So, I'm sitting here watching "Julie and Julia," and relating to the thrill of good food and all of those publishers calling Julie Powell and saying they want to publish a book based on her blog. . . not that I have any delusions about this blog being a hot item or anything. But the thought of someone wanting to publish one of my stories IS something I fantasize about.
Anyhoo (see, that word right there shows that I'm just messing around on this blog, having fun), tonight I made some homemade Sloppy Joes that had a surprising "yum" factor, due to the Rotel I tossed in as an afterthought. This was a big hit with my husband as well as the kids, and so much better for us than the pre-made stuff in a can. I feel inspired to share it with you, thanks to the movie . . .
Brown two pounds of ground meat. You probably will use beef. I used one pound of venison and one pound of Italian chicken sausage. Drain the fat (don't you wish you could do that to your thighs?).
In a medium bowl mix together:
1/2 C BBQ sauce
1/3 C Ketchup (not Catsup! Who spells it like that, anyway?)
1/3 C Brown Sugar (I used dark)
3 T Yellow Mustard
3 T Worcestershire
Garlic or seasoning salt to taste
One can of drained Original Rotel
Add above mixture to browned meat and "slop" it into some wheat hamburger buns (because you gave up white bread a long time ago, right?). If this makes too much for your brood, freeze it and have it for "fast food" later!
And there it is. A man-pleasing, kid-slurpin' good meal!
I served ours with sweet potato fries and slices of fresh mango (on the side, not on the Joes!). A great sweet/spicy combo if I do say so myself!
A blog for those who value faith, family and the odd tangent.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
At the Intersection of Creation and Evolution: A Dream
The alliterating story below is based on a dream I had several years ago. Please contact me for permission to reproduce.
Darkness devours me.
I am enveloped in emptiness.
Are my eyes open or are they closed? I strain against this shroud of night and still see nothing.
What is this place?
An image illuminates in front of me. A large, leafy tree streaks past and vanishes.
It deserts me to the darkness again.
In a moment, more images appear. A rapid succession of snapshots and thoughts clamor before my eyes and mingle in my mind.
I see seedlings. Several supple shoots have emerged before me and then swiftly stream away.
“The first trees on earth were not seedlings”, my mind observes. “They were not created as small insignificant saplings.”
That thought is rapidly replaced with a vision of a man.
He’s maybe 30; he is muscular and needs to shave.
He fades away.
In his place I see an infant.
A tiny bundle of pink skin upon a soft blanket flickers briefly in my brain.
“Man was created with age,” is the next statement I hear. “Adam did not begin his life as a baby, he began as a grown man.”
The voice seems like my own.
The thoughts do not.
Reeling before me now is a blur of rivers, forests, mountains and even layers of the earth. It is like a movie rushing rapidly before my retina.
The soundtrack of this epic is proclaiming a peculiarly plain concept:
“The earth was created with age. Creation and evolution are not in total opposition. There is a reason that science finds the earth to be quite old: it was made that way.”
Thoughts continue to tumble through my mind; pictures parade before me. I listen in amazement to what seems to be puzzlingly profound and yet rather apparent all at once.
“Adam was created as an adult. Trees and plants were made fully grown.”
I suddenly feel quite certain that, if I were to chop down some of the trees that had been spoken into existence, I would find a range of rings running through their trunks.
“The earth was brought to life with age built into it… just like Adam. He did not begin life as an infant. The earth came into being with what it would need to sustain the life that was created. It was old when it was young. The world was
made with maturity; it was also produced with purpose.”
These thoughts are thrilling. Why had I not seen this before? It seems so simple. Obtusely obvious. Had others not observed this correlation? If they had, why wasn’t it being candidly conveyed?
In the span of thirty seconds I have been ravaged by a radical revelation. I feel the weight of its worth resting on me; it is tantamount to tangible.
I am neither a theologian nor am I a scientist. I don’t claim that the ethics of evolution are completely compatible with the Bible’s account of creation. But certainly Science can come concurrent to creation and affirm our faith with facts.
