MAMMON

What an awful thing. We need money yet it must not control us. It is a very fine and difficult line in life. Most probably the most difficult. It can control our actions, believes, dreams, attitude and quality of life.  It is a God given assignment to work and provide for yourself and your family, but when is enough enough? What is good for the one is not sufficient for the other. For some people it is enough to be able to have a standard house, car, food, medical, money for education etc. The one has got a large family and needs a big house; the other earns his living by driving around and therefore need a more expensive vehicle. Nobody has the same needs, not even mentioning the “wants”. 

I believe there are three ways to measure this: 

1. Is money more important than God? Do I prefer to rather do more and extra work than to spend time with what I know God wants me to do, like time with my family, friends or time doing good deeds or feeding my soul. 

2. Do I have more than enough? Nothing makes me excited anymore. I have no dreams left or goals toward I want to grow to. I have all I need. Most of the times this is reached at the same time that you experience an empty hollow feeling. 

3. Is it too? Too much work, too much socializing, too much effort, too much of everything. Never forget that God tells us: All is good if it is not too much. I have made a study of people’s expressions. The poor, the standard, the wealthy, the rich and the super-rich. 

Conclusion? The less Mammon the more you’ll see love and care on a person’s face.

 EMERGENCY REPLACEMENTS – Baking Powder – For each 5ml short, replace with ¼ teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda mixed with ½ teaspoon Crème of Tarter. Butter – 1 cup of Butter may be replaced with 220ml Oil Chocolate – Replace each block with 3 spoons of Cocoa mixed with ½ spoon of Butter. Corn flour –Replace each spoon short with 2 spoons of Cake Flour. Milk – Replace 1 cup with 6 spoons of Powder Milk mixed with 1 cup of Water Self-Rising Flour – Sift together 1kg Cake flour, 4 teaspoons Bicarbonate of Soda and 8 teaspoons Crème of Tarter. Sift 4 times. Sour Milk – Mix 1 cup of Milk with 1 spoon Vinegar or Lemon juice. Sugar – 250ml Sugar is the same as 150ml Honey of Syrup. 

IRONING BOARD - Cover Iron board with quality thick Foil. You will then be able to iron clothes on both side without turning them around.

 HERB – Rosemary – Barbeque Meat, Oily Fish and Chicken. 

  550g Vetkoek dough, 100g Butter, 1 chopped Onion, 1 spoon Brown Sugar, ½ chopped Green Pepper, 100g shredded Cabbage, 1 chopped Tomato, 1 teaspoon crushed Garlic, 6 Viennas cut in pieces, 1 teaspoon Mixed Herbs, Salt & Pepper, 1 spoon Cheese Powder, 1 Egg, 200g grated Cheddar, 2 teaspoons Paprika, Cooking Oil 

 Heat Butter in frying pan. Mix with Onion, Brown  Sugar, Green Pepper, Cabbage, Tomato, Garlic, Viennas,  Herbs, Salt & Pepper. Fry until soft and golden brown.   Remove from heat and stir in Cheese Powder. Let it  cool down. Preheat oven to 180. Grease a baking plate. Grease working area. Roll out dough in a rectangular about  2cm thick. Spread mix over dough. Roll up lengthwise and  cut into pieces 4cm thick. Place flat on baking plate. Whisk  in  Egg and brush over dough. Sprinkle Cheese over and then Paprika. Bake for 35min until golden brown. Let it cool down  and break apart. 

Do not overdo it, it is not worth it. Provide sufficiently for yourself and your family and that is enough – REMEMBER – ANYBODY CAN COOK!