Kale Krisps

Admittedly, at first sight...kale might not be one of the most yummy-looking vegetables you could buy, but take my word for it--it's worth a try. Did you know this about kale?

"Kale is (...) a form of cabbage, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms. Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered to be anti-inflammatory. Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium."  (from Wikipedia)

Kale is easily one of my family's favorites. And, as a parent who is forever concerned with the nutrition my family receives, it is a favorite of mine for ensuring my favorite peeps will be getting lots of great vitamins with every bite! We like it cooked (in the last few minutes) in soups or shredded up and wilted in homemade spaghetti sauce, but we also enjoy it as a side dish prepared as follows:

You'll need...

1 bunch organic Lacinato kale (Whole Foods has it, but you can also get other varieties from your local farmer!)

1/2-3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Then...

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Fill your nice, shiny sink with cold water, allowing your greens to soak for a few minutes. Then swish them around a bit, allowing loose dirt, sand, etc. to fall to the bottom of the sink. Shake the excess water off.

Sometimes I tear each stem of kale by folding the two sides of the leaf toward each other, grasping the stem in my left hand, and then tearing the doubled-up leaf from the top of the stem to the bottom.

(P.S. Noah thanks you for reading and, hence, giving him the opportunity to use his mommy's camera.)

Other times, I find it's faster to fold the leaves in the same way as above, but then just cut them away from their stems on a cutting board. Depends on my patience level at cooking time, I suppose.

Once you've got your stems out of the way, shred the kale thinly.

Now spread the greens out on a parchment paper-lined baking pan. The thinner you can spread them out, the quicker and better they will cook.

(I didn't spread mine very thinly.)

Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. I've tried mozzarella, but it's not nearly as tasty. The cheddar pairs very nicely with the natural saltiness of the kale. I find that this dish needs no extra seasoning. How's that for simple and healthy? Pop your pan in the oven to bake for approximately 10-12 minutes. (If you have as many hungry mouths in your family as I do, you might want to do two bunches...)

About the time that your cheese starts really getting brown, your kale will be crisp-tender and ready to eat.

This side dish can go with lots of different meals. Sometimes we have it along with tomato soup (my favorite pairing). Or with baked potatoes. It also goes well with a chicken, fish, or meat dish.

My kids adore it. But then, they ALL ate pureed kale regularly as babies. It's a flavor they are accustomed to. If you, dear grown-up, have not tried it, you really should do something wild and crazy today and buy yourself a bunch of kale. How much easier can this dish get? 

I originally posted this at Real Food in Little Rock, and today it is linked with Works For Me Wednesday and Real Food Wednesday.

Lori

Radical Response: Week 4

Chapter Four: 

"The Great Why of God: God's Global Purpose From the Beginning Till Today"

I've blogged about my selfishness before. Not that I said everything there was to be said. Certainly, I could go on and on about how on a daily basis it's really all about me. What I want for breakfast. What I want to do with my day. Who I want to spend my time with. Where I want to go. Even WHY I want to do whatever. How I really don't consider what's best for others, or put them first. In fact, sometimes (in my mind) my selfishness seems justified, though it never is. And let's not forget about all of those around us (and beyond) who may suffer as a result of that selfishness.  (Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Phil. 2:3)

But life is short. Right? I've got to do "abc" for me. I can do "xyz" for God later. This mentality is everywhere we turn in our society. I want what I want WHEN I want it, and I don't care who has to suffer as a result of my going after that thing. Certainly...certainly we are often not concerned with God's PLAN for us, or what His Word says about that thing we want, or really the most important thing--whether or not God will be glorified in our "thing."

Honestly, I just wonder sometimes how much we really WANT what God wants for us. Much less what He wants for the rest of the world. Do we CARE what brings God the most glory? Or do we want what's easiest for us? Or what appeals to our need to feel good about ourselves? When it comes right down to it, aren't we all in it for ourselves?

