Taco Melts

I found this recipe through a newsletter I get from Pillsbury. It sounds great.

A tender, flaky biscuit wraps around your favorite taco fillings in an easy, flavor-packed hot sandwich.
Prep Time: 40 Min
Total Time: 40 Min
Makes: 8 sandwiches
INGREDIENTS:
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso® taco seasoning mix
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef, cooked, drained
1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated biscuits (any variety)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican cheese blend (4 oz)
1 cup sour cream, if desired
Grands!® Taco Melts
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DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. In medium saucepan, cook taco seasoning mix, water, 1/2 cup of the salsa and cooked ground beef until thickened.
3. Press each biscuit into 6-inch round. Fill each with taco mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. Place on greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 9 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with remaining salsa, cheese and sour cream.
NUTRITION INFORMATION:
1 Sandwich: Calories 370 (Calories from Fat 180); Total Fat 20g (Saturated Fat 8g, Trans Fat 3 1/2g); Cholesterol 50mg; Sodium 1470mg; Total Carbohydrate 32g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 6g); Protein 17g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 8%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 15%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Medium-Fat Meat; 2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Doughboy Tip:
If you're watching fat grams, use reduced-fat sour cream or reduced-fat or fat-free plain yogurt instead of regular sour cream. To complete the menu, add a crisp green salad of romaine lettuce topped with fresh orange slices drizzled with your favorite reduced-fat dressing.

Mere Christianity

I won't say that I'm hooked on Facebook, but I use it a lot. It's neat keeping up with people; old and new friends, both far and near.

So recently I "friended" a former co-worker I hadn't talked to in 10 or more years. He's a He and back then he was cute. Okay, so I did have a little crush at some point. But, as we got to know each other better, the little crush fizzled. We did get to be good friends though. We can talk more later about my theory on men and women being friends.

Back to the fizzling crush. He wore black t-shirts. As much as I tried to rebel against everything I thought about black-t-shirt people, it just wouldn't stick. Did you have black-t-shirt people in your high school? They wore band t-shirts. Please don't assume that I don't love the hairbands. Oh, I do. And AC/DC rocks. But the clientele who chose to purchase and then wear band t-shirts in the 80's and 90's gave me the heebs. So anyway, thinking that I could have been wrong in my assessment of black-t-shirt people, I got to be friends with one at my first job out of college.

The guy was intelligent, funny and woefully lost. At that point in my life, I was growing in my faith, but I was not at a maturity level to be able to share much about it, and certainly not able to defend it well to a person who had spent much longer deliberately trying to disavow God.

I told him I was a Christian, but at that point in my life, I didn't know how to defend my faith well. I'm sure to him my being a Christian was akin to others being Alabama or Auburn fans.

So now fast-forward 10 years or so. Found him on facebook, as he is also friends with some other former co-workers of mine that I keep in better touch with. He still seems to be as lost as ever. Have I grown enough to be able to bear a stronger witness to him?

Gulp.

––> Talk to husband.
That's part of my theory on men and women being friends. Personally, I won't let myself have a male friend that I wouldn't want Ken to be friends with too. I do think Ken and this guy could carry on a decent conversation, though they would never cross paths in the real world. We talked for a few minutes, and I bumbled through my thoughts on this. He got sleepy and went to bed.

–––> (By the way, those little arrows are my notations for what I believe to be direct quotes from the Holy Spirit.)

––> You should suggest a book for the black-t-shirt friend to read.
––> Mere Christianity. That would be good.
––> Hello um, Em. You've never read Mere Christianity. And you made Ken clear out the bookcases in the corner of your bedroom to make room for your craft supplies, so the copy that he has is at the office.

Ken has some huge bookcases in his office that were stinking empty! Meanwhile, he's hogging a bunch of room here at home with a bunch of books that he's already read.

––> You still haven't read that book, and you can't really suggest it to someone if you haven't read it yourself. I'll show you where you can find the book online and read it there.

So He did. I read the first chapter of Mere Christianity tonight online. Here's a quote that I liked. Will share more later. thanks for listening.

