Dinner ideas

I'm a huge fan of Pinterest, for many reasons really.  Craft ideas, homeschooling ideas, home decorating ideas...

And some pretty awesome recipe ideas!

I have more pins related to food than anything else.  But, for me, I am more apt to try new things in our menu rotation. I know some people say they pin a lot but don't actually try the recipe (or craft, or whatever)! People..try out some new things!!  You might be pleasantly surprised!!



Last week I tried two new soups on my family.  First was lasagna soup.  It was super easy and hubby loved it!  Score!  The only thing I would do differently is add some mushrooms next time around.



We also tried chili mac and cheese. Oh boy, this was a HUGE hit guys!  Damon took one bite, looked at me, and said in a voice you know he meant it, "This is good!".  Its a cross of chili and mac and cheese (in case you couldn't tell from the title..ha!).  I added at the end a little bit of cubed velveeta cheese.  It was beyond awesome and will be a staple around here from now on! 

This week I have made a baked steak and gravy (not a recipe from Pinterest but one hubby shared with me on facebook).  It was definitely good, but a little heavy on the onion side.  I would have preferred mushrooms.  Can you tell we like our mushrooms around here?

Also something I make regularly (and I 'think' I got the recipe from pinterest) is crockpot baked potatoes.  Guys, if you haven't made these, you should do it and now!  All you do is wrap your potatoes that have been coated in oil (I use olive oil) and sprinkled with salt in aluminum foil and put them in the crockpot!  I do mine in a combo of high and low heat (probably 2 hours of each?)..but you seriously can't mess it up.  Just check them every now and then by inserting a knife in one to see if its tender.  So easy and so good! And a great alternative in the summer months when you don't want to heat up the house by using the oven to bake potatoes!  We had them on sunday for dinner.  Smothered with broccoli and cheese sauce, topped with bacon!  You might of seen the picture on facebook if you follow me on there!

Later this week, I'm making some taco soup, courtesy of my friend Natalie over at She Builds Her Home!  I can't wait to try it!

Up new next week, Sausage Potato Spinach Soup and another recipe I found on Facebook, it's a Spicy Italian Crescent Ring! 

My only thing with Pinterest, and I have to admit I just thought of this, is they need a check mark system on it!  So you can check off recipes or crafts that you have tried!  If they did, you guys, you would see a lot of check marks on mine!!  I encourage you to try something new today, whether its from Pinterest or someplace else!  You never know when you might find a new favorite!  :-)

Judging "up" and "down"

This post may not be what you are expecting, but I encourage you to read it through to see what is currently on my mind and heart today.

As I was cleaning I was thinking about how people judge one another.  Now the bible commands us to not judge because God is the ultimate judge of people.  But lets face it, we are guilty of it at one time in our lives of judging someone.  And most of the time we judge them wrongly.

As for judging "up" and "down", let me explain.  Sometimes (and most times when you think of this subject), someone gets judged "down"....

They aren't doing a good enough job.  They could do so much better. 
They aren't pretty enough.
They aren't smart enough.
They don't have enough money.

You see where I'm going with this?  It's a judgement in the negative sense.

But, the more I thought about it, some people judge others "up" as well....

That person has it all together.  They know what they are doing.
They have lots of money.  More than enough to share.
They are the best parent I've seen.  They never make a mistake.

I feel lately like I have been judged "up".  People have been coming to me for various things, like I have all the answers/resources/etc. 

Let me tell you right now, I DON'T.

I'm not rich.  I don't have all the answers.  I'm not a perfect mother.  I don't have a perfect life. 

Yes, I try to strive towards perfection.  The Bible wants us all to. 

Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.

Do I want to help?  Yes!  I love when people come to me, seeking advice.  It actually honors me that someone thinks enough of me to seek me out for help in an area of their life. 

But let me ask this, is that all you use some people for? 

I have feelings just like you or the person next to you does.  While I am honored that you look for advice from me, remember, I am just as human as you are.  And for that matter, the one you may need to turn to may not be me (or whoever you have been turning to). 

We ALL need to turn to God FIRST, in all things.  If we seek Him first and foremost and live for Him and do as He guides, we may not be running to this one or that one so often.

Food for thought.

:-)

A few craft projects!

I'm so excited!  I picked up a few small, inexpensive items, at Hobby Lobby over the weekend to make some little cute craft items in the coming weeks!

You guys KNOW how much I love Hobby Lobby!

They have anything and everything and if you haven't been to one I suggest you find the closest one and go there.  Now!

