Margie’s Apple Crisp

Crust:

2/3 cup oil

1/3 cup water

Mix the oil and water, then add:

2 ½ cup flour

Roll this out and fit into your pan.  I use one of those long rectangular stoneware dishes that I got from Pampered Chef.  If you have one of these, this recipe is perfect for that.

In a bowl, stir together:

½ cup of sugar

½ cup of flour

¼ tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

12 cups of chopped apples

2 Tbsp butter

Pour this on top of the crust.

Then, make another crust, roll it out, place it over the apples.

Bake at 425 degrees, for 1 hour.

When you get it out of the oven, it’s ready for a drizzling of:

1 cup of powdered sugar

Add just enough water (start with a few tablespoons) to give it a thick syrupy consistency.  Sorry this isn’t exact.

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 (All of the pictures on this post were taken this past Monday.)

When the Vale’s came to our home a few weekends ago, Margie brought this Apple Crisp dish.  My husband loved this and had a hard time not taking one more piece.  He’s talked about it ever since.

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In fact, this morning as he was leaving for work, he began to reminisce once more about Margie’s awesome Apple Crisp.  Now, I have to insert here for you here, that I have never baked a pie in my life, or if I did, I don’t remember it, and I must have had someone standing right by my side helping me every inch of the way.  But when Bob left for work this morning, and I looked at all those apples the kids had brought in for me and set down in an oversized bag and box, I began to think that maybe I could try my hand at Margie’s Apple Crisp.

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 I love this picture - it is of my grandchildren playing with my children.

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I called Margie, but the only one available was her daughter, Mara, who can make this Apple Crisp as good as Margie can.  She gave me the ingredients and the instructions.  Rachel and I worked together on this after Biology class.   Together, we managed this.  Now, tonight, I will surprise my husband with his own homemade Apple Crisp. I hope it’s good as Margie’s!

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(The girls found some old fashioned clothes in a trunk when they were cleaning out a storage area this past Monday.  They even got Joshua to pose for a picture with them -although he doesn't look to happy about it!

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Now, I am going to guess that you have never heard of "coconut chicken" and that you never dreamed that coconut and chicken even go together.  But, I tried this recipe, and it is a hit with everyone.  You've got to try this recipe!

Coconut Chicken

Dethaw your chicken (boneless) and cut up into small pieces (bite-size).

Get some crackers out – I used Town House Flip Sides Pretzel Crackers (Cheddar Flavor) and sometimes I mix these with a completely different kind of cracker, like garlic pita crackers.  Use about a package and crush them – I put them in my blender and made it into cracker crumbs. 

Get three bowls out –

In bowl #1 crack an egg, whisk with an egg beater

In bowl #2 – put your cracker crumbs in this (above)

In bowl #3 – put 2 cups of sweetened coconut flakes (you find this in the baking section of the grocery store – where the flour, sugar, choc. Chips, nuts, etc… are)

Now, take the bite-size chicken pieces and dip in the beat egg (bowl #1), then dip it in the cracker crumbs (bowl #2), and then into the coconut ( bowl #3).  Bake in oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

My family positively loved this.  Try it!

I served this with rice I had made in a steamer.   Try this recipe with the coconut chicken.

Fried Rice

This is a guaranteed everyone-is-going-to-love-it recipe, too!

Sauté an onion in coconut oil (you can buy this at Wal-Mart).  Then add about 3 cups of cooked rice (I had precooked mine in a steamer) and steamed carrots (cut up).  The onions and carrots really give this ordinarily blah rice a lot of flavor.  Season with sea salt.  (Sea salt is as good for you as table salt is bad for your.  You can use sea salt generously.)

I make this rice every week and keep a big bowl of it in the refrigerator for anyone to eat when they don’t know what else to eat, or add to any of our meals.  This is very filling and healthy.

Tonight, since I was making coconut rice for supper, I wanted to try something different.  I added a can of stir-fry veggies to the rice, and stirred in about ¼ cup of soy sauce.  Everyone liked this, too.

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It was a nice Monday.  Got the kids up bright and early – did our chores with the horses and chickens.  The house was in disarray after a busy weekend, so we spent a few hours before school started getting the house whipped back into shape. It felt nice getting the floors cleaned and having everything picked up.  What a great way to start the week.

We had egg salad sandwiches for a late lunch after our group school time. Before dad had left for work, he had left a two page list of things that needed to be done around the ranch.  Matt and Mike were already here working on the bigger issues, and as soon as we could dismiss school, Rachel and Joshua went out to help.  I let the two smaller ones go play, and I used the time to accomplish a few things.  I organized my check registers, balanced my checking account, exercised, and started supper. 

Tomorrow:

Priorities:

Exercise

Make lasagna for supper in the morning (because the afternoon is full.)

School

Keep the laundry going

Hang up sweaters and light coats that are in a basket in the pantry room

Accomplished all of the above for the day.

On Wednesday, (yesterday) Rachel and I went over to my oldest daughter’s house to help her out.  She’s 8+ months pregnant, and having a difficult pregnancy. She also has three little ones ages 4, 3, and 1.  We went over with some cleaning supplies and a dish of freshly made lasagna.  I also brought a crockpot with chicken and veggies to make her a homemade chicken broth.   By the time we left, her house sparkled, she was able to get her hair washed, and dinner was ready for when her husband came home that evening.  I left content knowing that I was able to help Becky, as well as enjoying her company and being with the grandbabies. 

For Matthew’s birthday, I wanted to have a special dinner. Like most mom’s, I wanted to make his favorite food and have his favorite cake. I served potatoes cheese casserole and steak.  Now, the steak I just happened to have found in my freezer when I was cleaning it out last week (it was still in there from last summer when we were grilling out a lot.) 

Everyone loved the way these steaks tasted, so I thought I would share this with you and for myself also – I want to remember this. 

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I took the steak out in the morning, put it in water (enclosed in the wrapping paper) to dethaw.   I had to leave the house around 2:00 p.m. (and the party was to be at 4:30 p.m.) so before I left, I pulled the steak out of the water, and put it in a small Pyrex dish.  I poured red wine all over it (I didn’t measure, just tried to soak it. Maybe 2 cups?) 

When I came home and it was time to start grilling, I wiped the steak a second time in the wine, put Lawry’s seasoned salt and pepper on it, then threw it on the grill.  I browned both sides, and then brought it in.

