The Extraction

Soft vs weak.  I was weak.  It's easy to get to a place where the line gets blurry. Being soft is important - when I say soft, I mean living out love in speech, conduct, etc.  I endeavor to be soft and so often miss that mark, but  remind myself that I am a work in progress.  Then there's plain old weak.  Weak moments tend to creep up on you.  You can be going strong all day long and then the one weak moment where you make a choice out of the weakness and then, BOOM...no bueno.  But I think about Paul and that where he says in 1 Corinithians about him become strong in his weakness b/c of God saying: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  The Message paraphrase says, "My grace is enough; it's all you need.  My strength comes into its own in your weakness."   I like that.  It's all I need.  His grace is all I need.  His strength shows up in my weakness.  Showing weakness used to seem too "un-spiritual".  I wouldn't allow myself to show others and really just deceived myself  by not acknowledging its existence.  Pride - again, showing up in my life.  Now I am working on facing the weakness by first admitting it's there and then submitting it over and accepting His grace and strength so that I can gain a victory over it.

My moment of weakness this week:  not wanting to face the challenge of a possible disobedience moment (and therefore the need to follow through with discipline) so I just left it alone, watched my 4 year old go play on a zipline and wound up with an unexpected run to the dentist for a tooth extraction.

Well, I was definitely leaning on His grace and strength that afternoon!  And the argument in my mind that plagued me afterwards..."I should've _____"...but as I prayed I told myself to let it go and I literally had to fight to keep it out of my thoughts.  There'll always be something that we should've done but it does nothing for us to constantly rehearse our mistakes.  We must trust Him at each moment - not looking to what I could've done or should've done but knowing that He knows all and that in the end facing my weaknesses leads to me gaining His strength!  How can I lose?

I have to admit, when it was all said and done, one thing I kept thinking was about how he would look in family pictures for quite awhile...*sigh...I am going to have to get over that.  ;)  Maybe a little pride creeping through on that one, too...

Oh, well...Grace and Strength!

Eggplant Parmesan Remix

I have developed a taste for Eggplant but don't want to take the time to make it and bake it...I don't want to wait, I guess.  So the other day I did my own easy and quick version of the yummy meal...here it is:

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into cubes
2 Roma Tomato, seeded
onion, chopped
olive oil/coconut oil/butter
italian seasoning, garlic salt and pepper
fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese

Saute onion (as much or as little as you like) in a mix of coconut oil and butter (or olive oil) on medium heat until soft.  Add the roma tomatos and cook for another minute.  Raise heat to medium high and add in cubed eggplant and sprinkle with garlic salt, italian seasoning and just a little pepper.  Add more oil as needed if things start to get dry and if you don't want to add more oil, just add a little water.  Stir while cooking.  I like it to be a bit al dente but you can cook it has the consistency you like.  Put your mixture into your serving bowl and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and as much freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese...yum!

Yummy Squash Soup and Simple Greek Style Salad

I made an amazingly simple and delicious soup last night...thanks mom for your idea!

I had a huge butternut and acorn squash so I only used half of each. So if you have small ones then just use the whole thing. 

Using a sharp knife, cut squashes in chunks and scoop out any seeds (and use a spoon to get all the stringy bits out) and steam until soft.  While still hot, scoop out the meat of the squash and place into your mixer (I wear gloves when I have them but last night I just held each chunk with a clean dish cloth while scooping the insides out.)  Add 3-4 Tbs  of butter (unpasteurized is ideal) and then add a llittle of the hot water used for steaming (about 1/4 cup) and then add 1/2 cup of milk.  Mix and then slowly add more milk until you reach the desired consistency. Add garlic salt (or salt and freshly fround garlic) to taste and pepper to taste.  Voila!  All done..super easy and super tasty!  Perfect for the chilly nights!

While my squash was steaming, I peeled 2 cucumber and seeded it then cut them into thin 1 inch chunks.  I cut up 2 roma tomatoes (you can use more...I only had 4 and wanted to save some for today), one avocado (again, feel free to add more - my other ones weren't ripened so I only used one), onion (optional as cut or as dried onion flakes - I opted for dried since the kids aren't fully onion-people yet), and feta (the chunk is cheaper and you have to crumble it - so it's a bit more messy, but no biggie).  I added kalamata olives (mine had seeds I took them out and cut the olives in slices).  Sprinkle juice from one half lemon (of course, if you have opted to increase the amounts of veggies, you should probably juice a whole lemon) and then sprinkle garlic salt (I use that a lot!), some pepper, and olive oil.  Stir until coated.  Oh, my!  Amazing!  I could've eaten the whole bowl!

It was a delicious meal...my hubby is a meat guy so I did make a huge meat patty (ideal is grass-fed beef) and I seasoned with, you guessed it, garlic salt, sage and pepper.

Hope you try it, it's so yummy and best of all - easy!

Chocolate and Peppermint Shakes

There's something about winter that makes me want minty things...and even though we aren't technically in winter, the minty excitement has begun.  Last night the kids and I made Thin Mints.  Oh, what fond memories I have of those small round chocolate cookies bursting with minty-wonderfulness.  Those were my number one choice when those little Girl Scouts made their way around to our home.  Well, I happened to find a recipe for them - completely unmeditated, I assure you - so it must've been fate that I came across it.  They turned out abosolutely delicious!  Tonight, the kids are sipping on our own homemade Chocolate and Peppermint Shake...I had a sip and it was mintastic!  ;)  Super easy, too! 
Here's the minty how to:

P.S.  The organic sugar that I mentioned, that is NOT the good kind (even though it says organic - they can do a lot of stuff to foods and still put the organic label on them) is the Florida Crystals along with anything that says RAW, Turbinado, whatever...one of the kinds that would be best to use is Rapadura.  (The info I got on sweeteners - which to use and which to avoid - comes form Sally Fallon's book and you can find it at :http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1  or if you want to look through it without purchasing, you can find it at the library).

The Second Poop Did It!

All is quiet on the Chicken Front.  It's 6:16am and I actually woke up at 5:24 (well, that's when I looked at the time).  Baby did a poopie in a half-sleep state and so I got up to clean and change him.  I had the great idea to just get up and get a bunch of stuff done, including my journaling, while the others slept.  So what did I do?  Snuggle back in bed and try to sleep.  I had such great intentions, the voice inside me said to get up so that I could accomplish much but I willingly went against it.  I closed my eyes and moments later hear a little grunting followed by a splurting noise.  The second poop did it.  I figured I might as well get up.  So again, I washed his sweet little bum, changed him and fed him and back to bed I did not go.

It's been a good chunk of time since I have sat down to write my thoughts.  I have been listening to a series that is challenging me by Terri Savelle Foy entitled "Can You Imagine".  It's talking about the fact that vision is the sight of the mind.  The famous blind/deaf Helen Keller was asked, "What would be worse than having no sight?"  She replied, "Having sight, but having no vision."  Wow.  Getting my goals starts with my imagination.  I have realized that I have stopped imagining.  Listen to kids.  They imagine all day long!  But somewhere along the lines we are programmed to stop doing so.  We are taught as children, "You get what you get.  You can't have this or that.  Eat all the food on your plate whether you like it or not.  In life, you don't always get what you want."  Then we wonder why we are where we are as adults.  Last time I checked, my God was the God of the impossible.  We learn to put limits on ourselves so those limits translate into how we see Him and what He is allowed to do in us.  It's not a question of His ability - b/c we know He is able - but more what we allow Him to do. 

Albert Einstein said that the imagination is a preview of life's coming attractions.  When the people of the Tower of Babel in Genesis were building their tower to reach heaven (something that seemed impossible - they didn't have power tools back then!) God Himself came down ⁶And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have ^[a]all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them."  Look at that...nothing they imagined they could do would be impossible for them.  But, we have lost the art of imagination.  We get so caught up in what we are doing on our day to day that imagining seems silly and a time waster.  But dreaming and imagining leads us to do something greater.  It leads us to open our hearts to the possibility of great things that God can do in and through us.  When we don't, we are determining to  ourselves, "this is what my life is, so I'll just go with what's been dealt me".  The truth is, our mind has the ability to see things as they COULD be, not as they actually are.  I've never been to Tahiti, but in my mind's eye, I could picture myself there, feeling the hot sun tingling my skin, hearing the crashing waves.  God created our amazing minds and I believe that the greatest doctors and thinkers of the world today can't even begin to understand the mind's capabilities! 

Walt Disney died before Disney World, in Orlando, was ever launched.  During the opening, the master of ceremonies introduced Mrs. Disney and said, "Wouldn't it have been great if Walt could have seen all this?"  She stood up and said, "He did." And then she sat back down.  Before it ever became a tangible reality, it was a mental reality.  And just like in the tower of Babel story, the people not only imagined that they could reach heaven, but they had the plan to accomplish it.   And that's what comes after the imagination stage.  We get a vision for what we want to see accomplished in our lives and we write out our goals and make them plain.  I heard a story of a veteran that said that in WWII if an unidentified soldier was come upon at any time and asked what his mission was but was unable to immediately state his mission, then he would be shot wihtout question.  If I were faced with a life or death need to know my mission, my vision, where I am headed, would I be able to say it immediately?  "My people perish for a lack of knowledge."  Perish means die.  If I don't have a vision for my life, I'm dying.  If someone asks me about my goals and vision and I respond with, "Well, I haven't give it much thought."  Then what I'm saying is, "I'm content to stay right here in this exact state for the rest of my life."  But I'm not content to stay here.  I don't want to live like I'm living today for the rest of my life.  I don't want to be the same wife and mother.  I don't want to live in the same house.  I don't want to be giving the same amounts to good causes.  I want to continue to grow and move forward in every area of my life.  But yet I have lived without a mission for so long.  And it's time to get out of the rut.  I say I want to be out of debt.  Yet, if Jesus himself showed up in my living room and asked me, "How much money do you need to get out of debt?" and I couldn't answer him, then I'm not serious about getting out of debt.  If it's a vision that I have written out, and I make it plain (broken down into realistic/measurable goals) then it's at the forefront of my mind and I could answer him immediately.  Remember what Habakuk said, Write the vision and make it plain.  If I don't have my vision written down, then it's just wishing.  I need to have the exacts, right there and ready.

So I am starting my dreams book.  A book that has every dream - small and large - physical, financial, emotional, mental, spiritual...the whole kit and kaboodle.  Something that I can look at every day and thank God for it coming to pass.  I will keep it at the forefront of my mind - they will be plain so that I can run with it - take the action steps so I can see them become a reality.  I am going to let my imagination run wild and see God be glorified through the completion of each goal. 

"The Moment-Misser"

My husband just called me a moment misser...it was supposed to be more of a tease, but when I thought about it, I realized that I do miss many opportunities for a "moment".  We went to the pumpkin patch after church this past Sunday.  I had come up with an idea for a great family day but I had so played it up in my mind's eye, that when, of course, it did not go as envisioned, I had a rough time getting over my failed plan and the frustration that accompanied it. 

I was so looking forward to taking some vivid photos.  I had seen so many kid's photos taken during their pumpkin patch experiences and I was sure that I too would be among the many mom's deliriously happy with their latest candid shots.  The kids were all dressed up: the boys had on their new white shorts and Kezi had her new glittery shoes (Target clearance find - I love a sweet deal!).  All day I pictured the great fun it would be, the wonderful family moment that would be remembered through the ages...alas, it was not so.  From bees, to muddied bums, the wonderful outing turned ominous from the moment we started our picnic, that Antony insisted we eat in the car.  Not a great idea when mustard is a part of your picnic fare.  The mustard soon became part of the the baby's attire and the car's carpeting (what was I thinking to bring mustard!?!).  I decided to stay behind to feed Marc Alec while the others went out to start the fun-filled afternoon (except Jonathon who had been plagued by ants).  When I got the phone call from Antony, not 5 minutes later, that Luke's white pants were already soiled with dirt and taht Kezi's shoes no longer looked new, I knew things were starting to go downhill.  So I called him to find out where they were but we couldn't find each other...by this time I could sense major tension in both of our voices.  Finally, we hooked up and got on the hayride and after being attacked by bees, we set off.  Okay, things didn't look good up to this point, but that's okay, I was set that we could definitely fit in a sweet, we-are-such-a-happy-family picture.  I left my camera in the car b/c Antony said we could just use his IPhone for pics...but when he realized I wanted the nice couple sitting across from us to actually hold and touch the beloved thing to get a family photo, my idea was quickly shot down.  How could I have been so daft...it's no question they would've jumped out of the hayride, with their kids in tow, to steal it (when they probably had their own).  Well, his response finished it for me.  I wanted those family pics SO bad and not getting the exact replica of what I had foreseen in my mind for our outing, tipped me over the edge.   I was done...and although I knew I should stop the ugly part of me from taking over and becoming The Moment-Misser, I chose the wrong path (as I tell the kids so often NOT to choose).    Oh yes...I ignored him that whole hay ride.  So mature, so loving, I know.  And the funny thing was that at one point he even said, "What, you aren't going to talk to me the whole day?  Oh yes, I see, everything hasn't gone EXACTLY as Lisa pictured in her mind and so now you're upset and it's going to be a miserable rest of the day."  Of course, he hit the nail on the head and it hurt - I didn't like it.  Thankfully, I got my act together - after the hayride (and we did sneak in a couple of pics - albeit, not a full family one).  But I realize, how many moments I miss b/c things don't quite turn out exactly as I picture.  Instead of rolling with the punches, making the most of a situation gone awry, I tend to whine about what hasn't gone acccording to my plan and then I just miss the moment for a special memory and I pretty much ruin it for everyone.  So, I am determined.  I will not be a moment misser!  I will enjoy the moments during the day.  I'll take the time to stop and listen and be a part of something my kids want to tell me or show me, even if I'm in the middle of something.  Days are filled with so many of these special moments and each one holds the open door to inspire me, challenge me, teach me, or give me a precious treasure that if ignored, is so quickly swept away.  Let's embrace every moment - they will more than likely turn out even better than we planned.

Feta and Zucchini Quiche

Just made some delicious quiche tonight and it was super easy.

2 Zucchini thinly sliced - (not paper thin - I just eye ball it) - with skins off (or you can leave them on, I just didn't have organic ones and didn't want to eat wax and Kezi doesn't like the skins either, so it worked)
Feta
Swiss
Onion (as much or little as you like) Sautéed in coconut oil or use fresh green onion
Garlic Salt (or salt and fresh garlic, sautéed)
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
8 -10 eggs
8tsp milk

Arrange zucchini in an 8x10 dish up the sides as well as the bottom.  Overlapping of zucchini will happen.  While onion is sautéing, shred swiss cheese and put on top of zucchini with the crumbled feta (or you can just use feta).

I put the eggs and milk, garlic salt and onion in my mixer and liquefied it and then poured it on top of the zucchini/cheese.  I sprinkled a bit of Italian seasoning and pepper (which you could just add to the mixer - or use cayenne for an extra zingy kick) and cooked in a preheated oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  You can add more cheese and allow it to melt for the last 5 minutes - but I don't.

Here'a  variation that I LOVE (but I didn't have all the ingredients this time):
Use Feta only (and lots of it!)
Greek Olives chopped or sliced
Spinach, chopped
Tomato, chopped
Sprinkle the last 3 ingredients after you pour the mixture into the dish (gives it a nice color and presentation).
Then cook as stated above.

This is a great recipe b/c you can play with it and add or take out anything that suits your fancy (mushrooms, red/green/orange/yellow peppers,

We serve with avocado (for your good fats) and crispy tortillas (grilled to a crunchy perfection) or with a slice of sprouted grain toast - YUM!

Note:  Don't even consider changing the eggs to egg beaters...read up on it - super BAD for you - oxidized and so unhealthy.  Find Farm Fresh eggs if you can in your area...check Craigslist...eggs are a complete protein and truly the incredible, edible egg!