No Worries

Padme', our sweet tempered English Mastiff, is getting older and having trouble getting around these days.  When she was younger she would climb into our bath tub where I could bathe her.  Now having celebrated her 12th birthday, climbing in and out of a bathtub is not an option.

There is a wonderful pet grooming and boarding business near our house called Hakuna Matata. They have stainless steel tanks that are on a hydraulic lift.  I can lower the tub to the floor where the puppy can easily climb in and then raise the tube once she is steady.  

The funniest thing is the dog loves the blow dryer.  I don't know if the warm air feels good on her tired joints or if she just like a little massage, but it's amusing to watch. 

We're really blessed to have the old girl.  Mastiff's life expectancy is 10 to 12 years.  I can't tell you how many times I prayed that we wouldn't loose her during that first year that Caleb went off to college.  I don't think Frankie or I would have survived!  God is good and the puppy is still here, and we survived Caleb's first year away from home! 

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  

“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Matthew 15:26-27

Compassion and Mercy

In addition to Abigail's high school team CHANT, she also plays tournament ball with RAGE Softball Club.  The club operates under the philosophy that: Softball does not have be all about the wins or losses or what happens between the chalk lines. What these young ladies and their families do outside the chalk lines is what truly matters.

In keeping with that idea, the team does a lot of community service including fund raising for an orphanage, a charity motorcycle ride benefiting the family of a fallen marine, to name a few. 

The organization has 10U, 12U, 14U and 16U teams.  Tonight all four age divisions met at Toys R Us for the clubs 3rd annual Toys For Tots shopping event.  A portion of the clubs monthly dues is set aside for this event.  The girls were paired up, older players with the younger ones and given several hundred dollars to shop for children.  

Abigail and a player from the 12U team, Mykayla shopped for gifts for 12 to 14 year old boys. They filled their cart was filled with games, Lego's and Nerf  warfare. The teams filled up a couple of pick up trucks full of toys!  I think its ironic that a team that does so much charity off the field plays under the name, RAGE! 

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
I Chronicles 29:14

Monet: The Early Years

What to do, when you are studying the mid 1800's and there happens to be a Monet exhibit in Fort Worth?  Sounds like a field trip day to me! The Kimbell Art Museum is hosting a special exhibit devoted to the young genius of Claude Monet, called Monet: The Early Years.  It concentrates on the first phase of the artist’s career, from his Normandy debut in 1858 until 1872, when he settled in Argenteuil, on the River Seine near Paris.

The exhibit includes his early work as a teenager, portraits of his favorite model turned wife, and his children in their early years. The exhibit include still life and landscapes including snowy scenes and windmills.  The exhibit included an audio tour giving the history behind many of the works. With probably over sixty works of art from various collections, the exhibit gave an extraordinary look at life in Monet's younger life. 

Because museums aren't always a teenagers favorite field trip, Abigail and I joined her friends Elaine and Katrina along with their moms for this educational event.  Afterward the girls talked us into lunch at Sundance Square.   

 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.  Ecclesiastes 5:18 

Monday's at Metro Relief

The weather is starting to get colder in North Texas which means the lines at Metro Relief's food pantry are getting longer.  Many of the guests who come through have seasonal employment and when the weather becomes too cold they can't work outside. 

Today was another day of over 50 families coming through our door for food.  Our pantry relies solely on donations some from individuals and some from corporate sponsors.  People do donate food but often times with a cash donation we can purchase food from North Texas Food Bank and a substantial savings.  

Today our friends the Bailey's joined us.  Ms. Robin and Ella helped Frankie sort through food donations. Mr. Arvid put Gracie to work shopping customers.  Ms. Ramona and I handled intake and Abigail checked in guests.  It was a constant flow of people and we were so grateful to have friends to help out!  

Because it was such a busy morning, after the pantry Robin and the girls and I headed to Freddie's Frozen Custard for lunch, yum!  

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,

    the deeds for which he is to be praised,

    according to all the Lord has done for us—

yes, the many good things

    he has done for Israel,

    according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

Isaiah 63:7

Peter's Miraculous Escape

We are plugging right along on the study of Acts.  Today I covered chapter 12 in class.  Several of the parents stayed so I could break the kids up into smaller groups to review chapters.  

I printed up question cards and broke them up into packets by chapter.  The adults would ask the kids the questions and they would write their answer on a small dry erase board and hold up their board.  I found a sale on the dry erase boards at Dollar General.  I only had drive to four different locations to round up 35 boards! I'm not sure I saved any money! 

One of the kids favorite games we play is a Jeopardy version of the book of Acts.  I load in new questions each week and they can earn 100 to 500 points based on the level of difficulty of the question. 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Mom's Christmas Tea

Tonight we kicked off the most wonderful time of the year.  The time when we scurry from one event to another.  We attempt to meet every one's expectations and try to hold on to our own sanity.  

Our PEACH home school groups kicks off the season with a Christmas Tea for Moms.  It is a time to refresh and renew before the busyness of the season escalates.  We gathered at Into My Garden Tea Room in Plano for the evening. 

We will start off with an assortment of flavored teas followed by an appetizer.  Our next course was a tea style lunch with different variations of quiche.  That was followed up with scones, fruit breads and various desserts.  Between courses wonderful Godly women got up and spoke words of encouragement to our group of 30+ moms.   It was a lovely evening complete with door prizes and thoughtful gift bags. It was a sweet time of fellowship with dear friends! 

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

I Thessalonians 5:11

Our Little Vegetable Stand

It's another first Friday so we were out with our church family handing out fresh fruits and vegetables to an area of McKinney in need.  Our McDermott members met up at the Avenue K Church of Christ to pack up the food. 

We had a great assembly line packing up potatoes, onions, carrots, oranges, apples, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, bananas and jalapenos.  The food costs approximately $800 each month.  Part of the funding comes from the congregation, but a portion also comes from the Thrive trailer on the church property.  The trailer collects clothing donations that are sold for bulk weight and the proceeds used for this ministry. 

Today we were able to provide fruit and vegetable bags to seventy adults and seventy children.  Not to shabby for six hours of work! 

Better a small serving of vegetables with love

than a fattened calf with hatred. Proverbs 15:17

Teen Jr. / Sr. Club

Our PEACH homeschool group has a Jr. / Sr. club for the older teens.  Because the kids are homeschooled the guideline for our clubs junior and seniors is youth sixteen and older.  Since the baby girl turns sixteen this month, she was invited to participate in this months activities. 

Most of the kids are like Abigail and have higher level classes than their actual grade level. 

Tonight Abigail joined about ten other teens for Christmas fun, including minute-to-win-it games, Christmas movies, and a smorgasbord of snacks.    The kids have a lot of fun scheduled for the upcoming months, so I'm sure there will be more posts! 

They approach and come forward;

they help each otherand say to their companions, “Be strong!”

Isaiah 41:5-6

Taco Tuesday

So part of me is laughing at all the canning recipes, because we've always canned, I just haven't always included it on the blog.  Now granted we've done more since I hurt my eye and we've been forced in doors, but still.  It's 2016 who still cans food?  

I do. This way I know what is in the food, that it's good quality, no fillers, no words I can't pronounce.  It also has a huge upside in that so many of our meal are half prepared because I've canned a portion of our food.  I can boil spaghetti and add my canned quart jar of sauce that has hamburger meat, fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers and have a good meal in half the time.  Otherwise I would be defrosting meat or having to stop by the grocery store for whatever ingredient I forgot. 

So why put it on the blog?  That's simple, because I play around with different recipes and when I find a recipe I like then I generally re-use it.  But about half the time I don't have a clue what recipe I used.  So when I can add it to the blog, I have a link to the recipe I used and can recreate it or tweak it a little next time!  Also, I think food makes pretty, creative photos. 

At the store the other day I found ground beef and ground chicken on sale.  So that's what I cooked up today.  Generally you can get one pound of meat into a pint jar and two pounds into a quart jar.  I cooked up the meat in batches in my skillet and kept the cooked meat in a stock pot on low while my skillet was cooking another batch.  I had a total of about twenty pounds of meat.  To every two pounds of chicken and 2 pounds of beef I added two chopped onions and two chopped bell peppers.  

I seasoned the meat with salt and pepper, but no other spices. This way the meat could be used in enchilada, spaghetti, chili, tacos, etc.  I drain the fat off the meat before packing it into jars and then pack into sterilized jars, seal and pressure cook them at 10# pressure for 75 minutes (for pints).  General health guidelines say this canned ground hamburger (& chicken) will have a shelf life of 3-5 year.  I prepared ten pints and this will probably last us a couple of months. 

There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted Exodus 16:3

Canning Chicken Tortilla Soup

One of the recipes I cook on a regular basis for our family is Chicken Tortilla Soup.  In fact it was my Dad's favorite meal for me to prepare when he visited.  Usually I throw all my ingredients in the crock pot on low and then come home and voila, dinner is served! 

My goal today was to have family size servings of our favorite soup that could be heated and served.  The biggest hold up in having the soup is all the chopping.  So while Abigail and Frankie worked on school work I got to work.  

My brilliant idea was to lay the soup in my quart jars like a beautiful sand art project.  To each Ball Wide Mouth Quart Jars I layered: 

1 cup roasted chicken

½ cup diced tomatoes (drained)

½ cup black beans (drained)

½ cup corn (drained)

1/3 cup diced green peppers

1/3 cup onions

¼ cup diced banana peppers

1 T Green chilies

1 T jalapenos

 2 T sliced black olives (drained)

Aren't the jars beautiful! I mean seriously that's a pretty picture on top.  The ingredients I had on hand were enough to fill six quart jars and all my extras I put in the crock pot for lunch!  Next I made my broth to top off each jar: 

12 cups water  *  4T chicken bullion   *   4T taco seasoning

The taco seasoning in the broth gave the jar a little bit of an orange tint, but it's still pretty.  Because there is meat in each jar they have to be processed in a Pressure Canner at 10lbs pressure for 90 minutes.   

To serve, I can heat up a jar in the Crock Pot or stove along with 2 cups of chicken broth.  Be sure to add on the toppings: tortilla chips, sour cream, onions, avocado, cheese, or fresh cilantro!  Not too shabby, next time we're hungry for warm soup we can heat and eat yummy homemade goodness! 

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!”  Genesis 25:29-30