A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

The Mr. and I recently took an anniversary trip through some lovely New England states. While traveling, we stayed in some fabulous bed and breakfast inns. We haven't done that a lot, as we have had about a 50/50 experience with B&B's! But taking a risk, we went for it! Each inn was great and I'd return to each of them if given the opportunity. That's a good endorsement, huh? Each breakfast we were served had at least one recipe that I requested! OK -- sometimes 2! One place we stayed, the inn owner served this bacon. She announced, on more than one occasion, that each guest would be limited to 2 pieces, as, "I am full with guests and this is all the bacon I had." Which, after tasting the bacon, I was able to translate to this: "This bacon is amazing and there is no way I could ever cook enough to satisfy the guests." So there! That's the truth! Since being home, the Mr. and I have made this several times fo...

I hate when I thaw out something for dinner and then we don't need it. That happened to me just the other night! I thawed out ground beef, with no idea of what I was going to do with it. Then the Mr. figured out that he was the only one that would be home for dinner and told me not to cook anything. But I already had the meat thawed, so the rational side of me said, "Self, why not go ahead and make something that can be used for dinner in a night or two." I didn't respond to myself, because there's a point when self-talk becomes strangely . . . strange! While browning the beef, I got out all of the ingredients for sloppy joes. I don't really care for sloppy joes, but the rest of the family likes them. But while grabbing the final ingredient, I decided I didn't want to make that and I would make soup. After looking through the cabinet, I grabbed a few cans of things and made this soup. I had no idea if it would be...

  When we first arrived in Dallas, there was a fellow pastor who loaded the Mr. into the car and said, "Let's go to Bonton." The Mr. spent the day in this area of far, South Dallas, learning about a ministry called H.I.S. Bridgebuilders. Fast-forward nearly 5 years. At our school, high school students have the week before Spring Break to participate in, "Minimester." Short synopsis:  it's a week to go on a mission trip. As a Freshman baseball player, my boy cherub went to Bonton . . . the place where the Mr. first toured. When the Baseball boys and two mom chaperons arrived in Bonton, a man named Trog met us there. Trog impressed my boy cherub. Trog has his own look, wears a leather knife holder . . . and knife, and gardens as apart of his ministry. In this inner city ministry, Trog cultivates both produce and disciples. This resonated with my boy cherub, who feels his own call to full-time ministry, but doesn't beli...

Many years ago, I met a girl from our church and we became great friends. We shared many things in common, but a real thread that bound us was a love for Southern Living cookbooks! Yes! It's been that long ago when we would pour over the magazines  and collect the annual cookbooks and share our love of trying a new recipe! We ate many Sunday lunches at their house. Two reasons for that: They lived close to the church . . . and we didn't They could leave right when church was over . . . and we couldn't By the time we got to their house on Sunday afternoons, she was able to have all the last minute things done and they were standing around waiting on us. That's the life of having a pastor over for lunch . . . you spend a lot of time waiting for them to get there! Anyway; it's been a very long time since we've seen each other, but I still make a lot of our shared recipes. This one, however, was not a Southern Living recipe. I'm ...

Many years ago, while living in Arizona, a friend brought dinner to us one night after we had our first cherub. That dinner left such a lasting impression on us that I still make it and it's one of our family favorites. Not only do I make the "main entree" like Lisa made, but I make the VERY dinner she brought to us 16 years ago! Zippy meatballs, cooked carrots, and mashed potatoes. It just goes together! Yesterday, when my girl cherub got new wires, hooks, and smaller rubber bands for her braces, and it made her teeth really sore! Tonight for dinner, we are faced with a dilemma! While we feel sorry for her, we still want to eat. And we don't want "soft food" either! I thought of meatballs! While we do really adore the zippy meatballs, I was wanting something to serve with rice. Sweet and Sour meatballs! Perfect choice! When you google that recipe, normally you find the appetizer option, using frozen meatballs. ...

Photo taken by my boy cherub When we rolled into the sleepy New Hampshire town and there were only two restaurants to choose from . . . and one was closed, we know our options might be slightly limited! In the parking lot, the Mr. said, "we might be eating gluten tonight!" We were wrong! Not only did they have gluten free options, but they even had a gluten free menu! Because we had devoured a ton of cheese and apples earlier that day, the Mr. and I decided on something to share for dinner. For a point of information: I am not really one that "likes" to eat out. Oh, I like to . . . but it's for strange reasons. As in, I don't want to order something I can easily make at home. Like a salad. Honestly, unless it's an "over the top" salad, I'm not going to order one as my meal. When I go out, I'm looking for things to try that I can then go home and replicate. That's what happened this night! ...

The Mr. and I celebrated 20 years of marriage last week. With my mom agreeing to keep watch over the cherubs, we took off to the beautiful New England states for a few days!   It's kind of a sad reality when, at our age, we view going to New England in the Fall as "fun!" At least we didn't make the trip on a charter bus! Although, there is nothing wrong with that . . . and there were p.l.e.n.t.y. of buses that we saw. But I would like to think that we are young enough to still want to travel by ourselves! What I did discover is that we were called "leaf peepers!" That's what the weather people in the New England states would say when giving the weather report for the following day. OK -- and the fact that we watch the news . . . maybe another small sign that age is creeping up on us! We stayed in B & B's most nights, except for one, and that's called a "memory" that will be held over the Mr....