I'm a little late in getting the blog out to you all this week. Friday unexpected challenges came my way. Last week was actually challenging in multiple areas. Once I moved pass one, another one came. The worst was an issue with work. Violating trust, credibility, and respect. Lots of areas that hit you hard, like a punch in a soft stomach.
My results focused self wanted to react emotionally and cut ties. I am very fortunate to have caring, compassionate people in my life that talked me out of it. And how good our God is that He spoke to me, through our Pastor, in church on Sunday. Sunday morning around 1am I felt very alone. I sent emails to 2 of my closest friends in my bible study group and told them that I would not be at bible study on Sunday evening. I wanted to hide from everyone. My confidence was shattered from harsh words... but wait, I am STRONGER than that!
What happened to me this weekend just proves to me yet again that my strength does not come from me. It comes from God. Every time I tell someone that I have five children and a full time job, they always ask me "how do you do it?" That is the most common question I get. I think the second most common question is "Huh, you really love kids, don't you?" (I say, No but I love slave labor and soon I'll not have to lift a finger at home. - just kidding!)
What was said in church is this: God loves me, and I love me, and WHO CARES about anyone else. And that is strength. If someone rejects you, it doesn't matter. I live for an audience of ONE. The ONE who made me, the ONE who has my life already written, the ONE who loves me. And everyone else can take their feelings about me and go home. How much more do I get done when I'm simply trying to please my maker? SO MUCH! How do I treat people when I simply follow God's rules - WONDERFULLY! I am not hateful to the people that don't like me. I'm not ugly to the people who speak ill about me. I remember that God loves me and I love me and I have a plan to follow. God's plan. And that, my friend, gives me ALL the strength I need to go on.
My challenge this week is to live for Him. To speak to Him every morning and every night with gratitude for all the blessings that He has provided to me. I am also treating the body He gave me better. I am working out for 10 minutes every morning to my 10 minute strength training DVD. It goes by so quickly and then I'm sore! I can't expect huge improvements, after all it's only 10 minutes each day. But it does make me feel good.
Here's the meals this week.
Mon: Quick Chicken Gumbo. Southern Living recipe for February 2010. I used the meat from a rotisserie chicken. Dice one onion, one small bell pepper, and two stalks of celery and set aside. It called for andouille sausage but I could not find it and added beef sausage that was pecan smoked. I cut three sausage links up in small pieces (round, about 1/4 inch thick), 3 cans chicken broth. One package of frozen cut okra, thawed. 1/2 cup peanut oil, 1/2 cup flour. 2 garlic cloves minced. 2 tsp Cajun seasoning. In a dutch oven (or big pan) put in the oil, get hot (medium high heat), add in the flour and STIR CONSTANTLY, till the flour turns the color of milk chocolate. Don't burn it... you have to stir constantly with a wisk. Add in the diced onion, celery, and pepper, stir more (yes, your hand gets tired) for a couple of minutes. Add in the garlic, stir one minute more. Add in three cans of chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add in the cajun seasoning and sausage. Cook about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook three slices of bacon until crisp. Use the bacon grease to saute the thawed, drained okra. Cook a few minutes. It called for half a diced onion to go in there with the okra - which I did - but I can't tell that it really made that much difference. When the onion was soft, you take it off, toss it with a package of premade cajun rice. I just tossed it with regular white rice that I made. Sprinkle that with the bacon that you've crumbled up. At the last minute, add in your chicken. Then put the okra / rice combo in a bowl and top with the gumbo. It was good, not great, but something different for dinner. The amount of seasoning I put in was good for my kids, you probably want to add more... so I would just taste it and adjust as needed.
Tues: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and peas.
Meatloaf: 1 lb ground beef, 1/2 lb ground pork, two eggs, 15 saltine crackers crushed, 1 tsp yellow mustard, 1 tsp Worcestershire, 1/2 diced onion, 1/4 cup diced bell pepper. Mix it all together and bake at 400 for 45 minutes. (I bake it in a loaf pan.) At the end of 45 minutes, pour off any juice that is sitting on the top, then mix together 1/3 cup of brown sugar and equal part ketchup, spread on the top, bake for 15 minutes more. It was very good and very tender! Get your meatloaf in the oven and then you can get your potatoes boiling and then mashed. I make frozen corn and peas because they are my family's favorite with mashed potatoes.
Wed: Baked cod, cauliflower gratin, sweet potato fries.
I'm much more excited about the cauliflower dish than the fish... but I needed something healthy to pair with it!
Cauliflower: In a large pan on the stove on medium high heat, melt 1/4 cup butter, 1 head of cauliflower that is separated into florets, 1 small diced onion, and two cloves minced garlic. Saute for about 10 minutes or until golden and tender. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp flour, 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme, 1/2 tsp salt. Remove from heat. Put in a baking dish and drizzle with 1/2 cup of whipping cream. Sprinkle with 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese (I could not find so I'm using swiss), 2/3 cup panko, 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes or less to make the fish... so the cauliflower and fish will share the oven for 10 minutes, then the cauliflower comes out when I broil the fish.
Cod (thick fillets), 1 Tbsp butter, 1/2 juice of lemon, sliced tomato, grated parmesan cheese and a spice blend of: 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika, dash of pepper and dash of cayenne. Directions
Combine all spices in a small bowl and set aside, place fillets in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, brush with melted butter, squeeze little lemon juice on the fish, then sprinkle the spice blend evenly over the top of each fillet, cover with a tomato slice (or two) and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top of that. Bake the fish, uncovered, for 10 minutes on 400, then turn oven to broil and cook until cheese is browning... about 6 to 8 minutes.
Thurs: Chicken broccoli stir fry with brown rice. My mom makes this all the time and it is very good and very easy. Just brown some cut up chicken in a little bit of olive oil. Add in fresh broccoli florets, and then equal parts Hoisin sauce and Very Teriyaki sauce. Cook on the stove top till everything is done... literally takes like 10 or 15 minutes... not long at all. Serve with brown rice. If you feel like you need something else on the plate, give your kids some mandrin oranges.
Fri: Spaghetti and meatsauce, zucchini and salad. Another easy one. I use, you guessed it, ground italian mild turkey sausage out of it's casing, and a jar of premade spaghetti sauce. If I really feel like I need to doctor it up more, I can cook the sausage in a bit of white wine before I dump in the sauce, or I can add fresh garlic or fresh basil. I saute the zucchini in a bit of olive oil (sliced thin) and put a tiny bit of salt on it. Add a salad and garlic bread and you are good to go for a fast supper for the end of your week.
Stay Strong, and remember it doesn't have to come from YOU.
Till next week.
Mecca
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