If we do not believe in decent behaviour, why should we be so anxious to make excuses for not having behaved decently? The truth is, we believe in decency so much--we feel the Rule or Law pressing on us so--that we cannot bear to face the fact that we are breaking it, and consequently we try to shift the responsibility.

Drew speak

Abbbbbeeeeeeeeee! Yook.- Dearest older sister, might I call you attention to something in this general direction.

Backeyes- Those who have chosen the dark side.

Duboo- I love you

Goopy- Mickey Mouse's mystery friend.

Fuzzy- beloved blue blanket, required for all sleep and many boo-boos.

Rabby- beloved giraffe blanket

Chocky- The kind of milk he likes.

T-too- Thank you.

Issue, Mommy- Bless you Mommy.

Mommy, issue!- Help there's snot all over me.

Ty-wee- He's my buddy. His mommy calls him Tyler.

Dabis- Ty-wee's brother.

what's for dinner?

I found this website years ago, and I love it. www.kraftfoods.com. It's a great site for quick dinners, snacks and party ideas.

disney

I just love this.

Dicipline

Since last we talked, we have added two new members to our family. Meet Bambi and Bill:
Our vet suggested that a water gun might deter our kittens from jumping on the kitchen table. So, on my last venture to Wal-Mart, I sought out a hydro-weapon. Turns out they are a bit hard to find in October. Alas, I found an 8-pack for 2 bucks in the clearance section. Love a deal.

The multi-pack allowed me to plant my plastic persuasion at various places in the house. One on the mantle, two at the kitchen sink, and another on the counter with the rest buried in the backyard. Okay, not really. Well, maybe.

Anyway, the kids left their cereal bowls on the table this morning. It was too much for the for the curious little kitties to resist. I found them working on the leftovers that Abbie and Drew had left.

Bear in mind, that I hadn't had my normal two cups of coffee, chased by some diet coke to start my day. I grabbed my two pieces from the kitchen sink, and I unloaded on them. I was like a gunslinger out of an old western. Two kitties promptly scampered off the table, yet I kept shooting. I still had a target. It was only after the gun in my right had ran dry that I realized that I owed Mr. Potato Head an apology.

Timeline for a miracle

First off, the miracle you are about to read is not about me. I just saw it. I walked through it. Now I want to share it.

January 19, 2008
It snowed in Alabama. It was the weekend of my little girl's birthday. We had her third birthday party in Roanoke at my mom's house. It was beautiful. Cousins came and made snowmen and had snowball fights. We came back home to Montgomery that night.

January 20, 2008
My Abbie's actual birthday. Wondering if there might be even more snow to come, I get on James Spann's blog to see what he's predicting. No weather reports this morning. Instead, he shares that his friends, Rick and Sherri Burgess, lost their youngest son Bronner the night before in a drowning accident. I have listened to the Rick and Bubba show for years. Bronner was just a few months younger than Abbie. Today was her third birthday. I hurt so much for this family.

August 16, 2008
(Sherri and Betty are the wives of Rick and Bubba, of The Rick and Bubba Show. www.rickandbubba.com)

Sherri Burgess and Betty Bussey spoke to a group of women in Birmingham. I went, with three dear friends of mine. It was the weekend before my birthday. Sherri and Betty shared their faith and how their relationship with God had grown since Bronner went to Heaven. My heart was stirred. I was motivated to be a better wife, mother and friend. I saw a passion for the Lord among the women at this event, and I wanted that passion for myself and those close to me.
The next day at church, I found Susan Fisher, our women's ministry director at Frazer. I told her about the message that Sherri and Betty shared. I told her that we had to have them speak at Frazer. With her support, I started making calls, got the ball rolling, and ultimately got the ladies scheduled for Aug. 22, 2009 at Frazer. Almost exactly one year from when I had heard them the first time.

June 24, 2009
I saw a group of girls tonight in my church. I didn't recognize any of them. They were all very cute, thought they might have been there to rehearse for a pageant. I just kept walking. On with my life and my own business.

But there were grown-ups in their group talking to our senior pastor, his wife and others...Wonder what they have to do with a pageant?

Later, as I watched the 20 or so girls giggle and walk around as my own children played in the atrium near them, I learned that they were orphans who had been rescued from a sex trade operation, somewhere around the Ukraine. There was a man with them who ran the orphanage that protects these girls. These girls. Not somewhere on the other side of the world. Not in a brochure. These girls that I was looking at with my own eyes; and at the same time, I can see my own 4-year-old little girl, and my friends daughters as well. Someone felt the call to be the hands and feet of Christ, and rescued these very girls that I saw from unspeakable crimes. I don't know what the term "rescued" means. I don't know what they might have been exposed to before coming to this orphanage. But now, it's over. They are safe.

I watched the girls leave the atrium and join Frazer's youth outside for an outdoor movie event. They just blended right in.

I don't know what my point is here. This is not a well-written story or anecdote, it's just a thought. Just a seed planted within my soul now. I can't describe what I felt looking at those girls when I learned who they were and where they were from. Seeing them in such close proximity to me and my Abbie was profound. They had been rescued by His Hand.

I will never see foreign missions they same way again.

Later this summer
Philip Cameron is the man who runs these orphanages in Moldova. He came back to Frazer on a Sunday morning. He came back with his group of teenage girls. He spoke in our worship service. He told of how so many of his "daughters" had come to be with his ministry.

My husband and I have our place on the front row on the far left side of the church. We sit with our friends the Brawners, who have a boy and a girl, the same ages as our younger two. Meredith and I, along with the rest of our church family, sat with tears flowing down our faces, hanging on every word from Mr. Cameron as he shared his passion for rescuing young women from unspeakable crimes against them.

We sat wondering what we could do to help. Most of my friends are stay-at-home moms who have pre-school age children, so our opportunities to help are limited. The Lord reminded me that I had taught ESL (English as a second language) a few years ago. Maybe that is something I could do. The girls come to America sometimes. Maybe I could help them learn more English. Later that day, my friend Meredith shared that the Lord laid it on her heart as well during that worship service; that she could learn to teach ESL, and share that with the girls from Moldova. I bumped into another friend that day who had already been to Russia a few years ago. While there, she taught conversational English to teenagers. She was equally stirred by the story of the girls from Moldova, and was open to go again one day. Eager to do something that day, many women at Frazer, including me, bought t-shirts, with the proceeds going to support the ministry.

The shirt reads: One female, size small, $3500
Clothes should be bought and sold. Not humans.

August 22, 2009
Today is the day. We have promoted the event on radio, tv and print. We've gone door to door hanging up posters and we've handed out 1500 emery boards. Rick and Bubba's wives are coming to Frazer.
Here's a link to their messages:
http://www.frazerumc.org/news/noteasilybroken/

After the ladies spoke, I along with a few other of my girlfriends who helped organize the event got to spend a little bit of time with Sherri and Betty. At the women's event on Saturday, we took up a love offering for the Bronner Burgess Memorial Fund. This is a fund created to allow Rick and Sherri to contribute money to causes that seek to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Turns out, we collected $7,777.77. Sherri has shared that the number 7 has become significant to them, in that it represents completion in the Bible. Bronner was the seventh member of their family. His birthday was May 27. One year earlier, the event where Sherri and Betty spoke in Birmingham, they collected $7,777 for the memorial fund. One year later, they collected almost exactly the same amount again.

The evening of August 23, 2009
Rick and Sherri watch an episode of "The Carpenter Shop" on Frazer's website. In this episode, our senior pastor, Barry Carpenter, interviews Philip Cameron about his ministry to girls in Moldova. Their hearts are stirred.

The morning of August 24, 2009
While on the air, Rick notices two young women outside their radio studio. They are wearing t-shirts, just like the girls from Moldova had on on "The Carpenter Shop" the night before.

He invites them inside. Turns out, it's Melody Cameron, daughter of Philip Cameron. He interviews her on the show, and shares the story of Moldova with listeners all over the country.

Rick told Melody that since the event Frazer hosted over the weekend was sponsored by the women's ministry, and this ministry of her father's sought to help young women and tell them about Christ, that he and Sherri wanted to give ALL of the money raised from that event to their ministry.

what do you think about that?

To learn more about the ministry in Moldova, got to http://www.stallthisengine.org