I hear this a lot. Goodness, I've probably said it myself a time or two. It goes something like this: 'God has not called me to do missions.' Yeah. Heard it? Said it? Or He isn't calling me to [insert geographical location here] right now. Maybe later.

But David Platt wants to know...where in the Bible is missions given as an "optional program in the church"?! Jesus commanded us to go into all the nations. To leave our comfort zones, to leave those things/people we think we can't live without, and to GO. NOW. Not ONCE we get a few of our own plans accomplished or AFTER we've experienced this or that. But now. Go wherever we need to go, wherever God has given us a heart to go. 

Go. do. something. for. Him. 

Because...

He. did. everything. for. you.

"We have taken this command, though, and reduced it to a calling--something that only a few people receive."

The rest of us figure those "called" will do enough good to cover us while we bask in our own laziness and our self-made successful lifestyles we so treasure. We may even send a little money. To make us feel spiritual and stuff.

I'm not saying we should disdain the successes we've had or the blessings God has given us. But MOST of the time, people who have been blessed with success stop there, thinking that's the glorious end to their "American-Dreamed" story. But WE ourselves are never the main thing, even at the end of our own story. It is God from the beginning to the end and every day in between. Our stories are only parts of HIS story (history). So when you're pondering all your success, your profit, all your "abundant life now"-ness, consider this, written by a mom upon returning from a trip to Guatemala:

"(God says...) I have blessed you for my glory. Not so you will have a comfortable life with a big house and a nice car. (And--this is me here--can I interject with...'Not so you will fall in love, get married, and have however many kids you always thought you'd like to have.' ??) Not so you can spend lots of money on vacations, education, or clothing. Those aren't bad things, but I've blessed you so that the nations will know me and see my glory."

Whoa.
 

This week my man and I were lounging on the couch. I was probably blogging or something (because I can't just do ONE thing at a time), and he was flipping through the channels on TV. He stopped for a second on a Christian channel of some sort where a preacher was telling about the successes God had blessed him with. His point was focused on asking God for things. "Ask and ye shall receive (much)." He told about how God had given him some money (from viewers sending in checks, mind you), and that after investing it here and there, it had multiplied greatly. So. He went out and bought a multi-million-dollar jet. And three days later bought an even nicer one. 

I was stunned. 

I don't know why exactly. I've heard these things before. This "American Dream" drivel being passed off as something spiritual and enlightening and God-blessed. But THIS TIME all I could think about was all the hungry (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) in the world that he could have helped and thus given God great acclaim for Himself. Oh, he gave God the credit for all that money alright. He stood in awe of what God could do. But it was all about what God could do for him. God, however, is in the business of spreading His name over all the earth. That is His heart. And for those of us who have been chosen and adopted into His family, for those of us who owe Him our lives because He saved them, that should be our heart, too.

"To disconnect God's blessing from God's global purpose is to spiral downward into an unbiblical, self-saturated Christianity that misses the point of God's grace."

I think the thing that stood out the most for me in this chapter was a discussion about Paul calling himself a debtor to the nations in the first chapter of Romans. He is basically saying that "because he is owned by Christ, he owes Christ to the world." Now we see why Paul never stayed home. (Did he even have a home?) He spent all his days preaching the gospel, helping others, spreading God's fame to the nations. Unselfishly.

I leave you with an excerpt from a song I love and one I remember being quoted by a friend upon her return from a missions trip:

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

(from "Hosanna" by Brooke Fraser)

I'm linked up with Marla Taviano's Radical Read-Along group. If you'd like to read the book, go here to get yourself a copy.

* All quotes, unless noted otherwise, are from David Platt's book.
 

Project 365: Week 40

Sunday, September 26. 2010

We finally had our first community group meeting since the summer break. We all enjoyed ourselves, but the kids especially enjoyed the worship time. Not the greatest picture, considering all the kids have their back to me, and only one of them actually belongs to ME. But I thought they were all cute singing this song.

"Ha-ha-hal-le-lu-jah!"

Monday, September 27, 2010

Our West Little Rock Farmer's Market is starting to pick up some steam. (It's a newer market.)

Today we bought a huge bunch of organic basil (among many other things) to make pesto. (Any idea how much I adore pesto??) Atticus was my little helper. But I couldn't get him to LOOK at me!

See what I mean?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

 This is Noah's chore, but this morning Gabriel quietly walked over to the dishwasher, opened it, and started putting things away. He cleared the entire bottom rack, silverware and all, without being asked.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Saylor wanted to read the nap time story to "the babies." She tells pretty good tales.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

No picture today. I was swamped--what with finishing up preparations to give my testimony tonight at Women's Fellowship and making casseroles for the same. (Whew! This day took a lot out of me.)

Friday, October 1, 2010

Took pictures of Saylor today for her upcoming birthday.

And then we went out for supper. We sat on the patio, and while we waited for the food, Saylor directed a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose."

Saturday, October 2, 2010

I stayed up all. night. long. getting all the STUFF marked for our garage sale today. And guess how much we made?  

$37.50.

Yep. 

That's it. 

It was the most pathetic sale we've ever had. 

Missing my sleep for $37.50. Ummmm...NOT worth it.  :(

There was one bright spot in the day when these two crawled into my kayak (which nobody bought, by the way). Something about them both with their hoods on, sitting in a boat made us all laugh.

Kayak for Sale (Boys Not Included)

Well, maybe it doesn't show in my pictures, but this was one crazy, wacky, unbelievably-busy October week. Now I have several more crazy, wacky, unbelievably-busy October weeks to go! In all my recent busyness, I've really missed reading about all you Project 365 gals at Sara's. Maybe I'll have some free time today.

Radical Response: Week 3

The "Radical Read-Along" has been one of the best opportunities spiritually for me in a long time. I hope you'll be encouraged by my regular "response" posts to get the book (Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt) and read it. And you should definitely check out the other bloggers' responses as well.

Chapter Three: 

"Beginning at the End of Ourselves: The Importance of Relying on God's Power"

Do you trust in the power of God? Really trust?? Like enough trust that you'd bank everything on it, even your very life? There are actually people who do that today. Men and women who have given their entire selves over to complete dedication to the Lord Almighty and KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that He is capable of ANYthing within His will. 

The same God who promised Abraham he would be the father of a mighty nation and at the age of 99 (his wife, 89!!) finally gave him a son, is our God today. The same God who caused the walls of Jericho to fall while the Israelites merely stood there shouting and blowing their trumpets, is our God today. This same God can still do amazing things...and does! And yet most of the time we do not believe this. Not deep down anyway. 

I mean, if you were a highly-trained fighter who, one day, was threatened by a scary witch doctor ready to fight you, would you believe in God's power so much that you would sit in a chair, rather than confidently fight (knowing you'd likely win), proclaiming that God does your fighting for you now? Would you just sit there knowing the witch doctor could do anything he wanted to you while you sat and waited for the Lord to do something? Could you just wait there? Unflinching? (BTW, this is not just some random example here, but a true account of something that happened to an Indonesian believer. Platt shares that the witch doctor suddenly began choking and gasping for air, only to fall over dead...all while the believer sat in his chair.) God does not NEED us or our "awesome" abilities. After all, any abilities we may have are only ours because He gave them to us!

In America, it is shoved down our throats every where we turn that "there is no limit to what we can accomplish," that we should "believe in ourselves," and that we are "innately capable." And while that all sounds hunky-dory, it just isn't biblical. Jesus says, "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) The entire gospel message beginning with our moral depravity from birth to Christ's triumph over death when He arose from the grave three days after being crucified on the Cross for OUR sins, is about "our utter inability to accomplish anything of value apart from him." 

And besides, let's face it. The only reason we'd want to, if we're being honest with ourselves, is so that we'd get some recognition, some respect, some adoration, some attention. We want something for ourselves. The goal of the American Dream: "to make much of ourselves." But here's a giant "Guess what?!" thought I have to keep reminding myself. Ummm...WE don't deserve any recognition. HE does. In fact, HE deserves it all. And that is truly the ultimate goal of the gospel: "to make much of God."

Platt warns us against the danger of manufacturing our churches. So many of our churches, it seems, are all about making church more palatable. They seek to draw as many people in as possible and then provide them with quality entertainment, practical "how-to" type messages, a magnificent facility, and countless "programs" run by professionals (or, at least, people put through some sort of training). 

"That way, for example, parents can simply drop off their kids at the door, and the professionals can handle ministry for them. We don't want people trying this at home."  (emphasis added)

Churches often strive to find the best speakers, singers, musicians, education professionals, etc., give them all the title of "Minister of ...," have them put together "teams," and then "do church." Then we can all stand in awe of their accomplishments as they work together to "grow their church" and "impress people" with their well-orchestrated service. Of course, I have no doubt that those in these churches do what they do because they love the Lord, but we have to be careful that our churches are established THROUGH His power, ACCORDING to His plans, and FOR His glory. Considering what we've (all) been brought up to believe about ourselves, this might be easier said than done. 

"We have convinced ourselves that if we can position our resources and organize our strategies, then in church as in every other sphere of life, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to." 

What's missing here, is our desperate need for God and His power and His plan. Desperate need. How many of us truly feel desperate for Him? The truth is, most of us think we've got it covered. In church. And in life. The truth is, not only do we think we've got it covered, but we think we're just about amazing enough to knock it out of the park with no one's help, least of all a God we cannot see. Instead, we believe (even those of us with "low self-esteem") that we are pretty self-sufficient and don't need to trust ANYone, and thank goodness, because then we might have to wait for something and besides, we're not so sure we even can trust anyone. Not even God!

I mean, do we believe in our heart of hearts that God CAN and WILL do His sovereign will and bring about His kingdom? And that He'll do all this in His own power? He truly doesn't need us, as I've said before. But he graciously USES us, provides for us, guides us, and comforts us, all because He has put His Spirit within us, as believers, and allows us to do amazing things BY. HIS. POWER.

This chapter was convicting to me for many of the same reasons as last week. I was thinking of how often I think, "I'm good at this or that. I should volunteer to do such and such." How often I do that, and then find myself, in my own strength, trying to accomplish the task...and not doing so well. Or even failing miserably. God is gracious to allow my failure so that I can see my need for Him. So that I won't get glory for my efforts. Whatever I may do well is because of Him anyway, so I should be finding ways to "make much of Him!" That should be my life's goal.

I will not boast in anything.

No gift, no power, no wisdom.

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom.

(lyrics from "How Deep the Father's Love For Us" by Stuart Townsend)

You can read my responses to Chapter One here and Chapter Two here.

*All quotes, unless noted otherwise, are from David Platt's book.

Project 365: Week 39

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Well, the big news today was that Gabriel's alligator hatched out of his egg. It was a very exciting moment.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Lately, Atticus has been saying, "Mommy, watch me!" a lot. Today he'd tell me to watch, then he'd count...

"2, 3, 9" or "3, 2, 9" or "9, 2, 3" and then take off mowing.

Don't ask me why those particular numbers or why they kept being rearranged. That's definitely not the point. Cuteness. Cuteness is the point.

(DISCLAIMER: The above pictures of a child whose shirt looks more like a dress may or may not be entirely due to his mommy's laziness. Just...please overlook.) 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Took a walk to the playground after dinner tonight.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

My daughter has quirky food issues. Always has. The good thing is they're inconsistent and ever-changing. Right now, she is unhappy with just about any fruit. Except for grapes. (Ironically, grapes used to be her most HATED fruit, while she adored practically everything else!) She's gotten to where she eats around the fruit on her plate. It's just the fruit; vegetables aren't a problem. (I know! Weird, huh?) For a while she would eat the fruit better if she or I cut it into bite-size pieces she could eat with a fork. But even that hasn't helped lately. You know what works now? Having me feed it to her. (What's that all about?) Or...in desperate times, her baby brother.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I made caramel corn for a party tonight.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Traveling with four kids. It's not for the faint-of-heart.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Game Day (again!). Watched it with my parents. (Note: Mom likes giraffes a little bit.) We put up a good fight, but things didn't end well for the 'Backs today.

Atticus and his pal, Cubbie, enjoyed their time together by talking and sharing the "pa-panes."

It was a fairly laid-back week, but I still managed to get myself properly exhausted, which is scary considering the next four weeks are going to be C-R-A-Z-Y!!! If my "Project 365" is going to suffer, now is when it will be the most likely. Good thing we can count on Sara, our wonderful hostess to keep things moving on despite life's busy-ness. And now, I am onto what's next! Oh, dear. Here goes...

Sustainability Festival

Our trip to the Ozark Sustainability Festival was an interesting and inspiring one. There was so much to see and learn about. Not that we, the parents of four tag-alongs, had the luxury of doing a whole lot of conversing. But we visually took in whole bunches! We really want to do this thing, as crazy as it may seem. We really DO want to live simpler, more sustainable lives. So we're looking for knowledge wherever we can.

We hadn't been there very long when Noah was approached by a gentleman who needed a little help with his handouts. Noah and Saylor both helped and each earned a dollar. 

For homemade ice cream! What else?!

Gabe certainly enjoyed his.

Then Paul and I split up for a bit. He went to a presentation on the use of solar energy, which is one method we plan to use when we, hopefully, "go off the grid." I went to one on seed saving techniques. I quickly discovered it wasn't for me people with brown thumbs. I endured it, but was left largely unimpressed. It ended early, so I joined the "cool" solar energy talk, which was way better. But the kids were ready to move on by then. (After all, they had just ridden for four hours. Who can blame them?) So we went off to visit the plethora of animals all around.

Y'all. Atticus is something else. Of course, we all already know that. But really. He is! He is not only intrigued by animals, he is also not at all intimidated by them. He's always been that way. Walks right up to my mom's huge greyhound! That sort of thing. Well, he was in animal-lover heaven at this event! It seems he thinks they're people, because he walks right up to them and starts jabbering away! Here are a couple of shots of him having a very nice conversation with a captive audience.  (Get it? Tap, tap, tap...Is this thing on?)

Saylor, who is ummm...not the animal-lover of the family found this cute, little dog and promptly fell in love with her. I think they sensed each other's princess-ness.

Noah was impressed by this blacksmith.

And I, as the homeschool teacher, was very excited for him to have the opportunity to see an anvil and how it is used in person! We've studied the Vikings and now medieval times, so it was nice to see somebody actually making tools, etc. in the same way people from long ago used to make them.

Rest assured, there is a pile of old metal stakes and rocks (to serve as anvils) in our front yard right now!

Then we got to see goats being milked and listen to a very knowledgeable woman speak about the benefits of drinking raw milk, how to store the milk, how to care for goats, and even how to make sure your glass jars are clean enough to store your milk. (Being a raw milk junkie, this was my favorite part of the day. Loved her!)

We gathered lots of names, numbers, and business cards. There were herbalists, merchants with handmade items and homemade yummies, and people teaching about how to dehydrate food to store it for indefinite periods of time. All of it was inspiring and encouraging and just what we needed.

One thing that cracked me up was that the "hippy" tent with all the hemp clothing for sale was right beside this tent:

One thing that's great about the Sustainable Movement is that it brings all kinds of people together. And what a great day to learn about how to better care for our own family. I mean, how can we knowingly look into these eyes...

...and ever again feed him anything less than the best we can find, grow, or make ourselves?

This post is linked with Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS, one of my all-time favorite blogs.