Now, my family loves all meat well-done.  This means, “no pink.”   I had been told by a woman that I had lunch with about a month ago, that she had watched a gourmet cooking show on t.v. and that she learned the way to cook a steak “just right,” like a gourmet restaurant would do, is to brown the steak on the grill, then bring it in and put it in the oven to finish cooking.  She raved about how excellent her steaks turned out when she did this.  I made a mental note of this, and this time, when I was grilling steak, decided to do the same.  I took the steak that had been browned on both sides by the charcoal grill to the oven for about 20 minutes at 350.   

This was a success – my married children and daughter-in-law were all asking me how I made the steak.  They raved about it and wanted to know step-by-step how I had prepared this steak. 

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(Here's the recipe for the casserole I served with the steak.)

Some pictures from a weekend around here: .

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.This is Magic, our little colt. He's the star of our ranch.

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My daughter-in-law is an awesome cook.  One time my husband was over at Matt and Kristi’s house, and she offered him a sloppy joe.  When he came home, he just raved and raved about Kristi’s sloppy joes.  Now, this took me by surprise because he had always loved my sloppy joe recipe.  It was one of his favorite meals.  But Kristi’s sloppy joes were “like candy.”  So, I just had to try her recipe.

My husband was right; they are so good that describing them “like candy,” is a fitting description.  Try this recipe; I know you will love it, too.

Kristi’s Sloppy Joes

Brown a package of meat (you can use ground turkey or beef); drain the fat if there is any. I actually rinse the browned meat with water after draining it. 

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Add a bottle of Original Open Pit BBQ sauce with about a cup of brown sugar.  Chop up two green peppers and one onion. Add it and then simmer for a long time – the longer you let is simmer, the more it tastes like candy. When I simmer it for at least two hours, it is just the way my husband likes it. 

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We had an excellent Monday.  I had planned to watch a movie as our first class - a documentary on the ancient Mayan Civilization, because this follows in our history time frame in which we are studying.

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After watching the movie, we had our Bible reading; Bible memorization; read from our book teaching us how to pray.  Rachel leaves in the afternoon to participate in the Good News Club where they have a ministry to a local public school.  They have an after-school program that parents have signed a permission slip to allow their children to attend.  The gospel is given during this class, and last week, 6 children asked Jesus to come into their heart.

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I generally don't go anywhere on Monday, but I had something I wanted to return to Target, so I did this and while there, I found a pair of blue jeans for Joshua that cost $6.00.  What a deal!!! He only had one pair that fits him, and when he wore these to a Sunday night skit at a local church youth group participation, I noticed that they hadn't been washed. It was too late to do anything about it, but I vowed to make sure that I got out this week to get him a second pair.  When I seen this pair of blue jeans for $6.00 I wasn't for sure they'd fit, or that he would like them. I was happy when he tried them on and they fit perfect and  he liked them!

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Ruthie has had the same type of problem.  She's been wearing knit pants that have a rip in them.  All of her winter pants have a rip somewhere or an other.  So, last week at Target, I also found some good deals - the kind of pants (and only kind) that she wears on a sale price of also $6.00.  Her one white shirt that she wears under her jumper was looking icky, too, so I was happy when I found knit shirts on clearance for $3.60.  I bought several in a bigger size thinking that she can wear them loose the rest of the cold weather here, and then wear them next year, too. 

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This shopping time took a total of only one hour, including the travel time.  I was back quickly and then started supper:

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Amish Chicken Strips & Sweet and Sour Sauce

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Rolls

Salad

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I often have very quick recipes to save time in preparation.  This frees me up to get more things done.  This meal took more time than usual, but I had the desire and inclination to have a nice family dinner for this Monday night. 

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I also fit in exercise time after I had prepared dinner and put it in the oven to bake.

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After dinner, we watched one hour of the news and then promptly at 8:00 p.m. we turned the t.v. off and opened our book, Winning His Spurs, by G.A. Henty, and began our family reading time.  We finished the book - four chapters - and that took us to 10:00 p.m.  The horses got fed, the chickens put away, and then off to bed.

We were invited for lunch by our Amish friends, Gerald and Darla.  “Pizza and Amish Noodles,” Darla had told me.  A few months ago, Darla had been telling me all about how much company they had over the holidays in their new home.  They had been fixing a lot of homemade pizzas.  I asked about the noodles – I’d never really put “noodles” with “pizza.” 

“Oh, yes, we serve noodles with everything. There is rarely a meal that is not served without noodles.”  Or maybe she said there is “never a meal,” but the jest was that noodles are served all the time.  That totally intrigued me.  For starters, I could see the sense, as in, “Cents,” in this.  How many times have I had a pizza party and worried that I would not have enough?  So I order extra, just to make sure.  Now, if I had served noodles as part of the meal, I wouldn’t have worried about that.  If everyone got a slice or two of pizza, and then there were noodles to fill everyone up with after that, I wouldn’t be concerned about anyone being hungry, and I would have saved some money, too.

The very next party that I had (Joshua’s birthday party in January), guess what I served?  Yep, you got it.  Pizza and noodles.  I bought Amish noodles; I boiled them, and after straining the water,  I put them in the crock pot.  I added about two cups of chicken broth and a can of Cream of Chicken Soup.  I put it the crock pot on low, just trying to keep the noodles warm until everyone arrived.

Now, if you are like me, you’ve never heard of having pizza with noodles. So, I expected my guests (over thirty people) to be equally astonished (and maybe to think like I did, that pizza and noodles don’t go together.)  But to my surprise when I announced that I had pizza and “Amish noodles,” to eat, Jodi lifted up her eyebrows, and with a big smile on her face, said, “Noodles?”  Yes, she was astonished, but she seemed really pleased that we would be having something besides “pizza.”

Now I can’t say that this noodle dish in the crock pot was anything that impressed me, BUT I got all kinds of people telling me that they just loved my Amish Noodles.  My oldest daughter wanted to take some home, and weeks later she was asking me to email her the recipe.  And some of Rachel’s friends were telling her the next day how much they just loved our Amish noodles.  Surprise!  My Amish Noodles were a hit.

Now, I never have a pizza party WITHOUT serving Amish noodles!  I served them at Rachel’s birthday party (around 35 people) and I got the same response that I had a Joshua’s party.  Try them at your next pizza party!

