Time Flies.........

Today I sent my daughter off to her 1st day of her Sophomore year of high school......*sniff sniff*.  I'm reminded of Kenny Chesney's song, "Don't Blink".  It really is amazing how quickly they grow up.  I have to brag and just tell you how proud I am of this girl.  She amazes me everyday at how beautiful she is, not only outside, but on the inside as well.  We've had a very stressful summer full of unexpected life changes and she has shown me that she is a true "Steel Magnolia" in every sense of the phrase.  She's tough, tenacious and extremely resilient.  What a joy this creature is that I carried under my heart for 9 months and have had the privilege of watching her grow into a sweet young woman.  It makes this mom's heart burst with pride.  Oh the places you'll go, kiddo!!!  I love you with all my heart and I love you BIG :)

Creamy Italian Crock-Pot Chicken

I was on facebook the other day and saw this recipe that my cousin Charity had posted.  It really peeked my intrest because of how simple it sounded and how few ingredients there are.  So, off to the grocery store I went.  I gotta say that this has become one of my families favorite suppers :)  Yay me!  It's so hard to find a recipe that EVERYONE agrees on.   You really need to try this!


CREAMY ITALIAN CROCK-POT CHICKEN
*my notes in red

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 envelope Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• (optional) 1 can (4 oz.) mushroom stems and pieces (drained)
• hot cooked noodles or rice

Directions

1. Cut the chicken into medium sized chunks and place in slow cooker. *I just used chicken tenderloins and I did not cut them up.
2. Combine salad dressing mix and water – pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
3. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended.
4. If you like mushrooms – Stir them into mix now. *I did not use mushrooms
5. Pour mix over chicken.
6. Cook 1 hour longer or until juices run clear. *I misread the directions and added cheese and soup at the beginning and slow cooked it all for about 4-5 hours.- all turned out fine.
7. Serve over rice or noodles. I added the cheesy sauce to the noodles and served the chicken on the side.

Enjoy!

It's That Time Of The Year Again!

I absolutely love this time of the year.  The air is beginning to have that crispness that only the fall can bring.  And with that cool crispness brings all kinds of comfort foods.  One of my favorites happens to be soup.  We LOVE soup at my house.  I always try to make enough so that I can store the leftovers in the fridge for another cool day.

Just last night I made my first big pot of Baked Potato Soup.  When my family sat down to enjoy that very first bowl of that warm, steamy liquid happiness, my husband said," It's official......FALL IS HERE".  It really did make my heart happy.

Ok, so if you don't have a really good recipe for Potato Soup, then you NEED one.  This is probably my all-time favorite recipe.  It's really easy and I can promise that your family will adore you for making it for them :)

Baked Potato Soup

12 slices bacon
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups milk
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder

~Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

~In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
 

~Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

~Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted. 

Now serve this yummy soup with a hunk of sourdough bread and I can promise that your family will be coming back for more!  I hope that your family enjoys this soup as much as mine does.

Until next time................

The Bulldog Prayer

The Bulldog Prayer....

Tonight our Lord, we are gathered as members of the Bulldog Nation and we thank You for the blessings of being a Bulldog.

We thank You for fall afternoons between the hedges, we thank You that we are blessed to hear the Redcoats playing “Glory, Glory,” and we give thanks for the chills we get when the trumpet tones the battle hymn. We give thanks for the smell of ribs cooking on the grills of campus tailgates and we gave thanks for the chapel bell ringing after a victory, and are grateful for the sheer joy of wearing red and black.

We thank you for those moments that we treasure, Tarkenton to Herron, the flea-flicker versus Bama, Appleby to Washington, that kid (The Great, Herschel Walker) out of Johnson County running through two men, run Lindsey run, sugar falling from the sky, Butler kicking it a million miles, hobnailed boots that still hurt in Knoxville and Johnson in the end zone. 

Tonight we thank you for Aaron Murray, a fine young man who did not charge us $180,000 to play quarterback.

Tonight we thank you that Mrs. Gathers and Mrs. Jenkins allowed their sons to discover biscuits and pound cake at an early age so that we might have a nose guard for the 3-4 defense.

Tonight we thank you Lord for the potato industry in Idaho so that the boys from Boise will have something to do after they learn they know nothing about football.

Tonight we thank you for the new Nike uniforms. We may not like them but we know they look better than a Gator in a tank top and jean shorts.

