Make Ahead Egg Muffin Sandwiches

Looking for an easy way to make breakfast ahead of time?  Look no longer!  These sandwiches are easy to make and heat up.  

Ingredients:

English muffins

Eggs

Sliced Cheese

Meat if desired

Salt and Pepper

Jumbo Muffin pans--normal cupcake pans do not work as they end up too small

Procedure

Toast muffins in the broiler.

Spray jumbo muffin pans with spray oil

Place one egg in each muffin holder and gently prick with a fork to allow the yolk to spread a little.

Salt and pepper eggs

Bake at 375 until eggs are set.

Place eggs on toasted english muffins and top with a slice of cheese.

Wrap with aluminum foil if reheating in the oven. (large quantities)

Wrap with plastic wrap if reheating individually in the microwave.
Place them back in the muffin bag they came in, label, and freeze.  

If reheating in the oven, I like to turn the oven on the lowest setting of about 170 degrees a while before I'm ready to serve.  Then, whenever I get around to it, they are ready.  If I get distracted, they just keep warm rather than burning:)

Tips for making large batches.

Start with toasting all the muffins and set aside in proper pairs.

Start your first batch of eggs baking.

While eggs are baking, tear off appropriate-sized aluminum foil sheets and place in a line on counter.

Go ahead and place english muffins in the center of each aluminum foil sheet.

Place cheese slices on muffins.

When eggs are finished, place on muffins and start the next batch.  If you have a couple of pans, you can easily make a large batch of these.  Wrap them in the foil, place them back in the muffin bag they came in, label them and relax for breakfast!

Living a Significant Life

I've been to a several funerals in the last few years, but one funeral gave me a lot to think about.  Generally, when I go to a funeral, grief is evident everywhere while treasured memories of the deceased are shared among family and friends.

At this funeral, however, the one feeling that I carried with me as I left the church was that it appeared that

almost no one was sorry or sad.  I saw very few tears and really, the whole occasion just seemed to be an effort at how quickly everyone could get done with the event and go home.

I knew the deceased, and I knew that he was not "bad" in the sense that everyone was left with bad or abusive memories.  Rather, although he was quite successful in many business areas of life, he had apparently not been a significant person in the lives of those around him.  While he had left an inheritance of money and possessions, he had apparently not left a lifetime of relationship memories.  Somehow he had failed to be significant in the lives of those around him while still being successful in the business world.

He had long since retired so very few if any of his business associates attended his funeral.  Rather, it was his close family and friends, and of those who attended, it seemed to be apparent that his life had not centered around them.

I don't like to cause people grief, but I do want people to be sad at my funeral.  I want them to feel they have suffered a great loss.  I want them to be joyful because I have gone to heaven, but I want to be such a significant person in many people's lives that there is great sorrow when I'm gone.  I want to be a friend and a mother or a daughter or sister that is missed, because it is a tragedy--even a wasted life--if at the end of life, no one is sorry or there is no loss felt.   What is a life for if when it is done, no one cares if you are gone?

Being significant comes from everyday choices--choices to be involved in the lives of others rather than spend time on myself.  It comes from giving up what I want to do to be with others and do what they want to do.  It comes from spending less time, energy and money on things, and more on people.  It comes from the example of Jesus who gave up his whole life to invest in the lives of others and brought significance to the world through his life.  I pray that God will help me live my life so that many will feel they have lost someone very significant when I'm gone!

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

If you are looking for a fun recipe for a picnic or camp out or even a church event, try this homemade ice cream in a bag. 

Place ice cream mix in a sandwich sized ziploc bag.  Then place filled bag into a larger quart sized bag and surround with ice and3/4 Cup salt. Seal both bags securely and shake for about 5 minutes.  Your ice cream will solidify as you shake it.  Enjoy!

