Happy Easter!

Pictured: My feet & one of my old Bibles
Photography by Tragena Owen

    As Easter approaches this weekend, I've been celebrating my Rebirthday all month.  Yes, 15 years ago this month, I gave my life to Christ, accepted salvation through Jesus, and was water baptized. No, I don't celebrate this like a regular birthday, expecting those I love to shower me with love and giving myself little treats along the way. Rather this is time for me to: reflect on my relationship with God; think of ways to improve it; DO that; and just be even more ecstatic to show God my appreciation for him. I feel it most appropriate that I'm getting to witness a budding relationship He's developing with a friend during this time. 

   As a result of some things we've talked about at church, I'm trying to be more specific in my prayers in order for them to be more effective. I've taken the time to stumble through some old notebooks from past years where I keep bible study/church notes, prayer requests, goals, etc. I find it absolutely amazing and beautiful how faithful God is to me, to all of us. All of those answered prayers I was thumbing through- some things I wrote out of desperation at the time. God answered. I kept moving on with life, almost to forget those things He'd done time and time again. If that sounds like me be ungrateful, well then I'd have to agree. If I've been so forgetful at all of the Greatness shown toward me, how can I continue to expect more? Because God is Good anyhow, that's why. I'm so glad His Love for me is not dependent on my current state in my relationship with Him. So, this is why it is good to reflect when we can. Sometimes we (I) need to be reminded of things past, if only to lift our faith that somehow has gotten down. Reflection. Thank God for that. 

   I couldn't begin to tell you of everything God has done for me in the past 15 years-- or even in the past 28. There is not enough time in the world for that. I can say, our relationship has not been wonderful the entire 15 years. That is all my fault alone. In fact, I had no idea who God really was until at least 5 years later during my college days off on my own away from family and friends. I was so lucky and blessed enough to surrounded with wonderful young Jesus followers during that time. I had been in church all my life, but at this place I went once your were in, that was it. There was no, "my next step". No new disciples class. I didn't know anything about "relationship" whatsoever. So being surrounding by other people, exposed to new things, having my own experiences really opened my eyes, nourished my soul, rekindled that fire. To those "chosen" few I am very grateful. They know who they are. And don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing that church by any means. I love that church. It helped lay the ever important foundation. It wasn't until I was older that I realized it was the blind leading the blind. No one knew what was next--therefore it wasn't taught. But praise God He didn't let it stay that way. Over these years, I've been a Jesus freak. I've also gone long periods where I seemingly ignored Him because I was too distracted by some boy. I've gone through times where I just didn't understand why God would have me go through such a tough time. I've been elated. I've been frustrated. I've experienced pure Joy during times when others would say I shouldn't have even be smiling and just down in the dumps. No matter if I've given this relationship with Him my all in every moment or not, He's always been there offering guidance, support, and love. It is very appropriate that "One Thing Remains" has been stuck in my head all week!

   I know I'm not always His best representative. This week I've been thinking... How many times have I talked about someone behind their back instead of trying to help them? How many people could I have given a smile too by doing something nice but did not  because I was too self-absorbed at the moment? How many times did I miss a great opportunity for pray or reading the word because I wanted to sleep or play on Facebook? I'm grateful that I've been afforded yet another year here on Earth to do better. I'm betting if we had a conversation on this topic, I wouldn't seem like I have "15 years experience" in this. So, I have to up my game. This ReBirthday, I'm striving to do better with each day that passes and be the best Jesus follower I can possibly be. 

   To my friends, family, brothers and sisters in Christ who are reading this that have supported and nourished my walk along the way I say this : THANK YOU very much front he bottom of my heart! You will never know just how much you mean to me in this journey!  And just for Sticky and Bendy (you know who you are), I HAVE to add in this "Birthday" song by Canton Jones link. Only they could appreciate it. I also want to say Happy Rebirthday to Sticky as well.  

   I encourage you to reflect on your life and what could be changed, and Who could be added (if not already) this Easter holiday season. I'd say forget the bunnies and eggs, but remember this.... NOBODY likes finding an empty egg. Those get tossed in disappointment very quickly. If you don't have Jesus in your heart, you are walking around empty--just like that egg. The good news is, all you have to do is sincerely invite Him in, and He'll come and make it all snug and warm and fuzzy. :)   Please, don't stay on empty. I don't want you to get tossed! I want you to get your fill! All love. :)  

Happy Easter!

~Until Again~

Sunday update

I've been busy organizing and such so that I can properly prep for scrap-booking and a few other personal projects. I gotta say....Friday evening and Saturday were two of the most productive days (home chores-wise) I've had in a long time (or at least since moving a few months ago). Needless to say, this has made me fairly useless today and a bit sore all over also.  But as I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm excited to get started on these projects--which I'll be sharing as they come along. But just so you don't feel like, I've left you with nothing, I'm including a pic of the super good and juicy steak I marinaded while I was getting all that work done. I deserved this treat last night. Very much so.

-Until again-

Easy Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

wish I would've gotten a better picture before I devoured it

So, I'm having an "afternoon on a hard day's" snack and wondering how come I  never put these chocolate covered cookie dough bites in my ice cream sundae's before?! Yeah, I feel a whole lot better now.  

Playing catch up on the recipes now. Here's one for Cheesy Chicken Lasagna. It's basically my mom's recipe but with chicken subbed for the beef and a few added seasonings. My sister loves it. (And her family even after they initially turned their noses up at the thought one Thanksgiving. But we're not going to go there right now.)
Hopefully you and your family will enjoy it also. 

This is actually a pretty good recipe to use when you have leftover baked chicken, but maybe not quite enough to feed the whole family.  Even if you don't have left over baked chicken when the craving stikes, you can always use your favorite unseasoned shredded chicken breast.

Chicken Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles
1/2-1 lb chopped or shredded chicken 
1-2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
tbsp chopped or minced garlic
1/4 of a onion, chopped
onion powder, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
thyme, to taste
oregano, to taste
rosemary, to taste
basil, to taste
salt, to taste
4 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
4 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese


Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. 
Boil a large pot of water with just a couple drops of olive oil in it.
Preheat a medium deep skillet or pot on medium heat lightly coated with olive oil.

Boil one pack of lasagna noodles to tender.

Chicken :
I use less than a pound of chicken everytime unless less I'm making a huge pan for a gathering.
Saute this with green and red bell peppers, onion, chopped garlic, black pepper, rosemary.
Once light golden brown, add tomato paste and tomato sauce. Season with onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, basil, salt to your liking. This should be very thick and not at all soupy. Simmer on low for at least 10 minutes.

Coat pan (8X8 or 9X12, whichever size you need) with olive olive. Line the bottom of pan 1 layer of drained noodles. Top that with a layer of the chicken/tomato mixture. Top that with a layer of ricotta. (Helps to slightly swirl it in the sauce. Keep alternating these layers until the pay is almost full or you run out. Top it with lots of mozz! Bake in the over until it's nice and melty and bubbly. Yum!

I strongly suggest you let it cool before you take a bite. :)

Easy, cheesy, warm and a little bit greasy. 

-Until again-

The Last Slice

a sampling of sweet potato desserts like Granny used to make

I know I've been MIA for a little bit. 
I got busy with a few things and then my granny passed away unexpectedly this past Monday. I've been back in my hometown with family for the last week because of this. Now that I'm back home and the silence is louder than usual, I wanted to post a tribute to her. 

I should note, she made it very plain that she was "Granny". If you called her grandma, grandmother, nanna, or anything else she would without hesitation correct you. "I'm GRANNY!"

If you've been following, you know that I posted a recipe a few weeks ago for Granny's Vegetable Soup. However, that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of all the good meals/desserts she'd given us over the years--all made with love.  I think most would agree that two people can follow the exact same same recipe, but the one who painstakingly made it with care-taking pride in the recipe and not rushing for anything and caring for those who'll eat it-- will always taste better.

My first love for making and eating food was birthed right in her kitchen. To this day, random older people that I don't know will come up to me and ask me "Are you the grandchild that would always watch and follow Rosie around the kitchen?" She spoke to a lot of people on the phone all the time, and I guess when I was younger she liked to mention that. Over the years, she's made countless brandy pound cakes, chicken strips, steamed cabbage pots, soul-food dinners (whether the items went to together or not and my family should appreciate that statement), chocolate rolls (to which the recipe she intentionally took to the grave), banana puddings, pinto beans, cornbread, salmon patties with grits (yuck), biscuits, pitchers of that super good sweet tea, vegetable soup, and more. I can still remember being short enough that I was eye-level with the table and she'd have her coffee mug overflowing with coffee spilled onto the saucer. And we'd delight in butter bread and molasses for breakfast. Soppin' it up. Mmm.

She always claimed she didn't like cooking. But I think she did. She just wanted something to complain about. You'd have to have known her to get what I'm saying and maybe not be offended by that statement.

As we were putting away food that so many wonderful friends and family dropped by the house during the week as we grieved, I noticed Granny had mixed some sweet potato custard and frozen it. 

It. was. the. last. one.....ever. 

She used to let me take her frozen batches home so I could enjoy it later. So I asked if we could thaw it and make/finish it before I left to come back home and eat it together as a family. After all, it's the last one. My sister laughed at me at first. Probably because I'd said it with the "fat girl look in my eyes". But we did. 

Now Granny made her "potato custards" and "potato soufflés" in different ways. So that's what Ma and I did with the last batch--a sampling of all the ways Granny made it. We made it into a sweet potato pie as well as a soufflé with the toppings she'd use- coconut, marshmallows, the crunchy sweet topping, and the crunchy sweet topping with pecans. I vaguely remember one random time where she might have used raisins, but we didn't do that. This way everybody could get what they wanted. 

Snow started to fall and the weather station was also calling for rain and possible black ice later in the night, so I was rushed to be on my way. I only tasted my share before packing it up and taking it with me. 

Last night I was exhausted, so I took another taste before putting it in the fridge. I thought about that bite the whole time I was in the shower. And I thought about life. I thought about my time with Granny-good and bad. I was reminded of a conversation my aunt had earlier in the week with the pastor (I think) about mouthfuls of cinnamon and kids eating this on a dare. 
(apparently it's horrible by itself and will seem like it's just about choking you) 
Knowing this dessert contains cinnamon, I began to think about that. I don't know many people who suck down raw eggs and like it. Or anyone who'd willingly drink vanilla extract and think it's wonderful. Mouthful of cinnamon and nutmeg can downright choke you. Yet all these ingredients make a wonderfully sweet dessert. So it is with life. Mix the good with the bad and you really have an extraordinary gift from God when you look at the bigger picture. My family and I have some wonderfully great memories. Also some very hilarious stories to tell. And like most other families, we have bad ones too. But you know what? I wouldn't change that. All those things mixed together  made a great time in life. All adding to the fullness of the pie that is life. And the oven timer went off. (Okay, I may have gone overboard with the analogy but you get what I'm saying.)

Today I'm writing this while I have the last slice. I've got tears in my eyes. I can honestly say that I'm heartbroken and happy at the same time. I'm sad I didn't get a chance to say goodbye face to face. That I was woefully unprepared for this news. Sad that she's gone. However, I'm happy to have good memories and someone who loved me for so much of my life. I never went to a daycare as a child. She was my daycare when my parents were working. She and my D-daddy (grandfather) were my after-school care (which she was to her other grands and great grands until the day she died). She was my school bus and taxi, personal chef and teacher. She was my nurse when I was sick even if it was in the most unconventional ways. She was my entertainment even when she wasn't trying to be.  She was my first PR agent because she bragged about my art. She didn't throw away any art work. She always framed and kept it.  She still had something I made with my dad when I was 3 or 4 hanging in her bedroom. We, my mom and sister, moved in with her when my father died.  A short time after, moved right next door. Because that's what family does. Family looks out for each other even when they don't always agree. She helped in a number of other ways others wouldn't believe solely because they're so quick to judge. But this was my Granny. Her obituary says she was a homemaker and loving grandmother. That's nothing but truth. I'm nothing but "at home" when I'm at Granny's house. This week it wasn't the same there without her. 

child's apron Granny gave me when I was little

She liked to play with me at the door whenever I came and the door was locked. She looked at me through the window, smirking and laughing and playfully waving as if to say she wasn't going to let me in and I was at her mercy. Sometimes she'd stand there and smile and ask me if it was cold out holding her fingers on the locked knob. She would eventually let me in though. We buried her on Valentine's Day. When they closed the casket I pictured her peeping through the door window at me waving and smirking. As if to say she's not going to let me in this time because she's finally spending time with my D-Daddy again.


I don't have anymore grandparents or great grandparents. She was the last. Cherish yours if you still have them.

This is the last slice. 
I have to savor it.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Be forewarned.  

This recipe may be simple. But these yummy little buttery buggers will get you into trouble if you eat too many. And it won't be so simple burning those calories. So stick to eating one or two, and sharing the rest. :)

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened **no substitutions**

1/4 tsp vanilla

the slightest dash of ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla in a medium to large bowl. Add flour little by little to make sure it's well blended. If it's crumbly like old play-do, you need more butter. 

Lightly flour the surface you'll use. Roll out the the dough 1/2 inch thick. You can cut it into any shape you like. The ones pictured about are heart shaped ones I made around Valentine's last year.

Line them on a dry cookie sheet.

Bake for about 18 minutes. Once they've been removed from the oven and  had a chance to cool, you can dip those suckers into some melted milk chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

Now they're ready to eat....Or bag up nicely to give to someone special.  

Mmmmmmm! Drooling. 

Don't be afraid to get creative and add shaved chocolate or white chocolate or sprinkles or peanut butter cup crumbles or nuts. The possibilities are endless.

~Until again~