..SEND ME!

---

Music link:      https://youtu.be/VNupbkKmjj0

 Living Translation

6 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!

    The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,...

You know, working for God can be awfully strange sometimes. I mean, I never ever imagined that after serving the Lord for decades, he would tell me, "John, I have another mission for you, will you do it for me?"

And so, whenever I hear those "words," I can barely contain my enthusiasm, and within a few seconds, I am like, "Oh, thank you, thank you, 'Yes Lord,' whatever you ask of me, I will do, "Here am I, send me, send me." 

And then I hear him say something like, "John, I want you to teach my Bible students and young believers on "How to cook economically and practically, so they can become much better 'stewards,' of my resources." 

Well, the first thing that I do is that I try to remember 'what my last meal was before I fell asleep last night.'

Nawww, I am just kidding with you. 

For some time though, I have thought about or have had it suggested to me by the Holy Spirit to pass on to this next generation some of the skills and abilities in which I have learned over the years. 

You see, this is what ministry is. 

Recently, I have felt this urge become stronger and stronger until last night, God was speaking to me in my sleep. 

Finally, I woke up this morning, and it was as if I definitely heard God tell me, to go ahead and do it. 

Well, the first thing that I did was to make my morning coffee and turn on Fox News, as is my custom. 

So, we are in about the third hour or so, and they have this entire segment on how the young people or Gen Z, or something spends an astronomical amount on ordering food from these modern delivery businesses. 

Then I believe that they quoted from one young lady on how she was spending like half of her yearly income from eating that way. 

Well, I have been cooking in restaurants since I was sixteen years old and I have lived alone for much of my life, so I am well aware of the cost in which you can spend just to survive. 

Nevertheless, I have been aware of how that as time has progressed with more and more broken families and such, the dilemma in which many young people find themselves is terrible. Few can cook and they will be honest about this as if it is normal or something? 

I mean, I am sure that you have heard the stories on how college students have developed a weekly menu that consists of Ramen Noodles, for breakfast, then Ramen Noodles for lunch and then Ramen Noodles for dinner, and then Ramen Noodles for breakfast and then Ramen Noodles for lunch and then Ramen Noodles for dinner and for snacks on the weekend nights when they party, right? 

Well, God is here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way at all. 

For instance, after I heard the report from Fox, I decided to cook my usual breakfast, but to time myself to report back on how easy it is for me to have a "Denny's type breakfast" every morning that includes the following: 

Number one: A morning egg apprx cost 17 cents

Number two: One Brown and Serve sausage.  aprox. Cost 14 cents

Number three: A Hashbrown Patty ..approx Cost 35 cents

Number four:  A Sour Dough English Muffin.  apprx cost 45 cents

Number five: an ounce of shredded cheese.   .aprox cost 21 cents

Number six: an eight-ounce glass of juice... apprx cost 41 cents

So, this is what I eat most mornings through the week, that has a grand total cost of one dollar and seventy-three cents a day.

That is probably one fifth or tenth the cost of what many, no doubt, have to "TIP," the driver in order to continue to get consistent good service from some guy who has been delivering your food 'alone,' for the last thirty to forty minutes?

And more than likely half of your meal will barely be warm by the time you have a chance to eat it?  

And I am sure that many will say, "Oh, I don't have that kind of time to spend in my kitchen each day." 

Well, this morning as I timed myself, it took me seven minutes and five seconds from the time that I walked into the kitchen until I had a plate of cooked food in one hand and a glass of juice in the other returning to sit at my computer and to enjoy my freshly hot and thoroughly cooked breakfast. 

Also, if you use the proper tools, clean up should never take more than five minutes and it is not as if it needs to be done the moment you take your last bite. 

Next, I am going to tell you how to cook it and then I am going to go back and to explain that this will only work if you have the proper tools. You see, in every secular job in which I ever worked I had the sense to understand that tools are what will lessen the load of whatever you set out to do. 

Whether I was in sales for a computer manufacturer where I had to have particular Software, and other Computer paraphernalia I had to have tools. 

When I worked as a Machinist, I had to buy Machinist tools which are very expensive, nevertheless, without them you cannot be a "Machinist." 

When I worked in Fast Food, Nicer Restaurants, or Hotel restaurants I have always bought the best Knives, the best tools, else it made my work so much harder. 

If I was a delivering Trucks or Truck Driving on the road, I had to develop "tools," which would serve me for long hours on the road like scripture recordings or having MP 3 Players working. I also needed proper bedding tools to sleep comfortably, such as portable sleeping bags and bags or carts to change vehicles, so that I could adapt to any situation on the road. 

When I worked on my bikes as a kid, I needed tools. When I worked on my Motorcycles or my older cars as a teenager, I had to have tools. 

When I continually would take my Seiko Watches in for a change of battery these so-called "jeweler's," would always crush my O-ring that sealed the back and then a month later I would have to replace my whole watch as they were ruined by being exposed to water which seeped in. 

Well, then I had to eventually buy a watch repair kit of tools, else I would be replacing my watches as fast as my batteries. 

In college you understand that nearly half to ninety per cent of the faculty believe that we have evolved from "Monkeys," because one time a woman found a chimpanzee who used a stick as a tool to get ants out of a jar?

You see, these secular anthropologists decided "well if these dumb animals have more sense than half of humanity which doesn't understand that "tools," can help lessen work, then they obviously must be just as smart as half the human race, and therefore are most likely our uncles and cousins."

So, anyway, this is how I cook a seven-minute breakfast almost any morning of the week. 

Number one: I walk in the kitchen and place my eight inch T-fall Fry Pan on the small burner and my ten-and-a-half-inch skillet on the larger burner, then I turn the heat on to about three quarters where it is going to slowly cook my ingredients, yet have enough heat to cook thoroughly. 

All stoves are different, so it may take you a few times to find the perfect setting. You just learn this through trial and error after a few times. 

Next, I grab one of my deep-dish plastic plates and walk to the freezer. In the freezer, I grab a hash brown patty, a sausage from a bag of fifty Brown and serve links or patties if you like, depending on your preference.

 Nonetheless, you only get forty patties to a bag whereas if you buy the links, you get fifty. 

Well, I just want a small portion, so I buy the links and normally just use one. 

Lastly, I grab a Sour Dough English Muffin and with the three frozen items on my plate, I microwave them for about one minute. 

While they are microwaving, I open the fridge, grab one egg, my tub of Creamy butter w/ Olive oil, and then walk back to the stove where I place a spoonful of butter in my egg pan, (the smaller one) and maybe two spoons of butter in the larger skillet. Next, I add about a tablespoon full of pre minced garlic in the large pan with the two spoons of butter and spread it around the pan. 

I walk back to the microwave grab my plate, return to the stove and gently place the hash brown patties, the piece of sausage, and the two halves of the English Muffin in the larger pan which is not only well heated, but has melted the butter so that you can easily just tilt the pan to get an even application of the butter surrounding the three food items.

Then I take my egg which has been sitting on the stove, and I crack the egg from a flat surface, and drop it in the small pan. 

The other day, I happened to be gleaning some cooking show and I witnessed a lady take an egg and crack it along the rim of a pitcher. Well,  I use to crack a few hundred eggs a shift in many of my former jobs and I always found that if you crack the eggs on a flat surface, generally you don't end up pulling little bits of egg shells out of your pan. It also, I believe helps keep the egg yolks from accidentally being broken. 

Nevertheless, the next thing that I do is that I grab a juice glass from my dish drainer, walk to the refrigerator and pour out a glass of juice into the glass and place it near my stove counter. 

Normally, since I am single, I don't even put my dishes away because after working so long in restaurants, you learn to use few dishes as you are always cleaning up after yourself, as YOU COOK. Why would I want to store up a whole stack of dishes in my sink, when it is much easier to just use that time in between your cooking steps to wash as you go along? 

No, generally, I will keep a dish pan of a few gallons of water with some Dove dish soap filled in the sink which I normally change out every day. That way when I cook, I can merely wipe off the excess food particles and then let the dishes sit in the soapy water until I decide to wash them thoroughly and place them in the drying rack. 

Anyway, I come back to the stove flip the egg, as I enjoy "over medium" eggs, and let it cook for another few minutes. 

Meanwhile, in the larger skillet I turn the sausage, Hash Brown patty, and English muffin over to cook the other side. 

I allow them to cook until all three are nice and cooked by watching them turn a nice brown color. 

Lastly, I pick up my deep-dish plate and dump the contents of the larger skillet into the plate and arrange them accordingly. Then, I grab the egg pan, flip the egg back over and place it on my plate and then I use the excess drippings to top off the English muffin. 

I grab my plate, my juice and return to my computer, while generally the normal cooking time should have only been around seven to eight minutes. 

