Bible Study and cornbread swirls

good morning my beautiful friends.          it rained all day yesterday and most of the night.        looks like we'll have a little more rain today.        we needed it, so that's good.       I don't know what the day will bring yet, but I'm happy to be a part of it.        I hope you are too.       I hope we are able to get out and get our walk in sometime today.         that will perk both of us up and we need perking.      hahaha    I hope you all have a wonderful day.        

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this is what I spent the day doing the other day.        let's do a "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".      getting my cornbread stash built back up.         if I can, I may try to get another couple of batches done tomorrow.         we love having these in the freezer at all times.        this is another way I get to use bread machine.         I put all the ingredients in and let it do all the hard work for me.

all I have to do is take a few out and put them on a baking sheet and let them thaw and then pop them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.       I just bake them till done.         then when we're ready to have one with a meal, I'll pop it it in the toaster oven while I'm using the air fryer to cook or heat something else us.        it works like a dream.   

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picking up in 1 Samuel Chapter 26,  we pick up with Saul on the hunt for David once again.        David knew that God would take care of Saul at the appropriate time, just like God had been taking care of David and sparing him from the wrath of Saul.      David respected the fact the Saul was God's anointed king.       he could have killed Saul again, but he chose not to.       now Saul is looking for David again.  he went searching for a medium and called for Samuel from the grave and Samuel gave him a word he didn't want to get and that was the next day Saul and his sons would be with him, dead.      

we pick up in 2 Samuel Chapter 1 next time.

Saul had sinned against God and the Holy Spirit left Saul and he had evil thoughts towards David.        we see where sin gets us.        it's never good, although God can use what we've done or been thru for His good.      if we can tell others where we've been and what we've seen and done when we was wandering in sin, then that can be used for God's glory.         to show what God can do when we let Him.         but this wasn't the case with Saul.        Saul just couldn't get past his jealousy of David.      at any rate, because of the sin that Saul had committed, God allowed him and his sons to be killed.      

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well, that's about all I have today.          I hope and pray that you all have a wonderful day and let's keep God first place in all that we do.       blessings of joy, peace and grace be ours today.      hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and sweet potatoes from start to freezer

good morning beautiful friends.          I hope and pray that we are all ready to have a great day today.      the sun isn't shining and we're probably gonna get some rain.          it got up to 59 degrees yesterday, and we loved it.        my hubby worked out in the garage and I worked inside, but I was out and in every once in a while.         I think it's gonna rain today, but that's ok, we can use the rain.        if for no other reason, to get all the salt washed off the roads.         we're hoping to go see Momma this morning and get back home before  the rain  starts.       maybe even  get out  walk in for the  day before the rain starts too.         sometime this afternoon I'll have to get my yogurt in the fridge to cool down and then strain it to make greek yogurt.       I'll save the whey for the next batch.       if you've never made homemade yogurt before, I'd suggest giving it a try.         if I can  remember, I'll do a picture tutorial on it sometime.         keep an eye out for it.

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guess where we are today?           you guessed it, in the kitchen with another "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".          pull up a chair and grab a cuppa, because there's a lot going on in here today.          so I needed to make another batch of my diced sweet potatoes with onions and garlic.         so I got out my peeler and composter bucket.

the little gizmo on the left is a starfrit peeler from amazon.        it's a great little gizmo, but these sweet potatoes are difficult to peel at best.         it makes no difference where I get sweet potatoes, they're all kinda shriveled up and this peeler doesn't like that at all.         but I finally got it done.      on the right side is my compost bucket.         so I was doing it right.        hahahaha

as I peeled the potatoes, I dropped them in a bow of water.            you can see the pile of peels.         as it was peeling, I was picking the piles up and breaking them into smaller pieces and putting them in my compost bucker.          in the past, all this just went in the trach can.         not anymore.       woohoo!!!   

I got them all chopped up and used all the ingredients on the left hand side of the bowl.          I had previously dehydrated the garlic and onion just for this purpose.         and my dehydrated onion and garlic work perfectly in this dish.         for the ingredients, I used about a tablespoon of avocado oil, a good grid of pink salt, a dash of black pepper and about a palm full of both the garlic and the onion.      a quick stir and it will be ready for the baking sheet.

this is a close up of what it all looks like before I mix it all together.

this is the closed up of my onions and garlic.          since this will be the permanent homes of these ingredients, I need to make a couple of labels for each jar.       one for each lid and one for the side of each jar.          these garlic jars work perfectly for this project. 

this is the potatoes all mixed up and spread out on my baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

pop in the oven on 400 degrees for45 minutes or more, just depending on what you like and this is what you get.           we love all the dark crispy bits.         it is soooooooo yummy!!!!!             these sweet potatoes taste like candy, only better.           that's no joke!!!

I let them cool and then scoop them up and into flip top sandwich bags.

then get the bags shaped up a little and flip the top on them and....... 

then they are ready to go in a vac seal bag and into the freezer.         I don't do a hard vacuum on them because I don't want to squish them and I don't want it to be a solid block when I get ready to take a bag out and put it in the air fryer later.          this is where the magic happens.           they get crispy on the outside and stay like candy on the inside.          these are wonderful.          next on the agenda is to do some russets for my husband.         those are his favorites.          I hope you will give this a try.        when I went shopping the other day, I got a lot more potatoes, some of each and they will be prepared this was exactly and then I'll have easy potatoes any time we want them.           I'm thinking the next time, I'll flash freeze them on the baking sheet and then be able to scoop out some without having to thaw them a little first.         that will make it easier and quicker to toss in the air fryer.        yay!!!

