me.

I’ve been worrying A LOT the past few days about A LOT of things,

yes, AGAIN!

For so many years after I gave my life to Jesus, I stopped being a worry-wart but in the past 3 years it has slowly gotten BAD again.

The things I’m worrying about are normal, I guess. It’s just, I KNOW that I can’t control the outcome of anything but I WANT to!

:sigh:

The Mr. and I have been talking about starting a family lately and we finally came to the decision that it’s time. No more BCP. Funny thing is even though I’m worried about how quickly we’ll be able to get pregnant, I’m more worried about what we’re gonna do once we ARE pregnant. LOL! I mean, no one is ever READY to have a child (so I’ve been told) and there apparently is never a GREAT time to have a child and you’ll never have ENOUGH money either. I mean we’re stepping out in faith and knowing that if God is ready for us to be parents that we will be parents soon, right?

Yea, for some reason,

I struggle with that word, FAITH and I ask myself WHY all the time. There’s no reason. I mean God has provided and shown me His love so often I should be an expert at NOT worrying by now, ya know?

As I’ve sat and prayed and LISTENED lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that
it’s FEAR that grips me.
FEAR of failure...period.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity,

but of power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

The truth of the matter is that fear isn’t even from God.
He doesn’t want me to be AFRAID. He already has a BIG PLAN!

“Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one!” Isaiah 44:8

He’s had a BIG PLAN before I was even born.
I, of course, blog and light bulbs go off for me.
Venting, ranting, sharing, putting it all down here, in a notebook.
It’s where I slowly begin to understand myself, God and others around me.

This was the verse of the day that I received in my e-mail today and it was just what I needed.

"…For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it.” Habakkuk 1:5

And even as I click the “publish” button, I am scared.

Marvelous Monday : Baby Back Ribs, Seasoned corn & Coleslaw

Baby Back Ribs, Seasoned corn & Coleslaw

I made two different flavored racks of ribs. The Pork Loin Back Ribs were on sale so I decided that it wasn’t going to hurt anyone…definitely not our stomachs anyway…LOL! I made a regular flavored BBQ rack and a spicy, sweet apricot BBQ glaze rack that I made myself.

Spicy, Sweet Apricot BBQ Glaze

• ¼ cup Polander Sugar-Free Apricot preserves
• ¼ cup KC Masterpiece original BBQ sauce
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp garlic red pepper sauce (found in the international aisle)
• Salt & pepper
  

Mix spices with the apricot preserves. Then add the BBQ sauce. Mix well.
Set aside at room temperature so that the flavors have some time to meld until your ribs are ready.

So, I started the ribs this afternoon when I got home from work. I unwrapped them, removed the membrane from the back and rubbed them down with a porkrub by McCormick, wrapped them in foil and put them in the fridge for 4 ½ hours. (We had an appointment with the Chiropractor so the time was perfect)

Got home and put an empty baking sheet in the oven and heated to 400 degrees.

Then, I placed the foil covered ribs on the HOT baking sheet in the oven concave side up for 1 hour.

I flipped the foil packets over for the 2nd hour. After the second hour I pulled the baking sheet out of the oven and cut open the foil and spread it open so that I could see the meaty part of the ribs all the way across.

Rack of Ribs 1—poured BBQ sauce on and spread evenly across the entire rack
Rack of Ribs 2—spooned over the Spicy, Sweet Apricot BBQ glaze and spread evenly

Then I placed the baking sheet back in the oven.
BROIL for 8-10 minutes.




The rest of the meal was easy and I set-up to get all of it started when I put the ribs into BROIL.
I opened a can of corn heated and seasoned with paprika, 1 Tbsp of "I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter", salt and pepper and a Garlic Onion medley.

The coleslaw was even easier!

I opened a bag of already washed and ready to serve coleslaw. I added 15 cherry tomatoes sliced in half and some salt and pepper.

Then in a small bowl I mixed 3 Tbsp of EVOO with 3 Tbsp of Lemon Juice, salt and pepper. Then I poured this over the coleslaw and tossed. (Don’t add the vinaigrette until you are ready to eat or it will start to cook the coleslaw pretty bad because of the lemon.

Voila!

Labor Day Weekend!

It was a VERY nice weekend. We didn’t go far, just an hour away and that was Friday night into Saturday. On Friday night we got dressed up and ate at P.F. Chang’s. It was soooo good. I had Chang’s Spare Ribs and shared Wonton soup with the Mr. We also had some lettuce wraps which were AMAZING! They tasted too good to be good FOR you though. There was no way I could deny THAT!

Saturday we spent in the shopping mall where P.F. Chang’s was and did a little shopping. Like, we went to Vitamin World . Ever since I started this low glycemic, low carb, low fat thing, my stomach has been a MESS! I’ll just say it, I have trouble “going!” It’s NOT fun and it makes for miserable moments. If you have any suggestions, let me know, PLEASE! We also went to DSW Shoes where I got a pair of Naturalizer shoes for $16. GREAT DEAL! Oh and of course we went to Barne’s & Noble where we bookworms got a few books.

Oooh, we had lunch at McAlister’s Deli. The first time I had McAlister’s was in San Antonio and I was sad that we didn’t have one in the valley. (The Mr. Had never been)Well, apparently we have one now! They have GREAT sweet tea. I personally like it better than Rudy’s sweet tea.

Saturday evening we went to the Outlet Mall. I really love that place! We did a little damage but mostly only got what was needed. Unfortunately, shoes for the Mr. can be pretty pricey because he mostly goes for comfort rather than style but it’s not like we buy them ALL the time. I got a few new T-Shirts and a belt. Ah, I needed a new one. We had to make holes in the other one because it was too big so now, my belt fits! YAY!

Sunday we spent at home doing absolutely NOTHING demanding. The Mr. played video games and I played MY video game, The Sims 3. That game is addictive! It’s really kind of weird when you think about that game too. I mean basically you are controlling this little person’s life. You make it eat, go to bathroom, take a shower, get a job, get married, have babies. It’s crazy! LOL, but kinda fun.

Yesterday we went to the in-laws house and I made Baby Back Ribs. Great food, and happy in-laws. Who could ask for more?

So, Marvelous Monday’s food was Baby Back Ribs but I didn’t take any pictures so, I guess I’ll have to make them again next week. I’m sure the Mr. won’t mind AT ALL!

Hope ya’ll had a great Labor Day weekend!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Some real stuff

So, we’re getting some much needed time off this weekend.

I’m looking forward to spending a few days, ALONE with the Mr.
The great thing about our relationship is that we can sit in silence together, doing nothing, reading, writing, thinking, dreaming, planning. Not many people can do that.

SO, as we “disconnect” this weekend, please pray for us. Pray for REAL rest.

--cut to silent thoughts--

I just finished reading Mossy Lou’s blog and have been sitting here in tears at my desk. The tears have been coming for some days now.

This world is so sad without Jesus. Every single day we experience people who have no idea who He is, or what he’s done for us AND even WE take Him for granted.

I’ve taken Him for granted lately. The worst part is I KNOW that I've been taking Him for granted.

Like someone at small group said last night, “I feel as though I’ve started to turn my back on Him.” I don't want that though, that's the LAST thing I want.

With my job comes much burden and so I never stop praying BUT I feel like I haven’t been listening lately.

I have no excuses but I do KNOW that I won’t give up, I’m hanging on.

I’m grateful that His mercies are new EVERY morning and that I can start over today.

Please pray for me.

Marvelous Monday: Turkey Zucchini Meatloaf & Cauliflower Mash

So, the Mr. wanted meatloaf. I LOVE meatloaf but I knew that if I was gonna make meatloaf it was gonna be TURKEY meatloaf. (We’re trying to cut back on the beef!) The Mr. was okay with turkey meatloaf. Then I was thinking, “But I don’t want it to be BORING meatloaf” so I started looking online for something that wasn’t so boring and decided on Turkey Zucchini Meatloaf. I used THIS RECIPE from epicurious.com and pretty much followed it except no parsley and I subbed Panko bread crumbs for seasoned bread crumbs. (less sodium) The last 20 minutes in the oven I topped it with Tomato & Basil Marinara sauce.

I once again tried to get the Mr. to eat cauliflower…he ate what I put on his plate but he wasn’t gonna have another serving. Oh well! I tried :)

Cauliflower Mash

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 4oz low fat cream cheese
• 4 slices of center-cut bacon (cooked & crumbled)
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp butter (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
• 1 tsp salt
• Ground pepper to taste
• ½ tsp of Dill weed

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower and steam in about a ½ cup of water for 15 minutes on medium-high.

Then mash the cauliflower and mix in the butter, the cream cheese, panko bread crumbs, bacon crumbles, cheddar cheese, salt and some ground pepper (to taste). Then pour into the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a pie pan. Sprinkle with Dill weed and a light sprinkle of bread crumbs to give some golden color.

Bake for 15 minutes , then broil for 1 minute to toast the top up.

Mm…I was VERY happy with this meal! My brother in-law came over for dinner too and well, he ate what would have been leftovers so, I’d say it was a hit!

I hope you get the chance to make one of these. Delish!

~Mrs. Galvan~