Faith & Hope

I heard a talk last night from Dieter F. Uchtdorf he told a parable about faith.  I could relate to this talk on a few different levels.  It's a simple story with so much meaning about an 11 year old girl that goes to spend the summer with an elderly aunt whom she has never met while her mother has and recovers from a surgery.  The girl sees and is eventually drawn to the happy countenance of her aunt and before going home at the end of the summer asks aunt her how she can be so happy even though her life is less than perfect.  Her aunt replies.

 " "It's Not Fair" was the song I sang over and over in my head...Eventually I discovered something that turned my whole life around...Faith...I discovered Faith and Faith led to Hope and Faith and Hope gave me confidence that one day everything would make sense.  That because of the savior all the wrongs would be made right."

This really spoke to me. For the past while I have been trying to increase my Faith.  Some days when I'm down and suffering from depression/anxiety I try to "keep the faith" and it does give me hope.  It doesn't magically make everything all better but it keeps me going.  I know that I just need to make it through one day at a time and have hope for a better tomorrow.  Slowly...Slowly over time the good days last longer then the sad ones.  The quote from the talk that I put on the pic above "I could have a little faith.  Put on a bright dress, slip on my dancing shoes and skip down the path of life singing as I went" Sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally I put on a bright dress or sing to my favorite songs and it can make a sad day a little brighter for me, even for just a little while.

"No matter what happened in the past, my story could have a happy ending"
I have learned that the atonement can heal our sorrows.  Actually I am continuing to learn this concept.  It's a matter of giving letting go of past hurts and sorrows and Allowing ourselves to be healed.  For me this is easier said then done.  But as I have been trying to apply this in my life I am lightened by the heavy load that hurt and sorrow bring.  Not to say I have mastered this in any way but I keep trying.  I keep having Faith and Hope.  I hope to someday have the happy countenance of Aunt Rose described in story.

Revelation21:4
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

One last quote from the beginning of the talk:  "I invite you to listen with the spirit.  That the Holy Ghost will help you to find the message for You in the parable"

God Bless!

Spinach & Mushroom Smother Chicken

I had my heart set on making the Spinach & Mushroom Smother Chicken recipe that I found on Pinterest.  When I brought up the recipe I realized I didn't have some of the ingredients. Unfortunately this happens fairly regularly so I just "wing it" with what I have.
So listed below is my version of Spinach & Mushroom Smothered Chicken.  Hope you like it!

Ingredients

• 1 large bag of spinach leaves
• 1 1/4 C Heavy Cream
• 1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Sm/Med Onion - Diced
• 2 T Butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounce package of mushrooms, sliced or 2 cans sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-5 boneless chicken breasts or whole baked chicken – Diced into small pieces
• 1 – 1 ½ Cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375

In a large skillet melt butter – add onion, garlic and mushrooms and sauté

Add spinach leaves to the onion mix and allow spinach to cook down

Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and Parmesan cheese.

Place cooked/diced chicken in baking dish and pour spinach mixture over the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes uncovered until bubbling slightly

Top with mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and then broil for 3-4 minutes until cheese begins to brown.

 

Borax Free Laundry Soap

After trying out several different laundry soap recipes I think I have finally found one that works for me.  I have a front load HE washer and this recipe leaves the clothes clean and beautiful.  Note: I do still pretreat the heavily soiled clothes.  For fabric softener I  use about a 1/4 cup of vinegar with each load.

Recipe:

1 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Oxi-Clean
1/2 Cup Coarse Sea Salt
1/4 C Citric Acid
.5-.7 oz Soap Nuts

Mixing Instructions:

Measure and grind the Soap Nuts in the blender
     *I use my Blendtec and it grinds them up really well.
     *I read that you can also blend the Washing Soda and Nuts together.

Measure and add remaining ingredients together and stir.
I usually throw in a silica gel packet into the jar to keep the laundry soap from clumping.

1 Tablespoon for HE washers - for heavily soiled loads I may add a little extra

That's it!!  Enjoy...

Spinach Pear Salad

Had lunch with some friends this past week.  Delicious meal.  They served this delicious Spinach Pear Salad.  The salad was good but the dressing took it over the top.  I love poppy seed dressing but with the pear juice added it was amazing.  Just got the recipe and thought I would share...Enjoy!  I know I will.

Bentonite Clay Toothpaste

I noticed one day that my teeth had begun to get brittle.  My tooth literally just broke one day.  So I started looking up ways to strengthen my teeth.  I came across a few recipes combined added my own special touch and this is what I got.  I've been using this toothpaste for about 10 weeks.   Some recipes claimed whiter teeth.  Mine are possibly a little whiter (maybe more wishful thinking than reality) but my teeth feel clean, my breath seems fresh so I'm going with it!  I haven't been to the dentist yet for a check up and cleaning.  I'm going to wait until I've been using my toothpaste for about 6 months and then see how it goes.

For now here is the recipe:

1/3 Cup Bentonite Clay
1/4 Cup Boiling Water
1 T Coconut Oil
1/4 t Real Salt
Trace Mineral Drops - 15 drops
On Guard Essential Oil - 1 drop
Clove Essential Oil - 3 drops
Peppermint Essential Oil - 15 drops

Directions:
Boil water. Add all the ingredients except the Bentonite Clay and stir.
Add the Bentonite Clay and mix with hand mixer until combined.
It should be the consistency of clay.  Store in covered glass jar.

I bought the Bentonite Clay at my local health food store.  They sell 2oz containers which is about 1/3 of a cup.  I also got the Trace Mineral Drops from the health food store.  And I use Doterra Essential Oils.

Thanksgiving 2014

In honor of Thanksgiving and the whole idea of being grateful for everything in my life I have been blessed with I have created some Facebook Banners. Feel free to use and share!





I took this picture from my front yard. It had been a cloudy day and then in the afternoon, just as the sun was getting ready to set, the clouds parted and let the sun shine! Some of the trees looked like the leaves were glowing. It was beautiful.

Blueberry Cobbler

We have been having fun making desserts at my house in the past few weeks.  My daughter Amber made PW Apple Dumplings. They are always amazingly yummy! Then my Mother in law, Martha and I wanted to try something similar with blueberries.  Martha found a couple recipes on line that were close but not quite right so we combined them and it turned out delicious.

 Blueberry Cobbler

Blueberry Mixture:

1 cup Sugar

½ Cup Cornstarch

4 cups Blueberries – Frozen

½ cup Mountain Dew

Thaw blueberries in the microwave until warm and juicy.  Add sugar, cornstarch and Mountain Dew. 

Stir to combine and place into 9X13 baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Topping:

2 cans crescent rolls

1 cup butter - melted

1 cup sugar

½ cup Mountain Dew

Place crescent rolls over blueberry mixture side by side.  Simply push and scrunch them together to fit, don’t overlap.  Mix butter and sugar together and pour over the crescent dough then pour Mountain Dew over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes.