OK, I tried this today and it was yummy. Lest you think this blog is becoming a food blog I am adding it to help with time management.
Crockpot Oatmeal
3 cups oatmeal
4 cups cold water, 2 cups ice
pinch of salt
sprinkle liberally with cinnamon (makes it smell sooooo good in the morning)and we all need more cinnamon in our diet)
opt.: chopped apples, or raisins or other dried fruit.
SPRAY the inside of your crock first - VIP I think it took me days to get it clean.
add all to crock, turn on low, go to bed, snuggle with dh, wake up to yummy breakfast. Can add raisins or dried fruit in the morning if you like it chewier.
God Bless,
Christy
Virtual Eucharist Adoration
We adore You O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeeemed the world!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Cranberry Mustard Salad Dressing
In an attempt to eat less processed foods and use up some odd mustard I have created the following. It is delicious over a green salad. I even added a little to what I loosely call guacamole (avacado, lemon juice, salsa all mashed together)it gave it a great flavor.
Cranberry Mustard Salad Dressing
1/4 cup Cranberry Honey Mustard
1/8 cup honey (I just used a big squirt)
1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
tsp of organic dulse granules - optional, I just add this to almost everything to get the nutrients from this sea veggie.
1/3 cup water
Blend in the blender, can store in frig for up to 2 weeks.
(this can also be made with regular Dijon just use 1/4 cup of honey and add about a tsp of poppyseeds)
I just made a fantastic salad with sliced strawberries and toasted walnuts with this as the dressing - yum!! If you like feta cheese I bet that would be delish also.
I think I will serve this with a salad when we row Cranberry Thanksgiving!
God Bless,
Christy
Cranberry Mustard Salad Dressing
1/4 cup Cranberry Honey Mustard
1/8 cup honey (I just used a big squirt)
1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
tsp of organic dulse granules - optional, I just add this to almost everything to get the nutrients from this sea veggie.
1/3 cup water
Blend in the blender, can store in frig for up to 2 weeks.
(this can also be made with regular Dijon just use 1/4 cup of honey and add about a tsp of poppyseeds)
I just made a fantastic salad with sliced strawberries and toasted walnuts with this as the dressing - yum!! If you like feta cheese I bet that would be delish also.
I think I will serve this with a salad when we row Cranberry Thanksgiving!
God Bless,
Christy
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Quote
"For instance, take the matter of eating, God has given us an appetite for food and stomachs to digest it. But that doesn't mean we should eat more than we need. Don't think of eating as important, because some day God will do away with both stomachs and food.
1Cor 6:13
1Cor 6:13
Steak and Beer in the Crockpot
This recipe got 2 thumbs up from my family!
Round steak or roast
1 - 12oz beer
1 large can tomato sauce
1 chopped onion
1TBS instant sweet tea
1 container sliced mushrooms
Put all except mushrooms in the crock and cook 8-10 hours on low. Add mushrooms 1/2 hour before serving. This is delicious with mashed potatoes and a salad.
Round steak or roast
1 - 12oz beer
1 large can tomato sauce
1 chopped onion
1TBS instant sweet tea
1 container sliced mushrooms
Put all except mushrooms in the crock and cook 8-10 hours on low. Add mushrooms 1/2 hour before serving. This is delicious with mashed potatoes and a salad.
Lentil Soup or "Shorabat Addas"
This is a delicious gluten free, vegan soup that also meets my very allergic son's criteria.
2 cups Red Lentils
8 cups of water or broth of your choice or a combo
1/2 tsp of cumin (I use more)
1/2 tsp tumeric or paprika
1 large onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic minced
2 TBS EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
salt and pepper
juice of one lemon
2 bullion cubes of choice
Wash lentils. Add to broth and bring to a boil, cover for a half hour stirring occasionally. When Lentils are tender, add dry spices and bullion to the pot. Saute onions and garlic in evoo, when golden brown, add to soup. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and add lemon juice to pot, stir. Can garnish with parsley and paprika. Serve with lemon wedges on the side. Serves 6-8.
