Teresa's Potato Soup

There is nothing I like better than to have something yummy cooking for supper while I clean the house.  I love days when I put up the windows to let some fresh fall air in, put something on for dinner, light a candle, and set to work cleaning.  I get great satisfaction from a clean house and serving a comforting dinner.

That said, here is one of my favorite recipes to make on a day when there is a little nip in the air.

TERESA'S POTATO SOUP

Cook until done:

10 to 12 potatoes

chopped celery
chopped carrots

chopped onions

Mix well and pour into potatoes:

1 block softened cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
1 can cream of chicken soup

Add:

2 cups milk
bacon pieces
shredded cheddar
salt and pepper to taste

DONE!

Serve with some delicious bread

and you've got a comforting meal the whole family will love!


**Thanks Teresa for all the yummy recipes you pass on to me!  Keep them coming!**

Slow-Cooker Apple Butter

The kids and I made apple butter the other day and it was a first for us.  I had wanted to do this for a long time and had heard about making it in the crock-pot so I gave it a whirl.  It turned out great!

Here's all you do...


Wash and peel the apples.  This fella really got into it.

Chop them up.

Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
Drizzle over apples.  Cover.  Cook on High 3 hours, stirring well with a large spoon every hour.  Reduce heat to Low and cook 10-12 hours, until butter becomes thick and dark in color.

Stir occasionally with strong wire whisk for smooth butter.

Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

4 qts. finely chopped tart apples
2 3/4 cups sugar
2 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt

SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR

I have an old book titled LET'S MAKE A MEMORY written by Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson.  It was published in 1983.  I bought it at a thrift store many years ago when I was just starting out as a wife and mother.  I just love this book.  One of my favorite parts of the book is a section Shirley Dobson wrote about Thanksgiving at her house.  

THANKSGIVING AT THE DOBSONS...

Thanksgiving is given major prominence in the Dobson home.  It marks the beginning of the holiday season and the happy gathering with relatives who live close by.  When the day arrives, excitement and anticipation fill the air.  Wonderful mouth-watering aromas of turkey, dressing and apple pies float from the kitchen as family members arrive.  A new jigsaw puzzle is placed on the card table with a pot of hot coffee near-by.  Various lawn games are set up in the backyard and a spirited basket-ball game is soon organized on the driveway.

When dinnertime is announced, we gather around the table and Jim reads a Scripture.  Everyone takes the hand of the person sitting next to him and Jim prays a prayer of thankfulness to God.  After the traditional meal has been eaten and the table cleared for dessert, two kernels of dried Indian corn are placed beside each plate.  I explain that this represents the first Thanksgiving when the Pilgrims came to America and endured such a difficult winter and how grateful they were to God for bringing them through.  A little basket is then passed around and as each kernel is dropped into the basket, we describe two blessings for which we are most thankful.  The comments invariably focus on loved ones, expressed with deepest feelings and appreciation.  By the time the basket returns to where it started, people are usually crying.  It happens every year.  It's a time of affirmation when we share our need for one another, and thank God for the family He has given us.  This experience becomes more meaningful each year because of the inexorable march of time and its effect on the older generations among us.  We have been painfully aware in recent years that two special people are now absent from the family circle.  Jim's father and my uncle.  But we are grateful for each member of our small family who has survived another year. 

I am reminded at this moment of a prayer expressed by Jim's father during the final year of his life.  We had been to Kansas City for a visit and were on the way to the airport at the end of that pleasant vacation.  Jim asked his dad to say a prayer before we were separated.  I'll never forget his words, spoken in the car as we approached the airport. 

He said, "Lord, we have enjoyed being together so much this past week and you have been good to make this time possible.  But Lord, we are realistic enough to know that life moves on, and that circumstances will not always be as we enjoy them today.  We understand that a day is coming when the fellowship we now share will be but a memory to those who remain.  That's why I want to thank you for bringing love into our lives for this season, and for the happiness we have experienced with one another."

Two weeks later, my father-in-law suffered a massive heart attack from which he never recovered.  And his final prayer is his legacy to us, today.  Circumstances will inevitably change; nothing in this life is eternal or permanent.  But while God grants us breath, we will enjoy one another to the fullest and spread our love as far and wide as possible.

Thanksgiving at the Dobson home is an occasion for the celebration of that philosophy.  


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 I really love the words Mrs. Dobson wrote and I read this every year about this time.  My husband and I tend to brace ourselves for pain around the holidays.  This year we somehow want it to be different.  We are praying to God for his help in this.  We have so much to be thankful for this year, like every year!  Knowing that things will change and we won't always have what we have right now, we want to make the most of the time.  We are so thankful for the tremendous blessings God has bestowed on our family.  We will give praise and thanksgiving to Him. 

Today at our house we are starting a Thankfulness List.  I have a large roll of paper in the dining room and every member of the family is going to write things on it they are thankful for.  We will number our list and come back to it many times in the coming days.  Every time something pops in our minds we will add it to the list.  I'm excited to see what everyone will write and excited to see what number we might get to.  There really are so many things to be thankful for!

