Thursday, March 24, 2011

Gems in Chronicles...



Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people,

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

~1 Chronicles 16:8-12~

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Gratituesday: Spring

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...James 1:17

I've enjoyed Laura's Gratituesday posts for quite a while so I thought I would join her in writing about something I am thankful for.  I have so many things.....where to begin?!

The radio station said it's supposed to be 80 degrees today!  I love it! The beautiful spring weather has been so wonderful these past few weeks.  It's almost impossible to keep the kids indoors.  They are having so much fun jumping on the trampoline, digging in the dirt, having tea parties, making rivers in the mud, killing ants, target practicing, riding their bikes and Power Wheels, roller-blading, and picking flowers. There's just so much to do!  

Jacob riding the Gator

Digging dirt for the "garden"

Working in the "garden"

 Luke target practicing

Chloe and Asher having fun in the Jeep

Just yesterday I found the bag of pistachios missing only to find out that the nuts were being used as Easter eggs.  They were hiding them all over the yard!  They've been finding them all day today.  Hysterical, these kids of mine.  

Yes, I am thankful for the official arrival of spring with all of its warmth and beauty.  Thankful to be pulling out the short sleeves and flip-flops.  Loving the fact I can leave the doors open to peek on the kids while cooking dinner or doing laundry.  Listening to their laughter while they're having such a good time.

The hard part is to be thankful when there is a brown ring of dirt around the bath tub and I have piles of muddy clothes to wash.  But that's a post for another day!

What are you thankful for today?

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Menu Plan for March 20

We've got a super busy week this week so our menu is plain and simple.  I am working and selling in a local consignment sale Tuesday and Thursday, keeping my friends' two boys on Wednesday, and we are leaving for out of town Friday so that means packing for everyone!  Wow!  Just the thought of all I need to get done makes my heart flop.  I'll have to break out the energy boosting smoothies with all the running around I'll be doing.  :)

Monday
Smoothies-Muffins
Bean and Cheese Burritos
Steak and Potatoes

Tuesday
Pancakes
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Potato Soup

Wednesday
Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole
Soup-Pretzels
Spaghetti

Thursday
Breakfast Cookies
Lunch at Mom's
Dinner at Mom's (I'll be shopping and working at the consignment sale from 2:30-9:30 so the kids will be at Mom's)

Friday
Cream of Wheat
Annie's Mac n Cheese-Veggies
Dinner out (Leaving for trip)

You may notice several of our meals are repeats of last weeks menu.....if I decide on something different for a meal, I just add it to the next weeks menu!  Hopefully we'll get around to the pretzels this week.  I'm looking forward to trying them, as I haven't actually made them yet.  I always forget to make the dough in the morning so it will be ready in time for lunch!  You would think I would remember since all I do is sit around and eat Bon-Bons and watch the Soap Opera Network.  ;) 

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Don't Be-A-Chicken Chili

This chicken chili is fabulous!  You must try this dish.  I made it last night and there was just a tiny bit left.  The recipe is from The Gooseberry Patch Halloween Cookbook, but I got it through their e-mail newsletter.

1 T. oil
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, chopped
14-oz can chicken broth
2 (15.8 oz) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 (4-1/2 oz) cans chopped green chiles (I only use one to tone down the heat for the kiddos)
1-1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
8-0z. sour cream
1 c. whipping cream
2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Garnish:  cilantro

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; add chicken and onion.  Saute until chicken is cooked through; set aside.  Combine broth, beans, undrained chiles and seasonings in a large Dutch oven.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken mixture; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.  Add sour cream and whipping cream, stirring well.  Top each serving with shredded cheese; garnish, if desired.  Serves 6-8.

I had cooked a huge crockpot full of chicken pieces yesterday which yielded me 10 cups of shredded chicken!  I used two cups for the chili and put the rest in the freezer to use later.  I used chicken broth that I had made from a previous crockpot chicken batch.  I soaked my beans the night before and cooked them in the crockpot yesterday (I have two crockpots!); used four cups for the chili and put the rest in the freezer for later!  It was easy to bring everything together and now I have lots of good food already cooked and ready to pull out at a later date! 

Sorry I don't have a picture to show you....the chili was gobbled up before I even thought about it! 

Monday, March 14, 2011

Menu Plan for week of March 14

I cannot tell you how much a menu plan has helped me!  I love being able to just look at my plan instead of rummaging through the fridge and pantry, which I was notorious for doing.  It makes life much simpler and that's something I can definitely use more of.

Our everyday life tends to change quite a bit from what we have planned around here so if we don't follow the meal plan for the day I'll just move it to another day or use it for the following weeks plan! 

Monday:
Muffins
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Ribs-Beans-Slaw

Tuesday:
Baked Oatmeal
Pretzels-Soup
Chicken Chili

Wednesday:
Pancakes
Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
Red Beans and Rice

Thursday:
Smoothies
Grilled Cheese
Garlic Chicken Pasta

Friday:
Cereal
Out for Dr. Appt.
Tilapia

Saturday:
Yogurt w/Granola
Bean and Cheese Burritos
Venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon

Sunday:
Breakfast Cookies
Philly Steak and Cheese
Fellowship @ Church-Taking Strawberry Cake and ????

Now you may notice I usually only plan the main course for the meal so that leaves me with adding easy choices of breads, fruits, or veggies, depending on what I'm in the mood for.  I usually just buy a variety of fruits and veggies each week and pull my sides from that. 

So what about you?  Do you use a menu plan?

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Saturday Seven

It's been a while since I've posted a Saturday Seven and there's a lot to share so I'll jump right in!

1)  We've had some sort of stomach bug at our house every two weeks for the past six weeks!  And I got the bug two out of the three times!  Yuck!  I'm sneaking Tummy Tune-Up into everything to try and get lots of good guys in our stomachs so they can hopefully win the next time the bad guys attack. 

2)  It appears that Jacob is potty trained!  Hooray!  He has been dry all week wearing his underwear and is starting to tell me when he needs to go potty.

He will be three in April so he's way behind Luke and Chloe, who were trained around two.  But I take the blame for him not being trained sooner.  I wasn't consistent at all with taking him to the bathroom.  You can't expect most toddlers to start changing their ways all by themselves after they've been used to going in their diaper for two+ years!

3)  Austin's birthday was this past Monday!  He got to celebrate three times (Monday, Wednesday, and tonight) so I'm guessing he's feeling the love.  Hopefully that will make up for the fact that he's starting a downward spiral to "middle age."  :)

4)  Asher now knows how to climb down our steps and I am ever so thankful.  We have a flight of hardwood steps in our house and the kids' playroom is upstairs so he always wants to go where all the whooping and hollering is.  (Now that I think about it, there's whooping and hollering all throughout the entire house pretty much most of the day so.....)

At any rate it wasn't the going up the stairs I was concerned with; it was the getting down.  He may or may not have fallen from top to bottom once.

Okay.

So he did.  And I thought I was going to have a heart attack.  Literally.  I ran through the house yelling "Jesus, help us!"  And He did.

There was a bump on his forehead and that was it.  It hurt me more than him, I'm pretty sure.  My heart was beating out of my chest and I was shaking like a leaf.  He didn't even cry real tears (I did) and he was totally back to normal in about two minutes.  (I wasn't) By normal, I mean he was trying to go up the stairs again. 

He's now figured out how to crawl down the stairs backwards and he thinks he is hot stuff.  My nerves have settled a bit knowing he is learning how to get down the stairs on his hands and knees as opposed to tumbling down end over end.

5)  I have recently discovered how much I love thrift stores.  There is one less than a mile from the house and they have "Fill-a-Bag for $7" on Wednesdays.  I've gotten some pretty sweet deals with that.  You can cram a lot of clothes in a Wal-Mart bag when you're determined.  :)

Two weeks ago I found two pair of Tommy Hilfiger dress pants, which he really needed, for Luke for $.75 apiece!  I was so excited!

6)  Our dining room looks kind-of like Home Depot's gardening section landed in there.  We have a five-tiered wire shelf in front of our bay window with two long plant lights, two round lights, and over 100 tiny plants growing.

Austin is growing heirloom seedlings for tomatoes and peppers to plant in our garden this year.  I've learned quite a lot about growing seedlings so far.  Did you know that if you rub the tiny plants it helps them to grow stronger? 

Yeah, me neither.  Nevertheless, I've had several phone conversations that have ended with me being asked to rub the tomatoes.  I'm pretty sure "Wilt thou love, honor, cherish, and rub tomato plants" wasn't part of our vows, so who knew?

7)  I recently finished Ann's book and it was more than I expected!  I cannot recommend this book enough.  The Lord used her words, her quest for joy, to help me change my perspective on some areas in my life.  I'm thankful God uses our brokenness to minister to others.

"One Thousand Gifts" reached #9 on the NY Times best-seller list last week so it's wonderful to know that God is using her life, with all it's hurts, to be a blessing to so many.  You should definitely check it out.  It's only $8.94 right now at Amazon for a new, hardcover copy!

~Hope you have a wonderful weekend!