From Bethlehem's Manger

I woke up around 2:30 this morning singing this old song.

"From Bethlehem's manger, came forth a stranger

Humble and lowly, I'd be like HIM."

From the moment of HIS birth, HE taught us how we should be. HE was born in a barn, not a palace. HIS birth was announced first to lowly shepherds out in the fields watching animals, not to kings or wealthy merchants in their pomp and splendor. HE was humble and lowly in birth, HE was humble and lowly in life, HE was humble and lowly in HIS death. HE was triumphant through that humility and lowliness, allowing SPIRIT to reign over flesh, thereby not allowing death any victory, but in HIS humility, being able to be victorious over death, hell and the grave.

"To be like JESUS, to be like JESUS!

On earth I long, to be like HIM."

Too much pride and not enough humility...if we truly want to be like HIM, we have to learn from HIM and follow HIS example. We have to know that HE is a big enough GOD to take care of ALL things if we will be humble and lowly as HE set forth the example to be.

Merry CHRISTmas from Patti's Place to your place and please remember to keep HIM in the center of your celebrations!

Sunday Scriptures~Merry CHRISTmas Week!

CHRISTMAS Blessings from Patti's Place to your place!

Paleo No Grain Banana Pancakes with Honey Caramel Sauce

This is one of my very favorite ways to have pancakes! They're easy, you normally have all the ingredients on hand and most importantly, they're good!

I actually ran across a recipe for two ingredient banana pancakes using just a banana and two eggs, tried them and liked them, but decided to add a few things to mine and I liked the results even better.

Paleo No Grain Banana Pancakes

1. One large banana, sliced
2. Two eggs
3. One tablespoon coconut flour(optional if you want a thicker batter)
4. 2 drops Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil(see footnote below) or a dash of cinnamon*
5. 1/2 tsp vanilla flavoring
6. Butter or oil for frying pancakes
7. Toppings such as banana slices, pecans, walnuts, etc.(optional)

In food processor or blender(I use my blender for this) whip eggs, then add banana, cinnamon and vanilla. Pulse briefly, it only takes a few seconds for the banana to become very thin. This is where you decide whether you need the coconut flour or not. I did, the batter was way too thin. However, I use a Vitamix blender and it will liquefy most things in seconds, your blender may not. If your batter needs a little thickening, add one tablespoon of coconut flour and pulse briefly. Allow the batter to stand for two-three minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the liquid and thicken the batter. This is important to remember when using coconut flour, it takes a few minutes for absorption!

Melt a small amount of butter or oil in skillet or on grill and pour desired amount of batter in pan. These brown quickly and you have to turn them over gently because it is a thinner batter. This is a good thing however, because many times your grain free pancakes have a heavy texture and these are very light, that's one reason I like them so much!

This recipe makes six small pancakes(some call them pikelets). I just call them little pancakes, I'm a simple person. It's just the right amount for two three people. 

Serve with pastured or clarified butter, caramel sauce(recipe below), almond butter, maple syrup, honey, etc. If you really like bananas, you can top with some banana slices and pecans or walnuts.

Honey Caramel Sauce

3/4 cup natural pure honey(none of that made in China not really honey stuff)

1/2 cup organic heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons pastured butter

1/2 tsp sea salt

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine all ingredients, bring to boil on medium heat and boil around 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly. Lower heat and continue to cook five minutes more until it turns a rich creamy brown and coats the spoon, technically....take it off the heat when it reaches 230 degrees, just before the soft ball stage. The amount of time you cook this will depend on your individual stove. The first time I made it, I followed instructions I had read to cook it 8-10 minutes and mine was way overcooked and I had to thin it down. It's best to use a candy thermometer or at least some sort of cooking thermometer so you don't overcook. If you do cook it too long and it's too thick or even hard, don't dump it out, just add some more whipping cream, heat it back up and thin it down. 

This is a good dipping sauce for fruit, it's good in hot apple cider and it's good on these banana pancakes. It's also pretty good just straight out of the pan with a spoon, but I don't know who would do such a thing, do you?

*You can find quality Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil at Spark Naturals. Use coupon code PATTI for 10% off!

Breakfast blessings from Patti's Place to Your Place!

A Tribute to Veterans

My Tribute to America's Heroes

I am proud to be the wife of a Vietnam Veteran and the daughter of a World War II Veteran. This blog is intended to be a small tribute to them and the many others who were willing to fight for the freedom I am so richly blessed with today.

