Ronda from...The Family Table, Guest SkyMom's "Pulled Pork!"

Dear SkyMoms,

Hope you all are doing well! I love back to school and all of the fun that goes along with a new school year. Things can certainly get hectic and getting food on the table quickly can be hard. Menu planning is the ultimate time saver once you get a good system in place. The first thing I suggest is to keep a master calendar of events. This includes all planned weekly activities. Then, go back and fill in menu ideas taking into account the type of evening scheduled.  Quick fix meals in the crockpot save time and money plus they are invaluable to the busy mom. Here is a slow cooker favorite…

Pulled Pork

1 3-5 pound pork shoulder

1 onion

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup apple juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Season pork generously with salt and pepper. Over high heat, brown pork on all sides. I have the all-clad cooker with the cast iron insert which is such a time saver! Throw in the onion, pour in broth and apple juice. Transfer insert to slow cooker and cook pork, fat side up, on low heat for 6-10 hours.  I usually start my roast at 6 am and we eat around 6 at night. It is always perfect.  The first night, I slice the pork and serve with mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. I drizzle a little au jus over the potatoes and pork. Yes, this can be fatty, that is what makes a tender, pull apart roast. When carving, it is easy to carve out big fatty pieces.

When done with dinner, take left over roast and chop it up, careful to pull out the big fatty parts. Put in a Tupperware and serve two nights later as BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. When you are ready to eat, take meat and mix with your favorite bbq sauce. Heat over low heat until nice and hot. Serve on a toasted bun with corn on the cob. By this time, we have usually polished off the entire roast!

I’d love to hear your favorite slow cooker recipes! If you have any easy ideas to share with the group, feel free to post in the comment section.

Many blessings and happy cooking!

Ronda from… The Family Table

Tips from Tori "The Tree ~ Psalm 1"

The Tree

Psalm 1 

Reminds me that the Lord sees those who trust in Him as trees planted by the rivers of water. Strong, solid, unmoving, and unchanging in spite of the storms of life, because they are rooted in Him.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the time when myself or our family is gone from this earth and there is no visible evidence that we have even been here. What will remain to tell others that I lived? It gives me great joy to know that something will remain. The root system of my faith and our families faith will keep on growing. As I have shared it with others, and they with still others, my faith and hope will be here when I am gone.

Lord, thank you that the faith I live by today is something that can outlast my human life. Thank you for the joy of sharing it with others, and helping them develop roots in You and Your Word.

Amen!

Tori Miller

Sky Ranch SkyMom Ministry Director

Prayer Encouragement: "Sweet Fragrance" by Guest SkyMom, Terrie Chevaillier

Sweet Fragrance

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ

among those who are being saved

and among those who are perishing.

2 Cor 2:15

A few days ago, we prayed that our children

would enter the narrow gate that leads to

life as they start school and find themselves

tempted to take the most popular road. 

As we encourage them and teach them just how that popular road looks,

let’s also encourage them to be a fragrance that is so pleasant

that many would join them on the road that leads to life.

Dear Father, thank you that because of Christ, we are saved.

And Lord, you know just how many at

My child’s school are perishing.

Your Word says that we not only smell sweet to those who are yours,

but also to those who haven’t accepted you yet.

They might want to run from the scent as it brings conviction,

but I pray those that don’t know you would see something different

in my child and desire it.  A fragrance so sweet

That other’s will notice and ask them….”There is something different about

you and I want to know what it is….please tell me.”

Amen

Lisa Life Lesson ~"The Mom Filter"

The Mom Filter

Do you have one?  You know, the filter needed when things aren't quite "mommy perfect" but are probably the best a 10 year old can do?  When I watched "The Help" recently, I was reminded of how much our words can edify or destroy.  Our kids look to us for approval and edification.  One of the hardest parts of being a mom is looking at our kids as God's child versus our own.  When we look in the mirror, we sometimes don't like what we see.  Our children shouldn't be a reflection of us.   When we see our own tendencies in our children, we get real negative.  Prayer helps us see our children through the eyes of Christ.  When you don't use your God given filter (The Holy Spirit), ask for forgiveness and repent.  Pray for a strengthening of the filter.  The closer we are to Christ, the more we look like Him and the less we look like ourself.  Our children are a beneficiary of our personal relationship with Christ.  

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Lisa Clark

Sky Ranch SkyMoms Parenting Mentor

A Mom's Prayer On the First Day of School

Dear SkyMoms, 

Well, tomorrow I will be dropping off a high schooler (9th) for the first time 

and middle schooler for the last time! (8th)  :(! 

