Our Last Meal

THREE THINGS THIS THURSDAY

If you read Michelle's blog you know she's had a lot on her plate lately. So she has asked me to host 3TTT for the next few weeks and I have glady agreed. It's all in my long term goal of taking over the internet.

I thought we'd go into the not so way back machine today and give you some snippets from my No Junk Food June experience: You may first want to look at my post from yesterday to get some context.

1. 5/31/2009

Dropped my friend Marina off at the airport today. She came in from Russia for an Amway convention in Grand Rapids. I got her and some of her travelling companions to the airport so they can catch a bus. I had about a half hour to kill on my way to church, so I punched Taco Bell into the GPS and got a quick bite before service. Yes it was 10:30 in the morning, but this was my last shot at Taco Bell until July.

Tonight I took the kids to CiCis to use a coupon we got in the newspaper. Not sure if a pizza buffet counts as junk food or not. The multiple sugary sodas and desserts sure would qualify though. Indulging myself on this last day of fast food availability may not be the most prudent of decisions, we shall see.

2. 6/9/09

Dropped off Marina at the airport today. After her conference ended in Grand Rapids last week she and some other Russian tourists drove from Illinois to New York to see Niagara Falls. It must have been a National Lampoon's Vacation length stop because by Monday night she was back in Chicago where she stayed with our family. I took her to the airport where she was flying to Charleston, South Carolina to spend a few days.

She wasn't the only one doing any travelling, though. After we dropped her off at the airport, it was off to Springfield to spend a few days with our friend Matthew who is recovering from a minor surgery.

We actually have a bit of travelling we are doing this month. So I told the kids at the onset of No Junk Food that it does not pertain to them while travelling. Had a minor mishap when getting gas on the way to Springfield. I picked up a 20 oz Mountain Dew rather than it's diet equivalent. Didn't notice until I drank from the bottle a few miles down the road. Believe me if you haven't had sugary drinks for a while, you immediately know the difference! Charlie lucked out and I let him drink about 1/2 of it before throwing the rest away at our next stop which was Wendy's. Charlie and Emma had Bacon Cheeseburgers, Lucy had Chicken Nuggets, and I drank water (Amy had to work and was unable to make the trip if I hadn't mentioned this already).

When we got to Springfield, we visited with Matthew and then went swimming at our motel. We then took Matthew out for dinner at Golden Corral. I did get the buffet but drank water and did not get any desserts. Of the three temptations I had today, the temptation to hit the dessert buffet was much stronger than those to drink Mountain Dew or eat at Wendy's.

When we got back to the motel we swam for a while in their outdoor pool even though it was below 70 and raining. Tomorrow it's breakfast at Cracker Barrel then a visit with Matthew to the Lincoln Museum and then back home to the lovely Amy.

3. 6/15/09

Dropped off Marina at the airport today. We actually picked her up at 1 airport and then drove her to another. She had a great time in Charleston and flew from there on Saturday to St. Louis to visit our friends the Hendricks. She flew Southwest on Monday from St. Louis to Chicago, Southwest flies into Midway and she was flying back to Russia from O'Hare. So it was me and the kids picking her up at Midway, eating sandwiches while we waited for her luggage, and then seeing her off at O'hare. She certainly had a jam packed visit to the states and we were glad to spend sometime with her on her travels.

So that's three things for this Thursday. Before I bounce you back to Michelle, What is a trip to the Capitol of the Land of Lincoln without the man himself? The family caught up with him just outside of his Museum . . .

It's your turn now. Do you have three things that you would like to share? Recipes, ideas of what's brewing for Gilligan and company on Lost, or other random thoughts? Use Mr. Linky below and be sure to send Micheele an encouraging word and myself any creative constructive ideas as I host 3TTT for the next few weeks.

Next Time: The Wall of Glaze

No Junk Food June

As I write this it is May Thirty-first. As you read this it is probably July 1st or beyond. As I write this I am embarking on "No Junk-Food June". As you read this I have just finished it.

What, you may ask, is No Junk Food June? Simply put, I am going to cease eating at fast food resturants and cut all sugary sweets from my diet. I did it before in 2006 mostly as a cost cutting measure, but also as a means of calorie reduction. This year, as I approach my 45th birthday, and as I grieve the loss of a younger brother to ailments not helped by his obesity, I want to lose weight and not feel so out of shape when I recreate with my wife and kids.

I will not be weighing in or out but in the weeks to come you will see a chroncile of my journey. As an added bonus, Amy and I decided to have No Junk Food June as a family this year. We just had the "talk" with the kids.

You may wonder why I am blogging with a one month delay. It's not because I am afraid I will swear and that I will need the network sensors to bleep it out. While I want to share this experience here. I want it to be a completed experience, and not an interactive one.

That said, I certainly welcome your interaction now that our part of the journey has been completed.

Next Time: Our "Last" Meal

Newspaper Chicken (Fried Chicken)

I have asked my lovely wife to contribute one of my favorite recipes for this special themed edition of WFMW. This dish works for us as a dish to pass at summer cookouts but also makes a great family dinner. Here is the lovely and Talented Mrs. Dad . . .

This is called "newspaper chicken" because we got the recipe from the newspaper. Creative huh.

**NOTE: This is a two-day affair, but well worth it!

Here's how I make it, but there are any number of variations you can make to make it your own. I take 5 lbs of boneless chicken breasts and cut them into small strips or chunks (I get the bag-o-frozen chicken from Aldi.) I cover them in water in a large tupperware bowl and add 1 cup of salt. Yes, one entire cup of salt. I put the cover on it, and shake it a few times, and refrigerate it overnight. Sometimes during the night, if I happen to get up, I shake it a few more times. In the morning, I dump out the salt water and rinse the chicken well. Really well. This brining isn't for flavoring. Then, using the same bowl while the chicken is on a plate or drainer, I put 2 cups of milk (I use skim) in the bowl and 2 tablespoons of vinegar and stir that up (handy dandy buttermilk.) Then return the chicken to the bowl and make sure the chicken is covered. If not, add more milk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. I like to double dip my chicken because it comes out so crunchy, really good. I put 2 cups of flour, along with 1 tsp of the following: salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and 1/2 tsp of pepper and dry mustard. Mix it really well in a large ziplock bag (I've tried doing it in a bowl, but doesn't work as well.) So you take chicken out of buttermilk and save the buttermilk! Put chicken on a plate. Then with a pair of tongs or "grabbers" put a few pieces of chicken in the flour mixture to coat, then grab with grabbers, drop in buttermilk, and then back into flour mixture.

Place coated chicken on a tray (I use my pampered chef "stackable cooling rack" laid on top of a cookie sheet.) Once all chicken is double coated, let the tray sit in the fridge for another hour. This ensures the coating will stick to the chicken. **Sometimes I do have to make another bag of flour mixture. This double coating is messy, but it really makes for nice, crunchy chicken. After an hour, get a frying pan ready with enough oil to be 1/2 way up the sides of the chicken. I fry it over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, place a few pieces of chicken in the oil. If you're doing it right, as the hot oil is cooking the food, the salt water is coming out of the chicken, therefore, making it a nongreasy affair. Love it. So you fry it on one side for about 4 minutes (try to leave it alone here, don't check it a bunch of times), and the other side for about 4 minutes more. This, of course, varies according to size. Using bone-in chicken will take longer. Now, this is important: do not try to keep the chicken warm to try to serve in an hour or so. Either serve immediately, or allow to cool and either serve cold, or microwave to warm it up. If you try to keep it warm in the oven, it gets gooey, and nobody likes gooey chicken! This chicken also freezes quite well. I usually have enough for a meal right away, leftovers in the fridge, and then some in the freezer for a later meal.

Ingredients at a Glance:

5 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 cup salt, water to cover chicken
2 cups milk plus 2 TBLS vinegar (or buttermilk if you have it)
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt, garlic powder, chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper and dried mustard
oil for frying

Thanks Amy. She also does a great impression of Jimmy Stewart saying chicken. She is certainly a woman of many talents. To see all the other recipes in this special edition of WFMW go to We Are That Family.

Next Time: No Junk Food June

Hero

Hero: Becoming the Man she Desires

By

Fred & Jasen Stoeker

I was given another book to review in the Library Thing Early Reviewer program. Click here to learn more about the program and read my previous review.

When I put my name on the hat for a copy of hero, I was unaware that this is the third book of a trilogy (Every Young Man's Battle and Tactics being the previous two). This book is thoroughly readable without reading the other two. I enjoyed this book so much that I am planning to read the first two later on this Summer.

In Hero the authors take a disheartening topic the failure of young men particularly Christian young men to be sexually pure and make an invigorating, hopeful but still immensely practical approach to male female relationships.

Fred Stoeker, His son Jasen, and his daughter in law Rose tell a story of victorious G rated living in a R/NC-17 world. Many books with multiple authors lose something in the transition. Not the case here, brief casual introductions make transitions as easy to follow as if they were merely microphone changes in a lecture hall.

Hero faces the cold hard facts that Christians particularly men are falling deep into lives filled with pornography, masturbation, and multiple partner sexual relations prior to and during marriage. Hero takes the life stand of Jasen Stoeker to not kiss a girl until he kissed his wife on his wedding day. The book basically begins with that kiss and then weaves it's message through the Stoeker family history of being statistics in the Playboy revolution to Fred's desire to make a change in that history and Jasen's stands for purity in Jr. high., high school and college along with Rose giving her back story and a needed feminine perspective.

I strongly recommend this book for all men but especially for fathers and single young men.

Next Time: Newspaper Chicken

But Dad, I'm not a boy or How Heaven is like going to the bathroom.

Two weeks ago we were at church and I needed to take Lucy to the bathroom. So being a boy, I took her to the boy's washroom. Which is when she reminded me that she was not a boy. It seems like all our children have taken umbrage with going to the wrong bathroom at one time or another. Lucy seemed genuinely concerned on this occasion that she was doing something wrong by being a girl in a boys room.

I told her that since I was a boy, she was allowed to be there, since she was with me. I went on to say that she could only go in the boys room when I brought here in there. And at that moment, maybe because we were in a church bathroom, the salvivic implications of our experience hit me.

Here is how getting in to heaven is a lot like going to the Bathroom:

Heaven is a place where sinful man is not welcome on their own. Man's sin has hampered our ability to be welcome in the home of the holy creator of the Universe. Man's attempts to get to God on our own (religion) all fail miserably.

Man can only get into Heaven as a result of God's doing and not their own. When the idea struck me walking out of the bathroom that I can only get into Heaven with God this verse from Ephesians came to my mind:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result if works, so that no one may boast.

Now, no analogies are perfect, especially those relating spiritual things; particularly those pertaining to washrooms. In order for Lucy to go into the boys washroom, I have to bring her in every time. This analogy would be similar to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. What Jesus did on the cross for us, was to make heaven accessible to all who would believe.

So that is how going to the bathroom reminded me of the wonder of God's redemptive love.

Next Time: Hero

P.S. Salvivic means of or relating to salvation. I paid a lot of money for 1 year of seminary, might as well use a word or two from time to time.