New Home Wish Lists....

*Recipe: Glass Dish French Toast

Glass Dish French Toast

Recipe by my dear friend Kellie P

• 1 stick of melted Butter ( I use about 6tbs)
  
• 1 cup of Brown Sugar (I use about 1/2-2/3 cup)
  

Line Bottom of Pan

Cut Hawaiian Bread (1 – 2 large rolls) and lay in dish ( I use French Toast bread from Vons)

Pour on top:

• 4 – 5 eggs
• Milk
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon

Cover with foil and put in refrigerator overnight.

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.

Warning: This is NOT Healthy! :) I made it this morning for my husband as a celebration breakfast for finishing probation at the fire department. I would definitely recommend only making this for special occasions. It sure is yummy though!

*Recipe: Easy (and Delicious) Meatball Sandwiches

Tonight I wanted to try out these "All Natural Gourmet Chicken Meatballs" I purchased at Costco. I was craving a meatball sandwich, and I decided to go easy and use all store bought ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 10 meatballs (www.colemannatural.com) - warmed in oven for 10 minutes
• 2 french rolls
• two slices of provolone cheese
• Enrico's All Natural Garlic Marinara (www.enricos.com)

After warming the meatballs I added to the marinara sauce warming on the stove top.
I sliced each roll 2/3 of the way open and added 5 meatballs to each sandwich, added the cheese and put back in the oven for 10 more minutes. After taking out of the oven I cut each sandwich in half and served with organic carrots on the side. Yummy! This was a great easy meal for a hungry family.

*Recipe: Baked Potato Soup

Best Soup. "This recipe was originally for our Lighten Up column. Most everyone was happy with it the first time we tried it, but I knew the soup could be better. The soup originally used fat-free sour cream, which I felt gave it a too-tart taste. After tweaking a few ingredients, the recipe now calls for reduced-fat sour cream, and we all are much happier with the results." --Recipe by Ann Taylor Pittman (October 2002)

Yield 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon)

Ingredients

• 4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
• 6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
• 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

329 (30% from fat)

Fat:

10.8g (sat 5.9g,mono 3.5g,poly 0.7g)

Protein:

13.6g

Carbohydrate:

44.5g

Fiber:

2.8g

Cholesterol:

38mg

Iron:

1.1mg

Sodium:

587mg

Calcium:

407mg

Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2007

Proverbs 12:4

Proverbs 12:4 (New King James Version)

4 An excellent^[a] wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.

Proverbs 12:4 (New International Version)

4 A wife of noble character is her husband's crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

Did you happen to watch Miss America last night? Miss Indiana won and she was very deserving! She was one of my top picks from the beginning. In my younger days, I competed in beauty pageants. You might think oh boy, you were one of those girls?! To me, competing in pageants was more about the preparation of competing in the pageant and not so much about the actual pageant. Competing in pageants meant setting goals for myself, working hard to get good grades in school, staying active in school, church and my community and being a role model to younger children and my peers. It was a lot of hard work and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had even made a banner and crown out of paper and used to pretend that I was the queen. The first beauty pageant I won was when I was 15 years old. I won the title of Miss California American Teen 1996. I had competed in this pageant four years before winning the state title. It had been a lot of work and there had been tears in those years that I did not go home the winner. But what I learned is that it would not have meant as much to me to win if I had not lost those three years prior. Now that I am a wife and mother, I still like to watch Miss America. I still imagine myself on that stage. I love the glamour and sparkle. This will never change. This is who God created me to be. Now though, my priorities have changed. My goal is not to have the crown on my head, but to be my husband's crown. I just love the verse Proverbs 12:4. I like to think that each meal I make, every bed that is made, every shirt that is folded, every kiss goodnight are all a little bit of sparkles in my husband's crown. I may never love laundry, but I will always love my husband and son and the things that I do for them are out of love:)

Bialetti Hot Chocolate Pot

Today I received my Bialetti Hot Chocolate Pot that I ordered from Williams Sonoma. I just can't wait to give it a try. I would love to be able to give my family and guests the best hot chocolate they have ever had when they come to visit us. I will have to let you know how it turns out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbyxZP8jc8c

Note: I used this for the first time this morning (Sunday 01/25/09) and it was the easiest piece of equipment to use and it was the BEST cup of hot chocolate I have ever made. It was worth every cent!!

New Home Ideas...

So we are in the process of looking for and buying our "First Home". We have been looking forward to this day since we got married. Renting has been fine, but I have never really quite felt like I was "Home" in the two homes we have rented since getting married 6 years and 10 1/2 months ago. I really haven't cared about decorating or having nice furniture because we weren't living in our own place yet. Now that that day is getting closer I am loving getting ideas and looking at pictures of beautifully decorated rooms. I like the Traditional European and Modern Cottage feel rooms. Here are a few pictures of some of my favorites....for now. *smile