Author: theministrymama

The Ministry Mama’s Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

The thought of cooking turkey to me is overwhelming. I just think of all the stress of getting up at 4 am to put the turkey in. The way it makes you sleepy after you eat it… and then that great big carcass that you have to pick. Ugh, turkey is not my rodeo. I have done it before and it has turned out just fine. Mentally there is a barrier in my thoughts every year when I decide what we’re going to have for Thanksgiving dinner.  My thoughts always balk at the idea of cooking another turkey. So, if we are at home with just our family, the truth is, I don’t cook one. We have roast, ham, or just sit around and devour the deviled eggs by themselves (joking!!).

What about you? Are you a turkey cooking kind of person? If you are, then, hats off to you, from me personally, because I will put it off again until absolutely necessary.

I will share with you some of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving and holidays and sadly, because Kraft used to send free recipe magazines in the mail, most of my recipes are their recipes. We have had to adjust some of them to fit our allergies and gluten-free diet  but all-in-all these recipes are becoming our family traditions.

The Bruschetta Chicken Bake – This is one of my absolute favorite dishes to make. You can even double, triple, quadruple it to make it for a church meal. People love it!

I prefer this because how many times do you eat turkey in the season before your palette begins to desire a change ? This recipe combines stuffing (use gluten-free if needed) with a can of diced tomatoes. You take diced chicken and put it in the bottom of your pan, top it with cheese (or omit if you’re intolerant) and top with the stuffing mixture, then bake in the oven.

Helpful Hints: You can use your turkey leftovers instead of chicken. You could also add a can or two of green beans on top of your chicken and it still turns out great!

Cranberry-Pineapple Minis – Who knew that combining jell-o, crushed pineapple, and whole cranberry sauce would make something so delicious!? Our family loves this recipe. We simply omit the nuts since our son is allergic and it always turns out fantastic. The cupcake liners for this recipe are the foil ones, to help them stay in their perfect shape so that they come out as perfect-sized portions of yumminess.

Helpful Hint: This recipe also works great for serving church meal or a banquet meal.

Whipped Sweet Potato Bake – This recipe makes a great sweet potato side. If you like light and airy sweet potatoes then this would be something you would enjoy. If you like the big sweet potato chunks… this recipe will probably not be your thing. In my opinion, mixing the sweet potatoes and making them similar to a mashed potato texture may make them go farther if you are serving more people.

Finally, I want to also include an instructional website that has helped me learn how to make the best deviled eggs without having them stuck to the shell every single time. DeviledEggs101 will teach you step by step how to boil your eggs, cool them, crack them, and has a good variety of recipes that will help you become a deviled egg angel of a cook. We are Miracle-Whip-in-our-deviled-eggs kind of people, we do not sin by putting mayonnaise in our eggs unless we are absolutely desperate — I am only kidding since I know that many a church lady has had her disagreement on the best recipe for deviled eggs. Okay, maybe not but in my mind I could imagine that as a possibility, and in recognition of that, I say, “to each their own!”

Helpful Hint: It’s all in how you cool the egg in cold water that helps the shell come off easily.

We still have not decided on whether to have turkey, ham, roast, or deviled eggs for Thanksgiving this year but I have a feeling I am going to have to make a decision and fast! It looks like after the past couple of busy months we might be able to take a few days and spend them solely together for our Thanksgiving. And you know, that’s alright with me, sometimes it is a higher degree of gratitude and appreciation when you can lay all the world aside and focus on who God gave you to minister to.

So, as you plan your meals for family I hope and pray that this Thanksgiving will be a special time for you to focus on the special blessings God has provided and that God will also allow you to be able to focus on those God has given you to serve and minister to.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Larkly Bible Studies Giveaway1

Reminder: This Thursday (11/20) is our last day for our Facebook Giveaway of Ruth Ann Larkly’s Bible Study books (3 books in a bundle!!). If you have not entered from the Ministry Mamas page, then please follow this link and get in on that before it’s too late.

Fall and Christmas Decorating Ideas - Wanted

Also, if you have any photos of your Thanksgiving/Fall or Christmas decorations please remember to submit them. Or if you would like more information please read up about how we are trying to build up a gallery of church decoration ideas here.

 

 

Down Home Hospitality ~Guest Post~

 

Down Home Hospitality 2

Hello all! I want to introduce you to Tricia, who is a pastor’s wife in Kansas. She and her husband have been in full-time ministry for only 15 months. Tricia’s new ministry in Kansas has changed her outlook on hospitality and that is why I wanted to share her testimony and hospitality tips with you.

