Another great, easy recipe

Here is ANOTHER great recipe from the website I mentioned in a previous post. This was a HUGE hit with my family. Including my extremely picky (almost) 4 year old. It was so easy and fast too. I served it with green beans and diced potatoes. I'm telling you, I wish I had discovered this website years ago! I had to go to the store, cook it, and had it ready to serve in less than an hour.

Cornbread Salsa Bake
Ingredients:

1 box (8½ ounces) corn muffin mix
1 large egg
⅓ cup milk
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup thick and chunky salsa
1 cup (4 ounces) Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a bowl, combine muffin mix, egg and milk; stirring just until moistened.

2. Spread in a sprayed 8" x 8" baking dish.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.

4. Lightly brown ground beef; drain off fat.

5. Add salsa and simmer 7 to 8 minutes or until excess liquid has cooked off.

6. Pour over baked cornbread.

7. Sprinkle with cheese.

8. Return to oven just long enough to melt the cheese.

Optional: Serve additional salsa to spoon over the top.


Also, I am an Elvis junkie, through and through. I might have an addiction problem. But I loooove this app on my phone. I cannot get enough useless trivia on the Hunka' Hunka' Burnin' Love, king of rock 'n roll himself. (Is there an Elvis Anonymous group?)

God's artwork, and first day of 3rd grade!

 This is what the sky looked like on my birthday.  Just beautiful!  And I love my new camera and how it takes such gorgeous pictures! (These are totally unedited, by the way!)

 Brennan's first day of 3rd grade!  What?!  I know!  And the first day of kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd, I picked out his "first day" outfits, and most of the rest for the duration of the school year.  Apparently in 3rd grade, that is no longer allowed.  He picked out this cute outfit in the store and then out of his closet for the first day.  He is growing up way too fast!!!!

My Lil' Soccer Star!

Ethan's first soccer practice. He LOVED it!

A few randoms and some recipes!

#1. Today, at WAL-MART of all places, I saw muscadines for sale in the produce section. For a few seconds I was transported back in time to my childhood, 25 years ago, to my grandparent's house on Peterson Drive in south Jackson. Good, SWEET memories.

#2. To the person genius enough to invent the broom: There are no words adequate. Short of being my superhero, I am left speechless at your ingenuity.

#3. I love being back in school and back on a schedule. But I'm pretty sure I may loathe the third grade. When I was in 3rd grade I just remember bouffant bangs, bad perms, and New Kids On The Block. Now in 2012, it's the second day of school, and my son has a test Friday on 20 spelling words (I'm an excellent speller and find these difficult) and vocabulary words. OH, and a math test. Geez. My head is spinning. Hope I, I mean, HE gets out of third grade okay.

#4.  I decided to deactivate my Facebook account for a little while.  It is impossible to describe how much my blood pressure has dropped in the last few days.  I was so tired of people posting such hateful things.  It was just becoming ridiculous.  And I do feel so much better now.  I'm also taking a break from the major news networks for a period of time.  I catch up on local news every few days, but that is all.  I don't even keep up with Fox news anymore.  And we all know that Fox is the ONLY reliable source of news.  (Just kidding.....) I've decided to try and stay oblivious to the world and all of it's problems.  

#5.  Yesterday I was looking for something cheap and simple to make for dinner.  So I stumbled across a GREAT website that is tailored just for busy moms.  I found a whole menu of easy meals with only 4 to 7 ingredients.  The website can be found here.  Then I was almost overwhelmed with all the easy recipes.  I mean, where has this been all my life?  So I finally decided on cheesy sloppy joes.  I live in a house full of boys.  I figured I couldn't go wrong with cheese and sloppy joes.  Here is the recipe for that.  The recipe says to put it in a slow-cooker, but I just simmered it, covered on the stovetop for about 3 hours.

Another yummy thing I made last night: oven-fried okra.  Oh my wow.  SO good.  This was my third time to make them.  And my boys, who like NOTHING green, loved these.  I think Brennan went back 3 times for a big helping of this southern "delicacy".  If my kids will eat it, that says a lot!  I did a combination of fresh okra (from my boss's garden) and knew that it wouldn't be enough, so I also did the frozen okra.  The recipe for that is posted here .

I also have a recipe for oven-fried dill pickles that are breaded in panko crumbs if anyone is interested.  Another big hit at our house!


 

School and birthdays!

School is back in full swing! Now that the first day is is over I'm relieved. It feels SO nice to get the kids to bed at a certain time, have an hour or two to myself before I hit the sack, and wake up to an alarm clock and getting out of the bed and doing something productive--- like making lunches and drinking coffee out of my Elvis cup. (And yes, drinking coffee is quite productive. Just ask anyone who drinks it!)

So to add to my productiveness, I am making a trip to to the grocery store, picking up a few ingredients to cook dinner, buying some soccer cleats for E-Man, and folding the three piles of laundry that have sat on our shelves for the past 3 weeks in the laundry room. Just call me June Cleaver. (I wish!) I know my life doesn't sound very exciting right now. But the fact that I'm up blogging and drinking coffee and making productive plans BEFORE 8 a.m. says a lot! Summer is over and so is my excuse to be a little bit lazy. Watch out, world. I finally got seven hours of uninterrupted sleep and I'm about to be on a roll!

