True Woman Conference

Two weeks ago I was privileged to go to a winter ladies retreat. Well, not really a retreat like you're thinking, but close enough. Seven ladies gathered at a friend's house to view the True Woman Conference that was held in October. What a blessing!!! We only made it through 4 of the sessions and I'm anxiously waiting to hear when we will watch the next 4.

Much to our surprise, we found out later that you can view them online. Here is the link:http://www.truewoman.com/?id=317

John Piper was excellent.... so was Nancy Leigh DeMoss....... and so were the other two speakers.

Let me know if you listened to them and were blessed.

Frugal Recipe

This was my contribution to the frugal recipe collection. Hope it helps in your pursuit of frugal meals:

Rubber Chicken- How to make one chicken stretch for 3 days

Original recipe from Flylady.net but changed and adapted for our family of 6
Day 1- 1 Chicken- wash and pat dry
½ celery rib (cut into pieces)
1 onion
1 carrot- cut into 2” pieces
salt, pepper, garlic powder.
Season cavity with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and place cut-up vegetables inside. Sprinkle outside with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour (or so)
Make this day a real “Sunday Dinner” meal. Bake bread to use for Day 1 and Day 2. Serve with lots of vegetables.
After dinner, put leftover chicken (you do want leftovers) into the refrigerator to save for Day 3. Save a carcass for Day 2.
Day 2- Put the carcass in a pan with 3 quarts of water, onion, carrots celery, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook the daylights out of it and strain. Make soup and serve with leftover bread from Day 1.
Day 3- The Adventure Continues
Mix leftover chicken pieces from Day 1 with one can of black beans and salsa. Serve with tortillas, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, olives, etc….

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
Epicurius

Frugal Article

91 Ways to Save on Anything

Posted on the Frig....

Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule.

~ Frederick W. Robertson

Revive Our Hearts Devotional

This is a short devotional from Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Revive Our Hearts:

Perfect Peace

If there ever was a woman who had it rough, it was Hannah Whitall Smith. This author from the late 1800s was married to a preacher who proved to be emotionally unstable and was repeatedly unfaithful. Two of her five children died of scarlet fever. One daughter left a husband and ran off with an artist. Another daughter married an outspoken atheist. Hannah herself suffered from crippling arthritis.
In the midst of all these problems, here’s what she wrote:
"We must choose, without any regard to the state of our emotions, what attitude we will take toward God. We must recognize that our emotions are only the servants of our will."

Hannah Smith refused to let her life become controlled by her emotions no matter what the circumstances. Are you letting your emotions control you? Or are you letting God control your emotions?

Who Knew

Every month is Hot Tea Month in our house.

From the Frugal Recipe Collection

Here is another frugal recipe from a friend, Heidi.

Pasta and Mozzarella Salad

1 lb. box of corkscrew pasta

6+ oz. ready-to-eat spinach leaves

1 lb mozzarella cheese

8+ oz. chopped ham

1 pint cherry tomatoes- quartered

Cook pasta. Drain. Combine ingredients.

Parmesan Dressing

1 cup mayo

1 cup salad oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix with whisk until well blended. Pour on top of pasta.

This makes ALOT of dressing. I have made this salad with different variations. The dressing is what my family loves!

A Winter's Day Project

About 9 years ago I started writing my most frequently used recipes on 4x6 index cards. I cover them with clear contact paper, punch a hole in the corner and put them on a metal ring. This is a Martha Stewart idea and it has worked for me for years.

However, this was before I was getting so many of my recipes off the computer. This weekend, since it was too cold to do anything else, I took some of my well-loved recipes that are stored in my computer and put them on index cards.

A laptop on the kitchen counter is a disaster waiting to happen.

AHHHH Winter

Here's the scene......you come downstairs at 6:00am.... in your slippers and robe.......just to let the dog out.... and you have to shovel 9 inches of snow just to make a little path so the dog can go out...... AHHHH winter.

(Did I mention it's -15 degrees?)

Home Again on a Sunday

I'm home with Abby again this Sunday. Yet, God has blessed me by the preaching of his word from a sermon on Sermon Audio. Pastor Stephen Tracey preached a message, Gracious Spirit Dwell In Me, from Roman 8:1:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Quote.....

A mighty oak was once an acorn that stood its ground.

~Author Unknown

Being Debt Free

A great article on MSN Money: How We Paid Off $30,000 of Debt

Which led me to this group: Women in Red

Which led me to the Women in Red Message Board

Lots of good information for those of us who are seeking to live below our means.

First New Something for 2009

What are crumpets, anyway?

Whatever they are, they are really good.