This is my mom's AMAZING meatloaf recipe. She got it from my paternal grandmother. The meatloaf IS good. I made it for some company this weekend and they all said they liked (they may have been being nice, but I liked it).
Its super easy. The amount of ingredients is set for 6 people, but you can make more for a bigger crowd. Just remember its basically 1/4 lb of ground beef per person.
Mom's Meatloaf
3 lb ground beef
1 cup ish Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
½ cup ketchup (plus some more for the top of the ketchup)
Mix ground beef, Italian bread crumbs, eggs, ketchup. Mix with hands and pour in 8 x 10 dish.
Cook for about an 40 minutes (not raw in middle). Pour ketchup over meatloaf and cook for 10 minutes.
I haven't done this before but I wanted to post about a blog I'm just really loving. I found it the other day and the more I read, the more I love. Its a group of women who are committed to being different. They are against modern feminism. They want to raise their children. They want to serve their husbands. They want to be modest. I could go on and on. Basically everything I want. I just wanted to tell everyone about this. I hope it encourages some of you women as it did me.
Sometimes it feels like we are outnumbered. Those of us who want to not work, raise a family, have children and not work. I know some of you reading do not agree with me, and that's ok. I don't expect you to. And God does not call everyone to that. I'm not saying its for everyone and its the only way to be. I'm just saying its what God has called me to.
But this blog is great. I do not agree with everything on there, but I will let you explore and find out what you like and what you do not agree with. I will say that its been very encouraging to me in my quest to be a Godly lady.
Here' s the link. You can also find it under the buttons of the blogs I'm reading. I only put buttons of very well loved blogs that I would recommend to anyone.
I hope you enjoy this and get as much out of it as I am.
Yesterday one of my best friends sent me a text yesterday that really made sense. She said that we, especially as girls, always think about we don't like about ourselves, especially physically. I can think about 10,000 things I don't like about myself, but when she asked me to list 10 things I like about myself, physically, I had a really, really hard time. God made me beautiful in His eyes, so why can't I see the beauty?
So I thought that I would list 10 things on my blog I like about my physical body. God made me beautiful.
Here goes:
1. the color of my eyes - I have really deep brown eyes. Isaiah says they change shades of brown depending on what mood I'm in.
2. my lips - I love my lips. I know its silly. But I am thankful God gave them to me.
3. my smile - I got my mom's smile. Its very hereditary on my mom's side. We all have the same smile. But I like my smile.
4. my hair - I have very long (I don't cut my hair) dark brown hair. For years I hated it. I wanted blonde hair, like my mom and brother. But now I love it. Isaiah helped me realize that its beautiful because its not cookie cutter. Its dark and wavy and long, totally not the style. But I like it and Isaiah loves it. And God gave it to me.
5. the shape of my eyes - I have large eyes. I like it. :)
6. my tiny feet - I have size 6 1/2 feet. I like my feet. Its another thing I hated, but then I prayed about it and God showed me its a nice thing.
7. my height - growing up I always told God I would be fine if He did anything to me but made me short. Then at 12 I stopped growing. I'm 5'2". Yeah God got ahold of me. But I have to say I really like it now. I am just the right height to be hugged by Isaiah. And I like being short. God really did make me just the right height.
wow this is hard......
8. my ears - they lay flat and are little. It seems silly but I like it.
9. my weird thumbs - I have weird thumbs. They look like they are cut off in the middle. I used to be very embarrassed about my weird thumbs. But they make me special. God knew just how to make me feel special.
almost done, finally...
10. my nose scrunch - when I'm really happy I scrunch my nose. Isaiah's brother once told me that some man would fall in love with it. And Isaiah did. Its different, but I like it.
So there is my 10 things. I hope I don't sound selfish or conceited. I try hard not to be conceited or selfish. I know that its only because God blessed me with these physical attributes that I can like them. I really do want to give the glory to God for how I look. He sees me as beautiful. And He created me.
So I challenge you to make 10 things that God blessed you with physically. Its harder than you think.
Bearing other's burdens. It goes so against everything we as human thinks about. We want to selfishly hide in a hole and only think about our own problems. But when there is some problem we want someone else to carry us. Its a need humans have to need someone to help us through difficult times.
I think women really need this sharing of burdens. Not all women are as sharing, but I think God put in inherent need in women to want to share our burdens with other people. We need a community around us to share things with.
As women, we cannot handle things on our own. that is how God made us. God made us to be weak on our own. There is no way to handle life on our own. We have to lean on others, but more importantly God to get us through.
I always thought that we as Christians had to be tough. Nothing could harm us. We had to act like there was nothing wrong and not let other people see us hurt because good Christians are tough. HA
Shortly after I got married I went through a time where I had a huge burden. I needed people to see and help me share it, but I did not let people see my pain and burden. I ended up falling apart and coming to the darkest point in my life. But God let the people in my life see what was happening and they came along side me.
I wish I would have let them see my burden. I wish I would have said that I was struggling and that I needed help instead of just trying to push through it.
I see a need for Christian women to come together and really share each other's burdens. We need that sense of community and love in order to survive. Thankfully, for some of us, God gave that to us in our husbands, but we all need other Christian women to be sharing with.