Authentic Amish Noodles

To make Amish Noodles really good, try making your own chicken broth to make it extra tasty.  If you remember, I just happen to have a freezer full of roosters .  When I want to make a broth, I pull out a few (huge) legs (my roosters were the size of large turkeys), or some other body part of the rooster; dethaw it in a bucket of water, and then I transfer it over to the crock pot and cover it with fresh water.  I throw in an onion, and any other veggies I may have in the refrig (like some stalks of celery), and sometimes I put in a cup (or two) of white wine.  I cook it overnight until the meat just falls off the bone. When that happens, I strain it and chop all the good pieces of meat into small pieces.  (Darla tells me that their Amish Noodles rarely ever consist of chicken meat, just the broth, so you don’t have to add chicken to have authentic Amish Noodles.)  ((Oh, and now that I think about it, I am guessing with a high probability that you don't add white wine to the truly Amish broth. Call this part of the recipe, "Antoinette's Version of Amish Broth" ))

I put the broth back into the crock pot (on high) and stir in a can of Cream of Chicken soup until it looks like I’ve managed to stir it in real good, and then I add the chicken pieces back in, and the noodles.  It’s basically all done at this point, and I just keep the crock pot on low until the company arrives.

Now, to really make these Noodles Authentically Amish you would need to make these noodles from scratch (to which Darla showed me how she did this – they are made from egg and flour) but if you’re like me, store bought Amish noodles will just have to do.

4 Cans of Salmon

½ chopped onion

2 eggs, beaten (or you could just use one if you want to)

A clove or two of garlic, pressed

Juice of one lemon

Open the salmon can, drain it, and get the yucky black stuff off. Pour the can’s contents into a Pyrex dish.  Add the onion and the eggs.  Throw in a pinch of salt.  If you have Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids (buy this at the health food store – you can add it to soups, too) add a few teaspoons of it.  If you don’t have it, that’s o.k. (But the next time you go by a health food store, get some.)  Add some pressed garlic (about a clove, or two.)  Squeeze the juice of one lemon, but if you don't have lemon, I don't know if it would make a huge difference. 

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Stir it all together, press down in the greased Pyrex pan. Sprinkle on the top those French fried onions that you usually put on your green bean casserole.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  My kids like this with A-1 sauce.  There’s no one in our clan that does not like this. It’s simple, nutritious, and it’s good for you. 

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(Note to those that have never opened a can of salmon before: warning: it looks kind of gross. There is a black something or another in the can wrapped around the salmon - you have to just scrape it off.  Also, you will see little, tiny bones. You do not have to get rid of these.  These bones crush up super easy when you stir the salmon up, and they are a good source of minerals/calcium.  Now that I have said all of that, you are probably not in a hurry to go out and buy a can of salmon and try the above recipe.  But, I encourage you to try it anyways. It is nutritious and easy and it seems that everyone likes it.  Give it a try!)

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The week has been going well so far.  The house is very quiet right now; I'm the only one up, so I thought I'd take just a minute to write about my week, thus far. 

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I spent a good part of Monday in my basement going through boxes - seeing what I could throw out.  This has been a job I've been meaning to get to for a very long time.  On Tuesday, I needed to go on an out-of-town trip (2 hours away - Indy) for a dinner (business related).  The food was good; the company was better.  The couple we dined with started out being just business acquaintances, but over time (about a decade?) we have developed a friendship. It has been a while since we have been to dinner together (due to our friend's illness).  It was like old times - in fact, our friend, Jeff, almost died two years ago and when he did come through, it seemed that he would never be the same again.  Praise Him - last night's dinner is testimony to answered prayer.

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When I came home (late) the house had been completely cleaned and swept (via my children and Rachel in charge).  Rachel had also taken on a huge organization job of the younger siblings toys.  She gave me the tour of the basement with all the toys in organized see-through boxes when I arrived home around midnight.  What a blessing.  Dinner with friends, and then come home to a neat/organized/clean home. What a blessing!

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** Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids -  Do try to get this - it is good to have on hand.  It will season everything for you. Ever since I introduced this to my daughter-in-law, Kristi, she went out and bought the biggest bottle of it that they sell. She says she puts it in "everything."  It not only makes things taste better, but it is also a source of protein.  If you know of someone that is ill, you can make them a simple, plain chicken broth, and add Braggs Liquid Amino Acids to it.  I can't tell you enough how good this is for one that is ill (either a cold or something much more serious).  Also, if you are salt/sodium sensitive- this is what you need. You can totally omit salt in your recipes with this.

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 (If you are taking care of one that is weak, ill, or elderly, and need a good recipe, go ~~~HERE~~~.)

(We had Beef Stew after church this past Sunday.  It was the perfect meal for a very cold and snowy day. )

Beef Stew

Place in crock pot:

1 Package of McCormick’s Hearty Beef Stew

8 potatoes (or more, I usually use about a dozen)

Bag of carrots – cut up

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic – pressed

1 and a ½ cup of red wine (this is optional, but personally, I think it tastes better with it.)

Cover all of the above with water.

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Meat:  You can use “stew” meat, but I use round steak so I don’t get a lot of fat running through the meat.  I brown it first (I’ve been told that this seals in the flavor.) Then I trim the sides of any fat, then cut it up into small bite pieces. The smaller the pieces, the more chances of everyone getting some meat in their bowl of stew.

I try to make this the night before so I turn the crock pot on low and it simmers all night and through the day until dinner time.  This past Sunday morning I had not started it the night before, but was determined that this was the best meal for this cold, wintery day.  So, when I browned the meat, I let it simmer in the pan with some water so that the meat would be already partially cooked.  The stew cooked in the crock pot until after church, some time around 4:00 p.m.   

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  Potential Problem on Christmas Day:

I was going to my in-laws on Christmas Eve, leaving in the afternoon, not coming home until the next day, around noon.  The plan for Christmas Day was for Matt and Kristi and Kayla to come over, have dinner, and open presents.  How could I prepare a holiday dinner when I would be getting home in just the knick of time to host dinner?

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Solution:

My daughter-in-law, Kristi, gave me the idea of putting a turkey in the crock-pot before leaving the house on Christmas day.  I took Kristi's good advice/tip and put a boneless turkey in the Crockpot before leaving the house.  I put a box of Swanson’s chicken broth in the pot, and then added an entire jar of horseradish sauce. I cooked it on low, and when I served this turkey 24 hours later, it was perfect.

Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows on top – I had boiled about ten sweet potatoes 24 hours earlier, took their peels off when they were done, mashed them, mixed in an egg, 1 tsp of vanilla, and about ¾ cup of brown sugar.  Then I put it in the refrigerator. When I got home, a day later, I put this in the oven to bake for about 40 minutes at 350.  Ten minutes before they were done, I added half a bag of marshmallows on top. 

On Thanksgiving Day, I had tons of gravy.  More than we could eat at one meal.  So, I had divided all the gravy up into small Pyrex glass dishes and froze it.  For this Christmas meal, all I had to do was to pull my frozen gravy out of the freezer and dethaw (in the microwave).

I also had made a ton of stuffing on Thanksgiving Day.  I found a dish of stuffing in my freezer and was plesantly surprised - all the more less time I will have to spend on the day of Christmas.

I made boxed instant mashed potatoes to make it easy on myself.  I almost always use real potatoes, but for this day, I needed it to be quick and easy.  I really don’t think anyone even noticed that they were any different.

I made a great corn dish. I improvised from a recipe I was following trying to imitate a favorite corn dish that my family used to eat at a restaurant before they discontinued it.  My attempt was successful. They liked it better than our old favorite.

Mexican Corn

2 cans of Mexican corn (sold in Wal-mart right next to the other cans of corn)

2 cans of creamed corn

A pkg of Martha White corn bread, or some other kind similar

½ stick of butter

1 egg, whisked

2 cups of Mexican cheese

1 cup of sour cream

1 can of Green Chiles

Mix together and bake for 45 minutes at 350.  I guarantee you’ll love this recipe (if you like corn, that is.)

I also served rolls and canned cranberries.  I had meant to make a Green Bean Casserole, but it didn't happen.  There was plenty of food just the same.

Now, there is one thing that I haven’t told you about, yet.  When I made the sweet potatoes and the corn, I made two separate Pyrex glass dishes of it.  I have found that often when I serve a big meal, because there are so much choices of food to choose from, there is often a plethora of food left over.  On the other hand, I often have people just drop in that I did not expect.  It is hard to decide sometimes just how much food to really make.

My solution:  I make double of everything.  This way, if I have more people than I expected, I will have enough food.  If I have less, I have food for the freezer for another meal.  But in this case, on Christmas Day, I served the second’s of food for a great meal the day after Christmas when Matt and Kristi (and Kayla) joined us. 

Tuesday, I had to run to the office to sign some documents, so I took my two older ones with me.  While there, we went to lunch with dad, just the four of us.  We ate at a restaurant called, Valentino, after a famous actor back in the day of black and white movies.  This restaurant is located in a beautiful old historical court house. It was fun having time with our older ones spent over lunch.  When we were done, a snow blizzard had begun.  I wanted to go home, but we were to attend a birthday party for a family friend that evening, so we went straight to TSC (Tractor Supply Company) to find a gift.  We got home just in time to get the rest of the kids into the car and off to the surprise party.

Mike and Margie are such great neighbors (they live just a mile down a country road from us) and friends.  We just love visiting with them.  They have this big country kitchen that is always inviting with lots of homemade food and bread made by Margie.  It was a fun surprise party for Mike who just turned 50. 

Wednesday was the day my husband had a date with his oldest daughter, Becky, who is 27 years old (married and has three children ages 4, 2, 1).  He took her to lunch at a nice restaurant where they sat by a warm and crackling fireplace.  After lingering there in conversation for over three hours (they were served a five-course meal), they did a little shopping together. It was a sweet time for dad and daughter to be together.   Meanwhile, I got to babysit the three little ones.  This was my first time to baby sit my 4 grandchildren, ever.  I was thrilled.  I enjoyed so much to have the three little ones all to myself. They are soooo precious.

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By the time Becky and dad returned, it was kind of late.  We were both so tired.  But this is the night we have designated to go visit my husband's parents.  Not wanting to disappoint them, we headed over there - a 45 minute drive.  In retrospect, we are both so very glad that we made this decision.  My in-laws are virtual shut-ins, whose only contact with the outside world is with doctor's and an occasional visit to a dentist.  They have told us numerous times how very happy they are that we come to see them every week, and how they look forward to it.  When we are together we watch a sermon, and this evening has become a virtual mid-week church service.  We may come tired, but we always leave feeling refreshed and uplifted.

Thursday I went shopping with Rachel and we accomplished all that was on her Christmas list.  We went to lunch with dad (again) at the same cute little hamburger joint in the old court house. And we shopped until we almost dropped, having started in the early afternoon and ending almost at 9:00 p.m.

Today I had planned to spend the morning leisurely organizing my bedroom drawers and getting a better system.  In the afternoon, I was going to take my 13 year old son to do his Christmas shopping.  Plan interrupted.  Phone call from the office.  “I really need you here at the office, this is very important.”  So, six hours later, and a bedroom that had gotten half started (translation: a mess), I got home just in time to take Joshua Christmas shopping before it got dark.

Shopping with a 13 year old boy sure is different than the day before with my almost 17 year old daughter.  Shopping with Rachel is a carefree, fun, and an enjoyable event all through the process of finding the perfect gifts.  Shopping with Joshua was a rude walk into reality.  He had a list.  And the priority on the list, were the fun stuff for the boys. When we walked into the doors of Target, the toy section of the store was his target. His older brother, Matt, he got a computer game (bought with his own money); his younger brother, Jacob, he got a nerf gun.  He got some cars for his friend, Micah.  When that was done, he carried his list as a soldier might carry his battle plan.  He forgot that I was even with him, as I kept trying to find him every other minute.  His pace was fast, I couldn’t keep up.  And the final moment was when he walked up to the cashier, had her ring everything up, and then realized he needed his money that was in mom’s purse.  At course, mom didn’t even know that he was in the checkout line. 

So here’s a soup I made this week, and I guarantee your going to love it. This recipe was given to me by my daughter-in-law, Kristi. I cook this in the crock-pot.

• I pour into the pot a large container of V-8 Spicy Juice.
• I add a pound of browned hamburger meat (which this soup is really fast to make if you have the meat already browned and in the freezer, which I did.) 
• Add two green peppers, chopped. 
• Add 1/2 cup of rice.
• Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar. 

Voila!  Your going to love it!

It was a gorgeous day, today.  Clear skies and about 74 degrees.  We started school at 8:00 a.m. and around noon, Rachel and I went for a wonderful trail ride.  We went to the back acres of the property and crossed through the  neighbor's yards (we've been given permission to do this).  We travelled the back country road with Lady and Maria.  It was a beautiful ride.  Later this evening, I hopped on Minnie - bareback and barefoot - and rode her to my son's home with Magic (her colt) running by her side.  What a wonderful day!

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Chicken Casserole Topped with Crushed Tortilla Chips

I had baked quite a bit of chicken on Friday, but for many reasons I won’t go into right now, it never got served.  On Monday, I knew that I needed to serve this chicken for dinner or to end up wasting it.  I tried this recipe with it and everyone loved it – 100% of everyone in our family.  This was either: #1 A miracle  #2 Everyone was desperately famished to the point of starvation or #3 It was actually good.

• ·         I cut the chicken breasts in cubes. 

• ·         I added a can of cream of chicken soup, 1 cup sour cream, ¾ cup mayonnaise, and a pinch of salt.  I did add some chopped onion (to which Joshua told me of his displeasure, but ate it anyways (and came back for seconds!)

• ·          The recipe did call for celery, mushrooms, and slivered onions, to which I had none of.   It also asked for 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, but with the sour cream, soup, and mayonnaise, I thought that the cheese would be a calorie overload. 

• ·         I crushed tortilla chips and placed them on top. I put it in the oven and baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes.  (The original recipe called for crushed potato chips, but not having any, I substituted the tortilla chips.) 

I was at the fairgrounds last night, sitting next to Margie talking about dinner.  I had made my Company Chicken recipe for supper but hadn’t gotten a chance to eat any of it, and I was starving.  I told Margie that her family will have to come over for dinner one night and she can try my new recipe. Then, Margie told me about her easy chili recipe, and I thought it sounded pretty good (and easy).

This morning, all the kids were complaining that I didn’t have any good food in the house – naturally, I haven't gone to the grocery store this week.    No wonder the refrig and cabinets look bare. Then, I remembered Margie’s chili recipe and looked in my cabinet to see if I had a can of baked beans, and then in the freezer I looked to see if I had some already browned ground turkey meat.  Voila!  Our mystery lunch problem solved. With a lot of improvising of Margie’s chili recipe, this turned out terrific!  You’ve got to try it.

Put in crockpot:

1 large can of baked beans (I used Bush’s Honey Baked Beans)

1 pkg (a pound or so) of browned ground turkey meat

2 tbsp (or more) of Spicey Brown Mustard (I used French’s)

2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

1 cup of ketchup

1 package of Ortega Chili Seasoning Mix (or just use a tbsp or so of chili powder)

A few drops of hot sauce

I've never had a chili recipe yet, that everyone liked.  It was a meal that everyone just put up with.  But this recipe - it hit the Jackpot!  Everyone loved it. 

This is delicious, easy, and good for you.  Try it!

Bake chicken – I use skinless, boneless white breasts.  I drizzle a glass pyrex dish with olive oil and sprinkle it with sea salt.  Then I place the chicken in the pan, salt and pepper,  and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes.

When it’s done and has cooled, cut the chicken in small pieces.

Mix in ¼ of a can of frozen concentrated orange juice, approx 1 cup of mayonnaise (or salad dressing), and some chopped celery (water chestnuts are good, too.)

Serve on croissants or on tortilla shells as a wrap with romaine lettuce.

This Week So Far:

Monday: Cleaning the kids bedrooms. 

Tuesday: A morning visit with my oldest daughter and babies; Cleaning my room. Tonight: 4-H western pleasure practice at the fair grounds.

I got this recipe from the cookbook,

Blue Willow Chicken Casserole:

1 cup sour cream

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 cup chicken broth

8 chicken breasts, cooked and boned

2 sleeves Ritz crackers,  crumbled

1 1/2 sticks of butter

Preheat the oven to 350.  Blend the sour cream, chicken soup, mushroom soup, and chcken broth.

Place the chicken breasts in a 9X13 baking dish (For our family, I cut the chicken into smaller pieces (like chicken nuggets).  Pour the soup mixture over the chicken.  Top with the Ritz cracker crumbs and drizzle the butter over the crumbs. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the crackers are browned.

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Last Sunday, our home church met here at the lake. I dethawed hamburger meat for burgers on the grill for our lunch, but I wasn't sure if I had enough to satisfy everyone's hunger.  So I made this Chicken Casserole recipe just in case.

Result:  This recipe is a sure-hit.   Dr. Bob Williams seemed to like it the most and gave a lot of raves, compliments, and second helpings. 

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Because we had hamburgers, too, there was some of this casserole left.  After lunch, while cleaning up, I took the pyrex dish thatI had baked it in, and placed it straight into the freezer.,  Now, on Saturday, I had a side dish already prepared, only needing dethawing and warming up.

This chicken casserole was as much a hit the second time - left overs warmed up, as it was the first time,  

With this Saturday Left Over meal at the lake, I also served: 

I microwaved 8 potatoes for 20 minutes, cut them in quarters and salt and peppered them when they were done.

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Flank steak - I browned it in the morning, then threw it into the crockpot. I added sliced green peppers, and onion with it.  I poured over the steak about 1 cup of a Merlot Wine Sauce, and 1 half cup of water.  I put it on high and walked away until about 3:30 p.m. when we had our lunch.  Rachel who usually despises steak, loved it. There was hardly a scrap of meat left when our family was done eating.

As another side dish, I made Archer Farms (Target) Spicy SouthWestern Tamale Pie (beans and corn bread).  This is a family favorite (everyone but dad). 

I've been gone a while, haven't I?  But I'll make up for a lot of lost weeks tonight.

Show and Tell #1

Breakfast this past weekend at our home:

Pancakes, anyone?  Butterscotch (for Rachel); Cherry; Chocolate Chip

(for Jacob); Blueberry; Blueberries and Walnuts (for dad).

Mix pancake batter in each bowl.

Help to the rescue for all this hard work...

I used an entire box of pancake mix.  I served eggs over easy and scrambled, too.

There was a lot left over, so I put them in seperate pyrex dishes and labeled

them.  Their in the freezer now, waiting for the next weekend when we feel

like pancakes.  Just stick in the microwave, and ta-da, no mess, yet delicious

pancakes.

Show and Tell #2

Ruthie won a bike this week! We had filled out a form at a grand-opening of a new

restaurant (over the weekend)  and they called us Tuesday afternoon to tell us the good news.

We had a fun night. All of us,  plus Grandma and David, Matt and Kristi, came

to celebrate with her.  They took her picture for the newspaper. 

 A very happy little girl!

Show and Tell #3

Dinner tonight (just about one hour ago).  When I make lasagna, I make a lot

of it.  I figure that as long as I am going to the effort of making noodles, sauce,

and meat (which had already been browned previously and was in my freezer, so this saved time

tonight), I might as well make extra dishes of lasagna to put in the freezer, too.  

But sometimes, everyone just happens to drop by and there's not as much to be put

in the freezer as I'd thought.  I made three dishes of lasagna tonight. 

Guests:  Dad, Mom (me), Rachel, Joshua, Ruthie, Jacob:   Jennifer;  Matt and Kristi;

Grandma and my brother David.   

 (Picture taken just an hour ago)

I served garlic bread and salad with the lasagna.  And there was still one dish of lasagna left

to put in the freezer.  Now, another day when I've been busy (hopefully, riding horses), I will have

a quick and easy supper of home-made lasagna.

Show and Tell #4

I couldn't help but include this picture - taken this morning.  My horses were cuddled together

in the pasture, sleeping!

Sunday:

Mango Chicken

Marinate chicken (Boneless, skinless) and marinate in mango juice.

Put a little olive oil in the pan, squeeze some lemon in there. Salt and pepper the chicken, saute.

Serve with Cilantro and Lime Rice (a box mix they sell at Target, ‘Archer Foods’ brand.)

Serve with a green salad.

I served this for Sunday lunch. I always pull out left-overs from my refrigerator, too, and serve them. Whatever doesn’t get eaten up of the leftovers, I throw out.

 Monday: 

Lunch:

The kids went to Bible school in the morning (vbs) and while they were there, I exercised, and then began lunch. When they came home, it was all ready to eat.

Spicy Southwestern Tamale Pie - ( another box mix from Archer Farms/ Target.)  It’s a Mexican inspired entrée, with beans and corn bread. It was good!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I made macaroni cheese (whole wheat noodles, a box by ‘Annie’s’.) It didn’t look too good after I made it, so I transferred it from the pan I made it in on the cook top to a glass pyrex pan . Put some sliced cheddar cheese on it - enough to cover it, then baked it until the cheese kind of browned and crispy. The kids loved it.

Dinner:

Honey Mustard Chicken       Curry Mango Chicken

I dethawed two packages of boneless, no skin, chicken. Put olive oil in two different pans on the stovetop. Put one package of chicken in one pan, the other package in the second pan. I salt and peppered the chicken and lightly sauted them. After they were just lightly browned, I added the following:

Pan #1 -  I coated the chicken with a bottled sauce they sell at Target (Archer Foods) called, Curry Mango. I was afraid it would be too spicy for the kids, so in the other pan,

I coated the chicken in a bottled sauce I got from the Amish, by Yorders, that is basically a Honey Mustard sauce.

As they cooked, I cut the chicken into smaller sizes so that they resembled more like chicken strips and this also coats the chicken to get more flavor.

Everyone LOVED this chicken. Dad loved the curry mango, and the kids loved the honey mustard. I served browned potatoes (see below) and leftovers from lunch (see above).

 Tuesday:

Lunch:

Salmon Casserole

3 cans of salmon

Add some pressed garlic or garlic powder, some chopped onion, a can of mushroom soup. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. My kids love salmon so they thought this was a good lunch. Also served leftovers from yesterday (rice, beans and cornbread, etc…)

Dinner:

Antoinette's Salmon

Put a couple of packages of salmon in water to dethaw (buy this from Walmart, there’s about 4 salmon steaks in each bag).

In pan, mix ¼ cup of honey, ¼ cup of soy sauce, and some grated ginger or a tbsp of ginger powder. Add about a tablespoon of mustard. Mix, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and add the dethawed salmon. Make sure you coat the salmon in the mixture. My family loves this salmon recipe. Everyone devoured it, there was none left.

As a side dish, I microwaved about 6 potatoes for 20 minutes. Then I chopped the potatoes up. I put some olive oil in a pan, and sautéed the potatoes, sprinkling with a good dose of salt and pepper. Everyone loves the potatoes made like this.

Wednesday:

This was the day we were on the run with little time at home. The time we did have, Becky came by and visited. For dinner, we had tunafish sandwiches. Tunafish can actually be very good, if you buy the right kind. Albacore tuna is the best, and packed in water.  It is totally different in texture (drier) and seems to taste much better! We chopped onions and pickles and added it into the tuna. The pickles made a simple tuna sandwich taste really good. I used sweet pickles and some bread and butter ones. Lightly toasted the bread, served with chips.

Thursday:

Soup for lunch.

Dinner:

Chicken Enchilada’s

After about 1:00 p.m. I got to thinking about supper. Took a couple of packages of chicken out (boneless) and put in a bucket of cold water to dethaw quickly. Around 4:00 p.m., I sautéed the chicken in olive oil, salt and peppered, and added some packages of enchilada mix to it. Simmered for a couple of hours. Add to taco shells, and grill some onions to go with it. Serve with bean dip and chips.

The night did not go as planned. Rachel went over to her sister’s, Becky, to help her get ready for some company that will be coming to her house this weekend (aren’t sisters wonderful to have?!) Matt and Kristi dropped by, chatted, and then we went out to get a Chai Tea at Starbucks. We brought home a cheese pizza for the kids, and now I have chicken enchilada’s already made for Sunday’s dinner. That’s a nice feeling! Matt and Kristi stayed and watched a movie that they brought us over to see. Can’t remember the name - it’s a true story about the worst spy America has ever had in it’s history, and it was recent (1990’s) . I actually stayed awake during the movie and stayed alert until after Matt and Kristi went home. I’m totally not a night owl. Must have been the Chai Tea. The movie was good, although my husband and Kristi thought is was too slow moving. I thought it was intriguing and had good character development in the story. I also liked that I was watching a true story, a bit of our U.S. history.

As I lay down in bed, at midnight, I could hear my horse, Major, trying to break the fence down. He has a habit of this, and is also often successful. I jumped out of bed, yelling at my horse to stop it, all the way down the stairs and out the front door. I looked and sounded like a crazy lady. He had already busted one of the white fencing lats out from the posts. I scolded him and put it back in. He was a good boy the rest of the night and I was able to sleep. Called our fencing guy today to come out and fix the weak areas that Major keeps busting out of.

I served the following chicken recipe for company on Sunday.  I had compliments from EVERYONE and my own family members even talked about it the next day.

Can you find some Mango juice at your supermarket?  That is what I used, but I am guessing you may very well get the same citrus taste if you use orange juice.  However, for the record, this chicken that tasted so good, I used Mango juice.

Put chicken strips (boneless, no skin) in a big ziplock bag.  Pour Mango juice into the bag. Enough to soak, perhaps two cups of it.  Leave it over night to marinate in the refrig.

Next day when your ready to serve lunch or dinner:

Put some olive oil in a frying pan.  Squeeze the juice of an orange into that.  Season the chicken strips with salt and pepper.  Saute until it's cooked.

Easy!  And Really Good!

I served this with a good hot potatoe salad. I'll share that with you, too, while I'm at it.