2 cups Red Lentils
8 cups of water or broth of your choice or a combo
1/2 tsp of cumin (I use more)
1/2 tsp tumeric or paprika
1 large onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic minced
2 TBS EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
salt and pepper
juice of one lemon
2 bullion cubes of choice
Wash lentils. Add to broth and bring to a boil, cover for a half hour stirring occasionally. When Lentils are tender, add dry spices and bullion to the pot. Saute onions and garlic in evoo, when golden brown, add to soup. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and add lemon juice to pot, stir. Can garnish with parsley and paprika. Serve with lemon wedges on the side. Serves 6-8.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Bittersweet Magnolia Memories
I read the following at the Happy Homeschool, a great blog post on the pain of divorce as seen by a grown child of divorced parents:
Bittersweet Magnolia Memories
As an adult, I find myself assured that I have endured enough painful events to have a heart for others' sufferings. On the other hand, I have had the privilege to live out enough joyful times to be able to say I have had a pretty happy life. I believe most of us move about doing the chores of our everyday living without being aware of how complex the journey was to getting us where we are now. Even so, every once in awhile, some small thing can jar us to a full awareness of some long-ago painful or bittersweet event that made us who we are.
Yesterday, I drove my teenage son to his weekly piano lesson where I normally go inside, sit at a dining table and read while waiting for his lesson to end. However, yesterday was so lovely and sunny, with the owner's garden just beginning its spring showing, I felt compelled to just sit outside to wait for the lesson's end. The idea was perfectly fine with our piano instructor. Thus, my son disappeared into the house for his lesson and I went out into the garden and found a primitive-looking bench in the shade. Paying attention to the overall beauty of the yard, I was not really focused on any one plant. So it was not until I was comfortably seated for a moment and fully appreciating the scent on the breeze that I realized I was being shaded by a huge magnolia tree not yet in bloom. The scent of the tree filled me with an instantaneous flood of memories. It only took seconds for tears to sting my eyes and for me to be transported to another time and another place.
The "happiest" years of my childhood were played out in an old house whose yard was graced by one of the most monstrous magnolia trees I have ever seen. My sister and I had spent countless hours hiding in its branches. We had used its big, brittle, brown leaves in the fall to make hats and baskets, "sewing" them together with twigs. We made "perfume" in old bottles with its beautiful white blossoms which we would grind up and mix with water. We peeled back petals to reveal what looked like matches to play with in our pretend house under the magnolia.
Sitting at the foot of that strange magnolia yesterday, enveloped in a scent I had not smelled in years, it was as if I had hit an air pocket during a plane ride--my stomach was in my throat. I wanted so badly I could taste it to go back and somehow claim all my childhood memories left laying strewn beneath that magnolia tree. I wanted to go back and make a happy ending to something that ended in tears. I wanted to go back and tell the neighborhood children who used to come play with us, we were happy there one time. We really were.
Though the "old house in the country" was the first real house my parents bought together to grow their family (after years of living in what they knew were stepping stones to get where they really wanted to be), it ended up being the place where their union together fell apart. Children have a way of being able to keep playing even when pieces of their lives are falling down around them. So it was with me and my sister. We played in that tree right up until the day we left, without the foresight or wisdom of age to say some kind of goodbye and make some kind of peace with the giant that had been the center of our world for several years.
I didn't cry yesterday. I almost did, but not quite. It was startling to realize that this strange magnolia which had awakened in me a sleeping memory capable of producing tears was not even in bloom! It was simply the smell of the bark and the leaves. Had there been blooms on the tree, I may have truly cried.
Though painful, somehow there was a lesson in the piano teacher's garden that I needed to find. I am a grown woman now, happily married with children. My husband and I found "our house" on the first try many years ago, though I didn't always see it that way. This house we live in would NOT have been my choice, but it was all we could afford. Eventually, we went from being renters to owners of this old house we live in, and now we have four children who have only known this one house as "home." I felt almost ashamed yesterday as I sat in the breeze under that magnolia thinking of all the times I have complained about my current house and life--a leaky faucet, ending up in town versus being in the country, not having big enough closets, and other things. What matters most has been before me all along. My husband and my children. The half-hour under that magnolia tree further solidified a resolve that was born long ago, probably in part out of my own parents' sad estrangement from each other. As long as I am breathing and able to stand by my vows, there will be no scattered, abandoned memories that my children will have to look back on with sadness and longing. Though storm clouds may gather over the union I have made with my children's daddy, I want my children to witness and be strengthened by our endurance of the storms.
I do realize, as I have learned that life does not deal all hands equally, that sometimes a union must end for reasons beyond a person's control, no matter what their resolve. In the end though, how many times could vital repairs have been made to a marriage if pride, anger, self-pity, and jealousy had been removed from the table, or if someone had only been willing to get some help?
My husband and I don't have a magnolia tree, but we have some pretty magnificent maples. It is my dream and hope that one day my husband and I can sit under these maple trees with our grandchildren and say, "your mom spent some of the happiest years of her life playing under these trees." I want to be vigilant and guard my children's happy memories which are living under our maple trees. They'll need these memories one day. I know they will.
You may reproduce the above article on your website with the following byline: Lynn Wilson, mom to four delightful (and perhaps challenging) children, is the eclectic and nature-loving owner of The Healthy Homeschool (http://www.thehealthyhomeschool.com). She welcomes you to visit her any time at her website!
Bittersweet Magnolia Memories
As an adult, I find myself assured that I have endured enough painful events to have a heart for others' sufferings. On the other hand, I have had the privilege to live out enough joyful times to be able to say I have had a pretty happy life. I believe most of us move about doing the chores of our everyday living without being aware of how complex the journey was to getting us where we are now. Even so, every once in awhile, some small thing can jar us to a full awareness of some long-ago painful or bittersweet event that made us who we are.
Yesterday, I drove my teenage son to his weekly piano lesson where I normally go inside, sit at a dining table and read while waiting for his lesson to end. However, yesterday was so lovely and sunny, with the owner's garden just beginning its spring showing, I felt compelled to just sit outside to wait for the lesson's end. The idea was perfectly fine with our piano instructor. Thus, my son disappeared into the house for his lesson and I went out into the garden and found a primitive-looking bench in the shade. Paying attention to the overall beauty of the yard, I was not really focused on any one plant. So it was not until I was comfortably seated for a moment and fully appreciating the scent on the breeze that I realized I was being shaded by a huge magnolia tree not yet in bloom. The scent of the tree filled me with an instantaneous flood of memories. It only took seconds for tears to sting my eyes and for me to be transported to another time and another place.
The "happiest" years of my childhood were played out in an old house whose yard was graced by one of the most monstrous magnolia trees I have ever seen. My sister and I had spent countless hours hiding in its branches. We had used its big, brittle, brown leaves in the fall to make hats and baskets, "sewing" them together with twigs. We made "perfume" in old bottles with its beautiful white blossoms which we would grind up and mix with water. We peeled back petals to reveal what looked like matches to play with in our pretend house under the magnolia.
Sitting at the foot of that strange magnolia yesterday, enveloped in a scent I had not smelled in years, it was as if I had hit an air pocket during a plane ride--my stomach was in my throat. I wanted so badly I could taste it to go back and somehow claim all my childhood memories left laying strewn beneath that magnolia tree. I wanted to go back and make a happy ending to something that ended in tears. I wanted to go back and tell the neighborhood children who used to come play with us, we were happy there one time. We really were.
Though the "old house in the country" was the first real house my parents bought together to grow their family (after years of living in what they knew were stepping stones to get where they really wanted to be), it ended up being the place where their union together fell apart. Children have a way of being able to keep playing even when pieces of their lives are falling down around them. So it was with me and my sister. We played in that tree right up until the day we left, without the foresight or wisdom of age to say some kind of goodbye and make some kind of peace with the giant that had been the center of our world for several years.
I didn't cry yesterday. I almost did, but not quite. It was startling to realize that this strange magnolia which had awakened in me a sleeping memory capable of producing tears was not even in bloom! It was simply the smell of the bark and the leaves. Had there been blooms on the tree, I may have truly cried.
Though painful, somehow there was a lesson in the piano teacher's garden that I needed to find. I am a grown woman now, happily married with children. My husband and I found "our house" on the first try many years ago, though I didn't always see it that way. This house we live in would NOT have been my choice, but it was all we could afford. Eventually, we went from being renters to owners of this old house we live in, and now we have four children who have only known this one house as "home." I felt almost ashamed yesterday as I sat in the breeze under that magnolia thinking of all the times I have complained about my current house and life--a leaky faucet, ending up in town versus being in the country, not having big enough closets, and other things. What matters most has been before me all along. My husband and my children. The half-hour under that magnolia tree further solidified a resolve that was born long ago, probably in part out of my own parents' sad estrangement from each other. As long as I am breathing and able to stand by my vows, there will be no scattered, abandoned memories that my children will have to look back on with sadness and longing. Though storm clouds may gather over the union I have made with my children's daddy, I want my children to witness and be strengthened by our endurance of the storms.
