Tag Archives: Organizational Tips

What Scares Me – Part 3

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Shoal Creek

Shoal Creek

Being cooped up.

I’m an outdoor girl.

Mothers Day or my birthday are usually a day of canoeing, hiking or horseback riding.

Studying for my big exam this spring I missed taking in the grape kool-aid (mountain laurel) air with honey suckle top notes.

The scent of flowers and birds singing all calm me.

My coursework of memorizing laws and regulations kept me from my daily visit to the creek to breathe in the fresh air-conditioner free air.

Stepping out for a few minutes this spring, a young gentlemen from the next building whistled out the mocking jay haunting melody making me laugh.

I must remind him of a much older Katniss Everdeen.

Getting out of the routine of being outside scares me. Spring seemed to rush by without me noticing.

Don’t be scared… go outside.

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Breakfast for a Texan

25 Friday May 2012

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Jack called yesterday and asked if he could spend the night. A lifelong friend was gravely ill and he would not make it for dinner, but he looked forward to spending the night and breakfast in the morning. He remembered my husband’s birthday is this weekend and even brought a gift in the midst of a very heavy evening. His friend went home to  Jesus at 10:30 pm.

Jack is a Texan. How do you cook breakfast for a Texan when you are  Iowan?

I began cooking around 7:30am and everything was ready in 15 minutes.

Grill sausage on very hot pan seering all sides…turn to low and place a few slices of french bread in the grease around the sausage. (Texas Toast) Image

Crumble 1 sausage in the bottom of your frying pan, turn up heat and slice garlic very thin and place all around the pan. Lower heat to 4 for gas.Image

Scramble two eggs into the pan…toss generous amounts of cayenne pepper on everything.

Add Cilantro and perhaps some sage or thyme…whatever is available and garnish your plate with salsa.

My husband makes a green chili sauce that is perfect with eggs.

(Recipe is  classified)

Place toast in a covered basket to keep warm and two corn tortilla’s for the eggs.

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Elgin Sausage is the only sausage we serve in Texas.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

05 Monday Sep 2011

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Happy Labor Day Everyone!

This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and doing your own work.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 TLB

(I keep this tucked in my pocket at work and it has been very helpful over the years.)

The base of this recipe comes from the “Joy of Cooking”. I received it from my Aunt Bernice as a wedding shower gift 25 years ago. I love the inscription inside….

A well prepared meal, graciously served will be helpful to Todd’s Air Force career.

This note will make a few of you gasp, but my Aunt was correct in coaching me. She was a great cook, I can still taste and see her crepes stacked 12 high with chocolate in between each one.  She was a Nurse anesthetist in the  Navy and married in her 50’s to our beloved Uncle Fred.  If you do not own the “Joy of Cooking” click on the GFCF Lady link on this website and order one from Amazon.

Turn to page 701 and use Brownies Cockaigne as your guide.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and get started early in the morning.  We have had over 70 days over 100 degrees and today is our first day we have been able to open the windows here in Texas.  (I have made dinner very early each morning and setting in the fridge given the extreme heat later in the day.)

In a double boiler melt 1 stick of unsalted butter, 4 tbsp. of evoo, 12 tbsp. of Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa and whisk till smooth.  Set aside to cool.

Beat 4 eggs and 1/4 ts. salt till light and frothy.

Add 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar and blend gently with a spatula.

Add 1 cup of flour, folding in carefully and taking the time not to over mix.

Bake in a 9 * 13 for 22-25 minutes.

The taste is not sweet and is a delightfully dark.

Serve in very small square servings with petite glasses of milk on a serving tray for your guests or family.

The Smaller Footprint

06 Tuesday Oct 2009

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During our years in Tucson our small group read a book by Randy Frazee “Making Room fo Life”.  The Navigator staff couple leading the group asked us to read and implement the changes in every area of our life.  Our first change was to purchase a home in an area walking distance to school, a market, and would allow us to ride our bikes to and from work in good weather.  Freeing ourselves from the additional expense of one car, and ultimately allowing ourselves more time as a family.  We recently moved to a Texas and our home we selected had to fall into all the categories to be a “go”. 

Walking home from work today took exactly 16 minutes. 

These hidden blessings to our family have been the sunshine in the occasional cloud of inconvenience.

First off, our windshield time has been reduced dramatically. We stopped going in all different directions and started moving in the same direction as a family laughing, exercising and simply enjoying each others company as we are physically in each others presence.

Our school, tennis courts, restaurants, market and work are in close proximity to our neighborhood.

Walking to anywhere or riding your bike is not only is refreshing 

During our years in Tucson our small group read a book by Randy Frazee “Making Room of Life”.  The Navigator staff couple leading the group asked us to read and implement the changes in every area of our life.  Our first change was to purchase a home in an area walking distance to school, a market and would allow us to ride our bikes to and from work in good weather.  We are now free from the additional expense of one car.  We recently moved to a Texas and our home we selected had to fall into all the categories to be a “go”. 

Walking home from work today took exactly 16 minutes. 

These hidden blessings to our family have been the sunshine in the occasional cloud of inconvenience.

First off, our windshield time has been reduced dramatically. We stopped going in all different directions and started moving in the same direction as a family laughing, exercising and simply enjoying physically being in each other’s presence.

Our school, tennis courts, restaurants, market and work are in close proximity to our neighborhood.

Walking to anywhere or riding your bike is not only is refreshing as you enjoy fresh air, we are together more often laughing  while doing these things  and modeling a smarter, simpler lifestyle for our teen. 

Our daughter had a flat tire recently and undeterred rode her skateboard beside me as I rode my bike to the new breakfast spot that opened near our home.  We ride our bikes to the orthodontist, our family doctor, the post office and the library.  I rode my bike to pay my recent speeding ticket at the local police station.

My husband keeps our one car in tip-top shape, keeping up with repairs.  We rent a car when taking long trips out-of-town, and when attending a women’s retreat in Dallas I was able to rent from Enterprise a nice sedan for the weekend.

We communicate each day about our various errands, talking through our day instead of living out our lives separately.

Park a car for a day, a weekend, and work up to a month and perhaps permanently.  Methodically move towards a slower and healthier life creating a tight-knit family in today’s jam-packed lifestyle.

I advise something which frees you of additional financial pressures, your family leaves a visible smaller carbon footprint, and all relationships in your life especially the one with God have the space they need to flourish.

Resting in Him,

Trish

Brian’s Chopped Salad

07 Friday Aug 2009

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Daniel 1: 14 -16 The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.

   17 -19 God gave these four young men knowledge and skill in both books and life. In addition, Daniel was gifted in understanding all sorts of visions and dreams. At the end of the time set by the king for their training, the head of the royal staff brought them in to Nebuchadnezzar. When the king interviewed them, he found them far superior to all the other young men. None were a match for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  

 The Message

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 My brother-in-law Brian is the only person I know who eats more veggies than my husband.   My husband likes salad but has observed that the animals in the wild that appear to be the largest, fattest animals on the planet seem to be vegans: elephants, hipopotamus, rhinocerous, manatees…all salad eaters, while the sleek, lean kings of the African plains and Eastern jungles are all carnivors: lions, tigers, and such.  Anyway,  After Brian made the salad and it was such a big hit at the beach even with my pack of carnivors, I decided to try it out on my health conscious family in Iowa on my recent visit.  On a particularly beautiful day back home on the Mississippi River I made “Brian’s Salad” for my sister Peggy and her family…We ate it for 4 days straight, sometimes for lunch and as a side for dinner. 

