My new favorite recipe

I've tried many new recipes in the past couple of years. This one is at the top of the list. It is easy and so delicious. It is Pecan-Crusted Fish.  Recipe follows.  Hope you will try it. You won't be disappointed.

4 fish filets- 6-8 oz. each.  I used tailapia
2 Tbsp. Honey-Dijon mustard
2 tsp. water
1 cup pecans

Heat oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking pan with non-stick foil. Finely chop pecans by hand or in a food processor. Spread the pecans out on a sheet of waxed paper or use a large plate. Put honey mustard in a small cup and stir in the 2 tsp. water. Brush one side only of the fillets with mustard mixture, then press fillets into the chopped pecans. Place on baking pan. Bake 10-14 minutes until pecans are lightly toasted and fish is just cooked through. Yum!  Per serving: 425 cal, 32 g pro, 7 g carb, 3 g fiber, 31 g fat (only 4 g sat fat) 100 mg chol, 188 mg sodium.

I haven't tried the mustard and pecans on chicken yet but I plan to.  Healthy and delicious.  Hope you enjoy!
You can also substitute other types of fish and other nuts. No other seasoning is necessary, the mustard adds lots of flavor. We serve ours with asparagus or another green vegetable.

Give Away

Here's something very simple we can do today. Give something away. Need an idea?
Here are two. First one is a HUG! Don't you need one yourself?  Give one and I'm sure you will get one back. It may not be from the same person but maybe so.
Second idea is to make something.  I can almost hear some of you sigh.  Don't you remember when you were a child? Most of us loved it when it was craft time.  It doesn't have to be something big.  Think!!! Look around!!! I have hundreds of ideas of things to make.  It can even be something from your kitchen.  Here's the easiest one I can think of.  Make a peanut butter sandwich for someone. Remember when you made a heart on top of the peanut butter with jelly.  Surely you did that, didn't you. If you didn't it is HIGH TIME you tried it. It will make you smile. Not to mention what it will do for the person you give it to.
I just found a great idea for popcorn to share with you. I didn't know that there is some talk that the packaged microwave popcorn isn't healthy because of the chemicals they put in it.  Well there is an alternative that will cost less and is natural.
You will need a brown paper sack, some clear tape, 3-4 Tbsp. of uncooked popcorn, and whatever seasonings you want to put on top.

To make the popcorn-simple place the uncooked kernels in your paper sack, fold the sack over twice and tape it. Lay it flat on the table and press out excess air. Lay it in the microwave on the side for 2-3 minutes. Times will vary of course with individual microwaves. When you hear 1-2 second intervals between popping. Take the bag out, shake it a few times and open carefully. Add 1 tsp. melted butter and/or other seasonings.  Enjoy!
   I leave you with this story I found.

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day the woman met a traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share some food. The hungry traveler noticed the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune.  He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable the stone is and I give it back to you in hopes that you will give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."   

                         "The Wise Woman's Stone"

                            Author Unknown

Growing up

     This morning I was reading over some old journals of mine. I love to read old entries I have forgotten. Here's one on growing up.

     You grow up into the person you believe you are. We always ask children what do you want to be when you grow up and then what happens?  Do these children grow up to become the person they know inside they are? Hardly, I think. Why?  They listen to the wrong voices in the world. The more they listen- the more they believe the wrong voices.  Then who they knew inside they should be becomes vague, so very vague until so much time passes they don't remember at all. How sad.  Is this why we become so sad?

     Sometimes I write snips and pieces of favorite books in my journals. One favorite is "Windows of the Soul" by Ken Gire. He wrote this.

"The future can fill your lungs with refreshing air and your heart with hopeful dreams. Do you hear it? Somebody calling your name, only in a language you can't quite understand? Have you recognized your calling or to what you have been called?  Do you recognize your name?"

    If I look back over my life I can put frames around the things that have brought me joy. If I look I see pictures. When I listen, what do I hear? Do I hear it above all that has called to me over the years. In a graduation address, author Frederick Buechner said, "The voice we should listen to most as we choose a vocation is the voice that we think we should listen to the least, and that is the voice of our own gladness."

    Life passes quickly.  My hope is that we all find the joy that our God intends for us to have.



