SUNDAY COMFORT-- POT ROAST

Mom's Pot Roast was my favorite childhood Sunday lunch.The thought of delicious tender beef smothered in gravy kept me awake during church. I needed help with that and didn't relish Mom's firm pinch on the leg to do the job.
As the preacher's kids we waited for the entire congregation to leave before making a beeline to the parsonage. The audible rumbling of tummies announced our arrival. Other then the flavor, the best thing about pot roast is its readiness to consume. No one had to be asked twice to wash their hands and set the table. Mom made the gravy while we completed our chores. Homemade rolls were an added bonus, but not a requirement.
I have the convenience of a slow-cooker to make it even easier on a work day. Throw the roast in your pot before work or school, turn it on (a very important step I've omitted on a hectic morning) and dinner is ready when you get home. I made this roast to take to a family with a newborn. Easy to prepare and deliver a whole meal. Beats the heck out of the customary pasta dish.
Leftovers can be "plan overs". Shred the leftover beef, cover with your favorite barbecue sauce and serve on rolls with leftover vegetables or bagged salad. Two meals in one!

Start with a well-marbled 3 to 4 lb. chuck roast.
Cover with dry onion soup mix.

Add as many quartered onions as you like.

Add peeled and cubed potatoes, and

and a bag of baby carrots. Cook on High for 4 to 6 hours
or Low for 6 to 8 hours, depending on the size of the roast.

Photo courtesy of new-mom Tesia Roberts

SUNDAY COMFORT – POT ROAST

INGREDIENTS:

4 pounds chuck roast

salt and pepper to taste

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 cup water

3 carrots, chopped or a bag of baby carrots

1 onion, quartered

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 stalk celery, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1.         Season the roast with salt and pepper to taste. Brown on all sides in a large skillet over high heat, about 4 minutes per side.

2.         Place the roast in the slow cooker and add the soup mix, water, carrots, onion, potatoes, and celery.

3.         Cover and cook on Low setting for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 6 hours.

OR

Brown roast in Dutch oven, add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook in oven at 325 for 3 to 3 ½ hours. I set a time bake before I leave for Sunday School. The house smells glorious and lunch is ready when we walk in the door from church.

Pour off au jus thicken with 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water OR add a can of cream of mushroom soup. (cream of onion soup can be used if you don’t like mushrooms)

There is no end to the variations of this recipe:
Add additional veggies or omit all together and roast them in the oven or make mashed potatoes.

French-style Pot Roast-- Substitute 1 cup red wine for water and 1 teaspoon of thyme.

German-Style Pot Roast – Substitute 1 ½ cups beer for water, 1 teaspoon brown sugar and ½ teaspoon caraway seeds.

Italian-Style Pot Roast--Substitute 1 can (14 ½ oz.) whole tomatoes, drained for water, 1 teaspoon basil and 1 bay leaf.
May you create wonderful memories for your family!

Mandarin Orange Cake

My favorite light summer cake. Simple and delicious. Start with a cake mix, add a little of this and a pinch of that and you have cool luscious cake. Great for a potluck or a family dinner.

Assemble your ingredients

Cake:Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and undrained oranges.

Mix just enough to incorporate all ingredients well.

Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For Topping: Combine the dry vanilla pudding powder
 with crushed pineapple. 

 Mix enough to incorporate all the ingredients well.

Fold in Cool Whip.

Spread over cooled cake. Store in refrigerator.

Mandarin Orange Cake:

Cake:

1 large cake mix, either butter-flavored or yellow cake

½ cup oil

4 eggs

11-ounce can mandarin oranges, undrained

Topping:

3-ounce box vanilla instant pudding powder

8-ounce container of Cool Whip

20-ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained

Directions:

Cake: Combine dry cake mix, ½ cup oil, 4 eggs, and the undrained can of mandarin oranges. Mix just enough to incorporate all ingredients well.
For layer cake, pour the batter into 3 round 9-inch cake pans lined with waxed paper or parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
If you want a loaf cake, pour the batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees (glass pan 325 degrees) for 25 – 30 minutes.

