A Special Or AnyDay Feast-- Pork Roast!

I have noticed that when moods are cranky, emotions are high or anyone is out of sorts, sitting down to a candlelight table with soothing music and good food almost always diffuses the stressful hearts. We are all made to love to eat. it is a part of the blessing and grace of God's design.  When you learn this secret, you will be pleasing your family and friends' palates while nourishing their bodies and soothing their emotions. We only have to observe babies, suckling at a mama's breast and cuddling close can often bring a tearful one to a happy as can be infant.

Feasting is a Clarkson tradition, and weekends seem prime time for wonderful meals and discussions around the table.  Often, I gather our friends, their children, neighbors, or relatives over the holidays and I go to one of my most practiced company meals.

This is one I have used many times and it almost always pleases. (At least to those who still eat meat--I never had to worry about that until a few years ago!) We do pretty natural and organic food in general at our home, but whatever your own preferences, this is a hit with all ages.

Here's a family favorite I hope you'll enjoy!

Pork Roast a la Sally

Two pork loins (these are more tender and I usually buy them when they are on sale and put them in the freezer. A pork roast, as pictured, can also be used, but it must cook much longer in order to be tender.) 

Mix together in a large bowl:

1-2 cups apple juice (depending on how big the loins are! I often double the recipe or triple if I am having a big crowd. It cooks ahead of time so is no trouble at the last moment.)

1 tablespoon of minced garlic or garlic paste

1 package onion soup mix

2-4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce according to taste

4 apples sliced thinly

2 onions sliced thinly

1/2 cup red wine, optional

1/2 -3/4  cup dried cherries according to preference (optional--some don't like this--but most of my family loves it mixed in with the onions and apples.)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Stir the apple juice, garlic, soup mix and worcestershire sauce together in a crock pot or cast iron roasting pan, which I have come to love in the past few years. Place the pork loins or pork roast in the sauce. Cover the meat with apples and onions. Sprinkle the dried cherries over the top. Put lid on and cook slowly all day. Salt and pepper to taste.

The meat is so luscious and and I slow cook it until it literally falls apart. Always a hit for crowds or for my kids and so very easy to do. I make an easy gravy out of the juice that is left over. I have a great source for natural, organic pork, so though we don't have it often, it is a real treat. 

Mashed potatoes

I almost always use red potatoes lately as they have less of a sugar base when cooked. I also use a pressure cooker and do them in four-6- minutes. Add 1-2 teaspoons of condensed chicken bouillon (natural, no msg) when you drain the water from the potatoes and then you don't have to use as much butter. The bouillon gives it a rich taste. Salt and pepper to taste and a little butter and milk and whip away.

Steamed green beans

I love the green beans this time of year. Fresh is best, but there are frozen, thin beans that you can get at the grocery store. Steam over boiling water until just tender. While steaming, I sprinkle the beans with French herbs. When finished, I sprinkle lightly with sea salt and toss them in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top for a prettier dish. They taste fresh and melt in your mouth. 

Since the children were little, we have often served sparkling white or red grape juice with this meal. And if you surround your roast with other favorite vegetables as shown above, it will be even more festive!

Enjoy a fall feast soon with your loved ones and they will remember it for a long time. 

The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

By Sally Clarkson

The Lifegiving Table Experience: A Guided Journey of Feasting through Scripture

By Sally Clarkson

Happy eating!

Recipes from The Lifegiving Table, by Sally Clarkson

I had so much fun with giveaways, I've decided to give away five sets of these books! And the winners are ...

Jennifer Wier
Melanie Moates Johnson
Bethany Faulkner blog
@kathy77jh   and  @dorcasmiller from instagram

Please send your address information to admin@wholeheart.org and we'll get those headed your way!

 

Storyformed Podcast Episode #18 - A Storyformed Thanksgiving

In this episode, Holly Packiam and Jaime Showmaker talk about how to cultivate grateful hearts in their own lives and in their children. They also discuss ways of making God central amidst the activities, food preparation, and busyness of the approaching holiday season. 

Topics include:

• A brief history on how Thanksgiving became a holiday 
• How gratefulness leads to faithfulness
• Practical ideas for cultivating gratitude in our kids
• Thanksgiving book recommendations 

CLICK HERE to listen to this Storyformed podcast and to view the show notes. 

Secrets of Living Well for a Lifetime

Many years ago, Clay and I had the opportunity of moving to 200 acres of land right in the smack dab middle of Texas where his family had some land. I was beyond excited and dreamed of having my children run wild on the land, wild and free (!), and of the amazingly productive garden I was going to plant and the carefree life we would lead.

I was a novice gardener and had no idea where to start. I read a book about raised beds, cobbled a couple together and began to plant my seeds and plants--tomatoes, squash, green beans, and so much more. Yet, my garden eventually became infested with tomato worms, squash bugs, with low yield because of rocky soil as we were right on top of fossil rim--filled with fossils and not a lot of rich soil. I was to learn that any garden--flowers, fruit, plants, veggies, require careful attention to grow strong, healthy and productive.

I believe it is the same way with our own hearts and souls. A person does not develop rich faith, strong moral convictions, deep friendships, wisdom and understanding in life without lots of tending, hard work and patience.

My desire in my ministry is to help women learn how to flourish as women of God, friends, wives and mothers. Yet, we must each be attentive to the health of our hearts, minds and souls in order to grow strong and to stay healthy. Today, I have recorded a short podcast about some of the ways we must nourish ourselves on a regular basis in order to grow strong and live well.

1. We must pay attention to our physical health and be sure to include rest and refreshment so that physical weariness diminishes our emotional and spiritual strength.

2. We need love as much as we need food--babies don't thrive without love, affection, attention, and neither do we. 

3. input Our souls and minds long for wisdom, direction and input as our bodies long for physical food. Investing in a regular quiet Time, reading, wisdom, knowledge recognizes that our brain hungers for truth and wisdom because we were made to worship God with our minds, thoughts, ideals and ideas. He crafted us to be creative, intelligent, excellent

4. To stay balanced and happy, we must include fun and playful escape which provides psychological rest from burdens of life --fun, delight, escape from the mundane refreshes us in a unique way.

5. Humans were created for work and purpose. An deep inner need that provides us with a sense of worth is that we long to feel that we matter and what we do matters, that our lives have meaning, purpose and direction.

My team and I have attempted to create a community where some of these needs can be met and where your heart, mind and soul will find nourishment. We created a monthly membership where you will receive, by email, inspiration, encouragement, and education through conference talks, interesting unique podcasts with stories to share with your children about artists, authors and musicians, books to read, posters to download, verses to memorize, Bible study, outlines where you can take notes, recipes and so much more. 

To help us pay for the costs of ministry and staff we are charging a small amount for people to become members so that we can keep our content growing, our resources developing and the staff behind it all supported. Hundreds of women have been enjoying this for the past two months and we are adding more every day. 

You can join now for $9.99 a month or $99 for the whole year. Our introductory price will be going up in the next couple of months, so be sure to join now to take advantage of this entry price. I have a team of 9 women working together to develop this even more in the next few months and I am very grateful for them and their hard work. 

For more information, and to enroll, go HERE

I would love to show you just a few of the themes we have planned for the calendar year 2018. 

If you have loved the podcasts and messages from my books and conferences, you will love the resources we have planned for you each month and you can keep it and go back anytime to listen or print anything out again. (We just ask that you keep our resources for yourself and do not share online or copy this copyrighted material.) Enjoy! 

Enroll HERE

Practicing Everyday Discipleship & A New Podcast

Podcast Episode #110 Practicing Everyday Discipleship

PODCAST: DOWNLOAD

ITUNES: SUBSCRIBE

"Why do you think you and your siblings all love the Lord as adults?"

Sarah looked thoughtfully and then answered, "I think it was the French toast, buttered pecans and maple syrup!"

This has become a famous saying to our family because it reflected a bit of what is true. For our children to learn to love God, they must see our love for God in the ways we sing around the house or enjoy a cool drink on the porch enjoying the summer flowers, or at "Kiss me goodnight, please," bedtime moments.

God intended that we as adults enjoy our days and have the ability to be satisfied in the days of our lives as we weave into them pleasure and fulfillment we were intended to experience as we walk hand in hand with our God. If we see passing on faith as just a duty, our lives will overflow with duty and pressure and we will become discouraged and weary in our own lives. We were not made for God so that we could be slaves of works, but He wants to enjoy and be close to us as a parent would their beloved children. We must perceive the proper vision of His love and commitment to us if we are to pass on a faith that will engage our children.

But the real influence comes all the moments of the ways we live our lives in front of our children. It is not just  about passing on doctrine, but as much about relationship, love, beauty as it is the concepts we teach them.

Discipleship is woven into every moment of family life, when we rise up, when we sit down, whenever we are alone with our children, or gathered together as an entire family.  In this episode, Sally and Kristen discuss their intentional focus on relationships, understanding the personalities and stages of children, how to engage in effective Sabbath traditions,  Telling stories of how discipleship becomes a dependable rhythm in our homes everyday through conversation, fun, training and reading, traditions is a part of their own home experience. 

They'll unpack ideas about how the table can become the place where our children experience belonging, preparation for how to enter the world with a competing culture and value system, and how we can create  a safe place to consistently discuss convictions, ideas and even doubts with them.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT:

- That we must have anchors in our lives that give us time to stop, breathe, enjoy, rest and check in with the Lord no matter what.

-How we bring delight into our Sundays

-How to prepare our children for weekly worship, as well as for engaging with a church community

-The way Jesus prepared a meal for his disciples in order to share hard truths with them

-That we must make a choice to model  wither a faith of resigned endurance or delighted enthusiasm

-That Jesus was and is the very best celebration

-How to prepare our own hearts when to bear with our children's doubts.

-Common topics for teens: truth of faith, hypocrisy, and individual conviction

-The reality that questions and sorrows will always be present

-God didn't make us to use us--He is complete--He did not want little slaves, He wanted sons and daughters to love, communicate with, for friendship, and he gave them a beautiful world.

-That God desires us to taste and see that He is good!

LINKS:

"All true friendliness begins with fire and food and drink and the recognition of rain or frost. . . . Each human soul has in a sense to enact for itself the gigantic humility of the Incarnation. Every man must descend into the flesh to meet mankind." G. K. Chesterton

Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” 

Chapter 6 Table-Discipleship Principle: 

We must be intentional to guide, discuss, and celebrate the dependable rhythms of life.

Ecclesiastes 9:7 "So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!"

Chapter 7 Discipleship principle:

Discipleship happens at every moment along the way, morning, noon night and in between.

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon