.

You know what I mean. Those days you feel so emotionally drained, you'd rather stay in bed with the covers over your head than doing something for someone else or thinking about the problems of those worse off than you.

Rather than giving to others freely we turn away from them because we're afraid we won't have anything left if we give it all.

It's a lot like the illustration of the monkey with his hand in the narrow-mouthed cookie jar. He could easily slide his hand into the jar, but when he grasped the cookie in his fist, he couldn't remove his hand from the jar. But he still refused to let the cookie go because it belonged to him. Even if he couldn't eat it himself, he still possessed a cookie. But if he let it go, he feared he wouldn't have anything at all.

Yet, the scriptures are filled with stories of those who faced dire circumstances and still shared freely with others. The widow who only had enough oil and flour to make one last meal for herself and her son is a good example. When Elijah came to her and asked her to share her last meal with him, she did it freely and God blessed her with an inexhaustible supply until the famine ended. (1 Kings 17:10-16)

Even in his darkest hours, the Lord only thought of us. In the predawn hours he spent praying in Gethsemane's garden, he loosed his hold on his physical life as he prayed, "Not my will but thine be done." As he hung on the cross dying, he prayed for forgiveness for his enemies because they didn't understand what they were doing. He gave up his life so that we might have eternal life.

To be able to loosen our fists on our possessions or on our mental and emotional resources in order to help others around us who are in need, is at the heart of the Gospel of Christ. Especially when we're going through rough patches in life ourselves, the act of giving to others with a heart of love allows the Lord to give back to us - joy during our discouragement and materially to meet our needs.

We don't give in order to get - we give because we're already been given so much! And when our hands are empty, God refills them again so we can give some more. Amen!

Kraut in the crock - NOT!

“But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33 GW

While talking with a friend the other day, I learned that his wife wanted to make sauerkraut this year - the wonderful, old- fashioned kind that ferments in a large earthenware crock.

I heard myself telling my friend, "I have one of those crocks. Does your wife want it?" No big deal - I didn't use it anymore because I had found other ways to make my kraut that were easier for me than dragging out that heavy old crock.

The inner battle to let go of "stuff" started as my inner critic began sputtering, "You can't give that away. You might need it. You used it this year to make relish. What will you use in its place?"

I ignored the inner critic and dragged the heavy thing out to clean it up for my friend. But just then, an overwhelming need to make sauerkraut one last time in the crock hit me. Since I planned to make some kraut this year anyway, I bought several pounds of cabbage.

But thankfully, reality also slapped me up beside the head and I figured I would do the kraut in small gallon-jar batches like usual because they were more manageable for me. The big crock was not!*

The whole incident did get me thinking. There's a lot of things I keep that I don't really use - maybe it's time to clear out the extra "stuff." Not only will my house be easier to care for, but others may be able to use the "stuff" I don't need any more.

In my spiritual life, I also need to clear out "stuff" that I've been holdoing on to like emotional baggage, fears, ineffective ways of coping, etc., that I don't really need that may be hindering me from walking closer to the Lord. By putting him first, he makes my life more manageable by providing just what I need instead of all the clutter that builds up to separate me from him.

Father, help me to keep my eyes on you for the things I really need. Amen.

* Click here for the recipe for making sauerkraut in jars

Living wisely...

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT
Did you know that a recent government study estimated that about 1 pound of edible food is thrown out for each man, woman and child in the US each day? In 2010, 33 million tons od food waste was generated in the US - second only to paper waste in the landfills.

Thant's a staggering amount, especially considering that 5% of that wasted food could feed an additional 4 million people each day!

Simple changes in the ways we buy, store and prepare food, can cut the amount of food waste generated each year.

Here's some ideas to get you started:

- When shopping, we buy economy packages of meat which I divide and freeze into meal-sized portions as soon as I get home. By cooking only what we need, we don't waste as much.

- If I have leftovers, we eat them for lunch the next day. If there are too many leftovers, I make TV dinners from the leftover portions. These are great for evenings when I don't have time to cook a hot meal or for Dear Hubby (DH) if I need to go to take care of the grandkids.

