Seven recipes Worthwhile Challenge #33-#39!

I'm SEVEN weeks behind on posting newly-tried recipes? Really? SEVEN WEEKS? how did that happen?


Hmmmm.... about 7 weeks ago, school started. Perhaps that is what happened! Is anyone else still trying to get their school-schedule groove on? Because my routine is strikingly....routineless!

Well. excuses excuses.... here are SEVEN recipes to get me caught up.


I discovered the Crock Pot Girls page on facebook, and the first recipe I tried was Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake. It needs to be done in a big crockpot, one of those oval ones. And you should NOT leave it in the crockpot overnight because you don't feel like washing it. According to Matt, if left overnight, it's puke worthy stinky. However, hot and fresh out of the crockpot with some whipped cream on it...totally good. Here's that recipe: Mix one package of Devil's food cake mix with three eggs, 1/3 cup oil, and 1 2/3 cup water. pour into greased crockpot. Mix one small chocolate pudding mix with 2 cups milk and pour over cake mix. Sprinkle with 1 bag of chocolate chips. cook on high about 2.5-3 hours.



Around the time school was starting, my friend Chuck was celebrating his birthday in Pennsylvania. I wanted to send him a cake, but haven't figured that whole shipping cakes thing out, so I sent him some chocolate cake in a jar. I followed this recipe.... and while it was yummy, I didn't think it was quite as fabulous as my usual chocolate cake. He'll have to come visit us to get that! I also sent him a icing bag full of buttercream icing and a baggie of sprinkles :)



I have cooked more than desserts around here.... I made this Cheeseburger Pie and did NOT really like it. NOT a keeper in our house. I even made the meat layer more sloppy-joe-ish and still didn't think the dish had enough pizzaz.



A recipe/meal long forgotten is Beef and noodles. I make homemade chicken and noodles all the time, but rarely do beef. I put 1 lb of kabob meat (any kind of roast cut into cubes would work) in a crockpot with 1 can cream of chicken, one can of cream of mushroom, salt, pepper, about 1/2 cup water and a beef bouillon cube. Let that cook for several hours, then shred the beef and return to the sauce. Serve over buttered noodles. 'Twas good!

The other night I had it in my head to make "Oreo Brownies." Took my favorite brownie recipe (take yours), chopped up about a dozen oreos and bake as normal. Let cool completely, then serve with a dollop of buttercream and some crushed oreos on top. It was yummy. You probably want a buttercream recipe.... butter...vanilla....powdered sugar....bit of milk. Cream. butter cream. for the most part. :)

Last night I had some chicken breasts to work with. Started out making chicken parmesan but decided I wasn't really in the mood for that. Ended up doing breaded chicken cutlets with baked beans instead. Pound your chicken out (in a big ziploc bag) to even it out and help it cook up quicker. Dredge in flour, shake off excess. Dip in whisked egg. Dredge in panko bread crumbs. Fry up in an skillet with some oil and butter. I ate mine with 57 Sauce (my favorite condiment), Matt and the girls dipped theirs in ranch. If I wanted to be unhealthier, I could have made a gravy and called it chicken fried chicken. I love working with Panko Bread Crumbs, because they really give a good crunch.

Is that seven yet? No? One more? Finally, about a month ago, we were in a big strawberry kick in this house. I made a yummy strawberry glaze with some strawberries I was trying to use up while they were at their peak. We had it on ice cream, I put it on pancakes for Brooke, we had it on cake. Muy deliciouso. I used this recipe for that.

Whew. Caught up. I told ya i'd still be cooking...just haven't been blogging. I'm trying to get my routine going on. really I am.

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Lessons from God

I've had {another} insanely busy week. I don't know how my weeks are so crazy, but they are.

Fortunately, I always make time for church, and this year I've decided to make time for Hannah Circle, a women's ministry at a local church. This week, I was reminded WHY I make things such as this a priority to me. Because God does great things and speaks great truths when you have your heart open to learn.

At Hannah Circle this week, we talked about the Fruit of the Spirit LOVE. We see the perfect description of God's love in 1 Corinthians 13. I learned, though, these five things about loving Jesus and loving others: it's an act of will, it's an ACTION, you should use it to reach the unlovely, we need God to help us love, and honest love expects nothing in return. (that last one is very tough for me. I feel like I give give give/love love love/ reach out reach out reach out and am always left wondering when the reciprocation is going to happen. but if I'm TRULY loving, I'll stop wondering about that).

