Speaking the Truth in Love

Last night we had Mormon Missionaries come visit us. I have to be honest my first thought when I saw them pull in the drive was 'Oh no, how can I get rid of them quickly. I'm far to busy for this.' Then the very next thoughts were, 'No, I just taught a lesson last week about speaking the truth in Love .....and we had just attended a concert the night before with four ex-LDS Missionaries shared their testimonies about how they came to Christ through a Christian Pastor respectfully speaking the truth in love to them." I knew that I had to graciously welcome them and listen to them.

The reason I say I needed to listen to them is I believe as a Christian I need to earn the right to be heard. What I mean by that is I show sincere respect and listen to what they have to share first then when they ask what I think, I have earned the right to share what I believe.

In the past my main goal has been to plant a seed of doubt. Which I still believe can be effective in challenging the missionary to search out and find God's truth. Just maybe no my first plan of action. This time I plan to simply try to show respect and God's compassion and love for them and pray that they see it as being different.

They are coming back next Tuesday at 7:00pm. Pray that God will give David & I his Love and Grace along with clear thoughts and speech.

The Cure for PMS

If David could find a way to get his "recipe" FDA approved I think we'd be millionaires.
Dark Thai Pepper "HOT" Chocolate.

Last night I was having one of those evening...Ladies you know what I mean. You have all been there, you can fill in the blank ________ so there really is no reason for me to elaborate.

We have all heard about the wonders of Chocolate and what great things it does for us. Well I never really bought into that until last night. David melted a block of dark chocolate added some dry Thai pepper flakes them he stirred it into a pan of warm milk for the most wonderful HOT chocolate. If your reading this and are one that doesn't care for dark chocolate or you don't like hot spicy peppers, fuggedaboudit.... no substitutes will do! With out the DARK Chocolate and Thai peppers you simply have a cup of childs hot cocoa, and that won't cut it. Seriously, I have never experience such rich, soothing comfort in a cup. It calmed the savage beast within. Rich, Dark, Spicy, Creamy, warm Chocolate! Really do I need to say any more?

So now when I say I have the best husband in the world, you know that I'm telling the truth!

Menu Planning for March

I really don't have to say this because if you know me and are reading my blog then you know, I Love to cook. I love good food and I enjoy planning, shopping for and preparing good food.
I also remembered that by planning out a couple of weeks worth of menues and shopping for those item I can keep my grocery expenses down.

Menus for March 1-18
( Insert a MUSTGO night 'leftovers' about every 2-3 nights)
**Justifcations: I am not on a diet I am simply watching and being aware of the choices I make.

1.Spaghettii w/ homemade meat,mushroom & Tomato sauce

2.Bacon Cabbage & Root Soup ( I got this recipe from our snowshoeing, camping and hiking friend-Sandi) ** only 4 fat trimmed pieces of bacon in the entire pot of soup.

3.Perogies (a friend called me up and said she had made a large batch for a party and had some leftover) Toni is Polish and make these from scratch the old world way! Yummy!
** Sorry no Justification can be made here, just take heart that the last time I had any of these was 4-5 years ago.

4.Smoky Bean Chili ( I'll try to recreate a chili that Wayne brought to our church's Soup and Chili cook off - my mouth is watering as I think about it)

5.Baked Salmon & Asparagus

6.Crock-pot Burritos **lean ground beef fat free refried beans, load up on homemade salsa, lettuce & onions.

7.Homemade Pepperoni Pizza & salad ** this is treat for David that he gets only once every 3 or 4 months.

8.Scallops w/Asparagus & lemon Pasta

9.Homemade Mac n Cheese w/ Green Beans

10.Great Northern Beans & Ham ** I refrigerate them over night and remove any fat that rises to the top of the beans.

11.Chef Salad

12.Hamburgers ** I load up on onions, mushrooms & Lettuce, I use extra lean beef and I don't use a bun

Orange Cocoa Brownies (Taste great and good for you!))

My bosses Birthday is this weekend so I decided to make a treat to take in to the office.
She is watcing her Cholesterol so I thought I'll play around and create something she can enjoy guilt free.
My number one rule with healthy recipes are they have to taste wonderful. I will not eat or serve something that taste like tree bark or dirt clods.

Orange Cocoa Brownies
1 brownie mix (dry)
1 egg
1/3 c pumpkin puree *
1/3 c apple sauce *
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp of pure orange extract
1/4 c cocoa

Mix and bake at 350* for 20 minutes
The brownies come out very dense and delicious.
You are reading the recipe correctly there is no Oil!!!
* All Natural, no sugar added. These items were home grown and canning in my own kitchen.

Seriously, These were wonderfully awesome!!!

Not a New Year Resolution!

I Never make Weight loss, Diet or Exercise a New Years Resolution. I guess because so many people do, I just don't want to. I've always been that way, I rarely ever start the latest trend or get the hottest item on the market until it has run its course or been around for a while.

Yesterday I was at Border and picked up Ali Vincent, (The first female Biggest Loser Winner) new book, 'Believe It and Be It'. and read several pages - a quick read. Last night I went to the Library and checked out a copy of Jessica Seinfield's Cookbook 'Deceptively Delicious'. I felt the motivation building.

Today is the day. I started out by making a DD recipe for breakfast. Of course I altered the recipe, My version was: Pumpkin and Walnut Oatmeal [ oatmeal, pumpkin puree, ground flax seed, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar and walnuts] No Fat, Highfiber and Very Tasty.

Started keeping my food Journal again. Planning to workout after lunch. Hoping to talk a friend into getting on board with me so that we can encourage and hold each other accountable.

Is This Another Food Blog?

After watching the Julie & Julia movie I was inspired. Not to Blog for 365 days about 500+ french recipes that I wouldn't be able to afford or find some of the ingredients. But I was inspire to cook. Okay, I really don't need to be inspired to do that. If you know me I love to cook. I had 6 days off from work before Christmas. I spent the entire time cooking. I loved ever minute. I made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon for Christmas, Wow it was amazingly delicous. Other dishes during my holiday cooking frenzy where Garlic Cheese Grits w/ Shrimp, Curry butternut squash & basmati rice, cookies, cookies and more cookies and Korean BBQ W/ stir fried vegetables & rices.

I enjoy reading cookbooks and food magazines for new ideas. My dear sweet husband bought me several cookbooks for Christmas along with ramikins of different sizes. I have collected dishes and kitchen utensil since I was 12 years old. Cooking has been a life long love affair for me.

It is now two weeks since my holiday food frenzy and I'm just getting around to blogging about it . I wanted to but thought there are a million plus food blog out there. What would make mine special or different from all the others. Nothing. Mine isn't loaded with new recipes, its not funny and witty. I don't even know how to post pictures or attach links. It's simply me. I will occasionally post some of my favorites or recipes that I have tried. As much as I would love to be Paula Dean or the Barefoot Contessa, Martha Stewart or Julia Childs I won't be. So here I am, Christy Holmes just another foodie.

Act Your Wage

It has been quite a while since I last blogged. To catch up - the big thing that David & I have been doing since the middle of September is taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It has made such an incredible impact of us. WOW! It has been absolutely amazing.

Dave teaches 7 baby steps to financial freedom.
Here are the first 3 I'll include the last 4 at a later date.

1. Establish a $1000 emergency fund.
2. Debt snow ball - get really serious about paying off all debt a fast as you can! (except your house that comes later)
3. Save 3-6 months worth of your income.

There will be great rejoicing when we get these first 3 steps completed.

We are now in month #2 of working our budget. It really has been quite easy.

Mini Victories along the way!
(Actually these were huge for us and have energized us to keep at it.)

1. Within the first week we were able to complete step one due to a great job that David got.
2. Within the first month we paid off two small credit cards.
3. First months budget came in UNDER budget. $60.00 - we are putting it towards a new camera.

This may sound strange but simply having a plan and being disciplined enough to stick with it has been fun. We may be living like no one else for right now, but later we will be able to live like no one else!

Practical application:
Menu planning for the week on November 2-8

Monday: Leftovers - we have a lot of stuff from last week and the weekend that needs to be cleaned up!
Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan. w/ snow peas
Wednesday: Cheese & veggie Quesadillas
Thursday: Pork medallions sauted onions w/ brown rice and salad
Friday: Tuna Melts
Saturday: Chili and hotdogs
Sunday: Stuffed Baked potatoes w/ broccoli

Grocery list for this week is simple because we have most of this in the cupboard or freezer.

5lb bag of coffee beans - IBIS Roasting Co. (this is a once a month purchase) $24.95
Some things are non negotiables!
1 doz eggs $1.00
2 quart of 1/2 & 1/2 $2.72
1 gallon of milk $1.89
brown rice $1.99
(seriously this is all I need to buy this week. How cool is that?)
Total $32.55

That leave us with $22.45 that we could still use for gorceries this week, but I don't think we need to, so into savings it goes!

GOD IS GOOD! I want to make sure that He gets all the credit for this victory in our lives. We will no longer be slaves to the lender!