I do realize, as I have learned that life does not deal all hands equally, that sometimes a union must end for reasons beyond a person's control, no matter what their resolve. In the end though, how many times could vital repairs have been made to a marriage if pride, anger, self-pity, and jealousy had been removed from the table, or if someone had only been willing to get some help?
My husband and I don't have a magnolia tree, but we have some pretty magnificent maples. It is my dream and hope that one day my husband and I can sit under these maple trees with our grandchildren and say, "your mom spent some of the happiest years of her life playing under these trees." I want to be vigilant and guard my children's happy memories which are living under our maple trees. They'll need these memories one day. I know they will.
You may reproduce the above article on your website with the following byline: Lynn Wilson, mom to four delightful (and perhaps challenging) children, is the eclectic and nature-loving owner of The Healthy Homeschool (http://www.thehealthyhomeschool.com). She welcomes you to visit her any time at her website!
Cranberry Thanksgiving
Today at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store I found Cranberry Thanksgiving and I paid ..........$5.00 for 5o books and this was included! So very cool. Cannot wait to use it next year for FIAR.
God Bless,
Christy
God Bless,
Christy
Wii, Wii, We got a Wii!!
We got a Wii! Yes, I caved in and bought the newest and coolest game system EVER! (just ask around). It really is a lot of fun. I think I might even improve my bowling and tennis game - couldn't hurt!
With the money we didn't spend on a vacation we bought this. I think it is a great trade.
God Bless,
Christy
Happy Birthday to .....Josh, Molly, Michael, Randy, Mitsie, Monica, Mimi, Sylvia, Mary Alice, Gigi and TJ
Happy Birthday to them! Happy Birthday to them! Happy Happy Birthday dear Josh, Molly, Michael, Randy, Mitsie, Monica, Mimi, Sylvia, Gigi, Mary Alice and TJ Happy Birthday to you!!
Yes this is the list of birthdays we celebrate in my immediate family in April - astounding isn't it??
Party On Garth!!
God Bless,
Christy
Yes this is the list of birthdays we celebrate in my immediate family in April - astounding isn't it??
Party On Garth!!
God Bless,
Christy
Saturday, March 15, 2008
More Scary Stuff
One world power? 911 not a terrorist attack? Who really is in charge? I am not sure but if you want an opinion which seems based on substantial fact go here and read and watch the videos. It will certainly open your eyes to another point of view that isn't manipulated by our news media.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Brother Jeremy and friend, Legionaries of Christ brothers.
Brother Jeremy and friend: Please pray for them and all young people discerning vocations! 
Lord Jesus, eternal Shepherd, in your kindness, look with mercy on this part of your beloved flock. Lord, we cry out to you as orphans. Grant us vocations! Call many of our young people to be holy priests and consecrated men and women.
We ask Mary, your tender, holy Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to intercede for us. Jesus, grant us priests and consecrated persons after your own heart!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wait until you hear who I am related to.
OK I admit it I am going to do a little name dropping. My ancestor was the FIRST governor of Jamestown! That is right, he was the guy who didn't like John Smith and had him brought to the New World in chains. Seems like the 2 guys didn't like each other. We didn't know this when we read - This Dear Bought Land so now I need to do some serious research on him. His name was Edward Maria Wingfield. More exciting information to follow........stay tuned! click here and here for more information. Oh wait, I want this for my birthday!!!
oh, looky what I found .......(here) (I cut and pasted the following)
Edward-Maria Wingfield Jamestown's First President - 1607
Edward Maria Wingfield was the true founder of the first successful English colony in America in 1607. History with few exceptions, ignores this fact. Nevertheless it is for this accomplishment he is best known, although he was also a valiant soldier in prior years for England.
Wingfield an active leader in getting the Jamestown expedition up and running, was one of the Big Eight Virginia Company stockholders and the only venturer representing the London company in Virginia.
Most of the accepted history of Jamestown was written by the better known, John Smith himself, who became an adversary of Capt. Wingfield. Smith's enormous ego basically denied merit to anyone but himself. Therefore history of the event is unfairly slanted with many inaccuracies.
