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It’s All About Horsey Doovers

December 15, 2008 by Laura 9 Comments

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Or however you say Hors doeuvres. ;)

Amy is hosting a cool bloggy progressive dinner and today people are linking up at Kate’s with Horsey Doovers…hoorz devours…um, appetizers.

I’m not one to create fancy appetizers. Usually an appetizer at my house consists of licking the mashed potatoes off the beaters before dinner. But…I do have a few recipes for some yummy, snacky appetizers that are fun to prepare and eat.

Ranch Cheese Ball

Yum

Homemade Onion Rings

Cream Cheese Salsa Dip

Chicken Veggie Quesadillas

Want more recipes for appetizers…visit Kate! And…check in with Amy so you can be a part of the fun Progressive Dinner!

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Smells Like Christmas Cookies! Reindeer Cuties

December 15, 2008 by Laura 16 Comments

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These simple cookies are a hit. Fun to make…fun to eat. I like that they are made with honey and whole wheat. And they really don’t take much time at all.

Reindeer Cuties Yum

1 /2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour

tiny pretzels
chocolate chips
red hot candies

Stir together butter, peanut butter and honey. Add egg, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla. Mix in flour. Chill dough for about an hour.

Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured surface. Cut circles using a small drinking glass. Place on cookie sheet. Use fingers to squeeze the circles in the middle.

Place two pretzels at the top for antlers, two chocolate chips on for eyes and one red hot candy for a nose.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow reindeer to cool 2-3 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Allergic to peanut butter? Simply make your favorite sugar cookie recipe and create reindeer that way instead!

From the Land of the Misfit Cookies…
I just had to show you Malachi’s attempt at a reindeer.
He sure did have fun helping!

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Menu Plan for the Week

December 14, 2008 by Laura 11 Comments

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Suddenly, I’m realizing that there are just a few days left before we leave for our big California trip. (Breathe…breathe…) I’m working on staying calm and keeping things simple…but we’re talking about a HUGE trip across the country with four kids and well…it takes a lot of work to get ready for it.

This week, I’ll be making simple meals so that I can focus on finishing up laundry and packing. I am happy to say that gifts are made/purchased and wrapped…and the house is sort of, mostly clean. I’m going to settle for “sort of/mostly”…I think that’s as good as it’s going to get!

Here’s our menu:

Sunday, Dec. 14
Oatmeal, bananas
Company over: Beef stew, corn, green beans, cornbread, fudgie brownies
Nachos, fruit

Monday, Dec. 15
Whole wheat waffles (already made and in the freezer)
Hamburgers and onion rings
Turkey and noodles, carrots

Tuesday, Dec. 16
Scrambled eggs, clementines
Baked potatoes with butter and kreme fresh, cottage cheese and peaches
Stir fried rice and veggies

Wednesday, Dec. 17
Applesauce bread, pears
Clean out the fridge
Clean out the fridge (in other words…a piece of meat, a pickle, two lemons, whatever that is in that jar back there, and a glass of milk)

Thursday, Dec. 18
Breakfast cookies
Quesadillas on the road
Sandwiches on the road
(I can’t very well pack meals for our entire trip, but I can pack it at least for our first day!!)

We’ll get a few hours down the road on Thursday night and stay with friends…then get a lot of hours down the road on Friday and stay with friends…then go the rest of the way on Saturday. That’s the plan anyway. We felt like breaking it up like this would make it quite a bit easier on the kids…plus…it’s a great way to see friends we don’t get to see very often!

Here’s what I’ve been working on for the blog this week…

One more Christmas cookie recipe: Peanut Butter and Honey Reindeer Cuties….More Food Gift Ideas….Fun Gift Wrap ideas…..and be sure to join us for Gratituesday!!

How’s everyone doing on your final pre-Christmas activities? Are you staying calm and enjoying the season?! :) Have any great ideas for activities to do with your kids while you’re traveling in a van for 4536 hours?! (Okay, I’m exaggerating…but it will be something like 24 hours one way.)
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas!

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December 12, 2008 by Laura 7 Comments

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I try to keep my Christmas preparations simple. Simple gifts, simple menu, simple plans.

But it doesn’t matter. It seems like this time of year is always crazy anyway. I think it’s because just a normal day in the middle of…say…April is busy. Normal life is full of things to do. Throw a big holiday into the mix and there’s a good chance you’ve got…craziness.

