Simplifying: Blog Changes

Just wanted to drop a line to reader-friends to let you know I've prayed about simplifying my life and talked it over with husband and daughters...It seems the best thing at this time is to go with one primary blog at this time.  I may blog specials here from time to time but they will first be on My Forest Cathedral blog.  I'm not one to permanently close doors completely so I will keep this blog open as in leaving the door open just a crack.  This plan seems like the most logical thing to do after much prayer.  

I sure do hope to see you over at My Forest Cathedral!  I sure appreciate all who read here and please know I'll have the coffee on for ya at My Forest Cathedral. And yes, there will be recipes, old 40s movies and re-dos there now too along with our country Italian lives!   

Thanks for understanding!

Love, Amelia 

 

 ~Photo by Robert Stock

Pasta Bowl for That Warm Evening...So Good...So Easy Plus old Movie Suggestion

Yesterday I was sooo tired.  Everyone was sooo tired.  But we wanted something good to eat for supper as usual.  We cherish our family suppers. : )  

The answer?  The good Lord whispered.... That pasta dish Dear One...look in your old handwritten recipe book...

So I did!... and I found my old recipe I used to make all the time when my girls were little.  I don't know why in the world I stopped making it!

I think I will share it with you as I'm listening to:



I so love the theme music and the movie itself...We own the movie as well.  Very appropriate for Memorial Day too.  Check into the history of the movie if you like, one of the actors without arms is a true Veteran from WWII.  Yes, his arms were truly lost in the war and he had no actor's training from what I understand.   There is alcohol used in the movie but it is not shown in positive light at all.  What is shown is what our soldiers go through and how they felt (feel) upon returning. (We must never forget)

The returning soldier without arms marries the sweetest gal ever....I love the simplicity of things  (you'll see)...  SO sweet.  This young lady has such a beautiful character, it's not one that is esteemed in this culture these day but God esteems it.

People are so darned busy now-a-days they just go-go-go- ...it doesn't seem like there is much substance or thinking going on does it?  One thing I especially ponder in this movie is the part of Myrna Loy...The reason?  I think her character is very much in the same season of life I am...almost exactly.  My oldest daughter is 30 and our youngest daughter is 18.  So much going on in our culture that makes it difficult for nice young ladies.   But never the less...it's a nice season too.  : )  It's a sweet time in our home.  But all in all, I really do understand Myrna and how she feels at times, those heart to heart talks and how we too remember so well how life is, ... and was.  Oh do we!

Now for that recipe!

Amelia's Quickie but Goooooood Pasta Bowl  (said like Andy Griffith)   gooooooooood

Put enough olive oil in a large pot, a goodly amount, around a 1/4 inch deep.

I sauteed 4 very large cloves of garlic for about 1 minute.  No longer!  Only til fragrant!

Okay girls, the easiness of this recipe is going to floor you...

Dump a large can of diced tomatoes including juice in the pot.  (around 27 oz.)

Dump a regular size can (14 oz.) of white northern beans, drained and rinsed or any bean that you have on hand, or no beans works too but I like to add beans to my veggie dishes.

Dump a can of black olives drained to mix.

Dump a half box of veggie broth, that's what I had left in fridge.

A few teaspoons of dried basil.

Let it simmer a bit.

Serve with a ladle over angel hair pasta!   Bella!!!

I top my bowl with lemon pepper....oh ladies, this is really good!

The add-ons are endless, I'm thinking of adding some kale next time too.  Walnuts on top?  Mm. Mm.

I added toasted sesame bread with olive oil dipping sauce to round it out and you will have a very nice supper for your family! 

I hope everyone is doing well, we're doing good, just busy at the Forest Cathedral here! 

I thought you might enjoy seeing the above pics of two of our daughters leaving for a Spring Formal, I thought it was so cute, the girls in their pretty dresses here at The Forest Cathedral.  The Spring Formal is a nice old English folk dance, young men are encouraged to dance with each girl once unless they are in a courtship...It's  a very nice wholesome event. : )  I just thought I'd share the atmosphere here.

Four young ladies, a husband, wife in middle age years, little baby chicks who are also our pets...even a miracle chick! four doglets, four sweet cats and lot's of cookin'.

