So pretty!

I know I'm biased, but those are some of the prettiest Tulips I have ever seen...and the girls aren't bad either!


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Clean Eating Greek Salad

All I can really say about this is, "YUM!!" I got this recipe out of The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook. I love serving different types of chilled salads in the spring iand summer, and this is a bonus because it's so healthy. If you still haven't bought this cookbook, you need it!!

A Sweet Sight

I was putting laundry away in Ellie Grace's room tonight and this was on her nightstand. Every time I find evidence of my kids reading their Bibles or making their prayer lists I melt. Pretty sure God feels the same way when He sees any of His children doing the same.






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A Star Is Born

After years of living in her big sister's shadow, Abby has finally found her niche. She auditioned for the talent show this year singing "Back To December". Here is the link to watch her performance on You Tube.

She did so great. After a dress rehearsal and 2 performances, she started loving that stage! As luck would have it, our music minister and friend, Jon Ward, coincidentally asked her to sing with him this week at church. She was beyond thrilled. He sang Casting Crown's "Slow Fade" and she had the child's solo at the end.

Her Juju and Paki took her shopping for the occasion. They dressed her from her headband all the way down to her shoes. I told her she should ask to sing more so she could get more clothes. She said they made it clear this was special because it was her first time. Shucks!

Click here to see Abby. She's at the end, but don't skip ahead because Jon is great.

She got to sing in both worship services and really did great. She's got the bug now. She asked me this afternoon if she could start singing in coffee shops and hotels. Um, I think we will stick with church and school for awhile!

Chicken Nacho Cheese Soup

This is another recipe from Amy. We had this quite often when we were first married. And then I started having babies and toddlers and went through that period of life where you can't serve soup for dinner. Remember those years? Toddlers just aren't interested in soup, and if by some chance they were, it would make such a huge mess it wouldn't be worth it.

I resurrected this recipe this winter. Wow! Should have brought it out sooner. It's a huge hit with the kids. I should warn you, though. If you are looking for healthy meals stop reading now. Come back another day. This soup is so good, it's almost like serving queso in a bowl. It's especially good on a cold winter night.

You'll need:

2 quarts water
1 whole chicken or 3 pounds chicken pieces (I use a rotisserie chicken for extra ease)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can fiesta nacho cheese soup
1 can rotel
1 small block of velveeta cheese or 1/2 of the normal size block

Combine all ingredients in large stock pot and heat on stove until cheese is melted and rolling boil is achieved. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!






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Corn and Rice Casserole

This recipe is from my sister-in-law, Amy. It's an absolute favorite of both of our families. We serve this every Thanksgiving, and it my house it has replaced the cheesy potatoes with the corn flakes. It goes great with most meat dishes: brisket, pork, ribs, and even BBQ chicken.

1 package mahatma saffron rice (cook according to directions)
1 stick butter
2 cans mexicorn-drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup grated cheese

Mix all together. Bake at 350^ for 30 minutes until bubbly.




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Beef...It's What's For Dinner!

I got this recipe from my awesome trainer, Dawn. If you are in the market for a trainer you can find her here. Not only is she the world's best personal trainer, but she is always helping me plan healthier meals for my family.

Here's what you'll need:

3-4 pounds of beef tips (extra lean)
1 large container of beef broth- you know, the really big one
1 onion cut into chunks
1-2 green bell peppers sliced
Garlic salt to taste

1 package whole grain egg noodles

Combine the first 5 ingredients in large baking pan. Cover and cook on 325 for approximately 2 1/2 hours. Check every 30 minutes or so to make sure there is still plenty of broth. Add more as needed.

Cook the noodles and top with beef tips. I served mine with peach slices. This is an absolute favorite of my kids'. The beef cooks so tender. Enjoy!





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Prayers That Avail Much

As adults, we tend to worry about what our prayers sound like. Maybe we don't want to pray in public because we are worried about what other people will think. Some people are "really good pray-ers", whatever that means. Sometimes we worry about what we are praying for. Is it too trivial or little for God? Shouldn't we be praying for world peace instead of good weather for our child's birthday party at the park?

Most of us know, it's ok to pray for these things and we know God doesn't care how they sound, yet we still get wrapped up in the delivery. I believe it's the simplest prayers that touch God's heart the most.

While putting away laundry last night I found this notebook on Abby's bed.

Could this be any more precious? When is the last time you just took your requests, plain and simple, before our Heavenly Father?

Chicken Spaghetti

Here is my recipe for chicken spaghetti that I said beats The Pioneer Womanrecipe. So after you try it, you have to let me know what you think. And you can be honest because I have thick skin. (and a thick belly from all the cheese in this recipe!)



6 large chicken breasts
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 package sliced mushrooms, fresh
1 stick butter
10 ounces spaghetti
1 can (1 lb.) chopped tomatoes
1 can ripe olives
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb. Velveta cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Few dashes worcestershire sauce

Simmer chicken till cooked. Remove chicken and broth. Do not throw broth away. Bone and dice chicken. Measure 1 quart broth back into pan. Melt one stick of butter in skillet and sauté celery, green pepper, onions, garlic, and mushrooms till tender. Pour this mixture into broth and boil for a few minutes. Add spaghetti and cook until spaghetti is done. Add tomatoes, olives, soup, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and cheese. You can serve from this pan or pour into a large casserole dish and save and heat later. If you do this, heat at 350* until bubbly and hot in the center.

Serves 10-12. It's huge. You can freeze half if you aren't feeding a large group.

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Blogger For IPad

Hey Melanie! Guess what? There's an app for blogger in the app store so now I can blog from my iPad. Thanks for getting my wheels turning. It costs $2.99.

Let's see if I can upload a picture



Oh wow!! There it is!!! Hooray. Now go buy your iPad!

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Find My IPhone

Have you downloaded this fabulous app yet? If you haven't, you must stop what you are doing and download now. It's free!

You download this app to all of your I-products. I have it on my IPad, my Iphone, my kids I-Touches, and my daughter's IPhone. Whenever anyone misplaces it, I can go to any of the devices, or my computer, and activate it. I can make the lost device beep and can also program a message on it. For instance, if I know it's lost inside our house I will make it beep so we can find it. If I thought it was lost outside of our house, I would make and beep and have it displayed to say, "please call xxx-xxxx". Trust me, you need this app, especially if you have kids.

It also displays a google map and pinpoints the exact location of your IPhone. Honest to goodness it gives you an address.

Insert funny story: my niece is a senior and high school and is friends with a big husky football player. His IPhone was stolen and he had this device installed. He found the address, went and knocked on the door and said, "You have my iphone and I want it back!" He succeeded. Of course, you and I might have to befriend big burly men to go with us for this to be successful.

I have used this app 3 times just this week to locate EG's ITouch within our house. Do you have this app? Have you ever located your IPhone using it?

PS Melanie and LindaB, the recipes are coming today or tomorrow.

Food, Glorious Food

I have never cooked as much as I have the last 2 weeks being snowed in. I have been in the kitchen constantly. Honestly I have been running the dishwasher twice a day. It's insane. And we have had kids in and out for 2 weeks, which I love, but the second I pull out a pan of brownies from the oven they disappear. So, I thought I would share some of what I have been cooking. If you want any of my recipes, just let me know.

My favorite meal was the chicken spaghetti. Yes, I know, Pioneer Woman has a recipe for this. But, I gotta tell you. My recipe beats hers hands down anytime. I will warn you that you can feed a small army with this recipe. It just so happened I had 8 kids at my house that day so it worked great. If not, you could always freeze half and pull it out later.

One night we had a shoulder roast, cooked in the crockpot on low all day with frozen green beans and baby carrots. I also made the new potatoes with olive oil and Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Those are a favorite of my kids.

Ok, if my personal trainer is reading this post she should stop now.

Seriously. It's not going to get better.

A favorite at my house is pork butt. Yes, disgusting name, but oh so juicy and yummy. My sister-in-law gave me a great recipe for a rub to put on it. I usually smoke this, but recently started cooking in the crockpot. Fabulous! Just don't forget the crockpot liners! I serve this with another recipe from Amy, corn casserole. This is different than anything you have probably had. It's made with Mahatma Saffron Rice. Oh how my kids beg for this!

We also had some of the old standby favorites: taco soup, chicken nacho cheese soup, spaghetti and meat sauce. And, last night we went out with a bang. I baked a turkey. Just like Thanksgiving.

I'm done! Put a fork in me. We are eating leftovers the next couple of days cuz this Mama needs a break...and some healthier recipes!

Bueller, Bueller...

Tap tap tap. Is this thing on? Can anyone hear me? Bueller?

It's been so ridiculously long since I have blogged about anything that I'm not sure anyone is listening besides my Mom.

I have so much to blog about and so little time. Where to start? Ok, how about with the truth. The truth is that I got an IPad for Christmas and I love it. My very favorite app is Flipboard. Have you heard of it? It was named app of the year last year by apple. You can put many things on your flipboard and personalize it the way you want. For example, my flipboard has Facebook, google reader for the blogs I read, USA today, and the list goes on.

The quality of the photos is just phenomenal. You will never look at Facebook the same way again. And so here it is, the reason I am blogging again. Blogs have never looked better than on Flipboard, and I am just dying to see my own blog on it!