Therefore, instead of spending as much as ten dollars at a McDonalds or Fast-Food joint or perhaps fifteen to twenty on a delivery service, you can enjoy a "Denny's type breakfast" at home every morning for under eight minutes of cooking time and under two dollars cost. 

Now shouldn't that help you a little with Tuition.

...to be continued...

Future articles:

The most inexpensive and practical cooking tools which should be in every "single person's kitchen." 

How to properly cook perfect eggs, no matter the request.

Over Easy

Over Medium

Over Hard

Basted Eggs

Poached Eggs

Sunny Side Eggs

Soft Boiled Eggs

Hard Boiled Eggs

Real Eggs Benedict   or wait, ...that's for your Senoir Year.

2nd Music link:     https://youtu.be/l0YmmSxLeH8

3rd Music link:     https://youtu.be/0dJHRjrn4f4

Postscript:    

Sorry, but sometimes I get caught up in my intentions that I forget the obvious. One of the things that I wanted to do was to show how economical it is to cook the breakfast, yet I forgot the obvious. 

I did not mean that each breakfast has to consist of these four products. Normally, the breads that I choose from eating every morning are either from a loaf of Rye bread, maybe some Naan, flat Indian bread, Ciabatta or Focaccia bread that I will find in clearance on a Walmart or Kroger Bread cart, (frozen and wrapped tight, as soon as I get it home, otherwise it might mold before I eat it all).

Also, on occasion I will buy a package of sliced ham, or on occasion after a holiday, find a clearance small Ham which I freeze. A few times recently, the Kroger where I shop at will clearance out precooked small boxes of bacon w/ maybe ten to twelve pieces of cooked bacon for a couple dollars. Well, I will grab a handful of packages and freeze them, as well. 

When purchasing any Clearance items, however, you always want to check that the dates are not expired. So, then you either freeze them or eat them within a day or so. (Just good advice.)

It only takes a minute in the Microwave to cook a piece and to add to my White Castle Burger, Omelet, Sandwich or whatever. 

I buy a jar of chopped up jalapeño that acts like a relish to put on my sandwiches, as well. 

Also, since being in Texas, so long, I buy Jalapeño Catsup, or Whataburger Spiced Ketchup. When I can find it I buy Mustard w/ Jalapeño, mayonnaise w/ Olive Oil. 

Many times, I buy a day-old rotisserie Chicken, a few grapes and normally add much Curry and the mayonnaise to my Chicken Salads when I make a pound or so from the three-dollar clearance rotisserie Chicken breast meat.  

The chicken will also normally provide me with a couple of dinners consisting of a wing, thigh and leg. Generally I will eat those with a microwavable package of Pre-cooked rice. The rice takes 90 seconds to cook and you get two servings for like a dollar or dollar fifty cents. 

And I might dump a can of Stewed Tomatoes, Borachio Beans, Cream Corn or another canned vegetable that will heat in a frying pan within ten minutes of placing on the stove. 

From Google AI:

AI Overview

An average 2-pound to 3-pound rotisserie chicken typically yields about 2 cups of white breast meat. In terms of weight, this usually translates to roughly 1 pound to over 1.3 pounds of white meat, depending on the bird's size. The total yield is generally 2 cups of white meat and 1 cup of dark meat. 

Average Yield: A standard rotisserie bird (approx. 2 lbs) provides roughly 2 cups of white meat (breast) and 1 cup of dark meat (legs/thighs).

Weight Breakdown: One user reported getting around 1 lb of white meat and 1 lb of dark meat from a ~2.25 lb total yield. Another user measured about 1.33 lbs of white meat specifically.

Second AI Overview    

           A standard whole rotisserie chicken contains two legs (drumsticks) and two thighs, as it is a single, intact bird. 

These four pieces constitute the dark meat portion of the chicken, which typically provides about 1 cup of meat, while the rest comes from the breasts and wings. 

Key Details: Total Pieces: 2 drumsticks + 2 thighs.

Total Dark Meat: Roughly 1 cup of meat is yielded from the legs and thighs combined.Weight: Average rotisserie chickens weigh around \(2\) to \(3\) pounds.

Anatomy: The leg usually consists of the drumstick, while the thigh is the upper joint. For maximum yield, it is best to remove the meat while the chicken is still warm. 

My point is that there are all kinds of food items that you can substitute and few will cost you any more time cooking them. Some people like Pancakes with their breakfast? 

Generally, they shouldn't cost you any more time than the other items mentioned, yet you should have a third pan and burner. Also, there are many brands where you don't need to add milk or eggs, but simply to add water. One of my favorites is from Pioneer, around the fall where they sell this Pumpkin batter mix in a small package for a dollar or so. All it requires is a few cups of water. 

If you are going to make waffles, you are going to require a lot more time. 

Maybe the weekend? 

Lastly, I generally try to eat healthy that's why I only will eat one sausage and egg a day, nevertheless, I do have my weak points like when I buy a box of White Castle Burgers, but "Hey," I am from Detroit.  

What's your excuse?

But I love to take one of those little burgers, add a spoonful of Jalapeno's, a piece of bacon, a slice of cheese quartered on top, some jalapeno mustard and then by the time I am through the thing starts to look like a "Whopper," straight out of the bag from "Burger King." 

You really ought to try one at least once in your life!

Nevertheless, most people have an unhealthy "FEAR," of cooking and if you understand from experience, you will find out that it is one of the easiest things that you can do to save money. So, long as you have the proper tools and knowledge. mostly learned from experience of trial and error. 

Honest, it's not rocket Science!

Last Music link:    maybe?     https://youtu.be/tDEmo_z7F-g

Added:     2-3-26     11:40 AM

When I cooked that earlier breakfast at the beginning of the paper it was like three or four in the morning. I stayed up writing and watching Fox a little until I went back to sleep. Woke up about ten and had the rest of my second cup of coffee which I had microwaved. Then I felt hungry, so I decided to cook something light. 

I walk in the kitchen, turn on my burner with the frying pan heating. Grabbed a couple pieces of Rye Bread from the Freezer and microwaved them like thirty seconds. Grabbed my tub of butter threw in a spoonful or two of butter and spread it around the pan simply by tilting the pan around. next, I threw my Rye bread on the flat bottom of pan and placed a couple slices of Cheese on each piece. I wanted some Swiss cheese but only had Colby Jack.

Next, I sliced some onion and tomatoes which I placed around the bread as it was cooking. Lastly, I threw the small pan on a burner and decided to go with breakfast by breaking an egg and spreading the yolk from one end to the other with the bottom of the eggshell. 

Also, once I pulled the two sandwich halves after they were browned, then I cooked the tomato and onion more thoroughly. 

Nonetheless, I could have at that point, if I had wanted to, thrown in a hamburger Patty in the smaller pan to make a Patty Melt for lunch, but I chose to simply cook an egg sandwich. 

Had I cooked a Patty melt I would have used mustard with Swiss Cheese slices, but since I made an egg sandwich I decided to go with my jalapeno Catsup and the Colby Jack. 

The egg sandwich took maybe seven to ten minutes where a Patty melt might have taken five minutes more. 

Total cost?

A dollar, maybe? 

How to clean a rotisserie chicken of its meat. First cut off the two legs and thigh, as well, as the two wings, so you can put aside and serve later for a separate dinner with some rice and a vegetable. 

Number one: For chicken dinner, add leg, thigh, and wing on plate, along with half a package of precooked microwaved rice, and a vegetable that you just heated in a pan from the stove. 

Total time, five to ten minutes, while cost was probably two dollars. 

Number two: Later, when you have time, roll up your sleeves, place the chicken in the sink and with your hands separate whatever kind of meat looks edible from the gristle, fat, bones and other excess that you would not like in your Chicken salad. You ought to get a pound or so of chicken meat for your Chicken salad. 

When finished dice the meat by cutting into small little cubes, mix the chicken in a large bowl along with some mayonnaise, freshly chopped up onion, maybe a little celery or olives, some salt, pepper, a few chopped up grapes or cranberries, and lots of curry, and a little cumin if you have it. 

If you do not like curry or cumin, then scratch those two ingredients. 

It ought to be at least a pound of chicken salad which will make about four or five sandwiches through the week. 

Sometimes, I like to purchase a bag of pretzel rolls from a Walmart or Kroger clearance bread cart if available and use those as my sandwich bread. Another good substitute for bread is to cut a whole wheat Pita bread in half and to stuff each half with the chicken salad or to add it on some freshly fried Garlic Naan bread. 

Normally, I also have a bag of Potato Wedges or seasoned Steak Fries in my freezer, as well.  By buying these larger fries, you can microwave them for a minute to help them cook and they won't harden up like leather shoelaces, as the smaller fries tend to do after being microwaved. 

