" The England Dinner" Food Review

Tonight for the England Dinner review we will take a look at " RJs Courtyard Restaurant on the Airport Hwy in Alcoa, Tn.

RJs could easily be considered a somewhat mid-scale restaurant which appears to be clean and very nice from outside. You find the same inside as well and it seemed to be larger than it's outward appearance. They also have an easy to read menu that is not cluttered at all along with moderate but reasonable pricing.

This was our first time at RJs and there were many items that caught our eye , tonight we were both in the mood for a nice steak. We started out with fried mushrooms. I measure the mushrooms to one and only one restaurant located in Halls. If you've eaten there and like mushrooms you know this place. RJs were there as far as taste goes but they fall short on quantity for the price. Ok I'm spoiled, I get twice as many for the same price at my mushroom fav.

We both had the 10oz.Top Sirloin, the wife's being well and mine of course being rare.
This is where I wish I could start bragging on the wonderful qualities of a beautiful and perfectly prepared steak. Well that's not happening tonight folks.
These were two of the toughest and driest steaks I believe I can remember ever having. You can fix a steak that is cooked wrong but when it is dry and tough that is the quality of the beef used. When you are a rare steak eater and you have to saw the steak and it looks dry, you know you're going to have a bad steak. I felt even worse for my wife because hers was well.

I will say , the Spinach Maria was vey good and the waitress provided excellent service.

The only saving grace for RJs comes from the comments from the others at our table on their meal.

I can tell you that " Blackened Grouper" "Grilled Chicken" "Ground Angus Steak" "Coconut Chicken Tenders" and the "Rocky Top Burger"
all scored much greater than the "Top Sirloin". As a matter of fact my wife made the comment that her "Double Burger" from Wendy's Friday night was better.

While we will give RJs another chance, it won't be with a steak.
Our rating on this trip would be pushing a 3/5.

Friday Night Food Review

I must first apologize for being slack in my duty of bringing you my food review. I was confronted by a cousin tonight at the "England Dinner" who politely informed me that she missed seeing the review.
Here's to you Cousin, you know who you are.

Friday nights review is a short but sweet one featuring none other that Wendy's. Yes that's right Wendy's.

The wife had her all time favorite which is the Double along with fries and was well pleased as she always is.
I had a couple of the dollar menu chicken sandwiches and fries. Tell me, Just how much can you say about a sandwich with a chicken patty , a piece of lettuce and mayo? How can you mess that up?

The best I can do for this review is ask you, just what else can you say about Wendy's? You either like them or you don't. We do so yes we will be going back. I'm sorry but I don't feel the need to give the fast food chains a star rating.

This wraps up the Friday Night Food Review. Until we meet again may God Bless you!!

Anniversary Food Review

Hey everybody, hope you didn't have any trouble finding us on the Blog Spot. To end April you are going to get a "triple" shot of the Food Review. You will get tonight's anniversary issue plus Friday nights regular review and the you will also get the England Family Dinner review on Sat. night. Three nights for just the price of one, where else can you get a deal like that?

Well on to the food. Tonight's review is about Chesapeake Seafood House located on Union Ave. in downtown Knoxville . Tn.
You can dress casual to formal , it's all fine. They have a light and lively atmosphere and the clientele was mostly the elder generation. The reason I say this is because the music playlist ranged from " Joe Walsh to Jim Croce to Joe Cocker to Billy Preston to Sir Elton" and everything in between. I tell you this because when I mentioned the oddity of the customers age and the music I was reminded by my wife that I was their age and that too was music of my generation. Well back to the food.

We both shared the fried Calamari appetizer and then had the Seafood Combination for dinner , only differences being , the wife's was fried and mine was broiled , hers had oysters and mine had a Maryland crab cake. They both had fish , scallops , shrimp and a side dish. While all of the seafood was delicious to say the least , the wife could not stop talking about her side dish. The side was baked macaroni with spinach Maria and spicy cheese. My side was Neva's potato's which was supposed to be like a twice baked potato casserole which was so so but nothing to brag about . We topped our night off with a piece of Slower Delaware Pie . This is coffee flavored ice-cream filling and a Kahlua crust topped with pecans , whipped cream and hot fudge. That was something else.

I must say that overall it was a very delightful evening and great food. It is definitely somewhere you would want to give a try if you are a seafood lover. I will be upfront with you and tell you it is an up scale restaurant and is not cheap . A party of two with an appetizer and entrée , dessert and drinks will destroy a Benjamin.

Well as the wife says , it's our anniversary and we don't do this every day! We rate this one 4.5 / 5.

Happy Anniversary Dear. I Love You!!

Spring Cleaning!

I am starting some spring cleaning here. We have let stuff get a head of us so I am also purging. What is funny though is the more I get rid of the more we seem to have. So what are you doing for your spring clean?

We are fixing to remodel the main bathroom. We have to replace tub it is plastic and cracking. I am going to replace with a shower. We will also replace toilet and put new cabinet with new sink also. I have tile to replace old linoleum flooring. Will keep you updated on progress.

We are also cleaning our health. We are changing our eating habits and removing toxins from the house. We are using a lot of essential oils, products that use essential oils instead of toxins and using vitamins with essential oils.

This is a slow process of removing items. You don't realize all the chemicals in everything you use. I have switched my toothpaste and love it! I am now getting rid of the toxic cleaners. The Thieves cleaners smells great and cleans good.

By changing our eating habits we are slowly losing weight and not gaining it back. We are making good habits and not falling back to the old ones. We are starting a nutrient habit, which means making sure we are getting vitamins and minerals that our body needs to function at peak. I will write a post on this all by itself later with a lot more detail.

Our dogs are also benefiting from our diffusing plus we use the essential oils to make their skin/coats healthier and repel insects. Diffusing is really beneficial to our high strung dog that is scared of everything and jumpy over every noise. By diffusing Stress Away it calms her down a lot.

Off to do some cleaning and purging. Have a Blessed day!

In The Beginning: Spikenard

                         SPIKENARD

Our third oil of the Bible that we will look at is Spikenard. This  oil comes from India and is a highly medicinal oil. It was also one of the most precious oils of the time , used only by Priests , Kings , or High Initiates. We know of course the New Testament speaks of Mary of Bethany who anointed the feet of Jesus with this oil before the Last Supper.

Spikenard has a variety of medical properties such as, anti-bacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, relaxant, and an immune stimulant.

Some other well known uses for Spikenard are insomnia, menstrual problems/ PMS , heart arrhythmias, nervous tension. Spikenard has fragrant influences also, such as, relaxing and soothing , and helps nourish and regenerate the skin.

In our Bible Spikenard is mentioned more than a few times, one being in the Song of Solomon:1:12 " While the King sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof"

I hope you have enjoyed this brief overview of our third Ancient oil of the Bible.

DISCLAIMER: We are in no way medical professionals and make no claims or make any diagnosis of any kind

Until we meet again may God Bless you richly.  

In The Beginning Myrrh

                             MYRRH

Let us take a look at our second Ancient Oil of the Bible which will be " Myrrh". This oil has many wonderful qualities that we will list later in this post. Myrrh was also one of the gifts that was brought to Jesus at His birth.

Myrrh is obtained through a steam distillation process of the gum/resin. The origin country of Myrrh is Somalia and Myrrh is mentioned in some of the oldest medical records dating back to the 16th century (BC)in an ancient Egyptian list of 877 prescriptions and recipes. Arabian people used Myrrh for many things such as chapped or cracked skin and wrinkles. It was also listed in Hildegard's Medicine, a compilation of highly regarded medicines by Hildegard of Bingen ( 1098-1179).

Medical properties of Myrrh have been said to be :
Powerful Antioxidant
Antitumoral
Anti-Inflammatory
Anti Bacterial
Antiviral
Antiparasitic
Analgesic/Anesthetic

Myrrh has had many uses throughout the years and here are just a few:
Diabetes
Cancer
Hepatitis
Fungal Infections(Candida / Ringworm
Tooth / Gum Infections
Skin Conditions (Eczema / Cracked and Dry Skin / Wrinkles and Stretch Marks.

Fragrant Advantages of Myrrh include:
Promotes Spiritual awareness and is uplifting because it contains
Sesquiterpenes which stimulate the limbic system of the brain (the center of memory and emotions). Myrrh is found in many of our essential oils.

Genesis:43:11: And their father Israel said unto them, if it must be now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.

Exodus: 30:23: "Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure Myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels".

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE IN NO WAY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. WE ARE IN NO WAY SUGGESTING THAT YOU ALTER ANY MEDICATION OR TREATMENT THAT YOUR DOCTOR HAS PRESCRIBED. THESE OILS HAVE NOT BEEN ANALYZED BY THE FDA.

Thank You and God Bless you.

In The Beginning Frankincense

Hello All
I'm John, Angie's husband. You may recall the past blogs of my 2007 journey as my family and I walked through the valley of death holding God's hand as He healed me of cancer. Well now she has encouraged me to join her in rejuvenating our blog site.

As you know we are helping and educating people about Essential Oils. We are very excited about our new adventure and the results we have already enjoyed in just a short time.

You may be wondering why I titled this "In The Beginning" so I will tell you. My first series of blogs will be about the "Ancient Oils of the Bible" Think about it , when God created the garden and Adam and Eve everything that was needed was in the garden. At that time there were no doctors or medicine as we know it today. It was all natural and made by God. It can't get any better that that.

So I'm going to introduce you to 12 oils of the Bible. I will give you a brief history of the oil and some of the things it was used for. I hope you not only enjoy exploring these ancient oils but may find them to help you in some way.

"DISCLAIMER" Will be found at the end of this post. Please read it

Ok let's get started with our first oil.

                           FRANKINCENSE

This plants origin is Somalia / Yemen
Extraction Method : Steamed distilled from the gum/resin
Its name is derived from Medieval French and means "real incense"

In the middle East Frankincense is considered the "Holy Anointing Oil". It has been used in ceremonies for thousands of years and was give to Jesus Christ as a gift at His birth.

It was used to treat every illness known to man and was mentioned in one of the oldest know medical records from the 16th century BC. Only people of great wealth possessed it.

Medical Properties
Antitumoral
Immunostimulant
Antidepressant
Muscle relaxing

Uses:
Depression
Cancer
Respiratory Infections
Inflammation

Fragrant Influences:
Increases Spiritual Awareness
Promotes Meditation
Improves Attitude
Uplifts Spirits

Frankincense is found in many of the other oils because of its amazing qualities. Frankincense is mentioned in the Bible 52 times.
Exodus: 30: 34
Lev: 2:1
Lev: 2:2
are just 3 of the 52.

Well this concludes my first blog post on the Ancient Oils of the Bible . Be watching for the next post, I'm not going to give away what the next oil is but you will enjoy learning about it.

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE IN NO WAY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. WE ARE IN NO WAY SUGGESTING THAT YOU ALTER ANY MEDICATION OR TREATMENT THAT YOUR DOCTOR HAS PRESCRIBED. THESE OILS HAVE NOT BEEN ANALYZED BY THE FDA.

Until next time, God Bless.

It Has Been A While..........

Hello everyone! I have been out of pocket for a while. I am looking to start blogging again. I dunno if you will find anything of interest to you but I hope so.

There has been so much went on in our lives since the last post. I will start where we are right now.
We both work from home. We run a freight brokering business, we are now selling essential oils/nutritional products and we sell Avon.

I got away from the frugal living for a while cause life just got in my way. I am heading back there. I am loving my homemade laundry detergent with essential oils. You can find my laundry recipe on the blog. We are going to be putting out a few vegetables this year. I am also going to get it in gear and do some canning and freezing again. It has been a while since I have done any. I sure have missed that good food.

Our son has turned 18 and never home so we are kind of empty nesting. It is really kind of strange. We are looking forward to some travel and adventure in our mature age. (hahaha)

So stayed tuned I am going to get him to do some blogging too.