Tater Tot Casserole

My husband and kids absolutely love this.  If you are looking for an easy, quick meal for a busy night this is a tasty one!

Brown ground beef and onion.  I used 2lbs of lean ground beef and 1 large onion.

Drain grease and place meat in 9x13 casserole dish.

In separate bowl mix 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup milk.

 Mix well and spread on top of the ground beef.

Place frozen tater tots on top of meat and soup/sour cream layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

After baking for 45 minutes remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Use as much cheese as you like.  Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes.

Yummy!

Monday Motivation #13

For today's Monday Motivation we are going to once again get motivated to encourage our husbands.  We've talked about this before but I feel it's an area in which we need reminding.  For some of us, the responsibilities of the home and the children sap all of our energy and there is nothing leftover for our husbands.  This must not be so.

A Widow Speaks Out  
Carolyn Lowe

My husband of 29 years suddenly and unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord.  My husband had taken our children, 13 and 9, for a fun day at the amusement park and had a heart attack while waiting in line for the next roller coaster ride. 

Randy and I read many books and attended numerous marriage seminars through the years.  However, I have learned more about marriage in my short time as a widow than I ever did as a wife.  It has reinforced the priorities I already knew were essential.  As a widow I would encourage you to:

1.  Live each day with your husband as if it were your last day together.

2.  Don't let the daily trials and disappointments of life determine your steps. 

3.  Let the Lord lead you and listen intently to His voice as He prompts you to love and minister to your husband.

4.  Let your husband be who he is and let the Lord order his steps.  I think we spend too much time trying to determine who our husband should be and how he should serve the Lord.  Instead, we should support and love him as Jesus does, with all his strengths and weaknesses.

5.  Let him see the joy of the Lord on your face and a genuine look of acceptance and love for him.  Let him see the Lord's light shining through you.  Let him know that you love him.

6.  Come alongside him.  Walk together as you navigate your way through life.

7.  "Don't sweat the small stuff."  When you have discord, resolve it quickly and don't give the enemy a stronghold.  Sometimes it is better to be kind than to be right.

8.  Forgive him as Christ has forgiven you.

For the next couple of weeks (beginning February 1st) I am going to be doing a LOVE YOUR HUSBAND series.  I'm so excited about this and I hope many of you will be too!  We are going to be looking at the big R word - Respect!, as well as dressing to please, the way to a man's heart, physical intimacy, making time for husbands, praying for husbands, love notes and a lot more.  There will even be a special giveaway!   Stop by here each day to join in the fun!!

Chicken Salad

I usually only make Chicken Salad in the spring and summer but my honey and kiddos were begging me to make some the other day so I did.  My sweet friend Teresa made this at my house many years ago when she and her family were visiting.  Since that time my family has been hooked.  We love it!

Here are the basics...

Wash and chop up celery.

Chop onions.

Boil chicken, let cool and chop up, or use canned chicken and drain.

Mix celery, onion and chicken together in large mixing bowl.

Add mayonnaise to your liking.  I do several big spoonfuls.

Add a little salt and pepper.

And grapes.

Stir everything together and put into serving bowl.

All done!  YUMMY!

For a simple meal, we eat the chicken salad on croissants with crackers.  This is a family favorite around here.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

This is the very best cake I have EVER tasted.  I made it the other night and everyone went crazy over it.  You have to try it.  A-mazing!!


 Cinnamon Roll Cake  recipe from grin and bake it.

Cake:
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted

Topping:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze: 
2 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a electric or stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Once combined well, slowly stir in melted butter.

Pour into the prepared 9x13.

For topping, in a large bowl mix the 2 sticks of butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together until well combined and creamy.

Drop evenly over the batter by tablespoonfuls and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.

Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out nearly clean. 

For glaze, in a medium bowl mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together with a whisk.  Drizzle evenly over the warm cake.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

ENJOY!

