Easter Eggcitement!

Totally cheesy title but I had do it. :)

I'm getting excited about Easter. I know it's a couple of weeks away. It's filled with the usual egg hunts, baskets, egg dying, chocolate, fancy dinners, dresses and such. All of those things are wonderful, I've had a lot of fun experiencing those things in past years. This year I really want to focus on why we have this holiday and the meaning behind it. I mean, Jesus DIED. For US. It's something that I cannot fully wrap my thoughts around but the best part is He rose again! It's awesome, amazing, wonderful, exciting and every word possible I can think of.

I've always done these fun things with my preschool kids but this year I'm going to do them at home too! I thought I would share them with you as well.

Resurrection Rolls - they are SO DARN YUMMY!!

1 can crescent rolls

1 bag large marshmallows

melted butter

cinnamon

sugar

• Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the tomb.
• Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ.
• Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial.
• Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.
• Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will "ooze" out of the seams and become a sticky mess!)
• Bake according to package directions.
• Cool.
• Break open the tomb and the body of Christ is no longer there!!
• Celebrate God's love!

Another fun one is the jelly bean prayer. I've always bought those foam crosses from Hobby Lobby or Michael's and had the kids glue on the different colored jelly beans with the poem. Of course we got to eat some as well. For my kids this year, I'm putting the jelly beans in a mason jar (Dollar Tree) and attaching the poem with some ribbon as a gift.

Here is the poem:

Red is for the blood He gave

Green is for the grass He made

Yellow is for the sun so bright

Orange is for the edge of night

Black is for the sins we made

White is for the grace He gave

Purple is for His hour of sorrow

Pink is for our new tomorrow

A jar full of jelly beans, colorful and sweet..

a prayer, a promise, a loved one's treat!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Of course we'll celebrate that day with some kind of meal. Maybe a brunch or some sort we're going to the early service at church so it'll be a brunch kind of day.

Hopefully all of you will have a blessed day with your family and/or friends. :)

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." Matthew 28:1-10

So I've been a little distracted...

Actually, a LOT distracted...by this book series. Lucky for me, it's been Spring Break so I've had lots and lots of time to read. SO FLIPPIN' EXCITED for the movie next week! I'm a crazy super fan as in I HAVE to see the movie opening night, wearing a t-shirt. Pretty much feel like 12 not 36, but it's fun! Been a long time since I've read something I've really enjoyed other than christian self-help stuff. Which is all great, but nothing like getting lost in a really good book...

Not done a whole bunch in the cooking arena, just a couple dinners here and there..nothing new sadly. Bubble pizza, greek yogurt cake...I did try the creamy chicken pot pie from Eating Well. It was good. The one kiddo I had try it did not like it, not surprised since it wasn't the yummy pie crust they are used to. The recipe used phyllo dough instead.

Tomorrow I think I will put Corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot for St. Patty's. I would make Colcannon if someone other than me would eat it. There's something comforting about Irish food.

Still thinking about the Rainbow fruit kabobs I saw on Skinnytaste or to make the green velvet cupcakes I saw on pinterest, if there's a way to "skinny" them. I'm having my friends over for a movie so something we can all snack on would be good as well. I also like the zucchini roll-ups with feta. Green and fairly healthy.

I will be back to post next week's menu. Now it's off to clean and maybe head to the gym.

No matter how busy I get, life gets hectic for all of us.. kids, sports, cooking, etc...but I have to keep this verse in the back of my head..Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God". I make sure to have my time with my devotional every morning, write in my prayer journal and spend some time with Him before my day really gets going. It has made such a difference in my mood and gets me started in the right direction. I'm truly thankful for that time.

Apology.

Apology to my 3 blog readers, I've neglected you. :)

Life has been full of sports, church and work activities. All good stuff.

Which means not a lot of cooking or baking. I've done things like hot dogs and breakfast. There was one night I made Salisbury steak from Skinnytaste (which was amazing) and tonight I'm making my favorite chicken recipe from Cooking Light - Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado salsa. Also baking a chocolate cake using a cake mix and greek yogurt - found it on pinterest but it's a Hungry Girl recipe. I've made a few of her other desserts and they are all fantastic.

I'm hoping to get into it more here soon. Now that the weather is getting better it's time to start grilling.

And I need to get to the gym, but that's a another story. (Can you say LAZY???)

