Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Pay It Forward with the Homemade Love
(I got the yarn ball and pin cushion images from sublime stitching, you MUST check out their stuff, seriously.....it's awesome)
A Fun Challenge for 2011
This is my challenge to you for 2011. Copy this blog post and post it to your page, you can even add the button to your page if you'd like. The first 5 people to comment on the post and agree to follow the rules, you send them something homemade. It can be whatever! Anything counts as long as it is homemade with love!! And if you participate you MUST send 5 people something. That means, don't sign up for the challenge if you don't intend to make anyone anything. To make it even more special, you can send the person you get the idea from something too. ") The great thing is you have all of 2011 to do it.
To sum it up:
Rules
1) You must send (at least) 5 people something home(or hand)made.
2) If you comment to receive something homemade, you are included in Rule 1.
3) You have until the end of 2011 to complete this challenge.
4) Of your five person requirement, send something back to the person who sends something to you.
If you don't have a blog you can use Facebook, Twitter, or whatever. Just as long as you participate in paying it forward. Just be sure to copy the link to this page so everyone understands the rules. ")
Shepard's Pie
Shepard's Pie is so versatile. You can thrown whatever into it and it will still be delicious. I always end up making it almost the exact same.
Ingredients
1-14.5 oz. can green beans
1-14.5 oz. can peas and carrots
1 package brown gravy mix
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
4 large potatoes or about 7 or 8 smaller ones.
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup butter
1 tBsp olive oil
salt, pepper
Directions
1) Preheat oven 375˚ Peel potatoes, cubed and boil in large pot filled with water until soft.
2) Heat olive oil in large skillet, add onions, bell peppers, and garlic. Saute until onions are transparent. Add ground beef and brown. Season with salt and pepper.
3) After meat is browned add package of gravy mix, and drained veggies. Stir well. (if you have a very lean meat, I would add a 1/4 water of water)
4) Drain potatoes, and add butter salt and pepper, then mash. (I always use a hand mixer and if the potatoes are really thick add some milk to thin them out a bit)
5) In an eight by eight pan add your meat mixture, sprinkle cheese on top, then add your mashed potatoes on top of that and spread all across the top. Drag a fork across the top of the potatoes to give it texture so it will brown well.
6) Bake for about 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1-14.5 oz. can green beans
1-14.5 oz. can peas and carrots
1 package brown gravy mix
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
4 large potatoes or about 7 or 8 smaller ones.
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup butter
1 tBsp olive oil
salt, pepper
Directions
1) Preheat oven 375˚ Peel potatoes, cubed and boil in large pot filled with water until soft.
2) Heat olive oil in large skillet, add onions, bell peppers, and garlic. Saute until onions are transparent. Add ground beef and brown. Season with salt and pepper.
3) After meat is browned add package of gravy mix, and drained veggies. Stir well. (if you have a very lean meat, I would add a 1/4 water of water)
4) Drain potatoes, and add butter salt and pepper, then mash. (I always use a hand mixer and if the potatoes are really thick add some milk to thin them out a bit)
5) In an eight by eight pan add your meat mixture, sprinkle cheese on top, then add your mashed potatoes on top of that and spread all across the top. Drag a fork across the top of the potatoes to give it texture so it will brown well.
6) Bake for about 30 minutes.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
I just realized...
I really need to actually blog instead of just posting pictures, SOOOoooo boring! :P
Life is pretty lovely and fabulous at the moment, I just found out yesterday that I'm going to New York in one week to spend time with my sister and her family. I'm SUPER excited to go see her, and I know Josiah will be super excited to see his cousin Ethan. I will be flying by myself with the kids so wish me luck!
In other news, Jocelyn is SOOOOOOOOO very close to crawling! She army crawls all over the house, but she is constantly getting up on all fours, rocking and throwing herself forward. Just yesterday she started getting up on her hands and toes, it so funny to watch her. Josiah gets so and excited and comes to tell me "Mama, Jaja's crawling" which, btw< is crazy that he is talking in sentences now. He is so smart. He can get a movie going all by himself, he turns on the tv, finds the movie he wants to watch, gets the dvd out of the case, opens the dvd player, puts the dvd in making sure its the correct way, closes the dvd player, then pushes play. It totally blows my mind that he can do all of that but still craps in his pants. Oh well, that time will come.
