Two Recipes

Pin It I know I've said before that this is not and never will be a cooking blog.  Every now and then though, I make something that causes the children to arise and call me blessed.  Since they usually arise and grumble under their breath at me, I have to celebrate these moments.  Monday and/or Tuesday nights are casserole nights around here.  (Sometimes Tuesdays are Chick-Fil-A nights.  Family night and all.  Anytime I can feed the four of us - Jim works late on Tuesdays - on $7, I must take advantage.  Often.)

But I digress.

This Tuesday night, it was casserole night.  I'm a big fan of The Food Network, and I saw a recipe on there that I just had to try.  It came from The Neely's.  Cornbread Stuffing with Apples and Sausage.

Oh my heavens at the yummy goodness.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 medium onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped coarsely
• 1 teaspoon freshly minced thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped sage leaves
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1 1/4 pounds cubed and dried cornbread stuffing, store-bought
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 cups turkey or low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in 12-inch skillet.

Cook sausage for 5 to 7 minutes until browned. Add onions and celery and saute until softened. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Mix in apples, thyme and sage and saute for another 2 minutes. Add bourbon. *Cook's Note: When adding alcohol take pan off flame. Allow to simmer until bourbon is almost evaporated; 1 to 2 minutes.

In a large bowl, add cornbread stuffing, parsley, chicken stock, eggs and pecans. Mix well. Mix in vegetable mixture to bowl. Combine and stir well together. Add to a large casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes. 

I did make a couple of modifications.  I left out the bourbon and used chicken stock in it's place.  I also left out the pecans because I'm not a fan.  I used dried seasoning except the parsley because I had that fresh in the fridge.  Then I ended up leaving out the sage because I'm guessing it didn't survive the great pantry cleanout of 2010.  I couldn't find it anyway, and didn't want to go to the store.  I might add another apple next time I make it.

This really was SO good.  The kids even loved it!  Even the little one!  It is on my menu to make again soon.  We even ate up the leftovers.  It really was THAT good.

And then ... to complete the meal, we made Crockpot Pumpkin Pie Pudding.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bisquick
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter (melted)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• whipped topping (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix together the first eight ingredients.
2. Transfer to crock pot coated with Pam.
3. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours.
4. Serve in bowls with whip cream, if desired.

Again with the deliciousness!  Both were so easy and were so yummy.  The kids ate it all very happily.  As an added benefit, the cooking pumpkin made the house smell so yummy.  The stuffing made a whole lot and could easily be halved, or split into two and half frozen. 

Try these today!

Christmas? Bring it on.

Pin It The Thanksgiving leftovers are all eaten and the thankfulness is all gone.  It's time for the season of greed, which creeps up closer and closer every year.  I really prefer some time between the thankfulness and the greed, but with stores enticing buyers with fabulous sales earlier and earlier every year, eventually Thanksgiving will be eclipsed altogether and we'll be left with nothing but the greed.  It's sad, isn't it? 

And don't think it doesn't affect me too.  I wavered all week last week about Black Friday shopping or not.  I love me a good bargain, and really I'm a dream for a store.  Not only do I love a good bargain, I've also got a fair amount of the impulse shopper in me, so while I'm on the good bargain high, I will certainly find thirty not so great bargains that I simply must have as well.  Hair beader?  Gotta have it.  23 different flavors of lip gloss which one nameless child will find and probably use as glue to stick artwork to the wall?  Definitely need it.

I think for the first time in my life, I am actually seeing this about myself and am REALLY trying to make a list, get what I need, and not be tempted.  Yesterday I went to one of my favorite stores with a very short list of things to buy.  Although it was tempting, I actually left with the things on my list and only the things on my list.  Success.  I do suspect it had a little bit to do with the three children with me and yucky weather and a growling stomach, but hey, whatever it takes, right?

I was serious when I said a week or so ago that I want it to be different this year.  We are debt free and I wish to remain that way.  We have a lot of stuff (which is getting pared down - Woot!!) and we really do not need to bring a lot more STUFF into this house.  The little one is now five and my plan today while the girls are doing their schoolwork and he is at school is to continue to sort through his toys and find new homes for the remaining baby and little boy toys that are hiding out in his dresser.

I am about 75% done with the Christmas shopping.  As always, there are several gifts that I am very excited to give this year.  I really do enjoy shopping and trying to find something special for the people I love.  I love knowing what my children want and finding it for them, and I love surprising them as well.  I love Christmas!

