Arlene Makes an Easy Lunch and Shares an Encouraging Message ❤️

Well, hello, family. We are glad that you’re with us today. Hope you’re enjoying a wonderful summer day. We’ve waited long enough for it, right? I’m telling you, I began to wonder if we were ever going to get to this point. But thank God that he holds the times and the seasons in his hand. Have you ever been so fearful that you didn’t know like what to do or couldn’t make a decision because fear had overtaken you? I was talking to my pastor, Pastor Gary. And I told him that today on the program, we were going to talking — I said, “I’m going to talk about fear.” He said, “Ar, talk about fear not.” Good point. Today we’re going to talk about that. And we’re going to also talk to you about some of the ways that we can get free from that fear when the enemy overwhelms us with it. But before we do that, we’re going to make a wonderful chicken salad. And this one is a low-fat, low-carb, low-sugar chicken salad. It’s made with a mayonnaise, but not the full fat-filled mayonnaise that we all love so much. But this is a really neat recipe because it’s a little different. And we’re going to get started with that in just a minute. I want you to take a look at all these nice, fresh fruits. This is the time of the year to enjoy them. Whitney, one of the camera operators, she said, “Well, when is the best time for strawberries?” I said, now, because look how beautiful these are. God is so plenteous and gives us such bounty of his good things. These are all the good things in life that aren’t full of fats and aren’t full of carbs and things that we shouldn’t have, a good apple, some strawberries, and some wonderful grapes. And we have some oranges back under here. These oranges are as sweet as sugar right now and so delicious. This is the stuff that we need to be really enjoying because it comes in natural states that God provided and put on the Earth for all of us to enjoy. So we’re going to kind of talk a little bit about that today. And I hope that you’re — got your glass of iced tea or something refreshing. You’re just going to sit back, kick off your shoes, and relax for the next half hour while we enjoy At Home together. Okay? We’ll be right back after the hint to get started here in the kitchen. Stay with us. Here’s today’s At Home Hint from Pamela Cooper, Clark, Pennsylvania. “When making stuffed peppers, place a teaspoon of grape jelly in the bottom of each pepper, then stuff with meat and rice filling. Bake as usual. It takes the bitterness out of the peppers.” If you’ve got a helpful hint, we’d like to hear from you. Send your hint to At Home Hints, Cornerstone TeleVision, Wall, Pennsylvania 15148-1499. Today we’re going to make a Chicken Salad with a Twist. And this recipe was submitted by Jodi Ghoulish. You know, and you can do that on our website. You can go there and just leave a recipe. And you can check if you want it to be on air or not. And we go through those, and periodically we pull them out. But she says, Jodi says, “Since this is a low sugar and low fat is great while dieting. And it’s really healthy for you.” She says even her son likes it. And he doesn’t like regular chicken salad at all. So something to be said for this because the nice thing — Thanks, Jodi. We appreciate it. The nice thing about it, it combines chicken with something that I love to combine with chicken, which is fruit. So in this, today, we have three cups of cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast. And that’s what you want to — And I’ll tell you, the quickest, easiest way to do that is just simply put it on a flat plate and then cover it with, you know, you can put three or four of them on a flat dinner plate. Cover them with plastic foil. Put them in your microwave. Just keep watching them. Keep checking them. And you’ll see it cooks very quickly and especially if you’re going to be seasoning it with other things like we are today. So this is our three cups of chicken. And in that is going one can, a small can of mandarin oranges. And what we did we drained them, and then we rinse them again. And then we drained them again. So that’s going in. I love to marry the oranges with the chicken. Makes it so good. Little juice in there, I don’t want to get in there. So I’m going to leave that there. And also, we’re going to do some celery, about a cup of just fresh celery chopped fine. Just take your stalks, and you strip them out. And then you cut across them. Quick and easy way. Keep the fingers back so they don’t get all chopped in there because we don’t want fingers in this salad. This is great too because you don’t have to eat this on like big slices of bread. You can do this on any kind of like a cracker or a flatbread, or a dye kind of bread, or pitas. There’s just so many ways that you can serve it. Can serve it on a wedge of lettuce or a nice lettuce-lined plate. Just put a nice big piece there. Maybe some hard-boiled eggs around it. Be creative because there’s all kinds of ways that you can serve something like this. And I think with the summer coming, we just don’t want those big, heavy meals like we’re used to having because it’s just too much. Okay. So we have our celery. We have our mandarin oranges. Now, this is the challenge. We want to cut the grapes in half, about one cup of grapes, cut in half. Now, these will run all over the place, so just, you know, have to be careful with them. But this is a good fresh fruit salad with chicken. Hard to — Like Jodi says, “It’s a chicken salad with a twist.” And she’s right. It is with a twist. So you just take your grapes. You can use the red seedless. You don’t want seed grapes in this because that’s too awkward to eat and be worrying about the pits and the seeds in them. So we just, we use a red seedless. Or you could use the white seedless grape too. Either one would be fine with this. It will bring a certain amount of sweetness that we would all enjoy in that, I know. Okay? Now, the best thing to do with this, after it’s made, we want to refrigerate it. So you’re going to get a piece of self cellophane or Saran wrap or whatever. And we’re going to refrigerate for a couple of hours until everything gets really, really cold and chilled. That will make it delicious. I love to try new things and different things. Especially like with something like so versatile as chicken. You know, we’ve been on the air for like 18 years. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But I’ve said to the Lord many times, “God, how many ways can I make chicken that I haven’t already?” And, you know, God’s creative. So he gives me some ideas every once in a while. Or people like Jodi, who sends in a recipe. And then I say, “Well, how many ways can you make a chocolate cake or a cookie or a chocolate chip cookie?” But as long as you keep enjoying it, we’re going to keep doing it. All right? Okay. We’re almost there. Let’s see. Just a few more. I think you get the idea. If you don’t like the oranges, double up on the grapes or put both kinds of grapes. That would be nice. If you don’t like grapes, double up on the oranges. Or, you know, you could put any kind of like little pieces of strawberry in there, I think would be good. But whatever your family likes. Don’t be limited because, oh, my kids don’t eat grapes. Well then, just don’t put the grapes in. Nobody’s going to be there to chastise you if you don’t put the grapes in because your kids don’t like them. I’d rather not put it in and have the kids eat it than put it in and say, well, you have to eat it because that never works. Okay. The other thing we’re going to put in here, I’ve just taken some slivered almonds and toasted them in a dry skillet just to get some color. And remember, there’s a lot of oil in nuts. So what that does that releases the flavor when the oil gets hot. And it browns them just a little. You don’t want any more than that because that will make it too brown. And we’re just going to drop them about a fourth to a third of a cup. All right? So far, it looks wonderful, doesn’t it? We’re going to give this a quick mix. Get it all in there together. Love the colors. Beautiful. Mm. And, you know, there’s no salt and pepper in this, nothing extra. You could put some pepper in I’m sure, if you wanted to. But there certainly doesn’t call for it in the recipe, Jodi. But I think you could add that if you wanted. All right. Now you say, okay, what’s this kind of a salad without a dressing? Well, she has a dressing. She takes — Now, I know Dannon makes one. And this Yoplait makes a fat-free, sugar-free yogurt. And that’s what we’re going to put in here now. We have — use this one — a four-ounce — Now, this is a little bit more than four ounces, but I like a lot of dressing. So I’m going to go with the six ounces that’s here. And what you do with that, you get the very, very vanilla because that brings another flavor. Because remember, when you’re cutting out the fat and the sugar, what you’re basically cutting out is flavor because that’s what adds the flavor is the fat and the sugar. Okay? So we’re going to cut that out. But we’re also going to use the low-fat or no-fat mayonnaise. This will be about a half a cup. Okay? And I’m just going to eyeball this because I can. So we need about a half a cup. Now, if you want it creamier, go for it. Okay? But that should be about a half a cup. And then what you’re going to do next — Get rid of some of this. I’ve got too many utensils in my pan. We’re just going to mix this very well. And that mayonnaise and the yogurt together is great because it’s low in sugar, low in fat, low in sodium. I mean, it’s just, it’s a great alternative to the one that we all love. We all love that chicken that’s like, ah, get me a piece of toast, or get me a big piece of bread, or whatever. This is an alternative. So I’m going to go ahead, continue mixing this. We’re going to put it in the fridge. And when we come back, I’ve got some things I want to share with you. Okay? We’ll be back in just a minute. Well, we put our, our great chicken salad, it’s cooling in the — in the fridge. And we’re going to show you some ways to serve that when we come back. But I really felt like God put it on my heart for us to have this talk that we have every once in a while because I hope you know that I’m concerned more about what’s going on in your heart and your relationship with God even more so than what we fix on these meals and fix here in the kitchen. We give you the natural — the natural foods. But we also want to give you the spiritual foods so that your spirit will grow like the natural man grows. And I know that before when we talked about depression, it was an overwhelming response. And so many people wrote and emailed and just commented to me how they had been dealing with some of the very same things that I talked about. So I know that when God puts something on my heart, it’s timely. And for the last few days, he’s been talking about people who are fearful. And I’ve dealt with some in my home. They call on the phone and say, Arlene, I’m so afraid. I’m going through a situation, and I’m just so afraid. The what-ifs will drive you crazy. And God doesn’t want us to be fearful. In fact, in Second Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse 7, he says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” That’s God’s word. Let me say it again. “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” If God did not give you a spirit of fear, where would it come from? If it doesn’t come from God, where did it come from? Comes from the evil one, Satan, the devil. Just as real as God is, Satan is just that real. He’s a fallen angel. And his whole plan in the world is to tear down the kingdom of God. And you say, oh, I see all the devastation. Why does God let? It’s not God. That’s Satan. He’s trying to destroy because his whole purpose is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life.” So when fear grips us, could come from so many directions. Could come from — your child comes home with a really bad report card or child gets expelled from school. The husband comes home, and he says, I’ve lost my job. They’re downsizing, and there’s no future. And I’ve lost all my benefits. And we have no hospitalization. Or it comes from you go to the doctor for your checkup, and he said, we have a little suspicious something we need to check into. And I want you to go immediately for tests. Anyone in all of those in themselves could strike fear into your heart. But see, we who are anchored to The Rock, who is Jesus Christ, we know that we never face anything alone. He is always with us. He said he would never leave you. He will never forsake you. Maybe you picked up the phone, and you heard a man say, is this the home of such and such? And you say yes. We have