The backpacks are packed, 

the clothes are laid out,

 

the lunches are made, 

the morning devos and meds are even ready to go, 

The alarm clocks are set and we have together decided the 15 year old should be the first drop off in the route since she is currently doing the parent taught drivers ed and could sometimes drive herself to school!! 

 (of course this might mean we need to leave a few minutes even earlier than originally planned :)!!!

Now we are all just relaxing and enjoying the last few hours of Summer... So, Let the Prayers begin...it is all in the Lords Hands...He knows what is BEST for our children.  

Sky Ranch will be praying for all the campers as they enter back into their various schools and we pray they remember everything they learned this summer at camp and are strong and can carry out the 

"BIG PICTURE~PANORAMA 2011"

into their school mission fields.

SkyMoms have a great first day of drop off :)

Tori Miller

Sky Ranch SkyMom Ministry Director

Prayer Encouragement: "Narrow Gates and Wide Gates!" by Guest SkyMom, Terrie Chevaillier

 Narrow Gates and Wide Gates

Enter through the narrow gate.

 For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,

 and many enter through it.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,

and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14

Two gates: One is narrow and one is wide.

one leads to destruction and one leads to life.

many enter one and few choose the other.

As your kiddos start back to school,

they will be see both gates that lead to both roads…..

many travelers will be on the broad route. 

It will probably be the most popular.

But, there is another that leads to life..

Let’s pray they choose that one.

Dear Father, you know what my child is about to enter into.

Thank you that you are their gatekeeper and like

sheep that have gone astray…you will go to the ends of the earth to get that one and

bring him back to your flock when he strays.  I pray that my child wouldn’t stray,

But Your Word says that the path to life is narrow and You

know just how tempting the popular road is

in their circles of life.  It gives me comfort that You know Lord.

Let there be an alarm that rings so loud inside of them

when they are heading down the destruction path.  Your Spirit leads us to truth and life.

I trust You….a loving father, to help them find it.

Amen

~Terrie Chevaillier, Guest SkyMom Prayer Encourager

Ronda~ The Family Table, Guest SkyMom Food Writer brings us "Buttermilk Pancakes!"

Hello SkyMoms,

Have you been having some fun in the kitchen with your families? If not, make Saturday morning the time to get together and make a big family breakfast.  Turn the TV off and devote at least an hour together having a leisurely meal. Stay in your jammies and be comfy. Set the table with placemats, add a candle, set out the nice dishes or put out some flowers.  Make the meal special and pretty soon you will be making some very special memories. 

I am going to share with you our absolute favorite weekend recipe. Buttermilk Pancakes. If you have never tried to make homemade pancakes, you are in for a treat. They are so delicious and take minutes to throw together. They do not have preservatives or additives like so many prepackaged mixes and seriously they are too easy not to make.

Don’t forget to do that cluster cooking I was talking about a few weeks ago. Get out those Ziploc bags and your black sharpies. Make up a half a dozen baggies of dry mix and when you are sleepy eyed at the crack of dawn, all you have to do is add the wet ingredients. What could be simpler?

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 T sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 T vegetable oil

1 egg

Cooking spray or butter

Add dry ingredients to a bowl. Add wet ingredients to a big measuring cup. Combine wet to dry until just combined. Don’t over mix please. Heat a cast iron skillet on low heat. Spray with cooking spray or add some butter to the griddle. Scoop ¼ cup pancake mix to griddle and wait for bubbles to show. Then flip. Cook until done and add to a warm platter. This recipe makes about 7-9 medium pancakes. For our family of five, we double the recipe and have a few left over for later.

***After you add the ¼ cup mix to the pan, add some fixings if so desired. Pancake tip: cook pancakes over low heat to ensure they cook through and remain a nice golden brown. 

Fixings:

1.     Sprinkle with shredded coconut and chopped macadamia nuts.

2.     Sprinkle with diced banana and chopped pecans.

3.     Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

4.     Sprinkle with diced banana and chocolate chips.

5.     Sprinkle with lemon zest and fresh blueberries and dust with powdered sugar.

6.     Sprinkle with diced strawberries and finish with a little whip cream.

7.     Leave plain :)

Serving suggestion 1: Serve with warm, pure maple syrup, chicken apple sausages and sliced fruit. Round it out with juice and a pot of steaming hot coffee. 

Serving suggestion2: When you find yourself with a house full of kids on a weekend morning, have a pancake buffet. Lay out small dishes of all the fixings. Have the kids go through the line and add their own toppings as you cook the pancakes. Have platters of fruit and chicken sausages or bacon and jugs of juice. 

Warning***they may not leave! :)

Lemon Blueberry Pancake

Banana Pecan Pancake

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancake

I wish you all many blessings!

Ronda from The Family Table