This is a picture of a feather boa, and the category or theme that week was “pink”.

My ladybug photo, below, tied for first place in another group where the category was “signs of Spring.”  Ladybugs seem  to”winter” under my dead plant material or in the ground.  We had a nice day a few weeks ago and out they came.  I’m sure they are back in hiding now as our weather has taken a most wintery turn.

I thank God for this talent He has given me.

GRACE WHEREFORE ART THOU?
Sung to the tune of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” (with apologies to Pink Floyd)

Grace has flown across the ocean,
Leaving just a memory
A snapshot in the memory album
“Pharisees” what else did you leave for me?
Yeah, you, what crap did leave behind for me?
All in all it was just a brick in the wall.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.

We don’t need no forced religion
We don’t need no thought control
No legalism from the pulpit
Preachers leave them sheep alone
Hey! Preachers! Leave them sheep alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.

Worship songs sung by pretending
Repetition, line by line
7 – 11 songs with no ending
Get the crowds whipped into frenzy
Maybe then we’ll feel restored
Yes maybe then we’ll feel restored

Is there tithing in the offering
10% or you’ll go to hell
An expensive building’s in our future
Guilt, guilt, guilt til it starts to smell
Give, give give your 10%
Give, give give your 10%

Is the pastor really suffering?
Is his cheque back “NSF”
Does the Beemer need restoring?
Or the mansion a face-lift?
Give, give, give your 10%
Give, give, give your 10%

Work your way up heaven’s ladder
No matter where your talents lie
All the while you’re getting sadder
Despair, despair is in your eyes.
Despair, despair is in your eyes.

Maybe if I just try harder
Confess my sins to keep me humble
Oops I slipped and took a tumble
Shame, shame is at my core
Shame, shame is at my core.

All in all its just more bricks in the wall.
All in all its just more bricks in the wall.

I need Jesus’ arms around me
And I need His love to calm me.
I have seen the writing on the wall.
We need Him more than anything at all.
Yes, we need Him more than anything at all.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall.

What is worship?  Praising God together? Or is it, as our friend Cal puts it,  “to come with open hands as a needy child looking for sustenance from his/her father. It is not praise. “

Has “grace” become synonymous with “tolerance”? Or “a synonym for letting the miraculousness of the Gospel be trivialized into the bondage of the old Covenant?”–Cal Henze

If you are a bricks-and-mortar-building/organized religion church attender, are you expected to conform to a “code” and are subjected to a “penalty” if you don’t do so? See

I Want to Be A Clone–Steve Taylor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7w7wXbsyI

It wasn’t me who wanted to kick cancer’s ass when I heard this past week of two more people who’d been diagnosed with this bloody disease. The total of people we know in the last year that have been diagnosed, two of whom have passed away, is now at 6.

It wasn’t me who was angry at God on Sunday after hearing about the two cancer diagnoses.

On a lighter note, it wasn’t me who wanted to drop a book beside the sleeping gentlemen in the library to wake him up – that would be inconsiderate and rude and that’s just not me.

It wasn’t me who got marmalade in her hair when cooking this week. I am such a neat and tidy cook who never makes a mess in the kitchen so I have no idea how marmalade got in my hair.

It wasn’t me who teased my husband about how he keeps his used cutlery from eating his lunch in a drawer in his desk at work and how he needed a shopping cart to return it to the cafeteria to be washed.

It wasn’t me who, upon learning that my husband was grossed out by my mouth noises continued to deliberately make said noises in his presence, because that would just be mean and I am not a mean person.

And it’s not me who makes notes throughout the week so I remember all the things I did not do.

The temptation to shop at times was overwhelming.  We did have to enter a grocery store to fill a prescription but we did not buy any grocery items.  The only item purchased this week was milk.

The beginning of the week saw feasts.  The end of the week is closer to famine – with the exception of an exceptionally full freezer of meat, the rest of the pickings were slim.  Man cannot live on meat alone.

Some recipes were a flop. The Overnight French Toast was a disaster, particularly the leftovers-largely in part due to the type of bread I used.  (It was a bread I’d made in the bread-maker with the wrong settings so it came out quite dense.)  I thought a bit of soaking in an egg-milk mixture would make it more edible.  Initially yes. Microwaving the leftovers, not so much. Ugh.

And I must say I am sick of salmon burgers.

The tuna melts were good.  I’d call them Greek Tuna Melts as I used oregano in the tuna-mayonnaise mix and sprinkled them with feta cheese.   The apple crisp was amazing.

It was gratifying to use up items in our fridge, freezer and cupboard.   Again, a menu is a flexible thing.  Thursday’s supper, which is a potluck at our small group, saw us bring a different item due to appointments just before group started, rendering it impossible to bring anything home-cooked. Still, no purchase was made, we have a stash of emergency supplies in our freezer for such times.
Tonight we are rewarding ourselves for our austerity by eating out.

And the money we saved this week?  It is going to help a friend’s daughter go on a mission trip this summer with some of the youth from her church.

According to Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, a medical doctor who was diagnosed with a brain cancer over 16 years ago.  He asked his oncologist after treatment if there was anything he could do with his diet and his oncologist said not really.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26559677/?pg=1#Health_EdibleHealing

He set out to prove otherwise.  After extensive research, he found the following foods, beverages and spices to assist in helping the body fight this disease:

Green tea, Pomegranate Juice

Ginger and Tumeric

Cabbage, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Cauliflower

Strawberries, Citrus

Soy, Fatty fish

And even dark chocolate!