Ice Cream Mix

Combine and mix well

1 Cup Whole Milk

2-3 Tbls Evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 Cup sugar

Strawberries or other fruit

Serves one

For making large quantities, use this recipe.  Serves 80

4 Gallon Whole Milk

4 cans evaporated milk

1 1/4 Cup vanilla

16 Cups sugar

Fruit of your choice

Plenty of salt for the ice

Remember the Bad Days--they won't last forever

This past week, I was visited by a stomach virus, and as I lay in bed, I had a few thoughts that I decided  I would share especially with young mothers.  Now considering that these thoughts came to me during my fight with a stomach bug, one might think that they wouldn't be unusually profound, but hopefully they will bring

some encouragement to someone today.

Recently, I read Deuteronomy chapter 8 in my devotions, and a particular truth stood out to me.  Moses is giving advice and warnings to the people of Israel in chapters 6 through 8.  He is also reminding them of their great journey through the wilderness and all the great things that God did for them as well as all the difficult things that He brought them through.  He reminded them of the miracles that God performed for them in providing food and water and protection for them.  He also reminded them of the dangers they faced as well as the difficulties they encountered.  Then he encouraged them to never forget God as they continue their lives.  One might even say it was family story night as they recalled their lives together.

As I lay in bed in bed trying to sleep away the sickness, my husband came in and took the baby monitor so I couldn't hear the baby when she woke up, and my older children got the younger ones dressed and took them to the park.  I was able to recover fairly quickly as I had uninterrupted recovery time in my quiet room. As I lay there, I remembered that it wasn't always this way.

My mind went back to the long, often discouraging days of young motherhood.  If I were to look back and find my darkest days in life, many of them would be found in those early days of motherhood.   Although I have many wonderful and cherished memories of when my first children were young, I also remember the difficult days.  I remember days when I struggled for weeks and months on end with an condition that took years to get properly diagnosed.  During those days, I had little help.  I lived far from my mother.  Rick had a job that kept him away from home.  On those days when I really struggled with my health, the baby still needed cared for and naps were often just not a possibility.  I know from experience that little, energetic children don't slow down just because mom needs to!  They don't make their own meals when mom's having a rough day, and they still need drinks every three and a half minutes it seems...

Yes, I remember those days when I enjoyed that season of life and the little ones that God graciously gave me, but the actual working out of those days in my life were often difficult and dark days because I often was weary and not feeling well.

God encourages us to remember those days as well as the good times.  Why?  I think He wants us to thank Him for the grace and strength that He gave during those times, but He also wants us to remember those around us who are currently going through the same challenges.

This morning, I want to encourage those of my friends who struggle--perhaps with very little help or encouragement.  Things will get better.  Those little ones who needed a drink every three and a half minutes will lightly tap on your door with a cold drink.  The ones who couldn't fathom why you didn't want to go to the park will bless you with extra care as you recover.

This past Mother's Day, my children bought me a garden fountain which I thoroughly enjoy.  It is situated outside our bedroom door where I can hear its noise as I go to sleep at night.  It more than makes up for all the sleepless nights I endured, and all the naps I missed during those darker days.  It's not worth it because of the beauty of the fountain, but because of their love that it reminds me of every time I see it.

If you are having a rough day, be encouraged that dark days don't last forever.  In order to appreciate the light at the end of the dark tunnel, one has to be in the dark for a while.  If you can always see a little ray of light while you are going through a dark tunnel, you can't appreciate  the light.  But if you walk in the dark for days and days trusting that someday the light will reappear, you know the joy of seeing just that one tiny spot of light.  Hopefully this little post today will be a tiny ray of light for your day!

Start Your Day the Evening Before

Spring is finally coming to North Carolina, and one of the highlights of spring for me is being able to get up early, start the day, and enjoy some time working

outside in my yard and garden. Many times, I have not been able to enjoy the early mornings during the spring of the year because early morning rising has been interrupted by a difficult pregnancy or a newborn. This year, however, I am enjoying the smells and sounds of spring as well as uninterrupted devotion and worship with the Lord, early in the morning.