And in case you were wondering. The pictures posted were my birthday presents. And yes, in case you were wondering, I asked for the purse. It's just enough on the edge of tackiness to suit my gaudy taste for all things Elvis. (The first step is admitting it, right?) My husband searched near and far on the world wide web until he found it. The matching wallet was just an added surprise. And the shirt? Um, yes. I will be wearing it with my cowboy boots this winter. I will be glad to pose for pictures with you if you see me out. (haha) And the Elvis card was a gift from a sweet friend and coworker who is always so thoughtful. And, my birthday was great. I went to listen to a local band with some friends--- and if you hear any rumors, yes, I stayed out way past my bedtime. Heck, I didn't even leave home until my normal bedtime. It was fun, but there's a reason I don't get out much anymore. Too much excitement for me...... I've reached my quota for at least the next ten years. Don't expect to see me out until my 41st birthday. But I guess we all have to live a little every once in awhile.

Ready or Not

I'm not sure if I'm ready for this week to begin. Yet, I have no power to lasso the hands of time. Summer break has come and gone in the blink of an eye. Our school district starts this Tuesday. Sad face. Half of me is ready to get back into a routine of bedtime and alarm clocks. But then the other half is dreading the homework, tests, school traffic, waiting in the car rider line for thirty minutes, and trying to cram things into a packed schedule. Ethan is playing soccer and his practice starts tomorrow. And will have practice twice a week. Chad is helping with Brennan's Cub Scouts again and that starts Tuesday as does school. I know it doesn't sound like a whole lot this week, but it's always heck getting life back into a (somewhat) organized routine. Sigh. I feel like saying "Can't I just have five more minutes?"

I love Jesus, and Jesus loves me......

The love of Jesus is not measured in a chicken sandwich.  The love of a Christian to fellow man, regardless of their spiritual state is not measured by the fact that they waited in line for a long time yesterday.  Christians are accused of being hateful and spiteful.  I hate no one.  I despise no one.  But this whole CFA thing has emotionally worn me out.  And now it's like beating a dead horse.  Christians came out and voiced their first amendment rights by supporting Mr. Dan Cathy when he got blasted for using his first amendment rights.  I could continue to feed the troll and state my opinion on things, but I feel that this subject is a tired one.  But I'd like to get a few things straight:

#1.  I love my Lord and Savior with all my heart and soul.  I believe He came and died for me just as he did my fellow man.  I also believe He ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God intervening on our behalf. 

#2.  I love my enemies.  By enemies, I mean everyone from hateful mud -slingers, to people like James Holmes.  Why?  Because I am the chief sinner.  My sin is just as black as your sin.  Your sin is just as black as my sin.  My sin is just as black as James Holmes who took the life of 12 people and tried to take out a whole building of people.  But it all goes back to #1.  Jesus died for me just as he did for everyone else who has ever existed on this planet.  Whether or not one chooses to accept it, is between God and that person.  I just try to set the best example I know how, but I fall short every single day. 

#3.  When someone states that they believe in "traditional marriage" as the Bible states, that is not in any way, shape or form translated into, "I hate gay people." 

#4.  I believe this has gotten way out of hand.  Generations of men and women have fought and died to protect our Constitutional rights.  Including the first amendment.  So, this whole chicken thing has nothing to do with being anti-gay but everything to do with verbalizing a personal opinion, whether you agree with it or not.  This country was founded on Christian principles, yet our forefathers included the right to free speech, and the right of freedom of religion.  So how come Christians are being told to sit down and shut up?

#5.  Yesterday someone posted a picture of circa 1960 protestors picketing and holding up signs against the civil rights of blacks.  Then under it, it had a picture of current day "Christians" protesting homosexuality and gay rights.  Then the caption said, "Imagine how stupid you will look in 40 years".  Wow.  That cut straight to my heart.  But not because I found it true.  One has to do with color of skin, which people have no control over.  And yes, that was so stupid and so wrong and so hateful.  I also didn't live in 1960, so I just know what I see now-- which is equality in society regardless of skin color.  The other was about homosexuality.  Which is a choice.  It's a sin, and it's wrong.  I don't stand outside of businesses and picket or show hatred to anyone.  I don't stand outside of abortion clinics and condemn the doctors and patients to hell.  I don't stand outside of gay establishments and condemn them to hell.  But I do try and befriend everyone I come into contact with.  Whether it's from a simple smile, or allowing someone to cut in front of me, or holding open the door for someone, or even paying for a stranger's meal in a restaurant, regardless of what I know about them.

#6.  Whether you agree with me or not, this is a scary time for our country.  Christians rights are slowly being stripped away, and hearts are becoming hardened and the Bible is becoming twisted and watered down.  It makes me sick to my stomach and I find myself hoping beyond hope that Jesus returns soon.

So, that's it in a nutshell.  In the end, only God knows what's in each of our hearts.  He knows each of our sins, whether hidden or in plain sight.  He knows our daily struggles and each thought that we think. He knows our love for fellow man and strangers, our depth of humanity.  He knows our intentions, and he knows our future.  He knows what day we will each leave this earth.  Nothing is a surprise to Him and nothing is unplanned.  He ordains and orchestrates every situation and every encounter.  Bottom line, I will love my neighbor, love and pray for my enemies, regardless of who you are, what color your skin is, or what your beliefs in religion, politics, or or sexuality are.  We are all made for one purpose:  to love God and bring glory and honor to Him.  So this is not some hate filled point I am trying to make.  Nothing of what I have said has been sprinkled in hate.  My duty is to die to self, take up my cross, and follow a man who loved me enough to die for me.