Topping: Combine the dry vanilla pudding powder with crushed pineapple. Fold in Cool Whip. Mix enough to incorporate all the ingredients well.

If making a layer cake: Spread the topping just between the layers and on the top of the cake.

If a loaf cake: Spread the topping over the entire top of the cake.

Store in the refrigerator

Great for breakfast too! What? It's got eggs and fruit in it!

SUICIDE SURVIVOR

I hadn't talked to my older sister in six months to a year, but she called to wish me a happy birthday. She sounded anxious and flustered. I could hear the wind in the phone and the crunch of gravel as she paced.

“Randa, are you okay?” I asked after a minute of pleasantries. 

"No, not really. After I lost my job at Wal-Mart, I got a job helping emotionally challenged kids. I thought I could make a difference. I understand what they go through. The director said I wasn’t the fit they were looking for and let me go. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.

I’ve been clean and sober for two years, but it is so hard to stay that way. I don’t have any support at home. My husband says it’s his house and if he wants a drink, he’s going to have it,” her voice broke.

Alarmed, I asked, “Randa, are you on your medication for bi-polar disorder?”

“No, I can’t afford it without a job or insurance.”

“Honey, you’ve got to get some help. I can’t do anything from Texas. Is there anyone in Kansas I can call for you?”

“I’ll be fine. Talking to you helps,” she continued to pace.

“Lace, do you think God will forgive me for all the things I’ve done?” she asked.

“Don’t you know He only forgives the perfect people?” I responded. She guffawed. I teased her because we’d had this conversation before. I knew she knew the answer, but it worked to break the tension.

“Randa, no one is perfect. If I gave you a beautifully wrapped gift would you open it or would you put it on a shelf and wonder if it was for you?”

“I’d open it, of course,” she said.

“God’s forgiveness is the same. It was yours the first time you asked for it, but you’ve placed it on a shelf. Open the gift, Randa!"

I assured her of God’s unconditional love and begged her to get some help. She assured me she would be fine. I should have called her husband or sons and thrown a fit, but I didn’t want to interfere.

Last family photo, November 2003. Randa is in the middle of the front row.

    Five weeks later on October 2, 2004, my mother called with the news. In good spirits that morning, Randa had fixed a big breakfast for her husband. They sat and chatted before she saw him off to work with a goodbye kiss. He was clueless to her plan. 
     Her 32-year-old son was living in the basement of their home at the time. He had spent the night out and ran home before work to pick-up a few things. Entering the house, he called out for his mom, but got no answer. He ran downstairs to grab a clean shirt and saw Randa’s little Boston Terrier lying at the end of the bed. As he started back up the stairs, he called to her. She didn’t respond. Her eyes focused on the other side of the bed. He walked back downstairs and around the bed to see his mother’s lifeless body on the floor. She had used his gun to end her life. She was only 52 years-old.

     Today, I’d like to shine some light on the subject of suicide and depression. Every year at this time a spirit of depression descends on our entire family. It affects not just my parents and Randa’s three sons, but my siblings and my children.

     I have a wonderful life and do not consider myself depressed. I was surprised to recognize some of the symptoms listed below in myself. My doctor however explained it as a chemical imbalance and prescribed a low dosage of an antidepressant. I am amazed how the cloud in my brain has lifted. I no longer wake-up to a barrage of negative, self-defeating thoughts and my energy has returned. My only side-affect seems to be a dry mouth. It is totally worth it for the clarity which has been restored to me. I thank God for giving man the intelligence to create such a little pill.
     The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention lists the following warning signs of suicide:

Observable signs of serious depression:

• Unrelenting low mood
• Pessimism
• Hopelessness
• Desperation
• Anxiety, psychic pain and inner tension
• Withdrawal
• Sleep problems
• Increased alcohol and/or other drug use
• Recent impulsiveness and taking unnecessary risks
• Threatening suicide or expressing a strong wish to die

Making a plan:

• Giving away prized possessions
• Sudden or impulsive purchase of a firearm
• Obtaining other means of killing oneself such as poisons or medications

• Unexpected rage or anger

      The emotional crises that usually precede suicide are often recognizable and treatable. Although most depressed people are not suicidal, most suicidal people are depressed. Serious depression can be manifested in obvious sadness, but often it is rather expressed as a loss of pleasure or withdrawal from activities that had been enjoyable. One can help prevent suicide through early recognition and treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses.