Thank You Veterans!

"I could not love thee, deare, so much,
loved I not honor more." 
To Lucasta, On Going to War
Richard Lovelace 1618-1658

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease. 

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd. 

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years? 
How many died on foreign soil? 
How many mothers' tears? 
How many pilot's planes shot down? 
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? 

No, Freedom is not Free

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen"

When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend
I thought of all the children
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington
No, Freedom is not Free!!Copyright 1981
Lcdr Kelly Strong

My husband is....

Billy Joe White
Viet Nam 1968

While my biggest worry was what to wear to the Senior Prom, many young American heroes were in the middle of the most terrible period of the Vietnam War, Tet of 68. Many didn't make it home. My future husband was one of the blessed, he did. The following poem is a small tribute to him.

I Wish I'd Known You Then

I wish I'd known you then...
When you were young
And you stood so proudly
So brave and strong.

I wish I'd known you then...
When for freedom's sake
The ultimate sacrifice
You were willing to make.

I wish I'd known you then...
With your medals on your chest
An American Fighting Man
Courageous and blest.

I didn't know you then...

But I know you now...
And an honor it's been
For in your heart you're still
An American Fighting Man.

Patti Page White

Getting a rubbing off the Viet Nam Veterans' Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

A Memorial for War Heroes at our Angelina County Courthouse

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; 
thy walls are continually before me. 
Isaiah 49:16

THE SOLDIER

They shall not die, so long as we remember they lived…

The Flag's been folded, and passed to his wife,
All that is left, of a soldier's life.
The casket is lowered, and a prayer is said.
But wait a minute, he can't be dead.
He's much too young, to be lying here,
He goes to college, in one more year.

We knew this soldier; he was our friend,
He defended us, through thick and thin.
We trusted him, in moments of strife,
He honored that trust and gave his life.
At least he gave up, this mortal clay,
But his spirit lives on, from day to day.

He lives in our minds, and in our hearts,
And though we miss him, though we're apart,
The ties that bind, will not be shattered,
If we always remember, how his life mattered.
He loved his country, so proudly he served,
He was sometimes scared, but never unnerved.

He fought our battles, far across the sea,
And kept us safe, in this land of the free.
So keep the vigil, in this home of the brave,
And remember the life, he so gallantly gave.
He loved the Flag, the Red, White, and Blue,
Keep it flying high, It's your flag too.

When the trumpets sound, with the final call,
When Taps is played, for one and all,
When peace shall reign, and we give thanks,
When there's no more guns, no shooting tanks,
When we come to the day, when we shall meet
And see him again, on that golden street.

Al Gamel USMC
1999

A Prayer For The POW/MIA

What if it were my husband.. daddy.. brother.. or son... would I forget?
Dear GOD, let me pray each day just as fervently for those I've never met as I would if it were those near and dear to me. Remind me, GOD, that there will be an ache in the heart of each loved one until the day they come home to stay. Remind me that the freedom I enjoy each day didn't come without cost. Dear GOD,don't let me forget.

My daddy, Eulon Adron Page, US Navy, WWII

My husband's daddy, Marshall Charlton White, US Army WWII

Many women are also heroes

Thank you once again!

Paleo Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Pecan Turkey/Chicken Fillets

Yum!
Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Pecan Turkey Fillets

Ingredients

• Four skinless, boneless turkey(or chicken) breast fillets
• Four slices uncured, all natural bacon
• Pineapple slices(I used canned in all natural pineapple juice, no sugar added)
• Pecan halves(optional and you can use walnuts or cashews)
• Seasoning of choice(all natural, of course)

Fillets being thinned out.

Put your fillets on a cutting board or other surface and using a tenderizing mallet, pound the fillets until thin enough to roll up easily. The one fillet over on the right is the way they all looked before I took the mallet to them. I sort of forgot to take the picture until I already had three of them thinned out.

Seasoned and ready to roll!

Season and place one pineapple slice on each fillet. I used Salt Grass 7 Seasoning, it's not 100% Paleo approved, but very close. It has Kosher salt instead of sea salt. You can just use salt and pepper or maybe some garlic powder, really whatever you like as long as it's natural with no additives.

My new fave seasoning!

Pineapple slice on fillet

Pull the pineapple slice down to one end of the fillet. If one end is smaller, like in the above picture, start at that end. Carefully roll the fillet up and place seam side down until all are rolled and ready for the next step, the bacon wrapping!

Rolled up with pineapple inside

Lovely bacon!

Wrapping the fillets in the bacon

Carefully place the rolled up fillet on the bacon strip and then just roll until all the bacon is around the fillet. I keep saying "carefully" because the pineapple will try to slip out if it broke while you were handling it.

Ready to bake in foil lined pan

Place rolled up fillets in a foil lined pan(I use foil to make the clean up easier). I put the extra pineapple slices on top and around the sides and then sprinkled a few pecan halves over it all. I also added a very small amount of the pineapple juice, not too much or the bacon won't crisp.


Bake at 400 degrees until bacon is as crisp as you like, approximately one hour.

Ready to eat!

I baked a pan of sweet potatoes at the same time I baked this dish. They were yummy too! Just rub with pastured butter or olive oil and bake until soft.

Love sweet potatoes!

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients

• Four skinless, boneless turkey(or chicken) breast fillets
• Four slices uncured, all natural bacon
• Pineapple slices(I used canned in all natural pineapple juice, no sugar added)
• Pecan halves(optional and you can use walnuts or cashews)
• Seasoning of choice(all natural, of course)

Pound fillets until thin, place pineapple slice on fillet and roll carefully roll up. Place roll on a strip of bacon and roll until all the bacon is wrapped around the fillet. Place in baking dish, place extra pineapple on top if desired and then sprinkle pecans, walnuts or cashews on top. If you like, pour a small amount of pineapple juice around, but not much. You want your bacon to crisp. Bake at 400 degrees until bacon is crisp and turkey is done, approximately one hour.

Enjoy! 

DIY Mason Jar Mini Lights

Here's another simple way to use Mason Jars for decoration. Mason Jar lights are just delightful to me! Well, face it...anything that involves a jar is a delight to me.

I made two different sets, one using three blue pint reproduction jars, you know the ones that are being sold these days. That's the set in the picture above. The other set was four assorted shapes of half pints that I had on hand. I am a sucker for those odd shaped jars!

I also used the lids that already have the design cut in them. If you don't have these, you could just punch two holes in a lid opposite from each other, large enough for your lights to fit through.

I used the 20 count battery operated lights, the lights are thin and thread through the holes easily. You can use the regular lights if they'll fit through the holes.

Items needed:

1. Jars ~ your choice as to number and size
2. Lids ~ I used the precut ones(see pictures)
3. Small lights(unless you punch your own holes in the lids and then you can use whatever size you like)

How to:

Assemble your jars, lids and lights.

Jars, lids and lights

Thread the lights through the lids, starting from the top and going down through one opening carefully so you won't damage the lights. Pull the entire strand down through the first lid and start back up through another opening opposite the first. Your battery pack will be outside the first jar. 

Thread lights down and then back up

How many lights you have in each jar will depend on how many lights you have on the strand and how many jars you decide to use. I had 20 lights per strand and this set has three jars, and since I wanted to leave a bit of space between the jars, I put six lights in each jar with one between the jars. Once you figure how many lights you'll want in each jar, go ahead and place the lights inside the jar as you finish each lid and then place the lid on the jar but don't tighten, moving on to the next lid and repeating the process. You won't tighten the lids until finished with them all.

First jar

All three jars done

Once you get the lights in the last jar, go ahead and tighten each lid. It works best to tighten the lids by rotating the jar, not the lid.

Top View

If you're watching closely, you'll notice the jars are turned the opposite of the way I began. That's because I wanted the Ball logo to be in front and it ended up the on the backside once I tightened the lids. No big deal.....the battery pack is just on the opposite end now!

They really are adorable. I chose to put this set on the bench at the foot of the iron bedstead in the kids room(guest room).

They've been benched!

Now on to the second set!

The process is the same, so I'll just post the pictures so you can see how adorable they are!

Four odd shaped half pint jars.

Finished product

Three jars have four lights, the last has five and there are three lights in between, because I needed space to spread them out.

The small ones

The pictures don't really do them justice. They're absolutely adorable. I even added a couple drops of White Fir Essential Oil in each jar for a little scent. You can use any scent you like, the heat from the lights will cause a subtle scent, but you will have to keep replenishing the oil if desired.

I used the clear lights, you could use different colors for different occasions, multi colored for CHRISTmas, etc.

By the way, White Fir is the October oil from the Spark Naturals Oil of The Month Club. If you haven't joined, it's a great deal. See the details below:

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Blessings from Patti's Place to your place!