Chicken Schnitzel

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasonings
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (8 slices of bread)
• 2 lbs.chicken strips
• Canola oil

Directions

1. Beat eggs in a shallow bowl with garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs (I pulse the bread slices in the food processor to get nice fresh crumbs).
3. Dip each cutlet into egg mixture to coat completely, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, patting it on to help it stick.
4. For each 3 strips, heat ~2 tbsp oil in a large skillet over med heat.
5. Cook 3 strips at a time until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
6. Transfer the cooked chicken strips to an oven-proof platter or pan, and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining strips.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

• 4 slices bacon
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• ½ teas. Minced garlic
• 3 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups cream
• 4 Tbs. melted butter
• 1 Cup bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

3. In a large pot with boiling salted water cook pasta until al dente. Drain.

4. In a medium skillet saute the chopped onion, and minced garlic. Take off heat and add chopped cooked bacon and set aside.

5. To make the sauce, in a medium saucepan melt the butter or margarine over low heat. Once melted, add the flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Gradually add cream and continue stirring until thickened. Stir in Cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

6. Combine cooked pasta, sauteed vegetables and sauce. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish. Add the melted butter to the bread crumbs and sprinkle on top.

7. Bake uncovered in preheated oven until cheese on top is melted and brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Would you take tambourines?

http://oneinjesus.info/2010/01/28/faith-lessons-by-ray-vander-laan-crossing-the-red-sea/#comment-21902

This article is thought provoking...I've never thought about this way. Maybe I'll be packing tambourines next time I go somewhere. What about you?

Interesting, very interesting....

Matthew 18:15-17
If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses'. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

My husband had the opportunity to hear a new twist on this scripture. A twist that has brought some interesting thoughts up, as well as lots of discussion.

This scripture is frequently used to explain what do with with a fellow Christian that isn't following God's will any longer. My understanding of how to explain this scripture may be wrong, but I've heard the scenario often described this way. If someone sins against you, you talk to the sinning party one on one, you bring witnesses, you take it to the church and if all of this fails to bring this person back to following God's will then you cut them off never to talk or speak to them again unless they want to repent or study repentance and then you can talk about repentance with them.

But let's look at what this scripture actually says. It says that if he still refuses to listen then you are supposed to treat them like a pagan or a tax collector. Hmm....here is the interesting part.....ready?....How did Christ treat pagans and tax collectors? I'm pretty sure that Jesus ate with the tax collectors and the pagans. He talked to them. He spent time with them. He loved them.

What if we started treating people that weren't following God's way like this? Do you think it might make a difference?

Creamy Potato Soup

In large pot saute

1/4 yellow onion chopped
1 stalk of celery chopped
1 clove of garlic minced
1 tablespoon fresh basil (or 1 cube of frozen basil)
1 cup carrots chopped
1 teaspoon of pepper

Saute til onions are transluscent

Add 1 1/2 cups chicken broth bring to a boil and cook til carrots are soft

Take off the heat and blend with mixer or hand blender

Add 8 russet potatoes peeled and cubed and 2-3 cups of chicken broth into the pot

Bring to a boil

In a medium sauce pan make a roux:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon of salt

Cook til thick and then add to the big pot of potatoes

Heart heavy but still at peace

I've been a little bit heart heavyed these past few weeks. Hubby and I had been looking at adopting again. It has been a maze. First we thought it would be the right thing for God if we adopted a child with special needs. We could easily have taken a deaf child, or one with some correctable disabilities (club foot, cleft palate, etc). But did you know that most countries think that we are a big family and must of course not want more kids or be able to care for them financially? If we wanted to adopt a child that was over 5 years old then there are a couple of countries that would accept our application. And then of course there are a few countries in Africa that would be willing to look at our application if we wanted to accept a child that might have HIV or AIDS.

So as you can see my heart began to grow heavy with these thoughts.

We turned our attention towards the possibility of adopting an infant again. Our agency, ever so sweetly told us that we would more than likely not be picked by a birth- mother since she is usually seeking a home with no children or maybe one other child in the home so that her child can have the best chances in life.

Wow...so there are 148 million orphans in this world....

We are a family that would take one or maybe even two of them....

We are blocked though at this point unless we change what we are looking for.....


but


We do have a great family...

We have 5 wonderful kids....

We will wait...

We will wait with peace knowing that if and when God decides that we should adopt again HE will make it very clear what path we should take and how we should get there....

New 'do

Well I hadn't really had a good haircut since we moved to Hawaii about 2 and half years ago. On Saturday though I finally went and got a new 'do. It is a haircut I've had before but this time seemed different. I was ready for a change and somehow cutting my hair was like really closing the door on my time in Hawaii. This short hair version of me feels like the Northwest, feel like home, and feels like me....

Before

After