For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:14-17

Friday, June 17, 2011

Please pray!

Please be praying for Sonia and her family as they are trying to bring home their 7th son home from China. Little "J" has severe heart conditions and needs to get home soon to receive treatment.  Sonia just welcomed home 2 boys from China in January. She's the only person I know that has more boys that I do ;-) and has a great outlook and sense of humor (living w/ lots of boys, you need it!) Please pray for this family, little "J" during this time, that the finances will be there quickly to get him home, that he will remains as healthy as possible while he waits.

My Etsy Shop

I've opened a shop on Etsy to help raise money for our adoption. Right now I have a few glass pendant necklaces for sale and hope to add more items soon. My seller name is WrittenOnMyHeart. I hope you'll check it out!

I'm linking to Kelly's Show Us Your Life.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Yummy Recipe

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes that will appeal to my family. I've gotten several from Mary, who is mom to 10--6 adopted, 4 from Ethiopia. One of the latest ones I've tried from her site is Ethiopian Sloppy Joes. It's easy, inexpensive and 4 out of the 6 (and E will eat it, it's just not one of his faves) of us love it...that's a win for me ;-) As we go down this adoption road we're trying to learn more about Ethiopia and that includes the food. Here's Mary's recipe:
Ethiopian Sloppy Joes

Preparation Time: 50 minutes

Serves 6
  • 2 large onions
  • 6 potatoes
  • 1 pound ground beef, already browned
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 cups tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 to 3 tsp cayenne pepper (add gradually, to taste) (I use 1/4-1/2 tsp for our taste)
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 4 cups water (I usually start w/ 3 then add more if needed)
Cook ground beef in a large heavy skillet and set it aside.  Wipe excess grease from skillet .  Peel onions and puree them in a food processor (or mince them very fine). Peel and mash garlic. Peel and chop potatoes into 1 inch cubes.
Heat oil in a large skillet and add pureed onions. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown a little.  Add garlic, tomato sauce, water, and potatoes.  Add the ginger, turmeric, cayenne, pepper and salt.  Mix well. Add cooked ground beef.
Stir and cook over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes.  The mixture will look a little watery at first, but water will gradually evaporate as potatoes cook. Add the butter during the last few minutes of cooking.  If potatoes stick to the bottom of the skillet even after adding butter, add another 1/2 cup of water and turn down the heat a little.  Dish is done when potatoes are cooked through.

A couple of notes: I just finely chop onions and garlic and do not add the butter at the end.

It's yummy on buns w/ fruit on the side. Enjoy!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Blessed!

Our family was blessed (again!) today by the birth of my great nephew...my sister's first grandbaby. While I'm sad I'm not able to be there with them to hug on my sweet niece (She was a trooper! It was a long, hard labor.) and kiss on that yummy newborn, I'm rejoicing that God has chosen to once again bless our family with a new life.  My Mama told me recently that her "wealth was in her family". I love that! She understands what blessings children are and what a privilege it is to get to raise them. She started off as mom to 3 (2 for a while...I was a late surprise) became mom to 8, grandmother to 25 and great-grandmother to 11 as of today (#12 is due in December). We're looking forward to the day when we get to add more blessings to the total...