Simply Norma – Page 156

Toyota Venza

Took my car in today for new shocks/struts. Got tired of bouncing in the car and looking for a smoother ride.

We’ll be in the market for a new car soon. One that has All Wheel Drive, AWD.

I’ve test driven the Toyota Venza. It’s a nice car although a bit pricey and of course, they had me drive the one that had ALL the options with the exception of navigation.

We may wait until the beginning of January to shop — before our move to the Midwest.

Pollo Guisau aka Pollo Guisado or Chicken Stew

I made pollo guisau for dinner tonight aka chicken stew.

It’s a Puerto Rican recipe that I received from my mother.

Very easy to make — as easy as biftec (steak).

There are 2 parts to this recipe — first is what we call sofrito. Sofrito is a blended mixture of vegetables.

To make Sofrito you will need:

2-3 garlic cloves, skin removed
1 small onion, skin removed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 green pepper, pitted and cut into bite-size pieces
1 bunch cilantro, cut the whole bottom of the bunch off (most of the stems), wash in water
Blender

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend.

Should look like this and you should get approximately 2 cups (you can freeze the leftovers)

Sofrito

Additional Ingredients:

Chicken, 6 drumsticks, 3 skinless and 3 boneless chicken breasts.

3 red potatoes, rinsed and diced large

green olives

8 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 Teaspoon oil

Sazon (a Puerto Rican spice – see picture below)

In a large pot, add oil. Wait until it gets hot.

Add Sofrito (I used 1 cup but you can use less if you wish. Depends on how much taste you want)

Add 1/2 of the tomato sauce

Add 1 package Sazon

Stir

Your mixture should look like this:

Add the clean chicken, green olives and cut potatoes

Add water to cover all

Heat to boil

Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Slugs

For many years I thought slugs were beautiful creatures.

Until they started eating my plants.

I spotted this huge one while on a walk.

Slug

Dreams

Yesterday I prayed for God’s protection on my family.

Last night I had a dream. Most people don’t take dreams seriously but I believe there is a direct connection sometimes.

In my dream I was visiting my sister in Chicago. We were scheduled to go out to dinner but my husband and I forgot so we decided to go swimming.

We went to an indoor pool and signed in. The pool was really deep — maybe 10-15 feet. As we were preparing to go into the pool we realized we hadn’t come prepared. No towels.

But, we jumped in anyway. We swam the length of the pool a few times.

There was a young girl there at a table and she said to us “would you like to swim in the pool a different way?” We said “sure!”

She emptied the water from the pool and left only 3 feet. When we looked down, there were alligators at the bottom. Several alligators.

When we first got in we didn’t notice them at all. But there they were.

She looked at us in utter amazement. “I didn’t know they were there!” she yelled.

Her supervisor came in and said “I signed for them and they weren’t alive so I threw them in the bottom of the pool.”

Needless to say we didn’t go back into the pool.

I believe God affirmed His protection in response to my prayer.

Coincidence? There would just be too many coincidences in my life if I were to attribute it to that.

Ask, He says, and you shall receive.

In the Bible, in the book of Daniel, Chapter 2, a man by the name of Daniel has a dream. That dream tells the history of our world from Babylon to the end of time. Prophecy has come true.

God can and does use dreams to speak to us.

How can I not believe?

www.biblica.com

Lake Roesiger/Trees

Sabbath is just about over. A restful day. I wish everyone could feel the peace that Sabbath brings.

We headed out this morning for a walk around Lake Roesiger Park in Snohomish County. We were just a wee bit disappointed.

Lake Roesiger .

The lake is beautiful although you can’t walk around it — only drive.

The park, such as it is, really can’t be reached as there is a boy scout camp that takes up most of one side.

We took a drive and found this old barn. I’ve always wanted to remodel a barn. But, so far, that has not been my destiny.

Ultimate Guide: Barns, Sheds & Outbuildings

After the drive, we went back to the lake and walked across to the park where we walked through a closed campsite. The campsite has not been taken care of. We stepped on strawberry plants and pine needles. Soft.

What impressed me the most were the trees. I enjoy looking at trees.

Here are a few of the ones I took pictures of with my cell phone:

Trees intermingled. We humans have a harder time mingling. This picture reminds me to try and flow with what happens in life without resisting. One learns to have that peace in Christ.

The light filtering through the trees represent hope to me. In the midst of darkness (hurt, negativity, war, shame, anger, etc) we can find a light that shines in our heart that lets us know that there is more to life.

The path in life is not always smooth. We walk weaving in between struggles, joy, loneliness, happiness … human frailties and strengths. But in the end, the journey finds us satisfied if we take life one step at a time.

This scene was most fascinating to me. A tree had fallen between two trees. And yet, the two trees remain standing. A crack in our human lives does not mean we have to fall. Rather we can stand tall.

Ahhh, to be like trees. There are many lessons we can learn as we take our walks in life.

Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Revised and Updated (Golden Field Guide from St. Martin’s Press)

Basil Pasta

Friday. Ever since I started keeping the Sabbath over 29 years ago, Fridays have become interesting.

My body automatically slows down by evening time. It feels restful.

I like to make my favorite food for Friday dinners. One of them is this basil pasta.

I start by using a Christmas present — a blue pot given me as a gift by my son from Williams Sonoma.
(But you can get them other places too.) It’s called Le Creuset. A must have in every kitchen.

Le Creuset

I keep it on the stovetop all the time as it’s used quite often.

Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French Oven, Red

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and it has never failed me.

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked linguine (but I’ve used 12 oz with a pinch more butter)
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
6 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, in a medium sized bowl, combine all the other ingredients except the butter.

Drain pasta and toss with butter.
Add basil/tomato mixture.
Toss to coat.

Basil Pasta

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Teriyaki

Ahhh, this is a really nice recipe. I use Worthington Vegetarian Skallops.

You sometimes have to ask where they are in the store. A lot of times they are in the natural foods section.

Recipe:

1 can Worthington Vegetable Skallops, halved

3 tbsp oil

Cornstarch

Put oil in frying pan on low heat.

Put small amount of cornstarch in a bowl (enough to coat the skallops).

Toss skallops in cornstarch.

Add to frying pan and increase heat to medium.

You can have the skallops as crispy or non-crispy as you like.

Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1/4 cup water or juice from skallops

After the skallops are as crispy as you like them, pour the

sauce over the skallops and stir well on low heat until the sauce has evaporated.

Advocates for Seniors

When I was younger, I had a boyfriend who had the most wonderful mother.

I kept in touch with her throughout the years. Every time I would visit Chicago she would more than likely get a visit from me.

The last few times I went to see her she was not well. She lives with one of her sons and he was being neglectful of her.

She had a rooster and birds that were allowed to roam freely through the house.

And she was suffering from onset dementia.

She used to have her own room. Now she was sleeping on the living room couch as her son had taken over her bedroom. Never mind that there are 3 bedrooms in the apartment. The other two were filled with junk piled high — clothes and everything else you can think of.

Last time I was there, she was shredding meat by hand in the living room. When the rooster would come over she would put the food down and pet her rooster. Then (without washing her hands) she would go back to preparing the meat.

Her son thought nothing was wrong with this.

The apartment reeked of bird feces as the carpet, walls and couch was filled with the feces.

You’d walk in and pray that you could breathe for more than 5 minutes.

She was now unkempt, smelled of urine and her home was no longer clean like she used to keep it.

Recently another son went to court to get custody of her so that he could make sure she was well taken care of. It was denied.

How heartbreaking this is. To live your life giving to others and then to have it end like this.

She hasn’t passed away yet. I can only hope that she is not able to recognize all that’s going on and that she is in no physical pain.

What a tragedy! We need more advocates for seniors. If I didn’t live so far away …

Life as it unfortunately is …

Tuna Casserole

Another recipe. This tuna casserole tastes delicious.

Today I tried it with 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 skim milk because I had whole milk left over from another recipe. It gave the casserole a much smoother texture. But it works well with skim milk also.

4 tablespoons butter

4 level tablespoons flour

1 tsp. celery salt

1 can Tuna (or tuno for vegetarians)

12 ounces noodles (penne, spiral, etc.)

Shredded cheese

2 cups milk

3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Bread crumbs (optional)

Sauce:

Heat butter until soft. Add flour and stir with whisk until smooth.

Add milk. Stir. Add celery salt. Stir.