some news for you, and it’s not good. Your son or your daughter, they’re in the hospital, and they just passed away. What do you do at a time like that when fear grips you and you say, but how can I live my life without my child? How can I go on knowing that I’ll never see them again? See, that’s not something in the natural that we can handle alone. And to be perfectly honest with you, when I see people who don’t have a relationship — because it’s all about our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, that makes the difference. When I see those tragedies happen, and I know that those people have not had a relationship with Jesus, I don’t know how they possibly can make it through it. That’s why I think drugs and alcohol and over-the-counter drugs are so prevalent because it gives you a quick fix for just a little bit. And then the pain comes back. The fear comes back. What about tomorrow? What about this? And what if, and what if? And then the whys set in. Why would this happen to me? You know, the root word of the word why is chaos because there’s never an answer. Because when you ask why, then you ask another why. Well, then why did that happen? Well, then if that happened, then why did this happen? There is never an end. Never ask why. Just the bottom line is knowing and having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he can bring you the peace that you need. He will take away the fear. You know, there’s a scripture, and it’s in Psalm 91. And if you’re ever in a situation that you’re fearful or you’re afraid, and you just don’t know what to do, and you call upon the Lord, and you say, oh, I just need something to read that’ll help me, let me tell you to read Psalm 91. It says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” And then it goes on to say, “He shall cover you with his feathers,” talking about God. “And under his wings, you shall take refuge.” Do you ever see a mother bird? She’s pushing the little ones under the wings for protection. That’s what God will do for you. “His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day.” Huh. Don’t we need that for today. “Nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noon day.” Pestilence walking in darkness? Pestilence, do we know what pestilence is? Hmm. I think if you think about it for a minute, you’ll know. “A thousand may fall at your side and 10,000 at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.” That’s God’s word. You say, well, it’s just a book. No, this is the word, the living word from a living God. He says, “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but his word will never pass away.” Do you know how valuable, how powerful this word is? When you take any of that, and you hold on to that, and you say, that’s my verse. I hold on to that verse for me. You are taking power into your life through the word of the living God. So I’m going to ask you, when you’re fearful what to do, you come to the Father, and you ask him for his help and tell him, you haven’t given me a spirit of fear, Lord, but of power, and love, and a sound mind. I’m going to get through this with your help. Acknowledge that you need the Lord Jesus Christ and his power in your life for you to live victoriously. And then look for a verse just like that one I’ve read. And you know what? If you do that, it will be amazing how things will turn around because once you get the fear out of the way, you can start to think clearly about what you have to do and the decision you have to make. And there’s no impulse decision making. Let me pray with you. Okay? Heavenly Father, for every person within the sound of my voice that is experiencing fear today, or fright, or worry, or dread, I ask you, Lord, to make this very real to them, that you are a God of love and not a God of fear. You have not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and love, and a sound mind. And I pray, Lord, that everyone that reaches out to you today, Lord Jesus, you will make yourself very real to them. And let them know that you are right there with them. Because you always go where you’re invited, Lord. And when they invite you into their lives and into their situations, into whatever they’re facing, you will always be there, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness. Thank you that we don’t have to fear, that truly it is fear not when we have a relationship with you. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen. If you’ve prayed that prayer today, or if you’d like someone to pray with you, there’s a number on the bottom of your screen. That number is available 24/7. And they will be there to pray with you to take your request and to assure you that Jesus loves you and he has the answer to your problem. We’ll be right back in just a minute. And we’ll finish At Home. We’ll see you then. Well, thank you, Jodi, for your wonderful salad recipe, the Chicken Salad with a Twist. Here it is. This is just some of what, after you refrigerate it, it’s wonderful. That fruit in there gives us such an unusual, delicious taste. Then we put it down as to how you might want to serve it, with some crackers, or a roll, or some flatbreads, or pitas, whatever with some fruit around it. Could add a hard-boiled egg to that. Then we also went, these are the low fat 50% reduced Keebler Club Crackers, and they’re great. And all we did here was just put a little bit of chicken, take your chicken and just put it on the cracker. And it makes great little hors d’oeuvres or just something that, you know, if people are really watching what they’re eating, this would be a great idea for a party. Or you can use some pita chips. These have some garlic on them, no cheese, some garlic and herbs. And you can dip if you — I would cut all the contents smaller if I were going to do that. But there’s some good ideas. And I hope that you’ve enjoyed it, and you’ll try it. I hope also that you will not fear. Fear not, for God is on our side, and he is for you. So, till the next time we see you, be sure to join us because it just wouldn’t be the same without you.

Furnishings provided by Levin Furniture featuring Lane’s Country Living Collection. Food provided by Jordan Banana Company, wholesalers of fresh fruit and vegetables, in Dravosburg, Pennsylvania.

Cornerstone TeleVision wishes to thank all our faithful viewers whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.