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Baked Crescent Almond Chicken

2 cups shredded Rotisserie chicken (or canned if you prefer)
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed & drained
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp salt
2 pkg. crescent rolls
2 tblsp sliced almonds

Put cooled chicken pieces into a large bowl. Add spinach, bell pepper, cheese, garlic, mayonnaise & salt. Mix well. Place crescent rolls on greased cookie sheet, leaving triangles of dough attached to each other. Pinch seams of dough together to make a larger rectangular-shaped dough. Place the chicken mixture in a log shape down the center of the dough rectangle, leaving dough on each side. Cut with a knife diagonally from the chicken mixture to the edge of the rectangle on each side, making 1-2 inch strips that are still attached to the dough under the chicken mixture.

Before I started the criss crossing I folded over the edges of the top & bottom of the rectangle.

If you like this one, you can hear other full length songs including “Show Me What It Means” and “You Invite Me In” on Meredith’s myspace page.  I love her deeper-life lyrics and the way they move my heart to worship and long for Him!

I have been reading a book called The Contemplative Mom: Restoring Rich Relationship with God in the Midst of Motherhood by Ann Kroeker, and I’m learning a lot of practical ideas about how to find precious alone time with God through this book. 

• Use driving time.  We have started to use this time more productively by praying together on the way to school each morning.  I also frequently turn up some good worship music and sing along… consciously directing my words to Him as I sing.  And even talking to the girls about how God is (whatever the song is praising Him for).  The girls really get into this too.

• I try and get up an hour early each day to read and pray.  The house is still so quiet then, and having the automatic brew cycle set the night before allows me to wake up to the smell of coffee.

Yet very often, my girls, especially Ella wakes up early too.  I started an M&M economy that seems to be working well to keep them in their beds at night and in the morning.  They each start with a bag of 5 M&Ms at night in a Ziploc bag with their names on it.  They lose one each time they come out of their rooms between bedtime and their wake up times at 7.  Whatever is left when they come down in the morning, they get to keep.

 

There are some mornings that I’m especially tired when my alarm goes off, but I do my best to get up anyway.  I reason that it will be easier to nap on the couch while cuddling Ella through an episode of Little Einsteins than to find that Quiet time during the day.

 

• Neither of my girls take naps anymore, but we still often do Rest Times where they each play quietly in their rooms.  I set the “sleep button” on their clocks, and they can come out when the music stops.  I usually do this for only 30 minutes but would like to work up to 1 hour.  This allows me to have additional time alone and also teaches them about knowing how to quiet their own souls.  Some of their best imaginative play takes place during this time too.  My Mom did something similar with me when I was younger.  It was during these times that I fell in love with reading… especially Nancy Drew!

• “Sleeping in” on the Weekends.  Ray and I take turns getting up early with the girls on the weekends.  He gets one morning to sleep in and I get the other.  I sometimes use my morning, to wake up at the normal time and read in bed.  He even brings me coffee from time to time. 

• One of the best things for me has been to read the same passages of Scripture with other women.  We are currently reading through the OT chronologically.  We meet weekly to discuss what we’ve read, questions we had, personal struggles, interesting points, etc.  We also agree that we will have at least one specific principle and application to share that we have learned from our reading that week.

And one final quote that challenged me from Contemplative Mom:

“The God of the universe wants to know us and be known by us.  You are His friend, His beloved, His delight.  Is He yours?”

What are some of the ways you make time for solitude while balancing a full schedule?