Do I have too much time on my hands? Yes. Do I have a brain freeze from the -11 temperature we saw this morning. Oh yeah. Are my kids starting to drive me crazy. You bet.

Well, I'm off to go enjoy reading my own blog on Flipboard. What is your favorite app?

Flies, and Frogs, and Locusts OH MY!

This is one of those cute stories that I'm sharing with you that's really more for me. I don't want to forget it.

Daniel has started a little contest in our house to encourage the girls to have their quiet times each day. Sunday was the first day and Ellie Grace wanted to read about Baby Moses being hid in the basket. She had that story that very morning in Sunday School and she thought that would be a good place to start. I couldn't agree more.

On Monday night at dinner she told us ALL about what she read. EVERY. LAST. DETAIL. It was actually quite impressive, but took a good 20 minutes. So, after dinner she decides she's going to continue reading on in Exodus since the first night went so well.

After about 15 minutes she came downstairs crying and tossed her fuzzy purple Bible onto the coffee table. She said through her tears, "I don't understand anything that's going on. There's flies and frogs and I have no idea what He's doing." Bless her heart! That precious little 7 year old girl was reading about the Plagues in Exodus. She sat down with me and we read through every single plague and capped it off with the Passover.

Now at camp when she sings, Pharoah Pharoah, Whoa, Let my people go, she will have a whole new understanding for it! How lovely are the feet of those who bring good news!!!! Even little feet!!!

Memory Lane

I clearly have too much time on my hands because today, for no reason at all, I drove my kids through the neighborhood where I grew up. I showed them where I lived. It still looks pretty nice, but when my Dad was in charge of that yard it was BEAUTIFUL! I showed them where my friends lived, I showed them where I babysat, and I showed them where I rode my bike. And then we went home...

Clean Eating Shrimp Linguine

Tonight I made my own recipe. I rarely do this, and I must say, it was fun! Here's what I used:

1 14 ounce package of whole grain linguine noodles- cooked al dente

Saute 1/2 white onion and 1 clove garlic over medium heat. Add cooked shrimp (I used the Walmart brand of shrimp cocktail that is already cooked. Cut the tail off and cut the shrimp in half.), 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 1 can of black olives, and some fresh basil. Cook over medium heat until warm.

Toss with pasta and then top with crumbled feta cheese.

It was delicious! My kids had thirds!!!

P.S. If anyone talks to my hubby tell him to buy me a fancy camera and I'll keep cooking like this!

New Finds

I stumbled upon this website, The Gracious Pantry, which specializes in all things clean eating. She has tons and tons of recipes if you are interested.

And, as as a double bonus, my friend Leslie started a blog...check her out!

My Quest for the Perfect Protein Bar

I'm trying to "eat clean". If you have no idea what this is, just simply google it or grab the book. I go in phases doing this, and it seems sooner or later processed food gets the better of me. But, right now I am in an eat clean phase. I'm trying to eat natural, pure foods in an unprocessed state...lots of whole grains, beans, seeds, etc. Anyway, protein bars are something I really like to eat. They are an easy, on the go snack loaded with protein (essential for fueling muscle). BUT, they can be expensive. Sometimes as much as $4.00 a bar. And, some "protein bars" still have bad things in them like sugar or preservatives. So, I have been on the hunt for a good recipe.

I found a recipe on the web a few weeks ago. Ick would be an understatement. I have been avoiding making the protein bars in the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook because there are a zillion ingredients. It just looked tiring. However, my friend Sheri told me she has made them and they are delicious. In fact, she sticks some in the freezer to keep herself from snacking too much.

So, I gave it a try. Although there were tons of ingredients, it really wasn't hard. Here is the finished product. It made 24 bars. I froze half of them. They look so yummy. Don't they look like brownies? I haven't officially had one yet (I've licked the bowl) and I think Sheri is right!!!

And while those were baking, I whipped up these eat clean enchiladas. Don't you wish you were coming to my house for dinner tonight???

Ripley's Believe It Or Not

It's time for another addition of Ripley's Believe It Or Not...

This weekend was Daniel's family reunion. This was his deceased grandmother's family all gathering together think there were around 110 of us. And, believe it or not....(drumroll please)

I am now related to one of my Theta Pledge Sisters! How hilariously cool is that???? What a fun surprise!

Happy Birthday, Little Middle

My precious Abigail Anne turned 9 years old on Friday. She is truly a gift from God. This little girl has the sweetest disposition of anyone I have ever met in my life, EVER. She is so unselfish, compassionate, generous, thoughtful and kind. I have no idea where she got any of these traits...well, maybe from her Dad! She is the best addition to our family and the last 9 years have been pure joy!