3 meals from a $5 chicken

I just have to share my success story in the cooking AND financial realm. Last week, I bought a Tyson "whole fryer" chicken at Meijer. It was marked 50% off because it was going to expire the next day. Well, if you know anything about FDA regulations, stores have to be vigilant and very conservative when it comes to dating food. Essentially, a chicken (or any piece of meat) is not on the verge of going bad when it reaches its expiration date...it's just reached the date at which Meijer has to be careful about approaching their FDA cutoff. Does that make sense?

Anyhoo, so I bought a whole chicken for $5. I stuck it in the freezer as soon as I got home, cuz I knew I'd be cooking it in the crockpot over the period of a full day, so starting out frozen was fine, and this way, I could preserve its freshness. Then on Saturday at 10 am, I stuck the chicken in the crockpot, and added 2 celery stalks, 2 carrots, 1 chopped-up onion, some garlic salt, pepper, and 2 chicken boullion cubes. Then I poured a few cups of water over everything so I could get broth. I turned the crockpot on low and left it until 6 pm. Now here's the tricky part. When a chicken is fully cooked in a crockpot, it is so juicy and tender that it comes apart just by spearing it with a fork. You'll want to hold the chicken together as much as possible, but it's important to remove it at this point and place it on a big platter so you can glean the meat and throw away the bones and skin and icky stuff. Once your meat has been set aside, you'll need to run your broth through a strainer and into a large soup pot (I'll explain that later). When your broth is strained, go ahead and stick your soup pot in the fridge. Now, glean as much meat from your chicken as you can; be careful, the chicken is very hot, but it's easiest to take your chicken apart when it's hot. I usually get out a big storage bowl and throw the meat in there as it's gleaned. When all is said and done, I typically end up with enough shredded cooked chicken for 3 meals, and at least 4 cups of chicken broth.

Next post: I'll detail the 3 meals, which are yummy-nummy-scrumptious!

Contentment

I've been thinking about contentment today. As in, why do I struggle with a restless spirit? Is it part of my personality, or do we all struggle with it? If everyone fights it, why do we not admit it to each other and talk about it? Is it just the "grass is greener" principle, or is it just a feeling of anticipation for the future, of the parts of life yet to be lived? I think it's the latter. I don't feel like I compare myself to others so much anymore (a bad habit I'm working to completely eradicate!)...in my mind, it really is a matter of craving blessings directly from God's hands. I know He's in charge, I believe fully in His providential care. But believing in God's total sovereignty has an edge to it...you have to acknowledge that you're not in control, so that everything good you want out of life can only come from Him (every good and perfect gift...). Which means, all the good stuff happens on God's calendar and NOT on yours...er, mine. It can be frustrating, to say the least. However, looking back over my life, I'm glad God was in charge and not me. I've received many blessings that I would not have purposely chosen. I mean, think about it this way: if there were a store of blessings, and all the blessings were boxed up, pretty and shiny, arranged neatly in rows, and you had plenty of cash to buy up all the blessings to fill up a lifetime, I would have filled my shopping cart...well, with a lot of things that I haven't ended up with. I would have selected blessings based on my own vanity and selfishness...who wouldn't pick out "wealth" and "beauty" and "wisdom"? But who would willingly pick out "mission work"? Certainly not Becky; at least not the Becky I was a couple of years ago! But see, that's exactly my point. I love the fact that God is in charge. Even though He's denied me one of the greatest blessings in life...it's such a pretty blessing...it's in one of those glass counters, like where they keep the designer handbags...He has given me a few surprises along the way.

Well, even though that was rambling, I guess my thought for the evening is that true contentment lies in counting your blessings...especially the ones you would never have chosen for yourself...and waiting patiently for the next blessing waiting around the bend...even if it's not what you would choose.

Psalm 37:7a says,

7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him...

this is my prayer tonight.

Genesis

My favorite book of the Old Testament! I've been re-reading it as part of my personal devotional time, and I was thrilled to discover new insights into the patriarchs. For example, as I re-read Jacob's struggles, it became clear to me that Jacob struggled with a lot of fear throughout his life. He dealt with a lot of uncertainty, even though much of that uncertainty was a direct consequence of his own actions...he put himself in jeopardy. He feared his Uncle Laban, he feared his brother Esau, he feared Pharoah's vizier (before he knew it was his own son, Joseph). However, and this is the awesome part, God was always protecting him. God intervened supernaturally many times on Jacob's behalf...including this instance in Genesis 32:1&2.