We are going to be reading a series of Advent or Jesse Tree devotions this year.  We did this several years ago and then kind of let if fall by the wayside the last few years.  I don't know why - we all loved it.  I love that it gives us a focus, to see the Lord's prophesy in motion, to take some quiet moments with the children to let them know that trees and presents are fun - and there's nothing wrong with them - but to see that there is more to the story.  So much more.  I want this to become a tradition for us, not just a "hey, let's do that devotion thing again this year!" but a deep desire to enjoy the season and to reflect on the deeper meanings.  If you are looking for that too with your family, here are two fabulous helps  - with devotions and plans and ornaments.  I don't know about you, but I'm BUSY this time of year.  We don't stop school, and December is always full of extra activities, so anything that makes planning easy on me is a good thing.

My blogging friend Maggie has this Advent devotional guide:  Celebrating the Season - An Advent Study

And then there is this one also, by Ann Voskamp:   A Jesus Advent Celebration

I'm sure there are hundreds more out there too, but these two are both fabulous.

So, Christmas?  Bring it on.  I'm ready.  Let's do it a little differently this year and REALLY celebrate Christmas. 
 

A Little "Not Me"?

Pin It Oh I need to tell y'all a few things that didn't happen over the last week!

First of all, it was not me that ate very lightly on Thanksgiving.  Because it appears that in the USA, we are thankful for gluttony as much as anything else right?  So, yeah, I ate lightly on Thanksgiving.  I really did.  I did not therefore, decide that each broken cookie must be consumed, by me, as quickly as possible.  And apparently?  Raspberry thumbprint cookies, the very best cookies on earth, do not travel well, so there were lots of broken ones.  And if I had eaten about 47 broken cookies, I would not call it a sacrifice and a pride issue rather than gluttony, because it is not me who would have an issue serving broken cookies.  To my parents.  So yeah, great that I took a tiny piece of turkey and then consumed 7897312 calories worth of broken cookies.  It was also not me who considered every cookie with a crumb broken off to be completely broken and unfit for consumption by anyone but me.  Just so you know, and I'm very glad that wasn't me.

May I pick on my husband for a moment?  In the rush to get up and get out the door Thanksgiving morning, several of us did not forget to eat.  He did not, therefore, stop along the way and buy a bag of cookies.  There weren't about eight dozen cookies already in the car, by the way.  Eight dozen homemade cookies, which everyone knows are MUCH better than chips ahoy.  :-P

I did not take four children (my three plus my niece) to Kohl's the day before Thanksgiving and then lecture them in the parking lot about asking for things.  And if I had, I certainly would not have dragged them through the store while I impulse shopped ... for myself.  Nope, not me.

And while we were out, we certainly did not go to the BIG grocery store the day before Thanksgiving to pick up a few things.  That would be just plain nuts because everyone knows that as crazy as Black Friday shopping is, the day before Thanksgiving grocery shopping is the exact same thing without the great deals.  No way would I voluntarily take four kids into that.  Glad that wasn't me.

It absolutely was not me that turned my daughter's Thanksgiving "let's go around the room and say what we're thankful for" into a math problem.  That would entirely suck the fun out of her activity and there is no way I would request that she compile the answers into a graph and figure up percentages.  Nope, not me.

And last one ... I am so glad that it wasn't me who sent texts to my daughter and niece to tell them to be quiet and go to sleep.  Because that would be just plain lazy, and I am never lazy.  (choke, gasp)  Glad that wasn't me!

What haven't you done this week?

1000 Gifts - 31 - 40

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31.  For a really nice Thanksgiving spent with family.

32.  For silly girls who want to show off everything they have learned at dance this year. 

33.  For mashed potatoes.

34.  For cats who provide just the right amount of warmth and snuggling on cold days.

35.  For being able to find a great deal online for someone's "something they want" and being able to avoid Black Friday shopping altogether.

36.  For being able to eat well but not completely gorge myself yesterday.  ;)

37.  For green beans in the dishwasher, which really isn't the best place for them, but gave us quite a few giggles yesterday.

38.  For my niece, who spent the first part of the week with us.  The three girls all got along very well the entire time, and I am just thankful that my nieces (and nephews) enjoy coming to hang out with us.

39.  For raspberry thumbprint cookies.

40.  For the beginning of the Christmas season, and renewed focus on what it's really about, and for very high hopes for each one of us to experience the JOY of Christmas.

Thankfulness A - Z

Pin It I am totally stealing this from my friend Shabby Shae!  What a cool idea!  I'm taking an easy week in every area of my life ... except the laundry, darn it, because the laundry just isn't going to do itself ... and blogging falls into the easy week category.  I'm glad for friends whose posts I can copy!  ;)

A -- for apple and sausage stuffing, which I will be having this week
B -- for my sweet boy who has made me LOVE being mom to a boy!
C -- for crisp, cool fall days.  I hope we have some again soon.
D -- for daughters who are sweet and kind and giggly.
E -- for eggs, which I have just about every morning for breakfast.
F -- for fabulous friends who have been such a blessing to me.
G -- for my grandparents, even though they are all gone now.  I am so thankful to have had them in my life.
H -- for a husband who realizes when my limit is reached and steps in.
I -- for in-laws who make me laugh and understand my husband a little better.
J -- for Jelly Belly jelly beans.
K -- for kids - kids of all ages!  There is a certain delight in every age, and somehow I can say every different stage has been my favorite.
L -- for lunches with friends.
M -- for mocha light frappuccinos from Starbucks.
N -- for nieces and nephews, who are a total joy to my life.
O -- for oreos, which I've had too many of lately.  Hm, maybe I'm NOT so thankful for them!
P -- for parents who love each other and love me.
Q -- for quiet Wednesday nights when I am completely alone for two hours.
R -- for rest!
S -- for really nice sheets.
T -- for taking the week off of school this week, and for being far enough along to do so guilt free!
U -- for unsweet tea with raspberry from Sonic.
V -- for vacations!  I love to plan vacations and relive the memories after.
W -- for warm baths on cold nights.  Again, if we ever had any cold nights.  ;)
X -- for eXtreme Bible study, Beth Moore-style, which is giving me an entirely new perspective on lots of things.
Y -- for You!  I feel like I've gotten to know you through both my blog and yours, and I love that!  (and yeah, I kind of stole Micah's answer here.)
Z -- for my zoom lens, which allows me to get good pics of my kids without them realizing it.

You Just Need to Listen to This!

Pin It I just love this song.  Then I saw the video.  Wow. 



The beauty of sufficient grace!

Happy Monday, friends! 

Weekly Wrap Up

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I've decided to link up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers with the Friday Weekly Wrap Up. This is partly to encourage ME so that I can go back on the bad weeks and see that they're not ALL bad, and to keep me humble on the good weeks because there are definitely our share of not so good weeks around here!

Okay, so this is actually a two week wrap-up.  I intended to post this last week but scheduled it to post in 2011.  Go me.

The first of this two week period was actually not one of the good weeks. It started out bad. There was some stuff that wasn't done from the previous week, and my Type A personality doesn't do so well with blanks left unfilled. Also, our schedule is a little crazy right now. We have extra drama practices with our homeschool co-op on Monday afternoons, and dance on Thursday afternoons. Half of our curriculum is five days a week and half is four days a week, so we're already having a little bit of a timing problem. Oh, and I start to twitch a little if school is not done by about 2:30.

So, you can see how all of these factors working together did not start us off well for the week.

Oh - and something I've learned. If mama starts off on the wrong foot, within about an hour, everyone is joining me in the bad mood. Faaaaabulous.

All that said though, we did end up getting everything done this week. The oldest finished The Hiding Place and I think was blessed by it, as was I. She also finished Hittite Warrior this week, and although complained about it at first, ended up very much enjoying it. She breezed through her English as well. Math was a bit more of a struggle, but it was acceptable.

The middle one has had a tough week. Sometimes our personalities clash a little, and this was one of those weeks. She is so spirited and smart, but has a little of the drama in her. LOL She ended up making it through the week much better than it started though, so all is well.

We very much enjoyed week 12 in our Creation to Christ Heart of Dakota curriculum! Their paintings of the week:

We had some great reinforcement this week! Two topics we studied during history (the life of David and the divided kingdom of Israel) were topics upon which we've heard sermons recently. Both girls recognized it when we got to it. (Woohoo for paying attention in church!) It was great to have them telling me the story before I could read it to them!

The little one is learning so much! We were reading a book and he could point out nearly all of the letters and make most of the sounds. He is starting to put some sounds together now, and I am just so proud of him! He is LOVING his preschool, and I am so very glad of it.

This past week was really a great week all the way around, despite starting out with the middle one having a stomach virus.  We have decided to tweak the schedule a little, and for yesterday, it worked well.  It's not a significant tweaking, more of a rearranging really, but hey, if it works, it works!  AND, I was able to tentatively plan out the rest of 2010, and we will end up right where I want us to be.  AND, that means!  We are taking next week off!  ALL OF IT!!  Can I get a WOOHOO?  I honestly don't know who is more excited, the kids or me.  (It's me.  No doubt.)

I hope you have all had a fabulous week as well!