NAS: Favorite Recipes

I'm joining the other amazing bloggers of the Not Alone Series which reminds "all the single ladies" that we are never truly alone!  This week's topic was about food!

 

I have a confession to make: I never really learned how to cook.  Growing up, my mom was an amazing cook but she never really taught me how to do what she did.  In the process of transitioning from home to college back home again, I never really had to learn.  When I moved away to go to school as an off-campus student, I realized that my skills were sorely lacking in this area! I tended to rely on ready to eat foods out of a box.  Anyhoo, my mom ended up giving me the world’s greatest invention for anyone with two left thumbs in the kitchen—a crock pot!  I LOVE my crock!  With minimal effort, I can make delicious, healthy foods that don’t require that much more effort than throwing a frozen meal into the microwave.  Here are a couple crock pot recipes that work well for me:

Turkey Drumsticks

1 pack of thawed turkey legs

1 pack of onion soup mix (NOTE: this stuff has MSG :( so I would not recommend making this on a regular basis)

Low sodium chicken broth

Clean the turkey legs with salt/water or vinegar then rinse with water.  Sprinkle the soup mix over the Turkey legs.  Place in the crock pot then add enough broth to cover the bottom of the crock pot.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low. 

This is a great recipe if you are doing Thanksgiving for a small group (or solo) but you don’t need or want to cook a huge turkey.  

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (from the Crockin’ Girls)

1 box of pineapple cake mix (prepare according to box)

2-3 eggs (will be listed on the box)

Vegetable oil (will be listed on the box)

Milk (use instead of water on the box)

1 Can pineapple rings or 1 fresh pineapple cut into 8 rings

1 Can maraschino cherries

1 Cup brown sugar

• Spray 6-quart slow cooker with bakers joy or spray and flour lightly.
• Lightly coat the bottom of the slow cooker with brown sugar.Place pineapple rings of pineapple on top of the brown sugar. Insert one cherry in the middle of each pineapple ring.
• In a separate bowl, make box cake according to the package directions and pour batter into the slow cooker.
• Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove crock from the base & let cake cool for about 10-15 minutes.
• Place a platter over the top of the crock and flip crock over, letting the cake fall onto the platter. Serve as is or top with fresh pineapple and cool whip.

Yes, you can make dessert in the crock!  This cake is awesome (just be sure to share it with your friends or co-workers because it’s huge!).  For more recipe ideas check out the rest of the link up here.

What is a Sifted Heart?

 

In Passion and Purity, Elisabeth Elliot shares the story of how love blossomed slowly, carefully and at times painfully, between herself and her first husband, Jim Elliot, who was killed shortly after they married.  As a single Catholic woman over the age of 30 in a world where a woman's value is based on her physical appearance or the number of suitors she has, I found a lot of solace in this book.  For over a year, I felt God asking me to go on a journey with Him--to trustingly surrender to Him as I walked through the great unknown in my life. 

Unsurprisingly, this happened shortly after I joined the Catholic Church.  I have felt called to marriage since my mid-20s but I never heard of marriage as a vocation until I joined the Church.  I just thought that marriage was something that most people did.  I knew based on the divorce rate that something was wrong with the way our society conducts marriage and had long discovered modern Christian authors like Joshua Harris who encouraged single unmarried Christians to run from the modern culture's version of dating. 

However, as I became older, I felt like I needed something more.
I was looking for something that addressed my specific situation: a single woman-in-waiting.  Who was I waiting for?  A husband?  Christ?  God took me by the hand and started leading me down a pathway towards a better understanding of marriage.  I learned about the beautiful Theology of the Body and Natural Family Planning. I learned why being a virgin is a great start but chastity is even better.  I learned why it truly takes Three to Get Married.   

Today, I'm still on that journey and I still don't know where it will lead.  However, God has been doing a mighty work in me, essentially sifting and scouring my heart as Elisabeth Elliot says in her book.  There are many scriptures in the Bible that support the notion that God purifies, prunes and refines:

For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. Psalm 66:10-12

This is what The Sifted Heart is about--allowing God to work in whatever way He knows will lead to my purification.  Many blogs and books have inspired me along the way.  It is my hope to share my own insight with anyone who might be interested and hopefully offer an interesting perspective.  Thanks for stopping by.