Saturday, April 25, 2009

Yummy yummy in my tummy...

Here is a pooular recipe that I have adapted to work for me since I need to eat low-fat...please remember that I am NOT the one who came up with the original recipe (I don't need to worry about any copyright issues...;) )

Low-Fat Ritz Chicken Casserole

6 Chicken Breasts
2 Cans of Reduced fat Cream of Chicken Soup
8oz. Low-fat/Non-fat Sour Cream
1 Tube of Reduced fat Ritz Crackers
1 Tbsp. of Celery Salt (originally calls for Celery Seed, but I don't like biting into a seed and getting a burst of celery flavor...yuck!)
1 1/2 sticks of Low-fat margerine (melted)

Boil chicken breasts until tender, bone and cut into bite sized pieces.
In a bowl, mix together 2 cans soup, celery salt, sour cream, and cut-up chicken.
Spray your casserole dish with a cooking spray that has no fat content then spread soup and chicken mixture into the dish.
Crush the Ritz crackers and spread over the top of the soup mixture, then drizzle the melted margerine over the top of the casserole.
Cook for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let cool for 5 minutes before serving, it will be HOT.
Makes 4-6 servings.

I hope you enjoy this recipe if you make it, I know that it is one of my favorites. If you don't have chicken breasts you can use a whole chicken instead but the dark meat adds some fat to the dish (but it does make for a slightly better flavor...fat IS flavorful), just boil the chicken until tender an then de-bone and cut into bite sized pieces. You could also keep the broth if you boil a whole chicken and use it to make a soup of some kind...why not get the most out of the chicken right?

Bon Appetite!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Love...

Friends,
I know, it has been FOREVER since I have blogged! Sorry about that, life has been busy so I haven't had time.
Now, don't be fooled by the title of this blog entry and think that there is someone special in my life, other than the ultimate someone special: God. I have been thinking a LOT lately on the subject of LOVE. I know that it doesn't come as a surprise to most of you that my heart's desire is for marriage and family with the "Boaz" that God has set aside for me. Because of this desire and how it has yet to be fulfilled I at times struggle with my singleness, but the Lord has been working with me on this. I am telling you all here in a public forum because that way you can act as a support and accountability group for me.
For some time now my belief has been that loving someone or something is an active choice. The butterflies in your stomach feeling and the intense emotions that you experience when you first begin a relationship with that someone special eventually fade and it is that active choice to remain in a relationship with that person that you sometimes have to rely on to give you the strength to work through problems and hardships that come your way.
I tell you my belief about Love being a choice because I have recently come to a similar conclusion about another area of life that is a choice: choosing to be CONTENT in being single. This choice is hard for me, as I know it is also hard for others. I have realized that when I allow myself to wallow in unhappienss and discontent in being single that I am unhappy in every area of my life. If we allow discontent and unhappiness to be the most prominent emotion in our lives there is no room for love. Unhappiness and discontent is a poison to us that, when allowed to reign in our lives, steals our joy in everything; thereby, making it impossible for others to see Christ in our lives. The Bible says that others will know us by our LOVE. My prayer is that God give me the strength to choose each day to be content in where He has me in this stage of my life so that others can see Christ living within me, and so that I do not miss the wonderful blesssings He longs to bestow upon me each day.
Along with this prayer I am also praying that God allow me that ability to recognize opportunities in my life to show love to others, and to allow me the ability to recognize when others are loving on me.
Already in the past week the Lord has been answering these prayers! GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIM AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!!
Well my friends, it is time that I close this blog. I pray you all experience God's blessings for you each day.
Love,
Diana

1 John 3:18 ~ "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
1 Thessalonians 3:12 ~ "May the Lord make your love increas and overflow for each other and for everyone else..."