February 24, 2012

Scrambled Chicken Pie? Family Funny

By Lisa Cherry

My monthly menu plan has been working very well, especially with our crazy schedule traveling to Acquire the Fire speaking events.  I carefully designed the menu to allow me to do the harder cooking early in the week, while the girls and Dad would be left with the easy, pre-prepped fare when I am gone on weekends.

I calculated correctly except for week 4 Thursday night.  It’s a tough one if I fly out Friday a.m.

Rebekah is my faithful dinner assistant, and what happened one Thursday night recently was certainly not her fault.  I accidentally set her up!

I left her with the pre-cooked and chopped chicken and veggies to assemble the chicken pie.  Should be easy as pie, I thought.

“Rebekah, just grab my recipe card and mix it up,” I told her. “All the ingredients are out.”

So she did.  Only one problem:  After 40 years of cooking I had deleted the instructions from that recipe.  It was simply one long list of ingredients.

Ever wonder what happens when you mix the crust ingredients with the chicken filling ingredients and stir?   My family does not recommend that you try it!

I have substituted a new menu selection for Week 4 Thursday now!  But I thought I would share the recipe with you—the unscrambled version, that is.  It’s one of our favorites.

Chicken pie
Crust:
4 c. whole grain flour (mixture of whole wheat, barley, rice, and/or millet)
2 1/4 c. water
2 1/2 T baking powder
1 c. dry milk
4 eggs
3/4 c. olive oil

Filling:

2 lb. bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 lb. bag frozen corn
3 cans Healthy Request condensed soup (chicken, celery, and/or mushroom)
1 cooked deboned chicken
2-3 cups chicken broth

Mix all filling ingredients. Pour into 2 9×13 baking dishes. Mix crust ingredients. Pour crust mix on top. Baked 350 30-40 minutes.

Posted by on February 24, 2012 in Family Funny and tagged , , , .

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February 21, 2012

There Go the Brides: Cohabitation, Part 4

Courtesy of Robert Linder

By Lisa Cherry

When I was a girl, I remember watching a TV series called Here Come the Brides. Set in a wilderness logging camp, a group of men were eagerly searching for women who would be their wives. I do not remember the show to be sanctified and holy with its made-for-TV sexual humor. However, the goal of the show seemed to be pretty clear: lots of weddings.

I am not sure that show’s theme would make it in today’s culture. We might want to call the alternative There Go the Brides. With about two-thirds of couples choosing to live together before marriage and 6.4 million couples self-identified as “cohabiting,” the traditional image of the bride seems to be passing away from our culture.

Now don’t get me wrong. Sales of white dresses have not lagged. Just note the bridal magazines at any Wal-Mart check out line. We obviously still enjoy the drama and fanfare of a gorgeous party. But what on earth does the white dress mean at our modern weddings? Most of what’s advertised in Brides magazine looks more suggestive of the lingerie for the honeymoon than dresses for the ceremony!

Contrast this with the Biblical picture of a bride. Jesus, when He returns, will come for back for the church—prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  In fact Paul tells us Jesus is anticipating a holy bride without spot or wrinkle.  Would our kids even know what that means?

A popular worship song by Hillsong United called Savior King says it like this….  “Let now your church shine as the bride, That You saw in your heart as you offered up your life.”

Parents and grandparents, we must not allow the Kingdom of God definition of the bride to disappear! We are His salt and light to a confused generation.

In case you missed them, here are the earlier posts in this series:

Cohabitation: The New Dating?

I Just Live with My Boyfriend Because it is Cheaper,” Cohabitation Part 2

Fornication? What’s That?—Cohabitation, Part 3

Posted by on February 21, 2012 in Christian Parenting and tagged , , , .

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February 17, 2012

Boxing Out? Huh?—Family Funny

By Lisa Cherry

At age five, Josiah has sat through more basketball games than I had sat through in my first 30 years.  He likes to sit on Dad’s lap while he coaches his three big brothers’ team.

From that vantage point, Josiah asked Doug an interesting question the other night during the third quarter:

“Daddy, don’t you guys ever practice boxing out anymore?

Boxing out? I don’t even know what that is!

Okay, I looked it up.  Boxing out is a play used to get rebounds. A player boxes out a player on the other team by getting between him and the basket.

But how did Josiah know what it was, and that the team needed to use it?

Don’t tell me kids don’t learn by watching and listening!  Makes me want to be extra careful of what they see and hear.  How about you?

Posted by on February 17, 2012 in Christian Parenting, Family Funny and tagged , , , .

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February 16, 2012

Lessons from the Dumpster Divers: Kid Worldview

Courtesy of Leonard G. via Wikipedia Commons

By Beth Groh

What a contrast.

Athens = rich history, majestic ancient architecture (Acropolis and Parthenon), citadel of Western civilization.   That’s one image.

And now, just click on any news channel and you’ll have a stark new image.

Athens = fire, riots, destitute citizens picking through dumpsters searching for scraps of food to survive another day.

What a fall from glory.

This manmade human suffering reveals the cascading logical consequences that befall a nation that lives well beyond its means for way too long.

You certainly can, and should, examine the Greek economic implosion because it is a frightening harbinger of what may await our nation if we don’t abandon a similarly reckless path, with our government borrowing more than 40 cents of every dollar spent.

(Please research the Greek debt dilemma and discuss this with your family as a critical thinking exercise for any similarities with our nation today. )

But let me challenge you to view this Greek crisis with spiritual eyes—and turn to God’s Word.

The Apostle Paul also saw two Athens when he spoke before the Council. (Acts 17: 22-34)

One Athens = flaunting great material wealth with its “objects of worship” in the form of idols crafted to an “unknown” god.

The other Athens = impoverished and dying a spiritual death with a culture worshipping the works of man, not God.

“’In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent,” Paul boldly warned the local elite. “For He has set a day when He will judge with justice by the man He appointed.’” (Acts 17: 30-31).

So did they heed Paul’s warning? Some “sneered” (verse 32) but a few believed.

What about you? What about America?

Will we sneer? Or will we believe? Will we worship the “created” things of this world or the Creator?

Will we view Athens as an omen—or an opportunity to turn away from the selfish ways of man…and towards the selfless ways of God’s saving grace through His Son?

Posted by on February 16, 2012 in Kid Worldview and tagged , , , .

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