- Sometimes I will put the leftover meat and veggies into a freezer container When it's full, I have enough to make a nice batch of broth or cream based soup.

- There are only 2 of us at home now, but DH still likes an occassional piece of cake for dessert. So I bake a cake and cut it into individual portions, freezing what we won't eat. Later we can pull out one piece at a time which satisfies the sweet tooth and keeps us from throwing out half a stale cake.

- There's often tons of leftovers at church dinners, including coffee. The coffee can be frozen in ice cube trays and stored in gallon plastic freezer bags. Take out a few cubes and nuke them for a minute for a single cup of coffee without making a whole pot. It's as good as instant coffee.

Several years ago, my sister-in-law gave me over a bushel of pears - tiny pithy ones that were too hard to peel and can. So I made a yummy pear butter from them rather than throw them out.

Recently I came home from a picnic with several bags of sandwich buns. They had been frozen once and would get dried out too much if refrozen, so they were headed to the landfill. I broke them into pieces, added seasonings, onions and celery, then baked a large batch of stuffing which I cut into meal-sized portions to serve with some frozen chicken breasts I had. Yummy!

One of our local markets occasionally gives away over-ripe bananas. When I get the chance, I take several bunches and freeze them to make large batches of banana bread later.

While I wish I could say I never wasted anything, over the past few years I have tried to be wiser about using my resources. I love finding new and creative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle food items as well as other things.

Lord help me to apply these lessons to all areas of my life - to be wiser and less wasteful in the use of my time, money and talents as well as with our food! Amen.

Tomatoes and more tomatoes

Be glad you can do the things you should be doing. Do all things without arguing and talking about how you wish you did not have to do them. In that way, you can prove yourselves to be without blame. You are God’s children and no one can talk against you, even in a sin-loving and sin-sick world. You are to shine as lights among the sinful people of this world. Philippians 2:14-15 NLV

Last weekend, I bought a half bushel of Roma tomatoes to make and can spaghetti sauce. I haven't canned sauce for a while so I had forgotten what a big job it is. About halfway through the process of blanching and skinning the tomatoes, I realized I was grumbling to myself about all the extra work I had taken on. I didn't have to buy those extra tomatoes or make sauce - after all, I still had lots of tomatoes in my garden which would ripen over time. I could freeze them and make sauce later when it was cold outside.

The more I complained to myself, the harder the job seemed to become. My back started to hurt between my shoulder blades and I felt really tired. But then I decided to put on some praise and worship music so I didn't have to listen to myself complain.

As the music seeped into my soul, the job became easier and the tight muscles in my back relaxed a bit. No - not because the job had become easier, but because I had a change of attitude. I remembered why I wanted to make all that sauce; how good it would be to have a taste of summer in the dead of winter and to have some to share with my children who had families and jobs that prevented them from canning.

After I got all the tomatoes in my big roaster to cook, I remembered I needed to run some errands. On the way home, I ended up at a roadside farm stand where I bought another half bushel of Roma tomatoes to make more sauce.

No, I'm not a glutton for punishment. I know the amount of work that lies ahead. But because I can already see, smell and taste the goodness, I'm motivated for the work ahead. This time I'll start the process with praise and make the big job a lot easier!

Lord, help me to do everything without arguing and complaining. Thank you that a spoonful of praise makes everything easier! Amen.

Relish

“But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.” Psalm 42:8 NLT


Yesterday I finished a marathon 2-day canning project – homemade Relish!
My Mother-in-law taught me how to make her recipe many years ago and it is so much better than the commercially made product. It’s a combination of

• 20 pounds of cucumbers
• five pounds each of peppers (red and green), onions, cabbage and green tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. each of mustard and celery seeds
• 3-4 Tbsp of turmeric
• 1-2 cups of sugar (to taste) sugar
• 1 quart each of vinegar and water.

On day one, the veggies are ground up and salted, then left to stand overnight. The next day the excess water is squeezed off the veggies until they are almost dry before cooking them in the fresh water and vinegar-spice mixture.

I have changed things up over the years. For example, I don’t stand over a hot stove and cook the mixture for one and a half hours. After I burned a batch a few years ago, I decided to let my crock pots do the cooking! The crock pots keep the mixture moist and I only have to stir things up occassionally while they cook for 4-5 hours on high. Sure it takes a bit longer, but I’m free to do other chores while the pots do all the work. LOL!

This year’s batch was about 2/3 the size of the recipe, but I ended up with 14 pints. I thought it would be enough to last for 2 years for my husband and I, but when I told my daughter about the relish, she immediately said, “I gotta have me some of that!” Oh well… I guess I can always make more next year.

Relish is a condiment – not something people usually eat by itself, but something they use to help enhance the flavor of other foods. I love the thought that God can make me into a condiment for his use. He takes all the trials and hurts that I’ve gone through and adds lots of learning experiences, interactions with others and a little heat to make me into a person who will add just the right touch to help to bring out the best in others.

It may be a marathon process, but I suppose God loves the process just as much as he loves seeing the finished product all ready to enjoy – just like I enjoy making and seeing my relish all canned on the counter!

Thank you Lord, for my relish and for preparing me to spice up the lives of others. Amen!

My daughter Cammie visited us this weekend so we made a tried and true family favorite - Pizza! I like it because it's easy and the bread maker does the hard work while I get to enjoy my company. When the dough is ready. we get to spend some time cooking together which we've always enjoyed. And of course we all like to eat it. At about half the cost of ordering pizza from our local pizza shops, it is a frugal - and healthier alternative.

Pizza dough recipe: (makes 2 medium sized pizzas)
1 1/3 cups water
1 1/3 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour ( or half whole wheat and half bread flour)
2 1/2 tsp yeast

Set your machine on dough cycle if possible.

When it's done roll the dough out on your pans and top with whatever you choose. We used sauce, cheese, garlic, peppers, onions, slices of the first ripe tomato from my garden, sautéed zucchini and yellow squash also from the garden for a yummy veggie pizza. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until it is lightly browned on bottom and crust edges.

Enjoy your family and of course, the pizza!

Frugal Baby Food

Babies are wonderful! As I sat here this morning missing my new grand baby, I decided to do the next best thing - write about babies!

When my children were small, we pastored a small town church which couldn't pay my husband a large salary so it became an adventure in creativity to find ways to make ends meet. Around that time, I bought a cook book called "Feed Me, I'm Yours," by Vicki Lansky (first published in 1975, newly revised in 2004 so it's still available) with all sorts of healthy recipes and helpful hints on feeding my babies. That book became my child care"Bible" and by the time I passed it on to my daughter to use with her 5 little ones, the cover had fallen off and pages were oil stained.

One of Vicky's suggestions was to cook the family's vegetables without salt so they could be pureed for baby at the table using a baby food grinder. The baby food grinder I used (back in the good old days LOL!)was available in the baby section at the larger department stores for about $5. It was plastic tube with a hand cranked grinder mechanism on the top. Food was inserted into the tube and forced through the grinder. It was completely washable and easy to use.

Now the same manual food grinder costs $14.99 online. There are also electric baby food grinders available at $29.99, though you could probably purchase a small electric food processor or smaller containers for your regular electric blender for less that would do the same thing rather than buying a "baby" food grinder.

So EASY! My babies ate the same veggies and later meats as we did so it saved me the expense of buying jars of baby food.

After the meal, Vicki suggested pureeing leftover veggies and freezing them in a plastic ice cube tray. The tray created perfect baby-sized portions that could be popped out of the tray after freezing, labeled and stored in a freezer bag. When I needed a meal for my babies, I could pop out a variety of "cubes" and heat and serve.

Vicki Lansky also offered ideas for healthy finger foods and even recipes to make baby biscuits for teething. I found this recipe which was adapted from her cookbook at another online baby food site:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/teethingbiscuits.htm

Teething Biscuit Recipes - Try These Banana Bread Sticks

Ingredients:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana
1 3/4 cups flour (white, whole wheat, or a combination)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Combine ingredients and stir only until smooth. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour or until firmly set.Cool, remove from pan, and cut into sticks. Spread sticks out on a cookie sheet and bake at 150 degrees F for 1 hour or longer until the sticks are hard and crunchy. Store in a tightly covered container.

Adapted from Feed Me I'm Yours by Vicki Lansky **Freezes Well**

The folks at Wholesome Baby Foods also suggested making teething biscuits from your favorite healthy breads ( like carrot, pumpkin, zucchini or apple bread) by baking the bread as usual, then slicing, cutting the slices into sticks and returning them to the oven to bake until hard and crunchy. I wish I'd have known that trick when my children were small!

Even after my children grew up, I loved making the recipes in Vicki's book - especially the craft recipes for play dough, finger paint and other crafty recipes which I adapted for my children's ministry.

So what resources have you used to live "green" or frugally as you raise Baby? I'd love to hear from you!

Frugal living - There's nothing like a big pot of soup!

Mmmmm! There's nothing like a big pot of soup or savory stew simmering on the stove on a cold winter day. Couple that with the aroma of fresh baked bread and my mouth starts watering right away.

The great thing about soups and stews is that they work well for big batch cooking - as a matter of fact, they even taste better when made in a big batch, simmering slowly to blend the flavors.

I have a large electric roaster to cook my soup and by the time I finish adding ingredients, it is usually 3/4 full of delicious soup bubbling away. We always eat some of the freshly made soup, keep enough for a second meal or a few lunches and freeze the rest. That way, I only have to cook once to make several meals which is a real time, money and energy saver.

One of my favorite frugal soups is Bean Soup.

1 package of dried beans, soaked and drained according to the package directions.
1 small chunk of ham or a ham bone
4 large carrots,
3 stalks of celery,
1 medium onion
Seasonings to taste.
Water to cover the vegetables and ham.

Throw all the ingredients in a large pot (I like to use my large crock pot so this soup doesn't scorch)After cooking on low for 6 hours, I add 2 cans of diced tomatoes and cook on high for several hours to blend the flavors. This usually makes 4 to 6 quarts of soup which freezes well.

Another frugal tip for soup making is to save all your leftover cooked vegetables from other meals - you know - that spoonful of peas which doesn't seem like enough to bother with? I put the leftover veggies in a freezer bag each day and when I make soup, just take it out of the freezer and toss it into the pot. That way, nothing goes to waste. You can do that with little bits of leftover meat too. Keep a separate zipper sandwich bag in the freezer with each kind of leftover meat and use it to help flavor your soups.

I freeze my soup in meal sized containers - our empty margarine containers hold about 2 cups of soup, just right for a single lunch meal.

For cream or milk based soups, you can make the soup and freeze your portions BEFORE adding the cream to it so it will keep better. Just thaw and reheat later, adding the cream at that point.

Frugal Living - Bread Crumbs of Wisdom

Since I started eating healthier last June, I have probably eaten the equivalent of a whole produce aisle of dark leafy greens.

Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I have learned to like salad and I eat a large one almost every day. But I do have to confess, the greens are more palatable with 2 tablespoons of fat free salad dressing, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a few seasoned croutons sprinkled on top.
Without those additions, I doubt I could get the greens down.

So as I continue writing about living frugally, I thought it was time to share a few salad secrets to make a healthy and less expensive tasty green salad. And yes - I have done these!

With the rising cost at the grocery store, I make more things from scratch at home. But there are some things I really like - for instance Kraft Catalina Salad Dressing. I just wasn't sure I could duplicate the taste, especially the low fat or fat free variety. That's when I discovered there are sites with "copy cat" recipes where I can make my favorite taste-alike foods from ingredients I usually have on hand at home!

CDKitchen is one of these sites where I find a lot of my favorite recipes like this Kraft Catalina :

1 cup of sugar
2 tsp. salt
a dash of paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
grated onion to taste
1/2 cup vinegar
2/3 cup ketchup
1 cup oil

It's easy to make too - just put all ingredients in the blender, mix and store in the refrigerator. The recipe makes 3 cups.