Tonight we thank you that as we gathered here that we have been blessed, we have been blessed to live in land that stands for freedom, for those who have given of themselves to defend our freedom. We thank you for the blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and we pray for your blessings to continue on we who are gathered here this evening that may truly understand that it is great to be a Georgia Bulldog.



   GO DAWGS!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tis The Season.....for.....PIE!!!!!

I made this YUMMY apple pie last night. Let's just say that my husband said that this is the BEST pie he's EVER put in his mouth.  SCORE!!!  It's super easy and doesn't require a rolling pin!  That's the best kind in my book.  So, if ya got a 10 inch cast iron skillet.....it's time to get your PIE on :)




EASY SKILLET APPLE PIE

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Granny Smith apples
• 2 pounds Braeburn apples
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated pie crusts
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Butter-pecan ice cream

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350º. Peel apples, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.
• 2. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 pie crust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over pie crust, and top with remaining pie crust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of pie crust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.
• 3. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving. Serve with butter-pecan ice cream.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time................

Help.......I Need A New Routine And Organization!!! Found The Solution :)

So, I'm now down to minus 1 week until the first day of school! I must admit that over the summer, I've allowed myself to become completely unorganized and without a routine. I'm so glad that it's back to school time just so that I can get my family back into a regular routine.

As I was thinking about the whole "back to a routine" concept, I couldn't help but ask myself if there is a better way than what we have been used to during past school years. The answer was.........well, I didn't have an answer. So, I started doing some research online and found a couple of website that really peaked my interest.

The first thing I found was this wonderful blog, The Organised Housewife. You can sign up for her monthly helpful newsletters with all kinds of new ideas. I'm really looking forward to this every month. This site also has printable charts for planning meals. So helpful. I really need this more than you know!

The second is actually a new iPhone app and website, Home Routines. If you have an iPhone, you've got to check this out. It really is the coolest app that I've come across in a long time. The app is a paid app. I believe that it costs $2.99, but well worth the price. The website has a link so that you can download it. I can't wait to set mine up and start using it. It will help you to get your day organized and help with your daily cleaning schedules.

Ok, off to finish up some laundry and other things before the rest of my day gets away from me. Let me know what you think about the websites and the app. :)

Until next time...........

Awesome New Music!

So most of you don't know that my husband is the program director for one of the BEST Christian Radio Stations, WBGL.  As you can imagine, we get inundated with just about every new CD that comes out and we have bin after bin of CD's in our garage.  I'm talking CD's going all the way back to when the CD took over cassettes.  In fact, if you didn't know what my husband did for a living and you were to go through our storage, you would think that we were CD hoarders.  Ugh!  I just shudder at the thought :/

Before we moved to our current location, we lived in Lubbock, TX.  Yep, home of Texas Tech University, Buddy Holly and the BIGGEST tumble weeds you'll ever see in your life.  Not kidding!  I'm talking the size of a car.  HONEST!  Oh, and some of the ugliest dust storms.  I'm talking, can't see across the street because of the blowing dust.  That's when you pray that it doesn't decide to rain, cause then it'll just rain mud.

Anyway, while we lived in Lubbock, we were privileged to attend one of the best churches there.  Southcrest Baptist Church.  The pastor was and still is Dr. David Wilson.  He is the father of Contemporary Christian Arstist, Josh Wilson.  So, we can say we knew Josh before Josh was Josh!  Ha!  That just sounds funny :)

Josh's music has really been an important thing in seeing me through the past 6 months.  Again, I'll eventually explain what has happened.  I'm just not at a point that I can write about it yet.  I promise that I will get to that in time.  Anyway, Josh's CD "Life Is Not A Snapshot" has  a song on it that has helped me through this very dark deep valley.  It's tack number 2 on that CD and it is "Before The Morning".

Josh has just released his latest CD "See You".  My husband brought it home yesterday and I ripped it into my iPod this morning.  I've been listening to it all day and I can say that this is becoming one of my all time favorite CD's.  If you get the chance, run out and buy it or purchase the entire CD in iTunes.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Until next time......................

P.S.  I've added a neat little gadget on the right hand side of my page.  It's Jana's iPod.  I've put some of Josh's music on there.  You can play" Before The Morning" from there, as well as Josh's latest single "I Refuse"off of his new CD "See You".  I've also added one of my all time favorite songs, Where There Is Faith" by 4 HIM.   Happy Listening and I hope that his music will speak to you as it has me.  Enjoy!