I got a new magazine called Eating Well. What a great find! Lots of good tips and healthy, yummy food in there. There's a couple of recipes that are in this month's issue - Creamy chicken pot pies and Chicken Chile Rellenos, that I will be making next week.

I don't have a bible verse today. I posted Isaiah 41:10 on my facebook wall this morning. It's a good one. As much as I didn't want to write "personal" stuff on here and have it only be about cooking/baking...I'm just not feeling that inspired right now. I feel tired and worn down. I'm hoping church tonight does the trick. It always does and it's usually during worship time. I'm reminded about how awesome God is and how much He loves me. That's enough for now....for today...

For those asking, I do attend Celebrate Recovery at my church every Thursday. It's the best thing that ever happened to me. If you would like to know more or need help or have a loved one who needs help with a hurt, habit or hang-up - e-mail me and I'll be happy to tell you more about it. It saved my life. :)

Menu planning

I got my new issue of Cooking Light yesterday, it's like Christmas for me. Also my People magazine was in the mailbox as well, so it was an AWESOME mail day.

Anyway, I'm so excited to try out some of the recipes in this month's issue. Jason just renewed it for me for another two years. I have to say this magazine has truly helped me stay on track eating healthy and delicious food. Some of it is a little fancy...but all in all it's good, healthy and easy to follow their recipes. Also I haven't tried a sweet recipe from them that I didn't like!

I've always tried my best to do menu planning but now since we're a VERY BUSY little family, I've got to get better. There may be more crock pot or simple casserole dinners now more than ever.

We've been eating out waaaaay too much lately it's not only bad for the pocketbook but bad for the waistline! Mexican food = endless chips & salsa = bad news = Colin needs more time at the gym (which she doesn't have).

That being said...

My week looks like this next week:

Sunday - Crockpot cheesy chicken spaghetti - shrinking kitchen

Monday - Pan-Fried pork chops with homemade applesauce - Cooking Light

Tuesday - Cheesy Pigs in Blankets - Cooking Light

Wednesday - Skinny Salisbury Steak with mushroom gravy - skinnytaste

Thursday - Creamy chicken baked taquitos - pinterest

Friday - * we usually go out - Jacob has late basketball practice*

Saturday - Tex-Mex hashbrown casserole - Cooking Light

Sunday - Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs - Cooking Light

Baking - I REALLY want to try this English Muffin bread I saw on pinterest. It makes 4 loaves so I'm hoping it freezes well.

I may also make some kind of apple crisp as I have a bag of green apples to use up. They are pretty tart, so I'm thinking a crisp may be the way to go to add some sweetness to them. Cooking Light has a "Juicy Apple crisp" recipe that sounds easy and good.

Leaving you with a verse from my favorite chapter from the bible. Romans 8. If you haven't had the chance to read it, I challenge you to this week. It was personally life changing for me.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NIV

Now if that's not some powerful stuff there, I don't know what is! :)

A little about cooking and a lot about Whitney...

So as we know Whitney Houston passed away this weekend at the age of 48. Someone who I LOVED as a child. I can remember listening to "How Will I Know?" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". Beautiful woman, beautiful talent.

Here's what gets me. All over Facebook and around the internet, I see people say, " She chose drugs over her kid, career, etc". "What a waste". "She was a crack head".

Breaks my heart.

She was a person. Who had a disease. That disease is called addiction. Until you know the power of drugs, alcohol, pills, food - whatever it may be that takes over you - you have no room to talk. It's only those who have to realize for themselves that something is wrong and by the power of the Holy Spirit get healing and life change.

That's it. Off my soapbox. :)

As far as cooking goes, the baked corn dog mini muffins went over horribly. My kids are used to the frozen ones I think, lol. They wanted them crunchy on the outside, something I totally understand. Pizza roll-ups, they liked ok. I think make-your-own pizza night goes over better here. I made the Cooking Light frito pie last night, which is always a hit. Tonight it's sloppy joes made with ground turkey and tomorrow, I'm attempting shrimp scampi from Cooking Light for Valentine's day.

Speaking of Valentine's and love: this verse sums up love perfectly. It is the true meaning of love.

“For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV

Checking in.

Hope ya'll are having a fabulous week. We've been a little off track with the cooking this week as we had a busy weekend.

A little re-cap of the weekend, I did not cook one bit on Friday or Saturday (but I did eat and eat, and eat..). This weekend included a trip to In-N-Out and some Mexican food. Oh and the Super Bowl included fried pickles. Enough said.

