Simply Norma – Page 134

India Palace Restaurant

I went to the India Palace Restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota for their buffet lunch.

India Palace Restaurant, Woodbury, Minnesota

The restaurant looks small on the outside but has quite a bit of seating on the inside. They serve a buffet during the lunch hour which makes it worth going to — well, on the pocketbook, not on the waistline.

I started with a mango lassi which is a mixture of mango puree and yogurt. I was not disappointed. It was a good drink.

The buffet line has quite a few entrees along with rice and desserts. Since I like naan bread, that’s where I headed first. It was okay — I wish it had tasted a little fresher though. The bread was semi-burnt on the bottom and tasted a little soggy.

I sampled the tandoori chicken tikka which has chunks of boneless chicken breast marinated in ground spices with saffron. It was very good along with the white rice.

India Palace, Woodbury, Minnesota

From the desserts, I sampled the Kheer, a creamy rice pudding that has pistachios in it. This was really good although I didn’t taste as much pistachio as I had imagined it would have. Still — I went back for seconds.

Kheer, India Palace, Woodbury, Minnesota

The service was good although during the lunch hour people were standing near the front counter waiting to pay and it’s right next to the front door where people are coming in so it was a little hectic getting out.

I would definitely go back for their lunch buffet.

Seeking Advice

Ocean Crest Resort view from balcony, Moclips, Washington

So many times in my life, I sought advice from people — Pastors, friends, family, even acquaintances who I thought were “wise.”

Of course, I would weigh the advice against what my gut was telling me. Sometimes things worked out, other times they didn’t and I’d have to work through the bad advice.

What I’ve learned is that our lives are made up of experiences. Some good, some bad. So the advice we give or take is a conglomeration of those experiences. It doesn’t matter so much if we have a degree in psychology or psychiatry or family counseling. Everyone uses their past to make decisions in the present.

Consequently, advice can be tainted by our personal view.

And so it only seems appropriate to get advice from Someone whose view is not tainted. Who can see the end from the beginning. A Wonderful Counselor. That’s His title. His name is Jesus.

And He will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.

No tainted advice here. He only seeks for my good and if I follow His advice, I will experience the peace He offers no matter how many conflicts I go through.

House Hunting in Wisconsin

One of the fun things about house hunting is that there are so many varied homes in the Minnesota and Wisconsin areas.

Some of the homes are in neighborhoods with tall evergreen trees behind them, others have a prairie like acreage to them and still others are in communities where every house looks the same (with the exception of the car that may be in the driveway).

A home we saw today was very unique. The drive to get to the home was beautiful on a road that was tree lined on both sides.

This is the driveway to the home.

Hudson, Wisconsin

If you take a close peek, there are homes nestled among the trees.

Hudson, Wisconsin

The property has a bench where one can sit and meditate. It looks so peaceful.

Hudson, Wisconsin

Driving up to the home, you see all these steps that you think you’re going to have to climb in order to get in the front door. But they are on the side where the decks are.

Hudson, Wisconsin

Here is the front door. Wheeee!!! I thought I was going to exercise a lot today.

Hudson, Wisconsin

The inside of this home needs a lot of updating. This is a picture of the very old built-in microwave.

Hudson, Wisconsin

A beautiful fireplace graces the living room and windows show the treed view on the property.

Inside of Hudson, Wisconsin home

Fireplace inside Hudson, Wisconsin home

This home is perfect for someone who has a lot of money to use on updating it. The floors in the kitchen are brick and would have to be replaced along with the carpeting throughout the house.

A Tree of Life

The tongue. A small but powerful instrument of the body

A proverb in the Bible says, “The soothing tongue is the tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4

Lady Bird Johnson Park in Redwood, California

The soothing tongue. Words that come out of the mouth that smooth over hurts, disappointments, pain, mistreatments, discouragements. How much more of these tongues we need in this world.

The proverb speaks of them as the tree of life. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve ate from this tree and it gave them life.

We have the power to give life to other people by building them up or knocking them down — and it’s all in the way we use our tongue.

The House

In reading the Bible this morning, I read the Scripture found in the book of John 2:14-17.

In the temple courts He found people selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written “Zeal for your house shall consume me.”

I have always read this verse with the understanding that Jesus was concerned about the physical temple and what was happening in it. On the surface, this is correct. But I find a deeper meaning now when reading “zeal for your house shall consume me.”

As I continue reading, verse 19 of the same chapter it says, “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.”

Here Jesus refers to His body — the temple.

Just like Jesus reference to His body as the temple, so in this Scripture we find the same connotation.

What goes on in buildings called temples and churches was/is important to Jesus, but it’s the people who make things happen in these places. They can be holy or sacrilegious.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19

Zeal, as defined by dictionary.com, is fervent or enthusiastic devotion.

How comforting to know that the Creator of the universe has such zeal for me.

