Still in my PJs and Slimmed Down Spinach Quiche

For my friend Julie who is in the middle like she often is. She loves and gives and has no idea of the lives she touches.

SLIMMED DOWN SPINACH QUICHE
Printed from COOKS.COM
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Vegetable cooking spray
2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. egg substitute
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. 1% low fat cottage cheese
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen spinach, thawed & drained
Vegetable oil pastry
1 1/2 oz. part skim Mozzarella cheese slices
Coat a large, non stick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium high heat until hot. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic; saute until tender.
Combine egg substitute and next 4 ingredients; stir in spinach. Add mushroom mixture, stirring well; spoon into prebaked pastry shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Arrange cheese slices over quiche; bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Yield: 8 servings, 220 calories per serving.



VEGETABLE OIL PASTRY:
1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. cold water
Combine flour and salt; add egg white, oil and water. Stir with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Shape into a ball; place between 2 sheets of wax paper. Roll out to a 12" circle. Place in a 9" pie plate; flute edges. Prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Yield: 1 pastry shell.


Today I am still in my PJs and I don't even care that a sweet neighbor came to visit me and she caught me resting in them. I have been doing a lot of that lately... a lot more than I really want to. This "recovery" stuff takes too long!!! I have been adding a few exercises each day to my routine and eating healthy and I decided about an hour ago that I wanted something chocolate. I have not had cravings of any kind since they installed my pacemaker and that seems like a good thing. I can't say I "crave" it. I just miss it because it is familiar to me. That is kind of the way it is with me and Julie and some of the other people who are part of her world. We are okay with change, as long as we can slip back into what is familiar to us once in a while like a trip to "In and Out Burger". If we did this all the time, it would not be healthy and we know that but if we just have an occasional trip into our "comfort zone" it makes it easier to deal with the "twilight zone" that we live in most of the time.

We all do things we really don't want to do and face the things that we wish we could escape. Julie is dealing with the struggle of knowing her grandfather was sick for a long time and his passing leaves her with a heavy heart. As she comforts her mom and her children, she has to try to find some "PJ" time for herself and that is not easy. We who know Julie are so thankful for the beauty that she brings to us with her care for others and the joy that her personality exudes. I wish I could just wrap her in a warm blanket and give her chocolate brownies to make her hurt go away but that is not going to happen. She has to go through this time herself and she has to help the others around her as they deal with their own pain. She will do great... it will take time but she will do great.

The reason I am sharing the Slimmed Down Spinach Quiche with you is Julie tries to eat gluten free and this is a gluten free recipe. I am also thinking if I make a healthy dish along with my gluten free brownies (from scratch with Ghiradelli cocoa) the healthy snack will cancel out the not so healthy one. What do you think?

Romans 10:15 how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace.

Love,
Nana

P.S. In case you wonder how I choose my verses, I say a prayer, open the Bible and type the words my eyes fall on so Julie, God must see how beautiful you are too. Loving you through this difficult time.

Looking from the inside out and Snow Ice Cream

This is for all my readers. Sometimes it's just hard.




Snow Ice Cream


Carefully remove the first layer of snow to remove any dirt from the air. Fill your bowl to the top with fluffy snow from drifts. My mom would not let us use the snow from the first snowfall and of course, always avoid yellow snow.

Add evaported milk or 2 percent if you are health consicious to make "slushy" then add sugar and tiny bit of vanilla flavoring.

Yummy!

Have you ever looked out a window at children playing in the snow? Have you ever looked into the nursery of a newborn baby and just stood there in wonder? You can sometimes hear the laughter of the children or see a hand or foot move on the baby and something inside you feels all warm at something you had nothing to do with. Have you ever looked into the eyes of a broken-hearted friend or the lost and lonely look of somebody you love and just wish you had the words or touch to make things better? If any of this has happened then you have a tiny glimpse of what it is like as God looks down on us.

When my son was in high school there were moments in his life that I just wanted to wrap him in a protective blanket and take him far away but that is not how life works. I did find a comic strip in the paper that he kept above his computer for a very long time. Haggar the Horrible was talking to his teenage son. He said "sometimes you are going to feel like the world world is out to get you". His son smiled at him and said "but it will just be my imagination, right dad?". The silence and sadness on his father's face said it all. Sometimes life is like that. You give everything you have but it is not enough. People around us see what is going on and they just can't make it better for us anymore than we are actual participants of what we see through the glass. Whether it's a good thing we want to treasure or a difficult time we wish we did not have to witness sometimes the glass between us separates us. Sometimes it is just hard.

John 6:41 They said "is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

If His own people did not believe Him, why would I expect anyone to believe me? Watching from a distance is very, very hard.

Love,
Nana

I was listening

Holding on to your hand and listening at the same time to your heart.
















