Gleanings of Wheat

You paid attention during 74% of high school! 68-84% Pretty good, you know that there are libraries and newspapers, and you remember what you've read. You were a child that wasn't left behind! Do you deserve your high school diploma? Create a Quiz

Alternatively titled "Courting/ Dating/ Seeing someone to the Glory of God?" So, here's something that's been on my mind a lot recently. Say there is a young man and a young woman, both of whom have been attending the same church for some time and have been serving along side of each other for a few months. They've decided, after much thought, to begin dating/ courting/ whatever you want to call it - but they want to do so in a way that brings honor to God. My question to you is, what exactly does that look like? Do you have any advice? Things you learned as you were seeing your spouse? Things you wish someone would have discussed with you? The worst advice someone may have given you? What would you tell your daughter if she were beginning to broach the subject?

Back in April my school announced the winners of the web design contest. I got 4th/ honorable mention for the single college division which means no money, but I do get a plaque. Anyway I couldn't go to the award ceremony so William and I went to the school today to pick up the plaque. After 4 phone calls and a lot of digging around it turns out the people who did the engraving spelled my name wrong and the school sent the plaque back to get redone. The trip wasn't a total bust, however because I also got a bag of goodies. A hat, a cup, a key chain, some pens, a high lighter, a 1gig USB drive, and a wallet thing that came with a pad of paper and a calculator. It may not sound like much but I like goofy things like that. I can use everything they gave me, and that makes Kristina very happy.

The local grocery had 1.5 pounds of snow crab legs on sale recently for just under $10 so I picked up some and threw them in my freezer until I successfully located a recipe that seemed interesting. Crab is nice, but just having some lemon and butter gets a bit boring so I was looking for a twist. I found that twist over at AllRecipes . As excited as I was about this recipe it didn't turn out well. If I had thought about it ahead of time I would have removed the meat from the shells and just put it in the butter mixture that way. Sadly, I did not think ahead and the way the recipe calls for the legs to be cooked didn't allow the crab to absorb any of the flavor and made the shells incredibly difficult to remove. Obviously since the crab had already been cooked I just had to thaw it and then add it to the garlic mixture once the corn was cooked. 3 1/2 pounds Alaskan king crab legs with shell 6 ears fresh corn 1 1/2 cups butter 3 teaspoons minced garlic 1/8 teaspoon crushed red p...

I've got tons of useless information, and amazingly a lot of it pertains to food so I've decided that on a semi-regular basis I will treat you to random food facts. You may as well learn something useless while you're here. Have a great food fact? Email it to me!

I got this one from Food Network too. I forgot to pick up more sun-dried tomatoes so they lacked a bit of color, but over all I was thrilled. I made enough of the filling that I was able to fill some green bell peppers with it in addition to the portobellos. It was a light, easy meal. Very nice. Cooking spray 2 cooked chicken breast halves, diced 10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and undrained 1/2 cup diced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, with 1 tablespoon oil from jar 2 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs 4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with coo king spray. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, broccoli (with liquid from package), sun-dried tomatoes with oil from jar, and bread crumbs. Toss to combine. Arrange mushroom caps, stem side up, on prepared baking sheet. Fill each mushroom cap with chicken mixture. Roast 20 minutes, until filling is golden brown and mushrooms are tender.

These things are delicious. I got them from Robin Miller on Food Network . As I was making them I started to wonder if I'd like them, well I ended up LOVING them. My entire house did, actually. I didn't do white chocolate like she calls for b/c I hate white chocolate, so I melted down some plain ol' semi sweet and drizzled the top of the cookies with it. There really isn't a recipe, basically you purchase your favorite store bought sugar cookie dough and mix in as many dried cherries and pistachios as you want. I ended up doing two pistachios and one cherry in each cookie, it was a nice balance.

I got this one from here . The cheese sauce didn't quite turn out, but I think that had more to do with me than the dish. The steak was nice and tender and I dribbled some of the messed up sauce over the top to give it a bit of extra flavor. I ended up not making the orzo, I just made spaghetti and sprinkled a mixture of olive oil, basil, and oregano on top of it. 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 4 boneless sirloin steaks Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 ounces garlic and herb soft cheese (recommended: Boursin) 1/4 cup vermouth 1 pound cooked orzo 1 fennel bulb, diced 1 cup diced fresh tomatoes 1/4 cup fresh chopped oregano leaves 1/4 cup sherry vinegar Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper and add to hot pan. Cook 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium. Remove steaks from pan and set aside. To the same pan, add cheese and vermouth. Simmer 2 minutes, until cheese melts and creates a sauce, scraping up any brown b...

I got this one from the Food Network too. It turned out pretty ok, nothing to scream about. My daughter really liked the breading, but yea. The peppers completely over powered the taste of the rest of the dish**. If I ever make this again I'm going to skip the peppers entirely. If you absolutely hate fish chicken may work as a substitute pretty well. 20 corn tortillas 1 large egg 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup flour 2 teaspoons Southwestern Essence, plus more for dusting, recipe follows 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 2 pounds firm white fish, cut into 4 by 1 by 1/4 inch strips 4 cups vegetable oil, for frying 4 cups shredded mixed green and red cabbage Lime wedges Chipotle Crema, recipe follows Salsa Fresca, recipe follows 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, garnish Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and place in the oven until soft and pliant, about 12 minutes. Remove and keep wrapped until ready to use. In a large pot or deep fryer, heat the oil to ...

I got a letter from Standard Financial Inc out of Nova Scotia that says this: We are please to inform you that you are one of the winners in the second category of the USA Mega (under the international Sweepstake) Draw held on March 14th, 2008. The ENTRY SLIP with serial number ####### attached to your name matched the first five lucky winning numbers.... Standard financial has been assigned by the international sweepstake organization to inform the winners and pay them off their winnings. Payment will be made by a CERTIFIED CHECK, which will be delivered by our special courier company. Enclosed is a check in the amount of US $4,750.00 which is provided to help you pay for the taxes and is payable to your taxa agent.... You are advised to contact your claims agent: Brian Scott @ ####-###-#### Monday-Friday: 10am - 5pm to start your claim processing and to activate your check. NOTE: Please do not act on this notice until you contact your claims agent to avoid cases of misappropriation a...

I know I'm supposed to being healthy, but seriously I can't resist hot fudge. 4 ounce(s) 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar 4 tablespoon(s) butter, cut into chunks 1 1/2 cup(s) sugar 1/2 cup(s) water 1/4 cup(s) light corn syrup 1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

This morning my pastor gave a pair of excellent messages, the first during a Sunday school class for all the singles of the congregation and the second being in our corporate worship service. Truth be told I found his talk on singleness to be especially convicting. I often go back and forth in my singleness, fluctuating between being content and rather dissatisfied with it. As of late I've been particularly down in the dumps about it, and to my shame have not honored God with it. Needless to say the message was quite timely. With his second message, Man & Woman in the Image of God , Pastor Ryan focused on man's unique dependence upon God compared to the rest of creation, how that dependence is really for our benefit, and that it was in place before the fall. So, for your consideration: Singleness to the Glory of God Man & Woman in the Image of God

I miss Chi Chi's, I was very sad when they closed up shop here. Things I miss the most? Their corn bread and burritos. The seafood enchiladas were excellent as well and here is the copycat recipe! 10 oz Cream of chicken soup 1/2 c Onions; chopped 8 oz Crab (real or imitation); chopped 1 3/4 c Monterey Jack cheese; shredded 8 Flour tortillas; 5-6 inch 1 c Milk dash Nutmeg dash Pepper In a mixing bowl stir together soup, onion, nutmeg and black pepper. In another bowl, place half of the soup mixture, crab, and 1 cup of the monterey jack cheese; set aside. Wrap the tortillas in paper towels; microwave on 100% power for 30-60 seconds. Place 1/3 cup mixture on each tortilla; roll up. Place seam side down in a greased 12 x 7 1/2 dish. Stir milk into the reserved soup mixture, pour over enchiladas. Microwave, covered, on high for 12-14 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add a dash of hot pepper sauce to soup mix if desired.

This one came from Food Network too. Unlike the first, however, I really enjoyed this. The flavors were quite striking for their simplicity, a very unique dinner. 4 tablespoons prepared basil pesto 4 flour tortillas, regular or flavored 1 cup baby spinach leaves Cooked shrimp, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups total) 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 1/2 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes Spread pesto on 1 side of tortillas. Top with spinach, shrimp, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes and roll up.

I got the recipe from the Food network . Over all I was pretty disappointed. It was ok, but definitely not something that stood out as fabulous. Perhaps if I had an egg roll & some stir fry veggies on the side it would have livened things up, but on its own I was disappointed. Cooking spray 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 5 ounces each) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup rice wine (mirin) 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil 1 teaspoon wasabi paste 2 teaspoons hot mustard (not powder) 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger 2 teaspoons sesame oil 2 cups prepared cole slaw mix 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce 16 wonton wrappers 1 tablespoon peanut oil 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth To make the chicken: Coat a stove-top grill pan or griddle with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat to preheat. Season both sides of chicken with salt and black pepper. Place chicken on hot pan and cook 3 to 5 minutes per side, until cooked through. In a small ...

Link to where I found this one . 1 frying chicken, cut into frying pieces 1 1/2 cups flour 1 Pkt. (dry) Good Seasons Italian Dressing (THE 11 herbs and spices!) 1 Envelope Lipton (or other brand) Tomato Cup of Soup 2 eggs, well beaten 2/3 cup milk Vegetable oil to cover bottom of your skillet; about 1/2 inch deep. 1. Combine eggs and milk. Set aside. 2. Combine flour with the Italian dressing and soup mix. 3. Dip chicken pieces in milk-egg mixture and roll them in the flour-seasoning mixture. Repeat procedure. 4. Fry pieces over medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes, turning often. 5. Remove from fire. Drain and serve.

I love Red Lobster's biscuits. I could eat them and their shrimp scampi all day long (of course then I'd probably get fat) and it is a real treat when I get to have them about once a year. But no more! Now I can make them whenever I want! Dough: 1 1/4 lbs. Bisquik 3 Oz. freshly shredded cheddar cheese 11 Oz. cold water Garlic Spread: 1/2 cup melted butter 1 teas. garlic powder 1/4 teas. salt 1/8 teas. onion powder 1/8 teas. dried parsley To cold water, add Bisquik and cheese, blending in a mixing bowl. Mix until dough is firm. Using a small scoop, place the dough on a baking pan lined with baking paper. Bake in 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. While biscuits bake, combine spread ingredients. Brush baked biscuits with the garlic topping.

I'm not a huge fan of the Big Mac, but if you are then here is their secret sauce. 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons French dressing 4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish 1 tablespoon finely minced white onion 1 teaspoon white vinegar 1 teaspoon sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1. Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well. 2. Place sauce in a covered container and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, so that the flavors blend. Stir the sauce a couple of times as it chills. Makes about 3/4 cup.

I found this and thought I'd share. Basically when you purchase ground meat you take it out of the store bought container and put it in a zip lock bag, press the meat flat to remove air (no more freezer burn!), and then take a ruler or chopstick and press into the meat to create indentions for easy break off and defrosting. See post for pictures.