Story Time- My Successful Recipe

April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 24 Comments

Yes in the past I have shared stories of my failed attempts in the kitchen. It is true that my cooking skills often fall short and the outcome is not quite edible. Case in point is my frustration with gluten free frozen pizzas and their inability to tell me when they are done resulting in somewhat overcooked pizza.

My news today may send shock waves through the blogosphere. I came up with a recipe that is delicious and impossible to overcook. Perhaps you are on the edge of your seat anticipating what the recipe might be, so with no further delay here goes.

Chocolate ice cream is a fav of mine. I am also a big fan of Greek yogurt that has fruit with my fav being black cherry Greek yogurt. A few weeks ago a thought came to me. I love chocolate ice cream with mix ins at ice cream places such strawberry ice cream mixed in. So the idea came to me to mix in some black cherry Greek yogurt with chocolate ice cream. The result was a taste sensation of EPIC proportions.

I am sure you are overwhelmed by my master chef level creativity. No need to thank me for this recipe. Enjoy it anytime you like. 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless..

A Yawn Is………..?

March 27, 2021March 27, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 28 Comments

I saw a mask with a message I love. It said, “A Yawn Is A Silent Scream for Coffee.” I loved it, but I did not buy one for me because the color was lavender and it had a picture of a woman on it, so not really one for a guy at least in my mind.

That is so true for me. When I begrudgingly wake up in the morning and have to leave the wonderful realm of my bed, as I yawn, my first thought is of that special nectar- COFFEE.

This morning after Blogger Chat, I will go to a coffee shop to do some more writing. Coffee shops are places that bring out the writer in me as I observe the different people, drink my coffee, and let my thoughts become creative.

As much as I love coffee shops, I want to share my secret dream scenario. It involves having one of those expensive adjustable beds with coffee tables on each side. One has a coffee maker on it and the other has a mini fridge. If I had that set up, I could stay in bed all day writing. 🙂

But perhaps it is good that I do not have such a set up, That way I do go out in public to coffee shops and interact with people. But one can always dream. 🙂

So my Saturday will consist of Blogger Chat, and most of the day at a coffee shop writing and reading.

What are your Saturday plans?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

The Morning Routine of This Teacher

March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 11 Comments

Yes I am definitely a night owl, but I do have a morning routine when I arrive at the school where I teach in the mornings. Mind you that by the time I arrive there I have already had two cups of coffee breakfast, and gotten ready, so I am mostly awake. However, many mornings as I drive to the school I am already thinking about a nap because mornings are dreadful.

When I arrive at the school, I stop to tell a quick joke to the security guy at the front door. Then I take the elevator up to the second floor due to a bad knee. Then it is a walk through the school library where I tell the librarian a joke on my way to my classroom.

After getting things ready for my class, I go to the small teacher’s lounge on the second floor to get a cup of coffee. On the way, it is a quick knock on the window of the reading specialist’s classroom to wave hello. As my coffee is being made with the Keurig machine, it is time to quickly say hello and a quick joke for the teachers whose classrooms are near the lounge.

Come to think of it, I am getting close to the end of the 100 Jokes I was given. Time to search for more material to brighten the mornings of my colleagues. I wouldn’t want to disappoint them.

Not only do I make my coffee, I also make a cup for my assistant. I might exaggerate the part of how it hurts to walk on a bad knee but I am there to help her when she comes into the classroom when she walks in.

Then I am all settled in and ready to greet my students and teach class..

There you have it. That is my morning routine.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Morning Person or Night Owl?

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 34 Comments

Morning person or night owl? Which are you? I have to admit as a life long night owl, morning people have always amazed me. For me, morning people are like people from an alternative reality. It is beyond my comprehension and experience how anyone can wake up happy about mornings.

For me, mornings consist of dragging myself out of a wonderful place called bed. The first thing I do is make my way to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee. Then it is sitting down at my computer and listening to worship music as I partake of the magic elixir called coffee. After my second cup, I feel I can attempt to begin my day.

SO you can understand my astonishment when during Blogger Chat yesterday Hannah of Coc-GetFit at hannahmvandi.com shared that she wakes up at 4 am every morning. Furthering my amazement she shared that she does not drink coffee until 10 am. When she said she gets up at 4 am, my first question was WHY. I mean the sun is not even up at 4 am unless you re living in Alaska or Scandinavia in the summer months.

