Lemon Herbed Chicken

I've been a little leery of posting a recipe that comes from a cookbook...didn't want to overstep any copyright laws or anything. So, I decided to see what Google said about it and it appears like there is very little issue in doing that. Just don't go and sell these recipes. :) Here is one that I frequently make for company when I don't have a lot of time or any brilliant ideas of what to make.

Lemon Herbed Chicken
from Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved Recipes of All Time

1/2 c butter or margarine (I use butter)
1/2 c vegetable oil (I don't use this, just the butter...who needs more fat)
1/3 c lemon juice (you could use a bit more if you like lemon)
2 Tbl parsley (I generally just use dried and change it to 1 T)
2 Tbl garlic salt (too salty for Dave so probably do a little over 1 T)
1 tsp dried rosemary crushed
1 tsp dried savory crushed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
6 chicken quarters (I just use chicken breasts...probably around 4 for this recipe...it's pretty forgiving)

Place chicken in baking pan. Put all other ingredients in a sauce pan. Heat on stove till all is melted and mixed. Pour over chicken. Bake in 350 oven for 35 minutes for boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Now that I look at the recipe it says to grill it, but I always just bake it. The flavors are greater that way.

Just a note...the leftover pan juices are really yummy...I like to put it on the steamed cauliflower I sometimes serve with the recipe, and I scoop some over the served pieces of chicken trying to get mainly the herbs.

The Lighted Way

We read at a variety of times throughout our day. This book was one we have been reading before bedtime for the last couple of weeks. It is quite short, 77 pages, with only 10 chapters. The purpose of the book is to tell young children who Jesus our Lord is. Each chapter focuses on an aspect of Christ: as Redeemer, Bread of Life, Light, Door, Shepherd, etc. The chapters are written to explain each truth and partially do so with a story to engage the children. I thought the book did a good job at accomplishing it's purpose. The kiddos didn't particularly like it...I think that is in a large part because our previous bedtime book was more of a fun, easy read that didn't require much thinking. The book probably would have been better suited for our Bible Time. So, recommended book, but make sure the kiddos are ready to listen to more weighty material. I would also say that it was a good level for my kids' ages.

From 2003

Cherries

WARNING: This post is likely to produce envy in anyone who does not live in the beautiful Northwest.

Today was a great day in the Weber household...we ate our first cherries of the season. We've been talking about when "our" fruitstand would open for the last week or so and, today, the day came! I know this is sounding like it borders on obsession, and if you know our family, especially Hannah, you are probably right. We consume more fruit than any other family I know. One of my favorite by-products of living in the beautiful Wenatchee area is the abundance of delicious fruit that we have available all summer. I'm sure I'll tempt you with more fruit pictures as the summer progresses! :)

Gen 1:12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Have you ever seen a more perfect bowl of cherries?!?!?!

Hot Tub Religion

This book has been hanging around my reading pile for probably 8 months plus. I began reading it around 7 years ago but never finished it so I picked it up again sometime last year. I truly love the title and the shock it evokes from conservative Christians like myself. It is written by JI Packer so you know it is not what the title could possibly suggest. The subtitle is "Christian Living in a Materialistic World". His focus in the book is to contribute some words to important and critical questions Christians often feel unsure about (pg. 4). The reason why this book made it's way to me was due to a conversation with someone about how it seems wrong, in man's estimation, that God's highest purpose is to bring glory to Himself. Packer has a short section regarding that issue that was helpful to my understanding.


Anyways, here is an excerpt from the last chapter of the book entitled Church Reformation. I have pieced it together as it was too lengthy to reproduce in full. Good challenge to us all...


What would a work of divine reformation in our churches today look like?

First, there would be a sense of biblical authority-that is, an awareness that biblical teaching is divine truth and that the invitations and admonitions, threats and warnings, promises and assurances of Scripture still express the mind of God toward mankind. The bible would be honored again as the Word of God, and the perverse pluralism of liberal theology, which addles the brains and blinds the hearts of many, would wither and die.

Second, there would be a spirit of seriousness about eternal issues. Heaven and hell would be preached about, thought about, and talked about once again. Life in this world would once again be lived in the light of the world to come, and the Philippian jailer's question, "What must I do to be saved?" would be seen as life's basic question once more.

Third, there would be a passion for God, transcending any interest in religion or cultivation of religiosity. One's relationship to God would be seen as the most important thing in the world, and a Bible-based awareness of the greatness and awesomeness of God, the eternal Savior-Judge, in whose hands we ever are, would displace all cheap thoughts of God as just a useful pal.

Fourth, there would be a love of holiness growing out of deep conviction of sin, deep repentance, deep gratitude for forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ, and a deep desire to please God.

Fifth, there would be a concern for the church. Christians would catch the biblical perspective, in which the church is the center and focal point of God's plan and the display ground of his saving and sanctifying wisdom.

Sixth, there would be a willingness to change-whether from sin to righteousness, or from lassitude to zeal, or from traditional patterns to new procedures, or from passivity to activity, or any other form of change that was needed. Believers would come together to praise, pray, encourage each other, and see what they could do together to advance the cause of Christ.

Summer Math Fun

The kids groaned when I told them we were going to keep up with math this summer, but teaching them long division and multi-digit multiplication again in the fall made me groan. So, I told them we'd do a handful of problems each day to which they promptly said, "That just means five!" :) "Okay," I acquiesced, "that's how many we'll do." In thinking of how to make math more enjoyable and less drudgery for the kids over the summer, I decided to make math question containers.

So, I made five jars (Costco nut/chocolate containers) each with different points: addition/subtraction, multiplication, division, story problems, and miscellaneous. The miscellaneous container has problems relating to units of measure, time, Roman Numerals, temperature, and averaging. One night while watching Lord of the Rings, I just cut out small pieces of paper and wrote out a problem to match the jar. The story problems I copied (on a copier, not by hand) from the back of our Abeka workbook which had extra problems if needed. Then, I crunched them up and put them in each jar. It is amazing how much more enjoyable math is if you get to reach your hand into something and pull out an unknown problem.

Another aspect to this is that each day when they have completed their problems, they are to put their answers into some turtles they made at VBS this week and for each one that is right there will be a little treat the next day-M&Ms, Smarties, Gummy Bears, computer minutes, or whatever else pops into my brain. I figured my kids will not grow up to be candy addicts with just a couple of those per day. :)

VBS finished up this morning, and I haven't been feeling the greatest this week so I took a pretty long nap this afternoon. When I woke up, the kids had completed 10-15 of the math slips and had them waiting for me, without be instructed to do them. That was a good thing to wake up to! Let the fun begin...

The kids with their turtles

Some of Hannah's papers...

The treats (some were from other things as well)

Friendship

Friendship...what a delightful thing. Along with the busyness of VBS, this has also been a week of getting together with many friends. I've realized the thing I like best is sharing lives together and talking about the things of God. I have a few friends whose conversations really encourage me in my walk and my daily struggles. What a delight that is. Another thing I also enjoy is discussing books and schooling...two of the things I love. I was looking at quotes on friendship and particularly liked this one:

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things. ~Author Unknown

I think that is very true. Most of my dear friends I don't see or talk with as often as I'd like, but I've seen their care for me in many little ways. I hope I am that same kind of friend as well.

Prov 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Prov 27:9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.

Some good friends...

VBS

It's been a fun and busy week at VBS. The theme is Rainforest and the church is decorated beautifully. I always enjoy seeing my kids first look at the decorations. They are always amazed. We have a record number of kids at 150+! That is incredible. I'm on my 3rd year in Little Kiddos (K-2) Story Tent and it's great to see half of the kids come through. Another aspect that's thrilling to me is how many kids from outside our church attend. It really has become an outreach in the whole valley. May God use this time to plant some seeds in kids' lives.

It was crazy hair day today - you can't see it, but the kids have glitter sparkles in their hair.

Recreation Time

Song Time - they always seem to learn a few songs straight from scripture which they remember year after year. Josh is on the right hand side in the gray jacket for any of you who are looking.

Keys for Kids

Keys for Kids are a resource from my childhood that we would read at night. They would come in the mail every two months or so. There are stories for each day with a moral point to them as well as a scripture passage reading, questions, verse, and key. The target age is 5-12. A very few of them have a more mature theme so we just skip them. Now they are available daily online as well as by mail. My kids have enjoyed them, but I really saw their older cousins respond well to the questions...they generated some good discussion. Great tool to have available for a quick devotion with your kids. We would often read them during snack time-make sure you read the bible passage as well!

From a few years ago...

Hunger for God

Just a quote today...

Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God. Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense. In the first half, appetite is lost. In the second half, appetite is resisted. In the first, we yield to the higher hunger that is. In the second, we fight for the higher hunger that isn't. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God; it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away.

The greatest enemy of God is not poison but apple pie. ...The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but His gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasure of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.

Therefore, when I say that the root of Christian fasting is the hunger of homesickness for God, I mean that we will do anything and go without anything, if , by any means, we might protect ourselves from the deadening effects of innocent delights and preserve the sweet longings of our homesickness for God. "

John Piper in A Hunger for God, excerpted from pgs 14-15

Pictures from three years ago...

