More On Roles....

I have spent a great deal of time over the last 10 years pondering my purpose in life.  It has been an intense struggle, as you know from reading my previous blog posts.  An amazing thing is happening as I have become more and more grounded in this knowledge, and that is my testimony and sharing it with others.  I find special satisfaction and joy in telling the youth who they are.  Vanessa, who is now 13, is turning into a beautiful young woman.  She has caught the attention of the neighborhood boys.  They come around frequently, supposedly to see Eric, and they do enjoy his friendship for sure.  But, I see their eyes light up when they see Vanessa come around.  Anyway, these young men invariably search me out.  I love to talk with them and I take every chance I can get to open my mouth and bare testimony to them.  My favorite thing to tell them is who they are.  The joy that has come into my life because of this one thing has been immense.

It just goes to show me that weak things can become strong.  The Lord gives to those who come hungry and thirsty.  I have been fed and now I hope to give back as much as I can and for as long as I can.

Sharing A Recipe

If you've ever been to Olive Garden and ordered their Capellini Pomodoro, I have found a copycat recipe from the allrecipes.com website.  This is so yummy and super simple to make.  I substituted the roma tomatoes with my garden tomatoes, big boy variety.  I would not suggest making these without fresh garden tomatoes.  You really need the sweetness from the garden tomato to make this taste the way it should.  I have read that a brand named Campari sells yummy canned tomatoes, and supposedly you can find them at either Sams Club or Costco if you don't have access to fresh garden tomatoes.  I have yet to look for them though because we have had plenty of fresh tomatoes from our own garden.  Enjoy!

 

Capellini Pomodoro

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
• crushed red pepper to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Pour olive oil in a large deep skillet over high-heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, vinegar and chicken broth; simmer for about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in red pepper, black pepper, basil and cooked pasta, tossing thoroughly with sauce. Simmer for about 5 more minutes and serve topped with grated cheese.

Some Pictures

Bruce's Birthday

We celebrated Bruce's birthday on Sunday.  He turned 3.  Wow, how time flies!  We had our sweet neighbors down to share cake and ice cream with.  They have become like family to us and we treasure their friendships.  Dare I say that they are the first family that Jared and I have become friends with that we both are equal in our friendships.  Just to explain.  Jared knew the husband from work.  I met his wife soon after we moved 3 lots away from them and we became friends.  In the past, we would double date with couples where Jared was a long time friend of the husbands and I would 'try' to become friends with their wife.  It has just never seemed to work out very well.  There always has seemed to be a wall between me and the wife and as soon as I am done asking all of the questions I can think of, the conversations die. 

Bruce is a sweetheart, who gives us as much trouble as his other siblings.  He is better tempered these days and more reasonable.  His vocabulary and sentence structure are amazing.  He is strong and coordinated.  He loves to ride his bike with training wheels.  He has captured the hearts of many of the adults in the neighborhood and they love him.  He has also effectively captured their sympathy for me in raising this fire ball. 

Greek Yogurt

I tried Chobani Greek yogurt the other day.  Then, I tried Brown Cow Greek yogurt.  It was yummy!  The kids love it too.  I am going to see about introducing the plain flavor greek yogurt into my cheesecake recipe and my Texas sheet cake recipe.  There is no fat in it and it's loaded with protein.