Piling on to my confusion over morning people, Barb of mylifeinourfathersworld.com chimed in that she wakes up at 3:30 am each morning. Really? How can this be possible? I go to sleep at 12 or 12:30.

I found myself in the extreme minority as each person shared how they love mornings and go to sleep at times like 9 pm. I have taught evening classes for over 20 years that do not finish until 9:30 om.

My creative juices do not start flowing until the afternoon or evening. I often write my blog posts around 10 pm. Alicia of forhispurpose.blog pointed out that she sees my posts are published around 4 am. Easily explained. I schedule them for that time because I have followers in different time zones around the world.

I realize for some that Jesus has called them to spend time in prayer at unfathomable hours. For me, the night watch is much better. 😉

So my dear readers, I wish to know if I am alone in the universe or are there other sane night owls like me. Perhaps there are two dimensions existing symbiotically for morning people and night owls.

Are you a morning person who wakes up at insane hours or are you a night owl?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Story Time- Don’t Try This for Breakfast

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 32 Comments

The children’s show Sesame Street used to have a song of one of these things doesn’t belong/fit in. That has been true at times with food combinations I think of. A recent one this week was yet another example of why I should never be on a show like Top Chef.

I like eating an apple with some all natural peanut butter in the morning for breakfast. It is a healthy combination and tastes good to me. Apples are one of my favorite fruits. That combination I would suggest for anyone unless they have a peanut allergy of course.

The problematic breakfast the other day did not involve an apple. I had the all natural peanut butter, but no apple. So what is a person to do? I looked at what I had in the kitchen because it I did not feel like going to the store. I noticed I had an avocado.

So I thought to myself that avocadoes are technically fruit not vegetables. I cut the avocado open and spooned out the inside to place in a bowl. I then put some all natural peanut butter on top of it. I took one bite and realized it was a big mistake. Avocadoes and peanut butter do not belong together. Cue the Sesame Street song.

But in my defense it is not like the avocado tried to warn me it would not taste good with peanut butter, so really I blame to avocado. 🙂

Fortunately for us, even though none of us fit in with Jesus on our own, he made it so we can fit with him because of what he did for us by dying for us. We can belong to Jesus for all eternity. We can belong to God.

Apples and peanut butter yes. Jesus definitely yes. But please learn from my failed experiment and do not try to eat peanut butter with an avocado. 🙂

I wonder who I should cook breakfast for? Alicia, Brenda, or Dawn. You can vote by commenting.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Keeping My Title of The Worst Cook

February 13, 2021February 13, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 20 Comments

Yesterday my little sister in Jesus Alicia shared a post about burnt toast and how she burns things when she cooks- Burnt Toast.

After reading her post, I felt like the challenge had been cast as to who is the worst cook in our Blogger Chat Group. So this morning in Blogger Chat, we each shared stories of our cooking.

Alicia’s stories were fairly impressive, so it was time to assert myself as the worst cook in the group. I did not want to lose my title to some wanna be bad cook. 🙂 lol

A few examples I shared:

Once I thought I would make a low calorie version of chocolate ice cream by mixing cocoa power with cottage cheese. It did not turn out well.

Another time I was tired and did not want to go buy food. I looked in my kitchen and saw that I only had Minute Rice, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly. I thought to myself, ‘rice is kind of like bread, I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So I mixed the peanut butter and jelly with the rice.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

After we each shared cooking stories, it was time for the poll for who is the worst cook. I am proud to say it was an overwhelming LANDSLIDE victory for me. I received 85% of the vote. I think Alicia’s daughter cast the only vote for Alicia, so we can throw that one out because she is only 15 and in America according to the Constitution only citizens 18 and over can vote.

Alicia you may claim your far distant second place if you wish, but know that the title of worst cook remains with me. 🙂

So dear readers, rest assured that I have retained my title of the worst cook. By the way, I am available to cook for anyone in their home. 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Confession Time- I Am A Sneaky Teacher

February 5, 2021February 5, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 14 Comments

It is safe for me to make my confession here in my blog because my students do not read my blog. They are still learning English 🙂

My confession- I am a sneaky teacher. It happens, well, every time I teach. I always look for ways to hook my students’ interest. Recently this has applied to the teenage children of my U.S. Citizenship students. In fact, I just did it last night.