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so we pick up in 1 Samuel Chapter 16.           God is ready to anoint a new king.           His spirit has totally left Saul now and he is overcome with an evil spirit every once in a while.        God tells Samuel to go to Jesse and he will find the new king among his sons.        David was the one that God had chosen for Samuel to anoint.          David fought Goliath with what he knew.        he knew how to handle a sling shot and he also knew that the hand of God that had protected him against a lion and a bear, would also protect him from this giant.        when we trust God with what we know and with what have, then we can count on success.        what David knew is that the God of Israel was faithful and David knew how to use a sling shot.      God gave David the success.         Jonathan and David became friends.       Saul became suspicious of David and turned against him.       David had done nothing to cause Saul to be suspicious.        he was jealous.        jealousy causes a lot of problems and always has, always will.    Saul knew that Lord was with David and he was afraid of David.        David was more successful in battle than Saul was.         Jonathan told David that Saul wanted him dead.         jealousy causes people to do or try to do desperate things.      the God of the Israelites was with David thru it all.       Saul wanted David dead, but God had other plans.        do we walk closely enough with God so that the plans of others that are to do us harm can't happen?        I pray that I do.        I pray that God will protect me in spite of myself and how I get in God's way.       

next time we pick up at 1 Samuel Chapter 26.

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well, that's about it for today.        we'll have to wait and see how the day turns out.        but I know that as long as we keep God in our lives, it will be a good day.         let's try to trust God with everything in our lives.       blessings to you all today.         hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and air fryer roll-ups

good morning one and all.         it looks like it's shaping up to be a beautiful day.         I think today is a good day to have a good day.          hahahaha          that was the tag of a lady in an online group that I used to be in.          I liked it then and I still like it now.          because it's true.          it implies that we are in charge of our actions and reactions that will determine if it's a good day or not.          we can't control the weather, but can control how we act or react to it.        so I'm still looking forward to spring.        I'll probably get some plants started friday or saturday in my hydroponics.          I'm really looking forward to that.       

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this has gotten to be one of our favorite fast food meals.          join me in the kitchen for another "2 minutes in the kitchen with me" and I'll share this with you.         it just might become your favorite too.

what you see are the ingredients in this quick to put together and quick to cook meal.           all of it came from aldi except the cavanders greek seasoning.        I'll get out 4 of the whole wheat tortillas and put about a half tablespoon of hone mustard sauce on the front half of the tortilla closest to me.       then I'll sprinkle a dab of greek seasoning, put down my 2 slices of roasted chicken lunch meat and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese that has been broken in two.

I'll bet it all carefully rolled up, ending with the seam on the bottom side and putting it in the air fryer with that overlap on the bottom.

I'll get all four in the air fryer and set it to 400 degrees for 15 minutes and the outside is perfectly crunchy and the cheese is melted and running from the ends.       just perfect!!

then when they get done, I try to remember to take a pic before I get the plates fixed, but I forgot.       so I put 2 back in and took a pic.         hahaha          I keep trying to get everything right, right off the the bat.         but I forget to get pics.          I keep trying though, so that should count for something.    hahahaha 

we absolutely love these.          we'll have a few potato chips and 2 of these and it's a great, easy, fast meal.         and easy cleanup.        all I have to do is toss the air fryer liner.        the natural oils cooks out of the cheese.         and that's what you see on the air fryer liner.          these are a big help.       I get them from amazon and the price is pretty good.          even before I started getting these, I would use parchment paper in my air fryer.        you just want to make sure that what ever you're cooking will hold it down.         if it flies up and get's caught in the burner, it could start a fire.         so be careful with stuff like that.        but these were heavy enough that they was ok.         I hope you give these a try sometime.  your taste buds will thank you.

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picking up in 1 Samuel Chapter 9, we meet Saul.         he was handsome and head and shoulders taller than anyone else.       Saul was the chosen one to be king.       when the people seen him, they said long live the king.         they seen with their eyes and not their heart.       they wanted a king, God wanted to be their king, but they didn't want God.        so, God gave them what they wanted.        be careful of what you ask for.       Samuel once again reminds them of God's faithfulness in bringing them out from egypt and being with them to that very moment.         he reminded them of the many times that they worshiped  the gods of the  pagans and now  wanted a king and  Saul was to be anointed king over them.         Samuel reminded them the Lord their God was their king, but they wanted a king like the pagans had.        so God has given them what they wanted.          Samuel is warning them against rebelling, which they have been famous for in the past.        

why do we rebel, even when we get what we want?         because we don't know what's good for us.        ever rebel against your parent when they said no to something they knew was harmful to you, or could be harmful.        I'll bet every one of us did at some time or another and then we lived with the consequences.       I'll have to say that I'm so thankful to God for His watch care and protection even when I didn't know He was caring for me.       He spared me lots of heartache and I can see that now, from my perspective of looking back over my life.         I don't know why He chose to love me like He did, but I'm so thankful He did.     

Samuel showed them that they had done an evil and wicked thing by asking for a king.        when they seen the power of God, they wanted Samuel to pray for them, that the Lord would not kill them.      Samuel told them to fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all their heart.        I would have to say that this sounds like a great plan for our lives from this moment on.      

it's not long till their king takes Samuels roll into his own hands and offers a burnt offering, sinning greatly against God.         Samuel told Saul how foolishly he acted.         we do act foolishly at times especially when we think more highly of ourselves than we should.        king or no king, God had not given him the position of prophet.         Saul continues to disobey the Lord and He regrets making Saul king.         Samuel keeps intervening between God and Samuel.        Samuel told Saul that Lord is more pleased with obedience than He is with sacrifices.        same holds true today.       our obedience to the Lord is much more important that any of the works that we can do.        sometimes, our obedience may involve us working, but obedience always comes first.        our works are as filthy rags compared to our obedience.          when we accept Christ as our Savior, that is obedience.       staying so busy in our lives that we don't hear the call of the Lord over the busyness, that's works, or sacrifices.         Christ is the ONLY sacrifice that matters!!!          Saul had sinned greatly and he had fallen out of favor.        Samuel continued to pray for Saul.

next we pick up at 1 Samuel Chapter 16.

