Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

Thursday, May 16, 2013

 

 

This is sort of a devotional and a testimony all in one. I hope someone will be inspired today!

 

"Keeping The Faith"

 

** So I was awake for quite a bit of the night. I played games on my phone, watched television, you know the usual things for an insomniac. Then while I was sitting there in the silence the thought came to my mind that in the stillness of the night, it would be a good time to pray. As I prayed these two verses came to my mind:

 

Hebrews 11:1-- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
and

Hebrews 11:6-- But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. **

 

 So, what I have gathered of this must be God testing my faith. He's giving me bits and pieces of the vision of my life but He also wants me have faith and trust Him that He will bring everything together in my favor. This is about control. I need to get in GOD'S WILL and out of His way and let HIM work. Also, I MUST seek Him and seek His face and let the ministry fall into place at the right time.

*Daily Devotional*

*Daily Devotional*

"Waiting On The Lord"

 

 

† I was practicing some songs earlier and as I was singing I began to pray and ask the Lord for a certain thing, something I've been wanting and praying about for a long time. The Lord answered me immediately and this was His response to me:

*Matthew 6:33- But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.*

I thank Him for His infinite wisdom. I thank Him for His still small voice. I'm thankful for His promises. He is teaching me today to seek Him FIRST, to get into His word, to embrace His will for my life, and to be patient and don't force things to happen. Let them happen in God's perfect timing. †

Songs I Love To Sing!

Follow the links to YouTube to listen to my videos!

The Only Real Peace

How Great Thou Art

Homemade Cream Cheese (made from homemade yogurt)

**Homemade Cream Cheese**

 

This is a homemade cream cheese recipe that is made from homemade yogurt. Don't be intimidated, it's super easy and most of the preparation time is just "waiting" for it to do its thing! My homemade yogurt recipe and full tutorial can be found here!

 

You will need:

approx. 2-3 cups of homemade yogurt (depending on how much cream cheese you want to make)

 

a clean hand towel or cheese cloth

 

a pot or bowl

 

a rubber band or string

 

a mesh strainer

 

What To Do:

 

First, put your mesh strainer over your pot, then lay the hand towel over the strainer

 

 Then pour your yogurt into the hand towel (leave enough room to pull up your towel and wrap the rubber band around it)

 Next, bring up all sides of the towel (rather tightly) and wrap your rubber band or tie around the towel. You will immediately start to see liquid draining from your yogurt!!

 Then, place pot, strainer and everything into the refrigerator and let drain over night.

 This is what your cream cheese will look like!!  This is just straight up plain cream cheese. You can use in recipes or you can flavor it any way you like and use as a spread on bagels or other breads or crackers!

Above is a photo of the liquid that is drained from the yogurt. This is called the "whey" and DON'T DISCARD IT! It's packed with nutrients and can be used for several things! I will post a list of all sorts of things you can do with your whey!  

 

 

**ENJOY!**

 

 

Please feel free to leave feedback, comments, or questions! I'd love to see how YOUR'S turns out! 



My Family

My Beautiful Daughter, Alexis and I 

Chicken Parmesan

"Southern Chic Chicken Parmesan"

 

This recipe takes about an hour from prep to plate. It can also be done as a freezer meal to cut down on prep time on busy week nights!

 

What You Will Need:

 

Approx. 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

flour and eggs for breading the chicken

Seasonings for chicken (garlic powder, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, and black pepper for a little kick)

 

Approx. 1 16oz. box of pasta (I used spaghetti pasta but you can use any kind you like)

 

Oil for frying chicken

 

Marinara sauce of your choice here is my homemade sauce recipe if you want to try it out!  

 Homemade Spaghetti / Marinara Sauce

 

What To Do:

Slice your chicken breasts in half the long way. This will make for a quicker cooking time as well as provide more portions.

Next, you need to preheat your oil to medium high heat and set up your "frying station" by putting flour in one dish and crack about three eggs into another dish. This is going to be the breading for your chicken. I like to season the chicken, the flour, and the egg to achieve layers of flavor. You can use the seasonings listed above or you can add your own as well.

 Next, once your oil is good and hot you want to dredge your chicken in this order: into the flour, into the egg, and back into the flour. Once it's good and coated like in the photo below, carefully place it in the hot oil.

 

The above photo is what it looks like once it's in the pan. My pan holds about three pieces of chicken at a time. Let it cook 10-15 minutes turning over occasionally.

 

Also, while the chicken is frying go ahead and start the water for your pasta. Once it's boiling, throw your pasta in and cook until it's just "Al Dente" (that means it still has a little "bite" to it because it will continue to cook even after you remove it from the heat.

 

Once your chicken is nice and golden brown and has floated to the top of the oil, it's done and can be removed and placed on a plate to drain the excess grease.

This is the chicken all done! You can always check the internal temperature just to be sure. (It should be around 180 degrees)

So, when the chicken is done and when your pasta is done, drain the pasta heat your sauce. Below is a photo of my sauce from the link provided above!

 

This is my homemade sauce! Yummy!

 

So now you are ready to plate!

Put a mound of pasta on your plate, then add a piece of chicken, then pour sauce over your pasta and chicken. You can add a little or as much as you like! And this is how it should look!

And here you have it! I call it "Southern Chic Chicken Parmesan!" This got my husband's and my children's stamp of approval!!

 This is the "after!"  LOL This is my son enjoying one of his favorite foods!!

 

I hope you all enjoy this dish as much as my family! Please leave comments and feedback! I would love to here from you! Post photos and let me know how yours turns out and if you have any questions, please let me know!

 

ENJOY!

 

~The Happy Homemaker~



Homemade Shaghetti Sauce

* Homemade Spaghetti Sauce *

 

This recipe makes approx. two quarts. It can also be frozen or canned for later use

 

Ingredients:

1 Large can tomato sauce

 

1 medium can stewed tomatoes (optional, I omitted this because my hubby doesn't like chunky sauce)

 

1 small can tomato paste

 

1 tsp. oregano

 

1 tsp. basil

 

1 tbsp. parsley

 

1 tsp. garlic powder

 

1 tsp. onion powder

 

1/4 tsp. salt

 

1 tbsp. sugar

 

3 cloves fresh garlic

 

1/4 cup oil (I used vegetable oil but you can also use olive oil)

 

 

What To Do:

 

In a large pot brown the fresh garlic in the oil.

 

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce and stir until incorporated.

(you can also add ground beef or turkey if you want a meat sauce)

 

Then add all remaining ingredients and simmer for 1-4 hours.

 

Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy!