A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day." 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 Happy Easter! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSbJtqYow3Q (song:  I Have a Hope)

Image from Google Today we remember as the day Christ willingly bore our sins; suffered anguish and a cruel death so that we may know Him, His truth, and fulfill Scripture. Christ agonized on the cross for six hours. During his last 3 hours on the cross, from noon to 3 p.m., darkness fell over the whole land. With a loud cry, Jesus gave up his spirit. There was an earthquake,  tombs broke open, and the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. The Centurion on guard at the site of crucifixion declared, "Truly this was God's Son!" Matthew 27:45-54

Image from google It's Spring-y Winter right now. Which makes it kind of hard to decide what to have for dinner. Sometimes I like to cook "weather" food. You know; Soup in the Winter Ice cream in the Summer Fruit salad in the Spring Pumpkin dip in the Fall But when the weather is one season in the morning and another in the afternoon, I sometimes get confused on what to fix! Because it's been on the cooler side of Spring the last few days, I decided to fix the family baked potatoes for dinner tonight. I really do like potatoes. My boy cherub does not find them so amazing. But that's ok -- there will be something different for dinner tomorrow. Maybe he'll like it better! Potatoes, though, I'm kind of picky about. I like yummy potatoes. Potatoes where I can eat the entire vegetable; skin and all! I like my potatoes baked in the oven. Not the microwave. I like my potatoes crispy on the outside and soft and steamy on the...

Image from Google  I've been eating this cake since I was a little girl. Except I didn't call it "Hummingbird cake."  My papa called it "Dr. Bird Cake." His wife made it all the time and I really liked it. One time, when I went to stay with them for a week, Hap made this cake. There was one piece left and my papa said he would share it with me after dinner. Except he didn't share it with me. He hid it in the cabinet. But I didn't know that he hid it. I thought he ate it. And I cried. And cried. And cried. I wanted to go home. Right then! I had had enough. Done. I called my mom and dad. I begged them to come get me. They didn't come to get me. But when my papa pulled the plate with the slice of cake out of the cabinet, I was happy again. Almost that quick. When I got older, I found a recipe that sounded so yummy. I made it for the Mr. and instantly we loved it. Little did I know that Humming...

Image from the Internet We've been making Resurrection Rolls for years now.  When my cherubs were itty-bitty, we began making these. This has been around for many years; I didn't create it -- I simply duplicated it! It's one of the ways we celebrate the Easter season and my cherubs still ask when we're going to make the Resurrection Rolls! We read the Resurrection Story found in Scripture and then we make these treats. This is usually an activity for us to do on Saturday before Easter, but any time you can carve out this week would be a fun experience for your family. Prior to making the treats, read John 19 while the oven is pre-heating according to the package directions.  If you have time, or if your cherubs are older, you can actually read John 12-19, which will give you the entire story. Resurrection Rolls 1 can of Crescent Rolls 1/3-1/2 cup melted butter Bowl of Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture 8 Large Marshm...

I admit it:  I like these junkie cookies!  You know the ones; they're at the store and they have the bright frosting and colored sprinkles. They're made by Lofthouse and they are available year round and they are always decorated with "holiday" colored frosting. I don't know what it is about them that I like; I think it's how soft they are. That's usually the problem with cookies:  they're too hard! But these little gems are cakey and not dry and just yummy. To me; they're yummy! I hate that I like them! This weekend, I have signed up to take cookies to a ballet event for my girl cherub. Because it's been just a wee bit crazy around my house, I decided to try a new recipe. Because that's what you do when your life feels like it's spinning faster than you can possibly control; you cook. And you cook new recipes. It's a weird sadistic trap I'm in! There are several recipes out there for these Loftho...

Remember the salmon from the other night that the Mr. and Cherubs grilled? I've been saving a bit of it. Actually, about 1/2 of it. I knew this week would be a bit crazy and having a quick meal would be helpful. Tonight was the night for a quick meal. I used the left-over grilled salmon and wanted to put pasta with it because that would be easy. But for it to be really easy, I needed an easy sauce. I quick decided that lemon would be the base of my sauce because lemon and salmon just go together. Well, lemon wasn't really the "base;"  butter was the base -- but lemon would be the taste! Here's the simple sauce. This would be great with the pasta and grilled asparagus for a meatless dish, I do believe! Pasta with Lemon Sauce Linguine (or pasta of your choice) 1/4 cup butter (this was the only thing I measured; everything else was just thrown in) 1 TBSP chopped garlic (read note above) lemon juice to taste (about 2 TBSP or so . . .read...

  Sometimes you just need a homemade cookie with the ease of store bought.   Tonight was one of those nights . .. .   and next week may be one of those nights too!   I needed a quick cookie but truthfully, didn't want to fool with getting out all of the ingredients to make cookies.   When these mixes are on sale, I usually pick up a couple to have on hand; just for times like these!   Today, I am using the white chocolate macadamia nut mix.   I'm going to make it fancy.   And yummy!   "How might you do that?"  you ask?   Well, just a few additional ingredients and you've got yourself a tasty dessert treat!   White Chocolate-Macadamia Nut-Orange-Craisin Cookie   1 Betty Crocker white chocolate cookie mix ingredients required for mix (egg and 1/3 cup butter) extra white chocolate chips craisins fiori di sicilia (or other "orange" flavoring) 1 small orange, peel grate...

Bottom line:  we love grilled salmon! It is one of our very favorite things to make at home. I adore the grilled salmon on top of our "go to salad," as our cherubs call it!  It's a spinach salad with dried cranberries, chopped purple onion, sliced strawberries, roasted almonds or pecans, slices of mandarin oranges, shaved Monterrey Jack cheese, and a lemon poppyseed dressing. But truthfully, I'll eat grilled salmon with just about anything! Remember the other night the Mr. and the cherubs made dinner for me when I returned home? Besides the delish vanilla cupcakes and the roasted brussel sprouts, they made grilled salmon. It was fantastic! You can't mess up grilled salmon, unless, of course, you burn it. But other than that, your imagination is your ticket to the flavor train! This is our basic seasoning for the fish. Grilled Salmon 1 large fresh salmon fillet olive oil salt/pepper lemon pepper (or any seasoning of your choice) garlic...

Cupcakes were devoure before a picture could be taken! I was out of town with my mom as she had knee replacement surgery. I came home to finish getting ready for her arrival at my house. She's recouping with my family. On my drive home, my family said, "We'll just go out when you get here.  It'll be easier." I didn't want to go out. I had been eating "out" since Tuesday  and I was kind of tired of it. When I got close to home I called to see if I could meet them someplace; it was already late and I didn't want to waste much time. My oldest cherub said, "No, just come on home." Bummer! I'm tired; I'm ready for bed; and I don't really want to go out to eat. As soon as I pulled into the garage, I knew I had been tricked!  I could smell the grill! They had cooked! Yeah, them!!! Grilled salmon, roasted brussel sprouts, and dessert. My cherubs had  made homemade cupcakes. My sweet girl cherub wen...

We've been eating this meal for 14 years. Lisa brought it to us when the boy cherub was born. We were living in Phoenix, Arizona at the time. Since then, I have made it, shared it, frozen it, and sent it! Many times I'll double the recipe and freeze half of it, uncooked, with the sauce poured over it, in a disposable pan which makes for an easy dinner for us or to give away. When Lisa brought it to us, she brought it with cooked carrots and mashed potatoes. We still eat it with carrots, only now I roast them, and we always have mashed potatoes too! When you make this, you can put whatever side you want with it -- but I'm just saying, to make it "right" you'll want to make carrots and potatoes! Zippy Meatballs 1 1/2 pounds ground beef* 3/4 cup oatmeal 1/2 cup milk salt and pepper to taste 1/2 onion, more or less depending on taste, chopped fine Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the beef and remaining ingredients in a bowl.  Scoop out in...

My cherubs are on minimester this week. Minimester is a ministry or education opportunity that students participate in during the week before Spring Break. This year, my boy Cherub went with his class to Washington, D.C.  It was both an education and a ministry trip. My girl Cherub went with her class for an outdoor science camp.  I went as a chaperon to the science camp. It was fun. But for 2 days I've been in the blowing wind, learning about all sorts of interesting "scienc-y" things and eating camp food. To their credit, this camp did offer lots of options in the camp food experience and there was always a salad bar. But after 3 days, I was ready for some variety. And I was ready for something from my kitchen. Me and my sweet girl cherub decided we wanted kabobs! Off to the store we went when we got back from camp and we bought all sorts of veggies and some chicken and beef so that we could make grilled kabobs! We also picked up a ...

It's official; my short-term, long-term substitute teaching job came to an end on Friday. Sniff!  Sniff! I'm serious! It's amazing how quickly you can come to love a group of kids!  Each one is unique and each one holds a special place with me! I hope the regular teacher gets sick .  . . and calls me! Not that I want her sick; I just want to be back in her class! Understand!  My heart's in the right spot! Now that I'm not working 14 hours a day, I'm going to have a bit of time to post some recipes. My cherubs are super excited; and so is the Mr.! We haven't had anything creative since I went to work in November! Part of that is because I've barely been to the store! It's amazing what you can throw into a lunchbox and call it "healthy!" Today, I baked this chocolate cake! Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Pan Frosting 1 box chocolate cake mix with pudding in the mix 1 cup sour cream 3 eggs 3/4 cup ...