Summer School

A few people have asked if we are going to do any school over the summer...the answer is yes, a bit at least. Last year I had grandiose plans practically none of which got done. So, this year, I am taking a more moderate approach. The main things I want to accomplish is keeping up with some general math, focusing on math facts, some speech therapy for Josh who struggles with Rs and Ls, general reading, some science experiments, variety of read-a-louds, some art, and maybe some health. We'll see...my philosophy is that it is better to have some structured activities than cranky, bored kids. Basically, if we have something specific to do on a given day, we'll do it; but if we don't, we do some "school" around here. I've found the kiddos are so much happier to play when the whole day isn't a total free for all. There are also some household projects I want to tackle that are much easier to accomplish when we don't have such a full schedule. Hopefully, at least a little will get done. :)

Here are some pics from our Father's Day dinner...

Hannah went around taking pics of all the flowers in our house (mostly cut ones).

Here's one of a hydrangea, the first year it has bloomed and it is gorgeous.

End of School

Dave had a project to do today so the kids and I worked on cleaning up the school room and getting things ready for next year. One thing we do each year is pick out a couple pages from each subject to keep for years to come. It is always hardest to pick some from history and particularly from science. As they get older it seems to get harder to throw stuff away. It's nice to have things tidied up and books in order.

Yesterday we had a fun end of the year VAL picnic. Lots of fun activities and good friends to do them with...

Watermelon eating contest

Water balloon toss

Tug of War

Grammar

We've used Rod & Staff Grammar (they call it English and it endlessly confuses me) these last two years and really liked it. Our grammar session is done pretty much all orally except for a brief (probably about 5-7 minute) workbook page. I really don't know much about the teaching and theory of grammar being a math major, but it seems to address all the basic parts of speech well and also had a small writing portion towards the end of the book. They also somewhat do the spiral review theory so concepts are sporadically brought up again briefly at various times in the lesson (but not real in depth). And, as with all Rod & Staff materials, the content is very wholesome.

One thing I always liked was the random poems they would place throughout the book. When I was ordering from R&S this past week, I saw they have a book of poems to memorize. I know there are lots of children's books of poetry, but personally I have not been too impressed with them. Oftentimes they are either foolish or I have no idea what they are trying to say (poetry was not my forte). So, I was pleased to get the poetry book in the mail and see lots of poems that are either God-honoring or character building or nature focused. Hooray! I also plan on having the kiddos memorize some during next year.

And, lastly, as part of our grammar time we have begun doing dictionary drills which at first were crankily completed, but now are quite enjoyed. We have two dictionaries, at two different levels (one is probably geared toward primary school and the other toward middle school), and each child gets one. Then I think of a word, often something we have read or talked about that I don't think the kids know real well. I tell it to them and then they race to find it. Then we read the definition and talk about it's part of speech. They then switch dictionaries and do it again. We just do two words and then we're done.

Here are some projects the kids completed in 3D art class at VAL this past year:

Handwriting

We finished handwriting up on Monday. This is the first year we've used this curriculum, A Reason for Handwriting, and it has been a good fit. The daily lessons are quite short...maybe 4-5 words which I have the kids write 5 times if there is sufficient space. Josh does 2 daily lessons on the first day because his lessons are a bit shorter and then he writes out his day 3 and ABCs on the second day. Hannah, doing cursive, does 1.5 daily lessons each day. On Thursdays, they write out a practice verse. Each Friday they write out the verse on coloring sheets as neat as possible and then color the sheets. The thing I like best about this program is that it is meant to give kids opportunity to share a verse of scripture with someone. It has allowed us to encourage others and share scripture with people we might otherwise not have. Another thing that has made handwriting quite palatable is that I read to the kids while they have their handwriting time. That has reduced the tediousness of handwriting; plus it allows us another reading opportunity.

Also, if you use A Reason For Spelling, it corresponds to the Handwriting verse for the same level each week. It is also a good program...I think I reviewed it in an earlier post.

Here are some sample pages the kids have done:

I know this still isn't particularly great handwriting, but Josh has come a long way.

Me Time

I was emailing with a friend about this concept this evening and thought I'd write a smidge about it on my blog as well. Although I completely agree that we all need some time to ourselves, I think we as Americans go overboard with it and think of it as something deserved rather than an occasional blessing. Marriage and motherhood are huge commitments to serve each and every day (sometimes every moment) of our lives. As wives, we are called to be the helpmeets; as moms, we are called nurture and instruct. To accomplish that, we must have self-denial and give up so many things we would rather be doing. Having an eternal perspective means that I will see the reward in the hard hours of parenting rather than the fleeting moments of pleasure spent the way I would choose. I do, as a person, need time to myself. I go a little crazy when I am around people lots and lots. It is important to me to spend time in bible study and exercise. So, in order to fit those kinds of things in, I get up a bit earlier than the kids (at least that's the plan) and spend time in those pursuits. But, I have found if I try and cram my wants into the day, I get very frustrated and unhappy with the kids for getting in the way. They, and Dave, are my God-given priorities right now, and I need to embrace that wholeheartedly rather than pursue my own leisure activity.

