The Mothership

I love making large pots of any kind of meal.  The ones you can just keep adding to till they grow to the size you need.  My grandma had a POT.  You know, THE pot.  The only pot large enough to make food for our "family" get-togethers.  This pot is so large that you may have only seen them in large industrial kitchens...I'm not even sure how it fit under her 4-burner range?!?!?!  But she always made plenty.  I have a pot, but it is the nesting pot compared to my Grandma's pot.  I had a large amount of friends coming over and I wanted leftovers too. (their kiddos too, but what kiddo, at a play date with 22 other children wants to sit and eat soup?).  Hopefully, once distractions are gone, my children will eat this soup.  It was tasty.  This is a one pot, and grow as big as you like recipe.  I think I could have made it spicier but with a big crowd you never know.  You could also use this for your leftover turkey meat f...

This might seem like a lot of work but it really wasn’t. It’s mostly just dumping.  To make even easier:  You could make the chicken the night before and add all the ingredients to the pan just before baking.  You could make the whole dish the night before including baking it and the leftovers are delicious! You could purchase the tzatziki sauce I truly didn’t measure the spices, I just sprinkled everything on top and then let it sit.  **I’m always looking to make things more colorful so next time I will be adding chopped red and orange peppers and topping with fresh tomatoes.  Tzatziki sauce: 1 cup plain Greek yogurt Juice from one lemon 1/2 of a peeled, Grated cucumber Salt 1 clove garlic, minced 1tsp chopped fresh dill Black pepper   Casserole: 1-2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces Drizzle of olive oil Juice from 1 lemon   2Tbsp chopped fresh parsley   1 tsp, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika Sprinkle of salt SprinkleCumin Sp...

This dish is so easy. It took a total of less than 1 hour to put together, bake, and cool off so you can eat it. If you use regular pasta - I would bake it for an extra 5 minutes. My mom passed this recipe on to me and I doctored it a bit.  Ingredients: 1 - 16oz box of pasta (I used Chickpea pasta) 3 cups of water 16 oz. Of frozen meatballs (I used meatless) Sprinkle of salt 1 - 24 oz jar of pasta sauce 5 oz. Spinach Parmesan cheese 2 cups of mozzarella  Fresh Basil or parsley for the top of the dish Recipe : Turn oven to 450.  Spray a 13x9 dish.  Place noodles, water, meatballs, salt, spinach and just a sprinkle of Parmesan into the dish. Give it a good toss to make sure everything is incorporated.  Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to give a good stir about every 10 minutes.  Take out and sprinkle on the two cups of mozzarella cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes, uncovered.  Take out and let sit for at least 5 minutes. Sprinkle ...

Have you ever painted a picture of what could be? The words in your mind painting this scene before your very screen of assumptions and probablys. You’ve played out entire dialogues with scene changes and character entrances and exits. But instead of painting something for leisure it’s full of offense, contempt, and sorrow. You’ve built a story upon the responses of the assumptions and now your memory can’t even recognize what’s real and what’s pish posh. Confidence has left the building and insecurity fills the crevices like the pest it is. I believe even confident people struggle with this. But it’s the hastening to wiping away of untruths and replacing them with the truths they know that separate the confident from the insecure. They pick themselves up and tell themselves the facts and the things that are true. And if they feel off about it, they SAY something to someone.  Open up. Open up to the truths! Because before long, if you don’t, your insecurities become your tr...

We’ve been going through the book of John as a family. It’s amazing you can read something more than 10 times and new thoughts, new wonderings dwell within the words on the page. In my mind from my elementary days, The Good Shepherd and his sheep is a picture of just that: a man holding a staff, standing as the gate to let the sheep in and call to them. They don’t even question because they KNOW this is good pasture. Can’t you see it on the wall? With the sheep and their curly hair, amongst a field of grass at the mercy of one man, their shepherd. Their lives are in his hands. But as I sat reminiscing of the picture framed on the Sunday school wall, a question wells up inside? “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and  will find good pastures . The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.  My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. ” John Chapter 10:9-11 What does your GOOD pasture look like, Lo...

A lot of people ask for this recipe so I thought I would add it here... *remember, everything is approximate *you really need to have ripe avocados, slightly firm and slightly smushy *if you don't have enough after you have mixed everything, you can always add sour cream to make it go farther. Ingredients: 4 avocados 1/4 medium red onion, chopped 1 Tablespoon or more of diced jalapenos 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced  1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon or more of salt chips Cut and open the avocados.  Add everything to a bowl, except chips, and mush together with your hands.  EVERYTHING should be added to your liking.

Everyone has an answer for what lies ahead. The world has abundant answers full of thirty day guarantees . Look in a crystal ball, read your horoscope, let’s align the stars, play your cards right, must be luck… All of those solutions seem lackluster and full of empty promises because they have changed over time.  When I think of a fortune, I think of something holed up, kept in a safe place, locked up, reserved for those special enough to find it on the map. It’s hidden and yet its legacy is revered and handed down for decades, even centuries. Treasure is accessible, but still requires you to submit to the game of waiting and right timing.  We have full access to a fortune, an inheritance that provides a quenching so large, that even the feeling of receiving the finest rubies can’t compare.  The fortune only comes with submission, but is guaranteed with a promise. When we faithfully wait for the inheritance, when we faithfully wait for the answered prayer and ...

  Ingredients: 1 &1/4 lbs. brussel sprouts, halved and then thinly sliced 1/2 yellow onion, diced Olive oil (or any cooking oil/fat) Salt Pepper 1/2 cup pistachios, shelled and rough chopped Seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate  1 lemon, zested and then juice squeezed Red pepper flakes Crumbled Feta *optional ingredients: dried cranberries instead of pomegranates and shaved Parmesan in addition to the feta RECIPE:  Slice the Brussel sprouts in half and then thinly slice each half. Place in a bowl.  Heat a large sauté pan on medium low heat. Add cooking oil to the pan and sauté the onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Chop the pistachios When the onions become translucent, add in the Brussel sprouts.  Sauté for just a bit, enough to be warmed. You want the Brussel sprouts to stay bright green. Stir frequently so all the leaves become warm (5 minutes tops) Add in the pistachios. Cook for 1 more minute.  Remove from heat and add in the rest of the ingredien...