Moms and dads are so excited when they hold their little ones for the first time and when they say their first words. That usually does not happen at the same time but for us it did. When Susan was placed in our arms she had just turned eight and she knew I was "Mama" and she melted her dad's heart when she looked at him and said "my Papa". Until that day, she had never seen us and the orphanage that was her home in Russia was filled with children hoping their parents would find them soon. A few days later, we brought her and her older brother Chris to their new home in Arizona. There were so many things they had not experienced before and I was listening to their chatter in Russian as we tried to get them accustomed to their new home. They were given American names because I had difficulty pronouncing Chris's Russian name. They were named with the help of their older brother, Scott, who was waiting for them at home. Christopher was chosen because it means "courage" and we knew it would take a lot of courage for this young man to trust us and accept us as his family. Susan has a beautiful Russian name of Alenia but she became Susan to honor me (my middle name is Sue), my mom (Susan is translated from the name Lilie which was my mom's name) and a dear friend whose name was Susan. Just as you would take thought of what to you choose to name a new-born, we took time in choosing their names with love. No, they did not grow in my body but they grew in my heart. I have so many stories in my heart about both of them but today is about Susan.

For Christmas, they both got bikes and Susan was so excited when she gained her balance and was able to ride without training wheels. We had a routine we did every day with some home schooling followed by outside play. Everything we did, I spoke to them in English of what it was along with sentences that matched the activity. We learned, "please open the door" and "please shut the door" as we went outside. The bikes were kept behind a locked gate. They would push the bike to the gate and I would open it from the other side. One day Susan said her first sentence without prompting! "Please open the gate". She understood! They were not just words to her. She understood what she was asking. My heart leaped inside my chest the way a mom does when she hears "mama" for the first time or sees her baby take their first step.

Last month, Susan came to me and said "Mom there is a Beth Moore study at church coming. Will you go with me?" I recently had surgery and was still in recovery but I agreed to do this for both our enjoyment. We are on our third week of class and each week we can hardly wait until the next week. This morning she was getting dressed to go to work. My baby girl recently turned twenty and is all grown up but I saw a different smile and peace on her face. I heard the unspoken words of my beautiful daughter "please open the gate of my heart". Thank you, Lord, for letting me be on the other side of the gate when she was ready to explore life with her bike to bring her safely across the walk. Thank you for that day. Now I see that she is the same little girl that I held for the first time so many years ago but she has grown into a young woman. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as her mom and letting me be on the same side of the gate with her as she explored You. When she was small, I listened for the words from her mouth and now I listen for the words from her heart. Every sleepless night, every tear I cried and every moment I doubted myself but went forward, this moment was worth it all. I am truly blessed.

Romans 8:37 "yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us".

Love,

Nana

Who knew? and Perfect pancakes

Today I will write a normal blog... well as much as normal can be for me. You do know that I am not your average "normal" person by now. Right?

Perfect Pancakes

Choose your perfect pancake mix and the follow the directions for mixing.

Put on hot griddle (you will know it is perfect because water will bead up when sprinkled on it), cook on one side, turn them over, cook on the other and serve hot.

Who knew?


Who knew just flipping a few pancakes could be exhausting? Who knew that life can throw something at you that just frustrates you so much that you just want to get through this hour of this day because you KNOW that every day life gets a little better for you? Who knew? I certainly did not.

A few weeks ago I went to the doctor for an annoying dry cough. I ended up in the hospital for two heart conditions with long names. The final consensus of the doctors was I needed a pacemaker. When I let a friend of mine know that this was going on her granddaughter wanted to know how this was possible. Didn't this only happen to old people? I love that little girl! She is so wise.

Everyday I get a little stronger and can do a few more things but even the simple thing of flipping pancakes ends up with me taking a rest. The pacemaker takes care of the heart slowing too much in the lower chambers and several medications are needed to keep the upper chambers from beating too fast. My doctor says agrees with me when I say even my heart will start an argument inside me. I don't like feeling this way. Part of me wants to go for a run and the other part says "are you kidding me?". For now that part is winning and I really REALLY don't like that but I am so grateful that I can go shopping with my daughter, play with my granddaughter and even flip pancakes. I just have to remember to space my fun out and do more of it in the afternoon than the morning. Guess I won that argument! Ha! I can't go for a run yet but I am not stopping.

Happy birthday to my son. Today he is twenty-six. He likes to say he is my "oldest, middle and only child" and his description is absolutely correct even though he has five siblings. This is proof that confusion has always been part of my life. How could my heart possibly act anything but confused?

I got a reminder from a friend today that God does things in His own time and sometimes that might take a while. I'm supposed to be more patient... I am trying to be. I'm a morning person and I love to hit the ground running. Normally, (if there is a normal anymore), I am up before everybody and love the fun of making breakfast for my family. Today is was only pancakes but it is good to be back in my kitchen. Thanks for stopping by.


Romans 8:25 we hope for what we do not see; we eagerly for it with perserverance.

Love,
Nana