Jesse Tree

One of my fondest Advent memories from childhood is doing the Jesse Tree with my family. The five of us would gather together for this daily devotion time. Even before I could read, I could participate! We would read a Bible passage, have some discussion about the passage, put an ornament on the Jesse Tree (my job, especially before I could read), and say a prayer.

The Jesse Tree from my childhood that I'm using with my own kids now.

If you are unfamiliar with the Jesse Tree, it is a really awesome way to get ready for Christmas. Each day, you read a Scripture passage and add an ornament to the Jesse Tree. The cool thing is that the whole point of the Jesse Tree is to connect Jesus to the Old Testament, so almost all of the readings are from the Old Testament. The first day, you read Isaiah 11:1-10, which talks about a shoot from the root of Jesse and prophesies the Messiah, Jesus. You also read 1 Samuel 16:1-13, about David being chosen as king. This sets up the idea of the Jesse Tree and allows you to talk about the idea of a family tree. Then, you jump back to the story of creation and make your way through some of the highlights of the Old Testament.

Even though Advent started on Sunday, November 27, it's not too late to start doing the Jesse Tree! You can find the daily readings here. (Most of the readings can be found in the Spark Story Bible, which is the one my son has. That makes it really easy to use with my young children.) There's also a really good description of the Jesse Tree on Feels Like Home. She has a free e-book available for download, which includes an explanation and suggestions for how to do the Jesse Tree. Her e-book also can be re-used each year, despite Advent having a different number of days year, and she explains how to do that.

You can make your own Jesse Tree, or you can find one on Amazon. Whatever you use, it's great to trace Jesus' lineage.

Greek Chicken

About a year and a half ago, I had a friend stop through town on her way from Chicago to Minnesota. She made dinner for my family and me. We liked the recipe so much that we asked her for it. She said, "Oh, I found it on Pinterest. I'll send it to you." It was called Marinated Greek Chicken Skewers, and it was supposed to be made on the grill. Unfortunately, the day she came, it was cold and rainy, so she had to adjust her plan and made them on the stove in a skillet instead.

Greek chicken cooking in the skillet

My husband and I make the recipe fairly often, but we've never made it on the grill. We also tend not to plan ahead well enough to allow us to actually marinate the chicken. One of these days, we'll include that step. In the meantime, here is our version of the recipe:

Greek Chicken
1 1/2 lb. chicken breast, boneless, skinless
3 bell peppers, any color
Marinade ingredients:
2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (we use the organic lemon juice from Costco)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced (we use jarred minced garlic)

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together and set aside.
2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
3. Put the marinade and chicken into a zippered plastic bag and set aside for 30 minutes. (This step can be skipped, if you don't have time for it.)
4. Wash the peppers and cut into bite-sized pieces.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and marinade. When the chicken is cooked on the outside, add the peppers.
6. Cook until the chicken is done - about 10 minutes.
7. Enjoy over rice!

Pop Culture and Religion: Grilled Cheesus

One of my favorite things is finding where pop culture and religion intersect. I love when tv shows or movies inject some questions about faith. Better yet, I love when an entire movie (or tv episode) is a metaphor about faith. This interest serves me well as Director of Faith Formation (overseeing service and learning for all ages); I do a lot of youth ministry in my role.

As part of my job, I help host evening events for middle school students. Every two months or so, we offer our middle school students the opportunity to come spend time together on a Friday or Saturday night. We play games, sing songs, eat pizza and other snacks, and get to know each other better. We used to also show a movie, but the kids were generally uninterested. They preferred having time to just hang out together. So that past two events, we've switched gears a little bit and we've shown a tv episode to them and used it to have a conversation about faith.

Last spring, we showed "Grilled Cheesus," an episode from the second season of Glee. It's a great episode and shows several of the characters exploring faith - from a devout Baptist to an atheist. It allowed us to talk with our middle school students about prayer in a nonthreatening way. Even if you aren't hosting a middle school event at your church, check out this episode. Last I knew, the entire series of Glee episodes was available on Netflix.

Post-Thanksgiving Watching

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I spent the day with my family at my parents' house. It was a pretty relaxing day with delicious food and good company. I even managed to not overdo it at dinner!

I spent some time yesterday and today thinking about Thanksgiving from years ago. And I was reminded of two pretty awesome videos. Whatever your plans are today, you should take the time to watch these. You won't be sorry.

"The Peanut Killer" is a short slasher movie that my nieces, nephew, brother, husband, and I made on Thanksgiving Day in 2007. I'm sure the nieces and nephew are going to be thrilled that I'm posting it here, but seriously, it's a pretty decent story.



The other video is from 2008, and is about a special Thanksgiving festival. This video was made by Tweedee Productions, a video production company where I used to work. I think I helped edit this video, but I don't really remember. You may not want to be eating while you watch this one.




Enjoy! And now that Thanksgiving is over, I can start listening to Christmas music!

Salmon Burgers

My family usually eats pretty healthy meals. We use whole food ingredients, and we try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. With our busy schedule, though, it is sometimes difficult to eat as healthy as I'd like. Last night, I didn't start making dinner for my husband and me until 8:30pm! Yuck. I don't like eating that late.

However, I was able to whip up these delicious salmon burgers and have them on our plates in about 15 minutes. I was so hungry and tired, that I didn't even take a picture!

I served them with some leftover sourdough bread and steamed broccoli. They would've been delicious with a creamy dill sauce, but I'll have to try that another day. This recipe could easily be doubled or tripled.

Easy Salmon Burgers
1 can (6 oz.) skinless boneless salmon
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used what I happened to have in the cupboard, but you could easily use quick oats.)

Mix all ingredients together and form two patties. Heat 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes per side.

What is your go-to quick meal for busy nights?

Christmas Wish Lists

When I was kid, my parents would ask my sister and brother and me for Christmas Wish Lists. My parents used our lists to help with their Christmas shopping. They would share the lists with our grandparents, too. The best part of this, as a kid, was that I always received gifts that I wanted. At some point, I stopped providing these Christmas wish lists; I'm not sure why. My parents and friends had to work a lot harder to determine what I wanted for Christmas (or my birthday).

Now that I have kids of my own, I want our Christmas celebration to be joyful and centered around the reason for the season. It's so hard to avoid getting sucked into the commercialism of the holiday. It's really fun to give and receive gifts, so I still want that to be part of our celebration. But I do like the idea of being more thoughtful with our requests and with our gifts. An idea I've heard a lot in the last few years is to give each child four gifts: something wanted, something needed, something to wear, something to read.

I really like this idea. I like this idea so much that I created a PDF template for kids to fill out. You can download it for yourself right here.

What do you do in your house to help keep the focus on the birth of Jesus?

I Made a Rock

On Sunday mornings, my family and I go to worship and then my son, who is almost 5, goes to BASIC (Brothers And Sisters In Christ - our church's name for Sunday School). Each week, BASIC starts with songs and the Bible story with all of the kids together in the sanctuary. Then the kids head into classrooms for time with their peers. They share highs and lows, pray together, and usually do an activity together.

This past Sunday, I asked O how BASIC was and what they did. Here's how our conversation went:
Me: What did you do in BASIC today?
O: We played with Play-Doh!
Me: Oh, that sounds fun. What were you making with it?
O: Well, we were supposed to make something we are thankful for.
Me: That's cool. What did you make?
O: I made a rock.
Me: A rock, huh? You're thankful for rocks?
O: No. I wanted to make a human being, but it was too hard, so I made a rock.
Me: Oh. I gotcha. Human beings are hard to make. You're thankful for humans, though?
O: No! I was trying to make you, Mama!
Me: (tearing up) That is so sweet, buddy. I am thankful for you, too.

It makes me think about how thankful I am for the people in my life, but how infrequently I tell them. Why are we so quick to share our feelings of gratitude when it comes to things, but slow to share when it comes to people? I suppose it has something to do with vulnerability. It feels like a big risk to tell someone that you're thankful for them. Because what if they don't feel the same way back? But doesn't it feel good to hear that someone is thankful for you? Maybe that's what we need to focus on. Regardless of their response, it feels good to risk vulnerability, and it always feels good to hear that you are loved/appreciated. Who can you tell today that you're thankful for them?

Also, the conversation with O on Sunday reminded me of the song "We Want a Rock" by They Might Be Giants. Enjoy!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones

My kids have a book by Mercer Mayer that says the most important ingredient in any recipe is love. So, when I make something for my family and they respond positively, I often ask if I put enough love in it. This is especially fun when both of the kids have helped me make something and we are seeking feedback from Einar.

One of our favorite breakfast treats is chocolate chip scones. Years ago, my sister shared her recipe with me. She got it from her Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking or some other fairly standard cookbook. We really like this recipe - it's easy, quick, and most importantly, tasty!

Over the past year and a half or so, my husband and I have been using coconut oil more regularly, and so I thought I'd try using coconut oil instead of butter in this recipe. Now, I am not a huge fan of coconut, but I do like coconut milk-based curries. I was hesitant to use unrefined coconut oil because of its mild coconut flavor. We were delighted to discover that using unrefined/virgin coconut oil gave a nice hint of coconut flavor, which was a nice complement to the semisweet chocolate chips I use.

If you want to experience these delicious scones for yourself, gather up extra love and follow the recipe below.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones
1/3 cup unrefined/virgin coconut oil (I use Spectrum brand)
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips
4 to 6 tablespoons half-and-half

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt into a medium bowl. Cut coconut oil into these dry ingredients with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Stir in the egg, chocolate chips, and just enough half-and-half so the dough leaves sides of bowl.
Lightly knead 10 times. (I do this right in the bowl.)
Divide into 8 equal pieces. Gently form each piece into a ball and then flatten to about 1/2" thick.
Place on ungreased baking stone, leaving room between each scones.
Bake until golden brown, about 17-19 minutes. (If using a cookie sheet instead of a baking stone, decrease cooking time to 10-12 minutes.)

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or glass of milk.