Another fabulous giveaway at Faithfulness Farm!

Gail, over at Faithfulness Farm, is offering a wonderful giveaway you might like to get in on.  She's giving away a copy of Gooseberry Patch's Meals in Minutes, the special 10th anniversary edition.  The recipes she has shared in the giveaway posts sound absolutely delicious, and she recommends the entire cookbook.

But Gail is not just giving away a book -- oh no, she is also giving away a vintage-inspired apron she has made, and a vintage-inspired tea towel set.  A very generous giveaway!  You can enter here: Faithfulness Farm Giveaway and, for a bonus entry, you can post about the giveaway on your blog or on Facebook.  If you do this, be sure to leave a second comment telling Gail you have done so.  Now I'm off to do just that!

Weekly Goals 2/26/2012

(Photo from NH Troubadour, 1950s)

I'm a bit late posting these goals, but Sunday and Monday were exceedingly busy days.  So, for this week, here are my goals:

1.  Review Psalm 19:7-11.
2.  Read the next chapter in Essential Virtues.
3. Exercise 3 to 5 times.
4.  Plan/cook healthy meals.
5.  Do Kelly's Missions (from FlyLady) for each day.
6.  Keep up with crafting goals.
7.  Finish lesson 6 for Sunday School; work ahead on Lesson 7.

And here's how I did last week:

1.  Still need to review the Scripture memory passage; still don't quite have it perfectly.
2.  I read one chapter in Essential Virtues, so DONE!
3.  Only managed to exercise twice.
4.  Planned and cooked healthy meals, so DONE!
5.  Did Kelly's Missions each day and then some.  DONE!
6.  Didn't keep up very well with my crafting goals, though I did get quite a bit done on Friday. 
7.  Work ahead in Sunday School study.  DONE!

Four out of seven isn't too bad, I guess, but I can always aim for more.  I hope to post in my Christmas blog later today about the crafting I accomplished on Friday.

Quote of the day

(Photo from Free Public Domain Photos)

Here's one especially for parents and grandparents of younger children.  Some years ago I had one of those page-a-day calendars -- a variation that was written especially for parents, with an encouraging quote and Scripture verse on each page.  I liked some of the quotes well enough to save the little pages.  Now I'm decluttering, and thought I would share the quote and toss the page at last.  Here it is:

"Many children discover their life's work through creative, playful activities.  As parents of future Thomas Edisons, this means we need to give up our dreams of winning the House Beautiful award.  Inventive pursuits often produce creative messes."  -- Kathy Peel and Joy Mahaffey

This is so true.  When my kids were young, I'm afraid our house was not always the neatest.  I kept art and craft supplies and all sorts of interesting bits and pieces around for them to create with.  It wasn't always neat, but they learned valuable lessons about creativity and had a lot of fun.  My house is usually a bit more orderly these days, but my grandkids know just where to find the art supplies!

Weekly Goals 2/19/2012

Time for new weekly goals and an update on the old ones.  Last week was not a very productive one as far as my goals are concerned, but hopefully this week will be better.  Here are this week's goals:

1.  Continue to work at memorizing Psalm 19:7-11.
2.  Read 1 chapter in Essential Virtues.
3.  Exercise 3-5 times.
4.  Plan and cook healthy meals.
5.  Keep up with FlyLady's "Kelly's Missions" for each day.
6.  Keep current with my crafting goals to make items for gifts/possible sale.
7.  Work ahead in Sunday School study.

And here's how last week went:
1.  I have Psalm 19:7-11 mostly memorized.  Verse 8 is still eluding me.
2.  Only got partway through a chapter in Essential Virtues.
3.  Exercised only once.
4.  I did plan and cook healthy meals.  DONE!
5.  I didn't quite keep up with Kelly's Missions for every day, but did accomplish a lot of cleaning in the bathroom and decluttering in the computer room.
6.  Didn't keep up at all with crafting goals.  There were several days when I did no crafting at all.
7.  I did work ahead on my next Sunday School study and plan to continue doing so this week.  DONE!

So I am definitely hoping for a more encouraging week this week!

Two more "breakfast for supper" recipes

(Hash Brown Casserole photo by Taste of Home)

Here are two more recipes I have made recently for supper.  The main course was Mushroom Oven Omelet.  I used Baby Bella mushrooms to make this, and used the kind that are pre-sliced as our local supermarket had them at a good price last week.  We enjoy this oven omelet a lot and it's a recipe I often go back to.

For a side dish, I made Hash Brown Casserole, which is another long-time favorite and I'm sure I have it posted elsewhere on the blog, but thought I would share the link anyway.  You can use either the southern-style (cubed) hash browns or the shredded type.  I think I prefer the shredded ones, but have used either kind.  For the two of us, I halved the recipe.  I usually use a homemade cream sauce (cream soup equivalent) instead of the condensed soup.  This hash brown recipe tastes quite a bit like the hash brown casserole served at Cracker Barrel restaurants.

I served an asparagus stir-fry medley alongside, just cooked in the microwave in a casserole dish, to add color and more nutrition to the meal.

Hope you enjoy these recipes if you try them!

Creamy Sausage Stew

(Photo by Taste of Home)

I found this recipe some years ago and we always enjoy it: Creamy Sausage Stew.  I usually use half the amount of sausage, cut in smaller pieces than specified, and I usually use light sausage.  I also use fat-free half and half instead of the heavy cream.  The dish still tastes very rich but it is a lot lower in fat.  Cornbread or any Italian or French bread would be a nice accompaniment.

This time I wanted to see if I could adapt the recipe to the slow cooker so I could take it to our church potluck lunch.  (We have lunch together every Sunday during the winter following Sunday School and morning service,  and then just have a 1:30 p.m. service after lunch.  It works out well and means we don't have to venture out again for an evening service in cold, sometimes inclement, weather.  And the fellowship is great!)  Anyway, I tried adapting the recipe and it worked out quite well.  I roasted the vegetables and sausage as directed, but I don't have a large roasting pan so used 2 13x9-inch pans and covered them with foil.  I roasted them for about an hour.  Then, I transferred them to the slow cooker and left them on Warm until I got to church.  They had cooled off quite a bit, so I turned the cooker to Low for the next  hour.  Then (after Sunday School) I stirred in the cream and cooked it on Low until we were ready to eat.  I then mixed in the cornstarch mixture, right in with the ingredients in the slow cooker.  There was plenty of heat to cook the cornstarch and slightly thicken the mixture.  It went over quite well, but I was not at all sorry to have some of the stew left to bring home.  We like this recipe a lot!

Valentine surprises

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  I hope that each of you has had a lovely day so far.  Mine was made brighter by a couple of little surprises and three little grandchildren.

Having the kids here was not a surprise; I knew they were coming while their mom went to see her eye doctor.  We had a fun morning making a Valentine craft

and reading books together, not to mention snacking on red grapes.  It was a surprise, though, when, as they left, Julia (5) turned back and said so sweetly, "Have a happy Valentine's Day, Grammy!"

Last evening my hubby surprised me with a lovely bouquet of yellow roses (my favorite)!  They are brightening up the kitchen island in my favorite strawberry pitcher.  He took these photos for me:

A close-up of  one rose

I arranged the roses in my favorite strawberry pitcher as it is just the right height -- has some yellow in the design too.

  Yesterday I received a lovely valentine from a dear blog friend who is far away in California.  Patty, thank you so much!  What a special surprise!

But the most surprising surprise of all was waiting at my mailbox today.  I got a free book from Taste of Home for having a recipe published in Simple & Delicious this past year.

(Photo by Taste of Home)

 I am going to have fun cooking from this.  What a wonderful day full of nice surprises!