One of my students is a Yazidi woman from Iraq. She told me sometimes her children make her busy, so she misses class. I asked her how old her oldest son is. She told me he is 16 years old. I told her to have him come sit with her because I wanted to talk with him for a minute.

He sat down next to his mom. I asked him to please help his mom by watching the younger children during her class with me, so she can be in class. I also asked him to help his mom practice at home for the test. I could see he was having the reaction one would expect from a 16 year old boy.

So I asked him if he wants to go to the university after he graduates high school. He said yes. Aha the hook was cast and bitten on. I explained to him that some scholarships he can apply for with only a green card but some he needs to be a citizen. That part is true. But this is where my confession comes into play. I know he will qualify for enough financial aid that he won’t need a scholarship, but it is a sin of omission.

I then told him that if his mom can become a citizen before he turns 18 that she can fill out the form to send in with the fee to make him a citizen. His attitude changed immediately. Perhaps Dr. Phil would be proud. 🙂 lol

Hook, line and sinker he was caught. I might have done the same with the teen children of other students in my citizenship class.

I have now confessed but I must also confess I will probably do similar things again often because I am a sneaky teacher.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Soup Recipe- I Share My Secret

January 29, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 30 Comments

During a cold snowy winter week, there is nothing quite like a delicious bowl of hot soup to warm a person up. Yesterday I enjoyed a tasty bowl of beef soup.

Perhaps you are wondering how a single guy who uses the popcorn setting for everything in the microwave could possibly have a secret recipe for soup.

That is a good point to ponder. I will let you in on my secret because I am certain it is safe with you my reader.

Yesterday my colleague in my Family Literacy Program, who coordinates it for the school, gave me a plastic bag with a big container filled with soup saying, “This is for you.”

I took said container home and put half of it into a bowl. I placed aforementioned bowl into my microwave. Now the next step is crucial. I pushed popcorn and then start. Presto like magic I had a wonderful bowl of beef soup.

My story further underscores the virtues of the popcorn setting on the microwave. Join me in this movement and you will see 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

My Haircut Adventure

January 15, 2021January 14, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 42 Comments

I had not had my haircut since last June. I started to think about getting a haircut las October, but the COVID dial went to red for severe risk and has stayed there since then. My hair got uncontrollable.

So Wednesday evening, I decided to try to cut it myself using my beard trimmer. The front and top look somewhat okay, but I could not see what I was doing with the back.

Thursday morning I wore my Love Justice baseball cap when I walked into the school where I teach Family Literacy and kept it on until after my class started. The students were trying to figure out why I was wearing it because I have never worn one in class. Then I took my cap off to show them I had cut my hair.

One problem-the back looked real bad.

While I was studying with one small group, one of the students used Google Translate to write a message for me. It said, “Do you have scissors for your long hairs?” Evidently there were patches of hair I missed.

I grabbed some scissors and began to try to find them. She walked over and took over. After ten minutes, it looked better.

When she finished, she look at me and said, “Nunca debe tratar corte su cabello otro vez.” You should never try to cut your own hair again.

At least I provided my students with some entertainment and laughs during this crazy time of COVID.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Believe It Or Not- Some Things I Enjoyed about 2020

January 1, 2021January 1, 2021 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 29 Comments

I realize it is difficult to believe anything about 2020 could have been enjoyable. It was certainly the most difficult year I can remember not just personally but for everyone.

However, there were some things I actually enjoyed that my fellow Spoonies, person living with chronic illness, will understand.

I enjoyed staying home in my comfortable hoodie and sweat pants.

I thought it was fun that I could teach online wearing a dress shirt and sweat pants or in the summer shorts and be barefoot. I had never ever taught while barefoot before.

I loved being able to take naps between classes if needed. Having 4 chronic illnesses that each has fatigue as a common symptom, naps are a blessing.

Were there any fun little aspects of 2020 you enjoyed?

Thanks for reading. God Bless.