From Tricia:

Hospitality according to the Webster’s Dictionary, is “the generous and friendly treatment of visitors and guests.” According to the Apostle Paul, we, as saints, should be “given to hospitality” (Rom 12:13). In our busy and hectic lives, have we forgotten the Lord’s command to love and serve one another?

I have to be honest, I did not learn hospitality from my mother. Don’t get me wrong, my mother loved to cook and bake. She was generous with her creativity and loved to coordinate parties and get-togethers. But stop by my house unannounced, and my mother would refuse to open the door. Have you been there? The house  in chaos, the kids having toys all over the living room, unfolded laundry on the couch, dishes undone, and there is no way you are opening that door to anyone!?

I actually learned the true meaning of hospitality from my father. Growing up in El Paso, Texas, we lived about 10 miles from the Mexican border. Back then, the border was very “liquid.” People passed back and forth fairly easily, so very often, we would find people passing through our neighborhood on foot looking for work. And very often, I would find people sitting in our front yard under the shade of our mulberry tree. My father served them sandwiches and talked to them in broken Spanish. Most had walked all day, having crossed the Rio Grande early in the morning, with no food. Watching my Dad, I asked him why he would feed them, and he replied, “I have to give them bread to give them THE Bread,” speaking of the Spanish gospel tracts in his pocket.

Yes, we are to show hospitality to ALL. Not just fellow saints, but to sinners, to show them the love of Christ. Isn’t that what Christ did when he fed the 5,000? Granted, He was on a hillside and not in a home, but whereever you are, we are called to be hospitable to all.

Last year, the Lord moved us to a small town in Kansas for my husband to Pastor. I was not used to the small-town etiquette that does not require a phone call before a visit. My first inclination was to not open the door, but then I remembered the generosity of my father and the encouragement of the Apostle Paul who would open the door to all. It took some swallowing of pride and a new perspective, but now I enjoy those “drop-ins.”

6 Tips on Becoming More Hospitable

  • Don’t make hospitality hard. You don’t have to have a formal dinner party for twenty, deck your house out for the holidays so that it looks like Martha Stewart lives there, or keep your house immaculately clean all the time. Relax. Just be open and welcoming!
  • Make an effort to show hospitality regularly. Flex those hospitality muscles! Maybe once a month, invite a family from your church over for a meal. If that is too much, make it dessert and coffee. The more you are hospitable the more you will look forward to those times of fellowship!
  • Put your home in perspective. Are you paranoid about dust bunnies under the couch or dog hair on the carpet? Most visitors won’t even notice because they are there to connect with you, not to judge your housekeeping. If you are self-conscious, make it a habit to keep the room where visitors enter your home as neat as possible. Take ten minutes to declutter daily and it will help you feel more confident when people come by.
  • Be aware of how your children see you deal with visitors. Do they see you warmly welcoming people into your home, or hiding out when the doorbell rings? It will affect their thoughts on loving and serving others.
  • Extend hospitality to your church. Are you welcoming to new families and visitors? Many times, what makes your church stand out will be your show of hospitality. Do you greet people? Do you show an interest in meeting people’s needs?
  • Pray and ask the Lord to grow you in this area. Think of examples of people you know who are examples of hospitality “masters.” How do they make you feel when in their homes? How can you do the same for others?

 Final Thoughts from The Ministry Mama

My favorite quote in Tricia’s tips is, “Flex those hospitality muscles!” If opening your home is hard for you, then start small and work up to bigger things. When you are comfortable with doing something small like actually opening the door when unannounced guests arrive, then take the next step to have people over for dessert, and then a bigger step to the next thing God prompts you to do. Certainly ask God to help you, His help is the biggest key in allowing you to be successful at having down home hospitality!

More about the author:

Tricia and her family have been servants in their churches throughout the years by teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, and she even taught in a Christian school. Her husband served in the Army for 20 years and she also worked at the VA. Her 5 children are ages 11-21. She is a down home kind of gal who loves gardening, tending her little flock of 20 chickens, painting, and decorating. Tricia’s favorite ministry is ladies ministry where she loves fellowshipping and spending time with her sisters in Christ.

Larkly Bible Studies ~Facebook Giveaway~

I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Ruth Ann Larkly, the writer of a great series of Bible studies that we will be giving away on Thursday, November 20th. She is a pastor’s wife in the state of Arizona and has been married for 9 years to her husband, Tim. They  have 4 beautiful platinum blond children.

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Ruth Ann and I at her home in Arizona

Ruth Ann and I had a small connection when my husband interned for her future husband, Tim, who was already pastoring before they were married. We met for the first time in September and she made me feel as if we have been long-time friends.

These Bible studies are a result of God working in her heart through many circumstances. The first book, was born out of a thesis written to obtain a Master’s Degree at her local college. Then, after she completed it she had it bound and sent to her mother and mother-in-law for a Mother’s Day gift. From there, God used that to be able to move her forward. She shared the Bible study with Grace Hardy, an older friend in the ministry, who encouraged her to self-publish her book. Her friend helped her to find proofreaders and the Lord began to work things out for everything to fall in place. She and her husband also tediously have edited and re-edited these books so that you can have quality ladies Bible studies that will benefit your life.

After the end of the first book, she felt as though the Lord closed that door of writing, but only temporarily until He began stirring a new set of ideas and thoughts in her heart. She has gone through the process of writing each book in much of the same way, when the Lord works in her heart she writes a new one and Lord willing, there will be more!

Ruth Ann is a woman of vision that believes there are more ladies out there that can write what the Lord has put on their hearts and who should put them into book form. She hopes that one day the Lord will help her be able to organize a writer’s conference for those who are called to write but are not sure how to go about getting their information into book form. Tim, her husband, has formatted her books and can offer great insight for getting a book self-published. “Not many books are written in our Christian circle unless someone has connections with a church that has a printing ministry,” she said. She hopes that can change for the sake of the Lord’s work.

family thanksgiving

The Larkly Family

In listening to her discuss the time when she received her first order of books and decided to send them to 80 women in her life. She sent out a group of books at a time with personal letters and then waited for their responses. When she finally heard from them, she was relieved that many women provided lots of positive feedback. Ruth Ann feared when people she knew in the past heard that she had become a Christian writer, that she would not be taken seriously. It concerned her that with some of the mistakes she had made in her past, that it would prevent people from understanding how she has grown in her walk with the Lord. But she has not allowed those fears to hold her back, but has decided to step out in faith each time she published a book.

Her first book is, Your Faith Affects Your Family, that covers Biblical women’s lives like Samson’s wife, Lot’s Wife, Miriam, and 9 more. The second is, Your Faith Affects Your Family Volume Two, includes 12 chapters and women like Hannah, Mary, and Jezebel. Her third book  is, Your Family’s Faith Affects Other Families. Each of these Bible studies are written specifically for women. They have very easy to read chapters, that have scripture, great explanations, and end the chapter with a section called “Our Personal Prayer,” and “Questions to Consider.” If you have ever read through a Regular Baptist Press ladies Bible study book, then these books have a very similar format that can be easy for personal or group use.

Here are some personal testimonies from ladies that have read her book(s):

  •  “Walking readers through the lives of timeless Bible characters supported by the references from the KJV Bible, this book draws our eyes to the Heavenly Father. The author does a good job of guiding readers through personal introspection, personal research and Bible study, and offers insightful application in a simple and easy-to-follow manner. This book has been a blessing to me personally, and I look forward to its encouraging influence on others, as well.”
  • “This is an amazing women’s devotional of the life of and role of women in the Bible and how they interacted or effected their family.  This is a great eye-opening devotional for women; it convicted me on what God has called us to be and how He wants us to glorify Him through the way we live our lives.”
  • “Ruth Ann’s unique biblical insights into women of the Bible will be a source of enlightenment and encouragement. As you read it, you will be challenged to examine your own heart to see how your faith affects your family. I am thrilled to recommend it.”
  • “This book was very specific on different women in the Bible and how their faith affected their different families in good ways and in bad ways as well.  I appreciated that Mrs. Larkly took the time to discuss the things that were wrong and the things that were right in these women’s lives.  Each account seemed  to have different lessons to take away from.”

The great thing I believe is not only the content of the books, but the cost. Each book is $8 and if you purchase the set of all 3 books, she will give you a bundled price of $20 (plus shipping). You can purchase her books by following this link and contacting her on her Facebook page.

Larkly Bible Studies Giveaway1Enter this great giveaway on the Ministry Mamas Facebook page here!!

Want to know more about the Larkly family? Follow Ruth Ann as she writes at her “Happy as a Larkly” blog.

 

The winner of Ruth Ann’s bundle of 3 books will be notified on Friday, November 21st.