Blueberry Pound Cake

The other night I was trying to think what I could make, for a mom's fellowship, of stuff I had here at the house.  I decided on chocolate chip cookies, blueberry pound cake, and mini salted caramel cheesecakes.  (well I had almost all the ingredients for all three)

Blueberry Pound Cake is one of my all time favorite summer recipes.  I found it in a Cajun cook book years ago, and have been making it since.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup softened butter (not margarine)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and drained (I used frozen yesterday)

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs. Add 2 cups flour, salt, baking powder. Beat thoroughly. Dredge blueberries in remaining flour. Gently fold into batter. Pour into greased, floured bundt pan. Bake at 325*F for 1 1/4 hours or until toothpick poked into cake comes clean. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

  I hope you'll try this fabulous recipe for a yummy summer treat! (btw it's better the next day)

Spiritual Maturity

The lack of spiritual maturity is really starting to take it's toll on today's society.

Why do I say that? 
Conversation on FB as follows:  (names have been changed)

J stated:
Tebow stands up for his christian beliefs... no call from obama ! nba player says he is gay , and not one ... but two presidents call to praise him. Can you guess what presidents they were. So if you havent been contacted by obama and bill clinton ...proclaim to the world that you like balls in ur fish.

T comments:
 harder and braver to come out as gay than christian, i am catholic and everyone knows it, but if i were gay, that would be harder

J:
The reason it is harder is because god created adam and eve
Not adam and steve.

Me:
perhaps, but it's ridiculous to be congratulated by the president for being gay....and the press tells tim tebow go away, we don't want to hear about you being a christian. It's typical liberal hypocrisy...and America just doesn't see it! 




J:
but being gay is still hard, actually i don't care if you are any of the above and neither should our government, so i agree with you- treat everyone equal period, nobody is different, no one is special, not the government role to take sides as it is a government for all the people

Me:
being faithful, not stealing, etc., are hard...because they are all sin! That's why we need a Savior. When we genuinely ask Jesus into our hearts we turn away from sin. If someone claims to be gay after accepting Christ, they either had an emotional conversion or they have an iniquity that needs to be dealt with. that's the problem with so many churches' teachings nowadays...they don't understand or teach iniquities and they are trying to get numbers in their church...sad, but true!

J:
i let Jesus be the judge of that... I will no judge another nor can I ever cast the first stone, when I meet Him, I have my own issues to discuss much less those of others...

Me:
it's not judging. we are suppose to be fruit inspectors...another misunderstanding of the "church" sin is sin....

J:
 bottom line, nobody or govvernment should police anybodys private business, used to be an outcast if you had a baby out of wedlock- very normal now, used to be an outcast if you were divorced- also no big deal, used to not be able to marry someone from a different race, nobody needs to inspect me well Jesus can, i still think He did a good job with me and all my faults!

Me:
 fruit inspection is merely keeping each other accountable according to GOD's word. As far as govt stepping in, I agree, they have no place.

J:
 but a nut inspector might be fun!

J:
life is short, enjoy it, that is a gift! laughter is the best medicine and it is free!
____________________________________________________________________________________


Obviously, this person is a person of a certain religion, and/or they are a babe in Christ!  Not only does her replies imply she is not understanding my points, but she is rather crass and lacking spiritual maturity.  :( 

It's time the church steps in and starts teaching not only TRUTH, but how to become a spiritually mature Christian! I think one of the problems is nobody wants to offend anyone, so they continue to let people dress and act a certain way in the church.  Another problem I see is too many people are going to the same church they got saved (if they genuinely got saved) and just plant themselves there for life.  We were never meant to just sit and not move or grow!  We need to continually be pressing into God's Word, continually pressing in and maturing.  Look at the New Testament church as an example.  What did the disciples do?  They would gather the lost.  They would get them saved. They would train them....aka disciple them...and then what?  Those people would GO  OUT and do the same thing!  

Spiritual maturity is the KEY problem in today's society.  People want to blame it on morals....where did morals come from?  They came from GOD's WORD when HE created the Ten Commandments!  (like this is rocket science, people!)  When we continue to move further and further from GOD's TRUTH, we will continue to see a decline in morals.  (SO not hard to understand!)

Climbing off my soap box now....

Blessings until next time!

Homemade Enchilada Sauce with Vegetable Enchiladas

The other day, my friend, Angela, posted healthy chicken enchiladas on her fb.  Since we've been trying to eat more vegetables around here, I asked her if she'd ever tried vegetable enchiladas.  I found a recipe that I decided to try tonight.  OH MY!  YUMMO!!!

I got the recipe from HERE.  I changed the sauce recipe and changed up the enchiladas a little.  I'll post what I did, and you can look over at the other site to see how she did it.

Enchilada Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin
3/4 cup water
15 oz chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pour olive oil into a sauce pan.  Add all the ingredients in order. Whisk on high temp., until it comes to a boil, then turn to low and continue whisking  until thickened.

Vegetable Enchiladas

Corn tortillas
1-15oz can black beans
1 cup corn (I used organic, frozen)
2 cups grated cheese (I used Costco cheddar jack mix)
1 cup tightly measured fresh spinach chopped


Spray a 12x8 casserole dish with nonstick spray.
Mix beans, corn, cheese, and spinach together.
Heat tortillas in microwave with a paper towel over them, to soften.
Place about 1/8 cup of mixture into each tortilla.
Roll the tortilla tightly around mixture and place seam side down in casserole dish.
Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas.
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

I also made Calabacitas for dinner.  I didn't have any poblano pepper, so I just used green and red bell peppers instead. Calabacitas is squash, zucchini, pepper and onion sauteed together.  ;)

I already devoured one of my delicious enchiladas when I remembered to take the picture.  LOL

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

My friend, Kelly, posted a recipe for homemade Cream of Mushroom soup a couple weeks ago on her FB page.  Today, I thought I would give it a try for my chuck roast.  OH MY STARS!!!  Why on earth have I been spending money on this for so long?  It tastes SO much better, and so easy to make, not to mention probably SO much healthier than the canned stuff.

You will need:
1 cup of diced mushrooms (I just used white mushrooms. Kelly used Portobella)
2 Tablespoons fat (I used butter. Kelly used Coconut Oil)
2 Tablespoons flour (I used all purpose. Kelly used 1 All purpose, 1 Whole wheat)
1 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

First, melt a small amount of fat, in saute pan.  Again, I used butter, about 1 teaspoon.

Then add diced mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

Once the mushrooms are sauted, add the rest of the fat. 

Add the 2 Tablespoons of flour.

Stir the flour with the butter:

Add 1 cup of milk:

Continue to stir over heat until milk becomes thick. (for those of us in the Texas, like cream gravy.  For the rest of you experts, like Béchamel or basic white sauce)

Then add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper (of course you can season to your preference):

Remove from heat. Here's what it looks like done:

Hope you'll try it.  Mighty tasty!
Blessings until next time! :)

Fancy wrapped packages

Today, while talking to a friend, a conversation came up about the way I say things.  My friend, is very loving and kind and said something like, "I know you and how you are but...."

So, of course, I started thinking about how I say things.  Truly, I try to say them with grace, but on the otherhand I'm not going to sugar coat something. Maybe I'm not the most tactiful person...is that it?  I'm going to be as honest as possible....which got me thinking some more.  "LORD, how do I say things?"  HE reminded me that I was to always say them with grace, BUT HE also reminded me of this...

Say things with grace. They don't have to be sugar coated or wrapped in pretty little paper.  So many people  expect things to be said in sugar and wrapped in pretty little packages, because they don't want to hear the TRUTH. The truth hurts, and makes them have to self evaluate.  Some people want to live by their own rules. (which reminds me of this cartoon)

And then GOD reminded me of this:

For years, people were waiting and anticipating the KING of Kings, the LORD of Lords birth.  They expected HIM to be born in a castle or a mansion.  They expected HIM to be born with riches and wealth. (and I believe HE was...but that's a another story for another day, and no, not just spiritual, I believe it was physical too)  BUT HE wasn't.  HE was born in a lowly stable manager....and so people didn't believe HE was the LORD AND KING....and still 2000+ years later, some still don't know the TRUTH.  Was HIS life sugar coated?  NO!  Did HE speak with grace...YES. 

(so there's room for improvement with me. LOL)

Blessings until next time!

Boy Scouts/Gays

The whole Boy Scouts and allowing homosexuals in....

Hmmm.....At one time I would be against it, but over the years growing in Christ, GOD has changed my heart.  How are people going to see JESUS in us?  Through example, period.  If we continue to tout off we love JESUS, but not showing it, that's when people see us as hyprocrites.  :(

Yes, I'm still against homosexuality, because it is a sin, but I do NOT dislike or hate a person for being a homosexual.  I love them and hopefully they will see my love for them, and love for JESUS, and that will be an example to them. Besides, the only difference between their sin and mine, is they show their's openly.

So back to the whole scouting thing....
I'm really conflicted.  I don't want to say it's okay, and yet I do.
On one hand I say, we should allow gays to enter, but not all boyscouts are Christians, so I'm praying GOD will lead me on what direction I should lean.  I don't have a son in Scouts, so that's not an issue, but I think this is one of the many things we as Christians need to find an understanding on, so we can be salt and light in a very dark world.

Blessings.

Day 7-Innovation