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I hope and pray that we all have a blessed day today.          I pray that everything we do represents God in every way.          I pray that we can get rid of the idols in our lives, whatever they may be.         Christ is who we should be worshiping.         no other people, no things, just Christ.         live a set apart life and don't do as the culture does.         culture changes, God doesn't.        blessings of strength to stand firm, peace and mercy be ours today.           hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and more garden gold

good morning wonderful people.          it's another cold in my neck of the woods this morning.        we donned our winter clothes and made our morning walk and it sure was s chilly one.        so happy to be back home, warm and sipping our morning coffee.        I hope I can remember to come back here this summer when it's above 100 degrees and read some of how I complained about it being so cold.       oh, I'll  forget all about it being cold and complain anyway.          after all, I'm just a human and we've seen since Jan 1 how the people of God have a always complained.         so I'm no different.       but I'll try not to complain too much.       I am still looking forward to getting some seeds started soon.        that's what makes gardening and the thoughts of it become real to me.        I hope you have something to look forward also.       new life on the "deck-stead", that's what I'm looking forward too.    hahahaha       I think I  may have just created a new word.       "deck-stead", remember, you seen it here first!!!  

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let's go do another "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".          I really love turning what I used to put in the trash, into compost.          it's so easy to save everything that I would have thrown away.         this batch had more egg shells in it and you can see them as the white specks in the compost and also on the side of the bucket.        this pic looks really weird, like an oddball eye or something, but I took it aiming down inside the bucket and this is as good as I could get.         everything looked weird.        

this batch had egg shells, coffee grounds, coffee filter, paper towel, orange peels and lots of veggie scraps from getting together all the fixings for our salads.        and and all scraps go in the bucket.       it's such a win win for now and I'm so excited to be able to get free compost from my own kitchen scraps.  

the only thing that I haven't put in it yet and I don't see me ever putting in it is meat, meat scraps or meat fat or oils of any kind.          I just don't want to attract the wrong kind of critters to my garden.         I don't know the meats and meat scraps would process.          but I think I'll probably be making bone meal with any bones that I make bone broth with.          when I make bone broth, I'll cook the bones for about 8 or 10 hours  in my epc and then the bones are very soft.  you can crumble them in your fingers easily.

so I don't know if this is anything that would interest you or not, but if it does, I would encourage you to go for it.        I love salvaging stuff from my trash and turning it into garden gold.         I love it!!!

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picking up in 1 Samuel Chapter 3 and we see this is where Samuel gets the call from God to be a prophet while he was still just a boy.         the books of Samuel are filled with many fascinating stories of how God provides for His people.        He will not be mocked.         none of the pagan gods are even a slight match for the I AM THAT I AM.          we need to remember that today.          the promises of God for them, still holds true for us today.        when we seek to serve Him, he will bless our efforts.  every time.         the ark of the Lord was holy and not to be messed with.         they had not handled it with the respect and the way God had told them to handle it and He killed over 50 thousand people for opening and looking into the ark.         Samuel was now a grown man and serving the Lord in his prophet role and spoke to the people telling them if they were returning to the Lord with their whole heart, they needed to get rig of all the pagan gods.       are we willing to get rid of our pagan gods?        are we still gonna worship actors apers mimickers, singers, sports figures and politicians as our pagan gods?         if so, then we will stay on the slippery down hill slide to destruction.        the word Ebenezer, or rock of help, comes from Chapter 7.        do a  word study  on it and find out just how rich and deep the word is.        is God our rock, stone of help?           at one point in time, during the bible reading, God told the people, "when you want a king.......".          God already knew that they would want what the other countries had.       they all had kings.        Israel had God, but they  wanted a king.         God wanted to be their king.       we  sometime refer  to Jesus as King  Jesus, in  my mind, that's why.        He is our King.         and God wanted to be the King of Israel.        God reminded Samuel that they had not rejected him, but they had rejected God.        the same holds true today.        if you're witnessing to someone and they reject Jesus, they're rejecting you, they're rejecting King Jesus, which has far worse end results.        I'd rather someone reject me and accept Christ, than to reject Christ.       they're eternity is in the balance.        this is what God was telling Samuel.       be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.         

we'll pick up in 1 Samuel Chapter 9 next time.

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I hope everyone has a most glorious day today.       remember that when we up, we are facing a wonderful gift to used up and spent wisely.        how will you spend your day today?        how will I spend my day?       I pray we all make good decisions.          blessings on your day!!         hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and chicken corn chowder

good morning my friends.           I pray that we all had a restful night of sleep and ready to face the new day ahead of us.         I look forward to another warm, sunshiny day.         the temps finally got warm enough yesterday to melt a blob of icy snow that had been in the shade by our deck ever since the first snow in early january.        we kept watching it and it did get snowed on one other time, but figured it was hanging on for a few more inches.          no doubt, we'll have some more snow.        hopefully it will be later on, so it won't hang around for a month.         I am looking forward to getting some seeds started for my container garden.        maybe by the end of the week of the first of next week.         I'll try to remember to take pics.

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it's time to crack out the electric pressure cooker again.          also time for another "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".             we love to keep chicken corn chowder in the fridge.           it's one of our favorite fast foods that I like to have on hand.           it just takes about 30 minutes in the epc and then time to get some of the cheesy ingredients mixed into it after it's cooked.         it is fabulous!!!!!!

I really wish you could smell this right now, you'd be hooked just by smelling it.          it's dynamite!!!

we both love it and I know you would too.        this is what I consider our fast food.      I always have a homemade cornbread swirl to go with the chicken corn chowder.          the combo is the perfect meal for us.        I hope you try it sometime.     I think the recipe is on here somewhere, just look for chicken corn chowder and it should pop up.

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picking up in Judges Chapter 19 and the Levites are still without a leader and they are still constantly sinning against God.       evil and wickedness has been in every generations since the beginning of time and it's still here in all it's evil and wicked fashion.          God helped the collective men of Israel have revenge for an evil and wicked act.        when God is in it, success is at hand.        there was still no and everyone was doing right in their own eyes.        they were not doing what was right in the eyes of God.

next we come to the book of Ruth and they still had judges and no king.          the story of Ruth is a beautiful story of redemption.         it is just one of the resemblances of the redemption of Christ in the Old Testament.        a very special picture of what real love looks like.         and in this chapter, the lineage of David is shared. 

now we go into the first book of Samuel.        to have the boldness and faith of Hannah!!!!!        

I hope and pray that God is revealing to your heart, all that He wishes to.         we are living in evil and wicked days today and I see that no matter the time in which we live, God wants our heart, our love and worship and He wants to give us everything He has.       just imagine an eternity with Him.      I hope and pray that's what we're all striving for.       I don't understand everything I read in the bible, why this happened or why that happened, but I do know that God provided for me, the perfect sacrifice, in His Son, Jesus Christ who is my Redeemer.       I don't know why He done that, but I'm forever grateful that He did!!!!

we will continue with 1 Samuel 3 next time.

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well, I guess this is where we will call it quits today.          I hope and pray that we all have a great day and that we remember to keep God first place in all that we do.          blessings of grace and mercy be ours today.          hugs and love, patty 

Bible Study and pork loin in the epc

good morning my friends, from my thawed out neck of the woods.         woohoo!!!!         yesterday it got up to 52 degrees!!!!!           that's the warmest it's been all year!!      I hope that's a new trend for us for a little bit anyway.        it's still very much winter, but those nice days give us a taste of what can be and hopefully, will be in the near future.        I was bust in the kitchen of the day yesterday and you will be reading all about it at some point in time.        I hope that I can maintain the pace of posting daily, at least for the foreseeable future.       it's been hard to keep the pace up, but I'll try to keep at it.       it's been good for me to get back in to my blog like I have.        and I do believe that commenting about my Bible Study is what's helping to stay the course, for now anyway.       we'll see, but for now I am enjoying it and I hope y'all are too.      

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so yesterday was aldi day.          I made my weekly pilgrimage to aldi and got the necessities and while I'm it, I always like pick up something that's not quite a necessity, if the money is available.          so join me for a quick "2 minutes in the kitchen with me" and I'll tell you about it.        one of the thing I like to pick up if I'm not in need of a lot of usual stuff is a pkg of meat.        

this time I got a pkg of pork loin.        it had 2 good sized pieces in the pkg.         so I diced and an onion and put a a couple of tablespoons of garlic in the electric pressure cooker (epc), added the 2 pieces of pork loin and last but not least, I opened my can of cranberry sauce and just slid it in along with about a quarter cup of water.         I set the epc for an hour and 30 minutes and forgot about it.

before I put the pork loin in the epc, I did trim all the fat and hard connective tissue from the meat.        I just didn't want that to deal with after the rest of it was fall apart tender.

once it was done, I let it cool off before I tried to handle it because I knew it was fall apart tender.      once it was cool enough, I scooped out the 2 pieces of pork loin and put them in my largest lock and lock container, along with all the gravy that was made and popped them in the fridge for the night.

today, I got it from the fridge and started portioning it out to put in the freezer for quick meals later on and I couldn't be more pleased.            the pics is of what it looked like once it was cooked and divvied up this morning.       I just didn't think to get pics before and during, only after.         one of these days, I'll remember what I need to remember and get pics, start to finish of something.

when I started divvying the meat up, I would take a chunk with tongs and then use my kitchen shears to cut it up.          we don't like long pieces of stringy meat, no matter how tender it is.        so I cut this up and it will be perfect for however I decide to use it.          you can see 3 of those containers have the broth/gravy over them and 1 of them doesn't.          the 3 with the broth/gravy went to freezer camp and the other one went on our salads for lunch and it was a meal fit for the golden age we now live in.        if ya know ya know.         but it really was great on the salad.         so, if you see pork loins and have a can of cranberry sauce, you to can make this and enjoy some now and some later.         I love having this in the freezer for pretty quick meals.          I know one batch will be put over rice.        if you try something like this, I sure would love to know about it.          I love having some quick freezer meals ready and waiting and I know you would too.

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today we pick up at Judges Chapter 9.        we see nothing, if we don't see that Israel has fallen away from God again.        sometimes we see that it's easy to make the wrong decision.         I hope and pray that I never make the wrong decision that costs 70 people their lives.        some people are just evil and wicked to the bone and Abimelech was.         but he didn't get away with it, God always exacts revenge and He did with Abimelech.          the Israelites was eager to serve every god in the land except the One True God!!!         why is that?        I guess that's the age old question.        judge after judge came and died and after each ones death, they served other gods.          then the anger of the Lord burns against them and He lets them be sold into slavery.         they cry out to God and said they had sinned by serving other gods and God told them to cry out to the gods they had been worshiping and let them save you.   they cried out once again and said that we have sinned, do to us what ever you please, just save us.      they got rid of all the foreign gods and God could no longer look upon their misery.       time and time again, we see that the Israelites done evil in the sight of the Lord.        this particular time He turned them over to the Philistines for 40 years.        then along comes Samson.        Samson was deceived by his wife.       with that deception came great destruction.         then there's Micah.        one of the questions that remains for me, is why is it so hard for us to remain faithful to the One has forever been faithful to His people?          why are we so eager to turn out backs on the Lord?        