The elliptical and I need to become close friends again.

REVIEWS:

Baking -

The cookies are always great, I have used the Nestle Tollhouse recipe for years, I was going to do a "skinny" version but did not buy the whole wheat flour as called for...so I just made the good ol' fattening kind. :)

The blueberry lemon cake was a just "ok". I was not blown away by it. I thought it could have used more lemon flavor. I may try sugar free, fat free lemon pudding in it next time instead of the yogurt.

Dinners-

Creamy Chicken penne - It was easy and fast. Both kids HATED it. I went easy on the herbs too, thinking it may have been a little strong. Next time, add more cheese for kiddos.

Roasted pepper and sausage - I LOVE it, hubby loves it, one kid ate it and the other said it was "gross". We've had it before and he raved about it so not sure what was up this time. I used a Jalapeno Mango chicken sausage from Costco. The sausage had a kick to it but not overly powerful. A great easy, fast dinner.

Tonight is the mini corn dog muffins! I am so excited to make these. I've seen them all over pinterest and they look really cute, easy and yummy. I went and bought a mini muffin pan just for these. I've always wanted one. I LOVE baking pans. My favorite stores are Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table. There's a great little kitchen store in downtown McKinney too. I love kitchen stores. I think I am the only one who is intrigued by the infomercials on kitchen gadgets.

Ok, off topic. Sorry about that.

More fun stuff -

*Maybe some red velvet, maybe some chocolate covered strawberries coming soon...kind of rolling a couple of things around in my brain. I love that Valentine's day is an excuse to eat chocolate.

*Found a recipe for a non-alcoholic sangria too that I am dying to try. I know you're thinking sangria=summer, but with the "winter" we've been having in North Texas..might as well jump into Spring. You make your own mint simple syrup. I've always wanted to try making my own.

*Looking into cooking classes at either Market Street or Central Market. Thought it would be fun. They are pricey though. Anyone taken a class before? I'm afraid if I go, I may be hooked.

I've been meditating at lot on blessings today. One of my favorite songs is "Blessed be the Name". I could sing it over and over again. Especially the line that goes.."you give and take away, you give and take away..my heart will chose to stay, Lord, Blessed be your name." No matter what your circumstances are, where you may be...you are BLESSED.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Ephesians 1:3

Welcome friends!

Hey all, please bear with me as I get this thing up and running. Plans are to post menu plans and things that worked great and those that are flops. Believe me, I've had my fair share of those. A couple weeks ago, my 6 year old told me my crock-pot pork chops looked like "throw up". Awesome.

I'm going to try and get good at the picture taking as well. They probably won't be as pretty as Pioneer Woman!

This week started off late, usually I make my menu plans on a Sunday and shop then. I am going from today. Kind of embarrassed to admit my family ate pizza last night because I was feeling lazy but we all have those days, right?

Anyway, let's get to the good stuff. Over half my recipes come from Pinterest. Yes, I am addicted. You can tell because my recipe board has over 1500 pins and the Ideas for the home...25. :)

Pinterest rocks! Words cannot express my love for it. A baker's DREAM come true.

ANYWAY - here's the menu plan for the week.

Thursday - Creamy Chicken Penne (weight watchers)/Salad

* Thursday nights I usually bake something for church - tonight it's Blueberry Lemon pound cake from Cooking Light. I'm so super excited to make this!!

Friday - Shrimp creole - pinterest

Saturday - Skinny Shepard's pie - Skinnytaste (best website EVER!)

Sunday - SUPER BOWL - Frito pie from Cooking Light and Skinny Chocolate chip cookies from Skinnytaste

Monday - Roasted Peppers, Chicken Sausage and potatoes - Skinnytaste

Tuesday - Mini corn dog muffins/Fries - pinterest

Wednesday - Pizza rollups/Salad - pinterest

Thursday - Dinner at church :) - will be baking a coconut cake or lightened up carrot cake.

Friday - Turkey sloppy joe's/veggies w/ ranch

You see the end of next week is a little more "kid-friendly" then usual. Daddy will be in CA for his annual meeting so we're making some fun kiddo stuff.

So there it is, folks. It's a start. I will take any ideas, things you want to see, funny stories...just let me know.

I love this verse, it just inspires me to keep going in my dreams to one day be a pastry chef.

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" Ecclesiastes 9:10