A few years ago, Matt was standing in a long line at Wal-mart sometime during the month of December. Playing on the store speakers was, “It’s the most…wonderful time….of the year….” He looked at all the people in the line with him…and at all the people walking in and out of the store. Not ONE of them was smiling. Not one of them looked like they were enjoying the season. NO one looked happy. Most people were grumbling…looking at their watches…shaking their heads in disgust at how long the lines were.

If it weren’t such a sad picture, he might have laughed. “It’s the hap-happiest sea-son of all!”

What’s wrong with this “most wonderful time of the year“? What has happened to our focus during Christmas? Why does it become stressful? And why are so many people grumpy?

Might I make a few suggestions for us during the next two weeks? (And by us, I am very much including me.)

Since this is such a magical time for our children…could we maybe wipe the flour off of our hands and actually go enjoy our children and their excitement?
When we are in a store and standing in an unavoidable line…how about we make a focused effort to be cheerful and smile at those around us. It might just make someone else smile back at you. (And I really bet the employees would welcome your kindness.)
Can we let go a little of the pressure of finding the “perfect gift” for each person on our list? Isn’t love more important?
This is a perfect time to overdo…get run down…eat too much sugar…and get sick. Focus on drinking enough water, eating fruits and veggies and getting enough sleep.
Take a look at your “to do list”. If it doesn’t really need to be done, scratch it off. Guilt free. Don’t even look back.
Spend time in prayer. Be quiet. Sit. Listen. Let God and the joy that comes from knowing Him fill you with peace.

Now, take a deep breath…smile and relax. It IS a most wonderful season. One that is to be enjoyed.

Enjoy it!
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Visit Keeper of the Home today for more post on living simply.

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Inexpensive Gifts to Make and Give, Pt. 3: Food

December 11, 2008 by Laura 30 Comments

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As you can probably guess…giving gifts of food are my favorite gifts to give. (Say that five times fast.)

Everyone likes to eat…and food gifts are very likely to be used and loved. (Unlike a big fish on a plaque that has a sensor in it and sings when someone walks by.) (My apologies to those of you who have a fondness for Billy the Big Mouth Bass.) :)

Here are some of my favorite ideas for Inexpensive Gifts of Food:

Calico Bean Soup Jar

Layer in jar:
1/2 cup dried lima beans
1/2 cup dried pinto beans
1/3 cup dried kidney beans
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup dried lima beans
1/2 cup dried pinto beans
1/4 cup dried kidney beans

Attach a note with the following directions for making soup:

To make soup: Bring Bean Soup Mix and 8 cups of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 1 hour.
Return pot to heat, 2 carrots, chopped, 2 stalks celery, chopped and 2 pounds ham hocks or beef soup bones. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 2 hours, until beans are tender, skimming fat as necessary.
Remove ham hocks or soup bones from soup. Remove meat from bone, chop and return to soup. Heat through and serve.

Hot Fudge Sauce

1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar or rapadura
½ cup cocoa
1 stick butter
1 t. vanilla

In medium saucepan, stir together cream, sugar, cocoa and butter. Cook on medium heat until butter is melted and ingredients are thoroughly combined. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pie of the Month Club

Someone emailed or commented about this idea back when I was putting together the For the Love of Pie Ebook. I CAN NOT find the email or comment to give credit to whom credit is due. (If YOU were the SMART person who mentioned this idea, please claim it in the comments.)

Anyway, using recipes from the For the Love of Pie FREE ebook or your other favorite pie recipes…you can give a loved one a certificate for a “Pie of the Month Club” or some clever title you come up with. Then, you get to make the recipient a pie every month for a year. Who wouldn’t LOVE that?

What are some of your favorite food gifts to give? (Or receive!?)

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It’s a Motivated Moms Giveaway!!

December 11, 2008 by Laura

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Have you taken a peek at the Motivated Moms website before?! This gal has wonderful planners for an entire year of motivation, organization and get-with-it-ness. The chore charts and planners are all downloadable, affordable, and ready to help you through the year. Some of them even offer a daily Bible reading schedule!

Deann at Motivated Moms has generously offered to give away TWO of her 2009 planners here to TWO of you who leave a comment. And she’ll let you pick out whichever chart best fits your needs!

Go take a look at sample pages here. Come back and leave a comment letting us know which chart you’ll pick if you win.

I’ll draw two random winners on Monday, Dec. 15.

Oh, it’s so nice to be ORGANIZED!!!!
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Thanks for your participation…the giveaway is now over!!

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“Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree! How We Love to EAT You!”

December 9, 2008 by Laura 15 Comments

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That’s the latest Christmas carol we’ve been singing at our house.

The boys and I have been going a little crazy with our Christmas cookie cutters and oh boy have we had fun. Who says cookie cutters are limited to COOKIES?! My friend Holly (who loves cookie cutters as much as I love jars) even decorated her entire Christmas tree with cookie cutters one year!! What a great idea!

Here are a few of the things we’ve come up with to increase the level of Christmas Festivity around here.

Christmas Sourdough Biscuits

Christmas Graham Crackers

Christmas Pizzas

Christmas Donuts

The boys also suggested that Christmas Quesadillas and Christmas Grilled Cheese Sandwiches would be good. Sounds good to me!! It’s always fun to eat Santa’s head. (Yikes, I’ve been hanging around with silly little boys for too long…)

What other ideas have you thought of for using cookie cutters?!
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Gratituesday: Oh Deer!!

December 8, 2008 by Laura 18 Comments

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Guess what we brought home with us after visiting my family in Kansas at Thanksgiving? A whole deer!!

Our family friend, Bert, LOVES to hunt. My dad has many acres of land on which to hunt. My dad doesn’t charge Bert anything to hunt on his land. So, several years ago, Bert told him that he’d give my dad one deer each year in payment for hunting on his land.

My dad doesn’t like deer meat. So guess who gets a deer each year?! We do!! (My dad doesn’t understand why we get so excited about that.) (Maybe you don’t either. Do you like deer meat?)

We think it’s yummy…and of course we like the free meat part of the deal. Our favorites are the tenderized steaks that I make into chicken fried steak. Yum! And with the hamburger meat, we make chili and tacos and sloppy joes and spaghetti and….you get the idea.

What’s really cool is that Bert acts like WE’RE doing him a favor by LETTING him hunt for us. (You’re welcome, Bert. Glad we could help.) He is grateful that we appreciate it so much and can use the meat because he enjoys hunting so much. His wife isn’t a big fan of deer meat, so she appreciates us too. EVERYONE wins!!

Bert told us that if he gets another one this year, we can have that too. GO BERT!!

So, this Gratituesday I’m grateful for how God provided us with a whole shelf full of meat in our freezer. And for friends who are willing to share.
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What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Share about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. Read the Gratituesday details here. Don’t have a blog? Leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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Smells Like Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Snowballs

December 8, 2008 by Laura 13 Comments

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Chocolate Snowballs
Here’s the promised Chocolate Snowball recipe. I like that these aren’t super rich or heavy…just kind of like a little ball of chocolate cake.

Chocolate SnowballsYum

3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
powdered sugar

Cream butter, brown sugar, and cocoa. Add milk and eggs and stir well. Mix in baking powder, salt and vanilla. Stir in flour. Chill dough for at least two hours. Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until the tops are cracked slightly. Roll balls immediately in powdered sugar.

Be sure not to miss the recipes for Christmas Spice Cookies and Orange Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies!

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Menu Plan for the Week

December 7, 2008 by Laura 8 Comments

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I’m finally feeling more like my energetic self after spending several days in bed sick. There’s NOTHING like being sick to make you appreciate being not sick. I’m very thankful to be not sick.

With my energy being back, I spent a good part of the weekend cooking and baking. (And doing dishes.) What a big floury mess I was. I even went a little over-crazy and made this snowman when I was making whole wheat donuts Saturday morning.

He needs eyes and a nose…
but the kids thought he was pretty cute anyway.

Here’s what’s on our menu this week:

Sunday, Dec. 7
Applesauce bread, clemintines (we’ve all been addicted to clemintines lately!)
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy
Veggie soup, bread and butter

Monday, Dec. 8
Whole wheat pancakes
Grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade potato chips, tomato soup
Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas

Tuesday, Dec. 9
Breakfast cake, applesauce
Beef and cheese burritoes, cantaloupe
Soccer banquet (A night of NO cooking! Whatever shall I do?)

Wednesday, Dec. 10
Cinnamon swirl bread, bananas
Beans and rice with salsa and kreme fresh
Turkey, stuffing, gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Thursday, Dec. 11
Sourdough biscuits, canned peaches
Turkey roll-ups, pears
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, corn

Friday, Dec. 12
Peanut butter honey toast, clemintines
Taco potatoes, fruit and kefir smoothies
Homemade pizza

Saturday, Dec. 13
Giant breakfast cookies, hot cocoa!
Homemade chicken nuggets and fries, raw veggies
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

On the blogging menu this week:

Fun ideas for using your Christmas cookie cutters creatively…Chocolate Snowball Cookie recipe…More inexpensive gift making ideas…and a GIVEAWAY!!

Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu plans!

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