"Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man tat you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow." Psalm 144:1-4

"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint...I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph." Ps 77:1-3,11-15

Defying Gravity

This month in Nashville Wicked is playing. I tried to read the book, only got half way through and gave up. It just was a little dark and too sexual for me (not to mention boring). TPAC was offering a lottery 2 hours before each showing to win $25 orchestra level seats, so I shot over there and tried my luck. People kept coming and coming. My winning luck was over, but my friend, Jordan, called while I was waiting and said she had an extra ticket. Wicked was excellent. Defying gravity was my favorite song. So much emotion and such a powerful voice. Ga-lenda was hilarious and her voice was fantastic.
So speaking of fantastic, what is not is all these women sports reporters on the football field. What is with this trend? When did we need to know what was going on the sideline by a women in heels? I am all for power to the women, but come on. I have a theory: I think they have to be women asking coaches questions because otherwise, they would get hit in the face. A man is not going to hit a woman.
Confession #4: When Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning" comes on, I don't change it. I sing along and I kind of like it. There, I said it.

Me want food!

Here is my shopping trip for this week. I think I did a really good job, I only spent 44$ and saved 21$. I did several "stock piling" by buying meat that was on sale at Kroger. I think I am getting better at this! I got great deals on ground turkey, family pack of ground chuck, and roast. My meal plan this week: Sunday-Burritos, Monday-Mahi mahi, quinoa, and veggies, Tuesday- roast and carrots, Wednesday-NFG (off night), Thursday- Stuffed Potatoes with left over roast, Friday-Lasagna or quesadillas, Saturday-Carrabas (using gift card!). By planning meals ahead and using left overs really helps save time and money. I am trying to freeze more stuff, I'm just not used to doing this. I am dividing up the meat into servings in ziploc freezer bags, making sure I put a date when I put it in and when it expires. Next time there is a good sale on strawberries, I plan to freeze them as well. I can use those for strawberry bread, smoothies, etc. I'm going to try freezing carrots, we will see how it goes.
I was trying to keep some fresh herbs I had left over from cooking this weekend and I found a tip online. It said to cut the ends off the herbs, place in a container with water, then place a clear bag over them. Make sure to leave the bag open. I took a picture to see how long they last.

Dinner Party #3

I will go ahead and post about dinner party #3 since it is so fresh in my mind. Hope you don't get overloaded on dinner party information. Last night we had appetizer night at Katie Cowan's. I made mini frittatas and mojitos. There were so many delicious treats- mexican cheesecake (katy clement), meatball sliders (traci davies), lettuce wraps (leigh ann), prosciutto wrapped asparagus (beth harper), asparagus and potato wrapped in Serrano Ham/stuffed tomatoes/macaroons (katie cowan), onion goat cheese and tomato tarts (katherine echerd), prunes wrapped in bacon/radicchio grilled treats (mary hooper), heath bar dip with apples and blt dip and chips (anna verner), and brushetta (april ellis). Great conversation about go girl and Obama chia pet then ensued. It was a great night. Here are my recipes:

Mini Frittatas
Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
8 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces thinly sliced ham, chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 2 mini muffin tins (each with 24 cups) with nonstick spray. Whisk the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the ham, cheese, and parsley. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a platter. Serve immediately.

You can find my mojito recipe here

Opa

I have yet to post an official post about the Greek Dinner Party that was held at my house. It was the second of the dinner party series. Here are my recipes of the moussaka and greek cookies that I made. Every thing was spectacular and of course, we had Ouzo (I made everyone do a shot before dinner, except the pregnant ladies of course). This party was great because I had actually been to Greece and knew what was authentic and not just from Athens Family Restaurant. The moussaka was fabulous and almost as good as what I had in Athens. It is a little involved just because you have to roast the eggplant before. I used skim milk and it was just as good. The greek cookies were deadly. Lots of butta (as paula would say). They are hard to put down. We sat around the table after dinner for a while and we all kept eating these cookies and the baklava Melissa made. May I add, it was the best baklava I've ever had!

Moussaka
Ingredients
EGGPLANT
2 large eggplants (about 2 3/4 pounds), unpeeled and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
MEAT SAUCE
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes (with puree), roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
CUSTARD SAUCE
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano
Directions
Bake the eggplant: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with the oil and lay on 2 small or 1 large foil-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake until the eggplant is soft, about 25 minutes. Set aside covered.

Make the meat sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beef, oregano, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Break the meat up into small pieces and season with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until just cooked but still slightly pink inside, about 1 minute more. Add the tomato and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cover, and cook until the sauce is thickened and fragrant, about 20 minutes.

Make the custard sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk, salt, and nutmeg. Return to the heat and while whisking constantly, bring to a boil. Simmer 2 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir to cool. When the sauce is cool, whisk in the egg and yolks.

Assemble the moussaka. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a 9 x 13 x 2-inch casserole dish with the oil. Scatter the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the pan. Lay half of the eggplant in the pan, overlapping the slices if needed. Cover with half of the meat sauce and smooth with a rubber spatula. Repeat with the remaining eggplant and meat sauce. Pour the custard sauce over the layered mixture and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle with the Pecorino Romano and bake, uncovered, until lightly browned and the custard is set, about 1 hour.

Remove the moussaka from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to serve.


Kourambiedes
Ingredients
3 sticks unsalted butter, soft
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for coating
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
About 45 whole cloves
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the butter and salt and whip until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sugar, egg, brandy, and vanilla and beat until all of the ingredients are integrated. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add sifted flour to the butter mixture. Using a rubber spatula, remove the dough and transfer it onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes before rolling.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

After the dough has cooled, pinch off small pieces and roll them into about 1-inch balls. Place them in a single layer with space in between each, on a greased baking sheet. Repeat the process until all of the cookie dough has been rolled. Place a clove in the center of each cookie. Alternatively, shape the ball into half moons with a clove in the center of each.

Place the sheets in the oven and bake until the cookies are just slightly brown, about 15 minutes. Allow them to cool thoroughly, and then roll them in powdered sugar.
Note: I did not use the cloves and I made them in half moon shapes.

Outdoor Movie Night

Tonight for our Neighborhood Fellowship Group, we watched Tommy Boy outdoors. Some of our teacher friends brought their handy dandy projector, screen and... voila! It was awesome. Popcorn, great weather, good friends. A definite must.

Do's and Don'ts

Lately I've been trying to figure out what area of counseling I specifically want to focus on. God hasn't asked me to go to one thing, so of course I jump to experiences I know. I am extremely interested in miscarriages and infertility right now, for obvious reasons. If I hear of someone who has had a miscarriage or know someone, I really want to know what to do and say that helped me. Here is a list of things I've come up with on my and own and reading other blogs. Miscarriages are not uncommon, 1 in 4 pregnancies, so why is it rarely talked about? Why are women not confirmed to grieve in losing a life? I want to change this, get it out in the open. Why do churches surround families that have lost, but not this kind of loss? I am very blessed to say I had great support through our molar pregnancy, but there were things I found not helpful. Here are some do's and don'ts:

Don't give false hope-
don't say things like "you'll have another one" or "at least you know you can get pregnant" "maybe next year" "this is God's plan". This sends messages of false hope and it takes away from the loss they are feeling now. It's almost as if you're not letting them grieve. I know you are trying to help, but really it's making you feel better, not them.

Tell her you are there for her-
just be with her. Listen. Cry with her. Just don't try to force hope or happiness when that is not where she is. Meet her in her sorrow. Grieving with her is one of the best things you can do.

Do something without asking-
It is great to ask what you can do, but really there is nothing you can do to stop the pain. You can do things that will show love and help out with other stresses. One of the best things for me was when a friend said, I'm coming over with dinner. She didn't say what can I bring, what can I do, she just did it. It took pressure off of me to try and think up something she could do. Other things to do: bring movies/flowers, send a card, helping around the house, picking up kids, etc.

Ask how you can pray for her and then pray-
just that, find out what prayers she needs most and pray. Pray scripture over her and her husband.

Acknowledge that it happened-
I think one of the worst things was when others were uncomfortable and didn't even acknowledge my pain. They didn't know what to say, so they didn't say a thing. You don't have to come up with some amazing quote or scripture, even if you did it wouldn't help. You can even say "I don't know what to say, but know I care. I am here for you."

Also, reach out to the husband, they are hurting, too. I found that because Jack wasn't the one pregnant, that he was overlooked. No, they usually aren't as heartbroken, but they are in pain. You can't assume they aren't upset. Remember to reach out to him, too.

I hope this helps for those who come in contact with women who are having problems. Also, please feel free to give my number or email to those who have gone through a miscarriage or molar pregnancy. It helped me so much to talk to others who had been through what I had and it would be my honor to talk to them. I wanted to share a quote from Larry Crabb that is from a book called Shattered Dreams. The book spoke to my heart and it a fast, easy read. This quote said everything that I wanted to say through my struggle this year. Everything from losing the pregnancy and to getting my chemo without the results I wanted. Every week when my levels didn't go down, I kept feeling this intense pain that couldn't be explained, but I believe Larry captures it here. "When life kicks us in the stomach, we want someone to be with us as we are, not as he or she wishes us to be. We don't want someone trying to make us feel better. That effort, no matter how well intended, creates a pressure that adds to our distress."