The day before (Saturday) I made this recipe so that on Sunday I would have no prepration, just stick it into the oven.

Boil about 12 to 14 potatoes. Rinse under cold water when done, and take the peels off at the same time.

Add cheddar cheese - you can cube it if using a block, or use shredded cheese.  Approx 2 cups of cheese?  Use as much as looks good to you.

Add a chopped onion.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add two cups of REAL mayonaise, not salad dressing.   Stir it up,put the potatoe salad in a pyrex pan.

Bake some bacon. Then crumble it and put on top of the potatoe salad.  Chop some green olives and put it on top, too.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. 

This is very tasty and I always get compliments on it. I've been making this for approx 25 years and it never ceases to get compliments.

Thursday, December 7th

What got done:

Wrapped some presents for Becky and Kristi.

Browned eight packages of ground turkey meat.  Froze all of it in glass pyrex dishes for future dinners, except for the last batch.  Used that for tacos for supper this evening.

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Dusted, swept and mopped, picked up, the living room.  The goal is to clean one room per day so that on Friday, our designated cleaning day, won't be too overwhelming, but rather kind of relaxed and fun.  We all cleaned together in this room, although the little ones were just a token effort. Because we were all together and doing it at the same time, it didn't seem like it took too long. Perhaps an hour or a little less.

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Served good meals this day.  For breakfast, we had organic waffles with pure Maple syrup, butter from the Amish, and a bowl of strawberries.  I serve one Tablespoon of ground flax seed per each child sprinkled on their first waffle. They don't have to have any on any waffles they eat after that.  I used to serve the flax seed in their seed form, and this was good. It had a crunchy effect to it. But then recently I read that flax seed is indigestible unless you grind it. Now, I put it in my electric coffee bean grinder, but I don't care for the texture as much. However, the point of eating it is for the health, so it is better this way.

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For lunch, I had chicken stew in the freezer that I had dethawed the night before.  When I warm up chicken stew that I have frozen, I find it necessary to add a can of chicken broth for the consistency of it.  I added a can of corn, and some frozen peas.  By the time I was done adding the can of broth and veggies, the volume of the stew seemed to double.  The kids all loved it. My oldest daughter thought it was the best I had ever made. 

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For supper, I had browned turkey meat all day long for future dinners, and the last batch I added Ortega taco seasonings.  My dd says that this seasoning makes the best tacos of all the ones I have tried.   

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I did not push the school agenda today. It seems that everything has been on such high speed lately, that I felt an inner need to just 'be calm', and get things done that will enhance my life: making future meals by browning meat and freezing it, getting some presents wrapped, and cleaning one room thoroughly so that Friday is not overwhelming.  We did read our daily Bible reading and a few chapters from our Israelite novel.

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The children played really sweet together today.  They had built a gigantic fort by draping multiple blankets over our grand piano. They also played a game of pretending that they were reporters for Fox News. My youngest daughter was the reporter, my oldest the camera person, and my son, a casualty of the story they were covering.  They used my demolished kitchen as the back drop to a story about an airplane crash into a house.  If you seen my kitchen, with it's crumbling brick, you'd understand why this backdrop fit for the storyline so well.

When dh came home, while he watched Fox News, I wrapped a few more presents.  Later in the evening, we watched the videos of the kids news reporting stories. We had a lot of laughs and my dh found it all to be so cute and entertaining. 

TACO SOUP
From the book: Formula 101, pg 115

1 ½ pounds extra -lean ground sirloin (I use ground turkey)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 clove minced garlic
28 ounce canned tomatoes (my family hates chopped tomatoes so I used a can of tomato sauce instead
15 ounce canned tomato sauce (second can of this)
15 ¼ ounce canned black beans with juice 8 ¾ ounce canned corn, with juice
1 ounce package of taco seasoning mix

sour cream, reduced fat
shredded cheese
taco shell

In a medium heavy pot, heat oil.  Add the ground sirloin/ or ground turkey and brown (I already had this browned in my freezer)

Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes

Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, corn, and taco seasoning mix.  Cook 30 minutes longer.

In individual servings top with shreddred cheese, sourcream, and crumbled taco shells

July 22, 2003
I was hungry and felt like something warm to eat…I also was in a hurry. I made this recipe against my better judgment, I didn't think it would really turn out well.
Surprise, it was great!!! And EVERYONE loved it!!
The crumbled corn shells added a lot to this as well as the sour cream.

Went to the country fair afterwards. Wonderful family night!

Made this November 9th with left over chicken, in place of sirloin meat or ground turkey. This is definitley the way to go! Matt even liked it when I made it this way. Just think of the fat you would cut out! (See the below chart) Instead of 17 grams of fat (a 4 oz portion of  ground turkey meat) it would be 4.0 grams of fat, per every 3.0 of chicken. 4 instead of 17! And it would probably be 2 grams since you probably wouldn't eat an entire 3 oz in a bowl of soup. Tastes great, healthier! (I'm not sure the protein count on this, I'll have to research that. )

Made this again November 16, 2004
trying to calculate my total daily fiber, protein, and fat grams, so I broke the following out:
made taco soup, this is hard to calculate
a 4oz. portion of turkey meat is (in a tube of turkey meat, package by Walmart, $1.07), there are 4 servings.

17 grams of fat  18 grams of protein
However, I didn't have a whole 4 oz. I had 2 very small bowls of this soup, a small bowl is 1/2 cup (I don't fill it to the top, so 1/2 cup is the closest calculation.
The bowl isn't totally filled with meat, obviously, in fact, I try to stay away from the meat. So let's estimate that I got 2 ounces, total, and I think that's an estimate on the high side. 2 ounces of turkey meat would be 8 grams of fat, 9 grams of protein.
The beans, I put in 2 whole cans of this:
a serving size is 1/2 cup, fat is 1 gram, protein is 7 grams, fiber is 7 grams
for both servings of soup that I had, total of 1 cup, let's estimate that I got just 1/4 cup of beans, another high estimate

creamed corn, 1/2 cup, has 0.5 fat, 2 grams of fiber, 1 gram of protein  I put 2 whole cans of this in, but I don't really think I got a 4th of a cup. I'll just leave this out of the entire equation.
There was also tomatoes, I did use the peels of about 4 tomatoes, so there was fiber in this (Vita -mix blender) and actually, now that I think of it, the other frozen tomatoes also had the skin, so there was probably some fiber in that. 1 tomatoe has 1.5 gram of fiber, I must have had at least 10 tomatoes in this soup. So I'll go ahead and claim 1.5 grams of fiber for the soup.
I used tortillas for the crackers (super good for you as far as natural goes, corn, water, salt, vegetable oil, trace of lime)
6 chips is one serving:  6 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber. I'm sure I used every bit of  chips, I'm going to guess I used at least 6 chips per 1/2 cup of bowl I ate. 12 grams of fat!!

