cookin' with cook

I like to think that I'm a good cook. It is a "hobby" (actually, necessity) that I only recently picked up, when D. and I were married almost two years ago. I started out only making my mom's tried and true recipes...and then I started living on the edge (watch out!) and trying new things. And then... I discovered what will change my life in the kitchen forever- cooking blogs. You know... such as (some of my favs) pioneer woman, or my kitchen cafe, or bakerella (well i'd be a billion pounds if i cooked off of her site all the time).
I just love my cooking blogs (ha)... I know someone has tried them...they even come with pictures so I know what is supposed to happen.

I've only had one major catastrophe with suggestions from my beloved blogs. I tried a crockpot version of chicken cordon blue = bad idea, just in case you were wondering. It turned out... gross. It is still, to date, the only meal we couldn't finish eating. And then there was the time I tried home-made frozen hot chocolate... it wasn't a catastrophe, just more of a let down.

But then there was dinner last night. It wasn't the cooking blog's fault...but it didn't quite turn out like it was supposed to. The recipe called for cooking sherry, which I didn't have. And quite frankly, I don't know what flavor it adds. So I did what I always do when I'm missing something, and looked up a substitution for it = bad idea. One suggestion was to try a little vinegar with sugar. Another said to try orange or pineapple juice. And well... I really didn't like the thought of adding vinegar, so I opted for the pineapple juice. Let's just say that pineapple juice and artichokes don't really blend flavors together very well. I took a bite and my entire body involuntarily shook. Not very yummy.
Needless to say, learn from my mistake, and don't ever (on any occasion) replace cooking sherry with pineapple juice.

Oh...and this deserves and explanation too.



No, I didn't make the bread from scratch. Though, one day, I will be a super woman who can do that.
I took the easy way out, and bought the frozen dough at wal-mart. It's great... you just take it right from the freezer and let it sit out. It thaws, and rises. All you have to do is stick it in the oven... but warning- you can let it rise a little too long. Instead of allowing it to rise just 1 inch over the pan, I let it go about 5 or 6 inches above it. And in a dumb brunette moment, I didn't think about the fact that the bread would rise a little bit more as it cooked. And well... this is what happened:



yea... I almost burned my kitchen down because the bread was right against the oven burner. Oops.

goodness.

Dustin and I have grown to really love and learn from a teacher who we’ve never met. (pretty cool how that can happen)… His name is Matt Chandler, and he is the lead pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, Tx. Some background on him: during Thanksgiving with his family last year, Matt had a seizure, was rushed to the hospital, and it was discovered that he had a large tumor in his brain. I can’t imagine what they went through…young husband, wife, 3 very young kids, and pastor of a growing church. He has begun chemo and radiation, and we are joining with people from all over the world in praying that he is healed!
The video below is a weekly update he posts on the village church website. (watch if you so desire, if not, jump down below…)




Only through hope in the living Savior, can someone like Matt talk about how “good” God has been throughout his sickness.

While watching this, I couldn't help but be reminded about the goodness of God. If you watched, Matt went through detail after detail of little things that happened that allowed everything to fall into place, and for him to be taken care of.
Sometimes, the best thing we can do in a tough place, is to reflect on the faithfulness of God in our past… it’s not as easy to mope about it then : )

I have walked through my own season of seeing the goodness of God, and wanted to think back on so much of what He has done! (blogger world friends- this is where I get very open about life...ha. i trust you guys : ) )
Just about five and a half months ago, Dustin lost his job… and these are just little bits of God’s goodness to us:
-he found out by total accident that his position was going to be filled (about a month before it happened)
-because he found out early, he started a lawn business that was already up and running when his job ended
-we found a work truck for him, with crazy low miles that we could pay cash for!
-a friend had an extra trailer for D.’s equipment
-in a meeting, someone not connected to his company just flat out told him the start date of the new employee (so we knew exactly when it was going to be)
-every month our bills have been paid! Some people even had the flier about lawn care for 2 months before hiring D... (we are beyond excited for grass to grow again : ) )
It’s crazy to think back on… the Lord was good and He prepared us for what was about to happen… It is not over yet. But I know I can trust Him to be faithful to us, because that's who He is! (Rev.19:11) Whether it is a brain tumor, losing a job, or anything in between... look for His goodness... it's there for those who belong to Him!

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Ps. 106:1

For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. Ps. 100:5

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! Ps. 118:1

The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made. Ps. 145:9

The fancier side of things

(In my blogging experience, I've noticed that babies, families, and pets seem to be popular subjects to blog about... but I don't have any of those as of now. So I hope not to disappoint, but until those life events finally come my way...I'm afraid you're just going to have to hear about me and the hubs...just a warning : ) )


I do stupid things sometimes... and I can admit it.

But today, my hubby let me get away with something really stupid.

here's the story. We live in a prime location- a mall with great restaurants just 5 minutes away, and even better there is a wally world just 3 minutes from my home. Yes, 3 minutes. This as posed to be a problem, as I seem to stop by almost everyday. It's just too close not to. And due to the fact I visit so often, I've become quite a fan of the wally world.
Over the weekend, D. and I ended up traveling through a very nice town a little way down the road from where we live. I was immediately intrigued by the wally world I could see from the road... it wasn't an ordinary wally world, it looked really fancy. I immediately became intrigued...wondering how different it was from my own. I haven't able to quit wondering about it...did they have chandeliers or personal shoppers waiting to escort you? (wierd I know), so I decided to take a visit out there on my day off this week.
I was halfway hoping D. would talk me out of this crazy urge to visit the fancy wal-mart... but to my surprise he said:

"You know, it's good to do things that don't make sense every once and a while."

So, I went. It didn't make sense, considering I drove past my neighborhood store and drove 40 minutes down the road...but it was definitely fun : ) No chandeliers or anything like that, but I was quite impressed!




Here is something to think on and absolutely thank the Lord for today!:
"You will show me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy,
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11

pinky promise

2 Peter 1:4 “…He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…”

wow. I was awakened to this truth, when life took a pretty crazy turn. Just weeks before everything went down, my hubs was pushed by the Lord to 2 Peter 1:4…to not just be familiar with these promises the Lord has given us, but to really know them, to actually believe them.

So you guessed it. When the rug was pulled out from beneath us, we had a place to land. It was on these “precious and very great promises.”

I’ll let you in a few : )…

Is. 58:11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Philip. 4:19 And my God shall supply all of your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Ps. 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Ps. 118:8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

Prov. 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

newbie

Welcome to my first shot at blogging! I've been really curious about the whole blogging world for a while now...and have been following several poor unsuspecting people. ha. So now I decided to try it out.
If you do dare to follow, my prayer for you is that you might be encouraged in your pursuit of the Lord (because He is crazy in love with you!) as I write about my own.
1 John 3:16 "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us."