Mom’s Musings

We had a wonderful time of fellowship with friends after church this morning. Our hostess served a tender slow cooked beef roast, baked potatoes with all the fixings, steamed baby carrots, homemade gravy, tossed salad, croissants, and cream puffs and coffee for dessert. Thank you, Memry, for all your cooking and hospitality!

There were, sadly, some leftover baked potatoes. Sometimes it’s puzzling to know just what to do with those potatoes, and still have them taste good the second time. In the past I’ve found that the following recipe works well:

POTATO CASSEROLE

6 large potatoes, unpeeled
¼ cup butter (or less, as preferred)(sometimes I even omit the butter)
1 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup grated cheese (We prefer sharp cheddar.)
1 cup sour cream

Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Drain off the water. Hold potatoes with a hot pad and grate them coarsely, discarding the potato skins.

Sauté the onion in butter until golden. Add the cream of chicken soup, the grated cheese and the sour cream and heat slightly.

Pour the sauce over the grated potatoes and toss gently.

Pour into a covered casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I enjoy reading through the Bible systematically. For many years I would just start at Genesis and proceed through the Old Testament and on to the New.

Usually I like to read portions from the Psalms each day, too, since they speak so much to my heart. No matter which psalm I read, it just so happens to address some yearning or crying or striving of the soul appropriate to my present needs.

Currently, I am using a program which I think is the best yet. This Bible reading program is available online at Blue Letter Bible. Once you are at their site, click on Daily Bible Reading Program. They offer the following methods of reading through your Bible in one year:

Canonical: Seven Days a Week
Chronological
Historical
Old Testament and New Testament Together
Blended

Currently, I’m using the chronological plan, in which one reads through the books of the Bible from oldest to newest, which means you do some skipping around, but it’s interesting. As you are reading, resources are available to do further study on portions of the Scripture which are puzzling or interesting.

Another plus is that, with this plan, you choose which Bible translation to read. I have read the King James Version for years, so that is what I am using.

Last, but not least, there are various devotional works to read as well. My favorite so far is Day By Day Grace by Bob Hoekstra. I usually read this after reading the Bible portion for the day. Currently he is doing a great series concerning God’s grace to His people in salvation AND in sanctification. I have a button on my sidebar that you can click which will take you directly to the current day’s selection of Day By Day Grace.

That’s all for now. I hope you all have a blessed Lord’s Day!

One blog which I find inspirational and edifying is Against Heresies by Martin Downes. Recently he has been posting a series of interviews with pastors. His most recent interview is with Conrad Mbewe. The following question and answer I found to be especially helpful:

There are so many errors facing evangelicals today it would be easy to become preoccupied with them (and we would all love to think that wasn’t the case). So how can we take error seriously, be rightly informed about it, but not be so taken up with it that our lives become distorted?

Again, I go back to consecutive expository preaching. Let us simply teach the Word of God regularly, in its own context, and we shall find that we will not be preoccupied with error. We will be overwhelmed with the grandeur and beauty of the truth, as set forth in the Scriptures, that we will be lost in wonder, love and praise to God for this truth instead of starting at anything that moves for fear that it may be erroneous. We will also have a passion for the truth without necessarily being trigger-happy and sniffing out error under every bush and shrub. So, I repeat my appeal for consecutive expository preaching. That is the answer, the biblical answer to avoid our lives as Christians becoming distorted.

Today I did something spontaneous and unplanned that turned out to be a real treat. After an optical appointment and some shopping I took our youngest son to see the movie Underdog. Seth and I both love verbal humor such as puns, plays on words, and alliteration. All are to be found in this movie, plus a doggie hero who speaks in rhymes. Seth laughed and laughed over, “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a frog! NO! It’s . . . UNDERDOG!”

One of the bad guys, Cad, was hilarious as he kept referring to his thesaurus in an attempt to impress his mega-smart bad guy boss, Simon Bar-Sinister. Peter Dinklage did an awesome job playing the mad scientist Bar-Sinister. He has such an expressive face!

The very beginning of the movie was so nostalgic for me. The clips from the original cartoon version reminded me that I watched that cartoon when I was a kiddo! The show ran from 1964 to 1973. Does anyone else remember how funny the penguin Tennessee Tuxedo voiced by Don Adams was? Now I want to see some episodes of the old cartoon.

(This recipe is from the Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, printed in 1978. Sunset says of this recipe: No one is quite sure of the origin of the one-dish meal called Joe’s Special. A staple of several San Francisco restaurants, it has been popular in that city for at least two generations.)

2 pounds ground beef chuck, crumbled

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced (or more to taste)

½ pound mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon each nutmeg, pepper, and oregano

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained; or ½ pound fresh spinach, washed, drained, and chopped

4 to 6 eggs

(1/4 to ½ cup Parmesan cheese, if desired)

Brown ground beef in oil in a large frying pan over medium heat; drain off fat. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms; reduce heat and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft. Stir in seasonings and spinach; cook for about 5 minutes longer.

Add eggs; stir mixture over low heat just until eggs begin to set. Stir in Parmesan cheese at this point (if used).

Makes 6 servings.

You could add other vegetables and use different seasonings to alter this basic recipe to suit your family’s tastes. This is how we like it, though. Also, we serve this in large flour tortillas, with shredded cheddar cheese and salsa.

As I searched for an image of Joe’s Special, I came across an online recipe which is almost identical to mine at Howstuffworks.

Today I spent some more time reading The Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic by Richard Phillips, Philip Ryken and Mark Dever. The chapter I read today was An Apostolic Church by Philip Ryken. The author based his comments on Ephesians 2:19-22:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

In the course of his discourse, the author substantiates the point that there are five marks of apostolicity in the church:

An apostolic church is Christ-centered in its preaching,

Bible-based in its teaching,

Grace-dependent in its ministry,

Faith-seeking in its evangelism, and

God-glorifying in its vision.

As we review this list, something about it ought to seem familiar: Christ, Scripture, grace, faith, glory. These are the Protestant Reformation doctrines: Christ alone, Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, and to God alone be the glory! – page 109

Additionally, the author does a great job of explaining what “apostolic” does NOT mean. These are some common misconceptions, making this chapter well-worth reading.

In some Reformed churches, the minister systematically preaches through the Catechism during the Sunday evening services. There is an excellent article explaining the validity and benefit of this practice on this site. This article is by the Rev. G.H. Visscher.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the article:

The truth is: a genuine thanksgiving to God for his work of grace in our lives never leads us to worship him less but always more. What does it say about us then when we are seeking to get away with the bare minimum? What does it say about this generation when a football or a hockey game is never too long, but a worship service almost invariably is? Besides, we should not isolate the sermon from the act of worship; the people of God do not come together just to consume another sermon. They come to worship the Lord! Thus when the people of God are too complacent to do that for more than one hour a Lord’s Day, some serious questions need to be asked and, probably, some serious admonitions administered.

Well, I’m still on the subject of managing one’s weight in a healthful manner. I am a healthy, happy mom and gramma, and I’m also overweight, by approximately 40 pounds. Do I have a plan?

As I mentioned in my first post on this subject, I plan to stay away from “diets”, since I believe they are a good way to unbalance one’s metabolism. However, I am willing to be more conscientious about the quality of the foods I eat. I tend to feed my family mainly whole grains and very little sugar for a while, and then gradually let lesser quality foods back in.

I’m not going to rely on supplements for weight loss. At one point I consulted a naturopathic physician, who suggested conjugated linoleic acid, L-carnitine and a B-complex to help my body metabolize its own fat stores. This seemed to work for a while (I effortlessly dropped 15 pounds.) but caused a lot of intestinal upset. Finally, my throat would just clamp shut so I couldn’t even swallow the pills.

I do go for a daily walk, but I don’t think I’m really getting enough exercise. So, that is what I propose to do: Become systematically more active.

The gentleman who cuts my hair has had good success with the following exercise regime. Doing the routine once requires just SEVEN MINUTES of one’s time. He told me to do this routine for two days, then rest a day, etc.

EXERCISE ROUTINE

Do each exercise for 30 seconds. Walk around for 2 minutes to rest after all exercises are done. As strength and stamina increase, repeat routine, rest, repeat routine, etc.

MARCH Lift legs high and swing arms
PUSH UPS
SQUATS
SHADOW BOXING Stand with legs apart; do not twist at waist
SEATED BENT-KNEE LEG RAISES
HOLD STAFF AND SWING LEFT LEG
HOLD STAFF AND SWING RIGHT LEG
TOE RAISES (while standing behind chair for balance)
JUMPING JACKS
SIT-UPS (CURLS)
SWIM STROKE 15 seconds freestyle, 15 seconds backstroke
SIT KICK Sit in chair; try to kick alternating shoes off
STRETCH TO SKY, THEN TOUCH TOES
WINDMILL Alternate toe touches

This picture was taken in my kitchen about nine years ago, when I weighed sixty pounds less than I do now. The weight gain started about eight years ago. I promise you, this change did not result from suddenly becoming a foolish, intemperate glutton. Whatever happened?

After our youngest child was born eleven years ago, my natural, post-baby weight loss plateaued at 185 pounds. I joined a ladies’ exercise group and did a combo of aerobic exercises and mild weight lifting. The result was very pleasing. From that beneficial activity, I lost my desired 25 pounds, taking me down to 160 pounds. Being a tall girl, that poundage was fine with me, plus the class was fun and I was feeling great.

Then . . . BIG MISTAKE HAPPENED. Whatever was it, you may ask? I went on an extremely restrictive DIET for one year. I didn’t want to go on this diet, but succumbed to social pressure. My exercise instructor, who had been so helpful to me after all, wanted the entire class to try the same diet she was on. I faithfully weighed all my food to ensure that the portion sizes were kosher. The food allowed on this diet was all healthful, nourishing food, but in amazingly small portions. After one year, I had lost a total of only 10 pounds, and was the extremely thin person you see in the above picture. I was also very unhappy with my lot in life, since the simple pleasure of dessert was nevermore to be heard of in this diet. I felt like an anorexic, obsessing over the exact amounts of everything I ate.

I stopped the DIET, and resumed eating the temperate portions of healthful foods which I had been eating when I weighed 160 pounds. I was also still exercising at the gym three times a week, and had even graduated to a more intense step aerobics class. The speed with which my body packed on the lard was amazing! I was so dismayed.

This is my theory about what went wrong:

1. By depriving myself of a normal food intake for such a long time, I convinced my body that it was starving. My poor body was pushed into a mode of saving everything it possibly could to keep me from starvation. Weight gain mode was switched on.
2. I was in the midst of menopause, when a lady’s metabolism naturally slows down. Double whammy.
3. I think I was exercising TOO HARD. I forget where I read that this does not help with weight maintenance, but merely burns whatever carbs one has consumed. I’m a bit hazy on this part, not having read about it for a while. All I know is that gentle exercise helped me to lose 25 pounds. On the vigorous exercise regime, I gained weight FAST.
4. I was going through some mega-stress in my life, which contributes to weight gain also.

So, here I am today at 210 pounds. The children say I look healthier and happier than I did at 150 pounds. I could really be happy with 170 pounds, though, or even 160. I’ve been carrying this weight for about eight years now. I still eat temperately and healthfully. I almost daily go for a one to two-mile walk. However, there is definitely room for improvement, and I have a plan. But . . . Guess what is NOT part of my plan? A diet!