Slow Cooking Thursday

With temperatures reaching the mid 80's now here in NY the crockpot is becoming my best friend!! Too hot too soon for my taste. This is a classic recipe but very simple. I usually double the recipe to feed my crew.

Chicken and Rice Casserole

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup long grain, coverted white rice

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 tablespoon dry onion soup mix

Combine soup, mushrooms, and rice in greased slow cooker. Place chicken on top of mixture and sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours.

To see other slow cooking posts visit Diary of a SAHM. (I'll link to her later, I'm having trouble displaying her blog today)

Weigh In Wednesday

Food: I did not do well this week, but this week is a new beginning.

Water: this is still a struggle for me. I need to drink more water.

Exercise: walking with the children in the mornings around our property.

Challenges: I need to up my exercise. I'd like to get a low impact video to do here in the house. I've been given the OK from the doctor to return to full activities with no restrictions. I'm still thinking of trying to find a Richard Simmons video...I know he is VERY...well you know....but I use to work out to his videos with great success.

Successes: eating one helping at supper time. I have started packing my Husband's lunch before we sit down to supper. That way he always has a healthy lunch for work and I do not have seconds.

Plans for the next week: drink more water!!

Weigh-in: I've stayed the same since the last time I weighed in. I guess that is good.

Helpful Hints: drink a full glass of very cold water before you eat, it will help you feel satisfied and not over eat.

Healthy Recipe you tried or would like to try: With Memorial Day coming up this weekend I thought of this recipe to help control the fat intake that comes along with picnic foods most of the time.

Ranch Yogurt Dip

1 cup fat-free plain yogurt
2/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Assorted fresh vegetables

Directions: In a small bowl, whisk together the first 13 ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve with fresh vegetables. Refrigerate leftovers.

How was your week. If you post on your blog about your progress leave me a comment and let me know, once we have a few participating I'll place a mr. linky on my blog.

Famous Firsts.....

I found this on the farm home life blog and it sounded like a lot of fun. If you participate leave me a comment and let me know so I can read your answers.

First Job: paper route

First real job: cashier at Present Co.

First favorite politician: do not have one!

First car: the "brown" bomber! Chevy Monza (I can't remember the year)

First record/CD: Randy Travis "Old 8 x 10"

First sport played: softball

First concert: Randy Travis in 1987

First foreign country visited: Canada

First favorite TV show: Little House on the Prairie

First favorite actor: Michael Landon

First favorite actress: Melissa Gilbert

First girlfriend/boyfriend: My one and only...hubby

First encounter with a famous person: Randy Travis....my Mom and I went to a benefit dinner he was there. I was so excited, but when the time came I was so star struck I couldn't say anything...LOL!!! But the dinner was great!

First brush with death: car accident in 2001...but I wasn't injured at all. Thankfully that is the closest I have ever come.

First house/condo owned: the one we currently live in.

First film seen: Swiss Family Robinson...I think

First favorite recording artist: Randy Travis

First favorite radio station: local country station probably

First book I remember reading: well the obvious answer is my Bible, but the Little House on the Prairie series I read when I was 9.

First meme I answered on my blog: The Simple Woman Daybook

Happy Homemaker Monday

On my bedside table: my Bible, sewing items

On my TV: nothing

On the menu for tonight: spaghetti and meatballs and a salad

On my To Do List: hopefully my last doctor's appointment with my neurosurgeon, clean our house, organize the kids rooms...this is on going!!

New Recipe I tried last week:


Rhubarb Sauce

4c rhubarb chopped
3/4c sugar
1/4c water


Place all these in a saucepan; cover, and let simmer over medium heat until all the rhubarb has melted down. Place in a jar and keep in the refrigerator. Use like you would any type of syrup.


Our kids like to use this as syrup for waffles or pancakes. They have even added it to Sprite or tonic water for a fizzy drink.

In the craft basket: skirts for the girls and I. I'm really enjoying making them.

Looking forward to: Planting our garden, getting our "farm" animals.

Homemaking Tip for this week: When your children want to be in the kitchen with you, let them. One day you will turn around and be surprised at what they can do on their own.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): I came upon this blog Finding Joy in My Kitchen the other day and have found a ton of wonderful recipes.

Favorite photo from last week: This is my first ever apron that I made. I made it for my nephew's birthday. Can you guess what his favorite color is???? Orange! He loves to be in the kitchen with his Mom cooking. I'm still waiting for a picture of him in it....hint hint Heather!

Lesson learned the past few days: It is very difficult to protect your children from every bad thing that happens in this world. All we can do is give it to God and let him "fix" the situation. This is very hard for me to do. I have trouble giving all to him when it comes to my children. I'm working on it though.

On my Prayer List: My Husband, Children, Parents and friends and family who need to accept Christ as their personal savior.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Philippians 4:6
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

To see other Happy Homemaker posts jump on over to Diary of a SAHM

Slow Cooking Thursday

Now that things are starting to slow down here again, I'm ready to start posting more frequently. Berries are starting to become more available here in the northeast. I love berry crisps and cobblers so here is a good one for the crockpot. Picture is from the taste of home website.

To see other slow cooking recipes visit Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.

Slow Cooker Berry Cobbler

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons plus 1 cup Sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups unsweetened raspberries
2 cups unsweetened blueberries
2 cups reduced-fat frozen vanilla yogurt, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. In a small bowl, combine the egg, milk and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thick). Spread batter evenly onto the bottom of a 5-qt. slow cooker coated with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the salt and remaining flour and sugar; add berries and toss to coat. Spread over batter.

Cover and cook on high for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted into cobbler comes out without crumbs. Top each serving with 1/4 cup frozen yogurt if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Happy Homemaker Monday

To see other Happy Homemaker posts, visit Diary of a SAHM.

On my bedside table: Bible, Passionate Housewives

On my TV: Clifford the Big Red Dog

On the menu for tonight: Whole Wheat Pasta with Alfredo sauce and broccoli, homemade zucchini bread from our neighbor and a fruit salad

On my To Do List: laundry (is there anyone who does not have this on their list???)

New Recipe I tried last week:
Yellow Cake
2 cups cake flour (sifted before measuring)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup Crisco
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter or grease two 9 inch layer pans 1 1/2" deep. To avoid a crust and for easier removal, line pans with a circle of wax or parchment paper which has been buttered.

Place into a mixing bowl cake flour, sugar, Crisco, salt,milk
Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in baking powder.

Next, add eggs, milk, vanilla
Beat for 2 more minutes to make a smooth and thin batter. Turn batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.

For cup cakes line muffin tins with baking cups and bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes. Makes 2 layer cakes or 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes.
Allow to cool slightly and frost the cakes while still warm.

In the craft basket: skirt for me. Squares for my American Girl class at homeschool co op, we are making a quilt pillow.

Looking forward to: a quiet weekend...yes I know its only Monday.

Homemaking Tip for this week: Making things from scratch really does not take that much longer. Try it you may like it!

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): nothing comes to mind.

Favorite photo from last week: For Mother's Day we went to the Genesee Country Museum. This is outside of the pioneer cabin where she was preparing Johnny Cakes. Even tho life was very hard back in those days, it was such a simple life....one that we are striving for.

Lesson learned the past few days: You are not guaranteed a tomorrow, today is the day to accept Christ as your personal Savior!! My brother in law lost his battle with cancer this past Wednesday. The evening of the funeral his wife's Dad fell down the stairs and past away. We had just saw him and talked to him hours before.

On my Prayer List: My sister in law Patti and her children Dan and Sara.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Romans 5:1 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Happy Birthday--Hannah!

Twelve years ago today, Hannah was born. Time goes by so quickly it is hard to even grasp. She is defiantly a gift from God. We call her our party girl. She loves any type of party and holidays. We will be surprised if she does not become a party planner.

Hannah loves to play outside with her dolls, only if there are no bees!! She is such a blessing.

Hannah has taught is to stop and enjoy each day the Lord gives you. She will spend hours outdoors looking at all the beauty in the world.

So Happy Birthday our little...or not so little anymore...ray of sunshine.

Sadness

It is with sadness that I say my brother in law, David passed away yesterday, at the age of 52 after a battle with cancer. Please continue to pray for his wife and children. Their children are 24 and 22. The 24 year old son is planning his wedding in August. It will be a joyous time, but also a time of sadness as his father will not be there.

This is a picture we had taken at our wedding. Patti is the one in the pink sweater and Dave is behind her. Sadly this was the last time we were all together in one spot, 3 years ago. We all let life get in our way of seeing one another, even tho we lived with in 10 miles of each other.

This is a picture of Matt and his brothers, Joe is in the front, then Matt, Paul and Dave. Dave will be missed by us all.

Priorities and Creativity

I have been staying off the computer more and more lately. One reason is this time of the year we are very busy with birthdays. The other reason is God convicted me recently about the amount of time I spend on the computer. Like the Proverbs 31 woman she does not sit idle....that got me thinking about computer time, that IS sitting idle!! I have so much time to do things for my family and myself. In ONE day I made this skirt for my daughter.

This was so easy to make, it is supposed to be longer but Hannah does not like them long. I got the fabric at Wal*Mart for $1 a yard!! I also picked up enough fabric to make Katie and myself a couple. I will finish Katie's today and start on mine. The thread I got at the thrift store a long time ago by the basket full for pennies!! I will also be finishing up my nephew's apron. I'm really excited about it, I hope he likes his goodies!!

This morning I woke up and came out to the dinning room and found this....

Andrew was building him self a garage where he could work on cars like Uncle Matt!!

This is the side view of his garage. Such a little smarty figuring this out. He is very mechanically inclined....definitely did not get it from me!

Here is the finished product. He has everything, an office, windows, and a pile of tires...which you can't see because of the shadows.

Happy Homemaker Monday

On my bedside table: Bible, Passionate Homemakers

On my TV: nothing

On the menu for tonight: Spanish rice in cabbage leaves, corn bread, salad

On my To Do List: home school co op classes, Ladies Bible study, get ready for Hannah's birthday on Friday (our family has 4 birthdays with in a 2 week period) work on painting our house.

New Recipe I tried last week: I made home made bread this past week. 2 loaves of white, 2 loaves of cinnamon raisin.

In the craft basket: finish my nephew's apron for his birthday...yep he's one of them. Make an apron for myself and the kids.

Looking forward to: planting our garden! We are also going to be getting some chickens, most likely not this year (very sad about this) due to the uncertainty of my brother in law passing, but we are planning for next year. My Husband has coop plans all ready. We are also talking about possibly getting a couple of goats for milking.

Homemaking Tip for this week: Even if you do not have a baby in the house, keep a box of baby wipes. They will take out almost any spot you have. Just take the wipe and gently rub the area. I have never tried this on a set in stain, but it works on fresh spills.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): Our hostess Sandra with her pioneer books. Anyone who knows us know we are big time history buffs!! I just wish I didn't sleep so much in history class in high school...LOL! I remember visiting my great grandmother (who just passed away last month at the age of 98) and reading in her McGuffey's Readers. I wonder what ever happened to them??? Anyway, we bought some for our children to use in school. They are wonderful!!

Favorite photo from last week: will post this later

Lesson learned the past few days: Limit computer and TV time!! Not only for children but for yourself. With all the blogging and stuff on face book now it is very easy to get carried away and spend so much time on the computer. I got a timer on a rope and have it with me at all times...thank you to my friend Becky for that idea. I have been able to get so much done around the house by setting limits. The weather is beautiful outside and there is no need to be on the computer.

On my Prayer List: my Husband, children, my brother in law and his family. We went to see him Saturday, and it was very difficult seeing him like that. I can not imagine what my sister in law and their children are going through. Seeing him just fade away. Please remember to pray for them during this time. We thought he was going to pass away last week, but God is keeping him around for some reason only he knows. This is bringing back many memories of my Husband watching his Mom go through the same thing.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Psalm 29:11 "The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace."

To see other homemaker posts visit Diary of a SAHM.