This morning when I got to my chair, I saw a chapter of my husband's new book, "Morning Momentum--How to Wake Up, Get Up, and Start your Day Right!" He had placed it there for editing, but instead it became a part of my devotional time with the Lord. I think you would enjoy a small paragraph that I found especially challenging as a busy mother. 

"Giving God the 'first fruits' is the starting place for Biblical money management. But I believe it also applies to time management. As we discovered in the last chapter, seeking God is a 'big rock' that has to come first, or it never seems to fit in. As a rule, getting it in the soonest possible slot after you are dressed and alert is the best strategy.

Not giving Him the first fruits means we are leaving God our leftovers. Maybe you've had the experience of opening the refrigerator and seeing something green. The problem is it wasn't green when you put it in there. It is a leftover, and leftovers are never as good as first servings. Sometimes we even feed them to the dog. 

Rising early to meet God may require sacrifice on your part. If it does, you will be in good company. King David, who wrote, "O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee" also said he would not make an offering to the Lord "of that which cost me nothing." II Samuel 24:24 Surely God is pleased when we love Him enough to 'sacrifice' an extra hour of sleep to spend time with Him!"

You can also enjoy those early minutes with the Lord before so many other things begin clamoring for your time. The only way that I am able to get up early in the morning is to begin the evening before. After our evening meal, I begin planning for bedtime. What time do I need to get the children in bed so that I can get to bed on time? When do I need to start bedtime routines in order for this goal to be accomplished?

By purposely avoiding beginning late night projects or last minute shopping trips, I convey to the Lord that He is more important to me than anything else as I plan for my most important appointment of the day by beginning the evening before. Going to bed early does cost me something. It costs planning and arranging my day to fit in the most important events and leaving off everything else. It means choosing to not do some things in order to do the most important thing. It means that my whole day revolves around getting ready for that early time with God the next day and guarding it carefully so that it can happen. "Morning by morning new mercies I see--Great is thy Faithfulness!"

If you want to get more ideas on managing your time, like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LifeChangingSeminars

Mobile Apps for Family Organization

If you want to get organized in the New Year, consider the benefits of SkyDrive for keeping your family organized. If you are not familiar with Microsoft's SkyDrive, it is basically a free site where people can share files with others. It is used for many different purposes. Schools and churches use it to share files with their members or students. Businesses and organizations also use it to easily allow employees to access files from any location. Families can easily become more organized by combining the power of mobile devices such as phones or ipods/ipads and Sky Drive. For example, you can access a sample copy of our family's grocery list at this link. https://skydrive.live.com/edit.aspx/Public/Shopping%20List--Sample?cid=8f67e aa3276e47ba&id=documents?& Both my husband and I can share this file as well as our older children that have mobile devices. When I need an item at the store, I can check it off on the list and it automatically synces with everyone's mobile devices. An easy way to accomplish this is by using the free One Note App from Itunes. If someone buys the item while at the store, they can mark it off and again, it automatically updates again on everyone's devices. By combining One Note and SkyDrive, your family can stay up to date in a multitude of ways. Let us know if you have found ways to stay organized using your mobile devices!

Sometimes God Heals in Different Ways!

This post is way off topic for me, but I thought that some parents out there might benefit from it so here it is...

About one year ago, I woke up to find one of my sons having what I thought was a seizure. Both of us were sleeping in the living room. I was on the sofa because I was a miserable nine months pregnant, and my son had come out in the night and slept across the room. I woke up to some noise and saw him. Since I had no experience with seizures, and I was really scared, we called 911. By the time they arrived things were calmed down, and we ended up taking him to the E.R. where they didn't even seem to think he had really experienced a seizure. I knew what I had seen, but what could I say? We decided to just wait and see what would happen next.