Here is an article I read a long time ago that talks about Me Time as well.

Blog Changes

I really didn't mean to spend my whole evening rearranging my blog-I had some emails to respond to and reading I wanted to get in. But, the new design button looked so appealing, so I decided to hit it...bad decision. :) Anyways, I guess it's nice to have the blog a bit more customized although there are some things that don't seem to be quite the way I want them to be, but isn't life like that anyways? I have really enjoyed blogging this past month or so. I think the best unexpected benefit is that I am taking more pictures. I know I will look back on this time and be thankful I wrote about what things we were involved in and included snapshots of our life.

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There was a quote a couple days ago on A Holy Experience blog that I wanted to put for any of you who didn't read it over there. It also sums up the way my reading seems to be...

What I have learned from about twenty-years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don’t begrudge the 99%.

By John Piper

The Fledgling

Our most recent read-a-loud was a book called The Fledgling. I didn't know anything about it, but picked it up at Goodwill because it was a Newbery Honor Book. I must say I have mixed feelings about the book. It was an interesting read, but also a bit odd. It appears to have some environmentalist agenda type of thing and a bit transcendental. I don't think the kids picked up on either of those things and they liked it pretty well although Hannah was sad because a main character dies in the end. All in all, I'd say there are so many good books out there, I'd pass this one by if it comes your way.

Here are some fort pictures from over the winter...

Cardamom Bread

Today we made on of our favorite breads. A couple of years ago, a friend from church gave us a loaf for Christmas and we have loved it ever since. The kids do a great job in making it and enjoy eating the dough (maybe more than the baked bread!).

It is a yeast bread so it does take quite a large part of the day for the mixing and rising and braiding and rising again. But, there is lots of time between risings to get other things, like school!, accomplished.

Swedish Cardamom Bread

5 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
2 packets yeast (4.5 tsp)
2 beaten eggs
2 tsp salt
2 c sugar
3 teaspoons ground cardamom
about 16-20 cups flour

makes 8 good sized braids

Scald milk and butter in large casserole dish (I am a bit skeptical that you really need to scald the milk - it very well may work to just bring the milk to 110-115 degrees). Scalding takes about 7 minutes in my microwave and should be about 180 degrees. Proof yeast by dissolving it into 1/2 cup water. Once milk mixture cools to about 110-115 degrees, add eggs, salt, sugar, cardamom, and proofed yeast. Mix.

Add flour a bit at a time and mix. Once no more flour easily mixes in, begin kneading and adding the leftover flour. When dough is no longer very sticky, turn out onto floured surface and knead till elastic. Probably about 8-10 minutes. Once you've made yeast breads a number of times, you get to know how much is enough. I would recommend over kneading rather than under kneading. The dough should not be sticking to the counter when you are done kneading.

Grease large bowl and turn bread dough into it so all sides are slightly buttered. Cover with light towel and place in a warm area. Let rise till double about 1.5 hours.

Punch down and divide into eight chunks (you can divide in half and then into fourths to make it easier). Then divide those parts into three sections. Roll them into snakes and then braid the three together. Place on grease cookie sheet and cover with towel to rise again till double...about another 1.5 hours. You should end up with 8 good sized braids.

Then bake at 375 for about 18 minutes till golden brown. Be careful if you bake two sheets at a time as it seems to get the tops and bottoms overcooked (at least in my oven). I often place batches in various levels of warmness so they double in size at different times and therefore can be easily baked at different times.

---A couple of tips for making yeast bread with kids...have each kiddo be prepared to place a scoop of flour into the wet ingredients. Then, once the flour is pretty much all in, knead a bit in the bowl then turn out onto floured surface. Tear/cut into necessary number of pieces so each person has a chunk. Knead for a few minutes then rotate pieces. Note that standing on chairs really helps to have sufficient pressure in kneading. Have mom finish up kneading the entire batch. Since this bread is braided, each kiddos can roll his/her three chunks into snakes and then braid together.

The mixing process - this time we premeasured the flour so it could be added in random amounts.


This is the kneading process.

The braiding process. Three chunks ready to be made into snakes.

And, the finished product. Don't they look pretty?