1 Head of Bok Choy

1 Bunch of Turnip Greens

Bag of Spinach

1 Head of Cabbage

1 Head of Lettuce

1 Bunch of Red Leaf Lettuce

1 Bunch of Sprouts

1 Bunch of Cilantro

1 Stalk of Celery

3 Lemons squeezed onto the salad

6 tb. of chopped Garlic

1/2 Vidalia or Sweet Onion chopped

Radishes ~ sliced

Cherry Tomatoes

Sliced Almonds

Sunflower Seeds

First, rinse all your veggies thoroughly.  Trust me on this, its a lesson learned the hard way: a few extra minerals are good for you, but too much grit is a bad thing as far as your fellow diners are concerned (just ask my father-in-law).  Chop every thing into small bite size pieces according to your personal size preference.  I prefer ours very small, like a chopped salad for more intermingling of flavors and textures.  Add green scallions, 8 tb. of chopped garlic, (1) vidalia onion sliced or chopped, radishes, and cherry tomatoes if available, bag of sliced almonds and a handful of sunflower seeds. Squeeze (3) lemons on top of it all and toss.  Add tomatoes onto your plate when serving.  You will be able to keep this in the fridge for 5 days with a loose cover on top saving you time in the kitchen, keeping your kitchen cooler during the summer, and providing a healthy food alternative for your family.  The salad tastes better every day and it’s so refreshing without dressing.  I recently served this gigantic salad in a punch bowl for a Friday night pizza party.  Everyone laughed about the punch bowl, but the salad was completely gone after sending a small bit of left overs home with a few new fans.  There is no fixed formula with this salad, so change it up as often as you like adding other items you prefer, being careful to add only items with a long shelf lives into the salad mix, and then adding the shorter shelf life items to your plate at the dinner table.  Otherwise, all your hard work chopping will be spoiled in short order and you will be feeding your garbage disposal in a day or two instead of your family and friends.

Resting from Chopping,

Trish

Juicy Couture Turkey

03 Friday Apr 2009

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Food on Fridays with Ann Kroeker or “Foodie Friday”  has me attempting to boil down time for everyone and serve turkey in signature “Trish’s Dishes” .

“Juicy Couture” is the brand of the lovely warm up suits all the nieces receive in bright, bold colors every Christmas from Aunt Kristi and Uncle Bri.  

Couture is the business of designing, making and selling highly fashionable clothing.  This turkey will be your business for the week, chic chef.  All custom made recipes sewn together with Christ’s love for you from me. My goal is to buy back time for you to be still with God’s gift to you, Himself the resurrected Messiah.

A 14 pounder was available @ the local HEB market.

Day 1   Cook turkey all day after rubbing with canola oil, sprinkling with salt, pepper and garlic powder  and gift wrapping with foil.  The meat is juicy and the drippings will season our dishes resplendently the rest of the week. Blanche collard greens as our side and serve with gravy bowl full of drippings.  (open the foil after the family arrives home and re-pop the bird in the oven for a few minutes to crisp crust the lovely skin… yum).

Day 2  Cook kale in a couple tablespoons of the drippings and drop in handfuls of turkey.  Add 2 cups of sour cream(fat free yogurt is a worthy substitute), 1 cup of  alfredo sauce ( Bertolli is very nice) stir all and place in bowls.  The aroma is very pleasant once the creams are added.  Force yourself past the pungent kale cooking to delight in a very simple, quick and eco-fashionable waste nothing, decadent turkey dish.

Day 3 Turkey BBQ.  Update the birds look by shredding several handfuls to serve on buns as barbecue.  My favorite sauce is made by shaking a 1/2 or 3/4 used Heinz ketchup, vinegar, a little salt, pepper, all spice and shake.  We enjoy kettle chips and coleslaw from the deli on the side.

Day 4 Todd’s Turkey Soup.  Leftover turkey, frozen peas, carrots, and whatever else you have in the freezer.  Cover with tomato sauce and water, plug in the crock pot and go.  He seasons with “Old Bay”, cuts the spiced with a bit of sugar, and others spices to taste, and uses salt and pepper and little garlic powder.  You may have your own preferred recipe.

Day 5 Turkey Pot Pie.  Strain out excess liquid from the soup and keep leftover in fridge.  Place turkey and veggie treasure inside  a pre-made “Pillsbury”crust, cover with a jar of store bought turkeygravy and bake till golden brown on top.  No food critic lives here, but seriously, this is scrumptious.

Day 6 Take the broth leftover from yesterday and spoon hot over cheese filled tortellinis. Whiff the scent of Italy, and finish with chopped tomatoes and a sprinkling of parmesan for a dreamy filling dinner.

Day 7 Fast…drink water and spend time with Jesus.  Easter is next week and your heart and soul will be where it can best be used for His purposes. Delight in His company, He is waiting for you. Your family can eat a frozen pizza.

Start Day 1 tomorrow and you’ll be fasting with millions around the world on Good Friday.  Explain the significance of fasting to them and perhaps the foundation of the discussion will spur your children on to fast one day. 

John Piper calls it “An occasion for God’s guidance”

 Scrambling to find solace from a frenzy or two that passes their way, they may remember Mom’s modeling and not because it was in the glossies.

Rest in Him, Trish

Rest in the Rabbitat

25 Wednesday Mar 2009

Posted by in Comedy, Restful Homes for Our Families, Uncategorized

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Tom and Susan Bean built a rabbitat out of very simple materials and attracted cottontails to their Flagstaff home.

Tom stated in the February issue of Arizona Highways, ” I began throwing carrots into the burrow entrance, ”  In fact, I started to ring a little bell each time I went out with a carrot.  In a surprisingly short time,  the desired Pavlovian response occurred, and rabbits began to come out and await their carrot.”

The few followers I have on this blog may have picked up my focus is to rest in the Lord and what that entails in my daily living.  The “Unnatural Habitat” article has been stewing around in my brain since it arrived in the mail and the following are just some changes I made to help the wildlife in my habitat. aka husband and teen daughter.  Here are the carrots:

Step One

Forget the house for the morning and spend the entire morning studying God’s word.  I began in Chambers and he led me through a morning of contemplation on “Friendship with God”  (March 20th).  Everyday I visit and chat with my Father all day, but today He was my friend as I poured through Genesis 18 and then onto my WYAMDaily prayer calendar readings.  Writing in my journal, thinking and forcing myself to be still in His presence for the morning hours.  A big help withnoise reduction in our new home has been the elimination of the TV noise. Unhook  it if you have it in your house.  We are 2 1/2 months now without it and no one is complaining, our time with God has expanded exponentially.  My family occasionally views shows on the internet. The accompanying quiet is oh so….tranquil.  We all have library cards and check out movies just a quick walk away from our library.  We also occasionally rent, but you would be surprised at the selection.  Our library will order a popular request.

Step Two

Remove all clutter from most surfaces daily.  Clutter removal is visually restful to the eyes and moving has made this quite a challenge to me.   This week I moved 6 boxes out of the corner of the dining room into the garage.  Just physically lifting and relocating them was a challenge, last night during dinner I didn’t have to stare at them and think “where will I put everything in those boxes”   The “putting” just may be to the local Disabled American Veterans van if they pick up here in Texas.

Step Three

Food for the wildlife.  My travels this week included a very long trip to the grocery store where I purchased all the things my family loves to eat.  My husband loves salmon, and the special of the day was salmon so I bought 5 and stored 4 in the freezer.  My daughter likes snacks so I took her with me and she selected all her favorite snacks to fill the pantry.  Her delight in picking them, the expression on her face as I said yes each time she placed an item in the cart was worth it all.

Step Four

Treat myself to cleaning help.  I called a local house cleaner and asked if she would ever consider coming for one hour to help.  She had never been asked for one hour, but if that is what my budget afforded she would gladly accept.  Five hours later “Josey and the Cleaning Cats” (that’s really the name of their company) arrived and cleaned for exactly one hour and threw in an extra 1/2 hour for free once they figured out my husband was a Pastor.  I insisted they leave at one hour, but they insisted back it was important to them to give in a small way also.  I cleaned things all afternoon in preparation for their arrival knowing they would be able to come in and do a special forces attack on my habitat if they didn’t have distractions of bunnies everywhere.  MaggieBry3866.wordpress.com has a very funny blog on this.  Our teen daughter could not understand why we cleaned before the cleaning ladies arrived, but it became perfectly clear once she saw them decendon our home and attack it with great speed and intensity of purpose.

My family members are organized and efficient.  I have prepared painstakingly to have them arrive home to a lovely, clean, picked up place of solace.  My room in heaven is filled with books,and messy piles of stuff I adore.  My casa here is occupied by others so the work today will show them my tangible response to their desires.

We all stuggle from time to time with the question “Do they really know me?”  One look at my husband or daughters precisely cleaned and ordered closets will tell you they don’t waste time looking for things.  One area is in line.  The Rabbitat is ready.

Homemaking is important and today was my artful expression of love to my family.

“A whole generation of women exhausted themselves trying to have it all, when we should have encouraged them  to examine the choices and pick out the ones that suited them best”  Thomas P. Farley

A restful rabbitat suits me best.

Rest in Him, Trish