Smith describes Wingfield as a weak person, who misappropriated rations, held Smith in custody without cause, tried to escape from Jamestown, did not build temporary defense works or even unpack the arms. Each and every one of these accusations were disproved by chapter and verse in a 1993 book ("Virginia's True Founder: Edward-Maria Wingfield") by Jocelyn Wingfield of London, England. The simple undeniable fact is Smith was not in charge of building the fort, did not initiate bartering with the Indians or keeping peace with them. He was not the founder of Jamestown as most people tend to believe.
John Smith was a brave and daring individual with many accomplishments at Jamestown to his credit. Unfortunately telling the truth was not one of them. History has vastly exaggerated Smith's role and ignores that Wingfield was the true founder of the Jamestown colony.
Wingfield and his cousin, Bartholomew Gosnold were responsible for recruiting around half the settlers from their ancestral homes in Suffolk, England area. Wingfield was the only stockholder and charter grantee to sail with the one hundred and five colonists on three ships into Virginia. He had been chosen president of the council and took complete charge upon arrival. Incidentally, John Smith arrived in chains for promoting mutiny inroute.
Wingfield was not popular as the responsibility was staggering, nevertheless the 57 year old military man was extremely experienced in defense works, constructed the fort in an incredibly short time of a month and a day. It was indeed a dismal, fledging colony in the early days. To add to the overwhelming problems, many of the colonists were "gentlemen" and did not take well to "labor." It was working, watching and warding, so much so that Wingfield's cousin, Gosnold advised him to ease up a bit as he was working the men too hard.
After arrival to promote harmony Smith was released from his incarceration and allowed to take his seat on the council. After Gosnold died, Smith led a drive for the council to depose it's president, his adversary, Wingfield.
As the going got especially tough, with starvation, disease, a high percentage of deaths as well as Indian attacks, Wingfield was deposed. History often overlooks that John Smith was also deposed as was his two predecessors as president of the council.
When Christopher Newport's ship returned from England with supplies, he (Newport) dismissed all charges against Wingfield as ludicrous, except one and that was he was an atheist. This was also untrue, as he was a Protestant. The fact remains that Wingfield led the colony from selection of a brilliant defense position on the James River, building the fort, establishing contact with the Indians during a tenuous and a most dismay period between arrival in April until September, 1607. His leadership established the colony on a foundation to become a permanent settlement in the new world. So it was Capt. Edward Maria Wingfield, the first president of Jamestown who was the true founder.
Just for fun.....I love these things!
What Color Sharpie Are You? (25 Different Colors) Updated Again!
Blue Sharpie
Element: Water
Sense: Sound
Gemstone: Sapphire
Some Qualities: Trustworthy, Calm, IndependentFact: Sapphires are considered antidepressants. Also, blue is considered to be a calming color
Take this quiz!
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Monday, February 18, 2008
What did you learn in history?
I have been reading "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "People's History of the United States 1492 to Present" both books are fascinating. I am often taken aback by what I was never taught in school. Both books are written by very liberal thinking gentlemen and it is obvious in what they present. However, I had never learned about Columbus' atrocities, I learned the term "carpetbagger" and certainly received a skewed teaching of many historical events. It was mindblowing almost to read a different view than what I was taught. I am intregued to learn more. I recommend these books as an informative read. I don't think you should take as gospel everything these men write but I don't think they want you to either. They both say that they want students to think about history and when their is conflict of stories to make their own informed opinions. But informed is the keyword I think. Don't just take their word for it, or the textbooks, or event the encyclopedia or wikipedia - read many sources and then decide. Well, that is if you have time
God bless,
Christy
Lent
I want to recommend a great article about Lent here. An article by Theresa A. Thomas at Catholic Exchange. It talks about how to live simply during Lent following these five ideas:
First attain mastery over time.
Second, live more naturally - get up earlier, go to bed earlier.
Third recognise that less if often more.
Fourth decrease expenses.
Fifth embrace silence.
I feel the need to look at my lenten progress - which is minimal and see where and how I can implement these in my life. More so than just at lent, making them a more permanent life plan.
God Bless,
Christy
First attain mastery over time.
Second, live more naturally - get up earlier, go to bed earlier.
Third recognise that less if often more.
Fourth decrease expenses.
Fifth embrace silence.
I feel the need to look at my lenten progress - which is minimal and see where and how I can implement these in my life. More so than just at lent, making them a more permanent life plan.
God Bless,
Christy
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