Making a House a Home

Today Mr. U and I went grocery shopping. We grocery shop on or around the 10th of the month because that is when he gets paid. I like to buy the majority of my groceries for the month on that one day. I do go back later during the month to buy more fresh veggies (such as lettuce or raw spinach) or if I need something to make a special dish if we have friends coming over or an event at church.

One thing that I’ve had a problem with is carrots and celery. I’ll buy huge bags of them on our monthly trip and then I forget about them!! There is no way I’ll use that huge thing of celery or a two pound bag of carrots in a month. I’ve lost PLENTY of these great tasting veggies to forgetfulness on my part. I’ll open the drawer to use them and voila! They are soggy and brown. Sigh.

So, I’ve decided that as soon as I buy them, I’ll immediately chop them up and freeze them!! This has worked WONDERFULLY well!! Whenever I need them for recipes, I just pull out a handful or two and toss it in the pan!! While it does take some time to chop them all, it is great to have them all ready to use at a moments notice!!

What about you? Have you ever lost veggies to spoilage/ forgetfulness?

Note: While this does work well for using in all forms of cooking, if you are going to eat carrots or celery raw, freezing is not the best thing to do with them. When they thaw, they are not the same texture as they are raw- they get kind of mushy. You are better off buying fresh if you are eating them raw.

Do y’all ever have one of “those” days? I woke up feeling great, but as the day progressed, I just grew more and more, well, kind of depressed. It’s been bright and sunny today and usually I get kind of down on cloudy days. Maybe I’m starting to come down with something? Hmmmm….

Whenever I have a day like this, there are some things I know to do:
1) Drink more water!!! If I’m coming down with something, water is the key ingredient needed to hydrate my body and help fight off any germs that may be in my system.
2) Go to bed at a decent hour!!! I am VERY guilty of staying up too late. Sigh. Mr. U can stay up pretty late but that doesn’t mean that I have to stay up with him. I need to head to bed but ESPECIALLY when I’m not feeling quite like myself. It is VERY important to get AT LEAST 8 hours of sleep each night and also to go to bed at a decent hour.
3) Eat raw garlic!!! Yes, I am bringing that up again. Raw garlic is a wonderful “medicine” that the Lord created for helping to fight off germs. (Thank you, Lord, for making it taste good, too!!!)
4) Get in The Word!!!! OH YES!!! This is most important of all!!! Time with the Lord can lift your weary soul and get your eyes off yourself and onto Him! Read! Read! Read!!! Hide His Word in your heart. Drink deeply of His Truth. Jesus is the Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World. All things were created by Him and through Him. Why NOT go to Him? He made us for His glory and His purposes and He can most certainly make one of “those” days into a glorious day when our hearts and minds are set on Him!!!

So… how have YOU been feeling today?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my pastry blender!!!! When Mr. U and I first married, I tried and tried to make biscuits like my mother does (she can do EVERYTHING!!!!), but I kept failing. I just cannot cut the butter into the flour with two knives like she does. Sigh.



Enter the pastry blender! My life saver!! No more chunks of butter or shortening in the biscuits! Now, it's all perfectly blended together! Hoorah!!

What IS a pastry blender exactly? It is a tool that helps cut the fat (in my case it was butter or shortening) into the flour when making dough (biscuit dough or pie crust, usually for me). It should have a sturdy handle which anchors several rows of steel wires formed into a U-shape.

While it does work marvelously, it is kind of a pain to clean. The mixture will get in between the wires and it makes it a smidge difficult to clean BUT it is WELL worth it- just ask Mr. U.

Did you know that China, as large as it is, has only ONE time zone? No joke. Go here to read more.

Yep, it's that time again!! Slow Cooking Thursday!! I always look forward to it. For more slow cooker ideas, visit this blog.

Chicken and Pasta
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 16 ounce container of sour cream
1 package of Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 can of water (use the can from the mushroom soup)
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix first four ingredients together until blended. Pour 1/2 of the mixture into the crock pot and then add the chicken breasts. Top with the remaining mixture. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Our family has been very busy lately! Phew!! Not even enough time to blog!! HORRORS!!!

Monday I had Weight Watchers and, to my astonishment, I lost 4.2 pounds! WOOHOO!! Needless to say, I made some brownies to take to our church’s fall festival last night and, well, I ate three. So, I’m quite sure those pounds have made their way back to me. LOL!

Today we had to go be RE-fingerprinted for our adoption. This adoption is taking SOOOOO long that we have to redo some of our paperwork. Paperwork, sure, I understand. But FINGERPRINTS? How in the world do FINGERPRINTS expire? So today, we spent a good chunk of our time driving to get that done.

But… I HAVE to tell y’all about the brownies…. Oh the brownies!!! They are absolutely DELICIOUS!!! They are, however, INCREDIBLY FATTENING. I only make them one time a year- for our church’s fall festival. Seriously, once you see the recipe, you’ll know why.

I use our family’s favorite brownie recipe that’s right here. They are great just like they are, but each year I add extra toppings to the brownies. Are you ready?

Nutty Chocolate Caramel Brownies
1 package of Kraft caramels, unwrapped (about 50 individual pieces)
1 stick butter
2 T milk
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Mrs. U’s BEST Brownies, prepared

In a microwave safe bowl, place all the unwrapped caramels, the butter and the milk. Microwave on high for 1 minute and then stir. Microwave on high another 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until the caramels are completely melted and the caramel sauce comes together easily when stirred.

As soon as the brownies come out of the oven, pour the caramel sauce over the brownies. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the caramel sauce and then sprinkle the pecans on top of that. Let it cool completely and then eat! YUM!!!

Tip: I make these the day before I am taking them somewhere so that the caramel can “set” and won’t run off the brownies.

My favorite two things in my kitchen are my knife and my cutting board. In my opinion, have a good quality knife and a sturdy, non-slip cutting board are absolutely essential to any kitchen.

The basic types of knives are:
-chef's knife- broad, stiff, slightly curved blade around 5-9 inches long. Used for chopping as well as slicing, dicing, mincing.
-paring knife- looks like a small chef's knife with a tapered blade and about 3-4 inches long. Used for peeling and slicing fruits and veggies.
-bread knife- has a straight, serrated blade at least 8 inches long and is used to cut through breads, cakes or baked goods.
-carving (or slicing) knife- long, slender blades that are used to carve or slice meats and large vegetables.
-utility knife- like a paring knife, but usually with a slightly curved blade. It can be used for carving small cuts of meat.
-boning knife- has a narrow, slightly flexible curved blade 5-7 inches long and is excellent for separating cooked or uncooked meat from the bone, carving a roast, or peeling fruits and veggies.

I personally prefer a chef's knife. I use it in all my cooking preparations. My favorite? A Wusthof Santoku 7 inch knife. You can see it here.




Why is a cutting board so important? Well, because you cut all of your fruits, veggies and meats on them. On it, you can prep all your ingredients for your meals. According to Southern Living's Secrets from the Southern Living Test Kitchen, a cutting board is "a flat surface of either wood or plastic polyethylene on which food is sliced or chopped. Some cutting boards have a carved edge to catch meat drippings. Always wash plastic boards in hot, soapy water, or run dishwasher-safe ones through the dishwasher to disinfect. Clean wooden boards with a mixture of 1 part bleach to 8 parts water, then rinse. We suggest using two boards: one just for meats and one for everything else. Or, if you have only one board, mark a side of the board exclusively for meat."

My personal choice for a cutting board? Well, the one I use for raw meat is just a regular plastic board I bought at Bed, Bath & Beyond. But my FAVORITE one that I use for everything else (including COOKED meats)is a Boos board.

My last post left me thinking... are you a lady?

Mr. U and I were in town today running errands. You know, the usual- post office, bank, Wal-Mart. I sat waiting in the car while Mr. U went into the post office to mail off a package and some letters. As I sat there, I started noticing all the ladies that were walking in and out of the post office. It was 12:30 in the afternoon and about 90% of these ladies looked as if they had just gotten out of bed!!! Why would any lady want to leave the house looking like that? Where have all the ladies gone?

It doesn’t take very much time or effort to make sure that you are well-groomed before leaving your home. Here are three short and easy ideas to get you started:

Press your clothes. Yes, I am serious. Get out your iron and actually iron your clothes. Walking around with wrinkled clothing is so unbecoming on a lady. This is something I expect to get onto my teenage son about, not adults. It only takes a few minutes to heat up the iron and press your clothes. No experience ironing? Well, like my mother always says “Practice makes perfect”.

Fix your hair. You would think that a lady would want to brush her hair, wouldn’t you? Men make fun of us all the time for taking hours on our hair, but you would not believe how many ladies I’ve noticed with unkempt hair! Yes, WOMEN!! I’m not talking about children here, but grown adult ladies. Please, comb your hair. It only takes a few minutes.

Put a smile on your face. Why would you want to walk around looking like you are mad at the world? Smile. It’s free and takes no time to do and preparation. Simply smile. Not only will it brighten you up, it’ll brighten up all the people whose path you will cross, too!

Ladies, it only takes a few minutes to do these. Why not start TODAY!!! Don’t leave the house looking unkempt. Take a moment to ready yourself for the day. I’m not asking you to spend hours getting ready nor am I asking you to go out and buy designer clothing, but I am asking you to look a little more ladylike. Not only will you look better, but you will feel better as well.

Calling all Christian families!!!!!!

I just read an excellent article on Halloween on this blog. What do you think? Does your family "celebrate" this day? If so, why? Before you say "we did when I was growing up", read the article.

I found this over at Leslie's blog.

Tammy over at Tammy's Times is hosting a Recipe Swap!!! This is my recipe to "swap". We had this today, as a matter of fact, for lunch. I served it with some hot French bread. Yummy and warm.

Yes, you read that correctly. These are my FAVORITE "vitamins" to take every fall!! HAHA!!

Seriously, though, each fall when the leaves start changing and the weather gets that familiar crispness to it, I crave candy corn!! I don't know why. I cannot explain. I just have to buy a bag and eat it. I shared this idea with my sister a few years ago and she feels the same way- candy corn and fall are just meant to be together.

So, where did candy corn come from, you ask? According to Candy USA!...

"Candy corn has been around for more than 100 years. George Renninger, an employee of the Wunderlee Candy Company, invented the popular confection in the 1880s and Wunderlee became the first to produce the candy. The Goelitz Candy Company (now Jelly Belly Candy Company) started producing the confection in 1900 and still produces candy corn today.

When candy corn first appeared, it was popular among farmers because of its agrarian look. The tri-color design was considered revolutionary and the public went crazy for it..."

So... who's up for sharing a bag of candy corn with me??