The most profound thing I learned at Hannah Circle this week was this: when you choose not to love someone (even the butthead neighbor, or the arch rival from high school, etc), you are telling God "I don't love you enough to love that person." Wow. So the next time you have a hard heart towards someone...or act in hate or resentment towards them.... think about that statement.

Even more amazing this week was the sermon at church. We go to a huge church here, and honestly love it. The pastor is gifted in the sermons he delivers. Right now we are in the middle of a message series called "Intensive Care"...about when life really is tough and you need some major help. Saturday night he talked about what to do when you are in a really tough place in life. He spoke on Jeremiah 29:11, one of my all time favorite verses; "for I know the plans i have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans for hope and a future." That verse is one that many hold strong to in tough times. But Mark talked about the context surrounding that verse. The people that are being spoke to were Christians who had obeyed God and moved from their happy place of Judea to Babylon...a not so happy place. They were ready to get out of that tough place. They didn't know what to do in that difficult place. God said basically, sit tight, brace yourself for the long haul, put down roots, live your life. This is where I have you now, but don't worry, because I know what I have planned for you.

What God is saying when you are in a tough spot is; just keep going. Mark said "just function." When you are in a difficult place of loss, of heartache, of betrayal....just function. Get up, get dressed, breathe. Just function, and get through each moment...because God is there, and God is also on the other side...and He knows full well the blessings He has for you around the corner. I had a friend sitting in front of me that got woke up by her husband a few weeks ago at 4a.m. and told that he was 'done' with their 13 year marriage and totally blindsided her. She visited our church for the first time this weekend. You can't tell me that God didn't perfectly design that moment...for her to be sitting there this week, for that message. Just keep going.

God's promises are huge. Love others like He loves us. And just keep going, because He has great plans for you. Open your heart to His love, and His plans, and you will be blessed eternally.

crickets

Dear little blog,

I promise to blow the dust off you this week and get a post done.

I cannot promise I'll get caught up on the one-new-recipe-a-week posts, but I will try.

In the meantime, have a great week and enjoy the weather.

Love,
Blog mommy

Life at the Zoo

My mom came to visit for a few days.

We decided to spend a morning at the zoo.

Thought you might like to come along!

It was a cool, gorgeous morning...with virtually no one at the zoo. That means we didn't have to wait for a turn to take pics climbing on any of the statues.

Mom and the girls.


The girls and me.


The giraffes were hanging out very close to the fence.

I think we could have fed them from where we were standing if we really wanted to!

The lion was c-r-a-n-k-y. He came down from his Lion King boulder and paced back and forth and was roaring like a madman.

I like flowers.

Love the hairdo on this bird. I so could not pull off that look.

The gorillas were one of the highlights of the day. We've got a great gorilla exhibit here, and they always seem to come hang out by the windows, which is fun. I think this was Virgil. He and Hannah spent a lot of time checking each other out.

Contemplating something serious.

Love this picture.

The tigers were pacing around a lot too!

The other highlight of the morning-- the baby chimp!! She was a year old! There was a sign up that had the birthdate listed and below it, it said Sex with the symbol for female next to it. Brooke thought it was the birthdate and the name, so she goes "Ohhhh...look at Sex. She's so cute". It was hysterical. Don't tell her I told you that story!

The baby chimp (whom we later decided to name Hannah) was climbing all over the fence. Then she began her descent....

And plopped down right on top of a sleeping adult chimp. We thought, "uh oh, sex, you are in trouble now!"

Then we decided it must be her mommy, because they cuddled right up to each other for a nap. It was super sweet.

So far behind!

Not enough hours in the day.

Not enough attention span in my head!

I'm a little behind on blogging, PTOing, cleaning, whatever-ing.

I know I owe you several recipes. I'll get caught up again sometime, I promise! In the meantime, we went to see Toy Story on Ice this weekend. Our third Disney on Ice show, it was, as always, fun and cold :) We were in the 4th row.

Hannah and I before the show:

Brooke and Matt before the show:

hannah wearing the foam alien hat that was attached to the $10 bag of cotton candy.

Our buddies Mickey and Minnie were there

And obviously all the Toy Story gang. It was a compilation of all three stories.

Loved the barbies. Barbie and Ken kinda stole the show! But my pic of them is blurry.

And the trolls were funny!