A couple weeks ago I had posted about my marriage and how it was hitting some bumps. I'm happy to say that God has really been giving me strength. I figured out that my perspective is a bit off. Instead of me saying "I don't know who I would be without Chris" it needs to be "I don't know what I'd be without Jesus" And If that can be my focus, then being a good wife and mother will come easily. I really do love Chris but he has become like an idol, I put him above God and I was wrong to do that. But I look at it this way, instead of me showing Chris my love for him by myself, how much greater and easier will it be to love him with Christ's love. I just continue to pray that Jesus can heal these wounds and restore my marriage. He's refining it, making it more pure. So how could I be mad about that.
So on to other things, Since I will be headed to New York in a week , I set aside my first pair of socks I've started knitting to work on a cute little hat for Jocelyn. I found the cutest pattern on Honey Nutbrown's Blog. It's called Child's Forest Pixie Hat, and I can't wait to finish it and put it on my baby girl!!!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Yummy Spinach and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
Whole Wheat Penne Pasta 13.25 oz box
8 oz package of Sun Dried Tomatoes
2- 6 oz. bags of Baby Spinach
Several Cloves of Garlic, minced (about 2 or 3 tablespoons)
7 Tablespoons of Real Butter (unsalted)
1- 14.5 oz can of Chicken Broth
About 3 or 4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (depending on how much heat you want)
salt, pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook accordingly
In a large skillet, pour in chicken broth add tomatoes, turn on high heat and once tomatoes have become a little soft, remove from broth and chop and drizzle with olive oil. Pour hot broth into a bowl. Then add chopped tomatoes to broth.
Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in same skillet. Add garlic and crushed red peppers and saute. Once it is starting to brown and tomatoes and broth. Then add spinach and onion powder Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir until spinach is just wilted. Add 4 tablespoons of butter stir until melted.
Once the pasta is done cooking drain and put back in pot, add 3 tablespoons of butter and stir until melted. Dump in tomatoes and spinach mixture and toss. Top with parmesan cheese.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Borracho Beans (the Texas way)
I love some good beans. But they are hard to come by. So I have started making my own and thought I would share the recipe. I usually triple the following recipe and divide into ziploc bags and freeze.
I always forget to take a picture when actually making beans. But beans are beans, right?
What you'll need:
1 lb pinto beans, washed and sorted
4 thick cut slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch strips
1 large tomato, chopped
2 smaller jalapenos or 1 large one, seeded and chopped
1 medium sized onion chopped
cumin
chili powder
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Work starts the night before. Get a large pot and dump in the beans. Fill with cold water until there is about 2 to 3 inches of water over the beans. Put in fridge and let soak over night like 8 to 10 hours.
Next day. Drain your beans and put back into your pot, fill with water again, this time only covering the beans with 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of water. Place on the stove over medium high heat. Next, get a large skillet, and over medium heat cook the bacon pieces. Once the bacon is cooked and nice and brown, add onion and jalapenos (DO NOT DRAIN THE GREASE). Once onions start to become translucent add your tomato. Continue to cook until the onions are starting to brown.
Now dump all of that goodness into your bean pot. Add spices. (I can't tell you exactly how much spices to add, cause I never measure. I just eyeball it and taste to see if it's right. So it kinda all depends on personal taste. SEE BELOW FOR AN ESTIMATE OF THE SPICES TO START WITH.) Now stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reducing heat to low and simmer for a few hours, or until beans are at the doneness you like.
Now you can serve them right away, or you can divide them up into Ziploc bags and freeze them. If you like refried beans, these make amazing refried beans. All you do is let your beans thaw out, then place in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF "BEAN JUICE") Let the beans come to a boil, mash with a fork and stir. Continue boiling, mashing, and stirring until you have reach the right consistency.
Spices
Like I said above I never measure, but here is an idea of what to start with, and you can always add more spices.
1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
I always forget to take a picture when actually making beans. But beans are beans, right?
What you'll need:
1 lb pinto beans, washed and sorted
4 thick cut slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch strips
1 large tomato, chopped
2 smaller jalapenos or 1 large one, seeded and chopped
1 medium sized onion chopped
cumin
chili powder
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Work starts the night before. Get a large pot and dump in the beans. Fill with cold water until there is about 2 to 3 inches of water over the beans. Put in fridge and let soak over night like 8 to 10 hours.
Next day. Drain your beans and put back into your pot, fill with water again, this time only covering the beans with 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of water. Place on the stove over medium high heat. Next, get a large skillet, and over medium heat cook the bacon pieces. Once the bacon is cooked and nice and brown, add onion and jalapenos (DO NOT DRAIN THE GREASE). Once onions start to become translucent add your tomato. Continue to cook until the onions are starting to brown.