Vegetarian Curry

I made a very simple dinner last night.

Chopping vegetables is really the only time it takes.

Vegetables for Vegetarian Curry

I used the following vegetables in mine, but you can use whatever pleases your palate.

Broccoli, onion, mushrooms, scallops, 2 carrots, 1 large onion, green pepper, sweet potato, cabbage and green beans.

The amount you use will depend on how many people you are feeding.

Chop all ingredients into bite size pieces.
Add about 2 tablespoons olive oil to the bottom of a pan/pot and heat.
When hot, add the harder vegetables in and stir. (The ones that will take longer to cook like sweet potato, carrots, green beans)
Add 1/4 cup water so the vegetables don’t stick and stir again.
Heat the first batch of vegetables until they are halfway cooked.
Add the remaining vegetables (green onions, cabbage, onion, green pepper, mushrooms)
Add the curry sauce and 1 cup of water.
Stir all and heat through until the vegetables are cooked.

Vegetarian Curry with Thai Red Curry Sauce

Trader Joe’s Thai Red Curry Sauce

I served this with white rice and bread.

Sunsets Restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota

The Sunsets Restaurant was recommended to us by our Realtor, Bridget Crepeau.

Sunsets Restaurant, Woodbury, Minnesota

We were seated immediately when we entered and the waitress was very efficient throughout our visit.

Our entrees included salad and/or soup and bread. The Cream of Chicken Rice soup was said to be okay. The salad was good. I liked that they added sunflower seeds. The bread was also good.

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

House Salad with sunflower seeds at the Sunsets Restaurant

Bread served with the entree at the Sunsets Restaurant

Originally, I had wanted to order the Kung Pao Beef. Although this wasn’t an Asian restaurant, it sounded good. When asked, the waitress told me that the sauce is spicy so I opted out and had the

Chicken Stir Fry instead.

Chicken Stir Fry

Meatloaf ala Marsala

Broiled Walleye

The Chicken Stir Fry was really good. They didn’t have very many pieces of chicken but it wasn’t missed as the vegetables were really good.

The presentation of the Walleye was not very good. They served the garlic mashed potatoes on a separate little plate which left the the main dish looking like it was lacking in food. But the Walleye was good.

And the Meatloaf ala Marsala was also good.

There are many large screen TV’s in this restaurant so it’s not very cozy.

Overall our experience was good. Especially since we had a really nice waitress who kept checking in on us.

The Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love a song about His vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well
Then He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Isaiah, Chapter 5

A friend was pregnant with her first baby. She was ecstatic and was determined to do everything right. From the very start of her pregnancy, she ate only healthy food so that her baby would have the best start in his life.. No sugar, no refined flour, no white rice.

Once the baby was born, she continued to give him only the best foods and tended to him with tenderness as I had not seen before in my life. Holding him close, she would read to him and talk to him with a gentle voice. I had not seen that mother-son love exemplified until I saw it in her. What a beautiful example of what our Father can and does do for us.

He digs up the dirt in our hearts, plants the choicest vine of Jesus inside and proceeds to build a watchtower in the presence of the Holy Spirit to help us on our journey.

Then He waits for the crop of good grapes in our lives. Actions that portray to others His goodness and His love that they too may be blessed.

Sometimes we yield bad fruit and the three of them — Father, Son and Holy Spirit are saddened.

What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? Isaiah 5:4

Indeed, what more can our Father do for us?

If we were to daily ask that question, reminding ourselves of our blessings, we wouldn’t let the petty things in life get in the way. And anger, resentment, pride, selfishness would simply melt away.

Father — you can do nothing more. I need to continue to allow you to clear the stones from my heart and allow your peace and love to grow.

The Highway of Tears

In British Columbia, Canada, a section of Highway 16 is called the Highway of Tears.

Since 1969, many unsolved murders and disappearances of young women have occurred giving the highway it’s nickname. Eighteen of these show enough similarities that lead authorities to believe there is a link to tie the case together.

In a PBS Frontline article, Amnesty International is quoted as estimating that as many as 32 aboriginal Canadian women have gone missing in the last 3 decades.

I’m not sure how much coverage has been given to these murders and disappearances as I only heard about it recently and only because someone told me about it.

How tragic that all these lives have been lost and so many families have suffered the loss of their loved one.

To read the Wikipedia article click here.

House Hunting in Minnesota

A home we went to view, built in 2004, boasts this fantastic kitchen with top of the line appliances.

Kitchen in a Minnesota Home

The house is on one level with a lower level walkout. (A walkout means that there is a door that you can walk out of to leave the lower level.)

Very nice house. Have not decided yet if we will make an offer as it does not meet two of our requirements — a sun porch (they are common in Minnesota) and the property in the back views the backs of other homes in the neighborhood instead of being private.

Other than that — a very nice house. Oh — I said that already didn’t I?