Recipe of the Week - Tallapia Fish

Here's a real good recipe that my grandma gave to me not long ago. I tried it and was quite surprised on how delicious it was! If you are a seafood lover or even if you aren't, here is a mild fish recipe that is pure delight for those taste buds! Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

1 lb. of Tallapia Fillets (usually about 4 fillets)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

Directions:

Pour olive oil into frying pan to generously cover the bottom. Put fish in pan on medium heat. Sprinkle all the seasonings lightly on one side. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Flip fish carefully, sprinkle seasonings again lightly on the other side. Cook for another 10-15 minutes. Fish falls apart when done.

Verse of the Day: Romans 8:32 "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"

An Aside Note: We've been right in the middle of a move lately. Our big day is this Saturday. Bear with us as the posts have been a little sparingly over the last week or two. They should pick up again within the next week or so. :) God bless you all!!

Recipe of the Week - Baked Chicken and Stuffing Rolls

Are you looking for a new homestyle way to make a chicken meal? This is a recipe passed down to me from my mother and it's a goodie. But first here is a "fun fact" about chicken for you. "In Gainesville, Georgia - the chicken capital of the world - it is illegal to eat chicken with a fork!" [Source: local ordinance] Now this one caughty my funny bone because I only live 45 minutes from this city!

Ingredients:

6 Boneless Chicken Breasts
Stove Top Stuffing (2 servings)
2 packages of chicken gravy

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Remove fatty parts from the chicken and then hammer the chicken breasts until they are 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick.
Prepare the 2 servings of stuffing and the 2 packages of chicken gravy.
Pour 1/2 the gravy in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish.
Put a lump of stuffing in the middle of the chicken and then roll the chicken closed until the stuffing won't fall out.
Place the chicken in the baking dish with the opening side face down.
Pour the rest of the gravy over the chicken.
Cover or tin foil tight.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.
After 30 minutes check the biggest piece at the thickenst point. If it's white all the way through then it's finished.

Verse of the Day: Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Are Your Ducts In A Row?

What is lurking in your ducts? Doo Doo Doo Doo (That's the theme song to Jaws) playing as the question was asked. Ha sounds pretty crazy don't you think? I agree, but I have seen some pretty weird things lurking in the duct systems before like rubber balls, dolls, rubber bands, leftover food, bag fulls of debris, etc. I won't even get into the weirder things. You’re probably going to go looking around to see if you can find any of these things in your own duct system. The best place to find the goodies are usually in the kid’s room. I guess in a kid's mind the ducts are neat mysterious black holes that need to be filled up.

The ventilation system by far can be the biggest hamper to the quality of your indoor air. We can all agree that your ventilation system isn’t on the top of your mind when you have kids to feed, diapers to change, supper to make, and laundry to do and these are just a few of the many things that can keep your mind occupied throughout the day. Is the cleanliness of the duct system that important? I suppose that depends on who you ask. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that the pollutants of your indoor air are generally four times worse than outdoor air. At times they say that they can be twenty five to one hundred times as much. That kind of makes me cringe. Additionally 86% of people have no idea that their indoor air is of poorer quality than that of the outdoors. An average home produces about 40 pounds of dust per year for every 1,500 square feet of space. About 40,000 dust mites can be found in a single ounce of dust, which is a contributing cause to household allergies. Now do you think you should have your ducts cleaned?

Now the question is to clean or not to clean? That's a good question. If I could ask you a few questions first, I in turn will answer my own. Do you suffer from allergies? Do you have unexplained symptoms or illnesses? If you answered "yes" then the first thing you need to do is to visually inspect your ducts. Can you see large deposits of dust, smell a musty odor, see visible mold growth, or can you identify insect or animal droppings? If so those are all good indications that you should probably have your duct system cleaned. If you answered "no" didn’t see anything listed above, then having your air ducts cleaned is probably unnecessary.

Whether or not you decide to have your ducts system cleaned, here are some steps to help keep it clean. Use the highest efficiency air filter possible for your heating and cooling system. Make sure to change filters regularly (If they are black that is probably a good indication that they need changed). If your filters do become clogged, make sure you change them more frequently. Check all your filters and make sure that you do not have any missing and that the air cannot bypass filters through gaps around the filter holder. During any work on your home that produces dust, seal off the supply and return registers in those areas. Vacuum your duct openings regularly. Also, Look into a good air purifier that will cleanse the contaminated air.