Now dump all of that goodness into your bean pot. Add spices. (I can't tell you exactly how much spices to add, cause I never measure. I just eyeball it and taste to see if it's right. So it kinda all depends on personal taste. SEE BELOW FOR AN ESTIMATE OF THE SPICES TO START WITH.) Now stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reducing heat to low and simmer for a few hours, or until beans are at the doneness you like.
Now you can serve them right away, or you can divide them up into Ziploc bags and freeze them. If you like refried beans, these make amazing refried beans. All you do is let your beans thaw out, then place in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF "BEAN JUICE") Let the beans come to a boil, mash with a fork and stir. Continue boiling, mashing, and stirring until you have reach the right consistency.
Spices
Like I said above I never measure, but here is an idea of what to start with, and you can always add more spices.
1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Delicious Spanish Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of bacon grease
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 large green bell pepper
- 1 (14.5 oz) can of chicken broth + water to make it equal 2 cups
- 1 (10 oz) can of diced tomatoes and green chilies(do NOT drain)
- 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 tsp of cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Directions
- Heat bacon grease in large skillet over medium high heat.
- Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is very browned.
- Stir in chicken broth/water and can of tomatoes and green chilies. Stir in seasonings.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
Courtney's Caramel Latte
Start by brewing some very strong coffee. Or if you have an espresso make you can brew a single or double shot. I used 4 "cups" on my coffee maker with 6 rounded tablespoons of coffee grinds.
While the coffee is brewing, get a 3/4 cup of milk, pour into a microwave safe cup and heat for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. So it's nice and hot but not boiling. Pour into blender and whip for 2 minutes. (I don't have a steamer or frother so this is the way I do my milk to compensate for that)
In a larger coffee mug pour 1/4 cup of carmel syrup. I use DaVinci Gourmet Brand. Then pour in your milk. Then add 3/4 cup of coffee. Top it with some Smuckers Carmel Syrup.(or not)
Enjoy.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The craziness of my life..
Man, since the beginning of December my life has been completely chaotic! I feel like I just can't catch up. Through the suggestion to my sister, I decided to do a throw up of words on my blog. By all means, I don't want my blog to be a downer or anything but this blog is me, all about me. Kinda like a journal, to keep track of things in my life. All that to say this will be a long one.
I just I'll start at the beginning of my craziness, which was the day before Josiah's birthday party. God revealed some dirty (not so little) secrets that Chris had been hiding. (I want to pause to say, what I found out isn't important, but if you feel the need to know just call me and ask me. I have no problem talking about it, but it's not necessarily something I want to post on my blog) Any way, it's something that we have been through before and I thought that we were past that stage in our lives so it pretty much blindsided me. Since then I've been fight my emotions and trying to figure out how I want to respond to the situation. I told myself that I wasn't going to give it any thought or anything until after Christmas, cause then last thing I wanted was to have a crappy holiday. So I just pushed it to the back of my mind. I focused on baking cookies and decorating the house anything to keep my mind and thoughts busy. Fast forward to a week before christmas, and I was super busy I had photo shoots and christmas plans, I hardly sat still. I was so busy I forgot to refill my prescription for my zoloft (which I've been on since I had Jocelyn because of post-pardum depression and I don't like to admit cause I don't want to feel judged.) BIG. MISTAKE. I'm on a pretty high dosage and I suffered from pretty horrible withdrawals. Especially Christmas day. It all hit me at once. I felt like my life wasn't worth living. That I would never escape the pain and sadness I was feeling. I ended up resorting to the way I used to deal (or not deal, really)
Now, I've back on my meds. But I'm still completely confused. I'm trying to just keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. Cause that's the only way I know I will get through the storm that I'm in. Just like Peter, if I take my eyes off of Him for just one second I will get distracted and sink.(A great example my mom shared with me out of her journal when she was going through a really hard time in her life) I feel completely empty and worthless, which is uncharacteristic of me. I hate it and I want change.
Chris and I have both decided to get counseling and therapy. I think it would be healthy for us. Although I really don't want to. He has been doing really great focusing on Jesus himself. And I have been talking to friends and family just getting different opinions and advise. With all of it I think I figured out some of the things I need. Put God first. Trust in Him, cause He will always be faithful. Walk with Jesus on a DAILY basis. And focus on my walk with Him. Find out who I am. Find MY identity apart from Chris, cause I really don't know who I am without him. Find time for me. I need to be able to get away once in a while, just so I don't lose myself in my own life. Know that I'm not alone. I have family and friends that are there for me and I don't have to shut myself off from the world whenever I'm feel down. Know that I can only control me. I can't fix my marriage alone, I can't fight for it all by myself. And I have to learn to be okay with what Chris decides to do. If he really wants our marriage to work, he will change himself. I'm going to really be trying to focus on the things that make me happy and I'm going to set short term goals for myself. But I want this year to be the year of healing and restoration.
