Book Review: Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt

What if American Christians had a paradigm shift?  What if, instead of organizing our lives around the fundamentals of the American dream, we began to rearrange our lives according to the principles the Bible lays out?  What if an emphasis on sacrificial giving replaced our cultural emphasis on financial security?  What would the world think?  Would Christ’s love be more evident?  In Radical, David Platt raises these questions and more, and he invites American Christians to examine the ways in which we have allowed the American dream to revise the call Christ has placed on our lives.

I found this book to be challenging and thought provoking.  In what ways am I bringing the Gospel to the nations?  How am I sacrificing for the poor?  Am I actively engaging in redemptive community?  In the busyness of life, we too often can become complacent in our faith.  This book asks us to take a hard look at how we are “ to work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling”  (Phil. 2:12), instead of taking it for granted on a daily basis. At the end of the book,  Platt even includes a specific plan for recalibrating the direction of our lives. Especially as the new year approaches, this book has been a helpful tool, causing me to consider which characteristics I want to define my life in 2011. I definitely recommend this book.  

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

The Menu

Both of my sisters were in town this weekend, so we had an early Thanksgiving meal of sorts.  Of course, it was anything but traditional as we ate in shifts while the guys helped move Grandma into a house right across the street from Mom and Dad.  The move in itself is a reason for giving thanks. Having Grandma that much closer to Mom will make things easier for everyone, and her new house is really nice.  All of the cousins enjoyed spending time with one another, and we were able to swap kids clothes, too!   Anyway, I made a really easy and yummy dessert to share with everyone, and I thought I'd include the recipe here.

The menu plan is week is shortened for the holiday:

Monday--leftovers
Tuesday--Sloppy Chicken  (crockpot)
Wednesday--Soup and Sandwiches
Thursday--for my part of the Thanksgiving meal, I'm thinking fruit, Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie, and possibly bacon wrapped feta-almond stuffed dates  (yes,  I have a stockpile of dates left from the Daniel Fast:)

The rest of the weekend we'll be hanging out with the Blocks!

Happy Thanksgiving!  May your holiday be filled with many opportunities for gratitude!


Black and Tan Chocolate -Pumpkin Trifle  (From Rachael Ray)

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
One 7.5 ounce jar marshmallow cream
Six 1.4 ounce Heath bars, chopped
One and a half 9 ounce boxes chocolate wafer cookies  (such as Nabisco Famous)

1.  In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate with 1/2 cup cream over med.-low heat, stirring until smooth.  Let cool
2.  Meanwhile, using an electric mixer with an whisk attachment, whip 2 cups cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla until stiff but not dry.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and marshmallow cream. Fold in the whipped cream in 2 parts; refrigerate.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups heavy cream to the mixer bowl and whip until thickened.  With the machine on, slowly add the chocolate mixture and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until stiff but not dry.
4.  Spread one-third of the chocolate cream in a 4 quart clear glass trifle bowl.  Layer with one-third of the toffee bars.  Stand 8 cookies on their edges around the perimeter of the bowl.  Make 1 stack of 4 more cookies sandwiched with some pumpkin cream, topping with more cream.  Repeat with the remaining cookies and more pumpkin cream to make a total of 14 cookie stacks.  Place 7 stacks in the trifle bowl.  Top with the remaining pumpkin cream and half of the chocolate cream.  Sprinkle with another third of the toffee bars.  Top with the remaining 7 cookie stacks and chocolate cream.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours.  To serve, sprinkle with the remaining toffee.

Menu Planning Monday

This weekend I was able to spend some time in the kitchen with my mom and grandma making some meals to stick in the freezer.  I love the feeling of having some easy meals ready to go!  Here's the menu for this week:

Monday--Burritos
Tuesday-- Pizza Casserole
Wednesday--Cranberry Chicken with Rice
Thursday--out to eat
Friday--Tortellini Pesto Soup
Saturday--family dinner

Have a great week!

On the Menu

For better or worse, here it is: this week's menu.  The strata was actually on the menu last week, but we didn't get around to eating it, so I made it and stuck it in the freezer for a quick and easy meal this week.

Monday--Leftovers of Spicy Soup and Sandwiches
Tuesday--Burritos
Wednesday--Spinach/Mushroom Cheese Strata--I added the mushrooms to the linked recipe.
Thursday--Pumpkin Ravioli  (This is a new recipe--I'll let you know how it turns out.)
Friday--Orange/Pine Nut Chicken
Saturday--Dinner with friends

I've been on a pumpkin kick lately, and one of my favorite breakfast treats right now is to add some pumpkin puree in with my oatmeal, top with some brown sugar and cinnamon, maybe some pecans or raisins.  Yummy!!  I tried it on the kids, but somehow they just don't love the pumpkin flavor like Joel and I do.  Hopefully, they'll grow into it!!

Menu Planning Monday

I haven't done this in a while, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of planning, and eventually freezing, meals more than a day or two in advance, so here goes:

Monday--White Chicken Chili
Tuesday--Bourbon Chicken
Wednesday--Fish
Thursday--Spinach and Cheese Strata
Friday--Baked Ziti
Saturday--Eating out
Sunday--pancakes/leftovers

Have a great week!

Pumpkin Dessert Squares

These bars are delicious!! They taste like a pumpkin version of gooey butter cake, and the best part of all is that they are easy to make.  The original recipe is from Williams-Sonoma and calls for their pumpkin pecan butter.  I substituted regular pumpkin butter and the results were wonderful.  


Pumpkin Dessert Squares

• 1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 13 ounces pumpkin butter 
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter softened
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. 
   
   Reserve 1 cup of cake mix and set aside.
3. 
   
   Mix remaining cake with with 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 egg. Press mixture lightly into the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish.
4. 
   
   Mix one jar of pumpkin pecan butter with remaining two eggs and milk, and pour over cake mixture in pan.
5. 
   
   Mix remaining 1 cup cake mix with flour, sugar, remaining 1/4 cup butter, and cinnamon, and crumble over the top of the pumpkin layer.
6. 
   
   Bake 35-40 minutes, or until golden.
7. 
   
   Cool to room temp and serve.

Movie Review: The Least Among You

The Least Among You, starring Louis Gossett, Jr., relates the true story of a young black man, Richard Kelly (Cedric Sanders), who is arrested during race riots in the 1960s and as a result finds himself enrolled in an all-white seminary according to the terms of his probation.  Although the seminary president (William Devane)--for political reasons--encourages Kelly to take a leadership role at the school, Kelly faces hostility from his classmates and professors.  Only when Kelly forges a relationship with the older black custodian of the school, Samuel Benton (Louis Gosset, Jr.), does Kelly begin to develop the spiritual depth required for him to truly step out in leadership at the seminary.

This movie provides an interesting portrait of the racial turbulence that pervaded even the religious institutions of the period. Although at times, the storyline was complicated and distracted from the overall message of the movie, Kelly's story of personal growth and conviction is truly inspiring.

Thomas Nelson provided a complimentary copy of this DVD for review, but the opinions expressed here are my own.