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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Recipe of the week: Mango Chicken Curry

This is pretty easy to make and has lots of flavor.  I use red curry paste but I'm sure you could use another color if you like it more mild.  I made it once with zucchini instead of the peas, it was good but I like the peas better.  If you try it, let me know what you think.  A Vorte Sante!

1 Tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small pieces
2 cups chopped cauliflower
1 cup peas (I used frozen)
1 cup chopped mango (I used frozen)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red curry paste
1 can light coconut milk

In a large skillet saute onion in oil, add chicken and cook over medium heat until the chicken is mostly done.  Add cauliflower cook for 2-4 minutes, then add peas and mango.  Stir in red curry paste, then add coconut milk and salt, stir until the curry paste is combined.  Cook until the cauliflower is tender.  Serve with rice or flatbread.  

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Paradoxes of life...

Life is full of so many paradoxes.  Jade is home this weekend to celebrate her birthday with the family and to attend a funeral.  The stuff of life and death, *sigh*. 




Even the saddest things can become, once we have made peace with them, a source of wisdom and strength for the journey that still lies ahead. ~Frederick Buechner


Tomorrow we're celebrating 19 years of life with our precious Jade.  She is an amazing woman who taught me what it is to love.  Today we will gather with the Ouellette family to remember Kaitlin and celebrate her life.


Please continue to pray for this family.  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaitlinouellette/journal


Have you ever had one of those moments where you think to yourself "I'm going to need this"?  An experience or something that you can draw on when you need it.  I think of those, as moments of beauty.  I hope you have one of those moments today.


Ciao.

Monday, January 17, 2011

My favorite MLK quotes

Here in the U.S. today is Martin Luther King Jr day.  A day where we recognize a man whose life's mission was for equal rights for all.  Here are some of my favorite quotes by him....


"Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."


"I have decided to stick with love...hate is too great a burden to bear."


"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."


"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."


"The time is always right, to do what is right."


"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."


"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."


There is so much beauty in Martin Luther King Jr's words, I hope that you seek and find it.


Ciao

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I didn't think it would end this way.


My friend's 21 year old daughter died this morning just before 4 am. This is what she posted on their blog:  

Pippin: I didn’t think it would end this way.
Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path… One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass… And then you see it.
Pippin: What? Gandalf?… See what?
Gandalf: White shores… and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
Pippin: Well, that isn’t so bad.
Gandalf: No… No it isn’t.

Please pray for the Ouellette family as they learn to live without their precious Kaitlin.  For more information go to: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaitlinouellette/journal

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Friday, January 7, 2011

A Thousand Marbles

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.

Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first
to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at
work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are
most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a
steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the
other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one
of those lessons that life could only give you every once and a
while.

I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a
Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with
a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be
in the broadcasting business himself.

He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named
"Tom."

I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm
sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from
home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow
should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends
meet.

Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."

He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has
helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."

And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand
marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic.
The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some
live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about
seventy-five years."

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900
which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in
their entire lifetime.

Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part."

"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all
this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived
through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking
that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand
of them left to enjoy."

"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they
had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up
1000 marbles.

I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic
container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every
Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it
away."

"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more
on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run
out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you
and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took
the very last marble out of the container.

I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given
a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a
little more time."

"It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with
your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday.

Have a good morning!"



You could have heard a pin drop when he finished.

Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few
moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about.

I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the
gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.

"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What
brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special,
it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together
with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out?

I need to buy some marbles."


~Author Unknown~

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Epiphany Blessing

We decided to do an Epiphany Blessing this evening.  I drew 20+C+M+B+11  (May Christ bless this house), on the door jam of our house in chalk.  


"Bless, O Lord, Almighty God, this home, that in it there may be health, chastity, strength of victory, humility, goodness, and industry, a fullness of law and the action of graces through God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and that this blessing may remain on this home and on those who frequent it. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."


Happy Epiphany.  I hope your day has been blessed and beautiful.


Ciao.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

You just never know...

I realized earlier that I didn't have a 2011 calendar, so while I took the kids to Walmart I looked for one.  I found a beautiful one with quotes from Billy Graham.  You just never know when you're going to get a message from God.  This one came on the cardboard in the middle of my calendar.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


When the time was right, 
the sea parted,
the walls fell down,
the lions went hungry,
the sun stood still,
the waves were calm,
the stone was rolled away,
the clouds were parted,
the Lord ascended...
And when the time is right,
the King of Kings will return.

God is never early and He's never late-- He's always right on time and His plan for you is good.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you and hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

May this be a word of encouragement for the year for you.

Ciao.