So, now I ask myself. How do I figure out who I am? I don't even know how to begin to answer that question. I don't want petty things, but deep meaningful things.But what are they? Maybe, I'm asking the wrong question. So I can try it a different way.... so I could have an answer. If I were to die tomorrow what to I want to be remembered for?Hmmm...I think I would like to be remembered as someone who was compassionate, forgiving, and understand. That strived to be like Jesus. I love my quirks, they make me who I am. I'm crafty and love that about myself. I am passionate about photography. I love cooking and baking and blogging. I love my children and would do anything for them. Things I miss about myself.I used to be much more outgoing. I used to laugh more. I wish I had more drive and energy. I feel like I've gotten really lazy.
I just really want things to change. That's the bottom line.
Healing and Restoration. That's going to be my 2011.
I just I'll start at the beginning of my craziness, which was the day before Josiah's birthday party. God revealed some dirty (not so little) secrets that Chris had been hiding. (I want to pause to say, what I found out isn't important, but if you feel the need to know just call me and ask me. I have no problem talking about it, but it's not necessarily something I want to post on my blog) Any way, it's something that we have been through before and I thought that we were past that stage in our lives so it pretty much blindsided me. Since then I've been fight my emotions and trying to figure out how I want to respond to the situation. I told myself that I wasn't going to give it any thought or anything until after Christmas, cause then last thing I wanted was to have a crappy holiday. So I just pushed it to the back of my mind. I focused on baking cookies and decorating the house anything to keep my mind and thoughts busy. Fast forward to a week before christmas, and I was super busy I had photo shoots and christmas plans, I hardly sat still. I was so busy I forgot to refill my prescription for my zoloft (which I've been on since I had Jocelyn because of post-pardum depression and I don't like to admit cause I don't want to feel judged.) BIG. MISTAKE. I'm on a pretty high dosage and I suffered from pretty horrible withdrawals. Especially Christmas day. It all hit me at once. I felt like my life wasn't worth living. That I would never escape the pain and sadness I was feeling. I ended up resorting to the way I used to deal (or not deal, really)
Now, I've back on my meds. But I'm still completely confused. I'm trying to just keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. Cause that's the only way I know I will get through the storm that I'm in. Just like Peter, if I take my eyes off of Him for just one second I will get distracted and sink.(A great example my mom shared with me out of her journal when she was going through a really hard time in her life) I feel completely empty and worthless, which is uncharacteristic of me. I hate it and I want change.
Chris and I have both decided to get counseling and therapy. I think it would be healthy for us. Although I really don't want to. He has been doing really great focusing on Jesus himself. And I have been talking to friends and family just getting different opinions and advise. With all of it I think I figured out some of the things I need. Put God first. Trust in Him, cause He will always be faithful. Walk with Jesus on a DAILY basis. And focus on my walk with Him. Find out who I am. Find MY identity apart from Chris, cause I really don't know who I am without him. Find time for me. I need to be able to get away once in a while, just so I don't lose myself in my own life. Know that I'm not alone. I have family and friends that are there for me and I don't have to shut myself off from the world whenever I'm feel down. Know that I can only control me. I can't fix my marriage alone, I can't fight for it all by myself. And I have to learn to be okay with what Chris decides to do. If he really wants our marriage to work, he will change himself. I'm going to really be trying to focus on the things that make me happy and I'm going to set short term goals for myself. But I want this year to be the year of healing and restoration.
So, now I ask myself. How do I figure out who I am? I don't even know how to begin to answer that question. I don't want petty things, but deep meaningful things.But what are they? Maybe, I'm asking the wrong question. So I can try it a different way.... so I could have an answer. If I were to die tomorrow what to I want to be remembered for?Hmmm...I think I would like to be remembered as someone who was compassionate, forgiving, and understand. That strived to be like Jesus. I love my quirks, they make me who I am. I'm crafty and love that about myself. I am passionate about photography. I love cooking and baking and blogging. I love my children and would do anything for them. Things I miss about myself.I used to be much more outgoing. I used to laugh more. I wish I had more drive and energy. I feel like I've gotten really lazy.
I just really want things to change. That's the bottom line.
Healing and Restoration. That's going to be my 2011.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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