Of course, the Omnipotent Originator of the Universe is exceedingly elusive to what our mind could ever envision. Above what science could ever extensively elucidate.
Accordingly, creation is confounding too. Each diverse discovery deems it more marvelous to grasp. Many scientists have reluctantly relented to the theory of Intelligent Design.
That’s why, alongside those facts, we also need faith.
Lying inexplicably at the intersection of those two essential elements is an exceptional endowment: the intermittent insight of our dreams.
Darkness devours me.
I am enveloped in emptiness.
Are my eyes open or are they closed? I strain against this shroud of night and still see nothing.
What is this place?
An image illuminates in front of me. A large, leafy tree streaks past and vanishes.
It deserts me to the darkness again.
In a moment, more images appear. A rapid succession of snapshots and thoughts clamor before my eyes and mingle in my mind.
I see seedlings. Several supple shoots have emerged before me and then swiftly stream away.
“The first trees on earth were not seedlings”, my mind observes. “They were not created as small insignificant saplings.”
That thought is rapidly replaced with a vision of a man.
He’s maybe 30; he is muscular and needs to shave.
He fades away.
In his place I see an infant.
A tiny bundle of pink skin upon a soft blanket flickers briefly in my brain.
“Man was created with age,” is the next statement I hear. “Adam did not begin his life as a baby, he began as a grown man.”
The voice seems like my own.
The thoughts do not.
Reeling before me now is a blur of rivers, forests, mountains and even layers of the earth. It is like a movie rushing rapidly before my retina.
The soundtrack of this epic is proclaiming a peculiarly plain concept:
“The earth was created with age. Creation and evolution are not in total opposition. There is a reason that science finds the earth to be quite old: it was made that way.”
Thoughts continue to tumble through my mind; pictures parade before me. I listen in amazement to what seems to be puzzlingly profound and yet rather apparent all at once.
“Adam was created as an adult. Trees and plants were made fully grown.”
I suddenly feel quite certain that, if I were to chop down some of the trees that had been spoken into existence, I would find a range of rings running through their trunks.
“The earth was brought to life with age built into it… just like Adam. He did not begin life as an infant. The earth came into being with what it would need to sustain the life that was created. It was old when it was young. The world was
made with maturity; it was also produced with purpose.”
These thoughts are thrilling. Why had I not seen this before? It seems so simple. Obtusely obvious. Had others not observed this correlation? If they had, why wasn’t it being candidly conveyed?
In the span of thirty seconds I have been ravaged by a radical revelation. I feel the weight of its worth resting on me; it is tantamount to tangible.
I am neither a theologian nor am I a scientist. I don’t claim that the ethics of evolution are completely compatible with the Bible’s account of creation. But certainly Science can come concurrent to creation and affirm our faith with facts.
Of course, the Omnipotent Originator of the Universe is exceedingly elusive to what our mind could ever envision. Above what science could ever extensively elucidate.
Accordingly, creation is confounding too. Each diverse discovery deems it more marvelous to grasp. Many scientists have reluctantly relented to the theory of Intelligent Design.
That’s why, alongside those facts, we also need faith.
Lying inexplicably at the intersection of those two essential elements is an exceptional endowment: the intermittent insight of our dreams.
Links to family resources, homeschooling material, healthy living and beautiful music!
- Free shipping on homeschooling resources from "The Old Schoolhouse" Magazine.
- Gorgeous piano music by homeschooling mom, friend and piano virtuoso!
- Marriage, family and homeschooling resources for "Whole Hearted Families".
- No Greater Joy. Tons of great articles on marriage, childrearing and homeschooling help. Sign up for free bimonthly newsletter.
- Sign up for free e-new from "The Old Schoolhouse" Magazine. Also "freebie fridays" in which you get free goods if you are on their e-list!
- Timberdoodle! Discounted homeschool products with great descriptions.
- Wellness, organic living and more! Welltellme discussion board.
1 comment:
LOL! Thanks, Heather. Catsup. Ketchup. Aren't those two of the weirdest words around!
Post a Comment