Home Cooking for Body and Soul---Lesson #9--As the Deer

Home Cooking for Body and Soul

Lesson #9—As the Deer

Dinner: venison gravy over mashed potatoes served with green beans (see below)

Verses: Psalm 42: 1-3

Do you ever thirst for God? Do you ever feel like you could never get close enough to God to satisfy your desires? If you have, then you’re not alone. If you haven’t, then you are missing out on something great, something that will grow you and change you.

Psalm 42 talks about just such a thirst. Read Psalm 42: 1-3. Can you picture it? I can clearly see a deer running up to a brook and leaning to take a cool, refreshing drink to quench it’s thirst. The psalmist used this imagery to describe his longing for God’s presence, but we can also learn more.

How often do you think a deer needs to take a drink? Several times a day. Does a deer take a drink once a month? Once a week? Once a day? No! A deer is going to take a drink several times a day. He continually has a need to quench his thirst. Just as the deer refreshes with a cool drink, we need to refresh ourselves in the love and wisdom of God.

When a deer goes to the brook for a drink, does it take a quick lap of water or does it stay until it’s thirst is quenched? Stay until thirst is quenched. Just as a quick lap of water isn’t going to satisfy the deer’s thirst, a quick encounter with God isn’t going to satisfy our desire for a close relationship. We need to spend time with God. Although there is a place for a quick encounter (reading just one verse, saying a quick prayer, etc.), when we are “panting” a quick encounter isn’t going to be enough. We need to delve into His Word and drink long to satisfy our need.

I challenge you to increase the time you spend with your Lord and Savior. If you normally only spend time with him on Sunday, Wednesday and every other Tuesday, try for once a day. If you only take a quick lap with just a quick prayer or one verse a day, increase it to twice a day. If you spend time with Him every morning, but not after that, then start joining Him every afternoon as well. Satisfy that desire deep in your soul for the Living God. Pant for God then quench that thirst by praising and worshiping His Holy Name!

Money-saving tip: Hunt or, better yet, find someone to hunt for you! You can save even more money if you process the deer, turkey, etc. yourself.

Health tip: Eat food that isn’t genetically modified (or at least as the closest you can get it to not being genetically modified) or with added hormones or antibiotics. Whatever is in the food is going to go into your system and could have dire consequences after years of build-up or even after one time. You can easily replace venison for beef in your recipes.

Venison Gravy over Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 potatoes, peeled & cubed 1/4 cup butter 1 cup milk

1 lb ground venison 1 small onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup flour 4 cups beef broth

Any combination of spices you like

Peel and cube potatoes. Put in large pan and cover with cold water. Boil until soft (while boiling, move onto making the gravy). Drain. Add butter, milk, and a dash of salt. Mash. Add more milk if desired.

Brown venison, onions, and garlic with salt and pepper and whatever other spices you enjoy. Push off to one side of the pan and melt butter. Stir in flour and cook for about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth. Stir everything together. Let simmer for at least 5 minutes to combine flavors.

Serve gravy over mashed potatoes. Serve a vegetable alongside.

You can easily use any ground, cubed or shredded meat. Just change beef broth to chicken broth if using turkey or chicken.

Chocolate Pudding

3 cups milk 1/3 cup cornstarch

2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

dash of salt 3 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

In a two-quart sauce pan combine the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, and salt. Mix very well. Gradually add the milk, whisking it in until the mixture is smooth. Heat the pan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring the pudding to a full rolling boil. Boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla. The pudding will thicken as it cools. You can pour the pudding into a pretty serving dish or small individual cups. Store in refridgerator.

serves 6