1 So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.<sup>[a]

(Manahaim means "double camp"...as in, the angels camped around Jacob's family's camp.)</sup>

Somehow, I had always read over that verse, never realizing its import. It was just so comforting to me to read that God surrounded His child with a camp of angels. Wow!!!

Anyway, in my study, I looked for supplementary materials, and found them in an unlikely place. This link will take you to Wikipedia and their encyclopedia of "Torah events." Even though it's a secular site, it has much to offer in the way of study materials! Hope someone else finds this useful!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Torah_events

update on the poor horsie

Here is an update on Barbaro. He is doing very well...so far, so good. Hang in there, horsie!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060528/ap_on_sp_ot/rac_barbaro_3

please leave a calling card

This is just a little request to my blog readers (all 3 of you...?). Actually, I haven't a clue who all reads my blog, but I need to ask that if you leave a comment, that you leave some kind of identification of who you are. You don't need to sign up for an account...just leave the comment as "anonymous" but include your name in your comment...easy enough. The reason I have to ask this is someone left a really mean comment on my post about Barbaro, the horse that severely injured his leg. It actually upset me greatly, so to whoever left it, you accomplished your goal. But what does that say about you? Your comment has been deleted, and I'd like to ask that you no longer visit my blog; your comments are not welcome.

To everyone else, please continue to post comments as often as you like. I love to hear feedback on what I choose to write about, even if it disagrees with my opinion on something. It's the blatant cruelty that I'm wanting to avoid. Thanks!

poor horsie

I was watching the Preakness with my sister Katie and our two nieces Ada and Abby on Saturday evening when we saw with absolute horror that Barbaro, the Derby winner, was pulled up by his jockey and then finally came to a halt, holding up his right rear leg at a very odd angle. The horse was obviously in terrible pain, with the way he gingerly stepped around, and from the panic on everyone's faces, Katie and I had the wretched feeling that he was hurt beyond helping and well...I just didn't want to think about that and still don't. So, I've "checked" on Barbaro twice today, and just minutes ago there was a press release that Barbaro has had surgery and so far, so good. He has a very difficult path to recovery, but I'll be pulling for this horse with all my equine love that he'll make it. He'll never race again, but his trainer would love to use him as a stallion...in other words, maybe in 3-4 years we could see perhaps "Barbaro's Revenge" race at the Preakness! Here's Barbaro, back in his stall, standing on all fours...good luck, friend!

church history question

This may be out of the normal scope of my usual bloggings, but lately I've been very interested in the foundations of the Protestant Reformation (a rabbit trail off the path of my quest to prove that the 16th century is perhaps one of the most important in the realm of history...)

Anyhoo...so I've been studying Martin Luther. I have enjoyed reading his work and I'm a big admirer of his courage in facing his enemies and not yielding from what he believed. However, I've run into his writings on the Jews, and wow, it's so NOT cool what he believed about them. The Nazis even used his writings to defend their Final Solution for the Jews!!! So, here's my question.

I am perplexed that God would use a man like Martin Luther to achieve a lot of freedoms and new understanding within the church, so why would God give him such a powerful platform on which to pronounce judgement on His chosen people? This is really a rhetorical question; ie, just share your thoughts instead of trying to answer the question.

question...what are your favorite pantry staples?

Last night, I once again found and used a recipe that called for a can of diced tomatoes. I swear, half the recipes I fall in love with call for diced tomatoes! So I started wondering what "pantry staples" (or freezer, or fridge, you get the idea) that others rely on heavily for making their favorite meals? This is just a curious-kid question, but I'd love to see answers!

Here are some of my favorite pantry staples:
cans of diced tomatoes (of course)
Worcestershire sauce
carrots and celery (even if they're not the freshest, you can use them for flavoring chicken in crock-pots, etc.)
Lipton's onion soup mix
Progresso bread crumbs (can be used in meatloaf, for coating chicken pieces to be baked or fried)
McCormick's brown gravy mix

I'll try to think of more later. Oh, and I wanted to post the yummy-nummy recipe I made last night.