Live - Love - Laugh -   Pray Hard...

That's life at the Forest Cathedral.  God bless America and may America Bless God! : )  Hug a soldier, ask the old soldiers questions, cherish them they are treasures.  

Love to All,    ~Amelia  

Feel free to check my other blogs too.  Each one has it's own flavor, and that is a long story. ; )

Vision for a Godly Home

My Forest Cathedral

Mrs. Amelia's Yee-Haw-Howdy Tamale Pie and a Sweet-Good Ol' 50s Cowboy Series: "Fury" Adorable!

Hi Y'all!  I thought I would share a recipe and a good ol' 50s show, this would make for a great cowboy night at your house!  This recipe turned out pretty good, I always make sure they do before I share here. : )  And the 50s shows on the dvd  are adorable.  The name of the old black and white  shows?  Fury    Read on for true-family-night ideas!

This is our daughter, Delle ready to dig in to my newfangled recipe.

Now please oblige while I share....I do vegetarian recipes.  God convicted me of what is happening to the institutionalized farm animals and that goes for dairy as well.  It's a great thing to eat with a clear conscience and it's a great thing for health too.  Leather has the same sentiments when we see what is behind it all.

So now I go back to Genesis and the garden for eating and it's a luverly thing. 

The taste of seeds, nuts, legumes...are a beautiful thing. I can make some out of-this-world lentil patties with veggie gravy. So. Good.  I have to make sure my recipe is tweaked before I post it though. : )  My fave snack food is cherry tomatoes...my taste buds have come alive! 

And as always I take a good quality multi vitamin and b12.  I've always been particular about taking b12, it has saved my back for several years before I even made this conscience change. 

Do you know...
 ...that broccoli has 11.2 grams of protein?
....that Romaine lettuce has 7.5 grams of protein?
....that Kale ahs 11 grams of protein?
.....verses 5.4 grams in a sirloin (flesh) steak?



Yes indeedie, and that doesn't even touch the calcium and iron facts. 

This info is from the Hallelujah Acres magazine.

Do you eat eggs Mrs Amelia?  Yes. As long as they are from a true humane source, not a place where little boy chicks are thrown into a macerator alive. 

Milk?  As long as it is from a humane source but milk and cheeses do not agree with my body, they do form extra mucus in the body.

What do you use?  I use almond  or coconut milk, unsweetened rice milk is excellent for baking and cooking.   I use almond or veggie cheese.  I make ricotta from tofu.

Okay.  That should answer main questions if you had any....

On with that recipe.  On with Cowboy Night!

Mrs. Amelia's Yee-haw-Howdy Tamale Pie

This served our family of 6 with leftovers. Yay for leftovers! : )

4  14.5 oz. cans of pinto beans drained or you can make your own in the crockpot.

1 regular small can of tomato paste

2 T ollive oil

1 onion chopped.

3 T chili powder

1 can of storebrand mild tomato rotel

1 6 oz. packet of cornbread mix.  I used Martha White yellow cornbread mix packet.

2 2/3 c. of rice milk

2 happy chicken yard eggs

2 T stevia  (or you could use honey or a little sugar)  I also stay away from sugar or honey, neither agree with my body. 

Okay.  Yeehaw let's go!

Preheat oven to 425.  Coat 13 x 9 pan with oil.  Heat oil in skillet add chopped onion cook til soft. Add chili powder.  Stir in paste, rotel, then beans.

Reduce to low, simmer around 6 minutes.

Season with salt & pepper if desired.

Combine the cornbread mix with rice-milk, eggs, 2 T. spoon water in bowl.

Spread the bean mixture in pan.

Pour cornbread mixture over bean mixture spreading lightly with the back of a spoon.

Bake until cornbread is set and golden. (Doesn't take that long)

There you have it!  Mrs. Amelia's Yeehaw-Howdy Tamale Pie!  Hubs thought it should have more cornbread mixture...try it and see what ya think!

You can serve this with salsa, olives, avocados etc.  A salad goes nicely on the side if you have time. : )  Or if you want to go really easy-breezy, do a frozen green veggie cooked and drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with garlic powder. When I grew up, we had to have at least one green per day.  Mama was right!

Mrs. Amelia's Yee-Haw-Howdy Tamale Pie!