The aliens were a hoot too. "ooh. The Claaawwwwww"

We love taking our kids to things like this. Not only does it give us a Disney fix in between trips, but it's just fun to watch them taking this kind of stuff in!

My weekend via Instagram

Some of the cooler blog chics post their life via instagram every Friday. I'm not cool, nor am I that organized. I do, however, love the Instagram app on my iphone. Here's a glimpse of a bit of my weekend via Instagram


Dirty Dancing on Netflix streaming. Irritated with Netflix, always in love with "Dirty Dancing". And I think it's a total travesty that they are thinking about remaking it. I'm not one who usually cares about remakes, etc...but that one is a C-L-A-S-S-I-C and I think remaking it is an insult to our belove Patrick Swayze. Like they will ever be able to TOUCH the perfection that is the original version. Yeesh.


Brooke loves art. I love Brooke. I love Brooke's art. Especially when it has narration to it. If you can't read the pic, it says "A small island at the cribian sea with fish and a shell." Girl after my own heart.


Baked some of these. Reverse peanut butter cups. They are yummy.


HALL-LE-LU-JIAH. Hallelujiah. Halle Lay Lou Yah. Praise be to God. I swear, it's like a double-shot of Zoloft in the form of a weather forecast.

Many moons ago, I watched this show on TLC called "A Dating Story". Like "baby story" and "love story" but instead, "Dating Story." A couple went on a date. The restaurant had these, for S'moores desserts. Not such a rare find these days, but harder to find back then! My inlaws' neighbor at the time owned a Chinese restaurant, and he had one of these pu-pu platter things in his back room that he gave us. We love breaking out the pupu platter for Smoore's night.

Went to what's left of Beech lake for a picnic today. Enjoyed the new playground, and went exploring around the old shooting range. Even picked up some non-broken clay pigeons. We decided it was like hunting for seashells in Kansas.

Had Matt's folks and our good friends the Houser's over for dinner. We've known them and done things with them for a long time. Brooke has loved Greg for-ev-er, and apparently Hannah loves him too. Here she is sneaking a smooch on him. He's such a good sport about it!

I've got a few recipes to post for you too, coming up soon, I promise! Have a great (short!) week!

What are you going to do with vintage doorknobs anyway?

I've had this project idea floating around in the back of my head for a few months. I think I might have seen something like it at a friend or acquaintance's house and thought 'I can make that!' I don't remember where I saw it, but I shuffled it back in the back of my head.

The project involved this space:

And vintage doorknobs. First of all you should know that I HATE going to garage sales. Hate hate hate. Sometimes, like every 5 years or so, you might see me hit one of those neighborhood-wide garage sales because you can check out a lot of stuff at once. But you will never see me randomly driving around looking for a garage sale. I hate it. The closest I come to buying stuff from a garage sale is ebay or craigslist.

So for this project, I put on facebook "I need a few vintage doorknobs. Anyone have any laying around?"

My first comment was from my Aunt Debbie. She says "what are you going to do with vintage doorknobs anyways?" to which I replied 'wait and see!'. I had several other replies such as craigslist, the habitat for humanity Re-store, and --thank you E.R.P- Hobby Lobby.

Fake vintage works for me. Look what I found at Hobby Lobby:

Exactly what I was looking for. The set of two brown knobs were on clearance for $9 and the clear glass ones were on sale for $14 for the set. I brought my finds home and explained to Matt what I wanted to do. He was onboard with his part of the project so I proceeded with mine.

I bought a pine board at Hobby Lobby too. Their wood stuff was on sale 40% off. Whoohoo!

If you paint it with a sponge brush and some acrylic paint, you can make it look like an aged oak board instead of a pine board.

I should have done the same instagram finish on these two shots so you could see better, but here is the board painted with a coat of brown-ish (cappucino?) colored acrylic paint.

After that dried, I used a wash cloth to rub some black acrylic paint over most of it, especially in the grooves, etc. Then I quickly rinsed the wash cloth out and wiped off most of the black paint...leaving this kind of finish behind. I loved how it looked.

Time to enlist Matt. The girls and I enjoyed a gorgeous morning outside while he went off to Lowe's to get the hardware we would need. Three bolts to countersink thru the back to screw the knobs onto on the front side, and two long screws to go thru from the front (in the middle).

Do you know what it is yet?

A place to hang backpacks/bags behind the front door!

I love it when a project comes together like I planned!