Hamburger Stew (this is very thick and hearty and filling; very nice for a chilly day)

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 cups cut & cubed potatoes
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 can diced tomatoes (the basil & oregano seasoned kind)
1 can tomato soup
3 cups beef broth
3 cups water
garlic (or garlic salt), Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper to taste

Dice/cut onion, carrots, celery & potatoes. Saute the onion, carrots, and celery in a little bit of olive or cooking oil. Once softened, set aside. Using the same pan, brown the ground beef and drain any excess grease. Add the sauted veggies back in the ground beef, stir, and set aside. In a large soup pot, combine 3 cups beef broth and 3 cups water; add diced tomatoes and tomato soup, stir until tomato soup has dissolved a bit, then add all the other ingredients (the ground beef and veggie mixture, the potatoes, and the rice). Add your favorite seasonings, then bring to a boil. Cover and set on low; simmer for 1 hour so potatoes and rice can cook and flavors can mesh. Very good with warm dinner rolls.

I lied

Sorry, just couldn't stand that last template, either. Blogger really doesn't have much of a selection where backgrounds are concerned. So, it's really not my fault.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yee-haw, my little buddy (Ethan) has a little buddy!!! This little man is already getting big...at 20 weeks' gestation, he's already well over 1 pound!

I'm so ecstatic for everyone. For Sarah, who has her "bookended" family of 1 boy, 2 girls, and 1 boy; for Garrett, who has two little guys to get dirty with and do mannish things with; for the girls, who will have to cling to each other and be bestest friends to get away from those brothers of theirs, but most of all...

I'm happy for our little Eli (Elijah Schout -- middle name undetermined), who, in 20 weeks, will join one of the craziest families on the planet, but also a family who's crazy about each other.

Welcome little buddy! I can't wait to meet you!

I'm so geeked out...

my sister Sarah finds out the sex of her baby today!!! I don't care what the sex is, I'm just excited to get to know this little person better, to have an identity for him/her in my head!!! (and of course, to start the gifting process!!!)

BOY OR GIRL???

Call us crazy

Because I have a feeling we might be.

Some big news with us: After less than 1 year at 1044 Christopher Court, we're putting our house up for sale. But wait to hear the reasons before you call the funny farm!!!

Basically, the biggest reason is this: Guatemala has changed our lives, forever. Our love and concern for the people of Guatemala has pointed me and Adam in a new direction...uh, south, right? (ha-ha!) Seriously, we feel that we've been called to become part-time missionaries to work in tandem with our church, Southside Bible, and Mario and Maria's church in Guatemala City. How this will work...we still don't know. We've been in talks with our pastor about what this might look like...perhaps leading teams down to Guatemala 3-4 times a year, so our body of believers can experience the amazing ministry of missions on a foreign field. Perhaps spearheading our church's outreach to the local Hispanic population, along with leading missions trips. Truth is, we still don't know, but the fact remains that this is what we want to do.

So what does that have to do with where we live? Well, as it turns out, quite a bit. Facts are facts...it is NOT cheap to fly to Guatemala and back, especially when 2 people are flying. And in order to spend 3-4 weeks in Guatemala per year, you have to take off work (and go without that amount of money). Essentially, we're looking at a lifestyle change.

And as we see it, not a bad one. Right now, we have a big beautiful house...and we honestly don't need it. We would be just as happy in a house half the size...probably happier, even! So, it's goodbye to Christopher Court and hello to...??? We'll be starting the search-and-find process in the next month or so, when other things settle down a bit. Just be in prayer for us, as this is yet another huge change (and I'm a bit tired of huge changes!). But, we feel so confident that this is the right move, and that God's blessings will be upon us as we seek to give Him a much larger chunk of our yearly lives.

I swear, it's the last template change for awhile

I just wasn't happy with the last 3 templates. But here goes a try with this one. I think it looks rather author-y, so maybe this one will stick. I know I confuse everyone terribly each time they log on and discover a whole different look, but bear with me...