Verse of the Day: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Cleaning The Infamous Oven

The oven has to be one of the messiest things in your kitchen and it all boils down into one big pain in the butt. It looks all pretty from the outside, but on the inside it's a totally different story. It's full of black charred on residue, baked on spillage, and various food pieces. I think it's worse than what you would find under your passenger’s side front seat with a couple of young ones. Do you have a new oven where you can run your electric bill up by having it on the "clean" mode, or do you have one from what looks like the 80's that's going to require a whole lot of elbow grease? Which is the lesser of the two evils? I think that I would rather spend a little more on electric, but I'm going to talk about both today. Remember: Make sure that you are all prayed up for this one, because it can be a little frustrating!

Newer "Clean Mode" Ovens:

That title can be a bit deceiving. Whichever kind of oven you have it will not do all the work for you, but it will help. On both types of ovens the most important factor is the ease of cleaning if preventative maintenance is done. First, if you are cooking with anything that has the possibility of overflowing, either cover the bottom of the oven with foil, or cover a pan with foil and place it under what you will be cooking. Second, if anything does spill, be prompt to clean it up to avoid it becoming baked on to the oven walls or floor. With that said if your oven does have a "clean mode" just follow the instructions for your particular oven. Most say to lock hatch and leave on "clean mode" for several hours. Sometimes if your oven has a lot of things baked on to it you will have the odor of smoke in the house and even possible smoking coming from your oven. So make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area. After the clean mode is finished you should see what looks like ashes from a fireplace in the oven. Important- Make sure that the oven has Cooled before you attempt to do any cleaning. After it has cooled just take a damp cloth or sponge and remove any of the residue. It is usually as easy as that.

Older "Elbow Grease Mode" Ovens:

If you have skipped down just to read the information on what type of oven you have DO NOT read anything that was written above. You will probably be a little depressed, and will go out and buy a self-cleaning oven on your credit card. By doing so your husband/wife may be a little mad. First, remove the racks and place them preferably in a large plastic container so they can soak. I would put a solution that has degreaser in the container so you'll have a little bit of an easier time removing anything on the racks. Buy a can of oven cleaner and follow the directions on the label for procedures. They may go something like this: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Turn oven off and spray the interior with cleaner. Allow it to sit for a certain amount of time. Wipe cleaner away with wet cloths (A scrubber may be needed) and dry with soft cloths. A couple of things that are IMPORTANT- Make sure you wear rubber gloves and wear a long sleeved older shirt. The chemical will burn if contact is made with your skin. There is also a strong chemical smell so make sure you have your windows open for ventilation. This is an example of one certain method of a specific oven cleaner. Follow the label to your specific oven cleaner.

Cleaning your oven isn't any fun no matter what type of oven you have. If you prevent spills from baking on you will be in a much better situation and you won’t have to work as hard. Try the tips below for making your oven cleaning easier.

Tips:

Put foil or a sheet pan covered with foil on the bottom of the oven to prevent spills from getting on the bottom of the oven.

Clean spills immediately so you will have an easier time doing your regular cleaning.

Verse of the Day: 1 Peter 2:24 "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."

Recipe of the Week - Banana Bread

Anyone looking for a good banana bread recipe? Did you know that a banana plant is not a tree, even though we call it that? It is a monster herb with huge, elongated, flat leaves and orange or purple colored flowers. Inside the trunk of a banana plant is a white tube that is edible when cooked. On a different note this banana bread recipe has been past down through the generations and will make your stomach happy.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
4 mid-size bananas (ripe)
dash of salt
1 Tbsp milk
1 cup nuts (optional)

Directions:

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and milk in a medium mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl sift the flour, soda, and salt. In a large mixing bowl smash the bananas with a mixer, and then slowly add the sifted ingredients. Then put the ingredients in the medium mixing bowl into the bowl that has the banans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

Verse of the Day: Psalm 119:11 "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee."

Gas or Charcoal???