I'm no better than they are, truly I'm not.         because I do the same thing!!!!         I do!!!!        we all do, we all have, and we will all continue to betray the Lord at every turn because the devil is cunning, sly and wicked and he knows we are weak.        Lord, help me to be strong and trust in You only!!!!        fight the devil for me Lord, because I can't fight him, but I know You can!!!       I want to serve You wholeheartedly, that is my desire.       please help me Lord!!!

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I hope and pray that you have a blessed day today and that you know that God is the reason, the only reason you got to be a part of this day.       blessings of joy, peace and mercy be yours today.         hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and fried green tomatoes, yum!!!

good morning my beautiful friends.            the sun is shing this morning and it's a beautiful sight.        I love seeing the sun shine.         it just does something good for my soul.        when I got up this morning it was 21 degrees outside, but guess what?          weather bug said it was 30 degrees!!       weather bug is a little liar and it keeps on lying.         this is what caused me to lose all my seed starts last year.         I haven't started any seeds yet, but I will not be trusting weather bug with my starts this year.       I am looking forward to getting my seeds started and getting my garden growing.         I peeked under the 2 frost covers I have over my mr stacky with my onions and garlic and they are doing good right now.      I just keep praying that God will bless them and that I actually have a good crop of onions and garlic this year, we'll see.       I am looking forward to garden season this year.         I hope y'all are too.        it's a great  way to keep  my mind  occupied with good thoughts and just trusting the Lord to bless my efforts.        let's make it a great day today by thanking God for the gift of life in this moment and move forward with this spectacular day.       

Thank You God for blessing me with the gift of life today!!        I pray that you will help me to use this allotted  day well  and that I can serve You in it.      bless all those who bless others today.      amen

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guess what was for lunch????       go ahead and guess.        while you're guessing, let's get ready and go to the kitchen for another "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".     

as the pkg says, this was green tomatoes that I breaded back in 2022.       you can see the date.          I preheated the air fryer and while the air fryer was preheating, I sprayed both sides of the green tomatoes with avocado oil.        once the air fryer was preheated good, I sprayed the air fryer tray with avocado oil and then I put the battered green tomatoes in the air fryer, set on 400 for 15 minutes.       

at about 10 minutes, I flipped the tomatoes for another 10 minutes to get the other sides of the tomatoes cooked too.         it is important to preheat and also spray the insert with oil.      then also spray both sides of the frozen green tomatoes.        that is important.  

this is what they looked like after about 20 minutes and I must say they were delicious today, especially with the temps well below freezing.        it was awesome to have a summer treat right here during the arctic blast.         I look forward to putting more of these in my freezer this year.

so, if you have green tomatoes, go for it.      there is all kinds of different batters that can be used.      the best one for us is cornmeal, salt and flour.         shake them in this mix and then wrap them in freezer paper and label and date and you're set for some wonderful eats.         and they seem to taste better this time of year.         I hope you give it a try.

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going into Judges Chapter 1 we see the battle for the land continues.       as long as the Israelites remain faithful to God, He will give them victory.          He gave them victory over a particularly cruel king by giving payback to him exactly as he had done to 70 other kings.       this king had cut the thumbs and big toes off other kings, so God allowed the same thing to happen to this king.        this was done to take away the capacity to be a danger.        it limited their ability to fight, basically leaving them harmless.        cruel yes, and God allowed retribution, payback to this evil king.       

once Joshua had died, and all the people that had also seen the great work that God had done for Israel had also died, the generation to come after them did not know the Lord and all the mighty works that God had done for them.       that's why its so important to keep passing down from generation to the next, all that God has done for us.    for us as individuals and for us as families and as Christians as a whole.       we share what God has done to help us all remain strong in the Lord.      

this next generation served all the gods of the pagans.     this is why we must pass on what God has done for us.       they served the pagan gods and God was angry with them.        then they cried out to the Lord and He raised up judges to get the people back on track serving the Lord their God.         Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, over and over and over again.          they would cry out to God and He would hear them and bail them out, over and over again.      there are some interesting stories in this book.        like the tent peg.         read up on that one.        then God raised up Gideon.        then Gideon died and the Israelites sinned against God again, and worshiped the gods of baal.       how quickly they forget what God has done for them.         how quickly, we too, forget what God has done for us.  

why is it so hard for us to remember what God has done for us?         because we would much rather be playing with fire from the devils hands,  than doing the right thing.         it's still that way today.    nothing has changed.        we don't have an attention span to keep us focused on what God has done for us.        we just don't.        people will laugh at us, make fun of us, call us names.          it makes no difference that our eternity depends  on what we do with God.        we believe Him or we don't.       it's up to us and it's that simple.        it's black and white,  there's  no  gray areas.         and people  want to make  everything gray.        it's either right or wrong.         a little bit wrong is 100% wrong.          a little bit of idol worship is 100% wicked in the eyes God.       we worship God or we worship idols.     we believe God or we believe the lies that the devil tells.      it's the ago old struggle since the beginning of time.       all the  laws that  God gave the  Israelites, wasn't  enough to provide salvation for the Israelites.       the laws just proved to us how easy it is to sin.      but Jesus Christ is enough!!!!        I try to keep  remembering that Jesus Christ is enough, while reading thru the Old Testament.       

next time we pick up at Judges Chapter 9.      see you then.        I hope you are reading along and not just taking my journaling as your bible study.        read it along with me and see what the Lord reveals to you thru His word.

