Happy Mother’s Day to all moms! Here’s a fun song to hopefully bring a smile to your face. With that said, I thank God for blessing me with being a mom and having two precious children!
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Happy Mother’s Day: Mom Song
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Easy Mother’s Day Cake: Pretty & Delicious
This week is Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week at my school. We had a beautiful luncheon, which included a cake that several said was too pretty to cut. Here’s the recipe for this impressive cake that was also delicious:
INGREDIENTS:
- Artisan Fresh Lemon Crunch Bundt Cake, 50 oz. (from Sam’s) or any large, moist lemon bundt cake
- 2 pints fresh strawberries, cleaned
Place the cake on a large, pretty plate. Fill the center of the bundt cake completely with fresh whole strawberries so that the strawberries are overlapping onto the top of the cake a little bit. Place remaining strawberries on the plate, completely surrounding the bottom of the cake. Enjoy!
Wall Mounted TVs
We were walking through the Electronics Department at a local store recently and were looking at all the flat screen TVs. Some people probably get peerless mounts to mount their flat screens on the wall. That sure would free up floor space to have the TV on a wall. Ours is in an entertainment center which takes up a considerable amount of space on the wall at the end of our living room. It’s hard to imagine that room without the entertainment center, though, so we’ll probably keep it for a while.
Menu Plan Monday 5/7/12
We’ve had a whirlwind of things going on since Spring Break. This past week was nice but busy getting ready for our school carnival. Things should start to wind down now, though. However, it’s getting harder to think up a menu, but I’ll try. Here we go:
Monday: Chicken, steamed broccoli, corn
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Tuesday: Salmon, kale salad, carrots
Wednesday: Leftover salmon, carrots, and salad
Thursday: DiGiorno Crispy Flatbread Tuscan Style Chicken Pizza & salad (we still haven’t had this pizza)
Friday: not decided yet (depends if our son is home)
Tax Accountant
I’m so glad taxes are done and over with…at least until next year. We didn’t need a raleigh accountant because my husband did our taxes on the computer, but I’m sure many people were using accountants to get their taxes done on time.
There’s so much work involved in keeping tax records all year long and then filling out all the forms. Being a teacher makes taxes easy because I receive a W-2 form from my school district. But then we have several schedule C’s to fill out, two of which are mine for blogging and private tutoring. Keeping up-to-date records throughout the year really helps because then there’s none of that last minute scrambling to get info together. I like that!
Kale & Romaine Salad Recipe
Central Market has a kale salad recipe that sounds great. However, I had only one of the ingredients…kale. But I did have ingredients that make good substitutions, so below is what I came up with plus some added ingredients such as sesame sticks and chicken. (The pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, almonds and cranberries were in the Central Market recipe plus crystallized ginger, chopped.) My husband and I liked the substitute recipe so much that we’ve had it for supper two nights in a row. This makes enough for two servings.
.INGREDIENTS:
- 2 large kale leaves, torn into bite size pieces
- 2 cups Romaine lettuce
- 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced – we used organic celery from Walmart (or sliced almonds)
- 1/8-1/4 cup dried cherries (or dried cranberries)
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds (or roasted pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds))
- 3 tablespoons sesame sticks (we use oat bran sesame sticks)
- chicken cut into bite size pieces (leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or 1 large can chicken breast chopped and cooked in olive oil)
DRESSING:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar – we use Bragg brand
- Juice from 1 small clementine (or 2 tablespoons orange juice)
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- Stevia – just a tiny bit to sweeten to taste
Menu Plan Monday 4/30/12
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We had a laid-back weekend, one where I could decompress now that all of our state testing is over (for this school year anyway).
It’s hard to think of a menu for the week. I think we’re going to go for lean and healthy meals except maybe have pizza on Friday. We didn’t have our pizza last Friday, so it’s still in the freezer waiting to be cooked.
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Monday: Leftover salmon, corn, broccoli
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Tuesday: Turkey patties, Kale & Romaine Salad, carrots
Wednesday: Stir-fry with chicken, yellow squash, red pepper and onions
Thursday: Salad with raw veggies & “turkey bacon”
Friday: DiGiorno Crispy Flatbread Tuscan Style Chicken Pizza & salad
Earth: Estimated Odds of Selected Variables
Some people believe our planet Earth occurred by chance. I believe the very first words in the Bible where it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” without taking any probability factor into account. My belief comes from faith in God.
However, John Clayton was a scientist and former atheist who set out to disprove the Bible using scientific facts. I’m sure it was a great surprise to him when he came to believe in God and the Bible while trying to disprove the Bible.
Although I haven’t read Clayton’s book, The Source, it’s interesting to see how mathematical probabilities are used to show the improbability of Earth possessing all of the conditions needed to support life by random chance. These are the variables used.
11 variables*:
- Being in the right type of galaxy: 1 in 100
- Being in the right position in the galaxy: 1 in 150
- Having the right kind of star: 1 in 1,000
- Being the correct distance from the star: 1 in 10
- Having the right planetary mass: 1 in 10
- Having the right planetary spin: 1 in 10
- Having the right planetary tilt: 1 in 10
- Having comet sweeping planets: 1 in 40
- Not being close to a black hole: 1 in 250
- Having one large moon: 1 in 10
- Having a magnetic field that can shield: 1 in 10
Mathematical probability of Earth occurring by chance:
1 in 150,000,000,000,000,000
This doesn’t prove that there is a God who created the Earth. This always has been and always will be a matter of faith. But there is plenty of evidence in the world that reveals God.
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Psalm 19
New Century Version (NCV) from BibleGateway.com
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Day after day they tell the story;
night after night they tell it again.
3 They have no speech or words;
they have no voice to be heard.
4 But their message goes out through all the world;
their words go everywhere on earth.
* Beth Moore, Believing God (Nashville, TN: LifeWay Press, 2004), 39
* John Clayton & Nils Jansma, The Source (W. Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing, 2001), 28
Water Fountains…A Nice Touch!
My in-laws had a beautiful backyard where they used to live. Their house was situated on a half-acre, and so their backyard was large. They had beautiful trees, lush green grass, and pretty flowers planted in different spots. The focal point in the center of the yard was a bird bath that added a nice touch to their park-like backyard. This was a place where family could retreat after a busy day at work and reconnect.
Have you noticed how water fountains add a nice touch to just about any setting? Something about the gentle flow of water is relaxing and enjoyable to watch.
Menu Plan Monday 4/23/12
We’re having beautiful weather here in Texas. Hope everyone is experiencing beautiful weather, too. Our menu is going to be quick and easy this week since there’s so much going on.
Monday: Chicken, French Green Beans with Petite Idaho Potatoes
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Tuesday: Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday: Spinach Manicott
Thursday: Salad with raw veggies & “turkey bacon”
Friday: DiGiorno Crispy Flatbread Tuscan Style Chicken Pizza & salad
Song Share: “Carry Me To The Cross” by Kutless
This is a beautiful song about how we’re not alone: Carry Me to The Cross by Kutless. Sometimes, we can feel exhausted with the weight of the burdens we are carrying, whether they’re job related, health related, dealing with family, dealing with death of loved ones, and just plain old stress. There’s great comfort to be had “at the cross!”
Be Proactive About Tornado Safety
I clearly remember a tornado 30 years ago when our daughter (Christi @ Frugal Novice) was a baby and we lived out in west Texas. My husband was at work, and a bad storm came in June. Christi had just learned to crawl and was on the floor playing. I was doing things around the house and listening to the radio on a pretty sunny afternoon. All of a sudden, the DJ on the radio said to take cover under heavy furniture because a tornado was five miles north of town headed our way!
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I called our next-door-neighbors, who knew nothing about the tornado, to go to the storm shelter with me. I then grabbed Christi and the diaper bag. My two neighbors (husband thought we were being a sissy when I first called but was thankful afterwards) went with me to a shelter. As we headed toward the shelter and looked north of town, the sky was black and very scary.
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The storm hit a couple of minutes after we got down in the below-ground shelter. It sounded like the tornado touched down to the ground, but it didn’t. However, when we came out of the shelter, there were 10 inches of hail on the ground, eerie-looking steam coming up because of the hot summer day and cold hail, plus not one leaf was left on any of the abundant trees in our little area. When we got home, two sides of our place had the windows blown out. There was glass all over our living room rug where our baby had just been playing, and it was all over the kitchen too. I thank God that I was listening to the radio and heard the warning!
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There have been already been 653 reported tornadoes in 2012. If you don’t have a plan in place, now is the time to do it. Being proactive about tornado safety means having a plan in place and following the tips below. The first one is mine, and the rest are from tornado safety sites:
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- Most important if you’re a Christian, pray humbly to God for His protection. (I’ve read several stories about people praying for God’s protection, and the only thing left of their house was where they were sheltering in place.)
- If time, put on your sturdiest shoes.
- Wear helmets if possible.
- Go to the lowest level, to a small center room.
- Crouch as low as you can to the floor, facing down; and cover your head with a blanket or couch cushion.
- Stay away from windows.
- If you go to a basement, go to where there’s not heavy furniture or appliances above you.
- If you’re in a shopping mall or business, go to an interior restroom, storage room, or stairwell on the lowest level.
- If you’re in a mobile home, go to a shelter or sturdier building.
- If you’re in a car, get out and find shelter. If there’s no shelter and you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the roadway, leave your car and lie in that area, covering your head with your hands.
- Do not get under an overpass or bridge, contrary to what was thought years ago.
- If you’re in traffic and stuck in your car, keep your seat belt on. Put your head down below the windows; cover your head with your hands, coat, anything handy. If you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the roadway, leave your car and lie in that area, covering your head with your hands, coats, etc.
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Tornado Safety from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma
Before, During, & After a Tornado from Ready.gov