November 5, 2006

This is a family favorite. I make it often in the winter,  at least once a month. When I make it, I quadruple the recipe in a huge pot, then put a lot of servings away in the freezer for those days I don't have time to cook.  I haven't found anyone that doesn't like this soup.  I had some college girls over last year and they loved it, as well as my new daughter-in-law, and my own girls rave about it.  It's easy, it's healthy, and it's good!

Sloppy Joes in Pita Pocket

From the book, The Formula, A Personalized 40-30-30 Weight Loss Program, by Gene and Joyce Daoust   page 167

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped greenpepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound ground turkey breast or extra-lean ground sirloin

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (we don't use these)

1/4 cup bottled chili sauce (I use Heinz or sometimes Walmarts generic one)

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

Heat oil in skillet and saute onion, clery, green pepper, and garlic until soft and just beggining to brown.

Add ground meat and brown.

Add mushrooms, chili sauce, catsup, Worcestershire sauce, and water. 

Simmer for 15 to 20 minuts (we simmer this for hours - much better this way!)

p.s., I add a little bit of mustard

After coming home yesterday after our Girls Day Out, it was just a few minutes before my husband was due home from work.  I went to the freezer, pulled out a batch of sloppy joes I had made last week.  As much as possible, when ever I cook, I make mega excess, then freeze a ton.  Last week, I had made sloppy joes. I used ground turkey meat, 99% fat free, browned pounds and pounds of it, added several bottles of chili sauce, some worcestershire sauce, a little mustard, and some ketchup.  I also put in some onion, garlic,  and green pepper.  If I simmer it for a long, long time, the flavor all melds in together and it's one of my husband's favorite meals. 

I dethawed the sloppy joes, wrote a blog about the days events, then as I finished, my husband walked through the door, and supper was ready!  I have been trying to teach Rachel the value of making meals ahead of time and freezing them so that when you have a day like we had, having fun all day, when you come home, supper is ready and on the table. I always point out to her when this happens, just how easy supper was, and how terrific it is to cook ahead.  I was a domestic zero when I married, and it seems it's taken me approximately 3 decades to get just a few things down pat.  I'm trying to help her take a different road, by training her in organization of our home, setting a plan to keep the house clean (a different room each day), and preparing meals ahead of time. 

This morning, after seeing my husband off to work, I went to pick raspberries that are growing in our garden.  I had to fight bumble bees and a zillion mosquitoes to get a bowl full, but I was determined to pick them as I didn't plant these just for the bugs to get to them!

My Husbands Favorite Turkey Recipe

1/4 cup ground mustard

5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Mix together, then baste on turkey. Bake, until done in crockpot or roaster.

I pulled a boneless turkey from my freezer in the morning and put it in a bucket of cold water. By 10:00 a.m. it was sufficiently dethawed enough to transfer to my crockpot.  Here, I basted the above recipe over top, covered the pot, then set it on high temperature.  It cooked until about 6:00 p.m. 

In the afternoon, around 4:00, I made some instant mashed potatoes (because it was quick and easy), opened a can of cranberry sauce and set in a pretty bowl.  I made Corn Casserole (my daughter's favorite).  I made Stove Top Dressing (also just because it was very easy).  I made gravy by opening a can of Campbell's Turkey Gravy and adding the broth/drippings from the turkey (this turned out really good).  

Everyone was surprised to see an elaborate (it seemed to them) Thanksgiving meal served on an ordinary Tuesday night in August.  It was fun surprising everyone and  everyone thought the meal was fantastic! A nice memory!

Baked Corn

1 can whole kernal corn

1 can creamed corn

1 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 box Jiffy corn bread mix

1 tsp sugar

Mix and bake in buttered 9x13 inch pan.  bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I accidently added an extra egg (total = 3 eggs), so I added another can of creamed corn. It turned out really good, so maybe I'll purposely add the extra egg and can of corn next time.

When I made this corn casserole, I made 2 others at the same time (total of 3 baked corn casseroles) and froze the other two.  On Sunday morning when we had our church pot luck, I served one of them.  Later, in the afternoon when I had my in-laws over for dinner, I pulled another one of these corn casseroles and served it with the meatloaf and fish. 

We had arrived last night at 10:30 p.m. in from the cottage, about one hour and a half away.   Amazingly, the house looked company ready and no panic was needed for the church friends that were coming to our home in the morning with a guest pastor from India.

I got up around 5, prayed for about an hour. Then I went to the freezer to decide what to have for our potluck today.  I have been in a habit for the past year, that when ever I make a meal for our  family, I make a second one at the same time and put it in the freezer.  I can't tell you what a great new habit this has been in improving the quality of my life!!  On many days that I have felt like only doing what I feel like doing, I can get away with it because I go to my freezer, pull out something like lasagna that I had made a month ago, put it in the oven, and when my husband and kids came to the dinner table in the evening, it looks like I knocked myself out by having the table set, some garlic bread and salad with the lasagne.  Likewise, there have been times I have had our church coming on Sunday morning,  that I had no clue to what I would serve.  The last time they came, I opened up my freezer, sleepy eyed in the early morning, and to my delight, I had forgotten I had made meatloaf and froze 2 extra ones!   

This Sunday morning, I looked in my freezer, and I found a dish full of beef meat balls, and another dish full of ground chicken meat balls, already cooked and ready to be added to a spagetti sauce ( in my family I have 3 people that won't touch red meat with a 10 foot stick, so I always make 2 versions of everything - beef/chicken spaghetti, meatloaf, etc..)     I went to my pantry shelf and found 2 big mason jars of my mom's homemade spaghetti sauce.  I added more sauce to make the quanity go farther and seasoned it accordingly, cut the meat balls in quarters (so the kids wouldn't pick out all the meat balls when they served themselves), then simmered it from 7:00 a.m. until we ate that day around 3:00 p.m.  It was the best spag hetti I had ever made.  I think it was because it simmered all day and the flavor really melded together, and the water evaporation left it a nice thick marina sauce.  But the positively best part was that I made it with minimal effort!  I served  garlic bread with it that  I just happened to have 3 full boxes of in my freezer that I had gotten from Walmart. It had 0  trans fat grams in it (extremely important to me).