Chicken Tomato Salad

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• 4 small tomatoes on the vine (or 4 handfuls of grape-sized tomatoes)
• Equal volume of mozzarella cheese, diced (or feta, Baby Bel, provolone)
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
• 1 breast roasted chicken, diced (or tuna, salmon, crab, sardines)
• Spices to taste
• Fresh basil leaves (or mint)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

Get yourself a serving bowl and a cutting board.  I grabbed four small tomatoes on the vine and sliced them.  They’re only about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  I love the grape-sized tomatoes too.  If you prefer, you could use about four handfuls of those and leave whole, or if you’re patient, cut in halves.  One great big tomato will do too, but then you’ll need to dice it.  Add about an equal amount of mozzarella cheese, diced.  If you don’t have any on hand, a feta or Baby Bel or provolone should work well, too.  Whichever cheese you choose, pick one that’s not too hard like a comte or too soft like a triple cream brie.

I always have sun-dried tomatoes at the ready.  They add some really nice flavor which you adjust from mild to strong simply by the amount you use.  This time I used about 10, which I minced.  I had a beautiful roasted chicken on hand, so I put in a whole breast, also diced.  Here, instead of the roasted chicken you could substitute tuna, salmon, crab or sardines.  They would all taste great too, so just use what you happen to have and love.

Add some dried spices like Chef Emeril’s Bam, or 21-Spice No Salt Seasoning.  No worries if you don’t have any, just add your favorite spices to taste like thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, some onion and garlic powder.  Add fresh sweet basil leaves.  We love basil so I put in lots, fresh from our yard.  Mint leaves would work very nicely, too.

Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar.  Toss the whole salad and it’s ready!  Try it. I know you’ll love it and it’s real healthy.  Any leftovers can be turned into a great sandwich, too.

Enjoy!  Bon appetit!

And Jesus Rebuked Him And The Boy Was Cured At Once

This is a deformed tree pod which I found in Flickr’s public files. I immediately thought it looked rather nasty, so I searched for a demon Bible verse. Do you see him sticking out his tongue at us? Maybe you’ll think I have a bit of an over active imagination, or maybe you’ll agree with me. 🙂 Either way, I hope you like my Word-Filled Wednesday and I wish you a fantastic week. Blessings to all of you. For more participants, visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods.

The Lord My God Illuminates My Darkness

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We love because He first loved us!

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My Beloved Is Like A Young Stag

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BibleShared Will Work For You

I’ve been using a new and free Bible reading program on-line and it has been a real blessing so I’m sharing BibleShared with you. Here’s what you can do with it:

• Each verse provides a link to write notes in the margin.
• Margin notes can be shared with the whole group, or a select few.
• The recent notes list shows what people have been reading and writing about.
• Notes can be filtered by the topic they are related to.
• Comments help open up a dialogue about the Scriptures.
• Bible reading progress is tracked as chapters are read.

You’ll also like to know that the creator of this program is a nice person. Rev. Nick Hauenstein is the youth director for his church. He came by my blog recently to comment on some of my posts about The Purpose Driven Life and he had this to say about BibleShared, “Until the last few years of my life, I’ve felt weird about writing in my Bible, but then I found so much value in it. Having BibleShared.com has added to that because writing in your Bible can become a ministry, and reading others’ insights helps me as well. Truly iron sharpening iron.”

May it be a blessing to you.

Jesus Directed To Prepare The Passover

Have you ever celebrated Pesach or Passover as Jesus did with His apostles for The Last Super?

Pictured here are samples of the Seder Plates used for the Passover dinner. Our church and several other churches in our area celebrate the seder meal each year and several newspaper articles have been written about it in the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. Has this Jewish celebration been adopted by your church, I wonder? If you are Jewish, I’d love to hear about your memories or what you look forward to each year during Passover.

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Follow Your Passions To God’s Purposes

“As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person.”  Proverbs 27:19

Do you enjoy doing what you are doing in your life right now?  Do you have a passion for your job or for your life?  Sadly, many of us, perhaps even most of us, answer a resounding “NO!!”.  That should be a huge red flag for all of us.  What are our joys in life?  What are our hobbies?  What are our passions?  What do we love?

Rick Warren is not the only one to tell us that we should follow our heart’s desires.  Psychologists tell us too.  Career counselors tell us.  Highly successful and renown people tell us.  The Bible tells us.

Do we listen?  Really listen?  Or do we say “Yeah, yeah, I know,” but keep doing the same old rat race, the same old daily grind, the same old rut?

Have no worries, God will use that daily grind purposefully too, but it should lead you somewhere, not keep you stuck in it like quick sand or even cement.

Take the time right now to ponder about what you are enthusiastic or passionate about.  Go on, think.  Don’t read another word.

BrainPOP Works For Moms And Kids

A bunch of us moms were discussing what works for us regarding our children’s education and a lot of things were brought to the table, but the moms were unanimous about one teaching tool. At the time, it was brand new to me, but my trusted network of moms went on and on, and on about all the qualities of this animated educational site: BrainPOP! I am not affiliated in any way with this company.

All the moms loved it because it truly taught their kids and because their kids loved it too. It works for us, and I’m sure it will work for you too. Go check it out for free for two weeks.

If you use BrainPop, go ahead and put in your two cents.

What teaching tools work for you and your kids?

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Behold The Lamb Of God

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Wishing you all

a

Peaceful Holy Week

and a

Happy Easter!!