Monday Motivation #12

Our family just enjoyed a splendid visit from my dear mother in law.  She joined our household for 4 days and we sure did pack in a truckload of fun.  We did lots of eating and shopping, and we watched a movie (Courageous - have you seen it?), played a game (Catch Phrase - a family favorite!), took a trip to the American Girl Doll store, loaded up at the Little Debbie bakery store, celebrated a sweet 6 year old gal with a Princess Party and A LOT more.  4 whole days of fun and spoiling and now it will probably take 2 whole days to get my children, and the dog, back.  What I mean is that when grandma visits there is a lot of spoiling (and there should be) and a lot of special food (sweets) and a lot of staying up late and a lot of reasons for getting excited.  Throw in a birthday party and several nights of not sleeping in your own bed and you might have children you don't even recognize!  Like a sweet, obedient child suddenly turned opposite.  Not to mention an easy going dog turned needy and demanding.  Don't get me wrong...it's all worth it, and it's all normal, and on this beautiful day it's all got to be turned around!

I've got a little something to tell you.  I think you can turn these things back to normal faster with praising rather than too much correcting.  Children need correcting.  I certainly know that. Sometimes though it's just better to praise them for what they are doing right than to correct every little thing they might be doing wrong.  I have heard myself saying, "look at me when I'm talking to you!" and, "don't do that anymore!" and all kinds of other (not so sweet) things.  But I decided to do something different today.  I'm going to praise my kiddos for what they are doing right as much as I possibly can and that combined with them eating right and going to bed on time, in one's own bed, ought to turn things around.  The kids I know and love will be back in no time!  Oh, and the dog?  Well, she'll just have to figure out that grandma is no longer here and calm down. 

I have decided for today's Monday Motivation to praise the children 10 times more than I correct them.  Each time I see them doing their chores well, or being kind to a sibling, or showing diligence in their school work I will praise them for a job well done.  Instead of looking at all they are doing wrong, I am purposing to see what they are doing right.  They are kids after all! How would I feel if I had just been filled up with sugar and slept on the floor for 3 nights? 

 I've set a goal not to yell in 2012 (not doing perfect there, but tons of improvement!) and I truly desire to be a gentle mom.  Sometimes we need to see the good in our children and let them know we are seeing it and now would be one of those times at our house. 

I hope you will join me in this week's Monday Motivation and start looking for ways to brag on your kids!

Princess Wands

One of my daughters is turning 6 on Saturday and has chosen to have a Princess Party.  We have been scouring the stores looking for all things princess and I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!  Not that I haven't enjoyed all the (boy) dinosaur and firetruck parties I've planned over the years but this appeals to my girlie side.  Planning birthday parties for my children is actually one of things about being a mama I love most.  We've covered just about every kind of party one can imagine.  We've done pool parties and tea parties and surprise parties and rescue hero parties and sleepovers and skating parties and everything else under the sun!

For my sweet little princess's party we've decided to add Princess Wands to the Birthday Cake, Ice Cream and Punch.  Just to make sure they would turn out as we imagined them we practiced the other night.  (Her older brothers got to eat this batch so they should be able to leave the wands to the princesses at the party Saturday.)

1.  Melt 3 tablespoons margarine or butter in large saucepan over low heat.

2.  Add 1 package (10 oz, about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows and stir until completely melted.

 3.  Remove from heat and add 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal.  Stir until well coated.

4.  Using a buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a 9x13 inch pan coated with cooking spray.  When cool take cereal treats out of pan and place on a piece of parchment paper.

5.  Using a star shaped cookie cutter, cut stars out of the cereal treats.

6.  Decorate the stars with sprinkles.  (Or anything else you choose.  I can think of so many ideas here.)

7.  Insert dowel rod into star and add ribbon.

One happy Princess...

Monday Motivation #11

If you asked me what I think the keys are to a Mom being organized I would have to say at the top of the list are a good morning routine and before bed routine. 

That being said...

  The Monday Motivation for this week is to establish a MORNING ROUTINE and a BEFORE BED ROUTINE.

Do you ever wake up and feel behind on your day already?  This happens to me if I sleep until the children wake up or if I did not prepare for the day the night before.  For that reason, we will start with the Before Bed Routine.  When you decide on your routine you will need to write it down and put it somewhere you will see it each night before you go to bed. 

There are many ways you can do this but there are a few key points that apply to every Mom.  (1.) You will need to go to bed at a decent time, that's SUPER important.  I really need to practice what I preach, :)  but I do know how mornings can be ruined if I stay up too late at night!  (2.) You will need to lay out your clothes for the next day.  And (3.) you will need to the leave the house straight, namely the kitchen.  Waking up to dirty dishes is a morning killer.

My Before Bed Routine:

Straighten each room.  Making sure there are no dishes left in the kitchen sink. 

Set the table for breakfast.

Take the dog out.

Check to make sure all doors are locked.

Get everything ready and at the door.  Obviously this applies only if we are going somewhere the next day and for our family that isn't every day.  But if it's library day, I stack the library books near the door.  If it's grocery day I put my list and coupon binder near the door.  If our baby has an appointment with the doctor, I pack the diaper bag and put it near the door, and so on.

Lay out my clothes for the next day.  If you aren't doing this already you will be surprised at what a difference it makes.  It saves tons of time in the morning.  No thinking, searching, deciding, just getting dressed!

Brush my teeth, wash my face, put on moisturizer, get into my pajamas.

Pray.

Sleep! 


If the key to an organized morning is your before bed routine then the key to an organized day is your morning routine! 

Again, there are many ways you can do this but allow me to add just one key. 

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE DAY IS YOUR TIME WITH THE LORD.  If you had no other routine except this, you would do well!  Nothing we can ever do as moms is nearly as important as spending time praying and reading God's word.  We need time with the Lord.  We need to ask Him for the strength and wisdom to be the right kind of wife and mother.  We need to make Him MOST IMPORTANT.  Do not start the day without meeting with God!  I'm not telling you how, or when, or for how long, I'm just saying, DO IT!  Praying, reading, memorizing, journaling, singing, a bible study...whatever you choose.  15 minutes, 1/2 hour, 2 hours...again, whatever you choose!  Think of it this way, if you had to be in court one morning you would probably pray and ask God for a favorable decision.  If you were going to meet with your doctor one morning to discuss results from your medical test you would probably pray and ask God for clean health.  Being a mom is no less important than going to the doctor or appearing in court is it?  We must ask God to help us to be patient, gentle moms and to help us obey His word.  We should talk to Him about our children and husbands. He wants to hear from us!  And we should begin the day praising Him and thanking Him for the work He has done/is doing in our lives! 

My Morning Routine:  

As soon as alarm goes off, make bed.

Brush teeth.

Shower, dress.

Hair, makeup.  I don't wear makeup every day.  I actually only put it on the days I am leaving the house.  Most of the time I just put on a good moisturizer and dry my hair.

Straighten the bathroom.

Start a load of laundry.  Our laundry room is upstairs with all the bedrooms so before going downstairs I start my first load of the day.

Make coffee.

Bible and prayer time.

Feed baby.  She wakes up sometime during my morning routine and I just include her in whatever I'm doing.  I change her diaper and get her dressed and then she sits on my lap while I read my bible or she plays in the laundry room while I load the washer. 

Drink glass of water and take vitamins.

Unload dishwasher and start breakfast.


As with your before bed routine, you will need to write down your morning routine and look at it each day.  Soon it will become habit and you won't need to look at it but if you are just starting to establish your routine it certainly helps to look it over and check things off. 
Having these routines down and doing them each day will be a huge head start in being an organized Mama.  As always, comments are welcome so feel free to share your thoughts.

Have a Blessed Monday!

Cozy Comfort Food

Of all the months of the year, January is the month I most love to serve comfort foods.  The weather is colder, I've got quilts in the family room for napping and reading, and since the days are shorter it's usually dark outside when we eat dinner.  Our pace is generally slower during this month so I've even got a little extra time for cooking and baking.  I love every month for a different reason and I must say I love January for snuggling with my honey and kiddos, reading books, sipping coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon, and eating comfort foods!

Some of our comfort food favorites are Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, Chili, Potato Soup, Chicken and Dumplings, Vegetable Beef Stew, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Swiss Steak.  Doesn't the house just seem so cozy when you're cooking up some comfort food goodness? 

 Here are a couple of our family's favorites for you to try with yours!

Swiss Steak

1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 rib celery, chopped
1 T. bottled steak sauce
2 lb round steak (cut)
2 T. vegetable oil
28 oz can tomatoes (broken)
1 medium onion, sliced

Combine flour, salt and pepper.  Coat both sides of steak pieces with mixture.  In large skillet, brown steak in oil.  Remove, drain.  Place meat in slow cooker, top with remaining ingredients and put on low setting for 6 to 8 hours.  (I serve this with rice.)


Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup

4 lb chicken, halved
2 stalks celery, halved
1 large onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. salt
1/4 t. dried tarragon
4 c. water
3 c. chicken broth
4 oz. egg noodles
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 t. dried parsley

Combine chicken and next 8 ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, or until chicken easily pulls away from the bone.  With a colander, strain the broth into a large container and discard vegetables.  Remove skin and bone from chicken, chop chicken meat, and set aside.  Skim fat from broth and return it to pot.  Add remaining uncooked vegetables, salt, pepper and parsley to broth, bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes.  Add noodles, bring to a boil and simmer another 8 to 10 minutes, or time according to package directions.  Add cooked chicken and simmer the soup another 5 minutes.  Delicious!!

Linked up here today!

WRITE THEM ON THE DOORPOSTS OF YOUR HOUSE

Since moving into our new home my husband and I have been discussing ways we can incorporate scripture into our decorating.  It has been a dream of ours to have God's word in every room and I promised my husband when we got settled in I would get right to work on that project.  (I've got index cards and post it notes stuck here and there but that's not really what we have in mind.) 

 I remember many years ago a dear friend painted a verse all around her family room in her own beautiful handwriting and I loved it.  Still to this day whenever I visit her home I admire her work.  She painted Deuteronomy 6:5 around the top of the room (where you might place a wallpaper border)  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 


One of my favorite places to visit recently had a contest for this very thing and the entries were fantastic!  I am so inspired I want to get started right away on our home! 

 Maybe you will be inspired too.  Take a look at these clever and beautiful ideas and PLEASE if you've done anything similar in your home do share!!

 
I love all of these ideas!   My husband has been talking about wanting a dining room table with scripture for a long time.  I'm LOVING the one pictured above.  

After viewing these pictures lots of creative thoughts are rolling around in my head.  Now to find time to put my thoughts into action!

Deuteronomy 6:9  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

Monday Motivation #10

Every year in January I start to think about clutter.  It just seems to happen each year after Christmas as we put away our new gifts.  I have found January is the best time of the year to clean out drawers and cabinets and toy boxes.  For our family, January is a quieter month with fewer things going on.  The calendar lends itself to some free time and I like to use that time to get organized in any way I can. 

On that note, today's Monday Motivation is SPEND 30 MINUTES DE-CLUTTERING ONE AREA OF YOUR HOME.

The reason I say 30 minutes (and I want you to use a timer here!) is that we women are prone to dragging out all kinds of stuff and spending an entire day de-cluttering.  You know how it goes...one thing leads to another and the next thing you know the whole house is turned upside down.  While you may have a lot of areas (drawers, closets, cabinets, etc.) that need de-cluttering you probably have other things you are responsible for, like your children!  We still need to care for our families today and fix dinner and do laundry and so forth so we are ONLY spending 30 minutes on this.  You will be surprised at what you will accomplish if you set your timer and work on this for a focused amount of time.  Just pick one area, set the timer and get to work.  I recommend having a trash bag with you and some other kind of container for things you are going to give away.  If you have a lot of places in your home you want to de-clutter, do this every day this week for 30 minutes.  At the end of the week you will have spent 2 1/2 hours decluttering. 