Isn't that an interesting question? Kind of like "would you like paper or plastic?" but not quite that easy of a decision. Well, it may be if your decision making skills are either "white" or "black". Your thoughts may be something like this, "I prefer the savory flavor of Charcoal grilling" or "I much more prefer the easy grilling and clean up of Gas". There may also be a few other motivating factors in your decision, so I will give you a few "pros" and "cons" of each method so that you can make an educated one.

Food cooked on charcoal grills is without a question better tasting than cooking on a gas grill. This is the single most motivating factor in die-hard charcoal grillers. The cost is the other motivating factor. You can find a cheap charcoal grill for about $20 and a nice one for about $50+. Portability is also a good thing about charcoal grills. You can find really cheap portable grills to take on family outings and also have a blast while grilling at the same time. On the other hand, charcoal grills are harder to start. You have one of two options: first, buy MatchLight and have the starter fluid already soaked into the briquettes, or the old fashion way of doing this is to manually soak the coals with starter fluid and then hope for an even coat. After getting it started you need to wait until there are no more flames until you can start cooking. Also, cleanup can be a nightmare if you are not careful. Ashes, grease, and coals need to be cleaned up after each and every time you use your grill and they aren't easy to remove from clothing.

Gas grills on the other hand don't have the "savory" flavor that charcoal does. It's kind of like eating a bunch of french fries without salt or ketchup, sort of bland in my opinion. Good luck with finding a cheap gas grill for less than $100. Really nice ones run into the $1000's. Unless you have a Ford Extra Heavy Duty Crew Cab you can forget about taking that gas grill anywhere but your back porch. If you run out of gas then you are out of luck my friend, especially if it’s after business hours. Gas grills do have many pros about them though. To start out, with a gas grill all you have to do is turn on the gas and press a little red button. You can also better adjust the temperature with a manual flame control. For example, you can have one side on hot cooking your well-done burgers, while another side is on medium cooking your medium burgers. The cleanup is quite easy, just let it warm up and then wipe it down. No mess is involved.

So I guess it really boils down to are you looking for flavor and cost, or easy use and easy cleanup? The decision is yours so make an educated one. Good Luck!

Verse of the Day: Psalm 32:1 "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!"

Keeping the Carpet Clean

Keeping your carpet clean.... Sound impossible but is it? Have you ever been over to a friend's house and looked at their carpet? Some may say "yes" it looks like a bad episode of C.S.I., at the actual crime scene. We have all seen them, maybe not quite that bad, but we have seen them. You may wonder how some of your other friends keep their carpet so clean that it looks like they have just had it installed. The answer is preventative maintenance! I'm sure that those friends have some guidelines about walking on their carpet. Go walk on it with a little mud on your shoes and tell me if you’re looking down the barrel of a twelve-gauge shotgun fully loaded and safety off. Well I hope they're not that bad, but I am sure that you will hear a warm but stern "we don't wear our shoes in the house".

Some preventative maintenance tips that I would implement if I were trying to keep my carpet clean would be first to not allow shoes on the carpet. Also, have a no food rule in any carpeted room that you can help (if you have a carpeted dining room I wouldn't suggest eating on the kitchen floor). Respond to spills/stains immediately the longer you wait the better chance the stain has to set. Vacuum regularly- twice a week would be beneficial, but it should be vacuumed at least once a week. Try to have your carpet steam cleaned every 4-6 months.

When cleaning spills up, don't use the abrasive action of back and forth. This will only start to fray your carpet, and I promise you that you will be able to tell if you look. Then that frayed spot will nag you to insanity until you have that room re-carpeted. In small cases I use a towel that is wet on both ends but dry in the middle. One end has a little dish soap, and the other end is good and saturated with plain water. Use the middle and press on the stain soaking up as much as you can. Then use the soapy side and blot in the soap. Finally, end with a soft rinse with the other side. Good luck!

Tips:

Try runners in some heavy traffic areas to cut down on the soiling.

Have your carpet cleaned by a professional! The cheaper store rentals don't extract all the soap and if you ever do decide to get it done professionally it will look like a giant bubble. In addition the rentals don't do nearly as good of a job compared to a good professional.

You may want to check into those robotic vacuums. I have seen them used and they don't do that great of a job, but it's better than having your carpets vacuumed once a month or worse.

If you ever try any kind of spot remover make sure to pre-test in an unnoticeable location. Nothing like a nice bleach spot right in the middle of you living room.

Verse of the Day: 1 Corinthians 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."

Cleaning the Dreaded Fridge

When I say dreaded fridge I think just about anybody knows what I am talking about. It's the "box" that stands approximately six feet tall and is filled with a bigger variety than the paint selection key at Wal-Mart. Half the time as you go though it you find two maybe three of the same thing which can be a little aggravating especially for the "breadwinner" who stocks it. How often do you actually go through it and organize it? Once a month? Once a Quarter? Or Once a year? I know of people who hardly go though it at my last mention of once a year. Let me take a few minutes and give some pointers on getting that rascal under control.

First things first, you need to go through your Refrigerator at least once a month (twice a month would be better). Start by taking everything out so that you can see exactly what you’re looking at. At this point you may want to call the local mold remediation specialist to remove your little green, black or white friends. Plan on having the trash can right by your side and throwing it directly into it, or have some double lined grocery bags if you don’t plan on taking your trash out immediately. This is also a good time to check your expiration dates and discard expired condiments, and throw out any perishable food that has been in there longer than a week. You’ll probably notice that the original amout you started with has been cut in half by now.

Now that your refrigerator is bare I would recommend taking the racks and drawers and soaking them in the bathtub with a little bleach and soap solution. While they are soaking you can start on the interior. Take a mixture of vinegar and water and with a damp towel wash the inside until you have it sparkly clean. Some tough spots might need some soaking and a little elbow grease, but “You can do it!! ". Now tackle the racks and drawers and by the time you know it your fridge will look as good as new.

Tips:

When you restock your fridge make sure you put the newer stuff to the back and older upfront so it will be used before it spoils.

The optimal energy saving for storage is three quarters full. Too full and it won't get enough circulation, too empty and your wasting energy.

An opened box of Baking soda in the back of the fridge will keep it smelling fresh.

Check out the USDA Food Safety Chart for proper temperatures and shelf life.

Verse of the Day: Philippian 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God."

Are you Messy, Cluttered, or Organized ?

Junk drawer.....What's that??? Oh, you are talking about the drawer that is filled with all those useful things that one day I will have a use for. Broken pencils, deteriorating rubber bands, rusty paper clip, those will all be used to break into a secured elevator like on MacGyver or something. Most families have one or two, or maybe their entire house is a big junk drawer. I can sympathize with both sides on this one. Myself being raised by a clutterer, and vowing never to live like that, I have embarked on a journey to find ways to live with less clutter.

There is a difference between a Messy person and a clutterer and it comes from deep inside. Messy people are the ones who don't care about picking up the laundery, doing the dishes, or sorting much of anything. They just are happy living messy. Or they are so busy with work, kids, etc... that organizing gets put on the back burner, and they don't really get around to picking up. I would say that you would be considered messy until you come to the point when your life is overwhelmed by it, then you would be a clutterer.

Studies have been done and have shown that clutterers can be depressed and or anxious, and the clutter is a manifestation of the depression and or anxiety. Clutterers can hide behind the clutter instead of facing certain situations, people, or events, and therefore can isolate themselves from the problem. They replace the people with things (junk), and it becomes their way of running away from the real issues in their life. Doing so also creates a conversation topic for others to talk about instead of the core issue. What they really need are friends, and or family to create a safe haven to discuss the inlying problems, and bring them to the surface.

We don't need to spend a whole lot of time talking about organized people, except to use them as examples and learn from their ways of staying organized. Organized people aren't always the best bracket to put yourself in. I have found that a lot of organized people have a syndrome called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I probably wouldn't want to be labeled as one of those. Be organized but not OCD.

Here is some helpful information!!

Tips on staying organized:

A good way to keep your junk drawer organized is to go through it every month or so and throw away the unneeded, return items to their original placement, and put remaining items in drawer organizers.

The best way to manage junk mail and keep it from the junk drawer is to sort it over a trash can, recycling bin, or better yet paper shredder. Put the others in folders marked for corresponding placement.

Verse of the Day: Proverb 13:4 "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat."