Practical Advice

Penny Saver: Red Peppers

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Right now, red peppers are $2.99 a pound in the market. That’s kind of ridiculous, yet red peppers are so healthy, add great flavor and color, and taste wonderful.  How can anyone resist them? I will buy the nicest one I can find, and make it stretch for as any meals as possible. (I’ll tell you below how to help a fresh pepper last as long as possible in your refrigerator.)

I also will shop the old produce rack, where the produce manager puts items that are over ripe or damaged. I recently found two bags of red peppers for only 79¢ a pound. Only one pepper had any spoiled spots; the rest  were just a little wrinkled.

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So, I rinsed them all and set them to dry.

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Then, I seeded them and sliced them. I laid them out on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper, and placed them in the freezer.

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Once they were frozen solid, I layered them between waxed paper in a freezer container. If you don’t have a freezer container, any air-tight container or bag will do. If you use a plastic bag that isn’t for freezing (which means it is thicker plastic), just double bag it.

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Now, my peppers are ready to use. I’ve saved money, and I’ve saved time.

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“She is energetic, a hard worker, 
and watches for bargains.
She works far into the night!”
Proverbs 31:17-18 (TLB)

 

TWO STEPS TO KEEP FRESH PEPPERS FRESH

1. Cut and wash only the portion of the pepper you will use, leaving the stem and seeds intact.
2. Put the remaining pepper in a plastic bag or container, with a sheet of paper towel.

I have kept peppers this way for well over a week. I know nutritional value diminishes as produce ages, but there are always aesthetic and fiber-content benefits.

Don’t be Afraid to Peel a Tomato

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I used to be afraid to peel tomatoes. For some reason, peeling a tomato just seemed like something only super humans and Julia Child could do. Definitely, not me. 

Well, I’m here to tell you that it is really easy to do! And, it’s totally worth it, because no one—I mean, no one—wants to eat this…

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That just makes everyone sad! And, peeling tomatoes is actually really fun. So, don’t be afraid. You are three short steps away from superhero status.

HOW TO PEEL A TOMATO 

1. Add your tomato to a pan of boiling water. They’re going to float, so just bob them around. If they are very ripe, they will only need about 10 seconds in the water. Fresher tomatoes might take up to 30 seconds. 

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2. With your handy dandy metal sieve, or any appropriate tool, remove the tomato from the boiling water and rinse it under cold, tap water. If you are preparing several tomatoes at once, set them all in a colander under the running tap. 

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3. Place tomato on cutting board, and peel away! It is ready to process however you please.2018-01-13 21.15.45

 

The end result it so worth the tiny effort it takes to do this. I hope you’ll try it! 

Is Selfish Sam Sadistic?

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In a post from 2016, What An Apology Isn’t, I wrote about Selfish Sam.

Recently, reports of Selfish Sam have reached my ears, again. It is news of behavior that can honestly be described as not only selfish, but actually sadistic. I thought it was appropriate to share this post, again.

CLICK HERE

Pictures from My Day

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I was clearing off my refrigerator tonight, because my granddaughter likes to look at the magnets and put them in her mouth. However, most of them are not chew-proof or choke-proof. As I made my way around, I noticed my calendar:

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Can you relate? 🙂

I also found a cartoon that always cracks me up.
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This has been on my refrigerator for a long time, and it’s not going anywhere!

productivity, anyone?

I’m a production manager from way back, but sometimes I forget that about myself. I forget that I actually know how to get things done, and I get bogged down by how much doing there is to do.

That’s always the way, isn’t it? Instead of taking things one step at a time, we look at the whole project and get frightened away! While we do need to see the whole picture in order to get a vision, set a goal, and define objectives, we won’t get very far until we take that first step.

So, early this morning I took my To Do List (from my head, because I have been too afraid of it to actually write it down) and turned it into a Project Board. It’s a productivity tactic I’ve used in the past, and it’s been very effective for me.

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This is my office cupboard. As each task is finished, I will place that sticky on the right side. It’s important to do that step, because seeing what you have already done feeds your drive to get it all done! (Hearts mean I need Doug’s help, and squiggly lines mean it’s particularly time sensitive.) Some things have to be done sooner, but I’ve given myself a goal of being mostly done by Friday night.

Do you have any productivity tips you can share?

candy gifts

Thought I’d share some pictures of the Dieterles giving out candy tonight.

22860916_1038821699593882_1107282211456942080_nLucy’s Grandma Melissa gave her this outfit when she was born, and it made a great costume for tonight.

She had fun watching everyone walk around, hanging out with her Mommy and Daddy. (Yes, that is a space heater in the second photo. They didn’t want her to get too cold.)

post follow-up

A friend, Christina, read my Halloween post and shared that she and her husband went through a similar re-evaluation of how to do Halloween a few years ago. They are a family in Southern California, and she shared that began hosting a neighborhood potluck. They put their fire pit and some chairs in the front lawn, and parents take turns taking the kids Trick-or-Treating. She said it’s one of her favorite traditions. “We actually decided to re-think Halloween several years ago after realizing what an opportunity it was to be hospitable. What other day of the year do all of your neighbors come to your door?”

I love that she does that! Maybe, next year we’ll be a little more prepared to do something similar. This year, we’ve tried to make a greater effort to know our neighbors. Maybe, by next October 31, we’ll be ready to kick it up a notch.

Well, that’s my day in pictures. How was your day?

Do You Feel Like A Deflated Balloon??

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ONCE UPON A TIME, you had a marvelous encounter with God. You felt His love all around you. You knew you were loved, and you only had eyes for Jesus. He was the only One for you. Everything in your life felt right, it felt good. No mountain seemed too high, because you were floating on a heavenly cloud of His grace and love.

But, something happened. Something changed. God didn’t change. His love for you sure didn’t change. Yet, instead of feeling lighter than air, you began to feel like a deflated balloon: abandoned, powerless, and pointless.

I WAS WITH DOUG ONCE, as he counseled a man who had been struggling with sin. His old man kept showing up, leading him back into the life Christ had saved him from years earlier. He became so frustrated and upset as he talked about how hard it had become to live righteously, that he finally burst out and said, “I need to get that feeling back. I don’t have that feeling anymore.”

In essence, he was saying he wanted to go back to the Damascus Road, back to that time and place where he first met Jesus, where he first felt His love, and where he first knew Christ as Savior.  He thought he could finally be obedient, again, if he could just have that old feeling, again, too.

He was looking for a Jesus fix, and that’s as wrong as it sounds.

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST is experiential, but while our initial experience with Jesus is something we should always remember and share,  we should be having new experiences with Him every day! 

In Revelation 2, the Lord speaks to the church of Ephesus about their Damascus Road experience. He is telling them: Remember when? 

 “Yet there is one thing wrong; you don’t love me as at first! 5 Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches.” (Revelation 2:4-6, TLB)

It reminded me of what this Brother had been talking about to Doug.  However, notice the Lord’s instruction. He doesn’t say, “Go back to the Damascus Road! Let’s start this relationship over.” No, His exhortation to Ephesus is, “Repent. Or, else.” They have lost that lovin’ feelin’, because  they have forsaken their relationship with Him, choosing self and sin over service and Him.

But, there is still time! There is still time to repent and turn back. The ball is in their court.

THE BALL IS IN OUR COURT, TOO. If we’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’, it’s not Christ’s fault. He hasn’t lifted His love from us. He hasn’t stopped interceding for us before the Father, or showering us with His mercy and grace. He hasn’t forgotten us, or cast us aside. He has remained faithful. It is we who stop short and turn away, falling back into our old life.  It is we who stop loving Him, not the other way around.

I know. I read that and think the same thing you may be thinking: “No! I love God with all my heart.”

Yet, when I have found myself in that place, feeling spiritually deflated, powerless, and pointless, I ask the Holy Spirit to truly examine my heart, to see if there is any wicked way in me (Psalm 139:23-24), and I always find that there is a lot more compromise than I could see on my own. Self and sin are so blinding, so deceitful. It is why we often stay in those places of compromise so long, because we trust too much on our own judgment, instead of remembering that only He can judge our heart.  We cannot trust our feelings, or our judgment. We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes.

Then, when we have allowed the Spirit of God to search us and the Word of God to test us, we know how to repent. As we humble ourselves before the Lord once again, prostrating ourselves at His feet in repentance and surrender, we will find that feeling we were missing. Our hearts will once again be full of love for our King. And, we will find ourselves walking in the ways of righteousness with a greater strength, purpose, and lightness!

THERE IS HOPE, MY FRIENDS. So much hope! Turn away from the compromise, the sin, and the selfish lifestyle. Turn away from satisfying your flesh, and be restored to the One who loves you best, the One whom your soul longs for!

God bless you, dear ones. Jesus loves you, right where you, but He longs for you to walk in true freedom, power, and victory. I long for that for you, too!

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P.S. Psalm 130 is just such a perfect passage to encourage our hearts, when we are sin-sick and hurting.

PSALM 130:1-6 (TLB)
From the depths of despair, O Lord,
    I call for your help.
2 Hear my cry, O Lord.
    Pay attention to my prayer.

3 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
    who, O Lord, could ever survive?
4 But you offer forgiveness,
    that we might learn to fear you.

5 I am counting on the Lord;
    yes, I am counting on him.
    I have put my hope in his word.
6 I long for the Lord
    more than sentries long for the dawn,
    yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

Write Your Own

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Hey, married people.

Just a reminder: you are one in the spirit. What you do impacts each other, which is why you are allowed/expected/obligated to speak up and act out on behalf of one another’s life, health, spirituality, well-being, etc.

If you don’t want to be accountable to anyone, or for anyone, move into a cave and good luck to you. If you want to be happily married, hold each other accountable. Help each other make good decisions. Tell each other the choices that you think are wrong, and help each other make better ones.

Pray for each other like your life depends on it, because it does.

If he or she says it’s none of your business, show him that ring on your finger. You tell him he made it your business when he asked, “Marry me?” She made it your business when she said, “Yes.” You have a right to not only disagree, but force the issue. You have a right to expect your spouse live a life that conforms to the Word of God.

Marriage is hard. It is harder still for anyone who claims Christ as Lord. Don’t feel sorry for yourself or be afraid, though, when it feels too hard to handle. Just take action. Start on your knees, and keep moving. Fight the good fight of faith for your spouse, for your marriage, for your family, and for your future. God’s gift should not be taken lightly. He or she has been entrusted to your care, and his or her spiritual maturity depends on you.

Period.

Oh, I know, they have a free will. They will make choices outside of the counsel of God. That is absolutely right, and we are NEVER responsible for our spouse’s decision to sin. However, the choice to sin isn’t the end of the story. In fact, in many ways it is just the beginning.

Once upon a time the happily married
—though possibly oblivious—
spouse discovered his/her spouse
had forsaken his/her vows…

How that story ends depends on you.

I am praying for you today. It is God’s will to use your marriage as a showpiece of His love for mankind. No matter how broken your marriage may be today, or how badly your spouse has forsaken you, I pray that hope will overtake doubt, and faith will conquer fear. God is able. I can say that with all assurance, because of all that He has done for me.

 “If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying.” (2 Corinthians 11:30-31)

 

Little White Lies

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We have two bathroom scales.

The second scale was a freebie, and we use it for the Bluetooth feature that connects it to an app on our phones and tracks our weight changes. When I discovered that the Bluetooth scale measured my weight about four pounds less than the other scale, I decided I would weigh myself on both—I know the other scale is accurate.

However, I recently noticed that I always manage to “forget” to check my weight on the accurate scale. Apparently, tracking my weight on my phone has become more important than knowing what I really weigh. I gave up striving for any particular weight goal a long time ago, but that smaller number was very alluring. It was so alluring, in fact, that I started telling myself little white lies in order to maintain the delusion!

Maybe, the Bluetooth scale isn’t really wrong?
Maybe, I’m wrong to think the other scale is right?
I know the other scale always matches the scale in the doctor’s office, but maybe the doctor’s scale is wrong, too?

Mind you, all of this is happening in my sub-conscious. I was having a little conversation with myself, right in front of myself! While getting on my sneakers or reviewing my weight record, in the back of mind I was making excuses. I heard myself telling myself this very statement: “Oh, darn, I already put my socks on. I was going to weigh myself on the other scale, but I guess I’ll do it tomorrow.”

It’s ridiculous! I tell myself it will be a rude awakening the next time I visit my doctor, but then I imagine whipping out my phone to show the doc my app. “See? Look at this wonderful, scientific app I use. This is what I weigh in my world.” I don’t think she’ll be very impressed!

I know I do this with others things, too. I think we all do it.  Instead of accepting the reality of a situation, we choose to believe a “truth” of our own making. Have you ever told yourself a little white lie about spiritual things?

I’ll do better tomorrow.
This is the last time.
It’s not that bad.
At least I don’t do what she does,
I’ll read/give/do/pray more next time.
It’s doesn’t mean anything.
At least I know it’s wrong.

Little white lies about the number on a scale are one thing.  The disapproving looks of my doctor cannot compare to the day of reckoning that awaits me if I am telling myself little white lies about the spiritual “compromise” in my life. They may help ease my guilt and veil my shame, but the Spirit of God is not very impressed!

A quick search of the Bible tells us that being a Christian means living in relationship with Christ; being in relationship with Christ means becoming His disciple; and becoming His disciple means becoming more like Him.

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6, NKJV)

I know some have thrown their bathroom scales away, calling  them a false measure of beauty and denouncing the pursuit of physical perfection. I heartily agree! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and physical perfection is as elusive as nitrate-free pepperoni! The Word of God is not something we can throw away, though.  If we are not keeping His commandments, there is no truth in us! Those little white lies we tell ourselves to help us remain complacently in sin will separate us not only from our identity with Christ, but our eternity with Him, as well.  Is that a price worth paying for a momentary comfort?

Oh, it’s not! We know the price of our sin is too high, but we keep gambling with our eternity. Our little white lies convince us we are not like “those people,” you know the ones? They have a sin problem. We’re just relaxing.  Our prayer-starved spirit is too weak to care and too lazy to battle the onslaught of temptation. Our sin-plumped flesh gleefully ignores the call to be like Christ.

Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16b)

So, what hope do we have? Well, the Bible tells us. When we make the decision to walk as spiritual people, as Christ did, we soon find we lose our appetite for sin. The taste of compromise makes our stomach turn, and we quickly get back into step with Christ. Our sins stand out in sharp contrast to His holiness, but when we are walking with Him we are compelled by His compassion to repent. Fellowship with Christ draws to be more like Him. I don’t want to hide from the glaring truth of my failures. I want to cover them with the blood of Jesus so that nothing can separate me from His presence! I am drawn into His loving arms where I am filled with His love, restored through His acceptance, and transformed by His forgiveness. Oh, nothing can compare! 

Please, make Psalm 139: 23 & 24 your prayer. Let Him search your heart. It is the best prayer we can pray, because it is a prayer in agreement with His Word. He will be faithful to answer it! Don’t be afraid to step on His scale, my friend.  He will not look at your with scorn. He draw you to Himself with His everlasting love!

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139: 23 & 24)

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