      Ken Duckworth, medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, stated in an article in USA Today, “Ninety percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness, and many are afraid to seek help. Sometimes people fear they will lose their jobs or be viewed differently if they acknowledge these problems."

     If you or someone you love exhibits any of these symptoms, I implore you to get help. There is no shame in seeking treatment. Depression is an illness which can be treated. If your loved one had pneumonia you would cart them off to the hospital whether they liked it or not. Mental illness should be viewed in the same way. You may save their life or your own.
     The National Suicide Prevention Hotline number is 1-800-273-8255.

     Gratefully, that is not the end of the story. Two years to the day of sister's death, my granddaughter, T-Bug, was born. She is the epitome of joy! He gave us the opportunity to celebrate life, rather than mourn a senseless death.

Because of my sister's death, my youngest daughter and her husband chose Budapest, Hungary to serve as missionaries.Budapest has the highest rate of suicide in the world. 

Please talk to your children and be aware of others' hopelessness. Light up the world with His love.

The Temptation of Eve

Art  from Access-Jesus.com

In reading about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,* I noticed two things. First, the snake tempted Eve with a pretty thing which promised knowledge. Second, Adam succumbed to a naked woman carrying food. Today I want to talk about Eve.

 I see a little bit of Eve in myself. Okay, maybe more than a little bit. I love pretty things. If they sparkle, I like them even better. I love knowledge and wisdom. Even as a child I desired the gift of wisdom. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I responded, “To be as wise as Solomon.” Odd, I know, but it is true. I’ve quietly studied human nature and how best to please people

 My dad is a rageaholic. Knowledge of his triggers became a childhood survival tool. It irritated him to see me just reading a book. I read under my bed, in the closet, or in a tree to stay out of his path. I also knew how to placate him. Practicing the piano and singing were guaranteed to bring me favor. I watched him carefully at the dinner table. As soon as his gaze rested on a particular food, I passed it to him.Not a healthy way to grow up, but I gained the wisdom to survive.

I love knowledge. I love to study any subject that doesn’t include math. The knowledge you might call gossip is particularly titillating. Whether it’s good news or bad news, don’t you love to be the first one to share the apple of gossip? I guard myself from that particular temptation. I had to learn the hard way how it destroys.

In my early twenties, I lived in a very small town which considered gossip to be an acceptable and desired pastime.  I worked in an even smaller law office. I heard from a very reliable source that a popular teenage girl was pregnant. I shared this juicy tidbit with the woman with whom I worked. On her break she trotted next door to clarify this news item with the father of the teenage girl. He followed her back to our office and confronted me. His anger and the force of his words left me in tears for the rest of the day.It seems my reliable source was the girl’s disgruntled ex-boyfriend. My news, a total fabrication, was created to destroy the reputation of an innocent girl. Unknowingly, I carried the weapon of destruction with my tongue. Now I consider every confidence to be a secret unless I’m instructed otherwise.

I specifically despise “church” gossip. Many a man, and thus a church, has been destroyed by backbiting and gossip. As a preacher’s kid and a missionary kid, I am acutely aware of the fallibility of people in leadership. They are human and as such they will always fail. Even if I never repeat their failings to another soul, knowledge of the specifics has the potential to turn my heart toward bitterness and resentment. “They are such hypocrites,” is probably the number one reason why people avoid church. Yes, they are hypocrites and so am I. Roman 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Emphasis added.) I will walk out of a room to avoid hearing about the failures of my pastor and church staff. Unless they are breaking the law, I don’t want to know about it. Like any temptation, the best way to avoid it is to run! Combat those who choose not to run by praying for them, your pastor, and church leaders.

*Genesis 3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when[a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,[b] knowing good and evil.” 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (HCSB)