If you have been to HL, then you know they have these awesome little craft booklets hanging virtually everywhere!  I found this one near the felt and saw a great idea for making a pouch for your Kindle (in my case, or it could be for an IPad, whatever you have basically!).  I saw the cute pink sparkly glitter fabric squares in the area where they sell felt and thought it would be perfect for my Kindle.  Craft project #1!

In the scrapbooking paper aisle, there were tons of Valentine's day papers to choose from.  Simple projects to do with Makayla (aka homemade Valentine's).  Craft project #2!

Then I picked up a bottle of black fine glitter.  My main purpose for this?  Damaged heels, as in my high heel church shoes.  I plan on using the glitter, some mod podge, and a clear coat to seal it all.  Look for before and after pictures in the near future.  Craft project #3!

And lastly, craft project #4!  A plain pink t-shirt and an Eiffel tower iron on.  Makayla is really into anything Eiffel tower right now, so this was a no brainer!  Cheap and easy!

Are you doing any Valentine's crafts?  Care to share, I would love to hear all about it!!

New Year, New Meaning

2015.  Its really hard to believe its 2015 already, isn't it?  Time seems like it just flies.  And time has a way of getting away from us.  From me.

Having a very active toddler and being a stay at home mom, some people would think I have all the time in the world.  Not true.  While yes, I'm not bound to a job that takes me away from my home or my family, I have a job at home that is never-ending.  Dishes, laundry, cooking, house work, toddler to teach/raise/discipline/keep safe/guide, husband to tend to as well. 

Sometimes it's hard to keep it all in focus.  Its hard to make time to do the things just for me.  Like read my Bible.  Like have time for Bible study.  Time for things for 'me'. 

After coming across a picture on Facebook (yup, you read right!) of a Bible that belonged to Jessa Duggar-Sewald (from 19 Kids and Counting in case you don't follow, she just got married to Ben Sewald in November), I was very intrigued.  It was a Bible I had never quite seen before.  It was just set up differently, same format (King James Version which is the only type I'll have in my home), but different.  I did some research and found it was a Hebrew-Greek Study Bible, KJV. 

I had never heard of this Bible before!  It was something that just 'stuck' in my head.  After Damon got his new Bible for Christmas, I decided maybe it was time that I got myself a new Bible as well.  I got to thinking about it, and I had actually never purchased my own Bible before.  They have all been given to me as gifts.  Loved them all, but it was time for something that's just 'mine'.

I received it in the mail this week and already am loving it.  I also bought a Bible devotion/journal and I hope to really get into God's word and have Him open my eyes up.  I hope to learn more.  I hope to get stronger. 

What Bible do you read regularly and do you have a devotion you follow?  Care to share?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Christmas Recap

I've been a total slacker with this blog..again for the millionth time..I'm so sorry!!  I hope I can do better in the new year!

Which I never got around to posting about our Christmas!  It was great.  Makayla was just really into everything Christmas.  Baby Jesus, opening presents, listening to the story of Christ's birth.  You name it, she loved it!  I think this was really her first 'big' year of really getting into the Christmas spirit and realizing what its all about! 

I'll do a post over on the other blog all about her (if you didn't know, I made another blog just about Makayla and if you'd like to follow it just let me know!) with tons of pictures.  But our Christmas consisted of having Christmas Eve at our house with my parents for the first 'half'.  We opened presents from them (and vise versa) and I had a big appetizer spread which I LOVE doing every year!  This year we had shrimp chimichungas, coconut shrimp with mango salsa, bbq little smokies, cheesy crab and artichoke dip, chips and dip, peanut butter balls, cookies, and cinnamon pecans!  It was quite the spread!  Some of the things were new (the chimichungas and the crab dip) and were kind of big fails..but the only way you find out is if you try it out right?!  Better luck next year!  Ha!

After they left (with a huge wind storm that blew through right at the same time, it was scary!  Thankfully nothing was damaged/no power outages/etc.), we read the story of Christ's birth from the Bible.  This is a new tradition we started after we had Makayla and I just love it.  We stress to her why we celebrate Christmas and what its all about and I do believe she understands already! 

After we did our reading, we started opening the gifts!  I mostly got shots of paper flying and blurry pictures..haha!  But that's all apart of the fun, right?  We had a great time!  Damon's favorite gift was his new large print Scolfield Study Bible and mine was, well, I had a lot to be honest!  Makayla's was probably all her new Frozen stuff.  You know the girl loves all things Frozen!

 

Damon and his bible!

 

New purse, yay!

 

A new tracfone!

 

 

Christmas Day, we opened up our stockings and then headed to my parent's house for dinner.  Afterwards we went to visit Damon's mom for a bit before coming home and recouperating from the past couple days activities! 

 

 

Looking forward to Christmas 2015 already!