Hash Green Fritters

I used an amazing recipe I found in my Facebook feed called Zucchini Crust Pizza last week when my garden was exploding (again) with zukes. My family raved about it.

The secret was in salting and squeezing out the moisture in the zukes. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that before! The hot oven-stone idea was also very helpful, though I used a 13-inch ceramic tile left over from our kitchen remodel and turned it upside down. My pizza was square. Tasted great anyway.

Well, I had some uncooked dough left over, and the next morning my daughter fried pancakes out of it. Also brilliant! It was delicious! The only drawback was, the high oregano content required that it be smothered in more tomato-y salsa to even out the flavors. Not my idea of breakfast, but hey, I'm eating greens three meals a day, and that isn't your typical breakfast food either, so I could live with it. Once.

Today I made what I have dubbed Hash Green Fritters. I took out the oregano and basil from the aforementioned recipe and increased the protein content by adding chia seeds along with a bit of water. Worked like a charm! Here's a single-dish meal for your family that is low-carb and higher protein than potato hash browns, and just as yummy.   

HASH GREEN FRITTERS

• 8 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
• 2/3 cup flour of choice
• 2T chia or flax seed
• 1T water
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T coconut oil
• optional: extra shredded cheese to sprinkle on top 

1. In a large bowl, toss the zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the squash by wrapping it up in a clean tea towel or piece of cheese cloth and wringing it out, discarding the water. (You may wish to do step one the night before and refrigerate. I did.)
2. Once all of the excess moisture has been wrung out and discarded, place the shredded zucchini back into the bowl and add the cheese, flour, garlic, seeds, water, eggs, and salt.
3. With your hands, incorporate all of the ingredients together.
4. Place coconut oil into a frying pan on high and heat until just beginning to smoke. Very important that it be HOT, or the mixture will not sear, may stick to pan and give you a big headache!
5. Spread mixture in hot pan thinly, about a quarter of an inch. After 3 minutes, flip with a spatula (yes, it will break apart) and press down flat. After 2 minutes, flip and press down again. Continue flipping as outer crust browns and inside dries and cooks until no moisture oozes up. Keep pan hot, but not too hot. Don't walk away and burn your precious meal :).
6. You may offer a bowl of extra shredded cheese for hand-sprinkling on top of the hot cakes. Enjoy!

Prep time: 15 minutes   Cooking time: 15 minutes  Servings: 6

See my new Facebook page at Arden's Garden

Contentment or Duty? Woman Come Home Part 2

I was googling the topic of contentment-at-home the other day, and found some great websites and blogs out there, some better than others. One of the best was here: the Christian Work-at-Home Mom.

I too struggled with being content at home when, in 1991, I came home from the career world for good.  I found that it was frankly boring to be alone with two young children all day long. I knew my children needed me, that they were the most important people in my life, that I was where God wanted me, and yet...I had gotten used to the positive ego strokes I got by being around adults in the working world. So, I started looking for escape routes.

One escape route was the phone. Another was church. A third was volunteer work. I utilized all three to excess.

Then there was that bout with lupus affecting my psyche. In 1987 I had all the signs and symptoms of it--positive blood titers, aching joints, fatigue--and then after three months of pain it all went away. There is no cure for lupus, so I had to be healed from above--but in those few years afterward, it wasn't clear if it would return or not. After grieving over the death of my self-image as a strong, healthy person, I felt driven--driven to change the world while I still had time. For four years I enjoyed good health, had two more children--and kept changing the world.

The children soon figured out that they were competing with the phone for attention, and created drama whenever I was talking on it. When I hung up, they suddenly stopped the fighting and noise. Uh-HUH--this is not good, I thought. Guess I'd better be more attentive to them. So I used nap time for phone calls.

Still, John and I had church choir on Wednesday nights, where we dropped the kids off in the church daycare. That was making for too busy a week-night schedule, so we quit the choir.

But the real draw for me was socio-political activism. Those were the heady days of Operation Rescue, when prolife causes were brought to the fore. I led a chapter of Concerned Women for America in our church and planned events for outside speakers to instruct and inspire us. We started San Joaquin Prolife Council, and supported prolife candidates (we actually succeeded in helping Richard Pombo get elected to Congress). I organized over 100 churches to stage the Life Chain annually in Stockton, CA. We attended school board meetings when a furor developed over the Impressions literature curriculum chosen in the district John and I worked in. I counseled pregnant women against abortion at the local pregnancy counseling center. I spoke and debated on high school and college campuses for the cause of life. I was on radio and television. I even pressured John to run for the school board, saying, "If you don't run I will!"

And I was plagued by the gnawing feeling that I was neglecting my children. My body was at home, but my heart was not. And they knew it. Especially my eldest daughter. Her temper tantrums were still a problem, even after I came home to stay. We were not on good terms.

We came home late one night after another school board meeting, and I walked in to see the living room floor strewn with clothes and toys, the bedroom lights on and the children jumping on the beds, carrying on long past their bedtimes. Where was the babysitter? Sound asleep on the bunk bed--oblivious to the noise and lights. We never used that babysitter again, but I felt responsible and guilty for leaving my children with a stranger again.

Then there was Bible Study Fellowship. That was an awesome influence on my life; even though the children were again being watched by others, they (and I) were being taught the Bible in a systematic way. In my next post, I will tell how God used the story of David to speak to my heart.

Review: Created To Be His Help Meet by Debbie Pearl

It's been over a year since I finally read this book, so I can look back and say it has made a big difference in my marriage!  Created to be His Help Meet by Deb Pearl is a hard-hitter, pulling no punches when it comes to confronting the most common excuses we come up with as wives to justify our poor attitudes towards our husbands.

The most impacting statement in the book that has stuck with me is "You are not your husband's conscience!" That was like a sword to my heart. Here all along I thought I was his conscience, and didn't realize it! That realization alone helped me to back way off on pronouncements about my husband's plans, his time management, etc.  I realize they are not for me to correct or change. He is following the Lord, and the Lord will lead him or not, but it's not my game.

I have often tried to protect our family from lack of attention and time on his part, to a fault. Rather than ask questions, I have made pronouncements and judgements. Of course they were not well-received due to the spirit with which I made them. While there are some things I would still like to change, I am so deeply in love with my husband, who for 27 years has faithfully provided for me and has never been at lack for a well-paying job; who has stood by my side through 20 years of illness; who has aggressively led our family in spiritual endeavors and fun-filled adventures. Who am I to complain?

Deb Pearl has pointed out that a man's basic needs really are not so much to whine about. He just wants warm food for his belly, warm clothes for his back, and a warm partner in bed. Is it really so much to ask?

Pearl also addresses the hyper-spiritualizing trends among women today which are not grounded in scripture, calling it the spirit of Jezebel. She paints our lives as women in very practical, down-to-earth terms. Those women who aspire to great heights of spirituality are causing their own discontentment, when a few minutes a day of prayer and Bible study should be sufficient. Grow up, move on, give your man good sex, he's not a pervert. (She also addresses perversion where it is real.) What is the essence of being a true helpmeet if it is not to actually help?

There is one caveat I would offer. Some of her micro-descriptions of male types don't quite ring true. Take them for what they're worth. Her general observations on types are helpful if you don't carry them too far; they are, after all, generalizations.

There is more excellent advice on modesty, childcare, cooking, etc. On the whole, Created to Be His Help Meet is a keeper worth multiple frequent readings and may in time be regarded as a classic in Christian literature. While the issues addressed are especially relevant to our day, those issues have tempted and plagued women throughout history.