Thankfully, the God of the universe wants to take our burdens also. He wants to take our burden and carry it for us. Isn't that exciting? God wants to carry our burdens for us. How exciting.
I want to add this challenge. Lets try to make a community where we share burdens. Find another Christian woman who you can share with. Maybe find a younger one you can mentor, or an older one who can mentor you. But lets start sharing each other's burdens.
So tonight I realized that my list of recipes I make is limited. I grew up cooking and making things, but it was always recipes my mom had, and have in her cookbooks. And it was just a few basics. But now I am on my own. NOT GOOD!!!!!!
Isaiah ended up staying home tonight because there were really bad storms all around us when he would be in school. I was so excited and wanted to make something special for him but didn't want to make the same things I always make. I started looking in my all of 2 cookbooks and found nothing. Then I looked online. I couldn't find anything that would work with what we have and we would like. I fell apart. All I wanted was to make a nice dinner for my husband, but yeah that didn't work.
This was after having a rough day at school and I was exhausted. Then as I'm trying to figure something out, I resprain my ankle. Its all swollen and not pretty. And after falling apart and crying my eyes out, my dear amazing husband offered to go get McDonald's.
Honestly, I feel like a failure as a wife. My mom would always have something awesome cooked for my dad when he got home. And she always had lots of delicious recipes. I honestly feel like I'm not a good wife and that's a struggle.
I also have a question for you, my few readers. Could anyone give me a recipe that is easy and they love?
One of my all time favorite verses has always been. Isaiah 6:8
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me
I would read that and prayed that God would use me, wherever, however, whenever. I was His to use. I meant it. I wanted Him to do whatever He wanted. I wanted my life to bring Him glory. I have said on here before that my goal in life is to glorify God and show Him to others.
I know that God will take the life of His chosen and use it. He knows where are our lives are going. He has plans for us. Another favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
God has a plan for His chosen's lives. He knows where they are going. He will lead them to Him and perform His works in their lives.
That sounds great, and cosy, and exciting, but something God has been really showing me is that sometimes that plan God has for me is not fun. Its miserable. The trials are rough.
God promises that for His called it will work together for good in Romans 8:28.
"And we know thatallthingsworktogetherforgoodto them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose"
But when you are in the middle of the rough times its hard to see that God has a plan. In all the trials, its hard to say, "God here I am. Do Your amazing will." We want to say, "Please stop!" but honestly is that what we want.
Do we really not want the trials? During the rough times, its easy to say yes. But honestly, think about it. Would we really want no rough times?
I think through my trials and know that they made me who I am. It was always during the trials that I knew God better. Even in the times when I turned away from Him, He still used the times to grow me. He used those times in mighty ways. I would never be the person I am had I not gone through those times.
Also, I look back and see how my trials have been used in other people's lives to show them Him. I can also see how seeing other's struggles has shown me God and His love.
During the trials don't we want to say, "God I know this is Your will, but I think I know better."? Maybe its just me, but I have thought things like that. I have told God I know better than He does. Surely this struggle or trial is not the best thing for me.
But I'm not God! And looking back, the trials have been terrible, but during those times I have had to lean on God. I have grown so much in Him, and learned so much. And if thats what it takes to bring Him glory, well thats what I want. I want my life to bring Him glory. That is far more important than my comfort.
Something my mom would always tell me is that God doesn't care about how comfortable we are, He cares about our relationship with Him and His glory. Its so true. He will bring us through those rough times because He cares about His glory and our relationship with Him.
A song that started me thinking about all this is the song, Bring the Rain. Its talks about how circumstances don't dictate how we trust God. And we pray that God brings us anything the brings Him glory, even when its the rain.
I can count a million times People asking me how I Can praise You with all that I've gone through The question just amazes me Can circumstances possibly Change who I forever am in You Maybe since my life was changed Long before these rainy days It's never really ever crossed my mind To turn my back on you, oh Lord My only shelter from the storm But instead I draw closer through these times So I pray Bring me joy, bring me peace Bring the chance to be free Bring me anything that brings You glory And I know there'll be days When this life brings me pain But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus, bring the rain I am Yours regardless of The dark clouds that may loom above Because You are much greater than my pain You who made a way for me By suffering Your destiny So tell me what's a little rain So I pray Holy, holy, holy Is the Lord God Almighty
I have a confession. I didn't try a new recipe to post on here. I got so busy with school, then getting sick that I didn't. So I am posting a recipe that Isaiah makes and I love. You may be surprise, but my husband is a very good cook. This recipe is his and its passed down from his mom (so you know its good)
Goulash
1 lb ground beef
1 cup uncooked macaroni
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
a pinch of oregano
1 small can Huntz tomato sauce
Brown the meat. Drain and put back in pan. Pour tomato sauce in and stir. Next mix in Worcestershire sauce and oregano. Put on medium heat and let simmer.
Boil noodles and drain. Add to sauce. Simmer for roughly 30 minutes or to taste.
I like to put some Parmesan cheese on top of mine. Isaiah likes to put a piece of American cheese on his. Or you can eat it plain and its delicious. Enjoy.
