Concerning Self Denial

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:24-26 NIV

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For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11-13 KJV

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Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:24,25 NASB

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Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:16-18 ESV

Benny made his famous "Hotter than Hades" sauce this week....the recipe includes habanero and jalapeno peppers...Of course he uses every bowl in the house, the VitaMixer, and of course there is the cooking...now the tasting is something else, "taste this and see what you think".......I tasted it and immediately the fire began to start on my tongue and smoke came out my ears, I could hardly speak..."hot....hot.....hot.....WATER QUICK"..so he settled for that batch. We still had a bucket of jalapeno peppers left, so he reminded me we needed to do something with the peppers..I had to go to work, so I told him to make a T with a knife in each pepper, put them in a pot, add water, and bring to a boil, let them cook till they lost the green gloss on the peppers and shut off the stove. I walked into the house to the smell of hot peppers...I almost needed a gas mask....the smell was overpowering, my eyes were burning, but I managed to drain them and let them cool. I would start the deseeding in the morning, so that was my job today. The peppers are all deseeded, and they are stuffed with cheddar/colby cheese. I put them on a cookie sheet and froze them...tomorrow I will put them into bags to keep frozen till we grill them...I will then wrap a slice of bacon around each one before they go on the grill....wait for them to cook, and the feast will begin. Next will be Jalapeno Macaroni Salad...this is another one of our favorites...

JALAPENO MACARONI SALAD

12 oz. medium size macaroni shells or elbows,
cooked and drained

Fresh green onions --I use about 3 or 4

I also add a little sweet white onion to this,

4 jalapeno peppers (deseeded) and diced fine
I use more because we like ours hot to the taste

salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste (just a dash )

1 pint Real Mayonnaise--make it good and moist

Dice onions fine (I cut mine with the scissors)
or chop onions and peppers till fine in a food processor.
You want these in small pieces, not liquid.
Mix all together and chill overnight. So good !

And there are still some peppers left, so they will be used for breakfast, scrambled eggs, cheese,jalapenos, bacon and rolled in a warm flour tortilla.

You can also make Armadillo Eggs....a good recipe also..

Armadillo Eggs

1/2 pound grated Monterey Jack Cheese

(Strips of Cheddar cheese as well to stuff with)

1/2 pound bulk Hot Sausage (Owens)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk biscuit mix (Bisquick)

15 medium canned Jalapeno Peppers (or do your own)

Shake and Bake for Pork

2 beaten eggs

Slit and deseed the peppers. Mix together the cheese and sausage. To this, add the biscuit mix.  (It is easier to divide the biscuit mix into three parts, adding each part separately, as the dough becomes very thick and stiff, and will require some kneading). The cheese and sausage will hold the dough together.Set aside. Now, stuff each pepper with a piece of cheese and pinch the pepper  closed around the  cheese.Pinch off some of the sausage/cheese mixture and pat it into a flat little pancake. Put the stuffed pepper in the middle of the dough and wrap it completely with the dough, seal the edges.Roll the dough covered pepper back and forth in your hands and mold it into an egg shape. Roll the pepper  in Shake and Bake for Pork, coat it good, then dip it in the beaten eggs and put in back in the Shake and Bake mixture. Bake the "eggs" in a 300-325 degree oven for about 25 minutes. You can also freeze these till you are ready to bake them.

We never tire of Jalapeno Peppers......

 I say Fab because the weather is just that, fabulous! It is cool but not cold, the kind where you open up your windows and the breeze blows the curtains around, LOVE IT!

  Grinding was suppose to start today but they have pushed it back until Monday, which is OK with me. Hubby can take an extra weekend to relax before he starts working nonstop for the next three months. The money is great, but he gets tired of it after a month or so. I don't blame him either, I worked grinding several years in the scale house, and it does take a toll on you. Seven days a weeks for weeks and weeks.

   So for lunch hubby wants to go to his favorite eat out, Pizza Hut. I personally don't care for them but he loves it, so Pizza Hut it is. Then it's off to see mom for a bit at the home, a quick stop at the grocery store for a few items, and then home to wait for my dear friend Debbie who is coming for a weekend visit. With the holidays kicking up soon, we are getting a visit in before things get too hectic for visiting.

   So thats pretty much me weekend, chatting, swinging, porching, garage saleing, malling, eating out, and did I mention chatting. The guys will be doing some hunting.  So I hope everyone else is going to have a great weekend ahead. Call you BFFs and chat some.

God delights to increase the faith of his children. We ought,
instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for
patience, to be willing to take them from God's hands as a
means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats,
are the very food of faith.

      -- George Müller

I was on my way to the store today to buy some more California Plums...they are so big and so sweet...great taste, I have told all my friends to go to store and buy some..Thank you, California...for plums so large they are the size of a baseball, for the lovely juice that is so sweet and runs down your face when you bite into them...we just love them ! (And I have instructed Benny to save me the seeds, I want to take them to the greenhouse and see what I can do to start me this variety.)You rarely find a good plum in the store any more. Anyway, I always have to pass the farmer's fruit stand on my way to the store...in fact, we have two of them, right across from each other, but I am loyal to Taste of Texas, they were here for years and the other is just new. Outside, in several large piles, and on wooden stands, they stand alone, they beckon to me..those beautiful, orange pumpkins ! No Jack-o-Lantern for me....I want pumpkin pie...there is nothing better than fresh pumpkin pie. And the seeds will be baked and salted, so there will be more fiber in our diet..LOL...I go from one stack to the other, trying to decide which one I want...it must be very orange...the stem needs to be dry...I checked out the bottom, no soft spots, just some mud from where it sat in the field...big enough for me to lift into the back of the pick-up. Yes, it was just perfect, so I paid for it, as well as buying tomatoes, onions, and checking out all the flowers there. They know me, I have to see every new item in the store when I come down, they are my friends, and they put up with all my shenanagins.Sometimes, Donald even gives me free plants, he will laugh and say they are close to dying, so take them home and see what I can do with them, and we laugh. I have sat the pumpkin on a table in front of my new barn building....it looks so fallish.....it will keep till I am ready to use it...and I visualize to myself cutting it open, pulling out the strings, and seeds, steaming it, paring off the rind, then the eggs,milk,sugar, spices, and mixing it all up together....I am dreaming of Pumpkin Pie...Country Style !