Oriental Chicken Salad and Cheesy Garlic Toast

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery Pics are from my family's annual "Breakfast Casserole" luncheon we have every year. Nothing terribly exciting, but photos just the same.

SPECIAL GUEST - Charlotte Guffin - Sadness. The technical difficulties have spilled over into today's post. What are we going to do? I guess we'll just have that much more to look forward to tomorrow. You will come back tomorrow, won't you? It's only Tuesday. There's still plenty of time to fix this. Don't give up hope! (This pep talk is more for me than you, just so you know.)

TOPIC OF THE WEEK - Answered Prayer - Today's story of answered prayer comes from my friend, Kim.

Kim's husband, Keith, was laid off from his job two days before Christmas. Because of the economy, finding any job has been difficult for Keith and many others in his situation. Kim and her family found themselves literally living by faith and waiting on God.

The following is an account of their answered prayer. Because I was not actually in the house when it happened, with Kim's permission, I have taken some liberty. (Code for THE DIALOGUE IS NOT PERFECTLY ACCURATE... BUT CLOSE ENOUGH.)

A few days ago, Kim's daughter, Heather, came downstairs as everyone was getting ready to go to bed and told her Dad, "There's a dog in the attic."

"What do you mean there's a dog in the attic? There cannot be a dog in the attic."

"Well, it's something. And it's big. And it's a dog."

Keith went with his daughter to investigate, and while standing in her bedroom heard a very large bang. He came downstairs to arm himself... because obviously there was a dog in the attic.

Kim's daughter and son joined their Dad as he made his way up the steps into the attic. (Kim chose to hold down the home front from the comfort of her bed. She is wise beyond words.)

Standing in the attic looking around, they could not spot a dog, but after several minutes an animal did make an appearance. After capture, it was decided the culprit was a flying squirrel.

Okay. What does this have to do with Keith's job? Patience, my friends, patience. This story just gets better and better.

Because it was such an odd thing to find in an attic, Kim made a comical reference to it on her Facebook page. Several people responded to the post... including an old friend of Keith's. Back and forth, back and forth and finally Keith was talking to his friend. He told him of his job situation. Now get this. Once he hears Keith is not working he says, "Well, there's a position opening at my office. Let me get an interview set up for you."

To shorten this part of the story, let's just say Keith went through the first interview process with flying colors and is now awaiting the second interview. He now has hope because of a little flying squirrel. If Keith does get this job, the only set-back would be the beginning time which is not until March. Keith's severance pay ran out the last week of January. (That was a few days ago, folks.)

I would like for you to tune in tomorrow for the rest of this story. A truly amazing thing is about to happen. Not only did God give Kim's family hope AND laughter, but another prayer will be answered... because of a little flying squirrel.

By the way, Adam, Kim's son, named the squirrel Rascal. For the rest of the story, he will be referred to as such.

Don't you love how God can work through a little flying squirrel... named Rascal?

Oriental Chicken Salad and Cheesy Garlic Toast

Since today and tomorrow's Answered Prayer Story has been contributed by Kim, I decided to really put her to work on the blog. I asked her to share a recipe she and her family love.

You will need:

1 head lettuce, shredded
1 pound fried chicken tenders from deli
1 small can Mandarin oranges, drained
1 can chow mein noodles
1 bottle ginger dressing (or another favorite dressing)
1 loaf round French bread
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Garlic salt

1. Wash lettuce and shred. Cut chicken tenders into bite sized chunks. Toss lettuce, chicken, mandarin oranges and desired amount of chow mein noodles together.

2. Put on individual plates and drizzle with ginger dressing.

3. Cut French bread into individual slices. Lay on cookie sheet. Heat oven to broil. Top each slice of bread with cheese and sprinkle generously with garlic salt.

3. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, watching as not to burn. Serve alongside salad.

This recipe is from the E-mealz plan off the Internet. Kim uses this website. For a small fee, she is supplied with EASY and delicious weekly recipes AND a shopping list to use at Publix or Wal-Mart. She loves it, and I'm looking into doing this myself. The money you can save using these meal plans is amazing.

For more information, go to www.e-mealz.com.

I hope you have a glorious Tuesday. Tomorrow we'll have a Seasonal Tradition for Valentine's Day which is coming up, as well as more Special Guest info and some Wednesday Wisdom. Come on back now, you hear! (Did I or did I not just sound like Ellie May Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies? Does anyone out there even remember that show? Anyone?)

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda