Recap and New Menu

The Fourth kept us super busy. It was absolutely wonderful and we felt so patriotic. Last year was our first Fourth home in many years and we spent it inside watching fireworks on TV. We were so disappointed. We challenged ourselves to do better this year, and BOY did we!



The morning began with our First Annual Fabulous Fourth Breakfast (or some name like that). There are so many new folks at Samaritan's Purse, that all of us got together to start a new tradition (based on our friend's Adam and Laura's family tradition back home). A big pancake breakfast at 8:30am. I made my homemade breakfast sausage and cooked it on their grill, along with some bacon.







Sidenote: the breakfast sausage is an incredibly delicious recipe - and you can make it lower in fat if you want. I did some turkey and some pork (the pork tastes better). But, you can buy leaner pork to help with the fat intake.



Adam did the pancakes, which were delicious too. As you can see, we were at a park.


Some folks played Frisbee.



I wasn't paying attention at the time, but this photo tells me Adam did the eggs too. They were great as well.


We had a huge spread! The kids were itching to eat.

This is Sam's friend Ethan on the right. Sometimes Sam likes to throw things at Ethan's face and I'm not sure why. For the most part, they play nicely together.

And this is Ethan's Daddy, Jason, and his little brother Elliott. Elliott is a little clone of Jason, in my opinion.


Back to my menu. Our menu from week to week rarely sticks to what I plan every night. Usually, one night gets pushed back so we can do something different. I keep lots of meat in the freezer, so I can thaw it and make whatever we are craving at the last minute.




Last week's menu changed on July 4th. We wanted to go to Tweetsie to see their big fireworks display. We were invited by some of the High Country Mommies to tailgate with them (see above picture) and took them up on the opportunity. That night, I brought some Italian sausage I had in the freezer, some zucchini and yellow squash with cilantro and sea salt and marinated red onions (in olive oil and balsamic vinegar) to grill. It was absolutely delicious AND we had a ton of fun meeting new friends. I can't believe how easy it is to make friends here. I meet someone every week and I love it. Once we get a little settled in the new house, maybe we can have a cookout to welcome everyone into our lives.




Here's our new friend Melanie with her grill that she graciously let us use too.

So, we never did get around to making the Benihana chicken. We'll do that tonight - we ate the turkey burgers for dinner last night and finished them off. They were so good.

Here's our menu for this week:

Monday

Benihana Meal (see last Monday's post for recipe)

Tuesday

Provide meal for Matt and others (moving into new home)

Casserole??? I'm not a casserole person - but if you have any

suggestions, let me know!

Wednesday

Nathan's Beef Hot Dogs

Whole Wheat Buns

Squash - baked at 425F for 20 minutes with olive oil and sea salt

Thursday

Leftover Benihana

Friday

BBQ Chicken (chicken pieces or breast with BBQ sauce

poured over and baked at 375F for about an hour)

Okra (frozen - cooked in lightly oiled pan)

Salad

Saturday

Leftover Hot Dogs

Chips and Salsa

Sunday

Leftover BBQ Chicken over Salad or on sandwiches

One last note on the Fourth. I am always struck, every year, by how emotional I feel on Independence Day. We have such freedom here in the US. My thoughts, this year, were drawn back to my friends in East Asia who worship behind closed doors and take a chance every day by sharing their faith in Jesus with others.

I am challenged by them to share my faith here - because the worst that could happen is that I could be looked down upon or even lose a friend. That is nothing compared to having the water cut off to your farm or your electric box smashed in at your home - or even being arrested and beaten or worse, your family being threatened while you are in prison and can do nothing to help.

If you are reading this and are a Christian, please take advantage or your freedom where ever you are and share your faith in Jesus with someone this week. If you are not a Christian, let me briefly tell you what you are missing: Eternal life, forgiveness of your sins, love of a Savior and fellowship with God. Please follow the link on my sidebar entitled "Eternal Life" to learn more about becoming a Christian, or, better yet, write me or call me and ask me how you can have Eternal Life! My life will never be the same, and though it is difficult at times, I know I am a better person for believing in Jesus Christ.

Have a great week!