For his explanations of the compounds that are present in these foods that help with this disease, click on the link above.

Here’s some recipes that have some of the foods listed above in them:

Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole

3 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
2 cups chopped onions, divided
3 T. soy sauce
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
4 cups cauliflowerets
4 cups broccoli florets
2 medium red peppers, julienned
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. oil
1 cup salted cashew halves
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese, optional

In a greased 3 quart baking dish, combine broth, rice, 1 cup onion, soy sauce, butter and thyme. Cover and bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes or until rice is tender.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, saute cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, garlic and remaining onion in oil until crisp-tender; spoon over rice mixture. Cover and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cashews and cheese, if desired. Bake 5-7 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Maple Glazed Salmon

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon or stone-ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot, if desired

1 1/4-pound salmon fillet

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions

Mix all ingredients except salmon and green onions.

Cut salmon fillet into 4 serving pieces. Place fish in shallow glass or plastic dish. Drizzle marinade over fish reserving about 1/4-cup marinade to serve over cooked fish.

Refrigerate about 30 minutes.

Cooking – Oven Method: Heat oven to 400°. Remove fish from marinade; set aside marinade. Place fish in baking dish. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade, until fish flakes easily with fork.
Variation – BBQ Method

Grilled Maple-Glazed Salmon: Instead of baking, place on grill rack, cover and grill fish 5 to 6 inches from medium coals 4 minutes. Turn fish; brush with marinade; cover and grill about 4 minutes longer or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with fork.

To serve, drizzle reserved 1/4-cup marinade over fish; top with green onions.

From Green Mountain Spa

Curry in A Hurry

Adapted from Chatelaine magazine

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 T. butter or oil

1 each red & green pepper

1 onion

4 T. curry powder

1 T. all purpose flour

1 tsp. bottled chopped ginger or grated fresh ginger

½ tsp. salt

10 oz. can undiluted chicken broth or 1 c. chicken boullion

1 ½ c. frozen peas

19 oz. can chickpeas or lentils (optional)

Slice chicken into thin strips.  Melt butter in large sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add chicken and stir often until light golden, 4 to 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, core and seed peppers, then slice into thick strips.  Coarsely chop onions.  Once chicken has turned golden, add peppers & onion.  Sprinkle evenly w/ curry powder, flour, ginger and salt.  Stir constantly 1 minute.  Then pour in chicken broth.  Scrape up and stir in any brown bits from the pan bottom.

Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked through and peppers begin to soften, 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, measure out peas and rinse and drain chickpeas.  Once chicken is cooked, stir in peas and chickpeas.  Stir often until heated through, 4 to 5 minutes.  Serve with bread or rice and chutney.

Slow Cooker variation:  I didn’t brown anything.  Place vegetables in bottom of cooker than chicken.  Add spices and broth.  Cook on low about 5-6 hours.  Then add peas and chickpeas and cook until heated through.

Serves 4 – 6

I was tempted in Starbucks on Saturday when I saw the espresso pods but realized that was too close to buying something in a grocery store so I resisted.

A weekly menu is a flexible thing, in my opinion.  Tonight it is Tuna Melts with feta cheese and some kind of vegetable.

So far, so good.  I still have two whole turkeys in my freezer though.  Maybe I will cook one of them for the weekly potluck we attend.

I’m doing this partly because it’s Lent and partly because we have a freezer and cupboard full of food in large part to bulk purchasing. [The only caveat is milk if we run out].  I’ve drafted my menu for most of the week, something I normally do anyways, which is:

Saturday lunch – Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday supper – Shepherd’s Pie, Salad

Sunday lunch – leftover Shepherd’s Pie

Sunday supper – Salmon Burgers or Tuna Melts

Monday lunc – leftovers from Sunday’s supper

Monday supper – Chili, Buns

Tuesday lunch – leftover Chili

Tuesday supper – Lentil soup

Wednesday lunch – leftover Lentil Soup

Wednesday supper – Marmalade French Toast Casserole

Thursday lunch – leftover Marmalade French Toast Casserole

Thursday Supper – Sloppy Joes

[This is our standard practice, by the way.  By using leftovers from each night's supper for lunches the next day, we have virtually eliminated leftovers in our house and have much less food wastage].

I will be posting my progress and recipes as the week goes on.  Stay tuned.

Country Life Entry-c. Big Noise Enterprises

I’ve found a new hobby – photography!  I enter photos in online photography groups I belong to on which have a weekly theme your photo must fall into.  Recently, the theme was “City Life/Country Life.”  Here is the photo I entered, taken just outside of Vulcan, AB last fall.  I’m pleased to say it won third! (based on vote counts, members of the group vote on photos entered – no actual prizes are awarded).

Below is my entry for the Shadow theme in another online photography group.  This photograph won third place.

Shadows-c. Big Noise Enterprises

My entry for “homes” also won third place:

Oak Park, Illinois Home - c. Big Noise Enterprises

These pictures were  taken with a dinosaur of a digital camera – a Canon Powershot A30, one of the first digitals, with only 1.2 megapixels.

I look forward to seeing what I can do now that I have a new digital camera!

I’m wondering if this means that I can now say I am an “award-winning” photographer?