Now for that show!


This old black and white 50s television series is SO. PRECIOUS.  Fury

You too can come along to the Broken Wheel Ranch and share in the sweet adventures!  My husband used to watch these when he was a little boy and the little boy in the shows reminds me of Hubs too. : )  The other night we watched an episode and the little boy was praying such a sweet heartfelt prayer.  Oh. So. Adorable.  This is the kind of thing you want your family to see. You will not see disrespect or anything that would go along with today's modern sitcoms. 

I hope you are all doing well, we're doing good here at the Forest Cathedral.  Mar and I are nursing a little chicken back to health.  You can read about it here and  here on My Forest Cathedral blog.

Have any of you read or heard anything about the Gosnell trial?  I hate to bring this up, it is horrible and unpleasant but it needs to be heard, most news media is not covering it.  You can read about it here on my Vision for a Godly Home Blog.

Source: Uploaded by user via Amelia on Pinterest

I'm sorry I've been so aloof on this blog, I'm testing out new recipes and am rather particular on what to share, I'm also very particular with even old 40s movies to share.  They must be good....and blameless! : )

If you're interested, I blog the most at My Forest Cathedral, if you would like to follow there.  My four daughters think I should condense to one blog...I'm not sure. We will see. It's a long story how I ended up with 3 blogs! 

So much going on in our nation and soooo much to pray about.

Love to All,     ~Mrs. Amelia

Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

This is one of the sweetest clips ever. It definitely puts things in perspective this holy Christmas season.

It's been a trying week, Monday in the ER with my dd22. Seven kidney stones, one blocking. I'm so tired but thought I would put this clip up for you to enjoy as I hope you will. I know I so enjoyed this.

I hope we can get back to this sweet simplicity in the country, it might take a miracle. But God specializes in miracles. : ) 



Blessings to All,  Amelia

So Darling! Love the Words. No Fuddy - Duddies Allowed. ; )

I Haven't Time to be a Millionaire



I think this song is so darling, this is Bing Crosby and Deanna Durbin I believe...The words are so meaningful to me.

 I listen to this very same song by a very young Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey almost daily as I get ready for the day, it makes me smile and it's in keeping with my quest for a sweet simplicity not to mention that sweet, precious 40s theme. ....I just love the sweet message here.

Sweets for the sweet, no fuddy-duddies aloud.

I haven't time to be a millionaire...     

God's Contentment to All,   For an Audience of One....   ~Amelia

I've Been Awarded! The Liebster Award from my Friend, Ann

Hi-de-Ho!

My dear friend, Ann at Learning Late in Life awarded me with the Liebster award! Thank you dear Ann. My friend Ann is half Italian like me. In fact, I adore her Italian maiden name...I think it's plumb beautimous! I wish I could put it down but I'm not so sure she may want it over the worldwide web. ; )

These award things can be fun and will get us into the swing of some good blogging if we take advantage of them and you may just meet some other nice friends too!

Okay, here are 7 random things about me:

1. I think deeply. I see things in artistic ways, shapes, the way the light shines, an expression of someone, a feel in a room...Just ask my husband, he'll tell you about my happy sighs and musings as we drive through the country side or take walks together...even nudges I feel.

2. This morning I was thinking that I could be a female version of Will Rogers. I'm not near as witty or quick thinking as he was but my thoughts are similar and the way I spit them out at times too. ; )

3. I enjoy solitude at times. Today I'm so enjoying the birds singing and God's still small Voice. The girls are away at jobs and nursing home. I'm on the tail end of getting well so I decided to bite the bullet and stay home, it's nice being quiet.

4. I love living in the country. There is nothing like walking outside in the morning in your robe with a hot cup of coffee...plopping yourself down on the porch to talk to the good Lord. Cows in the distance, perhaps a horse neighing from another homestead nearby...

5. I grew up in an old town on the bay, both my mom and dad were old families from the town. One Italian family business next to the German business. I grew up very practically and matter of fact as far as material goods and what was necessary in life even though I'm an only child. I remember the first time I saw my Italian cousins closet she shared with her sisters and the huge mounds of shoes I was appalled! In our family, you used it up and wore it out first before buying another. We paid cash for our new car or truck and drove them til they fell apart. Neither my parents or grandparents gave a hoot about appearances. Our sweet older 30s home was paid for and my dad would roll his eyes at the new suburbs popping up. Now I know just what he was rolling those eyes about.

