oh how He loves you...: September 2010

Hello Dear Ones! Do you ever have those days...where you feel like it is two steps forward and at least three steps back?? But you really know that you are actually going forward the whole time?? Well, okay..maybe you don't really know that you are going forward, you are just trusting in God's plan--doing your very best to keep your eyes on Him and His Glory, and avoid all the noise and chaos that is around you, trying to distract you from your Beloved Saviour and His instructions for you.

Okay, so I was looking back over previous blogs, and I don't think that I ever shared Cousin P's special spaghetti recipe with you. Since tomorrow is his birthday, it is appropriate that I go ahead and share it with you today!

Cousin P's Special Spaghetti

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground meat
1/2 - 3/4 lbs. hot (spicy) Jimmy Dean (or whichever brand you prefer) breakfast sausage
1 can Hunt's garlic and herb spaghetti sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes italian style (ok--this is my addition to the recipe)
Italian seasoning to taste
1/3 - 1/2 chopped onion OR minced onion to taste
garlic powder to taste
spaghetti--I never measure, I just put in how much looks right for our family

First in a frying pan (with a bit of olive oil, if you wish), cook the ground meat and the spicy sausage thoroughly-mixing them together and into bite sized bits. If you are choosing the fresh onion, then definitely put it in with the meat. It smells delish! This is what my cousin always uses, but sometimes you don't always have an onion on hand, you know? Go ahead and put the spaghetti water on to boil. This is a pretty fast recipe (love those!), and if you like your pasta al dente (it is better for you that way, by the way)..then you will be closer to having everything finished all at once (love it when that happens, too!). After meat is done--no pink inside (you don't want any monsters living inside you--like that show on the animal planet), then add the rest of your ingredients right to the frying pan. Instead of a frying pan, my cousin uses a 4 quart saucepan--so that would work as well.

Drain the pasta when it is done. Keep it in a separate pot. Don't mix together--like I sometimes mix together my other sauces with rice or pasta. This is just extra good if you keep them separate.

Okay, now at your store, in freezer section, look for the STORE BRAND garlic toasts. They will come 8 to a box. (definitely not if you are trying to diet-this is a wonderful delight splurge...delish!) He always uses the store brand on these, I have never tried any other brands, they are cheaper.... anyway. Now he just stops with his meal here. Meat and bread for guys, right?? ;) I love him--it is super delicious like this! I like to add a salad when I make it at home. That's it!

Ok....now for another recipe. This is a funny recipe that I made up after seeing something in a magazine that got me to thinking...(be careful when that happen's, right??). My sweet RoseFlower was just diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. My sweet KingBee daddy has Type 2 Diabetes, as well. Now he is fine with the fake sweeteners like NutraSweet and all of those, but they make my RoseFlower throwup and have a headache. And of course, RoseFlower thinks she is going to die if she doesn't have something sweet! (And fruit doesn't count for her--no way!!) Ok..you are saying "Shut Up already and get to the dang recipe!!". Ok...here it is.

Fairy Pies

store bought pie crust (I use the WalMart generic brand that comes 2 uncooked crusts to a box-by the bisquits in a can in refrig section)
fresh fruit or berries
all fruit preserves (I use the Smucker's brand-only have Strawberry now, I'm going to look for other flavors though)

get out one of the pie crusts. unroll it onto some wax paper on your counter or table --- your kiddos might even want to help you make this one! now cut your pie crust so that the circle turns into a square---but the edges that you cut off need to be big enough so that they can be doubled upon themselves with a bit of filling inside.

preheat oven to 425 farenheit. spray cookie sheet with butter flavored pam---definitely do this unles you have a non stick sheet, you still may want to spray even then--the filling will leak out and be hard to get off.

I experimented on different fruits just to see what worked best. I only had the strawberry flavor of the all fruit, but it worked out great anyway.

so you cut up your berries into quarters (I used blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries). It worked out to 1 blackberry and 1 raspberry in 1 fairy pie. OR 1 strawberry in 1 fairy pie. I would smooth about 1/4 a spoonful of the strawberry all fruit preserves on the pie crust in the middle, the put the cut up pieces of berries, then fold the side up around--no particular pattern--then poke holes in top of each pie with end of fork that I cut up the berries with. I also tried tiny bits of a pear with some spray "I can't believe it's not butter" spritzed on the fruit instead of the preserves. I got 8 little fairy pies from one pie crust. Just the right amount for a dessert after dinner for a family of 4..and they were definitely NOT overly sweet...in fact they were on the light side of sweet..but not bitter...just right. Oh yes...I baked them (covered with a bit of aluminum foil for part of the time so they wouldn't get too brown) for about 20 minutes. But your oven might be different.

Ok...so the results!!!!!
RoseFlower's Top Pick was strawberry with the strawberry preserves
she didn't like the raspberry/blackberry with strawberry preserves because of the little dotties on the berries--
she didn't try the pear--it was good, but a bit dry, needed something else (maybe apple all fruit next time) but the baked pear was really good! I can't wait to try some other fruits--already thinking about apple and adding a touch of cinnamon!
KingBee very much liked the raspberry/blackberry
QueenBee and MamaRose liked them all. So I will definitely be making those again soon.

I was thinking, those little fairy pies, you could add anything you wanted inside of them, you know?? A bit of ham and cheese, cream cheese and chives, ...possibilities are endless!

And these would make a great tea party treat! We like to have tea parties with little snacks and drinks (homemake pink lemonade) and have read alouds. Especially on rainy afternoons like today!! And of course, RosePig, our guinea pig, is always included with her own snacks!

Have a blessed weekend and know that I am praying for you!
MamaRose

Hello Dear Friends! I want to share some of my artwork with you. Also, I want to direct you to an interview with a really special man named Israel Houghton. Some of you may have heard of him. He is a wonderful Christian recording artist. I had the pleasure and honor of taking care of him and his precious family while working in a job that I had a few years back. After being in their home and getting to know them just a little bit, I can tell you that they are the "real deal" and very Godly people. Just a precious family!! So here is the interview with Israel http://www.cbn.com/cbnmusic/Interviews/700club_IsraelHoughton_041205.aspx

Now let's see if I can insert some pics of my artwork! I took the pics awhile back on RoseFlower's computercam (I'm sure there is another name for it). They are not the best pics, but I want to share them...because so many of the blogs I really enjoy have such beautiful pictures of their work. I just want to let you know that I actually do play in my art journal too! :)

What a day for a daydream! Hard to see details...sorry

the front of one of my art journals

Okay... so this will only let me post 2 pictures in this post. And in reverse order. I'm so confused! yes, that is me hiding behind my journal! just trying to stay incognito. I took these pics a couple of weeks ago, in my bedroom. Behind me is my wall with some of my pretty lights that make me happy, and you can see the window behind me as well-it is dark outside.

Linkbar

Friday, September 24, 2010

Two Steps Forward...and Recipes!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Once more with feeling.....

More Journal Pages....

Israel and Art