He continued to have similar episodes periodically--but only when sleeping. We made an appointment with a neurologist and since the wait was a couple of months before he could get in, we continued to observe and pray. I had a real feeling that his problem was not a disease per se, but some type of reaction or event being triggered by something he was coming in contact with. I began to carefully observe what he was doing and eating and when he was having seizures. Before we got in to see the neurologist, however, things got worse. He was averaging about three night seizures a week, and one night he had two in the same night.

At this point, I was worn out mentally because these episodes really stressed me out. I began to seriously pray about this problem asking the Lord to show us what to do . One night after everyone else was in bed, I was praying about the problem and as I prayed, I felt clearly that the Lord was going to take care of the problem. A couple of nights later he had another seizure. This was difficult for me because I had felt so sure that God was going to answer my prayer. However, as he was having a seizure I took his hand, and as I did, I saw he had shoe polish stain all over his hand. As I saw it, I immediately felt God speak to me as I have very few times in my life. I can probably count on one hand the times that I have felt God speak so clearly. I felt that he was saying that this was the cause. There is no scientific or reasonable explanation for me to know what I felt, but I felt that this was something I needed to follow up.

Since I knew that he rarely polished his shoes, I knew that the shoe polish itself was definitely not what God was trying to show me. I went in to my computer and began to research and pulled up tons of sites showing the connection between some childhood night time seizures and food coloring. My mind began to connect the dots. I had taken careful observations so now I could reflect on their significance.

That first seizure (which was a more significant seizure) was after eating a significant amount of red velvet chocolate cake. Of course, with Joy's new venture into cake decorating, there were frequently samples of brightly colored pieces of cakes that needed to be eaten by someone...

That day, I decided that whatever we had to do, we were immediately taking him off of all food coloring. I did not think that he was allergic to all food coloring. However, things were in such a state, that I felt that we had to remove all possibilities before trying to single out the culprit.

Beginning that day, his seizures went from averaging three a week to NONE. Weeks went by, and I carefully watched his diet and he had NONE. After about six weeks, we decided to go to Golden Corral for a prize that he earned. Since we still couldn't completely convince ourselves that we had really found the culprit (perhaps it was a really big fluke?), we decided to basically let him get what he wanted. Well, you know what kids get...the brightest colored things--gummies, jellos, etc. That night we paid for it big time and I for several nights afterward. Once we got past that serious of episodes, we just decided that there could be little more debate about the real cause.

We finally got to see the neurologist, and told him our story. He agreed to let us continue with the diet plan although he didn't think it would continue to work, and suggested meds.

Well, to make a long story just a little shorter...it has continued to work. It has been a huge amount of work to eliminate these colorings from his diet. I never could have imagined how much coloring was in our foods, and I think our family already eats a whole lot healthier than the typical family. Even after I eliminated all coloring from his diet, he still had a few episodes after soaking in the tub in cosmetics that were (you guessed it) full of coloring.

Now I know this whole thing sounds really absurd to a lot of people. However, facts show that the day we changed his diet, the seizures stopped. Not only have his seizures stopped, but he's had great changes in behavior. So much so, that someone who didn't know of this situation commented about how much he had matured, and then I told them the story.

Why am I telling everyone our story? Not to start a campaign against food coloring! I have enough to do in life that has more purpose than to devote myself to ostracizing the food industry. I am saying this because there might be some parents out there for whom this information might benefit. My son struggles with the things we have had to limit him from; however, I tell him that I am so thankful that the Lord showed us what was causing the problem. We are blessed because his problem was so obvious. While these ingredients were damaging his body, they could have damaged his body in a silent way and one day we would have woke up to a serious illness or other life threatening situation.

While this one son is completely banned from these colorings, our whole family has adopted a much more conservative approach also to these ingredients. After all, while one child's reaction could be obvious, another child's reaction might not be known for years when it's too late.

There it is...I've put my hat in the ring along with the quacko's and those sponsoring "Food Incorporated." However, thank the Lord, I do have a child that is free of medicine, free of seizures, and in the end has a much healthier diet. Send me your comments...I would love to hear them!