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well, I think I'll just say, "have a great day and God loves those who are called by His name".    blessings of mercy, grace and warmth be ours today.        hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and making more compost

good morning my beautiful friends!!!!        wanna know something?       the temps in my area got to 44 degrees yesterday!!!!         yes they did!!       and I done me a little happy dance.         that was the first time in almost a week that the temps had been above freezing.         I hope warmer temps are in the near future us in my neck of the woods.         we'll just have to wait and see.      but for now, the temps was back down to 20 degrees this morning.        I hope wherever you are that it's nice and pleasant and sunshiny today.        our plans was to go see my Momma yesterday but that didn't work out, so I think today may be the day.         I hope so anyway.        what kind of plans do you have today?         make it a good day for sure.

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so today is making more compost day.          let's do a "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".         I don't like throwing food away.          I don't like not using what I buy.        but sometimes it doesn't last as long as it should.           case in point with a bag of snacking bell peppers I recently bought.        I picked out the best bag I could find and it wasn't all that great.          but I used the worst ones that was usable first and worked on using the rest of them.          the rest of the bag just turned to soup in the bag.      well, any other time I would I would have tossed them in the garbage.          not now, I tossed them in my counter top composter.         along with orange peels and coffee grounds and a coffee filter or two.       also some bits and pieces where I cleaned up produce and got it ready for salads.        all the bits and pieces cut from that produce went in the bin.         it was full!!!        I started it and then we decided to leave the house for a few minutes and I stopped it.        that's something that I don't think I'll let run during the night or when we're away from home.         when we got back I opened the lid and there was a lot of water that had oozed from the bell peppers.       yes, I said oozed.      hahahaha 

 

so I turned the composter back on for the 6 hours and and when it stopped this is what I got!!        isn't it lovely.        it looks just like compost that you would find around a fallen rotting tree in the woods.       I was really surprised at how beautiful this turned out.

I just want to run my fingers thru it and smell of it.       this stuff smells great!!!

the pic below has this batch and 3 other batches of compost in it.           I've done filled one jug this size and already about 3 or 4 inches up on this just.

I never knew I had so much kitchen waste until I got this composter.        it's so easy to just store in a little bin and then when it gets full, just dump it in the bucket of the composter.         I use egg shells and any kitchen refuse other than meats and fat.       i just don't want stuff like that in my compost.        I don't want to attract unwanted vermin and varmints or all kinds to my garden.       it's bad enough with birds and squirrels, much less some of the other critters that hang around.       and it's bad enough with insects.        so I'll still toss fat and meat scraps.      nothing like avocado pits either.       if it's really hard, you don't want to put it in the composter.       no peach pits or stone fruit pits either.      just stuff that you could eat.        I'll also put in a paper towel every once in a while.       just tear it up into smaller pieces.      I also tear up the coffee filters, just so there won't be big pieces.

if you haven't tried a kitchen composter,  it might be a fun investment, especially if you have a lot of kitchen scraps.        you might be like me and find that you have way more than you ever imagined.     now I can make something useful from those scraps.        woopee!!!!

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we are at Joshua Chapter 1 and Moses has died.          Joshua had been commissioned by God to lead the Israelites once Moses was gone.         Moses had told him the be strong and of good courage.         Now, God is speaking to Joshua and telling him to be strong and of good courage.         God told him that no less than 2 times in first few verses.        God told him that He would be with him, just to stay the course and not to turn  to the left or the right, stay the course.      and to do according to the book of Law that God had given them.        and God will remind him again, and again.         just like God reminds us today thru His word that we are to stay strong and of good courage.        if God is for us, what do we have to fear?          Joshua was getting ready to take on the task that God set before him.       Joshua was having success doing as God had instructed until the people rebelled again and the Israelites was in serious trouble and Joshua even questioned God.        God told Joshua that the people had sinned and that needed to be addressed because they had violated the covenant of the Lord.      Joshua dealt with the sin and God blessed them.      every battle that Joshua faced, when he faced those battles with God, he had success.          even when he was tricked, it still worked out for the Israelites good.        God was with Joshua.         Joshua even told the sun to stand still and it did, because God made the sun stand still at Joshua's word.          Joshua done as the Lord directed him to do and he was successful at taking the land.        God kept telling Joshua not to be afraid, because God was with him and Joshua did as the Lord told him to do.         Joshua remained faithful to God and God gave the Israelites the land that He promised to them.        the land had been divided up between the tribes of Israel and Joshua was getting old.         Joshua warns the people against worshiping the idols just as Moses had warned them.         then Joshua tells them once again of the strong history of the Lord guiding them.         after serving the Lord, Joshua died.       Joshua left a legacy of serving the Lord and the people serving and following Joshua.         what kind of legacy will you or I leave when the Lord calls us home.         I pray that we leave a legacy of serving the Lord till our final breath.       I pray that we can have a lasting legacy of leading others to follow Christ and to take a stand, even if we stand alone.          we live in uncertain days with lots of problems.         I pray that we can stand in the midst of chaos, or fall to our knees and call on God to defeat the enemy.        "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".          may this be our motto in these times of uncertainty.

next we pick up in Judges.

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I pray that you have a wonderful day and that we all thank God for allowing us to be a part of it.      may we strong and of good courage in all our days.         strength and courage served Joshua well and I believe it will serve us well too.         blessings of peace, strength and courage be ours today and every day.          hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and dehydrated stevia

good morning from the frozen arctic tundra of the south!!       hahaha         oh well, it is what it is and it's cold.         it's gonna warm up though, so that will be awesome.        we're gonna make a quick run to visit with my Momma in a bit, so I hope every one has a great day.       

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back in the year of 2024, hahaha  a long time ago, I grew some stevia.         let's get into another "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".          so I wanted to make my own stevia powder.         just to see what I could actually do.         I ended up with almost a gallon of loose leaves.         I really have no idea how one would go about weighing them to know exactly how much one would have.       hahaha        well, in grams of course, but wow wee, I don't have any idea how to convert that to gallons.        anyway, I just got sidetracked, chasing a rabbit, or as they say, "squirrel".        hahaha        if ya know, ya know. 

I used a pint jar that was full to the brim with stevia leaves.           but the jar above is a 24 oz jar that's full too.          I just emptied the pint  jar and got it powdered before I remembered I needed to take a pic.        so I used the pint and a half jar for my pic.

I got out my little grinder and put the leaves in it, being careful as I mashed them down, not to get my fingers in the blades of that little grinder.        don't want to lose my finger tips and also don't want to lose my stevia.         but I ground it and ground it and ground it and all that stevia powdered down to about 2 tablespoons.

I used a mini measuring spoon and put about a 1/4 tsp in each of my breakfast bowls.        in all honesty, it's not enough to really even taste, but I did want to work my way up to tasting it in my breakfast.     it's really earthy, so if I can work my way up to it, I may be able to use it and not miss the taste of any of the other stevia products I use.     but, we'll see.        even if I can't use it in my breakfast bowls, I'll try to keep growing it and working on using it and getting used to the flavor of it.       it is sweet, but it's very earthy tasting.         hahaha        if you want to know what earthy is like, grab a hand full of dirt and eat it.     hahahaha    no, no no, don't do that.    just smell  the earth and imagine what it would taste like.     kinda like some of the earthiness of beets.       but stevia is sweet.       ok, so after chasing another rabbit, I'll call "squirrel" again and move on from stevia, until I have more to tell about my escapades with it.  

if you haven't grown it, I would suggest giving it a try.        it's hard to get starts from seeds, but last year when lowes finally got it in, I got a small pot of it that had 8 plants in it!!!!       if I can't get any started this year, I'll do the same thing and look for a pot that has as many as I can find already started in it.     I love getting my moneys worth.       hahaha

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as we pick back up in Deuteronomy at Chapter 18  , Moses is telling the people how God has been their protector, provider, and I AM THAT I AM, ever since sending Moses to bring them out of egypt.      even with all their failures, God has still provided and been faithful to them.         when we can truly remember all that God has done for us, then we can move forward in the unseen with confidence.      is that easy to do?        no, it's not.        but it's whole lot easier when we remember all of His faithfulness and provisions in the past.         as they get ready to cross the Jordan, Moses is wanting them to have the memories of the presence of God fresh on their minds and in their hearts.        it's going to be a tough journey, but Moses is telling them that God will be with them.        they just need to remember all the statutes and commandments that He has given them to keep them from worshiping the gods of the pagans in the land they are about to go into.         they are not to add anything to or take anything away from what God has told them.         they will be going into a land full of idol worship and sorcery and God has forbidden that at every turn.         what are some of the idols that we worship and what is some of the sorcery that we turn to today?           again, Moses is going back over all the statutes and laws that God has given them to follow.        trying to get it to stick in their minds.        did you know that it's against the law to move or remove boundary markers?           well, God established that law, before it was a law of the land.       and the saying, life for a life, eye for an eye and tooth for tooth can be found right here in this scripture.        lots and lots of many other laws that God had spoken to Moses, and Moses is sharing them again.          lessons to live by.        Moses reminds them that God has chosen for them to be His people, personal possession and they are to keep His commandments.          He has placed them above the other nations and they shall be a consecrated people, set aside to serve Him.       this is where Moses told the people that he was old and that he could not cross with them, so he commissioned Joshua in front of the people.         Joshua was to be the new leader of God's chosen people.        Moses warns them again that all he had said was a matter of life and death for them.        and they needed to be very serious about the way they live.        Moses laid his hands on Joshua and he was filled with the spirit of wisdom and Joshua is ready to fulfill the commission from God by Moses.

next time we pick up at Joshua Chapter 1.  

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that's about all I have today.     let's live the lives we have been called to live, in spite of the complaining and grumbling going on around us.         God is with us, who can be against us.        let's be strong in our conviction that God is with is and He will provide!!!     

blessings of mercy, grace and warmth be ours today!!    hugs and love, patty 

Bible Study and our favorite side, again

good morning from the deep dark tundra this morning.          with all this crazy weather and the snow in Louisiana yesterday,  I don't know what to expect any more.         hahahaha         but we'll take what we get and like it.         that's my Momma used to tell us.         you'll take what you get and like it.         so we'll hang in there with that.        hahahaha          the lowest I seen this morning was 2 degrees and at 7:40am, it's now a whopping 8 degrees.          who knows, it may get to 20 degrees today.        I'll take what we get and thank God for it.         right about now, I'd like to ask someone about their global warming theory.         what's up with that?         I don't know about anyone else, but I do know for sure that God knows what He's doing.          the global theorists, nah, I don't they know what they're doing.        but what do I know.         I know that God is in control, that's what I know.           what about you, what do you know?

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this is one our favorite sides to go with any meal.          so, let's do this quick "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".        this is one of the easiest sides for me to make and it's also one of the most delicious.       I take a bunch of russet and sweet potatoes and peel and dice, then I put them in a bag, separately, and put about a tablespoon of avocado oil in with them and a dash of salt and a dash of pepper and than about a good palm full of dehydrated minced onions and dehydrated minced garlic.

I put them on a sheet pan lined with parchment.         it prevents sticking and easy cleanup.         I'm all over that.          I pop that in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes, just depending on the size of the dice that I make with the potatoes.          for us, the darker they are when I take them from the oven, the better.           the sweet potatoes doesn't get as crunchy as the russets, but they are like eating candy!!!   

once they are done, I let them cool for a bit and than I scoop them off the sheet pan and into my lock and lock containers they go and they are good for a week.          I wouldn't keep them any longer, but if you're like us, you won't have to worry about that.         they'll be gone all too soon.         hahaha

this is just one more dish that I use to try to keep from buying ready made of something that has bad oils in it and other things.            so, as long as I make these, I no longer have to use store bought frozen fries,  I use these instead.       

when I get ready to use them, I'll put a scoop of each in the air fryer and heat them up.        they will get even darker than they are now and more crispy.          they are so good!!!!         all I have to do is make sure I have russets for hubby and sweet taters for his sweet tater, me.         hahaha         yes, it's a little more work, but it's worth it.        at least as long as I'm able to do it, I'll keep doing it.        and I also love that I'm using my own dehydrated minced onions and dehydrated minced garlic.        it's wonderful way to use these.          what are you making from scratch that's healthier for you, that you are no longer buying ready made?           I hope you're doing something like this.         maybe this will the inspiration that you need.         I hope so.  

next time I throw some in the air fryer, I'll try to remember to take a pic and show you the difference.  

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we're at Deuteronomy 9 this morning and we can see that Israel is already at it again.         God is reminding them, thru Moses, that any victories they have, is NOT because of their righteousness, but because of the pagan countries wickedness.        that's exactly the way it is now.         anything God does for us is based on God's righteousness only.        we are stubborn just as they were stubborn.         we are still stubborn, even after accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior.          Moses is continuing to remind them of God's faithfulness thru everything they had been thru.         Moses told them that God expected them to fear God, walk with God, love God, serve God with their whole being and to keep His commandments and statutes.          Moses is reminding them of what they have witnessed with their own eyes.         they had lived thru all that Moses was telling them and he was reminding them to remember how faithful God is.        he was telling them to remain faithful to God.      he was telling them to stay strong in the face of what was waiting for them.         it was going to be difficult for them, but not difficult for God.           Moses again tells them to remember what God has done.         tie the words God has spoken, to their hands and to their forehead.         for their hands to put the work in and for the heads to remember God and all He has done for them to this point.       Moses was also telling them to pass all this down to the generations after them.         keep telling the stories of how God saved the Israelites.      keep passing down the legacy of God's provision and protection and promises.          instead of telling fairy tales and jokes, pass down the legacy that God had given to them first hand.         the more we tell of the goodness of Jesus Christ in our lives, the more people will come to know Him.          when we tell others, we're planting seeds of hope.       once again Moses is telling them tear down any and all forms of false god worship that they see in the land that they are to possess.         if they don't, they will be cursed, just like the pagans that worship the false gods.         Moses keep reminding them NOT to do as the pagans have done.         are we still reminded today to not live as the world around us lives?       we are.         we have been called  out and set  apart to live  different lives to that  of what we see in the culture.         but so many are drawn to the temptations of the culture.         when a Christians life looks just like the worldly life around us, something is wrong and more than likely, that so called Christian probably isn't a Christian.         just a wolf in sheep's clothing.        so, we still have to be aware today.        do we need to be reminded today to reject idolatry?           we sure do!!!        there will always be people in our lives that are trying to pull us away from the truth of the word of God.        don't let them.        there is a church here in my community and their tag ling on the their church sign says "we are a welcoming and affirming church".         that tag line came about  when they joined cahoots with another church that was mostly from Sodom and Gomorrah.       that tag line is saying that we will welcome and affirm you right straight to hell.       that's not a church.    it's a cult at best, maybe even a club, but it's not a church.     they did not heed scripture at all.       are you strong enough to get up and walk out of a church like that and never look back?         are you strong enough to try to take a few people with you as you leave?      this is what Moses is telling the people, do not let paganism infiltrate all that we know to be true, by the hands and words of God.       are we strong enough to stand firm?         I ask these questions for myself as much as anything.        because, the time will come when I will have to stand up for something and I pray that I am strong enough to stand for God!!!          Moses goes back into some of the same laws already discussed and goes over them again.         why is that?         because most humans have a very short memory and we need to be reminded again and again of what God has done for us.         again, Moses tells them to observe the Feast of Passover, Feast of Weeks and Feast of Booths.         these are 3 feasts that they were to celebrate as a reminder of the goodness of God forever.         we would do well as Christians, if we could figure out how to observe these today.        some churches actually try to do this.      it's very meaningful for them and symbolic of what God has done for HIs people.       and again, Moses is telling them about justice and administering justice.         he also told them that "when" they decided they wanted a king for themselves, and they eventually would, that the king was to copy all of the laws and all of what Moses was going over them with.          that would be one of the duties of their king to copy all of this and then study it for the rest of their lives.         that sounds like a good idea.        wonder how that would work for today?         yeah, right.

next time well pick up on Deuteronomy 18, till them God bless you all.

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I guess that's about it for the day.        I pray we all have a great day and that we keep God first place in all the we do.          hugs, love and warm blessings to all, patty