Love's Focus

   I awoke this morning with a rapid succession of thoughts about love. The first one was how much God loves me. The second was how much I want to love him and others more. The third being that it is only possible because God loved me first and I receive His love for me.   Later on in the morning I thought of something my husband, Mike had done for which I was grateful. As I continued to think about his love I saw the parallel to my first thoughts of the morning. I realized that I spend more time thinking of how much Mike loves me than I think of loving him. (It should be obvious by now that I have a wonderful guy!)
     My focus of Mike's love for me has not created selfishness in me- quite the contrary. It has made me want to love him more and to give to him more. It has placed me in a position to receive more of his love and more of what he wants to give to me.  I know that God is love and that it is possible to love him because He loved me first. The only place I can get love to give away is from Him. As I focus on how much God loves me I will be able to receive more of His love. The more I receive means I have more available to give away, first to Him then to others.
     Happy Valentine's to all you family and friends who love me. I am very blessed to have you to love me. Your love is sweet and very precious to me. I want you all to know that. I have another desire and it is for everyone to know the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ Jesus.

The Spirit of Love

     The song by Faith Hill, "A Baby Changes Everything" is becoming one of my favorite Christmas songs.  It tugs at this mother's heart as she remembers her babies and ponders how Mary cherished holding baby Jesus in her arms.  I imagine she had many of the same emotions we have as mothers and some of the same questions. I am grateful for this mother who trusted God to give birth to our Savior. Her faith in God and her willingness to sacrifice her life to be a mother was a gift she gave to all of us.  I'm sure she would agree with  us that "a baby changes everything."  That baby's life and death certainly changed everything for me.
    My prayer for all of us this Christmas is that we will make this holiday all about His love for us and in turn our love for all others. Let us remember that God is love. Let us also remember that we  love God  because He first loved us and that without love we are nothing and that nothing we do apart from love will have any lasting significance.  The "spirit of love" is truly what Christmas is all about. I agree with the words of H. Drummond- "You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."  
                                                                  Merry Christmas with love, Pamela                                                                  
     

A new appreciation for an old word

     Years ago when I worked for an advertising agency I enjoyed learning a little about what makes a commercial effective. Creativity is important because there are so many variables to consider in relating to the consumer. I've seen a commercial recently and each time it has struck a deeper cord within me.  Their advertising worked on me with the sound of a word.  The word is insieme (in see m a), the Italian word for together. The commercial is for baby bow tie pasta and you can be sure I am going to buy some. :)
    Since I found a new way to say together I've been doing a lot of thinking about what together means. I'm saddened with how little "togetherness" most of us are participating in. I think the reason is that we've come to the conclusion that togetherness is not all that important and we can do okay without it these days. I don't want to do just "okay". Do you?
    We can't do without it. The truth is we were designed by God to be together. He made it that way so we would need each other. We are designed for spiritual, physical, emotional and mental togetherness. We have His word on it. He said in Genesis 2:18 that it is not good for man (one human being) to be alone so he made him a companion to help him. Many people think that their situations would be better if others weren't involved. It is time to see others as a help, not a hindrance and time to see ourselves as a helper in other lives. It is time to see that we can contribute something of  value to someone else and to appreciate the value they can contribute to us.
     We have a longing inside of us for togetherness. Togetherness can happen in lots of different settings but the true essence of togetherness is not simply being in physical proximity with others. There has to be a connection and for connection to happen someone has to reach out and take something of themselves and give it away with the hope of it being received.
     I believe with all my heart that there are many people around us ready to receive.                                        
     I hope you experience  insieme  this Thanksgiving.
     Let it be more than a visit to another house and good holiday food.
     Be thankful to God and to others.
     Be insieme and be glad to be insieme.


I came across this old picture of myself, my mom and my two children taken in 1989.  I think you will agree everyone was happy to be insieme.

  

Share the goodness

I love ideas. They are everywhere. Open eyes and hearts find them in all kinds of places.  I found one today I want to pass on to you.  It is a Thanksgiving idea from another wonderful blog I found called Apron Memories.  National Tie One On Day is November 24.  Here's how it works:  on the day before Thanksgiving Day you wrap up a baked good in an apron with a note of encouragement. Deliver your bundle to a friend, a neighbor, co-worker, or anyone you think of that you want to bless. On her website (blog button on my site) you can download a card to include in your bundle.  What a wonderful idea!
     Most people think of aprons as only something practical.  They have a rich history.  They tell stories. You can find one in all shapes, colors, sizes.  There are free patterns on the internet to make one.  There is an apron for everyone.  If you don't have one. Now is the time. Give yourself a bundle and someone else as well. My favorite apron is red. I've decided its time for another apron or two so I suppose its time to go shopping. What girl can have enough aprons?
      By the way-  you don't have to bake something.  The baking came come from another person's hands but the note of encouragement can come from your heart .  Hope you "tie one on" for someone this year and share your the goodness that has come your way. In case you haven't thought about it lately- when you do something "good"  God is shining through your life to someone else.
                                                                          Pamela  Ann