Since this is not the "diet" version, I tweaked it a little and added Splenda instead of sugar and only 1/2 the oil with 1/2 cup water. It's really good!

Seasoned bread crumbs and those tasty croutons can also be made at home just as easily.

For years I've been storing my broiler pan in my oven. I just lay the crusts of each loaf of bread on that pan and leave them inside my oven until they dry out completely. The pan catches any extra crumbs and allows air to circulate around the bread. Once dry, I just chop them up in my food processor and add the desired spices to the mix. I store the crumbs in an air tight container and always have them on hand for breading my oven baked fish and chicken.

To make the croutons, I cube several slices of bread (it's a great way to use up older bread or sandwich buns that are starting to dry out.) I lay them on top of the broiler pan as well and allow them to dry thoroughly, usually a day or 2. I like to do this right after I get done cooking something else in the oven since a hot oven will speed the drying process.

When the cubes dry, I mix 2 Tbsp of olive oil and the desired spices (garlic powder, a pinch of salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, etc) and drizzle it over the croutons on a baking sheet, tossing them lightly to coat them all. It goes back into the oven on the lowest heat for an hour or two until the cubes are thoroughly dried out. Then I store the croutons in a plastic container.
Just a few of these on my salad make all the difference. They taste every bit as good as their restaurant counterparts. Yummy!

Frugal Living - Spicing Things Up a bit

Ever since I started looking for creative ways to cut costs, even my dear hubby has gotten into the act!

I have a lot of pumpkin in the freezer and in jars on my shelf here at the house so I needed some pumpkin pie spice from the store for several of my recipes. Dan pulled it from the grocery bag and remarked how expensive that little jar was.

Then he got this goofy grin on his face and said, "Look! Now you won't have to buy any more of this - you can just read the label and make your own!"

His idea does have merit, since several places in our local area sell bulk spices. Buying them in bulk is generally cheaper - but only if you can use what you buy in a reasonable amount of time. Spices have a good shelf life, but they won't retain their peak flavor forever. Nothing is a bargain if you end up wasting half of it!

So how about making your own spice blends and gifting what you can't use yourself?

Over the Christmas holiday, I found these two great articles with interesting spice blend recipes:
Enhance the flavor of your food
Healthy Homemade Gifts

I've tried the Ranch dressing mix from the homemade gift site and found it to be a great alternative to the packets of Ranch seasoning mix at a fraction of the cost.

Ranch Dressing Mix:
4 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dry dill weed
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper (or to taste)

There's no salt in the recipe so you can add it to your taste and cut the calories by using light sour cream or low fat yogurt.

Since my DH suggested making my own pumpkin pie spice, I googled it and found this great recipe at All Recipes .

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground allspice

Simply mix well and store in an air tight container.

I'm definitely going to be looking up more spice blend recipes as I continue on this frugal lifestyle adventure!

Do you have any favorite spice /herb blend recipes? I'd love to hear about them.

Frugal Living - I've got the gardening blues!

It's that time of year again - when the seed catalogs arrive in the mailbox, stirring memories of the aroma of freshly turned earth, seedlings erupting through the soil and mouthwatering fresh veggies.

Last year, for the first time in many years, I had a small garden. It whet my appetite for an even larger garden this year; partly because it's a frugal thing to do, but mostly because I just enjoyed planting it, caring for it and especially eating it. But planting a larger garden presents a problem - with the arthritis in my knees, I can't kneel down to plant the rows, especially the tiny seeds like carrots, lettuce and spinach.

Last year my back ached from bending down to try to get the seeds into neat, narrow rows. I ended up with 1 spinach plant in the 7 foot long row and about 5 mystery plants in the area between rows. I lost about 3/4 of my romaine crop to the birds because I didn't put them in right. My 2 small rows of carrots grew so close together, even after they were thinned out, I still harvested many tiny deformed tubers.

My failures haven't dampened my enthusiasm for trying again this year, but I did learn from my mistakes. So this year I decided to make my life a little easier. I remembered hearing about seed tapes - strips of biodegradable paper with seeds attached at the proper intervals. You just dig your furrow, unroll your seed tape and cover. Voila! Painless, neat rows of veggies.

The problem is the price of such modern gardening marvels. Two 7 foot rows of seed tape cost an average of $4.95 as opposed to a seed packet which would make several times that many plants. And not all seeds are available as seed tapes.

But thankfully, the Information Super Highway (a.k.a. the Internet) had an alternative answer - make my own seed tapes! With my seed packets, a roll of toilet paper and a little flour and water "glue" I can use these long snowy pre-Spring days to create my own seed tapes and be ready for the April gardening start date. For a FRACTION of the price.

Here's how to make your own tapes: Mix a thick flour water paste - you'll probably have to measure out 1/4 cup of flour and add water slowly until it gets to be a pasty consistency - not too thick, but not runny. (One gardener I saw recommended using Elmer's glue instead of the flour paste, but I think I prefer the flour).

Tear off a three foot length of toilet tissue and cut it into one inch wide strips. Lay the strips on a flat surface next to a yardstick. Follow the directions on the seed packet for spacing and place a small dot of the flour/water glue at the proper intervals. Dip a toothpick into the "glue" and pick up a seed, placing it on the glue dot on the toilet tissue. Allow the strip to dry thoroughly before rolling the tape. Store in an envelope until ready to plant.

After the danger of frost is past, just dig the furrow, unroll the strip and cover with the proper amount of soil. The flour paste and paper will degrade, leaving the seeds to germinate in beautiful properly spaced, even rows.

Not only is this a money saving solution, it will save my knees and back a lot of agony. Let's see - I think I'll make some tapes of beans, carrots, peas, lettuce.....

Canning peaches

I don't know how some women do it - single-handedly managing to put up dozens and dozens of jars of produce. Maybe if I did it more often, I'd get faster, but it took me all day yesterday to do 14 jars . I ended up with 11 jars of peaches because one broke in the canner (What a mess!) and 2 jars of tomatoes.

Several years ago when I began to work full time, I sold my canner at a yard sale and bought a freezer telling myself I'd NEVER can again. LOL! But for some reason, this year, the desire to do it was back. Maybe it's because I'm trying to be frugal since I'm not working now. Maybe it's because we are pastoring Dan's home church where he grew up - these are the women who taught me HOW to can things so many years ago. Maybe it's because we planted a garden for the first time in years?????

I don't know what the reason is, but I decided to start again. After investing in a brand new canning pot and raiding my mother-in-law's basement for empty jars, I set to work. The first thing I made was relish using my mother-in-law's recipe. She's not able to do it anymore and her supply is dwindling. Since Dan likes it, I made a batch.Yay! All 10 pint jars sealed and looked so good on the shelf.

Then came the green beans. I froze 8 quarts from my garden, but they just taste better when canned so I filled 12 pints of beans. For the last 3 weeks I've done a half a bushel each week of peaches, ending up with 31 quarts.

Yes, it's a lot of work, but I had forgotten how satisfying it felt to see those fruit and veggie filled jars lining the shelves in my pantry. I forgot how much better that food tasted than store-bought tin cans of food. I forgot the sense of accomplishment it gave me when all the jars sealed with that little "pop!"

As I look at the visible fruit of my labor, it is a subtle reminder that I am responsible to the Lord of the harvest to help "preserve" the souls of those around me through my actions and words.

Lord help me be a good steward of Your Word, sharing it with those around me who are hurting.

A great Chicken Marinade for Father's Day BBQs!

Father's Day is a great day to BBQ and nothing tastes as good as grilled marinated chicken.

It became a tradition for us in each church we pastored since 1996 when we lived in northern NY. A friend shared her yummy marinade recipe and we decided to make that chicken for the whole church for Father's Day.

We had to multiply the recipe 5-6 times to make enough marinade for 60 chicken legs. What fun! We found several 5 gallon plastic buckets and washed them out well, then took large clear plastic garbage bags and lined them to further protect the chicken.

The chicken was cleaned and trimmed to remove the fat and 30 legs were placed in each bucket before being covered with marinade. They soaked for 1-2 days before the Father's Day picnic.

The last few years, our daughter has made the trek to our house on Father's Day to grill the chicken, whether it's just for her dad or for the whole church.

Since then I make this recipe at least 1 or 2 times each summer and try to make enough to freeze the leftovers.

The original recipe:

1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups cider vinegar
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbs[p sage
1 egg, beaten
3 pounds chicken

Instructions:Mix ingredients in a blender and pour over chicken. Chicken should be almost covered with the brine. Soak for 24-36 hours, stirring if needed to be sure all pieces soak evenly.
***

I have found over the years that the best way to mix the marinade for large amounts of chicken is to make one recipe at a time, making as many batches as needed until all the chicken is covered in your container. However, for your convenience to purchase supplies, here is the larger version for 60 chicken legs.

Church-sized recipe for marinade:
2 2/3 quarts of oil
10 Tbsp of black pepper
10 Tbsp of garlic powder
20 Tbsp. salt
5 quarts vinegar
10 Tbsp sage
10 eggs
60 + chicken legs

ENJOY and Happy Father's Day to all!

Bonnie

It's a soupy day

It's a soupy day - literally!

One of my favorite meals to prepare is soup - especially on a chilly, damp day. Today it's 45 degrees and (soupy) rainy outside, which is good for the veggies I just planted, but not so good for arthritic bones...LOL!

So I have a wonderful pot of veggie-beef soup simmering on the stove. Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at soup, though I really don't know how you can mess that up????? When the garden is at its height, I do try to use all fresh stuff, but in the winter and spring I use whatever I can find and supplement with canned or frozen veggies.

Veggie Soup

All I do is cube up a small beef roast - about 2-3 pounds and brown it in my electric roaster. Yup! when I make soup, I make SOUP - the bigger the pot, the better. Once the meat is browned, I add my fresh veggies and enough water to cover them so they'll cook. For the fresh ones today I used potatoes, onions, celery, carrots and cabbage.

I let the fresh ingredients simmer for an hour so they cook before adding the rest of the ingredients. This week, I used canned veggies because I had a lot of them on hand - corn, peas, green beans, butter beans and diced tomatoes. I love a thick hearty soup so I don't add a lot of liquid. I spice it up with parsley, oregano, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and bouillon cubes to taste. Let it simmer for awhile longer until all the flavors mingle and boy is it good.
We'll have a loaf of fresh French bread to go with it.

The best part is that we'll have leftovers for several meals and it can be frozen in meal sized containers for later.***My husband likes to have meals at church so the members can fellowship and get to know one another better. - the soup and sandwich pot luck seems to be his favorite.

My favorite soup to make for pot luck is a wonderful thick potato chowder.

Potato Chowder

I dice about 6-8 medium potatoes in a large pot and add celery, onions, shredded carrots, broccoli florets and a slice of ham cubed. For seasoning, I use garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and parsley. I may add a little salt, but often the ham is salty enough to flavor it well.

I add just enough water to cover the ingredients and lit simmer until the potatoes are well done. If they fall apart, they help to thicken the chowder. Then I add a Parmesan cheese and a block of shredded cheddar cheese (or if I don't have that, I add cheddar cheese soup or Velveeta.

When I take it to church, I add a quart of half and half creamer to help thicken it, but when it's just my hubby and I eating it here at home, I add powdered milk or regular skim milk which makes a thinner soup. To thicken it if necessary, I will add some instant mashed potato flakes.

This is great with corn bread!

Thank you Lord for soup. Homemade sure beats canned soup any day!

Missions Banquet recipes

We kicked off our Missions convention this week with an International Pot Luck meal at church last night. I decided to make a dish to pass from each of the countries represented by the missionaries who will be speaking this week - Russia, South Aftica, Breece and Bulgaria.

Because it was a big hit, I thought it would be fun to share the recipes I used and if you have any from these countries - please leave your recipe and a comment - I'd love to try them!

The first three recipes I found on the World Heart Circle of International Cooking . The last recipe was from a really cool pastor's wife friend of mine who lives in Russia. They were all delicious and went over well. My personal favorites are the Almond Raspberry Cake and the Salad Olivier!

Greek - Almond Raspberry Cake adapted from The Universal Kitchen by Elisabeth Rozin

Ingredients
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Quake Oats
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Butter -- Chopped
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
3 Medium Eggs
1 Cup Almonds -- Chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1/2 Cup Seedless Raspberry Preserves
Confectioner's Sugar


Directions
Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, and chocolate chips, mix well. Cut in chopped butter. Pat the crumb mixture into 9 inch buttered pan. Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs, beat well, add almonds, salt and almond extract, mix well, spread preserves over crust, pour almond batter over the preserves, bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees, dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.

Serves
4



Bulgarian - Cheese Bread (Tutmanik) adapted from Bulgarian Rhapsody By Linda Joyce Forristal

Ingredients
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 Medium Eggs
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Pound Feta Cheese -- crumbled
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Caraway Seeds

Directions
In medium bowl, mix together yogurt, eggs, oil, feta and salt. Sift together flour and baking powder, slowly add the yogurt mixture and stir well. Pour into a well-greased 8x8 inch baking dish. Lightly sprinkle with paprika and caraway seeds. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serves
4



South African - Sosaties (South Africa) adapted from rice dishes of the world

Ingredients
4 Cups Cooked Rice
4 Pounds Pork -- cubed
4 Large Onions -- chopped
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Medium Bay Leaves
1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1 Tablespoon Turmeric
1/2 Cup Vinegar
Salt And Pepper -- to taste
Paprika -- to taste

Directions
Combine all but rice in large bowl. Marinate 24 hours. Pour into large skillet, Boil until pork & onions are tender. Thicken marinade with cornstarch if necessary. Serve over rice.

Serves
16



Russian - Salad Olivier (From a Pastor’s wife)

Ingredients

· 1 ½ Cup ham cubed
· 3-4 cooked potatoes
· 2 pickles
· 4 eggs
· ½ cup peas
· ½ cup carrots diced
· salt and pepper to taste
· mayonnaise

Directions Cook eggs and potatoes. Cool and dice. Add to ham, pickles, peas and carrots. Salt and pepper to taste. Add mayo as desired.

Old Fashioned Strawberry Short Cake...

I found another old cookbook in my stash that I didn't realize I had because it was mixed up in a plastic bag of hand written recipes.

This one came out somewhere in the late 1920s to early 1930s according to my research, put out by the Golden Rule company. It was published by the Citizen's Wholesale Supply Co. in Columbus, Ohio.

The featured endorser of the cookbook is Ida Bailey Allen (1885-1973), a noted home economist who submitted many of her own recipes and tested many of the others. She was also one of the first radio cooking show hostesses and president of the National Radio Homemaker's club.

Now, I love watching the cooking network, but I can't imagine LISTENING to someone as they cook. Yet, her show was originally a half hour in length and before it was canceled, it had increased to a 2 hour show in the middle of the day!

I found this recipe for "Old Fashioned Short Cake" in the book and plan to try it today because my husband brought home a luscious box of strawberries this week and though I'd pass it on.

Old Fashioned Short Cake

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
4 Tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons Golden Rule Baking Powder
3/4 to 1 cup of milk

Mix dry ingredients, work in the butter, and milk gradually, stirring well. Keep dough soft. toss on a floured board, pat or roll out. Bake 12 minutes in a hot oven (probably about 450 degrees). Split and spread with butter, then fill as desired. Strawberries should be partially crushed and mixed with sugar for a half hour. Oranges and peaches should be sliced and sugared, and allowed to stand in a cold place while bananas should be sugared and slightly sprinkled with lemon juice.

Serve with whipped cream made as follows:

Golden Rule Marshmallow Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Golden Rule Marshmallow Creme
Golden Rule Flavoring as desired

Beat until stiff enough to hold its shape.
***
This sounds very rich - I think I'll stick to Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream! Mmmm! I can taste those strawberries now...