Clutter can steal our peace and joy.  It does for me.  But when things are cleaned and organized and you can find the things you need the house seems to say, "ahhhhh".  I find children play better when they have fewer things to choose from so clean out the toy boxes and throw away broken toys  and give away the toys they no longer play with or the toys they have too many of.  Or spend 30 minutes on your closet and clean out the clothes that don't fit you anymore or the ones you never wear or have gone out of style.  With each bag of clutter you carry out of your home you will feel better.  It is so much easier keeping a home clean when you eliminate all the "stuff".  The less stuff you have the less time you spend organizing it, cleaning it, arranging it, and storing it.  Get rid of as much clutter as you can and you will find cleaning the house is easier.  Start with one drawer in your dresser or one cabinet in the kitchen and do a little at a time.  You will love the results!

NOW GO GET STARTED! 

Feel free to comment here if you want to brag about your accomplishments!  I'd love to hear of your success!!

This Week's Menu Plan

Friday:

Breakfast - Cereal, fruit
Lunch - Sandwiches
Dinner - Homemade burritos

Saturday:

Breakfast  - Blueberry muffins, fruit
Lunch - Potato Soup
Dinner - Parmesan chicken strips, salad, bread

Sunday:

Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Sloppy Joes, french fries, carrot sticks
Dinner - Salads/Sandwiches

Monday: 

Breakfast - Scrambled eggs, toast
Lunch - Peanut butter & banana sandwiches
Dinner - Chicken Enchiladas

Tuesday:

Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday:

Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Cheese crisps, chips & salsa
Dinner - Pinto beans and corn muffins

Thursday:

Breakfast - Cereal, fruit
Lunch - Vegetable soup, crackers
Dinner - Shepherd's Pie, veggies, bread


I grocery shop on Fridays so instead of doing my menu plans from Sunday to Saturday, I've decided to do them Friday to Thursday.  It makes more sense for me to do it that way. 

One of my goals for the New Year is developing and sticking to a budget.  My husband and I are trying to see if we can keep grocery costs at $200 per week.  ( Remember I'm feeding my husband, 3 teenage BOYS, 3 other children, and myself!)  I feel that to keep the groceries under that amount I really have to simplify my meals.  I have to P-L-A-N.  My youngest gal is drinking formula now and is no longer nursing.  We are spending quite a bit of grocery money on baby food and on formula.  Once she can eat from the table we should have more breathing room in the grocery budget.  When I talk about groceries I am talking about only FOOD.  There is another part of the budget for toiletries and cleaning supplies, pet food, and diapers, and other things. 

I'm curious to know if you have a grocery budget and what your best tips are for saving $$$ at the grocery store.  Do you have a great inexpensive recipe?  Do you make a meal plan each week?  PLEASE SHARE!  Leave a comment or email me.  I will happily post your info here and put a link to your blog.

I'm no expert but here are my best tips for saving money on groceries. 

Shop only once a week.  The more often you go to the store the more you spend overall.

Never shop without a list.  Wandering around aimlessly will certainly mean spending more.  A meal plan and list are a must if you want to save money.

Pay attention to unit prices.  Sometimes a "deal" is not a deal.

Never, ever shop when you are hungry.  You are going to buy more if you are hungry and you will probably buy more junk food.

Send hubby to the store if he's willing.  If your honey is game, make him a list and send him to the store.  Men are not usually tempted to buy things other than what's on the list like we women are.  

Simplify meals.  Make a big pot of soup for dinner and serve with bread.  

Try to make as many things from scratch as you can.  Bake your own bread, make brownies for the kids instead of buying pre-packaged cookies.  Cut up your vegetable instead of paying extra for the ones already washed and cut up.  This can save quite a bit of money.  Think carrots.

Learn to use coupons well.  BOGO sales combined with coupons can mean some really great deals.  

The New Year's Resolutions

Have you done it?  Have you made your New Year's Resolutions? 

Everywhere I turn I hear people saying they don't like the word resolution.  I don't know why.  I looked it up in the dictionary and here's the definition...

resolution - The state or quality of being resolute; determination.  A resolving to do something.  A course of action resolved on. 

I like that.

At our house we always make a list of goals for the new year.  We have a lot of fun looking back at our previous year's lists and seeing how we did.  It is amazing to me how quickly each year goes by.  As we were making our lists on Sunday I was feeling as if we had just made our 2011 lists a few months ago!

I think the New Year is a great time to set goals or make resolutions.  It's a great time to dream and to plan.  It's the perfect time for a "fresh start".

I usually list my goals in categories.

Spiritual goals
Marriage goals
Parenting goals
Health goals
Monetary goals
Personal (sin/struggle) goals


I write my goals for the year in my notebook.  It's my personal notebook where I write information I need to remember.   It has everything from grocery lists, to phone numbers, to scripture I'm trying to memorize, to dates I need to remember to...you get the idea!  It's good to look over the goals periodically just to keep myself in check so having them written in my notebook means I'm going to see them pretty often.  Just the act of writing goals down helps to clarify exactly what I want to achieve.

Here are my New Year's Resolutions/Goals for 2012.

1.  Grow closer to God. 
I want this more than anything and it is my number one goal for 2012.  My goal this year for my life is more Him, less me.

2.  Let go and let God.
As cliche as that sounds that is exactly what I am resolving to do.  There are relationship situations in my life that aren't right, and aren't fair, and hurt me so badly and I can't change them!  I've tried!  This year I want to pray and let go.

3. Accept what I can't change.
This goes along with number 2.  I am resolving to accept that which I cannot change.  I can't change others but I can change me.  (And if God chooses to, He can change others!)

4.  Be more thankful.
I have a wonderful life, a loving husband, and 6 sweet babies!  I want to be more thankful in 2012 for the blessings I have and for all the things that are good in my life.  Less worry, less fear, less looking at what's wrong and more giving thanks!

5.  Exercise.
Specifically, 3 to 5 times a week.  And from that, hopefully lose weight.  I know!  Don't we all?  But I am setting this goal and I've already gotten started on it.  I don't care as much about being skinny like when I was 20, but I do want to be healthy and have energy to keep up with my kiddos.

6.  Show more respect to my husband and be a better wife.
I could write all day about this one goal.  There is no way to be a perfect wife but there are a million ways to be a good one.  

7.  Never yell at my children. 
Can I do it?  Can I go through all of 2012 without raising my voice?  I am praying and asking for the Lord's help to do exactly that.  My goal is to be a gentle mom. 

8.  Make a budget and stick to it.
My honey and I are working on this.  I don't know which is harder, making the budget or sticking to it!  It is a definite goal we have for 2012 to spend less and save more and give more and this can really only be accomplished with a budget.

9.  Read to the kids more.  A lot more! 
I've got big plans and lots of books but my struggle is with time.  The things that are important to us we usually find time to do so I'm making our reading time important.

10.  Do a better job of staying on my schedule.
Get up earlier.  Go to bed on time.  Carefully manage my time so I can accomplish more in my day.

My goals are nothing without the Lord's work in my heart and His grace in my life.  I can plan but it is His work in me that brings accomplishment.  My feeble attempts to get things right are pointless without Him.  Where I am weak, He is strong.  And really, where am I NOT weak?  I pray that He will be glorified in my life in 2012.

Happy New Year!

Wow!  Can you believe 2012 is here?

I am busy today working on my dreams for this New Year.  Our family always makes lists on this first day of the year AND we take a look back at our lists from last year.  What fun! 

It is most fun to look back over the last year and consider what the Lord has done.  He is an amazing Father and He has done great things for us.  How blessed we are to be called children of God!