So, when I cook them, I will grab one of my small deep-dish plates throw them on the plate, and microwave for maybe a minute or two depending on their size and whether I have a few pieces of Breaded Fish Filets on the plate, as well. 

(This is how I cook my fish and chips)

Or, my Potato Wedges, by themselves. 

After pulling from the microwave, I will transfer the items from my plastic plate to a metal pie pan that I keep in my Convection/air Fryer and cook for maybe seven to ten minutes at around 350 or 375, depending on how fast I wish them to cook. 

Many times, before I place the food on my pie pan, however, I spray the bottom of pan with some olive oil and then sprinkle about a spoon of Kosher salt on the bottom of Pan. This way none of the fries, fish or whatever you are cooking will not stick to the pan.

Total cost: a dollar or two? Ten minutes preparation. 

When I make my tartar sauce, I will add a couple spoons of mayonnaise, relish, salt and pepper, as well as a lot of lemon juice and mix altogether. 

"But John, how much of each ingredient do you use?"

Well, if you like a lot of relish in your tartar sauce then you use exactly 2 and 13/16ths tablespoon, if you don't appreciate the relish, but like a strong mayonnaise taste better, then you use exactly one and 1/20th tablespoon of relish. 

As for the lemon, if you like your fish to taste lemony, then you use two tablespoons and 3/8ths of squeezed lemon. If you are not partial to lemon, then you use only maybe 7/10ths of a tablespoon of squeezed fresh lemon. 

Nonetheless, this is mostly the standard that I use for all measurements of particular items in a recipe. 

Another quick and economical meal for a single person is to buy a Calzone from the store Aldi's. Aldi's is my favorite budget store as they will clearance out various foods that don't sell well. 

Like last night, I cooked a Chicken Schnitzel from Germany, or Canada while thinking about it. It was a breaded patty about five inches in diameter and unlike some chicken fried steaks, where the meat is sort of thin this was pretty thick. 

To cook it, I grabbed one from the freezer, microwaved it for a minute or so, and then threw it in my ten-inch skillet or Frying pan. I had sprayed the bottom of the pan with Olive oil and added a small amount of water to the pan. Next, I covered it with a silicone wide, maybe twelve-inch thin pan cover, so the water would steam it as well as cook the pattie. I flipped it a time or two to make sure that it was browned on both sides, lastly, I covered it with some enchilada sauce from a can I had left over. 

Then I grabbed from the refrigerator some remaining boxed Pasta Roni, which I had cooked the week before. I simply had to microwave them for a minute or two. 

Lastly, I opened a can of stewed tomatoes for my vegetable, to seal the meal. They were cooked on the stove in a small pan for maybe ten minutes. 

Total cooking time: fifteen minutes, cost:

Schnitzel was bought in clearance from Aldis for like 60 cents a patty. 3.60 for a package of six. 

One third a box of Pasta Roni was maybe 40 cents, and half a can of stewed tomatoes was probably fifty cents, for a grand total of a dollar and fifty cents. 

Also, enjoyed with a can of Cherry Vanilla Sugar Free Pepsi, at roughly fifty cents a can.  

Another quick meal from Aldi's is when I buy a separately wrapped Calzone. They vary as to what they are stuffed with from Four Cheese, Philly Steak, Pepperoni, yet they only cost 2.39 for a moon shaped stuffed thick dough pie. 

To cook, I will microwave a minute and then throw in my Pie Pan having seasoned it with a little Olive oil spray and kosher salt. Then I throw in Convection/ Air Fryer for probably ten minutes covering the top w/ a piece of aluminum foil, so the top of the pie doesn't burn.  

Next, I will go to my refrigerator where I usually keep a decent sized jar of Marinara sauce. I will pour maybe four ounces of marinara in a small pan and heat on the stove for probably five minutes. 

Lastly, I will pull my Calzone out of the oven, lay a nice slice and a half of cheese over it and then pour the hot marinara over the cheese. Absolutely delicious!

Total time? Maybe ten minutes, cost 2.39 Calzone, twenty or thirty cents for cheese, forty cents for sauce. Total at 3..09 .

(I don't know if this is helping anyone, but I would hope that it is lessening the "fear," of many who have been afraid to attempt to cook. 

I know that struggling through a school year can be extremely hard if you are forced to eat out all the time. Therefore, I am trying to introduce you to the ease of cooking in your own kitchen. It is so much more practical and i really believe that I was inspired by the Lord to do this, else I would not be doing it.)

*****

*****