Tasty Bites: Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

By Beth V

I am always on the look out for a great fish recipe - one that complements the flavor of fish and in which the fish doesn’t taste “fishy.” This is a delicious fish recipe that will please both adult and child-like taste buds -tender, flaky, mild-flavored tilapia with a creamy yet zesty broiled topping. It takes a minute or two to prepare and less than 10 minutes to cook, so it is perfect for a busy weeknight meal.

First, grab a bowl and mix together ½ cup parmesan cheese, ¼ cup softened butter, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon dried basil, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/8 teaspoon celery salt.

Next, preheat your oven to broil and place the tilapia filets on a baking sheet coated with baking spray. Broil 4-5 inches from the heat for two minutes.

Flip the filets and broil 2 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the oven and evenly divide the parmesan topping over all of the fillets, generously coating the top of each. This is going to turn into bubbly, melty deliciousness, trust me.

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One Word At A Time: Goals

By Ginny (MAD21)

What's the point? What are we trying to achieve by playing the game? These are questions I ask my kids when we are learning how do do something new. Then, we talk about how to accomplish that task. For soccer and gymnastics, you practice-practice-practice. For a board game, you play until you understand the rules enough that you start to form strategies.

I think the same could hold true when talking about life.  Just like in soccer or gymnastics, or when playing a board game, you have days when you just seem to be "on." You have full control over your feet and kick the ball exactly how you want; you flip over the bar and make a perfect landing; or you get all the right cards and dice rolls. Then there are those other kinds of days. When you are totally off your game, and nothing is going right. We all have good times and bad, moments of deep sorrow and times filled with pure joy. No matter the circumstance, we must never lose sight of the goal.

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Little Things

By Pat

Sunday was the first day of spring, my favorite season! To see the trees begin to bloom, watch the daffodils say goodbye to winter, hear the glorious song of the birds, and smell the delightful fragrance of flowers fills me with joy. It's those little things in life I live for.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the little things in life, the ones that cost nothing but the well-spent time it takes to stop for a moment, take a deep breath, appreciate them, and thank God for them. And not only them, but also for the gift of eyes to see, ears to hear, and nose to smell. They are precious things we often take for granted. Shame on us that we sometimes fail to fully take note of the beauty God has placed all around us. I truly feel sorry for people who pay little attention to the glory of nature and feel the true joy of a warm breeze or a mockingbird singing in the middle of the night.

My problems do not go away, but they certainly slip further into the corners of my mind as I realize that these wonderful treats are touches from God, reminding me that He is in everything, and He is everywhere. It has brought a smile to my troubled heart more times than I can count, and reminded me to keep things in perspective and to look for the little ways in which God can and does sooth.

Every season, every day, brings gift after gift of little blessings, all created by a loving God and given to us with joy, along, of course, with the most wonderful gift of all, our Savior Jesus! So from the little things to the great gift of salvation, I say...thank you, God! Thank you!

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

God Is... Justice

By Nick (My Experience As...)

But that's not fair!

At face value, it seems like kids are preloaded with a concept of who God is and all the attributes of God.  In fact, CS Lewis suggests that the universal morality is proof of God’s existence.  This isn’t to say that all people have the same moral values, but rather that we can make statements of “wrongness” because there is a predefined morality that we appeal to.  Something generally instinctive that we simple know to be true.  Hitler was a bad guy.  Sure some folks would argue against this, but generally most can appeal to the wrongness of what he did based on the Universal Morality that trying to exterminate others is wrong.  The proof is much more involved than this, but it is a very interesting thing to be aware of when folks try to argue against the existence of God because “If God existed He wouldn’t let bad things happen.”  Basically this proof comes back and says “If you believe there are bad things then God must exist.”

I digress; along with the general idea of morality we have the best friend to morality, justice, built into us.  From a very early age we generally know right and wrong, and clue in on consequences. That is, my two year old knows when I say, “put that down,” and he responds, “NO!” that there will be consequences.  It is based on his past experience. At some point his little brain will catch up and decide yelling no isn’t a good thing.

This evolves into the most basic sense of justice, that which is fair.  This is one of those self evident truths, justice must be fair, it cannot show favoritism, and when it does it isn’t really justice. How many times have children cried out “but that’s not fair.” This is their internal justice meter going off.  Of course therein lays the problem.  It has been corrupted by a sense of self. It affects me in a way I don’t want so it cannot be fair.

This is the greatest problem a parent faces in helping the internal sense of justice develop correctly. It is part of our job. Just like making sure our children grow strong and healthy with good food, exercise, and education. We must also help finish the development of justice in our children so that they will recognize injustice apart from self, and then be moved to deal with it.

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Fingerprint Friday: Love Notes From Grandma

By Ginny (MAD21)

We have a chalkboard in our kitchen for the girls to play with. There is always something drawn on it. They love to write notes to us and each other, and to pretend to be teachers and famous artists they are learning about in school (thanks Miss White!).

We had an extended family gathering at our house not long ago. After everyone had left and I was cleaning up, I happened to look at the chalk board and among the girl's drawings there was this wonderful note from Grandma to our girls.

I know it made them happy to see it the next morning. But it really touched my heart that she took the time to write it before she left the day before. Grandma is covered in God's fingerprints.

Fellow blogger Beki at The Rusted Chain has a really great weekly post she does every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday." We are to look around and see where we can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Anywhere? Go find out where Beki saw God this week, and be sure to check out the other bloggers who linked their stories as well.