RESCUED: THE HEART OF ADOPTION AND CARING FOR ORPHANS

Our dear friends, Jonathan and Joshua Hedrick, together with another family in California, have just completed a documentary titled, Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans.  I would love for you to take a look at the trailer for the film.

Please go here to check out the website and watch the trailer.

Also check out -   Hedrick Brothers Productions

Monday Motivation #9

This week's challenge is a real challenge for me, as all 8 have been so far.  It may be nothing to you, but it's going to hurt me.  I wanted to do something health related this week as I am seeking to live healthier.  It occurred to me that I need to start getting rid of some bad habits and replacing them with better ones. 

Join me for this week's challenge:

GET RID OF ONE REALLY BAD HABIT AND REPLACE IT WITH A GOOD ONE!

For me that means...no soda...specifically, NO Dr. Pepper.  For the next 7 days I will drink no soda, not even diet.  Oh, I know, some of you are saying what's the big deal?  If you know me well, you aren't saying that.  I love Dr. Pepper and I drink it all the time.  The problem is it's bad for me, a terrible example to my children, and it's making me fat.  So, I'm not drinking any Dr. Pepper this week and I'm replacing it with water.  Every time I would normally reach for a Dr. Pepper, (when I drive to soccer practices, when I work on the computer, while I am cleaning, as I grade school work, every time I make a phone call...oh this is bad) I will pour myself a nice cold glass of water.  My hope is that during the next 7 days I will be able to make myself a new habit and will continue to live this way into the future.  This has been the goal of all of the challenges.  Each Monday Motivation has started something that I have continued week after week.  I'm still working on smiling at my family, and exercising, and keeping the laundry under control, and staying caught up on appointments, and respecting my husband, etc., etc.   I hope you are too!

While we are on the topic of past challenges I just want to say that last week's challenge was a real blessing for me.  If you don't remember, last week the challenge was to not get on the computer if we had not had time for prayer and bible study.  The Lord really blessed me through my morning time with Him last week.  Each morning I refused to even look at the computer until after I had my time with Him.  It felt great to have my day in the right order and to soak up His goodness before looking at my email, or bank account, or blog.  I will definitely keep the no bible/prayer time = no computer rule for myself.

Here are some verses the Lord showed me that reinforced for me what last Monday's Motivation was all about.  These verses encourage me to start my day with God.
Psalm 4:4  Tremble and do not sin;  Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. 
Psalm 5:3  In the morning, O Lord, Thou wilt hear my voice;  In the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch.
Psalm 119:147  I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Thy words.
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I'm curious to know what bad habit you might want to give up this week.  I'd love to hear from you!  As always feel free to comment here or if you'd like a little more privacy you can slip it into my inbox.

Have a fantastic week!!

Here's a fun idea we tried the other day.

Olivia whipped up some pancake batter.

We found our fall cookie cutters.

We sprayed the cookie cutters and the griddle with a little Pam and poured the batter inside.

And there you have it...Autumn pancakes!

Even better with a little syrup!

I understand there are shaped pancake makers sold in stores and now I will be looking for those!  This worked out okay but I'm sure it would be better if they weren't quite as thick and if there was some sort of lip to get the pancake out of the shape easier.  It was a tad bit tricky getting the pancake out of the cookie cutter.  This is fun though and once I started thinking about it I came up with a ton of ideas for this.  Imagine...birthday pancakes and zoo pancakes and Christmas pancakes and every other fun thing!  You could drop a few mini chocolate chips in for eyes or buttons on a gingerbread man or put sprinkles on a birthday cake or add a little spray whipped cream for a snowman pancake.  The kiddos are sure to love it!

Delightfully Delicious (and easy) Dip!

I threw this together several years ago to take to a party and we fell in love with it.  (What food item do we not love around here, right?)  It's been a while since I made it so the other night I fixed it for the family, and boy was it good!  Try it...you will like it...maybe you will even love it like we do!  

It's great for carrying to a party, or tailgating, or any kind of gathering.

You will need these 

and these

Stir the beans (1 can) and taco seasoning (1 packet) together and spread into a 9x13 casserole dish.

Spread sour cream on top of the beans.  Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the sour cream.

Next, sprinkle chopped tomato, chopped onion, shredded lettuce and black olives on top of the cheese.

Serve with tortilla chips.  Feeds a hungry crowd nicely.

You can add your layers in any order you choose.  For my second one I did the lettuce, tomato, and onion, then the cheese and lastly the black olives.  I've also done this with a layer of salsa after the sour cream.  You can really do anything you want with it.  You can't go wrong.  I decided to serve my salsa separately the other night because we had some salsa that was really hot.

OLIVIA'S SUGAR COOKIES

• 2 Cups of Sugar
• 1 Cup Crisco
• 1 Cup Butter
• 4 Eggs Beaten
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 6 Cups Flour
• 4 tsp Cream of Tartar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Baking Soda

Cream sugar, Crisco and butter.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Mix remaining ingredients and beat well.  For cut-out cookies refrigerate overnight - roll out and cut.  Bake for 9 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing

• 1 Tbsp Margarine
• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 Tbsp Milk