6. I love to sew and create my own clothes. I'm not a master seamstress by any means. I sew simple and use accessories such as belts, patterned hose, a ribbon holding a pony tail to spruce things up.

7. I love to keep our home in a sweet atmosphere, an old fashioned 40s atmosphere. Why not? The culture doesn't own me. ; ) My world consists of old screwback earrings, black and white 40s movies and music and the works. Hubs calls me his 40s glamor girl. : ) But at the same time as much as I am frail at times.... I also love putting on rubber boots and going on a country walk, getting my hands in the earth feels good at times. No manicures here! : )..Speaking of, my hands remind me of my Italian grandma's hands when she cooked. When I cook, chop etc. I so see my Grandma's mannerisms in myself.

8. (One to grow on) I really enjoy beating the system. I sew with a Brothers sewing machine from Walmart, the bottom of the line. I adore my machine, I take care of it and it is nice to me, a blessing. I have the same theory on pretty shoes. I buy cheap and take care of them, I put insoles in them and I'm set to go. My favorite pair of Laura Petrie-style black flats were $5.00 regular price from Walmart. The shape and femininity of the shoe is adorable.


Here are Ann's questions!

1. What is your favorite flavor? Oh goodness...Chocolate?
2. Does anybody really know what time it is? No. In fact I think I'll get rid of my watch and go with life unabashedly.
3. What is the first thing that you do upon rising in the morning? Brush my teeth, hair, and clip it back, pour coffee give my four doglets a treat and go outside to pray.
4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Right here in my own backyard.
5. If you could do anything other than what you currently do, what would it be and why? I like just what I am and do. But if I really had to choose something else?...hmmm...perhaps a vet?
6. What is your favorite vegetable? Eggplant.
7. Just what makes that little old ant think he can move that rubber tree plant? Determination! : )

Okay folks, now for picking some bloggy friends who might enjoy this too...Hmmm...I've picked 7 on My Forest Cathedral blog and two sweethearts responded so far... Let's see if I can pick some more friends who would enjoy this. People sure are fuddy duddies now days aren't they??? : P

Let's see now.....*squinting eyes smiling* ...Let me find some lively ones... ; ) Keep in mind, it's supposed to be blogging friends who have less then 200 followers...


An Old Familiar Place

Kathryn

Beloved's Bride

The Man Who Would Be Knight

Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Poetic Capture

The Musings and Life of a Daughter of the King

Now for 7 - 11 questions for you all!

1. What's for supper at your house tonight?

2. Favorite time period?

3. What are your thoughts on the signs of the times lately?

4. Did you grow up rural, city? Do you live rural or city now?

5. How do you manage blogging time? Spontaneous or planned?

6. How do you witness to others? What comes naturally for you?

7. What are your surroundings at this moment?

Okay Folks! I hope you enjoy this little award/mixer of sorts... This can be fun! When you get the druthers try answering these questions and meeting other blogging friends! If you're not on this list participate anyhow if you want too...I tried to pick active bloggers.

The idea is:

You tell 7 -11 things about yourself

You ask 7 -11 things to 7 - 11 others.

You answer the awarders questions to you.

Make sense? I hope so. : )

Y'all have a wonderful day! God bless y'all! ~Amelia

Guest Post at The Little Acre: 'Peace Adds, Busyness Takes Away'

 

EDIT: 10.01.12  The below guest posts will be reposted here soon. The blog that the guest posts were on is unavailable at this time. Thanks everyone!

Hello Everyone! Long time no see? It's been such a busy summer of sorts. I just wanted to drop a line to sweet friends and those who I am privileged to have read and visit here to know I have a guest post series on my sweet friend, Amanda's blog, The Little Acre:

Peace Adds, Busyness Takes Away. Click here for Part I Part II

Part III

I hope you are blessed and encouraged by the series, the Lord put it on my heart as I sat at my keyboard last week. I asked God what He would have me share? There are soooo many things on my heart these days in these perilous times we are in and the thoughts flowed.

Please be encouraged, in His Great Love, ~Amelia